Imogen Heap working on music documentary

July 11, 2010

Imogen Heap Working On Music Documentary
Singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, recent winner of the Grammy for Best Engineered Album, is currently working on a DVD documentary that was, surprisingly, fan-generated. As-of-yet untitled, the doc is being put together from over 350 hours of footage that was filmed from 2007-2009, while Heap was recording her current album, Ellipse. Fans emailed Heap and asked if she could please videotape some of her songwriting process and recording, so they could get a behind-the-scenes look at her album progress, and she did exactly that, filming from her first songwriting days through mixing...
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has teamed up with a plethora of fellow indie-rockers to form the supergroup Tired Pony. Tired Pony, which now consists of Lightbody, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and R.E.M. “extra member” Scott McCaughey, Snow Patrol collaborators Iain Archer and Troy Stewart, and Belle and Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn, also snagged Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee to serve as producer on their debut album, The Place We Ran From, which will drop on July 12. The album also features a guest appearance by Editors’ singer Tom Smith; the first single from the album, “Dead American Writers,” will hit radio on the same day as the album...
Beastie Boys are still adding the icing - er, spicing? - to their latest album, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1, which had its release postponed when Beastie Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. The band, of course, instead made Yauch’s recovery their priority; Yauch is still receiving treatment, but his bandmates say he’s been feeling “pretty good,” so they’re letting the album rest for a little, and hope to release it to the masses this upcoming September...
Interpol have done some band member shuffling for their live performance lineup, hiring bass player Dave Pajo (Zwan) to replace original member Carlos Dengler, and adding in Secret Machines frontman Brandon Curtis to sing backing vocals and play keyboards. Interpol are also making big plans to tour the UK and Ireland this winter, and have announced that they’ll release their fourth full-length album this upcoming September...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
The quirky new alt-country/pop side project Mt Desolation, featuring members of Keane, The Killers, and Noah and the Whale, have made a new track, “State of Our Affairs,” available as a free download; snag it now at mtdesolationofficial.blogspot.com...

MINI BUZZ:
We Were Promised Jetpacks have announced a slate of U.S. and Canadian summer shows, which will include stops in Toronto (7/3), Detroit (7/9), and Chicago (7/12); Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club will serve as opening acts...
Comedian-turned-banjo picker Steve Martin and his band, the Steep Canyon Rangers, will kick off the 51st Newport Folk Festival on Friday, July 30 in Newport, Rhode Island...
Social music service Rdio, developed by the creators of Skype, will be offering unlimited streaming of five million songs from your computer and cell phone; plans run from $4.99-$9.99 per month...
The National have added a plethora of tour dates in support of their new album, High Violet; stops will include Philly (6/4 and 6/5), Washington DC (6/6), Toronto (6/8), a skip around Europe, and then a return to the U.S. for shows in Royal Oak MI (8/3), Chicago’s Lollapalooza Fest (8/6), and Atlanta GA (10/5)...
Wiley, Sound of Guns, and The Courteeners have been confirmed to perform at the 10th anniversary of the UK’s Big Reunion show, which will take place on November 19-21and 26-28...
The flailing Tonight Show with Jay Leno, sinking fast over its poor ratings and backlash from the Conan O’Brien dismissal, is grasping at straws by introducing its fourth Tonight Show theme song in a year...
And for something more interesting, let us introduce this week’s new CD releases... Crowded House’s Intriguer... Thieves Like Us’ Again and Again... Sting’s Symphonicity... Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s Dark Night of the Soul... and The Main’s Black and White... 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