JAY-Z gives David Letterman a lesson on what makes a good rapper in this clip from My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, premiering April 6th on Netflix.
I Love The 90’s Tour Featuring Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa, Montell Jordan Comes To Ontario
Kicking off in 2016 and quickly racking up hundreds of shows across North America, UK, Australia and New Zealand, the hugely successful I LOVE THE 90’s TOUR will continue its reign in 2018 with new stops across the United States and Canada including Burl’s Creek Event Grounds on Saturday, August 18, 2018. You can get tickets here. In just two years, the tour has become one of the most sought after live events, selling out arenas worldwide with its rotating lineup of the 90’s’ most iconic acts. This year promises fans the same unbelievable live experience with a lineup at Burl’s Creek that includes crowd favourites Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa, Montell Jordan, Rob Base, Young MC, and Black Sheep.
“Burl’s Creek Event Grounds is a stunning first-class venue; we’re looking forward to programming more great summer content for the residents of Simcoe County and Muskoka in their own backyard. The artists on the ‘I Love the 90’s Tour’ featuring Salt-N-Pepa and Vanilla Ice are party icons from a time when massive radio hits and music videos were king, before iTunes, smart phones, and Facebook – you can’t download nostalgia!” says Lisa Zechmeister, Director of Booking and Development at Republic Live. Republic Live operates Burl’s Creek Event Grounds.
The I Love the 90’s Tour went international in 2017, inviting fans from Australia, New Zealand and UK to join the nostalgia-filled party. With live sets from Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa, Color Me Badd, Coolio, Tone Loc and Young MC, the international tour started 2018 with the biggest party on dance floors across the world. November’s AUS/NZ tour announcement of the party set off a frenzy when thousands upon thousands of fans took to the web to buy tickets, shutting down ticketing sites and selling more than 20,000 tickets in just 48 hours.
Siri Answers,”What Is 10 Trillion Raised To The Power 10?” And Then It’s Put To Music
In late January 2015, Indian musicians Samarth Swarup and Asa Singh accompanied the Apple iOS Siri as she answered the question “What is 10 trillion raised to the power 10?” This is a hit!
I being a music producer [musician] was quite attracted to the response of Siri on this question. So I clubbed my friend’s beatboxing and my guitar along with it and made this crazy video.
Q&A With Matt Johnson of The The: “The loyalty of many members of my audience has been a pleasant surprise”
The stage is set for the return of THE THE, one of the most intriguing bands ever to emerge from England, armed with such classic songs as “This Is The Day,” “Uncertain Smile,” “Heartland,” “Love Is Stronger Than Death,” “Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)” and “Dogs of Lust,” from albums released between the early 1980’s to 2000.
Helmed by singer and songwriter Matt Johnson, THE THE have announced their first live shows in 16 years. The post-punk iconoclasts will first tour the UK and Europe starting in late May, with many shows already sold out including London’s Royal Albert Hall and Brixton Academy, before launching their North American tour in September. Tickets for the North American tour go on sale Friday, April 6 at 12 noon local time. *Read an interview with Johnson below.
Kicking off September 14 in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre, THE THE’s eight-date North American headlining tour will include two stops in the New York area (September 16 at Brooklyn Steel and September 17 at the Beacon Theatre) and then make its way to Toronto, Detroit and Chicago before reaching Los Angeles September 24 to perform at the Ford Theatre and wrapping September 27 in San Francisco. These dates will mark the band’s first North American concerts in 18 years. See below for all dates and details.
As a singer and songwriter, Johnson has been silent for many years, with the last THE THE album, 2000’s NakedSelf, capping off a remarkable run of records–from his solo debut Burning Blue Soul (1981), through THE THE’s Soul Mining (1983), Infected (1986), Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993)–which earned him an enduring reputation as a brave and uncompromising artist dealing with both the dark matters of the heart and prescient sociopolitical commentary.
