At a concert in Taipei a few months ago, Jason Mraz saw a guy in the audience who brought a shaker. Why would anyone bring a shaker to a show? Oh…
Moosh & Twist sign to eOne Music
Philadelphia hip hop duo OCD: Moosh & Twist has just signed a universal deal with Entertainment One Music (eOne Music). The group is currently on tour, and will play three dates at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, TX. Full dates below.
OCD: Moosh & Twist features DeQuincy “Moosh” Coleman McRae and Oliver “Twist” Feighan, both 22, who first bonded in first grade over the love of music and poetry. As independent hip-hop artists, OCD have amassed a devoted fan base which has resulted in over 100,000 mixtape downloads and over 12 million Youtube views. In 2014, OCD debuted their first EP, Living Out Loud, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and #5 on the iTunes Hip-Hop Chart. Moosh & Twist continue to perform for their thousands of fans as headliners, performing at festivals, and opening for acts such as The White Panda, Hoodie Allen, Wale, and others.
Tour dates:
March 11 – Lawrence, KS – Granada
March 14 – Tulsa, OK – Vanguard
March 15 – Dallas, TX – The Prophet Bar
March 17 – SXSW – Austin, TX – Speakeasy on the Avenue (9:00 PM) (1iota Studios Pop Up)
March 20 – SXSW – Austin, TX – Trinity Hall @ Old School (11:15 PM) (Presented by Broad Street Music)
March 20 – SXSW – Austin, TX – Sledgehammer (1:00 AM) (presented by APA)
March 27 – St. George, UT – Ridge Top Complex – Airport
April 16 – West Chester, PA – Hollinger Gymnasium @ West Chester Univ.
April 18 – Atherton, CA – Menlo College
April 20 – North Adams, MA – Mass. College of Liberal Arts
April 24 – Hackettstown, NJ – Centenary College of New Jersey
April 25 – Smithfield, RI – Springstock
May 16 – Fairless Hills, PA – Pennsbury High School East
July 3 – London, UK – Wireless Festival
The Tenors Launch 4th Album on May 4 – In Time for Mother’s Day
The Tenors – Canada’s multi-platinum, JUNO Award-winning vocal group – are set to release their fourth studio album UNDER ONE SKY on May 4 with Universal Music Canada (UMC), the country’s leading music company. The quartet, with multiple #1 Billboard Classical Crossover albums under its belt, “have talent to burn” and “killer singing voices” raves The Toronto Star and “pitch perfect harmonies” says Examiner.com. The music of Clifton Murray, Victor Micallef, Remigio Pereira and Fraser Walters is rich and soulful, spanning powerful anthems, classic covers and original songs penned/co-penned by The Tenors themselves.
UNDER ONE SKY is a 13-track album that combines a mix of originals with new interpretations of familiar favourites. Highlighting their signature blend of classical and contemporary pop, the record includes the popular hits “Lean On Me” (Bill Withers) and “Who Wants To Live Forever” (Queen) as well as the soaring original title track “Under One Sky” and the inspirational “New Day’s Begun”. The foursome dedicates the classic Joe Cocker track “You Are So Beautiful” to their mothers and all mothers around the world, while “My Father’s Son” pays universal homage to dads. A deluxe special edition will also be released offering fans three bonus tracks.
“This music is our most exciting and most diverse we’ve recorded to date,” said The Tenors. “We are so thrilled to be sharing this with the world!”
Collaborating with The Tenors on UNDER ONE SKY are Grammy-Award winning producer David Foster (Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli), renowned producer Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd, Johnny Reid, Alice Cooper) and Grammy Award-winning producer Keith Thomas (Gladys Knight, Blake Shelton).
In support of the new album, The Tenors’ next PBS TV special is set to air this June, also entitled Under One Sky (check local listings), followed by an extensive Canadian and U.S. fall/winter tour (dates to be announced).
In addition, the group pays extra tribute to their moms in the forthcoming hardcover book A Letter To My Mom by Lisa Erspamer. Honouring their respective mothers, the book, to be released on April 7, also includes letters from Melissa Rivers, Shania Twain, will.i.am, Christy Turlington, and Kristin Chenoweth among others.
Over the past several years, The Tenors have been selling out concerts across Canada, the U.S. and the UK and have performed over 500 live shows on five continents. In 2014 The Tenors performed for the Obamas at the prestigious National Christmas Tree Lighting and as part of Cirque de Soleil’s One Night for One Drop annual Las Vegas spectacle in support of water conservation. They also appeared as special guests alongside Seth Rogan and Orlando Bloom for Free The Children’s “We Day” in San Francisco.
The Tenors have been thrilling audiences around the world with their powerful voices and memorable melodies. Blending classical music and contemporary pop, the vocal super group has achieved international success, showcasing their undeniable charm and diverse vocal styles. Their self-titled debut album, their holiday album, The Perfect Gift and their latest album, Lead With Your Heart, have all gone multi-platinum and have been released in many countries around the world by Universal Music and its affiliates. The Tenors received their first JUNO Award for Lead With Your Heart.
