Zola Jesus, Cult of Youth @ Garrison, Toronto (April 20, 2011)

  Zola Jesus @ Garrison: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [May 2, 12:01 am]: Review now up.

Goth was a music subgenre that I could really never peg. The 80's had bands like The Cure, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and The Banshees, bands all musically divergent from each other, that I associated with that youth subculture of black-clad wearing Goths, that scary-looking group of kids that hung out at the back of the cafeteria. But even back then I in fact had a certain affinity to these bands even though I didn't dress the part. And now fast forward to the present, my interest in listening to The Cure and Siouxsie and The Banshees has been rekindled, I've rediscovered bands like This Mortal Coil who I never listened to much to begin with, and I've found my musical tastes leaning towards artists like UK's new-goth described Esben and The Witch and even Toronto's own Austra whose stark operartic vocals provide a certain goth aura over her supple electro beats. It was a double shot of goth-inspired fun that took over the Garrison for a midweek show on April 20.

Brooklyn four-piece, Cult of Youth, opened to a relatively thinner crowd earlier in the evening. With a heavy hand on bass, strummed acoustic guitar, primal drumming, baritoned vocals and the addition of violin for just a little bit of etherealness, the band's music did present itself with a dark tone reminding me a bit of Nick Cave. On their song, the southern-gothic sounding "New West", the band were particularly appealing. It was a short set overall, but gave enough reason to pick up one of the band's releases at the well-stocked merch table, if one so choosed.

Zola Jesus, the stage name of Russian American singer/songwriter Roza Danilova, has played Toronto several times and she seems to have a particularly affinity for the comfy surroundings of the Garrison. However, after this most recent sent, she may have to reconsider larger venues. It was difficult for me to gage how popular she is in Toronto but by the time she hit the stage, the back room of the Garrison seemed to be at just about capacity. With little stage lighting, and flanked by two keyboardists, a member responsible for electronics and programming, and one drummer, the petite vocalist sauntered gently onto the stage barefooted, wearing white leggings and cloaked in a orange Gregorian-monk inspired hooded garment. It was an austere entrance and for much of the set she remained like that. It was particularly frustrating at times that there was never a proper spotlight on her, the only lighting being the video projector that seemed to only illuminate the bottom half of her body but never her face, except when she crouched down a few times. Otherwise, the lack of lighting did add to the vibe of her dark, scintillating synth pop.

Zola Jesus' tunes straddled between atmospheric, synth soundscapes, and danceable, beat-laden electro pop, all tunes carried along Nika's stark, dramatic vocals. As I'd sampled on some of Zola Jesus' live clips on YouTube, Nika's vocals can sometimes be lost in the reverb-laden mix, as was the case at times during this set, but as the night went on, the sound mix seemed to clear up a bit. While Nika's presence on stage was usually austere and cloacked in darkness and light, on tunes such as "Night", amped up for this live set with more beats, Nika was in dance mode. The lack of banter during the show and interaction with the crowd [except for that one time that Nika jumped onto the floor to sing amongst the crowd before climbing back onto the stage] didn't seem to matter much with the crowd who were enjoying every bit of the set. The crowd cheered for an encore which we got for one song and then we clamored for a second encore, the outcome which ended up with Nika coming back onto the stage just to tell the crowd thank you very much(without playing another song), an odd move that left a few befuddled. But other than that somewhat awkward conclusion, it was a satisfying night overall. And not one vampire amongst the crowd - at least that I know of.

Photos: Zola Jesus, Cult of Youth @ Garrison, Toronto (April 20, 2011)
MySpace: Cult of Youth
MySpace: Zola Jesus

First Wave Of Acts For NxNE (June 13-10, 2011) Announced

First wave of acts for this year's North By North East (NxNE) taking place June 13-19 in Toronto have been announced. Notable acts participating this year include Devo, The Pharcyde, Digable Planets, Twin Shadow, Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield(!!!!), Wild Nothing and so on. And Men Without Hats. This coming June, we will dance if we want to.

For passes and tickets, click here.

The Old 97's, Teddy Thompson @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (April 6, 2011)

  The Old 97's @ Horseshoe Tavern: photo by Michael Ligon

Update[April 18/2011, 12:31 am]: Review now up.

While I'd barely caught on to the No Depression movement during its first wave except for hearing Uncle Tupelo's song "Whisky Bottle" off a promo cassette including with an issue of Alternative Press [back when it was a good magazine], I really started digging the alt-country scene in the mid-to-late 1990's with bands like Wilco, The Jayhawks, and a little ol' band called The Old 97's. I remember coming across a used copy of the band's debut major label album (but 3rd studio effort) entitled Too Far To Care in a Cash Converters. I'm not sure exactly what it was that convinced me to pick it up but I was immediately blown away by it's raucaus lead-off track "Timebomb" and by melancholy tear-jerker country ballads like "Salome". It was 1997 since that album came out and while Wilco, and to a lesser extent The Jayhawks had gone on to greater popularity, The Old 97's remained in relative obscurity, eventually their major label deal with Elektra records ending three albums in with 2004's Drag It Up and the band recording with the LA-based New West Records ever since. A fellow concert-goer reminded me that it was strange how the band never went on to greater popularity if but on the lady-killer looks of it's frontman Rhett Miller. I don't recall how often the band have played Toronto but the last opportunity to catch a configuration of the band was back in November when The Old 97's Rhett Miller and Murry Hammond were scheduled to play the El Mocambo and it got cancelled, so rather than let another opportunity slip away, there I was at the band's show at the Horseshoe Tavern on April 6.

I arrived a little into opener Teddy Thompson's set. It was only after I started researching that I found out he was the son of musical couple Richard and Linda Thompson and with such a pedigree, you'd expect some musical talent, and Teddy does definitely have it. With a competent although rather unspectacular rhythm section accompanying him, they performed a selection of originals mixed in with a cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" illustrating Thompson's supple guitar playing and melodic vocals. Thompson's music, a mixture of country, folk, and jangly Byrds-influenced pop music, hits all the right notes in terms of authenticity and I found myself impressed with his songwriting but at the same time, it felt somewhat faceless, like I've heard it before. Already five albums into his career, his most recent being this year's Bella released this past February, Thompson continues to promote his musical wares, although ironically even part of Thompson's banter was a self-deprecating reference to his stalled musical career.

The Old 97's are vastly underappreciated in my opinion, but I fully expected a full-house for The Old 97's show at the Horseshoe a week and a half ago. As it turned out, there was a good loyal crowd on-hand but not the sell-out as I'd hoped. A mixed crowd of young-uns and older fans, the band consisting of Rhett Miller – lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Murry Hammond (bass guitar, occasional lead vocals, backup vocals, Ken Bethea (lead guitar) and Philip Peeples (drums and backup vocals) tore through a set including encore that lasted almost two hours by my count. The setlist included a bunch from their most recent album The Grand Theatre Volume One but with their indie album Wreck Your Life and their major label debut Too Far To Care getting multiple representation with some scattershot songs from a few of their albums plus a cover of Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" also being included in the setlist.

Guitarist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples were the more energetic of the foursome, tearing ferociously at times through their guitar and drum arrangements, although frontman Rhett Miller was no slouch at the mic, often his arm in mini-windmill motion against his drum strings. Bassist Murry Hammond was the most laid-back of the bunch but when he took to the mic accompanying himself for a rendition of "Valentine" it was one of the finest moments of the night. The Too Far To Care songs seemed to be the most popular of the night so when approximately nine songs into the set twang-inflected "Barrier Reef" finally showed up, the crowd perked up.

