Steve Martin performs his own version of Michael Jackson’s video for Billie Jean for The New Show, a 1984 sketch-comedy TV program from Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.
Eight-Year-Old Girl Drummer CRUSHES Led Zeppelin’s Good Times Bad Times”
Eight-year-old Yoyoka Soma covered John Bonham’s drum part on Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” as her entry into the 2018 Hit Like A Girl drum contest. Does she win? No clue, but stay tuned.
She says, “When I was a just small baby, my parents had a home studio and there were various kinds of instruments. My parents were performing music activities as amateur singer-songwriters and they cradled me with their music. When I listened to their songs and guitar performances, I was eager to join them and couldn’t stop beating out a rhythm. That was why I started playing the drums. The drum was the first instrument in which I felt an interest in my life. My parents’ music peers often visited us to play together. I was glued to the powerful and dynamic performances by the drummers. At age 2, I was playing the drums as if I were playing with toys. At age 4, I started performing at concerts. At age 5, my family band “Kaneaiyoyoka” was formed by my parents. We have released 2 self-produced CD albums so far. Not only the drums, I also play the keyboard and perform as a vocalist. I compose lyrics and music as well.”
『Hit Like A Girl Contest 2018』Good Times Bad Times – LED ZEPPELIN / Cover by Yoyoka , 8 year old drummer from よよか on Vimeo.
The Grapes Of Wrath Announced As This Year’s Inductees Into The Western Canadian Music Hall Of Fame
This October, BreakOut West heads back to Kelowna, BC, for the first time since 2010. Now in its 16th year, the gathering continues to develop, support, and honour the best of western Canadian music, with its annual conference, festival and the Western Canadian Music Awards. This year, Kelowna-born rock band, The Grapes Of Wrath, will be celebrated for their decade-spanning career, and inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall Of Fame.
“We are especially excited to be receiving this honour in Kelowna, the town where we got our start,” says founding member, Kevin Kane. “Incredible to think that it’s been 40 years since we were two teens and a tween, gathering every Friday night in a basement in Glenmore to bash out British Invasion and punk rock songs.”
The Hall Of Fame award annually recognizes an artist/band that has made a significant impact in their career; traditionally being awarded to an artist/band from the host province.
The full list of Western Canadian Music Awards nominees have been announced and member voting has concluded. Winners of the artistic categories will be announced on Thursday, October 11 at the WCMAwards Reception in Kelowna, and Industry and Specialty Award categories will be presented on Saturday, October 13 at the Industry Awards Brunch at the Delta Hotel in Kelowna. The Grapes of Wrath will be honoured at the Industry Awards Brunch and will be officially presented with their award on the 13th, where they will be performing as part of the festival.
Brothers Tom and Chris Hooper met Kevin Kane in 1977, as the three were entering their teens in Kelowna, BC. Their first band was a punk combo called Kill Pigs which played faster than the singer could sing. The Hoopers and Kane would go on to form other bands (Gentlemen of Horror and Empty Set) during their teens, and returned to working together musically again in April of 1983. Taking the name, The Grapes Of Wrath, from a book of movie reviews, they began writing and rehearsing in earnest, gaining enough confidence to open for acts in Seattle and Vancouver. Using proceeds from gigs and yard sales, the band recorded their debut 4 song EP the following summer, signed to Vancouver’s fledgling Nettwerk, and went on to release their follow up debut full-length album, September Bowl Of Green, in 1985.
The band’s second album, Treehouse, was their first for the major label Capital, earning gold status in Canada. Their 1989 release, Now and Again, was the band’s big breakthrough, and featured newly added keyboardist, Vincent Jones. Singles, All The Things I Wasn’t, and What Was Going Through My Head, propelled the album to platinum status and soon the band went from playing bars to theaters and touring Europe, opening for acts such as Lloyd Cole and Texas.
Extensive international touring for their 4th album, the platinum-selling, These Days, put its strain on the band. Succumbing to the classic “musical and personal differences”, the Grapes parted ways after a Halloween show in 1992. In the summer of 2010, after 18 years, the original founding members (Chris and Tom Hooper and Kevin Kane) found themselves on stage together again at a festival in Surrey, BC. In 2013, the band released High Road, their first album of new material in 22 years.
