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 [...]
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 [...]
Dustin Rabin / Epitaph.com Back in the Spring of 2005, two of the finest rock bands Canada had to offer came up with a great idea and a great name for that great idea. The bands were Constantines and The Weakerthans , the idea was a tour that would traverse all of Canada, not just the obvious markets, and the name they gave it was "Rolling Tundra". And it was good. Since then, both the Cons and Weakerthans have grown in audience and profile have released highly-acclaimed records in [...]
Truth be told, I've always liked the EP more than the LP. In most cases, 5 or 6 songs is the perfect amount of time for a band to set a mood without belaboring the point. This year, there were tons of terrific EPs, and I'm happy that the list features a complete mismash of styles. Folk, frantic pop, garage, spacey shoegaze, and even pseudo Brit rock. If you are a regular reader of herohill, it goes without saying these probably aren't the biggest names and common picks. These EPs are however, a good cross section of acts that are [...]
Frank Yang Most company Christmas parties stink. This is a statement of fact. At best, you can hope that you get more than your fair share of drink tickets and that someone, preferably not yourself, gets wasted and makes an ass of themsleves so at least you have something to talk about the following Monday besides how much the Christmas party stank. So when you get the opportunity to hit up a holiday-themed soiree that's pretty much guaranteed NOT to stink, you should pay attention. Case in point, the "Jingle Bell Hop" [...]
Hey, I'm just running off to work so I don't have the time to put up anything overly worthwhile at the moment, but if you're from the Toronto area and you haven't already been faithfully listening to the Zygiella podcast , then you're missing out on one of the good ones. On this weeks episode, Tyler figured that no podcast is holy and decided that defiling it with my presence would be a good idea. Just kidding; I was actually flattered about being included in one of the only podcasts that I listen to with any regularity these days. [...]
Kyle Hutton Oh No Forest Fires are having a good time. That much is obvious, listening to The War On Geometry , the debut mini-album from the Toronto four-piece that follows up an excellent demo EP that has been kicking around for a while. Even though adding those four tracks to the seven on Geometry would have made for a more traditional-length album, their omission - as excellent as those songs were - is a sensible one. Compared to the new recordings, the songs from [...]
myspace About a month ago I gave you all a heads up on the stylings of Oh No Forest Fires . Thanks to Rajiv's yelpy vocals, the raw guitar and a general sense of chaos, the band's two demos showed the promise hungry fans crave. True to form however, not many Canadian bloggers bothered to pay attention . Hopefully that will change with the official DIY release of The War on Geometry . Long story short, it's an invigorating listen. The Toronto band dabbles in so many sounds and styles that [...]
When Bowie sang that line on his 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars , he was echoing the fantasy of many a teenage boy or girl. The children wanted to grow up to be garbagemen or astronauts or superheros, but at a certain age that changed and most teens would have given anything to make that wild mutation as a rock 'n roll star. However, only a precious few ever get to live out that dream. While Bono , and Sting and Chris Martin [...]
Since this monthly post tends to turn into a run on sentence of sorts, I'll try not to be too overtly blabby but get right to the point as much as I can. No promises (a leopard can't change his spots after all) but my concert going activities can be lumped into two categories: the shows that I probably will see and the shows that I probably won't see. Nothing is ever definite either way, but here goes: I've decided that I'm going to be making The Sadies my one regular yearly go-to. The reasons for [...]
myspace Right now my life is in chaos. My job is a complete mess. I'm back in Vancouver to try to figure out what is going with the integration of my company - this is the polite way of saying I have no idea if everyone from my team is being made redundant - and whether or not I'll have a paycheck in a day, week, month or year. The company is handing out pink slips like it's a Victoria Secret sale and as a result, my days are filled with tense meetings and [...]
Photo by Frank Yang It's a fact that I don't get out to see as many local bands play as I'd like. I know there's a wealth of great or soon-to-be great acts in Toronto that are playing out every night, but it's simply not possible to keep on top of everything. So it's nice to have nights like last Thursday where I'm able to not only hit up a show comprised entirely of local talent, but for the bill to turn out to be as solid top to bottom as this one was. [...]
In hindsight, its kind of laughable that I was so torn about where to spend last Thursday night because, as it turned out (and with all respect to the Vampire Weekend -ers, who I'm sure were also lovely), ye olde Rancho Relaxo and the last Two-Way Monologues showcase for the year was the absolute best place to be. The lineup, featuring Amos The Transparent , Oh No Forest Fires and The Craft Economy , wasn't necessarily one that looks impressive or rings many bells at first glance but come back [...]
Gracing the Stage
It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans
Chromewaves
Herohill
Music Singles Chart #109
Knife Party – Rage Valley EP
I’ll Just Leave This Here #161
Lumerians – 1
Family of the Year - "Diversity"
