Friday, September 30, 2011

One For The Weeked: The Band In Heaven


Sleazy Dreams by The Band In Heaven

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Own a piece of Fleshtones hexbreaking history

Attention all Super Rock™fans: Fleshtones frontman Peter Zaremba just put a few rare personal items up for auction on eBay. Along with a few well-played LPs, namely a mono copy of The Kinks' Face To Face and stereo versions of the Rolling Stones Now! and Aftermath, also up for grabs to the highest bidder is the suede jacket he wore for the Fleshtones' 1982 appearance on American Bandstand. Check it out...



Men's stylish suede jacket size 40, slightly 'mustard' beige, as worn by Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones on American Bandstand, May 15th, 1982 "hey, I didn't know you guys were on American Bandstand..." Yep, sure were. Made in the 'British Crown Colony Of Hong Kong' (oh, those HK tailors!) Pretty nice condition, 100% rayon lining in excellent shape -no tears, etc. Could use a dry-cleaning but who doesn't? Still a steal for a swell suede jacket!

The opening bid on the snazzy jacket is $9.99 (US) and the auction closes on October 6 at 3:45 pm Eastern. For those interested in hearing what the Fleshtones were doing 29 years ago, here's a download link to a live recording of their Philadelphia show on September 28, 1982.



Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Stream Feist's new Metals album




                       

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Fleshtones @ This Ain't Hollywood tonight



Comin' Home Baby by The Fleshtones live at KDHX

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Another day, another hairy video from Björk

Moon by Björk



Biophilia is out on October 11th. Here's the official press release:

Björk's Biophilia is the Icelandic artist’s most interdisciplinary project to date, comprising a studio album, an app, a new website, custom-made musical instruments, live shows, and educational workshops. The album is due out on One Little Indian / Nonesuch Records on October 11, two weeks after its initially scheduled release date. Björk has posted a statement on her bjork.com site explaining why the move was made and offering lots of great news about the album in the process! Read the full text of Björk's note below.
The Biophilia album may be pre-ordered on CD and vinyl in North America via the Nonesuch Store (see Links below), with high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album included and available to download starting on release day. Available now in the Nonesuch Store is The Crystalline Series of four releases featuring variations on music from Biophilia.
Björk has collaborated with app developers, scientists, writers, inventors, musicians, and instrument makers to create a unique multi-media exploration of the universe and its physical forces—particularly those where music, nature and technology meet. The project is inspired by and explores these relationships between musical structures and natural phenomena, from the atomic to the cosmic.
Björk will take the Biophilia show to Iceland starting October for a residency of eight shows at the brand new Harpa Concert Hall, including two nights as part of the Iceland Airwaves Festival.

This is what Björk had to say about Biophilia:

dear folks
i would like to explain why my album is coming out later than was first intended
after humongous and fun adventurous work with the app builders we handed in the music for the app box last may i felt sonically it fitted that underworld of apps and virtual reality like a glove, kinda acoustic and clean with a slick dark sub but somehow the cd needed more blood and muscles, oxygen and stuff
i felt the album had different kinda growth potential than the app box and it is important to follow those hunches even though they are slippery and you don't know sometimes where they are taking you
i played biophilia for few weeks in manchester and some of the songs grew while playing them live and i decided to add some of this into the album, i ended up even using a live recording of one of the songs on the album. take my hunch the whole distance but in order to do that i had to put the album back a bit
my friend, the incredibly talented music maker leila arab came to iceland with no notice and added some sonic sculpting, especially to the bottom end and the great talented mastering engineer mandy parnell came over as well and helped me give the whole thing more warmth and flesh somehow
i am really happy i did this, seems like biophilia the album has a body
leila also introduced me to "current value" who now has put a new beat into one of the songs
hope you like it
warmth, björk


LINKS
site bjork.com  
label http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/bjork

Yuck @ The Horseshoe tonight


The Wall and interview



Get Away on Later with Jools Holland

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Butch Hancock discusses his drawings

