With apologies to (and thanks to) Jane’s Addiction, this song is called “Trump Says”

Norman shot me an email from Orange County about a new Donald Trump-themed protest song based on “Jane Says” from Jane’s Addiction. It works.. more

Would someone PLEASE make this happen with podcasts and music?

One of the most-asked questions I get is “Why don’t you include full songs in the podcast edition of The Ongoing History of New Music?” The answer is “We can’t. Copyright and licensing rules prevent us from distributing music within podcasts. When an artist signs a contract with a label, they give the label exclusive [&hellip.. more

Saturday mashup fun: Slipknot vs. Disco

Everyone likes mashups, right? Especially the ones where the songs involved are polar opposites yet somehow manage to come together peacefully. Tom points us to MetalSucks which reports on this doozy produced by Bill McClintock. It takes Slipknot’s “Duality” and mates it with “Shame” from soul/disco star Evelyn “Champagne” King. Wow.. more

WestJet adds a music twist with its introduction of Dreamliners to its fleet

WestJet’s ambitious expansion continues. For years, the airline followed the Southwest model, sticking to operating just 737s on a network restricted to just North America. A couple of years back, WestJet acquired some 767s and began offering transatlantic flights. Those jets were fine to get things started but tend to be thirsty and inefficient. The [&hellip.. more

Random music news for Saturday, June 15, 2019

It was on this day in 1970 that Charles Manson went on trial. Meanwhile, in music news for June 15, 2019… Here are my weekly music picks for GlobalNews.ca. My spring speaking tour continues. Here’s what happened at Stray Dog Brewing in Ottawa on Thursday night. Has it been TWENTY years since the release of [&hellip.. more

The Ongoing History of New Music encore presentation: The 90s, Part 2(b): The All-female and Female-fronted bands

During ’67’s Summer of Love, anything seemed possible. Civil rights issues were finally being addressed. There was a feeling that the Vietnam War could be stopped. Drugs and free love were in the air. And Women’s Lib was in full effect everywhere, including music. Jimi Hendrix had become a fan of an all-female rock band [&hellip.. more

A cool new twist on album cover artwork: Albums in Motion

This dude has figured out a way to add animation to album covers and is willing to do the same for your album. Take a look here.. more

Miley Cyrus has released a happy cover of NIN’s “Head Like a Hole.” No, really.

If you’re a fan of Black Mirror, you might have seen the episode featuring Miley Cyrus. In it, Miley, playing a character named “Ashley O,” performed cover of “Head Like a Hole” by Nine Inch Nails. Weird, but okay. Now, Miley-as-Ashley-O has issued a video for a song she called “On a Roll.” which is [&hellip.. more

RAPTORS WIN! Time for the anthem.

Those last few seconds (specifically that lat 0.9 seconds) of last night’s game were excruciating. But in the end, the Raptors brought home the NBA Championship by defeating the Golden State Warriors in their own building. What better time to play this NBA Finals anthem written for the Raptors by Peter Jackson? By the way, [&hellip.. more

Wife shames husband’s snoring by posting it on Spotify.

I’m always getting poked in the middle of the night by my wife who insists that I’m snoring. She must be hearing things. When she says I won’t stop, she moves to the spare bedroom. This woman apparently had the same issue. To make her point with the husband, she recorded him snoring, twisted it [&hellip.. more

Massey Hall’s big birthday

Her doors are locked and her grand theatre closed for the time being, but it’s Massey Hall’s 125th birthday. In honour of the treasure’s longevity, Toronto Mayor John Tory is proclaiming today, June 14, as Massey Hall Day. There’s also a special exhibit at City Hall for another few day, showcasing some gorgeous photography from [&hellip.. more

Is this the future of music? Jeebus, I hope not.

