March 28, 2024

Get your Folk on

Aug. 30, 2006
A new 2-CD, 2-DVD box set titled The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited is being released in honor of musicologist Harry Smith, the man who helped introduce listeners to a large majority of American folk music through his own anthology series and short films.  The new set, which will feature a large range of talent interpreting many of the vintage songs that were released in 1952 on Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music Collection, is expected to include songs by such artists as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, and Mississippi John Hurt, as reimagined by the musicians of today, among them Beck, Beth Orton, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Gavin Friday, and Wilco.  The set, which will be released on October 24, will also include a documentary on Smith and several of Smith’s film shorts...
After much resiliant resistance from the owners and much support from the NYC music community, legendary rock/punk venue CBGBs has finally pushed its negotiations as far as it could go and will reportedly be permanently closed on September 30 due to ongoing “lease complications.”  The club, which hosted famed early gigs by the likes of the Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, and Blondie, will feature Dub Trio as its final band concert on September 28, with a secondary lineup of bands playing all day long in CB’s downstairs lounge; among the acts set to pay tribute to CBGBs’ final day are The Last Word, Shadow Machine, The Getaway Drive, Plan of Attack, Amie Amis, and Hugh Mann and The Beings.  CBGBs is likely to move to another location in Manhattan, although, of course, the atmosphere of the historical venue just won’t be the same...
The creators of the Bonnaroo Music Fest in Tennessee are taking their concept to a slightly more civilized environment - namely the bright lights, big city setting of Las Vegas.  Dubbed Vegoose 2006, the new-ish event, only in its second outing, will be taking place at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium on October 28 and 29 of this year, with tix going on sale as of this week;  a sister event dubbed Vegoose at Night will also stage a series of nighttime concerts to coincide with the main Vegoose event.  The full lineup of artists is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, but already confirmed are The Killers, The Raconteurs, Fiona Apple, the Mars Volta, The Roots, and Built to Spill; find out more online at www.vegoose.com/2006...
Evanescence’s new album is set to arrive in stores this fall, with the entire band hopping on the tour bus in promotion of the album just a few days later.  Focusing primarily on theater shows during the North American leg, Evanescence will make stops in Toronto (10/5), NYC (10/9), Philadelphia (10/10), Washington DC (10/11), at Detroit’s State Theater on October 13, and at Chicago’s famed Aragon Ballroom on October 17.  Snag tix now online, and check out the new album, The Open Door, beginning October 3...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:  Danish rockers Mew stopped by AOL’s The Interface online studio to be interviewed, snap a few photos, and perform a few of their great new songs; listen online on-demand, or download the free podcast at http://music.aol.com/artists/the-interface/mew...
MINI BUZZ:
Are they or aren’t they?  After Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo told MTV just last month that he was quite sure that, in so many words, Weezer was over, a message popped up on the band’s official site telling fans not to “believe the hype” - time will tell...
Speaking of MTV, the latest band to hop on the channel’s $2 Bill Concert Series is set to be My Chemical Romance, who will perform live at Philly’s Trocadero Theater on September 6 for - you guessed it - a measly two bucks...
To help celebrate their upcoming best-of CD collection, Oasis will be screening their new on-the-road documentary, Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, in selected cities this November...
Dashboard Confessional have announced that they’ll be embarking on a schedule of fall tour dates with special guests Brand New; the band will make stops in, among other cities, San Jose,CA (10/17), Las Vegas (10/20), and Rosemont, Illinois on October 27...
The self-titled debut disc from rockers Army of Anyone, featuring former Stone Temple Pilots Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo plus Filter singer Richard Patrick, will hit stores on November 14; listen for lead single “Goodbye” on radio beginning this week...
And Scissor Sisters’ new album, Ta-Dah, will now also be available in a limited edition with a second disc that will feature several non-album tracks and a special remix of the disc’s first single, “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”...
ON CD:  Vienna Teng’s Dreaming Through the Noise... The Knife’s Silent Shout... Muse’s Black Holes and Revelation... David Gilmour’s remastered About Face... Tortoise’s A Lazarus Taxon... and Sixpence None the Richer singer Leigh Nash’s Blue on Blue... ON DVD: Johnny Cash - Live in Denmark... The Pixies’ Acoustic: Live in Newport... Queen: Bohemian Champions - Interviews... and From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: Madison Square Garden Concert, with proceeds to support long-term rebuilding and relief efforts in the Gulf Coast and featuring performances from the likes of Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, The Meters, Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Buckwheat Zydeco, and many more... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians?  Send it all to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com

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