Panda Bear previews new album Sinister Grift with "Ends Meet"

Noah Lennox puts his own spin on "La Bamba" with "Ends Meet" off his new Panda Bear album Sinister Grift out February 28.

Here's the scoop... 

On ‘Sinister Grift’, Panda Bear’s first solo album in five years, Noah Lennox has returned with another statement that feels equally cumulative and unprecedented in his catalog. While his solo records have ranged from starkly intimate expressions of grief to colorful, electronic opuses, his music has never before sounded so warm and immediate. Working in his Lisbon, Portugal home studio with Animal Collective bandmate Josh “Deakin” Dibb, Lennox transforms Panda Bear into something resembling an old-school rock ensemble, playing nearly all the instruments himself and inviting kindred spirits into the process such as Cindy Lee, Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede, and—for the first time on a Panda Bear solo album—each of his Animal Collective bandmates. 

You can pre-order Panda Bear's Sinister Grift album via Bandcamp right here. Panda Bear shares a bill with Toro y Moi and Nourished By Time at the Danforth Music Hall on Monday (February 10). Doors at 6 pm, showtime is 7 pm sharp. Crocs optional. Get tickets via Collective Concerts over here. 

Listen to "Ends Meet" below. 

Canadian reggae documentary Sounds & Pressure screens on TVO, Sunday

Graeme Mathieson & Chris Flanagan's excellent documentary series Sounds & Pressure: Reggae In A Foreign Land screens on TVO on Sunday at 9 pm.  

Sounds & Pressure: Reggae In A Foreign Land

At the height of the golden age of reggae, some of Jamaica’s brightest stars left their homeland behind to shine their light in an unlikely hub of Caribbean creativity: Toronto. Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land is a captivating five-part anthology series that chronicles the musical and geographical journeys of Nana McLean, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Jerry Brown and duo Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison. Through rare archives, electrifying needle drops and lively interviews with the artists themselves, directors Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan take you from Kingston to Kensington Market to see and hear how reggae made roots in Canada against all odds. 

Watch the Sounds & Pressure trailer and the five episodes below. 

Rhiannon Giddens announces two Toronto shows at Koerner Hall on May 15 & 16

Banjo boss Rhiannon Giddens plays a two-night stand at Koerner Hall in Toronto on May 15 & 16 - get your tickets quick. 

Here's the scoop...

I’m so excited for Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue tour to kick off this April! I’ll be performing along with Justin Robinson, Dirk Powell, Jason Sypher, Demeanor, and Amelia Powell. Pre-sale tickets are available at rhiannongiddens.com/tour. Watch Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson rip through "Hook and Line" followed by a list of tour dates below. 

Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue on tour

April 25-27 - Durham, NC - Biscuits & Banjos (sold out)

April 30 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel (Hurricane Helene benefit)

May 2 - Miami, FL - Miami Beach Bandshell

May 3 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern

May 4 - Birmingham, AL - Jemison Concert Hall at Alys Robinson Stephens Center

May 7 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium

May 8 - Cincinnati, OH - Memorial Hall

May 9 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall

May 11 - Washington, DC - The Kennedy Center Concert Hall

May 13 - Grand Rapids, MI - St. Cecilia Music Center

May 15 - Toronto, ON - Koerner Hall at The Royal Conversatory of Music

May 16 - Toronto, ON - Koerner Hall at The Royal Conversatory of Music

May 17 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre, Southam Hall

June 15 - Napa, CA - Uptown Theatre

June 16 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Theater

June 19 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park

June 21 - Berkeley, CA - Zellerbach

June 23 - Seattle, WA - The Moore Theatre

June 26 - Montréal, QC - Théâtre Maisonneuve at Montreal Jazz Festival

Kahil El'Zabar & Ethnic Heritage Ensemble @ Contxt, February 14

Corey Wilkes, Kahil El'Zabar & Alex Harding return to Toronto for a much-anticipated Valentine's Day show at Contxt (254 Lansdowne) on Friday. 

Here's the scoop...

The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble was formed in 1974 shortly after Sir Kahil El’Zabar graduated from Lake Forest College, with the goal of combining concepts of African-American music with its earlier roots in traditional African sound, to produce new motifs and sounds true to their origins yet firmly pointed in a new artistic direction ”of enlightenment and deep listening”. Half a century later, the rich, compelling, and ever-evolving sound they are known for is still going strong. Together with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (with percussionist Kahil El'Zabar joined by trumpeter Corey Wilkes and baritone saxophonist Alex Harding) is one of the two remaining original groups active in the world today that were nurtured in the legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Join us live on Friday (February 14) at 6:30 pm for an intimate celebration of The EHE's 50th anniversary live in CONTXT (254 Lansdowne). Tickets are $55 advance, $65 at the door. Get tickets right here. Check out a short Ethnic Heritage Ensemble documentary and a discussion with Kahil El'Zabar following a rip through "Compared To What" below. 

Whaddya mean you don't know Don Medardo y sus Players

Ecuadoran maestro Don Medardo cut a swingin' set of cumbia cookers with a bit of porro & gaita called Desde Nueva York in 1970.

Remembering J. Dilla on his birthday

Raising a glass to producer James Yancey aka J. Dilla for whom a street has been named in Detroit at Nevada St. E and Charest.  

One For The Weekend: Mekons

The Mekons wisely enlisted Rico Bell aka "Alain Felon" to play the romantic lead opposite Sally Timms in their arty B&W video for "Fallen Leaves."