In 2017, THE THE released a new single, ”We Can’t Stop What’s Coming,” as part of 2017’s Record Store Day, their first new song in 15 years, with Matt Johnson joined by former THE THE members, Zeke Manyika on percussion, James Eller on bass and Johnny Marr on guitar. The track was taken from The Inertia Variations, an 84-minute documentary film, which premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and forms part of a wider multimedia project inspired by the poem of the same name by John Tottenham. Additionally in October 2017, THE THE released the Radio Cineola: Trilogy box set.
The first biography of THE THE, “Long Shadows, High Hopes,” written by Neil Fraser and fully authorized by Johnson, will be published by Omnibus Press on June 7, 2018.
Q&A WITH MATT JOHNSON
Beginning in late May, THE THE are returning with a run of UK and European comeback shows, including already sold-out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Brixton Academy and Troxy, among others. These are to be followed by a tour of North America in September. Are these your first shows in 16 years and what inspired the return?
Apart from a one-off performance as a guest of David Bowie at his ‘Meltdown’ festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2002 these will be the first THE THE concerts since 2000, which is nearly two decades. My decision to come out of ‘retirement’ was triggered by personal events in my life. My older brother and long time collaborator Andy “Dog” Johnson, who created many of the distinctive THE THE record sleeves over the years, passed away in January 2016. His death came in the middle of the filming of The Inertia Variations, a Swedish feature length documentary that was being made about me (view trailer here). Andrew’s illness and subsequent death became a central part of the film and inspired me to write my first new song in many years, “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming.” The whole situation caused me to reflect deeply about what I want to do with my life and so I decided to put a toe back in the water to feel the temperature.
THE THE last album’s was in 2000, with the single, “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming,” your first new song in 15 years, released in 2017 on Record Store Day UK. Can you talk about the buzz the song (on which you were joined by former THE THE members Zeke Manyika on percussion, James Eller on bass and Johnny Marr on guitar) created and how it set the stage for the return to live concerts?
The director of The Inertia Variations, Johanna St Michaels, was trying to persuade me to write a new song for the documentary from the moment we began filming it. As the film is based around Radio Cineola, a 12 hour live radio broadcast I was hosting from my London studios, she felt it would make a great climax to the film if I was to perform a new song during a live broadcast. I had resisted this idea but in the end personal events overtook the documentary and after Andy’s illness and subsequent death I felt compelled to write a song for him, just as I had written “Love Is Stronger Than Death” for my younger brother Eugene when he passed away in 1989. My former bandmates, James Eller, Johnny Marr and Zeke Manyika were all very fond of Andrew and came together with me to pay tribute to him. ‘”We Can’t Stop What’s Coming” created such a buzz when it was released on Record Store Day ‘17 that it actually crashed our website for many hours as we were unable to keep up with demand.
The Inertia Variations premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in the summer of 2017 and forms part of a wider multimedia project inspired by the poem of the same name by John Tottenham. There’s also the Radio Cineola: Trilogy box set you released, and THE THE’s Infected: The Movie. Can you talk about these projects?
This is one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever attempted as it encompasses music, spoken word and poetry, politics, sculpture, photography and film. It involved many collaborators across the UK, Europe and the US. The project was initially inspired by the poem The Inertia Variations, which was written by John Tottenham, an Englishman living in Los Angeles. John and his poem were introduced to me by our mutual friend, the Brooklyn-based composer JG Thirlwell. It was this poem that inspired the making of the feature length documentary, with which it shares its name. But the project just kept growing and merged with Radio Cineola, my conceptual shortwave radio station that is broadcast from my London studios. There were also a couple of art installations, Roda Sten Konsthall in Goteborg and Summerhall in Edinburgh, which featured the 9-meter-tall Radio Cineola Tower we commissioned for the project. Lastly, there was the release of the Radio Cineola: Trilogy boxset on vinyl, CD and download and which featured exclusive photography and narration from the project.
Are you able to reveal which musicians will join you on the North American tour?
