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		<title>Alcoholic Faith Mission &#8212; Free Download and This One You Need!</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/06/alcoholic-faith-mission-free-download-and-this-one-you-need/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/06/alcoholic-faith-mission-free-download-and-this-one-you-need/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:46:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://twowaymonologues.com/?p=3615</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Maybe it&#8217;s the way that &#8220;Sobriety Up and Left&#8221; hits me that first made me fall in love with Alcoholic Faith Mission, but now it&#8217;s so much more than that. I can say with absolute honesty that Alcoholic Faith Mission &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/06/alcoholic-faith-mission-free-download-and-this-one-you-need/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3615&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/06/alcoholic-faith-mission-free-download-and-this-one-you-need/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/PwH2E7IfKAk/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Maybe it&#8217;s the way that &#8220;Sobriety Up and Left&#8221; hits me that first made me fall in love with Alcoholic Faith Mission, but now it&#8217;s so much more than that. I can say with absolute honesty that Alcoholic Faith Mission may be the most powerful and intense live performance I&#8217;ve ever witnessed from a non-traditional rock band. I don&#8217;t expect it to be topped anytime soon.</p>
<p>Needless to say, when I saw that Alcoholic Faith Mission had put out a free digital download collection of their top material in anticipation of their upcoming North American tour &#8212; and a Canadian record deal with my friends and huge Toronto music supporter Todd Arkell&#8217;s label &#8212; I was thrilled.<span id="more-3615"></span></p>
<p>I write this post to implore you to run and not dawdle in getting your hands on this download before it disappears! To me, Alcoholic Faith Mission gets me every bit as excited as I found myself getting when I first listened to Funeral. That&#8217;s a bold statement, but one that I stand by unequivocally. It isn&#8217;t that they sound like Arcade Fire per se, though I could paint you a picture where it&#8217;s a lot closer than you think. Instead it&#8217;s the visceral intensity, the gang vocals, the beautiful and crushing lyrics, the massive crescendos, and the epic build to get to that point. It&#8217;s all of those things that will have me not even the least bit surprised if, at some point a few years down the road, Alcoholic Faith Mission are filling stadiums. They have that potential; the music truly has no ceiling that I can see.</p>
<p>So have I sold it enough?</p>
<p>Go get it: <a href="http://www.45records.ca/thisisAFM/">http://www.45records.ca/thisisAFM/</a></p>
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		<title>Dave Whitty &#8212; Bringing the &#8220;rock&#8221; to Toronto a few sets of ears at a time</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/01/dave-whitty-bringing-the-rock-to-toronto-a-few-sets-of-ears-at-a-time/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:14:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[rancho relaxo]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://twowaymonologues.com/?p=3601</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Let me introduce you to Dave Whitty. Dave&#8217;s story isn&#8217;t all that different from that of the many other Newfoundlanders who spend large portions of the year away from home, but Dave does it for a very different reason: to &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/02/01/dave-whitty-bringing-the-rock-to-toronto-a-few-sets-of-ears-at-a-time/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3601&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/325969_10150326370463892_508583891_8120535_1016412922_o.jpg"><img class="aligncenter  wp-image-3602" title="325969_10150326370463892_508583891_8120535_1016412922_o" src="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/325969_10150326370463892_508583891_8120535_1016412922_o.jpg?w=321&#038;h=430" alt="" width="321" height="430" /></a></p>
<p>Let me introduce you to Dave Whitty. Dave&#8217;s story isn&#8217;t all that different from that of the many other Newfoundlanders who spend large portions of the year away from home, but Dave does it for a very different reason: to advance his career as a musician. Having played solo and with band in Newfoundland for quite some time Dave recently migrated by himself to Toronto, where he has began to go to work to gain the same obsessed crowd, with all his lyrics memorized, that he has back home.<span id="more-3601"></span></p>
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<p>Since Dave has moved to Toronto he&#8217;s been making his musical home at the Rancho Relaxo, regularly coming out to delight his fellow Newfoundlanders and friends who now find themselves in the Big Smoke, and slowly but surely convincing the stubborn Torontonians as well. I happen to be easier sell, what with my wife being a Newfoundlander and all, but most Torontonians hear the accent and start talking about Great Big Sea and don&#8217;t even give a folky sounding artist from the Rock a chance to actually prove himself. That, my friends, is complete and utter bullshit.</p>
<p>Why do I say that? Well, in part because Dave Whitty is one of, if not the most, dynamic solo performers I&#8217;ve had at the Rancho in some time. Usually I tend to put solo acts on the weeknights, as they don&#8217;t play loud enough for the weekend crowd or can&#8217;t win them over. That isn&#8217;t a problem with Mr. Whitty, though as he is very used to having to sing, strum, and stomp over a fairly lubricated crowd. I guess that&#8217;s part of the benefit cutting your teeth out in Newfoundland?</p>
<p>Just recently Dave put out his new album &#8212; it&#8217;s available on iTunes and you can stream it for free and/or buy it over at his <a href="http://davewhitty.bandcamp.com/">brand new bandcamp</a>. But what you should probably do is come on down to the Rancho Relaxo this Saturday Feb 4th for an awesome show of some of the best bands to listen and drink with going right now.</p>
