Petoskey Native Stevens Teams Up With Gallant

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | Nov. 10, 2018

He might be a Brooklyn, NY kinda guy now, but indie-rock multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Sufjan Stevens has roots in Petoskey, even though he departed for bigger locales to kick-start his music career. Currently, Stevens has teamed up with Grammy-nominated musician Gallantto release a brand new tune called “TOOGOODTOBETRUE,” an ambient number that features vocals underscored by humming, ukulele and synths; the collaboration is the fourth single release from Gallant this year, with the collective singles serving as an intro to his upcoming second album, This Does Not Fit,which is expected to be release late this year …
 
Crash Test Dummies – the band you might remember from their one-hit-wonder ‘90s tune “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” are celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band by getting the entire original lineup of musicians back and dragging out their old originals and tour setlists. The band will be making three stops in and near our area, including shows in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Fitzgerald Theater on November 23; at the Old Town School of Folk in Chicago on November 24; and at Pontiac, Michigan’s Crofoot Ballroom on November 25 

Florence and the Machinehave just debuted two new single tracks that were recorded at RAK Studios in London earlier this year. The band’s High as Hope single, “Hunger,” was simplified with a more spare arrangement; and their cover of Tori Amos’ song “Cornflake Girl” took the opposite approach, adding more funk and soul and removing some of the dated sounds of the original; both tracks can be currently listened to on Spotify …

Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s brand new album of “instrumental outtakes,” IC-01 Hanoi,is out now on Jagjaguwar Records, with an unusual process behind the album itself. While the band were recording their last album, they ended up stuck in Hanoi, Vietnam, and soon found their way to Phu Sa Studios, where they recorded a set of impromptu ambiant avant-garde indie fusion jazz that they quickly decided was good enough to release; having now moved on from Vietnam, they’ll be continuing their world tour through the close of 2018 …
 
LINK OF THE WEEK
Red Bull Radiojust broadcast an in-depth special podcast explaining the link between Detroit and Berlin as “techno music cousins”; check out the full broadcast of this interesting topic and theory at redbullradio.com …

THE BUZZ
The triple threat music of Streetlight Manifesto, Sycamore Smith, and Mephiskapheleswill be taking over The Majestic Theater in midtown Detroit on November 16 …
A new album (Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound) featuring music from the Alabama soul scene will feature covers by Aloe Blacc, Chris Stapleton, Alison Krauss,and Detroiter Kid Rock, who takes on Clarence Carter’s old-school tune “Snatching It Back” …
Ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsay Buckinghamwill be playing a solo show at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor on November 17 …
RapperBig Seanhas been scouting locations in Detroit to build a $20 million movie complex with 10 auditoriums, including one that would seat up to 1,000 people … 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.