This week for Kangaroo Court we talked with Ruhee of Toronto band Del Bel, both about baseball and about the music itself.

Del Bel is a collective full of musicians from impressive band pedigree, including The Happiness Project and Wayne Petti and the Thieves. They’re heading out on tour this month, hitting the east coast with Lisa Bozikovic, and also playing dates with other awesome Canadian artists like Baby Eagle and Maylee Todd. They’re also releasing a new single, “No Cure For Lonliness” featuring Lisa Conway singing with Bry Webb, this weekend — which you can hear at the end of the podcast linked below!

Here’s the full east coast tour lineup:

5/ 11 Ottawa, ON – Raw Sugar * $
5/ 12 Peterborough, ON * !
5/ 13 Quebec, QC TBD *
5/ 15 Rothesay, NB Treehouse *
5/ 16 Sackville, NB Legion * @
5/ 17 Halifax, NS TBD *
5/ 18 Halifax, NS Company House *
5/ 19 Montreal, QC Divan Orange %
5/ 20 Hull, QC – Le Temporaire * +
5/ 22 Montreal, QC St Catherine Theatre *
5/ 27 London, ON Grickle Grass Festival &
6/ 01 Toronto, ON 918 Bathurst- Wavelength no. 543. Single release show *^

* Lisa Bozikovic
$ Rolf Klausener (the acorn)
! Joseph Fortin
@ Baby Eagle
% Joe Grass
& Maylee Todd
^ Bry Webb
+ Scattered Clouds (ferriswheel)

If you want to check out Del Bel live — and you should — you can do it tomorrow night for a Wavelength showcase they’re playing with Bry Webb and the excellent Bozikovic. Also, their album Oneiric is available on Bandcamp and is definitely worth the purchase price! I covet the special-edition vinyl, myself.

As far as baseball goes, Ruhee has a blog that focuses mostly on baseball, Double Switching. She’s a big fan and into stats, and joined Dan and Adam for the Jays talk on this week’s podcast. Listen to her contributions there too!

Photo by Frank Yang

Hey now! We’ve got episode number 14 of See You Next Wednesday here for your listening pleasure! We round up tons of notable movie news right off the top, including: the upcoming Exorcist remake, G.I. Joe 2‘s 3D delay, what flicks are hitting your rental shelves this week, and we even talk rollercoasters. So you know it’s good!

On top of all that, we’ve got our own group version of Casey’s Excuse Corner that I like to call Film Roulette Excuse Corner! Will we be talking about The Avengers some more? What are we going to roll for? Will we even roll at all? You’re gonna have to listen if you want to find out!

And of course, we’ve got album reviews for The Walkmen and The Tallest Man On Earth. Listen along with us, won’t you?

Don’t forget to check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes. Please feel free to yell things at us on any of those sites. Do it!

Direct Download: SYNW_14_MAIN.mp3

Hey folks, welcome back to the Weekly Rancho Rundown. This week we have shows from Tuesday to Saturday and some pretty sweet bands are playing along the way. Let’s take a look!

Tuesday May 29th: Marshall and the Deputies @ 11:30, Gt. Dane @ 10:35, Good Conduct @ 9:45. Doors at 9. Presented by TWM. $5. FB event. 

Cool night, starting with a second show ever from Good Conduct, a band who debuted at Crosswires and sound like they are going to kick the night off in proper fashion. Good ol’ fashioned two-piece rock n roll, just how I like it.

Then we have Gt. Dane, who have played Rancho several times. When in Winnipeg Gt. Dane is a full band with soaring songs and a neat instrumentation. When in Toronto it’s a stripped-back performance, but for the first time in a long time it won’t be a solo set. Dana has some help from his friends tonight in what should be an interesting set.

Closing it out we have Marshall and the Deputies who are going to end the night with some soulful and funky grooves. This will be their first time at Rancho but they are recommended from an ol’ Management student of mine and sound damn tight.

Weds May 30th: Pilot Light @ 11:20, Doc Pickles @ 10:30, Ben McKenzie @ 9:40. Doors at 9. PWYC. Presented by Two Way Monologues. FB event.

An eccentric night of soloists starting with a more traditional guitar-and-vocals setup from Ben McKenzie, who is still relatively new to the solo thing but has been doing the band stuff for a while. Great singer, nice guy, early start time — don’t you forget.