<p>The namesake of this article, Dave Whitty, will start the night just after 10 PM. Don`t be late, I know you Newfoundlanders have a tendency to show up on your own time. Please don`t because you`ll miss some of the set! After that we have the long-anticipated return to the Rancho of <a href="http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/The-Stables">The Stables</a>. How much do I love the Stables? Enough to have them play my rehearsal dinner! They&#8217;re an amazing live band and some of the nicest guys you`ll ever encounter. Closing it out we have <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SkirtChasers">The Skirt Chasers</a>! Damn I&#8217;ve missed these two on the Rancho stage. They have gone on record to say they have a special and unique Skirt Chasers set for this show.</p>
<p>I do not write these unless I really want to get the point across, people. This is a show you should be at.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Dan</p>
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		<title>Backburner Crew Launches &#8220;Heatwave&#8221; and &#8220;Rhyme O&#8217;Clock&#8221; Videos on Feb 2nd</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/27/backburner-crew-launches-heatwave-and-rhyme-oclock-videos-on-feb-2nd/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/27/backburner-crew-launches-heatwave-and-rhyme-oclock-videos-on-feb-2nd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mp3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music video]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://twowaymonologues.com/?p=3593</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Much of what I could say here, you&#8217;ve probably heard me say before, so I&#8217;ll keep it short and sweet. Next week, on Thursday Febuary 2nd, The $5 Rap Show puts on their first show of 2012 celebrating the release &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/27/backburner-crew-launches-heatwave-and-rhyme-oclock-videos-on-feb-2nd/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3593&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/27/backburner-crew-launches-heatwave-and-rhyme-oclock-videos-on-feb-2nd/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/XCd1dIAvpXI/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Much of what I could say here, you&#8217;ve probably heard me say before, so I&#8217;ll keep it short and sweet. Next week, on Thursday Febuary 2nd, The $5 Rap Show puts on their first show of 2012 celebrating the release of not one but two brand new music videos. The first is &#8220;Heatwave&#8221; (above) which features my good friends the Backburner crew: Timbuktu, Chokeules, Wordburglar, Jesse Dangerously, Thesis, and Jay Bizzy. The video was shot for the lead single off the compilation album of the same name, released in late 2011. It&#8217;s a freaking awesome album and something you need to hear &#8212; do it on their <a href="http://handsolorecords.bandcamp.com/album/heatwave">bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>The second video is one even more near and dear to me &#8212; Wordburglar&#8217;s brand new music video for &#8220;Rhyme O&#8217;Clock.&#8221; I love this one not just because a large portion of it was shot at Rancho Relaxo &#8212; home of The $5 Rap Show &#8212; but also because over the years of SJ playing shows for me under the TWM name, and him and More or Les launching The $5 Rap Show at the venue I book, we&#8217;ve become pretty tight. It&#8217;s been ages since Wordburglar has released a new album to the masses, and this video is the precursor. However, to see this one you are going to have to actually drag your ass out to the show: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/115866101867243/">http://www.facebook.com/events/115866101867243/</a>. It will be debuting for the first time anywhere that night, Thurs Feb 2nd, at The $5 Rap Show.</p>
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		<title>Papier Tigre Release New Single Of Forthcoming LP &#8220;Recreation&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/05/papier-tigre-release-new-single-of-forthcoming-lp-recreation/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/05/papier-tigre-release-new-single-of-forthcoming-lp-recreation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[I caught Papier Tigre (who hail from Nantes, France) playing a festival set at Rancho Relaxo a few years back, and ever since I&#8217;ve been a big fan of their album The Beginning And End Of Now. That record came out in &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/05/papier-tigre-release-new-single-of-forthcoming-lp-recreation/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3587&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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<p>I caught <a href="http://papiertigre.bandcamp.com">Papier Tigre</a> (who hail from Nantes, France) playing a festival set at Rancho Relaxo a few years back, and ever since I&#8217;ve been a big fan of their album <em>The Beginning And End Of Now</em>. That record came out in 2008, and aside from a split in 2010, they haven&#8217;t been releasing a ton of new music. Needless to say, I was excited to see a new track off their upcoming LP <em>Recreation</em> pop up on Facebook yesterday.</p>
<object data="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2899321513/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/" type="text/html" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="100"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2899321513/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/"><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><object data="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2899321513/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/" type="text/html" width="400" height="100"></object></object>
<p>The new song &#8212; &#8220;Home Truth&#8221; &#8212; sounds a bit heavier than anything we&#8217;ve heard from <a href="http://papiertigre.bandcamp.com">Papier Tigre</a> in the past, but their mathy precision and technical drumming show up here in full force. These guys are seriously bad-ass, so check out the stream above and go grab <em>The Beginning And End Of Now</em> as well. <em>Recreation</em> comes out <strong>March 1st, 2012 </strong>via Africantape &amp; Murailles Music.</p>
