Music Biz Headlines, May 31, 2021

By Kerry Doole

Edgar Breau reaches into the vault to reclaim first solo album

The release of Edgar Breau’s long-lost solo album Shadows of Ecstasy adds one more chapter to the improbable history of Hamilton psychedelic cult band Simply Saucer. The 11 folk-oriented tracks on Shadows of Ecstasy were recorded by Breau in 1990 and 1991 at Grant Avenue Studio. But Breau turned his back on what was intended to be his solo debut and the tapes languished in storage at the studio for more than 10 years without being heard. –  Graham Rockingham, Hamilton Spectator

'I never knew that song was about Elvis': Songwriter Christopher Ward on the legacy of 'Black Velvet'

As a musician who had released albums on Warner Music Canada and Attic Records, and who understood the difficulty Canadian artists faced, Ward the VJ was proud he could give Canadian acts exposure. Here he discusses that and his biggest hit song. – Nick Krewen, Toronto Star 

Virtual ECMA week offers the best in Atlantic Canadian music June 10 to 13

Since live, in-person concert events are still not possible as Nova Scotia waits for the current third wave of Covid-19 cases to ebb, the rescheduled East Coast Music Awards Festival brings its performances to Atlantic Canadians with a unique slate of streaming events from Thursday, June 10 to Sunday, June 13. – Stephen Cooke, Saltwire

Trudeau government slow to protect rights of gig workers

Today the gig economy encompasses a lot more than jazz musicians. It includes technology workers, sales people, health workers, and all kinds of arts and culture producers. It is a rapidly growing economic sector. Year by year the gig portion increases in size relative to the rest of the economy, but the position of those workers is precarious. – Karl Nerenberg, Rabble

Q&A: Buffy Sainte-Marie on giving back, Indigenous rights and the Greenwich Village folk scene

Though Saint-Marie is aware many in America thought she disappeared after being blacklisted by then president Richard Nixon for protest songs such as "Universal Soldier," she is still speaking out loudly and proudly. And she is enjoying a well-deserved reemergence in the public consciousness thanks to a recent biography, by Andrea Warner, with a foreword by Sainte-Marie's longtime friend Joni Mitchell. – Steve Baltin, Forbes

Record review: Century Egg’s Little Piece of Hair hits hard

For its label debut, the Halifax four-piece is sharp and sunny. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast

Shania Twain rocks 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman' outfit 22 years later: 'It feels awesome'

Shania Twain is reviving one of her most iconic looks to help launch the return of her Las Vegas residency. After the pandemic shuttered her Let’s Go! shows at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Twain, 55, is gearing to relaunch her residency later this year. To help fans get excited, the five-time Grammy winner is dusting off a piece of her Man! I Feel Like a Woman! wardrobe. – Mark Daniell, Toronto Sun

A Tribe Called Red calls it quits, allowing The Halluci Nation to rise in its place

Last last month saw the retirement of A Tribe Called Red as a going musical concern and a globally recognized “brand” and the announcement that Bear and 2oolman would be carrying on together as The Halluci Nation. Further word came over the May long weekend that The Halluci Nation’s first album, One More Saturday Night, will arrive July 30. – Ben Rayner, Globe and Mail

Country singer Paul Brandt won’t perform if Calgary Stampede goes ahead

The Calgary Stampede is expected to go ahead this summer, but the country music star initially pegged to headline the main stage won’t be taking part. Paul Brandt says he won’t be performing at the world-renowned rodeo and fair if it goes ahead in July. – CP

kd lang on her new remix album Makeover, life under lockdown and the secret to a good DIY haircut

kd lang's new album Makeover is a collection of her dance hall classics from the 1990s. Here, she tells The Globe about why Makeover (out May 28) is the perfect pandemic album, what it felt like to see her mom vaccinated and the secret to a good DIY haircut. – Courtney Shea, Globe and Mail

How Liberty Silver gracefully paved the way for equality in Canadian Music

She starting singing as part of a band, opening for Bob Marley at Madison Square Garden, when she was 12 and grew to become the first black woman to win a Juno Award a decade later – Liberty Silver has had a career most people can only dream of.– Dan Boshart, 519 Magazine

I M U R creates an introspective pandemic album with My Molecules

If you’re prone to overthinking at all, you probably spent the past year in lockdown (with nowhere to go and no one to see to distract you) doing a lot of brooding and obsessing over basically everything. Well, so did I M U R, only they were doing it in a recording studio. My Molecules is the fourth project from the band. – Breanne Doyle, Georgia Straight

