Spinner

New Order, Bad Blood: Bernard Sumner Unloads on Ex-Bandmate Peter Hook

Mike Doherty — 2013-01-22T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Holy Hell, RPM, Q + A

Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner in happier times (MJ Kim, Getty)

When New Order recorded the eight tracks on their new release Lost Sirens as part of the sessions for their 2005 album Waiting for the Siren's Call, they didn't intend them as a coda to bassist Peter Hook's tenure with the band. But since he left New Order in 2007, relations between Hook and his former bandmates have been as icy as the lyrics to their hit "Blue Monday."

In the fall of 2011, Hook told Spinner he was "determined to fuck New Order over in any possible way." When I later spoke to New Order singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner in Toronto between the last two gigs of the band's year-long worldwide tour, Sumner quoted that line back to me and sighed.

Making clear that he wanted to "answer his criticism of me and the band, rather than dish out fresh criticism of him," Sumner detailed his and Hook's irreconcilable differences -- to do with touring, the legacy of the long-shuttered club The Hacienda and, inevitably, money -- and why he feels that despite all the negativity, the split is a positive thing.

Thomas Dolby Returns to Music After Blinding Silicon Valley With Science

Mike Doherty — 2012-04-12T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Q + A

Conqueroo

Thomas Dolby's tour bus is currently towing a "Time Capsule" across North America. It's a small brass-and-chrome-plated trailer with all manner of steampunk-esque metres and gauges inside -- as well as hi-fi audio/visual equipment on which his fans are encouraged to record "messages for the future." Where other pop singers whose careers peaked in the '80s have been flocking to nostalgia tours, Dolby is winking at the past but looking far ahead.

His new studio album, A Map of the Floating City, is his first since 1992's Astronauts and Heretics. In the intervening years, he became the musical director of TED and founded the company Beatnik, which developed a ringtone synthesizer used in mobile phones. After moving back from L.A. to his native England in 2006, he built a solar-powered studio in a 1930s boat outside his house. There, he recorded the new album with help from friends such as Dire Straights' Mark Knopfler (guitar) and Regina Spektor (vocals).

Peter Hook Vows to 'F--- Over' New Order After 'Disgusting' Reunion

Mike Doherty — 2011-10-06T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, Spinner Interview

Mark McNulty

Though he's played some of the greatest basslines in pop music with New Order, Peter Hook didn't exactly endear himself to fans when he announced in 2007 that the band had broken up for a second time. His colleagues in New Order as well as its predecessor Joy Division -- singer-guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Stephen Morris -- claimed to have been blindsided and said they'd continue regardless. Lately, Hook has been playing Joy Division songs with his own band, the Light, and thus, in the eyes of his former bandmates and some fans, dishonoring Ian Curtis' legacy. Meanwhile, New Order is reuniting without him for a pair of upcoming October charity gigs.

Before the Light's recent show in Toronto -- during which they played Joy Division's album 'Unknown Pleasures' convincingly, with intensity and power -- the burly bassist stood up at the back of his dressing room, ushered his bandmates out, and made a spirited case for his defense. His craggy features often lighting up with a mischievous gleam, Hooky spoke to Spinner about how Joy Division's legacy is his legacy, too, and offered some choice words about the New Order reunion, his corrosive relationship with his ex-bandmates, and his feelings about a makeup after the break-up.

I understand you started playing Joy Division albums live because Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie never thought that his band's album 'Screamadelica' got the recognition it deserved?

He was saying there were songs on 'Screamadelica' that they didn't play a lot, and he felt now that that was a mistake. That struck a chord with me: there were songs on 'Unknown Pleasures' which we hardly ever played. Once I got out of New Order and was able to look in, I thought, "Why did we never play those songs that three-quarters of us had written?"

I think the main problem was that Bernard didn't like Joy Division -- he preferred New Order, which is fair enough, 'cause it has a completely different sensibility. But for me, who was happy to play both, it just felt quite odd. So at my own club in Manchester [The Factory], I got a group together and played Joy Division's music.

Devo Say 'Stupid' Sarah Palin Proves Their Theory of Devolution

Mike Doherty — 2011-06-15T12:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Exclusive, Spinner Interview

Tim Mosenfelder, Getty Images

It's been 38 years since Devo first played at Kent State University and, if you believe the band, humankind has been devolving ever since. But while their message in the '70s sounded alien and disturbing, their music is now oddly close to the mainstream. Last year's 'Something for Everybody,' their first album in 20 years, is very much in keeping with today's electronic pop.

