According to CBC’s Chris Boyce, the goal of this weekend’s CBCMusic.ca Festival is twofold. First and foremost, the CBC wants to celebrate Canadian music. Second, it wants to celebrate CBC Music, the broadcaster’s online music service, which launched a little over a year ago.

In 1996, Theatre Columbus premiered playwright Michael O’Brien’s “freely adapted” take on the famous Beaumarchais play The Barber of Seville, which was written in 1775. O’Brien’s version mixed in music from the 1816 opera of the same name by Gioachino Rossini, as well as original tunes by composer John Millard. The adaptation also propelled the story forward a couple centuries, with pop culture references galore. With Theatre Columbus co-founder Leah Cherniak at the helm, the musical ended the season with six Dora Award nominations (it won three) and plenty of critical acclaim.

Seventeen years later, Soulpepper Theatre is remounting this zany reimagination of The Barber of Seville, updated once again by O’Brien, Millard, and Cherniak. But, for some reason—the change in decade, or company, or sense of humour—whatever had made the original so magical, has faded, save for a few key performances.

In My Opinion, the new album from producer-turned-MC Rich Kidd, is in many ways a quantum leap forward for the Toronto-based artist. Kidd has been experimenting with rhyming more and more over the last few years, mostly on his Rich Kidd Shiiiiit series of mixtapes. He also released a Juno-nominated collaboration with Vancouver-based MC SonReal under the group name The Closers. On In My Opinion, he takes things to a whole other level, attempting to carry an entire record. By and large, he does a pretty strong job of it.

As a technical rapper, Kidd isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind. That’s not to say he’s bad, but he’s not going to amaze you with intricate internal rhyme structures. That said, he has a strong talent for rap as storytelling, a great baritone rap voice, and a ton of clever one-liners.

In My Opinion is also proof positive that Rich is a much more diverse MC than people realize. Sure, there are songs about girls and making money, but there’s also a lot of deep, thought-provoking material. “The City” has the makings of an anti-gun-violence anthem, and ends with Kidd personally calling on Mayor Rob Ford to spend more money on arts programs. “I’d Be Lying” is filled with weirdly self-deprecating wisecracks, and “What the Fame” is raw, vulnerable, and emotional.

While he’s impressive as an MC, Kidd is still a producer first and foremost, and the beats on In My Opinion are second to none. “The Valley” sounds like it’s about to be big, over-the-top club rap, then swerves sharply to the left and becomes something much more layered and interesting, with hypnotic percussion and a haunting vocal sample. “What the Fame” takes an all-too-familiar Top-40 sample and manipulates it until it’s surprisingly hard to identify. (You can listen to “What the Fame” by clicking on the sample above.)

Transitioning from producer to MC isn’t easy. For every Kanye West–level superstar, there are a dozen Swizz Beats–type near misses (and even more outright failures). Rich Kidd has managed to make the transition seem remarkably easy. He’s already a charismatic, entertaining performer, and if In My Opinion is any indication, he’ll only get better from here.

The old adage says not to judge a book by its cover, and usually that goes for albums, as well. Having said that, we were immediately intrigued by the cover for Modern Day Riot, the latest album from Durham-based rap duo The Antiheroes. It’s a hip-hop album with a cover that looks like it belongs on a punk seven-inch. How can you not love that?

While Modern Day Riot is disappointingly light on Crass samples, it’s still a more-than-solid release. Antiheroes MCs Flex and Sha Prince have ways of combining complex, multi-syllabic rhyme schemes, diverse concepts, and remarkably catchy hooks. The Antiheroes have a clear love of Golden Era hip hop—the album is filled with early ’90s rap samples—but aren’t beholden to it. They’re more than willing to integrate everything from R&B to dark, gothic sounds into the mix.

On “Where It Lives,” they transform a reference to The King’s Speech into an amazing earworm of a hook. “Misery Ave.,” meanwhile, is a dark, haunting song that uses clever metaphors to address some fairly heavy subject matter. Both men also have an almost amazing ability to work with words: they pack too many syllables into each verse, then Tetris them together until it works. This is especially noticeable on the rapid-fire “Ignorant x Arrogant,” and also “Misery Ave.”

The highlight of Riot is almost certainly “Blow Up.” Sha, Flex and guest MC D-Sisive rip a hole in the Canadian rap scene, bemoaning the lack of support for hip hop in this country and calling out rappers who brag about making big money while working day jobs. It’s one of the sharper critiques of the scene to come out in some time, and it manages to come off as sardonic and tongue-in-cheek, rather than bitter. (You can listen to “Blow Up” by clicking on the sample above.)

Over the last two years, The Antiheroes have developed a strong, rapidly growing fan base thanks to their tight verses and willingness to be weird. Modern Day Riot will only help develop that fan base further.

The Stanfields tear shit up at the El Mocambo on Wednesday.

We’re now halfway through the 2013 edition of Canadian Music Week. Here are the shows that have impressed us so far, for whatever reason.

Sara Hennessey
FROM: Toronto, Ontario
PERFORMED: Tuesday March 19, 8:15 p.m. at the Central

Sarah Hennessey looks mildly terrified at The Central.

