Billboard Bits: ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ SXSW, Pearl Jam

Commotion Records will on Jan. 11 issue the soundtrack to the film “Hotel Rwanda.” The set features Wyclef Jean’s “Million Voices,” which yesterday earned a Golden Globe nomination for best original song. The film’s star, Don Cheadle, was nominated for best performance by an actor in a motion picture (drama).

The soundtrack also features tracks from Afro-Celt Sound System, African artists Bernard Kabanda and Yvonne Chaka Chaka and two new Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis productions, “Nobody Cares” (sung by Deborah Cox) and “Ne Me Laisse Pas Seule Ici” (sung by Tilly Key).

“Hotel Rwanda,” which co-stars Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix, opens Dec. 22 in select U.S. cities.

— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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Beth Orton, Fatboy Slim, Mavis Staples, Billy Idol and, As previously reported, Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant will deliver the keynote address and perform his first show in the United States since the summer of 2002. Staples will sit for a one-on-one interview in addition her performance. R&B vocalist Erykah Badu is also confirmed to speak.

Among the first discussions set for the conference portion of the festival are panels on digital rights collection, ringtones and satellite radio.

— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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Pearl Jam has unveiled the track list for the upcoming release “The Molo Sessions,” which features frontman Eddie Vedder in collaboration with the Walmer High School choir of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In addition to versions of Pearl Jam’s “Long Road,” “Love Boat Captain” and “Better Man,” the set features 11 performances by the choir, including the South African national anthem, taped at Seattle’s Studio Litho.

As previously reported, “The Molo Sessions” will be available exclusively from Pearl Jam’s official Web site. A live version of “Better Man” featuring the choir is earmarked for the band’s annual holiday single for members of its Ten Club fan organization.

“They were a pure embodiment of the power of music,” Vedder says of the choir. “This music got them through Apartheid, and it empowered them to travel abroad and share it. These kids respect the music for the opportunities it has given them. When they sang, it inspired everyone who came into contact with them. The transcendent melodies they invented for ‘Better Man’ and the like was a mind-blow.”

Here is the track list for ‘The Molo Sessions’:

“Long Road”
“Love Boat Captain”
“Mandela Siyakuthanda”
“Emarabini”
“Theledi”
“Nombayi”
“Ootsotsi Base Benoni”
“Better Man”
“Iyelele”
“Sana Iwami”
“Nora”
“Jabula Ntliziyo Yam”
“Izintombi Ezilishumi”
“Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” (South African national anthem)

— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.