Radiohead Release Eco-Friendly Backpack
Once in a while an unexpected opportunity lands at your feet, one you just have to explore further. When Radiohead contacted Millican, a company that makes sustainable bags for traveling, about creating a bag, and knowing that Thom Yorke is a self-confessed ‘Climate Optimist’ and vocal supporter of sustainable practices, they just had to say yes.
This special-edition Blank Canvas Projects are all about collaborating with people who create positive change in the world. The bag itself is made from 40 recycled plastic bottles, and it was the perfect canvas for this collaboration.
To coincide with Radiohead’s 2017 Spring Tour, the company worked with Stanley Donwood to re-create the band’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ album cover on the pack. It’s now available here.
The National Announce Boxer Reissue, But You Won’t Find It In Stores
Big news for fans of The National: the band will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their acclaimed album Boxer with a vinyl reissue that will include a bonus 7″ featuring tracks from their forthcoming album Sleep Well Beast. It’s not available in stores, though: it’s exclusive to the subscription service Vinyl Me, Please. The package contains the 10th Anniversary Reissue, a Special Edition Grey Vinyl, the Bonus 7” w/ tracks from Sleep Well Beast and housed in a 12×12 Art Print by Philip Johnson. You’ll get the National release if you sign up by Aug. 15. Below are the liner notes from the release.
No art is created without effort—but much of what artists create tricks us into thinking it so. And even though the road to nearly every polished piece is paved with careful editing and pangs of self-doubt, there are certainly moments in the act of creation where giving form to thought does feel effortless. We live for the moment when we enter “flow” — the insufferable TED talk term for one of the best feelings our brains and bodies can muster: where everything but you and what you’re working on recedes into the background and the process of bringing your ideas into the world feels easy — like transcribing the voice of God itself, a metaphor everyone from Rainer Maria Rilke to Kanye West has ascribed to their creative process.
Anyway, none of the National’s music sounds like it came easy.
Matt Berninger’s melted Brie voice, the mechanically precise rhythm section, the creepy twin magic of the Brothers Dessner: the National are a Harlem Globetrotters of a band, yet in each song, you can hear a frustrated and relentless push toward perfection, the multiple takes spent chasing down the platonic ideal of a phrase or arrangement, blinking cursors and anxious rewrites. They seem both terrified of—and grateful for—their ability to create, what they’ve created, and the success their creation has earned them. They seem like they spend too much time in their own heads, but let you know it in a way that feels generous, not self-centered and alienating. They are immediately, heartbreakingly recognizable and relatable: the products of a generation terrified of not living up to their own expectations or the expectations of others, with only the vaguest idea of what those expectations might be. Stars! They’re just like us!
Alligator might be my favorite National album, but Boxer is their best album. It is their most fully articulated expression of what it’s like to experience the world in this way: the feeling that you haunt your own life, the drive to participate in a system you know will fail you, working too hard only to be rewarded with an existential crisis of byzantine complexity. Living is an incredible gift that exacts its price. Every angel is terrifying.
The Smiths’ “The Queen Is Dead” Is Getting An Expanded Edition
Widely considered to be both The Smiths’ finest work and one of the greatest albums ever made, ‘The Queen Is Dead’ has cast a significant influence over subsequent generations since it was first released in the summer of 1986. Now Warner Bros. Records can confirm details of a newly mastered and expanded version of the album that will be released on 20th October.
The album features several of the band’s finest moments including the title track and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, as well as the iconic singles ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ and ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’.
“You cannot continue to record and simply hope that your audience will approve, or that average critics will approve, or that radio will approve,” says Morrissey. “You progress only when you wonder if an abnormally scientific genius would approve – and this is the leap The Smiths took with The Queen Is Dead.”
Johnny Marr adds, “The Queen Is Dead was epic to make and epic to live.”
Here’s the tracklist:
CD1 – Original album: 2017 master
1. ‘The Queen Is Dead’
2. ‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’
3. ‘I Know It’s Over’
4. ‘Never Had No One Ever’
5. ‘Cemetry Gates’
6. ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’
7. ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’
8. ‘Vicar In A Tutu’
9. ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
10. ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’
CD2 – Additional recordings
1. ‘The Queen Is Dead’ (full version)
2. ‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’ (demo)
3. ‘I Know It’s Over’ (demo)
4. ‘Never Had No One Ever’ (demo)
5. ‘Cemetry Gates’ (demo)
6. ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ (demo)
7. ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ (demo)
8. ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ (demo mix)
9. ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ (take 1)
10. ‘Rubber Ring’ (b-side)
11. ‘Asleep’ (b-side)
12. ‘Money Changes Everything’ (b-side)
13. ‘Unloveable’ (b-side)
Tracks 1-7 and 9 are previously unreleased.
