The next Broken Social Scene album is titled Hug Of Thunder and features Metric members Emily Haines and James Shaw and Stars' Amy Millan and Evan Cranley among others.

Long-time contributing musician Leslie Feist (who just released her album Pleasure) described the process of making the title track to Stereogum:

“We were all in the same room and Brendan Canning just started to play a bass line just to shake us up. Then I started to improvise. Andrew Whiteman added a drum beat. Next thing you know, Charles [Spearin] is improvising, too.

"We all caught that momentum and played for 15 minutes. When we were done, Kevin [Drew]—who had been sleeping on the couch—woke up and was fist pumping, yelling ‘Record that!’ That was the birth of the song… It was way less splitting hairs than when I work by myself because when else do I get to be caught in that type of momentum with all these people I’ve known my whole life?”

The release is set for July 7 on Arts & Crafts.

— Michel Pagliaro treated staff at Library & Archives Canada to an impromptu performance to mark the official transfer of five decades (1961-2016) of material, including textual documents, photos, sound and video recordings, and posters about himself. “When your country tells you, ‘Hey, we’d like to have something that belongs to your past to put in the national archive,’ it’s an honour,” said Pagliaro, sporting his signature sunglasses and shaggy salt and pepper hair. “I was very fortunate to have the opportunity, and I’m happy to be here.”

— The Americana Music Association has released the list of nominees for its Sept. 13 Honours and Awards ceremony at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium as part of the annual Americana Music Festival and Conference. The festival runs from the 12th through the 17th.

— Bob Dylan's never ending tour now shows cancelled and rescheduled shows in Calgary and Medicine Hat, on July 17 and 18 respectively.  Logistical reasons are offered in explanation. Counting these shows, Dylan's tour itinerary includes 17 arena shows in as many Canadian cities.

The American songbook singer played the London Palladium Saturday night, leading Daily Mail scribbler Tim De Lisle to write, in part—"At the grand old age of 75, he is still singing with his adenoids, still thumbing his nose at nostalgia, and still delivering each line as if astonished at his own turn of phrase."

Below, the enigma himself in Oslo last month.

— The Rolling Stones plan 13 shows across a dozen different venues in Europe in Sept. and Oct. A new album of originals remain a discussion point between Mick and Keith.  Visit the band official site for information.

— Justin Bieber's Mumbai concert today includes 500 security personnel along with 25 officers who have been deployed to ensure proper security at the stadium, with drone cameras keeping a constant watch, India's NDTV reported earlier this morning. His Purpose world tour opened on March 9 last year in Seattle and will close on Sept. 24 this year in Tokyo.

— Jian Ghomeshi has uploaded more podcasts as part of his recently launched Ideation Project now found on SoundCloud with 90 followers. The tightly scripted studio-quality productions include original music and cover a variety of topics from politics to philosophy and pop culture. New editions are released every Monday.

— Variety offers some coos and boos in its coverage of the MTV Movie & TV Awards. For instance: Channelling her older sister’s badass streak, Noah Cyrus performed a high-energy rendition of her latest song, 'Stay Together,' complete with half-pipe skaters, backup dancers and a mob of random party-goers.

"After the rigmarole of setting up a giant half-pipe in a 30-second ad break, one might have expected some impressive skating tricks and twists to ensue, but as Cyrus sang in the foreground, a quartet of skaters merely went up and down the pipe in a relatively simple fashion until one of them face-planted into the ramp. Thank goodness they were wearing knee pads!"

— A documentary on Tupac Shakur has been authorized by the estate of the late rapper with “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen on board.

— 2016 Niagara Music award winners Theatre Crisp has released as a string of festival show dates this summer where the funk-rock ensemble will be promoting material from the current and third album,  It's An Obligation. Kick back and enjoy "Growin' Up" that offers a taste of what this inventive outfit is all about. Brandon John at Band Push Music is hustling the project.

— Gerry Young's big new star attraction Betty Moon has signed two non-exclusive music distribution and licensing agreements that have the potential to put her music in front of 150M shoppers each day through 500K locations around the world.  The deals now pipe her music into The Gap, Nordstrom's, McDonald's, IKEA, The Body Shop and a shopping cart of other retail brand chains. Her latest single "Sound" teases the upcoming release of her Chrome album.

— YouTube: Friend or foe of the music industry? That's the question Canadian Musician Sr. Editor Michael Raine sets out to explore in a thoroughly researched explanatory feature this month that can be read here.

