Madonna may have added writer and director to her resumé this past year, but she’s still first and foremost a pop star who promotes religion, sex and the old adage that “age ain’t nothin’ but a number.” News of Madge’s 2012 tour leaked earlier this year, and now Toronto group Azari and III are rumoured to be the opening act. While the band’s management can’t confirm or deny rumours about the tour, the Sun newspaper reports Madonna is a big fan of the band’s electronic sound—the quartet is made up of producers Dinamo Azari and Alixander III and singers Starving Yet Full and Fritz Helder (formerly of Fritz Helder and the Phantoms). Find out more about the group that may or may not be opening for Madonna’s new tour after the jump.
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Will Toronto’s Azari and III open for Madonna on her next tour?
Billboard confirms that Nickelback is once again relevant
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It’s been a great year for Canadian music, and industry publications are beginning to give Canucks their due: last week New York magazine named Feel It Break, the debut album from Toronto band Austra, the best album of 2011, and now Michael Bublé, Justin Bieber, Drake and, um, Nickelback are getting their time in the sun. Billboard released its list of last week’s top-selling albums, and these four Canadians topped the chart—the fact that two of the albums are holiday themed perhaps speaks to both the time of year and the declining importance of record sales in the music industry, but we still applaud a Canuck takeover of the list. Find out who took number one after the jump.
Charlie Sheen tweets real phone number to Justin Bieber (but why?)
Charlie Sheen successfully made headlines again for about a minute yesterday when the former Two and a Half Men star and current loose cannon accidentally tweeted his personal phone number to Justin Bieber. Apparently, Sheen made a classic Twitter mistake: he sent an update instead of a direct message to the Biebs that read, “310-954-7277 Call me bro. C.” Sheen quickly removed the post but was inundated with roughly 1,800 texts and many phone calls, some of which he answered with “Ray’s Pizza” and “Winning.” Sheen’s bad jokes aside, the real question here seems to be why on earth Charlie Sheen was attempting to contact Justin Bieber. Considering the Stratford native’s squeaky clean image, we’d advise the Biebs to say no to any tiger blood Sheen may have offered him.
• Charlie Sheen Tweets Personal Phone Number Intended For Justin Bieber [Huffington Post]
Images: Charlie Sheen, Mark Davis/WireImage; Justin Bieber, Theo Wargo/WireImage
New York magazine names Austra’s Feel It Break the No. 1 album of the year
Katie Stelmanis (Image: Norman Wong)
It’s December, which means that in addition to multiple holidays, inane Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey collaborations and eggnog specialty drinks at coffee shops, it’s time for the release of many “best of” lists. New York magazine’s Nitsuh Abebe recently released “The Year in Pop,” an annual top 10 roundup of the best albums released in the past 365 days, and Toronto’s own Austra took first place with their debut album Feel It Break. New York magazine says the list reflects a shift in popularity from big-label artists towards indie musicians, where “away from the reinvigorated mainstream charts, icy chanteuses, avant-garde rappers and old-school punks made exotic sounds.” Canadians—and honourary Canadians—dominated the list, taking four of the 10 spots. Find out who made the cut and how they placed after the jump.
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Horsemeat poised to make a comeback in the U.S.
(Image: James Byrum)
Top Chef Canada made headlines (and alienated horse lovers everywhere) earlier this year when it featured horsemeat during a classic French cuisine challenge. The scandal prompted an in-depth investigation of the industry by the ever-intrepid Toronto Star, which explained how a 2007 slaughtering ban in the United States led to a boom in Canada’s industry. Now, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune, horsemeat may be making a return to the U.S. market in the coming months.
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Five things we learned about celebrity interior designer Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz (right) (Image: Elhormiguero)
Lenny Kravitz is a name we haven’t heard in a long time, save for occasional radio play of “American Woman” and news of his daughter Zoe’s exploits. It was recently announced that Kravitz has been pegged to design a 10,000-square-foot floor at Toronto’s Bisha Hotel and Residences downtown, and we’re intrigued at the idea of Kravitz extending his unique aesthetic sensibilities to interior design (although we can’t help but imagine snakeskin and leather everywhere). Check out five things we learned about Kravitz and his love for design below.
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Justin Bieber’s “balls have dropped,” and so have some new tracks
It may only be Halloween, but we’re getting in the holiday spirit a little early this year thanks to the just-leaked Justin Bieber Christmas album. First, a word of warning to hard-core Bieber fans: the Stratford-born singer sounds a little bit different on this record. Let’s put it this way: on “Fa La La,” a track featuring Boyz II Men, Bieber’s signature high-pitched whine is nowhere to be heard, making it difficult to differentiate vocally between the teen and the over 30 contingent accompanying him. It makes sense that Bieber sounds different this year—he turned 17 back in March, which means he’s almost made it through puberty. Or, as his manager Scott Braun put it, “Vocally, his balls have dropped.” His words, not ours. On top of debuting his new vocal range, Bieber has managed to secure a few impressive collaborations on the album, including a version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” featuring the diva herself. Our favourite, however, has to be Busta Rhymes and Biebs double-teaming “The Little Drummer Boy.”
Lars von Trier retrospective coming to TIFF Lightbox (yes, including the release of Melancholia)
Controversial director Lars von Trier is the subject of a new, short running TIFF Bell Lightbox retrospective from November 9 to 19. The Lightbox will screen a number of Von Trier’s films, including his latest, Melancholia, which stars Kirsten Dunst and has yet to be released in theatres in Toronto. Von Trier made headlines earlier this year at a Cannes press conference for the film with some Nazi comments, and since then he has apologized and retreated from the public eye. According to a press release, the select retrospective “[moves] from raw realism to strikingly fabricated fantasy, [showcasing] not only von Trier’s incredible versatility and prolificacy, but also the haunting, deeply felt obsession with apocalypse—personal, societal, cosmic.” Several highlights after the jump.
