Peter Bjorn & John to release new disc

March 15, 2009

Peter Bjorn and John
To Release New Disc

Peter Bjorn and John are prepping to release the follow-up to their hit 2006 disc, Writer’s Block, and it’ll hit stores on March 31. Dubbed Living Thing, the album will be accompanied by a series of European tour dates. The set already has a fan in Kanye West, who posted the band’s tune “Nothing to Worry About” on his blog a few weeks ago. PBandJ’s Peter Moren is also still promoting his solo set, The Last Tycoon, and the band also released a mostly instrumental album dubbed Seaside Rock last September that fans can still snag online...
Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell recently collaborated with Jean Grande-Maitre on a ballet that blends together her music with dance and war-themed visual art images from Mitchell’s latest art project, “Green Flag Song.” The 48-minut production, titled The Fiddle and the Drum, was produced by the Alberta Ballet, and is also going to be featured at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Footage of the project has also been filmed for a DVD, which is expected for release in the near future...
New Zealand’s quirky duo Flight of the Conchords are set to hit the tour trail for an extensive North American tour this spring; the tour will kick off in Florida in early April, and will include stops in NYC, Denver, and Philadelphia, among other stops. The tour is timed to coincide with the wrap-up of the second season of the Flight of the Conchords series on HBO, as well as the release of the band’s second full-length album, title TBA...
And here’s a project whose members are... well, we’ll say surprising, to say the least. Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha has teamed up with Fountains of Wayne bass player Adam Schlesinger, Cheap Trick drummer B.E. Carlos, and Hanson’s (yes, that Hanson, the pop trio of brothers) Taylor Hanson to form a new band that they’ve dubbed Tinted Windows. The group has already recorded their debut album at a NYC studio, and expect to release the set this spring on a label TBA; they’ll play their first live show at SXSW on March 20...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Brooklyn dark-pop band The White Rabbits are all set to offer up their sophomore album, It’s Frightening, which will hit stores on May 19. The two-drummer’d, three-vocalist’d band recorded the set in an analog-friendly studio to stay closer to their live sound; keep an eye on all their album-release news and previews at www.myspace.com/whiterabbits...

MINI BUZZ:
Gomez have booked a series of live shows in support of their sixth studio album, A New Tide; they’ll be stopping by Birmingham, AL (3/21), Charlotte, NC (3/22) and Washington DC (3/29), among other cities...
Speaking of festivals, the third annual Paid Dues Hip Hop Festival is another one that’s sticking to its plan; happening on March 28, the show will include sets from the likes of Atmosphere, Brother Ali, B-Real, Cage, and hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse...
Electronica duo Yacht will embark on a tour this month with pop trio Chairlift as opening act; tour stops will include Chicago (3/13), Dallas (3/22), Houston (3/23), New Orleans (3/25), and Athens, Georgia (3/27)...
Nas has been in the studio working with Damien Marley on his new album, although he’s yet to decide on which label will release the disc...
Chris Cornell has announced his U.S. spring tour, which will keep Cornell and his band on the road throughout March and April; Cornell’s new Timbaland-produced album, Scream,is in stores now...
And Green Day’s new album, which has been dubbed 21st Century Breakdown, is now set to hit stores this May, including tracks “March of the Dogs,” “Restless Heart Syndrome,” and 21 Guns...
ON CD: The Roots of: The Byrds (UK)... The Roots of: The Doors (UK)... Porcupine Tree’s Signify... Superdrag’s Industry Giants... Glynn David’s Another Road Without a Sign... and The Chairs’ Laugh, It’s a Fright... ON DVD: Andre Rieu - Greatest Hits... Fountains of Wayne: No Better Place - Live in Chicago... Celine Dion’s Celine Sur Les Plaines 2008 ... and B.B. King - Live in Africa... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com