Pre-Show Hype: Pretty high. Hennessey’s a recognizable face and name even to those not too familiar with Toronto’s comedy scene, because of her work on Video On Trial.

Performance: Killer. As the lone female representative in the That Was Great comedy lineup (apart from co-host Amanda Brooke Perrin, whose sample tracks for the show’s theme song should qualify her for next year’s CMW as a musician), Hennessey was adorable, sweet, painfully awkward and actually pretty gross all at the same time, in the best way possible.

Best Moment: Hennessey opened and closed her set with some tips on how to be in a long-term relationship (what standup would be complete without some humblebragging), but really nailed how not to introduce yourself to your boyfriend or girlfriend’s family for the first time.

Miscellaneous: You’ll think twice about sharing a cigarette at a party after hearing Hennessey’s standup.

Verdict: There’s a reason she’s one of Toronto’s favourite comedians.

Mark Forward
FROM: Toronto, Ontario
PERFORMED: Tuesday March 19, 8:30 p.m. at the Central

Mark Forward breaks out the ukulele at The Central.

Pre-Show Hype: High. He was the headliner of the night, and a constant stream of entertaining comedy acts had kept spirits high.

Performance: Gut-busting. Forward’s tone was noticeably more downtrodden compared to the upbeat and energetic comics before him, but from the moment he busted out his ukelele to play “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol he had the audience practically gleeful.

Best Moment: Forward’s quiet, mumbled delivery is the perfect vessel for a good non sequitur.

Miscellaneous: A warning for anyone at a future Mark Forward standup performance: don’t get too emotionally involved.

Verdict: He’s a treasure. Catch him live when you can here in Toronto. But since he spends quite a bit of time touring Canada, it might be easier to get a glimpse of him on the CBC’s Mr. D, or on Twitter.

Outlaws and Gunslingers Americana Music Association Showcase
FROM: All over, really
PERFORMED: Wednesday March 20, 8:30 p.m. at The Horseshoe Tavern

Oh Susanna wowing the crowd at The Horseshoe.

Pre-Show Hype: Fairly high. We almost didn’t get in.

Performance: Solid from start to finish.

Best Moment: While the likes of Jim Cuddy and Justin Rutledge were the bigger draws, it was the beautiful voice of Oh Susanna (Suzie Ungerleider) that really wowed us. Her “Lucky Ones,” in particular, worked like a beautiful country lullaby—one of those songs that commands every person in a bar to stop their side conversations and simply listen to something powerful.

Miscellaneous: Also worth mentioning is that Daniel Romano might be the best dressed man at all of Canadian Music Week. A pastel-blue sequined suit? Well done sir, well done. Plus, his song “Chicken Bill” plays like a double-time version of Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John,” which makes for a solid reminder of the rich history of country music.

Verdict: If you wanted some country twang on Wednesday night, The Horseshoe Tavern was the place to be.

CHVRCHES
FROM: Glasgow, Scotland
PERFORMED: Wednesday March 20, 10 p.m. at The Mod Club

Pre-Show Hype: Beyond reason. After Rihanna, CHVRCHES was probably this year’s most-hyped band. Again, we’d like to point out that the band doesn’t have an album out yet.

Performance: Pretty good. They’re not big on stage presence yet, and it’s clear they’re a little overwhelmed by the hype, but frontwoman Lauren Mayberry has a strong, clear voice, and synth players Iain Cook and Martin Doherty were able to recreate some relatively complex sounds live. The fact that the crowd already knew the words to the single, “The Mother We Share,” speaks volumes about where this band is headed.

Best Moment: They did a Prince cover as an encore. This automatically made us like them even more.

Miscellaneous: Lauren Mayberry has a masters in journalism. Wisely, she set that aside to go into the much-more-lucrative synthpop industry.

Verdict: CHVRCHES isn’t quite ready for prime time, but it’s getting there.

SoHo Ghetto
FROM: Halifax, Nova Scotia
PERFORMED: Wednesday March 20, 11 p.m. at El Mocambo, Downstairs

SoHo Ghetto folk things up.

Pre Show Hype: Mild to moderate.

Performance: This Haligonian seven-member folk-pop outfit had plenty of people dancing to its (mostly) upbeat tunes throughout the set. The band in its entirety is very entertaining to watch. The music floats in and out of different genres, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your expectations. Regardless, SoHo Ghetto definitely has the talent to deliver an entertaining show on any given night.

Best Moment: Lead vocalist Marc-Antoine Robertson was putting on such an impressive show that he left a pool of sweat onstage.

Miscellaneous: Prior to Wednesday’s performance, the group appeared on Q107. We’re not quite sure why, seeing as how all the members are under 50.

Verdict: It’s no surprise that this band got signed immediately after its performance at last year’s CMW.

Chip-Fu
FROM: Brooklyn, New York
PERFORMED: Wednesday March 20, 1 a.m. at The Crawford

Pre-Show Hype: Nil. We were the only media outlet to mention Chip-Fu in pre-show coverage, although for what it’s worth, we were pretty excited.

Performance: Non-existent. Not only did Chip-Fu not show up, but we weren’t told that he wasn’t playing until we asked.

