The one remaining family-oriented event of the Warm Up series, the promises to be a fun and unique afternoon for anyone who happens to be a suitable demographic.
The Family Dance Party is a charming and unique kid-friendly music and art party that is taking place Sunday. The video clip above depicts the Jan 20, 2007 edition of the event at the Drake but this weekend's party is going to be in a far more exciting venue: this season's biggest word in trend, . It will also, they maintain, be hosted by Andy Warhol himself.
Local promoters REMG hit another home run last night at the Phoenix. A sold out crowd braved the cold air last night to see The Hard Sell starring California turntablists and , with a special opening set by Canada's own .
When I first heard it, ' music took me by total surprise, and that says a lot when you consider how quiet and understated his album The Hold Up is in comparison to my short attention span.
But there I was, up on a ladder painting the ceiling in the kitchen, listening to , when Donovan's song "He Drinks Gas" comes on with its peculiar opening lines ("I bet him he wouldn't drink any gas and he did just to spite me") and I was hooked, even though it was nothing more than a guy with a guitar telling a strange little story punctuated with some gentle touches of piano and banjo. Immediately it was down with the brush and out with the laptop, and within minutes I learned that not only was he a TO resident, he also had a show coming up at the Savannah Room (294 College, $10) on Saturday, February 2nd.
New week, new TO-Do List. Last week was just too much, so for week two of the series we've scaled it back to a length you might actually want to read. Here's a quick look at what's coming up on the concert calendar that you just might want to keep an eye on:
When you think of a music scene in Toronto, Folk may not be the first genre that pops into your noggin. But believe me, it's got a sizable following. Tonight, you'll have a chance to see for yourself. The welcomes the Girls With Glasses, namely , , and (pictured above, without her glasses). I had a chance to catch up with Allison (since she's my cousin, and currently crashing on my couch... ah, the life of a singer-songwriter!), and asked her a few questions about her tour with the goggled girls and her outlook on the folk scene.
KG: How did you originally meet the other "girls with glasses"?
AB: Well I met Eve first, way back at one of the first I volunteered at; then I met Evalyn and Karyn at (Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) somewhere along the way; I know for sure I met Karyn at the OCFF jam in Sudbury years ago. I'm pretty sure I met Evalyn officially when she came to London for a gig... festivals, OCFF, my radio show.. that's how I meet up with everyone.
Toronto-based DJ/producer Stu Freen (aka ) seems to be on the fast track to international acclaim. Almost a year ago, the Queens University graduate shared a remix he made for the theme song of "In Living Colour" - the hilarious 90's comedy show that launched the careers of Jim Carrey, The Wayans brothers and, uh, Jennifer Lopez.
Sta's remix went over well with the blog crowd and it caught the attention of UK breaks legend . Now the track is being released worldwide via Freeland's Marine Parade label on January 28. I spoke to Sta about the show that inspired his remix, the crappy TTC schedule and about how much fun everyone is going to have at his record release party at the Drake Underground this Saturday.
Last Sunday got steamy for a wintery Toronto night with a house-packed full of young party goers who were craving to see (a.k.a Kid Millionaire) and famous mySpace superstar .
Back in the 1960's, the province of Ontario commissioned a short film and song to promote tourism at in Montreal. Written by (also of fame), the catchy tune still lives as memories held within the deeper folds in our brains. I remember learning and singing the song in school as a kid in the 1980's.
The song was revived by Rick Mercer on the in 2004 when they created this parody, which emphasized the "grow" concept in Toronto (and I only saw this for the first time today).
Check out the original video, and links to the province's current tourism promotional efforts after the jump...
In support for their third full-length record Live It Out, toured the world for two years. Their label decided to capture their live show during a stop at Montreal's beautiful Metropolis theatre back in 2006. Five HD cameras filmed them rocking out to an adoring sold out crowd. I was at there and it was great.
Unfortunately the DVD shoot didn't go so well. So began the epic journey of the Live at Metropolis DVD that finally saw the light of day over the past two nights at .
Like most cities around the world, Toronto is experiencing a third wave of electro. Local hero Jason Amm (aka ) has been making underground electro pop for over a decade now - since electro's second wave.
He loves analogue synthesizers - which date back to the early days of the genre, and he loves singing through a vocoder. What's not to love? His greatest hits CD Demonstration Tape (1997-2007) is essential listening, and his song "My Radio" should be heard by anyone who likes any kind of pop music.
Solvent and long-time friend/collaborator cram their keyboards into the Rivoli tomorrow night, as part of their "Now We Are Dead" tour (an unfortunate goodbye to their former label ). I spoke with Solvent about his favourite city, his favourite band, and about .
