Why don’t I like Coldplay? An investigation.

Another fantastic piece from Sasha Frere-Jones: pop-music critic for the New Yorker. As Coldplay has a new album coming out called Mylo Xyloto, this piece is a perfectly unscientific look into why Coldplay just shouldn’t be.

5. U2. -346

Seven out of ten times, Coldplay sound almost exactly like U2—the U2 that exists now, not the wiry, feral U2 of 1980 (which would be a decent idea). U2 have not broken up. This is inefficient. Coldplay should consider copying Big Star or The Monkees.

(via The New Yorker)

Update: Pitchfork has interviewed Chris Martin. I repeat: Pitchfork has interviewed Chris Martin. This reminds me of when Pitchfork interviewed U2 after giving “No Line on the Horizon” a 4.2. Both come off as massively successful musicians giving interviews like they genuinely wish that this blog – that consistently pans their current output – loved them like it loves Arcade Fire or M83.

Bono still thinks it’s everyone elses fault

AIDS Red RibbonThe essence of this news story by Reuters is that Bono still thinks that the richest countries around the world aren’t doing their part in the search for the cure of AIDS. Bono thinks that these countries (the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia and France) still have a long way to go in terms of their due responsibility of aid to Africa’s poor.

My turn. I think that Bono needs to stop flapping his mouth. It seems like nothing he says is constructive, and if he does try to throw in some original ideas, they are either unfeasible or plain ignorant. Eradicating HIV/AIDS is an ambition goal that hopefully will one day be overcome, but diseases that are based so much on human behaviors can’t be cured simply by an injection or treatment. As long as stigmas like the idea that a man infected with AIDS can be cured by having sex with a virgin are in existence, these diseases will continue to spread. Continue reading “Bono still thinks it’s everyone elses fault”