Whether you take or leave Coldplay mostly depends on your taste for their brand of overproduced nursery rhymes and moody rock-star glowering. But what of the megaband's performance this past weekend on Saturday Night Live, with frontman Chris Martin bounding through Studio 8A like a sort of atonal Bono? What of that insistent pitchiness and those karaoke-grade moves underscoring his most recent album's title track "Viva la Vida" — the single on which Coldplay's label EMI was counting to help rescue it from certain insolvency in 2009? In a post-Groban world where any court jester who tries hard enough can usurp his king's crown, is Martin's lunacy the un-self-conscious work of a born performer, or just another postmodern, funk-faking harbinger of SNL's obsolescence? We could go either way, though (SPOILER ALERT) the inspired back-bend at the end puts this just over the top for us every time. Team Coldplay? We think? [NBC]

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In a world where everything old is new again, the latest cultural relic to get its return to the spotlight is that staple of 80's cheese: the exercise instructional video. First resurrected by noted Americana anthropologist Heidi Montag, the fitness tape is set to receive its most high-profile update yet, says Marie Claire. Filling Jane Fonda's leotard this time will be none other than Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, who will share the secrets of how to attain a body worth baring in the pages of GQ and gams that could transfix even the most jaded talk show host:

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Accompanying this interesting article regarding recent accusations directed toward Coldplay that the mega-selling British band ripped off the song 'Viva La Vida' from a group called Creaky Boards is the following YouTube clip created by the disgruntled frontman of the aforementioned ensemble.

Impressive mo, but what are your thoughts when it comes to the plagiarism complaint?

We may not be the president of often smug, S&M footwear devotee Gwyneth Paltrow's fan club, but based on husband Chris Martin's recent cover story in Rolling Stone, we may consider joining based solely on her taste in men. The Coldplay front man, deemed "The Jesus Of Uncool" on the mag's cover, gives an interview that reveals that thoughts both homoerotic and apocalyptic (not to mention a severe case of Brad Pitt Penis Envy) are running through his brilliant but damaged head. Our favourite moments after the jump unmask Martin's incredibly forthright confessions regarding his assurance that Barack Obama will "fuck up" America for good, his lifelong love affair with "fantastic" boobs, and the apparent gay phase he went through while growing up. For example:

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For all his scribbling on his hands about coffee beans and occasionally writing overly ponderous epic rock songs, Chris Martin seems to have remained charmingly daft through his steep descent into the upper echelons of "celebrity" (see: famous rock band, famous wife).

For evidence, look no further than his latest Rolling Stone interview, which for some reason makes me think of Martine McCutcheon running off her mouth at No. 10 Downing Street in Love Actually (which in turn makes me think of Martine McCutcheon vomiting in Mick Hucknall's glorious ginger dreadlocks, but that's another story):

He admits that growing up he worried about being gay.

"It was more like, 'Oh s***, what if?', because was brought up to think it was wrong," he told Rolling Stone.

"But then it struck me: who gives a s**t? And then it wasn't a problem.

"It sounds silly to say it now, but when you're a kid you think, 'I'm going to burn in hell for eternity if I like other guys or if I marry someone Jewish'."

But he eventually calmed down when he realized he was heterosexual.

"I was swayed by boobs," he says. "Let's face it, they're fantastic." Even so, it was not until he was 22 that he finally lost his virginity.

"There were religious issues and s**t like that," he says, adding: "Also confidence. I had a tricky time with girls.

"I got trapped in the friendship tip many, many times.

"I don't want to be the person that makes everyone laugh before they go off and bang. I want to be the guy that everybody bangs." He says that was the key driving force in his career course.

No wonder Gwyneth is so into yoga and meditation and macrobiotic rice milk, if this is the sort of chatterbox she has to put up with at home!

