Someday someone can explain to us why Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Slean doesn't have a U.S. label deal. Cabaret torch songs mix with theatrical, confessional adult pop for an accomplished sound that is both personal and sumptuously produced. We defy you to watch "Get Home", her heartwrenching video of a woman telling her lover to go back to his wife, without being at least a little moved by it all. We're going to follow up soon on her latest project Black Flowers , a collection of nine songs from Canadian writers (Leonard Cohen, Ron Sexsmith, [...]

The Art of Time Ensemble's Abbey Road tribute concert , marking The Beatles' 40th anniversary of the album's release, was a refreshing take on an old classic. Both Saturday and Sunday night's shows at Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre this weekend had sold out and it's easy to see why: A star-studded array of Canadian musicians, including Kevin Hearn, Raine Maida (of Our Lady Peace), Andy Maize (Skydiggers), Steven Page (formerly of Barenaked Ladies), Sarah Slean, John Southworth and Alejandra Ribera were performing classic songs from the album. I'd seen Page [...]

Finally - the first update in a month! I've been kept away from the computer due to working pretty much non-stop at the CNE and TIFF, plus time spent out of town. I'll also admit I was a little burnt out after Summerworks. But my batteries are recharged, and there's plenty to delve into this week, so let's just dive right into it, shall we? Ah, but one note of importance: an earlier edition of the update, since corrected, mistakenly linked "Mimi: Or, a Poisoner's Comedy" writers Melody Johnson and Rick Roberts as wife [...]

Canadian Music Café , in partnership with the 34th Toronto International Film Festival®
is back for its 5th year! September 15th – 17th, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Hard Rock Cafe, 279 Yonge Street, Toronto The mandate of the Canadian Music Café is to showcase Canada's vibrant music scene to film and television industry leaders from around the world. In doing so, the Café is now the crossroad where respected and influential taste-and decision-makers can network with Canadian artists, managers and labels to collaborate on the music/movie synthesis. 2009 marks [...]
The catch-all musical genre of 'singer-songwriter' has always been a problematic one. Technically, any old asshole with a guitar, vocal chords and too much damn time on his/her hands can call themselves a 'singer-songwriter', and therein lies the problem. In general, I find that female singer-songwriters lately seem to be a bit more innovative than their male counterparts. However, I don't think it's always true and sometimes women just get credit for things for no other critical reason than novelty – they sing about things that society has decided girls shouldn't (or don't) sing about, and therefore it's edgy. I [...]
The last few days have been amazing. Welcoming our son - Cillian Christian - into the world has been a heavy dose of emotions. It's amazing that something that can't speak can trigger so many emotions. Fittingly, the same can be said about classically trained Toronto wizard, Todor Kobakov . Born in Bulgaria, Todor now resides in Toronto and has integrated himself in the indie scene. He's written arrangements for Stars, Jason Collett and Emily Haines, and played keys for bands like Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, Small Sins, Sarah Slean, and Luke Doucet but [...]
It's Canada Day today, which means it's also free agent frenzy in the NHL, like a double national holiday. Like every year it seems, there's lots of high drama surrounding my hometown Oilers trying, and often failing in a spectacular manner, to lure the big fish to town. I'm a big fan of our goaltending switch (from Roli to the Bulin Wall), but that's enough hockey talk for now. I've got my all-CanConCover playlist going and I'll share some tunes with you in honour of our country's birthday. [...]

Jess Baumung There's many reasons to be thankful that Beacons , the sophomore effort from Toronto's Ohbijou , has finally arrived. Twelve at least, but for me there's also the fact that two and a half years after first discovering the act at the very first V Fest , it gives me something new to talk about as I've completely run out of things to say about them with respect to their debut record, Swift Feet For Troubling Times . If Swift [...]

It's been a long time (long time), I shouldn't have left you (left you), without a dope beat to step to. Freaky freaky! A'ight folks, these are reviews I've been meaning to do for a LONG freakin' time. I mean it. Some of them I've been wanting to get out since March. Damn my laziness! I'll be doing a super quick opinion piece of bands that are getting lots of attention like Passion Pit, Miike, Snow, Neon Indian, Bell Orchestre, the Prodigy, and a few others. Not that "mainstream" isn't cool, well to hipsters it's probably not 'cause it's SO [...]
I originally wasn't going to go to this concert because Santigold is playing at the Bonnaroo Festival next week. But, I looked at the B'roo Festival schedule and realised that Santigold, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear and a few others were ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Ugh, I hate conflicts. AND yesterday night Santigold, Grizzly Bear, AND Sarah Slean were all playing, but at different venues, of course. So I had to do some researching and sacrificing and decided to watch Santigold in Montreal, YYYs at B'roo, and catch Grizzly Bear at Lolla. How do I afford all [...]

