These articles brought forth are for a few different reasons:
1. It is relevant music information that pertains to you as a reader, no matter the level of intent or the genre.
2. They are relevant to the music I would be currently listening to or a genre I have put some attention and focus on.
3. I am rather patriotic about my Canadian music, so that always comes as a first for me. I enjoy music from all parts of the world respectively, but I still have to promote local if I can. Canadian music rocks!
4. Because it's humorous and we can always use a good laugh. Rarely will it be at someone's expense...but then again I am just the guy talking about it. They're the ones causing the comments.
So in closing, I trust you all will not read EVERY single article posted here. But I hope you find something of use here and keep the conversation going by forwarding it onto someone else. Click on each article heading for redirection to the full article. Cheers!
Inside Toronto's largest country music venue (for now):
"The 1,500 capacity indoor/outdoor space looks to capitalize on Toronto's newfound love of all things western, and includes a mechanical bull, a barbecue-heavy menu, and nightly line dancing, much of which is set to live music."
Toronto's Bloor Ossington Folk Festival Reveals 2014 Lineup with Julie Doiron and the Wrong Guys, Brendan Canning, Shotgun Jimmie:
"BOFF was designed as a way to celebrate Toronto's rich music scene while delivering the warm and local feeling of a classic Canadian folk festival. As the scene flourishes, we will be right there with it, keeping close watch and helping to progress Canadian musical talents." -Kristjan Harris
Drug-testing kits can help prevent deaths at music festivals:
“People die at music festivals. That’s not a thing that we should just accept. There’s a lot of other drugs that are being created and sold and passed off as other substances. Buying street drugs, you never really know what it is. If you test it for something and it ends up being something that you didn’t think it was going to be, you can still make an informed decision of whether to toss it or do it anyway." -Lori Kufner
Chuck Berry wins 2014 Polar music prize:
"My heart is in Sweden. I want to thank the king and the royal family for awarding me the Polar Prize. I understand what a great honour it is to be a recipient, and I'm sorry that I'm unable to travel and receive this personally." -Dave Edmunds (who read a speech on Berry's behalf)
I Dream Of Wires:
"Before Moog was a household name, synthesizers were huge machines made up of many smaller modules that could be patched together into nearly infinite configurations. To make a sound, the user had to physically connect oscillators, filters and other signal processors with wires."
Benjamin Booker delivers a Big Easy attitude in his debut album:
"It’s real grainy-throated, wild-thing stuff, with fuzz pedals used as buzz saws and a southern-fried swamp-boogie manner influenced by the diverse likes of Blind Willie Johnson, the Gun Club and, perhaps, his label mates Alabama Shakes."
SoundCloud to Introduce Advertising and Subscription Service:
"Now SoundCloud has decided it is time to grow up. On Thursday, as part of a new licensing deal with entertainment companies, SoundCloud will begin incorporating advertising and for the first time let artists and record labels collect royalties. Eventually, it plans to introduce a paid subscription that will let listeners skip those ads, as they can with Spotify and other licensed services."
Sony’s online gaming & music sites hacked:
"Sony said the hacker tried to overwhelm its system with high artificial traffic, and they’re now working to restore service.
No personal information was accessed and a group called Lizard Squad is claiming responsibility for the attack."
Inside the Magical Room Where the Best Headphones in the World Are Made:
"The Grados have been making audiophile-grade cans in the same building since 1955. What was the family produce mart is now a factory, and through the graffitied doors is the listening room, where company president John Grado uses a special hi-fi stack to tune every headphone his company makes."
Addiction in the orchestra: classical music's drink and drugs problem:
"I was 23 when it dawned on me that I might be an alcoholic. It was a cold February morning and I was in a public lavatory in south London, decanting supermarket-brand vodka into an empty water bottle, so I could carry it undetected in my handbag. My morning routine centred completely on alcohol and had done for two years. If I didn't get it into my system as soon as I woke up, my body would begin to display hideous symptoms of withdrawal. Shakes, cold sweats, crawling skin, stomach cramps and dry heaves, to name a few. I would drink enough to get me to the nearest supermarket, where the vodka was cheapest, and buy more. Again and again, every day, like an unsteady automaton."
Eminem Announces 'Shady XV':
"Yes it's official… #SHADYXV Black Friday."
