Taking a Bite out of Apple

Dec. 22, 2004

Fiona Apple fans have been wondering where her third album, Extraordinary Machine - which has been complete since May 2003, but never made it to stores - has disappeared to. Well, the answer’s out, and FionaFans aren’t taking it lying down. Sony/BMG Music have reportedly decided not to release her album because it is “too experimental” and “lacking an obvious single.” Sounds like a clear case of art vs. commerce - and that’s apparently why we haven’t heard anything from Apple in quite some time, even though her songs are ready to go. So, in response, thousands of the singer’s fans from around the world have united via the Free Fiona website in a campaign to mail apples (real and plastic) to Sony Music headquarters as a symbol of their support for Fiona and her album (you can also sign a petition to have your “apple” sent, or contribute financially). Fans from as far away as Australia and Siberia are already participating in the only two-week-old event, which has hit the news in Europe and on MTV; some fans are even boycotting all Sony products until a release date for Apple’s album is officially announced -
and you can join the campaign at
www.freefiona.com...

Sotheby’s will be putting on the inaugural fund-raiser for Musicians On Call, a charity that was founded in 1999 with the mission of bringing live and recorded music to health-care facility patients. John Mayer will perform an acoustic set at the event, which will also feature a slew of memorabilia that will be auctioned off, including guitars from Avril Lavigne, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, Hanson, No Doubt, and Slash; a miniature piano from Alicia Keys; and a basketball from Justin Timberlake. The event will be held in New York on January 31...

R.E.M. have announced that they’ll be reissuing their entire Warner Brothers catalog of albums - eight albums, to be exact, spanning the group’s releases from Green to Around the Sun, plus a best-of compilation. Each disc will be re-released in a two-disc edition that will include one disc of the album as it was originally released and one disc of the album remixed in surround sound and with several extras, including various documentaries, short films, videos, and more. The nine CD/DVD combo albums will all hit stores in one fell swoop on February 15...

Our favorite elder statesman of rock n’roll hosting, Dick Clark, suffered a mild stroke last week and is currently recuperating; unfortunately, he won’t be up and around in time to host his annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve TV celebration on ABC TV, but he’s tapped pal Regis Philbin to hold down the fort for him this year. Philbin will lead the country in bringing in 2005, along with co-hosts Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, and Mario Lopez; performances are expected from The Black Eyed Peas, Jagged Edge, Jason Mraz, 3 Doors Down, and more. Get well soon, Dick!...

MINI BUZZ:
In other New Year’s Eve festivities, MTV’s Dick Clark wannabe Carson Daly will host NBC’s first New Year’s Eve special live from Rockefeller Center with guests Duran Duran, Maroon 5, and Avril Lavigne...
The annual South by Southwest festival is starting to book acts for their 2005 event, which will be held in mid-March in Austin, Texas; on the bill so far are Aimee Mann, Beth Orton, Fatboy Slim, and Billy Idol...
Sleater-Kinney has wrapped recording their latest album with producer Dave Fridmann at NYC’s Tarbox Studios, and they’re now beginning the mixdown stage; the album is planned for an early summer 2005 release...
Sum 41 are playing Santa by giving away a Les Paul guitar and 100 pairs of Chuck Taylor sneakers in two contests that can be entered on their website, www.islandrecords.com/sum41...

And Hot Hot Heat finally have a new guitar player to replace Dante DeCaro, who left the group in October; Luke Pacquin will be manning the strings when the band drops their next album, Elevator, in April 2005; the track “You Owe Me An I.O.U.” will be the disc’s first single...

And in stores this week... ON CD: the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (new Bill Murray movie due out on December 25)... Diana DeGarmo’s Blue Skies... Damien Rice’s The Blower’s Daughter CD single... Josh Groban’s Josh Groban Live at The Greek... Lisa Stansfield’s Affection... and Morrissey’s You Are The Quarry Deluxe Edition... ON DVD: Sarah Brightman: Live from Las Vegas... Incubus’ Live at Red Rocks... Rod Stewart’s Live at Royal Albert Hall... and the Now DVD 2 with videos from Switchfoot, No Doubt, Kylie Minogue, and Blink 182... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves on this column or your fave artists? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com!