Music’s favourite rockers are back. Foo Fighters are senior citizens in the video for Run, a grand gesture of reassurance for those that missed the band.
Jack White and Elton John Perform New Song “Two Fingers of Whiskey”
Go inside one of the greatest-ever untold stories on PBS’ new music series American Epic: how the ordinary people of America were given the opportunity to make records for the first time. In the scene, Elton John is asked to improvise a new song from lyrics that his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin handed him. John leads on piano, Jack White accompanies on guitar, and their performance is recorded straight to wax.
Sub Pop Co-Founder On Nirvana: “We were happy to sell 5,000 or 10,000 copies of our early titles”
Once Sub Pop signed Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney, it launched the grunge movement and sealed its reputation as one of the most important labels in the modern music history.
Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman started Sub Pop Records LLC in 1988 as a response to the glam-metal scene. [Pavitt had earlier versions of Sub Pop in the 1980s, but the label as it is known today incorporated in 1988.]
SoundExchange: Your label is known for launching the grunge movement, and Nirvana played a major role in that movement. Did you sense that something big was going to happen when you signed them?
Jonathan Poneman: I sensed that something big was going to happen, but the idea of what “big” was at that time was considerably different than it is now.
We were happy to sell 5,000 or 10,000 copies of our early titles. That was considered a hit. When Nirvana went on to sell 30,000 copies of Bleach, that was considered an event. When we saw them we had the feeling they would be incredibly popular. Actually, Bruce wasn’t so sure. Some people weren’t as confident as me. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of miscalculations over the years, but in their case I thought it was inevitable that they would be popular, at least in our realm.
Over the time that Nirvana went from a band capable of drawing enthusiastic crowds in small clubs to the mythological Nirvana, the whole grunge phenomenon set the stage in many ways for the marketing strategies that led to the way music is marketed now. It was the hyper-categorization of rock.
What’s fascinating to me looking back, more than the ascendency of Nirvana, is the beginning of these sub-categorizations of music because you’re not plugging into mono-culture. It’s something a little more customized, and isn’t that the real beauty of music streaming? It’s creating music that is defined by your own characteristics and preferences. You’re creating your own destiny as opposed to what’s being determined by major labels.
Major Lazer Just Dropped A Surprise 6-Song EP
Let the summer surprise releases begin! Major Lazer said they were going to collaborate with with Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo for a new recording, but the group just went ahead and dropped a six-song EP.
Take Off, Eh! featuring Dave Thomas & Rick Moranis: Bob and Doug McKenzie Reunion
Dave Thomas and The Second City are proud to present TAKE OFF, EH!, a star-studded intimate evening featuring performances from some of Canada’s biggest names in comedy and music on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 on The Second City Toronto’s Mainstage, with proceeds going to ‘Jake Thomas’s Road to Recovery’ and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario.
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. Funds raised at TAKE OFF, EH! will go directly to Jake Thomas and his family, as well as to Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, providing life-long support to people with spinal cord injuries as they face significant challenges they could have never prepared for — and should not endure alone.
The Second City, a 100% Canadian-owned company, is the world’s premier improv and sketch comedy theatre company, with resident stages in Toronto and Chicago, Training Centres in Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as touring companies performing throughout the world.
Performances by Canadian legends including: Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Great White North” reunion with Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis; Martin Short interview by Jiminy Glick; comedy from Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty; The Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley, Scott Thompson and Kevin McDonald; and Special Guest Music Performances from Paul Shaffer, Ian Thomas, Murray McLauchlan and surprise musical guests.
TAKE OFF EH: AN ALL-STAR BENEFIT FOR JAKE THOMAS
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
8pm
The Second City Mainstage
51 Mercer Street (at Blue Jays Way), Toronto
Limited Seating Available
ONE NIGHT ONLY
VIP TICKET PACKAGES go on sale Monday, June 5, 2017 at 10am
Featuring an exclusive after-party with the stars!
From $2,500.00
ALL REMAINING TICKETS and packages go on sale Monday, June 12, 2017 at 10am
From $500.00
Second City Box Office: 416-343-0011
Proceeds to Jake Thomas’s Road to Recovery and Spinal Cord Injury Ontario
Earth, Wind & Fire team up with a variety of Ozzy Osbournes to sing about transportation
Earth, Wind & Ozzys is a musically brilliant, catchy mashup from DJ Cumberbund that combines together Ozzy Osbourne’s song Crazy Train with Earth Wind and Fire’s September.
Nonesuch to Reissue k.d. lang’s Grammy-Winning Breakthrough Album, “Ingénue,” on July 7
Nonesuch releases k.d. lang’s Ingénue: 25th Anniversary Edition on July 7, 2017, to celebrate the double platinum-selling, Grammy Award–winning album’s silver anniversary. This new two-disc set includes remastered versions of the album’s original ten tracks, including its huge hit “Constant Craving,” along with eight previously unreleased performances from lang’s 1993 MTV Unplugged episode, recorded in New York City’s famed Ed Sullivan Theater. You can watch her MTV Unplugged performance of “Constant Craving” below. Additionally, lang marks the anniversary with the Ingénue Redux Tour, which visits Australia and lang’s home country of Canada this summer; details may be found below. Ingénue: 25th Anniversary Edition is available to pre-order at iTunes and at the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl pre-orders include an exclusive limited-edition print, signed by lang.