BreakOut West is an annual gathering to celebrate, develop and support the best of western Canadian music, taking place this year in Kelowna, BC from October 10-14, 2018. Western Canadian artists are developing sustainable careers of national and international scope, and BreakOut West is an integral component of this development. Through the annual conference and festival, industry from around the world and western Canadian artists are given the opportunity to discover, educate, network and grow. The event consists of the BreakOut West Festival; showcasing the talent contained in the “left half” of Canada and delivering Western Canadian Music Awards to honoured nominees, and the Conference itself with educational panels, networking events, and so much more.
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind: HBO’s Official Trailer Is Here
An intimate look into the life and work of Robin Williams, the master of stage and comedy. “You’re only given a little spark of madness and if you lose that, you’re nothing.” Look for it on HBO starting on July 16.
The film explores his extraordinary life and career, revealing what drove him to give voice to the characters in his mind. With previously unheard and unseen glimpses into his creative process through interviews with Williams, as well as home movies and onstage footage, this insightful tribute features in-depth interviews with those who knew and loved him, including Billy Crystal, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Pam Dawber and his son, Zak Williams.
The documentary underscores what made Williams so unique, ranging from his youthful days in the San Francisco Bay area, to his time in New York at The Juilliard School, to his rocket-propelled fame on TV’s Mork & Mindy, to his profound impact on the American cultural landscape. Such career high points as his landmark comedy show at the Metropolitan Opera, his Broadway debut in “Waiting for Godot,” his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting and his classic confessional bits about his alcohol and drug issues and 2009 heart surgery capture the spark that made him stand out across four decades in entertainment. Williams’ tragic death in 2014, which revealed he had been suffering from the disease Lewy Body Dementia, left fans around the world heartbroken…
SOCCER MOMMY Announces New Tour Dates, Kicks Off Arena Tour with Paramore Tonight
Soccer Mommy – twenty-year old Nashville native Sophie Allison – released her critically acclaimed debut album Clean earlier this year, and has been touring non-stop ever since. In addition to numerous sold-out headline shows, Soccer Mommy just wrapped support tours with Liz Phair and Speedy Ortiz, and will embark on an arena tour opening for Paramore starting tonight. Before she hits the road again though, she announces new headline dates today.
Clean, out now on Fat Possum, has already received mid-year Best of 2018 nods from the likes of TIME, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Stereogum, Paste, Uproxx, and more. Upon its release, the album also landed at #1 on the NACC College Radio Chart for 4 weeks straight, #1 on Spinitron chart, #7 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, #13 on Billboard’s Vinyl chart, and #79 on Billboard’s Top Album chart.
Tour dates (new headline shows in bold)
6/12/18 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre #
6/13/18 – Savannah, GA @ El Rocko
6/14/18 – Simpsonville, SC @ Heritage Park Amphitheatre #
6/15/18 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater #
6/17/18 – Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater #
6/18/18 – Toronto, Canada @ Budweiser Stage #
6/20/18 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion #
6/21/18 – Bangor, ME @ Darlings Waterfront Pavilion #
6/22/18 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
6/23/18 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion #
6/24/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing #
6/26/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center #
6/27/18 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo
6/28/18 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live! #
6/29/18 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre #
7/1/18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park #
7/7/18 – Des Moines, IA @ 80/35 Music Festival
7/8/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest 2018
7/17/18 – Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre $
7/18/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s $
7/22/18 – North Byron Parklands, Australia @ Splendour In The Grass
7/25/18 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk $
7/26/18 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall $
7/27/18 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater $
7/28/18 – Tulsa, OK @ Vanguard $
7/29/18 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar $
7/31/18 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre $
8/1/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
8/3/18 – Vancouver, Canada @ Rickshaw Theatre $
8/4/18 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre $
8/5/18 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater $
8/31/18 – Scotland, UK @ Electric Fields Festival
9/1/18 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
9/4/18 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
9/5/18 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
9/7/18 – Dublin, Ireland @ Grand Social
9/8/18 – Liverpool, UK @ The Shipping Forecast
9/10/18 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
9/11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
9/12/18 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
9/13/18 – London, UK @ Scala
9/14/18 – Gent, Belgium @ Dok
9/17/18 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Oceanen
9/18/18 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Melodybox
9/19/18 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Ideal Bar at Vega
9/21/18 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Indiestad Festival @ Paradiso
9/19-9/22/18 – Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival
10/3/18 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
10/4/18 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
10/5/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
10/7/18 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge *
10/10/18 – Ft. Collins, CO @ Downtown Artery *
10/12/18 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project *
10/13-10/14/18 – Oakland, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival
10/16/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
10/17/18 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
10/18/18 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
12/15/18 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
# w/ Paramore
$ w/ Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
* w/ Sasami
Photo Gallery: Depeche Mode with EMA at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com for all your photo needs.
