New documentary profiles The Libertines

April 10, 2011

New Documentary Profiles The Libertines
A new documentary about modern rockers The Libertines is set to premiere at this year’s East End Film Fest in London, but stateside fans of the band will be happy to hear about the movie, too. Directed by Roger Sargent, the film will be prefaced by Libertine frontman Carl Barat’s solo single, “Death Fires Burn at Night,” which hit radio last weekend; the fest will take place from April 26 to May 2. The fate of the band itself, though, remains in limbo, with no live dates surfacing nor any mentions of further recordings…
The New York Dolls are continuing their reunion with a new album just out last month (Dancing Backwards in High Heels), a new touring guitarist (namely former David Bowie bandmate Earl Slick), and a few tour dates in the U.K. The influential band are set to play for two nights at London’s Old Vic Tunnels, an actual underground network of historical old red brick Victorian tunnels located underneath Waterloo Station, and they’ll also throw in a few additional U.K. dates in Manchester and Newcastle…
New Zealand psychedelic-popsters Surf City, who began snagging acclaim when they opened for Dinosaur Jr.’s reunion tour a few years ago, are now supporting their own new album, Kudos, with their first North American tour, which kicked off at the SXSW fest in Austin a couple of weeks ago. The headlining jaunt will see the band bringing along a number of opening acts, including Bardo Pond, Destroyer, and Thee Oh Sees, among others, and will have them stopping for shows in Montreal (4/14), Toronto (4/16), Detroit (4/18), Chicago (4/19), and Bloomington, Indiana (4/20)…
South Carolina electronica/lo-fi/DIY artist Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) released his latest set, Underneath the Pine, earlier this year, influenced by film composers like the ubiquitous Ennio Morricone, for starters; now, the album is getting plenty of critical acclaim, and Bundick has scheduled out a tour that saw him hit the road early in March, and will keep him on the tour bus through the end of April, including stops in Washington DC (4/14 at the Rock N Roll Hotel), Columbia, South Carolina (4/16), and Honolulu, Hawaii (4/23)…

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
The Rolling Stones just can’t stop crankin’ out the album releases - this time, it’s another gigantic boxset, collecting the band’s singles from the past forty years. The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006) will include 45 of the band’s singles, and 173 total tunes in all, plus a 32-page booklet containing an interview with former Stones bass player Bill Wyman, who also serves as the band’s archivist. The entire setlist can be viewed at rollingstones.com before you buy…

MINI MODERN BUZZ:
The Brooklyn Northside Festival is returning for its third year from June 16-19, with performances scheduled from Beirut, Ava Luna, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, and Javelin, among others…
In more festival news, this year’s Truck Festival (thisistruck.com) will welcome Gruff Rhys and Bellowhead as headliners in July, along with additional acts St. Etienne, Johnny Flynn, and Fixers…
Iron and Wine have announced more tour dates in support of their latest album, including shows in Detroit (4/14), Buffalo NY (4/15), Philly (4/21), Athens GA (4/25), Minneapolis (6/8), and Indianapolis (6/10); several of their late spring U.S. dates will be shared shows with The Low Anthem...
KT Tunstall has just embarked on her Solo Show tour in support of her third album; more dates are expected to be announced...
Detroiter Iggy Pop is set to release a collection of bootleg recordings called Roadkill Rising: The Bootleg Collection 1997-2009…
And according to actor Keanu Reeves, there’s still a chance of a new Bill and Ted’s movie being made, as he and co-star Alex Winter are in talks with scriptwriters; no word yet on if Reeves’ band Dogstar will make an appearance…
And making appearances this week (hopefully in your MP3 player) are these new albums… Alison Krauss and Union Station’s Paper Airplanes... Joan as Police Woman’s The Deep Field... Low’s C’mon... Emilie Simon’s The Big Machine... and Foo Fighters’ Wasted Lights... 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