A concept album is a record that has a narrative, theme, or story that links all the songs together in a unified way. Green Day’s American Idiot qualifies as such a record.
Dig into rock history, and you’ll find plenty more: The Wall by Pink Floyd, both Tommy and Quadrophenia by The Who, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and My Chemical Romance and The Black Parade are all examples. But who was the first to release a concept album?
If we’re going to be honest, it was Frank Sinatra in 1955. That’s when he released In the Wee Small Hours, which features songs about that particular time of day. But hang on. We can also make a case for folksinger Woodie Guthrie.
He released a collection of songs entitled Dust Bowl Ballads, which featured accounts of Depression-era America. The year was 1940.
After a couple of weeks off–vacation, you know?–I’m back with New Music Friday. Because we’re in the dog days of summer, things are a little light when it comes to album releases, something that will continue for another week. After that, we can expect plenty of new records for the fall.
Singles
1. Gurriers, Nothing Happens Twice (PIAS)
Gurriers, the fierce young band out of Dublin, will release their second album, Nobody’s Coming to Save You, on September 24. This track was inspired by Waiting for Godot, the 195o Samuel Beckett play that everyone studies in school at one time or another. Note the lyrical theme of the “dead internet.” Death to the bots!
2. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Kill for the Steel ((P) Doom)
The unbelievably prolific Gizzard crew are going electronic with their 28th(!!!) album, Alien Metal (release date TBA). This isn’t entirely unexpected since the band has been dabbling in EDM sounds for a while now. However, the timing of this single–which they describe as “industrial techno” was a surprise to fans.
3. Mastodon, In the Ruins (Loma Vista)
The metal kings of Atlanta will release their ninth studio album, Marrow Deep, in two weeks. This third advance single tells of the impact of Hurricane Helene, a devastating 2024 storm that flooded the home of vocalist and bassist, Troy Sanders. Everything was destroyed and the family was forced to find a new place to live for two years.
4. Royal Blood, Ten Over Ten (Warner)
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher are about to return with the first Royal Blood album in about three years, which will make their fifth overall. It’s still a ways off–the release date for Dead Company is November 13–but the band says this single was written with the stage in mind and that they’ll be performing it starting right about…now.
5. The Sheepdogs, Bad For Your Health (Right On Records/Orchard)
If you’re concerned about screen time and your digital addiction, this new single from Saskatoon’s Sheepdogs will feel pretty familiar. Keep Out the Storm, the band’s new album, is also available now.
Albums
1. Kiwi Jr., Blowin’ Up (K Records)
Some brand new Canadian indie courtesy of this Toronto four-piece. This is their fourth album.
2. Phoebe Bridgers, Lost Weekend (Dead Oceans)
A couple of advance from this album (her first solo record in six years) have been long-standing earworms in my head. Much of the album is highly personal with songs that explore some of her past relationships. There’s even a song that describes the time she hid in a bathroom at a music festival because she was too afraid to come out. Pay attention to the lyrics on this record for maximum effect.
3. Marilyn Manson, One Assassination Under God: Chapter 2 (Nuclear Blast)
Even though he’s still dealing with court cases stemming from sexual misconduct allegations, Manson is back making music and touring with his Freaks on Parade roadtrip with Rob Zombie. If you’re an artwork person, notice that the cover was painted by Manson and relates to Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film, The Seventh Seal.
Here’s another story of a music festival gone horribly, horribly wrong.
I take you back to June 1970, for the Celebration of Life Festival, which was held on a farm in Louisiana. Promoters called it the South’s answer to Woodstock, which had happened a year earlier. The lineup included Pink Floyd, Ike & Tina Turner, the Beach Boys, and BB King. Local authorities wanted none of this, and two days before the show was supposed to start, cops moved in and shut everything down.
This left thousands of people with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Some sat in the field in the blistering heat and humidity. Others found abandoned farmhouses. There was no food, water, sanitary facilities, or medical care. Two people drowned while escaping the heat in the South Louisiana River, while others were injured in fights with police.