— Donovan Woods, Ria Mae and Port Cities are among 17 acts that kd lang has selected to open her Aug. 12 to Sept. 19, AEG-promoted Ingénue Redux Canadian Tour. Each act will open one show in their home city. A 25th-anniversary edition of Ingénue will be re-issued this summer as a boxed set and on vinyl.

Below, a showboat performance of "Miss Chatelaine" shot at the Sydney Opera House in Australia a decade back.

— Bryan Adams is writing the music for the upcoming musical adaptation of Pretty Woman: The Musical, an adaptation of the classic rom-com film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The show is set to debut on Broadway and London's West End.

— Following an alleged list of demands included in Justin Bieber's Mumbai concert date, Hindustan News has followed up with a shopping list of other oddball requests suggested to have been line-item by other pop stars visiting the populace nation. Included, Madonna's request for billeting a 200-person entourage that included chefs, yoga instructors, bodyguards and an on-site dry cleaner for her costumes, 20 international phone lines, and lilies and light pink or white roses cut to precisely six inches.

— Canadian pop chronicler Nicholas Jennings has penned a 304-page biography titled Lightfoot, set for hardback publication by Viking Canada in Sept.

—Deadmau5 estimates he spent 18 months or so working on his new state of the art stage show, which has proven to be a massive commercial and artistic success. He recently earned rave reviews and sold-out four shows at L.A.’s more than 6,000-capacity Shrine Auditorium.

Here's a taste from a show he put on before landing in Sin City...

— We Canadians have been really good at writing pop songs. While growing up in the 1980s, The Jitters and their leader, Blair Packham, wrote a slew of them, and while he’s best-known for teaching others how to write memorable tunes and going on the radio every week to talk to other songwriters, it’s about time he got back to the studio, wouldn’t you say?

Well, Blair Packham, songwriter, is back after 13 years between releases with a new collection he's called Unpopular Pop. Naturally enough, he's included a number of friends on the sessions including Ron Sexsmith, Craig Northey and Steven Page. The set has its official release on May 18 and there's a launch party for it at The Pilot in Toronto's Yorkville district.

Here a reflective Packham seduces us with words in an acoustic solo performance of "Loved By You."

— "Turn Up the Quiet" is the title track from Diana Krall new collection featuring jazz chestnuts produced by Tommy LiPuma and mixed by Al Schmitt. She appears for two nights at Massey Hall on Nov. 24 and 25.

Below, in conversation with q host Tom Power. She seems a bit flustered at times but it's a candid conversation that lets us in on her creative process.

— Here's the music video for Neon Dream's latest single, "Find A Way"

— Former semi-pro bronc rider and country singer Ivan Daines has reissued "Fort McMurray Wildfire" as a new fundraiser for people affected by the natural disaster one year ago. He's released eight albums to date, many populated with journal songs about life and people such as Donald Trump.

— Guns N’ Roses and The Who are teaming up for a joint headlining stadium tour of South America in the fall. It begins with a show at the Rock In Rio fest on Sept. 23, followed by a show in Buenos Aires and others (yet to be officially announced) in Argentina, Peru and Chile.

— For those with left of centre musical leanings, Toronto’s Camp Wavelength festival has become a summer favourite. It has just announced the first wave of musical artists for the 2017 edition, set for the Toronto Island Aug. 18-20.

US band Deerhoof headlines, with a rich Canadian component including critical faves Dilly Dally, Jessy Lanza, Rich Aucoin, The Luyas and Emilie & Ogden, plus Duchess Says, DJ Shub, Un Blonde, Ice Cream, Os Tropies, Zuze, and more. Festival partners include Slaight Music and Indie88. Info and tix here 

— Turkish-Canadian singer-songwriter Zeynep Ozbilen fuses many varied world music and jazz strains into her music. She is launching her sophomore album Zest with a performance with her five-piece band at Lula Lounge in Toronto tonight (May 10). Expect guest appearances from some of the ace players on the album, a list that includes Jane Bunnett, Mike Murley, Ernie Tollar, and David Restivo.

— Based in Campbellford, Ontario, Booth Street Records is a new independent label created by Ken Tizzard of The Watchmen. Its first release is It Takes a Village, an album by Peterborough punk act Muddy Hack that was launched successfully with a gig in Campbellford on the weekend. A CD is available online and at shows, with a full digital release on Sept 5. The duo project of Ontario Kelly and Caravan Haylan is now recording an album for the label. More info here