Stockholm’s population may be just over 2 million people (one quarter of New York City). Yet it’s home to over 22,000 startups, and has been responsible for more than a half-dozen billion-dollar brands: Ikea, H&M, Skype, King (makers of Candy Crush), Ericsson and Spotify among them. Yet it’s never had its own South By Southwest or Silicon Valley Innovation Summit, conferences that have positioned Austin and San Francisco as tech hubs on a global scale.
Daniel Ek, CEO-founder of Spotify, and Ash Pournouri, founder of At Night Management (Avicii), will seek to change that by hosting the inauguralSymposium Stockholm June 8 through 13, anchored by the tech and music-based Brilliant Minds Conference on June 11 and 12.
Midwest symphonic dream-prog duo, The Receiver, has revealed the initial details for its upcoming studio album, All Burn. All Burn – the group’s debut on progressive powerhouse, Kscope – will release on June 23 in North America. A teaser trailer can be seen here:
Comprised of brothers Casey (vocals, synths/keyboards, bass) and Jesse Cooper (drums & vocals), the siblings call All Burn their “best material to date which focuses on a dreamier aesthetic than our earlier work.”
All Burn is also the first self-produced Receiver album, with mixing handled by Danny Kalb (Beck, Ben Harper, Foster the People, Karen O) and mastering by Brian Lucey (Sigur Ros, The Shins, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys).
Commented Jesse Cooper: “We’re hoping our fans will think this album was worth the wait! It’s the first time we’ve completely self-produced one of our albums, and we feel we got it right. This album is on the more ambient and groovier side, but is still undeniably a Receiver album. We feel it’s our best work to date, from music to concept. We wanted to make an album with a collection of songs that are able to stand alone by themselves, but also had a cohesiveness to listen to as a complete piece of work. The end goal was to create an album that stands the test of time.”
“A lot of music out there is one and done,” added Casey. “It might be really catchy at first, but it’s so instantly gratifying that it loses its luster after a few repeated listens. Our hope is that our music is catchy, but to always have layers that don’t demand attention upon first listen. The goal is to provide a lot for the listener to comb through over time – music to get lost in for a while.”
For a taste of what’s to come, check out the band’s stripped down performance of the upcoming album’s title track on the ‘Mug & Brush Sessions’:
The brainchild of Jim Morris, owner of The Mug & Brush barbershop in Columbus, Ohio, the sessions are an independent music video series featuring national and local Columbus artists, performed in the barber shop. Sessions are engineered and mixed by Keith Hanlon.
Track Listing:
Drift
Transit
To Battle an Island
Collector
Dark Matter
April Blades
The Summit
Let It Dry
All Burn
How to be Young
These Days
Formed in 2005 at The Ohio State University, The Receiver released its debut album, Decades, in 2006 on the New York-based, Stunning Models On Display Records. The duo returned with the sophomore offering, Length of Arms, in 2009 through Vital Music Records.
The Receiver is an incredibly active touring partnership, having played throughout North America and sharing the stage with notable acts such as St. Vincent, Midlake, The Album Leaf, Mono, Dawes, Royal Canoe, Maserati, Telefon Tel Aviv, Mr. Gnome and Operators to name a few, as well as performing at 2014’s CMJ Festival in New York.
The brothers have been featured on MTV2’s “Bands on The Rise,” and have songs included on the FX Network’s series, Dirt, as well as a number of independent shorts and films.
The Agency Group, the world’s largest independent talent and live music booking agency announced today “Remembering Our Friend, Kevin Walters” – an evening of music and merriment in support of the Kevin Walters Memorial Fund, will take place at Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday, May 9th during Canadian Music Week.
The evening that includes special performances from The Watchmen and the Julian Taylor Band, kicks off at 7:00 p.m. and celebrates the life of Canadian music champion and visionary Kevin Walters, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 54 after a difficult battle with cancer. Known as one of Manitoba’s biggest cheerleaders for local musicians, filmmakers and cultural events, Walters’ various projects over the years include bringing the JUNO Awards to Winnipeg (twice), managing the sound recording program at Manitoba Film and Music, acting as the executive director of Manitoba Homecoming 2010 (a year-long celebration that marked the provinces 140th birthday), and working as the project manager for the annual Culture Days Manitoba festivities.