The Celebration of Life Festival of 1970 was a total disaster but has been largely forgotten. Good.
WATCH: Tribute for Canadian film entrepreneur, partner killed in the Caribbean
A special prosecutor in the Caribbean nation of Dominica says an extensive international investigation helped convict two American men on July 28 of murdering Quebec entrepreneur Daniel Langlois and his partner, Dominique Marchand.
Langlois and Marchand’s bodies were found in December 2023 inside a burnt-out vehicle near the luxury resort they owned in Dominica.
Keith Scotland says prosecutors called more than 46 witnesses during the month-long trial and also relied on evidence that included ballistics, DNA and phone records.
Scotland says Langlois died from multiple gunshot wounds, and a ballistics report could not rule out a firearm belonging to one of the accused, Jonathan Lehrer, as the source of the bullets.
Scotland says witness testimony also placed co-accused Robert Thomas Snyder Jr. near where gunshots were heard and later near the road where the couple’s burned vehicle was found.
Lehrer and Snyder have appealed their convictions and are expected to be sentenced in September.
Lehrer, an American property owner, had been involved in a years-long dispute with Langlois over road access to the couple’s resort.
The RCMP logo is seen on the shoulder of a superintendent during a news conference, June 24, 2023 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
THE CANADIAN PRESS / Adrian Wyld
RCMP say a young woman is dead after an early-morning rollover roughly 20 kilometres east of Sherwood Park early Thursday morning.
Mounties were called to the intersection of Township Road 524 and Range Road 214 in Strathcona County around 12:30 a.m. after hearing reports of a single-vehicle accident.
Police believe an SUV with four people inside lost control on the gravel road and rolled into a swampy ditch, where it landed upright in water.
Three people — a 21-year-old female driver, a 21-year-old female passenger and a male under the age of 18 were able to get out of the vehicle on their own, but told first responders a fourth person was still missing.
Police and EMS found the 21-year-old victim underneath the vehicle suffering from life-threatening injuries. She was rushed to hospital but later died.
RCMP say they’re sending condolences to the families and friends of all involved.
WATCH: Toronto police recover 2,500 stolen items worth more than $1M in Project Compass.
Toronto police say three people are facing a total of 150 charges following an investigation into a string of high-end condo break-ins across Toronto and York Region.
More than 2,500 items believed to be stolen have been recovered, including jewelry, watches, coins, cash and precious metals, investigators announced Thursday.
The recovered property is estimated to be worth between $1 million and $1.5 million.
Project Compass began in September 2025 after investigators with 14 Division’s Major Crime Unit began looking into break-ins at condominium units.
Police allege the suspects would disguise themselves as construction workers and enter residential apartments and condos during the day, targeting jewelry, precious metals, Canadian and foreign currency, family heirlooms and other valuables.
Investigators initially linked the group to a series of break-ins in Toronto before connecting another eight to 10 incidents dating back to May 2025, according to a police news release.
Investigators have identified 21 break-ins in Toronto and another eight to 10 in another jurisdiction, Det.-Sgt. Bruno Miron said.
As the investigation expanded, police said officers uncovered another part of the alleged operation involving a pawn shop near Queen and Church streets.
“We allege stolen property was being trafficked through this business and converted into cash,” Insp. Joseph Matys said during a news conference.
A search warrant executed at the business led investigators to the thousands of items believed to have been stolen.
No one associated with the pawn shop has been charged, but Miron said that portion of the investigation remains ongoing.
“He’s part of the investigation, and I anticipate that he (store owner) may be facing charges in the near future,” Miron said when asked whether the pawn shop owner could face charges.
Police confirmed that the investigation is connected to another probe on March 27 when officers executed five search warrants at homes and vehicles.
In the initial release, police said three people were charged and that disguises, break-in tools, suspected stolen property and a vehicle believed to have been used during the break-ins were seized.
“Officers arrested three individuals laid 150 charges, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, disguise with intent, breaking enter and possession of proceeds of crime,” Matys said.
Investigators are now turning their attention to finding the owners of the recovered property.
