Kurt Ballou, music producer and guitarist for the metal band Converge, made his business card a distortion pedal. Read that again. It’s a printed circuit board that can be used to build a working distortion pedal Ballou calls the “Brutalist Jr.” With around $40-50 in parts, he created his own unforgettable moment with proof you’ve met him. The only way to get the card is to see Ballou on the street or at a show.
Neil Young will release a new studio album — which he originally recorded in 1976. The disc, dubbed Hitchhiker, is set for an August 4 release via Reprise Records and will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally.
The 10-track acoustic album was recorded live in the studio August 11, 1976, at Indigo Studios in Malibu, California. It contains some of Young’s best-loved songs plus two previously unreleased tracks.
The original session was produced by Young’s longtime studio collaborator David Brings with new post production by John Hanlon, who has worked with Young since 1990 and produced his most recent works, including Peace Trail, Earth, The Monsanto Years, etc.
As these songs were recorded in a single session, the resultant performances are breathtaking and passionate. The simplicity of a single voice and guitar captured here are as pure and powerful as the creator intended with only Young and Briggs in the room at the time of recording.
Many of the songs would not appear on vinyl until years later. The title track, for example, did not officially appear until 2010’s Le Noise and naturally sounds worlds apart from the original. The version herein of Captain Kennedy has certain raw spontaneity compared to the slightly gentler version that would eventually surface on Hawks & Doves in 1980.
Perhaps the most noticeable jewels in the crown of Hitchhiker are the two previously unreleased tracks that have remained in the vaults since 1976: Hawaii, a soaring ballad and unlike anything else Young had recorded at the time. Side one closes out with Give Me Strength, which would be occasionally performed live in the mid-Seventies but now available here for the first time and may well be considered one of Young’s best long lost gems.
Hitchhiker Track Listing
1. Pocahontas
2. Powderfinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength
6. Ride My Llama
7. Hitchhiker
8. Campaigner
9. Human Highway
10. The Old Country Waltz
In a hilarious spoof (but think it’s going to hit home to a lot of people I know, including my own family) by the CBC comedy series This Is That, the comedy troupe details a family and their money making abilities as Social Media Influencers and Thought Leaders. Last year, they made about $1.3 million through sponsored content and collectively have over seven million followers. AJ, the self-proclaimed “man of three accounts,” operates all of his channels under the umbrella of a personal brand that he calls Try. At the moment, he’s hoping to secure a strategic partnership with Starbucks. Brit and AJ are trying for a third child. AJ hopes that the pregnancy will bring “nine months of pretty solid content.”
Today Ringo Starr celebrates his birthday at Capitol Records. Family, friends and fans will join Starr in front of the Capitol Records Tower in a noon “Peace & Love” salute, while satellite salutes and events are happening all over the world.
Ringo also reveals details of his 19th solo album, Give More Love, which will be released on digital and CD format on September 15, with vinyl to follow on September 22.
Recorded at his home studio in Los Angeles, Give More Love has 10 new tracks featuring collaborations with friends including We’re On The Road Again featuring Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter, Steve Lukather; Laughable co-written and performed with Peter Frampton as well as Benmont Tench, Timothy B Schmidt, Richard Page and Amy Keys; Show Me The Way co-written and performed with Steve Lukather and with Paul McCartney; Speed of Sound co-written with Richard Marx and featuring Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton and Nathan East; Standing Still co- written with Gary Burr; King of the Kingdom including performances by Dave Stewart and Edgar Winter; Electricity co-written with Glen Ballard and featuring Joe Walsh and Don Was; So Wrong For So Long co written and performed with Dave Stewart; Shake It Up co written and performed with Gary Nicholson and including Don Was and Edgar Winter; and Give More Love co-written with Gary Nicholson including Timothy B Schmidt and All Starrs Richard Page and Gregg Bissonette.
Give More Love also has 4 bonus tracks, Back Off Boogaloo, You Can’t Fight Lightning, Photograph and Don’t Pass Me By. This version of Back Off Booglaloo is based on the original recording Ringo made when he wrote the song, having recently discovered the tape when moving houses. The other three bonus tracks are collaborations based on performances from Starr’s 2016 Peace & Love Birthday event. Alberta Cross performed You Can’t Fight Lightning and Vandaveer performed Photograph and Don’t Pass Me By. Starr loved their renditions and asked them to each record them for his new album, also adding his own vocals.
