Music Biz Headlines, Dec. 19, 2018
Burton Cummings (pictured) moves to Moose Jaw, Mumford & Sons stay electric, and the Toronto hardcore scene inspires a book. Also in the headlines are Toronto concerts, Mackenzie Porter, top albums, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Foxwarren, Handsome Furs, used digital music, Christmas classics, record collecting, artist development, Matt Ross-Spang, and Michael Buble.
By Kerry Doole
Mumford & Sons will not be returning to their acoustic roots anytime soon, thank you very much
The Mumford & Sons fan revolt appears to have subsided. Three years after pissing off a lot of their crowd with an abrupt switch from acoustic to electric on their third album, Wilder Mind, the London quartet has carried on undaunted down the same pointedly non-folky path with their new record. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
These Toronto concerts grabbed news headlines in 2018
From Pusha T's Danforth Music Hall brawl to Gordon Lightfoot calling last call at Massey Hall (for now), these shows resonated beyond the stage. – Staff, NOW
Running back to … Moose Jaw? Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings finds new home in Sask.
Moose Jaw is 'like Mayberry,' says Canadian rock icon. – Brian Rodgers, CBC News
Alberta's Mackenzie Porter shuffles from time-travelling action star to country music star
Alberta-born actress and singer-songwriter Mackenzie Porter can’t go into many details about Season 3 of the trippy sci-fi series Travelers, but Marcy Warton will be showing off her formidable skills in hand-to-hand combat. Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald
Brendan Kelly picks his favourite albums of 2018
It's been quite the year for music, from Ariana Grande's rise to super-stardom to the release of Coeur de pirate's fifth studio album, En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé. Keeping a close eye on the scene is Montreal Gazette columnist Brendan Kelly. – CBC
Toronto's 1980s hardcore scene finally gets its due with the exhaustive and essential Tomorrow Is Too Late
Authors Emerson and Chirrey were responsible for getting the coffee-table-sized softcover off the ground, but it would be erroneous to say they went it alone; those who were there sat down for two years worth of interviews totalling over a staggering million words, with dozens of photographers raiding their archives to contribute upwards of 10K black-and-white images. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight
This isn’t your grandmother’s church choir!
With Choir! Choir! Choir! rehearsals almost ready to begin, the excitement among the pop collective’s members is rising by the minute. About 150 people have squeezed into the back room of Clinton’s Tavern in downtown Toronto on this chilly night in late November. They’re about to sing Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer." – David Friend, CP
Review: Andy Shauf re-introduces his hometown band, Foxwarren
The wallflower indie-pop songwriter is back in a collaborative mode, and it feels natural and cohesive. – Stephan Boissoneault, NOW
Handsome Furs’ brief, but brilliant career was cut short in 2012 after just three slammin’, primitivist synth-pop albums in six years when the couple behind the music, sometime Wolf Parade rabble-rouser Dan Boeckner and his then-wife Alexei Perry, suddenly split up. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
International
The Best Rock Albums of 2018
While mainstream rock fans withstood a dreadful new Jack White album and feathered ’70s cosplay from Greta Van Fleet, it was a better year for not-quite-arena-ready guitar music. – Hop Along, Pitchfork
Andrew Barker’s 10 Best Albums of 2018
Kacey Musgraves and Kamasi Washington head the list. – Andrew Barker, Variety
The Ten best hard rock albums of 2018
2018 was a rich year for hard rock, with some of the genre’s biggest bands releasing new albums. Whether from rejuvenated acts, longtime headliners or up-and-comers, here is our list. – Loudwire
The Best Jazz Albums of 2018
There's plenty of breast-beating savagery out there, so I've continued to listen, and here is my dispatch on the Best Jazz Albums (10 new and two historical discoveries) of 2018. – Fred Kaplan, Stereophile
Virtual garage sales for used digital music are barred by court
Purchasers of digital music files from services such as Apple's iTunes cannot resell them through a virtual marketplace, an appeals court said in a ruling that recalls an era dominated by vinyl records and CDs before streaming services reshaped the music industry.– Jewish World Review
The best Christmas songs were actually written by Jews
President Donald Trump is taking credit this season for saving Christmas (or not), but it was a handful of Jews who wrote some of the greatest Yuletide songs in American history. – Gersh Kuntzman, Newsweek
What's the most popular music streaming service of 2018?
A household name takes the lead at home, and two newer names dominate overseas. – Nicholas Rossolillo, The Motley Fool
11 Tips on collecting records, from a guy who owns 100K of them
Record collecting is a rather cumbersome hobby, but Chris Manak, a Los Angeles DJ who goes by Peanut Butter Wolf, doesn’t have a decent-sized record collection. He has 100,000 of them. Which begs a very obvious follow-up question: Where the hell does he keep it? – Reuben Brody, Inside Hook
10 things about the music biz that weren't fucking boring
The list includes Drake, Travis Scott, and Interscope. – Lenny Beer, Hits Daily Double
The art of artist development: Knowing when to play the long game versus skipping steps
For the past three decades that Pollstar has featured rising artists as Hotstars, one constant when talking to agents or managers seems to be a philosophy of taking time to diligently build careers and fanbases through calculated room sequences, rather than fast-tracking acts to bigger stages. – Sarah Pittman, Pollstar
How a Memphis engineer became the secret weapon for John Prine, Margo Price
Matt Ross-Spang is quietly putting his stamp on some of the era’s most important albums. – Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone
Penny Marshall, ‘Laverne & Shirley’ star, director, dies at 75
Penny Marshall, who starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy Laverne & Shirley, and then became a successful film director, died on Monday night at her Hollywood Hills home due to complications from diabetes. – Carmel Dagan, Variety
Michael Buble net worth: Singer's famous Christmas songs helped amass this huge sum
So what is the Canadian singer’s current net worth? Estimates are a staggering $60 million (US). – Katrina Turrill, The Express