Track 8 was released on 7” for Record Store Day.
Tracks 10 and 11 are 2017 masters of b-sides from ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’.
Tracks 12 and 13 are 2017 masters of b-sides from ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’.
CD3 – ‘Live in Boston’ – previously unreleased
1. ‘How Soon Is Now?’ (5.25)
2. ‘Hand In Glove’ (2.58)
3. ‘I Want The One I Can’t Have’ (3.24)
4. ‘Never Had No One Ever’ (3.29)
5. ‘Stretch Out And Wait’ (3.09)
6. ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ (3.34)
7. ‘Cemetry Gates’ (3.01)
8. ‘Rubber Ring/What She Said/Rubber Ring’ (4.17)
9. ‘Is It Really So Strange?’ (3.23)
10. ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ (4.09)
11. ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore’ (4.51)
12. ‘The Queen Is Dead’ (5.08)
13. ‘I Know It’s Over’ (7.39)
Liona Boyd releasing new CD and autobiography, No Remedy For Love on August 19
After touring the world for over three decades, on August 19th 2017 Liona Boyd, Canada’s celebrated “First Lady of the Guitar”, is releasing on Universal Music a much-anticipated new album, and new autobiography published through Dundurn Press, both titled No Remedy For Love.
Liona Boyd, known around the world as “The First Lady of the Guitar” has released twenty-eight albums, spanning a wide range of styles, many of which have gone gold and platinum. She has been awarded the Order of Canada, Five Juno awards, and was inducted into the Guitar Player “Gallery of Greats”. Liona has been a special guest on numerous television shows including The Tonight Show, Today Show, Entertainment Tonight and many others, her YouTube views total over five million. Liona has recorded with such musicians as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Sir Andrew Davis, Chet Atkins, Al Di Meola, Yo-Yo Ma and Olivia Newton-John. In 2009 she added vocals to her guitar playing, became a songwriter, and now tours with her duo partner Andrew Dolson, a talented young guitarist and singer from Waterloo, Ontario.
Liona Boyd’s memoir is a fascinating, personal story of adventure, romance, and her recovery from musician’s focal dystonia. After her 2004 divorce and departure from Beverly Hills, the renowned classical guitarist relocated to Miami, reinvented her career, became a singer-songwriter and embarked upon a new chapter in her life and career, moving seven times on her own. She has been the pen pal of Prince Philip for over thirty years and describes performing for him over the decades, most recently in Windsor Castle this March. Also being released at the same time is her best selling 1998 autobiography, In My Own Key, My Life in Love and Music which describes her unique career, her rise to the top of the classical world and her eight year romance with the former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau.
The title, No Remedy for Love is a partial quote from Henry David Thoreau, “There is no remedy for love but to love more”. It is also the title of one of Liona’s songs that Leonard Cohen had expressed admiration for and that she had dedicated to him before his death. The central theme of the album is love in it’s many incarnations. The collection of songs talks about her love for the planet (Prayer For Planet Earth), her love for animals and the people who advocate for them (People who Care for the Animals), romantic love (Who Knows with special guest JUNO Award winner Jack Grunsky and Nothing’s As Cruel As Time, an ode to a young lover), memories of teenage love (in the ABBA-inspired Near To You) as well as love for the place she now calls home (The Toronto Song, Song for Ontario). Lightfoot, is a special musical tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, the man who helped launch Liona’s career when she was his opening act in the 70’s. Gordon was deeply touched by this song that features a legendary guest, his friend Ronnie Hawkins.
The complex production of No Remedy for Love was inspired by the melodic folk, pop and classical music Liona grew up with and embraces a wide range of influences across its seventeen tracks. Liona said “This album which began three years ago has been a labour of love for both myself and my brilliant producer Peter Bond. We feel proud of every song, and I am delighted that through my book people will now be able to read all the behind the scenes stories, struggles and triumphs behind this special album.”
Kids Describe Their Dream Job to an Illustrator
“I want to be a Pokemon trainer and catch potatoes.”
Take Off Eh! Raises $325, 000 for Jake Thomas and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario
Dave Thomas and The Second City are pleased to announce that TAKE OFF, EH!, which took place Tuesday, July 17 on The Second City Toronto’s Mainstage, raised over $325,000 to benefit ‘Jake Thomas’s Road to Recovery’ and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario.
TAKE OFF, EH! was a star-studded intimate evening with performances by Canadian legends including: Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Great White North” reunion with Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis riffing on craft beer, political correctness, and inventing rap on their first album; Martin Short hosting with classic characters like Ed Grimley and a signature one-on-one interview with Jiminy Glick and Rick Mercer one upping each other; auctioneering and blues from Dan Aykroyd; Catherine O’Hara & Eugene Levy reprising their Bobby Bittman and Lola Heatherton characters in a memorable duet with a medley from the Canadian songbook; The Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson; Women Fully Clothed’s Robin Duke and Katherine Greenwood; and Special Guest Musical Performances from Paul Shaffer, Ian Thomas, Murray McLauchlan and surprise musical guest Geddy Lee who led a rousing rendition of Take Off.