Bachman Cummings reunite for Together Again, Live In Concert

Together Again, Live In Concert will celebrate the music of The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Burton Cummings. A show is set for the Kauffman Center on Wednesday, August 18 at 7:30 p.m.  – Broadway World

A cry for help from a reformed music snob (Part 1 of 2)

Hello. My name is Alan and I’m a music snob. It’s been about 15 years since my last unwarranted, obnoxious, snarky comment about someone else’s musical taste. But I’m here to ask you for some help. I’m afraid that I’m reverting to my old ways. – Alan Cross, Global News

Congolese Canadian crew Moonshine go global

From deep underground underground in Montreal to under the Congo sun, the Moonshine crew are back with their Afro-centric, bass-heavy electronic sound, which combines inventive production and traditional instrumentation with vocals sung in African French, Swahili and English. A new album - SMS for Location Vol. 4’ –has star guests including Georgia Anne Muldrow.  –The Voice 

International

Sony spent $1.4 billion on music buyouts in the past 6 months

Now we know exactly how much Sony spent on music acquisitions in the last six months: $1.4B. According to Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer, there’ll be more on the way. Speaking at Sony Group's Investor Relations (IR) day recently, he discussed Sony’s investment activities and the wider music market. – MBW

Fanhouse, an onlyfans-esque platform for Safe-For-Work content, raises $1.3 Million

Tubefilter reports: “Fanhouse, a fledgling, OnlyFans-esque platform whose aim is to help creators monetize their fan communities with safe-for-work content, has raised $1.3 million in seed funding.” – Tubefilter

Musicians name their favourite Bob Dylan songs

We chose to celebrate the occasion of his 80th birthday by surveying a vast array of musicians on their favorite Bob Dylan song. You’ll find singer-songwriters working in a tradition most obviously indebted to Dylan, but you’ll also find young country stars and ascendent art-rockers and jazz boundary-pushers. – Stereogum

Do kids still want to be in rock bands? Absolutely, say Coast directors

When directors Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart started interviewing small-town California teens for their new movie Coast, they were pleasantly surprised to find that kids still want to rock — and even like old music, if you consider the post punk of the late ‘7os and college rock of the ’80s to be “old.” – Tim Molloy, MovieMaker

How SoundScan changed everything we knew about popular music

Thirty years ago, Billboard changed the way it tabulated its charts, turning the industry on its head and making room for genres once considered afterthoughts to explode in the national consciousness. – Rob Harvilla,The Ringer

We’re losing sight of how valuable music is. I’m trying to carve a new path

By selling my songs to fans directly, I’m getting agency back in a world where music is undervalued by streaming companies and the UK government. – Bat for Lashes,The Guardian

Why so many fans turned against Bruce Springsteen

Our article takes a look at how the popularity of one of the most famous rock stars of all time dramatically changed in the 2000s. Bruce Springsteen was one of the most loved rock stars of all time in the 20th century. Nonetheless, it seemed Bruce lost a portion of that fan base in the 2000s. We have never seen the popularity of a rock star so dramatically change as it did with Bruce Springsteen Here’s what happened. – Skip Anderson  Classic Rock History

Viral teen punks The Linda Lindas clearly know their history

The LA band serves notice that it's time to duck and cover, especially if you're a racist, sexist boy and all-round subhuman. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

10 new albums to stream today

Featuring Bachelor, black midi, DMX and more. – Jade Gomez & Paste Staff

Moby doc: Filmic memoir of EDM star holds nothing back

I can honestly say that even non-fans will allow that Moby’s candor in Moby Doc — not to mention his and director Rob Gordon Bralver’s unconventional but visually arresting approach to storytelling —is as singular as Porcelain. Evidently, Moby and his music are connective tissue between sadness, comfort, and personal revelation. – Kim Hughes, Original-Cin

David Crosby remembers Neil Young's laughter onstage

Bandmates found joy in a relationship that was entirely musical and never social, he says. – Ultimate Classic Rock

Punk show promoter charges $18 for vaccinated fans, $1,000 for those who are not

The Florida concert on June 26th will feature Teenage Bottlerocket, MakeWar, and Rutterkin. – Consequence

Paid To Die novel - The exploits of a Rock & Roll bodyguard

On May 30, Paid To Die, the Rock & Roll Bodyguard novel, along with the release of the single Paid To Die, by The Tooners will be released for the first time. The book reads like a premium cable TV mini-series and The Tooners’ song is a good theme song for it. – The Rock & Roll Rehab Blog