I’m in the midst of preparing for a TEDx talk in Winnipeg on the topic of the symbiotic relationship between music and technology. But when Bobby sent me this article on the possible future of music, I stopped dead in my tracks. Business Insider reports on a fireside chat at Creative Destruction Lab’s Super Session [&hellip.. more

Random music news for Friday, June 14, 2019

YAY RAPTORS! So much for the Drake Curse, I guess. Still in Ottawa for the weekend for a series of speaking gigs. Is a rain-free day too much to ask for? Here’s music news for June 14, 2019. Baby Shark is going on a 100-city tour. Run. GWAR wants to visit Archie in Riverdale. This [&hellip.. more

Geeks and Beats podcast, episode 233: CESensored

The tech gods have reconsidered — wisely — and re-honoured Lora DiCarlo with its Innovation in Robotics award, more than six months after it was revoked just before CES in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year.  The awards organization’s leadership apologized, sorta, for how it handled the embarrassing situation, saying it “did not handle [&hellip.. more

Do the Canadian Maritimes get ignored when it comes to big-time tours? Let’s investigate.

Geography can be a bitch, especially when you live in a region that’s a little off the beaten track when it comes to tour itineraries. If you want to see a big-name act, you might have to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to see a show. But then there are acts who make [&hellip.. more

Thursday timesuck: Bastille’s Doom Days online game

Bastille is set to release Doom Days, their third studio album, tomorrow. Organized as a concept album surrounding an all-night house party, the band also has an online game to go with it. The home page invites players to “Escape the harsh realities of the world and step into the Doom Days House. Explore the [&hellip.. more

Predicting the song of the summer of 2019 using Spotify data

It’s that time when the zeitgeist takes over and starts searching for a song that will forevermore embody the song that everyone will associate with the summer. I’m not entirely sure when or where this nonsense began–shouldn’t everyone have their own song of the summer?–but it’s become A Genuine Thing for the music industry. Spotify, [&hellip.. more

Madonna’s new album arrives tomorrow–and the artwork is…interesting

Madonna’s Madame-X will be released tomorrow and while Madge may be 60, something things never change. First, we have this promo photo from Instagram which features her “Mother of Dragons” look. And then there’s the artwork for Madame-X. If we were still in the glory days of record stores, (a) stores would refuse to stock [&hellip.. more

New Music From The Inbox: Friedberg, Meg Mac, Bonniesongs, and more!

Artist: FriedbergSong: Go Wild This fun, relaxed track shines with a bright pop edge and with interesting synth and guitar textures. Go Wild follows this indie-pop quartet’s successful debut single Boom, and further points to them as a band to watch. Their debut album is expected in 2020! Listen: Artist: Meg MacSong: HopeAlbum: Hope Meg [&hellip.. more

Random music news for Thursday, June 13, 2019

Off to Ottawa today for the next round of dates in my spring speaking tour. Maybe I’ll see you there. Meanwhile, here’s music news for June 13, 2019. Sarah McLachlan will perform “O Canada” before tonight’s Raptors/Warriors game. With St. Louis Blues’ Stanley Cup win, Ozzy must be happy. How’s this for a stage injury? [&hellip.. more

This is very, VERY bad: Eleven years ago, thousands of master tapes of albums burned up in a fire. Now there’s a lawsuit involving “the biggest disaster in the history of the music business.”

Just before 5 am on June 1, 2008, while maintenance workers were using blowtorches to repair the roof of a building at Universal Studios Hollywood. Somehow, a fire broke out that destroyed the King Kong attraction and a video vault that contained nothing of consequence. Or so we were told. The fire consumed Building 6197, [&hellip.. more

UPDATE: So THAT’S where the leaked OK Computer material came from. And now you can legally own it.

Earlier this month, a trove of unreleased Radiohead material from the OK Computer era appeared online, sending Reddit into something of a feeding frenzy. The source of this music was a big pile of Minidiscs that came from…somewhere. But this tweet from Jonny Greenwood makes everything clear. If you go to Bandcamp, you’ll find this [&hellip.. more