Zunior.com is celebrating its 5th anniversary this weekend. In honour of that milestone, Canada’s little digital music store is throwing a big hootennany at The Tranzac on Saturday night that promises to be an amazing evening of excellent music.

Set aside the fact that I work for Zunior. Hell, even overlook that I’m playing this show myself (come early…!). I don’t need any ulterior motives to peddle this show, as the sheer strength of the lineup alone leaves me salivating.

Check it out for yourself:

Add to that the fact that they are going to announce the inaugural inductees for Zunior’s Independent Music Hall of Fame (check out the short list here) and this is going to be one hell of a night!

Get your tickets ($10 for all 3 rooms AND a rarities compilation of all bands involved) here:

tickets.zunior.com

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Culture Reject - Inside the Cinema

Dog Is Blue - Seacaptain

Entire Cities - Dancing with My Brother

Date: November 07, 2008
Venue: The Rivoli

I recall having enjoyed The Hunting Horns debut, Songs from the Iron Range, when it came out last year, but for some reason the band quickly fell off my radar shortly after. Recently they’ve popped back up for several reasons, not the least of which being this show at The Rivoli earlier in the month.

Somber, but raucous and lead by charismatic front-man Ryan Griffiths, The Hunting Horns painted a picture of a Dylan-esque cowboy traversing an apocalyptic western landscape—roots rock with just the right tinge of empassioned fervour.

The five-piece Toronto band proved a stark contrast to Priya Thomas, who followed immediately afterward. She took to the stage accompanied by nothing aside from a hollow-body electric, a kick drum and some bells on her shoe.  The two acts were appropriately matched in tone however, as Thomas also exemplified a somber intensity. Short on banter, but high on lyricism and poise, she had put together the show (and personally selected the bands involved) in celebration of the recent release of her latest album, Priya Thomas Is Blood Heron.

Here’s a clip of The Hunting Horns performing “Unlucky Dice” as filmed for Zunior.tv (check out a similar video of Priya Thomas here):

The Hunting Horns -Lili

Priya Thomas - Had I Known, I Would Have Declined

Date: November 08, 2008
Venue: Lee’s Palace

33 songs! That was the final tally (as I counted) at the end of The Bicycles CD release show at Lee’s Palace last weekend.

Celebrating the unveiling of their excellent sophomore effort, Oh No, It’s Love, the Toronto band was in vivacious form as they entertained the near capacity crowd. The epic event was dubbed The Last Schmaltz II, as it featured an array of special guests that included $100. Sandro Perri, Hooded Fang, Laura Barrett, Sebastien Grainger, and half of Sloan many others.

Sure, most of The Bicycles songs are pretty short, but that doesn’t detract from nearly 2 hours of tunes. The only breaks came by way of an exercise breakdown and a brief performance by a comedy duo (which is also on the album).  Add to that the fact that opener Young Rival set the tone very high with their excellent set and it was an entertaining affair from start to finish.

Having seen The Bicycles at Sappyfest in the summer I thought I knew what to expect, but nothing could have prepared me for the euphoric and uplifting evening that was The Last Schmaltz. What can I say, if it wasn’t already ridiculously evident, these guys are awesome.

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Here’s a clip of The Bicycles opening the night with “Won’t She Be Surprised” as filmed for Zunior.tv:

The Bicycles - Won’t She Be Surprised

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page and stay tuned to Zunior.tv for more clips from the show (including songs by both Sandro Perri and Sloan). In the meantime you can grab a copy of Oh No, It’s Love here.

Date: October 10, 2008
Venue: The Drake

I’ve been meaning to get to this for a while now, but best laid plans and all that nonsense…In any case, I learned a valuable lesson about shows at The Drake while seeing The Buttless Chaps there a few weeks ago: go early.

You see, The Drake is one of those places that likes so get concerts over and done by 11pm so they can get on with their Friday club night. Unfortunately for my friend and I, we arrived at 10 assuming that would be plenty of time. Little did we know that by then we had already missed the opening sets by both Tim Vesely and Wax Mannequin. All wasn’t lost however, as we got there just as the Vancouver headliners were getting started.

