Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck - How to Fall Down in Public

The executive summary: How to Fall Down in Public is certainly one of the better singer-songwriter albums released during this (2008-2009) Polaris calendar. It has a kind of nostalgic, golden age sound that reminds me of driving up to a beach with my parents in the 80s.

See the full post at the BM.

First Impressions: Think About Life - Family

Hot damn! This is just what the groove doctor ordered. Family, the latest album from Montreal’s Think About LIfe, is simply fantastic. It’s a wonderfully layered, upbeat and candy-coated work of sheer exuberance that makes you forget your dog is dead.

Frenetic, soulful, and infused with an ability to make you move, listening to Family is pretty much the most fun I can remember having in a while. Hell, if Graham Van Pelt wanted to leave Miracle Fortress behind for good in favour of doing Think About Life fulltime it wouldn’t bother me at all (and I like Miracle Fortress, so that’s saying something). Suffice to say that I’ve been pumping this album pretty consistently since the moment I first popped it in the ol’ CD player and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Read the full post at Wolveshawksandkites.com here.

Over the Top Festival diary.

This weekend I took in the Over the Top Festival. From start to finish, I saw: Ghost Bees, Timber Timbre, The Ghost is Dancing, Clues, Woods (in-store), Bayonets, Tune-Yards, Think About Life, Oh No Forest Fires, Five Blank Pages, Tiny Masters of Today, The Guest Bedroom, The Budos Band, and Green Go. I could conceivably have seen a few more acts, and I suspect some people did. Still, that’s a lot of music.

For the full round-up check out my blog.

On a Quest for Glory, On a Quest for Glory (or, Shad is awesome)

The nuts and bolts of it is that Shad is pretty spectacular. I've been a big fan for a while now, advocated for him for the 2008 Polaris, but it took me listening to the Old Prince while I was driving back and forth to Oakville this weekend to realize how much I really like this album.

Its very quickly becoming one of my favourite albums ever...

See the full post at the BM w/ an unbelievable 6 minute freestyle...

Indie Music 82 (27 May - 2 June 2009).

Like this list? Join my Google Group to get my weekly Toronto indie music listings. Or, the Facebook group. Subscribe to my weekly podcast (or download the episodes) here, or through iTunes. Or just listen to the latest one, and all the other ones, at Zygiella. Make sure to check the rest of my blog for show reviews and photos, giveaways, and downloads.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto, all for $10 or less. If I'm missing something you think I should list, or you have any comments, let me know. I star (*) shows that most interest me.

This weekend I took in the Over the Top Festival. From start to finish, I saw: Ghost Bees, Timber Timbre, The Ghost is Dancing, Clues, Woods (in-store), Bayonets, Tune-Yards, Think About Life, Oh No Forest Fires, Five Blank Pages, Tiny Masters of Today, The Guest Bedroom, The Budos Band, and Green Go. I could conceivably have seen a few more acts, and I suspect some people did. Still, that’s a lot of music. I’ll post a full recap and review of the festival on my blog soon.

Sunday night I was out again, this time for a special edition of Wavelength at Sneaky Dee’s, my favourite venue. Remember Toronto II featured the reunion (sort of) of four bands that owned the scene in the 1990s and early 2000s: Grasshopper, The Electric Shoes, Katrocket, and Doc Pickles’ band. All the acts were good, and different, and though Grasshopper’s Derek Madison hurled himself, his guitar, and other stuff around stage, and birthday boy Jonny Dovercourt was on-stage screaming during the closer, “Neptune,” my favourite act was Steve Heyerdahl’s Electric Shoes. The crowd was a chunk of years older than I’ve come to expect on Sunday night, and the place was pretty busy, full of nostalgia and old friends reconnecting. I didn’t know these bands back in the day, but the excitement of the evening was infectious. A fun night. And thank goodness for earplugs.

Monday night I got word that Rock Plaza Central was doing an intimate performance at midnight at the Tranzac’s front room. A few minutes into the release day of their new album, the 6-piece band played an hour-long (at least) set to no more than 25 audience members. Yawd Sylvester joined them on piano for a couple songs. Near the end of the show, the band’s drummer punk-rocked it out, bashing his cymbals to the ground, swearing at his bandmates (in jest, of course), and leaving them to play on. Quite the rousing set by what is essentially a literary folk-rock ensemble. It felt special to be there. Or “magical,” as Chris Eaton, the band’s front-man, put it.

