summerworks 2010!

SummerWorks Festival begins today with The Hidden Cameras headlining the music portion at the Lower Ossington Theatre (they are also headlining a second show tomorrow night!) Other performances I am excited for are Ghost Bees, Laura Barrett, Diamond Rings, The Mountains & The Trees and Evening Hymns. Please go to the SummerWorks site for the full music schedule!

nxne @ criminal records

Criminal Records is hosting two in-stores for this year's NXNE. Fanshaw will play today at 7pm and Phenomenal Handclap Band will play on Sunday (June 20) at 4pm!

you got a few tricks up your sleeve

Wondering who the special guest @ The Silver Dollar is tonight?

It's THE SOFT PACK!!! The band takes stage after The Strange Boys at 2am, be there!

i'll catch you again someday on the streets of pittsburgh pennsylvania

Justin Sane of Anti-Flag will be in Toronto for the premiere of Sounds Like A Revolution at the end of June. Justin will perform three special acoustic sets at The Royal Cinema after the screening of the film on the following dates:

June 26 @ 9:30pm

June 27 @ 4:30 & 7pm

free shows at trinity-bellwoods!

By now, most of you probably heard about the amazing free concerts at Yonge-Dundas Square during this year's NXNE. But if you prefer stripped down, unplugged performances with a more community/intimate vibe, then "Live in Bellwoods: NXNE Picnic Sessions" is perfect for you! Come to Trinity-Bellwoods Park on Thursday to Sunday between 2–5 pm for some FREE acoustic shows! Check out the full list of performers below:

Thursday
Smile Smile
Tristen
Final Flash
Boats

Friday
Young Galaxy
Make Your Exit
Imaginary Cities
Gramercy Riffs
The Balconies

Saturday
The Sheepdogs
Sandman Viper Command
Savoir Adore
Dinosaur Bones
US Royalty

Sunday, Melody Lamb's muhfuggin' birthday picnic, co-presented by http://www.singinglamb.ca
Olympic Island
The Peelies
Allie Hughes
the Elwins
Ruby Coast

countdown to nxne 2010!

While the music portion of NXNE does not start till Wednesday night, the festival officially begun earlier today with NXNE Interactive. I’ve always had fun during NXNE—seeing awesome bands live, hearing new music, hanging out with friends, meeting new people—but I am usually dreadfully exhausted by the end. In the past, I would rush from venues to venues and try to see too many bands each night; my strategy this year is to stick to one to two venue(s) per night so I don’t exhaust myself and because I don’t feel like rushing! Here’s what my tentative schedule looks like:

Thursday, June 17
Zola Jesus 9pm @ Sneaky Dee's
Women 10pm @ The Great Hall
Best Coast 11pm @ The Great Hall
HEALTH 12am @ Sneaky Dee’s
The Strange Boys 1am @ The Silver Dollar
The Soft Pack 2am @ The Silver Dollar

*Mudhoney 9pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
*X 10pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
*Thee Oh Sees 12am @ The Great Hall
*Little Girls 12am @ The Drake Hotel Underground


Friday, June 18
Avi Buffalo (acoustic show!) 9pm @ The Great Hall
Timber Timbre 10pm @ Gladstone Hotel Ballroom
Diamond Rings 11pm @ Wrongbar
Japandroids 12am @ Lee’s Palace

*Burn Planetarium 12am @ The Drake Hotel Underground

*Women 2am @ The Silver Dollar

*The Rough Sea 2am @ Mitzi's Sister


Saturday, June 19
The Soft Pack 4pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
DD/MM/YYYY 5pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
Surfer Blood 6pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
Wavves 7pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
The Raveonettes 8pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
Iggy and the Stooges 9:30pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
The Soft Pack 11pm @ Lee's Palace
Avi Buffalo 12am @ Lee’s Palace
Best Coast 2am @ Wrong Bar

*The D’Urbervilles 12am @ The Drake Hotel Underground


Sunday, June 20 (I probably won’t end up seeing anything this day because it’s Father’s Day!)
Phenomenal Handclap Band 7pm @ Yonge Dundas Square
De La Soul 9pm @ Yonge Dundas Square