To be honest, aside from a slight giggle at their name and a huge affinity for the title track to their 2001 album, Death Scenes I II III, I’ve only recently started giving these guys the attention they deserve—and deserve it they do. This fact was evidenced by their excellent performance on this particular evening. Personally, I was loving the spacey sounds guitarist Lasse Lutick was getting out of his Boss Space Echo pedal (I’m a bit of a gear head…) and Morgan McDonald’s synth and keyboard sounds added a welcome layer of versatility to Dave Gowans’ acoustic guitar and unique vocals.

They didn’t play my beloved “Death Scenes I II III,” but maybe next time I’ll make a request.

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Here’s a clip of The Buttless Chaps performing “Complications May Arise,” from Cartography, as shot for Zunior.tv live at The Drake:

The Buttless Chaps - Death Scenes I II III

Here more at the band’s Myspace page or grab digital copies of their albums from Zunior.

It’s not usually my style to put up show posters but here’s an event that’s definitely on my radar for the weekend: Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy and Innes Wilson & His Opposition are in town as the good ol’ boys from Guelph’s Out of Sound Records take over the Tranzac on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Having just released a brand-new compilation on Cassette (with digital download) as well as co-releasing HotKid’s The Cost EP, these purveyors of “DIgital DIY” are busy and show no signs of slowing down.  Speaking of DDIY, here’s a brief explanation of the intriguing concept from the guys themselves:

“It’s high time people start recognizing what’s going on with the world of music these days. Digital D.I.Y (do-it-yourself ) is a rebuttal to the insincere,
corporate world of digital media. Digital DIY Incorporates innovative and generally hand-made material items for sale along with digital portions for
download. In essence D.DIY is an attempt at foreshadowing the digital revolution while paying respect to the indie spirit of times past.”

Wonderfully romantic stuff, if you ask me. It’s always nice to see creative-minded people contemplating the evolving methods of distributing independent music.

Keen observers will note that the poster below lacks some necessary info—the date and location of the show for instance. The finished version would also have told you that this show is in conjunction with Zunior.com—Canada’s independent digital music store.  Let the local indie community unite!

Hope to see you there.

Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy - True Love Killed My True Loves Love for Me

Hear more at the band’s Myspace page or grab a digital copy of thier albums here.

Tuesday night I went to Guelph on a whim.  Wax Mannequin and The Kettle Black were playing at The Family Thrift Store there and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to catch some great music and visit friends at the same time (Jenny Omnichord’s dad owns the store).  Borrowing my folks’ clunky old minivan Laura and I hit the road…right into late rush hour traffic.  Slowed down, but not dissuaded, we got there just in time to surprise Jenny and overhear that Wax Mannequin had canceled.

I was slightly dissapointed, but the mysterious floor to ceiling thrift-store inventory immediately stole my attention.  Everywhere I looked there was something else that caught my eye—either out of want or sheer curiosity.  You could treasure hunt for hours on end in a place like that and on this particular evening I was after old pieces of luggage to use as a case for a pedal board.

Only seconds in to my search Jenny snapped me back to earth with a proposition: since Wax had canceled maybe I could open for Kettle Black.

Huh? Sorry…what? Me!?!

Before I could even comprehend what was being proposed I had already agreed.  Borrowing a guitar I did my best to hide my nervousness by playing scales, tuning and de-tuning the strings and just generally walking around the store. Clinging to the instrument like my life depended on it, I tried desperately to prove to the people around—and myself—that I was, in fact, a musician.

Trying for comedic irony, I asked that the small crowd not compare me to the absentee Wax Mannequin and then kicked things off with a cover of one of his songs (“End of Me” —a new one coming out soon). I was nervous, unprepared and generally untested, but made it through a half hour or so before handing the floor over to The Kettle Black.

Our sets couldn’t have been more different. While I was playing folk ditties on an acoustic guitar, Kettle Black was a one-man-band of pure sonic ferocity.  He employed loop pedals, a synth, a huge array of rack-mounted machines, a kick drum and alternated between bass and guitar (sometimes in the same song). While I fumbled awkwardly with attempts at banter, he was closed-lipped and segued between songs mercilessly. Like a boxer throwing combos, he teased with the occasional low-key acoustic number before exploding into cacophonous rage. I was sitting right in front of a wind chime that he repeatedly kicked for both impressive dramatic and sonic affect. He was relentless.

In retrospect my short set must have seemed like the calm before the storm, as when Kettle Black took the stage we were all in the eye of a one-man hurricane.

