photo journal: doors open 2011

This past weekend was Doors Open Toronto (a weekend in Toronto where many buildings allow visitors free access to properties that are usually not open to the public.) Naturally, I was super excited because of the great opportunities to take some cool photos... and hassle free! Here are some of my pictures from the weekend, as always, go to my Flickr to see all the pictures!

Stunning Art Deco decor inside the RC Harris Water Treatment Plant:




Some huge and impressive machines at the RC Harris Water Treatment Plant:




Inside a fire truck at Fire Station 227... so cool!




Inside the Redpath Sugar Refinery—definitely my top pick at this year's Doors Open!




I want this: Living Wall Biofilter by Nedlaw inside Corus Quay.




Gorgeous art installation by Troika inside Corus Quay:




Finally, I had an incredible experience at Toronto's First Post Office—wrote a letter with a quill pen and sealed it with wax!



See all of my Doors Open 2011 photos here!

song of the moment

Avi Buffalo performs "Julian Rios":

how to dress well: love remains

Weird—I could have sworn that I posted about Love Remains by How To Dress Well. It came out last September but I did't start obsessively listening to it till early this year. For me, Love Remains is an escape record. The lo-fi ambient sound/noise and sometimes pop/R&B-like tender vocal produce a beautifully lethargic and airy atmosphere. I absolutely love listening to it through my big headphones and feeling lost in the congested city streets. Love Remains is an unique music experience and it is really a gorgeous sounding record!



visit How To Dress Well's blog here and follow How To Dress Well on Twitter
buy Love Remains here

song of the moment

Listen/download this dreamy song entitled "Surface" by Teen Daze. The track is the lead single from Teen Daze's upcoming EP, A Silent Planet, out on Waaga Records.

Teen Daze: Surface [wicked-cool song]

two breathtaking videos!

Happy Thursday morning! Why not start your day off by watching these breathtaking videos below:

watch this! watch this!

Dananananaykroyd's new album (one of my most-anticipated albums of the year), There Is A Way (Pizza College) is coming out on June 13th and an exclusive online bundle is available for pre-order over at the band's store!

Watch Dananananaykroyd's video for "Muscle Memory" below:

song of the moment

Holy crap, this is great—Marques Toliver performing "White Sails" on Later with Jools Holland:



Marques Toliver just released his debut EP Butterflies Are Not Free, you can pick up a copy or two from Bella Union.

finally—new zomby tracks!!!

OMG—two new Zomby songs!!! First 4AD single, "Natalia's Song" and "Things Fall Apart"!





Not as exciting and spontaneous as I would except, but I’ll take any new Zomby materials... have been waiting a while!

The highly-anticipated album, Dedication will be out on July 11th (UK) and 12th (North America).

best lyrics ever!

Let's Wrestle just released their second record, Nursing Home this past week and the opening song, "In Dreams Part II" has by far one of the best lines ever:

"In my dreams there were Pokemon beating me up, I punched Pigeoto right in the face..."



Be sure to check out the hilarious 11-page comic book by singer-songwriter Wesley Patrick Gonzalez!

3rd single from new pwolf's album

Watch Patrick Wolf's brand new video for "House" below:

PW's new album Lupercalia is out on June 20th, pre-order this gorgeous limited edition deluxe box set here.

the king blues: punk & poetry

The King Blues’ Punk & Poetry has been my favourite album of the past month. I just can’t get enough of this unbelievably catchy and lyrically brilliant album. This is the best protest album I have heard in a long time. The open track, "Last Of The Dreamers" sets the album up perfectly: "...This is for the outcasts, the freaks and the schemers/This is for the last of the dreamers." What singer/writer Itch does so entertainingly well is his ability to include humour (often in a mocking fashion) to his serious subject matters—"Five Bottles Of Shampoo" is an amazing example of how he can insert slight humour in a song about gender discrimination/sexism. Punk & Poetry really has everything—punk attitudes, folk passion, it is inspiring, angry and lively... and even if you don’t pay attention to Itch’s great lyrics, you would enjoy the album simply for its insanely catchy chorus!







follow The King Blues on Twitter
visit The King Blues’ MySpace here
buy Punk & Poetry here

two good songs from two very different Icelandic artists

Check out this ultra weird video for the song "Two Boys" by Sin Fang... love it!




Not a huge fan of the video, but I love this song by FM Belfast. "I Don't Want to Go To Sleep Either" is just a really catchy and fun song!

song of the moment

Holy shit—awesome new video from Manchester Orchestra! The band's new record Simple Math, is out today!

song of the moment

Happy Monday morning! Watch Titus Andronicus toured New Jersey in this great new video for "No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future".

happy mother's day/tcaf!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Just realized that I completely forgot to post about TCAF (Toronto Comics Art Festival)—guess I was too excited—it started yesterday and it will be on again today at the Toronto Reference Library from 11am–5pm (bring your mom!) This is by far one of my favourite events in Toronto, it is such a great opportunity to discover new books and artists... oh and it’s FREE! This year’s lineup is just perfect, most of my favourite artists are here including Nate Powell, Jeff Lemire, and Matt Loux! Please to check out TCAF and go support Independent artists!

cover song of the moment

Jack Conte of Pomplamoose has released an awesome video of himself covering the Mario theme song... Love it!