Police have launched a website where people can look through photographs of the seized items by category and submit a claim if they recognize something as their own.
“You’ll be contacted by an investigator for further information,” Matys said.
Police believe there may be more victims and said additional charges could be laid as the investigation continues.
Traffic flows through the main gate past a welcome sign in Fort Hood, Texas. U.S., in this July 9, 2013, file photo.
AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez, File
A U.S. army doctor accused of video recording patient exams pleaded not guilty to several counts of sexual assault and related charges in a military criminal case at a Texas court on Wednesday.
Dr. Blaine McGraw, an OB-GYN at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, is charged with sexual assault, conduct unbecoming of an officer, indecent recording, willful disobedience of a superior officer and making a false statement, among others, according to a Fort Hood news release.
McGraw faces nine charges in total and 272 specifications of sexual assault, including 66 specifications of indecent recording and 91 specifications of assault consummated by a battery, that are alleged to have occurred on numerous occasions between 2021 and 2026.
The total number of alleged victims in the criminal case is 93.
McGraw was charged in December after being suspended from his post over sexual assault allegations brought in late October and was subsequently under investigation by the U.S. army, according to a statement from Fort Hood.
“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) began an investigation within hours of a patient’s allegations against this former medical provider,” it said at the time.
In a separate federal tort claims act administrative complaint filed by a former patient of McGraw in November, referred to as Jane Doe 1, he is accused of performing unnecessary procedures, making crude remarks and violating army medical protocols that require nursing staff to be present during examinations; a statement outlining the basis of that claim, which was filed in Bell County in November, reads.
It also accuses army leadership of allowing McGraw to continue practising despite receiving sexual misconduct complaints for years and alleges that McGraw recorded dozens of patients during medical procedures and engaged in “improper sexual touching” under the guise of medical care during his tenure at the base and another army medical centre in Hawaii.
Jane Doe’s lawyer, Andrew Cobos, told NBC in November that his client has been married to an active-duty officer with more than 20 years of service, and that he is representing more than 45 women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by McGraw.
A subsequent investigation by The Carlson Law Firm, which is representing former patients who reported misconduct and are seeking monetary compensation through civil claims, says the U.S. army has reached out to more than 1,400 former patients as part of its ongoing probe into McGraw.
“Our investigation has determined that Dr. Blaine McGraw secretly photographed or recorded patients during intimate obstetrical/gynecological exams at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center,” its website says, adding that alleged victims have reported that his phone contained images and videos taken during breast and pelvic exams without patient permission.
“At least one of our clients reported that Dr. McGraw called her cell phone the day after her appointment in what seemed to be an attempt to form a personal relationship with her,” the law firm said.
Late last year, the U.S. army said it was contacting all patients under McGraw’s care during his tenure, even if “there is currently no indication to believe they have been affected by the alleged misconduct currently under investigation.”
Two toddlers drowned in a remote northern First Nation in Manitoba, the RCMP said.
David Lipnowski / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Manitoba RCMP say it is believed two toddlers have drowned in a remote northern First Nation after being found in a lake in the community.
Police say the two boys, ages one and two, were brought to the nursing station in Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, about 610 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, on Wednesday afternoon.
A family member found the two boys in the lake and they were brought to the nursing station by First Nation Safety Officers, where they were pronounced dead.
Police say it is believed the boys were able to leave their home and enter the nearby lake.
They say foul play is not suspected but continue to investigate.
Sgt. Chris Hipolito, with the Island Lake detachment, says the drownings have been devastating for the family and the entire community.
Police said Jayson Reed, 33, of North Carolina, has been charged with four counts of second-degree assault, public urination and other related offences.
“On Saturday, July 18, MDTA Police Officers providing support to the Baltimore Police Department at the Morgan Wallen concert responded to a report of a fight in progress at the stadium. Upon the officers’ arrival, security personnel identified individuals who had been involved in an altercation. Officers separated those involved, identified a male suspect, and escorted the suspect out of the stadium,” police said in a social media post.