Mars Volta Offshoot Antemasque Roll Out North American Tour:
10/02 Antwerp, Belgium – Trix
10/03 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
10/04 Dortmund, Germany - Visions Westend Festival
10/06 Berlin, Germany - Bi Nuu
10/07 Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
10/09 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
10/10 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland - L'Amalgame
10/11 Paris, France - Gaite Lyrique
10/13 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
10/14 Leeds, England - Brudenell Social Club
10/15 London, England - Electric Ballroom
10/31 Monterrey, Mexico - Pal Norte Rock Festival
11/03 Mexico City, Mexico - Circo Volador
11/05 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel
11/06 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11/08 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl
11/09 New York, NY - The Bowery Ballroom
11/11 Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs
11/12 Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
11/14 Toronto, ON - Mod Club
11/15 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
11/16 Chicago, IL - Metro
02/21 Adelaide, Australa - Soundwave Festival
02/22 Melbourne, Australia - Soundwave Festival
02/28 Sydney, Australia - Soundwave Festival
03/01 Brisbane, Australia - Soundwave Festival
Classical music students - the future's bright, just use your imagination:
"In 1977 I won a bet with my brother Andrew. This meant that he finally had to write me the cello piece he had been promising for years. The trouble was that he decided it should be a piece for cello and rock band - and the classical music world was a lot stuffier then than it is now. That was the time when melody, rhythm and harmony were taboo in contemporary classical music and I was warned by friends and colleagues alike that I would literally ruin my career by recording it. But I believed in the piece so I took the chance.
And it didn’t ruin my career."
Prince Announces 'Art Official Age' Album:
"Plectrum Electrum will be released under the band name 3rd Eye Girl. The album's called 'Art Official Age', and features 13 new songs from Prince.
Art Official Age:
1. ART OFFICIAL CAGE
2. CLOUDS
3. BREAKDOWN
4. THE GOLD STANDARD
5. U KNOW Prince
6. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
7. THIS COULD BE US
8. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
9. affirmation I & II
10. WAY BACK HOME
11. FUNKNROLL
12. TIME
13. affirmation III
Both Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum will arrive on September 30."
Trapt Stream Acoustic Version Of “Headstrong” From “The Acoustic Collection”:
“The Acoustic Collection” will be released on September 23rd, 2014 via Crash Collide Records.
Beck goofed himself into a career with “Loser”:
"Built on a foundation of a bluesy slide guitar riff, a hip-hop beat, and a simple, sticky sitar line, the track wouldn’t necessarily have made much of a splash. But Beck’s nonsensical, funny lyrics—some would criticize him at the time for just making shit up—sold it."
How to Turn Any Old Speakers Into Wireless Streamers:
"Logitech’s Bluetooth Audio Adapter, priced at a mere $40, is one of the cheapest commercial options we’ve seen. You plug it into your power strip, connect your powered speakers to the adapter with either RCA or 3.5mm inputs, and then pair with your Bluetooth-enabled device. It gets great Amazon reviews, with most folks finding the audio quality to be surprisingly good (as long as the source quality is also good) and setup simple. It transmits over the older Bluetooth 3.0 standard. Note that this tiny adapter (like most others) doesn’t have an amplifier, so you’ll need to connect it to an existing audio amp or a set of powered speakers."
Ryan Adams Expands North American Fall Tour:
09/08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09/18 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire
09/19 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire
09/21 London, UK - Itunes Festival
09/24 Manchester, UK - Albert Hall
09/25 Glasgow, UK - Royal Concert Hall
10/01 Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theater
10/05 Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Hall
10/06 Seattle, WA - Paramount Ballroom
10/07 Vancouver, BC - Orpheum Theater
10/09 Edmonton, AB - Francis Winspear Theater
10/10 Calgary, AB - Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
10/12 Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theater
10/13 Minneapolis, MN - Northrop at the University of Minnesota
10/14 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
10/16 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theater
10/18 Ames, IA - Stephens Auditorium
10/19 St. Louis, MO - Peabody Opera House
10/20 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
10/03 San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
11/06 Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
11/08 Columbus, OH - Palace Theater
11/09 Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
11/11 Cleveland, OH - Playhousesquare
11/12 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
11/18 Boston, MA - Wang Theatre
11/19 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre
ALICE COOPER: 'Raise The Dead - Live From Wacken' DVD + CD Due In October:
"'Raise The Dead' will be available as DVD + CD digipack. The DVD contains 22 songs from the Wacken Open Air concert on August 3, 2013 and an interview with the man himself as a bonus. The double CD contains the complete concert.
A latent Gin Blossoms single shows just how slow the music industry moved in ’94:
"Though the Gin Blossoms debut, New Miserable Experience, was released in August of 1992, “Found Out About You” wasn’t released as a single until November of 1993. By then the band was already being pegged as a one hit wonder thanks to “Hey Jealousy,” but New Miserable Experience proved a deeper well, allowing for “Found Out About You” to actually chart higher on the modern rock charts than the album’s most identifiable track."
The 5 Most Expensive Music Videos Of All Time:
"Of all the expensive music videos made over time (and there are quite a few), the top five are created by only two artists: Michael Jackson and Madonna. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as those two legends are some of the only ones who would have enough clout to rustle up millions for a four-minute movie."
