Lemonheads squeeze out a tour
Jan. 3, 2007
The Lemonheads, whose new album, innovatively titled The Lemonheads is just out, have also announced a winter 2007 tour that will arrive right on the heels of the completion of their current 3-month tour of Europe and the U.S. The reformed Lemonheads - which now includes original singer Evan Dando along with a couple of members of The Descendants and a few others to make up Dandos touring band - will kick off the run on January 25th in Carrboro, North Carolina, and will stay on the road until the end of February, including stops in New Orleans (2/6), Houston TX (2/8), Indianapolis (2/16), Milwaukee (2/17), and Brooklyn NY (2/23)...Irish punkers Dropkick Murphys are hopping on the tour trail, too, embarking on a Euro tour in January and following that up with a series of dates in Australia and the U.S. American dates will begin on March 1st in Cabazon, California, and will end with the Murphys seventh annual appearance at the St. Patricks Day homecoming event in Boston. Openers for the band will include The Aggrolites and Sick of it All (who will open the U.S. dates), and the band will hit Anaheim CA (3/3), San Diego (3/5), Chicago (3/9), and Grand Rapids MI (3/10), among other cities...
Ukrainian music video director Mykola Dosenko has won a competition put on by none other than DJ Shadow, in which Shadow himself challenged aspiring vid makers to craft a music video for his next single, This Time (Im Gonna Try it My Way). Dosenko, whose video was chosen from over 200 entries, crafted a unique clip that recollects the stylings of 80s Nintendo games, and features a videogame-esque mustachioed barbershop quartet and birds hanging from a wire, which Shadow selected for its fun feel and appropriate visuals for the songs lyrics. The video will be shown globally, and Dosenko also picks up a prize of around $1900.00 for his work...
And the legendary CBS Records is now resusitating the long-dormant record label, which became known for housing the careers of icons like Frank Sinatra. This time around, fans of CBS Records artist will be able to download CBS tracks through iTunes and a dedictated CBS Records website (there will be regular old compact discs available in stores, too, of course), and the label will be signing new artists on a regular basis; the first new signings have been songwriters PJ Olsson and Will Dailey and indie-rock band Senor Happy. The label will be an interesting choice for bands, as theyll also have the added bonus of having their songs utilized on the many CBS television shows...
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Bloc Partys modern rockin latest single, The Prayer, will hit radio on January 29th, but lucky you - you can head on over to http://atlanticrecords.liquidbuilder.com/blocparty_witc/ for a sneak preview streaming listen...
MINI BUZZ:
Ambulance Ltd. are working on their next album, and are 18 tracks into it so far, with the release date set for summer 2007, and the producer set as legendary Velvet Underground guitarist John Cale...
Fall Out Boys new video for their new albums first single, This Aint a Scene, Its an Arms Race, is now newly playing on MTV and MTV.com...Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne has just released her Vanguard Records debut album, Pretty Little Stranger, which was recorded in Nashville and adds some blues and Americana elements to Osbornes folk-rock sound...
Plain White Ts have announced a headlining tour to help promote their latest album, Every Second Counts - the tour will start March 4th and will also feature opening acts Boys Night Out, Mayday Parade, and Dear and the Headlights...
Beach Boy Brian Wilson will be one of the instructors leading workshops at next years Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp, an aspiring rock musician camp which will take place from February 15th-19th in Hollywood, CA...And well say it again (for about the tenth time) just in case its actually true - Axl Rose has announced that Guns n Roses longggggg awaited new album, Chinese Democracy, is now due out on March 6th...
ON CD:
Razorlights Before I Fall to Pieces, which will, of course, be immediately followed (hypothetically speaking) by James Morrisons Pieces Dont Fit Anymore... Primal Screams Sometimes I Feel So Lonely... Mos Defs Tru3 Magic... Matisyahus No Place to Be... and Weird Als White and Nerdy... ON DVD: Tony Bennett: American Classic... Bob Dylan - The Unauthorized Documentaries... Johnny Cash: Live in Ireland 1993... and David Grays Life in Slow Motion... and thats the buzz for this weeks Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, or suggestions on this column or your fave musicians? Send em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com