As of 2026, there are something like 250 million songs available to the streaming music services. How do we even begin to wrap our heads around a number like that? Well, the first thing we do is attempt to put things in some kind of order.

That begins by sorting things into piles. Everything in each pile has something in common when it comes to sound, aesthetic, style, feel, and so on. [e’ve just taken our first step toward classifying songs into genres.

These piles are still too big. Each pile itself needs to be sorted into smaller sub-piles as our organization project continues. Then those smaller piles need to become even smaller, and more targeted and specific. Rinse, repeat until we have thousands of piles. We can get infinitely granular.

There’s a website called “Every Noise at Once” that tried to do this with a scatterplot diagram. It was created by a former employee at Spotify named Glenn McDonald, using all the names Spotify gave to songs to educate its music recommendation algorithm.

Glenn was laid off from Spotify at the end of 2023, so he no longer has access to Spotify’s classifications. But the site is active, featuring somewhere around 6,500 different individual and specific genres of music from around the planet.

I love these names. Truck-driving country. Swamp pop. Cantautor (no idea what that is, but it’s something Latin). Cavernous death metal. Finnish tango.

I was poking around “Every Noise at Once” the other day. You know, just looking for something interesting.

Buried in the upper third of this amazing website is trip-hop. It’s next to Indonesian hyperpop, Cape Town indie, and C-pop girl group. Click on the arrow next to it, and another scatterplot opens up, featuring an array of artists who have been tagged as being part of the trip-hop universe. Portishead was here, of course. So was Massive Attack.

But the more I looked around, the more I realized that there was more to this genre than I thought. This deserves some exploration.

Welcome to the story of trip-hop.

Songs heard on this show:

• Portishead, Glory Box
• Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Rock
• Massive, Any Love
• Massive Attack, Unfinished Sympathy
• DJ Shadow, In/Flux
• Tricky, Aftermath
• Portishead, Sour Times
• DJ Shadow, Best Foot Forward
• Massive Attack, Angel
• Massive Attack, Teardrop

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

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

In January 1996, Bono and his family were on vacation as guests of fellow musician Jimmy Buffett. Buffett had been extolling the awesomeness of genuine Jamaican jerk chicken, so the decision was made to pick some up.

The fact they were in Miami was no problem because Buffett had a Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boat he called Hemisphere Dancer. He got it cheap from the US Navy and could fly it himself.

Buffett, Bono, his family, Island Records head Chris Blackwell, and a co-pilot piled into the plane and set course for Montego Bay. But once they arrived, the water was too rough to land, so they diverted to Negril.

However, this diversion was unannounced and when local authorities saw the plane, they assumed it belonged to another drug runner. So they opened fire. More than 100 rounds were fired at the plane with several hitting the fuselage and shattering the windscreen. Fortunately, no one was hurt, no one was charged, and everyone soon hightailed it back to Miami.

There’s no word on whether Bono got his jerk chicken.

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

The early days of punk were anything-goes times. The idea was to do virtually everything differently, especially you could be extra strange and provocative.

Enter The Cramps, a New York-based band that was a regular at the legendary CBGB. But their most famous show was with a San Franciso band called The Mutants. In 1978, the two of them journeyed to Napa to play a free show for the psychiatric patients at the Napa State Hospital.

The whole thing was captured on film and released as a 27-minute documentary called, We Were There to Be There. Why did they do it? To bring attention to government efforts to defund and privatize mental healthcare.

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

Conservative elder statesman Preston Manning says he’s baffled some view Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as anti-Canada given her vocal support of Confederation.

Manning says he seen opinion polls outside Alberta that suggest that many see her as a separatist.

But he says, for years, there has been no one more vocal in speaking out for a strong Alberta and a united Canada.

He says Canadians will get a renewed look at Smith when she speaks at a virtual two-day forum he is co-hosting next week.

He said Smith will discuss Alberta continuing to grow as a strong and sovereign province within Canada.

Smith has called a referendum for Oct. 19 on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or whether it’s time to hold a second, binding referendum on starting the legal process to separate.

Manning, who is 84, is the former federal opposition leader and founder of the Reform Party — a political movement in Western Canada that grew out of voter dissatisfaction with Ottawa and the perceived lack of attention that was being paid to the west in the late 1980s.

