There was an explosion in Toronto last night. But fear not, for it wasn't the end of the world, just content. T'was all in the name of Drake's new music video. Yes, the man who has beef with the JUNOS and Jagmeet Singh has apparently thought it fit to use Toronto as his own makeshift Super Bowl. So sorrows and prayers for those disturbed last night.
Residents reported a sudden burst of flames and loud, repeated booms that rattled nearby homes, with some saying they were "shocked out of their beds" by what looked like a full-on disaster scene. The sky turned an ominous shade of orange, and for a minute, it really did feel less like Toronto and more like the opening sequence of a Christopher Nolan film.
The blast was part of a permitted film shoot allegedly tied to Drake. Notices in the area referenced a project called "VIDEO BOT," which many are linking to his rumoured Iceman album.
So, apparently, residents were warned. Downsview Park posted a notice about potential loud noises, flashes and smoke, and signage mentioned a "pyrotechnic event" running between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., but according to local councillor James Pasternak, that heads-up didn't exactly land. His office received a flood of complaints from people who, understandably, don't check for municipal filming notices before going to sleep.
Pasternak said some residents were reminded of the 2008 Downsview propane explosion, which is not exactly the vibe you want from a music video shoot. He also noted that even his office wasn't directly informed, and is now pushing for stricter notification rules that go beyond a 48-hour notice and maybe, ideally, reach actual humans.
The City confirmed the production had all the required permits, including approval for special effects, and that protocols were followed. Whether "protocols were followed" is the same as "people didn't think their neighbourhood was blowing up" is, evidently, still up for debate.
Drake hasn't confirmed what he was filming, but he did post photos of the explosion to his Instagram Story earlier today.
If this is the rollout strategy, Toronto might want to start reading every tiny posted notice — or just assume any explosion is part of a promo cycle.
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Tegan Quin has done more than get a little bit closer to sweet victory, having now been announced as the winner of Canada Reads — an annual competition that sees five Canadian celebrities each select a book they think every Canadian should read, and debate their choices over the course of four days.
Quin bested the 2026 edition yesterday (April 16), with the historical novel she championed, Loghan Paylor's The Cure for Drowning, winning in a 4 to 1 vote on the final day of the debate. The Tegan and Sara musician successfully made her case for Ontario-born, Abbotsford-based Paylor's 2024 debut, embodying the Canada Reads 2026 theme of "one book to build bridges."
"I think winning Canada Reads, especially in a year when the theme is building bridges, is especially meaningful to me," Quin said in a press statement [via CBC]. "We're at a place right now, politically and socially, where there are a lot of forces trying to divide us and keep people apart. So knowing that my book has gotten people together and furthered understanding and empathy is just incredible."
The Cure for Drowning follows Kit McNair — born Kathleen to an Irish immigrant family in southern Ontario — who grows up balking at every typical element of a farmgirl's life. At 19, she enters into a love triangle with Rebekah Kromer, a German-Canadian doctor's daughter, and her own older brother, Landon McNair, sending them each on their separate paths into World War II: Landon joining the Navy while Kit, later known as Christopher, enters the Royal Air Force, and Rebekah serves as naval intelligence in Halifax before becoming entangled with the McNair family once again.
"It opened eyes and hearts at this table," Quin told her fellow panellists during the Canada Reads debates. "I believe, deeply, it will open eyes and hearts in this country. The rollback on trans rights, the attack on the LGBTQ community and marginalized communities in general, and this binary that we live in remains absolutely 100 percent a pressing issue."
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Thunder Bay's Wake the Giant has announced the lineup for the 2026 edition of its annual festival.
Taking place on September 12, the Ontario city will host Flo Rida, the Wallflowers, Plain White T's, Sebastian Gaskin, Tia Wood, Shawnee Kish and LOV.
This is the seventh annual instalment of Wake the Giant, and, notably, the festival will be put on pause in 2027 while the Thunder Bay Waterfront undergoes upgrades at the site of the festival. "This is the year to definitely show up. It's a chance to come together, celebrate what we've built, and honour the land that's hosted us," said co-founder/organizer Greg Chomut.
Fellow co-founder/organizer AJ Haapa further said, "We wanted a lineup that hits from every angle. It's fun, nostalgic and has so much Indigenous talent behind it. This year is going to be unreal." The event will also include an Indigenous Craft Market, local food vendors and more.
Tickets are on sale now at the festival's website.
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Calgary's DandyFest is set to return this summer, taking over Dandy Brewing on August 22 for another one-day celebration of alternative music, beer and art.
Hayden Pedigo and Charlotte Cornfield lead the first round of lineup announcements, joined by Siksika shoegaze outfit They Say Stories, Calgary psych/post-punk band Sunglaciers, and experimental artist Wayne P. Garrett.
After starting as a patio party back in 2018, the festival continues to expand with a two-stage setup and a growing roster of artists. A second wave of performers, including additional headliners, is set to be announced on April 20.
Beyond the music, attendees can expect food vendors, art pop-ups and the usual mix of surprises that have become part of the festival's appeal.
Tickets are on sale now through Dandy Brewing, priced at $60, with student tickets available for $45.
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It's been almost five years since Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust — and last we heard, Baldwin was going after prosecutors over the collapse of his manslaughter case. Now, he's heading back to court, once again as a defendant.
Variety reports that a judge has ruled that Baldwin will face trial over claims that he acted negligently during the 2021 incident.
The decision, issued by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter, allows a lawsuit brought by Rust gaffer Serge Svetnoy to move forward. Svetnoy claims he suffered emotional distress after being present during the fatal incident in Santa Fe, NM.
Baldwin's criminal case was dismissed in July 2024 after a judge found that prosecutors had withheld key evidence — a development that later led the actor to file a civil rights lawsuit against members of the prosecution team. While that legal fight shifted focus, several civil cases tied to the shooting have continued to move through the courts.
In his ruling, Leiter rejected arguments from Baldwin and the film's production company that they were not responsible for set safety, finding instead that a jury could reasonably conclude Baldwin acted recklessly.
"A reasonable jury could find that Mr. Baldwin recklessly disregarded the probability" that pointing a firearm at someone with his finger on the trigger could cause harm, the judge wrote.
Baldwin has maintained that he did not know the gun contained a live round and has said he did not pull the trigger when it discharged.
The court dismissed an assault claim from Svetnoy, citing no evidence of intent to harm; however, claims including negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages will proceed to trial.
Svetnoy's lawyer, John Upton, argued that Baldwin bore ultimate responsibility in the moment. "Mr. Baldwin is the last line of defence," he said. "Guns generally do not shoot themselves."
The trial, originally set for May, has been pushed to October 12 as both sides continue discovery and explore a possible settlement. Judge Leiter noted the case's age and signalled he is unlikely to allow further delays.
If it proceeds, the trial will once again put Baldwin's actions on set under scrutiny — even as the broader fallout from the Rust shooting continues to unfold.
