Ron Sexsmith collaborates with impressive lineup

Jan. 30, 2011

Ron Sexsmith Collaborates With Impressive Lineup
Canadian indie singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith’s newest album, Long Player, Late Bloomer, is set to hit stores on March 1, as helmed by uber-producer Bob Rock and recorded in Sexsmith’s home territories of Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Included on the set are a plethora of pals who’ve added their musical input to Sexsmith’s thoughtful, folk-pop songs, from session drummer Josh Freese to Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning, Pedestrian’s Joel Shearer, and The Sadies’ Travis Good. Sexsmith will also reportedly tour in support of the new set, although he only has one date booked (London on April 30) for now; future dates TBA...
Portishead fans are anticipating the band’s fourth studio album, which the band’s Geoff Barrow tweeted will be released with a whole lot of “NOs” (as in no bonus tracks, no remixes, no hidden tracks, no corporate partners, no acoustic sessions, no press launches, no Twitter, etc.) to keep the focus on “just music and us,” in Barrow’s own words (ironic, given that he made these announcements via... his @jetfury Twitter account) Portishead are also rumored to be planning a co-headlining tour with Arcade Fire for this year...
Nashville indie-rocker and former Detroiter Jack White is utilizing greeting card technology to help promote releases via his own Third Man Records. White’s dubbed the new innovation a “Greeting Card Gatefold” - it’s a double-sleeve LP jacket that plays bits from the record when you unfold the sleeve, much like those singing cards in your local stationery store. White also installed an animatronic machine in his label’s home office in Nashville; the machine, which features a band of monkeys, plays a preview of a song from the label’s roster when you drop in a quarter...
And this year’s SXSW Fest in Austin, Texas has continued to add to the roster of acts set to play at the event; confirmed so far are the likes of Sondre Lerche, Menomena, The Boxer Rebellion, John Vanderslice, Toro Y Moi, and Experimental Aircraft, among others. Several of the panels have also been announced, including “Super Fans as a Marketing Force” and “Are Metalheads Smart Enough to be Online?” SXSW 2011 will take place March 16 through the 20th, and will include SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Speaking of aforementioned SXSW attendee John Vanderslice, he’s bypassing the usual selling-CD routes, and is instead giving away his newest EP to fans via his website. The EP, dubbed Green Grow the Rushes, includes a half-dozen songs with guest appearances from Ben Goldberg, George Ban-Weiss, St. Vincent’s Daniel Hart, and Spoon’s Jim Eno, among others; snag it for free at http://johnvanderslice.com/green-grow-the-rushes...

MINI MODERN BUZZ:
Chris Martin chatted with the BBC recently about Coldplay’s upcoming 2011 album, which is said to be a “personal concept album about a journey” and which is being co-produced by Brian Eno and Marcus Dravs, who also helmed the band’s Viva La Vida set...
The Strokes are set to drop a new album this year, too - they’re currently mixing their fourth album which is due in-stores this March, and which is said to be a return to that classic Strokes NYC sound...
The Decemberists just released their new album, The King is Dead, a couple of weeks ago, and are continuing touring in support of the set with stops in Toronto (2/1), Royal Oak MI (2/2), Chicago (2/4), Minneapolis (2/6), and Portland OR (2/19) before embarking on overseas dates...
NY’s Carnegie Hall will be celebrating their 120th anniversary with a gala musical event hosted by James Taylor and featuring the likes of Steve Martin and Sting, among others...
Queen Elizabeth II’s most recent list of honors has been announced, with producer/musician Trevor Horn named a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) and Richard Thompson and songstress Annie Lennox each dubbed with OBEs (Order of the British Empire)...
And stepping away from classic artists like The Rolling Stones and The Who, the Superbowl halftime show has selected the Black Eyed Peas for this year’s Superbowl event on February 6...
Stepping in to your music collection are this week’s new CD releases... The Go! Team’s Rolling Blackouts... The Dirtbombs’ Party Store... Todd Snider’s The Storyteller... John Culture’s Summer Friends... and Esben and the Witch’s Violet Cries... 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*