Gorillaz go bananaz on new documentary film

April 26, 2009

Gorillaz Go Bananaz On New Documentary Film
4/27/09
The long-underground Gorillaz documentary Bananaz finally debuted on the website Babelgum on April 20, where it will reside in streaming form for four weeks alongside a special Gorillaz channel, which will feature Gorillaz vids, games, live footage, and more. After the film’s initial Babelgum run, it will be released theatrically by EMI as well as on DVD this June, although the theater bookings are sure to be somewhat limited. Bananaz features Gorillaz themselves alongside such collaborators as Dennis Hopper, Dan the Automator, Danger Mouse, and De La Soul, as well as a giggly outtakes reel titled The Bananaz Home Movie Club...
Columbia/Legacy records are set to honor late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley with the upcoming release of Grace Around the World, a DVD/CD package that focuses on Buckley’s live performances from 1994-1995, right after his original Grace album hit stores. The DVD includes U.S. shows in Chicago and New Orleans, plus overseas shows in Germany, Japan, London, and France; the audio CD includes a dozen live tracks from the DVD. A deluxe version of the set includes an extra DVD with the documentary film Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley, which has won several festival awards including one at CMJ. Both the regular and deluxe versions of Grace Around the World include plenty of interviews and liner notes...
Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, although he’s not giving up the music career any time soon, has added “fashion designer” to his resume, even if he seems somewhat anti-fashion in that he’s trying to get rid of “that skinny look, man.” Gallagher’s new clothing line is called Pretty Green (named after a song from mod-fashion-rockers The Jam), and includes what Gallagher is calling “classic” clothes in “plain” shades of blacks and browns (what, no green?) Pretty Green the clothing line launches this June...
Help for Africa arrives this week courtesy of The Weakerthans, Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, and Cold War Kids’ Nathan Willett, who are among those contributing to a celebrity art auction set to raise funds for Song for Africa/Canadian Artists for African Aid, a non-profit that educates Canadians about African humanitarian issues. Weakerthans guitar Stephen Carroll’s art print is being auctioned on eBay, while both Gibbard and Willett - whose bands are on tour together - are tracking their running miles (at www.runforwaterwells.com) and asking their fans to chip in a dollar for every mile they complete - but hurry, the trek ends May 1st...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
A brand new season of Later with Jools Holland is kicking off on BBC2 this month, with a lineup of standout musical guests already set, and Jools Holland back in the show’s driver’s seat. Already booked for Later are the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Marianne Faithfull, and Doves; check out the full schedule and a variety of video clips and other info at www.bbc.co.uk/later...

MINI BUZZ:
The Decemberists will make a repeat appearance on mock-feud opponent Stephen Colbert’s television show for a performance on April 27...
A documentary film called Thin White Dukes: A Documentary Film, about The Killers’ climb to fame and their ongoing success and including exclusive interviews with the band, is in stores this week...
David Byrne is set to perform at the opening night of the Celebrate Brooklyn Gala, one of NYC’s longest-running free performing arts festivals; Byrne will take the Prospect Park stage on June 8th...
Maximo Park are back with their third album as recorded with producer Nick Launay; the band is also set to tour this summer...
Coldplay have snagged Pete Yorn for a couple weeks’ worth of dates as their opening act; Yorn will join Coldplay at shows in Atlanta (5/17), Philly (5/26), and Detroit (6/2), among others...
In other Coldplay news, the band has just become part of the popular iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge; The “Coldplay Edition” of the game is available now at the iTunes store...
And hoping to become part of your music/music film collections are this week’s new releases... ON CD: Better Than Ezra’s Paper Empire... Super Furry Animals’ latest... The Bigger Lights’ Fiction Fever... Sigur Ros’ Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do... Peter Bjorn and John’s Nothing to Worry About... The Rakes’ Clang... ON DVD: Arcade Fire: Mirror Noir.. and Ultravox: The Very Best Of ... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your favorite musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com