Friday Grab Bag - Summer In the City

There's a whole ton going on in Toronto right now on the topic of great live music. I've personally been out to shows every night for what seems like a decade (more like a week), and there's absolutely no signs of slowing down in the near future, thanks to the work of the Over the Top Festival (OTTF) and others.

A quick rundown of what's been seen and heard by yours truly in the not-too-distant past.

Will Currie & The Country French (CD Release) @ Sneaky Dee's, April 29th - This group of young music students demonstrated through finely crafted orchestral piano pop exactly what all the fuss is about. Will Currie writes some infectious pop melodies, like a teenaged Ben Folds, and murderecords should feel very lucky to have them on board.

the Constantines w/ Attack in Black @ Starlight (Waterloo), April 30th - The Cons can rock a small room like no other band I'm aware of. As such, I consciously opted out of the Toronto show at the much-larger Phoenix concert hall in favour of the Starlight show the night before. And I'm certainly glad I did. Attack in Black held it down quite respectably as the openers, as well.

the Teenagers @ Lee's Palace, May 1st - The potty-mouthed boys (and now girl?) brought their Franco-swagger to town for the second time in not too long, much to the approval of the slow-on-the-trigger hipsters who missed them the first time around at the sold out show at the Great Hall. Much of the same as the first time, and further reinforced their luke-warm live reputation.

Woodhands @ Sneaky Dee's, May 1st (OTTF) - a review, in haiku:

dance dance dance dance dance
dance dance dance dance dance dance dance
dance mother effer.

Where I'll be for the next few:

the Wooden Sky @ St Stephen's-in-the-field Church, May 2nd (OTTF)
Foals w/ Sebastien Grainger @ Lee's Palace, May 2nd
Ruby Coast w/ others@ Whippersnapper Gallery, May 3rd (OTTF - Pop Montreal! showcase)
Kevin Barnes (of Of Montreal) @ Mod Club, May 4th (OTTF)

Will Currie & The Country French - Centrefold
the Constantines - Trans Canada
the Teenagers - Love No
Woodhands - I Wasn't Made For Fighting
the Wooden Sky - When Lost at Sea
Foals - Cassius
Ruby Coast - Brittle Bones
Kevin Barnes - Harvest Moon (Neil Young Cover)

- bbbykmbrly.

The Constant Constantines

Ok, the title is totally lame; but really "constant" or "consistent" are the words that best describe The Constantines, the boys from Guelph, ON. Releasing three great albums and three great EPs in the span of four great years it was safe to assume that after the demise of Three Gut Records they would press on and press on they did. They even landed a spot on one of Canada's premiere indie labels, Arts & Crafts, who will be releasing their latest sometime in April. The untimely demise of Three Gut happened right smack dab in the middle of the recording sessions for their forth album and from the sounds of things it has helped the band grow and progress.

They will be releasing their first 7' EVER, Hard Feelings, next week on Tuesday but it will also be available as a digital download at those popular digital download websites.

[MP3] Hard Feelings - Constantines


Cheers,
MF Blaz

BSS Fans are the Lucky Ones

Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew just released his quasi-"solo" effort Spirit If... and it's quite terrific. It would be a waste of time going off on a superfluous summary of the album's bright spots and intricacies, instead let's just say that all things considered, Drew's record is a Broken Social Scene record and lives up to their catalogue. Feist, Amy, Emily, Jason, and other lesser known BSS contributors lend their voices to many songs, keeping the hour and five minute album as diverse as we've come to expect from the collective. Certain songs outshine others, but upon first listen it feels like a Silent Alarm or a Neon Bible, in that the prospect of any song becoming a favorite in the future is very possible. As of now the best song, hands down, is "Lucky Ones", which also happens to be Drew's longest. The primary guitar lick will get stuck in your head, be forewarned. Consistent as ever, this is both a safe and essential purchase for any Canadian music fan. Now that Arts & Crafts have signed The Constantines and The Stills to bolster their lineup, it seems as though the monopoly on Canadian indie rock is complete.

Kevin Drew - Lucky Ones
Kevin Drew - Bodhi Sappy Weekend

- brad