Quantic kicks off Small World Music Festival


To get Toronto's 10th annual Small World Music Festival (September 22 - October 2) properly underway, Will "Quantic" Holland will be spinning a typically bangin' set of hot Afro-Colombian jams as the headliner of the Small World in the Square event tonight (Saturday, September 23) at Yonge-Dundas Square starting at 10 pm. The fantastic Baranquilla a Buenaventura mix that Quantic put together for our friends at the Sofrito site should get you up to speed for tonight's throwdown.
And if his hour-long session isn't enough of a good thing, you might want to head over to The Garrison (1197 Dundas West) afterwards where A Man Called Warwick is hosting his regular Turning Point Tropical Dancefloor party with special guest, Soundway label boss Miles Cleret – it's a good bet that's where Quantic will be spending the rest of the night.   


Small Word in the Square - Saturday (September 23)
Mainstage schedule:
1:00 - 1:45     Tich Maredza Quartet, Zimbabwe/ Canada (Zimbabwean Roots)
2:00 - 2:45     Drumhand, Canada (Pan-cultural percussion)
3:00 - 3:45     Eccodek, Canada (Global groove)
4:00 - 4:45     Vox Sambou, Haiti/ Canada (World hip hop)  *Presented in association with the Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture      
5:00 - 5:45     Njacko Backo, Cameroon/ Canada (Cameroonian drumming)
6:00 - 6:45     Autorickshaw, India/ Canada (Retro Bollywood)
7:00 – 7:45    A Moving Sound, China (Taiwanese contemporary)
8:00 - 8:45     Luisa Maita, Brazil (New Brazilian)
9:00 - 9:45     Boogat, Canada (Latin/French Hip Hop)
10:00- 11:00   Quantic, UK (Global beats & rhythms)

LINKS
Small World Music Festival http://www.smallworldmusic.com

Friday, September 23, 2011

Happy Birthday John Coltrane!



Equinox by José James



Resolution by José James

Les Breastfeeders Ce Soir!


Quatre cents milles



Ne perds pas la tête (Marie-Antoinette) 



Le party de cuisine

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Aaron Keele Contingent CD release party Friday


Respected Toronto vinyl dealer Aaron Keele is interested in more than selling cool records, he makes them too – albeit infrequently. After a 16-year studio hiatus, the Aaron Keele Contingent released the long overdue follow-up to 1995's widely slept-on Present Idiolect which actually did better with jazz fans in the UK and Europe than in Canada. But that could be changing with this new recording if download sales are any indication.
Just last week, The Aaron Keele Contingent's more mature new set just debuted at number one on the iTunes Jazz Album Chart and it's a well deserved placement as can be heard from the sweet update of Charles Brown's Tell Me You'll Wait For Me below.
To celebrate the arrival of the CD version, Keele will be showing off his impressive vocal chops backed by Rob Thaller, Davide DiRenzo and Ross MacIntyre at the intimate Gallery 345 (345 Sorauren) on Friday (September 23) starting at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 at the door or $25 with a copy of the CD.


   Tell Me You'll Wait For Me by The Aaron Keele Contingent


LINKS
site http://theaaronkeelecontingent.com/
facebook page
iTunes download

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

D-Sisive takes a tip from GG Allin


Toronto rapper D-Sisive prefaced the release of a gritty new Alex Colthart video for the Munshine-produced track GG Allin from his forthcoming Run With The Creeps album with the following note:

100 compliments can be presented to you, but that 1 insult has the power to completely ruin your day. Two bloggers earned that small victory against me a few months ago. When critiquing my last album, Jonestown 2, explaining why my music shouldn't walk amongst the artists eventually short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, they succeeded in throwing me off slightly with their jabs.
 
One called my writing 'uninspired' and 'lazy'. Said I relied solely on pop culture references and humor. There was no substance in my verses. He made me feel like an episode of the Family Guy. The other called my writing 'juvenile'. He was annoyed by the excessive foul language I used and felt my writing belonged in the hallways of a high school. Not out of the mouth of a 31 year old. He made me feel like Andrew Dice Clay.
 