The votes are in! Canadians have chosen the three finalists for SiriusXM’s Top of the Country
With the votes cast, SiriusXM Canada, the country’s leading audio entertainment company, is pleased to announce the three finalists as chosen by Canadians from coast-to-cost for the inaugural SiriusXM Top of the Country competition, in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA). Each artist is competing to be crowned Canada’s next big country star, in addition to winning $25,000, a SOCAN songwriting camp in Pender Island, BC and more.
Whittled down from nine semi-finalists, the three 2018 SiriusXM Top of the Country finalists are:
Western Canada
• Leaving Thomas (Hometown—Calgary, AB)
Central Canada
• Andrew Hyatt (Hometown—Sudbury, ON)
Eastern Canada
• Jason Benoit (Hometown—Fox Island River, NL)
“We are so excited about the finalists for the first ever SiriusXM Top of the Country competition,” said Jeff Leake, Director of Music Programming for SiriusXM. “Everyone who participated was incredibly talented, and to now have the top three ready to move on to huge live performances, a mentorship session with some of the biggest names in the industry and more is amazing.
“This has been a fun few months,” said Tracy Martin, President, CCMA. “The talent in the first phase of Top of The Country was exceptional, it’s hard to believe that we are down to three. Our finalists now have the opportunity to spotlight their talent on some very big stages this summer. We can’t wait to see them perform at the finale during Country Music Week.”
This summer, the three Top of the Country finalists will participate in a week-long SOCAN songwriting trip to Nashville, TN, plus a two-day mentorship session in Toronto with major industry professionals, including Nashville-based hit songwriter J.T. Harding, who has written for such stars as Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney and more.
In addition to the valuable mentorship sessions, each finalist will get to perform at one of Canada’s three biggest country music festivals Big Valley Jamboree (Camrose, AB), Cavendish Beach Music Festival (Cavendish, PEI) or a SiriusXM-sponsored major festival in Ontario.
Finalists will compete on stage this September in an epic music performance battle before a headlining artist (to be announced) at the SiriusXM CCMA Top of the Country Finale, taking place during Country Music Week in Hamilton, ON and airing live on SiriusXM’s CBC Country. A judging panel of music industry professionals along with audience votes will determine the Grand Prize winner.
SiriusXM’s Top of the Country in partnership with CCMA is part of SiriusXM’s ongoing tradition of promoting and elevating the best in Canadian music. SiriusXM continues to offer a leading platform for Canadian artists through its significant financial contributions and North American-wide reach of over 55 million listeners.
Interpol Releases “The Rover” From Upcoming Marauder Album
‘The Rover’ is the first single taken from Interpol’s new album ‘Marauder’, released on August 24th on Matador Records.
How Dr. Martens Are Made
Insider visited Dr. Martens’ only UK factory on Cobbs Lane in Wollaston, Northamptonshire. This is where Dr. Martens makes its iconic “Made in England” collection. The factory employs 50 workers that make about 100,000 pairs of boots per year, which is only one percent of what the brand makes as a whole.
Spiritualized To Release New Album “And Nothing Hurt” On September 7
Spiritualized have announced news of their new studio album, And Nothing Hurt, out September 7th via Fat Possum in the US and Bella Union in the UK/Europe, and you can watch “I’m Your Man” below.
