New music: Arcade Fire, Blue Rodeo, Noam Pikelny

CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2013 1:31 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2013 1:33 PM ET

Two powerhouse Canadian bands are unveiling new music and lead off CBC host Tom Power's weekly picks of new releases.

First up for the CBC Radio 2 Morning host is the Arcade Fire's headline-grabbing Reflektor, which he dubs the most anticipated album of the year in Canadian music.

Though Reflektor's official release isn't until Tuesday, an internet leak of the Grammy-winning band's latest album prompted the Montreal collective to stream all 14 tracks online — in their entirety — themselves.

Another great release debuting Tuesday is In Our Nature, the latest from enduring band Blue Rodeo. The country-tinged rockers returned to the same farmhouse studio where they recorded their much-loved Five Days in July two decades ago to lay down the tracks for In Our Nature. You might call it Five Days in July, part two, says Power.

Finally, one of the greatest banjo players in the world pays tribute to a bluegrass icon with his new album. Noam Pikelny's latest is a mouthful — Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe — but it's also an outstanding homage to a classic of the genre.

Watch the attached video to check out excerpts of new music from Arcade Fire, Blue Rodeo and Noam Pikelny.

Battling Boy reinvents comic book superheroes for younger readers by Jonathan Ore Oct. 25, 2013 8:09 PM With his latest work, comic book veteran Paul Pope has created a template-smashing new kind of superhero: Battling Boy, a kid (admittedly the offspring of gods) who sets out to protect other kids. "The thing that's attractive about kids as characters is that, if anything, they represent potential," he tells CBC News.Let Franz Ferdinand kick up your Friday Oct. 25, 2013 5:45 PM We've got live performance throughout the show from Franz Ferdinand, the Scottish band whose single Do You Want To sent them to the top of the charts internationally. Who Said It Quiz: Stephen King or Justin Bieber? Oct. 25, 2013 3:08 PM One of them pens tales of terror. One of them croons to shrieking girls. But they have more in common than you might think. So in honour of Stephen King's newest book, Doctor Sleep, a long-awaited follow-up to the terrifying 1977 novel The Shining, we give you our latest Who Said It Quiz: King or Bieber?

View the original article here

Eminem's Rap God sparks outcry over homophobic slurs

CBC News Posted: Oct 23, 2013 12:45 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 23, 2013 12:45 PM ET

Veteran rapper Eminem has once again sparked controversy with his music, blasted by fellow artists and music critics for homophobic slurs in his new single, Rap God.

Delivered as Eminem's dark performance alter-ego Slim Shady, Rap God features violent, bravado lyrics that taunt his rivals in the aggressive style for which the Grammy Award-winning Detroit rapper is known. 

At issue is his insulting use of the words "gay" and "f-ggot" throughout several sections of the track. 

A host of music critics and media outlets praised the song (which emerged last week in advance of his upcoming album The Marshall Mathers LP 2), but many have also blasted the rapper for the language, which has been criticized as being homophobic. 

'He's using the word f-ggot to degrade another man. As if the worst thing a man can be is gay. What type of message does that embed into the minds of young kids, both gay and straight?'- Hip hop singer Solomon

British singer and DJ Boy George and LGBT rights groups are among those who have criticized Eminem for this latest release, calling it a return to outdated views and past offensive music.

The chorus of criticism was joined most recently by rapper LastO and singer-songwriter Solomon, two of the openly gay hip hop recording artists featured in a month-long series on Eminem's satellite radio channel in 2008.

"When he invited me on his radio station a few years ago, I thought he put all of this aside," Solomon said in a statement.

"Granted, it's not directed towards the gay community, but subconsciously it is. He's using the word f-ggot to degrade another man. As if the worst thing a man can be is gay. What type of message does that embed into the minds of young kids, both gay and straight?"

The controversy over Rap God arrives after the rapper's repeated declarations that he has "nothing against gays" (including in a 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper in 2010) and his high-profile Grammy Awards  performance alongside Elton John in 2001. Eminem has not commented publicly about the reaction to the song.

Acceptance of LGBT artists in the hip hop community has been an increasingly prominent issue over the past year, in part tied to rising hip hop singer Frank Ocean's 2012 revelation about falling in love with a man and exemplified in this summer's hit Macklemore and Ryan Lewis marriage-equality track Same Love. 

"As irreverent and offensive as [Eminem's] brand is supposed to be ... he still knows his line," LastO said in a statement.

"It's ironic because I'm sure when he was coming of age, more black folks walked over him...than anyone gay ever did."

Battling Boy reinvents comic book superheroes for younger readers by Jonathan Ore Oct. 25, 2013 8:09 PM With his latest work, comic book veteran Paul Pope has created a template-smashing new kind of superhero: Battling Boy, a kid (admittedly the offspring of gods) who sets out to protect other kids. "The thing that's attractive about kids as characters is that, if anything, they represent potential," he tells CBC News.Let Franz Ferdinand kick up your Friday Oct. 25, 2013 5:45 PM We've got live performance throughout the show from Franz Ferdinand, the Scottish band whose single Do You Want To sent them to the top of the charts internationally. Who Said It Quiz: Stephen King or Justin Bieber? Oct. 25, 2013 3:08 PM One of them pens tales of terror. One of them croons to shrieking girls. But they have more in common than you might think. So in honour of Stephen King's newest book, Doctor Sleep, a long-awaited follow-up to the terrifying 1977 novel The Shining, we give you our latest Who Said It Quiz: King or Bieber?

View the original article here