Madonna takes a spin

Nov. 2, 2005

If it’s dance music, you’d better be able to dance to it - at least, that’s Madonna’s theory, and she was ready to put it to the test this past Saturday night in New York City.  Michigan’s own original dance-pop diva showed up unannounced at dance club Luke and Leroy with an entourage that included fellow musician Lenny Kravitz, and she proceeded to team up with mixmaster DJ Junior Sanchez and her music producer Stuart Price to spin a half-hour set behind the turntables that included, of course, a preview of songs from Madge’s own upcoming new dance CD, Confessions on a Dance Floor.  Madonna’s latest disc will hit stores in Michigan, New York, and beyond on November 15, so lace up your dancin’ shoes...
 
Iceland’s super-hip Seventh Annual Iceland Airwaves Music Festival took place this past weekend, an event that pulls in 140 indie-rock bands and several thousand fans from both Iceland and various other countries (Iceland airlines even offer up special packages for the event, in case you’d like to plan for next year!).  This year’s event showcased live sets from the likes of International Noise Conspiracy, the Fiery Furnaces, Singapore Sling, Norway’s Annie, Brooklyn’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Iceland’s own Gus Gus - and the concerts were followed up by the fest’s Saturday afternoon “Hangover Party,” which sees fans and bands alike heading out to the Icelandic countryside to recover at Iceland’s famed Blue Lagoon (a geothermal pool) and listen to a set by Icelandic DJ Hermigervill.  Super-hip, indeed...
 
A tribute show for Johnny Cash is scheduled to be taped at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, California next month, and will feature the likes of U2, the Foo Fighters, Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, and others performing Cash songs in between video clips of his career and life.  Footage from the upcoming Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, will also be shown, and Walk the Line’s stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon (who play Johnny and June Carter Cash) will be in attendance, too, to introduce the musical acts.  Can’t be there?  No problem - you can catch the whole shindig on November 16 at 8 pm on CBS TV...

And The Strokes began their first tour of the year in Brazil, playing for the first time tunes from their much-anticipated third album, which they’ve dubbed First Impressions of Earth. The first show of their jaunt had the band playing to a sold-out 4,000-strong crowd in Rio de Janeiro, where attendees included Strokes drummer Fab’s fiancee Drew Barrymore; the band played a huge 23-song set of both new tunes and fan faves.  Kings of Leon served as opening act and will continue traveling with the band on their tour...
 
MINI BUZZ:
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is returning to Harvard University in February to wrap up his degree in English Literature, a degree he began back in 1995...
Bowling for Soup are bringing together all of the movie soundtrack songs they’ve done over the years, and will release the collection as Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies - the set will include their tracks for the movies “Scooby-Doo 2,” “Freaky Friday,” “Gilligan’s Island,” and “Jimmy Neutron,” and will be out on November 15...
‘70s Disco band ABBA’s song “Waterloo” has been named the Best Song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest...
Devandra Banhart will offer up “Heard Somebody Say” as the new single from his latest album, Cripple Crow, on November 21...
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have finally completed work on their new album - the as-yet-untitled disc is set to be released in March 2006, and will include tracks “Honey Bear” and “Cheated Hearts”...
And the majority of the original members of ‘90s band Soul Asylum have reunited to begin work on a new studio album that they also hope to have out in March of next year...
 
Set to be out this week, here are these new releases... ON CD:   Destiny’s Child’s #1s... Blink 182’s Greatest Hits... Santana’s All That I Am... Nirvana’s Sliver: The Best of the Box... Cirque du Soleil’s Ka soundtrack... and Faded Me’s When It’s Over... ON DVD:  The Concert for Bangladesh... Elvis ‘56 - In the Beginning... Stomp Out Loud... and Soundstage presents Lindsey Buckingham with special guest Stevie Nicks... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves about this column or your fave musicians?  Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com!*