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Two U.S. senators propose calling in the feds over fake maple syrup
(Image: Kai Hendry)
Champagne must come from its eponymous region in France, Parmigiano-Reggiano from specific areas in Emilia-Romagna (ok, and Lombardia) and Colombian Coffee from, well, Colombia. U.S. Law may soon dictate that maple syrup must have a specific origin as well—and no, Canada doesn’t take that honour. Maple trees do. According to the Toronto Star, two U.S. Senators are sponsoring a bill to make mislabeling a food product as maple syrup a federal offence punishable by a sentence of up to five years in prison.
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Attention lazy wedding guests: The Gift Network—an online wedding registry service—has launched in Toronto
Gift registries for the internet generation, like these two crazy kids. (Image: Gene Chan)
Toronto-based website The Gift Network launched earlier this month, providing a free online gift registry that features partnerships with over 100 stores across the GTA. Soon-to-be-wedded folk who want to skip the process of entering a few stores and scanning a few gravy boats can now avoid human contact altogether—that is, until the big night. The Gift Network offers products from boutique stores like Golda’s Kitchen, The Cookbook Store, Bohm Furniture, BlackBird Vintage Finds, Metropolis Living, Umbra Concept Store and Grassroots Environmental Products, and it also allows users to post links to registries from stores that are not offered by the website, which means maybe we’ll take one HBC multistripe point blanket for our collection after all. We’re intrigued by the idea of a catchall registry that allows brides- and grooms-to-be to register for a lot of what they need all in one place, but much like those wedge booties you bought online that you’ve never worn, the one downside to this whole project is that newlyweds might get things they never needed in the first place—online shopping is still hit or miss, and if you don’t hold it, touch it or scan it, it might mean a series of decorative collectibles that looked decent on a screen, but not in your home.
Video: Susan Sarandon knocks a few balls around
George Strombolopolous released a ping pong trick shot video (or an advertisement for Spin Toronto, the new King West ping-pong club) on his show, featuring co-owner Susan Sarandon displaying some killer moves on the table-tennis court: there’s the frat house (beer pong inspired, perhaps?), the Bobby Fischer serve, and a Harlem Globetrotters-inspired trick (the stuff that only handy editing work could cook up). There’s a new celebrity ping-pong champ in town, and she’s available to star in a sequel to Balls of Fury. Sadly, it isn’t Forrest Gump, but we’d pay to see a showdown between the two celebrity ball paddlers.
Hoping to draw attention to its copyright crusade, U.S. website throws Justin Bieber in (Photoshopped) jail
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In a genius bit of appropriation, a website petitioning the U.S. government over a proposed copyright bill is using Justin Bieber to support its cause (semi-ironically, and without his consent). Freebieber.org was set up to oppose the Commercial Felony Streaming Act (S.978), currently in the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, the bill would make the streaming of copyrighted work punishable by five years in prison. Not only does using the singer’s name make for ideal search engine optimization (the site’s petition has by more than a half a million signatures), but the website—which features Photoshopped images of the Biebs behind bars—makes the case that this legislation deems illegal the very activities that brought Bieber to the world.
Toronto bans shark fin products; sharks everywhere rejoice
This photo has not been digitally altered (Image: John Michael McGrath)
Yesterday city council voted in favour of banning the sale of shark fin products within the limits of Toronto. The proposal passed easily, with a vote of 38 to 4, despite a warning from the city staff that Toronto may have difficulties not only enforcing the bylaw but also dealing with citizens who feel the city is intruding on their rights and freedoms. Several councillors made impassioned speeches on both sides of the issue, but our favourite moment of the meeting came long before the shark fin debate even began, when Glenn De Baeremaeker, ever the council chamber prop master, released an inflatable shark balloon into the air.
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After years of having polar bears shill holiday cheer, Coca-Cola returns the favour
We’d like to high-five someone over at the World Wildlife Fund for this creative, environmentally friendly and somewhat strange partnership: Coca-Cola announced today it will swap the colours on its cans over the holidays to help protect polar bears. The soda brand is participating in the World Wildlife Fund’s “Arctic Home” campaign, which raises funds to safeguard polar bear habitats in Canada’s North, with Coca-Cola contributing $2 million to the WWF over the next five years. Coke will also match consumer donations made to the campaign until March 15, 2012, up to $1 million. “The polar bear and the rugged Arctic are enduring symbols of the Canadian North,” Coca-Cola president Nicola Kettlitz said in a statement. “For Coca-Cola, the polar bear is especially near and dear to our hearts.” Given that the company’s been more than happy to use the cuddly bears for their Christmastime ads over the years, presumably they have some stake in making sure they stick around.
Neil Young performs “Helpless” with Arcade Fire
Canadians took the Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre in San Francisco by storm, as Neil Young performed alongside Arcade Fire in a rendition of “Helpless” to celebrate the school’s 25th anniversary. Young founded the Bridge School in 1986 with wife Pegi to help children with physical and speech-related handicaps. Young also performed “Pocahontas” with Beck and “Dance, Dance, Dance” with Mumford and Sons.
• Watch Neil Young perform with Beck, Arcade Fire, More [Paste Magazine]