My only criticism of the night was that overall, the crowd while appreciative, was just too mellow. So while crowd faves like "Doreen", "Four Leaf Clover", "Rollerskate Skinny", "Big Brown Eyes", and "Timebomb" were everything an Old 97's could have asked for, I wished the crowd showed more energy. Especially, during encore closer "Timebomb", I'd have hoped the crowd would have been ALL OVER THAT and have collapsed in a bucket of sweat, but it did not happen. Such a reaction, or lack thereof, I won't necessarily blame on a Toronto apathetic music audience but really more on old age. But, hey if Rolling Stone fans of the elder generation can still bust a move during their shows, why can't older Old 97's fans do the same?

Photos: The Old 97's, Teddy Thompson @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (April 6, 2011)
MySpace: Teddy Thompson
MySpace: The Old 97's

Cults, Magic Kids, Superhumanoids @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (April 4, 2011)

  Magic Kids: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [April 12/2011, 11:40 pm]: Sorry for the delay. Review is now up.

I didn't know exactly what sort of turnout to expect for the show at the Horseshoe Tavern last week on Monday night. Its headliners Cults, and middle act of the night Magic Kids have both had their own share of buzz and press, but I heard nary a peep about this show from the local press leading up to it. And with that night bringing some nasty weather, I thought that would have scared a few people away but in the end I was pleasantly surprised that at least by the time the second act of the night Magic Kids hit the stage, the 'Shoe had a healthy turnout.

The bands bookending the night(first openers Superhumanoids, and headliners Cults) were bands that soundtracked my last night of CMJ in New York City last October. Los Angeles four-piece Superhumanoids were the tightest band of the night in my opinion, and while they may have protypical melodic indie sound propelling their songs along with boy-girl vocals, guitar, bass and keys they do it well. They don't quite fall into dream-pop territory but there was a certain dreamy quality to their songs, mostly with the vocals of lone female member Sarah Chernoff and her keyboards, while the guitars(courtesy of male vocalist Cameron Parkins and the rhythm section(bassist Max St. John and drummer Evan Weinerman) had a bit more muscularity to even out things. It was a sparse crowd at this early point in the evening which is a shame that more people didn't catch them. Next time Toronto.

Memphis, Tennessee buzz band Magic Kids were up next and while headliners Cults were the band most people were there to see, there also seemed to be some palpable excitement for Magic Kids as well. The band's 2010 single, the Brian Wilson-influenced "Hey, Boy" was one of my favourite songs of last year and although I never really got around to listening to the rest of their debut-full-length Memphis, if the rest of the album was anything like that single, I'd expect it to be a good set. The quite young-looking outfit led by lanky frontman Bennett Foster dressed in ripped denim jeans, and slim denim jacket buttoned up and the rest of the band were dressed comfortably, with a certain hipster, geek-chic quality, The band ripped through a fun set of pop music, bowing to the alter of Brian Wilson melodically, with a lot of 'oohs' and 'aahs' in the vocals, melodic keyboard arrangements, ramshackle guitar and bass and overall played looser and more casual than I'd heard them on record. With two keyboards setup in the middle of the stage for later use in the set, main keyboardist Will McElroy was set up at stage left with violinist/vocalist Alice Buchanan beside him, with drummer Ben Bauermeister at the back of the stage, and frontman Bennett Foster, guitarist Alex Gates, and bassist Michael Peery taking up center to stage right. With Bennett, Alex and Michael lined up the right side of the stage together, it was an interesting configuration to see all three approach their mics at the same time to sing together. I've read the band described as a budget Beach Boys which is somewhat apt as although the band does possess a similar melodic sensibility, vocally and instrumentally they are a lot less precise. But they who says they were trying to be. Fun, fun, fun.

Somewhere along the lines between the first time New York group Cults played in Toronto last August at the Horseshoe and this show, the band has garnered a following. I'd already picked up on that when I saw them during CMJ last October, although part of the excitement in the crowd that time also had to do with they were a hometown band. But yes, Toronto has taken a liking to them. According to their Facebook page, Cults is offically the project of vocalist Madeline Follin and guitarist/vocalist Brian Oblivion, but as a touring act at least for this show were rounded out with a drummer, bassist and second guitarist. The band straddled between Motown-ish pop influences ("Go Outside", "Most Wanted") with a more blues-y, rock sound and wasn't afraid of a bit of reverb. The band(other than vocalist Follin) were perceivably and actually young but at least felt like a band and were up to the task as musicians. On the other hand, while vocalist Follin did impress with her strong vocal dexterity, her way-youthful appearance and wholesome stage presence formed a bit of a disconnect with the rock n' roll frontwoman presence she perhaps was trying to achieve. Vocally, FOllin excercised her vocal pipes with an abundance of melodic and blues-y tones, with the emotions that coincided visible in her facial expressions, but part of me also wished she'd cut loose physically in a fit of euphoric release a la Janis Joplin. Aside from such criticisms, it was a brief but enjoyable set and for the night overall, a more than satisfying indie triple-bill.

Photos: Cults, Magic Kids, Superhumanoids @ Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (April 4, 2011)
MySpace: Superhumanoids
MySpace: Magic Kids
MySpace: Cults

The Mountain Goats, Megafaun @ The Opera House, Toronto (April 3, 2011)

  John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [April 8, 12:18 am]: Review now up.

The Mountain Goats of Claremont, California are a band I've been meaning to see live for some time. I'd discovered the band back in the mid to late nineties when I was big in to zines and mail-order indie releases and had ordered one of The Mountain Goats' earliest releases, their cassette only album "The Hound Chronicles". I say 'their' when actually back then it was only John Darnielle alone recording under The Mountain Goats moniker. Underneath its truly lo-fi recording aesthetics, I could hear the songwriting talent of Darnielle. I'd lost track of the band after that, all the while The Mountain Goats recording for a variety of indie labels until they made the big jump to 4AD in 2003. However, it wasn't until about five years ago that the band crept back in to my consciousness, and so I started picking up many of their releases, both pre-4AD and 4AD, casually listening to them but never fully grasping their greatness. It was the live show that I heard and read was the thing that could convert me, and with the Goats playing shows in Toronto at Lee's Palace both in 2006 and 2007, I had a few opportunities to see them but ended up bailing on / missing both. It's now 2011, and it was time to remedy that.

Despite the wickedly wet weather or maybe because of it, The Opera House was already near capacity when I arrived a little in to the set of Durham, North Carolina openers Megafaun. An amiable trio of fellas, brothers Brad and Phil Cook and fellow Eau Claire, Wisconsin native Joe Westerlund, their vocal harmony-laden, folk-rock singalongs, augmented with guitar, drums, and banjo at times, held the crowd's attention for he entirety of their set. This was no better illustrated than with the spare acoustic traditional-soundingn "Lord, Ease My Mind" which had the band simply singing and strumming acoustic guitar and guided along by simple handclaps which the crowd eventually joined in on.

From reviews I've read, The Mountain Goats last visit to Toronto in 2007 was as a duo consist of Darnielle and bassist Peter Pughes but for this most recent visit at The Opera House the band was no actually a band rounded out with drummer Jon Wurster (of Superchunk), and keyboardist Yuval Semo. The band was in town to promote the newest Mountain Goats album entiled All Eternal's Deck. Walking onto the stage with soundbites of "Hello, America" and heavy metal music playing through the speakers, the crowd was enraptured as if Darnielle was Elvis. The four members, dressed smartly in dark suits, the band wasted no time and lept into cleverly-titled new album track "Liza Forever Minnelli".