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		<title>10 albums from 2011 that I will finally listen to in 2012</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/04/10-albums-from-2011-that-i-will-listen-to-in-2012/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terricoles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[reviews]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ll be honest: I didn&#8217;t do a very good job of staying in touch with the wider world of music last year. I paid attention to the best in local music here in Toronto, and there were a couple of &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/04/10-albums-from-2011-that-i-will-listen-to-in-2012/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3551&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31070478@N04/3174521823/"><img class="aligncenter" title="Vinyl" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3264/3174521823_6794784d9b.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;ll be honest: I didn&#8217;t do a very good job of staying in touch with the wider world of music last year. I paid attention to the best in local music here in Toronto, and there were a couple of 2011 releases that I really liked &#8212; most notably from Dum Dum Girls and Wild Flags, both of whom I saw play live. But as this month&#8217;s onslaught of best-of lists makes clear, I missed the boat on a lot of other stuff. Here a list of 10 albums from this year that I haven&#8217;t yet heard &#8212; mistakes I&#8217;ll be correcting in the new year.</p>
<p>(Side note: If you&#8217;re curious how my list compares to top-20 lists overall, these <a href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2012/top-21-albums-of-2011/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=top-21-albums-of-2011" target="_blank">infographics from Information is Beautiful</a> are great.)</p>
<p><span id="more-3551"></span></p>
<p><strong>1. <a href="http://www.pjharvey.net/" target="_blank">PJ Harvey</a> &#8212; <em>Let England Shake</em></strong></p>
<p>PJ Harvey is such a powerful female performer; I&#8217;m sad that I haven&#8217;t kept up with her output in recent years. This one won the Mercury Prize, however, and that alone is reason enough to give it a spin.</p>
<p><strong>2. <a href="http://tune-yards.com/" target="_blank">tUnE-yArDs</a> &#8212; <em>whokill</em></strong></p>
<p>I loved the tracks I heard off tUnE-yArDs&#8217; debut album, and she got accolades from friends who attended her live shows in Toronto this year. This is one of those albums that I meant to pick up, over and over, and just did not get to. I haven&#8217;t forgotten about it, though.</p>
<p><strong>3. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/realestateband?sk=info" target="_blank">Real Estate</a> &#8212; <em>Days</em></strong></p>
<p>We saw Real Estate open for Girls at The Bowery Ballroom in 2009 &#8212; and that might make me sound cool, but please know that I missed out on a lot of their set because I was busy gawking at the hipster riche style in the room. Who can afford a giant leather Kate Spade tote?! Over the following months I kept hearing about Real Estate from various friends and started to suspect I may have missed out. Sitting down with <em>Days</em> would be a good way to rectify that.</p>
<p><strong>4. <a href="http://boniver.org/" target="_blank">Bon Iver</a> &#8212; <em>Bon Iver</em></strong></p>
<p>I would like to give Justin Vernon a hug, all alone in his cabin in Wisconsin. (Well, maybe Kathleen Edwards is keeping him company now, I don&#8217;t know.) I could listen to &#8220;Blood Bank&#8221; over and over and over, and I loved his debut album; I&#8217;m a sucker for a sad boy with a guitar and some reverb. I&#8217;m just going to assume that this album is a perfect one for the upcoming winter chill.</p>
<p><strong>5. <a href="http://www.matadorrecords.com/fucked_up/" target="_blank">Fucked Up</a> &#8212; <em>David Comes to Life</em></strong></p>
<p>I saw Fucked Up live once. They are very, very loud. Bring earplugs. (I didn&#8217;t.) But for a band that loud and occasionally shouty, I enjoyed their set a lot more than I expected to. There was some serious melody hidden in there. I think some people might write off Fucked Up too quickly &#8212; they&#8217;re loud, their lead singer looks mean, etc. But Damien isn&#8217;t mean at all, and knows his stuff musically; the rest of the band has chops too. They&#8217;ve gotten some legit attention this year, including the cover of Spin, and it&#8217;s time I gave these local heroes their proper due myself.</p>
<p><strong>6. <a href="http://www.beyonceonline.com/ca/liveatroseland" target="_blank">Beyonce</a> &#8212; <em>4</em></strong></p>
<p>Yeah, that&#8217;s right. She&#8217;s fierce; how sexy is that album cover? Have that baby already, Bey!</p>
<p><strong>7. <a href="http://www.drizzydrake.org/" target="_blank">Drake</a> &#8212; <em>Take Care</em></strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m a fan of Aubrey Graham and have been for a while. He seems like a nice young man. His owl logo &#8212; perhaps cribbed from the City of Toronto, fine &#8212; is adorable. Speaking of Toronto, he reps our fine city often and gives back to the community from whence he came. And his lyrics aren&#8217;t full of misogynistic, violent, faux-gangster bullshit. But even considering all that about Aubrey, I&#8217;ve been kind of meh about Drake for a while now. Now I can&#8217;t get the title track of this album out of my head, though, so I may have to give him another chance.</p>
<p><strong>8. <a href="http://the-weeknd.com/" target="_blank">The Weeknd</a> &#8212; <em>House of Balloons</em></strong></p>
<p>I can&#8217;t remember the last time I heard so much about a Canadian artist without having listened to his or her music. The Weeknd emerged as a surprise Polaris contender earlier this year, and seems to have taken the world by storm since, with props from the aforementioned Drake and love from Pitchfork &#8212; yes, Pitchfork still matters. I&#8217;m not as convinced as The Guardian that he&#8217;ll be able to transfer his online success and hype into cash dollars, but I&#8217;m excited to see him try.</p>
<p><strong>9. <a href="http://www.listentofeist.com/" target="_blank">Feist</a> &#8212; <em>Metals</em></strong></p>
<p>Ultimately, I can never resist Feist. &#8220;Mushaboom&#8221; was everywhere and that could have gotten annoying, but <em>Let It Die</em> was such a fantastic album that it never did. Then &#8220;1 2 3 4&#8243; went crazy and Apple got on bored; loved that album too, though. I haven&#8217;t yet heard <em>Metals</em>, which is crazy, because I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;ll be a space in my heart for this one too.</p>
