by simply ONE of the masses

Reminding me of the famous words penned by the English poet John Newton, The Lumineers just as they spell out in Big Parade sound, “were lost, but now found”. They are a troubadour trio with outstretched sinews in traditional folk, a heart for the summation of experiences, and a smoothness founded on the ardor of camaraderie. Wesley Schultz and his childhood best friend’s brother Jeremiah Fraites brought on their true folk stomp when they found refuge in Denver, and found grace when destiny brought them cellist Neyla Pakarek. After countless open mics and getting back to the basics of trial and error, The Lumineers, just a year ago, garnered the attention they were looking for. And it’s been a Ho Hey ever since to sold-out shows. With a full-length self-titled debut album out, these artists bring their joy and pain to light, and in so doing, possibly by happenstance, preach that the good can outweigh the bad.

Genre: Indie Folk, Americana
Latest Album: The Lumineers
For Fans Of: Mumford & Sons, The Wooden Sky, Monsters of Folk
Listen to: The Lumineers

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There have been countless examples of artists and other professionals paying tribute to the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch since his passing last week: Coldplay played an awesome version of (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party) at the Hollywood Bowl; Q-tip, Travis Barker, Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Russell Simmons were among a slew of artists to pay tribute on Twitter; even the New York Mets paid tribute by having each player walk out to a Beastie Boys song. But today we learned that Yauch’s fans are doing their own part to honour the memory of MCA by… by buying his music. A whopping 55,000 Beastie Boys albums were sold last week, up over 1,000 per cent from the 4,000 they sold the week prior. Licensed to Ill finished the week at 18 on the Billboard 200 list, joined by Solid Gold Hits,Paul’s Boutique, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, Ill Communication, Check Your Head, and Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science further down the line. The trio also sold 151,000 downloads, up from 14,000 the week before. Did we mention that MCA’s death was only announced on Friday and that the majority of these sales thus only happened in three days? Yeah, people fucking loved MCA. Expect these sales figures to grow in the week to come.

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Within the last year touring via train has become some kind of fad within the music industry. First, Mumford and Sons joined the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show on the Railroad Revival Tour choo-chooing right across the U.S. in 2011. Now, Skrillex is set to join Diplo and Grimes on the Full Flex Express, a hilariously named train tour across Canada. The electro/techno/dubstep artists will be travelling from Toronto through Vancouver during two weeks in July and hitting up festivals along the way. The Ottawa Blues Fest is one stop, and Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal and the PNE Coliseum in Vancouver will also play home to the train passengers. Joining Skrillex, Grimes and company will be Pretty Lights, KOAN Sound and Tokimonsta. More info, including where to by tickets, and an awesome cartoon drawing of all the artists can be found right here.

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Word hit the media today that André 3000 has been chosen to portray guitar god Jimi Hendrix in a forthcoming biopic. Written by John Ridley, the movie will apparently be focused on the writing and recording of Are You Experienced, the album that started it all. Now that it has been made public, the choice seems like a given. André 3000 already looks so much like Hendrix and the Hey Ya video proved he can hold a guitar without looking unnatural. Plus, he has already racked up a dozen acting credits, from Four Brothers to Semi-Pro and his vocal prowess probably exceeds that of Hendrix. No more details about the flick have been made public, so keep posted.

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He came, he rapped, he conquered, and he left the world much too young. One of the best, brightest and most genuine people in the music business, the Beastie Boys’ MCA Adam Yauch passed away today. His death comes after a well-publicized three-year battle with cancer, first diagnosed in 2009, but many believed Yauch had conquered the disease. The Beastie Boys need no introduction, being one of the most influential hip-hop acts ever. Three generations of music fans grew up to the sound of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock yelling their lyrics over rock guitars. In the eighties Yauch helped the band make their name with the likes of (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party) and No Sleep Till Brooklyn; in the nineties MCA became a household name with the help of tracks like Sabotage; and in the last decade, Yauch and his partners proved you could still rap into your fifties with Triple Trouble and Ch-Check it Out. In addition to rapping, Yauch was a director, whose name (or pseudonyms) stuck to Beastie Boys music videos and documentary films. He also founded a production company, Oscilloscope Pictures and co-founded the Milarepa Fund, a charity which raised money for the Tibetan independence movement. Only last month, Yauch and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Beastie Boys have posted a full obituary on their website. Yauch was 47.