Then we have Doc Pickles of Wavelength and Crosswires fame. Doc doesn’t get enough chances to showcase his originals. A prolific songwriter with a very creative mind Doc isn’t for all audiences, I admit, but I’ve always been a fan of his zany songwriting and performance style. You might be to, come and find out.

Then it’s Pilot Light closing out. A mysterious solo act coming out of Electric Karma. No songs online. Infinite mystery!

Thursday May 31st: Rick and Chuck @ 11:15, Vince Lombardi @ 10:15. Doors at 9. Presented by Comedy Records. FB event.

To be completely honest with you, I don’t know too much about this show except that they are raising money for the new Rick and Chuck video and that Rick and Chuck are a comedy/music duo who have some notoriety in the city. And Vince Lombardi, well damned if I can find them on the internet but I love their name! If you know their website let me know!

Friday June 1st: Slaves to the Groove @ 1:00, Nikki Fierce @ 12:15, Womb @ 11:35, Mother Leads @ 10:50, Shit Disturbers @ 10:10, In Vivo @ 9:30. Doors at 9. $5. FB event.

This is a gigantic rock show with a bunch of bands who have played Rancho before and are friends, combining together to throw a rager of a party — including a party bus driving a bunch in and taking their drunk asses home at the end of the night. Expect music from 9:30 right up until 2 am. Personal favourites on the list are the in-your-face rock n roll of Womb, the extremely young and talented Nikki Fierce, and the punk-meets-groove style of Slaves to the Groove.

Saturday June 2nd: Fuss @ 12:00, Retro Ad Astra @ 11:00, Mad Soul Band @ 10:00. Doors at 9. $5. Presented by TWM.

Presenting this show remotely as I’ll be at one of my best friends’ wedding in London, but do not let that keep you from attending because this is a beauty starting with the Mad Soul Band, who last time they played literally brought a bus full of supporters. A crazy mix and mash of all sorts of genres at times, you might think they are going for too many things at once and yet it ends up working.

Retro Ad Astra is the new project from Anton Hyginus (the Artful Vandelays), a band that had quite a solid run in Toronto but is currently on hiatus. Anton takes the influences that he hinted towards in the Vandelays and adds a bunch of electronic elements, and then loops and plays that all live as a compelling solo act.

And then closing it out is Fuss! Fuss is the ultimate headliner for any show, really — kickass rock that you just want to rock out, dance, and shotgun some beers to. Okay, for the last part we’d prefer if you didn’t do it at the bar.

Photo of Nikki Fierce by Julie Maclean

You’re familiar with TWM, obviously, but did you know that I (Dan) am a huge sports fan as well? I’m now stoking the fires of that passion with a new sports-related podcast called Kangaroo Court. But I can’t leave music out of the equation — it’s too much a part of my life for that. So each week on the Court we’ll interview a local artist, both about sports and about their music, and play you a song by them.

This week we’re excited to be able to share an exclusive listen to a new track from Different Skeletons called “No Country” — you can hear it at the end of the podcast below. Make sure you listen to the interview with Jamie as well, in particular to find out how he could possibly like LeBron James. And let me know what you think about the podcast!

Turns out 13 isn’t such a lucky number! We totally went over-long on See You Next Wednesday Episode 13, but that just means about 10 or so extra hilarious minutes for you!

We start off with a grab-bag of topics, ranging from the Highlander remake, what’s new on DVD this week, Dan Harmon leaving Community and more. Then, in Film Roulette, we review The Dictator and Battleship. Album reviews this week are Wordburglar’s 3rdburglar, Greys’ Easy Listening, and Guided By Voices’ Class Clown Spots a UFO. Dig in!

Click here to download the episode.

Don’t forget to check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes. Please feel free to yell things at us on any of those sites. Do it!

Direct Download: SYNW_13_MAIN.mp3

Here’s the 3rd installment of the weekly Rancho Rundown. This week we are open Wednesday-Sunday nights. My only show  at Rancho this week that is a TWM show is on Wednesday, but we have an awesome event from the Green Shades boys on Thursday, a special birthday on Friday, and my favourite annual fundraiser event on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Wordburglar and More or Les bring the $5 rap show back to Rancho. Details on the week’s shows below:

Weds May 23rd: Sweet and Lowdown @ 11:20, Mouth @ 10:35, Stranded Cruiser @ 9:40, Presented by TWM, PWYC
FB EVENT

My only show at Rancho all week, but it’s a doozy! The rockin’ punk stylings of Whitby’s Stranded Cruiser kick off the night. Had them a few months back and they bring huge energy and are very mature at a young age.

