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Interview: Manchester Orchestra On ‘Simple Math,’ Touring with Blink-182

@coltondaniel — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:19:47 +0000

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Overlooking the Toronto skyline from backstage at the Molson Amphitheater, Manchester Orchestra’s rhythm-guitarist and singer-songerwriter Andy Hull took in a drag and the scene.

“It’s pretty awesome to wake up in the city that you grew up in,” confessed Hull, moments before opening for My Chemical Romance and Blink-182 as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour. It would almost seem that, other than sharing a stage, lyrical honesty and vulnerability is about all that these three bands have in common.

“It’s fun man, they’re all really kind people,” says Hull about being on the road with MCR and Blink. It’s been a sleepless summer for Hull and company, leaping between a plethora of festivals from Montreal’s Osheaga to Chicago’s Lollapalooza. “It’s been quite an experience to play these venues. It’s definitely this casting vision tour to really see how big a band can get. It’s kind of crazy. And [Blink-182] is definitely a band that represented a huge part of our childhood.”

“I used to hide [Blink-182's] ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ from my mom all the time,” adds keyboardist Chris Freeman, dawning a black MacBeth Footwear t-shirt, a company owned by Blink-182′s singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge.

Manchester Orchestra was founded by a 16-year-old Hull in 2004 with his buddies: bassist Jonathan Corley, Freeman, guitarist Robert McDowell and drummer Tim Very. Their suburban Atlanta walls likely plastered with posters of the English city Manchester, a city that has spawned musically rich children from Joy Division to Oasis to Stone Roses.

“Growing up at 16, we pretty much named the band after the Smiths,” reminisces Hull as he looked to Freeman’s smile. “It was a band we were all really, really into.” He also cited the range of musical influences to be “anything from Pavement, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Granddaddy, the Weakerthans, and the Flaming Lips.”

The five grew to produce arena-worthy anthems that hinted at an intimacy of an “indie rock” mix-tape. This signature sound was honed in 2005, while playing over 200 shows behind their first release: “I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child.” A massive sound emerged that rippled exploration into issues of life and the human condition, essentially shredding the chains that age and experience wrapped around him.

Inspired by classic nineties efforts like Nirvana’s “In Utero” and Weezer’s “Pinkerton,” the band shifted their distorted textures to create their sophomore album, “Mean Everything to Nothing.”

After opening for their friends Kings of Leon at Madison Square Garden in 2010, the band went into the studio to patch together a musical vengeance of emotion. Almost like Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” responded to his carnage of relationship, Hull painted a comparably darker and more modern picture of the lover’s debris. Its melodies sound like enlightening promise, yet the undercoated lyrics protest distraught and failure (check “Virgin”at the band’s website).

Their third full-length album, “Simple Math,” surfaced in May and critics have praised its intimacy and Rolling Stone magazine found it “tough to look away”. It debuted at No. 21 on The Billboard 200 and at No. 8 on the magazine’s Rock Albums chart. A mixture of spiritual and marital confessions, it’s not just a few good songs; it’s an album.

“We made a strong commitment to each other that we wouldn’t make any records that were a step backwards or even a step on the same plain,” Hull looks at Freeman, almost like reaffirming a non-verbal agreement. “So that was pretty simple. We just wanted to step it up and make something that was grand, potentially better. But, still have it feel like a counter-piece to our record before.”

Freeman notices that, “the writing process was kind of easier on ['Simple Math'] and it felt natural.”

For the first time, the band recorded without former drummer Jeremiah Edmond, who parted ways with the band in January 2010 to focus on his family and the band’s record label, Favorite Gentlemen. “He was such a power drummer,” Hull says. “It was cool to work with guys who had a different feel, finesse and pocket to their vibe. We were playing outside of what we were used to doing when it came to recording and writing. It allowed us to explore different areas.”

This fall, the band will be dedicating their time by embarking on a 25-city tour in the U.K. and across the States. Aside from their hometown, the band is looking forward to playing their namesake.

“It’s one of the coolest cities we play, the people are so appreciative of us,” says Hull, cracking a Jack Nicholson-esque smirk.

Imagining the scene, Freeman chuckled to himself, “those Manchester crowds are crazy.”

“They’re just ready to get it on.”

City and Colour Debuts New Single, ‘Fragile Bird’

@coltondaniel — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:36:07 +0000

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The true Canadian songbird Dallas Green will release his third solo album ‘Little Hell’ on June 7th, but today we were offered a taste with the first single: “Fragile Bird”.

Green recorded the follow-up to Bring Me Your Love over the winter at Saint Catherine North Studios in Hamilton, Ontario with Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, Mars Volta). The new LP explores the high-points and the hellish moments of a relationship and echoes the intimate acoustic rock that made Green Songwriter of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.