Best Moment: When the door guy didn’t know who Chip-Fu was, and we were told to ask “the food guy”—a man selling corn soup out of Solo cups—if he was playing.

Miscellaneous: There was a man selling corn soup out of Solo cups.

Verdict: There are no words to express how massively pissed off we were about this whole debacle. To add insult to injury, we had to pay to get in after being told that our bracelets were no good after midnight. This in spite of the fact there were 12 people in the bar.

The Zolas
FROM: Vancouver, British Columbia
PERFORMED: Thursday March 21, 10 p.m. at The Rivoli

Pre-Show Hype: Fair. Core members Zachary Gray and Tom Dobrzanski already have a following for their previous band Lotus Child. Ancient Mars, the Zolas’ new album, has gotten some decent reviews. Plus, the band was returning to Canadian soil after having played SXSW.

Performance: No glaring deficiencies, but the Zolas didn’t set the room on fire (and with the next two acts being “secret,” they were the headliners). Gray explained, between songs, that he’d spent the previous two days in bed, chugging oil of oregano to rehabilitate his voice post-SXSW.

Best Moment: The crowd was definitely animated—heads bopping, toes tapping—for the fifth song in the set, “Strange Girl.”

Miscellaneous: The band started a bit late, and might have made more of an impact with more than a 20-odd-minute set, but there were no time extensions (probably so “secret” acts Finger 11 and Treble Charger weren’t shortchanged). When Gray asked after 10:30 p.m. if the band could do two more songs, the sound tech replied sternly, “you have two minutes.”

Verdict: Catchy melodic tunes, but an off night for the under-the-weather Gray. Maybe the Zolas will rock out harder tonight (they play the Horseshoe Tavern at 8:30 p.m.)

Miesha and the Spanks
FROM: Calgary, Alberta
PERFORMED: Thursday March 21, 10 p.m. at the Dakota Tavern

Pre-Show Hype: Hard to say. For about nine or 10 people gathered in a crescent around the stage, it seemed like Miesha and the Spanks’ set was the high point of the night. For everyone else, the show was half early-evening mingling.

Performance: Solid, even deceptively so. You couldn’t help getting the impression that Miesha Louie was a little nervous, watching her eyes dart from her feet to the audience and back again. Still, that’s not a criticism—if nothing else, it was endearing. The combination of chunky fuzztone leading a tight, breezy rhythm brought to mind an unholy union of Sloan and Sleigh Bells, dripping with Louie’s fiery, whisky-soaked vocals. By the end of the set, knowing basically nothing about the group before we arrived, there was a moment or two of scanning the stage to make sure we hadn’t missed the bass player. That’s how powerful this shy Calgary pair’s sound became. (Louie plays with drummer Stuart Bota.)

Best Moment: Realizing that there actually was no bass player at all.

Miscellaneous: When an Alberta band plays in a Toronto bar that goes full-out for a Wild West theme, there’s always this awkward, self-conscious moment where you wonder how excruciatingly lame they think it is.

Verdict: A solid 8. Come back sooner, Louie and Bota.

Acres of Lions
FROM: Victoria, British Columbia
PERFORMED: Thursday March 21, 11 p.m. at the Dakota Tavern

Pre-Show Hype: Very enthusiastic. Around several tables, mouths were accurately singing the words.

Performance: Whenever a band with a heavy lyrical and vocal element starts singing wistful, longing songs, a comparison to Bruce Springsteen is inevitable. We found ourselves making one early in this show, drawing mental references to The Gaslight Anthem, for example. Acres of Lions were definitely the apex of the evening’s energy. Dreamily reverbed guitar was alight. Keyboards, sparingly laced throughout, sparkled. The production values, sound quality, and even the overall confidence of vocalist Jeffrey Kalesnikoff were evidence that this band, going on its fourth, certainly knows what the hell it’s doing. “Fuck it, I know we’re pretty loud,” Kalesnikoff laughed at one point, “but I kinda like it.”

Best Moment: Recognizing that there indeed is a West Coast sound that doesn’t immediately conjure up thoughts of Jack Johnson.

Miscellaneous: While caught in the reverie we refer to under “Best Moment,” suddenly the band started singing a chorus that went, “may all roads lead you home.” (This writer is from British Columbia.) Get out of our heads, Acres of Lions.

Verdict: 8 or 8.5.

No Brain
FROM: Seoul, South Korea
PERFORMED: Thursday March 21, 12 a.m. at Tattoo Rock Parlor

Pre-Show Hype: Very little outside of the Korean community.

Performance: With an odd mix of ‘90s pop-punk and ‘80s pop-metal, a frontman charismatic enough to break through the language barrier, and the sort of cohesiveness that can only come from spending more than a decade as a band, No Brain was one of the best things we’ve seen all week.

Best Moment: When vocalist Bulldaegal attempted to teach the non-Koreans in the crowd a smattering of phonetic Korean so they could sing along, too.

Miscellaneous: At least two girls in the audience had full-on Beatlemania-style freakouts, while one male audience member demanded multiple sweaty bro-hugs.

Verdict: No Brain is basically our new favourite band.