<p><strong>10. <a href="http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/destroyer" target="_blank">Destroyer</a> &#8212; <em>Kaputt</em></strong></p>
<p>I have to admit something: I have never been able to get into Destroyer. I love Dan Bejar&#8217;s work with New Pornographers, but his solo output has always left me feeling noncommittal. The praise for Kaputt was off the charts, though, so I&#8217;ll have to give im one more chance.</p>
<p><em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/31070478@N04/" target="_blank">D. B. Gaston</a>, via Creative Commons</em></p>
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		<title>Free Download: &#8220;Midnight Orion&#8221; by Toronto&#8217;s Decommunication</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/04/free-download-midnight-orion-by-torontos-decommunication/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/04/free-download-midnight-orion-by-torontos-decommunication/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:31:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mp3]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[midnight orion]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[If you read my year-end list that went up before the Christmas break, you probably noticed that I put Tycho&#8216;s album Dive on there. I loved that album a lot, and now I&#8217;ve just stumbled upon a Toronto artist that &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/04/free-download-midnight-orion-by-torontos-decommunication/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3576&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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<p>If you read my year-end list that went up before the Christmas break, you probably noticed that I put <strong>Tycho</strong>&#8216;s album <em>Dive</em> on there. I loved that album a lot, and now I&#8217;ve just stumbled upon a Toronto artist that reminds me quite a bit of <strong>Tycho</strong>: Toronto&#8217;s own <strong>Decommunication</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><object data="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1635210042/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/" type="text/html" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="100"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1635210042/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/"><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><object data="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1635210042/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/size=venti/" type="text/html" width="400" height="100"></object></object></p>
<p>He&#8217;s got a free record called<em> Midnight Orion</em> that contains ten tracks of electronic music ranging from ambient sound-waves to beat-based trip-hop stuff. The second track in particular (&#8220;Ryukyu&#8221;) reminds me a ton of <strong>Tycho</strong> &#8212; so much in fact I wish it lasted a full two or three minutes longer. The rest of the album is pretty solid though too, so check out the stream of <em>Midnight Orion</em> above and grab the free download through Bandcamp if you&#8217;re enjoying what you hear.</p>
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		<title>How Different Skeletons Defied Expectations</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/03/how-different-skeletons-defied-expectations/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:44:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Some people play music just as a hobby. Some people play it to make a career out of it. Some do it because they feel they have to, that life isn&#8217;t complete without it. Others just do it because they &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/03/how-different-skeletons-defied-expectations/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3568&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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<p style="text-align:left;">Some people play music just as a hobby. Some people play it to make a career out of it. Some do it because they feel they have to, that life isn&#8217;t complete without it. Others just do it because they want to. Hell, some people do it because they feel a pressure to do it. As a music promoter, I come across all sorts of different people playing music for different reasons. There&#8217;s the bar band that is completely content to play the Rancho every few months to a decent crowd and doesn&#8217;t need to play for a while after that. Or there&#8217;s the band playing more than 100 gigs a year and would prefer to be playing 200 or more and everything that exists in between. Sometimes I am very wrong about where a band falls in this spectrum, but more often than not I am right. But let me tell you a story about a band I was very wrong about, Different Skeletons.</p>
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<p>When I first met Daniel Houghton and Jamie Arnott, they were playing in The Cheap Speakers, who were quite a different band than the one you may know today. The band was still fronted by Brennan Gault and Natalia Manzocco but they didn&#8217;t have a defined direction, bouncing between bubbly indie pop, Creedence-style classic rock, and straight-up rock. Perhaps part of the problem was that Daniel and Jamie had started writing themselves and were drifting in a different direction. Shortly after that, Daniel and Jamie left the Speaks. Not that long after that they started a project with ex-Cheap Speakers drummer Eric, called Fat City.</p>
<p>Fat City were a fun act to see live. They played loud, they had all sorts of fun, and their songs were catchy dirty garage punk. There was definitely multiple songwriters and some songs sounded like they were for one band and others a totally different band, but I dug it and so did a lot of people who would come out to the shows. But for me, Fat City was a bar band &#8212; an act who were great to see around Toronto at various venues but not an act that was going to go out and tour or hit the studio hard to produce a really solid EP/LP. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was right.  We never really had a chance to find out as Eric suffered an ear injury and was not able to actively practice and play live at the volume Fat City played anymore. Combine that with Jamie getting a job in Aruba for a year, and it seemed that this musical project was going to be over before it got started.</p>