YOUTUBE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: WILL MUSIC QUIETLY DISAPPEAR FROM YOUTUBE?:
"Aside from the fact that Google could really use a naming Czar, the rumoured streaming service will mean a dramatic change for YouTube which has, until now, been a great place to find new music, independent artists and generally get stuck in video spirals lasting hours.
YouTube Music Key is forcing users to pay for access to music, which is probably fair enough, assuming that the artists featured on the service get a decent cut of the profits, which for $9.99 a month, seems unlikely."
Why Does Sad Music Make Us Feel Happy?:
"In a new paper published in the journal Psychology of Music, a pair of researchers from Hiroshima University in Japan, Kazuma Mori and Makota Iwanaga, describe an experiment showing that perceiving sadness in music can actually induce pleasant feelings in the listener. Mori and Iwanaga recruited 51 Japanese college students and had them listen to happy-sounding songs with a fast tempo and a major key with lyrics either in Swedish or Spanish—languages the students didn’t understand. These lyrics expressed sad ideas on topics like “adolescent distress and confusion” or “broken hearts and regret.” A few minutes after hearing the upbeat song (with lyrics they didn't understand), the students read Japanese translations of the lyrics. Two weeks later, the researchers brought the students back to the lab and had them listen to songs that again had happy tunes and sad lyrics, but this time, they simultaneously read translations of the lyrics in Japanese. After each presentation, the students registered how they felt on a seven-point scale from zero (“very unpleasant”) to six (“very pleasant”). They also answered questions on their perceptions of the emotion expressed by the material—ranking the intensity of the song’s happiness and sadness on a scale of zero-to-six."
Cassette Store Day 2014 Preps Releases from Julian Casablancas, Karen O, Best Coast, J Dilla, Foxygen:
"The second annual event will feature the latest releases from the Strokes' frontman Julian Casablancas and Yeah Yeah Yeahs leading lady Karen O, as well as limited-edition offerings from Best Coast, J Dilla, Madvillain, Foxygen, Vivian Girls, Cloud Nothings and the Gaslight Anthem. "
Will age classifications for music videos work?:
"According to the powers that be, music videos are now so subversive that they require film-style age certificates. From 1 October, UK-based internet users will be subject to a three-month pilot scheme that will see UK-produced music videos (and attendant hard copy releases of videos via DVDs and CDs) stamped with 12, 15, 18 or R18 certificates. The music video trial is being led by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), working with Google, BPI (the body representing the UK music industry), two major video platforms (Vevo and YouTube) and three major labels: Sony, Warner and Universal."
Comeback Kid’s ‘Rain City Sessions’ Available:
"We did an in studio session Rain City Recorders in Vancouver a couple months ago. Check it out here!!"
1 – Wake The Dead
2 – Should Know Better
3 – All In A Year
4 – Losing Sleep
5 – The Concept Stays
6 – Lower The Line
Sloan Announce North American Tour:
09/09 Toronto, ON - Yonge/Dundas HMV (6 p.m.)
10/07 Sudbury, ON - Townehouse
10/08 Thunder Bay, ON - The Outpost
10/10 St Paul, MN - Turf Club
10/11 Winnipeg, MB - The Pyramid
10/12 Regina, SK - The Lazy Owl
10/14 Saskatoon, SK - O'Briens Event Centre
10/15 Calgary, AB – The Commonwealth Bar
10/16 Edmonton, AB – Dinwoodie Lounge
10/17 Kelowna, BC – Flashbacks
10/18 Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
10/19 Portland, OR – Star Theatre
10/20 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
10/22 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
10/23 Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theatre
THE CULT's BILLY DUFFY Thinks Next Album 'Will Be More Guitar Heavy':
"I don't think it will be like [2007's] 'Born Into This'; I think it will be more guitar heavy. That was a 'guitar-light' album for a lot of reasons that I won't get into, but it seemed a little guitar shy for a CULT album for my ears — but I am biased.
We're not far enough in [the songwriting process for the next CD]; we've got completed songs, but there isn't really enough of a cross section of material to figure out what it's gonna be like yet. I don't see it being a quantum departure; I don't think it's going to be too bonkers. I don't know — for all I know, Ian [Astbury, vocals] wants to make an electro dub dance album." -Duffy
Texas In July Premiere New Song “Sweetest Poison”:
Their new album “Bloodwork“ will be out on September 16th, 2014 via Equal Vision Records.
A Clever App That Lets You Make Music With Shapes:
"The app works like ultra-simple sample-production software, allowing you to create layered beats. But while complex programs will drown you in buttons and knobs, Geometric Music only uses shapes to dictate how something sounds. Every noise you make is translated into one of four shapes (circle, triangle, square or hexagon), and you manipulate those shapes to change the rhythm, speed and volume. Think of it as tapping into a digitally-enabled form of shaped-based synesthesia."
