Music Biz Headlines, April 21, 2022

By Kerry Doole

Broken Social Scene is celebrating their 20th anniversary with two shows at Massey Hall

The sprawling Toronto music collective is one of the most influential indie rock bands of the past two decades. The Star caught up with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Brendan Canning ahead of the band’s return to the stage this week.  – Richie Assaly, Toronto Star

Bruce Cockburn reflects on career ahead of Peterborough show

Postponed 50th anniversary tour stopping Tuesday at Showplace Performance Centre.  – Brendan Burke, Peterborough Examiner

Arcade Fire is going for five on “Saturday Night Live.”

The Montreal rockers have been announced as the musical guest on the May 7 show hosted by actor Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s the fifth time they’ve played the show under their own name, and the sixth if you count when they were the backing band for Mick Jagger in 2012, a role they shared that night with Foo Fighters. – CP

Kids in the Hall, the Tragically Hip and maple syrup coming to Prime Video’s Canadian lineup

A dramedy series inspired by Quebec’s “maple syrup heist” and a documentary project on the Tragically Hip are among the original Canadian productions set to stream on Prime Video. Amazon’s streaming arm detailed its Canadian slate at an event at Toronto’s Massey Hall last week.  – Adina Bresge,  CP

Willie Nelson joins Tami Neilson for “Beyond The Stars”

It was one of those moments only music can make, and it happened in Luck, TX. At Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion in mid March, Canadian-born and New Zealand-based country soul artist Tami Neilson was set to perform early in the day. Willie Nelson himself appeared on stage to sing a duet with Neilson, and that song has just come out as a single.  – Saving Country Music

Rough Trade’s El Mo performance a practice run for a stage production

If Carole Pope & Rough Trade‘s sold-out performance at Toronto’s El Mocambo on April 29 seems to take the form of a Broadway musical, that’s because the concert is being set up partially as a dry run for the music that will form the basis of a new musical being created by Pope and co-writer Kate Riggs. Rough Trade The Musical is already at the workshop stage in NYC.  – Keith Sharp, Music Express

Rather than try and top a hardcore classic, Pink Mountaintops gets sexy with "Nervous Breakdown"

Never try and top a classic by playing things straight up. Pink Mountaintops clearly understands that there’s no point trying to out-anger Black Flag on “Wasted”, so the band doesn’t even try. Instead of raw-power fury and flying-snot insanity, project leader Stephen McBean reimagines the first-wave hardcore detonator and panty-removal music for Berlin art-school graduates.  – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Calgary teen ElyOtto navigates instant stardom after success of ‘Sugarcrash!’

Last August, ElyOtto, a.k.a. Elliott Ferrous-Martin Platt uploaded a song he wrote after being laid off of his job at a pet store, to SoundCloud and TikTok, and found instant success.  – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star

High school student ElyOtto an overnight hyperpop sensation with major record deal 

ElyOtto, aka Calgary teen Elliott Platt, signed a record deal with RCA/Sony after the success of his song, SugarCrash!  –Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald

Noah Reid made audiences swoon on Schitt’s Creek. Now he’s preparing for his Broadway debut

Who says it doesn’t pay to be Mr. Nice Guy? Playing Patrick Brewer, on Schitt’s Creek, Noah Reid made television audiences around the world swoon. And now that breakout big-hearted role and the heightened international profile that came with it is paying some very nice dividends for the 34-year-old Canadian actor. Also a singer/songwriter, Reid is now making his Broadway debut in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts’s The Minutes.  –J.K. Nestruck, Globe and Mail 

Matt Mays announces trio of August Shore Club shows

A couple of indie Can-rock kings will descend on Hubbards's Shore Club this August 25-27. Dartmouth hero Matt Mays has long marked the swan song of the season with a trio of always-packed, always-sold-out, always-worth-it shows at the venerable dance hall, and Ontario cool kid Daniel Romano will warm the stage with his band. Tix on sale now.   –Morgan Mullin, The Coast

Dee Daniels is having fun with the Legends of Swing

HPO program showcases Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and the Vancouver-based Daniels' hero, Sarah Vaughan, Leonard Turnevicius writes.  – Hamilton Spectator