After the show the crowd quickly dissipated while I continued rummaging through the thrift-store. Finding just what I’d been looking for I went to pay, but Jenny’s dad wouldn’t let me.  He insisted that I take what I wanted as compensation for having played.

I left my first real gig with payment in tow: two perfect pieces of luggage.

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The Kettle Black - All Work and No Play

Date: August 19, 2008
Venue: The Boat

I’d been looking forward to seeing Olivier Jarda live since I got a hold of his excellent debut album, Diagrams, earlier this year. Thankfully for me I got that chance a few weeks ago at the Boat.

Getting there in plenty of time despite circling the block to find a good spot to lock up my bike, I grabbed a beer and sat down as opener Ian Nabil took the stage.  I’d never heard of Nabil before, but his amicable demeanor and enjoyable set definitely made me take notice.

As for Jarda himself, I was not disappointed.  Starting solo, as one of the bands didn’t show, he opened things up with a few softer tracks, including a cover of Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” The rest of his traveling band (Yukon Haircut) then joined him for a rousing set that began with my favourite track, “Victorian Faces”. As for the rest of the set, highlights included repeated pleas to get the accordion player, who professed that this was his last show, to join them on the tour’s western leg, as well as a spirited Joel Plaskett cover (with Nabil) to close out the evening.

Here’s a clip of the band performing “Victorian Faces”:

Olivier Jarda - Victorian Faces

Olivier Jarda - Don’t Wake the Baby

Hear more at his Myspace page or grab a digital copy of Diagrams here.

Date: August 13, 2008
Venue: The Tranzac

I’ve heralded Henry Svec’s Boy from ET project quite a bit over the last few months (here and here).  More than just the usually cliched blog hyperbole, this has been one project that I really felt I could get behind.  Not only has Svec crafted a beautifully ridiculous concept by taking on the character of Henry Thomas (the actual boy who played “Elliott” in ET), but he’s also merged excellent songwriting with a highly theatrical live show.

In an effort to put my (lack of) money where my keyboard is I got off my lazy rump and took in The Boy From ET’s last waltz at the Tranzac a couple weeks ago.  The result? Put it this way: over the past few years I’ve been able to catch quite a few shows, but never have I left a venue feeling so damn invigorated as after this one.  I don’t care how cheeseball that sounds.

Putting The Boy from ET character to rest with a bang, Svec and others dedicated the entire evening to an intricate performance billed as “the 11th annual guest lecture series hosted by the U of T Dramatic Society“ (it was even claimed that Keanu Reeves had been a past guest of this “series”). Dividing the night in half, the first portion was dedicated to a hilarious mock-interview hosted by “professor” Ajay Mehra after which Svec (as Thomas) played a few tracks from his debut, Lives the Part, as well as a host of tunes from his next project called the CFL Sessions (songs “written by” former footballers, but I’ll get into that another time, as it deserves the attention).

The resulting combination of Mehra’s wonderfully pompous “interview” and Svec’s endearing and spot-on musical performance made the entire evening an inimitable spectacle to behold. I left hellbent on crafting ways to inject such ambitious creativity into my own undertakings, though for now I’ll settle for studying the video footage to learn Svec’s fantastic songs.

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Speaking of which, here’s The Boy from ET performing “In Quebec”:

MP3: The Boy from ET - Friends Just Leave (buy the album here)

Finally! This is the last installment of my Sappyfest coverage. Click here for day 1, and day 2 can be found here and here.

Wow. It’s been three weeks since Sappyfest ended and here I am still posting about it.  By this point I’d have given up on just about any other topic (some discarded posts of the past include live shows by Sebastien Grainger and King Khan & the Shrines), but this festival was just so damn enjoyable that I feel obligated to spread the love, no matter how lethargically.

Speaking of which, day 3 was full of so much goodness that it was hard to find time to eat!

Case in point, after a slow morning induced by another debaucherous evening it was off to the races, as Wet Nose Hero were opening the day. I’d heard great things about the Montreal act and it turns out the rumours were true, as Sarah Mangle and company delivered a unique and endearing performance that left me no choice but to buy their album.

Things only got better from there. Jenny Omnichord was up next and if you ask me her set made for one of the best live moments I’ve seen in a while: Performing a duet from her upcoming children’s album with Burning Hell front-man Mathias Kom, the two received some unexpected, but perfectly-timed canine accompaniment that had performers and audience alike nearly rolling in the aisles (see the clip posted below).  Mathias was laughing so hard I didn’t think they’d make it through the song.