Seth McFarlane is one of the highest earning writers for television. The Dice Man once sold out Madison Square Garden, selling millions of records in the comedy genre. Regardless, I'm neither of those. A handful of fans came to my defense, causing me to feel proud with a pinch of embarrassment. One of the bloggers took back a few of the jabs and said he'd check out my other music. I respect that. The other was...well, I didn't follow up. Probably twisting the whiskers of his beard, listening to an ambient record while writing another letter to a television network.
 
My new single, well...My first single from Run With The Creeps, GG Allin, is dedicated to them. Dedicated to, not inspired by. Dedicated to those who don't get what I'm trying to do. Not everybody will. Not everybody should. Not everybody will like it, and I understand that. I've been faced with much worse than those two bloggers. The scars and bruises in the video represent something. Apologies for not using the radio edit in the video.
 
My album release date has been pushed back one week. November 8th. One Week...Like that time Pacey Witter from Dawson's Creek and I rode our motorcycles around Canada because he had cancer. Pacy: We must have made a wrong turn. We're in New York! Derek: New York? Pacy: Yeah, the Big Apple! Derek: No. This is an apple pie shop off of the 401, you fucking idiot! Ohhhhhhhhh! (flicks cigarette at Pacey)
FART NOISE!!
...He's a Family Guuuuuuuuuuuuuy!
Continue cheerleading for the safety nets.
Derek  

GG Allin by D-Sisive


D-Sisive - GG Allin
From the album "Run With The Creeps"
Directed by Alex Colthart for Rawfootage Productions
Produced by Muneshine

Website: http://www.runwiththecreeps.com
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGob6TbNjrw
Download: http://urbnet.bandcamp.com/album/gg-allin-single

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Arcade Fire wins Polaris popularity contest


Just as Vancouver psychic numerologist Cassandra MacLeane predicted last week, Montreal's Arcade Fire topped up their 2011 award haul on Monday night with a Polaris Prize win for The Suburbs which has already earned the group Album of the Year honours at the Grammys, Junos and the Brits.



Although any of the other nine lesser celebrated acts shortlisted for this year's Polaris – Austra, Braids, Destroyer, Galaxie, Hey Rosetta!, Ron Sexsmith, Colin Stetson, Timber Timbre, The Weekndcould've benefited much more from the profile boost that comes with the award – not to mention the $30,000 cash bonus –  Arcade FIre's unsurprising win just confirms that the Polaris Prize really is nothing more than an indie rock popularity contest.
Not that there's anything wrong with rewarding success,  however, the time has come for the Polaris executive board to give up the pretense that Canadian artists working outside the indie rock realm in say jazz, blues, pop, country, R&B, folk, gospel, reggae, metal, electronic, experimental, or classical music have an equal shot at Polaris glory – they don't.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

C'mon... over


It saddens me to report that C'mon is loading up their van for the final time as the mighty power trio will be splitting upon completing a series of seven Southern Ontario dates culminating with one last blow-out at Toronto's Bovine Sex Club on October 22. Before they check out, there will be a limited-run double A-side seven-inch and there's also a live in-the-studio recording slated for Chemical Sound. Here's the official release from mainman Sir Ian Blurton:

After 9 years, 4 full lengths, 4 7"s, 1 10", 3 EPs, 1 compilation album, 8 Canadian tours, 1 European tour, a couple rounds of SXSW, and NO stupid videos, the Canadian/USA cross-border Rock and Roll of C'mon will cease to exist after Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. Why are we breaking up, you ask?

