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May 26, 2005

Who's Jonny She Said

Speaking of guitarists ... Jonny Buckland is Coldplay's axeman, and if you didn't know that, that's just fine with him. From Newsweek...

"Nobody knows the other members of bands. Only the singer. Look at R.E.M. Which one's the guitarist? The only reason I know Peter Buck's name is because of that time he got mad on a plane. The only way I could [achieve fame] is by getting into some kind of trouble. It could only be infamy." What about Keith Richards? "Massive drug habit." Jimmy Page? "Witchcraft." The Edge? "Mustache."
Reminds me -- magazines, enough with the Coldplay Are The New U2. "Fix You" ("the most important song we've ever written" Chris Martin told VH1 Storytellers) is Coldplay's "With or Without You" according to Newsweek. Does that mean they've peaked? I'll reserve judgment until I hear the whole album. Gotta say I'm impressed how well Capitol's kept the leaks at bay.

UPDATE: For those who haven't heard "Coldplay's 'With Or Without You'"...

Coldplay - Fix You (Live At Coachella)

...and another bit I forgot to excerpt from Newsweek (since we won't rest until Coldplay is compared to every popular rock band on the planet):

GUY BERRYMAN: "We're not a cool band anymore like the Strokes or the White Stripes, and sometimes I feel insecure about that."

Martin admits he winced when Radiohead's Thom Yorke, one of his heroes, labeled Coldplay "lifestyle music" —- a dig at the band's universality in films, stores, airports and Mom's iPod.

CHRIS MARTIN: "It's like unrequited love. I'm in love with a lot of things. Some of those things love me back. And some of them don't —- and one of them is Radiohead."

Incidentally, this issue of Newsweek was the magazine planning to reveal the Stereogum Indie-Yuppie Contest winners. The piece was killed 'cause NY Post ran it first (and presumably they needed more space to apologize for Quran-flushing fibs).

Posted at 12:12 PM




30 Comments

Maybe it's because I'm of a certain generation/cultural background, but to me not knowing that Peter Buck is the guitarist of R.E.M. is along the lines of not knowing that Ringo was the drummer of the Beatles.

Posted by: Tim at 05/26/05 1:15 PM | Reply
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How can Coldplay be the "new" U2 when u2 is still making "new" shit? I'm confused.

Posted by: Irish Mike at 05/26/05 1:22 PM | Reply
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yeah, i'm pretty shocked the album hasn't leaked yet with just a couple weeks to go til its release. i've been waiting everyday, since "speed of sound" is the most godawful coldplay song and i'm hoping the rest of the album redeems it.

Posted by: holmes at 05/26/05 1:30 PM | Reply
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the opening to "speed of sound" is almost identical to "clocks." i just hope the other songs on the album are better than this.

Posted by: EasyP at 05/26/05 1:43 PM | Reply
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Hey Johnny, here's the difference: while you're stuck in the exact same 1/8th notes we heard on "Yellow", The Edge is still awesome. And he wouldn't know Peter Buck without some plane incident? Man, he's lucky he latched on to Chris Martin's voice or he'd really be unheard of.

Posted by: whb at 05/26/05 1:53 PM | Reply
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This post is useless without links to the song (mp3)..

Posted by: Colter Hayne at 05/26/05 2:01 PM | Reply
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> This post is useless without links to the
> song (mp3)..

Coming!

Posted by: stereogum at 05/26/05 2:30 PM | Reply
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"How can Coldplay be the "new" U2 when u2 is still making "new" shit? I'm confused."

Cause U2 is the new Rolling Stones.

Posted by: Nathan at 05/26/05 2:37 PM | Reply
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haha. touche, nathan. touche. then what are the rolling stones?

Posted by: Irish Mike at 05/26/05 2:40 PM | Reply
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Too old to matter. heh. Sorry couldn't resist.

Posted by: Nathan at 05/26/05 2:51 PM | Reply
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>> This post is useless without links to the
>> song (mp3)..
>
>Coming!

I was hoping for links to that Short Circuit song! s'been a while.

Posted by: janine at 05/26/05 3:11 PM | Reply
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hahahahahahah
I had no idea Yorke had ever uttered the phrase "lifestyle music". I totally thought I coined that.

Posted by: jed at 05/26/05 3:15 PM | Reply
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As a non-fan of Coldplay's music, I must admit that based on those quotes they seem affable and witty.

Posted by: the management at 05/26/05 3:34 PM | Reply
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If thats what they think for guitar players, bass players are f'd.

Posted by: Zack at 05/26/05 3:50 PM | Reply
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radiohead may suck now, but yorke's right on with that "lifestyle music" quip

Posted by: dave at 05/26/05 4:21 PM | Reply
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when did radiohead start to suck? i must have missed that one.