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Sandra Bullock is embracing the reality of AI in Hollywood, even if it comes with some unease.
Speaking at the CNBC Changemakers Summit alongside Pam Abdy, the Oscar-winning actor weighed in on the growing role of artificial intelligence in the film industry, landing somewhere between cautious optimism and "we're all just going to have to deal with it."
The topic came up in part because of the flood of AI-generated fan trailers for Practical Magic 2, which Bullock stars in and produces. While not exactly thrilled about people remixing her face and voice online, she didn't seem too shaken either. "Well, there could be worse things with my image!" she joked — which is one way to look at it.
From there, things got a bit more philosophical. Bullock argued that AI isn't something the industry can push back against, so the only real option is to lean in. "It's here. We have to observe it, understand it… make it our friend," she said, before adding the slightly cursed caveat: "We have to just be friends in some dark way."
Not exactly a comforting vision of the future, but sure. Abdy backed her up, framing AI as a production tool that could help filmmakers rather than replace them. The key, she stressed, is to make sure it serves storytelling rather than replaces it.
"It has to be a tool for the storytellers," Abdy said, noting how quickly the technology is evolving.
Still, Bullock's take basically boils down to this: AI might be a little unsettling, maybe even a little dystopian — but we might as well get used to it.
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Ahead of last week's release of their comeback record A Wave That Will Never Break, English art rockers WU LYF had announced their first North American tour since reuniting in 2025 following their 2012 breakup. Now, much like many other artists from outside of the US, they've faced delays in the touring visa approval process that have forced the postponement of the shows.
UPDATE (4/17, 2:16 p.m. ET): The Toronto date has now also been postponed.
"Due to delays in visa processing the upcoming WU LYF dates in the US will need to be rescheduled," the band wrote on Instagram today. "We'll be announcing new dates as soon as possible and in the meantime all tickets will remain valid, but you can get a refund at point of purchase. Really disappointed to have to share this news, but will be there real soon, sorry to anyone that already made travel plans, love you forever."
As of this writing, it appears as though their lone Canadian gig in Toronto at the Mod Club on April 30 is still on; tickets, however, are sold out.
Acts like PONY and Anna von Hausswolff are also among the international musicians who have recently had to cancel or delay scheduled US tours due to delays in the process for Us touring visas, fees for which increased by over $500 USD each back in April 2024.
WU LYF 2026 Tour Dates:
04/24 Brooklyn, NY - TBA04/26 Washington, D.C. - TBA04/28 Boston, MA - TBA04/30 Toronto, ON - Mod Club05/02 Chicago, IL - TBA05/04 Seattle, WA - TBA05/05 Portland, OR - TBA05/07 San Francisco, CA - TBA05/08 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
We Are in the Future is back with another roundup of shows you won't want to miss out on this year — now extending to Hamilton and Ottawa!
Including Kim Gordon (pictured above), Kurt Vile, Aaron Goldstein's Time Fades Away: Neil Young at 80 and more, grab tickets before they sell out!
Check out Concert Central for more Canadian tour announcements, show listings, recommendations and more.
Joe Pernice
Longboat Hall, June 6
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Joe Pernice is coming to Longboat Hall on June 6 with an all star band featuring Mike Belitsky, Mike Evin, Vivienne Wilder, and Nichol Robertson! Tickets are on sale now.
Kurt Vile
History, June 16
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Philadelphia's been good to me finds the American singer-songwriter staking a claim on his hometown. "This is my 'bringing it all back home to Philly' record," Vile shared. "I'm treating it like my last one. I put everything into it. It's my best vocal record. It's my best electric guitar record. It's my most organic record, made in the comfort of my own zone." Catch Kurt Vile & The Violators live at History on June 16 with support from the Sadies.
Time Fades Away: NY @ 80
Ottawa's Bronson Centre (July 16) and Hamilton's Bridgeworks, July 17
Get tickets here and here:
Aaron Goldstein & Friends present Time Fades Away: Neil Young at 80! Noted Canadian performer and producer Aaron Goldstein (Kathleen Edwards, Junkhouse, Cowboy Junkies, City And Colour, Daniel Romano) reprises his role as musical director for this celebration of Neil Young's 80th birthday — mirroring the acclaimed sold-out concert staged at Massey Hall on Young's birthday last Fall.
Goldstein brings with him a cast of some of the country's most in-demand players and the set will showcase guest performances from a select few of our festival's featured performers. Be part of the celebration July 16 at Bronson Centre in Ottawa and July 17 at Bridgeworks in Hamilton! Get tickets now.
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets
The Mod Club, July 21
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Nick Lowe has made his mark as a producer (Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Pretenders, the Damned), songwriter of at least three songs you know by heart, short-lived career as a pop star, and a lengthy term as a musicians' musician. But in his current "second act" as a silver-haired, tender-hearted but sharp-tongued singer-songwriter, he has no equal.
Los Straitjackets are the leading practitioners of the lost art of the guitar instrumental. Using the music of the Ventures, The Shadows, and with Link Wray and Dick Dale as a jumping off point, the band has taken their unique, high-energy brand of original rock and roll around the world. Clad in their trademark Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling masks, the "Jackets" have delivered their trademark guitar licks to 16 albums, thousands of concerts and dozens of films and TV shows. Don't miss their return to Toronto on July 21 at the Mod Club.
Pond
The Concert Hall, July 24
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Pond offered a glimpse of hope in a hostile world on their upcoming 11th record Terrestrials (out June 19). A cyclone of urgent, scorched earth rock'n'roll, Terrestrials tips the hat to the sounds of then while squarely facing up to the here and now.
Like much of the Pond catalogue, Terrestrials is a record of people and place, of exploring the identity of each, as well as where and how they intersect and interact. Extractive capitalism, power dynamics, inequality, indigenous incarceration, eccentric outcasts, fire and water, diesel and dust, unity and division, blood and bauxite, unborn tomorrows and dead yesterdays it's all there. Terrestrials twitches with the desperation of people and planet on the brink, but ultimately bets on the beauty of both to prevail. Catch the show at the Concert Hall on July 24.
BIIRD
The Great Hall, August 28
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Made up of Lisa Canny, Niamh Hinchy, Laura Doherty, Ciara Murphy, Zoran Donohoe, Miadhachlughain O'Donnell, Sal Heneghan and Hannah Hiemstra, this sisterhood's energy is unmatched. After appearing on The Late Late Show in February 2025, the group went on to sell out every show on their debut Hystorical Tour, including Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland. 2025 also saw them become ambassadors of the twentieth edition of Culture Night, an evening organized by the Irish Arts Council celebrating culture music and the Arts, and have amassed nearly 150k followers and 25million views online in less than 2 years together.
They perform their first headlining show in Toronto on August 28 at the Great Hall.
Kim Gordon
The Opera House, September 11
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The iconic Kim Gordon returns to Toronto on September 11 to play the Opera House in support of her recent full length record Play Me. Get tickets now.