Wildlife
FROM: Toronto, Ontario
PERFORMED: Thursday March 21, 12 a.m. at The Great Hall

Wildlife have something very important to tell you.

Pre-Show Hype: Pretty good. The Great Hall had filled up, and the milling crowd surged to the front as the band began its set five minutes early.

Performance: The half-dozen uniformly dressed men on stage were playing to the balcony, alright. The Great Hall’s a fairly large space, and they filled it with impassioned anthems, grand gestures (there were a lot of arms in the air), and a lot of sweat left on the stage.

Best Moment: Tough call. The set was consistently high energy. “Lightning Tent” and “Bad Dream” did sort of stand out.

Miscellaneous: The boys are still wearing all black with yellow armbands. Oh, and lead singer Dean Povinsky dedicated one song “to NOW Magazine.” (Where’s Torontoist‘s shout-out, Dean?)

Verdict: Showmen with a new quiver full of sweeping tunes. They may not quite be ready for a stadium, but large halls, no problem.

The Mohawk Lodge
FROM: Toronto, Ontario
PERFORMED: March 22, 12 a.m. at the Dakota Tavern

Pre-Show Hype: About half of the midnight crowd at the Dakota was there to see The Mohawk Lodge, we’d say.

Performance: Holy hell, this was what a wall of sound is actually meant to accomplish. Somehow, the Canadian Music Week pressers and brochures describe The Mohawk Lodge as “psychedelic,” and sure, we guess? There’s certainly a cerebral element to the way the band’s set began, vocals crying out against the soup-thick echo reverb of guitar—like a voice at the bottom of a well, we thought. Eventually, the guitar took over, the bass of its low fifth chords hammering every chest in the crowd. The dark, cowboy-esque singing was vaguely psychedelic, but overall, this set brought to mind more of the experimentation heard in ’90s-era rock, especially the sort we heard locally. Fugazi meets The Skydiggers.

Best Moment: We can’t remember the title for the life of us, but one track in particular stood out as an especially eerie tribute to our beautiful mess of a city. Like a slow waltz, it was a sonic enshrinement of what Toronto’s own urban wilderness can be—the wee-hour homeward wanderings, the desolate laneways.

Miscellaneous: There’s probably a headbanging-to-navelgazing ratio that, if tipped in favour of the former, disqualifies a band from using the label “psychedelic.” To The Mohawk Lodge’s credit, we think it falls on the headbanging side of that divide.

Verdict: 8.

Not sure where to go for CMW? Don’t worry. We have you covered.

The crowd at The Horseshoe last night was stoked for CMW.

Paper Bag Palace
Global Village Backpackers (460 King Street West)
Thursday, 9 p.m.

Brittany Brooks, Kelly Mischunk, and Hayley Robateau—the three members of Paper Bag Palace, all from St. Catharines, Ontario—released their first self-titled EP on July 22, 2012. The “folk-indie-rock” trio, to use the CBC’s description, is about as energetic in its touring as its music suggests. The group has performed whirlwind engagements across Southern Ontario over much of the last year. They have a free-spirited folksy mobility that really opens up the possibilities, audience-wise.

Driven by a simple arrangement of bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and violin, tracks such as “Rabbit Foot” enchant as much on the street corner as they do from the stage, whether that’s in a theatre or a coffee house. There’s a busking-friendly quality to Paper Bag Palace. As a venue, the Global Village makes a lot of sense in that light.

Go if: You like your music with a hint of wanderlust.

Efterklang
The Mod Club (720 College Street)
Thursday, 10 p.m.

Efterklang’s first three albums (Tripper, Parades, and Magic Chairs) introduced North America to the Danish outfit. Now that the group is down to three members for the first time since it formed in 2000 (drummer Thomas Husmer left the band in 2011), the remaining members—Casper Clausen, Mads Brauer, and Rasmus Stolberg—may have produced their best yet. Piramida, Efterklang’s fourth album, is full of sounds the trio recorded in an abandoned Russian coal-mining settlement of the same name. Their live show is said to be even more impressive than their recordings, in part because they’ve got a few extra bandmates on hand for their tour.

Go if: You want a show with beautiful music, and a romantic back story too.

The Bokononists
Bovine Sex Club (542 Queen Street West)
Thursday, 10 p.m.

Musically speaking, there really is something about Winnipeg. Blame it on the incomparable cold of Portage and Main in midwinter, perhaps, or the massively vaulting, horizon-to-horizon sky that lifts the soul any time of year. Whatever it is, the banks of the Assinniboine teem with some of the best, rawest music in Canada. The Bokononists are part of that tradition. Described by the Manitoban as “no bullshit, in-your-face rock and roll,” these dreadlocked skuzzrockers bring a tight, pared-down, Prairie honesty, pulsing with the grimy tempo of a Manitoba road trip.

And here we thought the Vonnegut reference in their name was reason enough to check them out.

Go if: You can feel the cold in your bones, and you like it.

Karim Ouellet
The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West)
Thursday, 10 p.m.