My unfamiliarity not only The Mountain Goats' newest album but with the catalogue in general made piecing together the set list difficult, but there I tried, jotting down lyrics and song-title guesses on my iPhone in between songs. Even post-show, trying to piece together the setlist by looking at the setlists from some of recent shows turned out to be unreliable as it soon became apparent that Darnielle was not content on playing the same setlist every night. Googling the lyrics I'd jotted down, my sleuthing revealed that while The Mountain Goats played at least a few songs off the new album, including "Liza Forever Minelli" and "For Charles Bronson", and playing fan favourites including "No Children" and "Southwood Plantation Road" from Talahassee and a variety of songs spanning other albums, it was 1995 album The Sunset Tree which seemed quite prominent, with the band playing at least six songs off that album.

In fact, it was The Sunset Tree songs which were the crowd faves and provided most of the show's most memorable moments. The crowd shouted out requests throughout the night and The Sunset Tree's "No Children" was called out multiple times and so the crowd was enamored when the band finally played it. The song "Broom People" was preceded by Darnielle's recounting of a girl name Marci(three years older than him) he dated when he was in high school who he tried to break up with by letter after meeting another girl. An audience member supportively yelled out "Marci Sucks" but Darnielle came back in her defense and said something like "Fuck You" and expressed that given his douche-bag action he thought he at least owed her a song. When the band finally ended the first encore with "This Year" joined onstage with openers Megafaun and the combined membership chanting the chorus "I am going to make it through this year if it kills me", I had a lump in my throat.

Darnielle falls in line with some of the best musical artist / storytellers / banterers I've experienced like Neko Case and Stephen Merritt, although Darnielle's quips and storytelling felt quite more spontaneous in my opinion. When Darnielle solo performed the opening four chords of new song "You Were Cool", a few audience members yelled out "woo", though Darnielle retorted that they wouldn't necessarily know what song he was playing. Ironically that songs lyrics started out "this is a song with the same four chords I use most of the time, when I've got something on my mind" a truly hilarous, self-deprecating comment if I ever heard one. In response to a random question from audience about why he wasn't wearing shoes, he asked the audience if they wanted to know the story then lept in to it anyway, mentioning it was practice by musical artist Amy Grant who did the same thing to be more comfortable on stage. When Darnielle and band came back from the end of the main set for an encore, Darnielle quipped about doing a Grateful Dead-like lengthy second set but then instead, and more realistically offered a six-song encore set as consolation. For a surprise 2nd encore, Darnielle returned to peform a cover of Franklin Bruno's "Houseguest". I've not much to add except to say that it was a spectacular evening and am looking forward to see Darnielle and company in the future.

Chromewaves and The Panic Manual both have reviews of the show. Mechanical Forest Sound has an MP3 live recording of "No Children" from the show.

Photos: The Mountain Goats, Megafaun @ The Opera House, Toronto (April 3, 2011)
MySpace: Megafaun
MySpace: The Mountain Goats

British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (March 24, 2011)

  British Sea Power: photo by Michael Ligon

Not counting Canadian Musicfest, last week's British Sea Power show at Lee's Palace was just my second real concert of the year. Off to a slow start you might say, but quality over quantity, my friends. The last time British Sea Power played Toronto was in May 2008 when they played Lee's Palace in celebration of their then-new disc Do You Like Rock Music? and in the same fashion the band were again back in Toronto to promote their new record Valhalla Dancehall.

Openers for the night were a band from Bologna, Italy called A Classic Education. This was a band I'd seen briefly during CMJ in New York City this past October but even given my brief encouter with the band I'd already been impressed with the band's music. It was a real treat to see the band live again given how much I already liked them. A random patron shouted out "Welcome back to Canada" alluding to the fact that the band's vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jonathan Clancy is from here - in fact, Clancy revealed this was their first time playing in Toronto, and he also mentioned that he used to go to school at a school on Lawrence Ave. The 5-member lineup in addition to Clancy on vocals/guitar included a girl on keyboards, and gentlemen on lead guitar, bass and drums. Given Clancy's Canadian roots, there is indeed something distinctly European about the band's approach to pop music - the band do possess a certain level of pop sophistication that I just don't hear in most North American indie acts. Clancy's swooning vocals and the band's lead guitarist melodic guitar lines are by far the best elements of the band's sound, but the songs themselves are indeed wonderfully crafted pop tunes, drenched in a bit of reverb and sounding every bit as classic as the word classic in their band name alludes to. Songs such as the summery "Gone To Sea" and especially "What My Life Could Have Been" are some of the most fantastic pop songs I've heard in recent memory, and on that alone I recommend them highly. To show a raunchier more playful side, the band also played a cover(L'il Red Riding Hood?) of a song by 1960's Tex-Mex rock 'n' roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Delightful.

As with every other visit to Toronto by British Sea Power, introducing them to the audience was Toronto resident, British ex-pat, and the terminably ageless Kayvon who in his hyper-kinetic talk rambling non-sensically, integrating references to the band's albums then introducing the band on to the stage. For this show, the band was less chaotic and whimiscal overall than on previous visits, but the band was as musically as satisfying as ever through a main set and even breaking tradition with no encore and playing not one, but two encores. Even with a new album to promote, there was quite an equitable representation of all the band's four albums (Valhalla Dancehall, Do You Like Rock Music?, Open Season, The Decline of British Sea Power) and also a smattering of songs from some of their EP's. For a Thursday night it was a healthy crowd, but given that Lee's Palace has been their resident venue every time they've come to Toronto, and that this show wasn't sold out, one wonders what's preventing them from reaching the next level. Musically their urgent, slightly orchestral pop-rock is as exhilirating as ever, and while some of the band's earlier material is a bit more eccentric, much of their more recent material is exciting yet accessible.

Breaking the tradition of no encores, the band played not one but two encores, the first encore including their stupendous single "Waving Flags" and the instrumental interlude "The Great Skua", plus a few others and then coming back surprisingly on the enthusiastic prompting of our host Kayvon to play the eccentric, garage-rock of "Apologies To Insect Life". During this last song lead singer Yan had picked up Kayvon and plopped him onto his shoulders for most of the song before dumping him into the front rows of the crowd on the floor. At this point even, other Wilkinson brother Hamilton (who Yan had mentioned had lost his voice) was even making attempts to do some back-up vocals. Multri-instrumentalist Phil Sumner was quietly impressive throughout the night playing a range of instruments including guitar, horns and keyboards while, drummer Wood and violinist Abi Fry provided consistently augmentation to the band's sound. Guitarist Hamilton was perhaps the most energetic onstage with his guitar playing and at the conclusion of the second encore, after the rest of the band left, fell over into the audience for a bit of body surfing. It was a great show overall that will hopefully increase the client's fanbase in Toronto and if that means playing a bigger venue, I will totally be okay with that. Really.

Photos: British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (March 24, 2011)
MySpace: A Classic Education
MySpace: British Sea Power

Digits, The Einar Flaa Academy, Bonjay, The Zoobombs, The Peelies, Katie Goes To Tokyo, The Pack A.D. @ Canadian Musicfest, Toronto (March 12-13 2011)

  The Pack A.D.: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [March 26, 2011, 11:14 am]: Review now up.