From the opening lullaby of “A Perfect Miracle” through to the Morse Code fadeout at the close of “Sail on Through,” Spiritualized wrap layer upon layer of gloriously transcendent sound together to create a mesmerizing and cinematic collection of songs.
There are points where the waves of blissful noise are almost overwhelming – the thunderous climax of “On the Sunshine”; the spectral waltz of “The Prize”; the towering guitar solo on “I’m Your Man” – where one can imagine the studio’s speakers vibrating themselves off of the walls. Which is an incredible feat when you discover that the album was conceived and recorded almost entirely by one man – Jason Pierce, AKA J.Spaceman – in an upstairs room in his east London home. Sat in an edit suite in Whitechapel a month or so after finishing recording, Jason talks honestly about the painstaking, frustrating process of creating And Nothing Hurt.
“Making this record on my own sent me more mad than anything I’ve done before. We’d been playing these big shows and I really wanted to capture that sound we were making, but without having the funds to do so, I had to find a way to work within the constraints of what money I had. So I bought a laptop and made it all in a little room in my house.”
Whereas bedroom recording is commonplace for a generation of musicians who’ve grown up with horizon-expanding tech, Spiritualized have long used the studio as they would an extra member of the band – as a vital building block in the construction of some of the most cherished records of the modern era. This time would be very different. With no grounding in digital recording, Jason had to learn everything from scratch.
“The biggest thing for me was to try to make it sound like a studio session. But I was new to it all, I didn’t have all the short cuts people use as when they’re making records – I just sat there for weeks… for months… moving every level up bit by bit just to try to get the sounds right.”
Spiritualized have also announced select live performances in support of the album, including two U.S. dates:
Thu Oct 11 – Brooklyn NY at Kings Theatre
Tue Oct 16 – Los Angeles CA at The Orpheum Theatre
For the listener, the nine tracks on And Nothing Hurt effortlessly replicate the scale and power of Spiritualized’s previous releases, whether it’s the sonic blowback of “On the Sunshine,” the last dime in the jukebox love letter of “Let’s Dance” or the swell of an imaginary orchestra that seems to lift “Damaged” towards the heavens as it plays out.
“With a bit of trial and lot of error, I found ways of doing something that’s quite simple if you’ve got the resources. I spent two weeks listening to classical records and strumming the chord that I wanted on my guitar. When I found something to match what I wanted, I’d sample that bit and go for the next chord and try to match that. It took weeks, trying to put together and layer convincing string sounds. But, if I’m honest, all I wanted was for someone to come and play the part and bring their own thing to the record”
Lyrically, And Nothing Hurt touches on thoughts of passing time and acceptance of one’s age – never more beautifully than on “Let’s Dance.” “I didn’t want to be fighting against my age; it’s very much about acceptance. And not with any dissatisfaction either – I’m not raging against the inevitable. I spent a lot of time thinking about the way that the songs should hold together, trying to make the narratives make sense rather than just throwing together a couple of lines that rhymed.”
During the making of And Nothing Hurt, Jason kept returning to the thought that this would be the last Spiritualized record – interviews over the last couple of years made it clear that the frustration of trying to replicate the sounds in his head were proving too much. With the record finally finished, does he feel the same way now?
“I was quite sincere about that and I still feel like it might be the case. It was such hard work. I found myself going crazy for so long. It’s not like there’s no coming back, I’m fine now… it’s just such a hard thing to do, to make a record like this on your own. It’s almost as if, if I’m not pushing myself to point of madness, it’s not going to be right. I think the biggest goal is to make something that’s worthy of all that time and effort. And the more time and effort, the bigger the goal. I knew I had to make something that was good enough that it should be made. And a massive positive about making the record is that we get to play it live. That’s always the most joyous thing; this amazing thing that seems to come right through the roof.”
And Nothing Hurt will be released September 7th via Fat Possum. Album artwork and tracklisting below:
And Nothing Hurt tracklist:
1. A Perfect Miracle
2. I’m Your Man
3. Here It Comes (The Road) Let’s Go
4. Let’s Dance
5. On The Sunshine
6. Damaged
7. The Morning After
8. The Prize
9. Sail On Through