It has been many, many moons since Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt broke it off, but that doesn't mean that Gwyneth is immune to the jealousy that Angelina Jolie and her multi-national brood of infants inspires. In the new issue of Harper's Bazaar, Paltrow tells the mag that, "I may force myself to [get pregnant] one more time because the result is so worth it...And also my [late] dad said to me that his only regret in life was that he had only two children and he didn't have more." Though we doubt Coldplay frontman Chris Martin finds these loving words inspiring when it comes to slipping into the sheets with his hooker-heeled wife, Paltrow seems to feel the Apocalypse will officially begin if he doesn't. You see, she's just the best mother in the whole world (aside from Dina Lohan, that is), and "owes it to humanity" to produce another spawn. Also? Her late father was reincarnated as her hair,and chopping it off made her go "...aaah!" An explanation, after the jump:

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When Defamer Australia heard that Coldplay were giving away the first single from their new album away for nada, we were quick to assume it'd probably be rather rubbish. After all, their last album was coma-inducing (just ask Toni Collette), and whoever once pulled Chris Martin aside and informed him his falsetto was awesome and he should overuse it to a nauseating degree ought to be shot.

But guess what? Violet Hill is actually... dare I say it... surprisingly good! It took a couple of listens before I was convinced, and the bit where he sings "Clearly I remember..." made me immediately think of the lyric from Pearl Jam's Jeremy ("... picking on the boy") - something I blame on a recent car trip with my mother where we listened to Triple M for longer than I care to share right now - but eventually it grabbed me, especially the rather haunting refrain of "If you loved me, why'd you let me gooooo...".

Consider their last album's kick off single was Speed Of Sound, and you'll understand why this is a welcome return to some kind of form.

Hear it for yourself over at the band's MySpazz, if you haven't already been hit over the head with it.

But much,much better than Violet Hill is another track which is floating around from the new record, and it's called Viva La Vida.

I was hoping some wag on YouTube would have made a nice homemade clip for it already, but EMI has been pulling down tributes like Malcolm Fraser pulls down pants (erm, so they've done it at least once, as far as I can tell), so you'll have to make do with this gents' rendition of it.

Or maybe you'd prefer a cover group's efforts - they're known as the Coldplayers, for god's sake, so you know they're "enthusiastic" about the whole thing.

And there you have it. Coldplay, you've shocked me. I am pleasantly impressed and happy to admit it publicly - c'mon, no one likes a coolsie dickhead who is too proud to admit they like something which might be unfashionable in the eyes of some, right? Right?

Right.

Looks like "we're giving our next album/single away for free" is code for "we haven't made a relevant album in a while and we're worried that we're becoming stale, do you still like us, DO YOU? Here, have it for free!" when it comes to the monsters of rock.

First Radiohead, then Prince, now Coldplay are releasing their next single online and for free. Well, gosh, thanks, guys!

A note posted on www.coldplay.com said that fans can download Violet Hill from the album Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends free for one week from tomorrow.

The album will be launched in Britain on June 12.

Coldplay also announced two free shows - one at London's Brixton Academy on June 16 and another at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 23.

PONDEROUS ADULT CONTEMPORARY BALLADS, OUT THEY GO!! THESE REFLECTIONS ON A VEGAN LIFESTYLE IN THE HARSH FACE OF STARDOM WILL NEVER BE REPEATED!!

See? They're already flying off the shelves.

File this one under the 'unscientific yet mightily entertaining and wholly vindicating' header: a UK survey has found that of all the sounds that put them to sleep, most reach for Coldplay when they feel the need for soporific songs.

We're not sure they really needed to conduct a survey to find this out, but it's still nice to have it confirmed in some way.

Britons like a dose of rock band Coldplay to help them fall asleep, a survey from hotel chain Travelodge found today.

The band, whose frontman Chris Martin says he avoids caffeine and alcohol and is known for a lifestyle that is anything but rock 'n' roll, came top in a poll of music choices to help you nod off.

Other artists chosen for their slumber-inducing qualities were James Blunt, Snow Patrol, Take That and Norah Jones.