To get Coldplay!

Dropping today, the much-anticipated fourth album Viva La Vida (meaning “long live life,” a phrase from a Frida Kahlo painting) delivers less falsetto and a more dark and dirty sound from Chris Martin.

Purchase Viva La Vida at Amazon.ca ($11.99).

Download Viva la Vida today from iTunes ($9.99)

Herewith, our top for the Pops, from $20 to $200.

5. For the danger dad, this year’s James Bond book by Brit Sebastian Faulks called Devil May Care (from $16.47 at www.chapters.indigo.ca).

4. For the fashion-forward dad, Comme des Garçons 2 Man fragrance ($108) in this great bottle exclusive in Western Canada, or Tanner leather belts (from $88) that get better with age at Roden Gray.

3. For the rad dad, some locally-made and -designed duds by Wings + Horns, like high-end hoodies ($195) and reversed twill cotton shorts ($175) at Holt Renfrew.

2. For the retro-rock dad, the new Eagles album The Long Road Out of Eden along with this month’s Rolling Stone. $19.99 (exclusively online) at Chapters.

1. For dapper dad, a gift certificate for a straight edge shave, hot towel treatment and scalp massage ($25) from retro-chic Farzad’s Barber Shop in Yaletown. #126-1208 Homer St., 604-408-0060.

We took a quick sprint to Seattle and bunked at one of Emerald City’s only luxury waterfront hotels, The Edgewater.

Drop your bags with a friendly valet (and warm your hands by the roaring outdoor fireplace) and step into urban wilderness scene—Whister-meets-Washington State!—complete with wood-cabin-chic décor and striking views of Elliot Bay and the Olympic Mountains.

Get hippie happy with a weekend of 60s rock star nostalgia in The Beatles Suite (from $850/night), a 700 square foot room on the 2nd floor decked out with a photo gallery, rock memorabilia and state-of-the-art stereo system (to blast Revolution, of course). Look for the infamous photo of The Fab Four fishing out of the window of this very suite. Fans were so eager for a piece of John et al., one even attempted to swim up to the room via Elliot Bay.

Yoko, was that you?

Rooms from $219/night, Edgewater Hotel, Pier 67, Seattle, 1-800-624-0670, www.edgewaterhotel.com

Baby Beluga begone!

The Barenaked Ladies come to the rescue with their fist kids CD, Snacktime that drops May 6.

Full of laugh-out-loud lyrics (“I have some orange pants. I wear them when I dance. But I don’t get out much anymore”), classic BNL rhyming (“Ribbit, ribbit, it’s a tadpole exhibit”), and silliness (“ I don’t speak Chinese but I do parle Francais, in fact I parled some today…”).

We paraphrase but you get the idea. Trust us, just buy it.

Preorder the CD ($10 with free shipping until April 28) at http://www.bnlmusic.com/

Musical repertoire need some dusting off? That Timbaland you’re listening to is soooo last summer. Spring clean your iPod with new playlist ideas (each with 12 songs) from www.muxtape.com.

We found some new French artists and cool compilations, like this 33-minute mixtape mastered by Spacemonkey.

Help! We can’t stop!

www.muxtape.com

Finally, Glastonbury Music Festival gumboot glam is coming to our very own Pemberton Valley with the summer music festival to end all festivals.

From Coldplay to Jay-Z to Tom Petty to The Crystal Method, everyone in your group will have something to rock out to.

Weekend passes ($239-$599) go on sale tomorrow and though local lodges are already booked up, we hear that Fairmont Chateau Whistler (from $207) is the hot place to stay—complete with VIP heli-transfers to the Fest. Lets just hope you get on Chris Martin’s flight.

Tickets go on sale Friday March 28, 2008 at 10 a.m., www.pembertonfestival.com

True story.

The brilliant visual artist Julian Schnabel’s brilliant film based on the brilliant novel The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is nothing short of, well, brilliance.

It’s already swept the Golden Globes and Cannes and is set to do the same at the Oscars, with an impressive four noms.

Deeply moving and cinematically stunning, with a killer soundtrack (listen for the song sung by Roman Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who is also the film’s female lead).

The butterflies, we assure you, will be aflutter in your stomach.

View the trailer and hear the song here.

Now that you’ve done sex, drugs and rock & roll, how about Sexsmith, Feist and the VSO?

In this special pre-Olympics concert at the Orpheum Theatre, soulful Ron Sexsmith sets up Feist who will be backed up by the VSO, performing original arrangements composed just for the show.

Valentine’s date anyone?

7:30 p.m, February 12, 2007. Tickets from $59. For more info and to order, click here.

Worried about sifting through the newspapers looking for live music only to end up at a KFed Karaoke concert?

Check out the listings at new Vancouver music website Chalked Up where we found tonight’s concert for young Norwegian heartthrob Sondre Lerche who has been compared to a young Elvis Costello.

Now that’s one hot ticket.

Chalked Up, http://vancouver.chalkedup.com/events

Our music stylist created a custom soundtrack for our national launch party in Toronto and we love to share.

Download songs (99 cents each) from iTunes and your party guests are guaranteed to play well with others.  Please report back.
 
10. “I Luv U Babe” Gwyn Jay Allen
9. “Driving” The Dining Rooms
8 “Misread” Kings of Convenience
7. “If Ever I Feel Better” Phoenix
6. “The Talk” Erlend Oye
5. “Darlin’ Do Not Fear” Brett Dennen
4. “Seven Sunny Days in June” Jamiroquai
3. “Wishing on a Star” Paul Weller
2. “Mon Amour” Louie Vega
1. “They” Jem
 
http://www.apple.com/itunes/