Weatherday
The Great Hall, November 9
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"It clicked for me one day, that the album was going to be about hornets," explained Sputnik, the mononymous songwriter behind the noise-pop project Weatherday. "It just made sense to me."
Hornet Disaster, Weatherday's follow-up to their 2019 debut Come In, and spiritual successor to 2022's collab release Weatherglow, is their most expansive work to date. In Weatherday's initial bout of inspired writing and recording, they produced over 70 songs for the record, but not before they had a complete, overarching narrative that was coherently tied back to Sputnik's previous work.
Don't miss Weatherday's highly anticipated Toronto debut when they headline an all-ages show at the Great Hall on November 9.
The Watchmen
Danforth Music Hall, November 21
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The Watchmen are a four-piece rock and roll band from Winnipeg, Manitoba made up of Daniel Greaves (vocals), Ken Tizzard (bass), Joey Serlin (guitar) and Sammy Kohn (drums). With 30+ years under their belt, the Watchmen continue to sell out venues across Canada with energetic shows that are stacked with their hits, classic covers, and invariably a haunting a cappella performance by Greaves that captivates any audience.
Don't miss the show when they return to the Danforth Music Hall on November 21 with support from Stuck on Planet Earth.
Bedouine
Longboat Hall, December 6
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Bedouine is known for making gentle, lilting folk songs that build fingerpicked guitar melodies into tsunamis of emotion. She's toured with Fleet Foxes and Father John Misty, and her masterful songwriting and timeless melodies have earned her praise from multiple publications and an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.
Don't miss her headlining show on December 6 at Longboat Hall.
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Niagara Falls' Misty City Music Festival will return this year to close out summer with a bang. Organizers have now unveiled the lineup of artists performing the event, which runs from September 18 to 20.
Headliners include Brooks & Dunn and Jon Pardi, who will be joined by Dustin Lynch, Lonestar, Avery Anna, Alexa Goldie, Jade Hilton, Evan Burrison, Steven James Porter and more. Additional performers will be announced in the coming months.
UPDATE (4/17, 11:47 a.m. ET): Misty City organizers have unveiled each day's lineup, starting with Friday, September 18, which will see performances from Jake Owen, Dylan Marlowe, Alli Walker, Ryan Langdon, Savannah Jade and more. Saturday's lineup includes Jon Pardi, Dustin Lynch, Lonestar, Dawson Gray, Jade Hilton and more, and Sunday closes out the festivities with sets from Brooks & Dunn, Jackson Dean, Avery Anna, Hailey Benedict, Andrew Hyatt and more.
In addition to the fest's musical programming, Misty City will also host a roster of the nation's best BBQ vendors, plus local and regional food trucks, Canadian beer, wine, cocktails and more.
Get your tickets here.
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Every week, we reconnect with our primal hunting-and-gathering instincts to put together The Eh! List, a curated playlist of the best new Canadian music — a place where the latest tracks from faithful CanCon favourites and burgeoning new discoveries collide.
This roundup features fresh releases from Zach Zoya x High Klassified, Avril Lavigne, Jessie Reyez, Céline Dion, Nelly Furtado, Milk & Bone, Klô Pelgag, Broken Social Scene, Bella White and more. You can also catch up on the latest album releases here.
Listen below on Spotify or Apple Music.
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"My name's Gwenifer Raymond. And I mostly play guitar," she says — before doing far more than just that. Honestly, it's a mystery how her acoustic didn't burst into flames with the kind of swift, polyrhythmic skill she so effortlessly pulls off with just a couple of fingers.
Fresh off a run of North American tour dates, the Wales-born, Brighton-based guitarist is the latest artist to step behind the Tiny Desk. The three-track set is hypnotic, a little chaotic, yet completely controlled. With just six strings, Raymond's talent is exhilarating but also baffling, in all the best ways.
The timing isn't accidental. Raymond is in the middle of a busy touring stretch that will carry her through the fall with stops in Orilla, Ottawa and Guelph this summer.
She's also lining up a steady stream of releases. A new live album, Live at WFMU, lands April 24, capturing a raw session recorded at the tail end of her 2025 East Coast tour. It pulls from recent work, including the widely praised Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, and leans into the stripped-back intensity that defines her live sound.
Further out, her early records You Never Were Much of a Dancer and Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain are getting remastered vinyl reissues, arriving September 4. Long considered modern staples of fingerstyle guitar, they're being reintroduced with a fuller, more expansive sound.
But right now, it's the Tiny Desk that does the heavy lifting. Minimal talking, just her and the guitar — and somehow, that's more than enough. Watch Raymond's performance below, where you'll also find her upcoming tour dates.
Gwenifer Raymond 2026 Tour Dates:
05/03 London, UK - Shake The High Road Festival
05/03 Stroud, UK - NeoAncients Festival
05/07 Wrexham, UK - Focus Wales
05/08 Aalborg, Denmark - Shelter from the Storm
05/09 Brussels, Belgium - Vorst Nationaal / Forest National (with Mitski)
05/21 London, UK - Royal Albert Hall (with Mitski)
06/01 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera A La Ciutat
06/06 Newcastle, UK - Marrapalooza
06/13 Rouen, France - Rush Festival
06/20 Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Music Festival
07/03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07/05 Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival
07/10 Ottawa, ON - Bluesfest
07/17–19 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
07/24 Baie-Saint-Paul, QC - Le Festif!
07/31 London, UK - Hush Festival
08/16 Grande Prairie, AB, CA - Bear Creek Folk Festival
08/22 Suffolk, UK - FolkEast
08/26 Sydney, Australia - Lazy Thinking
08/27 Brisbane, Australia - Cave Inn
08/28 Melbourne, Australia - Northcote Social Club
08/29 Adelaide, Australia - Arthur Art Bar
Considering the amount of fanfare that came with the 50th anniversary Saturday Night Live celebration last year, ranging from a movie about the first episode of the series to a documentary and a docuseries to various specials, it's easy to assume everything there is to say about the show had been said. But Morgan Neville's latest documentary, Lorne, shows, one impenetrable SNL safe that has yet to be cracked: the creator of the sketch show, Lorne Michaels himself.
The brains behind the iconic show, the legendary Canadian comedian, screenwriter and producer has managed to remain a mystery to even those who have worked for him for years. Taking his privacy seriously, those fortunate to know him on a personal level will be the first to admit it's tough to gain admittance into his inner circle; once inside, they all seem to agree that Michaels lives a rather unremarkable life.
Given his tendency to keep his life under lock and key, it is unclear why Michaels, at age 79, would agree to have a documentary made. He clearly has no intention of allowing audiences to fully dip their toes into meaningful waters of his life. In fact, the most precious thing to him, his wife and kids, are nowhere to be found in the film. Instead, they're cheekily represented by a family photo where their faces are covered by yellow dots.