Continuing on with the Canadian Musicfest coverage, I went full tilt on the Saturday night and even made it out to the Sunday night of the festival for a few shows. Digits is the stage name of Toronto's Alt Altman, a one-man electro-pop artist whose set I began Saturday night of Canadian Musicfest. An admirable effort at best, but unfortunately it didn't feel quite essential at least compared to other artists such as fellow Canadians Junior Boys who create music in a similar vein. Digits handled all duties himself - vocals, synth, programming duties and even a bit of bass and there were bright spots occassionally, especially in some of the programming, beats and synth arrangements but not enough overall to convert me wholeheartedly. But perhaps I was just turned off by a lack of visuals and stage presence, making it a bit of a boring experience. Surprisingly for an early set, the venue drew in a larger crowd than expected - not packed by an means, but nor did it remain empty as I thought it might be.

Next up, I jumped onto the Spadina south streetcar on my way to Global Village Backpackers Hostel down the street to catch Norweigan folk-pop band The Einar Flaa Academy. Named after the band's singer and songwriter, this live set was a stripped down acoustic performance with Einar Flaa on vocals and acoustic guitar sitting on a stool with Ole Marksten on vocals, sax and glockenspiel, and Monika May on vocals both also seated. The performance had very much a living room feel with the band set up within the hostel's sunken intimate bar area. As I understand Einar and Ole are full-time members of The Einar Flaa Academy but I think Monika May[a musical artist in her own right] was only a guest that night, but from the wonderful performance they gave, you'd have sworn that Ms. May was a full-time member. Monika's soulful vocals blended nicely with Einar's more folkish vocals and with Einar's acoustic guitar playing augmented by Ole's instrumental contributions with glockenspiel and saxophone it was an understated performance punctuated by well-written songs. Disappointly, it was a rather disinterested crowd on-hand it seemed(at the very least giving some polite applause), although I hope that didn't discourage the band from coming back to Canada.

My plans to see Nashville's Heavy Cream at Wrongbar were foiled, and not because I didn't get in to the venue, but because once I got in I found out the sets were running half an hour behind schedule. I caught the tail-end of The Pack A.D.'s set, chatted with Joe from Mechanical Sound Forest for a bit but then had to jet for the next band I hoped to see which was Toronto's Bonjay who were playing The Mod Club about a quarter after midnight. Indie rockers/hipsters beware but The Mod Club on a Saturday night is definitely a place you should NOT be - it's a Saturday night dance party featuring clubby music and not the good stuff it seems. At times, I just felt like I was in an episode of Jersey Shore. This would not bode well for Bonjay - it was the first time I'd heard the band live and I was totally digging their ragga / electro / r n' b 'ish tunes but except for a few select souls near the front, most of the crowd seemed disinterested or distracted. Bonjay's vocalist Alanna Stuart expressed a few times to the crowd that the crowd was too quiet but the crowd never seemed to really get into it like they should have. Alanna and the band(including producer Pho on synth as well as a live drummer) made a valiant effort, but the crowd plain sucked.

And so to end off the Saturday night of Canadian Musicfest, I took in a double shot of garage rock goodness, first with Japan's The Zoobombs at The Comfort Zone, and then with all-girl female quartet, Montreal's The Peelies playing at Silver Dollar. The Zoobombs, who I've seen during past visits to the city, are at this point beyond review, except to say they are just about the most rockin' band out of Japan ever, their mix of garage-y, r n'b rock, mixed with squelches of keyboard and sleazy guitar playing, is always a good time, kind of like experiencing a band who musically seem like a mixture between The Rolling Stones and Iggy and The Stooges. The Peelies brand of garage-y pop-rock was more subtle than The Zoobombs but was satisfying nonetheless, with the girls alternating vocals/instruments between songs, and performing from an amateurist angle but overall with a sense of fun and non-chalance.

Normally I'd have ended the festival on Saturday night but I couldn't resist in the end to catch Swedish band Katie Goes To Tokyo who were playing a set at Bread N' Circus. For a Sunday night there was actual a good turnout for them, although disappointedly everyone was seated although it was rather for comfort than intential disregard for the band as the crowd seemed to enjoy the set. The band were quite in the vein of fellow Swedes The Cardigans (well, mostly early Cardigans), with vocalist/songwriter Kathrine Bergström and her band(including keys, bass, drums, and guitar) playing a set of breezy, sunny pop songs songs like "Little Sister". Especially noteworthy, was that it was Toronto's own Carmen Elle on guitar who did a fantastic job on guitar with her sinewy, melodic guitar lines and on drums was Kathrine's album producer Mårten Tromm who also produced Canadian singer/songwriter Hawksley Workman and which led Workman to co-write a song with Kathrine entitled “Paper Moon”. Kathrine's most recent album My Naked Heart was recorded in Stockholm but mixed and mastered in Toronto, Canada. Small world.

Given that I was already downtown, I decided not to waste the opportunity to catch The Pack A.D. at the Horseshoe Tavern whose set the other night at Wrongbar I'd only caught the tailend of. It was a rockin' good time as the guitar/drums duo wailed through several blues-tinged garage rock. Like, The Zoobombs, and The Peelies the night before, old school rock n' roll will always have a place in this little heart o' mine. Rock n' roll is here to stay, and it will never die. And with that, another Canadian Musicfest in the books - see you next year.

Photos: Digits @ El Mocambo, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 12 March 2011)
Photos: The Einar Flaa Academy @ Global Village Backpackers, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 12 March 2011)
Photos: Bonjay @ The Mod Club, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 12 March 2011)
Photos: The Zoobombs @ Comfort Zone, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 12 March 2011)
Photos: The Peelies @ Silver Dollar, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 12 March 2011)
Photos: Katie Goes To Tokyo @ Bread n' Circus, Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 13 March 2011)
Photos: The Pack A.D. @ Horseshoe Tavern Toronto (part of Canadian Musicfest, 13 March 2011)

MySpace: Digits
MySpace: The Einar Flaa Academy
MySpace: Bonjay
MySpace: The Zoobombs
MySpace: The Peelies
MySpace: Katie Goes To Tokyo
MySpace: The Pack A.D.

Karkwa, Esben and the Witch @ Canadian Musicfest, Toronto (March 11, 2011)

  Esben and the Witch: photo by Michael Ligon

I guess a Polaris Music Prize win doesn't guarantee a lineup down the block for a band's Canadian Musicfest set that's in a relatively intimate venue, well at least if your Montreal Francophone act Karkwa. I generally didn't line up all that long arriving about half an hour before their scheduled set time and when I got in I found the venue to be have ample elbow room amongst those already inside. Members of the band had actually sauntered past us in line as they arrove and entered the venue through the front door with the person behind me in line saying in jest to Karkwa's drummer as he walked past something along the lines of "thanks for showing up". The humour was somewhat lost on the drummer before he realized the guy was making a joke. Except for the exquisite French-pop of their song "Oublie Pas" which I'd heard on the soundtrack of a Francophone film(whose title escapes me) I wasn't at all familiar with the band's music. A person in the audience I introduced myself too, who happened to work for chartattack, upon me asking her what the band's music was like described them as band who some have described as a French Radiohead. And after hearing Karkwa perform, they didn't really remind me of Radiohead at all - Karkwa were far more conventional when compared to Radiohead's current experimental-sounding output and Karkwa didn't sound at all like old Radiohead in my opinion. However, like Radiohead, I guess Karkwa do possess a certain amount of dramatic tension within their pop-rock tunes. The level of musicianship in the band was exemplary with vocalist/guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier and his band which included two drummers/drumkits, a bassist, and a keyboardist equipped with an arsenal of keyboards. And so while the band defintely has chops, I felt a disconnect overall which had not even so much to do with the fact I don't understand French. It was a good set overall, though not the great set I'd hope would prove to me why they won the Polaris Music Prize.