*backups/other shows I am interested in attending

i walked in on a plan to dissolve all of your wishes

The 2010 NXNE schedule is now online! The lineup so far this year looks absolutely amazing: the Yonge Dundas Square June 19th date includes The Soft Pack, Surfer Blood, and IGGY AND THE STOOGES! Not to mention that my new favourite band Avi Buffalo are playing twice: The Great Hall on the 18th and Lee's Palace on the 19th! I can't wait!!!!

it is good

If you are in the Toronto area today, be sure to stop by at Criminal Records (493 Queen St West) around 6pm for a free in-store performance by Hannah Georgas!

i've got your name tatooed inside of my arm

Pre-order for The Gaslight Anthem’s highly-anticipated third album, American Slang starts TODAY! Get multiple formats/variants of the album over at the band’s site, SideOneDummy Records, No Idea Records, or Vinyl Collective.

For all you vinyl fans, here is the breakdown of American Slang vinyl pressing:

Vinyl Collective Exclusive Color: 500 on Dip Half Black/Half Cover Green (White Splatter on Cover Green side)
No Idea Exclusive Color: 500 on Dip Half Black/Half White (Cover Green Splatter on White side)
Side One Dummy Exclusive Color: 500 on 180 Gram, closest shade of Gray match the cover art
European Pressing: 1000 on 180 Gram Green Vinyl
180 Gram Black Vinyl Pressing—This becomes the standard pressing once the colored variants sell out.

The Gaslight Anthem has also announced their first run of North American dates:

JUNE
15 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza *

JULY
14 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy *
15 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore (special lineup also featuring The Hold Steady and The Whigs)
16 St. Louis, MO @ Pop's *
17 Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre *
20 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre *
21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
22 San Jose, CA @ "Music in the Park Series"
24 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre *
26 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
27 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues *
28 Columbus, OH @ LC Pavillion *
29 Philadelphia, PA @ Great Plaza at Penn's Landing *
31 Providence, RI @ Lupo's *

AUGUST
01 Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
02 Boston, MA @ House of Blues *

* = w/ Tim Barry and special guests

last minute/surprise record store day in-store:

This just in—The Tallest Man On Earth will play live today at Criminal Records at 7 pm!!!!!!!

the one who searches and destroys

A huge announcement from NXNE today that Iggy And The Stooges will be doing a free show at this year’s festival!!!!!! (OMG!!!!) Other acts announced so far includes X, The Soft Pack, Japandroids, Surfer Blood, DD/MM/YYYY, The Besnard Lakes, The Sunshine Underground, Women, and The Raveonettes. Go here for the full list so far.

oml!

Old Man Luedecke is playing a FREE in-store at Criminal Records in Toronto this Thursday (8th) at 6:30 pm! Here's a photo from the last in-store at Criminal.

OML just released a new record called My Hands Are On Fire and Other Love Songs, hear a few songs from it here. And if you haven't already, make sure to check out OML's fantastic 2008 release, Proof Of Love.

this is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed

A reminder that Noah and The Whale are playing a FREE in-store at Criminal Records in about 10 hours from now... that's 12-noon! The band will also play later on tonight at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern!

noah and the whale'll sing love songs about heartbreak and grief

Here's some good news for those who live in Toronto and don't like spending money:

Noah And The Whale will be play a free in-store at Criminal Records on Saturday, October 31st at noon! Then, a week later, Timber Timbre will play for free at North York Central Library on Saturday, November 7 at 8pm!

Make sure you check those shows out! Both bands have put out albums—Noah And The Whale: The First Days of Spring and Timber Timbre: Timber Timbre—that are sitting in my top 5 of 2009 at the moment.

song of the moment: "the indie queens are waiting" by dan mangan

In addition to his show at The Rivoli tonight, Dan Mangan will be playing a FREE in-store at Criminal Records today at 6pm! Check out this wonderful track from Dan Mangan's sophomore album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice.

Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting [wicked-cool song]



visit Dan Mangan's MySpace here

song of the moment: "curse of the currents" by said the whale

Check out this cool video by Vancouver's Said The Whale:


Head over to Criminal Records tomorrow (October 9th) at 6pm to see the band play a FREE in-store!

visit Said The Whale's MySpace here

noah and the whale: the first days of spring

Noah And The Whale’s new record, The First Days of Spring is rather different from their charming debut, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down. The band’s sophomore release is wonderfully mellow and genuinely heartbreaking. The First Days of Spring features some of the most moving and candid songs I have heard in a long long time. I remember thinking of how personal this album sounds during my initial listens, and then I read somewhere that much of the album is about/inspired by Charlie Fink’s breakup with former part-time member Laura Marling... oh it makes so much sense!

