Michael Bublé might have walked out with the most hardware at last night’s The Juno Awards, and his wins might have prompted more than a few eye rolls from the more progressive listeners in the audience, but awards ceremonies rarely get it right. They rarely reward bravery in artistic expression or experimentation and settle for the […] More »

Admittedly, this week’s addition of Tuesday Tracks a little Toronto-centric. Generally, we like to ensure the cream rises from coast to coast, but the three songs selected this week were so strong it would have been tragic to bump any one of them even for a week. However, while the homebase may be Southern Ontario, […] More »

With the arrival of another Tuesday, we feel privileged to bring you another smattering of consumable Can-con. This week’s crop features a couple of anticipated new releases, and a group of inspired newcomers with old bones. Caribou is back with the followup to his Polaris winning masterpiece Andorra. The album, Swim, will be available April […] More »

It’s Tuesday, the day we run down a few picks of new and/or notable Canadian music. Just a digest of newish songs today, in contrast to last week’s epic paean to Tomboyfriend from Luke. What do you prefer for this feature? A quick selection of music to listen to, or a longer piece of writing […] More »

The distinction of “all time favourite song,” more often than not, is something reserved for the teenage years. For some, whose musical tastes stall with the arrival of adulthood, that all time favourite song might last a lifetime. For others, it simply becomes a reminder of those years when every new discovery carried significant emotional […] More »

One of the great redeeming aspects of big, multi-day, city-wide music festivals like Canadian Music Week/Fest is the opportunity for discovery. It’s very rare these days that one gets the opportunity to hear something truly great, for the first time, in a live setting. Generally, if I’m going to a show where I’m unfamiliar with […] More »

For today’s instalment of Verbatim, Marisa Iacobucci interviews Liz Worth about her new book, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond. The original podcast is available to listen to here. (To ensure you never miss an episode, how about subscribing to the RSS feed or through iTunes?) The book […] More »

Another Tuesday, another bite-sized helping of newish Canadian independent music. Today sees new releases from Jason Collett, Ghostkeeper, and The Besnard Lakes. To start: Jason Collett‘s new album Rat A Tat Tat is out today, including this track, “Love is a Dirty Word,” which seems altogether too amiable for its cynical title. Next! Ghostkeeper‘s “By […] More »

We’re going to try out a new feature for a bit, and see if it sticks: “Tuesday Tracks” — a small weekly collection of newish Canadian independent music. All three of our artists here have new albums being released today. First up: “Jasper” by Aidan Knight. String, sparklers, a slow-cooker — the video starts with […] More »

Our friends at Images Festival have very nicely given us two passes to the screening of Grant Gee’s documentary Joy Division, screening this Friday, February 5, 2010 in Toronto. So, in order to make sure the swag goes to a true JD fan, we’re asking you to leave a comment below naming your favourite Joy […] More »

I saw him on the subway for the first time the day I brought the meat bomb to work. He wore the most glorious toupée. It was the colour of a fox with the front curled under in a Prince Valiant thing that continued on around the sides and back of his head. It didn’t […] More »