Music Biz Headlines, Jan. 2, 2019
Roddy Doyle pays homage to The Band (pictured), more 2018 lists, and HMV hits dire straits. Others in the headlines include David Foster, Dead Popstar, Bono, apps for rappers, Yoko Ono, Las Vegas residencies, Sly Stone, Chris Brown, Nick Cave, and Wu-Tang Clan.
By Kerry Doole
The Shape I'm In
Roddy Doyleremembers the musicians who showed him what kind of man he wanted to be. The Band figures prominently. – West End Phoenix
The best, worst, and weirdest of music in 2018
Our favourite musical headlines, from the year in Bieber to jamming with Archie. It was the best of times, it was the bluest of times. If you survived 2018 and all of its bitterly divisive politics with your sanity intact, consider yourself lucky. – Staff, Georgia Straight
Are holograms the real deal? Musicians confront questions of ethics, quality
Bringing back late guitarist Jeff Healey as a hologram might seem like sacrilege to many of his fans, but the possibility intrigued one of his former bandmates. – CP
A long list of 2018's best Canadian* jazz
Jazz critic and occasional pianist Peter Hum counts down the Canadian jazz albums that most impressed him this year. – Ottawa Citizen
Overlooked in 2018: The entertainment Toronto Star critics wish they’d paid more attention to
Our critics couldn’t possibly cover everything. So today, they pay tribute to the things they feel were overlooked in 2018. –Toronto Star
2018′s best TV, film, theatre, books, music and podcasts – and the things we’re done with
The Globe’s Arts writers look back on 2018 to pick the cultural hits, and a few misses, of the year that was. – The Globe and Mail
The best moments in Canadian music of 2018
In terms of music, 2018 was a massive success. The industry spawned brand new artists, countless smash hits and an abundance of shocking headlines. – Adam Wallis, GlobalNews
David Foster, the Canadian heart of gossip, brides again
It's never too late for David Foster. Not only does the stellar Canadian songwriter/producer (16 Grammys! 47 noms!) turn 70 in 2019, he is getting married, too. For the fifth time! File under: events to watch for in the New Year. – Shinan Govani, Toronto Star
The best Toronto concerts to catch in January 2019
New month, new year, new set of shows to hit. Here's what you should have on your radar to start 2019. – Staff, NOW
Album of the Week: Put Dead Popstar on your "depressing” playlist
What Dead Popstar makes is better defined as industrial music. Imagine Skinny Puppy without the shifting rhythms and caustic noise, or Nine Inch Nails with most of Trent Reznor’s commercial instincts excised. – John Lucas, Georgia Straight
International
HMV: The rise and fall of a music icon
It was on 20 July 1921 that British composer Sir Edward Elgar opened the doors of a new shop at 363 Oxford Street, named "His Master's Voice". But the history of the brand that became known as HMV reaches back to the introduction of the gramophone in the 1890s. – Jennifer Scott, BBC News
HMV is a bedrock of the British music industry – its loss would affect us all
The retail chain, now in administration for the second time, weaves music culture into the fabric of our cities – something Spotify can never do. – Jimmy Martin, The Guardian
10 music business predictions for 2019
Predictions can be a tricky thing, but if we look at the trends in the music business over the last year we can see where things might be going. Here are 10 predictions for how the industry will fare in 2019. – Staff, Forbes
Pious plonker or just misunderstood: why we should all lay off Bono
It’s easy to stick the boot in to the U2 frontman’s grating form of activism but at his core isn’t he just trying to do the right thing? – Michael Hann, The Guardian
2018: The year in EDM
We've chosen 20 stories that provide a snapshot of what happened in EDM in 2018. From Avicii's untimely death to Swedish House Mafia's momentous reunion to Ultra Music Festival's relocation, these are the moments that defined electronic dance music over the past 12 months. – EDM.com
ND Critics Poll: Our favourite roots music albums of 2018
John Prine, Sarah Shook, and Kacey Musgraves are included. – No Depression
Witchcraft and music: The bad romance in showbiz
Witchcraft and music have had a long relationship in pop culture in East Africa. To be rich and famous, some youths have sought help from the occult. Some of East Africa's top personalities have admitted, without shame, that they sought the powers of a mganga to give them that supernatural push. – Elizabeth Musyimi, The Star, Kenya
3 free apps every independent rapper should be using in 2019
Occasionally I discover apps that bring me and my career(s) a ton of value and that I use constantly. I’ll save you the time-wasting and share the three free apps created for music artists that I’ve recently started to use daily to give my music career superpowers. TJ Bear. Music Think Tank
In Memoriam 2018: The musicians we lost
From standard-bearing singers and instrumentalists to genre innovators, from businesspeople who introduced new ways of listening and sharing to activists who made performance their platform, vital voices from all over the music map left us this year — some far too soon. – NPR
Artists we lost in 2018, in their words
Many of the artists who died this year made us laugh and cry and look at the world in new, myriad ways. Here is a tribute to some, in their own words. – New York Times
Top 10 highest grossing Las Vegas residencies of all time
As Lady Gaga's 'Enigma' residency launches, Billboard looks back at the top-grossing Sin City residencies. And, yes, Celine is on the list. Eric Frankenberg, Billboard
The Big Read – Yoko Ono: Imagine the future
The artist talks about the new archive version of Imagine, and why women in art are finally being recognized. – Elizabeth Aubrey, NME
Sly And The Family Stone feature documentary on way in 2019
It was 10 years in the making, but a documentary about Sly and The Family Stone and their impact on the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music is skedded for release this year. – Anita Busch, Deadline.com
Chris Brown charged with monkey-related misdemeanours
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office confirms that the 29-year-old singer was charged with two counts stemming from his possession of a pet capuchin monkey without a permit. – AP
Justin Bieber has launched his own line of ‘hotel slippers’ and they’re a hit
The Biebs is officially taking on the world of travel comfort-wear. The “Sorry” singer recently announced a new line of hotel-inspired slippers. And they’re already sold out. – Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today
The Nick Cave Song That Changed My Life
Is it possible to have a crush on a song? The way that I listen when I’m truly enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush—picking up the tone=arm, hitting the back button, refreshing the browser, over and over. Nick Cave's “Jubilee Street” had the effect. – Emily Flake, New Yorker
NYC street named after vegan rap group Wu-Tang Clan
The group now has a Staten Island intersection named in their honor, the “Wu-Tang Clan District,” formerly the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street. – Jill Ettinger, Live Kindly
