Coldplay nabs Brian Eno for new album

Brian Eno will be producing the new album from Coldplay, the acclaimed producer said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. Eno described the band's new material as being "very original and very different from what they've done before." Chris Martin and his bandmates have been working on their fourth album--the follow-up to 2005's X&Y--since October 2006 after purchasing their own studio in London. As previously reported, the band is set to play a handful of shows in Latin America to preview the new material. Eno and radio host Kristy Lang had been discussing the Talking Heads' influence on current pop music, and when Lang asked if the new Coldplay album would sound at all like that band, Eno laughed and replied, "Funnily enough, I mentioned to David Byrne the other day that we are trying very hard to stay clear of Talking Heads."

Report documents Bono's tax breaks

Bono is the most public face of philanthropy in the music business, but the U2 frontman handles his personal finances in a way that is at odds with that image, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. The wire service report chronicles how Bono and his U2 mates organize their various business entities to pay low tax rates and to avoid them altogether if possible. The report says that the $389 million the band made from its Vertigo tour was funneled through companies that are mostly registered in Ireland and structured to minimize taxes. It also notes that the band moved its music publishing company to the Netherlands from Ireland in June 2006, just six months before Ireland ended an exemption on musicians' royalty income, which is generally untaxed in the Netherlands.

"U2 are arch-capitalists--but it looks as if they're not,'' Jim Aiken, a music promoter who helped stage U2 concerts in Ireland during the 1980s and 1990s, told Bloomberg. Bono declined to be interviewed for the article, but several pundits said the singer's business dealings run counter to his public image as fully dedicated to helping the poor. "This is somebody who's exceptionally rich taking the opportunity to shift his tax burden to somebody else, but then asking governments around the world to spend that tax take in the way that he would like,'' said Richard Murphy, a UK-based adviser to the Tax Justice Network, an international lobbying group.

CHP recommends charge for Brandy in crash

The California Highway Patrol recommended Monday that actress-singer Brandy be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a freeway crash that killed a woman motorist last month, The Associated Press reported today. The CHP has referred the matter to the City of Los Angeles' city attorney's office, which will decide to charge Brandy as recommended, lessen the charge, or make it a felony. "The office is currently reviewing the case and determining whether the evidence warrants the filing of a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter," a spokesman told the AP. Brandy's publicist, Courtney Barnes, did not return calls seeking comment.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. The CHP has said that Brandy--real name Brandy Norwood--wasn't under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the incident and was not talking on a cell phone. The singer, 27, was driving a Land Rover on Interstate 405 on December 30 when traffic slowed and her vehicle struck the back of a Honda driven by Awatef Aboudihaj, 38, according to a CHP report. Aboudihaj's car hit another vehicle, slid sideways into the center divider, and was then hit by another car, the report said. Aboudihaj died at a hospital from blunt-force injuries, according to the coroner's office.

B.B. King leaves hospital

B.B. King was discharged from a Galveston hospital Saturday following treatment for a fever and was "back to his old self," a spokeswoman for his management agency said. The 81-year-old Grammy-winning bluesman was "feeling fabulous," said Tina France, vice president of Lieberman Management of New York. King had been scheduled to perform Thursday and Friday at the Grand Opera House, but was admitted to The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. King still plans to perform Tuesday in Fort Worth, France said. Concerts that had been scheduled before then in Galveston, Orange, and Tyler will be rescheduled for June, she said. King, who has a history of diabetes, had a 100-degree fever following a bout with the flu and monitoring was required because of his age, hospital officials told the AP. Doctors treated him with antibiotics, she said.

Young Buck arrested for failure to appear

G-Unit rapper Young Buck was arrested over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, on a warrant for failing to appear in court. The 25-year-old rapper--real name Darnell Brown--allegedly had an outstanding warrant stemming from an arrest last July on a misdemeanor violation for driving on a suspended license. Police said they spotted the rapper driving his black Escalade in downtown Nashville, pulled him over, and arrested him. He was booked then released on $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court February 27. Young Buck's forthcoming album, Buck the World, is set to hit stores March 20.

Rogue Wave drummer receives kidney transplant

Pat Sturgeon, drummer for indie rock band Rogue Wave, has received a kidney transplant and is recovering, according to a post on the band's Web site. As previously reported, Sturgeon's medical insurance wouldn't pay for most of the costs associated with the transplant, so the band held a benefit concert in San Francisco last September to raise money for him.

"We are very pleased to announce that Pat Spurgeon has finally received a kidney!" the band wrote on its site. "On Friday January 12th, Pat underwent kidney transplant surgery, and it was a great success. He is now in the process of resting and recuperating with friends and loved ones and is on the road to a full recovery. Throughout the course of Pat's struggle with kidney failure, there have been so many of you that have been so gracious in showing your love and support for him. To those of you that sent him MySpace messages, emails, and donations, your kind words did not go unread; your concern and hopefulness did not go unnoticed."