In his latest movie, The Woman In Black, Dan traded his Hogwarts uniform for a totally new role as a Dad.
Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
Graffiti6 is starting to make their North American invasion, and they are hitting up the Tonight Show. Does this sound familiar? Well the Beatles made the exact same journey over 40 years ago. Naturally, @jordans_life had to make some comparisons.
Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
Diamandis from Marina and The Diamonds talks to us about her very serious disease. It’s called synaesthetic. And we lied, it’s not a disease. More like a cool condition. Diamandis explains further.
Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
Canada Day just got a whole lot Hipper. The Tragically Hip will be headlinging a special Canada Day concert this year at Toronto’s Downsview Park.
The July 1st show will also feature sets from Weezer, Broken Social Scene, Hey Rosetta! and Buck 65.
VIP Passes are available to users of The Tragically Hip’s website, and those will get faster access to the 19+ VIP area that includes a cash bar, food venders and…. washrooms! It will also give you special access to the VIP parking lot. You’d be living the high life!
As for general admission tickets, they will go on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday, although members of 102.1 The Edge’s Inside Edge can get pre-sale on Friday, March 4th at 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. ET.
The Hip are in the middle of recording their follow-up to 2009′s We Are The Same. Singer Gord Downie also released a solo album titled The Grand Bounce last year, and recorded a song with City and Colour. Hey Rosetta! will be heavily promoting their new critically acclaimed album, Seeds.
Broken Social Scene really are a creative group. What other band could turn a free concert into a movie about a love story? “This Movie Is Broken” centres on a free outdoor gig in 2009, and within that concert, a love story of two friends who become lovers. We had the amazing opportunity to speak with Bruno (Greg Calderone)n Caroline ( Georgina Reilly) and Brendan Canning about making the film.
So much has already been said about this band, I’m not sure where to begin. Simply put, I love them. Their latest release, Forgiveness Rock Record, has once again impressed fans and critics alike – myself included. Needless to day, I was thrilled to catch up with Brendan and Justin over (mediocre) coffee.
Grab your Converse runners and your skinny jeans because this Sunday (May 9) brings an event that no indie kid is going to want to miss.
Toronto’s famed alternative band Broken Social Scene is playing in-store shows at four Toronto record stores this Sunday, reports CHARTattack.com.
The day starts off with a 2 p.m. show at Criminal Records, followed by 4 p.m. at Rotate This, 6 p.m. at Soundscapes and 8 p.m. at Sonic Boom. The day of music comes just five days before the much-anticipated release of their fourth album, Forgiveness Rock Record (it’s already getting rave reviews).
A word of advice: arrive early. And a word of caution: proceed with caution! It’s going to be a mob scene. (more…)
Amy Millan
You may know her from her band Stars, but Amy Millan has a strong solo career. Earlier this year she released her excellent sophomore solo album, Masters of the Burial. I sat down for a beer with Amy, and caught up about her new album, music blogs, and Broken Social Scene. Check out www.amymillan.com for more!
Apostle Of Hustle, the latest project from legendary musician Andrew Whiteman. Dan caught up recently with Andrew to talk about the new Broken Social Scene book, life in AOH, and how he didn’t have his first real job interview until he was 30.
Indie supergroup Broken Social Scene are getting the biography treatment with “This Book Is Broken,” due to hit stores on May 16 through House of Anasi Press.
Written by Toronto journalist Stuart Berman, who is also a personal friend of the band, the book recounts BSS’s history from their formation and now-legendary performances at Ted’s Wrecking Yard in 2000 to the making of their Arts & Crafts records and their ever-evolving lineup.
Ex-Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page, Sarah Slean and Broken Social Scene’s Jason Collett are among the stars set to recreate Neil Young’s legendary 1971 concert in Toronto.
Canadian Songbook: A Tribute to Neil Young’s Live At Massey Hall will take place at – where else? – Massey Hall on June 10. The event is part of Toronto’s third annual Luminato arts and culture festival, which runs from June 5 to 14.
The lineup for the concert, which will feature 18 songs, also includes Holly Cole, The Cowboy Junkies, The Bill Frisell Trio, Danny Michel and Carole Pope, among others. Among the classics being covered are “Helpless,” “Old Man” and “Ohio.”
