Sinatra biop in the works from Scorsese

July 5, 2009

Sinatra Biopic In the Works From Scorsese
Kristi Kates 7/6/09

The first feature-length film about the legendary Frank Sinatra - one of the top modern popsters of his day - is now in development at Universal and Mandalay Pictures, and the execs have snagged renowned director Martin Scorsese to direct the biography. Sinatra, of course, starred in several movies himself during his lifetime; but it remains to be seen what actor or musician will be chosen to portray Sinatra himself. No release date has been announced yet for the biopic, but it’s sure to be a visually impressive epic, if Scorsese’s work on the 2008 Rolling Stones’ biopic, Shine a Light, is any indication...
Elbow has been selected to support Coldplay on part of the latter’s big U.S. summer tour; the Mercury-Prize-winning band will throw in a few of their own gigs in mid-July, and will then hop on board with Coldplay in Wisconsin on July 25th at the Alpine Valley Music Theater. The Coldplay/Elbow shows will continue through the beginning of August, with Elbow promoting their latest album, Seldom Seen Kid, and Coldplay of course continuing to showcase the juggernaut that is Viva La Vida...
The Stone Roses’ 1989 debut disc is set for a deluxe reissue release on August 11 via Silvertone/Legacy Records, with several different packages available for purchase. The Special Edition CD will include the original album, with a full-length version of “Fools’ Gold” tacked onto the end; the Legacy Edition will feature the original set plus a bonus disc of demos and a DVD of the band’s 1989 Blackpool Live concert film; and the Collectors’ Edition will contain all of what’s already in the other two editions, plus three vinyl records and a 2 GB lemon-shaped memory stick that will include home video footage, wallpapers, ringtones, and all kinds of other Stone Roses digital extras; a book featuring interviews with the band and celeb fans such as Oasis’ Noel Gallagher will also be included...

A new musical project put together by Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, and director David Lynch has been completed and will be released this month; titled Dark Night of the Soul, the set, written by Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse, features a plethora of interesting vocalists, from Iggy Pop and Wayne Coyne to The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. Where does Lynch factor in to all of this? Well, the album will arrive packaged with a book of photographs taken by Lynch to accompany the music - and he sings on the album, too (yes, you read that correctly.) Dark Night... will be a limited release, and will be accompanied by an exhibition at the L.A. Michael Kohn Gallery, at which you’ll be able to view the photographs alongside the music...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Kings of Leon will embark on a new schedule of fall tour dates beginning on the East Coast in early September and running through mid October; in the meantime, check out the music video for their latest single, “Notion,” on their MySpace at www.myspace.com/kingsofleon...

MINI BUZZ:
Green Day have announced the third support band for their current summer tour; the July 3rd-25th leg will now include an opening set from none other than The Bravery...
R.E.M. are reportedly in Portland, Oregon, working with Decemberists producer Tucker Martine on new tunes; although R.E.M. don’t usually record demos of their songs, they are this time, with Peter Buck and Mike Mills tracking the basics for over a dozen new songs...
Arctic Monkeys have confirmed that their third album is just about wrapped, with all songs recorded and the mixing process halfway through...
Moby will be touring Europe throughout the month of July, including stops in Serbia (7/11), Hungary (7/12), France (7/19), Italy (7/25), and Monaco (7/27)...
If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a listen to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams’ web-only show BriTunes, on which the unexpected indie-rock nerd chats with various bands and musicians on a kinda-sorta regular basis...
And a sad goodbye to the legendary Michael Jackson, who passed away last week at the early age of 50...
Here are this week’s new discs... ON CD: Son Volt’s American Center Dust... Fritz Helder and the Phantoms’ Greatest Hits...and Wilco’s Wilco (The Album)... ON DVD: Dylan’s New York... and Paul Simon and Friends: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your favorite musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com