Bruce Peninsula was #5 on i(heart)music's Hottest Canadian Bands Poll (which, I was a part of), but I had never sat down to listen to them (so, naturally, I didn't vote for them). At that point, a large part of their absence - from my ears - was because they had only released a 73 with 3 songs... and still they were #5 on a list that should make anyone whoever complains about CanCon on the radio feel really, really, bad. At any rate, last week I got my hands on their full [...]
We haven't had many contests in awhile and we got a huge prize pack to give away. There's an awesome prize pack available to people living in the city of Toronto. The Tom Fun Orchestra , Bruce Peninsula and The Darcys are playing a show at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern on a Saturday January 31st. All 3 acts have had considerable fan fare with Tom Fun Orchestra touring cross-country, and Bruce Pennisula touring numerous spots across the province (including a live performance at Soundscapes ). Here are the contents of the prize pack: [...]
THE TOM FUN ORCHESTRA - YOU WILL LAND WITH A THUD The press release I received for Cape Breton's Tom Fun Orchestra described them as Tom Waits singing lead for The Arcade Fire . In my experience, I've learned that press releases need to be taken with a grain of salt since they usually drop big names in order to grab a person's attention, even though, more often than not, the artist sounds nothing like what the big name comparisons would suggest. (BTW: [...]
Caleb Buyers Let's be honest, there's not a lot of reason for there to be a Carl Newman solo record. The man is the chief songwriter in The New Pornographers , an outfit that turns out material at a pretty decent rate all things considered, and it's not as though he has a metal jones to itch that wouldn't work in the context of the Pornographers - when he puts on the AC Newman hat, he's still the consummate popsmith. But the whys and wherefores are his business - for the rest of us, [...]
Last year my tardiness caused me to miss out on including Andre Ethier 's On Blue Fog in my 2007 year end best of, even though it would have definitely been there had I heard the album when I should have. Well wash, rinse and repeat, it look like I've done the same thing again this year. Andre Ethier's sequel to that brilliant album is entitled Born Of Blue Fog and it was released late last year to such little fanfare that I once again heard about it too late. And just like it's predecessor, [...]
Frank Yang Any sort of preamble for Saturday night's Out Of This Spark second anniversary party at the Tranzac was covered in Friday's post , so let's just dive right into the post-mortem. Leading off was Jenny Omnichord (neé Mitchell), accurately named for her weapon of choice . And while it may seem a bit novelty at first, the Omnichord is actually a very versatile instrument, ably providing accompaniment for Mitchell's quirky songs. It's no stretch that her latest album Charlotte or Otis : Duets [...]
Frank Yang Any sort of preamble for Saturday night's Out Of This Spark second anniversary party at the Tranzac was covered in Friday's post , so let's just dive right into the post-mortem. Leading off was Jenny Omnichord (neé Mitchell), accurately named for her weapon of choice . And while it may seem a bit novelty at first, the Omnichord is actually a very versatile instrument, ably providing accompaniment for Mitchell's quirky songs. It's no stretch that her latest album Charlotte or Otis : Duets [...]
Photography by Christine Day Lorico Are you enjoying East Of Bowery ? Pretty amazing, eh? What about that new song & video from M. Ward ? I know, beautiful isn't it? Can't wait for that album.... But we can't live for things that aren't here yet, can we? We need to live in the now, well, the now with a foot planted in the then and an ear with a smidgen of peripheral vision paying attention to what's [...]
toronto's bruce peninsula , a self described cast of hooters & hollerers, will release their first full length album, a mountain is a mouth , in early february ( digital copies are available now ), and it's a standout. we absolutely adore the way these folks tackle a song: group-singing and call & response and layered harmonies and neil haverty's growly & soulful voice, all of which sound uplifting even when the subject matter suggests otherwise, such as in "steamroller," below, which addresses urban sprawl and modernity versus nature. bruce peninsula - steamroller [...]
