This Wednesday is the official launch of Canadian Music Week 2008, and as you read this more bands are flooding into Toronto than you can shake a drumstick at. If you’re planning to see a lot of shows (and there is a slightly overwhelming number to choose from), then your best option is to buy a wristband. These cost $35 and allow you into the majority of smaller shows, with most of the bigger......

If you are saddened by your procrastination that cost you Richard Hawley and Jose Gonzalez tickets this week, you can direct your attention to the eclectic choice of shows as a mild substitute. It does, however, appear as if local label Arts and Crafts have successfully cornered the market on this week's moderately sized shows (read: tickets that cost no more than $35). Tuesday you can catch Jason Collett with a surprise guest at the......

This Friday's Steam Whistle Unsigned is already the fourth in a series of independent music showcases at the Roundhouse, but it's the first we're really excited about. Really excited. Check out this lineup: The Carps are the best thing to come out of Scarborough since... er... hmm. Right. Anyway, the punk-soul duo recently opened for MIA at the Kool Haus, and if they're good enough for Maya, they're good enough for you. Opopo sound like......

Spoon have made only one big misstep in their ten-plus years of recording albums: Gimme Fiction. The 2005 album, a follow-up to 2002's absolutely brilliant Kill the Moonlight, marked a step backward for the band's music and a step forward for its accessibility––an album of decent, friendly, straightforward, catchy, and ultimately forgettable rock songs, an album able to retain the band's old fans while hooking tons of new ones. Gimme Fiction––save for (pictured) lead......

This week Musicologist will be checking out Regina Spektor at the Kool Haus, thanks to the insistence of a friend who pretty much exclusively listens to hip hop. The fact the he loves Spektor means she's gotta be good. It's sold out, but Musicologist never shies away from listing sold out shows—we all know there's always an (expensive) last-ditch way to get in if you're desperate. (Why does that sound dirty? We mean scalpers,......

A lot happens in and around Toronto, but we can only write about so much in a week. Here's the best of the rest, in a new weekly feature we're calling Superfluist. Superfluist will appear every Friday night. Cathy Gordon decided to get very, very publicly divorced on Monday, with an art piece she called "On My Knees." For it, she crawled around Toronto for a while (on her knees!), signed divorce papers, and then......

A lot happens in and around Toronto, but we can only write about so much in a week. Here's the best of the rest, in a new weekly feature we're calling Superfluist. Superfluist will appear every Friday night. First a monkey escaped. Then, elephants did. And now, a bear has! Animals are apparently not big fans of being captive. Weird, right?The semi-famous Enrique Inglesias was at MuchMusic.This weekend (starting tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.) is......

Supporting their recently-released second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob, England’s Kaiser Chiefs played a storming, triumphant set at the Kool Haus on Wednesday night. Their story isn’t new: having sold millions of albums in the UK and Europe, British band attempts to crack North America. For every Coldplay, there’s countless Pulps. But as so-called difficult second albums go, Yours Truly, Angry Mob seems to fare much better than average. Writing short-but-catchy pop-punk songs is never......

"Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby...Do ya, do ya, do ya do ya..." Anyone else get this song stuck in their head whenever they hear it? Curse those Kaiser Chiefs and their catchy lyrics! Perhaps seeing them live in concert could get it out of your system, yes? Well, courtesy of Sneak Attack Media, we can make that happen. The Leeds, UK boys will be in town tomorrow night at the Kool Haus, along with The......

Australian 70's-arena-rock-inspired Wolfmother created some buzz last week when they were in town for a soldout show at the Kool Haus, as well as a brief performance at the Indie Awards. We're a little late reporting on it (blame CMW), but last Tuesday's show was nothing short of a marathon set, if we've ever seen one. Frontman Andrew Stockdale took to the stage sporting full facial hair and his trademark giant afro, and along with......

Now that CMW is out of the way, it's time to move onto other pressing music matters -- such as, why the hell are all these really great bands coming to town and playing the Kool Haus?! Can we not get a better venue than that? We just spent three of the last seven days at that venue and had to stand near the soundboard just to get even remotely clear audio of the......

It's finally here - the week of festival hell insanity. Got your wristbands and earplugs ready? Canadian Music Week kicks off on Wednesday with the Indie Awards at The Docks, and Thursday to Saturday will have you running around town trying to catch as many acts as possible. Wristbands are $35, or you can purchase (limited) tickets at the door to most shows. Not your thing this year? There's also the Pitter Patter Festival......

It seems pretty appropriate that we just had Groundhog Day, given that we're feeling a little bit like Bill Murray looking at the concert listings this week. Not only is there very little going on, but most of the bands who are playing seem to be here every week (Apostle of Hustle, The Tragically Hip, Hostage Life, Friendly Rich). Thus, we have nothing left to say about them! So if you've already seen these......

Concert announcements are coming fast and furious, now that everyone's back to their regularly scheduled programming. A number of festival dates are set all the way into September already, including the return of V-Fest to Olympic Island on Sept. 8-9. The festival is expanding out west this year, with Vancouver getting it's innaugural V-Fest -- although judging by the current lineup so far (headliners only), they're catering to a much younger crowd than Toronto......

The year is winding down and so is the music, which is kind of nice, actually, because there seem to be a lot of tours already gearing up for 2007. Hopefully Alexisonfire isn't one of them...we have no idea how they can manage to go onstage and scream for 7 solid days (they have a few more shows this week). Insanity. Best bets for this week include Royal Wood tonight at the Cameron House......

