Hey friends,
I write this today with something of a heavy heart, but also filled with excitement. It has been a weird few weeks for me, which you might have noticed from my online behaviour. Here is the explanation behind that. Continue reading
Category Archives: news
Royal Canoe to paddle into Toronto in October
Winnipeg’s Royal Canoe are about to embark on a Canada/US tour that will bring them to Toronto and the Rancho Relaxo next month, and they’re kicking it off with the release of a new digital single. Continue reading
10 Things I Learned at NXNE from the Perspective of the Promoter/Sponsor at Rancho
10: Champion Lover is a name that Toronto is going to have keep on its radar in the weeks and months to come. Yes, this band is composed of ex-Black Devils Brigade members, but that is where the comparison ends. They are both heavy, but Champion Lover are way noiser, more experimental, and a much more intense listening and watching experience. If they build on this first show, the sky is truly the limit. Continue reading
Filed under live reviews, news, nxne
New Schomberg Fair album and national tour coming up in June
It’s no secret that we love, love, love the Schomberg Fair. It’s partly because they’re great guys, it’s true, but it’s also because they’re just a great band — with quality songwriting and playing, solid recordings, and a face-melting live show. It’s really been a pleasure to see them grow and evolve over the years, into a group that really stands out as its own among the Canadian musical landscape. Fans of the band — or newcomers to the movement — will get a new chance to check out where all that work has taken them when they release their new album on June 5th. Continue reading
One of Canada’s hardest-working MCs readies new album — hear the lead single!
Atherton isn’t new at this music game — he’s been at it for well over a decade. Through various bands, projects, and collaborations he’s released countless songs, albums…hell, the guy even put out a sweet t-shirt last year. But now, he’s about to release his own brand-new album No Threat under the very simple and fitting name, his own, Atherton.
If you’ve been listening to Atherton for a while now, my bet is the first thing you are going to notice about the lead single “No Threat” is that the beat is absolutely phenomenal. There have been times over the years when listening to Atherton that I found myself thinking “this guy is an amazing MC and could be crushing the world with just slightly stronger beats.” Well, if “No Threat” is any indication, for the rest of the album we are about to find out just how high this Atherton character can fly.
No Threat will be available on wax, which is music to this man`s ears. Nothing better than awesome hip hop spinning on vinyl. Knowing Atherton, he`ll be saying raps on a stage near you, wherever you are, in the not-to-distant future. Keep up to date with that over on the Faceboook page. In the meantime, take a listen to the song already!
Cousin joins Young Lions Music Club, Release Album on May 18th, Stream Inside!
I’ve had a confusing history with bands named Cousins and/or Cousin. A few years back I booked a band from Windsor by the name of Cousins; they were a pop/punk band and a not very great one at that. I’d added them to a show last minute after a band had said they had a show fall through and wanted to do them a solid. I had checked out Halifax’s Cousins and they were fantastic, so I added them in a heartbeat. Alas, the Cousins I added were the pop-punk Windsor one and not the amazing Halifax band that is still rockin’ out to this day.
I almost made that same mistake when the good people of Young Lions Music Club told me about their new artist, Cousin (hence the singular). So when I got home from my errands and saw the band wasn’t from Halifax I was relieved to find out I didn’t make the mistake again. I was even more relieved that Cousin — and their album, being released at Sneaky Dee’s on May 18th as part of the successful “Songs: A Dance Party” series curated this month by Holy Fuck — is pretty damn promising!
This Niagara Falls outfit have managed to make something that sounds familiar in a Canadian indie-rock way. I hear a fair amount of Plaskett influence in here but at the same time it works in dizzying guitars and some really innovative and modern indie-pop melodies. That’s why I can imagine their sound appealing to a wide cross section of music listeners. If you listen closely enough there is something here for pretty much everyone who gives it a chance. As a music booker I hear my share of indie-pop/indie-rock, but I can’t think of many instances when I’ve heard influences combined like this.
Confused yet? Thankfully, Young Lions are letting us put up a stream of one of the songs off the album. It’s called “Jawbreakah” and it’s a nice 2:15 snapshot of what you can expect to hear from the album. Details on the show on the 18th can be found here!
Cousin – COUSIN – 05 Jawbreakah
Cheers,
Dan
From East to Exit — a band to keep an eye on!
