Modern Rock

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Maddie collects all of her great hits
Kristi Kates 7/20/09

Madonna’s currently working out the details for the last album she’ll record for Warner Bros. Records now that she’s transferred her deal to Live Nation. Her last WB set will be a greatest hits album, which is set to hit stores in September, and for which Maddie is reportedly planning to record some new music as well. Madonna’s already released two previous best-of sets - 1990’s The Immaculate Collection* and 2001’s GHV2: Greatest Hits Vol. 2, not to mention the ballads best-of Something to Remember - but with a career as extensive as Madonna’s, what’s one more...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Modern Rock
Kristi Kates 7/13/09
Bowie’s Storytelling Resurfaces on CD/DVD Set
Ten years later, David Bowie’s legendary 1999 appearance on VH1’s Storytellers series is finally being released as a CD/DVD set (and also as a download) via EMI Records. On the disc(s), Bowie performs classics like “Life on Mars” alongside a plethora of tracks from Bowie’s then-new album hours; with the CD/DVD set, fans will also get several outtakes, including an interesting version of Low’s “Always Crashing in the Same Car,” and several other interesting tidbits. The set will show up on July 14 - hopefully Bowie himself, who’s been well out of the spotlight lately, will do the same shortly thereafter...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Rhythms del Mundo Mix Pop and Cuban Music
Kristi Kates 6/29/09
The very cool Cuban band Rhythms del Mundo have completed work on another one of their collaboration albums, on which they mash up pop and rock songs with Cuban rhythms and horns, usually in special versions of the songs on which they work directly with the artists. Their latest effort, called simply Classics, is all duets and covers, and includes the likes of The Killers’ singing The Eagles’ “Hotel California,” The Kooks rocking “Are You Ready For Love,” Keane performing Queen/Bowie’s “Under Pressure,” Editors covering Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” and Kaiser Chiefs taking on Motown’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” If you’ve yet to hear a Rhythms del Mundo project, we’ll say that they’re highly recommended, and help good causes, too; this album, like their others, was produced to raise awareness and funds for natural disaster relief and climate crisis projects, and will go on sale in July...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Green Day Bring Franz,
Chiefs Along On Tour
Kristi Kates 6/22/09

Green Day’s summer tour is set to kick off right before the 4th of July,
in which the band will make stops in Chicago (7/13), Detroit (7/14),
Philly (7/21), Washington DC (7/29), and New Orleans (8/7), among other
cities, before heading overseas for a series of Western European dates in
Portugal, Spain, and France. But that’s not all of the Green Day tour news
- fans will also be treated to a couple of super opening acts, given that
Green Day has snagged both Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs as their
support bands. Franz and the Chiefs usually headline their own shows, so
this should be an interesting mix for all bands involved...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates The Shins Return With
New Bandmates
Kristi Kates 6/15/09

It’s been eighteen months or so since fans have seen The Shins, but now the band is back in full force with a change-up in band members, a new record label home, some film work, and yes, even a few new tunes. Lead singer/guitarist James Mercer remains bandleader, of course, but longtime Shins bassist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval have been replaced by Fruit Bats’ bassist Ron Lewis and Modest Mouse drummer John Plummer; both new bandmates will participate in recording The Shins’ next album. Album prep is yet to get underway, but fans can keep an eye out for Mercer, who’s been doing some acting in indie films as well as scoring a surfing/climbing movie with Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. The Shins just wrapped a short slate of tour dates, and plan to hit the studio this summer...
Arctic Monkeys have just released their first live recording in both CD and DVD form - Arctic Monkeys Live at the Apollo showcases the final performance of the band’s 2007 world tour at the Manchester Apollo Theater, and was put together by Warp Films. Purchasing the set as an American release will get U.S. fans a bonus disc, as well - an exclusive collection of live music recorded in Austin, Texas, that will be available as a U.S. purchase only, and that will include tunes “Riot Van,” and “Dancing Shoes”...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates The Shins Return With
New Bandmates
Kristi Kates 6/15/09