In October, Starr will hit the road in the US with his All Starrs, the same beloved line up he has performed with since 2012: Steve Lukather, Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie, Richard Page, Warren Hamm and Gregg Bissonette. No Canadian dates have been announced.
Every now and again, the world of music throws up a record that is out of the ordinary, something in its timing, quality and spirit that just feels right.
The Verve’s 1997 album Urban Hymns, released September 29, 1997, was one such record. It captured the mood and spirit of the times with songs of an emotional and musical depth that touched a raw nerve throughout the world and ensured this band would graduate from highly respected indie favourites to a genuine rock colossus. A certified classic, Urban Hymns is one of the 20 biggest-selling albums ever in the UK (now 11 times platinum) and has sold over ten million copies worldwide.
The album spawned three highly successful singles. The first was the epoch-making worldwide smash Bitter Sweet Symphony, which trailered the album and became the sound of the summer, followed by The Drugs Don’t Work (UK No. 1) and Lucky Man (UK No. 7).
20 years on the strength of the writing, the quality of the ensemble playing and sensitive production ensure the album sounds as riveting as ever and to mark this anniversary, Virgin/Universal Music are releasing a remastered version of the album with a bounty of bonus material – all of the accompanying b-sides (and The Verve’s b-sides were genuinely something special) plus three hours of powerful, previously unreleased live material, including the full triumphant May 1998 hometown show in front of around 35,000 fans at Haigh Hall, Wigan (on both CD and DVD).
The remastering and mixing work has been undertaken by Urban Hymns’ original co-producer Chris Potter and Metropolis’ Tony Cousins – as it was for the two super deluxe Verve reissues issued last year, A Storm In Heaven and A Northern Soul.
The DVD includes the documentary ‘The Video 96-98’, only ever previously available on VHS.
The deluxe packages also feature new interviews with all the band and all physical releases draw on a vast array of previously unseen photography by Chris Floyd, who first travelled with The Verve on their US tour of 1994 and was granted unprecedented access during the making of Urban Hymns and beyond – up to and including the Haigh Hall show. His work brilliantly captured the band in the studio, on stage, backstage, during down time, on their video sets and tour bus.
The Super-deluxe CD includes a lavish 56-page hard cover book plus poster and 5 postcards. The Vinyl edition comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 20-page booklet plus download card which entitles purchaser to all audio from the super-deluxe CD box.
The track-listing of each of the 4 formats is:
Standard CD remastered album:
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Sonnet
The Rolling People
The Drugs Don’t Work
Catching the Butterfly
Neon Wilderness
Space and Time
Weeping Willow
Lucky Man
One Day
This Time
Velvet Morning
Come On
2CD deluxe
CD1 – Remastered album
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Sonnet
The Rolling People
The Drugs Don’t Work
Catching the Butterfly
Neon Wilderness
Space and Time
Weeping Willow
Lucky Man
One Day
This Time
Velvet Morning
Come On
CD2 – Live 1997/98 – ALL UNRELEASED
Tracks 1-11 from Haigh Hall concert – May 24, 1998
This Is Music
Space and Time
Catching the Butterfly
Sonnet
The Rolling People
Weeping Willow
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Life’s an Ocean
Velvet Morning
Bitter Sweet Symphony
A New Decade – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
History – Brixton Academy (16/1/98
Slide Away – Manchester Academy (11/8/97)
3) Super Deluxe (Remastered) Version – 5CD/1DVD
CD1 – Remastered album
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Sonnet
The Rolling People
The Drugs Don’t Work
Catching the Butterfly
Neon Wilderness
Space and Time
Weeping Willow
Lucky Man
One Day
This Time
Velvet Morning
Come On
CD2 – B-sides
Lord I Guess I’ll Never Know
Country Song
Bitter Sweet Symphony (James Lavelle Remix)
So Sister
Echo Bass
Three Steps
The Drugs Don’t Work – original demo
The Crab
Stamped
Never Wanna See You Cry
(Bitter Sweet Symphony) MSG
The Longest Day
Lucky Man (Happiness More or Less)
CD3
B-sides (cont.) + 2 session tracks issued in 2004*
Bitter Sweet Symphony (extended version)
This Could Be My Moment *
Monte Carlo*
