Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Here, in alphabetical order, are the artists who made some of my favourite music of 2021. These are the albums that excited me most and that I turned to again and again throughout the year. Some, like Adele, Rhiannon Giddens and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, are international musicians I’ve been following from the start of their careers. Others, like Arooj Aftab and Mdou Moctar, are more recent global discoveries. The rest all come from closer to home and stand alongside the best I’ve heard in the past 12 months. Adele - 30  England’s Adele has a habit of naming albums after her age. She also has a tendency to belt out ballads, the kind that huge numbers of people respond to, s...

The Grammy Awards has become one of the world’s most-watched television events. Last year, over 25 million people tuned in to see singer Sam Smith win basically … everything. This year’s edition, the 58th (Feb. 15, City), promises plenty of drama as Taylor Swift and The Weeknd challenge nomination leader Kendrick Lamar to decide who takes home the most hardware. Here are five of the biggest things to expect from music’s starriest night.   1. SHOW-STOPPING NUMBERS Live television means that music is spontaneous and often full of surprises. Don’t miss solo performances by Kendrick Lamar, Justin Bieber, Little Big Town, Pitbull and The Weeknd (the “Can’t Feel My Face” singer – a.k.a. Toron...

The British star’s last album, 21, sold over 30 million copies—the only release this century to reach that zenith, making Adele’s long-awaited followup something like pop’s second coming. The “Rolling in the Deep” singer doesn’t disappoint. Her new album revisits the heartbreak that informed 21 while allowing Adele, now a mother of one in a steady relationship, to move on. It opens with “Hello,” featuring her wondrously deep, soulful voice, and includes “When We Were Young,” about running into an old flame. “River Lea,” takes her into gospel territory, while “All I Ask,” her collaboration with Bruno Mars and his crew, expresses loneliness with palpable emotion. Best of all is the adventurous...

While we await Adele's third album, which could conceivably be called 23 (following its predecessors 19 and 21), it's worth revisiting her last recorded release: the theme to the latest James Bond film. When it came out last October, the song was a major hit and became first Bond theme to win at the Golden Globes, the Brit Awards and the Academy Awards. With its over-the-top instrumentation and Adele's soaring vocals, instantly brought to mind the best Bond themes, especially those sung by the iconic Bond theme artist Shirley Bassey. What was disappointing, however, was Adele's video for the song, which she co-wrote with Paul Epworth. The British superstar's video was an unispired film tease...