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Jay-Z and Kanye expressed their amour for Paris with their lyrics. A$AP Rocky? He does it with condoms, breasts and a drive around the Eiffel Tower. In his new, NSFW music video for Goldie, the young rapper puts on a fur coat, some John Lennon glasses and gold kicks, hops in a luxury car, and drives around the city of love… with his friend. Not to worry though, the video is laced with pictures of shirtless women and piles of condoms. If the models and expensive goods weren’t already a giveaway, yes Rocky did direct the video himself. Hopefully A$AP practiced a little French while filming the big-budget clip in Paris, because it will come in handy when he visits Montreal for Osheaga this summer. Watch Goldie on VEVO now.

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At 18-years-old, OFWGKTA member Earl Sweatshirt made a name for himself by both rapping and disappearing of the face of the earth for a year or two. Now the rapper is back, but instead of hopping back on the Odd Future horse that has seen more than its share of critical success, Earl is once again finding his own path. According to a new profile on the young rapper in the New York Times, Earl recently signed a deal to create his own imprint dubbed, Tan Cressida, that will be distributed by Columbia. Though Earl chose not to sign with Odd Future distributor RED, both imprints fall under the Sony umbrella. Earl told the Times he picked Tan Cressida so he could still align himself with OFWGKTA and use the logo on his albums. The article also reveals he’s got a solo album planned, as well as releases with The Internet’s Matt Martians and Tyler, the Creator, the latter to be called Early Wolf. The feature piece, which gives you an in-depth look in what Earl was like pre and post boarding school, can be found here.

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by Sheila Quinn

Kimbra Johnson has always been coming into her own it seems. All of twenty-two years of age, this Kiwi is more fresh than green, powerfully performing as Kimbra comfortably coat-tailing Gotye on tour as he sets flares on the charts worldwide (she can also be heard on his wildfire single Somebody I Used to Know). Sampling The Ronettes, echoing the smoky-eyed prom dress sound of Florence and The Machine, Kimbra’s pop has power. There’s no swatting away this demanding, purposeful blend of talent, direction-heavy and light as daisies on the ears. Riding the E.A.C. of the 20-teens’ bevy of masterful beauties owning the pop world, Kimbra’s timing is perfect. Rolling Stone’s “One To Watch” winner for 2012, her bubbly hot Vows puts out the unpredictably sexy basslines of Prince’s Darling Nikki, raw golden drops of Björk meets Amy Winehouse, Shirley Manson’s charcoal vocals, thundering synth claps and tendrils of maturity that can only be explained by reincarnation.

Genre: Electric Smart Girl Pop
For Fans Of: Amy Winehouse, Björk, Garbage, Florence and The Machine
Listen: Kimbra

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“Hey Dave Grohl, you’re not awesome enough as a musician, please direct a movie!” – Nobody. But Dave is going to do it anyways! Grohl is reportedly set to direct and produce a documentary film about Sound City Studios, the iconic recording studio in California where Nirvana recorded Nevermind in 1991. The film, to be called Sound City, will tell the story of the studio and will likely touch on many of the incredible albums that were recorded there, from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours to Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush and Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled LP. “Sound City is a film about America’s greatest unsung recording studio. Deep in California’s sun-burnt San Fernando Valley, it was the birthplace of legend. It was witness to history,” Grohl told Variety about the doc. Roswell Films, part of the Foo Fighters’ label Roswell Records, will distribute the flick.

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Considering M.I.A. is providing music for Julian Assange’s show, you know damn well she don’t give a fuck about the system. So instead of waiting until she released a new album, or putting it on iTunes to actually make money with it, M.I.A. released an almost two-minute chunk of an unreleased track called Come Walk With Me on YouTube today. The English-Sri Lankan vocalist put the track in the background of a grainy video featuring a room of kids between the ages of like 10 and 16 who can pop and lock and tecktonik at the speed of sound. The spontaneous release followed an M.I.A. tweet earlier in the day that read “mannnnnnn, days like this i wanna jus upload the songs right now and go clime the himalays with ikhyd on my back.” For those of you who didn’t know, Ikhyd is her baby. Probably not a great travelling partner for a hike up the Himalayas.

