This probably won’t come as a shock, but I’m something of a nerd when it comes to technology. Yeah, I like gadgets and devices and toys and machines that go “ping,” but I’m especially interested in the tech that affects music—and vice versa.

Back around 2013, I got involved with a company that created a touring museum exhibit that went to science centres around North America. The owner of the company came up with the idea when he heard an “Ongoing History” program called “Format Wars,” which looked at all the different ways music was captured, stored, and distributed: vinyl, tape, CDs, and so on.

We called the exhibit “The Science of Rock’n’Roll,” and it explored how science and music have influenced each other, not just over the years, but over the centuries. The two things go hand in hand, each affecting the other and providing ways for creativity to expand into directions that were once thought impossible.

The exhibit did okay, too, booking runs at science centres in Toronto, Boston, Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland, and a few other markets.

“The Science of Rock” spun off into a children’s book I co-wrote called “The Science of Song.” It’s aimed at kids 13 and under and STEM teaching: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

It’s been a minute since the book, the museum exhibit, and that original “Format Wars” show, so I thought it might be time to revisit the subject. And with that in mind, here’s a timeline of the biggest technological advances in music.

Prepare to geek out.

Songs heard on this show:

• Beck, Where It’s At
• Bjork, Headphones
• The Kills, Tape Song
• Kraftwerk, The Model
• SSQ, Walkman On
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away
• Evanescence, Bring Me to Life
• Sarah McLachlan, Building a Mystery

Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations:

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
• Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
• Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
• FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
• Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
• 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
• The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm
• The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• The Goat Network/Interior BC
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Hollerado is a weirdly creative bunch of guys. Take the case of their album, 111 Songs.

Someone in the group came up with the idea of writing a song for every fan who wrote in and asked for one. The initial concept was to release a special promotional bundle with the record, a T-shirt, a poster and a custom song that would go with their second album, White Paint. Fantastic.

But so many fans wrote in—more than a hundred people paid to be a part of this—that the project took two years to complete. The result is equivalent to more than five full-length albums and was finally released on March 24, 2015. Hollerado went to iTunes who then refused to sell a five-hour collection for nine dollars.

The band wouldn’t compromise—Apple wanted to sell it for $35—so the 111 Songs album has gone down in Hollerado history as a fantastic money-losing passion project.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

On November 18, 1993, Nirvana went to Sony Music Studios in New York to perform an unplugged gig for MTV.  It was broadcast on TV and turned into a CD that came out after Kurt Cobain died. At first, MTV and the band’s label thought it was going to be a disaster because Nirvana insisted on playing some of the band’s more obscure stuff along with a couple of covers.

Kurt refused outright to do “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which freaked everyone out.  There were also concerns about Kurt’s health because he was going through withdrawal and vomiting blood.  Only a standby supply of Valium kept things on the rails.

At the end of the day, though, it was a magnificent performance.  Unplugged in New York is available in its full form on DVD and Blu-ray.  If you’re a Nirvana fan, it’s definitely worth it.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Think buying music is too expensive? If you look at things from a historical point of view, music has never, ever been cheaper.

If you go back to the 1950s, the average price of an album was about $5.50–and that’s in 1950s dollars. If you adjust for inflation, that’s over 60 bucks today.  Single digital albums sell for around 10 dollars on iTunes today. A CD certainly goes for less than 20. In the 70s, a 7-inch single sold for between 99 cents and $1.29. Adjust that for inflation, and that’s equivalent to over $7.50 at the high end.

Today on iTunes, singles go for between 69 and a buck twenty-nine. Talk about DEflation.  And that’s for physical and digital product. When you look at the free streaming from Spotify and YouTube, music costs nothing.

So, is it worth less or worthless? That’s where the discussion gets interesting.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

EDMONTON – Paul Cotter capped a two-goal night with the game winner 1:59 into overtime as the Vancouver Canucks got off to a strong start in defeating the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 on Tuesday night.

Marco Rossi, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Max Sasson and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks (1-0-0), who are coming off a last-place finish in the NHL last season with a paltry 25-49-8 record.

Kevin Lankinen made 32 stops to earn the win in the Canucks’ net.

