March 29, 2024

Pearl Jam Questions Reality

March 15, 2006
Pearl Jam is set to release their self-titled eighth album, which consists of thirteen tracks of the band, as singer Eddie Vedder puts it, “processing some of their emotions about the reality of war and today’s modern day worries.”  Two tracks have already been included in the band’s live sets - “Comatose” and “Gone” - Pearl Jam are also giving away a free MP3 of the album’s first single, “World Wide Suicide,” via their website www.pearljam.com, and you can get the rest of the full-length album when it hits stores on May 2 ...
 
Not that it’s any surprise - because it happens pretty much every summer - but Dave Matthews Band have announced that they’re once again hitting the tour trail, and they’ll begin their longggggg roster of shows on May 30.  They’ll stay on the road until the end of September, when their final show will be on September 23 in Charlottesville, Virginia;  along the way, they’ll make stops in Clarkston MI (6/6 at the DTE Energy Music Theater), Toronto (6/13), Cuyahoga Falls OH (8/2), West Palm Beach FL (8/12), Hollywood CA (8/28), and Denver, Colorado (9/12).  They’ll also take along a variety of opening acts that will split the various dates, among them Gov’t Mule, Bela Fleck and the Flectones, O.A.R., Gomez, Pat Green, and Matisyahu...
 
Dinosaur Jr.’s two Sire Records releases, “Green Mind” and “Where You Been,” are being expanded and reissued by Rhino Records, with both discs set to hit stores on May 16.  The reissued discs will contain both remastered versions of the original songs as well as some rare bonus tracks - on Green Mind, those bonuses will include B-sides “Turnip Farm” and “Forget It” as well as a cover of Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Hot Burrito #2,” and on Where You Been, the extras will include a ten-minute version of “What Else Is New”...
 
Detroiter Madonna and Londoner David Bowie are set to do voiceover work for the upcoming Luc Besson fantasy film Arthur and the Minimoys - a combination of live action film and computer animation, the fantasy story will follow the escapades of ten-year-old Arthur (played by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Freddie Highmore) as he tries to save the home of his grandmother (Mia Farrow) by searching for his grandfather’s treasure in the land of the Minimoys.  Among the characters he’ll meet along the way are Princess Selenia (Madonna), Max (played by Snoop Dogg) and the evil ruler Malthazar, played by - who else? - David Bowie...
 
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:  Beck has recorded two cover versions of the Nick Drake songs “Parasite” and “Which Will,” both from Drake’s 1972 album Pink Moon - both tracks can be heard as streaming audio on Beck’s official site, www.beck.com, so go and listen now...
 
MINI BUZZ:
In other Madonna news, it’s finally been confirmed that Maddie will join the lineup of performers at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California - she’ll appear backed by a live band in the festival’s electronica/dance oriented Sahara Tent - and Madonna’s own tour is expected to begin in May...
James Blunt’s single, “You’re Beautiful,” has hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making him the first solo British singer to do so since Elton John hit #1 with “Candle in the Wind” way back in 1997...
Singer-songwriter Lisa Germano, who will be appearing at this year’s SXSW festival, will be releasing her new album, In the Maybe World, this summer...
The Goo Goo Dolls’ eighth album, Let Love In, is nearing completion - among the tracks expected to make the cut are “Feel the Silence,” “Strange Love,” “Give a Little Bit,” and “Tuesday”...
Say Anything will kick off an extensive spring tour this week in Philly, and will stay on the road through mid-May...
And if you see a gig poster with “Saved Latin” on it, chances are it’ll be Fall Out Boy instead - the band has been playing a few secret shows under that name...
 
In the meantime, keep your ears out for this week’s cool new releases... ON CD:   Belle + Sebastian’s Late Night Tales... Rhett Miller’s The Believer... Prodigy’s Liam Howlett’s Back to Mine mix...The reissue of Phil Ochs’ All the News That’s Fit to Sing... Editors’ Back Room... and James Horner’s soundtrack to The New World...  ON DVD:  Devo 2.0... A-Trak: Sunglasses Is a Must... Goldfrapp’s Supernature DVD... and the Funk You Very Much DVD, featuring performances from Tower of Power, Curtis Mayfield, Terence Trent D’Arby, Marcus Miller, and 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 ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com! 
 

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