Ralph James (CEO, The Agency Group Canada) says, “Kevin was involved in the careers of so many Canadian artists, and we look forward to celebrating his life along with a couple of his favourite artists.”
“Kevin was a pillar of the Canadian music community,” said Jack Ross (President, The Agency Group Canada). We miss him dearly and look forward to toasting his legacy with friends and family from across the country during CMW.”
A similar celebration honouring the life of the veteran Winnipeg promoter and festival organizer took place last summer at the Burton Cummings Theatre. Hundreds of people attended the occasion to toast their friend and prominent figure – paying homage to his contributions to the province’s thriving entertainment scene.
Those attending the Toronto event will be asked to make a $20 donation at the door, with all proceeds going to the Kevin Waters Memorial Fund, which honours and celebrates Walters’ generosity of spirit as a passionate advocate of Winnipeg and its arts and cultural strength. The fund supports promising performers and organizations in music, film, performance and the creative arts.
A super villain was prepared to destroy all the healthy foods in the world, until one hero, actually, several heroes stuck together to save the world’s vegetables! Together, Dr. Brownie, Onion Man, Captain Americauliflower, Black Bean Widow, Mighty Corn, and Zuchin-eye are…The Aveggies!
One day, like, in 20 years, we’ll all sit back and marvel (heh!) just how subversive Sesame Street became this decade.
The five Denmark-based members of The Bottle Boys just recorded a video performing Johnny Cash‘s hit songs “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring of Fire” using beer bottles as instruments. Yes, I know you likely tried to do a song before on beer bottles and didn’t get past the first chorus, but these guys are great. They said:
The songs are a perfect combination of great melodies and a really cool and down to earth groove underneath. We wanted to honour Cash’s style with a really simple look in our video, where we can just focus on what it is really about: the music!
Furthermore Johnny Cash’s songs let us experiment with different ways of playing on the bottles and lets us bend a lot of the notes to get closer to the way of singing all the blue notes. And in this video we even introduce a brand new thing: the bottle pluck. Even though it looks quite straight forward playing bass on the headrack and plucks on the table, the multitasking was quite challenging in the beginning. But we don’t play bottles because it is easy, but because it is hard!
…and here are the originals for you to celebrate The Man In Black.
Refused are fucking alive. There’s no escape. The Iconic Swedish hardcore band are releasing Freedom, their first new album in 17 years on June 30 via Epitaph. Listen to the first new song “Elektra” now:
Pre-orders for Freedom, including a limited edition exclusive CD package that includes a 28 page hardbound book, exclusive artwork with gold foil stamping, and a double sided poster is available at refusedstore.com.
In 1998 Refused released their iconic album The Shape of Punk to Come. It was also the year that the band broke up and declared “Refused Are Fucking Dead“. Fourteen years later, the band reignited in 2012 for a Coachella performance. The group started contemplating new music within the first four months of the reunion tour, a process greatly aided by the fact that drummer David Sandström, guitarist Kristofer Steen, and bassist Magnus Flagge had already been writing together informally for several years under the auspices of a new, vocal-less band.
The Shape of Punk to Come has become one of the most influential albums in decades, fusing punk, metal, hardcore, techno, jazz, emo, and hip-hop into a meld of intricate, politically charged punk that has graced ‘best of’ lists since its release. Refused’s most critically acclaimed album exploded on the scene with the jaw-dropping hardcore anthem “New Noise,” which helped change the game forever by influencing a range of genres to this day.
Frontman Dennis Lyxzén states, “It’s not a reunion anymore. “This is one of the most radical things we’ve ever done, both musically and lyrically.”
Drummer David Sandström adds, “Nobody wanted us to fuck with the image of the band who makes a great album and splits up. Nobody wanted us to dilute it. That actually provoked us.”
Freedom explodes out of the speakers with opening track “Elektra,” as Lyxzén throat-shredding declaration that “nothing has changed” catapults Refused into the 21st century. Production for Freedom was overseen by Nick Launay (Gang Of Four, Public Image Ltd., Nick Cave, and Arcade Fire. “Elektra” and “366” were produced and co-written by fellow Swede and longtime Refused fan Shellback, who has scored eight No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with artists such as Taylor Swift and Pink.