Evan Bouchard had three goals and two assists and Vasily Podkolzin scored twice for the Oilers (0-0-1). Tristan Jarry made just 17 saves for Edmonton.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was in attendance for the Oilers’ home opener at Rogers Place.

Entering the third period tied 2-2, Pettersson capped a three-goal run by the Canucks 5:15 into the frame to swiftly put the Canucks ahead 5-2.

But Podkolzin scored at 8:56, followed by Bouchard’s third of the night 24 seconds later and Podkolzin’s second of the night with 43 seconds left in regulation to send it to extra time.

TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: Cotter, who joined Vancouver as a free agent after spending the last two seasons in New Jersey, became the first player in Canucks history to score a short-handed goal in his debut with the team.

Oilers: Bouchard became the first defenceman in Oilers history to record a multi-goal game in a season opener and just the third defenceman in NHL history to score a hat trick in a seasonal lid-lifter. He is also just the third blueliner in the last 30 years to have a four-point game to open the season.

KEY MOMENT

After the Oilers crawled back from a three-goal deficit to force overtime, Cotter scored 1:59 into extra time, lifting in a backhand.

KEY STAT

Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra became the fourth person to represent the Canucks as both a player and head coach in his career, following in the footsteps of Marc Crawford, Pat Quinn and Orland Kurtenbach.

UP NEXT

The two teams have a rematch in Vancouver on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Concerns are growing in a Vancouver Island community over a nearby encampment that neighbours say has been there for almost two decades.

Mike Gogo, who runs Gogo’s Christmas Tree Farm in South Nanaimo, told Global News that the encampment is about four miles away from his property.

“People are afraid to go up there and it is not a good scene,” he said.

The property off Nanaimo Lakes Road is not accessible from the road, but video taken by a drone shows campers, vehicles and what appears to be piles of debris littering the area.

“It’s a terrible fire hazard,” Gogo said.

According to the Regional District of Nanaimo, there was an active file on the property between 2014 and 2019, but nothing since.

Gogo said that just because there have been no complaints since 2019 doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be dealt with.

“Because it is up a side road, out of sight, out of mind,” he said.

“With most people, apathy reigns supreme.”

Gogo said he has yet to lodge a formal complaint, but would like the regional district to deal with the issue.

“They should come in there and clean it up,” he said.

“And whatever the cost is, shouldn’t come out of the public purse. It should come out of the owner of the property; that’s only fair.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Mary Louie remembers wanting only one thing when she was a young girl at residential school: to get home.

Louie says she did not understand everything happening around her, but she noticed changes in the friends and became increasingly uneasy.

“Well, I did go to residential school, but what I seen, I didn’t quite understand what was happening,” Louie said.

She eventually escaped the school late one night.

“I stayed off the road. I stayed in the mountains and crossed the highway at night. Walked back and walked home” Louie said.

She says fear did not stop her from making the journey.

“I just walked and I wasn’t afraid or anything, so I just wanted to get home,” she said.

Louie’s story was among those remembered Tuesday as the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) held its Community Walk close to Keremeos for Truth and Reconciliation, one day before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Organizers wanted the community to come together for a collective remembrance on Sept. 29, leaving the actual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation for people to commemorate in their own way.
Darian Ueusta-Che-Peone, who works with the band, says the group activity is meant to happen beforehand so people can spend Sept. 30 reflecting individually.

“That actual day we can kind of rest and like you know think about what happened and today we celebrate it so we have that kind of rest in between of the day,” he said.

For LSIB elder Herman Edward, residential schools took far more than childhoods from Indigenous families.

“We all lost something. It’s not always the orange shirts, but it was our culture, language, way of life,” Edward said.

But the national day of remembrance has also become a point of controversy.

In Kamloops, masked men were seen protesting Truth and Reconciliation events, drawing condemnation and an RCMP investigation.

Janet Cherbaskin, an LSIB council member, says demonstrations like that cannot erase the experiences of residential school survivors.

“You can’t erase history. It doesn’t matter what you say and how you dress. You can be in masks and and try and prove a point. But to our people, we know what the truth is,” Cherbaskin said.

