If you too have been scared of dentists and/or the dark, good news: Vance Joy — the Australian singer-songwriter who helped Zooey Deschanel inspire a generation of ukulele girls — has announced a 10th anniversary tour behind his debut album, 2014's Dream Your Life Away. The run of mostly US shows includes a single Canadian stop in Toronto this September. With support from Tiny Habits across all dates, the anniversary trek kicks off on September 6 in San Diego, CA. The lone Canadian concert takes place on September 24 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, where the artist born James Gabriel Keogh wi ..read more

Last week, Neil Young teased how he'd bring a recently unearthed verse from "Cortez the Killer" on the road as part of his 2024 North American tour with Crazy Horse, and at last night's tour kickoff in San Diego, those lost lyrics were premiered. Young and the Horse opened their set with "Cortez the Killer" Wednesday night at San Diego's Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, setting the scene with a six-minute jam before the bandleader sang the opening lines. The Canadian and longtime bandmates Ralph Molina (drums) and Billy Talbot (bass) were joined by Micah Nelson, who is playing guitar ..read more

Everybody and their mother knows that Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department less than a week ago. Nonetheless, did you know that Pet Shop Boys are about to release an album called Nonetheless tomorrow (April 26)? In the interest of remaining topical, the legendary synthpop duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe didn't shy away from talking about the biggest pop star du jour in conversation with The Guardian's Alexis Petridis for their An evening with Pet Shop Boys event earlier this week, which saw Tennant question what Swift's "Billie Jean" is. "Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me ..read more

Never meet your heroes, the old adage goes, and we imagine Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron wasn't inclined to meet his idols in KISS after the band hit his teenage cover band with a cease and desist letter. Cameron shared the humorous anecdote while appearing with Pearl Jam on The Howard Stern Show to talk their new album Dark Matter. The drummer's story begins in much cooler fashion than being served legal papers right out of the gate. As he recalled, "I was in a neighbourhood KISS cover band when I was 13, 14, something like that. We played local high schools, keggers, whatnot. And my dad w ..read more

Bass Coast is back in Merritt, BC, for the 2024 festival season, and a recent small claims court dispute all but guarantees that at least one landlord will be in attendance. Renter Jack William Cooper claimed to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal that he was evicted for asking his landlord, Glenn Cameron Wiley, to turn down his music. Cooper's rental period began on December 10, 2022, and he alleged that Wiley forced him to move out on January 4, 2023, without notice, and refused to refund his $1,100 per month rent or $550 damage deposit. Meanwhile, Wiley alleged that the renter abandoned his ..read more

Montreal genre-bending duo the Sound of Eddy — comprised of vocalist Abigail Galwey and bassist Danny Trudeau — have announced their forthcoming EP Ladders, due out on August 30 via Ensoul Records. The band's follow-up to their 2022 debut album Fluid is previewed today with lead single "Doused Deep Inland."  "As it begins, mysterious and eerie, you are unsure of where the song will lead you. There is intrigue — the beat is unusual, the harmony unclear — until the voice appears as a sort of siren," Galwey explained. "Entranced, you tumble deeper, drifting further away from the ..read more

After the 2023 release of his album Diagnosis, Chicago-based art-pop musician Sen Morimoto has surprise-released an EP of outtakes from the record today via City Slang / Sooper Records. The singer-songwriter is sharing the five-track collection, BONK!, alongside a slate of North American tour dates — including a couple of Canadian stops in Montreal and Toronto. "Tasked with creating a radio-friendly version of the title track to Diagnosis, I wound up censoring the only expletive on the whole album with the sound of a frying pan (the kind you might hear in an episode of Tom & Jerry)," Mor ..read more

In anticipation of his forthcoming third album SMILE! :D (out July 26 on Mom+Pop), Porter Robinson has announced plans for a sprawling world tour across five continents — including a handful of Canadian stops this fall in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The tour begins at the tail end of summer, kicking off with back-to-back nights in Boston, MA, on August 29 and 30. Robinson will make his first venture into Canada the following month for performances at Montreal's MTELUS (September 17) and Toronto's History (September 19 and 21). After weaving back through the US, the artist will return fo ..read more

Back in 1999, the Get Up Kids released their seminal album Something to Write Home About, and now, 25 years later, they're bringing it back to audiences across North America with an anniversary tour. The entire tour takes place in the US, save for one Canadian date — after kicking off in June, the band will land themselves at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall on October 5, with support from Smoking Popes, who will join them on the majority of the run. "Anybody can start a band when you're 20 and go on tour and have a couple of years of fun with that. But what it became, at least to us, is t ..read more

Tomb Mold and Horrendous are joining innovative death metal forces for a North American summer tour behind their respective 2023 releases, The Enduring Spirit — one of Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of the year — and Ontological Mysterium. "Ever since an all-too-brief weekend stint of live shows in 2018 with the masterminds behind Tomb Mold, we've dreamed of uniting forces for something greater," Horrendous said. "Six years later, the time has finally arrived!" The run kicks off in Tomb Mold's hometown with a Toronto show at Lee's Palace on July 4, followed by another Canadian gig at Montreal's F ..read more