Music Biz Headlines, Feb. 2, 2018

By Kerry Doole

Keys N Krates find a new groove on Cura

Longtime Toronto hip-hop crew live drops its first full album — and changes its tune just a bit –  Raju Mudhar, Toronto Star

Meet the Spanish-language coaches who helped Beyonce, Justin Bieber & more sing like a native

With bilingual remixes soaring, meet the emergency language coaches being called in at the last minute to help artists roll their R’s –  Leila Cobo, Billboard

Bryan Ferry on how Roxy Music invented art pop: 'We were game for anything'

With their thrillingly strange 1972 debut, Roxy Music announced themselves as a band unlike any other. The singer looks back at how they created a new kind of music – out of Stax, oboes and Marilyn Monroe  –  Jon Savage The Guardian

Remembering WHFS: The beloved progressive station that was ‘exactly the opposite’ of radio today

Mention the call letters “WHFS” to music lovers of a certain age, and don’t be surprised if a smile instantly appears on their face, or a twinkle seems to light up their eye  –  Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

Grammy winner Serban Ghenea has 24K Magic touch as mixing engineer

Beyond his work on Bruno Mars's latest blockbuster, the ex-Montrealer's portfolio includes projects by Taylor Swift, Adele and many more  – T'Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette

DC-Area record label Cuneiform has gone on hiatus and may not come back

It looks like there will be exactly 33 1/3 years between the company's first and last releases. "I can’t run an office on free,” says Mike Janssen, owner of the left-field imprint – The Washingtonian

I started something I couldn't finish: the Smiths reunion that wasn't

Three former members of the indie band were due to reunite for a series of gigs that fell apart as soon as they were announced. Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon explain why they tried to make it happen –  David Barnett, The Guardian

Leonard Bernstein introduced the Moog synthesizer to the world in 1969

The maestro played an electrified version of Bach's "Little Fugue in G" –  openculture.com

Nine shows guaranteed to help you forget the black winter rains

With pop queens, R&B upstarts, and metal veterans coming to Vancouver, you might even forget the monsoons –   Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Hillsburn’s wilder heart 

The Halifax band discusses its gradual expansion, ascension and a new album  – Tara Thorne, The Coast

Inside the stunning resurrection of Michael Nesmith's First National Band

How a half-forgotten Seventies country-rock group led by the Monkee in the green wool hat returned from oblivion –  Andy Greene, Rolling Stone

Omhouse distils years of exploration into an epic debut

Eye To Eye, the first LP from Toronto's Steven Foster and his band, fixes a stadium grandiosity onto dense, idiosyncratic guitar pop songs  –  Mark Streeter, NOW

Tafelmusik unveils its 40th anniversary season

The renowned baroque orchestra and choir will produce Harlequin Salon, by oboist Marco Cera, in January 2019 –  Debra Yeo, Toronto Star

Friendship fuels Calgary country duo Leaving Thomas