Sigur Rós announced details of their fifth studio LP today, Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, roughly translated as With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly (thanks, DrownedinSound!). The album contains their first track sung in English, along with 10 others. The tracklist runs thus:

1. Gobbledigook
2. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
3. Góðan daginn
4. Við spilum endalaust
5. Festival
6. Með suð í eyrum
7. Ára bátur
8. Illgresi
9. Fljótavík
10. Straumnes
11. All alright

Following on from that, the band release the opening track, Gobbledigook, for free download tonight, following the world premiere on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show. The album is released on June 23, and will be popped out on the standard formats, plus a fancy deluxe edition including a book and a film. Hopefully it will be better than 205’s Takk…, widely lauded but ultimately unsatisfying for me. I couldn’t get past Milano. The band will be supporting the release with several festival appearances, along with the inevitable headline tour, including the already available European tour in July and August.

Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

So, Coldplay are getting round to touring their Ricky Martin inspired fourth LP, Viva La Vida. Whilst this has been getting a kicking in most places, the lead single got a 2/5 in the Observer Music Monthly for example, they are still a huge live draw. Arenas it is then!

The tour runs:
Birmingham NIA: December 1-2
Glasgow SECC: December 5-6
Sheffield Arena: December 7
Liverpool Echo Arena: December 10
Manchester MEN Arena: December 11-12
London O2: December 14-15

Tickets on sale, at vastly inflated, making poverty for Coldplay history, prices on Friday, 9am.

Plenty of space in there for extra dates, spinning this out for longer than needed or necessary.

Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Coldplay - Violet Hill (Nikolai Levey’s Floating in Space Remix)
Coldplay - A Spell A Rebel Yell

Show of the Week: Maxïmo Park, Blood Red Shoes, Mystery Jets & Pete & The Pirates, May 28, Kentish Town Forum.

A special charity show in aid of a couple of charities, and some fantastic bands playing. Gotta be a winner from all angles.

Paul Smith from headliners Maxïmo Park says “When someone you know is up against cancer it makes sense to give them your full support. Since that is currently the case, and that person is being treated at The Royal Marsden hospital, which was recently damaged by fire, we decided to do what we can as a band. What we do best is play concerts and we intend to give all profit from our gig at The Forum to help rebuild the cancer unit where they not only look after sufferers but continue to further our knowledge and treatment of the disease. We’ve never been a preachy band or asked people to shell out daft amounts for tickets, but this show will be well worth the entry fee for a number of reasons.”

For three further reasons, listen to these:

Maxïmo Park - Apply Some Pressure
Blood Red Shoes - ADHD
Mystery Jets -  Young Love

Here are the best of the rest…

May 27
Sennen @ Dublin Castle
Tom White / Chris TT @ Upstairs at The Enterprise
Bob Mould @ Koko

May 28
Paris Motel @ Bush Hall
Tapes & Tapes @ ULU

May 29
The Black Keys @ Astoria
Silver Jews @ ULU
The Futureheads @ The Electric Ballroom
Ice, Sea, Dead People @ Good Ship

May 30
Bruce Springsteen @ Emirates Stadium

May 31
The Owl Service @ RoTa, Notting Hill Arts Club
Ed Harcourt @ 12 Acklam Road

June 1
Grand National @ Amersham Arms
Lykke Li @ George IV, W4

June 2
Autolux @ Cargo
Sons & Daughters @ Koko

Spiritualized Songs In A&E Buy MP3: Sitting On Fire

Vetiver Thing Of The Past Buy MP3: Roll On Babe

Johnny Flynn A Larum Buy MP3: Leftovers

Album of the week is no close run thing this week, with Spiritualized’s Songs In A&E beating everything by some considerable distance. It’s a beautiful, personal record, following Jason Pierce’s brush with death back in 2005. This is the group’s best since Ladies And Gentlemen…, and although it doesn’t quite match the majesty of that LP, it certainly ranks higher than either of the last two records. A contender for album of the year so far. Best of the rest is Vetiver’s third LP Thing Of The Past, a slice of melodic folk-rock. Not really a patch on 2006’s To Find Me Gone, but still a good record. Also rocking the folky end of the spectrum this week is South London’s Johnny Flynn with his debut, A Larum. Possibly the first album to contain a song after Shrek-faced scouser Wayne Rooney.

The Futureheads This Is Not The World Buy MP3: Radio Heart

The Wedding Present El Rey Buy .

Born Ruffians Red Yellow & Blue Buy MP3: Badonkadonkey

The Futurehead’s third LP, This Is Not The World, is self-released after 2006’s News and Tributes was perceived as a flop. This, like the last, is a solid effort though; sure there’s not the spark of their debut, but good nonetheless. The Wedding Present continue their recent revival with El Rey, which I haven’t heard. Eyebrows were raised when the pioneering electronic label Warp signed Maxïmo Park, those same eyebrows may well clear their respective foreheads when they hear Born Ruffians. Indie to the core, there is nothing here to distinguish them from the pack, and on this evidence Warp may be better sticking to bleeps and breaks.

Booka Shade The Sun & The Neon Light Buy MP3: Charlotte

Health Health // Disco Buy .

Minilogue Animals Buy .

The more electronic side of things is relatively sparse this week, the biggest release possibly being Booka Shade’s The Sun & The Neon Light. Much noisier is Health’s remix album Health//Disco, featuring remixes by Crystal Castles and other hand-picked artists. From what I’ve heard, the big Crystal Castles glitchfest Crimewave is the highlight. Towards the quiet side is Minilogue’s double-LP release Animals, slight minimal techno fluff from Sweden. A good listen.

Sennen Where The Light Gets In Buy

Lonely Drifter Karen Grass Is Singing Buy

Pigeon Detectives Emergency Buy

The final three this week are a mixed bunch, quality post-rock from Norwich’s Sennen, wonderfully eclectic singer-songwritery stuff from Euro-skipping Lonely Drifter Karen, and then to round off some staid indie-rock from NME-dahlings The Pigeon Detectives.

The results from the last poll were:
1. Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles
2. Martha Wainwright - I Know You’re Married But I Have Feelings Too
=3. Santogold - Santogold
=3. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Don’t forget to vote on this week’s poll, to be found over < there in the left sidebar!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoJqO1bzrCg]

Last night, watching the musical diarrhoea that is Eurovision I had a massive, pleasant surprise! France’s entry was no other than the brilliant Sébastien Tellier with the appropriately named Divine. A wonderfully tasteful tune, with just the right amount of humour, but clearly not tacky or crap enough to win or even score well. Europe: you have no taste!

It’s a brave move for an established and acclaimed artist, especially as Divine features on Tellier’s recent LP, Sexuality. Perhaps even more brave was the fact that the Frenchman sung in English… It also represents a possible change in strategy for the otherwise floundering Western European nations: do they try and use big name artists like France, or just throw in the towel and not turn up like Austria.

This year’s worst: Spain and Bosnia-Herzogovina!

Sébastien Tellier - Divine