Music Biz Headlines, Jan. 11, 2019
A new Leonard Cohen collection (pictured) sparks heated debate, Kacey Musgraves is riding high, and a Canadian interview means trouble for Kate Bush. Others in the headlines include Mike Taylor, Only a Visitor, Netflix, Led Zeppelin, music magazines, a Michael Jackson documentary, Pegi Young, CES, Bonnaroo, and the Dils.
By Kerry Doole
Country-music rebel Kacey Musgraves says compromising ‘sounds like hell’
One couldn’t take a step in any direction as the New Year approached without tripping over yet another music critic who’d anointed Kacey Musgraves’s Golden Hour as one of the finest albums of 2018. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
Album of the Week: Glove and Ghost does its best to conjure up a paranoid past
You could say that Vangelis was trying to evoke a bleak future with his Blade Runner score, and Glove and Ghost does its best to conjure up a paranoid past. It’s almost like the antithesis of vaporwave’s blurry VCR–era nostalgia. – John Lucas, Georgia Straight
Sudden death of Walk Off the Earth’s Mike Taylor a ‘tragic reminder’ of life’s fragility, Sarah Blackwood says
Burlington, Ont.’s Walk Off the Earth plan to continue their world tour without the late Mike Taylor after his death late last month, but besides that and this weekend’s tribute concert, the band’s Sarah Blackwood says the future is unclear. –Toronto Star
Only a Visitor probes family history
An attic find sent the Vancouver band’s leader, Robyn Jacob, down a rabbit hole of research. – Alex Varty, Georgia Straight
International
Leonard Cohen’s posthumous collection of poems, lyrics and sketches
“The Flame” has a little of everything for Cohen fans and nothing for anyone else. The publicity matter claims the stray work has been “carefully selected”; but if this is the best of his barrel scrapings, there’s not much barrel to scrape. – William Logan NYT
The New York Times sends an assassin to kill Leonard Cohen
A reviewer might reasonably take measure of Cohen's posthumous collection and move on, but the Times had bigger game in sight. It apparently commissioned a piece that would not only dismiss a single volume, but would address Leonard Cohen’s entire existence as an affront to the hallowed halls of literature. – Don Mcleese, bookandfilmglobe.com
Led Zeppelin At 50
Every song by the hard rock pioneers, ranked by revenue generated. – Ed Christman, Billboard
Where have all the music magazines gone?
When other writers and I get together, we sometimes mourn the state of music writing. Not its quality — the music section of any good indie bookstore offers proof of its vigour — but what seems like the reduced number of publications running longer music stories. – Katie Kosma, longreads.com
Michael Jackson estate calls sex abuse documentary 'outrageous and pathetic'
Leaving Neverland, by Bafta-winning director Dan Reed, will receive its world premiere at this year’s Sundance film festival. – Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian
What ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘A Star Is Born’ get wrong about pop music
This winter three music-centred films — “A Star Is Born,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Vox Lux” — are vying for critical, commercial and awards recognition. But to varying degrees, each recycles hoary notions of authenticity in depicting the music scene as a place defined from the top down by compromise and artificiality. – Mikael Wood, LA Times
The premiere of the Documentary film Band Vs Brand to screen at The Hall of Heavy Metal History Gala
The feature-length documentary film directed by Bob Nalbandian (Director of the Inside Metal series) will make its screening debut on January 23at the Marriott Delta Garden Grove just before the annual Hall of Heavy Metal History Gala. – EINNews
Message to all 'punk motherf**ker' Donald Trump fans
Snoop Dogg has delivered a blistering message to supporters of the president and urged federal workers affected by the ongoing partial government shutdown not to vote for Donald Trump in 2020. – Lee Moran, Huffington Post
'Discarded wife' Pegi Young deserves better
Pegi Young, an activist and singer who founded a school for children with severe disabilities, is the latest woman to be written out of an obituary that focuses mostly on her husband. – Emily Alford, Jezebel
The Best of CES 2019
After walking miles of expo hall carpeting, watching countless live demos, and sitting through god knows how many press announcements, we're ready to declare these 10 products to be the best things we saw at CES 2019. – Wired
Choice Music Prize: Irish Album of the Year 2018 shortlist revealed
Tony Clayton Lea, chairman of the judging panel, revealed the shortlist of 10 albums in the running for the coveted prize, on 2FM this afternoon. – Aoife Kelly, EIN News
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival announces 2019 lineup
The 18th annual four-day camping festival will take place June 13 – 16 at Great Stage Park (the spectacular 700-acre farm and event space located just 60 miles southeast of Nashville in Manchester, TN), and feature a range of artists performing around the clock across more than 10 stages. – Celebrity Access
What Netflix's choose your own soundtrack reveals about the future of the music business
What if you could choose the soundtrack to your favourite film or TV show? Or what if a movie on a streaming service could personalize its soundtrack algorithmically to your tastes – and monitor your consumption behaviour to inform future curation? – MBW
Kate Bush rejects rumour she is a Tory supporter
Singer says she was simply celebrating a woman in power when she expressed support for Theresa May in 2016 in an interview with Maclean's. – Irish Times
Chip Kinman and the return of the Dils
The punk band's founder tackles the shocking regroup in the wake of his beloved brother’s death. – Jack Rabid, Rock and Roll Globe