When Louie finally made it home, she never wanted to return to school. Instead, she stayed home to look after her younger siblings and learned from her grandmother.

“Ever since I got home, my place was to take care of my siblings, so I didn’t go back to school. A lot of the things I’ve learned was from my grandmother and the teaching she gave me,” Louie said.

For Louie, seeing children take part carries particular meaning after her own experience at residential school.

“Well, it’s good to see the children and to know and I pray that the parents love their children and start teaching them,” she said.

After walking home from residential school as a young girl, Louie now sees children walking together as a community

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – Gavin McKenna has known for quite some time his NHL debut would come Tuesday night.

Kirill Marchenko wasn’t even a member of the Maple Leafs at the start of the week.

The pair were among 10 players to suit up with Toronto for the first time in a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens as the NHL regular season opened for both teams.

McKenna was selected first overall at June’s draft after the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in decade before beating the lottery odds, while Marchenko was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a blockbuster trade just over 24 hours prior to puck drop that saw Matthew Knies head the other way.

“It’s pretty hard to forget a day like this,” said McKenna, an 18-year-old winger from Whitehorse. “Getting to have that rookie lap, seeing my family on the glass in warm-ups, hearing your name called in player intros — it’s all pretty special.”

Marchenko had a much shorter runway to prepare, and only learned around lunchtime he would be able to suit up after his immigration paperwork was completed.

“It’s crazy,” said the 26-year-old Russian winger, who signed a six-year contract extension worth US$75 million with Toronto. “We packed, we moved with my wife … really busy. But I’m happy it’s done and I’m happy to be here. I hate that we lost, but it’s still a great memory.”

“Dream for everybody being with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” he added. “But it’s happened quick.”

McKenna had a few nice moments, but also had some turnovers he wanted back before finishing a minus-2 with one shot on goal in 15 minutes 19 seconds of action.

“The first exhibition game, he talked to (the media) and said, ‘Ya, it was just an OK night, I’ll learn from it,'” Toronto head coach Jim Hiller said. “He came back and had a really strong game. It’s up another level again. You just keep taking the test, and he’ll be back. I thought he was all right. But he’ll probably want to be better.”

Marchenko was fired out of a cannon in his debut with eight shot attempts, including four on target, in just over 20 minutes of ice time.

He picked up an assist on William Nylander’s opener 48 seconds into the first period and had a couple of great chances on Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes.

“A big boy, can make plays, shoots it,” said Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews, who centred a line with Marchenko and Jack Roslovic. “I thought for what he had to endure the last 24 hours — getting traded, flying here last night, getting here today, new everything, getting a visa, all that stuff — we had some really good opportunities.”

Hiller said it will take some time for the roster to find cohesion with so many new faces, including defenceman Darren Raddysh and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, following a truncated training camp and pre-season.

“We looked a little bit like a new team,” said the coach. “We just weren’t connecting with our passes. I don’t know if that has anything to do with nerves or being in the building for the first time, and the first time everybody together.

“We just weren’t clean as a team.”

McKenna, Marchenko and the rest of the Maple Leafs will get another chance Wednesday when they host the New York Islanders.

“It’s pretty special,” McKenna said of his debut. “There’s not much I’ll forget about this day.”

LEAF KILLER

Canadiens winger Josh Anderson scored his 13th goal against the Maple Leafs since joining the Canadiens in 2020-21, which trails only David Pastrnak (14) and Kyle Connor (14) for the most during that span.

HIGH BAR

Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka was asked Tuesday morning about his expectations for the club after acquiring Marchenko.

“It’s unchanged … our expectations are always high,” Chayka said. “We’re the Toronto Maple Leafs and ownership’s spared no expense to try to put the best product on the on the ice and support the guys and give us every resource to be successful.

“We think Kirill could be a big part of that. But we felt like we had a good group going in.”

HONOURING A LEGEND

Toronto would have normally paid tribute to Cliff Fletcher following his death in June at age 90, but the former executive’s family was unable to attend Tuesday’s opener.