Karim Ouellet is a relatively new presence in Canadian music. Even so, in only a few years (his debut album, Plume, came out in 2011), he’s secured a spot as one of Quebec City’s most promising rising stars. His sophomore release, Fox, features some pretty catchy French tracks, with a persistent upbeat rhythm that calls to mind his nomadic upbringing across Senegal, Canada, France, Rwanda, and Tunisia. And with acts like Peter Peter and Eight and a Half following him at the Gladstone, CMW-goers are in for a bonne nuit.

Go if: You want to make your festival truly Canadian by going bilingual.

Action Bronson
The Hoxton (69 Bathurst Street)
Thursday, 11 p.m.

Chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson had a pretty big year in 2012. He dropped two hugely popular mixtapes, made guest appearances on a seemingly endless number of singles, and signed his first major-label deal with the Warner-affiliated Vice Records. The Queens-based MC has earned comparisons to Ghostface Killah and Kool G Rap for his sharp delivery and complex metaphors, and he’s already a critical favourite.

Go if: You want to see someone rap about poutine, Tunisian olives, and ahi tuna.

Wildlife
The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West)
Thursday, 12 a.m.

It’s no easy feat to follow as thunderous an act as Kingston duo PS I Love You, but hometown half-dozen Wildlife are game for it. They’ll be debuting a bunch of epic songs off their new LP, …On The Heart, produced by Peter Katis (who’s worked with The National and Interpol). They impressed us with their live show at last year’s CMW.

Go if: You want to clear your head and palate with some epic rock-and-roll anthems.

No Brain
Tattoo Rock Parlor (567 Queen Street West)
Thursday, 12 a.m.

For a decade-and-a-half, Korean punk band No Brain have been their country’s antidote to K-Pop. Loud, anthemic, and with a clear SoCal pop-punk influence, this group is the voice of Korea’s misfits and weirdos.

Go if: You want to see what’s going on in Korea, other than Psy and Girls Generation.

Not sure where to go for CMW? Don’t worry. We have you covered.

Kidstreet, feeling the love at Canadian Music Week 2011.

Jeff Loomis
The Opera House (735 Queen Street East)
Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.

Loomis is best known for his guitar wizardry in the progressive power-metal band Nevermore, where he reigned as lead guitarist for 20 years. But, since 2005, he has enjoyed a successful career on his own, resulting in two solo records. He’s currently writing a third, with Portland-based studio guitarist Keith Merrow.

This show should provide Loomis with the perfect opportunity to showcase some new material, as well as some songs from 2012′s Plains of Oblivion. He plays a seven-string guitar and is known for his intricate style, making tonight’s performance enticing for gearheads and technique junkies alike.

If seven-string gymnastics are your bag, this is not to be missed.

Go if: You want to see a genuine guitar gladiator go to work on the strings.

DIANA
The Mod Club (720 College Street)
Wednesday, 9 p.m.

DIANA—also known as Joseph Shabason (saxophonist for Destroyer), Kieran Adams (of Bonjay), and Carmen Elle (of Army Girls)—had a banner 2012. That’s not only because it was the trio’s first year as a full band (Adams and Shabason took their time finding Elle to provide the vocals), but also because they quickly became “Toronto’s next band to watch.” Their ’70s-inspired blend of chilled-out grooves, atmospheric tones, Elle’s soft vocals, and some killer brass is worthy of the hype. Be sure to show up early to the CHVRCHES show tonight at the Mod Club for some excellent homegrown chillwave.

Go if: You haven’t given your shoes a good stare in a while.

Raekwon
Sound Academy (11 Polson Pier)
Wednesday, 9 p.m.

If you have the chance to see a legend perform his most critically acclaimed album in its entirety, you jump on it. It’s a no brainer. As a result, we assume everyone will make the annoying trek down to Sound Academy tonight to see Raekwon perform Only Built 4 Cuban Linx from end-to-end. For those of you who are too young to remember, the almost cinematic album has been credited with starting the late-’90s subgenre of Mafioso Rap. It has been hailed as one of the best hip-hop albums of the past 20 years.

Go if: You know all the words to “Incarcerated Scarfaces.”

Outlaws and Gunslingers Americana Music Association Showcase
The Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen Street West)
Wednesday, 9 p.m.

You won’t have to put much wear on your cowboy boots tonight, because an all-star country lineup at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern means all your down-home tunes are in one place. The Outlaws and Gunslingers Showcase boasts names like Toronto alt-country kings NQ Arbuckle, Americana queen Oh Susanna, acclaimed Latin guitarist Quique Escamilla, Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy, Danny Michel (no intro needed), and Toronto favourite Justin Rutledge, whose album Valleyheart came out last month.

Go if: You want to mix a bit of Americana with the Canadiana of this music week.

CHVRCHES
The Mod Club (720 College Street)
Wednesday, 10 p.m.

Scottish electropop act CHVRCHES is the definition of a buzz band. It hasn’t released anything that even remotely looks like an album. (The group’s debut EP, Recover, isn’t set to drop until next week.) Even so, the British music press is raving. CHVRCHES has received accolades from The Guardian, NME, and Huffington Post UK, and was even compared to Robyn by the BBC.

Go if: You want to see the next big thing.

Big Things Showcase with Sweatshop Union, Wordburglar
Global Village Backpackers (460 King Street West)
Wednesday, 12 a.m.

