Weeknd

This Week in Music: The Weeknd pisses off Portishead, monstrous new Austra video, fans must choose between Petra Glynt and Justin Bieber

This Week in Music rounds up the latest news, releases and concerts coming to Toronto.

IN THE NEWS

Portishead refused sample to The Weeknd but he probably used it anyway

If you didn't watch this go down on Twitter last week, Geoff Barrow of Portishead is not into Abel Tesfaye (Toronto's The Weeknd)'s new track "Belong to the World." The song's video features some long sci-fi intro that seems like it's going to be a subversive ad for, I don't know, a car? Perfume? E-cigarettes? Then if you get past the two minute mark, you'll hear what seems to be a beat from "Machinegun" come in with some filters slapped on it.

The Weeknd has always been an eclectic sampler, but Barrow, in a series of Tweets at Pitchfork, expressed disgust, claiming while Portishead often sells samples to artists whom they like, they rejected clearance to Tesfaye. Some of The Weeknd's wonderful fans retaliated with homophobic slander. Art does indeed belong to the world, and sometimes the world is full of jerks. Now Tesfaye himself seems to be claiming the beat was "inspired" by Portishead. Stereogum has a run down on the dramz. Controversy aside, I haven't decided if the song is a misogynistic bore or an interesting take on the assumptions we make about sex work.

Austra release ghoulish video for Painful Like

Local pop heros Austra's second album Olympia, out now on Paper Bag Records, is already raking in rave reviews. Their video for "Painful Like" features black lights, roller skates, and a baby monster! The baby monster knows all the words to the track and is really cute in an Eraserhead sort of way, so I hope they let it join the band.

THIS WEEK'S HOT TICKETS

LIDO PIMIENTA & PETRA GLYNT / JULY 25 / COMFORT ZONE / $10

Petra Glynt and Lido Pimienta are fundraising for their respective new videos this Thursday at The Comfort Zone. Pimienta's analog and electronic pop sounds mix with Afro-Colombian influence: perfect music to beat the heat, while Petra Glynt, local psychedelic illustrator and environmental activist Alex Mackenzie's rhythm and conscience heavy, way-danceable solo music project, boasts a voice that might just be the true form of the Canadian Shield. $10 gets you in the door for four bands and DJs HVYWTR: wow. The full lineup is here.

Justin Bieber will be at the Molson both Thursday and Friday, if you're into that. So actually, you can catch Petra Glynt and still get a full dose of Biebz.

RECENTLY ANNOUNCED CONCERTS

  • VISIONS 8.10 feat. FLOATING POINTS, BLACK & MEDLEY, PAUL REVERED / BLK BOX / AUGUST 10
  • THE PATTI SMITH BAND / MASSEY HALL / SEPTEMBER 8
  • MICHAEL MORLEY + TOM CARTER / DOUBLE DOUBLE LAND / SEPTEMBER 21
  • IRON & WINE / SOUND ACADEMY / SEPTEMBER 28
  • CRYSTAL STILTS / THE HORSESHOE / OCTOBER 8
  • SPARKS / LEE'S PALACE / NOVEMBER 2

WHAT WE GOT UP TO LAST WEEK

Photo of The Weeknd by Brian Morton.


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