Modern Rock

Aug. 18, 2004

Mutual admiration society
Remember that brief but nifty blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Beck appearance in the White Stripes’ 2003 music video for their single, “The Hardest Button to Button?” Well, Jack White is about to return the favor. Beck’s next album, which is untitled as of press time and is due out in late October, will feature an appearance by the White Stripes singer/guitarist on an also as-yet-untitled tune. Produced by The Dust Brothers - who were also at the boards for Beck’s 1996 album Odelay and 1999’s Midnite Vultures - Beck is also planning a tour to follow the album’s release, with dates TBA. If you don’t want to wait that long for your Beck fix, check out the tribute album to Daniel Johnston, The Late, Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered which is due out on September 21 and which features Beck covering Johnston’s tune “Things Last A Long Time”...

The 2004 MTV Video Awards nominees are in, with Rapper Jay-Z leading the field with six nods, followed closely by OutKast, No Doubt, and Beyonce with five each. This year’s awards show will be the first that hasn’t taken place in New York or Los Angeles; it’s being staged at Miami, Florida’s American Airlines Arena. Other nominees include Hoobastank, Maroon 5, and Good Charlotte (all up for Best Group Video); Britney Spears and the Black Eyed Peas (Best Dance Video noms); and The Darkness, Jet, and Evanescence for Best Rock Video. Another twist has been added to the show in that the Viewer’s Choice Award will be determined via head-to-head voting matchups on MTV.com, in which a field of 40 vids will be narrowed to 5. MTV2 will make a showing at the event, too, with viewers again selecting the winner of the MTV2 award, for which this year’s nominees include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yellowcard, Modest Mouse, and Franz Ferdinand. See the results on air on August 29 on, obviously, MTV...

They say that they’re not breaking up in in spite of singer Gwen Stefani’s solo album and her upcoming appearance in the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Aviator - oh, and her L.A.M.B. fashion line - but fans are questioning just what’s up with No Doubt as more and more side projects seem to be taking shape. The latest involves No Doubt drummer Adrian Young, who, in addition to freelancing with Unwritten Law and contributing some drum tracks to their upcoming album, has also been sitting the drum throne for retro 80s band Bow Wow Wow, who are in the midst of a low-key reformation tour that kicked off last week; the new Bow Wow Wow shows are the first in six years with original singer Annabella Lwin. As for No Doubt, time will tell, but as they’ve just snagged 5 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, we’ll bet they’re not going anywhere near a breakup anytime soon...

Rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will lead a trio of pop, and electronica acts at the El Ray Theatre in Los Angeles this week to play at a special “Unplug Bush” fundraiser for two progressive political action committees whose goals are to defeat President Bush in the next election and see John Kerry as the next U.S. president. Singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked and Concrete Blonde lead singer Johnette Napolitano will also play live at the event, which is being billed as “top musicians playing acoustic sets aimed at ‘unplugging’ President Bush.” ReDefeatBush (www.redefeatbush.com) is one of the organizations involved, and is also supported by a variety of musicians including RHCP’s Anthony Kiedis, The Crystal Method’s Ken Jordan, and Tweaker’s Chris Vrenna. Tix can be purchased online at the afore-
mentioned website...

And the Miller Brewing Company
Rock Through Time concert -in celebration of rock n’ roll’s 50th anniversary - has been confirmed for September 17 and 18 at NYC’s Roseland Ballroom, with scheduled acts The Strokes, Velvet Revolver, Lenny Kravitz, James Brown, Alice Cooper, Ben Folds and many more. Sound great? Yup. The catch? No tix will be sold to the general public for the show, as the audience is set up to be comprised
of contest winners, with Miller Brewing Company giving away 1,000 tickets plus a sweepstakes for a trip to
New York to see the show. Guess you’d better have a beer and cross your fingers...

MINI BUZZ:
The Beastie Boys are currently in the midst of confirming dates for their North American fall tour, with Talib Kweli as opener; pre-sale info is available on the Beasties’ official website at
www.beastieboys.com...
The Thrills, whose second album, Let’s Bottle Bohemia will be in stores on 9/13, are set to head out on tour, in support of said album, and will be criss-crossing the UK through the month of September...
Fatboy Slim will drop a new single this autumn - “Slash Dot Dash” will serve as the first cut from Slim’s upcoming fourth album, Palookaville...
Cave In have signed on to be the support act for Converge’s North American tour this fall, which will kick off on September 24...
Former Pearl Jam/Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons will release a solo album, Attention Dimension, this fall, with the Peppers’ Flea adding some guest bass to a couple of the tracks...

And hitting stores this week - ON CD: Probot’s Probot (the Dave Grohl side project)... Ashlee Simpson’s Autobiography... Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Live in Hyde Park... Dwight Yoakum’s Dwight’s Used Records... and the soundtrack for the movie Garden State, including tunes from The Shins, Remy Zero, Thievery Corporation, Iron and Wine, Coldplay, and Zero 7... ON DVD: Ray Charles: In Concert... Tina Turner’s Rio ’88... and Supersuckers - From the Audio/Video Dept - Live in Anaheim...and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.