Modest Mouse that Roared

March 14, 2007

Modest Mouse Roars
Modest Mouse are set to release their latest full-length CD, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, on March 20 . The much-anticipated album will include songs “Dashboard,” “Florida,” “We’ve Got Everything,” “Fly Trapped in a Jar,” “People As Places As People,” and “Spitting Venom,” and fans can get an immediate bonus download of the “Dashboard” single if they pre-order the album on iTunes now...

Rufus Wainwright is readying his next album, too - titled Release the Stars, this one will be his fifth disc and his first self-produced work, on which he’s collaborated with the likes of executive producer Marius DeVries (Bjork, David Bowie) and Richard Thompson. Not much word on whether or not Wainwright will tour, but he will make at least one appearance at the Coachella Festival in California in April. Tracklisting for the new album is set to include songs “Do I Disappoint You,” “Leaving for Paris,” “Sanssouci,” and “Tulsa”...

Chicago band OK Go, have already snagged two unexpected YouTube hits with their lo-tech videos “A Million Ways” (choreographed dancing in their backyard) and “Here It Goes Again” (choreographed dancing on a set of treadmills, filmed for free at a local gym) - and they’re looking to do it again. According to frontman Damian Kulash, the band enjoys utilizing videos as a form of creative expression more than as a promotional tool (although it’s obviously served them well both ways) - so this time, they’re filming the vid for their song “Do What You Want” with one camera shot in one room with one background, and the band - dressed to match the background wallpaper - simply trying to cram as many dance moves and body actions as possible into the new clip...And Hot Hot Heat have just wrapped mixing duties on their upcoming disc, which will serve as the follow-up to their 2005 hit effort, Elevator. The band has been sequestered in a Vancouver studio for the past two years, choosing a different co-producer for each song in order to add variety, and even utilizing a full choir on two of the tracks. The album, which opens with the song “Happiness,” remains untitled, but the band had better decide quickly what to call it, as their release date is scheduled for this May...
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK: Ska veterans Madness have teamed up with rapper Sway to craft the new single, “Sorry,” which will hit stores this week. If you wanna try before you buy, hop on over to Madness’ official MySpace page (or, as they call it, their “Madspace” page) at www.myspace.com/madnessofficial for a listen...

MINI BUZZ:
Mute Math will embark on a big-time North American tour this month, kicking off in Toronto and bringing along The Cinematics and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin as opening acts; the tour will stop in Chicago (3/28), Detroit (3/30), and Grand Rapids, MI (3/31), among other places...
Grammy nominees Goldfrapp have just released a North American version of their Ride A White Horse EP that includes several special remixes of the song by the likes of Serge Santiago and Francois K., as well as a rare B-side cover of “Boys Will Be Boys”...
No Doubt fans will be glad to hear that Gwen Stefani and the boys in the band have decided to begin recording another No Doubt album “soon” - not too specific, granted, but that’s still more info then we’ve had on No Doubt in a while...
Midlake, still promoting their summer 2006 disc The Trials of Van Occupanther, have announced that they’ll embark on a U.S./Canada tour in February and March before taking the band over to Europe...
Mooney Suzuki, scrambling to recover from the recent demise of their record label, V2, will nonetheless press on to release their new album, Have Mercy, sometime this spring...
Swedish indie rockers Love Is All will drop a new single - a cover of The Pastels’ “Nothing To Be Done” - on March 27th, and will promote same with their first headline tour of the UK starting next week...

And what of new releases for this week? Well, we’ve got ‘em, right here... ON CD: !!!’s Myth Takes... Air’s Pocket Symphony... Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible... Gruff Rhys’ Candylion...
TheStrokes’ Albert Hammond Jr.’s solo disc, Yours to Keep... and Son Volt’s The Search... ON DVD: Chet Atkins: A Life in Music... Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny... the modern-rock-filled Coppola version of Marie Antoinette... and Elton John - Music in Review ... 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