Once a month the Music Alliance Pact brings bloggers around the globe together and, by heck, that time is now. The number of countries in MAP stands at a record high of 24 after we tempted ambassadors from Denmark ( All Scandinavian ) and France ( SoundNation ) to join our gang with the promise of riches beyond their wildest dreams. As Scotland's representatives, The Pop Cop has something very special from We Were [...]
MySpace It's one of those bits and bobs days. Let's begin. Seattle dreampop artisans Trespassers William , who appear to once again be down to the core membership of guitarist Matt Browne and singer-guitarist Anna-Lynne Williams, have released details about their next release. The Natural Order Of Things is a five-track EP which follows 2007's The Noble House as the band's second consecutive mini-album since their last full-length, 2006's exquisite Having . It's [...]
myspace For any long time reader of herohill, you'll know are quite smitten with Ottawa's Amos the Transparent . We gave them the distinction of #2 on the 2007 Canadian album of the Year list and asked them to open up for The Inbreds reunion show at the herohill Pop Explosion last year. The way Chandler and Wilson melded bedroom pop with anthem ready classic rock was pretty breathtaking, but the thing that made Everything I've Forgotten to Forge t stick in my brain was quickly the got to the point and [...]
Pretty much right up until Friday, I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to head out into the cold to check out the show at Sneaky Dee's. The original thought of seeing Golden Hands ... (look, I'm so lazy I shorten their name even more than most people do) play with a bunch of my favourite semi-locals was too good to pass up. But once they had to cancel, the whole dynamic of the evening turned this into a much less necessary affair for me. Still, as the week wore on I realized that what I was [...]
(Augh! I'm still shoring up the wordier part of this week's update - the last few days have been crazy - but I figured I could at least put up the week's picks. The full update will be up in a few hours, and the event calendar will be updated shortly after that. - Steve) Steve's Weekly Picks for Jan. 23rd - Jan. 30th, 2009: [...]
This is the first update available exclusively through the website; the Yahoo Groups site will continue to exist solely as an archive of the last 5 year's archives. After going through the update, please do poke around the site, and peruse some of the articles; many of them mention weekly recurring shows, and shows yet to appear on the Events Calendar (though that is my next website priority). (The full week in Toronto's performing arts events, after the jump!) IN THEATRE, The Next Stage [...]
Frank Yang Though concert season is always light during the end and start of the year, this year's layoff of 19 days seemed exceptionally long. And so when I finally got back out on the club circuit last Friday night, I was mentally unprepared for the sheer crush of humanity that awaited me. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but Rancho Relaxo - not exactly a large room under any circumstances - seemed extra packed with punters. Now I'm sure that some of them were just folks out looking for something [...]
As much as I've been enjoying the last few weeks of going to bed (relatively) early and staying home watching movies, I realized that it was time to head back out into the world of live music madness, and what better way to do so then to catch the mighty mighty Amos The Transparent at Rancho Relaxo. Have I told you lately how much I love Amos The Transparent? This was my fourth time seeing the Ottawa band and every show has been an experience unto itself. They brought the [...]
I have to admit that a part of me has been enjoying the last few weeks away from the concert goings. I've read somewhere that the best way to know whether or not you're addicted to something is to try doing without it for awhile and see how you hold up. At this point I can honestly say that live music has finally become an enjoyable pastime in my life without being the hardcore addiction that it once was. So, now that I know I can quit anytime, it only makes sense to get right back at it again, doesn't [...]
(photo: Facebook) I was listening to Ontario Toady on CBC Radio 1 the other day, when they had a woman, born and raised in Ottawa, lovingly and reverentially talking about her hometown. I loved listening to her discuss how our nation's capital has transformed over time into a mini metropolis with a rich cultural life that reflects ethnic diversity, artistic creativity, and (sometimes) thoughtful public policy and decision making. Ottawa is the one city in the entire country that I would move to in a heartbeat. Part of the allure for me [...]
(photo: Facebook) I was listening to Ontario Toady on CBC Radio 1 the other day, when they had a woman, born and raised in Ottawa, lovingly and reverentially talking about her hometown. I loved listening to her discuss how our nation's capital has transformed over time into a mini metropolis with a rich cultural life that reflects ethnic diversity, artistic creativity, and (sometimes) thoughtful public policy and decision making. Ottawa is the one city in the entire country that I would move to in a heartbeat. Part of the allure for me [...]
