Elizabethtown on a spin

Aug. 31, 2005

Music fan-slash-director Cameron Crowe is releasing the soundtrack to his highly anticipated new movie, Elizabethtown, nearly a month prior to the film’s release.  Hitting stores on September 13 on RCA Records, the soundtrack will include previously-released tunes by Ryan Adams, Wheat, and The Hollies, plus new tracks from My Morning Jacket, I Nine, and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Members of My Morning Jacket also appear in the movie itself, under the guise of the band “Ruckus,” to perform the backwoods classic “Freebird.”  Elizabethtown, starring Orlando Bloom and Spiderman girlfriend Kirsten Dunst, will be in theaters on October 14...
 
Another week, another new album involving The Beatles - well, at least in the spirit of the title.  The upcoming Help: A Day in the Life disc will bring together a number of bands who will be given just one day - September 8 - to record a new song, and the songs will be available the next day, making it the fastest album ever released.  An actual CD of the album will follow a few days later, with proceeds going to the War Child charity, which, this time around, will assist children in war zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, and The Congo.  Artists participating in the project will include Belle + Sebastian, The Go! Team, Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, Radiohead, Gorillaz, The Coral, Elbow, Razorlight, and Damien Rice, among others - for more info, check out www.warchildmusic.com...
 
Currently in the middle of a European tour that will include stops in France, Switzerland, and Turkey, Canada’s Hot Hot Heat are also trying to write their next album while they’re on the road, writing while they travel and practicing the songs during their soundchecks, which double as a two-hour rehearsal. And they won’t be able to unpack once they finish their Euro dates - because they’ve just been snagged to open several dates on this fall’s Weezer/Foo Fighters co-headlining tour;  Hot Hot Heat will join the big show on October 13 in Philadelphia...
Brit Robbie Williams has spent the past two years in Los Angeles, recording his latest effort, and now all that work’s about to pay off - his new disc, Intensive Care, is now set for an October 24 release date in Europe, although no U.S. date has been announced yet (import fans, keep an eye out).  When asked what the album sounded like thematically, Williams described it as a “... mini-gangster opera,” although we’re still waiting for a track list to get an idea of titles.  Prior to the album’s release, Williams will play a special one-night show on October 9 at Berlin’s Velodrom, an event that will be simultaneously broadcast at cinemas and on TV stations across Europe...

MINI BUZZ:
Get well wishes going out this week to Michigan’s Madonna, who was injured falling off a horse in England on her birthday...
The FCC has given Motorola the approval to sell cell phones equipped with a mobile version of Apple’s iTunes software; the Motorola phones will also be equipped with flash memory, Bluetooth, and stereo speakers...

The Strokes have finally given a name to their upcoming album; the band’s Juicebox will be out in January...
Jimmy Eat World are set to release a five-song EP called The Stay On My Side Tonight EP this fall; it will be available on September 6 online and October 4 in stores...
The Chemical Brothers have announced that they’ll be embarking on a UK tour at the end of this year - no word yet on U.S. dates...
And actors Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon reportedly do their own singing in the movie about Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line, that will be in theaters this fall...
 
Not in theaters, but in stores this week... ON CD:  Bjork drops the soundtrack for Drawing Restraint 9... The Get Quick tells you How the Story Goes...  Infusion releases Six Feet Above Yesterday... Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon offer up Sixty Six Steps... Portastatic release Bright Ideas... and Stellastar present Harmonies for the Haunted... ON DVD:  The English Beat’s In Concert at the Royal Festival Hall... Human League’s Live at the Dome... Shinedown’s Live from the Inside... and two from Tom Jones - Hits, and Duets... 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!