Similarly, UK's trio Esben and the Witch were a generally unknown entity with a lot to prove given all the buzz they've been garnered by the music press. Word is that when the band opened for Foals at Lee's Palace last September, they'd put on a good show. I'd only sampled a bit of their music prior to their show, and it's funny how a came to describe them in my mind as new-goth even before I read a lick of press on them which bandied around the term 'goth' ad nauseum. There was a tangible excitement for the young trio as they took the stage, the band composed of guitarist/keyboardist Thomas Fisher, electronics/guitarist Daniel Copeman, and vocalist/percussionist Rachael Davies. The band concocted an intoxicating mix of stark vocals, dark pop atmospherics, threatening guitar attacks and primal / electronic beats that had the crowd intrigued for the hour and a half or so they'd played. The band's admitted in interview that while everyone likes to describe them as goth(bands like Bauhaus, This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins), it was only after they were compared to them that the band discovered these bands. One wonders where the band did then get their influences, but if it is from within, it is one deep dark place. Intriguing. The band's Matador Records-released debut Violet Cries is out now.

Photos: Karkwa @ Wrongbar, Toronto as part Canadian Musicfest (March 11, 2011)
Photos: Esben and the Witch @ Wrongbar, Toronto as part Canadian Musicfest (March 11, 2011)
MySpace: Karkwa
MySpace: Esben and the Witch

Brian Borcherdt, Austra, Butterfly Explosion @ Canadian Musicfest, Toronto (March 10, 2011)

  Austra @ Wrongbar: photo by Michael Ligon

It's no wonder that I only saw two bands for my second night(on March 11) of Canadian Musicfest as my first night consisted of 6 bands in total, the first three which I reviewed a few days ago. Let's waste no time and continue onward.

Next up for the midnight-and-onward festivities was Brian Borcherdt at The Garrison. Borcherdt is better known in most circles as the frontman of sound/beat manipulators Holy Fuck, but his work as a singer-songwriter was very much an unknown entity for me, although perhaps that unknown given the decent sized crowd that came out for his midnight set. With a forlorness in his vocals, Borcherdt performed an entertaining set of folk / alt-country tinged tunes, accompanying himself on electric guitar. Borcherdt began the set solo but then shortly into the set was joined by a burly gent on violin before he was replaced and joined by a bespectacled indie rock dude on drums. It was particularly disappointing that half the crowd seemed uninterested, chatting non-chalantly the whole time. In any case, it didn't seem to phase Borcherdt one bit and there was at least a few of us that enjoyed the set immensely. So what's next for Borcherdt? A combination of his beat-terrorism and his singer-songwriter mode perhaps? Now that'd be interesting.

From the Garrison, it was back down to Queen St for me and west towards Wrongbar where Toronto's Austra were set to perform. I'd picked up on the fact that Austra was Katie Stelmanis' new project. I'd previously been familiar with Stelmanis' music which combined her stark, dramatic vocals within a post-punk musical framework. There was a good-sized crowd in the venue and a tangible excitement in the air, and Stelmanis and company did not disappoint. Flanked by two dancers/back-up vocalist, a drummer, keyboardist, and a bassist, Stelmanis and company invigorated the crowd with a voluptuous set of electro-synth dance tunes. As a singer, Stelmanis retains her stark, dramatic vocals and against the supple drum beats and synth arrangements I was reminded a bit of Bat For Lashes although less devoted to Kate Bush influences and sounding more clubby. This is defintely music you can dance to, but it was the band's sultry combination of vocals and beats that was almost hypnotic, displayed in Stelmanis and her backup vocalists'/dancers' whose wavy body moments seemed to absorb and reflect every beat. For the crowd at the front of the stage at least, the urge to dance was undeniable, all flailing arms and booty-shaking. I cannot wait to see this band again. Undeniably the best set of this year's Canadian Musicfest, in my opinion. The band's debut album, Feel It Break, featuring drummer Maya Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf is set to be released this coming May through Paper Bag Records.

Ending off the night for me with a 2 am set start time(and thankfully I had the day off work the next day) was Irish shoegaze act Butterfly Explosion. This wasn't the first time the Dublin band had crossed through town, having come to Toronto for some show or two back in April 2007 has documented by Chromewaves. My interest had been piqued back then but for a reason that escapes me, I didn't end up seeing them live. So with this 2 am set there one and only appearance at this year's Canadian Musicfest, I decided to check 'em out, and defer my comfy bed for another few hours. As shoegaze bands go, they weren't as transcendent as say My Bloody Valentine but they were no mere slouches either. In addition to shoegaze, the band was also partially indebted to their post-rock and dream-pop influences. The five-piece featuring Gazz Carr (Guitar, Vocals), John Coman (Drums), Conor Garry (Bass), Jay Carty (Guitar), and Aine McGrath (Keys, Vocals) thanked the crowd for coming out at the late time, then proceeded with a set of varying shades of shoegaze-influenced rock n' roll. While I recall the start of the set being a bit mundane(mostly due to the vocals), the band seemed to get better with every tune, varying their tempo, rhythmic assault, guitar heaviness, and keys accompanient from tune to tune. If anything, the lead vocals seemed to be the weakest element, and perhaps recognizing that maybe that was why much of the set seemd to be instrumental. There was however a tune where Gazz and keyboardist Aine both sang a bit more equitably on which made a strong case for the band to have more songs like that. There wasn't a particularly large crowd on hand, which seemed to get thinner as the hour drew later, and for what few remained, they seemed less interested in the band than in grabbing a last drink, but hey it was close to 3 am and I was ready to call it a night.

Photos: Brian Borcherdt @ The Garrison, Toronto, Canadian Musicfest (March 10, 2011)
Photos: Austra @ Wrongbar, Toronto, Canadian Musicfest (March 10, 2011)
Photos: Butterfly Explosion @ The Hideout, Toronto, Canadian Musicfest (March 10, 2011)
MySpace: Brian Borcherdt
MySpace: Austra
MySpace: Butterfly Explosion

Memoryhouse, Young Empires, Prussia @ Canadian Musicfest, Toronto (March 10, 2011)

  Memoryhouse: photo by Michael Ligon

Anticipating that The Great Hall might get busy for recently-signed Sub Pop signees' Guelph's Memoryhouse who were playing later in the night, I decided to kick off my Canadian Musicfest early at the venue to check out the opening acts. The venue's lineup for the night was part of The Windish Agency showcase. Detroit's Prussia kicked off the night to a sparse crowd and I didn't have much expectations by the non-descript looking five-piece but I did warm up a bit to the band's skewed indie pop. Lanking vocalist Ryan Spencer's vocals reminded me of a mix of Talking Heads' David Byrne and Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug and if that latter band's recent hiatus was a disappointment to you, Prussia's jaunty eclecticism will perhaps be right up your alley. As sparse as the crowd was, they were generally appreciative of the band's efforts. Or perhaps just of Spencer's contortive dance movements.

