Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring). And when she left her record label to strike out on her own, she asked her fans to support her in making an album, leading to the world’s most successful music Kickstarter.
Even while Amanda is both celebrated and attacked for her fearlessness in asking for help, she finds that there are important things she cannot ask for-as a musician, as a friend, and as a wife. She learns that she isn’t alone in this, that so many people are afraid to ask for help, and it paralyzes their lives and relationships. In her New York Times best-selling book, The Art Of Asking, she explores these barriers in her own life and in the lives of those around her, and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical aspects of THE ART OF ASKING.
Amanda went on a sold-out book tour (read that again, SOLD OUT? A BOOK TOUR?) and I had the honour to interview her, onstage, at Lee’s Palace in Toronto on November 25th. And yes, I brought donuts.
It’s that time of the year again, where websites, blogs, news media outlets and generally happy people endeavor into creating their Best Of The Year lists, highlighting works that will surely stand as their choices for high-water marks for music in 2014. You’ll find a fairly diverse range of opinions, but all of their choices contain within the power, beauty and commitment to the art form, no matter how you chose to consume music these days. So, go ahead – choose a list. Many of them link up to a Spotify or Rdio or YouTube playlist so you can hear and see people’s choices. The big winners from the critics include Beck, Lana Del Rey, FKA twigs, Perfume Genius, The War On Drugs, Run the Jewels, St. Vincent, and a whole lotta Taylor Swift. But, above all, you’ll no doubt find one or two hidden gems in each critic’s choices. I’ll be updating this list daily, so if you have a list published, or want to direct me to one, please let me know!
But first, here are a few digital companies that have released their year-end data dumps on what the world was watching, listening to and searching for over the past year.
YAHOO!
No. 3: Ariana Grande
No. 6: Kim Kardashian
No. 7: Frozen
No. 8: Miley Cyrus
GOOGLE PLAY
Album of the Year: Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Song of the Year: Dark Horse by Katy Perry
Song of the Summer: Fancy by Iggy Azalea
Fastest Growing Genre: Soundtracks (Frozen, Guardians of the Galaxy, Despicable Me 2, The Lego Movie and The Great Gatsby soundtracks)
BING
(Including music searches only.)
No. 1: Beyonce
No. 2: Miley Cyrus
No. 3: Katy Perry
No. 4: Britney Spears
No. 5: Justin Bieber
No. 6: Jennifer Lopez
No. 7: Selena Gomez
No. 8: Taylor Swift
No. 9: Nicki Minaj
No. 10: Carrie Underwood
SPOTIFY
Most-streamed artists in the U.S.
No 1. Eminem
No 2. Drake
No 3. Kanye West
No. 4. Lana del Rey
No. 5. Ariana Grande
Top Five Global Artists
No. 1. Ed Sheeran
No. 2. Eminem
No. 3. Coldplay
No. 4. Calvin Harris
No. 5. Katy Perry
Top Five Global Tracks
No. 1. “Happy” From Despicable Me 2 by Pharrell Williams
No. 2. “Rather Be” (feat. Jess Glynne) by Clean Bandit
No. 3. “Summer” by Calvin Harris
No. 4. “Dark Horse” Katy Perry
No. 5. “All of Me” by John Legend
RHAPSODY
Most-streamed artist: Eminem
Most-streamed album: Drake, Nothing Was the Same
Most-streamed songs:
“Happy” by Pharrell Williams
“Dark Horse” by Katy Perry
“All of Me” by John Legend
“Fancy” by Iggy Azalea
“Royals” by Lorde
VEVO
1. “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
2. “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor
3. “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry ft. Juicy J
4. “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift
5. “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj
6. “Problem” by Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea
7. “Chandelier” by Sia
8. “Rich Gang” Lifestyle ft. Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan
9. “Loyal” by Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Tyga
10. “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith
In a video posted to Twitter, Monday, Prince Harry revealed that he gets incredibly nervous before speaking in front of a crowd. The confession is part of the #feelnoshame campaign for his charity Sentebale.
John Green has written best-selling young adult novels including Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns and the recent The Fault in our Stars, which was named Time magazine’s best fiction book of 2012. Want a good cry? Go see them movie.
John and his brother, Hank, are the Vlogbrothers, helping pioneer video blogging when they communicated only through YouTube videos for a year. They’ve since produced a wide variety of video series and have attracted a devoted army of fans known as the Nerdfighters.
The amazing Zen Pencils created a cartoon based on a quote taken from a 2009 Vlogbrothers video, and is definitely a rule for life.