All I can say for now is that I have chosen one musician from each of the three band line-ups from my three world tours. Plus, there will be one new face. Stay tuned!
Since you’re known as a unique artist who tackles complex emotions and sociopolitical topics, can you talk about your current mindset and the state of the world?
Well, my views tend to be out of step with the mainstream narrative but I’ve often had people tell me that when they look back at things I said or wrote decades ago they seem to make more sense now. So, all I will say is that I think we’re living through very dangerous times and that the governments and intelligence services of the West are pulling us into perilous waters with their McCarthy-era hysteria and witch hunts. The prevailing mood appears to be argument by assertion where someone continually argues a point by merely asserting that it is true, regardless of contradiction. As Goebbels said, “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.” When you start to look into these allegations the truth is often not what is being portrayed. It reminds me of the continual lies that were spread by our own governments and intelligence services in the UK and US that dragged us into the disastrous Iraq war and its aftermath. It seems few lessons have been learnt by the general public and I find it dispiriting how many people are content to be passively spoon fed information by their government, the corporate media and the intelligence services without doing their own research and making up their own minds.
Can you talk about which songs from THE THE’s albums—from your debut Burning Blue Soul (1981), through Soul Mining (’83), Infected (’86), Mind Bomb (’89) and Dusk (1993)—will be in the set list?
Obviously I’m not going to give away the set list, but songs from every album of THE THE’s catalogue will be represented.
Are you planning to record a new album?
Yes, I’m feeling inspired and have already started writing it. I’m hoping to begin recording sessions later this year but this all depends on our touring schedule.
What has surprised you most in your career?
The loyalty of many members of my audience has been a pleasant surprise.
Can you describe your best gig ever—and your worst one?
Not really (maybe it’s age?), but all the hundreds of shows I’ve performed have tended to merge into one giant concert in my mind, albeit one with its own highs, lows and maybes.
Have you had a Spinal Tap moment in your career? Care to share it?
Not yet, but I’m sure there’s always time for that!
The The Return To North America For Their First Tour In 18 Years
The stage is set for the return of THE THE, one of the most intriguing bands ever to emerge from England, armed with such classic songs as “This Is The Day,” “Uncertain Smile,” “Heartland,” “Love Is Stronger Than Death,” “Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)” and “Dogs of Lust,” from albums released between the early 1980’s to 2000.
Helmed by singer and songwriter Matt Johnson, THE THE have announced their first live shows in 16 years. The post-punk iconoclasts will first tour the UK and Europe starting in late May, with many shows already sold out including London’s Royal Albert Hall and Brixton Academy, before launching their North American tour in September. Tickets for the North American tour go on sale Friday, April 6 at 12 noon local time.
Kicking off September 14 in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre, THE THE’s eight-date North American headlining tour will include two stops in the New York area (September 16 at Brooklyn Steel and September 17 at the Beacon Theatre) and then make its way to Toronto, Detroit and Chicago before reaching Los Angeles September 24 to perform at the Ford Theatre and wrapping September 27 in San Francisco. These dates will mark the band’s first North American concerts in 18 years. See below for all dates and details.
As a singer and songwriter, Johnson has been silent for many years, with the last THE THE album, 2000’s NakedSelf, capping off a remarkable run of records–from his solo debut Burning Blue Soul (1981), through THE THE’s Soul Mining (1983), Infected (1986), Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993)–which earned him an enduring reputation as a brave and uncompromising artist dealing with both the dark matters of the heart and prescient sociopolitical commentary.
In 2017, THE THE released a new single, ”We Can’t Stop What’s Coming,” as part of 2017’s Record Store Day, their first new song in 15 years, with Matt Johnson joined by former THE THE members, Zeke Manyika on percussion, James Eller on bass and Johnny Marr on guitar. The track was taken from The Inertia Variations, an 84-minute documentary film, which premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and forms part of a wider multimedia project inspired by the poem of the same name by John Tottenham. Additionally in October 2017, THE THE released the Radio Cineola: Trilogy box set.
