The Buzz on Bee Hives

June 9, 2004

Sweden‘s rockin‘ export The Hives are set to kick off their North American tour on July 20 in Washington, DC.  On that same day, the band‘s as-yet-untitled new album is set to arrive in stores, so one would hope they‘d pick a title soon - as far as the tour goes, they‘ve tapped both Saraha Hotnights (also from Sweden) and Memphis band The Reigning Sound to be support acts on their tour, which will end in August in California.  Prior to their U.S. dates, The Hives are set to hit a few European festivals, and directly after their American tour, they‘ll head on over to Japan for the Summer Sonic Festival, which is set for August 7 and 8...
 
Incubus are embarking on a summer tour of their own, which will hit the road on June 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  In addition to playing, of course, tunes from the band‘s newest album, *A Crow Left of the Murder,* Incubus lead singer Brandon Boyd told the press that the band will play a “highly varied set list“ on this tour, and will be improvising more and revisiting songs that they haven‘t played live in years, including songs from Incubus‘ debut album, *S.C.I.E.N.C.E.,* and fan faves like “Crowded Elevator.“  The band has also just issued their latest bootleg album (part of an ongoing series), *Live in Japan 2004,* with the proceeds going to Incubus‘ own Make Yourself Charity; the bootleg albums can only be snagged via the band‘s special website, www.incubusbootlegs.com...

Singer-songwriter-pianist Bruce Hornsby is prepping for the release of his album *Halcyon Days,* and he‘s roped in quite a few high-profile performers to share the tracks with.  Eric Clapton plays guitar on several tracks and also adds vocals to the tune “Candy Mountain Run,“ while Sting sings with Hornsby on the track “Gonna Be Some Changes Made, and Elton John joins Hornsby on “Dreamland.“  The instrumentals are taken care of by Hornsby‘s regular band.  *Halcyon Days* is due out on August 10, with Hornsby also taking on a U.S. summer tour that will start in California on July 14 and will wrap up on August 27 in Memphis, Tennessee, to be followed by a European tour that will hit Euro shores on September 10th in Dublin, Ireland...
 
The Manic Street Preachers are getting ready to release their next album, too, and rumor has it that the disc might just be out before the end of the year.  The band has wrapped recording sessions with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie) and are currently mixing the disc with mixologist Tom Elmhirst (Goldfrapp).  Tracks up for inclusion on the new set include “A Song For Departure,“ “Fragments,“ “Emily,“ Empty Souls,“ “Firefight,“ and “1985“ - two working titles for the album itself are being considered, *Life Blood* and *Goodbye Suicide.*  The disc is tentatively expected in October...

MINI BUZZ:
Oasis have definitely confirmed that they‘ll be releasing a 10th anniversary reissue of their *Definitely Maybe* album on DVD - the disc will include four hours‘ worth of rare tracks, interviews, an hour-long documentary, live and TV performances and hits stores on September 6th...
While Oasis‘ “rival“ Brit band Blur are reportedly back in the studio this month, and have plans to continue some serious work on their next album as soon as summer winds down...
Outkast‘s flamboyant frontman Andre 3000 is said to be planning his own fashion label that is scheduled to launch in spring 2005...
Sharon Osbourne and Elton John have been named as honorees for the 4th Annual So The World May Hear Awards that will be held on July 20th in Minnesota...
Ben Kweller will drop a new single, “The Rules,“ on July 5th (the first single from his 2nd album, *On My Way,* and he will be touring the UK this summer to help promote the new tunes...
Michigan‘s own Madonna is currently on her much-anticipated Re-Invention Tour, which is selling out across the country and has 39 shows on the tour schedule, including stops in Chicago (7/11 through 7/15) and Toronto (7/18 through 7/21)...
 
And with high hopes to sell out in CD stores across the country are this week‘s new releases... ON CD:  the soundtrack from *Shrek 2,* complete with songs from Counting Crows, Eels, Pete Yorn, and Tom Waits... Avril Lavigne‘s *Under My Skin*... The Corrs‘ *Borrowed Heaven*... Velvet Revolver‘s *Contraband*... and DJ Tiesto‘s *Just Be*...  ON DVD:  The Moody Blues - *The Lost Performance (Live in Paris 1970)*... *Vans Warped Tour 2003*... and *A Day in the Life of Macy Gray*... 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!*