Neville makes it clear early in the film that trying to tell Michaels's story will be a challenge. The documentarian playfully notes at one point that the famed producer was reluctant to wear a microphone while on the SNL set, making it difficult to capture a simple candid conversation between Michaels and some of his cast and crew.
What the Academy Award-winning filmmaker pries out of his subject, though, is that Michaels is a man full of interesting contradictions. The Toronto-born showrunner thrives within the weekly chaos of putting on a live television show, but, in his personal life, he rarely veers from the narrow confines of his established routines. He's a man who loves controversy and is unafraid of hosting divisive figures on the show, but rarely does he have any insightful justification for his decision beyond the person being popular at the time. Michaels personifies the creativity and rewarding risk taking that one associates with the hustle and bustle of New York, but craves the quiet solitude of his farm in Maine.
Michaels may be a complex individual, but he's proven fiercely protective of his projects and staff. His father figure persona — be it his numerous words of wisdom or his silent facial expressions and gestures of disapproval — has made him endearing to those who work with him. It's why so many former and current cast members comment about cherishing the slightest signs of approval he gives. To make Michaels laugh is a high that no drug can match.
As expected, Michaels seems most at ease in the film when talking about his cast members and the trials and tribulations that have come with overseeing Saturday Night Live for five decades. Taking the audience through the inner workings of the show, including the Monday meeting with the cast and the show's host that week, the Wednesday night panic of the writer's frantically working on scripts, the table reads, dress rehearsals, and more, Lorne uses behind-the-scenes footage as the rope that pulls the fragments of Michaels's career together.
Touching on how Michaels went from being the star of a short-lived Canadian comedy series (The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour) to moving to Los Angeles, where he reinvented himself as a producer via his work on the Emmy-winning Lily Tomlin special Lily, Neville paints the picture of a talented comedian and writer who saw the potential to take television in a new direction. Taking an "I know it when I see it" approach to identifying what's funny, his deft knowledge of comedy and talent helped to launch a slew of talented performers whose stars continue to shine post-SNL.
Lorne doesn't just give roses to its subject, however, as he not only had to navigate a turbulent five-year period when he left SNL and struggled to get other shows off the ground, but also contended with various studio executives over the years who didn't always like his choice of cast members or the shows humour.
Never delving too deeply into any of the issues it touches on, Lorne won't offer much in the way of new insight for the hardcore SNL fans. However, for the casual viewers, it will provide enough insight to get a solid understanding of Michaels's overall importance in show. Opting for a light-hearted tone, Neville's film plays closer to his LEGO-infused Pharrell Williams documentary Piece by Piece than his touching Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? The most surprising about from Lorne is how funny the documentary is.
Incorporating interviews with a who's who of past and current SNL cast members, as well as moments of witty animation, half of the joy of the film is watching individuals sit around sharing stories about Michaels. Factor in the heavy dose of nostalgia that comes from the numerous clips of SNL sketches, cast audition footage and the non-SNL projects Michaels produced (mainly 30 Rock, ¡Three Amigos! and Wayne's World) and Neville delivers, if nothing else, a very entertaining documentary.
Lorne may not stray too far off the beaten path, but it will have audiences laughing along the way.
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Halifax Music Fest returns to Garrison Grounds at Citadel Hill this summer for the weekend of June 26 and 27, and organizers have just unveiled some of the lineup's first performers.
UPDATE (4/17, 11:22 a.m. ET): Halifax Music Fest has detailed its night two (June 27) lineup. Weezer will headline the Garrison Grounds on Saturday, and will also be joined by Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional and Silversun Pickups.
Tickets go on sale this Monday (April 20) at 10 a.m. local time via the festival's official website.
Taking the stage on Friday night are the Chicks, Shaboozey, Blue Rodeo and the Barr Brothers. Saturday's lineup has yet to be revealed, but an Instagram post shared by the festival promises an announcement is "coming soon."
General admission tickets (as well as bleacher, suite and premium passes) go on sale this Friday, March 20, at 10 a.m. AT., alongside limited early-bird single-day tickets for June 26.
See the announcement below.
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Yellowknife's Folk of the Rocks teased its 2026 lineup earlier this year, revealing that Aysanabee, the OBGMs, Virgo Rising, Janky Bungag, Justine Giles, Marrow Bones, Robert Adam, Northwyne, Dumb Crush and R.A.S.K.L. were scheduled to join the festivities running July 17 to 19 under the midnight sun.
Now, organizers have shared the second wave of artists, including Great Lake Swimmers, Drives the Common Man, the Darcys, Waahli, Altered by Mom, FONTINE, Electric Lemonade, Daughters of Donbas, Gnarwhal, Jeffrey Straker, Cat McGurk, June Trasher, Stacie Arden Smith, Upper Mall Rats, the Only, Worn and Glam on the Rocks.
UPDATE (4/17, 11 a.m. ET): Folk on the Rocks has announced the Main Stage Showdown lineup, taking place at the Explorer Hotel ahead of the festival on June 6. Performers include Turtle & Guests, Anica, Olivia Mater, Sami Blanco (sunaïra / temple volant), Lil Vogel, Rob Elo, Travina Lynn, Georges C, Evie from Earth and Sun Starved.
As always, the festival will also feature community programming, including NorthWords NWT Storytime, Rock the Arts Puppets and Taiga Yoga, as well as local food vendors, cold beverages, artisans and community organizations.
The third and final wave of performers is expected to be announced on May 15. Early-bird tickets are on sale now via Folk on the Rock's website.
If there was ever a film that's a perfect bullseye for Exclaim! Magazine, it's surely Mile End Kicks, which is about trying to make it as a music critic in the halcyon days of Montreal's indie rock boom. It's got original music from TOPS, live footage of Islands, a background character named Claire who I'm pretty sure is supposed to be Grimes snorting drugs off a toilet, and even shots of an inbox full of emails from publicist Brendan Bourke. (Shout out to Brendan — nice to see you at that Tokyo Police Club farewell show.)
Mile End Kicks is the second feature from Chandler Levack, and it's a coming-of-a-slightly-older-age story following her excellent 2022 high school cringe comedy I Like Movies. Barbie Ferreira plays Grace, seemingly a stand-in for Levack herself, a 23-year-old who moves to Montreal in pursuit of cheap rent and cool loft parties while she spends the summer writing a 33 1⁄3 book.
It's a joy to witness the 2011-isms: a new Joanna Newsom album landing on Grace's desk, bands wearing American Apparel hoodies in front of projections on bedsheet backdrops, and the mere suggestion that four doofs with a bad band name might start generating buzz with Pavement-y sounding indie rock. It's similarly delightful watching the sheer early-20s-ness of these characters, who blindly pursue their dreams with little sense of future consequence, armed with the confidence that they still have years left to get their shit together.
