Before 1971, there really wasn’t much of a Canadian music industry. Sure, there were record labels, recording studios, promoters, and agents but overall, we lacked the resources to be a first-world music power. Canada was a backwater, a place where the big labels had branch offices. Anyone who wanted to make it big in music [&hellip.. more
Attention all Music Geeks and Tech Freaks! We are excited to announce our next Music Tech MeetUp event, happening at the legendary Phoenix Concert Theatre on November 21, 2018. This time, I’ll be moderating a panel on the role of technology in education and well-being. The networking and panel discussion will be followed by a [&hellip.. more
Hey Ontario Music Geeks! We have put together a really cool contest with Dine Alone Records and Auchentoshan Whisky for you this fall. We will be giving away 15 Limited Edition White Vinyl Dine Alone sampler albums! All you have to do to enter the contest is to Tweet a photo of your record player [&hellip.. more
The KLF have always been one of the more, er, confrontational bands out of the UK. Lest we forget, the band publicly burned £1 million–as in with actual fire–as part of an artistic statement on consumerism and capitalism. Why? “Because it was fun,” they said. I once saw Bill Drummond speak at a music conference. It [&hellip.. more
John Lewis, the British department store chain, has a reputation for creating some of the best Christmas-theme TV spots anywhere in the world. This one featuring Elton John could be one of their all-time best.. more
There was once a story about Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo and how he made it past fans to the stage at certain gigs. He’d exit the tour bus, climb into a wheeled container (A roadcase? Some kind of wheelie bin?) and then be pushed undetected by roadies to wherever he needed to be. That’s nothing. Taylor [&hellip.. more
Artist: Methyl Ethel Song: Real Tight Album: Triage A lot dream-pop songs can sometimes feel passive, but this song is anything but. The synth rhythm which lands just before the beat gives this dream-pop track a sense of urgency and the honest, almost pleading lyrics evoke real emotion. You can catch Real Tight on Methyl Ethel’s [&hellip.. more
It was on this day in 1990 when Milli Vanilli was stripped of their Grammys in the biggest musical fraud case of its day. In current music news for November 16, 2018… Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal was supposed to travel to Paris to commemorate the third anniversary of the Bataclan attack but [&hellip.. more
That’s an excellent question. My parents have asked me this question for decades, fearing that it’s only a matter of time before I move back into my basement bedroom. And when it comes to listener email, this one is also near the top of the list. The people at SOCAN were also curious for some [&hellip.. more
Created and presented properly, a stereo recording gives the listening a send of space. If you close your eyes, your brain reconstructs the performers in front of you in a 3D soundstage. The vocalist down front. The guitarist off to the right. The drums spread out across the aural image: snare and high-hats slightly off-centre [&hellip.. more
There has always been a symbiotic relationship between music and technology. When the 78 RPM record became the standard for the music industry, popular songs were also standardized. Before the 78 could hold no more than 4 minutes of music per side, composers and consumers adapted. That’s why we’re so used to the idea of [&hellip.. more
Are you familiar with the Toronto-based duo Once a Tree? You’re about to be. The husband-wife electro-R&B band is the focus of the first episode of Rising, a new show from JUNO TV that features bands explaining their relationships with music, their songwriting process and their releases. Each episode features a different band or musician [&hellip.. more
[Mike Carr has put together a massive volume on Canadian music history entitled Canadian Alternative & Indie Reference and Collector’s Guide. It’s an incredible discography of hundreds of bands. This is the latest excerpt from his book. – AC] The Headstones are a punk-influenced alt-rock band formed in 1987 in Kingston, Ontario, and remained continuously active until [&hellip.. more
Before the CanRock explosion of the 1990s, a few— very few–Canadian indie bands of the 80s dig an incredible amount of heavy lifting to create the foundations for the wave of musical nationalism that was to come. One of those bands was Toronto’s The Pursuit of Happiness. I recently had a chance to sit down with [&hellip.. more
I’m still at a health resort in Thailand. One of the new services offered is past life regression. I’m thinking about it. Meanwhile, here’s some music news for Thursday, November 15, 2018. The lead in the new A Star is Born almost went to…Jack White? That would have worked, no? Jennifer Lopez got $2 million for [&hellip.. more
Ganja gadgets for beginners. Alan and Michael visit Canada’s biggest cannabis culture shop, The Friendly Stranger on Queen Street West in Toronto. Owner Robin Ellins reveals his plans for as many as 50 new stores, the surprising demographic entering his shop post-legalization, and the best gadgets for someone who doesn’t want to roll a joint. [&hellip.. more
U2 finished up their 2018 touring commitments with a gig in Berlin on Tuesday night (November 13), making good on a show that had to be canceled earlier in the fall when Bono lost his voice a few songs into the performance. The show ended with this statement from Bono: Bono: “we’ve been on the [&hellip.. more
A couple of years back, I was involved as a script editor in a documentary called Who the F**k in Arthur Fogel? This gave me a chance to get deep into the world of the concert promoter, the people who make it possible for gigs to happen. There’s now a new doc that explores the [&hellip.. more
Any music fan who’s ever traveled to the capital of the UK has some interest in some famous musical landmarks. While you could take a formal tour (and there are a bunch on offer), you might want to consider this new musical map. A company called Dex spent a year drawing this map, painstakingly locating [&hellip.. more
The boops and pops and plunks of the theme from Seinfeld (made with a Yamaha DX-7 synth, not a bass guitar) have made it one of the most famous TV themes ever. One thing was missing, though: a death metal version. Behold Grindfeld and their imminent EP, Five Songs About Nothing, which features five songs based on [&hellip.. more
When Carrie Underwood takes the stage at the Country Music Association Awards Wednesday and belts out her new song, the audience will likely jump to their feet and applaud wildly her latest hit. The thing is, she had nothing to do with it. The country music world, that of songwriting teams and tales of broken [&hellip.. more
I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Los Angeles these days, even if Dave Grohl has started his own BBQ company called Backbeat that generously fed hungry firefighters battling the California blazes that have already claimed the houses of Neil Young and Miley Cyrus. Hopefully things will have smouldered out by January 16th, 2019 so [&hellip.. more
Artist: Ken Tizzard, “1962” Album: A Good Dog Is Lost: A Collection of Ron Hynes Songs Great solo work from this The Watchmen alum! Sounds like: memories shared, full of emotion Link/Listen/Watch: Artist: O Emperor, “Girl” Album: N/A This Irish band is always catching my attention Sounds like: thoughts, winding and wondering Link/Listen/Watch: Artist: [&hellip.. more
The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 835: Revisiting CanRock bands of the 90s, part 2
November 16th | by
Music Matters: Music Technology (free) Event at the Phoenix in Toronto
October 16th | by
WIN a Limited Edition White Vinyl Dine Alone sampler album with Auchentoshan Whisky
October 13th | by
Friday Weirdness 2: This band is going to build a pyramid out of 34,592 dead people
November 16th | by
You gotta admit that this commercial Elton John made for a British department store is pretty sweet
November 16th | by
