Princess Selenia Madonna...

Nov. 17, 2004

Michigan’s own music n’ movies maven Madonna has been tapped to join the voice cast of the upcoming animated feature Arthur as directed by Luc Besson (The Messenger, The Fifth Element, The Professional); the story of Arthur revolves around a 10-year-old character from a series of children’s books written by Besson, who also wrote the movie’s screenplay. Madonna’s role, which she is currently in the midst of recording, will be as the voice of Princess Selenia, a character who travels with Arthur to a forbidden city. A major male star is in the process of being cast, and the movie itself has been scheduled for release in 2006. Besson is also currently working on a live-action film project that
remains a closely guarded secret as of press time...

Pearl Jam fans, send up a cheer - or at least a patented Eddie Vedder hairshake. The band’s gigantic greatest hits compilation, Rearviewmirror, is out this week, with the 2 CD album covering pretty much the band’s entire career. Included on the 33-song tracklisting are “Even Flow,” “Jeremy,” “Dissident,” “Do The Evolution,” “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” and “Betterman,” with three songs, “Alive,” “Black,” and “Once” remixed especially for this collection by longtime Pearl Jam buddy Brendan O’Brien...

London band Athlete, whose 2003 debut disc was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, have just completed mixing in New York City on their second album, and are beginning rehearsals for upcoming touring in 2005. The new disc, which they’ve titled Tourist, includes the title track as well as additional songs “Street Map,” “24 Hours,” “Chances,” and the first single, “Wires” - Tourist is scheduled for release this upcoming January on Parlophone Records...
A retrospective box set is on the way to commemorate Ozzy Osbourne’s 25-year solo career - and, of course, it’s a much different collection than what you might expect from the “average” rock n’ roll career overview. Spanning 4 discs, the 52-track Bible of Ozz gets the greatest hits out of the way on the first two CDs, with tunes from “Crazy Train” to “Dreamer,” “Gets Me Through” to “Bark At The Moon” making Ozzy fans happy, along with a decent selection of rarities and demos. Then things get a little... unusual. The third disc, dubbed “Oddities and Duets,” finds the Ozzman collaborating with the likes of The Crystal Method, DMX, Was (Not Was), Primus, and... er... Miss Piggy, with whom Ozzy covers “Born To Be Wild.” The fourth disc, titled “Under Covers,” has Ozzy recording some of his fave cover songs, including the fitting Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” and Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” along with such unexpected choices as Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and Arthur Brown’s “Fire”. Yes, folks, Ozzy remains a heavy metal enigma...

MINI BUZZ:
The Kills have a new album due this upcoming February, and will embark
on a short U.S. tour beginning November 20...
Velvet Revolver have announced that they’ll be heading out on a UK tour in early 2005...
While Ween have cancelled their fall tour (which was scheduled to begin on October 31) - no word yet on rescheduling...
Bowling For Soup have been selected to record a remake of the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song for the upcoming TBS reality show, the so-called “The Real Gilligan’s Island,” which will premiere on November 30...
Matthew Sweet just hit the road for two weeks’ worth of U.S. tour dates to promote the release of his latest album, Living Things, and the U.S. release of his Kimi Ga Suki disc, which was previously only available in Japan...
Cool-since-his-SNL-stint Justin Timberlake is set to start shooting a supporting role in the drama Alpha Dog next week, in which he will play a fictional member of a drug gang...
And 23 members of The Polyphonic Spree shot scenes this week for an upcoming episode of the TV series Las Vegas, set to air on December 6; in the Poly’s episode, the character played by model/actress Molly Sims wants to join the Spree...

New, new, new for you, you, you this week on disc... ON CD: Aimee Mann and the Young Snakes offer up, er, Aimee Mann and the Young Snakes... Elton John releases Peachtree Road... Saint Etienne drop Travel Edition 1990-2005... Seal’s got not one, but two discs, namely Best 1991-2004 Disc One and Best 1991-2004 Disc Two... and NOFX releases the Greatest Songs Ever Written: By Us... ON DVD: Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival... Britney Spears - Greatest Hits - My Prerogative... MTV Unplugged - Bruce Springsteen In Concert... and The Grateful Dead Movie... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves about this column or your fave artists? Send ’em to Kristi at
expressmodernrock@hotmail.com!