Jeff Tweedy, J Mascis, City and Colour, and more share tributes to Dave ‘Bookie’ Bookman

--taken from: Indie88 (watch the videos)

DAVE "BOOKIE" BOOKMAN, MAY 30, 1960 – MAY 21, 2019

It’s been a year since we lost our dear friend, Dave Bookman. Bookie represented everything that was good in this world. His life was about love, honour and music; if you knew him, you knew how much he affected a change in the way we listen to music. Indie 88 planned to mark this time with a wonderful live tribute for his friends and fans at the Horseshoe Tavern, but those plans have since had to change.

Plans for that evening will now comprise of a week of celebrations and memories, on-air and online, from artists such as Chris Murphy of Sloan, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Sam Roberts, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Steven Page, City and Colour, and many more. On Wednesday May 27th, we’ll release them all together online and play them all on-air.

--taken from: Indie88 (watch the videos)

Music News Digest, May 25, 2020

--taken from: FYI Music News

by Kerry Doole

Presented by Bell Media in tandem with Music BC and Creative BC and now in its sixth year, The 2020 Canadian Songwriter Challenge is underway in a new online format for emerging BC artists and songwriters. The top 15 teams for the #CSC2020 #AloneTogether challenge have shared their songs with the public, who voted on the entries. Those votes are in the hands of the judges, and the top 5 songs will be announced on June 1, with each team receiving $1K to record, mix, and master their song at an eligible BC studio of their choice.

– Set for May 30, Walk Like a Refugee is a 24hr online telethon to support a refugee couple in Uganda. Organizer Elizabeth Bromstein has corralled some notable names to perform, including Chris Murphy (Sloan), Don Kerr (Communism), Amanda Martinez, Stand-up Comic/ CBC Radio host, Ali Hassan, a puppeteer, bellydancer, playwright, chef, and much more. Donation link here

--taken from: FYI Music News

The 1975's 'Notes on a Conditional Form' Is Laudably Thought-Provoking and Thrilling

--taken from: popmatters (read more here)

by Jordan Blum

Just as the covers of The 1975 and I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It connected the band's introductory full-length duo, the artwork of Notes on a Conditional Form links it to A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. It's billed as the second entry into the band's third catalogue chapter, "Music for Cars" (named after their third EP). It tackles topics such as romance, youth, and politics while—as vocalist Matthew Healy told BBC Radio 1 host Annie Mac—being influenced by "British nighttime culture". Broken into nearly two dozen tracks that cumulatively last over 80 minutes, it's as if Panic! at the Disco and Childish Gambino teamed up to embody the current zeitgeist in a song suite a la Field Music's Making a New World or Sloan's Never Hear the End of it. With guests like FKA Twigs, Phoebe Bridgers, Cutty Ranks, and even Healy's father, Tim, popping up here and there, the album is contemplative and chameleonic from start to finish.

--taken from: popmatters (read more here)

‘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!