DJ Paul Oakenfold contributes music to New Bourne videogame

April 6, 2008

DJ/producer Paul Oakenfold has just wrapped work on the soundtrack for a new video game based on the Bourne Conspiracy movie, working with Sierra Entertainment to craft a game designed around character Jason Bourne’s (Matt Damon) combat style. Oakenfold’s musical contributions to the game are said to “drive the rhythm” of the immersive gameplay, setting a new bar for the action title; the game’s story and characters were written with Bourne screenwriter Tony Gilroy. Oakenfold’s tracks won’t be available as a separate album, but, as a bonus, fans will be able to unlock various Oakenfold tracks within the game for listening-on-demand by passing certain levels in the game itself...
Counting Crows, in support of their new album Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, are hitting the road with Maroon 5 for an extensive co-headlining tour that will keep them on the road from late July through early October. Sara Bareilles will go along with the boys’ club as opening act, and non-profit environmental organization Reverb will be going along to help make the tour as green as possible, recycling backstage waste, neutralizing the tour’s carbon emissions, and setting up a fan outreach Eco-Village to educate fans about environmental issues. The bands’ tour dates will include stops in Boston (8/2), Washington DC (8/16), Toronto (8/19), Chicago (8/22), Detroit (8/29), and San Diego (9/13)...
Sheryl Crow may soon become part of a revitalized Fleetwood Mac, a move that would be a bit of a boost for the classic rock band (who haven’t toured in a few years) via Crow’s ongoing success, recently buoyed by the release of her latest album, Detours. Crow has already done some prior collaborating with the Mac’s Stevie Nicks, who formerly expressed hesitancy at continuing the band without keyboardist Christine McVie, who decided to stop touring in 1998; but with the potential addition of Crow, things might change. No date or confirmation has been given for the Crow/Mac project, with the exception of Lindsey Buckingham recently mentioning that the band are considering touring, although “nothing is written in stone yet” about Crow; but rumors say it’s all in the works for sometime in early 2009...
Influential Motown girl group The Supremes will be the subjects of a new double-disc CD set dubbed Let the Music Play: Supremes Rarities that’s due out in stores on April 29 via - what else? - Motown Records. In addition to well-known Supremes hits such as “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Someday We’ll Be Together,” and “Back in My Arms Again,” the set, interestingly, also includes quite a range of Supremes cover versions, from their takes on The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and The Beatles’ “I Saw Him Standing There” to “MacArthur Park” and Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK: iTunes.com is the word... er, website... this week, as The Raconteurs’ surprise new album, Consolers of the Lonely, is now available for purchase...

MINI BUZZ:
Foo Fighters have been tapped to headline this year’s V Festival, which will run August 9-10 at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland...
While out in Colorado, the first Mile High Music Festival will be held July 19- 20, featuring sets from The Black Crowes, State Radio, Martin Sexton, Spoon, The Roots, and Flogging Molly, among others...
In an effort to combat the recent overload of Beatles’ covers being performed on American Idol, Rolling Stone magazine polled readers to find out their favorite Beatles cover versions; the top three were U2’s “Helter Skelter,” Oasis’ “I Am the Walrus,” and Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends”...
Speaking of Idol, Josiah Leming, the out-of-place AI contestant whose unique auditions and piano playing recollected the melodies of Remy Zero and Coldplay, has reportedly landed a major-label recording deal with Warner Brothers records after being rejected from the TV popularity contest, er, talent show...
N.E.R.D.’s new album is still awaiting a release date, but the band will be hitting the road for a series of shows, including stops in Las Vegas (4/25), Montreal QC (5/20), Toronto (5/21), Detroit (5/22), Chicago (5/23-5/24), and Los Angeles (6/7)...
And, sadly, Neil Aspinall, The Beatles’ first road manager and childhood friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, has passed away at age 66; Aspinall left his job as an accountant to travel with the band, and in his later years worked on the Anthology and Love projects...
ON CD: Various Artists’ In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2... Edge of Quarrel’s Edge of Quarrel... Forgotten’s The Forgotten... Bridges and Powerlines’ Ghost Types...Phenomenauts’ For All Mankind... and Cataract’s Cataract... ON DVD - DJ Tiesto: Elements of Life World Tour... Less Than Jake’s People’s History of Less Than Jake... Kylie Minogue’s White Diamond/Homecoming... The Clash’s Live Revolution Rock... 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