This means is that they're no longer the subject of harsh criticism, as they were in their more confrontational earlier days. Nonetheless, the group is still largely misunderstood.

On the eve of Devo's summer tour, featuring a free AOL-sponsored show at Toronto's NXNE festival on June 18 at Yonge-Dundas Square, Spinner caught up with frontman Mark Mothersbaugh and singer-bassist Gerald Casale for a rare interview about the respect they've gained from their peers and the battles they've fought against their record label, their own followers, and humanity in general. Oh, and also "stupid" Sarah Palin.

The recent live videos on your website show the band playing, and audiences responding, with undiminished energy and enthusiasm. Gerry, you've talked about the "fine line of being smart and appearing stupid" and the "ironic idiocy" at the heart of Devo. Are fans meant to enjoy the music by celebrating the irony that you're putting forward?

Gerald Casale: Yeah, you would hope so, but it can work without that, too, luckily. There's a lot of people who are in on the intentional irony, definitely. But they asked Bob Dylan a long time ago, after 'Like a Rolling Stone' was a hit, did he think people understood him? And he said, "By the sheer numbers of the crowd, hopefully not."

Booker T. Jones Returns to His Hometown Roots: 'The World Owes Memphis So Much'

Mike Doherty — 2011-05-10T12:05:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, New Releases, Q + A

Michael Buckner, Getty Images

It's been 50 years since Booker T. Jones' first recording session at Stax Records at the age of 16. Since then, the multi-instrumentalist has had soul hits with the MG's such as 'Green Onions' and 'Time Is Tight,' produced the likes of Willie Nelson and Bill Withers, played with everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Willis, won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And yet he's still been under-recognized. In 2009, his blues-rock solo comeback, 'Potato Hole,' featuring the Drive-By Truckers with Neil Young on guitar, brought him closer to the spotlight. He gets right in it on his new album, 'The Road to Memphis,' (due out May 10) which harks back to his soulful Stax days, but with the Roots as his backing band, and Lou Reed, Sharon Jones, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and the National's Matt Berninger on vocals.

Spinner caught up with Jones at his new home in Los Angeles, and discovered how the musical legend is not only keeping up with the times, but helping to fashion them.

Stevie Nicks Admits Undying Love for Lindsey Buckingham, Dedicates New Album to Fan Who Succumbed to Cancer

Mike Doherty — 2011-04-29T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: News, New Music, Exclusive, Spinner Interview, New Releases

WBR

After Stevie Nicks released 'Trouble in Shangri-La' in 2001, she thought she'd never record another solo album again. The process was tiresome and besides, she still had her longtime band Fleetwood Mac to satisfy her musical creativity.

Now, 10 years later, she's back with 'In Your Dreams' -- a rich, dynamic album co-written and co-produced by Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart, and featuring Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood on drums and ex-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals. From a San Francisco hotel room, on a rare night off from her recent tour with Rod Stewart, Nicks told Spinner about gaining inspiration from a lost friend, how recording this album changed her life and why she and Lindsey are like Bella and Edward from 'Twilight.'

On your recent tour with Rod Stewart, was there a friendly rivalry between the two of you? Would you ever tell him before a show, "I'm going to go out and wipe the floor with you tonight?"

Oh no, you would never say something like that to Rod Stewart [laughs]. Even though he's only a few years older than me, he is from a generation before me. Rod Stewart was a big rock star before Lindsey [Buckingham] and I even moved to Los Angeles. He was one of my big inspirations: Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Janis, Jimi ...

Stevie Nicks Revisits 'Beautiful and Crazy' '70s for 'Secret Love' -- Video Premiere

Mike Doherty — 2011-04-26T11:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Video, Exclusive, New Music

WBR

"Sparkly and eerie and kinda creepy" is how Stevie Nicks describes her video for 'Secret Love,' the first single from her first solo album in 10 years, 'In Your Dreams,' due out May 3. It features younger and older versions of Stevie Nicks, a white horse, a sinister photographer and ghostly appearances and disappearances -- clearly the singer who calls her publishing company Welsh Witch is back and in good form.

The song itself, about a fraught, clandestine love affair, was written in the mid-'70s, at a time when Nicks had just broken up with fellow Fleetwood Mac singer Lindsey Buckingham. "I have really tried to remember who it was about," Nicks tells Spinner, "but at the end of 1975, the world was spinning around us so fast, and we were meeting people every other day. There were gorgeous men and gorgeous women everywhere. We were fast and beautiful and crazy."

