Podcast 23 (7-11 Jan 2009).

Katie Stelmanis ("In My Favour"), The Lovely Killbots ("Little Shape"), The Stables ("Darkness [demo]"), Gravity Wave ("Buffalo Jump"), Hexes & Ohs ("Head Over Heels [Tears for Fears cover]"), and Gregory Pepper & His Problem ("It Must Be True").

Next week: special musician guest(s)! Get excited!

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My favourite things, 2008.

I've got my list of favourite things up on my blog. Bands, shows, people, albums, and other indie music-related awesomeness.

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.

Ketch Harbour Wolves @ El Mocambo, Jan. 3.09.

I saw Ketch Harbour Wolves last night.

Their album, which is free, is outstanding. Like really, really, good.
Their live show was good, but probably has some catching up to do.

Full commentary here.

Pete's Best Of 2008

Well, I finally did it. I scanned all my articles from 2008 and examined my iTunes listening statistics.

The Best Of 2008

Podcast 22 (2-4 Jan 2009).

Happy New Year! I'm just gonna post this again here:

Tyler Wade and I have our first podcast of 2009 available for your musical enjoyment. This one features one of my favourite bands, Ottawa's Amos the Transparent, a couple bands that I've enjoyed in the past (and will again), and three I have yet to see and hear live . . . but want to. Hope you like our picks!

Amos the Transparent ("Hard Times, Simply Come By"), Marienbad ("Galileo Hell Disco"), We Are The Take ("It's Over"), Hut ("Fright Night"), Lullabye Arkestra ("Bulldozer of Love"), and The Owle Bird ("The Last Hurrah").

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Welcome to 2009!!

Since the rest of this blog's contributors are likely hung over and still asleep, (just kidding guys. unless that's exactly what you're doing, in which case, I'm deadly serious...) I'll kick off the '09 with my personal links to some year end best of's and whatnots:

My Albums of 2008 (featuring local picks by Quest For Fire, RAA, Golden Hands and Born Ruffians)

My Songs of 2008 (featuring local picks by Entire Cities and Ruby Coast)

And my Shows of 2008 (featuring local picks by Cuff The Duke, Bruce Peninsula and $100)

Also, to get the year started off right, I've just posted my personal recommendations for what to see in the month of January.

Hope your 2008 was enjoyable and relatively painless, and hopefully your 2009 is even better.