Much like I Like Movies — whose star, Isaiah Lehtinen, plays bass in the aforementioned badly named Bone Patrol — Mile End Kicks is a mea culpa in movie form, as a self-involved character fucks up and freeloads before hard-earned realizations ultimately ensue.
Grace grows without fully cleaning up her messy life, and Mile End Kicks pays off in ways that are satisfying without being too tidy. There's a lot to connect with in this account of the awkwardness at the core of youthful abandon, which will be relatable even to those who didn't also happen to be aspiring music critics in the early 2010s.
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Ahead of the world premiere of The Christophers, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey congratulated attendees on living in the same time as Steven Soderbergh — a director who has been on an absolute tear in the past decade, making films at a clip of more than one per year.
The Christophers is his second film of 2025, and it's an art heist in a similar way that this past March's Black Bag was an espionage thriller, relying on dialogue rather than the usual action-packed hallmarks of the genre.
Ian McKellen plays Julian Sklar, a crotchety artist who painted two famous series of portraits in the '90s known as The Christophers. He's since fallen into irrelevance, and his money-hungry children (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) plot their payday by hiring art fraud Lori (Michaela Coel) to finish his third series of Christophers, which have been gathering dust on an unoccupied floor of his London home.
Lori gets hired as his assistant, and thus begins the true point of the film: for these two ambassadors for their generations to spar, trading jabs about art, legacy and cancel culture, with Lori poking holes in Julian's stubborn belligerence, and the myopic artist responding with cutting wit and comical harshness.
McKellen and Coel spend nearly all of the film on screen together, delivering almost all of the lines in this dialogue-heavy film, taking stock of their lives. It's mostly played for laughs, with McKellen delightfully conveying his character's frustrating, fickle moods. One minute, he's Lydia Tár, griping self-importantly about kids these days; the next he's Ebenezer Scrooge, prancing around with Christmas morning enlightenment; moments later, he's forgotten his realization and is back to hostility.
Through it all, the pair forge an unsteady bond, all of the quips and barbs paying off with bittersweet regret and touching redemption. The staging is simple enough to be a play, and all McKellen and Coel need is each other to make this a dynamic, emotional and surprising journey.
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Toronto experimental music institution TONE Festival is launching its 2026 season with a run of shows throughout the late spring.
TONE 2026 will launch with a double bill at Standard Time on May 14, featuring two exploratory guitarists: Eric Chenaux (with Ryan Driver) and Rafael Toral.
In June, TONE will ramp up with six shows, including LP release shows from Luge, Glissandro 70 and Khôra & Mas Aya. Other acts across the six shows include Phèdre, Joseph Shabason and Ben Gunning, Sweet Lips, not a band, So Perfect, Bag, Afrorack, Arc & Texture, Lucas "Grandpa" Abela, Death Kneel, Nimmie Amee, Andy Moor & Yannis Kyriakides, the Ex, Setting, High Alpine Hut Network, and Triptych (Colin Cudmore, Kristina Guison and Colby Richardson).
Each show is ticketed separately. Tickets are on sale here.
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Canadian progressive metal outfit Voivod have teamed up with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra for a special live album — Symphonique arrives June 5 via Century Media Records.
Functioning like an epic piece of cinema, the record showcases Voivod's futuristic metal with a symphony orchestra, and features a best-of setlist that was recorded live on June 4, 2025, at Quebec City's Grand Theatre. It is previewed today by the first single "Forgotten in Space (Symphonique)."
"Taken from the album Killing Technology, 'Forgotten in Space' transports us to a Mad Max-esque science-fiction universe," the band's bassist Dominic "Rocky" Laroche Denis shared in a release. "Piggy" D'Amour was even inspired by it when composing parts of the original version. This incredible symphonic masterpiece, orchestrated by Hugo Begin, offers a powerful orchestral introduction that takes us on a musical journey where the fusion of metal and classical music invites us to imagine, for 6 minutes and 27 seconds, that humanity itself may have been forgotten in space."
Voivod are touring throughout Europe and the UK this year for both headlining and festival dates. They will eventually return to their home country in 2027 to play the Municipale Palace Theatre in Chicoutimi, QC, on January 30 alongside the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Symphony Orchestra.
"This live album with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra is a longtime dream turned reality," said Voivod drummer and founding member Michel "Away" Langevin. "Thankfully, we will experience it again in 2027 with the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, right in the region where Voïvod formed back in 1983. We wish to take this show across the globe with local orchestras one day, but in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this epic release. It's the closest we've ever come to sounding like a dystopian sci-fi movie soundtrack, another dream of ours!"
Tickets for the show are on sale now, and you can check out the new single and album tracklist below.
Symphonique:
- Experiment (Symphonique)
- Holographic Thinking (Symphonique)
- The Unknown Knows (Symphonique)
- The End Of Dormancy (Symphonique)
- Into My Hypercube (Symphonique)
- Forgotten In Space (Symphonique)
- Cosmic Drama (Symphonique)
- Pre-Ignition (Symphonique)
- Nuclear War (Symphonique)
- Fall (Symphonique)
- Tribal Convictions (Symphonique)
- Astronomy Domine (Symphonique)[Pink Floyd Cover Version]
Voivod 2027 Tour Dates:
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Meghan Trainor's threats to go on tour were apparently empty.
The pop star announced yesterday that she's cancelled the entirety of her Get in Girl Tour, which was set to hit North America this summer. In an Instagram Story posted yesterday (April 16), Trainor explained her decision, saying that her priorities have changed after welcoming her third child.
"Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time," she wrote.
Refunds will be automatically issued to the original method of payment by Ticketmaster. Those who purchased from other platforms should visit their websites for more information.
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Céline Dion's comeback is continuing to ramp up, as the iconic belter has returned with the new single "Dansons."
The French-language ballad comes as Dion prepares to take the stage for a residency in Paris in September and October, marking her first concerts since her diagnosis with stiff person syndrome and cancellations between 2022 and 2024.
The song was written by Dion's frequent collaborator Jean-Jacques Goldman — the songwriter who also penned nearly all of Dion's 1995 album D'eux, the best-selling French-language album of all time.
It's the unsteady, sun-bleached sobriety of the morning after, dizzy on the comedown from an emotionally intense night. The air is alarmingly still, the sleep rubbed from your eyes creating the effect of a fish-eye lens, the light of day unbearably revealing.
It's enough to make you swallow all sense of language. "MIME," the first single from Toronto's good company in two years, is stuck in this claustrophobic moment, on the cusp of overwhelming change; of action that can't be untaken. Before you actually disrupt the pattern, you can only gesture toward it.
"Divine intervention / That look on your face," the singer-songwriter wails as electric guitars densify the chest-opening bridge breakdown, the layering of his vocals an uncanny Evan Stephens Hall (Pinegrove) cosplay. "While age runs in circles / I'm standing in place."
