Monsters of Folk, Super Group give back

Nov. 15, 2009

Monsters of Folk
Supergroup Give Back
Monsters of Folk - the cool, folky supergroup that consists of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, singer-songwriter M. Ward, and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James - released their debut album back in June, and have spent much of their fall on the road in America. The uber-collaborative band, whose live shows include them frequently switching instruments and trading their band roles throughout the set, have also partnered up with Air Traffic Control, a resource for musicians’ philanthropic work, to donate monies raised from their tour tix sales; the band will be donating $1 from every ticket sold to local non-profit organizations. More U.S. dates may be added, but for now, the Europeans are the lucky ones, as Monsters of Folk have just a few dates left in November, including stops in London (11/17), Paris (11/18), and The Hague, Holland (11/21)...
If you like music - especially that of Weezer - and if you like discovering new artists, then check out the complilation disc Fresh Cuts Volume 4, direct from the Guitar Center folks. Part of an ongoing series, the CD is part of Guitar Center’s GAIN program, which helps give Guitar Center employees an outlet for their own music; the current 18-track CD features recordings by a variety of GC staff, hand-picked by none other than Weezer from a pool of employee submissions. An exclusive track from Weezer, Everybody Go Away, is also included on the CD, but get yours quickly, because the album’s free, and once all 50,000 CDs are gone, they’re gone; check online for your local or regional Guitar Center at www.guitarcenter.com...
East Coast punk/cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls are set to reunite for a 2010 tour, the first time they’ll be working together since their self-imposed friendly hiatus in 2008. The band took a break so that singer Amanda Palmer could release her solo album (and spend some time with new writer boyfriend Neil Gaiman), while the other half of the pair, Brian Viglione, kept busy playing drums for the Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay on the latter’s solo album, and for his side project band the World/Inferno Friendship Society. No specific dates or announcements of new recordings have been posted yet for the Dresden Dolls, but we’ll keep you posted...

Tonic, who most recently released their Best Of collection, have begun work on a new album that will mark the band’s first new release together in a half-dozen years. The new set will also serve as follow-up to their 2002 Grammy-nominated set. The band plans to record the new tunes in both Los Angeles and Nashville, and to release it on their new label, 429 Records; Tonic says that they’ve already written some “good songs,” and they’re getting together to write more. The new Tonic album is expected to hit stores in early 2010...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Shawn Fogel, who plays guitar, bass, drums, synth, and saxophone, Golden Bloom’s new album was just released this past August, and the band is already raking in the praise from music publications nationwide. Download the cool free track “If You Believe” from GB’s album Fan the Flames and see what you think - snag the tune at www.goldenbloom.net...

MINI BUZZ:
The hip Asthmatic Kitty label has launched a new album series called Library Catalog Music that will feature instrumentals designed to accompany various happenings (dinner parties, movie premieres, etc.) or to “sell product”; the first three installments are by James McAlister and Pedro the Lion’s Casey Foubert...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are now back on active duty, according to Pepper Chad Smith; RHCP have been pretty much inactive since September of 2007 in order to give the band members a break and allow them to work on various other projects, but now they’re doing some informal jamming as a precursor to beginning songwriting on a new set...
Kelly Clarkson has added more tour dates to her already-busy schedule, including stops in Calgary, Canada (11/20), Seattle (11/24), Reno, Nevada (11/28), Beaumont, Texas (12/5), and Columbus, Georgia (12/10)...
The Third Annual Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music and Arts Festival (could their name be any longer?) has just been set for June 3rd through the 5th, 2010, in Enterprise, Alabama; headliners will include The Black Crowes, Jamey Johnson, and Kid Rock...
The Decemberists have a trio of tour dates happening this month - 11/18 at London’s Forum, 11/19 at the same city’s Coronet club, and on 11/21 at the European Crossing Border Festival...
Switchfoot are releasing their seventh studio album, Hello Hurricane, next week; it will be the band’s first album at new label, Atlantic Records...
And these are the discs hoping to be selected for your CD/DVD collection this week... ON CD: Michelle Branch’s Everything... Switchfoot’s Hello Hurricane... Say Anything’s Say Anything... Train’s Save Me San Francisco... and 2009 American Idol winner Kris Allen’s eponymous debut, Kris Allen... ON DVD: Muse: Burning Skies and Elvis Presley - The Concise Elvis: Memphis ... 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