Movember, the global charity that raises funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer research and men’s mental health, is proud to share that more than 115,000 Canadians participated and raised over $20 million in its 8th annual campaign. Canada is the leading fundraising nation, with more than $75 million raised globally. Funds will continue to come in over the coming weeks as Mo Bros and Mo Sistas wrap up their fundraising efforts.
Tomorrow Mo Bros and Mo Sistas across Canada will make one final call for donations as part of #GivingTuesday. Support a Mo you know and donate at Movember.com.
“It’s with thanks to all our Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who donate and make their support count that Canada once again leads as the top fundraising nation,” said Pete Bombaci, Country Director, Movember Canada. “To be able to share with our community that our funds have lead to a prostate cancer research breakthrough championed right here in Canada is truly remarkable. It’s why we mo.”
MO MONEY, MO IMPACT
Movember has made more progress combating prostate cancer this year than ever before. The results of a Movember funded project, lead by researchers right here in Canada, is a game changer for men with a prostate cancer diagnosis. It means that in the future, men from around the world will have a higher chance of survival by being offered a more tailored treatment plan. And, it’s just one example of the impact funds raised by the Movember community is having.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Funds from the 2014 campaign will benefit men’s health programs and projects across the country. The Movember Foundation is incredibly proud of its world-class programs and will continue working to identify the best programs and research opportunities that align with it’s vision – to change the face of men’s health. Funds will be allocated in the months following April 2015.
CHALLENGES & PRIZING
For Mo Bros and Mo Sistas, there are still some great prizes still to be won, so keep up the good work. The close for prizing is December 9th, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Movember’s 2014 Canadian major partners include Harry’s and Deeley Harley-Davidson®
For more information on Movember or to donate, please visit Movember.com.
Growing up in the Bronx in New York, Stanley Kubrick was terrible at school and often skipped class to go to the movie theatre. He soon developed an interest in photography, teaching himself how to use the camera his father gave him as a gift. Similarly, Kubrick didn’t have any formal education in directing and taught himself all aspects of filmmaking. Kubrick on making his first short film, Day of the Fight in 1951:
“I was cameraman, director, editor, assistant editor, sound effects man—you name it, I did it. It was invaluable experience, because being forced to do everything myself I gained a sound and comprehensive grasp of all the technical aspects of filmmaking.”
By the age of 31, Kubrick had already worked as a photojournalist at Look magazine for five years (check out some of his amazing photos) and directed four feature films. In 1960, he was hired to direct the most-expensive film ever made at the time, Spartacus. Kubrick butted heads with Kirk Douglas, the leading-man and producer, over the film’s direction and the bad experience made Kubrick vow that he would have complete creative control on all of his future films.
Kubrick is often described as an eccentric thanks to the stories about his obsessive attention to detail, treatment of actors, personality quirks and reclusiveness. But these anecdotes are overshadowed by his ground-breaking movies, technical expertise and the opinions of those close to him, who described him as a warm, loving and gregarious genius of a man.
The quote used in the comic is taken from a 1968 Playboy interview Kubrick did soon after the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey. You can read the context of the question in this Brain Pickings article.
Australian radio station Triple J has found one of the most unique Nirvana interviews ever. They published audio of a 1992 interview with the band that had pretty much been lost in the ether since, and thanks to the trio’s exhaustion with sudden Nevermind fame, the results are awkward and amazing.
The chat happened during Nirvana’s only tour of Australia, when they headlined the first Big Day Out festival. “That chat was one for the ages — but for all the wrong reasons,” Triple J writers. “Tired, sick, and also just sick of the rigmarole of being the biggest band in the world, Kurt and bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic gave one of the most awkward and confrontational interviews we’ve ever had on triple j.”
Confrontational is certainly one way to put it. They somewhat play along with host Jen Oldershaw’s questions and meet a few with mostly silence, and at one point, Cobain takes a scissor to the microphone. Apparently, Cobain kept his head on the desk of the studio for a portion of the interview and also does a Tom Waits-like voice when talk about vocal issues.
Everyone wants to get more views on YouTube, so Mashable got viral video star Lamarr Wilson to launch YouTube Weekly, a 5 minute per episode series that offers tips for raising YouTube views and turning visitors into subscribers.