It’s been eighteen months or so since fans have seen The Shins, but now the band is back in full force with a change-up in band members, a new record label home, some film work, and yes, even a few new tunes. Lead singer/guitarist James Mercer remains bandleader, of course, but longtime Shins bassist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval have been replaced by Fruit Bats’ bassist Ron Lewis and Modest Mouse drummer John Plummer; both new bandmates will participate in recording The Shins’ next album. Album prep is yet to get underway, but fans can keep an eye out for Mercer, who’s been doing some acting in indie films as well as scoring a surfing/climbing movie with Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. The Shins just wrapped a short slate of tour dates, and plan to hit the studio this summer...
Arctic Monkeys have just released their first live recording in both CD and DVD form - Arctic Monkeys Live at the Apollo showcases the final performance of the band’s 2007 world tour at the Manchester Apollo Theater, and was put together by Warp Films. Purchasing the set as an American release will get U.S. fans a bonus disc, as well - an exclusive collection of live music recorded in Austin, Texas, that will be available as a U.S. purchase only, and that will include tunes “Riot Van,” and “Dancing Shoes”...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Minogue Tours U.S.,
Seeks Movie Roles
Kristi Kates 6/8/09
Kylie Minogue is spending much of her summer prepping for her first North American tour, which kicks off in California on September 30 and will take the Aussie singer to Chicago, Toronto, New York and Las Vegas, among other stops. Minogue, who has also begun work on her 11th studio album, is pondering changing up her musical style a little, and is also exploring ways to pursue more film roles, a process that she says is a “dream” for her. Stateside recognition has so far mostly eluded Minogue, in spite of her stardom in Australia, Britain, Europe, and Asia (where she’s simply known as “Kylie”), but she says that although she’s looking forward to seeing her U.S. fans, she’s perfectly happy with her success to date...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Timberlake, Fiasco, Kenna to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

Kristi Kates 6/1/09

It sounds like yet another music biz tabloid rumor, but it’s not; Justin Timberlake, hip-hopster Lupe Fiasco, and singer Kenna are joining forces to climb Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the worldwide water crisis. Timberlake told GQ magazine he’s been “training like a pro” in order to get his oxygen consumption maximized, while Kenna is “training in secret” and Fiasco is busy conjuring up friendly jokes about sabotaging his fellow climbers with killer ants and tricky tent laces in order to beat them to the top. The climb will take the three musicians to the highest point in Africa, where the altitude at 19,000 feet plus low temps make it a tedious and physically taxing feat that will take them a week to accomplish...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Ben Folds Focuses On
Vocals-Only Set 5/25/09

Ben Folds’ songs have long been the subject of unaccompanied university vocal group performances - and that quirky fact, which he discovered while browsing YouTube, actually gave him the idea for his newest album, Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella! The album is set to feature over a dozen university vocal groups performing detailed arrangements of Folds’ songs, such as “Army,” “Evaporated,” and “Brick” - Folds himself selected the groups and songs and produced the album, and he also threw in two of his own a capella tracks, “Effington” and “Boxing.” The production for the new CD was completed while Folds was flying back and forth to gigs on his 2008 Way to Normal tour; and as if that wasn’t enough activity, Folds is back to work again on a collaborative album with Brit writer Nick Hornby, who’s writing the lyrics while Folds takes care of the music...
Kings of Leon have joined the roster of performer