He made his comments Wednesday at an event to promote the upcoming forum, which is titled “Alberta and the West Assembly” and begins Sept. 19.

The event will hear from groups for and against secession and is meant to inform Alberta voters looking for information the referendum.

The separation question is one of 10 Albertans will vote on.

The other nine focus on immigration and the Constitution.

Smith called the referendum earlier this year.

She has said enough Albertans now view separation as a legitimate response to federal interference in provincial affairs that it’s time to put the issue to rest once and for all in a vote.

Critics, including the Opposition NDP, say Smith is inflating and legitimizing the grievances of a small sliver of discontented Albertans in order to mollify hardline separatists in her United Conservative party.

— More to come…

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The challenge with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s suggestion that Canada could become a European Union “associate member” is that nobody seems precisely sure what that means.

That confusion is already creating fertile ground for critics of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push to diversify Canada’s trade and political partnerships away from the U.S. under President Donald Trump.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already asserted — without evidence, since there’s no clear information from Carney or von der Leyen so far about the proposal — that such a partnership could include Canadians contributing tax dollars to the EU budget, accepting regulations drafted by bureaucrats in Brussels, or ceding control over immigration levels.

Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s ambassador to the EU and a former cabinet minister, did not appear fully comfortable with the term “associate member” Wednesday — telling reporters the important thing isn’t the name for the relationship, but the results deeper cooperation could bring.

“We are not looking to be a member of the European Union, because that is a sovereignty issue and people give up certain portions of their sovereignty (to be part of the bloc),” Wilkinson told reporters.

“At the end of the day, what we are looking to do is get as close as we possibly can in a manner that’s going to actually strengthen all of our respective countries without giving up significant chunks of sovereignty.”

In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Wednesday, von der Leyen told Carney that she wants to work with him to “open the door” to Canada being the political and trading bloc’s first “associate member.”

More concretely, von der Leyen said she wants to move from the Canada-European Trade Agreement (CETA) to what she calls an “Alliance for the Future to create a common prosperity and economic security space.”

“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project. We will work on energy, critical minerals and batteries. On AI, quantum (computing), cyber and economic security,” von der Leyen’s prepared remarks read.

“In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”

Those are all things Canada and Europe have been working on since at least June 2025, when Carney and von der Leyen began a process to “deepen ties.” They will all likely factor in to Carney’s address to European leaders on Thursday, and be topics for discussion when Canada-EU talks continue in Montreal next month.

There is currently no legal meaning for “associate membership” in the European Union, although the designation has been floated in the past — most recently, for Ukraine, which has for years been working toward full EU membership before Russia’s invasion.

In Ukraine’s case, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested the country be granted temporary associate status as it worked toward full ascension into the bloc. It would’ve given Ukraine a presence at EU summits and meetings, but no voting rights.

It would not have given the country access to the $27 trillion European Single Market, or to EU funds. Merz’s idea would grant Ukraine a measure of security guarantees that Canada already enjoys through membership in the North American Treaty Organization (NATO).

Officials with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told reporters traveling with Carney that Canada was not seeking formal membership of any kind with the EU.

“We welcome President von der Leyen’s proposal that Canada and the European Union move beyond the CETA to an Alliance for the Future,” PMO said in a statement.

“This is a unique, positive approach that we will define together, building on our common strengths and based on our shared values.”

Polling released by Abacus Data this week suggested an overwhelming majority — 80 per cent — of Canadians support stronger economic, defence and political ties between Ottawa and Europe.

That support cuts across Canada’s regions and partisan differences. Opposition was strongest among Conservative voters, but 69 per cent of that cohort still backed deepening ties with Europe.

Of course, that support could change if Canada were asked to pay into Europe’s collective budget, or change domestic policies around issues like immigration to more closely align with the continent.

In a press conference Tuesday, Poilievre raised similar questions.

“What more is Mr. Carney proposing? Because what Conservatives do not support is forcing waitresses who are struggling to pay their rent or welders who are worried about losing their homes to pay higher taxes to a government in Europe, or to follow law made by European bureaucrats that don’t even know where the Lower Mainland of B.C. is,” Poilievre said.

