Modern Rock

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Franz Ferdinand Start New Year With New Album
Perhaps completing a resolution to get some new songs to their fans early in the new year, Scottish modern rockers Franz Ferdinand’s latest record is now due for release January 26. Dubbed Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, the new 2009 set was recorded throughout 2008, both in a South London recording studio and at Franz’ own headquarters in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. Songs on the new set include “Ulysses,” “Live Alone,” and “Twilight Omens;” the first single and all the details of Franz’ upcoming tour schedule are also set to be announced shortly...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Swedish rockers and American ‘80s-redux singer Cyndi Lauper - an unexpected combination of musicians, to be sure - have just collaborated on a Christmas song that’s available for purchase in the UK, and as a download in the U.S. The Hives said they “knew they had to record” the tune with the zany but talented songstress, the result being the wacky and festive track “A Christmas Duel,” set to be a holiday treat for fans of both artists...
Coldplay have issued a statement addressing old-school guitarist Joe Satriani’s claim that the Brit band stole part of his song “If I Could Fly” to use as the main melody line in Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” hit track. Coldplay’s statement read in part, “With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani... if there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him...” If the two songs shared some sort of musical complexity, the claim might have merit; but Satriani, who has already filed a copyright infringement suit in a Los Angeles court, may instead want to start planning his lawsuits against the likes of David Bowie, Lucinda Williams, Neil Young, Jewel, Pearl Jam, and Elvis, since they have all also used the very common C-D-G-Em chord progression. And for those of you all up in arms about the “audio comparison” video on YouTube, keep in mind that the video’s editor isn’t mentioning that he changed the key and tempo of the Coldplay song so that it would better “match up” with the Satriani song. Apparantly some woefully past-their-prime rockers will do anything to make a quick buck, with time that could’ve been better spent creating new music of their own...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates A deluxe edition of the Art of Peace Foundation’s Songs for Tibet album will be released this month as a continuing expression of peace and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Initially released as a download just days before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the set, which features artists from Alanis Morissette and Garbage to Damien Rice, Sting, Duncan Sheik and Moby, will now also include an accompanying three-hour DVD with teachings from the Dalai Lama himself. Get more info at www.artofpeacefoundation.org...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Mos Def is set to release his latest album, The Ecstatic, on February 9; it’ll be his first on Downtown Records. The first single, “Life in Marvelous Times,” is already on iTunes, where you can also snag Def’s previous albums, Tru3 Magic and The New Danger. In support of said album, Mos Def has been keeping busy on the road performing in the European version of the Rock the Bells tour, on which he’s sharing stages with Nas and De La Soul among others; he also plays Chuck Berry in the movie Cadillac Records, which hits theaters this week...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Gnarls Barkley has just unveiled four different versions of their James-Brown-themed track “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” on a nifty new digital EP of the same name that’s out this week on Atlantic Records. “...Soul” appears in its original version, as well as the demo version, an instrumental take, and as the audio from MTV’s “52 Bands.” Also included on the EP is a live version of “Neighbors” as performed at Athens, Georgia’s 40 Watt Club (the town where Danger Mouse himself went to college), and extra half-instrumental/half-vocal track “Mystery Man”...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates NYC band The Strokes are finally prepping to head back into the studio in February, 2009 to get back to work on their next album, after being temporarily derailed by various family matters and solo projects. During the break, bassist Nikolai Fraiture “got bored” and put together his own solo project, a band which he dubbed Nickel Eye; Nickel Eye has already recorded their debut album, The Time of the Assassins, which Fraiture says was “born from old high school poems.” And it’s no thrown-together thing ...Assassins features guest appearances from singer-songwriter Regina Spektor and Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner. Nickel Eye recently made their live debut in London at The Borderline Club, where Fraiture took on lead vocals and also performed a cover of Nico’s song, “These Days.” The Time of the Assassins will hit stores January 27, 2009...