<p>Cue chapter 2 &#8212; Jamie returns from Aruba and reunites with Daniel, and the two form a band by the name of Different Skeletons. I was stoked to hear the guys were playing again but admittedly expected it be to be Fat City version 2.0 &#8212; fun garage punk without a defined sound/genre behind it. All it took on my end was one MySpace demo to blow up that misconception. Somehow, after barely playing together for over a year and with a brand new drummer, Different Skeletons had defined a sound &#8212; a fucking exciting sound at that &#8212; and stepped their game up exponentially.  Different Skeletons were now a Detroit-style dirty garage punk band with attitude and the songs to back it up. The live show was never really a problem, but even that was better than ever.</p>
<p>But now they&#8217;ve taken that even a step further with their debut album, which you can stream on their Bandcamp. I&#8217;ve been streaming the hell out of it in anticipation for their show next Saturday night with High Noon Knife Fight, Evil Eyes, and Humanzees. We live in a city where a small handful of bands within each genre are picked and decided to be &#8220;cool.&#8221; Those are the bands all the bloggers writer about, the bands all the hipsters go see, but it doesn&#8217;t have to be that way.  Take one listen to a track like &#8220;Nerves&#8221; or &#8220;Look Like Hell&#8221; or the combo songs &#8220;Secret Jeers Part 1 and Part 2&#8243; and you&#8217;ll see what I mean.</p>
<p>Somewhere along the way, people in Toronto who love garage punk got to thinking that if you weren&#8217;t going to find the guy doing something in the washroom before or after their set, they weren&#8217;t garage or punk. That&#8217;s some fucked up logic right there. So do yourself a favour, check out the awesome recordings done by Chris Evans and come see some of Toronto&#8217;s finest under-the-radar garage punk next Saturday night. You won&#8217;t find these guys in the washroom stall, but I&#8217;ll buy you a beer if you can chug a 50 faster than Daniel Houghton can.</p>
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		<title>Stream The New Cursive Track &#8220;The Sun And Moon&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/03/stream-the-new-cursive-track-the-sun-and-moon/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/03/stream-the-new-cursive-track-the-sun-and-moon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:41:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mp3]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[dgorman]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[indie]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saddle creek]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://twowaymonologues.com/?p=3563</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the last few years I&#8217;ve been more of a fan of Tim Kasher&#8216;s solo and The Good Life output than I have of the more recent Cursive records. In my opinion the last truly great album they released was &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2012/01/03/stream-the-new-cursive-track-the-sun-and-moon/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3563&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cursive-i-am-gemini.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3564" title="Cursive-I-Am-Gemini" src="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/cursive-i-am-gemini.jpg?w=300&#038;h=300" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></p>
<p>In the last few years I&#8217;ve been more of a fan of <strong>Tim Kasher</strong>&#8216;s solo and <strong>The Good Life</strong> output than I have of the more recent <strong>Cursive</strong> records. In my opinion the last truly great album they released was <em>The Ugly Organ</em> &#8212; though that&#8217;s not to say <em>Happy Hollow</em> and <em>Mama, I&#8217;m Swollen</em> didn&#8217;t have some great tunes.</p>
<p>So, I&#8217;ve had high hopes for the new Cursive record <em>I Am Gemini</em> &#8212; since it is Kasher&#8217;s return to the concept-record format he has worked so well within in the past. Their new song &#8220;The Sun And Moon&#8221; hasn&#8217;t completely sold me on the new album, but it&#8217;s an interesting turn for the band nonetheless. Stream it below!<em> I Am Gemini</em> will be released on <strong>February 21, 2012</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style='text-align:left;display:block;'><p><object type='application/x-shockwave-flash' data='http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf' width='290' height='24' id='audioplayer1'><param name='movie' value='http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf' /><param name='FlashVars' value='&amp;bg=0xf8f8f8&amp;leftbg=0xeeeeee&amp;lefticon=0x666666&amp;rightbg=0xcccccc&amp;rightbghover=0x999999&amp;righticon=0x666666&amp;righticonhover=0xffffff&amp;text=0x666666&amp;slider=0x666666&amp;track=0xFFFFFF&amp;border=0x666666&amp;loader=0x9FFFB8&amp;soundFile=http%3A%2F%2Ftwowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F01%2F03thesunandmoon.mp3' /><param name='quality' value='high' /><param name='menu' value='false' /><param name='bgcolor' value='#FFFFFF' /><param name='wmode' value='opaque' /></object></p></span></p>
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		<title>Summer Vacation&#8217;s Condition Stream &amp; Review</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/31/summer-vacations-condition-stream-review/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/31/summer-vacations-condition-stream-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:17:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>twowaymonologues</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[joyce manor]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[summer vacation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://twowaymonologues.com/?p=3555</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve mentioned before &#8212; when reviewing artists on the punk side of the indie spectrum &#8212; that there seems to be a new generation of bands who aren&#8217;t content playing just punk or indie music. Bands like Joyce Manor and By Surprise have &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/31/summer-vacations-condition-stream-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3555&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/306324_10150360854374067_662204066_8267497_822011420_n.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="389" /></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve mentioned before &#8212; when reviewing artists on the punk side of the indie spectrum &#8212; that there seems to be a new generation of bands who aren&#8217;t content playing just punk or indie music. Bands like <a href="http://joycemanor.bandcamp.com/">Joyce Manor</a> and <a href="http://bysurprise.bandcamp.com/album/mountain-smashers">By Surprise</a> have taken all their influences, from indie to math-rock, post-punk and beyond, and thrown them in the melting pot. This is exactly what <a href="http://summervacation.bandcamp.com/album/condition">Summer Vacation</a>&#8216;s latest album <em>Condition </em>does, and it&#8217;s working better than ever.<span id="more-3555"></span></p>