“Or to have European immigration policies that will further overwhelm our housing, health care and job market. We want Canada to have free trade with Europe, cooperation with Europe, but we never surrender our independence and sovereignty over our laws, our tax money, and our immigration policies.”

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

EDMONTON – After a 2025-26 season full of criticism, from a slow start to a first-round playoff exit, the Edmonton Oilers opened training camp Wednesday mired in new off-ice controversy.

Hiring head coach Mike Babcock in June caused a ripple of criticism from Oilers fans but last week’s signing of forward Alex Formenton ignited a storm of social media anger. Formenton is one of five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior team who was charged and later acquitted of sexual assault.

Some fans, several of them sexual assault victims, have launched a petition asking the Oilers to end their affiliation with Formenton. Some reports say the petition has more than 60,000 signatures. A protest outside Rogers Place is also planned for the Oilers’ first home game.

Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman says everyone is entitled to their opinion, which he respects, but the Oilers did their due diligence before signing Formenton to a one-year, US$850,000 contract.

“We knew going into it that this was something that wasn’t going to be universally accepted,” Bowman told a media conference Wednesday morning. “That’s why we spent as much time as we did going through the details and doing our due diligence making sure legally it was the right decision to make.

“I understand that people are going to view it differently and that’s OK. That’s one of the things I’m a big believer in: we don’t all have to agree on everything and people are entitled to their opinions and have strong feelings. I totally respect that.”

Bowman said the organization knew the signing would be a “polarizing topic” but after thoroughly looking into the situation the team felt comfortable with it.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with Alex,” Bowman said. “He’s grown a lot in the intervening years from where he was then to where he is now. He’s shown that growth.”

Formenton’s signing is the latest in a number of controversial ones by the Oilers.

Asked how he felt about the Oilers earning a reputation over the years for being a landing spot for individuals with issues in the past, including himself and Babcock, Bowman said he was appreciative of the organization giving him the chance it did.

“There have been situations in the past several years where the Oilers have been willing to give people an opportunity to come here and get a fresh start,” said Bowman, who resigned as GM of the Chicago Blackhawks in October 2021 after an investigation found team leaders covered up sexual assault allegations against a video coach.

“I really felt the support being here myself. It’s a privilege to be working in this city, for the fans here. I have been blown away by the way the fans are so passionate. With that passion can come frustration with different things.

“The message is we’re trying to do the right thing, give us a chance to make them proud and be judged on what we do moving forward.”

The Oilers will begin official on-ice practices Thursday under the direction of Babcock, who was cleared to work for the Oilers after the league concluded an investigation into his conduct while with Columbus in 2023.

Babcock resigned from the Blue Jackets less than three months after taking the job. At the time, his requests for personal photos from players, which he said were part of an effort to get to know them, drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.

The new coach will begin his Oilers tenure without a couple of key players expected to play significant roles this season.

Goaltender Frederik Andersen, obtained in an off-season trade, and forward Matt Savoie are injured and not expected to participate in the camp. Also absent with injuries are forward Mattias Janmark and defenceman Alex Regula.

Andersen, who helped backstop Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup last spring, is one of three goalies the Oilers plan to use this season. Tristan Jarry, obtained in a December 2025 trade with Pittsburgh Penguins, and Devon Levi, who came over in a trade with Buffalo Sabres in July, are expected to share the duties to begin the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The family of a B.C. woman who disappeared while running on the Matterhorn in Italy has issued a statement saying they believe she fell to her death.

Kalie McCrystal, 38, was last seen on Sept. 1, 2026, while training to break the record for the fastest ascent and descent of the nearly 4,500-metre mountain.

Her disappearance prompted an extensive search by the Guardia di Finanza rescue team, but they could not locate her.

McCrystal, from Squamish, was a skilled climber, according to her family and had previous experience climbing the Matterhorn.

“Kalie was an incredibly special person,” her mom and sister wrote in the statement issued on Sept. 15.

“She moved through life with equal parts determination and fun. Her absence will undoubtedly leave a huge hole in the communities she was so invested in, across Skyrunning, Squamish and beyond.”

Mountain trail runner Hillary Gerardi told The Canadian Press that she and another friend were set to help McCrystal attempt to break a running record in early September, but when they realized no one had heard from her, they alerted authorities.

Gerardi told Outside Online that McCrystal was scouting the mountain ahead of an attempt to become the fastest woman to run it.