For a band who I'd tagged as having one of the best singles of last year I was a bit disappointed with my first experience seeing Toronto dance-rock trio Young Empires when I saw them play Steamwhistle Brewery this past December - they had much energy, and played off the crowd well, but most vocally, sort of lost track that night. In a turnabout, for their Canadian Musicfest set last week, it was the energy of the crowd that was sorely lacking while, vocally and musically they were much more on point. Adept at carving out tunes through a combination of programmed beats and samples with vibrant guitar, bass and vocals, songs like the Ibiza-fueled rhythms of "Rain of Gold" which reminded me of Technique-era New Order, to soaring set-closer indie tune "White Doves" showed Young Empires to be a multi-faceted band, as interested in singing songs as making us dance. It's just too bad that the crowd didn't break out into an all-out dance party. Chalk another one up to Toronto apathy.

Guelph's Memoryhouse will likely draw comparison's to other Sub Pop "-house" band Beach House, both bands music having a dreamy, melodic quality to it, but Memoryhouse seem even more devoted to that direction, to the pointing of seeming like they'd float off into the stratosphere. Reminiscient of bands like Slowdive and a bit of Cocteau Twins, Memoryhouse's set, while what lacked in general stage presence, was a dream-pop lover's wet dream musically. Having expanded from a duo to a four-piece for this show, the band played most competently. Ringing guitars, subtle keys, bass and drums, and angelic vocals and a good arsenal of tunes drove the short but sweet set but when the band upped-up the tempo ever so slightly on "Heirloom" while still maintaining all the other qualities that make them who they are, Memoryhouse really hit the mark. For the music they play, I don't ever expect them to have much stage presence (although banter, perhaps could help a bit), but I'd hope they'd considering augment their live set with some visual lighting or projections in the future. I do somehow find vocalist Denise Nouvion every bit enchanting because of her dreamy vocals AND despite the fact that all she did was gaze into the audience, or look down to her keyboards the whole time.

Photos: Memoryhouse, Young Empires, Prussia @ Canadian Musicfest, Toronto (March 10, 2011)
MySpace: Prussia
MySpace: Young Empires
MySpace: Memoryhouse

2011 Canadian Musicfest Picks (March 12, 2011)

  Bonjay

So what will it be tonight for Canadian Musicfest. The garage-punk showcase at Wrongbar looks strong and entertaining - I'll vouch for the 3/4 female Nashville punk outfit Heavy Cream who I saw during CMJ in New York City this past October - crazy, cool vocalist. And Vancouver garage-blues duo The Pack A.D. are also fun to experience. I have a feeling this venue'll be crazy busy. Japan's The Zoobombs always put on a fantastic rock n' roll show and they'll be at The Comfort Zone at 1 am. The music selection that appeals to my tastes are somewhat thin tonight - I don't have that many options for each of the times slots and I just realized I don't even have a 9 pm selection. What I'm almost positive is that I'll be heading to The Mod Club to check out the electro / dancehall / r n'b stylings of Toronto's Bonjay. I only saw two bands yesterday - Montreal's Karkwa and buzzy UK trio Esben and The Witch at Wrongbar, and then ended the night early only because I needed to crash - and I feel like I need to make up for that tonight. Let's do this.

8:00 Alcoholic Faith Mission @ El Mocambo (downstairs)

@ Wrongbar
10:00 The Pack A.D.
11:00 Heavy Cream
12:00 Ty Segall
1:00 Teenanger
2:00 The White Wires

10:00 The Einar Flaa Academy @ Global Village Backpackers

10:00 The Balconies @ Lee's Palace

@ Horseshoe Tavern
10:30 Parlovr
1:30 Rah Rah

@ Silver Dollar
11:00 Neon Windbreaker
12:00 Shortpants Romance
2:00 The Peelies

@ Painted lady
11:00 Kill Krinkle Club
1:00 White White Sisters

@ Rivoli
12:00 The Golden Dogs @ Rivoli
2:00 Fever Fever @ Rivoli

12:00 The Treasures @ The Dakota Tavern

12:00 Terra Lightfoot @ Czehoski

@ Mod Club
12:15 Bonjay
2:30 DVAS

1:00 The Zoobombs @ Comfort Zone

1:00 Kidstreet @ El Mocambo (downstairs)

2011 Canadian Musicfest Picks (March 11, 2011)

  Esben and the Witch

I'm so much more uncertain about what to check out tonight during Canadian Musicfest. My first choice would be the J Mascis / Kurt Vile and the Violators / James Vincent McMorrow show at The Great Hall but with it being listed as allowing "Limited wristbands/passes accepted", I don't feel like gambling trying to get into that show. And I don't feel like getting there super early to line up - perhaps if it were June. The remainder of the night is a mixture of the familiar, the acquainted with and other curiosities. The music genres encompassed by the lineup of bands below range from indie folk, indie rock, post-rock, electro-pop, alt-country and so on but above all these bands have intrigued me. My top pick of the night is UK band, Matador Records artist Esben and The Witch who exude a dark, austere atmosphere. Should I classify this has perhaps new-goth? They're definitely intriguing.

@ Drake Underground
8:00 Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
9:00 Adam and the Amethysts
12:00 Holger

@ Comfort Zone
8:00 Halves
9:00 Tennis System
10:00 Hotkid
11:00 The Wilderness
12:00 Powers
1:00 Foxfire

@ Sneaky Dee's
8:00 Nash
9:00 Christien Summers
11:00 Allie Hughes
1:00 The Meligrove Band
2:00 Make Your Exit
3:00 DVAS

8:45 Maylee Todd & Pegwee Power @ Revival

@ Supermarket
9:00 Rebekah Higgs
10:00 Lindi Ortega
10:30 The Treasures
1:00 Maylee Todd & Pegwee Power

@ The Dakota Tavern
9:00 Rob Moir
12:00 Alcoholic Faith Mission
1:00 Racoon Bandit

@ Underground Garage (365 King St West)
9:45 Kill Krinkle Club
10:30 windings

@ Lee's Palace
10:00 The Jezabels
11:00 Dinosaur Bones
12:00 Bombay Bicycle Club
1:00 Parlovr

@ Wrongbar
10:00 Karkwa
11:00 Esben and the Witch
1:00 Bok Bok
2:00 Kingdom

@ Horseshoe Tavern
10:20 Hooded Fang
12:20 Cuff The Duke

10:00 The Pack A.D. @ Bovine Sex Club

10:00 Aidan Knight @ Rivoli

10:00 Holger @ Painted Lady

11:00 Katie Goes To Tokyo @ Mitzi's Sister

2:00 The Lines @ The Hideout

2011 Canadian Musicfest Picks (March 9-10, 2011)

  Memoryhouse: photo by Edward Bishop

This year's Canadian Musicfest (as part of the annual Canadian Music Week music industry conference) is about to kick off officially tomorrow night in venues across Toronto. The whole schedule is up here. Tomorrow night will have a number of venues hosting showcases although Canadian Musicfest really kicks into high gear on Thursday night. Check out my picks below [note: the band/artist names are hyperlinked to their respective MySpace sites]:

WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 2011

After a perusal of Wednesday night's schedule, I found I wasn't intrigued by very much unfortunately. I'm non-committal about this night in general but if I do go out, I may check out some of the acts below.

9:00 Lordy Lordy @ Rancho Relaxo

11:00 Snowblink @ Painted Lady

11:30 Gentleman Reg @ Gladstone Hotel

1:00 Sacred Animals @ Painted Lady

THURSDAY MARCH 10, 2011

I fortunately have the day off work on Friday so if I feel motivated to hit Canadian Musicfest hard on Thursday night, I just may do so. This night in general is a much harder night for me to pin down a schedule because of all the time slot conflicts. Rather than a strict sequential listing of picks below for each time slot, I chose to group some picks by venue which gives a clearer picture of the option of hunkering down in one venue for part or all of the night (see especially my The Opera House, Wrongbar, Silver Dollar and The Great Hall picks below). Memoryhouse are my top choice of the night. Maybe I'll just head to The Great Hall early.