Broken Social Scene are heading south in August for a run of dates billed as the “Something For All Of Us” tour.
The Toronto-based collective will appear as a seven-piece during the outing, which is set to hit several cities in the U.S. and South America.
The band, who is backing the recent BSS-affiliated release, “Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning – Something For All Of Us,” will get things rolling with a set at Chicago’s Lollapalooza Festival on Aug. 1 and wrap up the U.S. part of their tour in San Francisco on Aug. 24.
From there, the band will head to South America for three shows, beginning with Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 27 and ending with Buenos Aires on Aug. 31.
Here are BSS’s upcoming tour dates:
- Aug. 1 – Chicago, IL (Lollapalooza Festival)
- Aug. 2 – Chicago, IL (The Metro)
- Aug. 21 – Salt Lake City, UT (Twilight Concert Series)
- Aug. 22 – San Diego, CA (House of Blues)
- Aug. 23 – Los Angeles, CA (Sunset Junction Festival)
- Aug. 24 – San Francisco, CA (Outside Lands)
- Aug. 27 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Canecao)
- Aug. 28 – Sao Paulo, Brazil (Citibank Hall)
- Aug. 31 – Buenos Aires, Argentina (La Trastienda Club)
A lineup of Canadian talent came together Tuesday night to play for those affected by the recent cyclone disaster in Burma.
The relief fundraiser concert took place at Toronto’s Lula Lounge and featured such acts as pop duo Sunshine State, singer-songwriter and Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett, flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook, samba players Batucada Carioca and singer Eliana Cuevas.
According to CityNews.ca, a big crowd turned up for the event, which was hosted by CBC Radio’s Garvia Bailey.
All proceeds from the concert will be sent to non-governmental local aid organizations in Burma and Buddhist monks, who are entrusted with providing aid to survivors of the natural disaster. The Burmese government has been criticized for obstructing foreign aid.
The massive Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, also known as Myanmar, on May 3. The official death toll currently stands at 78,000 with nearly 56,000 confirmed missing; an additional 2.4 million people were left homeless by the storm.
Winner of two Junos, recipient of two more Juno nods, and a nomination for a Polaris Music Award, Broken Social Scene prepares to direct their focus towards another creative outlet – writing. The band is known for putting out unique hit records, and now fans can look forward to the Toronto based band putting out a book as well.
“This Book is Broken” will include contributions from members like Jason Collett, Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and others, and will tell the story of the band’s humble beginnings, and their rise to indie fame. It will include photographs collected by member Justin Peroff, and will be overseen by the senior editor of Toronto’s Eye Weekly, Stuart Berman.
The release date has not yet been announced.
A bevy of musicians, including a few big Canadian names, are throwing their support behind Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.
The grassroots environmental charity released “At The Barricades: Volume 1” last week, the first of three planned benefit albums featuring artists assembled by Canadian musician and producer Chris Brown. Among those contributing new and exclusive tracks to the compilation are Stars, Sarah Harmer, Broken Social Scene and the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie.
Volume 2 and Volume 3 will be released in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
“‘At The Barricades’ reflects the efforts of musicians committed to the fight for clean air and water,” said Brown.
To celebrate the release of Volume 1, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will hold two shows in Ontario this week. Toronto’s Dakota Tavern will host the first one on Thursday, featuring performances from Citizen’s Band, Tony Scherr, drummer Anton Fier and other artists who appear on the compilation album.
On Friday, the artists will perform at the General Wolfe Hotel on Wolfe Island near Kingston, Ont. The show will be accompanied by a live taping of Waterkeeper’s weekly radio show and podcast, “Living At the Barricades.”
Created in 2001, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is one of 160 chapters of the Waterkeeper Alliance. The group aims to take back the public’s right to safely swim, drink and fish in local waterways.
