Weekly update!

Listings + podcast!

This week's podcast + listings + other stuff!

The podcast is up here.

Featuring Flotilla ("Charlie, I'm Through"), Clara Engel ("Appetite for Pain"), Evening Hymns ("Sentimental Reasons"), The Darling DeMaes ("Girl Soldiers"), The Lovely Feathers ("Lowiza"), and Jordaan Mason & the Horse Museum ("Bird's Nest").

Tyler and I realized that we've already done a year's worth of podcasts! The first one covered the last week of May 2008. So here's to the start of year 2. Thanks so much to everyone who's listened!

As always, we're on the lookout for new music. Streaming from MySpace can be difficult or impossible some days---like yesterday, when the player wasn't at all reliable, so feel free to send me some song files (historyjenATgmailDOTcom).

Another podcast you should know about are the ones done by Justin Beach for the NxEW.ca music blog. Check out previous all-music podcasts here, and submit your band's music for potential inclusion (northbyeastwestATgmailDOTcom).

And the show listings for the rest of this week and the first half of next.

I took in some of the huge Pitter Patter Music Festival on the weekend. And it left me sick come Tuesday. Yeah, PPMF, I blame you. And all the great bands I saw: Octoberman, Sandman Viper Command, Pick A Piper, The Diableros, Sports, Cursed Arrows, The Speaking Tongues, Chang-A-Lang, Mt. Royal, Sarah D., and Drunk Woman. And Slim Twig and Wyrd Visions, too. Also, and most especially, Keith Hamilton. *cough* *sniffle*

Everything is great this week. Here's to hoping I'm well enough to take some of it in. My schedule looks like Flotilla on Thursday, Jordaan Mason et al. on Saturday, and Wavelength on Sunday.

This Saturday is the first AUX.tv "secret session" at TARA. All the details about this can be found here. The first band to do an acoustic session is The Ghost Is Dancing, this Friday at 5pm. It's free to go as long as you RSVP beforehand with your name and the number of people coming.

Finally, there's a new mini-documentary by Egin Kongoli about the Wavelength anniversary shows that happened in February. It's really great, and I encourage you all to check it out.

WL 450 from Egin Kongoli on Vimeo.

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.

Presents from me to you.

Canadian Musicfest is upon us! Boy howdy, are there a lot of great bands playing. I've got some non-CMW events listed here. The latest podcast details are here. And get the new Amos the Transparent EP for free here! I like what I've got for you this week!

Indie Music 72 (2-8 Mar 2009).

This week's listings are up on my blog! Cheers.

Listings are up!

Check this week's going out guide here.

Listings + podcast now up!

Hey everyone, I've got my listings up for this week here, and click here for all the details about this week's special Wavelength-themed podcast with guest Doc Pickles.

Indie Music 68 (2-8 Feb 2009).

The list is up at my blog. Cheers!

Indie Music 67 (26 Jan-1 Feb Jan 2009).

I got my listings up for this week. Here.

Ticket/CD Giveaway: The Tom Fun Orchestra, Bruce Peninsula, and The Darcys @ The Horseshoe, 31 Jan.

I've got my own contest running on my blog. And I forgot to mention yesterday that I got the listings up for this week. Busy!

Indie Music 65 (12-18 Jan 2009).

Check my blog for all kinds---and I do mean all kinds---of musical going-out suggestions.

Indie Music 64 (5-11 Jan 2009).

Hey all, I got my listings for this week up on my blog. Enjoy!

So how was everyone's New Year's Eve? I celebrated at the Tranzac w/ Ronley Teper & her Lipliners, Ghost Bees, the Sweatshop Hop, I am Robot & Proud, The Bicycles, and Steamboat. Friday I went to see Amos the Transparent and Whale Tooth at Rancho. Excellent show. Wavelength last night was good too: The Owle Bird and Chris Yang, who did a great cover of Magnetic Field's "The Book of Love." It was nice to see such good-sized crowds and good moods at all these shows. Hopefully 2009 continues like this!

At Tranzac this month, Monday's in the Tiki Room as curated by Thom Gill, whom you may know from various projects, including Katie Stelmanis's band. (She's playing an early set at Lee's on Wednesday which will put you back but $2.) Wombat Wednesdays are back, this time curated by Dwight Schenk. The first show features The Schomberg Fair. If you're not down with the lineup, perhaps you'd prefer Boxes & Bags and The Lovely Killbots in the front room. Friday night The Stables have a gig in the front room, too, and I've got high expectations of awesomeness. In the main hall that night help Chris Eaton (of Rock Plaza Central) celebrate his wedding anniversary with a party featuring Wax Mannequin and Gravity Wave. Come Saturday you'll want to spend the entire day at Tranzac: Winter Gloves and Hexes & Ohs are in town from Montreal, along with Sports: The Band, Green Go, and Maylee Todd for an afternoon launch party in the Mail Hall. In the evening, help Out of This Spark records celebrate its anniversary with top-notch acts Forest City Lovers, The D'Urbervilles, Timber Timbre, and Jenny Omnichord. I'll be there.

Elsewhere around town, this week is another jam-packed indie smorgasbord, with all kinds of options for those of us without a lot of extra cash. Highlights include Machetes' release show at the Drake on Wednesday (for free); Andrew DeVillers, Jetset Motel, and Terror Lake at the Rivoli on Thursday; a solid hardcore lineup including Aids Wolf at the Boat, also on Thursday; Beekeepers Society and The Paper Makers at the Silver Dollar Room on Friday; The Miles w/ Heartbeat Hotel at the Drake on Friday; The Creeping Nobodies, Teenanger, and Romo Roto at Cervejaria on Saturday; and a solid 4-band bill at the Horseshoe on Saturday. Sunday is Wavelength day, at least for me. See below for all the details about these and a whole lot of other shows.

Indie Music 63 (29 Dec - 4 Jan 2008).

My weekly listings are now up on my blog, here. Lots to do this week!

Weekly Picks (16-21 Dec 2008).

I've got some going-out suggestions over at my blog (and other places):
http://historyjen.blogspot.com/2008/12/weekly-picks-16-21-dec-2008.html
Not a full list this week, but enough, I should think, to keep you going!