Iconic NZ artist plays Halifax for the first time in his storied music career

Founder of New Zealand's The Mutton Birds, Don McGlashan makes an exclusive stop in Halifax to play a few old hits and songs from his brand new number one album.  – Steve Gow, Halifax City News

Music rehearsal space to replace Vancouver "gem" Woods Studio at proposed rental tower

On May 28 last year, The Woods Studio announced that it was “time to say goodbye”. The Vancouver community space for local musicians used to occupy an industrial-zone location in Mount Pleasant. The site is now planned for redevelopment with an 18-storey rental tower and commercial space on the ground floor that will include a music rehearsal space.   – Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight

Shad is rapping about Taoist philosophy, hope and humanity

Shad brings his unique form of hip hop to Bridgeworks in Hamilton April 30, Graham Rockingham writes. – Hamilton Spectator

International

Deezer, with a $1.16B valuation, is going public via merger with SPAC in France

It was rumored last week – now it’s a done deal.Streaming company Deezer has reached a definitive agreement to combine its business with I2PO, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) based in France. As a result, Deezer is to publicly list on the Euronext Paris, seven years after its last attempt at an IPO failed. – Tim Ingham, MBW 

When? Who? How? What you need to know about Coachella 2022. 

We have a quick primer on the fest, which answers, among other important questions, what’s good to eat on site: The food and drink options are exemplary.  – LA Times

Harry Styles at Coachella review – a sexy, sequined, genre-bending set

It’s an energetic start to this year’s festival with a strutting pop-rock star slickly running through his hits and bringing on Shania Twain as a surprise guest.  – Kate Hutchinson, The Guardian

The Best and Worst of Coachella 2022

From Megan Thee Stallion’s ruthless new diss track to Arcade Fire’s poignant return to Shania Twain’s surprise guest appearance, here are the most memorable moments from this year’s fest. – Pitchfork

What we learned from the first weekend of Coachella 2022

 Given the two years of repeated postponements and cancellations that got us here, it wasn’t surprising to see how pumped people were to be back at this most storied of music festivals. The prevailing mood was a kind of mellow euphoria even when the wind kicked up enough dust to obscure the surrounding mountains.– LA Times

When the gig’s up, should we mourn our lost music venues?

Amid a row about the future of the Leadmill in Sheffield, is nostalgia getting in the way of much-needed innovation?  – Luke Turner, The Guardian

Amy Thomson: How I'd fix the music industry in 3 easy steps

Amy Thomson is Chief Catalog Officer of Hipgnosis Song Management. There, her job is to maximize earnings and exposure for a collection of around 65,000 songs cumulatively worth more than $2.5 billion. Here's her take on the music biz.  – MBW

Dwight Yoakam's classic debut album returns to digital after a dispute

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. has finally returned to the digital world. Its removal all started when Dwight Yoakam sued the Warner Music Group for failing to return the copyrights to his songs from the album per Section 203 of the Copyright Act.   –Saving Country Music

Favourite festival sold out? Here are the best alternatives

After two long years, festivals are back – but tickets are in short supply. Here are some options if you’ve missed out, featuring rave-jazz parties, fairground rides and organic psychedelia.  – Staff, The Guardian

Jack White on his new album Fear of the Dawn and what happens when we lose our reverence for music

Q’s Tom Power sat down with the rocker in Nashville for a wide-ranging conversation.  – CBC Radio

BTS ends Las Vegas concert series with a major announcement

BTS revealed the release date for its next studio album this weekend at a concert in Las Vegas. During the Korean boy band’s fourth consecutive show at Allegiant Stadium, a dynamic montage of scenes from BTS music videos played onscreen. The dramatic teaser video culminated with the words “We are bulletproof,” followed by a date: June 10, 2022.  – Christi Carras, LA Times

The most progressive and perverse of Devo, according to Mark Mothersbaugh

A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.  – Devon Ivie, Vulture

Mac Miller drug supplier sentenced to 10-plus years in prison

Federal prosecutors had sought 12 years and seven months for Reavis, who admitted to supplying counterfeit oxycodone pills to the drug dealer who eventually sold them to Miller.  – Darlene Aderoju & Bill Donahue, Billboard

Rick Turner, iconic rock luthier, dies at 78

Turner was the mind behind Lindsey Buckingham’s main guitar, as well as the Grateful Dead’s wall of sound PA setup.  – Daniel Seah, Guitar.com