We all have them — musical enablers, people whose musical suggestions we trust. When these enablers tell us to check out a band because they’re really great, we tend to believe them because these folks usually know their music. We also have musical de-enablers — yes I just made up a word — the folks who when they say “Check out this band!” you run the other way.
A few of my most trusted musical ears told me about From East to Exit, including Dean Marino (Chemical Sound producer and Papermaps singer/guitarist) and Mike Walter (co-founder of Show Gopher and member of Krupke). So naturally I booked them in for a show expecting a great set — which they absolutely delivered on. What was a nice added bonus, however, was that they’re also all-around cool guys who truly have a drive and a passion for what they were doing.
That’s why when I got a message today from band member Jon letting me know their album Lowlands was set for release at the beginning of June, with a link to some sample tracks, I dove right in. I suggest you do the same. I might be wrong, but I am quite certain that none of you are too busy to spare eight minutes and 40 seconds to hear these tracks. They blow by in a dizzying, jangly, toe-tapping assault on your musical senses. While I wouldn’t compare the two bands musically, it reminds me of the debut Whale Tooth EP I helped release a few years back. You blink and it feels like you missed it, as the songs have been done in such a way that they manage to make nine minutes feel like three.
Knowing that this recording stands to be one of the final releases from the now-closed Chemical Sounds studio adds to my excitement to hear the record. They are even going to be putting it out on limited-edition vinyl! Do the math on that one folks: tight post-Strokes indie rock + Dean Marino’s Chemical Sound Studio + the incomparable sound of sexy wax = an explosion of musical awesomeness.
Busy schedules on my end and the band’s has postponed their Toronto celebration of this album release until July 14th, but please do save the date and make a point of coming out and hearing for yourself what I’m all worked up about! The band has been nice enough to allow us an exclusive stream/download of one of their songs “(Oh No!) Ghosts” which can be found below!
From East To Exit – 01 Oh No! (Ghosts)
Cheers,
Dan
Limblifter debut to be released on vinyl via We Are Busy Bodies!
I just found out some crazy news from Exclaim and wanted to share it with all of you! One of my all-time favourite Can-Rock bands — and well, quite frankly, bands in general — Limblifter will be re-releasing their debut on vinyl for the first time ever.
We can thank We Are Busy Bodies, a Toronto-based imprint ran by Eric Warner, for this development. I could get all indie-hipster pretentious and tell you how the second and third Limblifter albums were even better than the debut — they were, but that short-changes what was an excellent debut album and will be a tremendous addition to any Canadian music historian’s vinyl collection.
Perhaps even more exciting than this is the news that Limblifter will be reuniting (with a slightly different band) for at least two shows: one for NXNE at the El Mocambo as part of the We Are Busy Bodies showcase, and one in Hamilton. No word as of yet how different the new lineup will be, but the fact remains if both the Dahle brothers are still involved they are going to whip us all into a frenzy a la Rusty in 2011…but probably even better than that was.
In the meantime, a trip down memory lane is just a YouTube click away.
Colour me stoked!
Dan Wolovick
Wordburglar “Rhyme O’Clock” Official Video feat. More or Les
Rancho Relaxo has been the happy home to Toronto’s best Hip-Hop night — The $5 Rap Show — for a while now, and with the release of Wordburglar‘s brand new video “Rhyme O’Clock” you’ll get a chance to see a little of what it is all about. Keen viewers will recognize Rancho itself at the end of the video, but the rest is decidedly Toronto. From Trinity Bellwoods park on Queen Street to the famous Silver Snail comic book shop down the street, this video is bound to be one of the best Canadian videos of the year for sure. Check it out above, and keep your eyes peeled for the highly anticipated new LP from Wordburglar (titled 3rdburglar) next month — or just hit up their CD release at the El Mocambo on May 11th.
Filed under music video, news, other
CMW 2012: Friday: Cai.ro, Patti Cake, James and Blackburn, Meanwood and Wild Domestic
So not quite as on the ball about this review, which is in no way a reflection of the bands I’ll be discussing but more of an admission about my own laziness. But now I’ve pulled my socks up, or Dan threatened to take all the Keith’s away and make me watch The Birds forever, so it’s time to talk about that magical night, last Friday!
