Prince, Metallica, Free Coldplay Single in Monday Music News

Lots of music news to start off the week. Prince is apparently back in fine form as a live act, and the he L.A. Times has praise for his set at Coachella. "The musician's dazzling performance Saturday night uses hits, guest stars and killer covers to cement his status as perhaps the top live act around," the article gushes. One cover tune he did: Radiohead's oldie-but-goodie, "Creep."

Speaking of Radiohead, Wired reports that Metallica is considering doing a pay-what-you-want release as Radiohead did for its "In Rainbows" album. Although Metallica has long been a critic of filesharing, Wired notes that "...With only one record left on its Warner Music Group contract, [Lars] Ulrich says Metallica could be planning a digital release along the lines of what Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done, as ironic as that might seem."

Continuing with the theme of digital downloads, Coldplay is going to give away its new single free online. A notice on the Coldplay Web site says that "Violet Hill," from the band's new album "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends," will be available free online for one week starting on Tuesday.

Perhaps more interesting, Coldplay has announced it will do two free shows: London's Brixton Academy (June 16th) and New York's Madison Square Garden (June 23rd).

Coachella 2008 Lineup Released

Portishead, the Breeders, Roger Waters, Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, and M.I.A. are just a few of the names appearing at the 2008 Coachella festival in Indio, California. You can find it at the Coachella site and at sites such as Stereogum.

Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd, will be recreating the band's "Dark Side of the Moon" in its entirety.

The Coachella 2008 festival takes place April 25th -27th.

Much of the reaction in the blogosphere seems to be that this is a weak lineup, but hell, I see plenty of acts I'd like to catch.