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Future of pop music is in great hands with Bruno Mars: review

Mars’s 90-minute set Saturday night at the ACC demonstrated the pop star’s gifted intuition for pop music. Nick Krewen Music, Sun., Aug. 27, 2017 Bruno Mars at the Air Canada Centre, Aug. 26, 2017 He had razzle. He had dazzle. And on Saturday night, for the first of two hotly anticipated Air Canada Centre sell-out concerts, Bruno Mars had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand with…


West Coast Bhangra on the Brink

Story by Nick Krewen | June 8, 2017 For SOCAN Words and Music Vancouver-area bhangra is on the brink of something big. The first indicator that the West Coast/British Columbia bhangra and desi music scene is on the verge of wider recognition came with 2016’s “Suit,” a massive hit throughout India that was recorded and released by Indian singing sensation Guru Randhawa and Canada’s own Aneil Kainth, a.k.a. DJ Intense….


Jean-Michel Jarre finally plays Canada, after 40 years of electronic music

Pioneering work with synthesizers and spectacle finally brings him to Toronto’s Sony Centre on May 9. Nick Krewen Music, Wed., May 3, 2017 Despite the fact he’s sold millions of albums around the world with such instrumental epics as Oxygène and Zoolook, synthesizer and electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre has never played Canada. Until now. After releasing 22 studio albums and six live ones, Jarre, 68, will finally plant his…


Trentemøller says no remixes for now as he concentrates on solo music

Electronic creator leaves working on others’ tunes behind as his band heads for Toronto. Nick Krewen Music, Wed. March 15, 2017 Don’t expect to be hearing any new Trentemøller remixes anytime soon. Anders Trentemøller, the electronic production wizard who built much of his reputation conducting high-profile remixes for Moby, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Royskopp, Robyn and others, has curtailed that aspect of his career . . . at least for…


Minor missteps don’t mar Brian Wilson’s staying power

Overall, the nostalgic, shimmering harmonies were adequately preserved, and sometimes exemplary, at Massey Hall concert. Nick Krewen  Tues., July 5, 2016 Brian Wilson   At Massey Hall, Monday, July 4 There were some good, and not so good, vibrations at Brian Wilson’s Massey Hall performance. Anchored around the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds, the 1966 Beach Boys album that raised the bar for pop music with its stylistic intricacy, the…