Country music icon Dolly Parton has passed away at 80

Saddened to hear that iconic country singer/songwriter and philanthropist Dolly Parton has died at 80. She'll be greatly missed.

Peter Hook & The Light @ History, August 27

Since Peter Hook is in town to perform New Order's Get Ready album, here are a few interviews & clips to get you up to speed. 

GA tickets for Peter Hook & The Light's show at History in Toronto are $66.75. Get 'em right here.

Marissa Nadler shares her animated video for "Smoke Screen Selene"

"Smoke Screen Selene" appears on Marissa Nadler's 2025 album New Radiations available here. Watch her clip below.  

Grey DeLisle is joined by Dave Alvin & Deke Dickerson on new album out in October

Singer/songwriter Grey DeLisle is previewing her Don't Turn Around album with the honky-tonk whumper "The Lights Are Off But Somebody's Home." 

Here's the scoop...

Deke Dickerson & Grey

Singer/songwriter Grey DeLisle has announced her forthcoming album, Don't Turn Around – out October 23 via Hummin'bird Records – with the release of its lead single, "The Lights Are Off But Somebody's Home." A darkly funny, rockabilly-flavored take on the Bakersfield Sound, the track transforms the classic country tale of a two-timing lover into a sharp-witted honky-tonk anthem packed with twang, swagger, and DeLisle's signature blend of heartbreak and humor.

Produced by the late Andy Paley (Brian Wilson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Madonna) and completed by longtime collaborator Marvin Etzioni following Paley's passing, Don't Turn Around brings together an extraordinary cast of musicians including Deke Dickerson, Murry Hammond, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Leisz, Chris Scruggs, Tammy Rogers, Bernie Dresel, Mandy Barnett, Mickey Raphael, engineer Jake Gideon, and special guest Dave Alvin, who joins DeLisle for the duet "You're Driving Me Away." Drawing from classic country, California roots music, and rockabilly traditions, the album remains unmistakably Grey DeLisLe, pairing unforgettable storytelling with hard-earned humor and remarkable resilience.

Across its 11 songs, Don't Turn Around explores the many ways people leave one another and the roads they travel afterward. Lovers drive away. Doors close. Empty houses become haunted by memory. Yet for all its heartbreak, the album is filled with warmth, wit, and resilience, affirming once again that few modern songwriters capture the spirit of classic country quite like DeLisle.

The story behind Don't Turn Around is every bit as remarkable as the songs themselves, beginning between takes on the set of SpongeBob SquarePants. While voicing members of Sandy Cheeks' family on the long-running animated series, DeLisle struck up an unlikely friendship with Paley, an acclaimed composer, songwriter, and producer whose credits included Brian Wilson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patti Smith, NRBQ, and The Ramones. After discovering that DeLisle was also a songwriter, Paley encouraged her to play him one of her songs. The song was "Don't Turn Around," and it marked the beginning of one of the most rewarding creative partnerships of DeLisle's recording career.

Together, DeLIsle and Paley began crafting Don't Turn Around before Paley's unexpected passing in 2024. Rather than leave the project unfinished, longtime friend and collaborator Marvin Etzioni completed the album, honoring Paley's vision while helping bring it to life.

Though millions know DeLisle as the voice of Daphne Blake in Scooby-Doo, Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and beloved characters across The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, and more, songwriting has remained the throughline of her creative life. A Grammy-winning artist whose recordings have earned widespread critical acclaim, she continues to draw from the traditions of classic country while bringing her own unmistakable wit, warmth, and perspective to every song.

You can pre-order a copy of Grey DeLisle's forthcoming album Don't Turn Around via Bandcamp right here. 

Check out the kick-ass first track "The Lights Are Off But Somebody's Home" below. Also, Grey's home was recently featured in the New York Times, have a look right here.

Yacht Rock: The Complete Web Series screens @ Revue Cinema, Thursday

Stompbox is showing the entire 2005 Yacht Rock web series – a whimsically fictionalized account of the 70s soft rock boom. 

Climax your summer with all 12 smooth sailin’ episodes of the classic YACHT ROCK web series + a live set of yacht rock hits performed by DRAGON SOUNDS!

One of the funniest shows of all time, web series YACHT ROCK launched in 2005 and immediately hurled a harpoon straight into our hearts, kindling a secret love affair with silky smooth music that each one of us had always felt – but denied. Now, my friends, it’s time to set sail on a voyage… right to the top of the charts.

Toronto's own Dragon Sounds will be performing a well-chilled selection of smooth tunes. 

 

Co-creators J.D. Ryznar (“Michael McDonald”), Hunter Stair (“Kenny Loggins”), David Lyons (“Koko”) and their pals weave a genius assembly of genuine music lore, absurd exaggerations and wild fabrications to detail the mythical origins of how smooth 70s and 80s music was made – featuring increasingly outlandish tales about Hall & Oates, the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Loggins & Messina, Toto, Michael Jackson, Christopher Cross, Journey, Warren G, Dr. Dre and more. With intros by “Hollywood” Steve Huey! 

YACHT ROCK famously coined the term “Yacht Rock”, giving anchor to a previously ambiguous genre of mellow music, and reigniting the careers of artists like Hall & Oates in the process. Even Michael MacDonald himself says: “I thought Yacht Rock was hilarious. And uncannily, you know, those things always have a little bit of truth to them. It’s kind of like when you get a letter from a stalker who’s never met you. They somehow hit on something, and you have to admit they’re pretty intuitive.”

Recommended: Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, warm spirits, cool cocktails, sailing caps, life jackets.

Get advance tickets for the Stompbox presentation of J.D. Ryznar's 12-episode YACHT ROCK web series at the Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles) on Thursday, August 27 at 9:30 pm right here. Watch the first four episodes below. 

 

 

Dollar Bin Delights: André Hossein's Les Yeux Cernés OST EP

André Hossein's slinky, tension-filled themes set the mood for his actor/director son Robert's 1964 French noir Les Yeux Cernés. A crime jazz gem!

Listen to the Bird Curtis Quintet

Since trumpeter John Trelawney Curtis turns 90 today, we're celebrating with a few of his Bird Curtis Quintet gems.

LINKS
Get a copy of the Bird Curtis Quintet's "Needs B" LP via Jazzaggression Records right here.