Random music news for Monday, April 1, 2019

I HATE April Fool’s Day, so you can be assured that all the music news you’re about to read has been vetted and verified. Meanwhile, there’s this Google thing for today that’s kinda fun.

1. Rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead outside his store in LA on Sunday. He was 33.
2. So how sick is Mick Jagger really? Sick enough to postpone the Rolling Stones North America tour, but well enough to be out with his son in Miami. Good news, then.
3. Chris Rock called out Jussie Smollett at the NAACP Awards. And one guy you don’t want to call you out is Chris Rock.
4. These Mongolian metal monsters once played Canadian Music Week, If you’re looking for something truly alternative, start here.
5. With summer coming up, here’s a handy tip: Mosquitos are less likely to breed and feed if they’re exposed to “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex. Seriously. Dubstep could be used for everything from bug-free patios to stopping the spread of malaria.
6. According to Michael Antony, a reunion and tour of the original line-up of Van Halen are never going to happen.
7. This is an interesting way to justify still listening to Michael Jackson’s music.
8. The Arkells are huge CFL fans. When they found out that their Hamilton Ticats were playing the Argonauts at BMO Field on June 22, they were crestfallen. The game scheduled to run just as they were playing the nearby Budweiser Stage. This was unacceptable, so they had their fans petition the league to change the start time of the game to 4 pm. It worked.
9. Record Store Day 2019: It’s almost here.
10. The El Mocambo: What’s going to happen this summer? Let’s speculate wildly. (And I guess so much for The Stones playing a surprise gig given the postponement of their North American tour…)
11. Shipments of smart speakers are expected to continue to explode through 2019.
12. Madonna, the palace, and the horse.
13. Instagram appears to be working on adding lyrics to its Stories feature.
14. Kanye West’s Sunday Service is coming to Coachella.
15. Interesting: A special sort of radio for older people.
16. What should Apple do with podcasting? Here’s some advice.
17. There are now 729,499 podcasts to choose from. Wow.