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There’s a reason Jack White gets all the accolades that he does. Very few people can pull off what he’s doing with same amount success. He has the impressive ability to make the simple seem complex, the repetitive seem new and the old seem fresh. He’s a master of deconstructing one riff and pushing it as far as it can go. Each song on the new Blunderbuss is like a rock n roll exploration of “the riff”. (more…)

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There must be more than one Jack White because the man behind Third Man Records has hit up just about every show, stage and medium in the last month or two to promote his first solo effort Blunderbuss. Last night White joined everyone’s favorite Stephen Colbert for a chat and a performance of Freedom at 21. Colbert and White have a history of performing together, but this time White kept it about as simple as anything by Jack White can get. During the discussion that precluded, White also revealed that only five of the 1,000 singles he released by helium balloon on April Fool’s Day had been found, and proceeded to be ridiculed by Colbert. You can watch that entire episode here. And tonight is a big night for the pale guitar hero, as he becomes the latest artist to perform live as part of the American Express Unstaged series. The entire show, to be held at New York’s Webster Hall, is directed by Batman’s Jim Gordon, actor Gary Oldman. The performance, as with the other Unstaged shows, will be streamed live on Vevo/Youtube at 9 p.m.. Until it starts, have a look at the awesome but lengthy trailer right here, especially if you’ve always wanted to see White and Oldman wrestle/manhug. There’s blood involved.

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The spotlight on The Killers in 2012 has taken a sad turn this week, as it was revealed that saxophonist Thomas Marth killed himself Monday. Marth performed with the band on both 2006 record Sam’s Town and 2008 record Day & Age, and toured with the band. The Las Vegas band is reportedly set to release a new album in the second half of this year and has multiple European festival dates lined up for the late summer. But on Monday, that exciting year fell into the background, as someone from the group tweeted “Last night we lost our friend Thomas Marth. Our prayers are with his family. There’s a light missing in Las Vegas tonight. Travel well, Tommy.” Marth reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 33.

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Jimmy Fallon was already the envy of many in the television community, for somehow convincing The Roots to be his back-up band. Then, over the last year, Fallon has increased that musical rep by attracting the likes of James Blake, members of Pink Floyd and The Walkmen to his stage, and by doing a few amazing tributes to the evolution of rap with Justin Timberlake. But this takes the cake. Last night on his show, Fallon was joined by the President of the United-States, Mr. Barack Obama, for a slow jam. Obama, or as Fallon dubbed him “The Preezy of the United Steezy,” took his government plans to prevent Congress from raising interest on student loans, and with the help of The Roots and Fallon, gave the news some soul. The best part is The Beatles-worthy screams that Obama gets when he walks out on stage. Watch “the Barackness Monster” break it down here.

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Some hilarious news out of the Courtney Love camp today. Well, that camp may no longer qualify as such as Love’s lawyers are trying to extricate themselves from the party. No, it’s (apparently) not because of the array of battles she has put them through and the unending bad publicity she attracts, but because she just won’t pay them. The law firm, Pryor Cashman, has reportedly submitted a declaration to a superior court in L.A. stating “Ms. Love is completely unresponsive to Pryor Cashman’s attempts to contact her. She has cancelled meetings with me [partner James Janowitz] with barely any notice on several occasions and has refused to return the calls of other attorneys on her legal team at the firm.” It’s not easy to give someone the slip when you’re incredibly famous, eh Courtney? Now you’ll remember that Pryor Cashman was hired to defend the Hole singer when she got into a defamation battle with her former lawyer Rhonda Holmes. Legal musical chairs is a game Love may want to rethink playing.

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The Here and Now Tour with Bush and Nickelback at Montreal’s Centre Bell was a train wreck of my own preconceptions. I was prepared to suffer through the show, bleed out of my ears, throw up and maybe get torn apart by overzealous fans, but none of these things happened and I might even have enjoyed the show. A show that was packed with the kind of people that made me feel like I was young and had them stuffed into stadium seats so high that I had no idea those sections previously existed. (more…)

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When a Tupac hologram walked across the stage at Coachella a couple of weekends ago, the social media world exploded and it was not too long before the internet was a’buzz with rumours and requests for a Tupac/Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg tour. Well Dr. Dre took to YouTube to set the record straight… except he didn’t really set anything straight. “This was done strictly for Coachella. Get it right, I want to get rid of all the rumours out there. This was not done for a tour. If a tour happens… we’ll see,” Dre said in this video. But very few people cared whether or not they had a hologram tour planned in advance of the Coachella performance. The big question is whether the amazing response it got has earned it a Tupac Tour. “We’ll see” isn’t exactly the definitive answer most hoped for. Watch Tupac own the Coachella stage a few more times and hopefully the millions of online views will sway the Doctor into making this happen.