‘Fragile Bird’ delivers a Black Keys vibe with the use of heavily fuzzed-out guitars clanging against a tambourine backbeat. Save your scissors fans, there is still the same-old high soaring vocals delivered by Green. And what? Is that a guitar solo?

City and Colour performed a tribute cover of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ at this year’s Juno Award’s and are currently touring around the world.

‘Fragile Bird’ will be available on iTunes on April 12th.

But for now, listen to ‘Fragile Bird’ here. Enjoy!

Arcade Fire blazes, Neil Young trumps Bieber at 2011 Junos

@coltondaniel — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:14:20 +0000

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This year’s Golden Globe’s dropped jaws, the Oscar’s received yawns and the Grammys’ only highlight was the Arcade Fire.

And at Sunday night’s 40th Juno Awards, the Montreal-based independent rock band cleaned up again and won four awards including Songwriters of the Year, Group of the Year and Album of the Year.

“Thank you, we are so happy,” Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler told the audience in accepting their first award of the night for Best Group.”I want to just give a shout-out to all the bands that we kind of came up with from Royal City to Hidden Cameras to The Unicorn to Wolf Parade and all the amazing Canadian bands and thank you so much.”

Arcade Fire homecoming victories for ‘The Suburbs” was a followup to winning Album of the Year at this year’s Grammies and winning Best International Group and Best International Album at this year’s Brit Awards.

“It’s a long way from Sneaky Dees — the first place we played in Toronto,” said Butler as they picked up their second award on Sunday’s show. The only category the band lost was to Daniel Lanois for Producer of the Year for his work on Neil Young’s “Le Noise” won.

That Saturday night win for “Le Noise” was just a prelude to Neil Young’s triumphant evening on Sunday. Representing the old Canadian values, Young was honoured with the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for his founding both Farm Aid and the Bridge School Benefit concerts.

“What year is this?,” remarked Young after shutting out Justin Bieber for Artist of the Year. ”I was 16 one time. He’s fantastic. He’s got some moves, doesn’t he?”

Young, who has not attended the Junos gala in 29 or so years, also won Best Adult Alternative Album.

The mighty tour-de-force that is Justin Bieber picked up two trophies via-satellite for Juno Fan Choice Award and Best Pop Album. ”Thank you so much for being so supportive,” said Bieber from Rotterdam, where he is currently on tour. “You guys have been incredible. 2011 has been absolutely crazy.”

Unfortunately, the Juno host and local-rapper Drake who led the list of nominees with six, left with no hardware. He was up for essentially every major category: Album, Fan Choice, Artist, Album, Songwriter, Single and Rap Recording. The latter of the bunch he surprisingly lost to the up-and-coming Toronto artist Shad on Saturday night.

However, the former Degrassi star had a refreshing opening to the show that involved Bieber on Skype exchanging verses on the timeless Sarah McLachlan tune “I Will Remember You”.

“You my friend have the voice of a young rabbi,” said Drake. Afterward, he was joined by pianist Chilly Gonzalez for a lounge medley that included a tribute to Shania Twain.

“You’re from Timmins, I’m from Toronto, you worked at McDonald’s and I eat McDonald’s, we should be together … Man, I’d like to make you feel like a woman baby,” he sang out.

Later in the evening, Bryan Adams presented his friend Twain with the Hall of Fame Award. The montage tribute video of her career included appearances by Anne Murray and Taylor Swift, who both praised her for inspiration.

“This is just a very beautiful moment for me. I’m really so proud of Canada’s talent,” said Twain. “I sit here tonight in the audience and I watch these amazing new artists up here on the stage. I have more pride in what the country has created musically than I am even of my own success. This is a beautiful country. I feel like I should just be wearing the Canadian flag tonight.”

“I love our lakes,” and then Twain dropped what will likely be the joke of headlines tomorrow morning: “I love our bush.”

Another highlight of the evening was the Love Letter to Toronto that featured today’s young and hot artists performing hits of yester-year! That’s likely how the initial concept was explained… It was well executed though. From Sarah Harmer’s angelic rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Carey” from Blue to Dallas Green’s take on “Old Man” with Young gleaming from front row.

Gordon Lightfoot and the Band were also paid tribute to by Jim Cuddy, Sarah Slean, Kevin Hearn, Serena Ryder, Greg Keelor, the Sadies and Derek Miller.

Other performers on Sunday were Down With Webster, Hedley, Tokyo Police Club, Johnny Reid, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo and Arcade Fire.

