Charli XCX Pops Into a Rockumentary

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | Dec. 1, 2018

Charlotte Aitchison, aka Charli XCX, is the latest singer featured in a new radio rock documentary from the BBC. The doc follows Charli on both her own recent tour, Pop 2, and went along with her as she served as opening act for Taylor Swift’s Reputation stadium tour. The BBC’s Kate Mossman conducts the majority of the interviews with Charli, discussing her recording and performance processes, as well as some of the things she’s experienced as her music career has taken off. The documentary is available now via the BBC World Service, as is Charli XCX’s latest album, Pop 2, which features contributions from Carly Rae Jepsen, Mykki Blanco, A.G. Cook, and more …

Singer John Darnielle and The Mountain Goats are back with a brand new surprise EP called Hex of Infinite Binding, a mini-album sure to wrap up their fans in the band’s four new tracks. The set, a follow-up to their 2017 EP, Goths and Marsh Witch Visions, was primarily written at Darnielle’s house; one of the tunes was recorded on-site. Chris Stamey played bass and electric guitar on both, plus composed the string arrangements for another track. Matt Espy (Dead Ride) played drums for “Almost Every Door.” Hex of Infinite Binding is available now at all the usual outlets …

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has released the first song from the 25-track score he contributed to Luca Guadagnino’s film Suspiria, with the full score out now on XL Recordings. The initial track, “Suspirium,” highlights the recurring melody motif that can be heard throughout the movie. On it, Yorke sets his vocals over a piano theme; the accompanying video features spooky, colorized images of ballet dancers. With this project, Yorke followed his bandmate Jonny Greenwood into movie scoring. Greenwood has worked on music for several films by director Paul Thomas Anderson …

Pop diva Kelly Clarkson has announced that she’s going to be hosting her very own daytime talk show, which will hit TV in fall 2019. Simply called The Kelly Clarkson Show, the program will air on NBC Universal television stations across the U.S. and is thought to be a direct result of Clarkson’s audience appeal during her stint as a judge on The Voice (another NBC property). Clarkson is prepping for everything from conversations and games to music and charity initiatives for the program …

LINK OF THE WEEK
Whadda mashup! Entertainment website Super Deluxe snagged a variety of quotes from Detroit rapper Eminem’s recent interview with Anderson Cooper and set them to an '80s dancefloor beat, the result being a way-catchy single that you won’t soon forget. Take a listen at https://tinyurl.com/eminem-talking …

THE BUZZ
West Michigan outfit Melophobix is prepping to release its much-awaited new full-length album, Cage-Free, later this December …

Speaking of anticipated music releases, Michigan band Roosevelt Diggs released its last album, Songs from the Shed, four years ago, so fans have been stoked to hear that its new album, Better Days, is finally out now …

Brother Elseylocal, a Grand Rapids-based band of three real-life brothers, recently performed two singles, “Peacekeeper” and “Taker,” for WYCE Radio as a preview of the music the band will release early next year …

Think you’ve got what it takes to rock Grand Rapidians and tourists alike? Applications are open now for the 2019 Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts’ downtown music stages. Apply by Feb. 15, 2019, at www.festivalgr.org/applications … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock. 

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send 'em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.