Ingénue was k.d. lang’s fifth album, following a quartet of records that pushed the boundaries of country music. Released in 1992, the album was the first of entirely new material. lang wrote most of the songs with her longtime collaborator Ben Mink; Greg Penny co-wrote “So It Shall Be,” and all three produced the album. The UK’s NME named it one of the year’s best albums and said, “You will fall in love with Ingénue. In fact, you will want to have its children.”
As James Reed writes in the 25th Anniversary Edition liner note, “Ingénue is still such a mysterious body of work … You’d be hard-pressed to pinpoint when the album was released or even made and where. It slinks out of the speakers with luminous melodies in search of a soundtrack, its choruses as vast and sweeping as the Canadian prairies where lang grew up in Consort, Alberta. A strange brew of torch and twang, of pop gloss and jazz sophistication—and shot through with Eastern European flourishes … lang was fond of calling it ‘post-nuclear cabaret’ back then.
“Throughout Ingénue, a succinct song cycle and ode to an unrequited relationship, we witness an artist navigating love in its many splendors. It should have come with a warning sticker on its cover: ‘Love is not always pretty. Proceed with caution—and a Kleenex.’ lang was unflinching in presenting desire as both toxic and intoxicating, a human condition that subsumes all of us at some point.”
On tour, in addition to performing songs from Ingénue, lang marks the 150th anniversary of Canada as an independent nation by singing music from her 2004 Nonesuch album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, which features lang singing the songs that define her country, by fellow Canadians including Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith, and Bruce Cockburn. (lang is a Canada 150 Ambassador.)
Sing it Loud was lang’s most recent solo studio album, released by Nonesuch in 2011. In 2010, the label released the four-time Grammy winner and eight-time Juno winner’s first career retrospective, Recollection, which features 22 of lang’s most beloved recordings including an all-new interpretation of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah.” Previously, Nonesuch released lang’s Watershed (2008), which debuted in Billboard’s top ten upon its release.
Referred to as “the greatest female singer in the whole world” by fellow Canadian Michael Bublé, lang has had a distinguished 25-year career. In addition to a fruitful collaboration with Tony Bennett, she has performed alongside musical luminaries including Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Loretta Lynn. She sang at the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She has contributed music to the soundtracks of several films, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Happy Feet. In addition to her music career, lang has also appeared in a number of films, including Salmonberries, The Black Dahlia, and Eye of the Beholder. In 1996, lang received Canada’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada.
k.d. lang on tour
Jul 18 Plenary Hall Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Jul 20&21 State Theatre Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Jul 23&24 Riverside Theatre Perth, AUSTRALIA
Jul 26&27 ICC Theatre Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Aug 12&13 Royal Theatre Vancouver, BC
Aug 16&17 Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, BC
Aug 19&20 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Edmonton, AB
Aug 22 TCU Place Saskatoon, SK
Aug 23&24 Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Calgary, AB
Aug 26 Conexus Arts Centre Regina, SK
Aug 27 Burton Cummings Theatre Winnipeg, MB
Aug 30&31 Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Toronto, ON
Sep 2 Place des Arts – Salle Wilfrid – Pelletier Montreal, QC
Sep 3 Grand Théâtre de Québec Québec, QC
Sep 7 Casino New Brunswick Moncton, NB
Sep 8 Eastlink Centre Charlottetown Charlottetown, PEI
Sep 9 Scotiabank Centre Halifax, NS
Sep 11 Centre 200 Sydney, NS
Sep 14 Mile One Centre St. John’s, NL
Sep 16 Southam Hall, National Arts Centre* Ottawa, ON
Sep 17 Southam Hall, National Arts Centre Ottawa, ON
Sep 19 FirstOntario Concert Hall Hamilton, ON
Liam Gallagher Shared Debut Solo Track And Video for “Wall Of Glass”
After last night’s emotional homecoming show at Manchester’s O2 Ritz, Liam Gallagher can now share his debut solo track ‘Wall Of Glass’ as well as its accompanying video. Premiered as MistaJam’s Hottest Record in the World on Radio 1, ‘Wall Of Glass’ is the first to be taken from his forthcoming album ‘As You Were’.
If you had to make an equation of all the elements that made the early Oasis singles so apocalyptically good – huge waves of guitar hooks, a melody you can’t shake, a thunderous rhythm and Liam Gallagher’s voice delivering an unbelievably catchy chorus – then ‘Wall Of Glass’ would be the result. Boosted by a contemporary, bass-heavy production, it’s a track that provides a fresh new angle to Liam’s sound while maintaining the traits that made him such an influential artist.
With undeniable power and a yearning menace, it’s hard to recall a time that Liam has sung better – it’s like hearing him for the first time.
Directed by François Rousselet (The Rolling Stones’ ‘Ride ‘Em On Down’, Jack White’s ‘Lazaretto’), the video for ‘Wall Of Glass’ further demonstrates that Liam’s iconic rock ‘n’ roll star swagger remains as compelling as ever before.
Liam’s sold-out underplay tour continues tomorrow at the Electric Brixton before heading to the Olympia Theatre in Dublin (June 10th) and Glasgow Barrowlands (June 11th). His live band features Mike Moore (guitar), Jay Mehler (guitar), Drew McConnell (bass), Dan McDougall (drums) and Christian Madden (keys).
Photo Gallery: The Chainsmokers with Kiiara and Lost Frequencies at The Air Canada Centre
All photos taken by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