Then we cruise into Mouth, who may end up being one of my favourite bands going right now in Toronto. Always been a fan of Caleb Timmermans vocally, from his days in Cut Throat Britva. There have been several times when I found myself wondering what he was up to — then I found out about Mouth. Strongly suggest not missing this set.

Closing it out we have the debut show from a band called the Sweet and Lowdown. Alas, I’ve heard them and you have not, since the band has yet to put anything up on the site for you to hear. So come on and out and witness the birth of what could be a very cool new Toronto band.

Thursday May 24th: Commander Wolf, The Effens, Ramona, The Deadbeats, Presented by GreenShades, Doors at 9, $5

One thing about a GreenShades party is that you just don’t know what might happen. For instance, I am not sure what the set times are. I’m not sure which of the bazillion bands listed under the name the Deadbeats is the one playing this show. And I’m not sure if this is Commander Wolf’s debut show.

But what you can be sure of is the boys will be out, wearing their shades, rockin’ the front of the stage, and supporting the bands playing in a way few — if any — promoters in this city do, myself included. It’s well worth heading out to these guys’ shows anytime you can.

Friday May 25th: Teenage X @ 12:15, Careers in Science @ 11:15, Meanwood at 10:15, Stray Feathers at 9:30, Sarah Litt’s Birthday Party, Doors at 9, $5
FB Event
Listen on Show Gopher: http://showgopher.com/#!Toronto/2012-05-25/RanchoRelaxo

This should be a pretty wild event, with a stacked lineup such as this and a birthday bash! The only band here I don’t know that much about is Stray Feathers, but I do recall them playing some sweet bills with Meanwood and Raccoon Wedding. If they sound remotely similar to those two bands then they will be awesome.

Speaking of which, at 10:15 Meanwood hits the Rancho stage. What can I say about Meanwood that I haven’t already said? Meanwood are one of my top-five emerging bands in Toronto right now and our venue is spoiled that we once had Viktoria as a bartender and she likes playing there so much. Consider this a preview to their NXNE show!

Then the night takes an abrupt turn for the loud when Careers in Science hit the stage. Careers in Science have been rockin’ the Ranch since their debut show! Careers in Science are super sweet dudes who like to play loud and seriously wicked rock music while partaking in a few beverages as well. For this style of music, few do it better in Toronto.

Closing it out is Teenage X, who I know but have never caught. You gotta love a band who’s entire description on their Facebook fan page is Drink Dance Destroy! I can get behind a motto like that. Perfect end-of-the -night kinda band — they rock, they are fun, and they’ll probably put you over the top, if you know what I mean.

Saturday May 26th: 3rd Annual Open Mic Fundraiser for Beverley School, Doors at 9, $10
FB Event

A good friend of mine personally, and the Rancho in general, Angele Corriveau puts on this very special event at the Rancho once a year. Angele works at a special-needs school and every year the workers like to take the students on a special field trip. Problem is they don’t have the funding to do so. So, Angele throws this event to raise the money necessary to go.

Some really cool friends of Angele’s, and Rancho faces you’ll recognize, get together to do it and it’s one of the more heart-warming events you’ll ever see happen at the venue. This is one of the few times your contribution goes directly into something tangible that you get to see and hear about. Support this cause.

Sunday May 27th: Ceschi @ 12:00, Ghettosocks @ 11:20, Thesis Sahib @ 10:40, Flight Distance @ 10:10, Presented by the $5 Rap Show, Doors at 9, $5
FB Event

The $5 Rap Show is always about as fun as shit gets at Rancho. This is a powerhouse lineup starting with Flight Distance, down from Ottawa. I hadn’t heard of these guys till they got on this show, but one thing about the guys at the $5 Rap Show is they only bring the best and Flight Distance are another great pick.

Then it slides over to the Backburner family with a set from Thesis Sahib! Thesis is an artist, he’s a rapper, he’s an author, he’s probably a ninja. Thesis is a pretty f’n sweet dude to hang with as well. What Thesis is doing is completely singular within the Backburner Crew, a fascinating combo of hip-hop going electro. Check it.

Ghettosocks is also on this bill, as if it wasn’t already stacked enough! Socks is, without a doubt, one of the finest MCs in Canada and he has the award nominations and accolades to prove it. But Socks is as hungry as ever, working on several projects while pushing forward under his own name as well. Insanely great rapper and lyricist, with some of the most stellar beats around.