Nicks recorded a demo at the time, but filed it away without revisiting it until last year. "It must have been secret because I wrote it, recorded it and put it in a box," she muses. "The words are kind of odd."

The video, too, is out of the ordinary.

Robert Glasper's Jazz Experiment Entices Kanye West, Beyonce and More

Mike Doherty — 2011-04-21T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, New Music

Joey L

It's not unusual to find jazz musicians backing hip-hop MCs or soul singers, but when the likes of Kanye West and Beyoncé make special appearances with a jazz group, you know something's out of the ordinary.

And the Robert Glasper Experiment, who have welcomed both superstars onstage, are no ordinary jazz outfit. They're just as likely to cover J Dilla and Nirvana as they are to offer jazz standards or pianist Glasper's own progressively-minded compositions; at a gig at Toronto's Glenn Gould Theatre last month, for instance, they did all four, to hollers of approval.

Lounging backstage after the concert, the rangy, wryly funny Glasper reflects the anti-purist philosophy that has attracted fans of, and collaborators from, various genres: "I want to be like a Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson in everybody's iPod. I don't want to just hand it to the jazz cats; I want to cater to the hip-hop cats, to the rock cats."

Rave-ival: How Electronic Dance Music Came Back and Took Over

Mike Doherty — 2011-03-10T14:30:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Pop Culture, RPM, New Releases

Getty Images

Despite the rave scene dying out around the turn of the millennium, its soundtrack is everywhere. Electronic dance music record sales are surprisingly healthy, as most other genres languish on life support. Its artists headline huge festivals; its producers helm songs that top pop charts; its hooks soundtrack commercials; its textures bolster movie scenes; and its beats move bodies in clubs. Rather than lying dead, electronic music has become woven into the fabric of our day-to-day lives.

And yet there's still something "underground" about EDM as a genre -- the mainstream North American media seems uninterested, seeing it as the product of a niche culture. So how did it become so prevalent?

And as the dance world turns its attention to Miami this month for this week's annual Winter Music Conference and the sold-out Ultra Music Festival (March 25-27), will 2011 be the year when electronic dance music finally comes of age?

Boy George on Prison, Addiction, Sampling Obama and Becoming an 'Ordinary Alien'

Mike Doherty — 2011-03-08T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Spinner Interview

Getty Images for Etam

Over his 30-year career -- from an abortive stint with Bow Wow Wow to huge transatlantic success with Culture Club to a chameleonic solo career -- Boy George has rarely been out of the headlines. In recent years, run-ins with the law have eclipsed his music, but with his new Kinky Roland-produced dance album 'Ordinary Alien,' two Caribbean-flavoured singles ('Pentonville Blues' with Glide and Swerve, 'Somebody to Love Me' with Mark Ronson) and an impending Culture Club reunion, the former George O'Dowd is enjoying a musical rebirth.

George recently spoke to Spinner about getting clean, surviving prison, resuming work and coming to terms with his past.

How do you feel about being constantly called an '80s star?

It used to get on my nerves, now I don't care anymore. That's part of what I did, and it was really powerful and important. It doesn't stop me doing what I do now. I've always tried new things -- some have worked; some haven't. It's the creative process that really excites me. The hard bit is selling it. I've never been good at working the room. [Laughs] I think it has to do with my upbringing and being British. We're not good at that, which is why we love Americans; they don't shy away from that. It seems to be in their blood. We're just cut from a different kind of cloth.

Deadmau5 on Anger Management, His New Album and Collapsing Onstage

Mike Doherty — 2010-12-07T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, RPM, New Releases

Simone Joyner, WireImage

Although he wears cute, cartoonish mouse heads when he performs, Joel Zimmerman is not the cuddliest guy on the music scene. Judging by his various online spats with DJs, promoters, fellow electronic music producers (and even their fans), the artist known as Deadmau5 can seem ornery indeed.

On the other hand, his interaction with his own fans on Facebook and via good ol' fashioned snail mail (he just set up a P.O. Box), his "playful pet" pictures of his cat (aka Professor Meowingtons), and his loved-up tweets to his girlfriend, Playboy playmate Lindsey Gayle Evans, would suggest that he's mellowing out.