Shadows Fall To Go On Hiatus From Touring, Planning ‘Final’ North American Trek:
"Massachusetts metal band Shadows Fall will embark on their final European tour in less than a week. The “Hell on Earth” tour will begin in Frankfurt, Germany on Aug. 29 and runs until Sept. 14. The tour also features Unearth, The Acacia Strain and War of Ages. The band has been touring non-stop for over a decade and has decided that it’s time to “take a hiatus” from future extensive touring. In addition to this upcoming European run, Shadows Fall are planning a final North American tour and will possibly visit a few other territories some time over the next year. We will post details once everything is locked in. There are many factors that are behind this difficult decision that the band has been dealing with for some time now. In a nutshell it comes down to families, member availability, and finances. Further impacting our decision is the fact that we have two members with young children. Plain and simple, they want to be with their families to watch their kids grow. Touring full time in a band these days has never been more difficult financially. When you have to ensure the future comfort of your family, difficult decisions have to be made. Another reason is the fact that our lead guitarist (Jon Donais) is now in Anthrax, which makes it hard for us to do any extensive touring with our full lineup. Due to his obligations with Anthrax, he will not be able to join us on this European tour. Felipe Roa will once again fill Jon’s position and we are thankful to him for joining us on this run. Also returning for this tour is original bassist Paul Romanko who has sat out from touring for the last two years to raise his son. This has been a real hard decision for all of us to make but we feel at this time this is the right thing to do. We don’t hate each other, we’re not bitter, we in fact still have a really great time together, but the ride has slowed down and it's time for the next chapters in our lives, whatever that may be. We can't thank the fans that have supported Shadows Fall since the beginning enough. Without you, none of this would have been possible. For the past decade and a half, we have been able to create the music we have always wanted to hear and share it with music fans everywhere. That being said, you still may see us at a festival or two over the next few years…if they ask, we will come! In the meantime please check out the dates for the last European go around and we will see you out there!"
Kamelot Putting The Finishing Touches On Songwriting For Next Album:
"Hi Folks, I'm in the Stuttgart area this week working on the final parts of the next Kamelot album with Mr. Palotai. It's going great and we have lots of music and ideas in store. Stay tuned for some more pics and video from the week. Cheers!
TY
Greetings from the underground!"
Haste The Day Smash Their Crowdfunding Goal For New Album:
"Wow, thank you all so much! We cannot believe the support you've shown us. This record will be incredible! We have some really awesome stretch goals that we will unlock over the next few weeks that will make this project even better!"
Pianos Become The Teeth Sign With Epitaph:
"We couldn't be more excited to announce that our third LP, entitled Keep You, will be released on October 28, 2014 through Epitaph Records. You can stream a song from the record below and pre-order the record here: http://smarturl.it/keepyou.
With such an important and diverse history, it is a huge honor to join the Epitaph family. This album is incredibly special to us and we can't thank you all for your continued support."
Spotify's transfixing map of music twins around the world:
"Right now, you're likely listening to music perfectly in-sync with another person in some other corner of the globe. But who are they? Now, you can find out where they live, at least. A new feature from music-streaming service Spotify displays an online map that shows when people in different cities hit play on the same song at the same time."
RIP Tim “Rawbiz” Williams:
"It’s with complete sadness that we have to announce the passing of bassists Tim “Rawbiz” Williams. Tim played bass for Suicidal Tendencies for almost four years until recently.
Tim was a monster on bass, running around on stage in the pit, giving his all, even when his body wasn’t at it's best.
We will always remember him and appreciate all the kind words by those that were touched by his bass playing and him personally."
SLAYER Returns To Studio To Record New Album:
Post by Slayer band.
Classic Iron Maiden '80s Vinyl Reissues On The Way:
"Parlophone Records (BMG/INgrooves Music Group for the USA) will follow the 2012/13 IRON MAIDEN vinyl picture disc reissues of the first eight Iron Maiden albums, which spanned the 1980s, with brand new pressings of the albums in heavyweight 180g black vinyl.
In conjunction with these premium album releases, a strictly limited one-off run of the 7” singles from each respective album will be made available. These highly collectable black vinyl singles will be cut from the original analogue master tapes. Released in replica artwork packaging, they are sure to become a must-have item for fans, collectors and anyone who missed out first time round.
The albums will also be cut from the original analogue master tapes and packaged in identical artwork to the initial 1980’s releases. As a bonus, the first batch of album releases (Iron Maiden/Killers/The Number Of The Beast) will also be made available in a Collector’s Box sized to house all 8 albums. This package will be a strictly limited edition and available while stocks last."