Modern Rock Kristi Kates No Doubt On the Way Back and On Tour
Kristi Kates 5/18/09
Gwen Stefani and her No Doubt bandmates have borrowed an Adam and the Ants tune and brought it into their more current new wave sound. “Stand and Deliver” is the track, and you might’ve already heard it on the internet, as it was recently inadvertantly released onto a couple of interent outlets. If you missed it, however, never fear - No Doubt is continuing work on their new album, which is anticipated for release some time later this year, and will also be trekking the U.S. on a reunion tour for which they’ve got dates scheduled through the beginning of August. If you do decide to buy tix for any of their live shows, you’ll also get the band’s full digital catalog as a free download. Now there’s no doubt that that’s a cool bonus...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Pete Yorn’s New Album To Hit Stores in June
Pete Yorn has decided to work with a pair of producers for his next album, namely Saddle Creek’s Mike Mogis and Grammy-winner Rick Rubin. Yorn began the album process by writing the lyrics first this time, then recording the album in Nebraska, bringing in a group of skilled musicians as opposed to doing all of the instrumental work himself, as he’s done on previous albums. This time around, he collaborated with the talents of Beck drummer Joey Waronker, The Faint pianist Nate Wolcott, and guitarist Jonny Polonsky, among others; the new album, Back and Forth, is due out on June 23 on Columbia Records, with Yorn planning to tour in support of the set...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Jack White Forms Yet
Another Side Project Band
Kristi Kates 5/4/09

Detroiter-turned-Nashville resident Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs) has formed yet another band. Dubbed The Dead Weather, this particular White-helmed group includes Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita, and Kills singer Alison Mosshart. They’ve been a busy new band, too; they’ve already recorded a full-length album, Horehound,

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Gorillaz Go Bananaz On New Documentary Film
4/27/09
The long-underground Gorillaz documentary Bananaz finally debuted on the website Babelgum on April 20, where it will reside in streaming form for four weeks alongside a special Gorillaz channel, which will feature Gorillaz vids, games, live footage, and more. After the film’s initial Babelgum run, it will be released theatrically by EMI as well as on DVD this June, although the theater bookings are sure to be somewhat limited. Bananaz features Gorillaz themselves alongside such collaborators as Dennis Hopper, Dan the Automator, Danger Mouse, and De La Soul, as well as a giggly outtakes reel titled The Bananaz Home Movie Club...
Columbia/Legacy records are set to honor late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley with the upcoming release of Grace Around the World, a DVD/CD package that focuses on Buckley’s live performances from 1994-1995, right after his original Grace album hit stores. The DVD includes U.S. shows in Chicago and New Orleans, plus overseas shows in Germany, Japan, London, and France; the audio CD includes a dozen live tracks from the DVD. A deluxe version of the set includes an extra DVD with the documentary film Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley, which has won several festival awards including one at CMJ. Both the regular and deluxe versions of Grace Around the World include plenty of interviews and liner notes...

Modern Rock Kristie Kates Scottish retro-pop-rockers Simple Minds have wrapped work on their next album, which they’ve titled Graffiti Soul. The album, according to Simple Minds’ frontman Jim Kerr, is “truly vibrant rock n’ roll and pop,” and follows up the band’s 30th anniversary tour, at which they played complete run-throughs of their classic albums and also performed a live set at the birthday party of none other than a 90-year-old Nelson Mandela. Graffiti Soul hits stores on May 25 on Universal Records, and a supporting tour is in the planning stages...
Wilco have been working hard on mixing their latest album with Cali producer Jim Scott, and have also collaborated with Feist on the track “You and I,” to which Feist lends vocals. Ten or so songs have been completed for the album; the band will now complete the mixing process and decide on the final song sequence. The album itself is due for a late June release on Nonesuch Records, while in the meantime, fans can snag Wilco’s live DVD, Ashes of American Flags, which is in stores now...

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Record Store Day
You’ve probably heard of the Now That’s What I Call Music! series of pop/rock hit compilation CDs - but did you know that there might be a TV show based on the discs themselves? Simon Fuller - the man behind American Idol - is developing a show that he’s calling a “new take on music programming,” with possible performances by the artists whose singles are included on the Now compilations via performance footage or even in-studio appearances, plus possible other appearances by musicians and bands such as interviews. The show would also potentially be involved in “finding the next Now artists,” such as unsigned or recently signed bands. A website is expected to accompany the new series...