Refused returns to the US with a performance at the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas on May 24, followed by a sold out small club tour this spring. Additionally Refused will tour with Faith No More this summer. Full tour dates are below.
‘FREEDOM’ TRACK LIST:
Elektra
Old Friends / New War
Dawkins Christ
Françafrique
Thought Is Blood
War On The Palaces
Destroy The Man
366
Servants Of Death
Useless Europeans
REFUSED SHOW DATES:
May 24 – Jun 05 Refused US club tour Jul 30 – Aug 7 with Faith No More
May 02 Grozerock, Meerhout, Belgium
May 22 Ruhrpott Roden Open Air Festival, Hünxe, Germany
May 24 Las Vegas, NV – Punk Rock Bowling festival
May 25 Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
May 26 West Hollywood, CA – The Roxy Theatre
May 28 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
May 29 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
May 30 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
May 31 Chicago, IL – Double Door
Jun 01 Boston, MA – The Sinclair
Jul 02 Gdynia, Poland, Opener Festival
Jun 03 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Jun 04 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Jun 05 Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel
Jun 20 Amnesia Rock Fest, Montebello, QC, Canada
Jun 27 Provinssi, Seinäjoki, Finland
Jul 02 Gdynia, Poland, Opener Festival
Jul 11 Rock im Ring Festival, Collalbo, Italy
Jul 16 Resurrection Fest, Viveiro, Spain
Jul 17 Slottsfjell, Tonsberg, Norway
Jul 18 Bukta Tromso Open Air Festival, Tromso, Norway
Jul 30 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Music Park
Jul 31 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
Aug 01 Philadelphia, PA – Mann Center
Aug 02 Columbia, MA – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Aug 04 Boston, MA – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
Aug 05 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Aug 07 Toronto, ON – Ricoh Coliseum
Aug 28 Leeds Festival, UK
Aug 29 Pure & Crafted Festival, Gräfenhainichen, Germany
Aug 30 Reading Festival, UK
Neil Young has announced that he will perform a benefit concert in Edmonton, AB on Friday, July 3 at Rexall Place. The “Honour The Treaties” concert will raise money for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Legal Defense Fund. Also performing are Canadian legends Blue Rodeo, in their first Edmonton appearance since their triumphant closing set at the 2014 Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
“The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) are honoured to be joining iconic Canadian musician Neil Young on another Honour the Treaties concert supporting our legal defense fund,” commented Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
“The ACFN are continuing our legal challenges to stop out of control Tar Sands development from destroying our traditional territory and rights as Indigenous peoples. With the support of Neil Young and fans we are creating more accountability from our governments for the safe guarding of our lands, rights and future generations in Alberta, Canada and beyond. Our people, our climate and our planet can no longer afford to be economic hostages in the race to industrialize the earth. We must act now for the future generations.”
The ACFN refer to themselves as K’ai Taile Dene, meaning “people of the land of the willow.” A Legal Defense fund was set up to support the ACFN’s legal challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructing their traditional lands and rights. As people of the land, the ACFN have used and occupied their traditional lands in the Athabasca region for thousands of years, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain themselves and continue spiritual cultural rights passed down through generations. The ACFN’s legal challenges will ensure the protection of their traditional lands, eco-systems and unique rights guaranteed by Treaty 8, the last and largest of the nineteenth century land agreements made between First Nations and the Government of Canada, are upheld for the benefit of future generations.
Tickets for the Edmonton concert will range from $45.00 through $175.00 and will be limited to 4 tickets per person. Tickets will go on sale Friday, May 1 at 10am and will be available at www.livenation.com, Charge-By-Phone 1-855-985-5000 and in-person at all Ticketmaster Outlets.
Producer and musician Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Foo Fighters, Green Day) looks back at his long career, from early days at Smart Studios and the smash success of Nirvana’s Nevermind, to making music with his own band Garbage.
Alice Barker was a chorus line dancer during the Harlem Renaissance of the the 1930s and 40s. She danced at clubs such as The Apollo, Cotton Club, and Zanzibar Club, with legends including Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Although she danced in numerous movies, commercials and TV shows, she had never seen any of them, and all of her photographs and memorabilia had been lost over the years.
After years of searching Tenfresh found three “Soundies” Alice appeared in and were finally able to show them to her — she had never seen herself in motion in her life!
