Fresh off a big show on April 30th in hometown Toronto with Papermaps, The Cheap Speakers have released a new single – “Speak” – to take them on tour. The song features Brennan Gault’s powerful vocals with Natalia Manzocco adding lovely harmonies. The song is catchy power pop, with an energy that can be felt […]

Date of show: April 21, 2011 Welcome to the $5 Rap Show, which takes place every 5 weeks or so at Rancho Relaxo. On this evening, Toolshed headlined to celebrate their CD release for “The Lost.” Unfortunately, their CDs were tied up at the border and didn’t make it to the show. The guys made […]

Artist: Jess Hill Album: Orchard Vancouver’s Jess Hill has released Orchard, a follow up to her debut album Road, which was released in 2006. While Road mostly featured Hill on acoustic guitar accompanying her lovely vocals, Orchard showcases much more colourful arrangements. On this album, in addition to Hill on guitar, you’ll hear banjo, mandolin, […]

Date of show: April 16, 2011 Born Ruffians packed The Opera House nicely to close out their yearlong Say It tour. Luke Lalonde fronts the band with his signature acrobatic vocals, full of unique ups and downs, but this is not to say that Lalonde doesn’t provide skilful guitar work to match his vocal talent. […]

Date of show: April 14, 2011 Unsurprisingly, Young Rival packed The Dakota Tavern – in fact, the venue was at capacity with latecomers being turned away at the door. They haven’t played in Toronto since the fall and the band has just hit the one-year anniversary of their self-titled debut album. Certainly a reason to […]

In the fall of 2010, These Electric Lives earned the title of Indie Week winner and the privilege of headlining Indie Week Ireland. With a trip to Ireland in May, These Electric Lives are looking to spread their music across the UK, with stops in Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and London. To fund for this […]

On April 12th, I saw Nick Teehan play in the backroom of the Cameron House with his full band accompanying him. His elaborate brass-heavy band includes sousaphone, trumpet and flugelhorn, in addition to keys, guitar, and drums. His lazy baritone complements his rather playful style. I don’t think I stopped smiling for that entire set […]

Date of show: April 9, 2011 Amos the Transparent took the stage after 12:30am and the crowd was already sweaty, with a great group right up front eager to hear the new material. Sitting down at the keys, frontman Jonathan Chandler set the crowd straight right off the bat, “We’re here to have fun. If […]

Date of show: April 9, 2011 As Baby Eagle, who may be known to most people as Steven Lambke of the Constantines, got on stage, he said, “We’re going to break with convention and start with the ‘Last Song of the Night’ and work backwards.” It was an early set, ending around 10pm, yet Baby […]

[Note: We did take a shot photo with Jeffrey Innes, but, unfortunately, it just wasn’t usable. Just use your imagination!] Date of show: April 8, 2011 Shot of choice: The answer I received was “whatever you want,” although the rye Jeffrey Innes ended up with was perhaps not his shot of choice. By the time […]