Music Biz Headlines, Nov. 25, 2021

By Kerry Doole

Despite B.C. flood issues, for touring bands like D.O.A., the show must go on

They say the show must go on, but that of course is not always the case – one of the many cruel lessons of Covid. In BC, some bands returning to the stage after a long pandemic intermission have found another test to that adage, given the deadly mudslides that have closed key routes and made travel challenging – or impossible. – Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail

Danko Jones blasts Monster Truck for featuring on Kid Rock song

The Canadian rock band appear on "piece of shit" Rock's latest single "Don't Tell Me How to Live."  – Exclaim!

Monster Truck's Jon Harvey responds to Danko Jones' "opportunistic" criticism over Kid Rock collab

"It's the most contradictory, hypocritical thing I've ever experienced." – Megan LaPierre, Exclaim!

Caribou returns to Toronto riding a wave of optimism with three shows at Danforth Music Hall

Last spring, amid an endless string of lockdowns, Dan Snaith latched on to a glimmer of hope on the horizon. “As a former math guy (a Ph.D in mathematics), right from the beginning I thought: the only thing that’s going to get us out of this is science,” he told us. “And suddenly there’s this amazing feat of turning around a bunch of super highly effective vaccines in less than a year. It’s just insane, and so inspiring to me.”  –Richie AssalyToronto Star

OLP's Raine Maida on working with his son, releasing his band’s NFT album

Raine Maida swears he’s not trying to be an “overprotective dad,” yet when it comes to his son’s music career he finds himself especially precious.The Our Lady Peace frontman says he’s on the home stretch of working on the debut album by Rowan, his 17-year-old son with wife and singer Chantal Kreviazuk, and hopes to have it finished around Christmas. – David Friend, CP

Toronto Pillars: The Rex Hotel has a long legacy in the Toronto jazz scene

One of the city's busiest music venues has bounced back from the pandemic. – Richard Trapunski, NOW

Business leaders raise $50K to keep Rainbow Bistro going

The funding is the first step in a four-part plan to help the live-music landmark stay in business, said Kevin Ford, CEO of Calian Group. – Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen

Grimes has "literally zero interest" in being famous anymore

We're halting the presses on our latest meme homage to Grimes to bring you the news that, despite the Canadian pop experimentalist and Karl Marx scholar having become something of a social media icon, she says she has "literally zero interest" in being famous anymore. The artist born Claire Boucher lamented her social media obligations on Twitter, naturally. – Megan LaPierre, Exclaim

Vancouver musician Haley K Turner dedicates new Hanukkah song to Adam Sandler

When comedian Adam Sandler debuted "The Chanukah Song" on Saturday Night Live in 1994, it became an international sensation. Since then, Sandler has pleaded for someone else to write another song celebrating the eight-day Jewish holiday. This month, Vancouver singer-songwriter Haley K Turner answered the call with "Intangible Things (A Hanukkah Song)". – Charlie Smith, Georgia Straight

Best new holiday music 2021: Molly Johnson, Tami Neilson, Tyler Shaw, more

Originals and covers by more than 20 artists including PIQSIQ, Tenille Townes and Kelly Clarkson. – Andrea Warner, CBC Music ·

The Vancouver Bach Choir’s performance of St. Nicolas Cantata is a festive experience for the entire family

The Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs will be performing Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas Cantata at the Orpheum on November 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the concert are on sale now. – Georgia Straight

Dallas Smith, Vance Joy and many more reveal upcoming Toronto shows

Canadian country star Dallas Smith, Corb Lund, Australian singer-songerwriter Vance Joy,  American trumpet legend Herb Alpert have all just announced TO shows.  –Garnet Fraser, Toronto Star

It’s brass, it’s Canadian and it’s Christmas

The Canadian Brass is back on the road again, making spirits bright for 50 years and counting. And on Nov. 26 at 8 p.m., the world-renowned brass quintet bring its “Making Spirits Bright!” show to the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Leonard Turnevicius, Hamilton Spectator

Stratford Festival announces 2022 season that will see long-delayed opening of the new Tom Patterson Theatre

The Stratford Festival is planning for a return to something resembling normal next year, with 10 productions in repertory and all four of its indoor theatres in operation. The major celebratory event of Stratford’s 2022 season will be the long-delayed opening of the company’s new $72-million Tom Patterson Theatre. – JK Nestruck, The Globe and Mail

International

Why the 80/20 rule will be crucial to Hipgnosis' mission to buy catalogs worth billions

Important queries were cleared up by Merck Mercuriadis and the Hipgnosis board at the Capital Markets Day last week – and although it’s deep in the weeds, it’s important stuff for the future of billions-of-dollars-worth of music rights, and where/how they’re gonna be owned in the years ahead.  –Tim Ingham, MBW

Sony Music buys $100m of shares in NetEase's music service

There’s another blockbuster music IPO on the horizon… with participation from one majorly interesting founding partner. Chinese technology giant NetEase Inc. has confirmed that its subsidiary Cloud Village – which operates music streaming service NetEase Cloud Music – will list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 2 under the symbol “9899.HK.”  Murray Stassen, MBW

Levantine Music joins independent licensing agency IMPEL

Los Angeles-based Levantine Music, an independent publisher focused on music from the Middle East and North Africa, has joined independent digital licensing agency IMPEL. Levantine Music says that it brings music from the MENA region to the West, and develops and supports local artists in the region. – Jack Needham, MBW

Two victories for emerging music artists in Washington D.C.

While the major music publishers have faced multiple disappointments from policy makers in D.C., the evolving marketplace has still worked out rather well for the bottom lines of the publishers and their corporate parents. – Forbes

Music listening fell 10% in last 8 years as podcasts, spoken word audio grew

U.S. consumers are listening to more spoken word audio and less music according to a new annual survey. – Hypebot

2022 Grammy nominations: Absent a clear favorite (and secret committees), something for everyone

Seventy-seven years separate the oldest and the youngest artist nominated for the flagship prize at the 64th Grammy Awards, nominations for which were announced Tues. by the Recording Academy. At the upper end: 95-year-old Tony Bennett, and at the lower: 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, in the hunt with her smash pop debut, “Sour.” – Mikael Wood, LA Times

Brit awards 2022 to remove gendered categories

British and international male and female artist categories condensed into two non-gendered awards, as four new genre categories added and Mo Gilligan announced as presenter. – Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian

Peter Jackson and the curse of Beatlemania

Music Week continues as Steve Braunias reviews the book of the Beatles film about to screen on Disney+. Read some interesting insights into Jackson's Beatles obsession here. – Newsroom

Adele, Earl Sweatshirt, Dltzk, and more: This week’s Pitchfork Selects playlist

Our weekly playlist highlights songs that our writers, editors, and contributors are listening to on repeat. – Pitchfork

Funk star Leo Nocentelli: ‘Segregation leaves an indelible stain on your brain’

The Meters guitarist recorded an album of exquisite unreleased solo songs in 1971 – and thought Hurricane Katrina had claimed them. Rediscovered at last, they cap a storied and sublime career. – Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian

Madonna, drugs and helicopter-trained dogs: the dark, starry life of William Orbit

He was a techno-classical genius loved by pop stars from U2 to Britney. Then he was sectioned in his 60s after a drug-induced breakdown. The superproducer explains how he came back around. – Kate Hutchinson, The Guardian