Here is the tracklisting for “At The Barricades: Volume 1”:
Edgar Mitchell — “Introduction”
Broken Social Scene — “Until It’s Dead”
Bruce Cockburn — “Beautiful Creatures”
Boi Brasiliero De Itaquitinga — “Toada De Cavallo Marinho” (Scotty Hard Mix)
Interlude
Chris Brown — “Oblivion”
Sarah Harmer — “Escarpment Blues” (Live)
Interlude
Sex Mob — “I Like It A Whole Lot”
Gordon Downie — “Nothing But Heartache In Your Social Life”
Mads Mouritz (Mouritz/Hoerslev Projektet) — “Paa Et Kontor”
Kate Fenner — “Old Man”
Pete Seeger — “Walking Down Death Row”
Stars — “1st 5 Times” (Remix)
Dave Bidini with The Scribbled Out Man — “The Monct On Hellraisers”
Tony Scherr — “Natural World”
Interlude
Bill Frisell — “Across The Universe”
Tyler Clark Burke, the founder of Three Gut Records, can’t quite afford a house. But that might change now that she’s pulled in a few favours.
Burke has set up The Few Bricks Short a House Project – essentially, a fundraising auction to help her put a down payment on a house. And she’s enlisted the help of friends like Leslie Feist, k-os, Peaches, and Broken Social Scene to meet her goal.
The auctions, put on through eBay, began on Tuesday. Items and services up for grabs include the chance to perform a song with Feist and her band (either a track written by the auction winner or one of their choice), boxers worn and washed by Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff, and a ghost exorcism performed by former MuchMusic personality Sook-Yin Lee.
Peaches had contributed a worn, unwashed thong, but eBay pulled the item from their site.
Other musicians lending a hand include Andre Ethier, Chilly Gonzalez, Sadies drummer Michael Belitsky, and Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras.
Canada’s best kept secret may soon be the country’s greatest export.
Broken Social Scene, currently touring the world, was born in 1999 with musician friends K.C. Accidental?s Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, formerly of By Divine Right. It has since evolved into a collage of musicians with colourful music.
The 2000-2001 winter brought the first Broken Social Scene album, Feel Good Lost. The album?s guests artists included vocalist Leslie Feist (By Divine Right), drummer Justin Peroff and trombonist Evan Cranley, a member of the romantic pop band Stars.
?It was December and we were all ready to kill ourselves,” says Feist. “It was brutal! We phoned up (our local hangout) Ted?s Wrecking Yard and asked to book a show for February. They asked what the name of the band is. We said we didn?t know, we?ll decide later. It would be our winter project to write songs for the gig; it was booked; we had our deadline. Right before the gig, we were tossing around names. Broken Social Scene was an album Brendan and Kevin made; kind of instrumental music. It never got released and wasn?t a live project. We said let?s take that name, it is such a good name and that project will never have another life, so that became the name.
In 2002, You Forgot It In People was released and included Charles Spearin (Do Make Say Think) in its creative core. Depending on musicians? schedules, they would go in and out of the band for performances and recordings. The music remained fresh thanks in part to the revolving support cast, which also included Emily Haines and James Shaw of Metric; John Crossingham of Raising the Fawn; and Bill Priddle of Treble Charger.
Due to their growth, BSS?s own Arts & Crafts label got American distribution as well as a deal with EMI Music Canada, to distribute the albums on their home turf.
Guitarist Jason Collett, a successful indie soloist, soon joined BSS. The core of Drew, Canning, Whiteman, Collett and Peroff, and their rotating family of musicians then went on bigger tours such as the coveted South by Southwest festival. They won praise from Rolling Stone to SPIN magazine, got a U.K. license deal and toured there too. At home, they continued to tour and won Best Alternative Album Award at the 2003 Juno Awards. Their latest album is self-titled and was released earlier this year.
The Arts & Crafts label continued to release more albums for members of their music family such as Collett?s 2003 internationally-acclaimed Motor Motel Love Songs. Earlier this year, Collett, who grew up in the Toronto suburb of Bramalea, released the record Idols of Exile to further acclaim.
Collett describes Idols of Exile as ?a bit of a sense of arrival for me. Anybody?s life can be caught in traffic for various things. I?ve been slowly heading towards making this record for a few years now,” Collett said, while working in his shop. He returns to his carpenter roots when he has free time. “You gotta have patience in this industry. This is the first time I?ve had money to make a record. Even though it wasn?t a lot of money, it was significant that it was the label?s money. I?ve never had that luxury before.