The opening/title track really sets the pace and tone for the rest of the album. The melodic violin and guitar notes as well as the slow and quiet thumping of the drum in the background create a minimal atmosphere. It is not until 1:20 into the song where vocal comes in—again, setting the pace that things move slowly—emotion changes gradually and it takes time to heal a heartbreak; nothing can be rushed (seriously, what a difference from opening with "2 Atoms In A Molecule"!) This song begins quite optimistically: "It’s the first day of spring/And my life is starting over again"... "But like a cut down tree, I will rise again/And I’ll be bigger and stronger than ever before." However, Fink’s voice tells a completely different story; his crackly and tender singing show a level of loneliness, desperation, and vulnerability. The next line "For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back" confirms Fink’s weakness. Much like the opener, the majority of the album is more sad songs and heartbreaking tales. "Stranger" and "Blue Skies" are my favourite and probably the most depressing songs on the album. The latter features some of the most memorable lines in any song this year: "This is a song for anyone with a heart/This is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed/I'll do anything to be happy/Oh, cause blue skies are coming/But I know that it's hard." Even though I am quite happy at the moment, I absolutely adore these two tracks; what can I say, I am a huge sucker for sad songs! As mentioned earlier, most of the songs on The First Days of Spring are quite low-key and exceedingly minimal, except for "Love of an Orchestra", which is up-tempo and it features a choir and orchestra. It is brilliant and sounds like something from a musical!

The First Days of Spring is a beautifully crafted emotional journey; the album is flawless—the music, lyrics, Fink’s vocal, the ordering of the tracks... the album cover art—Noah And The Whale have created a masterpiece! There are already three or four songs on this album that I considered to be some of the best songs of 2009, so it is not really surprising that The First Days of Spring is, at the moment, my favourite album of the year!

Stranger [super-wicked-cool song]
Blue Skies [super-wicked-cool song]

visit Noah and the Whale's MySpace here
The First Days of Spring comes out on October 6th in North America, you can pre-order it here,
but it is out in the UK already and you can buy the regular version of the album here and the Deluxe Edition CD/DVD here


There is also a film by the same title to accompany the album and there will be exclusive screenings of it in the following cities:

September
17 Velvet Lounge in Washington, DC
25 Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA
26 Darkroom/Panic! in Chicago, IL
30 The Whiskey Bar in Seattle, WA

October
3 Crashin’ In @ Stranton Public in New York, NY
4 Burn @ The Castle in Tampa, FL
6 Cinespace in Hollywood, CA
6 Good Records in Dallas, TX
8 Bryant Lake Bow in Minneapolis, MN
8 Popscene in San Francisco, CA
9 Comet Tavern in Seattle, WA
20 Trainwreck @ Angels & Kings in New York, NY


The band will also embark on a small North American tour in October:

20 The Roxy in Los Angeles, CA
21 Casbah in San Diego, CA
22 Swedish American Hall in San Francisco, CA
24 Crocodile Café in Seattle, WA
25 Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR
28 Majestic Theatre in Madison, WI
29 Lake Shore Theatre in Chicago, IL
30 The Pike Room in Pontiac, MI
31 The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, ONT

at the bottom you'll find all our friends

To celebrate the release of Daisy, Brand New will also be doing a few free in-store performances next week at the following stores:

September 22nd West Babylon, NY @ Looney Tunes (5PM)
September 23rd Fords, NJ @ Vintage Vinyl (5PM)
September 24th Toronto, ON @ HMV–333 Yonge Street (4PM)

another one!

Julie Fader, Brian Borcherdt, and Jose Miguel Contreras will stop by at Criminal Records for a FREE in-store at 6pm today! Hopefully I can finish my work on time to make it to this!

this is one of the reasons why criminal records is the best music store in toronto/the world!

The good people at Criminal Records have put together a handful of wicked FREE in-stores in September and October:

Sept 8th—Cuff The Duke @ 7pm
Sept 17th—Julie Fader, Brian Borcherdt, and Jose Miguel Contreras @ 6pm
Sept 24th—The Antlers @ 6pm

Oct 9th—Said The Whale @ 6pm
Oct 16th—Dan Mangan @ 5pm