Parlophone Records/Astralwerks and the War Child charity have teamed up for another multi-artist fundraising album. War Child is a charity created to care for those affected by war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although the album was originally set for release this week, it’s been moved back to early 2009 in order to accommodate some of the musicians who wished to be included in the set. The album will feature exclusive versions of classic cover songs from the likes of Paul McCartney and Ray Davies (The Kinks); the new versions of the tracks will be performed by the likes of Beck, Rufus Wainwright, Duffy and Hot Chip...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates The 2008 American Music Award Nominations have been announced, but you’ll have to wait until November 23 for the awards show itself (which will air on ABC TV.) In the meantime, you can ponder the nominees - Alicia Keys leads the pack with five nominations, including Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. Following closely behind her are Coldplay, who were nominated for Favorite Band Duo or Group, Favorite Alternative/Rock Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Album for Viva La Vida and the much-coveted Artist of the Year. Other nominees include The Eagles, Carrie Underwood and Mariah Carey; the show will once again be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Chris Cornell’s new album, Scream, is still casting around for a release date (general consensus being that it will surface early next year), and fans might be surprised to hear that it’s a bit of a change-up from Cornell’s previous sound. This time around, he’s snagged Timbaland as album producer, and the album itself is full of unusual instrumentation, as well as elements of extra soul and hip-hop. The first single, “Ground Zero,” will likely surface on MTV with its accompanying Brooklyn-shot music video...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates As if their success with their new Viva La Vida album wasn’t enough, Coldplay continue to break new ground and have collaborated with Jay-Z on a new version of their song “Lost!” which is out now and will also be part of a new Coldplay EP. That’s right - just a short time after their full-length 2008 album release, the UK band is releasing Prospekt’s March, an eight-song EP that will include that alternate version of “Lost!” plus a remix of “Lovers in Japan” and six new (aka not included on Viva) songs. The EP will hit stores November 25...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Beasties Make Last-Minute Push For Rockin’ Voters
The Beastie Boys have just confirmed additional dates for their Get Out and Vote 2008 Tour, the shows of which will all take place in swing states crucial to the race for the White House. In addition to the Beasties, fans can look forward to a rotating cast of guest stars including Sheryl Crow, Tenacious D, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Crosby & Nash and Norah Jones. Newly announced live dates on the tour include Richmond, VA (10/28), Youngstown, OH (10/29), Dayton OH (10/30), St. Paul, MN (11/1), and Milwaukee, WI (11/2). Although the Beasties are officially endorsing Barack Obama for president, the goal of the shows is simply to remind people to vote and to “have a fun night” - representatives from Rock the Vote will be on hand at each tour site to pass out info about local polling sites and early voting locales...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Stephen Colbert Plans Hipster Holiday
Witty Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert - subject, of course, of the song “Stephen, Stephen” by indie-rockers Apples in Stereo - is upping his hip quotient even more by putting together his very own Colbert’s Christmas Special, complete with songs written by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. Appearing on the show, among others, will be the John Legend, Feist and Elvis Costello, the latter of whose song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding” is rumored to be the TV show’s finale in sing-a-long form. The show will air on Comedy Central, November 23, with a DVD release two days later. proceeds will benefit the hunger-fighting organization, Feeding America...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates A recent Billboard feature pointed out a fact that you may not even have consciously noticed - popular TV theme songs are something of a dying (or even dead) breed. Taking a different approach, that of using existing songs for TV show openings, has taken over for the “dedicated” television theme song. This trend can apparantly be blamed on mid-’90s show “Dawson’s Creek,” which kicked off the trend by adapting a Paula Cole song, the earworm-y “I Don’t Want to Wait,” as its track of choice. Other current shows followed suit, leaving authentic TV theme songs in the digital dust. In a tribute of sorts, Billboard put together a list of the Top 10 Original Television Theme Songs. among them were Jan Hammer’s “Miami Vice Theme,” John Sebastian’s “Welcome Back” (from the ‘70s John-Travolta-starring show “Welcome Back Kotter”), and a pair by composer Mike Post, who contributed theme songs for “The Rockford Files” and “Hill Street Blues”...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates 2008 Voodoo Experience Invites You to Road Trip
Looking for one last jaunt in the car before winter sets in? Here’s a great one for you - point your jalopy southward to New Orleans for the 2008 Voodoo Experience Fest, set to be held October 24-26 at Naw’lin’s City Park. Not daunted at all by the recent pass-through of Hurricane Gustav, the fest is set to go on as planned, and will feature energetic live sets from the likes of R.E.M., Stone Temple Pilots, Ben Jelen, TV on the Radio, The Mars Volta, and NERD, among others; tix are available online through
www.thetenthritual.com and www.ticketmaster.com...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates TV on the Radio Addresses Science For Next Album
Brooklyn, New York band TV on the Radio have just hit the tour trail for a series of North American dates that will start off in Portland, Oregon, and make stops in Philly (10/10), Indianapolis (10/19), Chicago (10/22), and New Orleans (10/24) along the way, complete with opening acts The Dirtbombs and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. And the reason for all this busy activity? Well, the band has finally wrapped work on their third full-length album, Dear Science, which is set to arrive in stores on September 23 via Interscope Records...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Oasis Don’t Let Trouble Get Them Down
Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was attacked onstage last week during Oasis’ concert in Toronto, Canada; a crazed fan (who was later arrested and charged with assault) jumped onstage and shoved Gallagher from behind, sending him face-first into the stage monitors. With Gallagher suffering bruised ribs, Oasis had to postpone a couple of shows due to the incident, but made sure their fans were compensated for with either makeup tix or refunds. And don’t worry, Oasis fans - the band doesn’t give up that easily. They’re still moving ahead with other plans to promote their new album, Dig Out Your Soul (in stores Oct. 7), one of which will include an unusual NYC promotion via which the band will teach four new Oasis songs to a group of street musicians, who will then fan out into the city to perform the songs in subway stations and on the streets, via the Transportation Authority’s street musicians program. The performances will be filmed and uploaded to a special YouTube channel, and also included in an upcoming Oasis DVD documentary...