This week I'm recommending the Pitter Patter Music Festival, happening at various venues in Toronto (and 7 other Ontario cities) Thursday through Sunday. I'll be at Rancho Relaxo on Friday night, Sneaky Dee's on Saturday, and The Rearview Mirror in Kensington Market on Sunday (running the door; come say hello!). And I will likely be other places, too. You know me: I love show-hopping when I can afford it. The PPMF is all pwyc, so it's totally affordable. For all the details, see the festival website.

For the full listings, see my blog post.

Podcast 41 (28-31 May 2009).

On this episode Tyler and Jen talk to Keith Hamilton, creator and organizer of the Pitter Patter Music Festival. Featuring songs by Sandman Viper Command ("Oh Yeah, It's Fusion"), Parlovr ("On the Phone"), Pick A Piper ("Yellowknife"), Two Year Touqe ("Sea Unicorns"), Golden Isles ("Zombie Heart"), and The Champion Heartache ("Emergency"). Many new, good discoveries this week!

The festival is happening this weekend in many venues across 8 different cities. Tons of good bands and shows to check out. Full details here. Check back closer to the festival start to make sure you get the most up-to-date schedule, whether you're in Toronto or elsewhere in Southern Ontario. I'll have more on the festival later this week.

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Weekly update!

There's lots of new content on my blog this week, including three (!) giveaways you can enter, a couple of which include new album reviews for local bands; news about the latest podcast (sort of); and a special Over the Top Festival preview with song downloads from most of the bands playing this weekend. All told, there are thirty free songs in the following posts. Check them out if you're interested:

Ticket/CD Giveaway & Review: Slim Twig @ Horseshoe Tavern, 29 May --- Slim Twig's new album is expectedly bizarre (in a good way), and the show should be awesomely weird too.

Podcast 40 (21-23 May 2009) --- This episode was eaten by technology, but here's what it would have been like.

Over the Top Festival preview --- To make up for the loss, and as an excuse to give you lots of free music and get you out to these great shows.

Ticket Giveaway: 9th Annual Bob Dylan Tribute Night @ C'est What, 24 May.

Ticket/CD Giveaway & Review: Five Blank Pages @ Mod Club, 23 May --- This Toronto band performs for the last time ever, and celebrates the release of one final EP.

This week I'm recommending the Over the Top Festival, but I've got a few other show suggestions here.

Finally, a fellow blogger and Ottawa's main indie music show promoter, Matthew from i(heart)music, is in a bit of financial trouble. SOCAN called him last week demanding $2000 in royalties.Anyone willing and able to help out can read his post about what's happening here.

Happy show-going / music listening!

Jen

Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade

I suspect everyone here is on board with how awesome the Black Hat Brigade is, so, the fact that Fathers is pretty excellent shouldn't really surprise anyone. What might surprise you is the range that the band shows in their new 8-song album/EP.

You might also be excited to learn that they've got a few shows coming up, in particular, Torontonians will want to check out their May 29 CD release at the El Mocambo as part of the Pitter Patter Music Festival ...

See the full post at the BM.

Some reviews and contest updates

Hey, it's Bobby B. here and I thought I'd just link you to a few of my recent goings-on over the last couple of weeks.

First of all, I told you about my Dog Day CD giveaway a few days ago. The contest has received a slight tweak in the sense that I've now got a couple of tickets to their show at Lee's Palace to give away as well. The show is on Thursday May 28th, and it also features Burning Hell, Wildlife and Pacific Trash Vortex. Contest info is here.

Secondly, I recently attended Dave Bookman's Nu Music Nite at the Horseshoe featuring The Balconies, Tin Star Orphans, Boxes and Bags and Bella Clava. Read the review here.

And lastly, I just posted my review of Arietta's explosive CD release show at the Horseshoe, also featuring Serb Superb and The Junction. Read it here.

Have a great long weekend!