Their TV appearances – over 150 worldwide – include Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Oprah (with Celine Dion), The Primetime Emmy Awards, ITV’s Diamond Jubilee Show for Her Majesty The Queen and many more. They have shared the stage with such luminaries as Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Jennifer Hudson, Ellie Goulding, Justin Bieber, Earth, Wind & Fire and more.
Julia Roberts in her greatest ever role – Mother Nature
Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice. Watch the films and take action at
http://natureisspeaking.org
Canada’s Best Record Show Is Back In Toronto – Sunday March 29
Well, here we go again. The best record show in all of Canada has announced the date for the Spring Show. Set your calendars and save your money for Sunday, March 29th at The Estonian House, 958 Broadview Avenue. It’ll go from 11:00am-4:00pm and you’ll want to get there early for the best deals. It costs $5 to get in, but check out the contest I run daily on Twitter – I’m giving a 4-pack of tickets away daily until the show.
The best of Toronto’s vinyl, CD and music memorabilia vendors will be there with music from every genre, and yes that includes rock, soul, metal, jazz, punk, R&B, electronic, new waves, 50s, 60s, and everything in between.
This time, they even have some dealers setting up from the East Coast of Canada. Yes, they’re driving in because the show is that good.
Over 55 tables chock full of albums, spreading the message that vinyl and music is here to stay.
Anne Lennox on the internet’s reaction to her incredible 2015 Grammy performance
Your Grammys performance broke the Internet but it was so simple—no fireworks, just you on the stage.
Don’t you think that’s basically what a performer has always been doing? To me, it’s what I’ve done—I’ve used costumes, I’ve used lighting.
Why do you think the public reacted to it the way that they did?
I don’t know, I can’t tell you that. It’s like the Roman Empire: you get the thumbs up and everybody loves you. Everybody is a critic nowadays and if they feel like they don’t like you, they can steam into you with such abuse. So it’s a schizophrenic experience. I was surprised. I didn’t know until I went out to dinner that night that people were talking about it. So many people were saying, “You were exploding on Twitter.” And I was like, “Really?” I just did what I did and I never know how people are going to take it. Sometimes people love you, sometimes they hate you.
The online peanut gallery, even when it’s being praiseful, makes you nervous.
We really are in a divisive place with the Internet. I’m reticent to allow it to affect me because you start to feel like that’s the last thing you’ve done and then everything else is pitted against that last one. Thank you very much to everyone who seemed to appreciate it, I’m delighted, but I can’t live in that schizoid place where I get approval and disapproval.
Via Vogue
What Goes Into Making a Record Store Day Release ‘Official’
From Diffuser:
The “unofficial” misnomer disrespects the amazing releases that could only happen on Record Store Day. I refer to the U2 12″ with new songs, the Foo Fighters covers album, live EPs recorded at record stores, Jaco Pastorius’ early recordings, the Buck Owens coloring book, all sorts of insanity from the Flaming Lips, The Grey Album (just kidding, but that seriously needs to happen), resurrected psych and classic hip-hop gems, Heatmiser cassettes — not to mention the releases that made you drool and the incredible titles that will be announced.
We have always wanted unique releases, and our ideas about what makes something stand out has evolved. For example, Ryan Adams’ ongoing inexpensive 7″ series means a label better have a very good reason for releasing a 7″ for $12-$15. Sundazed earned that right with rare music and excellent mastering and pressing. A mid-tier rock artist’s 7″ on black vinyl containing two currently available songs no longer excites people, so we always ask if they can find an unreleased track for the B-side.
Price is a concern as well. Sometimes we think box sets are too expensive so we request that they be simplified to bring the cost down. We usually find middle ground, but there was one cassette this year that everyone felt was far too expensive. It will be released on a different day so those who want it will be able to get it. We don’t like to actually veto titles.
Demand for colored vinyl has changed, too. It used to be a big RSD draw. Now that “every day is Record Store Day” and we have a pile of exclusive or nearly exclusive colored vinyl every Tuesday, it’s a little less special.
Music videos pull in audiences more than ever with tech tricks
From Smashd:
For music videos, viewer and video are no longer forced to exist in different worlds.
A small group of innovators is embracing the versatility of the Internet. By using new technologies during production and dissemination, they’re bringing fans into the fold with interactive music videos. Done right, the work of this vanguard is the best there is.
“The things that excite me the most are the things where people are saying: We don’t need to be beholden to a 16 inch by 9 inch box because that’s the shape of TVs,” said Steven Gottlieb, a 20-year veteran of the music video business and editor of Videostatic.com, a website that covers music video news in great detail. “Music videos don’t need to be linear. They don’t need to fit inside one little box. If the goal is purely to introduce more people to a song, to an artist, and to let them understand it better, then [the video] can really be anything.”