Cai.ro – Rancho Relaxo, 8 pm
I’m going to start off by saying that I’m not sure the above photo is actually of Cai.ro. I took too many crappy photos and too many days have passed and my best guess is that it is, but, mea culpa if ain’t. This was a great set to start my night with. Cai.ro have a kind of whimsical and complex folk-pop sound that I really like and it was exactly what I wanted to hear as I finished off the much needed 8 pm coffee. The second band of the festival to put some effort into doing some interesting lighting to complement their sound, I really appreciated the added touches that pulled the show together. I would definitely see this band again and have given their EP, Young Love, a few listens this week.
Patti Cake – The Silver Dollar, 9 pm
It’s no secret that we at TWM love Patti Cake. Terri already posted a very favorable review of this set and back in September I was on hand when Dan Gorman played a cutthroat game of Jenga with Kritty Uranowski and Dan Bedard in this great interview. I first heard Patti Cake last summer on a Wednesday night. I was at Rancho totally by chance, I had been cat-sitting for Dan and Terri and had forgotten to return Dan’s house keys so I stopped by just as the band was setting up and it was the luckiest accident because I fell completely in love with their retro rock sound. Kritty has the kind of charisma and style that makes you rethink all of your previous life choices (jumpers are amazing, not weird!) I am a total sucker for anything that sounds like it might be influenced by 60s pop and with Kritty’s vocals and her charming as hell lyrics there is nothing I don’t like. If you don’t already have a copy of their EP Prime Minister of Cool Chicks you better correct yourself, and soon.
James and Blackburn – Rancho Relaxo, 10 pm
I had an inkling I would like these guys before I even made it out on Friday after seeing updates on Twitter suggesting that they had brought homemade cookies to sell at merch. Personally, I like to bribe people with baked goods and considering how many awesome hugs I’ve been getting from Rancho head bartender Greg LeGros after plying him with cupcakes on Sunday I gotta say it’s a winning strategy. My first non-cookie related impression of this band was that they all looked quite young and that the drummer was in bare feet, so I was totally blown away by the maturity and depth to the vocals. Though the vocal effects didn’t always work for me, there was lots of reverb, I liked the way it made them stand out in the traditional indie rock genre. Their sound had a certain heft to it and they tried some interesting things, though again sometimes I got lost in the jamming.
Meanwood – Rancho Relaxo, 11 pm
I’m fairly certain that I was the only person at the bar who did not know this band, or at least the lead singer, Viktoria, but I took notice after their set. On their bandcamp their sound is listed as country, soul and rock and roll and that is no fucking joke. The vocals alone are worth the price of admission and when added in with a group of skilled musicians you have a sound that grabs hold and doesn’t like go until its well and done with you. I’ve barely taken their EP, Trials, off rotation all week. And in case you don’t understand just how badass this band is let me tell you the story of their bassist, Eric. Early last week Eric was hit by a streetcar while riding his bike. By a goddamn streetcar, and that shit is no joke. They were able to get a replacement to play the show and Eric was up front during the performance with his arm in a sling and then he jumped on stage to play the last two songs. Check this band out, I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Wild Domestic – Rancho Relaxo, I don’t know. Late.
This may surprise you, but I can be a whiny brat. I get overtired and I eat too much sugar and I’m a terror to deal with and at that point I try to be considerate and sit at the bar and keep my mouth shut and just watch a movie until I can act like a human being again, so I’m afraid I have nothing to say about the wonderful bands that played between Meanwood and Wild Domestic because I was watching Beetlejuice. I pulled myself together for this set though because I love Wild Domestic, which came as a surprise to me when I first saw them play because I am not usually a fan of long songs or instrumental tracks because I have a short attention span but this band has me hooked for every second. Two kits and two guitars that weave a sound that goes from soft to loud seamlessly and is so damned captivating that I am always left wanting more when it’s over. Also, the lead singer has really fantastic hair. It’s a similar length and colour to mine but his always looks so shiny and perfect. I wonder if he conditions. But to conclude on a music related note, Wild Domestic released their self titled debut album back in November and it is five tracks of straight up awesome.
Meghan Swinkels
Filed under cmw, live reviews, news, photos, reviews, seen and heard
