Fatboy Slim, Doves, Editors at snowboarding event

March 21, 2010

Fatboy Slim, Doves, Editors at Snowbombing 2010
Haven’t had enough of ski/snowboard season yet? Well then, grab a
plane ticket and join Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, who will hit the
Austrian slopes (so to speak) between the Penken and Ahorn mountains
alongside Doves, Friendly Fires, The Enemy, James Zabiela, Editors,
and De La Soul at this year’s Snowbombing 2010 Festival bash. Slim,
who pulled out of the event last year to voluntarily enter alcohol
rehab, is back in fine, healthy form, and will contribute his DJ
skills while the rest of the artists will perform their own live sets
at the wintery musical celebration, which will take place at
Mayrhofen, Austria on April 5 through the 10th...
The 2010 Sasquatch Festival in Washington state has released their
lineup for this year’s fest, too - their ninth annual happening will
include headliners Vampire Weekend, MGMT, My Morning Jacket - and
Pavement will be appearing here, too. Sasquatch, which is held every
Memorial Day weekend (this year running May 29-31), will also stage
sets from OK Go, Massive Attack, The National, The Hold Steady, and
more...
Heralded as “The Best British Rock Concert of All Time,” the Live at
Knebworth benefit concert, which took place in Hertsfordshire, England
in 1990, featured headliners Paul McCartney, Tears for Fears, Eric
Clapton, Robert Plant, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Status
Quo, all performing for free in support of charity. A 20th Anniversary
reissue of this landmark event in a 2-CD format is now set for release
on March 23, and will continue to raise funds for Nordoff-Robbins
Music Therapy organization and The Brit School of Performing Arts.
Tracks from all of the above artists are set to be included, as well
as additional tracks from Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Dire Straits,
and Phil Collins...
And Kraftwerk are the subject of an unlikely art/toy tribute - namely,
the fact that German sculptor Dirk Roessler has rendered the band
members as action figures. Roessler, in a recent interview, explained
how he purchased some old Mattel Ken figures, and sculpted new
Kraftwerk heads to apply onto the bodies. Roessler went on to explain
how it was impossible to find “good clothes” for the new toys - so he
sewed Kraftwerk’s red shirts and grey pants on his own. Unfortunately,
no plans for mass-marketed Kraftwerk action figures are in the werks -
uh, works - as of yet...
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
The 2010 Academy Awards may not have given much attention to the Best
Original Songs this year, but Billboard Magazine did; the industry mag
recently posted “10 Awesome Oscar Live Performances,” from U2’s “Hands
That Built America” (from Gangs of New York) to Elliott Smith’s
poignant “Miss Misery” (from Good Will Hunting). See them all,
complete with video, via Billboard at http://tinyurl.com/ylosvh3...

MINI BUZZ:
The Songwriters Hall of Fame will induct their latest 2010 honorees at
a ceremony on June 17; among those getting songwriter kudos will be
Leonard Cohen, David Foster, and Johnny Mandel...
Devo - although they haven’t released a studio album since 1990 - have
been rumbling around lately, piquing fans’ interest in the band’s
possible revival; in addition to Devo’s performance at the Vancouver
Olympics in February, they’ve also been spending some time in the
recording studio, and are booked to perform at the Coachella festival
this spring...
Mark E. Smith and the Fall have newly signed to Domino Records, and
will release their latest album, Your Future Our Clutter, on May 4...
Stone Temple Pilots have wrapped work on their as-yet-untitled
comeback album, which will be STP’s first since 2001; the band,
complete with Scott Weiland back on frontman duties, will play a
series of festivals in Europe early this summer, and then is expected
to book U.S. dates..
Greg Dulli is currently working on another Twilight Singers album,
which he says he hopes to have completed by the end of this month...
A collaborative album between Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and
Raekwon is just out this week - Wu-Massacre will include tracks
“Gunshowers,” “How to Pay Rent,” and “Dangerous”...
And also out this week are these new releases...ON CD: The Dillinger
Escape Plan’s Option Paralysis... Goldfrapp’s Head First... The Bird
and the Bee’s Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl
Hall and John Oates... and Dave Holland Octet’s Pathways... and Nas
and Damien Marley’s Distant Relative... 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