Click here for a full list of the 2011 Juno Award Winners.

andPOP Presents Something New – CanRock Episode

andPOP Staff — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:01:34 +0000

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The second episode of andPOP’s TV show “Something New” in case you missed it. We are researching Canadian rock in this episode and have some awesome interviews!

Lineup Announced For Neil Young Tribute

Eva Lam — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:00:30 +0000

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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.”

Organizers say they have invited Young and are hopeful he will come.

Tickets for the one-night-only event go on sale April 16 through Ticketmaster.

Young’s 1971 concert marked the singer-songwriter’s homecoming after leaving Toronto five years earlier for Los Angeles, where he founded Buffalo Springfield and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash.

A CD and DVD of the show were issued in 2007, topping the Canadian charts.

Neil Young Teams Up With Death Cab, Wilco For Tour

Eva Lam — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:45:38 +0000

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Neil Young will hit the road for a North American tour this fall, with Death Cab For Cutie and Wilco in tow.

The iconic Canadian singer-songwriter will play at least eight Canadian cities during his tour, which kicks off Oct. 14 in St. Paul, MN, and ends Dec. 15 in New York.

Within the Canadian dates, indie rockers Death Cab will accompany Young for shows in Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver, while Wilco will bring their alt-country sound to Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

Also on the bill are Los Angeles’ Everest, who previously opened for Young in Ireland, Holland and the U.K. They will support all dates on the upcoming tour.

Pre-sale tickets will be available as early as Thursday.

Young, a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer, recently completed a three-month, 14-country European tour. His 30th and most recent studio album is “Chrome Dreams II,” which was released last October.

Meanwhile, Death Cab are backing their sixth studio album “Narrow Stairs,” which was released in May, while Wilco have been touring behind last year’s “Sky Blue Sky,” also their sixth studio release.

Everest, whose members came together after having worked with or been members of such bands as Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion, John Vanderslice and The Watson Twins, released their debut album “Ghost Notes” in May.

Here are the Canadian dates on Neil Young’s upcoming tour:

• Oct. 16 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre (w/Death Cab For Cutie and Everest)
• Oct. 18 – Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre (w/Death Cab For Cutie and Everest)
• Oct. 19 – Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome (w/Death Cab For Cutie and Everest)
• Oct. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place (w/Death Cab For Cutie and Everest)
• Nov. 29 – Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre (w/Wilco and Everest)
• Dec. 1 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre (w/Wilco and Everest)
• Dec. 2 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place (w/Wilco and Everest)
• Dec. 4 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre (w/Wilco and Everest)

Spider Species Named After Neil Young

andPOP Staff — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:48:34 +0000

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In certainly a unique form of flattery, a biologist has named a species of spider after Neil Young.

According to CBC, the “Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi” is a kind of trapdoor spider, discovered by Jason Bond of East Carolina University.

In an official statement, Bond explained that “There are rather strict rules about how you name new species. As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice.”

Bond found the species in 2007, in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ Named Top Canadian Album

Eva Lam — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:03:44 +0000

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Neil Young’s 1972 classic “Harvest” is tops in a newly released survey of the top 100 Canadian albums.

Nearly 600 music fans and critics, artists, retailers and other members of the music industry cast their votes for “The Top 100 Canadian Albums,” a book from author and journalist Bob Mersereau that hit stores Thursday.

Right behind Young on the list is “Blue” by Joni Mitchell. Young makes another appearance at No. 3 with “After the Gold Rush,” followed by The Band’s “Music From Big Pink” and The Tragically Hip’s “Fully Completely” at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Several artists make multiple apperances on the list. Young takes a total of eight spots. Mitchell, The Guess Who and Gordon Lightfoot each show up five times. Close behind are the Tragically Hip with four albums on the list, while Sloan have three.

Newer acts to make the list include The Arcade Fire with “Funeral” at No. 8, Broken Social Scene with “You Forgot It in People” at No. 28 and Feist with “Let It Die” at No. 43.

The book also includes album artwork and new interviews with many of the musicians.

Mersereau will travel across Canada over the next week for a series of book launches. The author promised that a special musical guest from the list will make an appearance at a stop in Halifax this weekend.

