Music Biz Headlines, Aug. 18, 2022

By Kerry Doole

Teenage Head’s Gord Lewis remembered for ‘ferocious’ guitar skills as band forges on

Gord Lewis played a “ferocious” guitar in Hamilton punk rock act Teenage Head and his bandmates intend to honour him with a series of upcoming concerts. Teenage Head’s members say they’ve made the “difficult decision” to fulfil three gigs booked before the 65-year-old guitarist was found dead last Sunday in his Hamilton apartment. – David Friend, CP

After losing singer and guitarist Dallas Good, the Sadies talk healing, touring and what’s next

Toronto band’s new album, “Colder Streams,” completed before Dallas Good’s sudden death in February and released July 22, ranks as one of the Sadies’ best efforts, writes Ben Rayner. – Toronto Star 

Matt Steele wrote 2022's song of the summer. Now he debuts an acoustic video version.

"Vintage Photo Filter" will be in our heads until the leaves change, and we're cool with that. – Morgan Mullin, The Coast

Toronto shoegazers offer hopeful songs of hurt

Tallies release complex, comforting, stellar new album. –  Alisha Mughal, NEXT

Hip-hop dark-horse Cartel Madras perform at Ambleside Music Festival

As statements go it’s a significant one, even if Cartel Madras, pretty much inarguably, lacks the instant name recognition of Mother Mother, the Offspring, Marianas Trench, and Walk Off the Earth. Those who’ve been busy filling out their must-see list for the upcoming Ambleside Music Festival might have noted the Calgary-based duo slotted in for Sunday. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Sunday sunshine puts a bright wrap on a magical return for the Edmonton Folk Fest 

The enthusiastic crowd gathered in the main-stage dance areas mid-afternoon was a telling sign of Matt Andersen’s popularity. The award-winning blues artist from New Brunswick came armed with brand new music from his 2022 release House to House. – Tisha Raj, Edmonton Journal

Beyoncé, TOBi, Fireboy DML and PinkPantheress: Here are 7 new tracks you need to hear

Plus new music from Megan Thee Stallion, Maggie Rogers and Makaya McCraven. – Toronto Star Staff

Calgary expat Mariel Buckley sings for the underdogs on third album, Everywhere I Used To Be

On Neon Blue, the opening track and latest single from Mariel Buckley’s newest album, the narrator describes her attempts to get drunk at a dive bar in her hometown. – Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald

On Our Radar: "Survivor's Guilt" is about more than Haley Blais

Stand back and take a widescreen look, and "Survivor’s Guilt" by Haley Blais is a testimony to the power of many things. The clip also works as a reminder that, no matter how shitty your day, music is almost always going to make you feel better. – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Fans get set for full sad girl immersion as Wild Hearts tour hits Massey Hall

Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen and Julien Baker have joined forces for femme-forward touring bill. –  Ben Rayner, Toronto Star

The List: BEAMS bringing electronic music, art and dance to Idylwylde

The Boreal Electroacoustic Music Society (BEAMS) is back with its first live show since the pandemic hit, featuring music, visual art and dancing. Don Ross is a featured artist. – Fish Griwkowsky, Edmonton Journal

Five concerts hitting Saskatoon stages this month

Take in some classic bluegrass, blues and country, contemporary folk, rock and pop, and classic rock this month around Saskatoon. Jocelyn Bennett, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Huge jazz hands coming to Supercrawl

Squonk brings “Hand to Hand” production to James Street North festival The Pittsburgh-based group has jazz hands — two giant puppet hands, as big as a house, they say — to be used in their multimedia performances, Sept. 10 and 11. – Jeremy Kemeny, The Hamilton Spectator

Chris Antonik's new album is a roots music hit

His 'Morningstar' album hits #1 on Roots Music Report's Canadian Album Chart. The album was released alongside a new lyric video for "Back to the Good." – Broadway World

International

SESAC and Hipgnosis both launch nine-figure bond offerings 

KBRA confirms that the Hipgnosis offering, dubbed MUSIC 2022-1, “will be collateralized by royalties from a music catalog of premium content from over 950 songs across five sub-catalogs from top artists and songwriters, including Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Leonard Cohen”. KBRA has granted the Hipgnosis bonds a preliminary rating of A-. – MBW

What do the biggest music companies really think about the economics of streaming?

The major record companies breathed a sigh of relief last month at the outcome of the UK competition regulator’s ‘market study’ into the economics of music streaming.  – Murray Stassen, MBW

German record biz generated $1B in first half of the year, up 5.5% YOY

The numbers are in. Germany’s record business generated revenues of $1 billion (€967 million) in the first six months of this year from physical music sales and streaming. That total revenue figure of €967M (on a retail basis) marked an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period last year for the world’s fourth largest recorded music market. – MBW

Tencent Music's revenue beats view as more Chinese users pay for songs

China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME.N) bettered quarterly revenue estimates on Monday as a slate of original content helped its music streaming platform attract more paying users. – Josh Ye and Tiyashi Datta, Reuters

TikTok owns a patent for a music service and is hiring music staff

TikTok, eh? Is it becoming a record label? Or is it just a social media giant that also acts as a music distributor? Or is it all of the above? Could it soon add ‘music streaming service’ to the list?Business Insider recently discovered a US trademark application filed by TikTok parent company ByteDance for ‘TikTok Music’. –  MBW

Spotify launches new site to sell concert tickets directly to fans

The site debuted on August 10 with a group of seven artists “ticketed by Spotify.” – Pitchfork

Startup Pollen falls into administration, three months after raising $150M

UK-born travel and music-related experiences company Pollen has fallen into administration. Streetteam Software Limited, Pollen’s UK-based parent company, has called in New York-headquartered restructuring and insolvency specialists Kroll to administer its restructuring. The news marks the latest chapter in an ongoing saga at Pollen over the past few months. – Murray Stassen, MBW

Near Truths: The Mo Ostin era

Mo Ostin, who departed this life on 7/31 at age 95, was inarguably one of the most important music executives of the 20th century, a trailblazer in the business and a legend in the identification and cultivation of talent.– Hits Daily Double

Have R&B's toxic kings taken it too far?

The current generation of male R&B singers is increasingly open about so-called ‘toxic’ behavior. But is honesty all it takes? – Jessica Rogers, Rolling Stone

The door opened by “Gangnam Style”

The global hit primed Western audiences for films and shows about South Korea as a dystopia. –  New Yorker

Walking in Bob Marley’s Trench Town footsteps

Local guides give inside look at reggae’s birthplace in Kingston, Jamaica.  – Michael Hollett, NEXT

My dad and Kurt Cobain

When my father moved to Taiwan, a fax machine and a shared love of music bridged an ocean.  – The New Yorker

Living legend James Burton talks playing with Elvis, Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell and Tom Jones

An inspiration to Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, the rock ‘n’ roll veteran has seen it all. – Art Thompson GuitarPlayer

‘Better late than never’: how Brian Eno and David Byrne finally laid a musical ghost to rest

When the pair sampled Lebanese singer Dunya Younes for their groundbreaking album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, they assumed the original recording was cleared. Four decades on they all meet up to find out the real story. –  Kate Hutchinson, The Guardian

‘A gambler’s wet dream and an accountant’s worst nightmare!’: the huge allure of the micro-festival

Amid a bloated festival market, the founders of the UK’s tiniest weekenders explain why they are keeping things intimate and defiantly non-commercial. – Daniel Wray, The Guardian

With Cruel Country, Wilco waltzes into the heart of an ugly America

Here comes the alt-rock icons Wilco in overalls bringing hard honesty. Its new double album is Cruel Country, a mellow rural-music mediation on America. “I love my country, stupid and cruel, red, white and blue,” the band’s Jeff Tweedy sings on a title track that interweaves a steel guitar with what sounds like sirens.  –Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail

Planet Drum unites global percussionists in common rhythm

A Grammy-winning group of the world’s top percussionists has reunited after 15 years on a new record that aims to bring the world together in rhythm and dance. Planet Drum’s new record “In The Groove,” out now, features drummers from very different backgrounds and musical cultures. The lineup includes the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart. –  Kristin M. Hall  AP

Bob Dylan’s lawyers seeking ‘monetary sanctions’ over sexual abuse case

Singer’s representatives cite ‘brazen’ misconduct against legal team who filed lawsuit that was dropped in July. –  Laura Snapes, The Guardian

R. Kelly accuser to give key testimony on trial-fixing charge

R. Kelly’s new federal trial in Chicago is in many ways a do-over of his 2008 state child pornography trial, at which jurors acquitted the singer on charges that he produced a video of himself when he was around 30 having sex with a girl no older than 14. There’s one big difference: This time, prosecutors say, she will testify. – Michael Tarm, AP

Who are Bob Marley's 11 kids? Famous musicians to athletes and fashion designers

Bob Marley might have only graced the world with his presence for a short 36 years, but the Jamaican singer certainly left his mark. But music isn't the only way his legacy lives on; he also left a number of children behind when he died in 1981. –  Daily Mirror

Steve Earle blazes his own outlaw trail — with guidance from mentors

Steve Earle  has never fit into the conservative confines of Nashville, but he's never given the impression that he cares all that much, either. – Eric Volmers,  Edmonton Journal