Thankfully, the song's rollicking mid-tempo groove gathers the kind of momentum needed to break the cycle — even through a slow, stripped-back return to its zombified pre-chorus.
d4vd has reportedly been named a suspect in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) investigation into the death of Celeste Rivas, the missing teenage girl whose remains were discovered in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to the singer in September.
UPDATE (4/17, 9:20 a.m. ET): d4vd has now been arrested on the suspicion of killing the 14-year-old girl whose remains were found the trunk of his abandoned Tesla last September.
According to TMZ, the artist born David Anthony Burke was taken into police custody from his home in Hollywood, CA, late yesterday (April 16) and is now being held without bail.
"Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death," Burke's defence attorneys said in an email to the Associated Press. "There has been no indictment returned by any grand jury in this case and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David's innocence."
Police said investigators will present a case to prosecutors at the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office on Monday (April 20).
UPDATE (2/26, 9:17 a.m. ET): According to court filings acquired by NBC News, d4vd is now the target of a Los Angeles County grand jury investigation into the teenager's death. The filings state that the artist born David Anthony Burke "may be involved in the death of a 14-year-old victim," despite previous reports that Rivas was 15.
The documents add that Rivas "may have been a victim of foul play." Both of Burke's parents were apparently ordered to appear before a Los Angeles grand jury scheduled for February 11, with his father having also been asked to appear as a witness in the investigation.
As a source told NBC News, the artist born David Anthony Burke is not cooperating with the investigation, despite a spokesperson previously saying he was "fully cooperating with the authorities." The source alleged that 15-year-old Rivas most likely died in the spring, and Burke probably had help with the dismembering and disposing of her body.
When the news broke, Rivas's mom said her missing daughter had apparently had a boyfriend named David. The victim also had an index finger tattoo of "Shhh..." in red ink, matching Burke's.
More disturbing alleged evidence swiftly began circulating online, including photos of Rivas and Burke together, a 2024 demo of the singer's called "Celeste," and Discord screenshots that seemed to show the artist interacting with the victim in 2022, when she was 11.
The release of d4vd's deluxe album Withered: Marcescence was subsequently shelved, and his tour was cancelled. Kali Uchis also had her duet with him, "Crashing," removed from streaming services. Burke has yet to be charged with any crime, and the LAPD told TMZ that they're "not close to making an arrest."
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This week's roundup of newly announced tours coming to Canada this year includes the Strokes (pictured above), a cross-country trek from the East Pointers, a single Toronto stop from Jessie Ware and more.
Head over to Concert Central to check out more Canadian tour announcements, show listings and more.
Bedouine Tour Dates:
10/25 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
12/06 Toronto, ON - Longboat Hall
The Bouncing Souls with the Suicide Machines Tour Dates:
07/12 Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre *
07/14 Edmonton, AB - Midway Music Hall *
07/15 Calgary, AB - Palace Theatre *
07/17 Kelowna, BC - Kelowna Event Centre *
12/06 Ottawa, ON - The Bronson +
* with Death By Stereo and the Drowns
+ with the Flatliners and Jack Knives
Dimmu Borgir with Hypocrisy and Hulder Tour Dates:
08/10 Toronto, ON - History
08/11 Montreal, QC - MTELUS
The East Pointers Tour Dates:
10/15 Edmonton, AB - The Arden Theatre
10/19 Vancouver, BC - Hollywood Theatre
10/20 Victoria, BC - Capital Ballroom
10/22 Winnipeg, MB - The Park Theatre
11/04 Toronto, ON - The Great Hall
11/05 London, ON - Rum Runners
11/06 Hamilton, ON - Bridgeworks
11/07 Peterborough, ON - Market Hall
11/08 Ottawa, ON - Babs Asper Theatre at National Arts Centre
11/20 Halifax, NS - Light House Arts Centre
Foxwarren Tour Dates:
07/03–05 Orilla, ON - Mariposa Festival
07/05 Meaford, ON - Meaford Hall *
07/07 Windsor, ON - Meteor *
07/08 London, ON - Rum Runners *
07/09 Guelph, ON - Sonic Hall *
07/11 Toronto, ON - Harbourfront Stage * ^
07/10–12 Sudbury, ON - Northern Lights Festival
07/24–25 Bengough, SK - Gateway Festival
* with Hudson Freeman
^ with Haley Blais
Imagine Dragons Tour Dates:
05/21 Toronto, ON - RBC Amphitheatre
Killswitch Engage with Machine Head and Malevolence Tour Dates:
08/05 Ottawa, ON - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
08/07 Victoriaville, QC - Rock La Cauze
08/08 Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
08/09 London, ON - Centennial Hall
08/11 Thunder Bay, ON - Community Auditorium
08/13 Winnipeg, MB - Burt Block Party
08/14 Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place
08/15 Edmonton, AB - River Cree Resort & Casino
08/16 Dawson Creek, BC - Ovintiv Centre
Nicholas Krgovich Tour Dates:
04/25 Hamilton, ON - The Back Hall *^
04/26 Toronto, ON - The Baby G *~
04/27 Ottawa, ON - Rainbow Bistro *#
04/28 Montreal, QC - Cabaret Foufounes Electriques *$
* with Advance Base
^ with Gareth Inkster
~ with Little Kid (solo)
# with Tea & Oranges
$ with Pompey
sombr Tour Dates:
09/29 Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena +
11/16 Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena ^
+ with the Hellp and Interpol
^ with Dove Cameron and Hannah Jadagu
The Strokes Tour Dates:
06/21 Toronto, ON - RBC Amphitheatre *
08/27 Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
* with Thundercat and Hamilton Leithauser
Teddy Swims with Freak Freely Tour Dates:
10/05 Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
10/07 Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
11/06 Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
Jessie Ware with Dhruv Tour Dates:
10/06 Toronto, ON - History
The Watchmen Tour Dates:
06/27 Brockville, ON - 1000 Islands Regatta
07/25 Barrie, ON - Troubadour Festival
11/21 Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall %
% with Stuck on Planet Earth
Yoasobi Tour Dates:
07/31 Montreal, QC - Osheaga
08/08 Hamilton, ON - TD Coliseum
So many album releases, so little time. It goes without saying that there is an absolute wealth of new music being released on a weekly basis, so here's a handy little page to help you keep track of what's out today (in bold below), as well as recent releases from the past couple of weeks and what's on the horizon for the next couple.
Look for the little flag emoji to denote fresh homegrown LPs, and check out The Eh! List for more of the week's best new Canadian music.
