The week was filled with patriotic holidays on both sides of the border, but that didn't stop our news page filling up daily. If you fear you might have missed something while swilling beers and setting off fireworks, here's our news roundup to help you get back in the know.
First off, Toronto's Skydiggers helped us celebrate Canada Day right by announcing a surprise album of Canadian covers. Taking on tracks by fellow countrymen like Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Ron Sexsmith, the record came as part of the band's ongoing 25th anniversary celebrations as well, and if you're curious about what's in store, Skydiggers are sharing the entire collection on Exclaim.ca.
Also on our side of the border, electronic producer Digits revealed he's taken a producer role at Toronto's Gas Station Recording Studio, while Winnipeg punk heroes Propagandhi announced they will be releasing a 20th anniversary reissue of their album How to Clean Everything.
In other news, Jay-Z dominated the headlines this week thanks to the release of his Magna Carta Holy Grail. And while the album may have scored favourably in our review, the rollout of its app via the Samsung Galaxy smartphone was anything but smooth, as it was criticized for everything from giving rise to privacy concerns to censored music to hacked clones. Back on the plus side, we did learn the album has a Canadian connection.
Meanwhile, Daft Punk have been treated to a new set of action figures, Frank Ocean got his own rarities comp, and Pearl Jam are counting down to some big announcement and hardcore outfit BL'AST! are returning with their first new album in over two decades, thanks to a little help from Dave Grohl.
Finally, it was a bad week for Motörhead, as the band were forced to cancel their tour dates due to Lemmy's health concerns.
First off, Toronto's Skydiggers helped us celebrate Canada Day right by announcing a surprise album of Canadian covers. Taking on tracks by fellow countrymen like Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Ron Sexsmith, the record came as part of the band's ongoing 25th anniversary celebrations as well, and if you're curious about what's in store, Skydiggers are sharing the entire collection on Exclaim.ca.
Also on our side of the border, electronic producer Digits revealed he's taken a producer role at Toronto's Gas Station Recording Studio, while Winnipeg punk heroes Propagandhi announced they will be releasing a 20th anniversary reissue of their album How to Clean Everything.
In other news, Jay-Z dominated the headlines this week thanks to the release of his Magna Carta Holy Grail. And while the album may have scored favourably in our review, the rollout of its app via the Samsung Galaxy smartphone was anything but smooth, as it was criticized for everything from giving rise to privacy concerns to censored music to hacked clones. Back on the plus side, we did learn the album has a Canadian connection.
Meanwhile, Daft Punk have been treated to a new set of action figures, Frank Ocean got his own rarities comp, and Pearl Jam are counting down to some big announcement and hardcore outfit BL'AST! are returning with their first new album in over two decades, thanks to a little help from Dave Grohl.
Finally, it was a bad week for Motörhead, as the band were forced to cancel their tour dates due to Lemmy's health concerns.
