Rockers Demand Release of Aung San Suu Kyi

Oct. 6, 2004

Two discs’ worth of musicians have joined together to put out a benefit
album titled For The Lady: Dedicated to Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi and the
Courageous People of Burma for Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese humanitarian who
has been imprisoned for 14 years for her efforts to promote democracy and
human rights in Burma;  she is popularly known as “Asia’s Nelson Mandela.” 
Aung San Suu Kyi is the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient,
and has also garnered the support of Bill Clinton, John McCain, Colin
Powell, and Desmond Tutu, among others. The musicians who support her cause
include U2, R.E.M., Damien Rice, Better Than Ezra, Travis, Coldplay, Bright
Eyes, Talib Kweli, Peter Gabriel, Natalie Merchant, Ben Harper, Paul
McCartney, Sting, Guster, and Matchbox Twenty, all of who join still more
bands and artists on the two-disc collection that is due out on October
26. Proceeds from the album sales will benefit the nonprofit organization
U.S. Campaign for Burma...
 
Another week, another music awards show - the 32nd Annual American Music
Awards announced their nominees this week, with plenty of Modern Rockers up
for AMA nods.  Among those ironing up their slinky gowns and “creative
tuxedos” are Lenny Kravitz, up for Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist; Avril
Lavigne and Sheryl Crow, both up for Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist; 
Evanescence, OutKast, and Nickelback, all up for Favorite Pop or Rock Band,
Duo, or Group;  Incubus and Jet, battling it out for Favorite Alternative
Music Artist; and Maroon 5, one of several multi-genre artists up for
Breakthrough Artist.  You can find out who gets what on November 14, when
the ceremonies will take place in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on
ABC...
 
They may not have been in the form of shiny award statues, but Air got
plenty of surprises of their own at their Hollywood Bowl show last week -
namely, a couple of top-notch special guests. The duo, Nicolas Godin and JB
Dunckel, who were performing the first live performance of their career with
a full orchestra, also found themselves on stage with both Beck and Jason
Falkner during the encore for their 2001 tune “Don’t Be Light.” Standout
tracks during Air’s set included tunes from their latest release Talkie
Walkie, plus fan faves “Sexy Boy,” “La Feme d’Argent,” and “Alone in
Kyoto.” For fans looking for a little new Air, the duo will drop a new EP
titled Surfing on a Rocket on October 19 that will feature several remixes
plus the previously unreleased Air song “Easy Going Woman”...
 
And Green Day have announced that they’ll be playing plenty of live shows
when they hit the road in a couple of weeks for their fall tour. Their first
major tour since 2000, the band will, of course, be playing material from
their new rock-opera-album, American Idiot, but they’ll also be dishing out
plenty of their back catalog songs to make the fans happy.  Along with
support acts New Found Glory and Sugarcult, Green Day will be making stops
in Houston (10/20), Philadelphia (10/29), Detroit (11/6), Chicago (11/8),
Milwaukee (11/9), and Minneapolis (11/10), among other cities...
 
MINI BUZZ:
Hot Scots Snow Patrol, currently on tour, have announced that they’ll begin
recording their next album next spring, and hope to have it out by fall
2005...
While Oasis have also set a date for their next as-yet-untitled album;  May
26, 2005, to be exact...
R.E.M. has partnered with website www.myspace.com to preview their
aptly-titled upcoming new WB album, Around The Sun...
Tsumani Bomb fans can look forward to the band’s first concert DVD, The Show
Must Go Off, which was filmed at a live gig in Los Angeles and is set to hit
stores later this year...
Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys will drop his debut solo album, Yr
Atal Genhedlaeth, in January 2005, complete with 11 new songs, while the
Furries have made plans to release their seventh studio album in spring
2005...
Alternative rockers The Lemonheads are reportedly getting prepped for a
return, according to a post on Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando’s website, on
which he says he’s writing material for an anticipated new Lemonheads
album...
And in your “Huh?” News of the Week:  actor-slash-musician Robert Downey Jr.
has signed with Sony Records and will release his debut album on November
23rd;  Downey sings and plays piano on the disc...
 New releases heading your way this week include all of the following...  ON
CD:  Teen Avril wannabe Skye Sweetnam’s Noise From the Basement... Cake’s
Pressure Chief... Robyn Hitchcock’s Spooked... and Tom Waits’ Real Gone... 
ON DVD:   Yes Acoustic... Devo’s Live in the Land of the Rising Sun... and
“People’s History of Less Than Jake”... and that’s the buzz for this week’s
Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves about this column or your fave artists? 
Send ‘em to Kristi at expressmodernrock@hotmail.com!