You could find “harder” rap acts at CMW, make no mistake (check out our hip-hop guide for some of them), but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more playful and pop-culture savvy than Halifax-to-T-Dot transplant Wordburglar, or veteran Vancouver collective Sweatshop Union. These rappers are serious about their rhymes, but they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Go if: You like your rap more geek-chic than gangsta.

Chip-Fu
The Crawford (718 College Street)
Wednesday, 1 a.m.

Hip-hop reggae fusionist Chip-Fu kind of peaked in the early ’90s as part of The Fu-Schnickens, who were riding high on the rap charts until someone made the mistake of telling the group to do a hyper-gimmicky single with aspiring rapper Shaquille O’Neal. All that said, Chip-Fu is still a great, genre-bending MC, and he can rap really, really fast.

Go if: You want to hear some rapid-fire rhymes.

Hip-hop talent isn’t exactly thick on the ground at this year’s edition of Canadian Music Week. The festival’s two biggest hip-hop acts—Raekwon and A$AP Rocky—are both playing limited pass-and-wristband shows, while Tyler, the Creator’s March 22 show seems to have been uncoupled from the festival entirely. (Tyler’s name is still appearing on CMW posters, but the show has been removed from the official calendar.)

That said, if you’re out and about and feel like a break from the CMW’s indie rock–heavy offerings, there are still some good options.

Chip Fu

When: Wednesday, March 20, 1 a.m.
Where: The Crawford (718 College Street)

Those of you who are old enough to remember hip hop of the early ’90s will probably remember rap-dancehall fusionist Chip Fu from his work with the Fu-Schnickens. (Hopefully, you’ll recall the Fu’s Tenor Saw–sampling breakout hit, “Ring the Alarm.” More likely, though, you’ll remember the group’s career-ending collaboration with Shaquille O’Neal.) Fu has built a solid underground following, bridging the gaps between reggae and hip hop. His set will definitely be interesting, but don’t go in expecting a lot of Golden Era nostalgia.

Pigeon Hole

When: Wednesday, March 20, 10:30 p.m.
Where: Global Village (460 King Street West)

And:

When: Thursday, March 21, 1 a.m.
Where: Painted Lady (218 Ossington Avenue)

On their new release, Chimp Blood, BC-based electro-rap hybridizers Pigeon Hole display sharper rhymes than you’d expect out of this sort of genre-bending act. While the group will probably never be a pop-crossover act, it has the potential to be a critical favourite.

Action Bronson

When: Thursday, March 21, 11 p.m.
Where: The Hoxton (69 Bathurst Street)

In 2012, chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson went from buzz-act to break-out star. His first proper, studio-backed album is expected to drop on Vice later this year. In the meantime, he still has seemingly endless hours and hours worth of mixtape material. He’ll be showing some of it off at The Hoxton.

Cadence Weapon

When: Friday, March 22, 8 p.m.
Where: Kool Haus (132 Queens Quay East)

Polaris-nominated Edmonton-via-Montreal MC and producer Cadence Weapon is one of those artists you have to see at least once. One of the country’s most high-energy hip-hop performers, his set at last month’s Wavelength Festival saw him getting sweaty with the crowd, without ever missing a line. His CMW performance will probably be similar.

D-Sisive

When: Friday, March 22, 11 p.m.
Where: Annex Wreck Room (794 Bathurst Street)

Prolific local hero D-Sisive technically retired from rap late last year, after releasing the third and final album in his Jonestown trilogy. Thankfully, he’s still playing live while working on new, non-D-Sisive-related projects. If you’ve never seen him before, you should probably catch this CanRap treasure while you still can.

Ryan Leslie

When: Friday, March 22, 11:30 p.m.
Where: The Phoenix (410 Sherbourne Street)

Harvard-educated New Yorker Ryan Leslie is one of the fest’s hip-hop highlights. He is effectively the mirror image of Drake and Future. While those guys are rappers who dabble heavily in R&B, Leslie is a singer and producer who raps enough to fit comfortably in either genre. He first experienced success producing songs for then-girlfriend Cassie before going solo, and he was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. Expect a lot of new music, as Leslie is currently promoting his upcoming fourth solo album, Black Mozart.

Hip-hop purists have always been a little suspicious of The Airplane Boys. They sing too much, their production borrows too heavily from EDM, and they look like a menswear blog rendered in 3D.

On their new mixtape, Brave New World, they prove beyond a doubt that even with all those outside influences, they can still more than pull their weight as rappers. Both halves of the Scarborough-based duo have a talent for rapid-fire delivery. On songs like “Complacent Virtues” and “Tokyo/The Righteous,” MCs Beck Motley and Bon Voyage manage to cram an almost unreasonable number of both words and pop culture references into every verse. Both tracks require multiple listenings.

While they may share a talent for speed rapping, Beck and Motley are remarkably different from one another. Even when he’s rapping, Motley can’t help but sing a little. He delivers most of his verses in a melodic, sing-song-y tenor. This is balanced by Voyage’s more aggressive, gravelly growl.