Melanie Doane and the Art of Time Ensemble (AoTE) collaborated for Songbook 3 , an evening of music at Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre for their final concert for its 2008/09 season. The concept of Songbook is simple: Take a Canadian singer and let 'em choose 12 of their favourite songs to cover, accompanied by a top-notch six-piece musical ensemble, with a few classical pieces thrown in for good measure. Previous Songbook programs have included Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies and Sarah Slean. I felt that this [...]

Artistic influences can be a curious mix of inheritance and inspiration. From a second-hand vinyl collection to an intuited sense for music's creation, Royal Wood has come a long way from the days of borrowed instruments and secondhand cassette tapes. This self-taught multi-instrumental artist has an ear for everything, from Sgt. Pepper's to Vince Guaraldi. Royal draws from generations past but not forgotten; his music sensibility is timeless but never dated. Like a ribbon of Super 8 tape that contains blurry, sun-saturated summer memories, Royal¹s piano-soaked style is unapologetically romantic and unabashedly nostalgic. This filmic quality [...]
The Juno Awards are this weekend in Vancouver, so I figured it'd be a good time for some CanCon. Tonight I'm going to see Elizabeth Shepherd as part of JunoFest, the 100 Bands/19 Venues showcase over the next couple days. I recently found out a guy I used to work with at the library in Edmonton actually plays in the Juno-nominated band Souljah Fyah , so I want to check out their JunoFest gig tomorrow. I'm also going to the Songwriter's Circle show on Sunday, which features Hawksley Workman, Doc Walker, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor [...]

I recently had the privilege of speaking with twin sisters Kaleena and Kayleigh Goldsworthy, lead singers (as well as piano and violin players, respectively) of The Scarlet Ending, who are set to take the indie world by storm with their newest album soon to be released. They've already been featured on MTV and have performed abroad for the troops, as you will read in the interview. Most of the answers come courtesy of Kaleena, so when she speaks of Kay, she means her sister, Kayleigh. Cute right? Kayleigh also was able to answer some questions, so you'll be able to [...]

In what seems to be a particularly angry week in music, as well as the week that EMI releases Ben Harper's catalog on vinyl, here are some selected releases for tomorrow, February 24. Check Amazon for a more complete listing . Air France – No Way Down Ben Harper Vinyl Reissues ( click for full list ) Black Lips – 200 Million Thousand Captain Beefheart – Safe as Milk ( Oh no, [...]

I'm gonna come right out and say it. I love Jenn Grant . I love you, Jenn Grant . Would you do me the honor of marrying me and having my babies? Jenn Grant was born in PEI but later moved to and currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her first LP Orchestra for the Moon exposed her wonderful and most magnificent voice to the world. Her enchanting melodies and vocals continue to be showcased in her recent release Echoes. [...]
The 2009 Junos will be held in Vancouver on March 29. The Junos will be hosted by Russell Peters. 2009 JUNO AWARD NOMINEES: JUNO Fan Choice Award (Presented by Pepsi) Celine Dion Feist Hedley Nickelback The Lost Fingers Single of the Year Celine Dion "Taking Chances" Divine Brown "Lay It On the Line" Kardinal Offishall "Dangerous" Michael Bublé "Lost" Nickelback "Gotta Be Somebody" Artist of the Year Bryan Adams City and Colour k.d. lang Sam Roberts Serena [...]
Well, mostly a bunch of crappy bands who sell a lot of records, but amongst all of the chaff, you can find a little bit of wheat including: Black Mountain, Chad VanGaalen, Fucked Up, Plants and Animals, The Stills, Ron Sexsmith, Kathleen Edwards, Hawksley Workman, Sam Roberts, Tokyo Police Club, Crystal Castles and a few others I probably missed. 2009 Juno Awards Selected Categories ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY CANADIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION) Famous Last Words Hedley Universal [...]
![The Juno Award Nominations Provide A Stark Reminder Of Nickelback's CanCon Status [Everybody's A Winner]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/1501719_lg.jpg)
Nominations for the Juno Awards —the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' equivalent to the Grammys—were announced today, and the big winner was the Vancouver band of heshers Nickelback, who are up for five prizes including Single Of The Year and Album Of The Year; personal favorites like Black Mountain and Sloan, as well as that deliciously inescapable Kardinal Offishall/Akon track from last summer, got nods as well. I'm sure Gene Simmons is studying this list very closely right now, trying to figure out what works in the Great White North . (Perhaps he [...]
Dig this#2 It's that time of year. Blogs, magazines, websites and your idiot friends are all making their lists and checking it twice, making sure they didn't miss anything. It's the best of 2008, according to some of us, here at I wanna listen to this . Enjoy. Shannon Webb-Campbell makes some of us envious by constantly getting published and interviewing cool people. 1. FLEET FOXES Fleet Foxes [...]