Pull over: It‘s the Police

A reunited Police opened up this year’s Grammy Awards with the proclamation, “We’re The Police, and we’re back!” ending several months of speculation as to whether the legendary trio would regroup at all, or not (now we’re just waiting for that tour announcement.) A stand-up crowd rocked to The Police’s freshly arranged rendition of “Roxanne,” a great twist that was one of the best moments of the entire Grammy night. Elsewhere during the big Grammy show, impressive performances were also given by the likes of James Blunt, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, and The Dixie Chicks, who won Album, Record, and Song of the Year for their emotional “Not Ready to Make Nice”;  other Grammy winners included The Black Eyed Peas, Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder, Flaming Lips, Madonna, Gnarls Barkley, Bela Fleck, Underwood, and the Peppers;  modern rock favorites OK Go also snagged a Grammy for Best Short Form
Music Video...
 
Patti Smith has made her next album a collection of all-covers, a choice she considers an “adventure,” in which she enjoyed working on her interpretations of other musicians’ songs, including tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones, and several others.  Smith will also cover Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” and Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” although a full tracklist has yet to be announced. The album, Twelve, will hit stores on April 17 on Columbia Records...
 
The Ramones’ Tommy Ramone is taking another whack at his music career, and this time around, it ain’t punk - his new duo, dubbed Uncle Monk, is co-fronted by Ramone’s musical pal Claudia Tienan, and the pair will be performing - y’all ready for this? - bluegrass mixed with alt-rock. Ramone says that he’s drawn to the “classic simplicity” and coolness of old-time string-band music, but he’s also still deeply involved with indie music and punk, so he’s going to try and blend the two into an “earthy energy” that’ll be half Tommy Ramone and all Uncle Monk.  Uncle Monk’s eponymous debut disc will hit stores in May...
Are Audioslave over?  The future of the alt-rock band seems to be up in the air for a variety of reasons. Frontman Chris Cornell has been holed up in the recording studio, working on his latest solo project for the past couple of months, while guitarist Tom Morello has been focusing of late on his own current solo project, which he’s dubbed “Nightwatchman.” Meanwhile, Audioslave’s bass-ist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk have been keeping busy in the studio, as well, recording some bass/drums-only tracks. Add in Cornell’s reluctance to tour behind Audioslave’s third album (Revelations, which was released last fall),and it looks as if the band is at a bandstill, at least for the moment - we’ll keep you updated...
 
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:  British singer-songwriter Matt Hales - better known as Aqualung - will release his latest album, Memory Man, on March 13 - but lucky you can hop
over to http://aqualungmusic.com/memoryman/ to check out Hales’ first single from the upcoming disc, “Pressure Suit.”  You can also catch Aqualung on tour with labelmate Pete Yorn starting this week...
 
MINI BUZZ:
Those exorbitant “convenience” charges will at least get you a little something
now that Ticketmaster has teamed up with iTunes - the duo will now be offering free music downloads to fans upon purchase of selected concert tickets...
After a full year of touring, NYC modern rockers The Strokes have decided to go
on indefinite hiatus, with no plans to record or tour in the near future;  in the mean-
time, fans can follow Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., who’ll be using the time off to promo his solo album, Yours to Keep, which hits stores March 6...
California rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will drop their fourth album, Baby 81,
on May 1...
Grab those spandex pants and get ready to dance - Scissor Sisters will be touring the U.S. next month, complete with stops in Philadelphia (3/2), Detroit (3/8), Chicago (3/9), and Dallas (3/15)...
You can dress down a little for legendary Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s shows, which he’s embarked upon to promote his first solo album in 14 years (Under the Skin) - Lindsey will be performing in Pittsburgh, PA (3/21), Westbury, NY (3/23), Northampton, MA (3/30), and in Chicago
on April 9 at the House
of Blues...
And the dress code could go either way for Maximo Park’s upcoming club dates, which will kick off in Europe to help promote their new disc, Our Earthly Pleasures (out April 2) - if you’ll be overseas, catch ‘em in London (2/21), Vienna (2/13), Milan (2/16), or Glasgow (3/5)...

Overseas or not, here’s what you’ll find in this week’s new releases department..ON CD:  Apostle of Hustle’s National Anthem of Nowhere... High Llama’s Can Cladders... Lucinda Williams’ West... Sevendust’s Alpha... L. Pierre’s Dip...  and– drumroll, please, as it could be just another rumor - Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy... ON DVD:  MusiCares: A Tribute
to Brian Wilson... Kurt Cobain:  No Apologies... Jack Johnson-A Broke Down Melody... and Taking Back Sunday’s Talking Louder: Part One... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians?  Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com
 
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