And there’s the reason this show is going on, Ceschi! All the way from Connecticut, Ceschi (pronounced Chess Key) is new to me, but holy shit is he a beast! Here’s how he describes the sound: “Ceschi (pronounced chess-key) Ramos makes his own version of progressive hip hop spliced with elements of folk & indie rock. Although he has almost ‘mathy’ technical rap abilities he’s first and foremost a singer-songwriter at heart. Although one Ceschi song may consist of punk influenced machine gun fast raps, the next may be a quiet folk ballad played on acoustic guitar.”

I’ll see you at the bar,

Dan Wolovick

Have you heard the debut tracks from the new band Stella Ella Ola, featuring a couple of guys from Hollerado and a guy (Vince Rice) and Anne Douris who are not? Aside from having a freaking amazing band name, the band also has a fascinating throwback sound. Their ethos: they play short songs. Vince told me they made a promise to never have any songs run over minute minutes.

That doesn’t mean they are a punk band or anything like that, it just means they make short, catchy as hell, retro poppy rock tunes that would work just as well in a dirty Toronto bar as they would at a high-school sockhop. Starting a new project with a couple of members from a notable band like Hollerado inevitably gets your band some attention right out the gate, but I wouldn’t be writing this if the music wasn’t strong regardless of who happens to be in the band.

The record was mixed with Niles Miszczyk (The Job), a man who — along with my sound technician at Rancho Justin Ladd — is on the rise in the recording industry. These recordings were taken live off the floor and when listening to them now I can’t imagine them being done any other way. Personal favourites on my end are “Little Black Rope” and the closer “Proud Mother Stomp.” These are being downloaded and put on regular rotation on the Rancho playlist immediately.

The debut show is being held at Cinecycle on May 26th with Danger Band and Graham Wright (Tokyo Police Club) and a special headliner. I have no inside information on who that headliner is but I have my suspicions, as I’m sure you may as well. Info on that show is here and the Bandcamp is embedded below for your listening pleasure!

Here’s what you need to know about NXNE at Rancho Relaxo. There will be programming till 2 or 3 am on Weds, till 4 am on Thurs-Sat, and till 3 am on Sunday — so we haven’t filled the entire schedule yet. But we’ve filled more than almost any venue on the list so far, so I take pride in that. The Thursday showcase is a co-promotion with GreenShades. Friday we share the night with the Indie Machine, and Sunday we do it with the great guys at the See You Next Wednesday Podcast. Set times are subject to change but I will make any changes necessary as they happen.

Weds June 13th — Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00 sharp! Presented by Two Way Monologues

8 PM — Girlfriends and Boyfriends (Vancouver)
9 PM — Say Domino (London)
10 PM — Snake & Crane (Brampton)
11 PM — Hotel Royal (Whitby/Oshawa)
12 AM — Bronx Cheerleader (St. Catharines)
1 AM — TBA
2 AM — TBA

Huge rockin’ showcase with cool-as-hell bands from across Canada. Particularly stoked on Snake & Crane who sound epic, and Say Domino and Bronx who I have known for a while and always put on a great live show.

Thurs June 14th — Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00 sharp! Presented by Two Way Monologues and Green Shades

8 PM — Hind Legs (Halifax)
9 PM — CHAMPION LOVER (ex Black Devils Brigade) (Toronto)
10 PM — The Roseville Band (Wales)
11 PM — Papermaps (Toronto)
12 AM — MiniBoone (Brooklyn)
1 AM — Hue (Toronto)
2 AM — Elektrotank (Toronto)
3 AM — Dildoniks (Toronto)

An eclectic night from the PJ-Harvey-goes-garage-punk of the Hind Legs, to the garage-goes-dance Champion Lover, to an act here all the way from Wales. Toronto’s finest Papermaps are playing, and MiniBoone brings some Brooklyn to the Ranch. One of my favourite local artists Hue are up, and then it’s the always entertaining and exotic sounds of Elektrotank.

Fri June 15th — Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00 sharp! Presented by Two Way Monologues and the Indie Machine

8 PM — Ramona (Toronto)
9 PM — Haunter (Winnipeg)
10 PM — Foam Lake (Saskatoon)
11 PM — Paint (Toronto)
12 AM — Double Fuzz (Calgary)
1 AM — Dilly Dally (Toronto)
2 AM — Doom Squad (Montreal/Toronto)
3 AM — TBA

When the Indie Machine and TWM team up you know there will be beers, there will be whiskey, and there will be insanely well thought out and great music programming. This is no exception. Including a back end of the night with Toronto’s most awesome Dilly Dally and one of the most insanely creative acts in Canada right now, Doom Squad. Plus local favourites Paint and Ramona. And we do the rest of Canada pretty damn well too, representing five provinces in total. It only makes sense for two sites that represent Canadian music as hard as we do.

