Nick Lowe gets two-disc retrospective

Feb. 22, 2009

Nick Lowe Gets
Two-Disc Retrospective
Singer-songwriter Nick Lowe will be the subject of a new best-of double CD, 49 tracks in all that will detail Lowe’s career from 1974 through 2007. The double disc will also be available in a special edition that includes a DVD of vintage Lowe videos and a 2007 live show; both versions of the album, which has been titled Quiet Please... The New Best of Nick Lowe, will contain such tunes as “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” “Heart of the City,” “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,” “Wishing Well,” and of course the Lowe classic “Cruel to Be Kind”...
Modern popsters Death Cab for Cutie are still hard at work promoting their Grammy-nominated 2008 album, Narrow Stairs, namely with an upcoming spring tour on which they’ll take along Ra Ra Riot, Cold War Kids, and Matt Costa as opening acts. The spring tour will directly follow their February Australia/Japan tour, and will include stops in Washington DC (4/8), Chicago (4/17), East Lansing, MI (4/18), San Diego (4/29), and Atlanta, GA (5/6)..
The Nederland Organization has acquired the rights to a musical-theater production version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, in which the mini-epic will be expanded to a full-length theater show. Said to be the “the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of “Thriller,” Jackson will reportedly participate in translating the song and video to the big stage. Thriller the Musical is also slated to include other songs from Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller and its 1979 predecessor, Off the Wall...
Director Richard Kelly has snagged several members of Montreal modern rockers The Arcade Fire to write and perform music for The Box, his upcoming movie starring Frank Langella and Cameron Diaz. Kelly, who claims that The Arcade Fire are his favorite band, attended a quartet of shows on the band’s latest tour, and then passed a copy of the film’s script to TAF’s Win Butler backstage. The music itself is said to be much like something Bernard Hermann would compose, and “feels like a movie score from the 1970s”...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Wanna know just who won which Grammy, but you forgot to DVR the rilly big shew? No problem - just surf on over to www.grammy.com to see the list, as well as more info about the history of the Grammys themselves and past winners.

MINI BUZZ:
Sarah McLachlan is the first performer to be named for the upcoming Canadian Juno Awards, which will take place in McLachlan’s hometown of Vancouver; McLachlan, an eight-time Juno winner, will also receive the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award this year...
Fleetwood Mac have added some more dates to their Unleashed Tour; they’ll now be making stops in Auburn Hills, MI (3/8), Toronto (3/17), Philadelphia (4/15), Houston (5/2), and Las Vegas (5/30)...
The Cribs have snagged the skills of producer Nick Launay to helm their next studio album; the new set is slated for release in the last half of 2009...
You may have seen Blink-182’s announcement on the recent Grammy Awards that they’ve reformed; well, it’s true, and they’re also set to offer up a brand new Blink-182 album in May...
The Beastie Boys have just reissued their 1989 album Paul’s Boutique to celebrate the set’s 20th anniversary...
And congrats to indie singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, who has just become engaged to pop singer Mandy Moore; Moore’s new album, Amanda Leigh, will be in stores in May...
ON CD: Metaphor’s London! Paris! New York! Rome!... Jake Owen’s Easy Does It... K’Naan’s Troubadour... Bell X1’s Lights on the Runway... JJ Cale’s Roll On... and Nosound’s Lightdark... ON DVD: Deep Purple - Stormbringer: 35th Anniversary Edition... and Elvis Presley’s Viva the King... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com