The first biography of THE THE, “Long Shadows, High Hopes,” written by Neil Fraser and fully authorized by Johnson, will be published by Omnibus Press on June 7, 2018.
The The Tour dates:
05/25-26 Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
05/27 Becketts Students Union Leeds
05/31-06/02 København, Denmark – Heartland Festival
06/02 Stockholm, Sweden – Münchenbryggeriet
05/05 London, UK – Royal Albert Hall,
05/05 London, UK – Brixton Academy
05/07 London, UK – Troxy
07/06 Belfast, UK – Mandela Hall
07/07 Dublin, Ireland Iveagh Gardens
09/03 Newcastle, UK University Students Union
09/04 Glasgow, UK – Barrowlands
09/05 Glasgow, UK – Concert Hall,
09/07 Birmingham, UK – Digbeth Arena
09/08 Portmeirion, UK – Festival No. 6
09/09 Bristol, UK – St Philips Gate
09/14 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
09/16 New York, NY – Brooklyn Steel
09/17 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
09/19 Toronto, ON – Sony Centre
09/21 Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
09/22 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
09/24 Los Angeles, CA Ford Theatre
09/27 San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
Linkin Park Fans: A Rare Opportunity to Own a Piece of the Band’s Gear History Is Coming This Week
Today, the website Reverb announced their partnership with L.A.’s Techno Empire to offer fans a unique opportunity to own a piece of Linkin Park’s legacy. Starting on Wednesday, April 4, Reverb users can head to the Techno Empire Reverb Shop to browse through nearly 200 pieces of gear that have been retired from regular use in the studio and on the road by Linkin Park over their more than 15-year career.
Even better, a portion of the proceeds from the shop will benefit Music for Relief, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) program founded by Linkin Park and dedicated to providing aid to people and communities affected by natural disasters.
The shop is sure to appeal to players and fans of all kinds, filled with everything from a sticker-covered road case to multiple Pioneer DJ RMX100 Remix Stations and EHX V256 Vocoder pedals, to a Moog MP-201 Multi-Pedal Expression controller.
Among the other unique items for sale, you can find a Yamaha KX5 Keytar (see it in action here) that joined the band on several tours and comes with a Linkin Park banner used backstage for signings and other fan events. You can also find a Moog Etherwave Plus Theremin that Mike Shinoda used during live shows in 2010 (including during their performance at that year’s MTV Music Awards), the Amplivox S602M Megaphone Brad Delson used during live shows in 2011, and several Akai MPC500s the band used on various tours to trigger samples and sequence beats.
Linkin Park is also parting with multiple Linkin Park Special Edition models of the Open Labs Neko XXL Gen5 DAW keyboard workstation, marking the first time that this exclusive model, built specifically for the band, will be offered to the public.
Canadian Music Week & The Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada Present The 1st Annual Canadian Sync Awards
Canadian Music Week (CMW) and The Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada (GMSC) are excited to present the 1st Annual Canadian Sync Awards sponsored by songtradr. The Canadian Sync Awards are the only awards in Canada to recognize the contribution synch makes to the creative industries. The Awards will take place on Saturday May 12th, at The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in the Dominion Ballroom (123 Queen St W, Toronto) for Happy Hour from 5:00PM – 7:00PM. Purchase tickets here.
Nominees will include music supervisors, synch teams, publishers, record companies plus the worlds of broadcast and advertising. This celebratory event will honour the achievements of music in film, television, advertising and brands, video games and online media. Each category has been selected to acknowledge the importance of music placement and the collective achievements of an individual artist. The awards will be judged by a panel of industry professionals according to commercial and creative criteria. Submissions for nominations are now open. To complete your submission for The Canadian Sync Awards, please visit here.
