Influential Beach Boys mark 50 years

Oct. 31, 2010

Influential Beach Boys Mark 50 Years
The Beach Boys, the ‘60s band that’s influenced the sounds of everyone from Wilco to The Shins, Apples in Stereo to Belle and Sebastian, are set to reunite in order to mark their 50th anniversary, with none other than a live - and probably free - performance, although the locale has yet to be determined. The line-up for the event is reportedly going to include Al Jardine, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, early guitarist David Marks and possibly (emphasis on maybe) the evasive (and busy) Brian Wilson. Jardine recently told Rolling Stone magazine that he personally “wants to see a hundred-date anniversary tour,” but that if one show is all they’re going to do together, then he’ll take it...
INXS are still putting forth plenty of Aussie rock, and have announced a range of guest singers for their new upcoming album; the singers will share the mic with Rockstar: INXS tv show winner JD Fortune, who semi-replaced original INXS singer Michael Hutchence after he passed away. The band will release an initial single, a new version of their 1980 hit “Just Keep Walking,” with Dan Sultan on vocal duties, while other tracks on the full album will include the likes of Rob Thomas, Train’s Pat Monahan, and Ben Harper all putting their own stamp on a tracklisting of INXS classics...
Jack Johnson has announced that his ongoing To the Sea Tour is partnering up with local and national non-profit organizations in areas that were affected by the Gulf oil spill to help accrue donations and encourage volunteerism. In addition, Johnson’s own charity organization, the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, is committing up to $70,000 to the All at Once non-profit partners that are working on Gulf oil spill relief efforts; so in addition to paying for good music by buying Jack Johnson concert tix, you’ll also be helping a very worthy cause...

And The Who are quietly eyeballing tour possibilities for 2011, with singer Roger Daltry suggesting that the band might either put together a new show, or a revamped version of the band’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. The considerations so far as to work around guitarist Pete Townshend’s continuing battle with tinnitus, as well as Daltrey’s own solo dates as a headliner and as opening act for Eric Clapton. Townshend is also working on writing a new musical called Floss, although whether that will or will not be a part of The Who’s live show remains to be seen (heard)...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
It’s been two years since The Swell Season won the Oscar for Best Song (and found that they had a fan in President Obama), and since then they’ve released two albums and have kept on touring. Most recently, though, they recorded a cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s tune “Two Headed Boy” for the Onion’s AV Club. Catch up with the talented duo and check out the video here: http://tinyurl.com/25f58bc

MINI BUZZ:
Killers singer Brandon Flowers, whose solo album Flamingo was released in September, said in a recent interview that most of the songs on his solo set were originally penned by him for The Killers themselves...
The Hold Steady have added new shows to their current tour; the expanded schedule will keep the band on the road to November 23... Retro-geezer-rockers Van Halen are reportedly in the studio with original vocalist David Lee Roth working on a new album - their first together in over 25 years - that’s due for release in 2011...
Aussie dark-rocker Nick Cave is rumored to be taking over screenplay-writing duties on a remake of the 1994 action movie The Crow... Neil Young has confirmed that he’ll be releasing four “lost” albums that have been in storage since the ‘70s; Homegrown, Oceanside-Countryside, Chrome Dreams, and Odeon-Budokan Live are reportedly set to be issued for starters, on vinyl from analog masters...
Hugh Laurie, the main character on the TV show House, is going to be the latest actor to move over into music, and is set to record an album of what he’s calling “New Orleans blues” with producer Joe Henry...
ON CD: MS White’s Squares... Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine... Elvis Costello’s National Ransom... Mini Mansions’ Mini Mansions... and Jamiroquai’s Rock Dust Light Star... 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