It’s an established fact that music comes in many different types of cycles. A sound and style will be big for a while, reach a peak with the public, and then slowly fade out. But once established, it’s unusual for a sound to completely disappear, never to be heard from again.

The only genre I can think of is—maybe alt-rock-style rockabilly? It was big in the very early 80s with bands like The Stray Cats. But then it just kinda went away. There’s never been a rockabilly revival—at least in the sense and style and scope of what we heard way back then when it was huge for about 18 months.

Instead, after enjoying a time at the forefront of music, many of the cycle-prone rock sounds recede into the shadows, never really going away. They lie in wait until someone comes along—often a generation or two later—to rediscover and reactivate it.

When that happens, it’s usually given a sonic update and if the timing is right, the sound enjoys a new period in the sun before the cycle repeats yet again.

The longer you live and the more music you become familiar with, the more you begin to see these cycles play themselves out, sometimes over and over again. We see it every decade.

The 2010s were no different. We saw a series of revivals, rediscoveries, and comebacks, all based on the musical DNA of what had come before. Let’s examine that. This is the history of the 2010s, part 4.

Songs heard on this show:

• • Tool, Fear Inoculum
  • Tame Impala, Elephant
  • Besnard Lakes, People of the Sticks
  • The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die
  • Radiohead, Burn the Witch
  • The Struts, Body Talks
  • PUP, Kids
  • DC Fontaines, Boys in the Better Land
  • The Interrupters, She’s Kerosene

• Of course, Eric Wilhite has a playlist for us.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
  • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
  • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
  • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
  • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
  • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
  • The Fox/Vancouver – Sunday at 11pm
  • Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
  • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

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© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Next to spring, fall is the most interesting time for new releases. Not only is this New Music Friday material out now but some of it also sets up the kind of material we’re going to get this winter.

Singles

1. AWOLNATION, Candy Pop (Eleven Seven Label Group)

Okay, so I missed this one last week so I need to make good. AWOLNATION has released this new single (and its accompanying short film) as the third part of a trilogy. Frontman Aaron Bruno describes everything as “a story about escaping from never-ending technological advancements and constant connectivity and scrutiny…The adventure of a lifetime can come from ‘tuning out.” An EP with the trilogy and more will be available on November 10,

2. Black Pumas, Mrs. Postman (ATO Records/Cadence Music Group)

Black Pumas have already been nominated for seven Grammy awards, so the anticipation for this sophomore record is pretty intense. With Chronicles of a Diamond due on October 27, Eric Burton and Andrian Quesada (along with keyboards JaRon Marshall) want to take their view of rock and soul a little further. The first advance single, More Than a Love Song, already managed some chart success, so let’s see where this piano-based song takes them.

3. Sum 41, Landmines (Rise Records)

When I spoke to Deryck Whibley earlier this year, he told me that the new Sum 41 album could very well be a double record and that all he had to do was finish the vocals. The first single from that record is now here. Deryck is still recovering from a bout of pneumonia that landed him in the hospital, but the band is still scheduled to play the When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas on October 21 and 22.

4. Depeche Mode, My Favourite Stranger (Columbia)

Depeche Mode will tour the Memento Mori album deep into the fall. This is now the fourth single form the album and was co-written with Richard Butler of Psychedelic Furs. It comes with another enigmatic video shot by Anton Corbijn. Who’s the guy in the hat? And what does he want?

Albums

1. Art Bergman, ShadowWalk (weewerk)

Art Bergman, one of Canada’s most beloved indie cult artists, has dedicated this album to Sherri, his late wife of 31 years. The album “capture the darkness, grief and desolation that comes from such a soul-crushing loss, while also offering genuine hope that life will go on.” It might make for gut-wrenching listening.

2. Bakar, Halo (Black Butter)

All right, all right. I missed this one, too. British singer Bakar is just about ready with a highly-anticipated (and inevitably difficult) second album entitled Halo. He describes it as a song “fit for the indie sleaze generation.” Maybe this has something to do about most of the record being recorded in AirBnB’s and hotels between London and LA while he was in tour.