“MDTA Police Officers provided the suspect’s identification and a report number to the victims and learned that the suspect had allegedly urinated on concert attendees. Following the incident, detectives conducted a thorough investigation and identified witnesses who were not present during the initial on-scene investigation,” police added.
Reed is currently being held in North Carolina pending extradition to Maryland.
Troy Grevelding, who attended Wallen’s concert on July 18 with his wife, brother and two nieces, ages eight and 11, previously spoke to People after alleging that Reed began urinating on them mid-show.
Grevelding told the outlet that he believed Reed was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
He also said that he spoke to Reed during opener Ella Langley’s set and asked him to stop speaking loudly to people over video call during the concert.
Grevelding said that he apologized to Reed and the pair remained “civil” until the man allegedly began urinating on Grevelding’s wife and niece.
“Well, a couple songs now into the Morgan Wallen set, my wife … well, I end up feeling something, I didn’t think nothing of it,” Grevelding said. “I thought it was just another guy behind me, you know what I mean? It was spilled beer, whatever.”
“And then my wife says to me, ‘Whatever that man’s doing, is all over my leg,'” Grevelding recounted to the outlet. “And at that same time, I was kind of, like, standing on an angle, so I just kind of like, look over my right shoulder, and at that point, dude, his pants are completely down.”
He said it was unclear whether Reed was trying to urinate into “a bottle or a can.”
Grevelding said he reported the incident to authorities and had been in contact with the senior vice-president of operations and customer experience at M&T Bank Stadium.
He also shared a now-viral video of police officers speaking to him and his wife regarding the incident.
A file photo of an army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter flies low during a joint military exercise.
AP Photo/Dita Alangkara
Two soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a U.S. army helicopter crashed in Texas, according to the Bell County Sheriff’s Office.
Cliff Coleman, the public information officer with the Bell County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed the details in a news conference, saying the two soldiers were pronounced dead after officials responded to 911 calls around 1:34 p.m. local time on Wednesday in Salado, Texas.
“Bell County Sheriff’s Office responded and noted not only a helicopter crash but then also a wildfire that was out of control. The ESD number one, which is the Salado Fire Department, the East Salado Fire Department, the West Side Fire Department and the Gerald Fire Department have all responded to this, and at this time this fire is not contained yet,” he said on Wednesday afternoon.
Coleman said that the Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation and confirmed that an Apache helicopter was involved and “two souls were on board.”
“It was crashed into a field. You could tell it was a violent crash,” he added, noting that the helicopter did not strike any homes or other structures.
The U.S. Army Fort Hood confirmed that an “AH-64E Apache attack helicopter based at Fort Hood crashed today in Salado” in a news release on Wednesday.
The U.S. army said that the names of the soldiers are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next-of-kin and that the deceased service members will be transported to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families, friends, and fellow Troopers of those involved during this incredibly difficult time,” said Brig. Gen. Ethan Diven, 1st Cavalry Division acting commanding general.
Fort Hood personnel remain on scene working in co-ordination with local first responders.
On Thursday, the Salado Fire Department said it returned to the scene of the crash to make sure “no remaining hot spots or areas of concerns” remain after extinguishing the fire on Wednesday evening.
“Even after the flames are out, the work continues. Our crews will continue to monitor the area and make sure the scene remains secure,” the Salado Fire Department added. “Once again, we cannot say thank you enough to every single firefighter, department, agency, law enforcement officer, emergency responder, and individual who helped yesterday.”
“The tremendous mutual-aid response and teamwork made a significant difference in how quickly this fire was contained. We are extremely grateful for everyone who answered the call and for our community’s cooperation throughout the incident. Our thoughts and prayers also remain with the families and loved ones of the two individuals who tragically lost their lives in the helicopter crash,” the post concluded.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to X after the crash, writing, “Today, an Apache helicopter crashed in Bell County during Fort Hood operations, killing two members of our military. Join Cecilia and me in prayer for their families and the entire Fort Hood community. Texas is forever indebted to those who serve our state and nation.”
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