March 28, 2024

The latest from Iceland

Feb. 7, 2007
An icy cool, critically-acclaimed docu-mentary of the Icelandic music scene is about to be released, so if you’re at all a fan of Icelandic music, you’ll want to snap this one up. The striking Screaming Masterpiece, as directed by Ari Alexander Ergus Magnusson, is 85 minutes of pure Icelandic talent, featuring interviews and footage of bands from Bjork and the Sugarcubes to Sigur Ros, and trailing the artists both around their homes in Iceland and their world concert tours. Look for it to hit stores on March 6, mittens not included...

The Killers, who recently confirmed that they’ll be appearing at this year’s Canadian V Festival (alongside fellow indie rockers Hot Hot Heat and AFI), will also be kicking off their own tour this spring, with 15 dates confirmed and more on the way. So far, the Las Vegas band will hit the likes of Los Angeles (4/7), Phoenix, AZ (4/11), Atlanta, GA (4/22), and New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden (4/28) - tickets are on sale starting this week...

Big surprise for Crowded House fans: the band, as headed up by accomplished singer-songwriter Neil Finn, has recon-sidered a previously-made decision to, well, not reunite, and they will now get back together for a tour later this year, and will also record a new studio album. After the passing of drummer Paul Hester in 2005, the future of Crowded House appeared to be done - but Finn has decided that he wants to play in a band again, and what better one to work with than the one he loved the most. Crowded House will begin their next adventure with a set at the Coachella Valley Music Fest in late April, and will bring along multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart for the live shows...
Also playing at this year’s Coachella Fest will be UK buzz band The Kooks, who will be departing their native Brighton for a U.S. spring tour that will begin with that aforementioned Coachella set and will continue through mid-May. Their first visit to the States since their brief here-and-back tour back in October, the band will hit Seattle (4/3), Chicago (4/5 at The Metro), Columbus, OH (4/7), Toronto (4/8), New York City (4/10 at Irving Plaza), and Boston (4/13) before hopping back over the Pond...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK: Chicago band OK Go, becoming almost as well-known for their quirky and ambitious indie-rock dance videos as well as their catchy songs, recently held their OK Go Dances With You (Tube) contest, and now you can go online to http://okgo.net/dancecontest/ to view the official winners (we like the Lego one best)...

MINI BUZZ:
The latest Police rumors are that the band is planning to reunite for a one-off performance at the Grammy Awards on February 11 before embarking on an also-rumored large-scale tour...
Going on tour - for sure - is Gwen Stefani, who will kick off a 40-date schedule on April 21 in Las Vegas; her tour will run through June, with additional dates pending...
Angels and Airwaves are back in the studio, where they’ve already begun work on their upcoming second album...
Swedish band Teddybears have snagged none other than Iggy Pop to contribute vocals (and a music video appearance) to their new song “Punkrocker,” which appears on their album Soft Machine…
Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla is currently hard at work on his first solo album,
It’s Unsustainable, on which he plays every instrument save drums (which will be played by his DCFC bandmates Nathan Good and Jason McGerr); the disc is slated for release in the fall...
Get well soon wishes are going out this week to Snow Patrol drummer Jonny Quinn, who has been forced to temporarily step out of the band’s Euro tour after breaking his arm snowboarding in the Alps; Cranberries collaborator Graham Hopkins will fill in on drums...

And filling in media store shelves are this week’s new releases... ON CD:
American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee’s debut disc, Katharine McPhee...Alkaline Trio’s Remains... Beirut’s Lon Gisland... Tin Hat’s Sad Machinery of Spring... Kristin Hersh’s In Shock... and Xavier Rudd’s Food in the Belly... ON DVD: the Jazz Icons box set... The Doors (the movie) 15 Year Anniversary Edition... Loreena McKennitt’s No Journey’s End... and U2: Window in the Skies... 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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