It‘s back to work for James Blunt

Nov. 15, 2006

A vacation did James Blunt good - after completing a brief holiday in Europe, Blunt is set to get back to work, having written at least a half-dozen new songs that he plans to record for his next album, which will serve as the follow-up to his 2005 platinum release, Back to Bedlam.  Blunt will also be testing some of the new songs - among them the catchy “I Can’t Hear the Music” - on his current tour, which began last week and will continue through the middle of December...
 
UK urban musician Tricky is in the midst of writing, too, and just started to record material for a new album that he expects to have out some time in 2007. Tricky, who began his career with Massive Attack before embarking on his own solo albums (his most recent being 2003’s Vulnerable), has been spending most of his time over the past few years with his record label, Brown Punk, where he’s been taking on production duties and also working on TV and film scores, but now it’s time to get back to his own music...
 
The MTV Europe Awards were held last week, with the increasingly-more-cred Justin Timberlake hosting and winning two of the night’s biggest awards (Best Pop Artist and Best Male). Additional winners included Gnarls Barkley (Best Song), Christina Aguilera (Best Female) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Best Album) - and the one big bad scene was caused by a worked-up (and, as most of you already know, overrated) Kanye West, who rushed the stage and threw a hissy fit when his clip failed to win Best Video.  West grabbed the mic away from the winners, and promptly started ranting about how his video “should have won” because of how he was in it and how much it cost (that being “a million dollars,” for anyone left who still cares) - sore loser, anyone? Thankfully, Timberlake’s hosting and performances by the likes of The Killers, Nelly Furtado, Eurovision champs Lordi, and Muse kept the show from dwelling on the negative...
 
And yep, it’s that time again - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have announced their nominees for the Class of 2007, and among them are alternative rock pioneers R.E.M. (who only became eligible this year, as HOF rules state that acts must wait 25 years from their first release to be considered), The Ronettes, Patti Smith, The Stooges, The Dave Clark Five, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Of all the nominees, only five will be inducted to the hall, those five being announced in January...
 
MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:  Former Sunny Day Real Estate singer-songwriter Jeremy Enigk - now doing quite well on his own, thank you - has embarked on a headlining tour that began earlier this month. The talented troubadour will make stops in Charlotte NC (11/17), Dallas (11/26), NYC (12/7), Detroit (12/9), Chicago (12/13) and Los Angeles (12/22), among other lucky cities - and, while the World Waits (which is, of course, the title of Enigk’s new album), you can stop by http://lewishollow.com to find out more about this under-the-radar-but-not-for-long artist...
MINI BUZZ:
U2 and Green Day’s collaborative single, “The Saints Are Coming,” has already hit the top ten on the UK singles chart, and should hit U.S. shores/radio stations this week...
Silverchair have finally given a name to their upcoming 5th album - now titled “Young Modern,” the set will hit stores in January...
The Flaming Lips are set to be feted in their hometown of Oklahoma City, where city officials have voted to name a downtown street “Flaming Lips Alley” in the band’s honor...
The Ataris are newly signed with Sanctuary Records, and are now set to release their long-delayed fifth album, Welcome the Night, on February 6 of next year...
Legendary ’70s singer Carly Simon is prepping to release Into White, a collection of pop standards;  the set will hit stores on January 2, and will include tunes “Blackbird,” “Jamaica Farewell,” “Scarborough Fair,” and “Manha de Carnaval”...
And modern bluegrass hipster Bela Fleck is hitting the road for a series of tour dates next February and March, including stops in Atlanta, GA (2/23), Richmond, VA (2/28), East Lansing, MI (3/1), and Washington DC (3/3) - Fleck will continue his touring later in March in Mexico and South America...
 
ON CD:  Aimee Mann’s One More Drifter in
the Snow...  Ben Folds’ Supersunnyspeedgraphic... Sparta’s Threes... Eleanor McEvoy’s Out There... Brian Setzer’s 13... and a limited edition CD/DVD release of the Flaming Lips’ At War with the Mystics...  
ON DVD:  Paul McCartney - The Space Within Us... The Who’s The Vegas Job... Loudquietloud: A Film About The Pixies... and WOW Hits 2007: Various Artists featuring tunes from Jars of Clay, Superchick, Newsboys, and Third
Day... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
 
Questions, comments, rants, raves on this column or your fave musicians?  Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com