BBC Evening session 27/8/97 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Life’s An Ocean
A Man Called Sun
The Drugs Don’t Work
On Your Own
So Sister
CD4
Live at Haigh Hall 24/5/98 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
This Is Music
Space and Time
Catching the Butterfly
Sonnet
The Rolling People
Neon Wilderness
Weeping Willow
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Life’s an Ocean
Velvet Morning
Bitter Sweet Symphony
CD5 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Haigh Hall Encore:
One Day
History
Come On
Further live material (Washington / Brixton / Manchester – 1997/8)
A New Decade – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
The Rolling People – Brixton Academy (16/1/98)
On Your Own – Brixton Academy (16/1/98)
History – Brixton Academy (16/1/98)
The Drugs Don’t Work – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
Slide Away – Manchester Academy (11/8/97)
A Man Called Sun – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
A Northern Soul – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
Space and Time – Brixton Academy (16/1/98)
This Is Music – Manchester Academy (11/8/97)
Weeping Willow – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97)
Stormy Clouds (and Reprise) – Manchester Academy (11/8/97) 7.24
DVD
The Video 1996-1998
Later with Jools Holland – 01/11/97 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Lucky Man
Life’s An Ocean
The Drugs Don’t Work
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Live at Haigh Hall – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
This Is Music
Space and Time
Catching the Butterfly
Sonnet
The Rolling People
Neon Wilderness
Weeping Willow
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Life’s an Ocean
Velvet Morning
Bitter Sweet Symphony
One Day
History
Come On
The promo videos:
Bitter Sweet Symphony
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Lucky Man (US version)
Sonnet
4) VINYL BOX SET
DOUBLE LP1
Remastered album
Side 1
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Sonnet
The Rolling People
Side 2
The Drugs Don’t Work
Catching the Butterfly
Neon Wilderness
Side 3
Space and Time
Weeping Willow
Lucky Man
One Day
Side 4
This Time
Velvet Morning
Come On
DOUBLE LP2
B-sides, session tracks issued in 2004*
Side 1
Lord I Guess I’ll Never Know
Country Song
Bitter Sweet Symphony (James Lavelle Remix)
So Sister
Side 2
Echo Bass
Three Steps
The Crab
Stamped
Side 3
The Drugs Don’t Work – original demo
Never Wanna See You Cry
(Bitter Sweet Symphony) MSG
The Longest Day
Side 4
Lucky Man (Happiness More or Less)
Bitter Sweet Symphony (extended version)
This Could Be My Moment*
Monte Carlo*
DOUBLE LP3
Live at Haigh Hall – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Side 1
This Is Music
Space and Time
Catching the Butterfly
Sonnet
Side 2
The Rolling People
Neon Wilderness
Weeping Willow
The Drugs Don’t Work
Lucky Man
Side 3
Life’s an Ocean
Velvet Morning
Bitter Sweet Symphony
Side 4
One Day
History
Come On
D2C 12” SINGLE
A
Bitter Sweet Symphony Alt. Version (limited promo-only in 1997)
B
The Drugs Don’t Work – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97) (unavailable elsewhere on vinyl)
Urged by fans eager for more music and news, today, Shania Twain unveils the track listing of her upcoming album, NOW. To be released September 29, and offered as both a 16-track deluxe and a 12-track standard album, both feature Shania’s current single, “Life’s About To Get Good”, playing on country radio now.
All songs on NOW were written solely by Shania, who also served as co-producer on the project. Shania worked with four producers across the 16 tracks including Matthew Koma, Ron Aniello (Bruce Springsteen, Gavin DeGraw), Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes) and Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones).
SHANIA TWAIN – NOW Deluxe Track Listing
Swingin’ With My Eyes Closed
Home Now
Light Of My Life
Poor Me
Who’s Gonna Be Your Girl
More Fun
I’m Alright
Let’s Kiss And Make Up
Where Do You Think You’re Going
Roll Me On The River
We Got Something They Don’t
Because Of You
You Can’t Buy Love
Life’s About to Get Good
Soldier
All In All
SHANIA TWAIN – NOW Standard Track Listing
Swingin’ With My Eyes Closed
Home Now
Light Of My Life
Poor Me
Who’s Gonna Be Your Girl
More Fun
I’m Alright
Roll Me On The River
We Got Something They Don’t
You Can’t Buy Love
Life’s About To Get Good
Soldier
I don’t play drums, but I’m great on the steering wheel in the car. I can relate to this. Somewhat.