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<p>Fresh off a split with <a href="http://joycemanor.bandcamp.com/">Joyce Manor</a> and a pretty solid EP called <em>Angry At The World</em>, <a href="http://summervacation.bandcamp.com/album/condition">Summer Vacation</a>&#8216;s <em>Condition</em> is &#8212; in my opinion &#8212; their most consistent work yet. Listening to the opening fuzzed-vocal explosion of  &#8221;I Know What You Want&#8221; is exhilarating, but they take quite the turn on &#8220;Post-You&#8221;. The song starts with a plucky riff that over time gets tinged with delay and distortion. The vocals are a far cry from the gang-chants you heard on the opening two songs, but the jump works. I wouldn&#8217;t go as far to say the track is a slow-burn, but it takes time to build and recede until the climax.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Flower That Drank The Moon&#8221; is also a huge stand-out for me, sounding exactly like three or four different bands I would have listened to in High School squeezed into a scant minute fifty-five running time. I guess that&#8217;s my point here, these guys are simultaneously playing the kind of music I used to dig as a kid, and the kind of music I grew to like during my College years. They&#8217;ve hit that sweet spot, and <a href="http://summervacation.bandcamp.com/album/condition">Summer Vacation</a>&#8216;s <em>Condition</em> should please any punk or indie-rock fan looking for a tight, noisy, catchy record right now. It&#8217;s out on <strong>Recess Records &amp; Razorcake</strong> (LP), <strong>Lauren Records</strong> (CD), and <strong>Keep It Together</strong> (Tape). Stream the album &#8212; or purchase it &#8212; <a href="http://summervacation.bandcamp.com/album/condition">through their bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h5 style="text-align:right;">Dan Gorman</h5>
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		<title>Top 10 Sets of 2011 at Rancho as Powered by Two Way Monologues</title>
		<link>http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/24/top-10-sets-of-2011-at-rancho-as-powered-by-two-way-monologues/</link>
		<comments>http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/24/top-10-sets-of-2011-at-rancho-as-powered-by-two-way-monologues/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:14:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>terricoles</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[natural shocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vista vision]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[There is no exact way for me to figure out how many bands I booked in 2011.  Basically, here&#8217;s how my job as a talent booker at the Rancho works: Every single event or show that happens at Rancho is &#8230; <a href="http://twowaymonologues.com/2011/12/24/top-10-sets-of-2011-at-rancho-as-powered-by-two-way-monologues/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=twowaymonologues.com&amp;blog=14155976&amp;post=3542&amp;subd=twowaymonologues&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3543" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/183061_10150165975935329_531425328_8750312_6164466_n-1.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3543" title="The view from the stage at my #1 show of 2011 at Rancho" src="http://twowaymonologues.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/183061_10150165975935329_531425328_8750312_6164466_n-1.jpg?w=500&#038;h=375" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The view from the stage at my #1 show of 2011 at Rancho</p></div>
<p>There is no exact way for me to figure out how many bands I booked in 2011.  Basically, here&#8217;s how my job as a talent booker at the Rancho works: Every single event or show that happens at Rancho is booked through me, but not every one of those shows is a TWM event; sometimes other people come in and use the room. Factoring those shows out, I figure I put on around 235 shows last year at Rancho &#8212; seriously, that&#8217;s a lot of shows and a lot of bands.  Factoring in the festivals, I would say that is about 800 sets of music curated by TWM at Rancho this year. From those approximately 800 sets, I&#8217;ve picked 10 that stuck with me for being the most memorable sets of 2011 at Rancho.<span id="more-3542"></span></p>
<p>They may have been memorable for the occasion, the performance, being monumental, or various other reasons. I explain my choices below.  But man, what a year it was at the Ranch &#8212; when you see some of the omissions you&#8217;ll understand that statement for yourself.</p>
<p><strong>#10: <a href="http://thenaturalshocks.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">The Natural Shocks</a>: Friday June 10th <em>Complete with Comfortable Lighting </em>album launch with Gay and Vista Vision </strong></p>
<p>This was a really special set and show. Our head bartender, Greg LeGros, remarked to me during the show, &#8220;It&#8217;s like a Rancho family reunion up in here.&#8221;  He was right &#8212; The Shocks feature my good friend Jeff Geady, a man I met at Rancho and who I am proud to call one of my best friends. On that night, everyone who knew Jeff over the years came out to support his band&#8217;s debut release. The Natural Shocks did not disappoint, rising to the occasion and the energy and playing a mammoth rockin&#8217; indie set. The place was dancing, bouncing, hanging on every note, and laughing at every bit of hilarious banter.  For that moment, <a href="http://thenaturalshocks.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">the Natural Shocks</a> were Toronto&#8217;s indie buzz band to watch.  And we and the band will always have that moment, no matter what happens from here on out.</p>