?It also feels great to being in amongst this renaissance of the Canadian music scene. I?m right in the middle of it, being in the Social Scene. It?s not just about my record, but also about the newest Social Scene record. I?ve been listening to some new tracks of The Stills? record. They are all good friends that we?ve played with. There is so much hype and creativity that is spurred on by your peers.?
For Idols of Exile, Collett attempted to write love songs that aren?t typical. ?A lot of the record has been an exploration of my youth, growing up in the suburbs. It?s trying to make sense of that. In a pop way, I?m trying to weed through the junk in our culture and find the rays of light; the small things that are worth living for. I?m still trying to figure it out. You write without calculating or thinking about it, but then you produce a body of work that has some cohesion; that definitely has a theme. Lately I?ve spending time in Europe. The last time we were there, they were voting on the new Constitution. I loved how the people of France refused it. There is something about the spirit of the way that the French embrace life, existentialism and art that I really like. It?s really different from North America. It accepts that life is tragic. That kind of resonated with me, even though I had already finished this record. Generally that philosophy is what the record is about. That?s why I end the record with song, These are the Days. We are taught in our culture that you can have it all; the perfect marriage, house, everything. I don?t think anybody ever attains that. I?m trying in just a small way to explore that. You will frustrate yourself trying to pursue happiness in a box.?
Happiness to Collett is finding the way to continue to be vital. ?That means experiencing pain and loss. You?re feeling it. It?s finding a way to remain passionate. Pursuing what you feel you are called to do, whether it?s sharing your life with someone, or pursuing a craft or art that makes you fulfilled. That involves sacrifices. You cannot live a vital life if you are not experiencing some compromises and sacrifices.?
Feist?s 2003 Arts and Crafts label record is called Let It Die. This past spring she won two JUNO Awards for Alternative Album of The Year and New Artist of the Year.
?Everything is kind of a fluke,? begins Feist?s recollection of how her career came to be. ?You get from A to B, then you notice D over there, you check that out, then you go back to A. It?s not like a clear trajectory. I was singing in a punk band for all of my teen years in Calgary. I cracked my voice on tour, came to Toronto to see a musical injury specialist, spent six months and decided I wanted to stay here. I didn?t want to sing that kind of music any more. Bit by bit, I met people that I started playing with, in different forms and types of music. I was learning to play guitar partially because I was told not to sing for a year, and the guitar can kind of do it for you. I put in some years with By Divine Right, made my first record, was a champion of Apostle of Hustle, lived with Peaches and was involved in a bunch of her early shows, played in Royal City for like 20 minutes. There was a lot of stuff!?
“Do what you can where you are with what you have” is Feist?s new favourite quote. It?s all about playing it by ear and staying liquid. She?s always been liquid; adaptable. ?By luck of the draw, having become great friends with a complete variety of players and writers, I got to spend time in By Divine Right. Jose Contreras is one of the best songwriters. All Hail Discordia was his first record. I was a fan. I don?t get fanny, but I was at the gigs freaking out that rock music could be so heavy and smile inducing. So the fact that I got to play guitar, watching his singers for basically my boot camp years; my first couple years of playing guitar were amazing. Living with Peaches, falls out! Watching how she balanced real life and this created life, I have a lot of respect for what she does.?
The fact that she made her album in Paris is also kind of a fluke. ?I didn?t know anything about Paris except that I was the wide-eyed Calgarian who had never been to Europe at that point. I was touring pretty much all the time in Europe, including with Gonzales who produced the record, for two years. We had an idea to make this record. It was more to make some recordings. After a while we realized it was a record. We did sessions in between touring. We?d go and spend four days at a time between dates and go to Paris and record, and then realized we had an album.?