I'm going to close out 2008's Sunday Cleaning series with quick reviews of three albums that have already received dollops of ink pretty much everywhere else. But I feel like writing about them, just a bit. Portishead / Third ( Island ) I believe that there is a crucial decibel level at which the first Portishead record in eleven years moves from subtle, inscrutable and sinister to all-out [...]
Frank Yang 2009 is almost upon us, and Ottawa's Amos The Transparent has big plans. In a MySpace blog post , they promise "new tracks, and new ep, new blogs, new webisodes, a new myspace page", but first they'll be a-rolling down the 401 for a show in Toronto. They'll be kicking off the 2009 series of Two-Way Monologues in style, ably supported by Whale Tooth and Bellewoods , and I've got a super-deluxe prize pack to give away for the show, consisting of a pair of [...]
Whale Tooth - Self Titled EP So I'm sitting here listening to an advance copy of the upcoming debut EP by a local band called Whale Tooth , and I'm immediately blown away by the band's sophisticated ability to craft a clever and danceable pop song. Their immediate appeal makes their "just over a year" existence come across as a cleverly fabricated myth [...]
As I mentioned in my last post, last Friday I (Heart) Music had posted the annual Hottest Bands In Canada list. I gave a few comments about my choices and omissions, etc. but after noticing that Mike at For The Records put up his personal choices, well, copycat that I am, I figured that I'd do the same. Each of us who contributed to the list were basically given only two rules: the bands had to be Canadian, and they had to have a particularly "hot" year. We were aloud to define [...]
A couple of years ago I had become quite smitten with Shoestring Universe , the alt country debut release by NYC's Proud Simon . I've found that their sophomore album Night Of Criminals had taken me a little bit more time to form an attachment to, but now that I have, I feel that it is a significant step up for the band. The album is presented as a concept album of sorts, although the storytelling aspect is kept relatively dubious. According to Brian Keenan's official explanation, the album tells the story of a [...]
As you can imagine, last week was a busy one. Between checking out Sebastien Grainger at the Horseshoe on Tuesday night (which I'll get to in the coming days) and NXNE on the weekend there was a lot to see and do in Toronto. Did I see everyone I wanted? Not even close. Did I catch some great sets by bands I'd never seen before? Definitely. In that regard I consider the event a resounding success-no matter how unorganized I was. Case in point, Thursday saw me erroneously running around without a [...]
I can't possibly imagine being more exhausted then I am right now. This has probably been my most successful NXNE yet, having been throughly impressed with at least one unfamiliar act each day, and catching some old reliables in the process too. Whenever I catch a moment or two over the next few days I'll work at posting pics and throwing up some comments on the acts that I saw. I'm still hoping to ease my way in to the My Morning Jacket and Besnard Lakes show tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. [...]
we're newcomers here to the swell debut album by ottawans amos the transparent , everything i've forgotten to forget , and sorry for it. but after repeated listens to this terrific heartbreak duet with the stars ' amy millan consider us firmly hitched up to the wagon. "when you gonna feel the need to resist?" the dueters sing; when it sounds this good, what use resistance? amos the transparent - after all that, it's come to this (w/ amy millan) [...]
My little nod to Juno Winner's past. It's no secret I think the Juno's are not exactly hitting on cylinders when it comes to showing the world the great music Canadians create. This year, well I think they got it mostly right, but that is in spite of themselves. Seriously. Look at some of the categories: Fan Choice: Avril Lavigne J/RCA*SONY BMG Celine Dion SONY BMG Claude Dubois Zone 3*Select Michael Bublé Reprise*Warner Nelly Furtado Geffen*Universal Album of the Year: [...]
The Pop Cop
Chromewaves
Herohill
It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans
Gracing the Stage
Quick Before It Melts
Wolves, Hawks and Kites
anyone's guess
Friends: Manifest!
Cadence Weapon - Hope in Dirt City (album stream)
Someone remixed 'Aerodynamic' by Daft Punk on Google's Moog Doodle
How To Dress Well – Ocean Floor For Everything