"I've learned not to say certain things that I shouldn't, [but] do anyway, 'cause it's the nature of my personality," Zimmerman tells Spinner. "I'm still learning! One little back-end comment can get you in a lot of s---, and not just s---, unjustified s--. I'm more aware of my anger on and offline."

So perhaps he'll be happy, then, to talk about his new release, '4x4=12,' which is being billed as his first full-length "artist album"?

Gonzales Makes His Move With Jazz-Chess Film, 'Ivory Tower'

Mike Doherty — 2010-09-20T16:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive, Movies, Between the Notes

In the cafeteria of the Crescent School for boys in north Toronto, amongst a wall of class photos, is a 20-year-old portrait of one Jason Beck, a noble-looking prefect. He seems fully prepared to embody the school's motto: 'Men of Character From Boys of Promise.'

Around the back of the building, on a folding chair in a parking lot, slouches a man in a dull brown overcoat with unkempt hair and a scruffy beard; he rolls a cigarette with hands adorned in fingerless gloves. This is Chilly Gonzales, the artist of character that promising boy Jason Beck has since grown into.

Despite his bohemian attire and aura, the pianist, producer, rapper -- and now screenwriter and actor -- is as driven as he was when he ruled the school's hallways. Gonzales, who has lived in Berlin and Paris for the past decade, returned to his hometown to star in the feature film 'Ivory Tower,' which he wrote with Parisian director Céline Sciamma.

Gonzales plays the film's hero, Hershell Graves, a renegade Canadian chess champion who struggles to introduce his new concept of "jazz chess" -- a spontaneous, collaborative variant on the game -- to a baffled world. A championship tournament pitting Hershell against his brother Thadeus (played by Montreal DJ/producer Tiga) is being shot in the Crescent School's gym.

Now completed and amidst a series of screenings around North America and Europe, 'Ivory Tower' grew out of Gonzales' mostly-instrumental album of the same name. His experience as a school prefect, he says, helped him organize the endeavour. "I have the personality of a leader, for better or for worse. I credit the school with my work ethic."

Mavis Staples Still Making Political Songs After 60 Years

Mike Doherty — 2010-08-06T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive, Spinner Interview

Mavis Staples has been singing professionally for six decades, but she's no nostalgia act. The messages of protest and freedom in her civil rights era-era hits with her family band, the Staple Singers, remain relevant today and she's regularly reinvented herself in the company of some of music's most intriguing names -- from Bob Dylan (a former boyfriend) to Prince and Ry Cooder.

Her new album, 'You Are Not Alone' (due next month from Anti-), was produced by Wilco frontman and fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy, whom she met backstage after a 2008 show (later released as 'Hope at the Hideout'). They recorded gospel classics and new, Tweedy-penned songs with Staples' backing trio augmented by Wilco members and friends. Spinner caught up with the 71-year-old dynamo -- who recently gave a seminar in soul singing at Lollapalooza -- from her Chicago home.

When the Staple Singers were singing protest songs at the height of civil unrest in the US, was there ever any backlash against you?

No, never -- we didn't have any problems with that. People seemed to appreciate and respect what we were doing. It seemed that that was the time to hear some songs that would inspire them to keep moving on, to pick themselves up and not quite get over what was going on, but at least live with it. The only time the Staple Singers ran into trouble was with the church people. When we recorded [the 1972 hit] 'I'll Take You There,' they wanted to put us out of church and said we were singing the devil's music. I would always tell them, "The devil ain't got no music. All music is God's music."

Ben E. King Keeps His 'Heart & Soul' Involved in Music

Mike Doherty — 2010-07-02T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Spinner Interview

Fifty years since Ben E. King left the Drifters to start his solo career, his hits are still being covered by everyone from 'American Idol' hopefuls to Michael Bublé to U2. And yet, throughout the past decade, the soul legend with the rough-but-tender voice has kept a low profile, singing in supper clubs and jazz lounges to audiences of connoisseurs. His new album, 'Heart & Soul,' reflects the intimacy of such gigs -- it's a small-group session of old-school ballads ('When I Fall in Love,' 'My Funny Valentine,' etc.) featuring jazz heavyweights such as Randy Brecker and Guido Basso. With its release this summer, King will at last be stepping onto bigger stages again, starting with a high-profile show at Montreal Jazz Festival.

Over the phone from his New Jersey home, the 71-year-old King looked back on his constantly shifting career and revealed the best way to persuade your fans to stand by you.

You recorded your new album in Calgary. How did that come about?