Some of the categories include:
Icon Award
Best Music Supervision – Scripted or Factual TV Production/Series
Best Music Supervision – Feature or Documentary Film
Best Sync – Commercial
Best Sync Team – Major Label and/or Major Publisher
Best Sync Team – Indie Label and/or Indie Publisher
Sync Artist or Songwriter of the Year
The Cult, Bush, Stone Temple Pilots Announce Tri-Headlining ‘Revolution 3’ Tour
Today three of the most legendary bands in rock – Bush, The Cult, Stone Temple Pilots – announce they are teaming up to create a tri-headlining event like no other: the Revolution 3 tour. The 20-city outing produced by Live Nation marks the first time that these forces of rock music will hit the road together. Kicking off July 18 in Nashville, TN, the trek will make stops at iconic amphitheaters and arenas across North America before wrapping September 1 in San Bernardino, CA. Tickets for the Revolution 3 tour go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 6 at 10am local time here.
On Revolution 3, these world renowned, multi-platinum selling bands will create an unforgettable night of music, with each group taking the stage in a different order on every stop of the revolving headline tour. Fans of the award-winning bands can expect a full set of music by each group and a night of hit songs spanning generations from the three acts sharing one stage for the epic run of shows.
“Over the years I have come to call the DeLeo brothers close friends. I appreciate their excellent musicianship and crazy sense of humor,” Billy Duffy of The Cult said. “I am looking forward to this amazing tour with STP and Bush knowing we will all be sharing the stage and enjoying a lot of laughs!”
“It is with great honor and pleasure to know we will be spending our summer vacation on the road with the Gents from The Cult and Bush,” said Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots. “Two great bands and more so, great friends. Also, to be there with you is even better. With love. See y’all soon.”
“It’s going to be a great summer with STP and The Cult, two bands built on great rock songs,” says Bush vocalist Gavin Rossdale. “See you all out there.”
‘Revolution 3’ Tour Dates:
| DATE | CITY | VENUE |
| Wednesday, July 18 | Nashville, TN | Municipal Auditorium |
| Friday, July 20 | Noblesville, IN | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center |
| Saturday, July 21 | Burgettstown, PA | KeyBank Pavilion |
| Sunday, July 22 | Huber Heights, OH | Rose Music Center |
| Tuesday, July 24 | Detroit, MI | Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill |
| Wednesday, July 25 | Toronto, ON | Budweiser Stage |
| Friday, July 27 | Wantagh, NY | Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater |
| Saturday, July 28 | Holmdel, NJ | PNC Bank Arts Center |
| Monday, July 30 | Boston, MA | Blue Hills Bank Pavilion |
| Thursday, August 02 | Gilford, NH | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion |
| Sunday, August 05 | Bristow, VA | Jiffy Lube Live |
| Friday, August 10 | Pehlem, AL | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre |
| Wednesday, August 15 | Laredo, TX | Laredo Energy Arena |
| Thursday, August 16 | The Woodlands, TX | Cynthia Woods Mitchel Pavilion Presented by Huntsman |
| Saturday, August 18 | Albuquerque, NM | Isleta Amphitheater |
| Sunday, August 19 | Morrison, CO | Red Rocks Amphitheatre |
| Monday, August 20 | West Valley City, UT | USANA Amphitheatre |
| Thursday, August 23 | Pocatello, ID | Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre |
| Saturday, September 01 | San Bernardino, CA | Glen Helen Amphitheatre |
| Sunday, September 02 | Phoenix, AZ | Ak-Chin Pavilion |
Number of digital music single downloads in the United States from 2004 to 2017 (in millions)
The statistic above shows the number of digital music singles downloaded in the United States from 2004 to 2017. In 2017, approximately 553.5 million digital music singles were downloaded in the U.S., down from 743 million a year earlier.
To All Your Flat-Earthers, Let An Astronaut Explain This For You, OK?
To the average person, there appears to be a growing number of people who believe — somehow — that the world is actually flat and that we are all being “lied” to by world governments. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has actually been to space and has seen that the world is round, but is unphased by these so-called “flat-earthers.”