@ Sonic Boom
6:00 - The Balconies
7:00 - Dinosaur Bones
8:00 - The Most Serene Republic

8:30 Modern Superstitions @ Horseshoe Tavern

@ Lee's Palace
8:30 The Wilderness of Manitoba
9:30 Miracle Fortress
11:30 Young Galaxy

@ The Opera House
8:30 Little Scream
9:30 Isis (of Thunderheist)
10:30 Cadence Weapon
12:30 Land of Talk

@ Wrongbar
9:00 Valleys
11:00 Little Girls
12:00 Metz
1:00 Austra
2:00 Monolithium

@ Silver Dollar
9:00 Grounders
10:00 Heartbeat Hotel
12:00 The Russian Futurists
1:00 Silly Kissers

@ The Great Hall
10:00 Young Empires
10:45 Memoryhouse
11:45 Yukon Blonde

@ The Garrison
10:00 Actual Water
12:00 Brian Borcherdt

@ Smiling Buddha
10:00 Orangegrass
11:00 Sugar Plum Ferry

10:00 The R.G. Morrison @ Bread n' Circus

10:00 Kalle Mattson @ Mitzi's Sister

11:00 Chateau Marmont @ Drake Underground

11:00 Bloodgroup @ Rancho Relaxo

@ Clinton's
11:30 Idiotape
12:30 Vidulgi OoyoO
1:30 Mathemagic

@ The Hideout
12:00 Halves
2:00 The Butterfly Explosion

The Dears @ Sonic Boom, Toronto (February 17, 2011)

In celebration of their most recent full-length Degeneration Street, and touted as a comeback of sorts, The Dears played an entertaining instore set in the basement of Sonic Boom last Thursday night. With founding members and husband and wife, Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak, welcoming back into the fold were keyboardist/guitarist Rob Benvie, guitarist Patrick Kief, bassist Roberto Arquilla (who'd been in an early incarnation of the band prior to 2001), and current drummer Jeff Luciani. The band was in good spirits, especially vocalist Lightburn dressed in all black including his nerd-chic eyeglass frames. Acting like a loveable goof, Lightburn exclaimed "aww snap" when just before the band was to start Benvie was experiencing technical difficulties with his keyboards. Later Lightburn would call out Pitchfork on their recent 2.4 rating of the band's new album, then jokingly exclaimed to the audience that they're still 'indie-rock'. The band played four songs from the new album, stripping away some of orchestral/athemic qualities of their past work and the dourness of their previous album Missiles for a more upbeat direct approach. Don't get me wrong - they still sound like The Dears, Murray still sings with a certain Morrissey-inflection, and the music still has an Anglophilic feel, but the new songs I'd heard thankfully were more direct and weren't mired in cacaphonic wankery. The band ended the short but sweet set with an invigorating version of "Hate Then Love" from their album Gang of Losers.

NOW Magazine has a a clip of The Dears from the Sonic Boom instore.

blog.HaterHigh.com has a review of the show plus audio of the whole Sonic Boom instore set available for download.

Photos: The Dears @ Sonic Boom, Toronto (February 17, 2011)
MySpace: The Dears

The Radio Dept., Young Prisms @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (February 7, 2011)

  The Radio Dept. @ Lee's Palace: photo by Michael Ligon

Review to come.

In the meantime, Exclaim, Chromewaves, and The Panic Manual have reviews of the show.

Photos: The Radio Dept., Young Prisms @ Lee's Palace, Toronto (February 7, 2011)
MySpace: Young Prisms
MySpace: The Radio Dept.

Preview --- The Radio Dept., Young Prisms at Lee's Palace tomorrow night

One of the most anticipated shows of the year hits Lee's Palace tomorrow night with Swedish dream-pop purveyors The Radio Dept. with what I believe will be their debut Toronto, if not Canadian, gig. Now three albums deep into their career, their most recent being last year's Clinging To A Scheme, and having recently released a restrospective collection entitled Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010, the band have quietly built a small yet fervent following, that around these parts has culminated in a sold out show at Lee's Palace tomorrow night. My favourite song by them is one of their contributions to the 2006 period - piece - with - a - post - punk - soundtrack film "Marie Antoinette":


The Radio Dept. - "Pulling Our Weight"

Do yourself a favour and show up early for openers Young Prisms all the way from San Francisco. I saw this young female-fronted five-member shoegaze outfit this past October in NYC during the CMJ festival. The band were adept in creating a hazy, guitar-drenched, melodic racket and will be a fitting opener tomorrow night. The band have been building a name for themselves since the late 2000's with a series of small releases [split cassettes, CD EP, 12 ", split 7" singles] and recently released their debut full-length last month entitled Friends For Now through Williamsburg, Brooklyn indie label Kanine Records. Check out a sampling of the band with the music video below, and some other media after that:


Young Prisms - "These Daze"

Video: Young Prisms - "Breathless" @ SMMR BMMR 8/14/10
MP3: Young Prisms - "Sugar"
MP3: Young Prisms - "Weekends and Treehouses"

If you didn't get tickets to tomorrow's sold out show at Lee's Palace, you can try catching Young Prisms earlier in the day when they play an instore at Sonic Boom at 4 pm or when they come back to town on April 21 when they play Parts & Labour with The Fresh & Onlys. Via Chromewaves.

Natural's Not In It --- Gang of Four in town this Friday; new disc "Content" just released

  Gang of Four (photo via)

The Toronto Star, chartattack, The Toronto Sun, Eye Weekly, and Spinner all have pieces on seminal post-punk outfit Gang of Four who play a show in Toronto at the Phoenix this Friday and are promoting their recently released new disc Content. They were a band that I'd caught on to about 5-7 years ago(or perhaps more) when I randomly found a copy of their Peel Sessions release, then found that the public library system in Mississauga had a copy of their retrospective collection 100 Flowers Bloom: Anthology. Over time, as luck would have it, I'd collect their albums on vinyl including a near mint copy of their debut Entertainment which I found at a local Goodwill for $2. But my interest was further piqued when the band reissued their debut album on CD in 2005, as well as the band's inclusion (with their song "Natural's Not In It") on the soundtrack of the 2006 Sophia Coppolla-directed film "Marie Antoinette". Most recently a segment of the band's song "Natural's Not In It" can be heard in of all things, a television ad for Xbox Kinect.

For the price of an e-mail , you can download the track “You’ll Never Pay For The Farm” from the new album Content - head over to the band's website.

Rural Alberta Advantage talk with AUX.TV. Watch the band's recent music video for their song "Stamp" from their upcoming new album Departing, out March 1, 2011 on Saddle Creek.

Toronto electro-rock trio Young Empires have announced they will be playing the Canadian Music Fest showcase, along with Yukon Blonde, at The Great Hall on March 10.

The pyschedelic-looking new music video from UK outfit The Go! Team is cool, but the song entitled "Buy Nothing Day", with vocals from Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, is pure pop terrificness. Best Coast are in town for a show at the Phoenix this Sunday February 6 with openers Wavves, and No Joy. The Go! Team play The Opera House in Toronto on April 10; the band's new disc Rolling Blackouts came out February 1.

Have been meaning to check out Toronto outfit Bonjay live and a probably have to skip their upcoming instore at Soundscapes on February 12(at 7 pm) since their Facebook Event Page says it's gonna be a short performance, but that doesn't mean you have to skip it. One of these days.