Set amid many of the defining events of the past four decades, The Defiant Ones (airing on HBO Sun, Jul 9, 9:00PM ET) tells the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre — one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton — and their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture. From director Allen Hughes (Menace II Society) this revealing, compelling and often-gritty story takes place in recording studios, in humble homes and massive mansions, in criminal courts and in the highest corridors of corporate power.
Hughes shows how decades of defiance and determination helped Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre build a few empires, make a series of American dreams come true and transform two American street kids from different tough neighborhoods into a global force to be reckoned with. This epic look at America shows how you can consistently defy conventional wisdom and even logic, and still win big.
The four-part documentary event is told with the help of many of the most notable artists and figures of our time, reflecting Hughes’ unfettered access to Iovine, Dre and the remarkable cast of figures who have been a part of their success story. In addition to extensive interviews with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, who speak frankly about their highs and lows, the show includes interviews with such music icons as Bono, David Geffen, Eminem, Nas, Ice Cube, Gwen Stefani, Jon Landau, Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen and will.i.am. The series also features never-before-seen footage from a multitude of recording and writing sessions with Eazy-E, JJ Fad, Stevie Nicks, N.W.A., Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and U2, among others.
As 2017 hits the mid-year mark, BuzzAngle has released a new report on the state of the music industry, and no big surprises, except CDs and Vinyl are still going up.
The first half of 2017 saw a continued increase in total consumption, growing 9.9% over 2016 YTD (293.0 million project units in 2017 YTD vs. 266.6 million album project units in 2016 YTD)
Song Consumption for 2017 YTD was up 29.5% over 2016 YTD (1.5 billion song project units in 2017 YTD vs. 1.2 billion song project units in 2016 YTD).
Audio streams reached 179.8 billion, up 58.5% over 2016 YTD.
Subscription streams grew 69.3% and accounted for 78.6% of total audio streams in 2017 YTD, up from 73.6% in 2016 YTD.
Overall album sales were down 13.9% compared to 2016 YTD (74.0 million in 2017 YTD vs. 86.0 million in 2016 YTD).
Digital album sales in 2017 YTD were down 24.3% over the previous year (34.5 million in 2017 YTD vs. 45.6 million in 2016 YTD).
Digital album sales accounted for 46.6% of all album sales in 2017 YTD, down from 53.0% over 2016 YTD.
Physical album sales were down 2.1% (39.6 million in 2017 YTD vs. 40.4 million in 2016 YTD). Physical album sales accounted for 53.4% of all album sales in 2017 YTD, up from 46.9% over 2016 YTD.
Vinyl album sales were up 20.4% over 2016 YTD while CD album sales were down 3.9%. Vinyl albums accounted for 4.9% of all physical album sales, up from 3.5% in 2016 YTD.
Song sales (downloads) in 2017 YTD were down 23.8% compared to 2016 YTD (313.3 million in 2017 YTD vs. 410.9 million in 2016 YTD).
After 10 years hosting CBC Radio 2’s acclaimed late night music program THE SIGNAL, Laurie Brown announced during tonight’s show that she has decided to step down as host to pursue new creative ventures. To celebrate a decade at the helm, Brown will embark on a farewell tour this summer, including stops at CBC in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal that will be recorded and featured in her final show on September 2. THE SIGNAL LIVE tour kicks off August 15 in Vancouver and will feature great music, a meet and greet and commentary from Brown’s decade hosting the show. For more information on the tour and to reserve free tickets starting this Friday at 12 p.m. ET, visit www.cbcmusic.ca/SignalLive.
Following Brown’s departure, late night listeners can still experience an atmospheric and cutting-edge mix of music from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on CBC Radio 2, with a new show name and host details to be announced later this summer.
“It has been 10 gratifying years spent hosting The Signal and it is time for me to try something new,” said Brown. “The toughest part about making this decision was the thought of leaving my Signal audience. I’ve spent a decade thinking and talking about how your nights unfold and I will miss you. I’m excited to have you all join me to record the final show this August.”
“Laurie’s deep knowledge of and passion for music has built The Signal into an innovative and inspiring destination for music lovers, “said Mark Steinmetz, senior director, CBC Music. “We thank Laurie for her dedication to CBC Radio 2 listeners over the past decade, and look forward to building on her commitment to showcasing ground-breaking music across all genres. She will be missed!”
Laurie Brown is known for her award-winning and wide-ranging music career that has taken her from performing onstage with bands, to MuchMusic VJ, to Senior Arts Correspondent for The National before launching The Signal in 2007.
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Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.
Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com
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