The rest of the afternoon followed suit, with excellent performances running back to back to back to the point that I started wondering if it would be possible to budget time for a meal given the stellar lineup. In the end the church where Snailhouse, Castlemusic and others were playing proved too hot for me to endure for long, so I took refuge elsewhere and managed to sneak in a quick bite.

Back at the main-stagefor the festival’s climax the persistent rain made a final attempt at laying siege to the tent.  At one point during Miracle Fortress‘ set there was a three-foot-wide river running along the perimeter. This didn’t deter the crowd one bit though, as I saw a few people splashing around happily. Of course, the tent could have been in the path of a tornado during the climactic set by Eric’s Trip and no one likely would have noticed.

Speaking of the Moncton headliners, they played hard, fast and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Ditching the break before an encore the band instead chose to cram in as many songs as they could. In fact, they were even goaded in to playing one more after already having hugged and ditched instruments (and wrestled).

All told there was a palpable cloud of revelry in the air, as it was obvious that Eric’s Trip was the reason most people were at the Festival to begin with. From my point of view they held nothing backand left the salivating crowd satiated and awestruck—a fitting end to an excellent event.

Of course, in keeping with the previous two evenings, the night was far from over.  However, in this case the ever-increasing rain was what initially kept us from sleep.  Thinking better of braving the tent, Laura and I decided to move indoors on a whim. This proved a wise decision, as we managed to gather our belongings just as the rain finally found its way into our tent. Damp sleeping bags in tow, we took refuge on the living floor of the massive house alongside members of the Burning Hell (who had been up pulling pranks on each other using an assortment of taxidermied animals littered throughout the room) and readied for the long trip home.

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Here’s the aforementioned clip of Jenny Omnichord and Mathias Kom receiving some well-timed canine accompaniment:

MP3: Jenny Omnichord - Blankets and Bones (buy the album here)

Once again, Zunior.tv has tons of footage from Sappyfest and will be posting more—including Miracle Fortress and Eric’s Trip—in the coming days.

This is the second part of my account of Sappyfest day 2. Click here for the first part and here for my coverage of day 1.

There was still much to see after the main tent cleared out. For myself the race was on to George’s Fabulous Roadhouse where John Tielli & The Metal Kites and BA Johnston were set to perform.  The former was a must-see for me, as Tielli was the mastermind behind Clark The Band, whose album, The Woods, is fantastic.

As for BA Johnston, I knew I was in for something when we arrived at the venue and he was outside selling massive BBQ sandwhiches to hungry passers-by (I’m proud to say I ate his meat).  In suitably unorthodox fashion, his performance was a raucous and crass affair that you had to see to believe. At times puncturing the ceiling tiles with a baton while wearing a pirate constume at others, he repeatedly dove in to the crowd and screamed at his poorly queued CD player (a prop that he got great comedic mileage out of stubbornly referring to as his iPod).  Some were there for the spectacle, others were clearly longtime fans, but I’m sure everyone could agree there was nothing else quite like this on offer at Sappyfest.

Leaving George’s Roadhouse we hitched a ride with Jenny Omnichord and eased-out of the high-energy evening by enjoying a low-key performance by Rick White.  Leisurely chatting with the audience of The Vogue Theatre while pulling song choices from a large binder, White’s set was the perfect night-cap.

Of course, while the performances were done the evening was far from over. On route to our tent it was obvious that, while close to 3am, the night was still young. The mansion/student dorm was still rife with activity as we joined members of The Burning Hell in a back-porch sing along with Laura Barrett. The latter provided a social highlight to the festival as she lead the crowd through Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” on Kalimba. Unfortunately no one knew any of the verses, but the choruses were a cacophony of intoxicated and enthusiastic voices.

Jill Staveley took over with acoustic renditions of “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and I even chimed in to descecrate “Watching the Detectives” (thankfully most people were likely too drunk to remember…).  Needless to say it was a late night. Laura and I crawled into our tent around 5am, looking forward to one more day of musical insanity.

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Here’s John Tielli and The Metal Kites performing “The Metal Boys”:

MP3: Clark - The Metal Boys (buy the album here)

MP3: Rick White Album - Grim Unintention (buy the album here)

One more day of coverage left! As usual, go to Zunior.tv for more Sappyfest footage and check back next week for day 3.