Donations can still be made to ‘Jake Thomas’s Road to Recovery’ and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario now at gofundme.com/jakethomasmuskoka and sciontario.org/donate.
On January 7, 2017, Jake Thomas, nephew of SCTV’s Dave Thomas, sustained a complete spinal cord injury while snowmobiling, which has left this active community member from Muskoka Region paralyzed from the waist down.
41,000 Kids Are Getting Music Education, Thanks To U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour
Music Generation today announced that it will expand into nine new areas of Ireland within five years, thanks to the ongoing support of U2 and The Ireland Funds who together will have raised a total of €6.3m for the program’s second phase. This combined investment in ‘Phase 2’ of Music Generation will include donations from the proceeds of U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour 2017, as well as donations previously raised for Music Generation through the band’s iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour in 2015, alongside further philanthropic investment by The Ireland Funds. A grant from Bank of America, through the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, forms part of The Ireland Funds’ investment in this second phase of Music Generation.
Moreover, this next phase of Music Generation has been assured of long-term sustainability through a commitment by the Department of Education and Skills to co-fund the new areas into the future, together with Local Music Education Partnerships.
Currently Music Generation creates access to high-quality, subsidised music tuition for more than 41,000 children and young people annually in 12 areas of Ireland (Carlow, Clare, Cork City, Laois, Limerick City, Louth, Mayo, Offaly/Westmeath, Sligo, South Dublin and Wicklow). This ‘first phase’ of the programme was seed-funded through a €7m philanthropic donation by U2 and The Ireland Funds in 2009.
In January 2017, just over a year after confirming plans for further expansion, Music Generation launched an open national call for applications from new Music Education Partnerships to participate in ‘Phase 2’. As a result of U2 and The Ireland Funds’ combined donations, a total of 9 new areas will soon be selected for participation and rolled out on a phased basis between 2017 and 2021.
Speaking of this milestone achievement for music education in Ireland, U2’s The Edge said: ‘This is a really important moment for Music Generation. Our ambition is for every child and young person in Ireland to have access to tuition and this next phase of expansion brings us ever closer. Huge thanks to both the Government and The Ireland Funds for their ongoing commitment to a programme of which we, as a band, are immensely proud.’
Small World Music announces the formation of Polyphonic Ground collective
Small World Music Society, the catalyst behind Polyphonic Ground, is thrilled to launch this new initiative that will support Toronto’s culturally diverse music presenters and inspire ‘culturally curious’ Torontonians to hear the music of Toronto, where the world lives.
The shared collaborative working model unites 12 small to medium-sized live music presenters committed to building and sustaining Toronto as a global music city. The initial 12 organizations include Ashkenaz Foundation, Batuki Music Society, Good Kind Productions, iNative, Link Music Lab, Lula Music & Arts Centre, MonstrARTity Creative Community, Music Africa, Revolutions Per Minute, Small World Music Society, Uma Nota Culture, and World Fiddle Day Toronto. Together, these presenters constitute a formidable cultural force, employing 40 key operating people and presenting almost 300 concerts per year to an estimated audience of over 300,000.
Polyphonic Ground’s mission is to provide points of connection for artists and audiences, strengthen industry practices and be a united voice to government, business and industry. Polyphonic Ground will encourage exchange and discovery through an innovative Polyphonic Ground monthly double-bill series and professional development initiatives for diverse artistic leaders.
Polyphonic Ground will launch with a series of double-bill concerts on the second Thursday of every month at Revival Bar, 783 College Street. Two distinct partner organizations will be paired together to collaboratively program a night of musical discovery. The inaugural concert on September 14 pairs Ashkenaz Foundation and Small World Music Society. A fresh juxtaposition will be on stage with Batuki Music and Uma Nota presenting October 12, Link Music Lab and Good Kind Productions offering November 9, and Lula Music & Arts and Music Africa co-presenting December 14. Artists to be announced soon.
Beyond the concert hall, Polyphonic Ground is determined to increase access to training and leadership, bolstering professional development opportunities within the music industry. An upcoming Diversity & Live Music Panel Series, supported by MusicOntario, Music Canada Live, City of Toronto and Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO), is set to cover topics that range from funding, media coverage, city services, conferences and venues to programming. A Developing Diverse Leaders program, with the goal of empowering young talent through mentorship, and expert-led Best Practice Workshops are also forthcoming.