She told the magazine that she planned to support McCrystal’s attempt to break the fastest known time for ascending the peak.

McCrystal’s mom and sister said that their family will never be the same.

“While we desperately wish we could have found her, we find peace in knowing that she was doing what made her feel most alive until her very last moments, and that she remains among the mountains where she felt most at home.”

McCrystal was one of Canada’s top skyrunners, according to skyrunnerworldseries.com.

Skyrunning is described as reaching the highest mountain peak in the shortest amount of time from a town or village.

It is defined by the International Skyrunning Federation that was formed to govern the sport in 2008, as “running in the mountains above 2,000m altitude where the climbing difficulty does not exceed II° grade and the incline is over 30%,” according to skyrunning.com.

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

A diver was sent to hospital after an encounter with a great white shark off the Gaspé coast on Wednesday morning, prompting a local diving operator to suspend all diving activities for the remainder of the season.

In a statement, scuba diving centre Plongée Percé said the incident occurred during a diving activity.

The company did not provide details about the diver’s injuries or the circumstances surrounding the encounter, citing privacy concerns.

“Out of respect for the privacy of the person concerned, no additional details will be communicated on this matter,” the statement said.

Plongée Percé said emergency response measures were activated immediately after the incident. The diver received first aid at the scene before being transported to hospital for further assessment.

Plongée Percé said it has received confirmation that the individual’s life is not in danger.

The Canadian Coast Guard confirmed the incident to Global News.

“This morning, at approximately 10:27 EDT on September 16, 2026, the Maritime Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (Québec) was alerted that a diver from the YODA—a private vessel which is also part of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary—had been bitten by a shark,” media relations officer Craig Macartney said.

“Ambulance services were dispatched to tend the victim when the vessel arrived in Percé, Québec.”

The incident comes amid an increase in reported great white shark sightings in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent years, including in waters off Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula and Atlantic Canada.

As a precaution, the company announced that all diving activities have been suspended for the rest of the season.

The incident occurred in waters near Percé, a popular tourist destination on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula known for its marine wildlife and diving opportunities.

Plongée Percé said it would provide further information if new developments warrant an update.

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

A local group says that new data from the City of Toronto proves a moratorium on automated speed enforcement cameras could be leading to a massive spike in the number of drivers breaking the limit on a key road.

New figures recorded from light-up speed signs around the city show the number of people speeding on Parkside Drive has increased significantly since speed cameras were banned.

In July, a total of 3,675 vehicles went 60 km/h or above on Parkside Drive, where the limit is 40 km/h. That’s an increase of 560 per cent over July 2025, when the number was 556.

Safe Parkside, a local anti-speeding advocacy group, put the increase down to the province’s decision to ban automated speed cameras in legislation that was rushed through last fall.

“The consequences of Doug Ford’s ill-advised speed safety camera ban are being felt across Toronto,” the group wrote in a statement.

“Thirty-nine people were killed in traffic-related collisions in Toronto in 2025, the fewest in a decade. Toronto has already reached 29 traffic-related deaths in just the first seven months of 2026, putting Toronto on pace for 49 traffic-related deaths, an increase that reflects the sharp increase in speeding on our streets.”

Asked about the data, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Parkside Drive should be redesigned to make it harder to speed.

“Put roundabouts and speed bumps, that guarantees to slow people down,” he said at an unrelated event on Wednesday.

“Have you ever went through Forest Hill or Rosedale? You can’t get from one stop sign to the other without hitting a speed bump or a raised crosswalk. There’s no speeding in Forest Hill, I guarantee you.”

Before the Ford government banned automated speed cameras — calling them a cash grab — Parkside Drive was the centre of the debate over their effectiveness.

The camera on Parkside Drive was vandalized and chopped down repeatedly — a road which was also the scene of a number of dangerous crashes in recent years

Several years ago, a suspended driver hit more than 100 km/h on the road, rear-ending another vehicle and killing two people inside.

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

Thefts conducted while a victim is being distracted has been a growing problem in Edmonton for more than a year but now, police say the crimes are escalating in aggression.

On Wednesday, the Edmonton Police Service issued a warning about a recent escalation in distraction-style thefts that are now being investigated as personal robberies.