A. Couldn't stand the thought of eating or drinking Tim Horton's ever again.

B. Never want to play another all ages show.

C. The only drumstick company Dean uses went out of business.

D. Bummed there isn't a 'Best Van' category at The Junos.

We will be playing our final 2 weeks of shows in Ontario and Quebec to say goodbye to the best fans a band could ever have. The first 40 paying customers at each show (with one little exception) will receive a free copy of the new C'mon 7". This double A-side features a new recording of one of the first songs C'mon ever wrote yet was never released, and the very last song we ever wrote. The 7" is a
co-release by Yeah Right! Records (thanks Tony, as always) and our fake label, Blown Speaker. On Monday October 17 we will be doing a live recording at Chemical Sound in Toronto and will be having a contest for possible attendees in the next couple of weeks at www.thisiscmon.com. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped to keep C'mon up and running during our tenure.
We fucking love you.



Here are the dates:

Thurs, Oct. 13 Kingston @ The Toucan
Free show with Miesha and The Spanks - No free 7" on this night.

Fri, Oct. 14 Ottawa @ The Dominion Tavern
with The Mercy Now and Miesha and The Spanks. $10.

Sat, Oct. 15 Montreal @ Barfly
with Dead Messenger and The Mercy Now. $10.

Wed, Oct. 19 Waterloo @ The Starlight
with The Mercy Now. $10.

Thurs, Oct. 20 Toronto @ Cherry Colas
with (from Moncton) Shevil. $8.

Fri, Oct. 21 London @ Call The Office
with Bison BC. $10. Note: C'mon on second.

Sat, Oct. 22 Toronto @ The Bovine Sex Club
with Bison BC, Burning Love and Miesha and The Spanks. $12.


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Happy Birthday Hank Williams!


On October 4, The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams will premiere 12 unheard Hank Williams compositions drawn from handwritten lyrics found after his tragic passing and brought to life by a cast of contemporary artists inspired by his work including Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, Rodney Crowell, Jack White, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless and others. Here's a preview...




Friday, September 16, 2011

Nick Lowe at Massey Hall tonight!


Will the real Imposter please stand up? 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Celebrating Bill Monroe's 100th Birthday!


Wayfaring Stranger

A uniquely Brazilian response to Planet Rock


Bahia-born singer/songwriter Lucas Santtana created his super fresh b-boy banger Super Violão Mashup – from his dope new Sem Nostalgia (Mais Um Disco) album – using acoustic guitar samples from the recordings of Dori Caymmi, Jorge Ben, Tom Zé, Novos Baianos, Gilberto Gil and Baden Powell. Only in Brazil. 

Super Violão Mashup


LINKS
site http://www.lucassanttana.com/
MySpace http://www.myspace.com/santtana 
label http://maisumdiscos.net/
download 4 song Oi! A Nova Musica Brasileira! sampler

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Ex + Brass Unbound = shaking walls

The Ex + Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Roy Paci, Wolter Wierbos 29/08/11 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Mudhoney return to scorch the 'Shoe tonight


You Got It by Mudhoney @ the Horseshoe 09/19/08




I'm Now



The Lucky Ones



Next Time

Friday, September 9, 2011

The Zombies @ Casino Rama tonight!



Zombies celebrate 50th Anniversary



Rod Argent discusses Breathe Out, Breathe In



Play It For Real



Show Me The Way

Thursday, September 8, 2011

One For The Weekend: Wild Flag


Romance by Wild Flag (directed by Tom Scharpling)

RIP filmmaker George Kuchar, 1942-2011


LINKS

Obituaries:
New York Times Paul Vitello
Village Voice  J. Hoberman
San Francisco Chronicle Meredith May
Vice Rocco Castoro

Watch George Kuchar's films: 
UBUWEB  http://www.ubu.com/film/kuchar.html
It Came From Kuchar http://kucharfilm.com/


It Came From Kuchar trailer

Happy Birthday Neko Case!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Listen to Wilco's new album The Whole Love

Three weeks prior to Wilco's official release of The Whole Love, they're thoughtfully streaming their much-anticipated forthcoming album right here for 24 hours... gratis!


Friday, September 2, 2011

One For The Weekend: Blue Beard



Sly Willie by Blue Beard

Thursday, September 1, 2011

José James debuts two new songs


José James interview



Park Bench People



Trouble



It's All Over Your Body