Sat June 16th — Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00 sharp! Presented by Two Way Monologues

8 PM — Amity Beach (Grand Bend)
9 PM — Broken Bricks (Toronto)
10 PM — The Dying Arts (Toronto)
11 PM — The Fabulous Yawn (Toronto)
12 AM — The Sour Notes (Austin)
1 AM — Meanwood (Toronto)
2 AM — Nicholas Doubleyou & the B Squad (Toronto)
3 AM — TBA

How are we so lucky to get such great bills? Meanwood is coming home to the Rancho where their sets are always some of the memorable we will have all year. Amity Beach kicks off the night with their Elwins-esque beach-pop jams. Broken Bricks are one of Toronto’s best bands and have been for the while. The Fabulous Yawn features members of Tokyo Police Club and the aforementioned Elwins and are f’n fantastic. Plus a band all the way from Austin! And two secret TBA’s!

Sun June 17th — Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00 sharp! Presented by Two Way Monologues and See You Next Wednesday Podcast

8 PM — TBA
9 PM — Wazu (New York/Australia)
10 PM — Goodnight, Sunrise (Toronto)
11 PM — Amos the Transparent (Ottawa)
12 AM — Dream Jefferson (Toronto)
1 AM — Soi Disant (Toronto) website coming soon
2 AM — TBA

This bill still needs a few touch ups, but holy shit, right? Amos the Transparent, Rancho legends, back for NXNE! Dream Jefferson, Rancho legends, dropping their brand-new EP Manchester Blue. Goodnight, Sunrise, Rancho legends, ready to bring the rock — and perhaps fire cannons into the crowd. And Wazu, maybe the most intriguing-sounding band we’ll have all festival!

Bookmark this page, for all updates and changes and announcements re NXNE!

Cheers,

Dan

Zoinks! Episode 12 of See You Next Wednesday has us covering the shocking profit that Disney’s flop John Carter made last weekend at Drive-Ins across America, and we touch on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which hoodie-popped its way to DVD and BluRay recently.

We roll right in to Film Roulette — see what we did there? — and take a look at Exorcist II: The Heretic and Exorcist III: Legion… one is good, one is bad. You heard it here first! Unless you’ve seen them, or have read about them somewhere else on the internet — but I digress. Then, we roll for The Dictator and Battleship.

And as always, we’ve got album reviews! We listened to the new Tenacious D, Beach House, and Best Coast records and have lots to say about them. So listen up, won’t you?

Don’t forget to check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes. Please feel free to yell things at us on any of those sites. Do it!

Direct Download: SYNW_12_MAIN.mp3

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.

But the Schomberg Fair just released an album, you’ll say! It’s true, Mercy came out only last year; they’re just really awesome, I guess. Providence, their new album, returns to the band’s signature roots-meets-Sabbath sound, and comes out just in time to be available at the merch table during their upcoming Exclaim-sponsored Moose Knuckles and Belt Buckles 2012 Canadian tour with Larry and His Flask. The band will kick things off in Quebec City on June 10 with stops at NXNE and the Sled Island Festival along the way, taking them all the way to Fernie BC on June 23. Check out the full dates below and start getting excited for June 5!

06.10.2012 – Quebec City, QC – Le Scanner
06.11.2012 – Montreal, QC – Foufounes Electriques
06.12.2012 – Ottawa, ON – Café Dekcuf
06.13.2012 – Hamilton, ON – The Casbah
06.14.2012 – Toronto, ON – NXNE Music Festival
06.15.2012 – London, ON – Call The Office
06.16.2012 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Loplop’s Lounge
06.17.2012 – Thunder Bay, ON – Black Pirate’s Pub
06.18.2012 – Winnipeg, MB – Pyramid Cabaret
06.19.2012 – Regina, SK – The Exchange
06.20.2012 – Saskatoon, SK – Amigo’s
06.21.2012 – Edmonton, AB – New City Legion
06.22.2012 – Calgary, AB – Sled Island Music Festival
06.23.2012 – Fernie, BC – Northern Hotel