April 3
John Andrews & the Yawns - Streetsweeper (Earth Libraries)
Angine de Poitrine - Vol. II (Spectacles Bonzaï) 🇨🇦
Bon Iver - VOLUMES: ONE "SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC CONCERTS 2019-2023 BON IVER 6 PIECE BAND" (Jagjaguwar)
Charley Crockett - Age of the Ram (Island Records)
Commitment - Fear of (Get Better Records)
Corrosion of Conformity - Good God / Baad Man (Nuclear Blast)
deary - Birding (Bell Union)
Beatrice Deer - Inuit Legend (Uummati Records) 🇨🇦
Elizabeth & the Catapult - Responsible Friend (Compass Records)
Jennifer Foster - Powerline (Kanada Kid) 🇨🇦
GALVEZTON - Ocean Cabaret (La Izquierda Records)
Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime? (Good People Record Co.) 🇨🇦
Hiding Places - The Secret to Good Living (Keeled Scales)
Bruce Hornsby - Indigo Park (Zappo Productions / Thirty Tigers)
Dermot Kennedy - The Weight of the Woods (Riggins Recording / Island Records)
MIKE, Earl Sweatshirt and SURF GANG - POMPEII // UTILITY (10k Projects / Tan Cressida / SURF GANG Records)
Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy - Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum (Gore House Productions) 🇨🇦
Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire (Transgressive Records)
Poison Ruïn - Hymns from the Hills (Relapse Records)
Pranatricks - Infiniteness (Independent) 🇨🇦
ps goner - there's an atm inside (SHHOAMKEE Records)
Robber Robber - Two Wheels Move the Soul (Fire Talk Records)
Chris Stussy - Lost, Found & Forgotten… (Up the Stuss)
sunn O))) - sunn O))) (Sub Pop)
Sweat - Tear It on Down (Vitriol Records)
Maria Taylor - Story's End (Million Stars Records)
Thundercat - Distracted (Brainfeeder)
Waxed - The Continental Way (Missing Piece Records)
April 10
Mitch Allen - Songs for No One (Independent) 🇨🇦
As Everything Unfolds - Did You Ask to Be Set Free? (Century Media)
Maude Audet - Que ta lumière (Bravo musique) 🇨🇦
Aysanabee - Timelines (Ishkōdé Records) 🇨🇦
Bilmuri - KINDA HARD (Columbia Records)
Brown Horse - Total Dive (Loose Music)
Dominique Claire - Wiser (I Thought I'd Know Better, but I Don't) (Productions Cap. Claire) 🇨🇦
Fantastic Cat - Cat Out of Hell (Missing Piece Records)
Flore Laurentienne - Volume III (Secret City Records) 🇨🇦
The Fugitives - The Fugitives (Rhea Records) 🇨🇦
Juni Habel - Evergreen in My Mind (Basin Rock)
Holly Humberstone - Cruel World (Interscope)
I AM THE AVALANCHE - THE HORROW SHOW (Equal Vision Records)
The Itch - It's the Hope That Kills You (Fiction Records / I Oh You)
Joe Jackson - Hope and Fury (Sharp Practice / earMUSIC)
Kaeley Jade - The Great Unknown (Independent) 🇨🇦
Jazzlab Orchestra - Glissement du temps (Effendi Records) 🇨🇦
Wesley Joseph - Forever Ends Someday (Secretly Canadian)
Dee Joyce - L'heure d'aimer (Bohemaa Communication) 🇨🇦
Gary Klebe - Out Loud (Black Vinyl Records)
Ella Langley - Dandelion (SAWGOD Records / Columbia Records)
Les Louanges - Alouette! (Bonsound) 🇨🇦
Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight (So Young)
Rachel Lime - STORIES (Many Hats Distribution)
Matt MacNeil - Floating Away (ArtHaus / The Orchard) 🇨🇦
mage tears - cats in the cold (Lauren Records) 🇨🇦
The Maine - Joy Next Door (Photo Finish Records / 8123)
Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March (Ipecac)
My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe (Rough Trade)
Øbelisk - Call to Oblivion (S02 Records / Phage Tapes) 🇨🇦
Greg Orrē - I Am in It, Vol. 3: The Re-Education of Gregory (Independent) 🇨🇦
Peach Pit - Live in 25 (Columbia Records) 🇨🇦
Prism Shores - Softest Attack (Having Fun / Meritorio Records) 🇨🇦
Snoop Dogg - 10 Til' Midnight (Death Row Records / gamma.)
Spirit Adrift - Infinite Illumination (20 Buck Spin)
Rae Spoon - Assigned Country Singer at Birth (Coax) 🇨🇦
Squarepusher - Kammerkonzert (Warp Records)
St.Arnaud - St.Arnaud (Cordova Bay Records) 🇨🇦
Hiroki Tanaka - Isan (Errant Records) 🇨🇦
Tenille Townes - The Acrobat (Township Road Songs) 🇨🇦
Theo Vandenhoff - Saviour on the Spilled Blood (Artoffact Records) 🇨🇦
WU LYF - A Wave That Will Never Break (The L Y F Community)
April 17
Accessory - Dust (ACX)
Arkells - Between Us (Independent) 🇨🇦
bandcalledmax - Live at the Cameron House (Victory Pool Records) 🇨🇦
Irem Bekter - This Winding Road (Independent) 🇨🇦
Yaya Bey - Fidelity (drink sum wtr)
blesse - Transit (Simone Records) 🇨🇦
Brass Camel - Brass Camel (Independent) 🇨🇦
Chief State - Keep Your Friends Closer (Mutant League Records) 🇨🇦
The Devin Cuddy Band - Livin' Hard Ain't Easy (Independent) 🇨🇦
Cédric Dind-Lavoie - Collages (2019-2022) (Independent) 🇨🇦
Femi Luna - Wash My Pain Away (Independent) 🇨🇦
Frog - Frog for Sale (tapewormies)
Héron - Verger (Big in the Garden) 🇨🇦
Honey Dijon - Nightlife (SOS / Blacktopia)
Daniel Isaiah - Western Medicine (Independent) 🇨🇦
SOFIA ISELLA - Something is a shell (Independent)
Kuru - Backstage Hologram (deadAir)
Lucy Liyou - Mr Cobra (Orange Milk)
LØLØ - god forbid a girl spits out her feelings (Fearless Records) 🇨🇦
Meloire - Bisou Triste (Disques Passporte) 🇨🇦
Kathryn Mohr - Carve (The Flenser)
Nameless Friends - The Quiet Part, Loudly (Independent) 🇨🇦
Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize - Nine Inch Noize (The Null Corporation / Boysnoize Records)
Sofiane Pamart - Movie (Warner)
Paste - Thanks, Roy (Independent) 🇨🇦
Johnny Payne - Dazzle Me (Independent) 🇨🇦
Pro Wrestling - Weanling (Thick Freakness) 🇨🇦
Owen Riegling - In the Feeling (Universal / Big Loud) 🇨🇦
John Summit - CTRL ESCAPE (Experts Only / Darkroom Records)
Teen Suicide - Nude descending staircase headless (Run for Cover Records)
Tiga - HOT LIFE (Turbo Recordings / Secret City Records) 🇨🇦
They Might Be Giants - The World Is to Dig (Idewild Recordings)
Thunderor - Bleed for It (Boonsdale Records) 🇨🇦
Tokischa - Amor & Droga (SOL)
