The return of McClachlan and Lilth Fair

Jan. 24, 2010

The Return of McLachlan and Lilith Fair
Sarah McLachlan is stepping back into the music scene to revive the late ‘90s music festival Lilith Fair, which was the first modern concert event to feature primarily female singer-songwriters all on one festival bill (the early Lilith Fairs included performances from McLachlan along with the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Lauryn Hill, and Christina Aguilera.) The summer of 2010 will see the return of the Lilith Fair event, which has already booked its first round of performers, among them Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Belinda Carlisle, Metric, Chairlift, and Emmylou Harris; for more info, keep an eye on www.lilithfair.com...
Elbow’s Guy Garvey has moved from Manchester back to his hometown of Bury, England, and has been working hard on songwriting sessions for Elbow’s next album. Garvey recently mentioned that he’s actually been including tales of his hometown in some of the lyrics for Elbow’s new songs, and that the band is also experimenting with psychedelia and shoegaze sounds in their music, complete with Moogs and Mellotrons. The band already has almost two dozen song ideas for the new set, which will be their fifth album and will serve as follow-up to 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid...
A little Oasis news this week (well, kinda) - Ride/Oasis guitarist Andy Bell is said to be currently collaborating with Liam Gallagher and will be part of the Gallager’s new post-Oasis band, which will reportedly also feature guitarist (and former Oasis member) Gem Archer along with drummer Chris Sharrock and keyboard player Jay Darlington. No name has been given to the new Liam Gallagher project as of yet (“well, nothing’s sticking yet,” Gallagher reports), but they’re keeping busy focusing on recording for the moment...
Also recording are Radiohead, who are just making their way into the studio to begin work on the follow-up to their In Rainbows album. Thom Yorke is still working on his solo and side band projects, but that won’t stop the full Radiohead complement from moving forward; Yorke’s right on board to continue putting together songs that the band started last summer. Four weeks of band rehearsal have prefaced the new recording sessions, which band member Ed O’Brien says are finding the band doing more musical experimenting and trying to create “art without fear”; no release date has been given yet for the album itself, which is expected some time in 2010...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Interested in new electronica and indie music? Then check out the latest label offering from Ninja Tune, which is launching a new division called Motion Audio, which will present music that will be “more about a vibe than any particular sound or style,” according to the division’s personnel; the side label’s first two 2010 releases will be from Grey Reverend and Lou Rhodes. Check ‘em out at www.motionaudiorecords.com...

MINI BUZZ:
Muse have booked a quartet of live show dates for this March across the U.S., where they’ll be making their four stops - in Fairfax, Virginia (3/1), New York City (3/5), Boston (3/6), and at the Palace of Auburn Hills near Detroit (5/13)...
In other Muse news, they’ve also been tapped to headline this upcoming summer’s famed Roskilde Festival, which will take place this year July 1 through the 4th in Denmark...
Arctic Monkeys are on the road, too, and will kick off their trek on January 26 with a show in Milan Italy; the band’s schedule will keep them in Western Europe through February 10, including stops in Madrid, Grenoble, and Munich...
The Beastie Boys’ latest album, The Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1, of which the release date was postponed which the band’s Adam Yauch fought the good fight against cancer, is now making its way back onto the schedule, and the band says to look for it early this year...
Ringo Starr’s new album, Y Not, just out last week, features a previously-unplanned vocal duet from Starr and former Beatle bandmate Paul McCartney on the track “Walk With Me”...
Electronica-trance band Above & Beyond have issued a request to Richard Branson to let them DJ on the first V. Galactic passenger flight into outer space; with test flights rumored to be starting this year and Moby and Dave Navarro having already booked tickets, they’d be in good musical company...
And featuring their own new tunes are this week’s new releases... ON CD: Evacuate Chicago’s Veracity... Citay’s Get Together... and Chamillionaire’s Venom... ON DVD: Whitney Houston’s Whitney Houston ... and Michael Jackson’s This is It... 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