Once again, it was a jam-packed week in the Exclaim! news section. Not only were there tons of big festival announcements, but there were some pretty big album ones as well.
But first off, this week's biggest story was unfortunately also the most tragic, as the driving force behind Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co., Jason Molina, passed away. Following a battle with alcoholism and related health problems, the prolific songwriter died last Saturday (March 16) at the age of 39, undoubtedly leaving a painful hole in the lives of many. In his memory, you can stream Molina's entire discography here.
On a more positive note, festival season continues to look up. This week, we got lineups for Quebec's Amnesia Rockfest, the travelling Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Victoria's Rock the Shores, Montreal's Suoni Per Il Popolo, Summer Slaughter, and Ottawa Explosion Weekend, as well as a few acts for this year's Lollapalooza. And while not a festival, Prince surprised us this week by rolling out a residency tour, which will make its way up to Vancouver for a whopping four shows.
However, all was not rosy in festival land, as Skrillex was forced to cancel this year's "Full Flex Express" tour.
As for those big album announcements, we not only got word of the Weeknd's Kiss Land LP, but record reveals from Deerhunter, Sigur Rós and the National.
Plus, we got one step closer to that new Daft Punk album by Sony registering a string of new songs from the helmed duo, and Queens of the Stone Age teased their new LP with a pile of song snippets. Unfortunately, there's still no release date for the record, apparently tilted ...Like Clockwork, but the band confirmed it will arrive in June.
But first off, this week's biggest story was unfortunately also the most tragic, as the driving force behind Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co., Jason Molina, passed away. Following a battle with alcoholism and related health problems, the prolific songwriter died last Saturday (March 16) at the age of 39, undoubtedly leaving a painful hole in the lives of many. In his memory, you can stream Molina's entire discography here.
On a more positive note, festival season continues to look up. This week, we got lineups for Quebec's Amnesia Rockfest, the travelling Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Victoria's Rock the Shores, Montreal's Suoni Per Il Popolo, Summer Slaughter, and Ottawa Explosion Weekend, as well as a few acts for this year's Lollapalooza. And while not a festival, Prince surprised us this week by rolling out a residency tour, which will make its way up to Vancouver for a whopping four shows.
However, all was not rosy in festival land, as Skrillex was forced to cancel this year's "Full Flex Express" tour.
As for those big album announcements, we not only got word of the Weeknd's Kiss Land LP, but record reveals from Deerhunter, Sigur Rós and the National.
Plus, we got one step closer to that new Daft Punk album by Sony registering a string of new songs from the helmed duo, and Queens of the Stone Age teased their new LP with a pile of song snippets. Unfortunately, there's still no release date for the record, apparently tilted ...Like Clockwork, but the band confirmed it will arrive in June.