The Maple Leafs will honour Fletcher, whose first tenure included the franchise-altering trade for Doug Gilmour in 1992, on Oct. 15 when the club hosts the Buffalo Sabres.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Internal Montreal police documents obtained through an access-to-information request indicate there was an element of radicalization among officers at a Montreal North police station that became the focus of an investigation into alleged racist and discriminatory acts.

The documents, first obtained by The Canadian Press, describe the existence of what was characterized as a radicalized subculture among officers at Station 39 in Montreal North.

The documents are linked to an investigation launched after allegations of discriminatory and racist behaviour involving some officers at the station.

The revelations have raised concerns among experts, some of whom say it is unclear how the term “radicalization” is being used in this case.

“You don’t know to what extent they can contaminate not only the organization but the immediate workplace,” said Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations.

The investigation became public in June after officers came forward with allegations involving members of a patrol team at the station. In response, a team of 16 officers was removed from duty and several officers were suspended.

Among the allegations were claims that officers in the unit kept the hair of racialized citizens as trophies.

The allegation prompted psychiatrist and McGill University researcher Dr. Myrna Lashley, who has worked closely with police on anti-racism initiatives and has conducted research on radicalization, to raise concerns with police officials.

“I was talking to a senior officer and I said to that person, you should look and see if you’ve got supremacists or something akin to that in your department, because this doesn’t make sense to me,” Lashley told Global News.

She said the alleged act of collecting hair as trophies was particularly troubling.

“That’s an act that people who really are into setting up hierarchies of superiority and inferiority. That’s something that I would expect them to do,” she said.

When Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher publicly disclosed the allegations and internal investigations in June, he made no mention of radicalization among officers.

Asked by Global News in August whether the officers under investigation had any connections to white supremacy, Dagher declined to comment. “This is criminal behaviour that we’re talking about, so I gotta be very careful not to contaminate the evidence,” he said.

Attention is now shifting to Quebec prosecutors, who received the results of the Montreal police force’s internal investigation on Monday for review.

In a release Monday, the SPVM said evidence has been sent to the Le Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), which will determine the appropriate next steps.

Niemi said authorities must handle the matter transparently.

“(Authorities) must be transparent and must act, because it’s their credibility in the eyes of many people in Quebec and the rest of the country that is on the line,” he said.

Quebec’s Crown prosecution service would not say how long it could take to determine if criminal charges will be laid.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

TORONTO – Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier had a goal and an assist each as the Montreal Canadiens topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in the regular-season opener for both teams Tuesday.

Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal, which got 25 saves from Jakub Dobes.

William Nylander replied with both goals for Toronto. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots in his first game with the Maple Leafs.

No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and Russian winger Kirill Marchenko also made their Toronto debuts – along with seven other teammates – following an off-season of change after the Original Six franchise missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade last spring.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, are coming off a campaign that saw them take a massive step following a long and painful rebuild before falling to the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final.

Nylander opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the first period when he stepped around Montreal captain and reigning Selke Trophy winner Nick Suzuki at the blue line before ripping a shot upstairs to send the Scotiabank Arena crowd into orbit.

Anderson evened things at 10:53 when he batted a rebound out of mid-air in front. Bolduc pushed Montreal ahead from the slot at 4:52 of the second and Carrier fired past Bobrovsky’s glove at 13:12 of the third.

Nylander got one back for the Maple Leafs with 4:14 left in regulation, but the home side couldn’t find an opening-night equalizer.

TAKEAWAYS

Maple Leafs: McKenna, Marchenko, who was acquired Monday from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a blockbuster trade, and Bobrovsky were joined by defenceman Darren Raddysh, and forwards Nick Paul, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sisson, Brandon Duhaim, Teddy Blueger and Zack MacEwen in playing their first game for the club.

Canadiens: Chris Kreider made his debut after signing before training camp following the winger’s release by the Anaheim Ducks.

KEY MOMENT

Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson cut to the net before sending the puck in front to Bolduc for him to fire past Bobrovsky for a 2-1 lead in the second.

KEY STAT

Nylander tied Zdenek Nedved (48 seconds on Oct. 7, 1995) for the fourth-fastest goal to start a season-opener in franchise history.

COMING UP

Maple Leafs: Host the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

Canadiens: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press