3. Black Stone Cherry, Screamin’ at the Sky (Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group)

This Kentucky band has been enjoying some decent success with the first single from this album (Out of Pocket was released in January) and now finally have a full album for fans. The video for Nervous was shot in an old piano factory that had been turned into a production studio filled with old TV and movie sets.

4. Taproot, SC/SSRS (THC Music/Amplified Distribution)

If you remember the nu-metal era of the late 90s, Taproot was a band from Michigan that was always hanging in the shadows of Limp Bizkit and Korn. Just when it seemed that they were going to break through, the whole scene seemed to evaporate in a puff of testosterone. Taproot stayed together, however, but haven’t released an album since 2012. Is nu-metal back? We’ll see.

5. Wilco, Cousin (dBpm Records/Sony Music)

This is the thirteenth album over the Jeff Tweedy and company have been in business and early reviews point out that there’s a slight change in attitude and approach, although it has to be said that this is still very definitely a Wilco record. The record is slower than most with little that can be described as being anything more than mid-tempo. It’s helped along by Welsh producer Cate Le Bon who has a reputation of being someone experimental.

 

 

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Back when Pearl Jam was at their height, they had the clout to do anything they wanted. Anything.

On September 26, 2000, the band released 25 double CD live albums—what they referred to as “official bootlegs”—featuring performances from virtually every show they played on European tour in support of their Binaural album. Of those 25, five immediately made the top 200 album chart. This was the first time any act ever saw more than two new albums show up on the chart in the same week.

Two other sets just missed the cut. Had they made the charts that week, Pearl Jam would have joined The Beatles, The Monkees, and U2 as the only acts to that point with seven albums on the charts at the same time.

This was decades before Taylor Swift came along.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Looking for a driving song? This one from Liverpool’s It’s Immaterial (especially in this 12-inch iteration) fits the bill. It began with a full-on country-and-western vibe recorded with the Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, but the band didn’t like it. They returned to England to re-record it while Harrison took his name off the project.

The song’s full title is Driving Away from Home (Jim’s Tune). The “Jim” is Jim Lieber, a harmonica player in a blues band the group saw while in Milwaukee. He’s the guy we hear on the recording.

 

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A question from new parents: “Should I expose my baby to live music?” The answer is “yes.”

A recent study at the University of Toronto revealed that infants have longer attention spans when experiencing live music. Sure, you might want to give them an iPad to stare at, but that apparently doesn’t work as well as live music. Videos don’t captivate them a whole lot but live music elicits physiological changes like a synchronization of heart rate to the music.

The final conclusion? “Findings suggest that performer–audience interactions and social context play an important role in facilitating attention and coordinating emotional responses to musical performances early in life.”

The big caveat? Volume. The live music cannot be too loud for those delicate little ears.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A suspicious death overnight in the Stanley Park area of Kitchener is under investigation, according to Waterloo Regional Police.

They say that emergency services responded to a call for help at a home near Thaler and Kinzie avenues.

When they arrived at the home, police found the body of a 39-year-old woman.

“There will be an increased police presence in the area as investigators conduct a canvass of the neighbourhood for witnesses and information into the circumstances that led to the death,” police noted.

A police spokesperson told Global New that there was no connection between this investigation and a shooting death which occurred in a nearby parking lot a few hours later.

They are asking anyone with information to call the major crime unit at 519-570-9777 ext. 8191 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TransLink will provide an update on its priorities for the year at its quarterly board meeting on Wednesday morning.

It will be providing an update on transit police, bus operations, and the SkyTrain Expansion project to Langley, and will also be presenting a report on accessibility.

The report provides “actions” that identify, remove and prevent barriers to individuals who interact with TransLink services. It has 32 actions that are distributed across four areas which are service design and delivery, built environment, information and communications, and transportation.

Among those actions is increasing HandyDART services by three per cent. This comes as HandyDART passengers and supporters have been vocal about the rise of private taxis being used as a substitute for HandyDART.

HandyDART is a door-to-door shared ride service for people with physical and cognitive disabilities.

More than a hundred HandyDART riders, family members and caretakers voiced their concerns with the “surge” in TransLink’s use of private taxis to complete rides in a virtual town hall last week.