<p><strong>#9: <a href="http://www.savedbyradio.com/rel_deadhorse.htm" target="_blank">Deadhorse</a>: Weds May 11th</strong></p>
<p>This set making the list is proof that to play an unbelievably awesome set you don&#8217;t even need to have a crowd full of people there to see it.  Fuck, you barely need anybody there at all. Calgary&#8217;s <a href="http://www.savedbyradio.com/rel_deadhorse.htm" target="_blank">Deadhorse</a> brought their brand of swamp rock to the Ranch and I was beyond stoked. They are seriously one of the best bands in Canada right now and have a sound unlike anybody else. Only problem? Toronto was typically way too cool &#8212; some band with cute boys and disco drum fills were probably playing a buzz show at the &#8216;Shoe or something.  Nobody came &#8212; I mean like, nobody. Maybe 20 people were through the door all night? I would not have blamed the band at all if they cashed it in and played a disappointing set, but they did not. Instead they rocked the snot out of the 20 people who were there and charmed the pants right off of them. In the end, they sold something like a dozen vinyl. Could you imagine your band got that type of conversion with merch sales normally? The music community might actually be profitable. Next time <a href="http://www.savedbyradio.com/rel_deadhorse.htm" target="_blank">Deadhorse</a> comes to town, stop worrying about being a hipster and get to the damn venue.</p>
<p><strong>#8: <a href="http://wilddomesticband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Wild Domestic</a>: Weds November 16th with Glory Glory and Youth Season</strong></p>
<p>While I chose the <a href="http://wilddomesticband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Wild Domestic</a> set, it should be noted that this was an amazing show, with all the bands playing sweet sets and an insanely inspiring atmosphere in the room all night, but <a href="http://wilddomesticband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Wild Domestic</a>&#8216;s set took the cake. Wild Domestic are a London-based band on Out Sound Records who have a neat setup featuring double drumming and very little in the ways of vocals. The insanely drum heavy setup reminds me of Pick a Piper or Caribou, but the band itself actually reminded me at times of a 2011 re-envisioning of Broken Social Scene, if that makes any sense at all. The floor was so packed with people trying to get as close as possible to what they were witnessing, it was insane. <a href="http://wilddomesticband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Wild Domestic</a> was breaking that night and I&#8217;m not sure even they were aware of it. People have been talking about it ever since &#8212; that friends, is a set. They return to Rancho on January 28th. Save the date.</p>
<p>#7: <strong><a href="http://www.amosthetransparent.com/" target="_blank">Amos the Transparent</a> return home: April 9th </strong>with The Cheap Speakers, Persian Rugs, and Oceans:</p>
<p>Before they were on Much Music, before they won the Big Money Shot, before Cool Planet had even met them, Amos the Transparent were an awesome Ottawa band looking for a shot in a city other than Ottawa. TWM gave them that shot and it was a match made in heaven. For a few years there, when Amos came to Toronto it was to play a TWM show; before long those shows were packed to the gills, people were singing along the words, and it was apparent that Amos was becoming a big deal in these parts. When that happened, it became harder to do shows with Amos, but the band never forgot and it was Jon Chandler himself who wanted to make a point of debuting the entire new album live for the first time anywhere at Rancho in April. And they did! They played the entire album and then did a bunch of older tracks in a set that pushed an hour and a half.  Seeing a band like Amos in a room like Rancho is a special experience and people were aware of that, knowing how rare of an occurrence what we were actually witnessing was. A special night, one I won&#8217;t soon forget.</p>
<p><strong>#6: <a href="http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/Black-Hat-Brigade" target="_blank">Black Hat Brigade</a> Reunion Set: December 3rd with Lordy Lordy, Buffalo, the Unquiet Dead, and Dave Whitty </strong></p>
<p>That this set ends up taking #6 on this list is a sign of how many truly great sets we&#8217;ve had at the Ranch this year. I, more than almost anybody else, had continued to hope for a <a href="http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/Black-Hat-Brigade" target="_blank">Black Hat Brigade</a> reunion over the last few years, but even my hope was pretty much tapped when this show came to fruition. Yet there they were, original lineup together again playing through the choice cuts on what was a really underrated Toronto indie music career. The place was packed, the booze was flowing, it was December but the place felt like a July night it was so sweaty, and <a href="http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/Black-Hat-Brigade" target="_blank">Black Hat Brigade</a> rocked us right up and through last call. Was it the last time?  Remains to be seen, but if it was, what a way to go out!</p>
<p><strong>#5: <a href="http://honheehonhee.com/" target="_blank">Honheehonhee</a> makes their Toronto debut: May 28th w/ the Spoofs and OPOPO </strong></p>
<p><a href="http://honheehonhee.com/" target="_blank">Honheehonhee</a> played my 30th birthday AND an insanely great NXNE after party put on by myself and Buying Shots this year, so why this show? Because it was their first ever Toronto show!  Everything else that has happened and will happen with this band begun when they took the stage at Rancho Relaxo on Sat May 28th. The venue was pretty packed, and a good chunk of you took my word on how awesome this band was going to be and came out. I&#8217;m not sure any of us expected it to be as great as it was, though.  The show that led me to proclaim <a href="http://honheehonhee.com/" target="_blank">Honheehonhee</a> as the next big thing out of Montreal. Don&#8217;t take that claim lightly. The last time I used it was for a little band getting their Toronto start at Rancho, by the name of Parlovr.</p>
<p><strong>#4: <a href="http://papermaps.net/" target="_blank">Papermaps</a> for my 30th birthday: Oct 29th with the Love Machine, Honheehonhee and Santa with Muscles</strong></p>
