Rock

Michael Brook: Toronto Native a Player on World Music Stage

Grammy Bid Defies Years Of Obscurity Nick Krewen Toronto Star Monday, February 24, 1997   He’s played in volcanic caves on The Canary Islands and recorded one of his four solo albums during a press conference at The London Zoo’s Aquarium, but Michael Brook says a gig he performed in the late ’80s with visionary keyboardist Brian Eno topped them all. “We performed at the opening of a Shinto temple…


Mike Oldfield talks Songs of Distant Earth

NICK KREWEN Mike Oldfield, the British composer of Tubular Bells, the chart-topping 1973 instrumental album that revolutionized rock music and represented progressive rock at its most indulgent, sees future music entertainment as “a Salvadore Dali painting you can walk into.” Limited copies of his new album, Songs Of Distant Earth, contain a multi-media CD-ROM that he assembled midway through recording sessions, and Oldfield says he’s excited by new computer technology. “I…


Geek Rock Trio Targets Hagar

PUBLISHED IN THE TORONTO STAR ON JANUARY 30, 1997   Nerf Herder Makes A Career Of Taunting Van Halen’s Ex-Singer   By Nick Krewen Toronto Star January 30, 1997   “Is this what you wanted, Sammy Hagar? Sammy Hagar, is this what you wanted? Dave lost his hairline, but you lost your cool, buddy. Can’t Drive 55, I’ll never buy your lousy records again. Never again.”   –from “Van Halen,”…


Nash The Slash: Gauze and effects

PUBLISHED IN THE KITCHENER-WATERLOO RECORD ( AND THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR) on January 25, 1997   By Nick Krewen Nash The Slash is the ultimate Canadian cover artist. Whenever he’s performed in public, the Toronto-based electronic musician has been an intriguing sight, dressed in a top hat, sunglasses and swathed head to toe in bandages. Now celebrating his 20th year in the public eye, this chic version of The Invisible Singing…


Portrait of The Artist (Prince) As A Newly Free Man

Versions of this article for Southam News appeared in several Southam newspapers including The Windsor Star on November 20, 1996 PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A NEWLY FREE MAN   NICK KREWEN CHANHASSEN, Minnesota. The Artist Formerly Known As Prince  knows how to make a lasting impression. As the door to the conference room in his palatial Paisley Park Studios swings open, the man whose legal name is the unpronounceable…