While Brave New World may feature the Boys’ strongest performance as MCs to date, their defining feature is still eclectic production and almost insanely catchy hooks. And the pair have clearly been honing their skills since releasing last year’s mixtape, Alignment. In addition to being a better rapper, Motley has grown as a singer. The plaintive-yet-infectious chorus for “Never Know” is the kind of heartrending stuff that has the potential to be a chart-topper, while the bouncy hook on “Complacent Virtues” is an absolute earworm. (You can listen to “Complacent Virtues” by clicking on the sample above.) Production-wise, Brave New World embraces EDM without totally submitting to it. The influences are clear and strong, but they never take over.

2012 was a big year for The Airplane Boys. They played Coachella, opened for Snoop Dogg in the UK, and toured Asia. If Brave New World is any indication, 2013 will be the year they go from buzz band to pop stars.

Cadence Weapon goes wild on stage at The Great Hall.

Wavelength Festival
Various venues
February 13—17

This past weekend’s edition of the Wavelength Festival was the 13th, making the annual music showcase a teenager. Like any teenager, it has started to explore new interests.

Whether fairly or not, Wavelength has always been viewed as an indie–centric event. While that’s not necessarily accurate—non-rock acts like Fucked Up, Crystal Castles, and Holy Fuck have all graced the Wavelength stage at one point or another—this year’s festival featured more sonic diversity than ever. There was hip-hop, a strong handful of synth-based bands, several fast-and-dirty punk bands, and even a solo violin performance.

The weekend also saw a diversity of programming. In addition to the four nighttime club shows—Thursday at Parts and Labour, Friday and Saturday at the Great Hall, and Sunday at the Garrison—there were three in-store performances at record shops around the city. These in-stores were accompanied by talks from music journalists, which brought a new, oddly educational vibe to the festival. (Sunday’s in-store at Grasshopper Records, featuring The Soupcans and author Sam Sutherland, was particularly great.)

Goth punks Ell V Gore were the highlight of Thursday night’s show. In a sub-genre filled with Misfits wannabes, this band has a hard, dark sound all its own—big and full, with guitars loud enough to rattle your chest and vocals menacing enough to make you want to hide in a corner. Ell V Gore’s full-length debut will be dropping later this year, and we can’t wait to hear it.

One of the most impressive things about this year’s Wavelength was how much dancing went on. Given Toronto’s history of sedate, indifferent crowds and indie rockers’ reputation for being uncomfortable in their own bodies, there was a surprising amount of moving around.

The most notable outbreak of rhythmic movement came during Friday night’s performance by Montreal’s Blue Hawaii. A two-person electropop side project by Braids‘ Raphaelle Standell-Preston, Blue Hawaii is part of the same Arbutus Records scene that gave us Grimes. The band’s fun, high-energy set combined Standell-Preston’s haunting vocals and almost-hypnotic looping with big-beat production that verged on being out-and-out house music.

The second greatest display of dancing was the mini-mosh pit that broke out during Do Make Say Think’s set on Saturday. DMST’s hometown fans were so excited to see their heroes back in action that they began banging into each other out of sheer bliss. It was oddly heartwarming.

Cadence Weapon also did a great job of moving the crowd. The Edmonton-born, Montreal-based MC—who may be Canada’s most thoroughly under-appreciated rapper, which is saying something—spends as much time operating in indie-rock circles as he does parlaying with other rappers, which means neither side really understands how good he is. During Friday night’s show at the Great Hall, he dropped bars so sharp you could cut glass with them, while simultaneously bringing a manic, punk rock–like energy to the stage.

Violinist Sarah Neufeld, best known for her work with Arcade Fire, may have been the weekend’s surprise hit. It was hard to see how a solo violinist would blend in with Saturday’s indie rock–heavy line-up. Thankfully, she didn’t blend in at all. Her mixture of sounds ranged from soft and atmospheric to the violin equivalent of shredding. The audience may have been a little chatty at the beginning of her set, but everyone was absolutely spellbound by the end.

If you haven’t seen indie-rock supergroup Henri Fabergé and the Adorables, you’re missing out. The band doesn’t play much, since its members are usually busy playing in The Meligrove Band, Rural Alberta Advantage, Woodhands, Born Ruffians and several other outfits, but when they manage to get together, it’s a weird, high-energy treat. The band’s set on Sunday night was no exception. The Adorables brought an element of costumed chaos and a fun, almost poppy sound to the Garrison. They packed the stage with dancers and back-up singers, ran into the crowd, removed clothing and generally had a blast, all while playing complex arrangements involving trumpets and clarinets.

Not everything at Wavelength was great, however. We’re not exactly sure what was going on with SlowPitch and Colin Fisher on Thursday night, but the combination of fuzzed-out turntablism and free-jazz squawking didn’t do much for us. It could be that we’re just not sophisticated enough to “get it,” or it could be that the whole idea was a little half-baked.

The other obvious weak spot was the between-band chatter by MC Doc Pickles. By no means are we going to tell Wavelength co-founder Pickles that he can’t introduce bands at his own show, but he’s in serious need of an editor. His between-set patter occasionally verged on babbling and often went on too long. He regularly joked that his job was to “set the bar low” for the bands. He succeeded.