Life Is Like Canadian Football: The CFL Sessions:

Every time I want to throw in the blogging towel (which, as you can probably tell by the eradic posting schedule lately, is often) something comes up that I just can't help but write about. The most recent musical firecracker-up-my-butt is The CFL Sessions, the latest project from Henry Svec.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Henry's (Peter Mansbridge and The CBCs, The Boy from ET). He's one of the most charismatic live performers around (see here) and his song writing is top notch. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been salivating in anticipation of the release of The CFL Sessions since I heard him perform these songs last year at the Tranzac. That's saying a lot, as I'm far from a sports nut and don't know much about the Canadian Football League at all. These are just damn good tunes.

Read the full post at Wolveshawksandkites.com here.

Pick of the Week #19: Sunparlour Players

The Sunparlour Players are my favourite band. They have a new album called Wave North, which is going to be released this coming Tuesday (May 19th). The album is awesome, the band is awesome, and you better believe their CD release show (June 26th @ the Horseshoe) is going to be awesome.

Start saving your pennies to pick up a nice mustard or some preserves at the show. If you're in Ontario they're probably playing dates near you. See their myspace for details.

See the full post w/ mp3s and a video of their cover of 'Thunderstruck' here.

Win A Copy Of Dog Day's 'Concentration' On CD

Halifax's Dog Day are easily one of the most underrated bands in Canada. Their new CD Concentration was produced by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) and it's a wonderful blend of psych rock, shoegaze and good old fashioned East Coast Pop Music.

I've got two copies of the CD to giveaway. All of the (easy) contest rules, as well as my personal review are on the blog:

It's Not The Band I Hate, It's Their Fans

Seriously, trust me, you want this one.

Plants and Animals w/ David MacLeod @ the Mod Club. May 7.2009.

("No pictures... ")

I saw Plants and Animals last night at the Mod Club.  Cool venue.

The band was, well, I'd say mediocre.  Especially given their reputation for putting on a face-melting, awe inducing show.  But this may all just be due to my general distaste for psych rock, and less to do with the band itself.

Anyways, I've got some audio from the photos and audio from the show so you can check it out for yourself... 

Pick of the Week #18: The Liptonians

The executive summary: The Liptonians s/t album is, in my estimation, like vintage Ben Folds except more Canadian... which is to say that they're nicer, less abrasive, and write songs more about/for real people and not... characters.

See the Liptonians myspace for the dates for their cross country (Canada) tour, their tour blog for videos of said tour, and their twitter page if you're wondering what they're doing right now.

See the Burgeoning Metropolis blog for the full post w/ mp3s, and possibly in the coming weeks for an email exchange (emails pending) with the band.

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula
Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers
Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys
Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou
Pick of the Week #8: Gentlemen Husbands
Pick of the Week #9: Chris Whitley
Pick of the Week #10: Alela Diane
Pick of the Week #11: K'naan
Pick of the Week #12: TOR/Sufjan Stevens
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre
Pick of the Week #14: Justis
Pick of the Week #15: Hibiscus & Rosehips Compilation
Pick of the Week #16: Patrick Watson
Pick of the Week #17: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers

Free Album from HotKid!

The hard-hitting duo of Cambridge, Ontario’s HotKid have just released a brand new full-length called Someday Somehow. Just in case 10 adrenaline-filled tracks weren’t enough to get your ears salivating (…or waxing, I guess?) the album’s price should ought to seal the deal…because it’s FREE!

That’s right, you can download the whole shebang for zero spacebucks from Zunior. Just click image below and get your fists ready for pumping:

Here’s a track from the album to get your tails wagging, but seriously, just go download the damn thing already:

HotKid - Burning Daylight

The band is also currently on an eastern tour with Andrew DeVillers and you can find dates at their Myspace page.

Best Songs of '09 ... the First Trimester: A to H

This is relatively self explanatory. I cleared my computer at the end of last year ('08) and have since compiled what I think are the best 40 (or so) songs of this year (so far). That said, there are probably a couple of songs that aren't actually from this year, but if you're that big a stickler I don't want you reading my blog anyhow...

See the first half of the list with a couple of mp3s at the Burgeoning Metropolis blog, and look for the second half tomorrow.

Also, I'm going to try and come up with some type of .zip file or playlist, so if that happens I can email it out to those interested...

The Dears, Lioness @ The Mod Club (April 30, 2009)

My review (with a link to photos) of The Dears with openers Lioness at The Mod Club on April 30, 2009 is now up at my blog For the records.

Read the full review here.