The New York-based production company Interlude, for instance, makes it simple for anyone with an Internet connection to make interactive videos. Specializing in a “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style of interaction, Interlude made its biggest splash in late 2013 with a brilliant video for Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Produced to coincide with Sony’s release of his massive, 47-discThe Complete Album Collection Volume 1, the video allows viewers to flip through 16 channels on an old analog T.V. and watch news anchors, Danny Brown and the “Property Brothers,” among others, seamlessly mouth Dylan’s words in time with the song. The virtual remote in your hands (or on screen) gives you the power to make the video different every time you watch it.
Spotify’s Pick Hit For SXSW? Years & Years
South by Southwest began as a small music festival with only 700 registrants, where A&R reps from the labels scouted bands with the intent of discovering, and then signing, the cream of the crop. I was there for 16 straight years, until after having the greatest 4 days ever spent in that city – Jesus & Mary Chain, The Black Angels (performing 6 times), and Dave Grohl at the Keynote, that was it for me. I knew when it was time walk away for a few years, but I’ll be back.
Austin’s homegrown festival has since grown into a huge, multi-pronged event: Music, Film, and Interactive, plus offshoots like SXSWedu, SXSports, and SXSW Eco attract different groups of people from all over the place.
For many, it’s still all about the music — arguably more than ever, because in the early days, SXSW was attended by people who see music for a living. Artists can still make their mark in Austin by getting “discovered,” but only if they attract enough buzz from the fans who now comprise the majority of SXSW attendees.
Spotify is helping you discover some SXSW artists right now, before the event gets underway, by polling music fans to find out which artists playing SXSW are receiving a disproportionate amount of buzz from the global music community. Based on the artists people everywhere are reading about, sharing, and listening to, Spotify includes a discovery score for each artist. This reflects how much attention a particular artist is getting from music fans, relative to the artist’s familiarity among the general public. If lots of people around the world are discovering an artist (or are about to discover them), that artist gets a higher discovery score. So, it’s a measure of disproportionate attention — a sign that music fans are really starting to get behind a particular artist.
The following 100 SXSW showcase artists are receiving the most disproportionate attention from music fans around the world right now (playlist below). Italicized artists happen to be playing Spotify House:
- Years & Years
- Christine and the Queens
- Dej Loaf
- Macaco
- O.T. Genasis
- TY DOLLA $IGN
- James Bay
- Marlon Roudette
- Dotan
- Fritz Kalkbrenner
- Jack Garratt
- Aero Chord
- Bleachers
- Seinabo Sey
- Priory
- Klangkarussell
- July Talk
- Kaleo
- Tove Lo
- Catfish and the Bottlemen
- Viet Cong
- Clean Bandit
- Jeremy Loops
- Family of the Year
- Nihils
- Milky Chance
- Rae Sremmurd
- Young Rising Sons
- Ibeyi
- AWOLNATION
- Walking On Cars
- Yumi Zouma
- Cazzette
- Circa Waves
- Snootie Wild
- Meg Mac
- Mystery Skulls
- Tove Styrke
- LANY
- Laura Welsh
- Cheerleader
- Joey Bada$$
- Tkay Maidza
- Gengahr
- Odesza
- Big Data
- Elliphant
- Jess Glynne
- Johnny Stimson
- Mallory Knox
- Run the Jewels
- Natalie Prass
- Mansionair
- Marina and The Diamonds
- The Knocks
- Songhoy Blues
- Brenmar
- Beginners
- Fetty Wap
- Greg Holden
- Ivy Levan
- Whitehorse
- George Maple
- Amason
- Misterwives
- Elle King
- Freedom Fry
- Von Hertzen Brothers
- Andy Shauf
- Razihel
- Kevin Gates
- Matthew E. White
- Black Rivers
- X Ambassadors
- Griz
- Epik High
- Marian Hill
- Makthaverskan
- Austin Basham
- Public Service Broadcasting
- Thylacine
- JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
- Stromae
- Uz
- Night Terrors of 1927
- Jaill
- The War On Drugs
- Mike Will Made It
- Noveller
- Girlpool
- Haywyre
- Rangleklods
- Laleh
- Caloncho
- Flag Ship
- Courtney Barnett
- KAYTRANADA
- Summer Heart
- Fort Romeau
- Night Riots
Lou Reed’s compositional manuscript with chords and lyrics to “Heroin”
“Heroin” is a song by The Velvet Underground, released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964, the song, which overtly depicts heroin use and abuse, is one of the band’s most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming writes, “While ‘Heroin’ hardly endorses drug use, it doesn’t clearly condemn it, either, which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners”.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it #455 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
And now you can sing along:
https://youtu.be/ffr0opfm6I4