Nils Lofgren released Face the Music, a 10-disc retrospective earlier this summer. It’s the most extensive look at Lofgren’s career to date, the box — nine discs of music and a concert DVD — includes a demo recorded when he was 16, unreleased solo and Grin material, and cuts from every one of Lofgren’s albums, including cult classics like Nils Lofgren, Cry Tough, the Pete Townshend-praised Crooked Line, and Grin’s 1+1, all the way up to his latest solo release, 2011’s Old School.
You’ve had some wild adventures with Neil Young, like Tonight’s the Night and Trans. Tonight’s the Night was the roughest record ever made, all live in the studio. That was the plan. No fixes no matter what. Neil didn’t want us learning the song and working on parts too much. It was the antithesis of production. Briggs would say, “When Neil gets the vocal, that’s it — we’re not going to over-rehearse.” We’d drink tequila, have a couple of puffs, play pool and commiserate about our dead friends Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry, and then record through the night.
On the Trans album, Neil invented all these machines to help handicapped kids and gave all the machines names and personalities, and I’m going, “This guy is brilliant.” Then one day I show up and I hear all this hubbub with Elliot Roberts. I hear that David Geffen is suing Neil because he’s too “un-Neil Young-like.” I’m thinking, “How can this happen?” But that’s the bureaucracy of the business. On the Trans tour in Europe, I like to brag that we were so crazy as a collective band that we were too much for Neil Young and at the end of six weeks, he fired us! [Laughs] To be so crazy to freak out Neil Young, that’s crazy. We were all pretty buzzed. One day Neil says, “I need you to do me a favor. After rehearsal, go to Bruce [Palmer’s] house and sit there and play the songs for a few hours with him.” So we played “Cowgirl in the Sand” over and over. It was an exercise in helping Bruce with muscle memory. There are outtakes from the Berlin video I hope see the light of day, like a really slow and deep version of “Mr. Soul” with vocoders. I’d walk out there and get down on my knees with my guitar and Neil would whack the strings for a great moment of distortion. Really reckless and passionate.
Entertainment One Music Canada (“eOne”), the country’s leading audio physical and digital distributor, is proud to announce the exclusive Canadian license agreement of BC-based The Wild! for their upcoming “GxDxWxB” album.
“
We’ve been longtime fans of The Wild!’s live show and music they’re working on in the studio,” said Greg Pappas, General Manager, eOne Music Canada. “We’re more than pleased to be working with the band, their manager Lyle Chausse, with his long-term vision and unflagging integrity.”
“It’s great to be working with the eOne team,” said Lyle Chausse. “We couldn’t be more excited to have eOne Music Canada connect with retailers, as well as music fans, and help grow the bands’ audience.”
The Wild! are making waves in the industry as well, with one of Canada’s rising bands, One Bad Son impressed with their live show. Lead singer Shane Volk says, “The Wild! are easily one of our favourite bands to hit the road with. Not only do they take life offstage to a new level, but their professionalism, energy, and sheer power onstage pushes us to new heights each night. Just what a rock n roll brotherhood should do!!”
The Wild!’s reputation of unspeakable acts of debauchery hasn’t been seen in rock and roll since the days of Guns N Roses and the Sunset Strip. eOne Music’s A&R asked The Wild! after the contract was done if they’d like to go out for dinner and celebrate. He came home Saturday afternoon. All he’ll say is it involved a high-end restaurant to start, Toronto’s Bovine and Cherry Cola’s bars, a stretch limo, a sunrise, and an unbelievable bar tab.
The Wild!, made up of Dylan Villain, Boozus, Pistol Pete and Reese Lightning, will be bringing their blues- drenched, loud-rockin, nasty, precision-played rock across Canada in January with Buckcherry:
January 20 Winnipeg, MB The Oak
January 22 Lloydminster, AB The Kooler
January 23 Edmonton, AB River Cree Casino
January 24 Calgary, AB Deerfoot Casino
January 26 Red Deer, AB Wild Bills.
The Wild!’s ‘Party Till Your Dead’ single will be sent to radio in January 2015 with their “GxDxWxB” debut album out in Spring, 2015. It was produced by Mike Fraser (Aerosmith, Jimmy Page, Dave Ghrohl, Van Halen) at the legendary Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, BC with additional production completed at the city’s Armoury Studios. Fraser says, “This is the best band I’ve come across in a long time. I’m very excited to be working with The Wild! and have them teamed up with eOne! Sounds like a winning combo to me!”
The Wild! accidentally had a top 30 Rock track for “Road House” this past summer, garnering over 72,000 views with a genre-busting video from acclaimed Video Director Stuey Kubrick. Watch the video:
