‘Scott Pilgrim’ tweet-along watch today w/ Edgar Wright, Bryan Lee O’Malley & more

--taken from: Brooklyn Vegan (read more here)

by Bill Pearis

Filmmaker Edgar Wright was already a very active Twitter user but has been even more so during COVID-19 lockdown. A couple weeks ago, he live-tweeted a marathon of the first season of his cult series Spaced, and tonight (5/20) at 8 PM Eastern he's going to host a live-tweet of his great 2010 adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's beloved comic series, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. The film is currently streaming on Netflix, so you can watch along too. Joining Edgar will be O'Malley, co-stars Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Ellen Wong, and Mark Webber, and screenwriter Michael Bacall.

If you've never seen the film (or read the comic), Michael Cera stars as Scott, a slacker and indie rocker who falls for Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and must battle and defeat her seven evil exes (including Jason Schwartzman, Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, Routh and more) while trying to score a record deal. The film is steeped in videogame culture, and is a perfect fit for Wright's hyper, pop-savvy style. It has rock bona-fides, too: Nigel Godrich did the score, and Sloan's Chris Murphy was a consultant on the film, making sure Scott's band, Sex Bob-omb, looked legit. (Maybe Nigel and Chris will join in the tweeting.) Scott Pilgrim is a great rewatch, too, and tonight's tweet-a-long should be fun.

--taken from: Brooklyn Vegan (read more here)

Anyway Gang Skewer Capitalism in New "Eyes of Green" Video

--taken from: Exclaim!

by Allie Gregory

While hunkered down in isolation, members of Anyway Gang have shared a brand new music video for their track, "Eyes of Green" from their debut self-titled LP.

Having planned to release the visual effort ahead of an upcoming tour schedule, the band have shared the work early because, as you can imagine, they won't likely hit the road anytime soon due to ongoing tour postponements in the wake of COVID-19. Instead, the animated video arrives today alongside a political statement from the band, rallying against capitalism and its effects on climate change.

Read the band's statement below:

"Eyes of Green" is a song and video about the extinction of humanity. It was written long before this pandemic, and its theme addresses an issue that we must face when we eventually emerge from our cocoons. So today we've decided that we should release the video.

We hope this pandemic is Mother Nature's way of sending us all to our room to think about what we've done. A moment for us all to reflect and take stock, reset and reflect about how we are going to live when things get back to normal.

We'd like to dedicate it to all the healthcare workers and brave humans working at the neighbourhood grocery stores, taking care of the sick and keeping us fed, until we can get to the other side of this.

"Eyes of Green" was animated and directed by Bossie's Anne Douris, who further suggests the clip is a criticism of unregulated capitalism.

"It's suicidal to pursue endless growth," Douris said in a statement. "A capitalist succeeds by cutting costs and gaining wealth. Workers are treated as disposable. The environment, collateral damage. When we're poor, sick or dead (and probably underwater) who will be left to buy the latest birthday cake-flavoured breakfast cereal? It's not just that capitalism can't survive itself (it can't). Civilization cannot survive capitalism. Democratise the enterprise. We're fucked otherwise."

Anyway Gang formed late last year, combining Sam Roberts, Chris Murphy of Sloan, Dave Monks from Tokyo Police Club and Hollerado's Menno Versteeg for a new Canadian supergroup and the release of their debut LP Anyway Gang. The record arrived in November via Royal Mountain Records.

--taken from: Exclaim!

Royal Mountain Records Instagram post about World Tour ft. Chris Murphy

View this post on Instagram

Another exciting week of ✨ virtual parties ✨ ahead of us all. Tune in every night at 7pm EST to join the fun 🦦 #worldtour2020

A post shared by royal mountain records (@royalmountainrecords) on Apr 8, 2020 at 10:23am PDT

Canadian Artists Weigh In on Their Wildest Celebrity Encounters

--taken from: Exclaim! (read more here)

by Alex Hudson

Sloan:

Jay Ferguson: I'm standing in a coat check line next to Big Daddy Kane while someone mistakens me for Beck as I'm watching John Cale sit alone at a table tapping his fingers.

Chris Murphy: We toured with Redd Kross in 1997 and they brought this precocious 17-year-old kid along who was in a band that were signed to Geffen and he was such a little brat but I loved him. A few years later I went to see a movie called Rushmore while I was on tour in D.C. and the lead was this kid Jason Schwartzman. I didn't even put it together until later that he had been that bratty kid. I adored Rushmore and I've become friends with Jason.

Andrew Scott: I've had way better brushes with normal people —— celebrity is such a let down, for both sides.

Patrick Pentland: A bronze Ronald McDonald sitting on a bronze park bench. Not much of a talker.

--taken from: Exclaim! (read more here)

Royal Mountain and NPR's World Cafe launch new World Tour livestream series

--taken from: NOW Magazine

The series features two artists from two countries every night in April, including members of Sloan and Wolf Parade, Luna Li, Ellis, Fred Penner, Nap Eyes and more

In the age of physical distancing, music livestreams have been popping up quicker than anyone could reasonably track – though we are featuring ones with a Toronto connection in our new virtual event listings). Now there's a full livestream world tour, courtesy of local label Royal Mountain and NPR's World Cafe (which is hosted by Toronto expat Raina Douris).

The World Tour livestream series runs throughout April at 7 pm ET, featuring two artists, each from a different country, every night. The schedule will be published at the beginning of each week. Shows will run live on Royal Mountain's Instagram.

The list of confirmed artists (heavy on the Canadians) includes: Haviah Mighty, Chris Murphy (of Sloan), Young Guv, Robin Hatch, Luna Li, Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade/Operators), Hatchie, Ratboys, Dave Foley and Annie Murphy (of Schitt's Creek). Find the full lineup of performers announced so far on the poster below.

Here's the week one schedule:

April 1

Royal Mountain Records founder Menno Versteeg (of Hollerado) & World Cafe host Raina Douris + Fred Penner (Vancouver Island, Canada)

April 2

Nap Eyes (Montreal, Canada) + Crake (Leeds, UK)

April 3

San Mei (Gold Coast, Australia) + Islands (Los Angeles, USA)

April 4

Bartees Strange (Washington DC, USA) + Sam Roberts (Montreal, Canada)

April 5

Ellis (Hamilton, Canada) + Alexandra Savior (Portland, OR, USA)

April 6

Hubert Lenoir (Quebec City, Canada) + Gustaf (New York, USA)

April 7 (9 pm start)

Ducks Unlimited (Toronto, Ontario) + Say Sue Me (Busan, South Korea)

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We present to you....World Tour! RMR have teamed up with @worldcafe to bring you a month-long ✨virtual festival✨ It features two artists from two different countries each night throughout April and you can tune in on our IG Live at 7pm EST. Tonight, our resident blabbermouth @mennovers and World Cafe host @rahrahraina will introduce the series, followed by what promises to be an inspiring and heartwarming set of the hits of your youth by Fred Penner (@fpenner5). SEE YOU KIDS TONIGHT! #worldtour2020

A post shared by royal mountain records (@royalmountainrecords) on Apr 1, 2020 at 8:34am PDT