Jessie Ware - Superbloom (Interscope Records)
Yot Club - Simpleton (Amuse)
Zayn - KONNAKOL (Mercury Records)
April 24
The Amity Affliction - House of Cards (Pure Noise)
Armed for Apocalypse - THE EARTH IS BREATHING BENEATH ME (Church Road Records)
Atsuko Chiba - Atsuko Chiba (Mothland) 🇨🇦
At the Gates - The Ghost of a Future Dead (Century Media)
Elysia Biro - Running from Nothing (Universal) 🇨🇦
Tom Bronson - A Collection of Sad Boy Sing-Alongs & Acoustic Country Waltzes (Independent) 🇨🇦
Cadence Weapon - Forager (Six Shooter Records) 🇨🇦
Laurence Castera - Les choses qui nous liaient (Coyote Records) 🇨🇦
Kelly Clipperton - I Am Your Distraction (Renaissance Projects) 🇨🇦
CRi - AMi vol. 1 (Anjunadeep / Happy Life) 🇨🇦
Julia Cumming - Julia (Partisan Records)
Carla dal Forno - Confession (Kallista Records)
Angelo De Augustine - Angel in Plainclothes (Asthmatic Kitty)
Allen Dobb - The Afterlife Sessions (Skipping Stone Music) 🇨🇦
Dorian Electra - Dorian Electra (Independent)
Bobby Dove - Fortune Teller (New Motor Records) 🇨🇦
Failure - Location Lost (Failure Records / Arduous Records / Virgin)
Foo Fighters - Your Favorite Toy (Roswell Records / RCA Records)
Friko - Something Worth Waiting For (ATO Records)
Jody Glenham - Still Here (Nettwerk Music Group) 🇨🇦
Glen Hansard - Transmissions East (Vol. 1) (Plateau / Secretly Distribution)
Hrishikesh Hirway - In the Last Hour of Light (Keeled Scales)
Hooper - Super Duper (Independent)
Noah Kahan - The Great Divide (Universal)
Kehlani - Kehlani (Warner)
The Leaving - Ultimate Buzz (Avenue A Records / Futures ✦)
Loukeman - SD-3 (September Recordings) 🇨🇦
Gia Margaret - Singing (Jagjaguwar)
Metric - Romanticize the Dive (Thirty Tigers) 🇨🇦
Miss Grit - Under My Umbrella (Mute Records)
Pastel Blank - Unmade in Minutes (Paper Bag Records) 🇨🇦
Population II - Gimmicks (Bonsound) 🇨🇦
Portrayal of Guilt - …Beginning of the End (Run for Cover Records)
Quiet Light - Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2 (True Panther)
The Saddest Landscape - Alone with Heaven (Iodine Recordings)
Some Fear - Word Eater (Rite Field Records)
Ringo Starr - Long Long Road (Universal)
Terror - Still Suffer (Flatspot Records)
Thin Lear - Many Disappeared (First City Artists)
tofusmell - All My Time (Hardly Art) 🇨🇦
TV Star - Music for Heads (Father/Daughter Records)
Lolo Zouaï - Reverie (Because Music)
May 1
Ace of Wands - Future Wave (Independent) 🇨🇦
American Football - LP4 (Polyvinyl)
Tori Amos - In Times of Dragons (Universal / Fontana Records)
The Black Keys - Peaches! (Easy Eye Sound / Parlophone Records)
Door d'Or - The Exquisite Dream (Independent) 🇨🇦
Drucker - See Myself Out (Independent) 🇨🇦
Eden FM - Ataxia (Cursus Audio / ADA Music) 🇨🇦
Mat Elliott - Video Games (Independent) 🇨🇦
Ellen Froese - Solitary Songs (Victory Pool Records) 🇨🇦
Eric Gabriel - Lucky Day Roadrunner (Independent)
Glum - Nature Isn't Healing (zBTFD) 🇨🇦
Goo - Oh Well, Oh Well (Record Plant Records)
Geordie Gordon - River Round (Victory Pool Records) 🇨🇦
Handsome Tiger - First People II (Amelia Recordings) 🇨🇦
Maya Hawke - Maitreya Corso (Mom+Pop)
Hiss Golden Messenger - I'm People (Chrysalis Records)
Kneecap - FENIAN (Heavenly Recordings)
Lip Critic - Theft World (Partisan Records)
Emma Louise - Sunshine for Happiness (Future Classic)
Melanie C - Sweat (Red Girl)
Modern Woman - Johnny's Dreamworld (One Little Independent)
Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere (Lost Highway)
Maisy Owen - Dark on a Sunny Day (Tompkins Square)
Paisley Fields - Are U Mad at Me (Don Giovanni Records)
Pasquale - Specials 2 (Hand'Solo Records) 🇨🇦
Psychobuildings - Tears Vol 1 (GLGL)
Isaiah Rashad - It's Been Awful (TDE)
Ernie-Rioux Roussel Trio - TERR (UNI musiqc) 🇨🇦
Seefeel - Sol.Hz (Warp Records)
Sevendust - One (Napalm Records)
John Shambles - Cabin Fever (Black Box Recordings Inc.) 🇨🇦
Shub - Heritage (Part Two) (Independent) 🇨🇦
Spell - Wretched Heart (Bad Omen Records)
Sub*T - How My Own Voice Sounds (Independent)
Caley Watts - River's Daughter (Independent) 🇨🇦
Weird Nightmare - Hoopla (Dine Alone Records / Sub Pop) 🇨🇦
WHIPPED CREAM - Home Was Always Me (Monstercat) 🇨🇦
youbet - youbet (Hardly Art)
Young the Giant - Victory Garden (Jungle Youth Records / Fearless Records)
The Shilohs made a small but significant mark on Vancouver's indie rock scene about a decade ago (I specifically remember Tennis raving about how much they loved them), and since quietly dissolving, they've yielded a fruitful run of albums from their members: Dan Colussi has gone on to make jazzy art rock albums under the name Fortunato Durutti Marinetti while based in Toronto, while Johnny Payne has made albums under his own name from his current home base on Vancouver Island.
The latter's latest is Dazzle Me, which comes out today. To celebrate the release, Payne has now premiered a music video for the album's title track. The song is a smooth, quietly reflective piano pop tune reflective of what Payne refers to as his "bearded McCartney phase," capturing the elegance of '70s soft rock with help from engineer Matt Krysko.
The accompanying video was directed by Marie Côté, who filmed people's hands around the world over the course of a year.
"'Dazzle Me' explores the connection we share with the world through our hands," she said in a statement. "A gesture can say so much — sometimes enough to tell a whole story. I've long been drawn to hands and the way they communicate instinctively. This project gathers small, powerful moments captured over the last year, across different places. What makes this especially meaningful is that friends and family also filmed it. Moving through countries, cultures, and moments in time, we encounter quiet scenes, captured as they are."
Check out the video below. The album Dazzle Me is out now.