Posted by: Irish Mike at 05/26/05 5:24 PM | Reply
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I don't think that Coldplay is even close to U2 or ever with be. However, I am a Mom, I have an iPod and I have both Radiohead and The Strokes on my iPod. (although I have to admit, not White Stripes!) So, I am the right to take just a tad bit offense to that comment! And--I am not a young Mom either!

Posted by: Amy at 05/26/05 5:51 PM | Reply
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Radiohead went downhill after The Bends. No ifs ands or buts about it.

Posted by: Jennifer at 05/26/05 6:49 PM | Reply
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Zoiks! Jennifer can't wait till Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton try to take on her shitstorm!

Posted by: Eddie at 05/26/05 7:24 PM | Reply
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Radiohead went downhill after the bends??? Before their heavily influential and world famous OK Computer album? Right.. No one who has seen Radiohead live would ever dispute their talent. Every one of their albums is amazing except for their first.

Posted by: Irish Mike at 05/26/05 7:39 PM | Reply
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most people who think radiohead dropped off after the bends seem to like accessible but boring bands like coldplay.

Posted by: music historian at 05/26/05 7:41 PM | Reply
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y'all be scaring me more and more around here. list me among the incredulous at comments like 'radiohead suck now.' try not. and i love that yorke sticks to his guns regarding coldplay. i was at a hollywood bowl r-head show a couple of years ago seated not far behind chris martin (and gwyneth, for what it's worth) and it looked like martin was basically studying yorke on how to me a good frontman. i've never seen someone look so serious at a show! it was like gwyneth wasn't even there.

then again, the true sign of any great bands are the haters that throw stones just to do it (cuz you know if any other band had cooked up 'hail to the thief' it would be hailed as the greatest thing ever - perceptions, people...). by continually pushing their sonic boundaries into new territories, they're going to upset the new traditionalists that wish yorke would keep re-writing 'fake plastic tress.' i'll take used-to-be-cool post-collegiates behind the wheel of volvo wagons over that set any day!

and as far as the stones are concerned, i've been rocking 'some girls' lately and wow! it's worth it for 'shattered' alone!

Posted by: me at 05/26/05 7:53 PM | Reply
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Quran-flushing fibs? Have Hannity, Rush and O'Reilly gotten to you too, Scott? Maybe you've just been secluded in your indie fortress of solitude for the last few days. The inside source may have recanted under intense pressure from the Pentagon and Whitehouse but now the story is being confirmed by FBI reports released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Did anyone really think this was false? Like the interrogators wouldn't think twice about sodomizing prisoners with glowsticks and attaching electrodes to their genitals but would absolutely draw the line at flushing the Quran down the toilet? Please.

Posted by: Jesus at 05/26/05 10:53 PM | Reply
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I'm actually kind of angry that a famous person used that line in public before I got a chance to. Now I can't use it if I'm ever famous. Fucker.

Posted by: jed at 05/27/05 9:18 AM | Reply
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mgmt: go see 'um live, you'll change your tune.

Posted by: Ninja at 05/27/05 12:10 PM | Reply
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Gawd. One more reason to despise Coldplay, uh, I mean, "Coldcuts." What a dumbass that guy is. YEAH sure, NOBODY has heard of Pete Townsend...and George Harrison...and Slash...and Keith Moon...DUUUDE. There are entire websites deidcated to the Spiders from Mars, for crying out loud. Lame-o-la. Turn out poor man's Radiohead is really also dumb man's Radiohead.

Posted by: fleurit at 05/27/05 8:01 PM | Reply
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Yeah they Stones may suck live now cuz Mick's voice is all kinda gone and Keith plays all sorts of bunk notes but guess what Nathan: Let it Bleed and Beggars Banquet and Xile on Main and fuck me, even Sticky Fingers are still the pinnacle of rock & roll, babies. That shit has NOT been touched yet. It's been 30 years and counting...I'm beginning to really believe rock & roll has peaked with the late '60s & early to mid-'70s Stones. It's kinda sad, but I fear it's true.

Posted by: fleurit again at 05/27/05 8:07 PM | Reply
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My God, Coldplay even named their guitarist Jonny...

Posted by: John K at 05/28/05 3:31 PM | Reply
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Say what you will, I enjoy Coldplay, and drifted away from Radiohead after Ok Computer.

Guess I'm "stupid". Jesus people. Get over yourselves.

Posted by: calliwell at 05/31/05 12:08 AM | Reply
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Coldplay suck- what with the whole parinoic indie thing they've got going on.
Lyrics-
"They are coming out of the water to get me
But you can't touch them, no
Because their all spies."
Or not going on?! I'm british and I am ashamed that I come from the country that produced them.
They haven't yet got to number one over here yet and I hope they never do. We are getting bored of them because ALL THEIR SONGS SOUND THE SAME!!! (Though you will still find the odd british coldplay obsession fan club in every school...Sad I know) Spend less time on bloody coldplay and more on Kaiser Chiefs- pure brit pop AT LAST!

Posted by: In Utero is the best album ever! at 08/29/05 1:17 PM | Reply
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