<p>I gave serious consideration to putting this in my #1 spot &#8212; all of the next four slots, actually. Papermaps were fresh off playing CMJ, Halifax Pop Explosion, and a bunch of sets in between, and they returned to Toronto and a stage they know well at the Rancho. They did so dressed in awesome Devo Halloween costumes and they rocked the living fuck out of it! The thing about<a href="http://papermaps.net/" target="_blank">Papermaps</a> is they are an indie-pop band who have kinda got fed up with always playing poppy music. That night they absolutely shredded it on stage. It was a triumphant return from their biggest tour as a band so far, an amazing memory for my 30th birthday, and a snapshot of a band setting up for big things in 2012.</p>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drunknmonkey/5528245214/in/set-72157626269317096"><img title="Alcoholic Faith Mission at CMW 2011" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5299/5528245214_060861b227.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Alcoholic Faith Mission at CMW 2011</p></div>
<p><strong>#3: <a href="http://alcoholicfaithmission.com/" target="_blank">Alcoholic Faith Mission</a> on Weds March 9th as part of CMW </strong></p>
<p>When I looked through the list of acts playing CMW and listening to them all, one band stood out: <a href="http://alcoholicfaithmission.com/" target="_blank">Alcoholic Faith Mission</a>. I wanted that band, I needed that band! I just needed to convince Zach and Cam over at CMW that they were destined to play that Rancho stage. Thankfully, they obliged. That week AFM played several sets at &#8220;better&#8221; venues. But to a man, everyone agreed it was the set at Rancho that was truly magical. From Copenhagen, <a href="http://alcoholicfaithmission.com/" target="_blank">Alcoholic Faith Mission</a> played massive and complicated beautiful indie-pop. They had the Rancho crowd hanging on every note, breaking into thunderous ovations and screaming our praise after every song. The band almost didn&#8217;t know how to deal with it.  Clearly they had expected a smaller or less tuned-in Weds night crowd, but they relished each and every second of it. This was Day 1 of 5 at the festival, but most of us who were there that night knew we&#8217;d see nothing better during the rest of the week. I, for one, did not.</p>
<p><strong>#2: <a href="http://www.whatcheerbrigade.com/" target="_blank">The What Cheer? Brigade</a>: August 9th w/ Math the Band and Pants &amp; Tie </strong></p>
<p>When a 19-piece brass punk band gets in touch with you, you listen and you listen good. Immediately I wanted this show and I wanted it at Rancho. It took some prodding and even some fighting off other venues. Then it took a minor miracle at the border, but the band made it across. A few members were on the stage, and the rest of the band dispersed around the Rancho floor. The crowd was frantic, they&#8217;d gotten a taste earlier when <a href="http://www.whatcheerbrigade.com/" target="_blank">the What Cheer? Brigade</a> had marched right into Rancho playing and they had waited a few hours for more. Now they were getting it! I&#8217;m not sure the Ranch had ever been hotter, the floor almost buckled for fuck sakes! But on it went. If you left to get a drink it was nearly impossible to get back into the fray. That&#8217;s how jammed the place was and how close people wanted to be to something they may never see again. In the end, the What Cheer? Brigade marched down the stairs and out into the rain and played a two-song encore. I&#8217;m sure the neighbours loved it!  But who cares? This was rock and roll, as pure as it gets.</p>
<p><strong>#1: <a href="http://krupkeband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Krupke</a>&#8216;s farewell show: February 25th w/ the Ruby Spirit, Carlo Meriano and Tofu Meat </strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m not sure there will ever be another <a href="http://krupkeband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Krupke</a> for me, a band so talented, so awesome, and so creative that they turned me (their manager) into a more creative person just by working with them. But like most great bands eventually do, they decided to break up. Their last show, at the Horseshoe Tavern, was one I couldn&#8217;t even be at. It gutted me. Then the band had an idea: One final show, their terms, their lineup and back where it all began, the Rancho. I exclaimed! And that&#8217;s how Friday February 25th came to be. The band came super early and transformed the Rancho stage to a heavenly looking set with clouds. They had death scenes cued up to project all throughout their set. And the stage was set for <a href="http://krupkeband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Krupke</a>&#8216;s imminent death. As last sets go, yeah it was painful knowing most likely I&#8217;d never see this again, but it was also a celebration. The band played a remarkable set with their original drummer Sep and the crowd rammed with people, to whom this band meant a lot, were dancing, singing along, and overcome with emotions. The Princess Bride death scene came on and the band (always with the theatrics) broke into a Krupkified musical rendition of the death scene. It was brilliant, it was exactly the type of thing that gave the band such massive potential and why the show itself was such a mixed bag of emotions for me. When it was done, there was an after party, but that set was enough for me. The <a href="http://krupkeband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Krupke</a> I always wanted died that night, but they did it in a way I was okay with. We&#8217;ll always have Friday February 25th, my favourite set of the year.</p>
<p>Honorable Mentions: Just had to mention these sets, as they were so close!</p>
<p><a href="http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/artists/adverteyes" target="_blank">Adverteyes</a> on Jan 14th</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Skirt-Chasers/102192452408" target="_blank">The Skirt Chasers</a> epic CMW set on March 12th</p>
<p><a href="http://www.archiepowellandtheexports.com/" target="_blank">Archie Powell &amp; the Exports</a> at NXNE on June 17th</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/wewerelovers" target="_blank">We Were Lovers</a> on Oct 11th</p>
<div><a href="http://www.myspace.com/openhand" target="_blank">Open Hand</a> on Tues Nov 8th</div>
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			<media:title type="html">terricoles</media:title>
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