A few missteps aside, this year’s Wavelength proved that the organization isn’t moving into an awkward adolescence, but rather a new, more interesting maturity.

CORRECTION: February 19, 3:45PM This post originally misspelled the name of the band “Do Make Say Think.”

Over the last few weeks, local R&B singer/songwriter Andreena (formerly known as Andreena Mill) has received a fair bit of attention with her “Hip Hop Chronicles” series of YouTube videos. The series has Andreena re-imagining a different hip hop hit every week, usually turning them into mellowed-out, stripped-down, jazzy piano-and-vocals numbers. Her new, free EP, The Covers: Volume 1, has her first four “Chronicles” recordings, plus one extra cover, together in one package.

The Covers works for a couple of key reasons. One is that this isn’t being done ironically or as a lark. While she may primarily work in R&B, Andreena legitimately loves hip hop. She’s worked with everyone from Drake to Saigon, providing hooks for dozens of hip hop songs. The other reason for Covers’ success is song selection. The original versions of Future’s “Turn on the Lights” and Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” are already half-sung, while Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” has a strong vocal hook. All three provide a strong jumping off point for Andreena’s vocal interpretations.

Her version of “Turn on the Lights” takes the romantic undertones of the original and shines them until the song verges on ballad territory. “Pursuit of Happiness,” on the other hand, gets transformed from a stoner anthem about unreached potential, and becomes an uplifting hymn.

The oddest choice on the album is her version of “Trinidad James’ All Gold Everything” (which you can listen to above). The original features no singing and is simultaneously both hyper aggressive and mind-alteringly slow. In some ways, though, this cover is the one that works the best. If we’re being brutally honest Trinidad James is a rapper who’s high on charisma, but low on technical skill. As a result, “All Gold Everything” is almost a blank canvass for Andreena. She’s free to add vocal flourishes where she wants, and can make the instrumental her own. Save for the lyrics, it’s almost a completely different song.

As a bonus, she throws in a version of Big Sean’s “Guap,” done over the original instrumental. It’s the truest cover on the album, but it’s also the most hands-in-the-air fun. Andreena does a great job of adding vocal depth to the song while retaining its rowdy, victorious vibe.

At this point in her career, Andreena is probably best known for providing hooks on other people’s songs. Ironically, it’s taken an EP of covers for her to prove, once and for all, that she’s an amazing artist in her own right.

Wavelength Festival
Featuring Do May Say Think, Cadence Weapon, Doldrums and more
Various venues
February 13–17
Festival Passes $39

This year’s Wavelength Festival: bigger, weirder, and more inclusive.

Founded in early 2000, Wavelength Music Arts Projects was created to provide a venue for independent musicians. From 2000–2010, the promotion group and arts organization put on a series of weekly, pay-what-you-can Sunday night concerts, featuring bands like Fucked Up, Crystal Castles, and Broken Social Scene. After that, they wrapped up the weekly shows to focus on a series of bigger, less frequent events throughout the year, including the August ALL CAPS! festival, an annual collaboration with the Images film festival, and the mid-winter Wavelength Festival. This year, that festival will feature a mixture of well known names and new ideas.

“We have a few bigger names like, Do May Say Think and Doldrums and Cadence Weapon,” founding director Jonny Dovercourt says. “Cookie Duster [an electro-pop band featuring BSS’ Brendan Canning] are doing their live debut. We’re doing a reunion show for Henri Faberge and the Adorables.”

Most notable amongst this year’s new features is a series of all-ages in-store shows that will be taking place at Soundscapes and Sonic Boom. Dovercourt says the in-stores, which will combine live performances with talks by music journalists, are meant to be an access point for a new generation of music fans.

“We were disappointed that, due to cost reasons, we couldn’t make our evening shows all-ages, so we wanted to do something for the kids,” he says. “The record store community has always been part of Wavelength—Soundscapes was our first sponsor. It was sort of a natural fit. We always wanted to do something with them, but we weren’t sure what it would be.”

Another new feature is the debut of Wavelength’s Artist Incubator series. Wavelength is mentoring three young bands— Del Bel, Most People, and Fresh Snow—teaching them the business end of indie music, while also working to create bigger, music-centred art projects. Fresh Snow will be playing their first show as an Incubator band.

“It started with Fresh Snow,” he says. “They did a show with us last spring and played inside this little projection cube with four white sheets that they played inside of and shot projections out of. It got me thinking, this is how I want to work with bands, not just booking them to play, but collaborating with them to make something new and awesome.”

Violinist Sarah Neufeld, best known for her work with Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre, will play some of her new solo material on Saturday.

“Wavelength Jonny was at my show at the Drake, which was actually the first show I did as a solo artist where I wasn’t opening for someone,” she says. “He liked it, so he asked me to do Wavelength.”

Neufeld says, more than anything, she’s excited to share the stage with some of her favourite bands. “I’ve never actually seen Do May Say Think, and they’re a band I’ve loved for years,” she says. “It’s really exciting to both get to see them and then play on the same bill.”

For Dovercourt, Wavelength at 13 can be summed up in one sentence.

“We’re one year older, so we’re one louder,” he says.