Take a Chicago road trip to the Pitchfork Music Festival

April 4, 2010

Take a Chicago Roadtrip to the Pitchfork Music Festival
The 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival has confirmed this year’s dates and artists, and it’s an event you’ll definitely want to save up and plan a road trip for. Set to be held at Chicago’s Union Park on July 16th through the 18th, tix are on sale already for the big show(s) at www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com, and you’ll likely want to get those tickets early so you can catch all three days of performances. Friday will feature top indie-rockers Modest Mouse, while Saturday and Sunday will offer up shows by LCD Soundsystem, St. Vincent, Here We Go Magic, and a special appearance by the legendary Pavement on Sunday night. Even more bands will be announced and added to the schedule as the festival nears, so keep an eye on that web address, too...
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are planning out a collaboration with Yoko Ono; the trio will reportedly record a album together, a likely pairing since Ono has been an influence on Gordon’s vocals for years. Ono recently revived her Plastic Ono Band in Brooklyn, NY, with Sonic Youth as part of that show alongside an eclectic lineup that included Eric Clapton, Scissor Sisters, Sean Lennon, Paul Simon, Harper Simon, Bette Midler, and Martha Wainwright; that particular show marked Ono’s 77th birthday. As far as Sonic Youth’s performances go, they’ve got several tour dates planned, but not in the U.S. at the moment; you’ll have to go to Spain and Portugal to see them this April, where they have a quartet of concerts booked...
The Spice Girls are set to be the subject of a new musical show put together by the same producer that helmed “Mamma Mia!,” the megahit that paid musical-theater tribute to Swedish band ABBA. Producer Judy Craymer, working with American Idol creator Simon Fuller, are prepping the show, tenatively dubbed Viva Forever, as based on the songs of the British bubblegum-pop group; the band members themselves will not show up in Viva Forever, but will instead be a storyline following a similar friendship-based tale of “fact and fiction” according to Craymer. Viva Forever is set to debut on London’s West End, and will most likely head to Broadway shortly thereafter...
Former Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante is working on yet another band project; he’s dubbed this one Swahili Blonde, and plans to release the project’s debut album this summer. Although the band itself is actually a duo - Frusciante along with percussionist Nicole Turley - the album will feature guest appearances by Devo’s Alan Meyer and Duran Duran’s John Taylor, among others; the new album will be released on CD, LP, and digitally. Meanwhile, the Chili Peppers are still working on their latest studio album, which will be their first with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who replaces Frusciante in the RHCP...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
The Apples in Stereo have made a trailer for - no, not a movie, but their upcoming new album, Travellers in Space and Time. The album is due out on April 20th on Yep Roc Records, but you can check out the video trailer now at www.stepthroughtheportal.com; the vid itself features The Apples in Stereo performing the album’s first single, “Dance Floor”...

MINI BUZZ:
Seattle band Minus the Bear have newly signed with Dangerbird Records, and will release their first set to their new label this spring...
Primal Scream are set to perform their classic 1991 album, Screamadelica, in its entirety in London on November 27th; it will mark the first time they’ve played the entire album live...
Indie-rockers The Hold Steady have completed their first album since the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay; dubbed Heaven is Whenever, it’s set to hit stores on May 4th...
For you country music fans, Jimmy Dean, Billy Sherrill, Don Williams, and Ferlin Husky will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year...
Madison, Wisconsin has drawn up an unusual resolution - one to make the members of Wilco honorary citizens of the city of Madison. The interesting part is that the mayor of Duluth, Minnesota recently made Wilco an official “Honorary Duluth Band” - so it’s basically a (humorous) battle between the cities to garner Wilco’s favor...
Speaking of Thirty Seconds to Mars, they’ve added a North American leg to their Into the Wild Tour, which will now include stops in Chicago (4/16), Detroit (4/17), Philly (4/24), Denver (5/7), and Seattle (5/10)...

And these new discs are being thrown ‘into the wild’ for your purchase this week... ON CD: Galaxie 500’s On Fire/Peel Sessions... MGMT’s Congratulations... Social Code’s Rock N’ Roll... and Pat Benetar’s Greatest Hits... ON DVD: The White Stripes’ Under Great Northern Lights Live... and Herman’s Hermits - Listen, People ... 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