Brand new Devo for a brand new year

Dec. 27, 2009

Brand New Devo for a Brand New Year
‘70s/’80s new wavers Devo have signed a new partnership with Warner Bros. Records, the very label that they kicked off their hit career with back in the day. The new paperwork includes the label in Devo’s recordings, touring, merchandising, endorsements, web presence, and much more, and began taking action last month with deluxe CD and limited-edition colored vinyl reissues of Devo’s 1978 gold debut disc, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! And get those flowerpot hats and metallic jumpsuits out, Devo fans - a new Devo studio album and a world tour are in the works for 2010...
Mogwai have wrapped work on their Live in Brooklyn CD/DVD package, that was recorded during three shows in Brooklyn staged earlier this year and is set to premiere this month live; the package itself should be in stores some time in January 2010. The band has also recorded a cover of the track “Ghostrider” to use as an upcoming single, have crafted some music for a spoken word record by one of Mogwai member Stuart Braithwaite’s favorite comic writers, have spent much of the year touring behind their latest album, and are (whew) also on the way to begin work on a new studio effort soon...
David Bowie is set to finally follow up his 2004 A Reality Tour DVD release with a two-CD, 33-track set in January of 2010 through Columbia/Legacy Records. A January 26date is currently tentatively listed for the set’s release, which brings together tracks from two shows in support of Bowie’s last studio album, Reality as recorded at Dublin, Ireland’s Point Depot. Hits in the set include the likes of “Rebel Rebel,” “Ashes to Ashes,” and “The Man Who Sold the World” as well as several bonus tracks, among them “Breaking Glass” and “Fall Dog Bombs the Moon.” Bowie reportedly has no plans to release any new material any time soon, so fans had best snag this two-CD set and the just-out 40th anniversary reissue of Space Oddity that hit stores last month...
And Chicago modern rockers OK Go have been busily working, too, on their new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, which contains 13 tracks that are said to take the band “in a new direction” that expands the guitar rock ideas of earlier albums and sees them working with ex-Mercury Rev member David Fridmann. Lead singer Damian Kulash said in a recent interview that he feels the new album sounds “more like us” than anything else the band has ever done, and is both “their danciest and most thoughtful” music; decide for yourself when OK Go’s latest hits stores on January 12...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Kristin Hersh and Gary Jules have each recorded EPs that will be available exclusively through the LimeWire Store as part of the Live at Lime series. Both of the singer-songwriters recorded their acoustic EP sets in New York, with Hersh’s containing tunes such as “Mississippi Kite” and “Tuesday Night,” and Jules’ including tracks like “Horses” and “Falling Awake.” Snag both albums on the cheap at www.store.limewire.com/liveatlime...

MINI BUZZ:
Bon Iver band member Justin Vernon is set to team up with his Volcano Choir collaborator, Chris Rosenau, to perform a live score for Charlie Chaplin’s silent 1925 comedy film The Gold Rush in NYC on January 21, 2010 as part of the New York Guitar Festival...
Ryan Adams has relaunched his Pax Am record label (http://store.pax.am/), and is offering a variety of digital singles for sale for $1.49 to help support Adams’ Foggy TV video series...Spandau Ballet, who have rescheduled their November live reunion tour dates to February and March 2010, have dubbed their new reunion album Once More, although no definite release date has been announced for the U.S. yet...
The date has been announced, though, for the 2010 version of the Benicassim Festival; next year’s event will run July 15-18 on the shores of the Costa Azahar, with bands and DJ sets rockin’ the beach until 8 in the morning...
Jamie Cullum will be releasing his first solo record in four years next year - Cullum’s The Pursuit is his fifth full-length release, and mixes his eclectic pop-jazz music with standards; it will be in stores March 2, 2010...
In surprising news, U2’s 360° Tour, while wildly successful, has yet to break a profit, due to the fact that the tour’s operating costs are so high; the tour continues into 2010, so perhaps they’ll get a chance to catch up...
And for our last Modern Rockin’ column of 2009, a very happy new year to you! Start the new year (and the new decade!) right by keeping an eye on all the newest and coolest music news right here - and when you’re deciding where to spend all your holiday loot, don’t forget to support indie musicians and labels, and your local bands too... 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