The Journal interviews Julie Doiron. She's at the Horseshoe tomorrow night for a show.

So long to The White Stripes.

The Pixies will be touring Canada in suppport of the 20th Anniversary of "Doolittle"

photo via The Coast

The Pixies are on there way to Canada in support of a tour for the 20th anniversary of their classic album Doolittle(via AUX.TV) They'll be going from coast to coast, and will be playing several dates around the Golden Horseshoe including April 17 in Kitchener at The Center in the Square, April 18 at Massey Hall in Toronto, and April 20 in Hamilton at Wentworth Room. Who's excited? I imagine this will sell out in minutes. Be half-prepared to be disappointed.

Coachella 2011 Rumblings

  photo via College Humor

It's not the entire lineup for Coachella that's been released yet, but sources have confirmed to Billboard that The Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons and PJ Harvey are booked for this year's festival. Other rumored acts include Crystal Castles [who do have a bunch of North America dates leading up to Coachella including a stop in Toronto at Sound Academy on April 2], Cut Copy[who just confirmed some North American dates including a stop in Toronto at Sound Academy on April 7], as well as The Strokes, Duran Duran, OMD[who recently confirmed a date in Toronto at the Phoenix on March 5] and Gary Numan. If you head on over to the Coachella website right now, they're featuring a music video of an artist called Monarchy, and according to Billboard the site has been featuring music bands/artists all week including Trentemoller, Lightning Bolt, Phantogram, and Fanfarlo, all artists presumed to be playing this year's festival. Consequence of Sound has been weighing the odds of a number of different acts playing this year's festival - worth checking out because CoS provides links to evidence to support the expectations/rumours [although some of the evidence links are no longer valid unfortunately]. I keep saying I want to go back to Coachella - my one and only time was in 2004 - but I'm also pondering a return trip to the Primavera Festival(whose lineup is already shaping up nicely) in Barcelona this year as a few music blogger friends of mine are also going. Let's see how this Coachella lineup rounds out before I make any decisions.

Update[January 19, 2011]: Coachella just HAD to announce the lineup for this year's festival just after I put up this blog post yesterday evening, rendering it somewhat redundant. Check out the full-lineup or check out the official poster. There's alot of highlight and alot of buzz bands, some unknown entities, but overall looks like a pretty good fest. I know they're big, and I don't hate them, but c'mon why does King of Leon have to close the first night? And to point out the Canadian contingent they include, Crystal Castles, Rural Alberta Advantage, The Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, a reunited Death From Above 1979, Chromeo, City and Colour, and Gord Downie - anyone else I have forgotten?

PJ Harvey "The Words That Maketh Murder" / "The Last Living Rose" (music videos)

The new video for PJ Harvey's song "The Words That Maketh Murder" made it's way online last week. Her last album 2007's piano-based, stark White Chalk was the biggest musical departure yet for PJ Harvey whose music had previously been quite entrenched in a raw, sort of punk aesthetic, but by the likes of this newest song from her upcoming new album Let England Shake (out February 14 in the UK and February 15 in the US) shows a folkier side, with a hint of perhaps an Appalachian Folk influence, melded with a more conventional rock rhythm section. The more I listen to it, the more it's growing on me:

PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder


Uploaded by spektorholic (via Pitchfork)

According to info at NPR, this 'film' directed by Seamus Murphy is one of a series of 12 shorts to accompany the 12 songs that make up PJ Harvey's forthcoming album, Let England Shake.

And somehow I missed the first Seamus Murphy directed short film released last month for PJ Harvey's "The Last Living Rose", a song also from the upcoming new album. Musically, it sounds more like PJ Harvey - uncomplicated drum arrangement, stark vocals, simple guitar melodies, - oh and a bit of saxophone? Great song:

PJ Harvey - The Last Living Rose

Glasvegas "The Word Is Yours"

Unfortunate to me and everyone else outside of Europe, but the new Glasvegas singe "The World Is Yours" is available for free download today only for those in Europe. So for the moment get your stream on and listen to the track below. The new album is entitled EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ and according to NME is set for release this spring:



Or listen to the track below via SoundCloud:



For smart phone users - go to Soundcloud directly to stream the track which, at least for me, is compatible with my iPhone.

The band's only headlining date around these parts was in April 2009 for a foundation-shaking performance at The Mod Club - I think they also opened for Kings of Leon after that - and it's been far too long since I've seen them.

The Concretes, All Day

Since Lisa Milberg took over lead vocals for Swedish pop outfit The Concretes in 2006 (when original lead vocalist Victoria Bergsman left to devote her time to her own solo project, Taken By Trees), she's taken vocal duties towards a slightly more sultry direction, the music also following suit IMO as illustrated by a few of the songs below (off the band's newest album WYWH, released late last year):





And via The Line Of Best Fit the band perform an acoustic version of "My Ways" as part of TLOBF Sessions



The band just kicked off their North American tour (check out their dates at their MySpace) and will be in Toronto this Monday January 17 for a show at the Horseshoe Tavern with openers Hooray For Earth.

Jenn Grant Gets Us Good

I'm so happy to see how far East Coast singer-songwriter Jenn Grant has come since her humble beginnings when I'd first saw her live back in 2005. Having already released two terrific albums of alternatingly lush and folky pop confections, 2007's Orchestra for the Moon and 2009's Echoes, Ms. Grant has kept on her current two-year cycle with her just-released new album entitled Honeymoon Punch. I've not yet picked up the album, but the first single is a fun up-tempo, approaching-on-rockin' pop number - the video itself is also pure fun:



Also Jenn is X3's Artist of The Month, for which Jenn and band were filmed for a session of X3's Camera Music, performing acoustic versions of "How I Met You" and "Getcha Good":



Finally, Jenn took part in The Craig Norris Hour on CBC Radio 3, as part of the X3 Artist Co-Host Initiative. Speaking with Mr. Norris from a studio in Halifax, NS he chatted with Jenn then they listened to her new album Honeymoon Punch in its entirety track-by-track, with Jenn offering reflections on each song. Listen to the program below:

Audio: Jenn Grant X3 Artist Interview (The Craig Norris Hour / CBC Radio 3)

Jenn Grant's upcoming tour dates are up at Six Shooter Records. She'll be in Toronto for a show at the Horseshoe Tavern on February 19 with doors at 9 pm and the show starting at 10 pm. I will do my best to be there and you should too.

(VIDEO)The Walkmen - "Juveniles" (live on Late Night With David Letterman)

When The Walkmen passed through town last October for a show at the Phoenix, in was in support of their new album Lisbon. They'd obviously performed several tracks from the album although nothing sunk in at the time nor had I ever had a chance to listen to the new album. But the band's performance on Late Night With David Letterman does provide more reason than ever to check the new album out. Performing a song entitled "Juveniles", the song shows a dare-I-say more mature side of the band, showing more emphasis on melody and a cleaner, more succinct approach to their instrumentation. Terrific song. The band has some select US and UK dates coming up over the next several months and then the Primavera Festival in Barcelona, Spain in May - tour dates are posted at the band's MySpace.

ps. You may have noticed my abbreviated blog posts as of late. I plan to keep posting a bit more streamlined at least for now, and saving more detailed posts for concert reviews (when I go to shows, of course). I also hope to get back to posting about more local artists/eventt. Posting (both in content and frequency) will be fairly random but I hope you'll stick around.

We Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day

Happy Birthday Mr. Bowie.