There was no pressure to become mainstream. In fact there was no awareness of it at all. Partially because it?s a world she?s never had anything to do with, noticed, listened to, or was a fan of. ?I?m a bit oblivious to that, kind of culturally illiterate. I can?t tell you what movies are good or what directors have done. I can talk to you about books but I don?t remember what the name of it was! All these echelons of culture and the way it’s all categorized so strictly was just too many rules to keep track of. I think influence for us was the message as opposed to what it was going to sound like. We made up some rules to the game in a way. While travelling, there are like 23 hours a day when you are killing time. We spent a lot of time listening to each other?s Discmans and what we all had. Gonzales had Burt Bacharach, and I had Blossom Dearie, different jazz stuff and a copy of my demos. I called them The Red Demos because that?s the colour the cover was. Cumulatively with hours to kill and one of my best friends there with me to hatch ideas with, when we got sick of playing hang man, we would imagine what it would be if we recorded.?
Once Feist realized it was a record, and maybe would be heard by people, she was banking on the quiet solitary moments in people, as she puts it. ?Everyone knows themselves, not everyone knows themselves in the same conscious way. But we all relate to ourselves in some way. That?s the kind of stuff that interests me. It?s the little moments of motivation. Like Lost In Translation; the quiet, going on vibe, trusting yourself, or not trusting yourself. If anything, I was thinking that I wanted to write these songs so that there is space for people to crawl inside rather than telling them something that happened to me, you know??
Jason Collett knows why Broken Social Scene has struck such a chord with music fans. ?Joy and celebration are very tangible in the music, especially when you see it live. It?s a group of friends who made the music for each other. We didn?t make it for a record label or with marketers in mind. This seems like a big deal, but it isn?t, it?s how things should be. The industry doesn?t see it like that. We work in a void outside of all that. The industry is trying to figure out, just how to make the right combinations of chemistry that went into something like this so that they can market something like it. It?s like the organic food movement. It?s providing something that you know people need. People need food that isn?t poisoned; music that isn?t poisoned.?
From now until Christmas, Broken Social Scene continue their world tour with 34 more performances in France, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, the United States and home in Canada in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.
More info:
arts-crafts.ca/bss
paultelner.com/blog
Broken Social Scene have announced plans to tour North America this fall in support of their new self-titled album.
Although the Canadian collective considered keeping touring to a minimum, they have decided to hit the road starting Oct. 19 in Kingston, Ont. and wrapping up Nov. 18 in Winnipeg, Man. December dates are expected to be added.
?Broken Social Scene,? the band?s third album, will be released Oct. 4 on their Toronto-based Arts & Crafts label. It is the highly-anticipated follow-up to the band?s 2002 breakthrough ?You Forgot It in People,? which has sold more than 77,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and won a Juno Award for best alternative album.
Leslie Feist, a member of the band?s ever-expanding extended family, will open most of the 21 shows, performing material from her recent Cherry Tree album ?Let It Die? (on which she is credited simply as Feist). She will also sing with BSS, and contributes her vocals on the new track ?7/4 (Shoreline),? which was recently made available for free download on Arts & Crafts? Gallery AC download site.
BSS have a somewhat wary outlook toward being on-the-road, as they recently told MTV.
“Just because you’re a band doesn’t mean you should be in a tour bus touring,” bassist/singer Brendan Canning said. “It’s fairly archaic, and there’s a reason why someone like Tom Waits doesn’t tour very much: It’s slightly uncivilized.”
This is a good time for BSS fans, with the band planning to release a second album of recently recorded material next year. A last-minute decision was also made to include a seven-song EP entitled ?EP to Be You and Me? with the first pressings of ?Broken Social Scene.?
Singer/guitarist Kevin Drew described the self-titled work, which was originally dubbed ?Windsurfing Nation,? as an “ethereal, distorted garage-pop record; people are gonna think their speakers are busted.”
Here are Broken Social Scene’s tour dates according to their record label (* indicates dates with Feist):
10/19 – Kingston, ON @ Queens University
10/20 – Ottawa, ON @ Capital Music Hall
10/21 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
10/22 – Boston, MA @ Avalon Ballroom *
10/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/26 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/27 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre *
10/28 – Chicago, IL @ Cabaret Metro *
10/29 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
10/31 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre*
11/1 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre *
11/3 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s *
11/4 – Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Ballroom *
11/8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre *
11/9 – San Francisco, CA @ Grand Ballroom *
11/11 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Ballroom *
11/12 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox *
11/13 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/15 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
11/16 – Edmonton, AB @ Reds
11/18 – Winnipeg, MB @ Rendezvous