Linda Nash, who's the executive producer, came to see a show that we did at The Blue Note [in Manhattan]. She said, "What you been up to?" and I gave her a big-band CD that I did a few years back. ... When she went home, she took a listen to it and called her husband [Lanny Williamson, owner of The Beach studios in Calgary]. She said, "I got a guy that did some big-band stuff." He says, "Who is this?" She says, "Ben E. King." He says, "Can't be." They enjoyed the voice and the material that I was doing, and they decided I should come up there. He has a brilliant studio with great engineers, great atmosphere. I call him "the Doctor," and he is unbelievable. We took a year and change and did a CD.

The Roots' ?uestlove Explains Indie Collaborations, Amy Winehouse Supergroup

Mike Doherty — 2010-06-30T17:08:00 00:00

Filed under: News, New Music, Exclusive, Canada

Roots drummer, producer and musical director Amir "?uestlove" Thompson is an inveterate multitasker. Tuesday night at the Toronto Jazz Festival media compound, he took a few minutes out from prepping for his band's sold-out show to chat, as he semi-apologetically checked his Blackberry. One could assume that he was going through his electronic Rolodex, lining up more and more collaborations.

As the house band on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,' the Roots have found themselves working with everyone from Paul Simon to Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain. The band's new release, 'How I Got Over,' features the kind of musicians you'd expect to find on indie-loving blogs, not a hip-hop album. Jim James of My Morning Jacket sings the chorus on the Roots' revamp of Monsters of Folk's 'Dear God'; the female half of Dirty Projectors (Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian and Haley Dekle) chant on the dreamy opener, 'A Peace of Light'; and singer/harpist Joanna Newsom delivers the hook on 'Right On.'

Rufus Wainwright Discusses New Album, Kate McGarrigle and Sinking Into Sadness

Mike Doherty — 2010-03-23T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive, Spinner Interview, Canada

Rufus Wainwright has had an eventful and painful past year. Last spring in Berlin, he debuted 'Sonnette,' a Shakespeare-based theatrical collaboration with maverick director Robert Wilson. A few months later in Manchester, he premiered his first opera, 'Prima Donna.'

In December, he sang with his mother, Kate McGarrigle, at London's Royal Albert Hall and the following month she passed away of cancer in Montreal. And all the while, he was working on his melancholy new CD, 'All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu.'

Spinner caught up with Wainwright recently in Toronto -- where he' s prepping the North American premiere of 'Prima Donna' at the Luminato Festival in June -- to discuss his new album, which draws on his theatrical work and looks back at his relationship with his mother.

Gonzales Filming 'Jazz Chess' Movie with Peaches, Tiga and Feist

Mike Doherty — 2010-03-15T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Movies, Canada

Having bested Andrew WK in a piano duel and set a new world record for the longest-ever piano concert, Chilly Gonzales is now turning his thoughts to a more intense type of competition: chess.

The Paris-based provocateur and "entertainist" has scripted a feature-length film centred on the venerable board game and it's currently being filmed in his hometown of Toronto. 'Ivory Tower' stars Gonzales himself as Hershall Graves, an eccentric genius who invents an intuitive and collaborative style of play called "jazz chess."

Opposing him in chess, as well as in love, is his materialistic brother Thaddeus (played by electro producer Tiga); the object of the brothers' shared affection, a performance artist, is played by longtime Gonzales collaborator Peaches. Also appearing as a duo of "Canadian Chess Cyberchannel" journalists are comedy rocker Little Hamm and Gonzales' longtime friend and creative partner, Feist.

Neil Young: Greatest Canadian Hero

Mike Doherty — 2009-06-10T16:20:00 00:00

Filed under: Exclusive, Between the Notes, Canada

They wore baseball caps, bandanas and cowboy hats. They sported Maple Leaf badges and flags. They came in from the suburbs, from Ottawa, from Indiana. On a gloriously sunny day in downtown Toronto, 1623 guitarists packed Yonge/Dundas Square with one common goal - to strum out Neil Young's three-chord classic 'Helpless' together.

The collective sound was like the world's largest campfire surrounded by a buzzing swarm of insects. The guitars weren't in tune with one another, but then again, technical perfection was never Young's bag. Perhaps that's why voters on the website of the Luminato Festival (which organized the strum-along) picked 'Helpless' over songs by Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams, and others. Or maybe it was because the winning song would be dubbed "The Great Canadian Tune" and Neil Young is widely perceived to be the country's most enduring musical icon.