The top 20 albums are:
1. “Harvest,” Neil Young (1972)
2. “Blue,” Joni Mitchell (1970)
3. “After the Gold Rush,” Neil Young (1970)
4. “Music From Big Pink,” The Band (1968)
5. “Fully Completely,” The Tragically Hip (1992)
6. “Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morissette (1995)
7. “The Band,” The Band (1969)
8. “Funeral,” Arcade Fire (2004)
9. “Moving Pictures,” Rush (1981)
10. “American Woman,” The Guess Who (1970)
11. “Songs of Leonard Cohen,” Leonard Cohen (1967)
12. “Reckless,” Bryan Adams (1984)
13. “Five Days in July,” Blue Rodeo (1993)
14. “Twice Removed,” Sloan (1994)
15. “Up To Here,” The Tragically Hip (1989)
16. “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” Neil Young with Crazy Horse (1969)
17. “2112,” Rush (1976)
18. “Court and Spark,” Joni Mitchell (1974)
19. “Whale Music,” Rheostatics (1992)
20. “Acadie,” Daniel Lanois (1989)

Canadian Stars Compose Double-Disc Tribute to Neil Young

andPOP Staff — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:02:21 +0000

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What do Canadian artists Ron Sexsmith, City And Colour, Barenaked Ladies, Finger Eleven and The Trews have in common?

Naturally, a love for Neil Young.

Canadian artists have come together to make the ultimate Neil Young tribute compilation, and the finished product will hit the shelves on Oct. 16. There have been numerous Young tribute albums produced in past years, but none have had such a star-studded line-up of talent to lay down the famous tracks.

The two-disc compilation is appropriately titled “Borrowed Tunes” and features some of Young’s most celebrated hits. Songs like “Cinnamon Girl”, “Harvest”, and “Rockin in The Free World” will be performed by today’s top Canadian musicians.

Some of the proceeds from sales will be donated to Toronto’s Safehaven Project For Community Living that aids youth with speech difficulties as well as other physical disabilities. Bridge School, a facility co-founded by Pegi Young near San Francisco that focuses on helping children with related ailments, will also see some of the proceeds.

54-40, Tom Cochrane, Matt Mayes, Cuff the Duke, Jeremy Fisher, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace and many more can also be heard on “Borrowed Tunes” Oct. 16.

Neil Young to Release Live at Massey Hall CD

andPOP Staff — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:50:34 +0000

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Rock legend Neil Young will release “Live at Massey Hall” on March 13.

The album, recorded in Toronto acoustically in 1971, features such classics as “Old Man,” “A Man Needs A Maid” and “Heart Of Gold.”

Check out the trailer:
Windows Media
Quicktime

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CD Review: Neil Young – Living With War

andPOP Staff — Fri, 19 May 2006 15:29:55 +0000

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You?ll be more likely to hear Neil Young?s new single, ?Let?s Impeach the President,? on the radio in Canada than in the United States.

?Let?s Impeach the President? isn’t the only song on Young?s new album, ?Living With War,? that has to do with the U.S. President George W. Bush?s actions while in office. The song hasn?t gone without its controversy either. Americans are up in arms that a Canadian has the atrocity to tell them what they should be doing with their government.

Contrary to the song titles, like ?Shock and Awe,? ?Living With War,? and ?Looking for a Leader,? the album is not an anti-American, hate-spewing vent. Instead it is a wonderfully written, beautiful statement from one man to the country he wasn?t born in but has called home for 30 years.

Young?s lyrics are mesmerizing and memorable. He puts words together very poetically. Even if you are pro-Bush you cannot help but hear and understand what he is trying to say. The songs are mostly upbeat in tempo, stuff you can stomp along to, while Young?s voice careens over his views on the subjects at hand.

One of the highlights of the album is ?Let?s Impeach the President? because the middle of the song has Young and his back up singers chanting, “Flip . . . flop” with Bush?s most contradictory statements between them.

?Living With War? is an album everyone ? no matter what their position on the political spectrum is ? should listen to.

Neil Young Album Begins Streaming

andPOP Staff — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:34:18 +0000

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Neil Young’s latest album, the politically-charged “Living With War,” is now available online.

To hear the whole album, Click here

Dave Matthews to Play Farm Aid

Adam Gonshor — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:00:14 +0000

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Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young ? the three founders of Farm Aid ? will play at the annual festival this year, along with Dave Matthews.

In this its 20th anniversary of the concert festival, the show will return to Illinois, home of the first Farm Aid concert.

More artists will be announced in the coming weeks. The concert will be held September 18 at the Tweeter Center.

Nelson started the concert shortly after Live Aid was held. Farm Aid helps strengthen the family farm system and has raised $27 million.

This year’s concert will encourage people to purchase food from family farms. And the show is just the end of a week of festivities, which will also include a county fair, a film festival, educational events, and a book release.

“From small towns to folks in the city, everybody knows family farm food is the best,” said Nelson. “It’s good to be back in Illinois where it all started. This state is showing how good food can connect places like Champaign and Chicago. It inspires us to think about family farmers every day. I’m looking forward to playing on the Farm Aid stage, playing music with my friends.”

Since its first concert in 1985, Farm Aid has traveled around the U.S., playing in different cities.