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take property from someone through the use of force, violence, or threats, whereas theft is usually considered to have been done without face-to-face confrontation.

Since Aug. 19, police said they’ve received at least 20 reports of distraction-style robberies involving theft of jewelry in Edmonton.

The thieves typically drive through residential areas looking for senior South Asian women and use various tactics to engage them in conversation.

Police said during the encounters, the seniors are encourage to approach the vehicle. The people in the vehicle typically create a distraction by asking for directions, telling the woman she looks like their mother, offer or ask for blessings, among other tactics.

“Recent reports indicate that the suspects then grab at the victim or pull her arm into the vehicle, and in some cases, forcibly remove her jewellery,” police said.

Thankfully, no serious injuries have been reported as a result of the robberies but police are worried that may change.

“Due to the forceful nature of these robberies and the fact that vehicles are involved, police are concerned that someone may get hurt,” said EPS investigative response team Det. Brys Francis.

“We are asking anyone who has been victimized or witnesses this type of robbery to call police immediately at 911 and, if it is safe to do so, take down the suspect vehicle’s license plate and description.”

Police are also reminding people to be vigilant if approached suddenly by strangers, and to avoid going up to unknown vehicles. Edmontonians are also advised to refrain from openly displaying expensive items like jewelry, watches or devices.

“It is always advisable to trust your instincts: if a situation doesn’t feel right, move away and do not engage,” EPS said.

Distraction thefts began to make headlines across Alberta last year, when RCMP received a number of reports related to gold and jewelry scams.

According to police and security experts, distraction thefts typically follow a similar pattern: people are approached in parking lots, driveways or the side of the road, where a scammer starts a conversation or offers a hug or blessing.

The scammers are professionals and follow a script.

Then while the victim is distracted by the gesture, the thief removes their jewelry without their knowledge — sometimes after replacing it with different pieces.

Some of the robberies happened in parking lots, where the scam follows a pattern: a victim is approached or flagged down by a seemingly stranded motorist.

The scammer will use different tactics — they need money for food, gas or airfare to get home — and offer gold or jewelry for exchange.

In some cases, it’s been reported the thieves will use distraction techniques such as asking for a hug to remove real jewelry from a victim and replace it with something cheap.

Scammers have been known to target the elderly, experts say. Several hundred distraction theft complaints were made to police in Edmonton and Calgary in 2025.

It’s a trend that police say is taking place from coast to coast in Canada.

The tactic prompted a Hindu temple in Edmonton to warn its members earlier this year to be careful and not to engage with strangers, after at least two thefts outside its building.

In one incident, the Bhartiya Cultural Society of Alberta’s security camera footage caught a worshipper being called over to a vehicle in the building’s parking lot.

Someone in the passenger seat appears to put something over the worshipper’s neck two separate times. The second time, they grab at the victim’s own necklace and speed off.

Police say there are some best practices people can follow to help prevent personal theft

• Stay alert: be aware of your surroundings, especially in crowded areas like markets, public transport or tourist attractions
• Secure your belongings: use bags with zippers or anti-theft features, and keep them in front of you rather than on your back. Avoid leaving valuables in back pockets
• Avoid flashiness: refrain from openly displaying expensive items like jewelry, watches or gadgets
• Beware of strangers: be cautious when approached by strangers offering assistance, asking for help or creating a scene—they may be trying to divert your attention
• Split your valuables: don’t carry all your valuables in one place. Keep some cash and cards in separate pockets or pouches
• Distrust suspicious activities: if someone bumps into you, spills something on you or creates a distraction, check your belongings immediately
• Secure technology: when using electronic devices like phones or laptops in public, maintain a firm grip, and avoid placing them on tables within arm’s reach of others
• Keep bags closed: regularly check that your bags and pockets are securely closed, especially after someone bumps into you
• Trust your instincts: if a situation or person feels off, prioritize your safety and move away
• Stay informed: familiarize yourself with local safety tips when travelling, as theft techniques can vary by region

Stolen property can be reported by calling the non-emergency line at 780-423-4567 or #377 from your mobile phone.

If you feel someone is acting suspiciously, police say to take down their license plate if it’s safe to do so, and contact them.

You can also report online at edmontonpolice.ca/reportacrimeonline.

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