A B.C. mother shared her “horrendous experience” regarding her non-verbal daughter and a taxi after the daughter was not escorted to her front door.

“She got lost for hours and it ended up in a full-on police dog helicopter search. … She could have been anywhere. She ended up walking across a highway, and she is not safe in traffic,” Viviane Schmidt Mumm said.

Eric Doherty, a transportation planner and researcher who presented at the town hall, reported that the use of taxis at HandyDART surged to 17 per cent last year.

HandyDART users said taxi drivers very rarely exit their vehicles to assist those who live with disabilities.

TransLink provided a statement last week regarding the situation.

“Trip demand for HandyDART has been increasing rapidly, leading to a higher need for supplemental taxi services,” a spokesperson said in an email.

“TransLink’s contractor that operates HandyDART services has increased their efforts to hire and train operators to reduce the number of trips that are being delivered through supplementary taxi services. So far in 2023, 74 new operators have been hired with more hiring to occur throughout the year.”

The 2023 Accessibility Plan can be read in full on translink.ca.

Other actions include increasing bus shelters, creating a new HandyDART application process, booking HandyDART online, and upgrading SkyTrain stations.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

222 solar panels will be set up in southwest Saskatoon as part of a SaskTel pilot project to test the long-term feasibility of solar energy.

The Crown corporation made the announcement Wednesday, saying it wants to see if electrical costs could be offset while reducing its environmental footprint.

The solar array will be installed at the SaskTel Wire Centre and is expected to generate 128,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

“As Saskatchewan’s largest communications provider, we require significant amounts of electricity to power our cell sites, pedestals, and other facilities that bring connectivity to our customers across the province,” said Charlene Gavel, SaskTel President and CEO.

“This pilot project is a measured step that will allow us to evaluate the feasibility of solar as a supplementary power source.”

Work begins in October to build the array, with it set to be in service by the end of the year.

“While potential cost-savings and reduction of our environmental footprint are some of the drivers behind this pilot project, we are also interested to learn if solar power generation may help improve the resiliency of our network in rural and remote areas.”

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A peace officer employed by the City of Grande Prairie has been charged under suspicion of sharing child pornography, according to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT).

An investigation began into Daniel Emond, 32, starting in January 2023, ALERT said.

Police say he allegedly accessed and shared the material through social media. Emond was arrested on Sept. 21 and a number of his computers and electronics were seized for further forensic analysis.

Emond was charged with accessing and distributing child pornography. He was released from custody with a number of conditions and is expected to appear in court on Oct. 11, police said.

A spokesperson with the City of Grande Prairie told Global News that Emond was immediately placed on unpaid administrative leave after the matter was brought to the city’s attention in August. The city said it is now waiting for the outcome of the court process.

The ALERT Internet Child Exploitation unit is encouraging anyone with information about this investigation or other child exploitation offences to reach to local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Sharing is caring … unless it’s your Disney+ password, apparently.

Disney has announced it will begin cracking down on password sharing in Canada starting Nov. 1, 2023, meaning those who do not live in the same household will no longer be able to share an account for the streaming site. (Technically, Disney’s terms have never permitted password sharing, but it has not been enforced in the past.)

In an email to Canadian subscribers this week, the platform outlined plans to coincide the crackdown with the launch of its ad-supported membership this fall, which it outlines in updates to its Subscriber Agreement.

“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. ‘Household’ means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein. Additional usage rules may apply for certain Service Tiers,” the amended agreement reads.

“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement. If we determine that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement (including those set forth in Section 6 of this Agreement).”

Subscribers are now asked to switch to a new plan before the policy changes take place.

Disney+ follows Netflix, which announced earlier this year that it would clamp down on password sharing. The platform also joins Prime Video, Netflix and others in offering tiered subscriptions with ads.

Netflix now allows users who subscribe to its highest tiers to continue sharing their passwords with people outside their household, so long as they pay an additional $7.99/month. Disney+ may have plans to follow suit, as its new agreement outlines that different service tiers will come into effect, although it hasn’t yet outlined the terms for the various tiers.

While the updates will come into effect on Nov. 1 for most of Canada, Quebecers can expect to see the update on their next billing date on or after Nov. 1.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.