(photo: David Waldman) Well friends, that was the year that was. 22008 certainly marched to the beat of its own drum. We started the year basking under the glow if In Rainbows , then shook hands with ...Death and All His Friends , played endlessly with a buzz in our ears, went back to Forth , caught a glimpse of The Seldom Seen Kid , and answered the proverbial question, " Do You Like Rock Music? ". Coming in just under the wire at the close of 2008 is the [...]
(photo: David Waldman) Well friends, that was the year that was. 22008 certainly marched to the beat of its own drum. We started the year basking under the glow if In Rainbows , then shook hands with ...Death and All His Friends , played endlessly with a buzz in our ears, went back to Forth , caught a glimpse of The Seldom Seen Kid , and answered the proverbial question, " Do You Like Rock Music? ". Coming in just under the wire at the close of 2008 is the [...]
Here we are folks: I've finally gotten off my festively-enlarged ass (seriously, between Mom's holiday treats and Dad's beer I gained about 8 pounds) and finished my top albums of 2008. As per usual, these are all Canadian releases, as that's where the ground is closest to my ears. Here they are roughly arranged in descending order (very roughly): The Olympic Symphonium - More in Sorrow Than in Anger (Forward Music Group) I was a huge supporter of The Olympic Symphonium 's 2007 debut, [...]
Frank Yang Going to as many shows as I do, I've come to expect a certain demographic in the audience with me. Which is to say largely male and frequently bearded. The audience at Friday night's Rachael Yamagata show at the Mod Club, on the other hand, was most definitely predominantly female and for the most part, beardless. No, this was not one of my usual indie rock shows. The audience was also impressively well-behaved, polite and attentive to support act The Low Anthem from Rhode Island. And [...]
My folks used to wait until after my birthday (late November) before decorating for Christmas. After that, all bets were off and we'd go wild with decorations-not to mention drooling over the Sears Wish Book...ahh, pages and pages of toys. I (heart) music's annual list of the hottest bands in Canada is somewhat of a similar event for me, as this mammoth list signals that it's time to start thinking about my own year-end countdowns. Of course, instead of looking forward to toys and holiday parties, it's a time to look back over the year [...]
I've been hearing an awful lot about Toronto collective Bruce Peninusla without actually hearing anything by them. There's really no excuse for that in the time of Myspace; likewise, when you're being constantly bombarded with information and music from all corners of the globe, it's easy to miss some of the great stuff that's happening in your own backyard. I had my memory jogged when the band ended up 5th on the list of 2008 Hottest Bands in Canada that Matt over at I Heart Music compiled, which is quite [...]
listentofeist.com This past Friday, I (Heart) Music posted the results of his fourth annual, "Hottest Bands In Canada" poll - the ultra-unscientific survey of online Canadian music types wherein we submit a ranked list of the Canadian acts that we deem the "hottest" by whatever definition of the word we wish to use. Though I managed to get my list in just under the wire, on account of being ultra-busy and distracted the last few weeks, I don't know if I gave it the utmost amount of thought that I might have [...]
I left my hometown of Oshawa, Ontario back in 1994 and I proudly never looked back. Until now. Cuff The Duke made me feel downright nostalgic about that dirty town, and I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to take back all of the nasty things that I've said about The 'Shwa over the past several years. The fact of the matter is that Wayne Petti and the gang put on a performance that was literally everything that a solid rock show should be when they hit the stage on Friday night at The Horseshoe with Bruce [...]
With all the year end excitement going on over at Tiny Mix Tapes , I thought it might be fun to have a little 2007 fest on my own. I put together this mixtape consisting of ten of the many talented unsigned artists that we've come across this year. I've tried to organize these tracks stylistically, creating some type of bridge between each track. At the very least it's a refresher course on some cool stuff The Hippodrome found in 2007. So please dig in, and thanks for making The Hippodrome's first year of life a good [...]
AWmusic
It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans
Chromewaves
T S U R U R A D I O
anyone's guess
Quick Before It Melts
Wolves, Hawks and Kites
The Hippodrome
Sound of Summer (v. 3.1)
[REMIX] Dragonette – “Let it Go (Faustix Imanos Remix)”
When Florence danced with Calvin
