Lioness

I was such a fan of the disco-post-punk of defunct Toronto band controller.controller especially their live show circa their "History" EP. They were one of the highlights of 2004's Pop Montreal for me. However, by the release of their debut(and only) album "X Amounts" in 2005, my fandom had waned a bit only because the songs on their debut album didn't quite live up to my expectations(although a few songs on it were killer). News of their breakup in 2006 came as a disappointment, but which soon passed. Recently, I came across news that Ronnie and Jeff of controller.controller and Vanessa from Toronto's No Dynamics have formed a new band called Lioness. There aren't any audio samples yet over at their MySpace, but their MySpace description illustrates their music as "Drum & Bass / Disco House / Experimental"(and we all know how accurate those MySpace music descriptions can be). I'm not sure how accurate a description of Lioness' music that is but if you're willing to take a gamble(and I might), Lioness have a few shows coming up:

30 May 2007 - The Casbah [Hamilton, Ontario]
02 Jun 2007 - The Ford Plant [Brantford, Ontario]
05 Jun 2007 - Call the Office [London, Ontario]
29 Jun 2007 - Tiger Bar [Toronto, Ontario]

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at Rotate This and Soundscapes for an early, all-ages Voxtrot/Favourite Sons/Au Revoir Simone show for Sneaky Dee's on June 8[via Stille Post]. Doors for the early show open at 6 pm with the show starting at 6:30 pm. I'll be going to the late show.

Minnesota Public Radio has the audio of a recent live session and interview with Au Revoir Simone. I didn't know their band name was a reference from The Pee Wee Herman Show.

On closer glance of the Toronto Jazz Festival schedule, I saw that San Franciscan turntablist Mike Relm will be at The Mod Club on June 22. Tickets $12. I think he played Canadian Music Week last year; I didn't see him but I remember his name. Check out his MySpace for a few samples of his wares - "Relm and Josie" mixes an '80's(?) tune with hip hop to a delirious effect.

WYNC's Soundcheck has a the audio of a recent interview with Sloan's Chris Murphy and Jay Ferguson as well as a stripped down live session performance of their song "Fading Into Obscurity". Here is a photo of Chris and Jay at WYNC's studio.

World Cafe has a recent live session from multi-instrumentalist, pop songsmith Andrew Bird[via Largehearted Boy].

I like Feist 's recent live performance["I Feel It All"] on a bus a little better than The Long Blondes' Kate and Dorian's performance["Once And Never Again"/"Giddy Stratospheres"] in an elevator but I'm looking forward to both artists' upcoming shows equally[YouTube links via Pitchfork]:

YouTube: Feist - "I Feel It All" [live on Jimmy Kimmel Live - May 15, 2007]
YouTube: The Long Blondes - "Once And Never Again" / "Giddy Stratospheres" [live on "(Behind) Closed Doors"]

Update: The Magic Numbers come to Lee's Palace on August 29, in support of their most recent album "Those The Brokes". I'll have to give the album another few listens, but it didn't quite grab me as much as their first album.