Music News Net

ELTON JOHN Film, Rocketman, Set for the Big Screen

MUSIC NEWS- An Elton John biopic is set to be made by Billy Elliot author Lee Hall.

The film is to be entitled Rocketman, with Sir Elton as  executive producer, is expected to use musical sequences that center on his hit songs in order  to tell the story of a child prodigy who became a global star, reports Deadline.   Steve Hamilton Shaw, who will produce the film, said it would be "as unique as Elton's life" and it would "transport people through the many intense experiences... that helped define Elton".   With a script now ready, producers ar on the hunt for a director and star (or perhaps stars) to play Elton, now 64.

The film will be the second collaboration between John and Hall. The singer also wrote the award-winning score for the musical adaptation of Billy Elliot with him.  No word yet on theatrical release dates,

U2's "From the Sky Down" Documentary to Open Toronto Film Festival

MUSIC NEWS - A documentary about rockers U2 from Davis Guggenheim will open this year's Toronto International Film Festival on September 8. Called From The Sky Down it charts the release of the Irish rock band's Achtung Baby album in 1991, and is the first documentary to open the festival.

Of his opening U2 documentary, Guggenheim said: "In the terrain of rock bands - implosion or explosion is seemingly inevitable."  "U2 has defied the gravitational pull towards destruction, this band has endured and thrived. The movie From The Sky Down asks the question why."

Guggenheim won an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary on climate change featuring former US vice-president Al Gore.

Another rock documentary, Pearl Jam Twenty by director Cameron Crowe, will also have its world premiere at the ten day festival, which was founded in 1976.

KahBang Festival 2011 Announces Full Event Line Up

MUSIC NEWS - The KahBang Festival 2011 has announced its full event lineup. The third annual festival will be held August 5 thru 13 in Bangor, ME  and will feature over 50 bands and performers, 20 films, and numerous art exhibits across venues in downtown Bangor, and on the city’s historic waterfront.

Music headliners include My Morning Jacket, Lupe Fiasco, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, and Chromeo. In addition to KahBang’s strong music focus, the festival will continue its commitment to the best in art and film, fully transforming Bangor into an entertainment and cultural destination during the festival’s span.

KINGS OF LEON Doc to Make Its TV Premiere on Showtime

MUSIC NEWS -  The music documentary TALIHINA SKY: THE STORY OF KINGS OF LEON, will make it's TV premiere on SHOWTIME on Sunday, August 21 at 10 PM ET/PT. 

The documentary kicks off at the annual Followill family reunion in the back woods of Talihina, OK, where the three brothers return to their roots and unwind with their family. First-time director and Followill friend Stephen C. Mitchell weaves personal home videos, unedited interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of the band's journey from their small-town beginnings -- spent in poverty and touring the Bible Belt with their father, a Pentecostal evangelist minister, and their devout mother -- to living the rock star dream.  

Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse Composing for Queens of Country Film

MUSIC NEWS - Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse front man and songwriter, will compose the score for the upcoming feature film Queens of Country.   Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke, the writing and directing team behind the film, are best known for their music documentaries including Blood Into Wine, The Heart Is A Drum Machine and Moog. The two have placed an equal amount of importance on the scores to their films with both The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd (The Heart Is A Drum Machine) and Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer (Blood Into Wine) having contributed to their films.

Queens of Country stars Lizzy Caplan (Party Down, Mean Girls) and Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers, Office Space) with supporting actors Joe Lo Truglio (Superbad, Pineapple Express) and Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer, A Perfect Circle). The film focuses on Caplan’s character Jolene and a lost iPod, which the obsessed country music fan is convinced belongs to her soul mate. Jolene quickly finds herself in a hilarious adventure of mistaken identities, line dancing competitions, time machines and doppelgangers.

Post-production recently wrapped on the film with an eye towards a 2012 release for both the film and score.

More @ twinklecashcompany.com

Jonathan Demme Back at Work With Neil Young

MUSIC NEWS- Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme was back at work filminge the final two shows of Neil Young’s Le Noise concert tour, which took place at Toronto’s Massey Hall. The footage will become part of a film chronicling Young’s 2011 tour in support of his Grammy-and Juno Award winning album Le Noise. The film is planned for release later this year and is the third and final film in a series of Neil Young concert movies shot and directed by Demme. The previous two films are Heart of Gold, released in 2006, and received critical praise followed by the equally applauded Trunk Show, which screened internationally in 2009. Demme’s film credits include the Oscar-winning dramas Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs, and Rachel Getting Married.

KahBang 2011 Music/Art/Film Fest Announced

MUSIC NEWS -   News on the 2011 KahBang music | art | film Festival is out! The third-annual KahBang will be held August 5 thru 13 along the Bangor Waterfront and in multiple venues throughout the historic downtown area.  During the festival’s nine day span, KahBang will showcase over 40 bands on multiple stages along the Waterfront as well as additional performances in Bangor, ME venues, clubs and bars. Additional acts and festival details will follow in the upcoming weeks.   

Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Old Crow Medicine Show Announce Railroad Tour

MUSIC NEWS - This April, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show will embark on a tour starting on April 21 that will be unlike any in recent memory. Traveling exclusively in vintage railcars, the three bands will journey across the American Southwest over the course of a week. The aptly titled Railroad Revival Tour featured the three bands playing concerts at six unique outdoor locations along the route, begins in Oakland, CA

Cameron Crowe's Elton John, Leon Russell Documentary Opens Tribeca Film Fest

MUSIC NEWS - NYC's Tribeca Film Festival opens this year with Cameron Crowe’s documentary on the  collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell, The Union.  The April 20 outdoor free screening at the North Cove at the World Financial Plaza will be followed by a live performance by Sir Elton.

In The Union, director Crowe taks an intimate look at the music collaboration between John and Russell, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett, including aspects of the writing and recording process. The film festival’s press release points out that “John’s lifelong lyricist Bernie Taupin, icons Neil Young and Brian Wilson, legendary R&B organist Booker T. Jones, steel guitarist Robert Randolph and a 10-piece gospel choir are featured on the album.”

The Chemical Brothers Score Joe Wright's Film, HANNA

MUSIC NEWS - The critically acclaimed UK electronica duo The Chemical Brothers have been working  with film director Joe Wright and have scored Wright's new adventure thriller Hanna. The film stars Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and will be released in theaters on April 8 via Focus Features. The soundtrack will be released exclusively through iTunes on March 15th out on Back Lot Music, Universal Studios' in-house soundtrack music label.

TRENT REZNOR Picks Up His First Oscar !

MUSIC NEWS - NINE INCH NAILS' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the Oscar for their score to the film, The Social Network.  Reznor and Ross won in the Music (Original Score) category at last night's (February 27) Academy Awards ceremony in L.A.   Also nominated in the category was Hans Zimmer, for his score to Inception, that had the involvement of the Smiths' Johnny Marr.

As he accepted the award at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Reznor said: "Wow. Is this really happening? When we finished, we were very proud of our work and happy to just be involved in this film, and to be standing up here in this company is humbling and flattering beyond words."

INXS' MICHAEL HUTCHENCE Musical in the Works

MUSIC NEWS - Nearly fourteen years after the suicide of INXS frontman, Michael Hutchence the Sydney Moring Herald is reporting that a documentary and Broadway musical about the singer are in the works, under the development of Hutchence's former manager, Martha Troupe.

L.A. literary and talent agencey APA is working with Troupe and ''Michael's Trust'' to develop ''various projects that highlight Michael's creative genius'' which "owns and controls significant assets that celebrate [Hutchence's] life, death and work," according to a statement. The five surviving members of INXS last year denied a request to use the group's music in a documentary. It's still to be determined  whether they'll approve of Ms Troupe's upcoming projects.  

James Bond Composer, JOHN BARRY, RIP

MUSIC NEWS - John Barry, the well known composer of Born Free, Out of Africa and James Bond films, has died in New York City of a heart attack aged 77.

 Fellow Bond composer David Arnold wrote on his Twitter account; "It was with a heavy heart that I tell you John Barry passed away this morning". 



"I think James Bond would have been far less cool without John Barry holding his hand," Arnold added. 

He received five Oscars in a career that spanned many years.  In addition to his music work on eleven Bond films, he won music Academy Awards for Dances With Wolves, Out of Africa and Born Free.

More @ Guardian.co.uk
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DAFT PUNK Say They're Not "The Third Twin"

MUSIC NEWS- Management of DAFT PUNK have issued a statement dening that the French band are in any way linked to DJ's The Third Twin.  Rumors have circulated that Daft Punk members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have been secretly releasing music under the name The Third Twin since mid-2010, and until now neither the band nor their management have commented on the matter.

But, after a press release from Spanish festival organizers for the Arenal Sound Festival implied The Third Twin were in fact Daft Punk, DP's duo's management denied all links, reported Billboard releasing the following statement:

DAN DEACON To Work on New Francis Ford Coppola Film

MUSIC NEWS- Indie electronic musician Dan Deacon has signed on to score Francis Ford Coppola'snext film, the thriller Twixt Now and Sunrise, due to release in theatres later this year. The gothic thriller romance stars Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin and Elle Fanning.  Deacon's not just scoring the movie we're told, Mr. Coppola and Mr. Deacon are collaborating on a larger level, details of which will be announced soon.
 

The announcement comes on the eve of Deacon's concert tour of new music for So Percussion on January 20th at the Merkin Concert Hall in NYC and his first performance of new orchestral work February 3rd and 4th with the Kitchner-Waterloo Symphony in Kitchner, Ontario.