Road trip to Toronto for great new music

Feb. 21, 2010

Road Trip to Toronto for Great New Music
CMW 2010, otherwise known as Canadian Music Week 2010, is right around the corner, and is set to take place at a plethora of music/club venues throughout Toronto between March 10 and the 14th. You can snag a wristband that will allow you access to the full lineup of festival acts at http://canadianmusicfest.com, and what a lineup it is this year; already confirmed to perform are Bedouin Soundclash, Great Lake Swimmers, Marcy Playground, Constantines, Our Lady Peace, and Monogold, among others, so get your wristbands now...
In other festival-ish news, the lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has been announced, with Pearl Jam standing as one of the fest’s headliners. Also set to perform are The Black Crowes, The Dead Weather (with Detroit’s own Jack White), fellow Detroiter Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, and many more; the event will take place April 23/25, April 29/30, and May 1/2...
Erykah Badu’s sixth studio album, New Amerykah, Part II: Return of the Ankh, will hit stores on February 23 on Motown/Universal Records. The album, Badu’s sequel to 2008’s New Amerykah, Part I: 4th World War, is said to be more about “raw feelings” than the conscious message-driven, political songs of the previous set...
And there’s plenty of Bedouin Soundclash news this week; first of all, the band have been working hard on their latest album, and plan to release it this upcoming summer on their own brand-new Pirates Blend record label. In addition, the first release on Pirates Blend will be Bedouin Soundclash frontman Jay Malinowski’s own debut solo disc, Bright Lights and Bruises, out this week, which he recorded on his own in his apartment back in 2009. Malinowski’s track “Life is a Gun” is already garnering attention, and is set to be featured in the upcoming Ryan Phillippe movie Bang Bang Club, which is slated to hit theaters later this year. Prior to that, fans can catch the video for the Bright Lights and Bruises track “There’s a Light,” which Malinowski shot last month in Iceland with director Michael Maxxis...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Label Kill Rock Stars is set to reissue a pair of Elliott Smith’s albums, namely his 1994 debut set Roman Candle and his 2004 late LP From a Basement on the Hill. Both albums will hit stores on April 6th of this year, with Roman Candle having been remastered by Jackpot! Recording Studio’s Larry Crane. In the meantime, you can head over to Kill Rock Stars’ website (www.killrockstars.com) to download an unreleased Smith track for free...

MINI BUZZ:
French electronica duo Air are prepping to kick off a North American tour in a couple of weeks in support of their latest album, Love 2; the tour will see the pair make stops in Atlanta (3/15), Washington DC (3/17), Philly (3/18), Toronto (3/23), and Chicago (3/26)...
Wilco and Califone will be teaming up for a tour that will take both bands across Canada and the northern U.S., including shows in Calgary (2/16), Duluth MN (2/19), Madison WI (2/20), East Lansing MI (2/21), and Hamilton, Ontario (2/22)...
We Were Promised Jetpacks have lined up a series of headlining tour dates, too, that will include them performing live at the SXSW Fest in Austin, Texas in addition to shows in Phoenix AZ (2/23), Vancouver (3/1), and Seattle (3/2)...
Internet radio music service Pandora is working with car manufacturers to bring Pandora into on-board entertainment systems, so that streaming music from the web could replace or be an addition to the FM radio in your car sooner than you might think...
Former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is collaborating with The Jackfield’s Mike Reina on a prog-pop band that they’ve dubbed This...
Dub/hip-hop/reggae artist Matisyahu is in the planning stages for his fourth album, which he says will have “more of a band feel” and will capitalize on the success of his improvisational live shows...

And hoping to have success on the charts are this week’s new releases... ON CD: Daniel Merriweather’s Love and War... Shout Out Loud’s Work... and Michelle Branch’s Everything Comes and Goes... ON DVD: Pet Shop Boys - Pandemonium - Live at the O2 Arena, London, 21 December 2009... 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