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The Washington foursome known as Death Cab For Cutie joined forces with San Francisco’s Magik*Magik Orchestra on an enchanting evening set at Montreal’s Église St-Jean-Baptiste… Like an audio mass for alt-heads and purists some may call it. (more…)

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This is a hard record to review because I’m so torn. Technically speaking it’s fantastic. The musicianship is top notch and the production quality is superb. Hank III’s a little older these days and with each release it’s clear he’s a great musician. He and his band keep getting better with every release. It’s got great hooks, sports really impressive musicianship and just sounds more thought out. It’s almost like he put down his bourbon and focused on creating a musically solid release. The production quality here is just so crisp. At times there’s so much going on but each instrument can be heard with clarity. That being said, the soulfulness and darkness that we are used to getting from Hank III just isn’t there. With this new record Long Gone Daddy, Hank slows it down and trades in his country styled aggressiveness for a slower yet more accessible sound. (more…)

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The Avett Brothers have come a long way with their Americana, bluegrass-folk shtick, amassing a sizeable and dedicated fan-base, some of whom packed into the Théâtre Corona last week to watch these North Carolina farm boys perform. It’s difficult to not get swept away by that good ol’ boy charm these guys exude profusely, those twangy, rugged yet spot-on harmonies, and their storytelling lyrics of honest observations and simple insights. (more…)

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Winter could only pacify the Occupiers for… well for the duration of winter. On May 1st, in celebration of International Workers’ Day, the 99 per cent will be hitting the streets again in a general strike and a few musicians will be joining the party. The most awesome performance on the day has been dubbed the “Guitarmy.” Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello will be leading a flock of 1,000 guitarists, musicians and singers on a march through New York. The masses will march to the tune of Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, protest anthem We Shall Not Be Moved and Sergio Ortega’s El Pueblo Unido among other songs and that march will culminate in a performance at Union Square. A handful of other notables have already announced their involvement in the May Day general strike as well. Das Racist, Immortal Technique and Dan Deacon are a few acts that will hit the stage in Union Square to treat the “Guitarmy.” We’ll keep you posted if any more musicians add their names to that roster.

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Only a few days after it was revealed he was in the final stages of his battle with cancer, Levon Helm, the famed drummer and singer for The Band, passed away today. The famed voice behind The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and Up on Cripple Creek made his mark with The Band in the mid-sixties and seventies. After starting his career as the drummer for rockabilly artist Ronnie Hawkins’ band The Hawks, Helm and his four Canadian musicians formed their own band. That group ended up backing Bob Dylan in 1965, and after a brief stint away from the group, Helm joined them for Dylan’s 1967 Woodstock performance. After that the back-up band became The Band and began recording. What followed were The Basement Tapes and, everyone’s favorite, Music From Big Pink. Helm, who also recorded music solo and as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, continued to record records as late as 2009. In the late 1990s Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer, and it was this cancer that ultimately claimed his life. He was 71-years-old.

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With unseasonably warm days filling our Montreal spring, it seems only fitting that the blue/grey boom, pop and hiss of UK’s Snow Patrol should make its way to Metropolis to help cool things down and remind us of April’s showers before May’s flowers. The evening felt special as clouds of sweet perfume and clusters of chatty twenty-somethings littered the clambering scene. With tight t-shirts and v-neck sweaters as far as the eye can see, the sextet offered up the big-chorded, post-indie blazer Hands Open as their first effort of the night. (more…)

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He was the face of New Year’s Eve before Ryan Seacrest came and ruined it. Dick Clark, the man whose Rockin’ New Year’s Eve was a Jan. 31st tradition in households across North America for more than three decades, has died. Clark, a long-time television producer, is also known for his role as the host of American Bandstand. The performance and dancing television show had a massive impact on the rock music industry, exposing millions of people to the genre right in their homes in the 1950s and 1960s. His role in the program led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. The beloved television personality died of a heart attack while in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 82.

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