It seems to be the week of Alexisonfire, who are playing just about every venue in the city over the next 7 days, starting on Thursday. We predict a few bruised ribs and black eyes just in time for Christmas...so kids, if you're going to the show(s), be a little gentler to each other knowing that your parents will be pissed if you're posing for the holiday photos with a shiner. This public service......

As the weeks draw closer to the holidays, we're seeing less and less shows listed -- which really sucks, because one can only take so much Christmas music...and we've already heard enough of it to drive us insane. Yeah, yeah, bah humbug. That said, it's quite possible we'll be checking out Twisted Sister's 'A Twisted Christmas' tomorrow. The vision of Dee Snider in full makeup and crazy hair, possibly wearing a Santa suit and......

Having canceled their October tour date at the Kool Haus, Sloan returned to Toronto last Thursday for the rescheduled show. Advertised as their 10th Anniversary Kool Haus Show, it could have been a celebration, of sorts: for the anniversary, for the end of the tour, for the fans (and neighbours) who had tickets to the October show. But as they usually do, Sloan favoured material from their latest album, with only a few past......

What do Colonel Sanders, Charlie Chaplin and the Anti-Christ have in common? They're all backing members of Tenacious D, the self-professed "greatest band in the world," who brought us all down into the pits of hell on Monday night at the Ricoh Coliseum. Love him or hate him, Jack Black (JB) is comedy's "it" boy these days, and along with his sidekick Kyle Gass (Kage), "The D" have developed quite a following since the......

As if Malajube wasn't enough French awesomeness for one week, this Saturday night brings Les Breastfeeders and Call Me Poupee to the El Mocambo. After this weekend, if you're not speaking perfect French, well, you need to make more of an effort. Les Breastfeeders may sound familiar to some of you, since they just played the free See Vous Play show a few months back at the Kool Haus, which was put on by......

It's that time of the year--benefit concert season. There are a number of them coming up in the next few weeks, including The Holiday Jam (Sick Kids), Jason Collett & The Constantines (CARE Canada), and Bedouin Soundclash (Doctors Without Borders/War Child), so if you're in a giving mood, this may be a good way to do it while also catching some great music. Best bets for this week include Tenacious D tonight (love/hate...always entertaining),......

Everyone must be getting ready to hibernate for the winter...not as many shows this week and nothing of great interest announced recently. However, the live acts that are playing this week are pretty damn good, if we may say so. Royal Wood is at the Cameron House every Monday evening, and is the perfect choice if you're looking to chill out with a good friend and a glass of wine. Tuesday night, head to......

Another busy week in the city. Ridiculously busy. Once again, there's something decent to check out every night. We'll be hitting The Decemberists, Imogen Heap, Shout Out Out Out Out (out out out), and possibly a few more. Perhaps even Skid Row (minus Bach). What?! As if you don't miss those power ballads of the 80s! Oh, and it looks like Justin Timberlake is bringing 'sexy back' to Toronto in January. The price? Up......

Busy, busy week here in Toronto. There are so many good shows to go to, that it's quite possible to be out almost every night. For example, tonight is so chock full of great shows that it's a shame they weren't spread out better over the week...we'd love to see most of these acts! Death Cab For Cutie are in town tonight and tomorrow, and according to the Toronto Sun they will be doing......

There seems to be something for everyone this week, but let's just call it the 'week of The Hip' and be done with it, since they've taken up residence at The Phoenix for four sold out shows. We're curious to know if anyone actually paid $60 + TM charges per ticket to attend all of them? 'Fess up! If that's not your thing, you can always get spewed on by Gwar tonight at the......

Compared to the past few weeks, this one's a bit quieter in the live music world, but there are still some decent shows to check out. Of note, Beck brings his two turntables and a mic to the Ricoh Coliseum tonight (too bad about the location), you can get Comfortably Numb (in a few ways, we're sure) at the Opera House or check out the moustachiod Killers at the Kool Haus on Friday, and......

Hoooo boy! Looks like somebody fed us way too much turkey this weekend. We've just come out of our tryptophan-induced comas and realized we lost an entire day. Not only do we have to deal with our tardiness, but also figure out what to do with that permanent dent in the couch. If you can manage to roll out of the house after stuffing your face all weekend, you can burn off some of......

Hometown favourite Sloan play the Kool Haus tonight in support of their newest album, Never Hear The End Of It. The show's being billed as their 10th Anniversary at the venue. Hopping on the Web 2.0 train, the band has posted clips of their rehearsals for the tour: Alternatively, you can also see the band as they really were in 1996. Update (from Sloan's website): "Tonight's show at Kool Haus in Toronto has been rescheduled......

If you're not completely burnt out from Nuit Blanche, there are plenty of quality shows to check out this week, including Joanna Newsom, Massive Attack, and Myspace darling Lily Allen. Alternatively, you Hip fans can skip out on the live music this week and save up your change for all four (yes, FOUR) of the recently announced shows at the Phoenix a few weeks from now. Can Gord Downie and pals really justify the......

This fall is shaping up to be a busy one, as everyone and their dog seems to be touring right now. If you haven't spent all of your OSAP money yet, might want to stash away a few pennies for some concert tix. However, if you've already blown your student loan on cheap beer and (even cheaper) Ikea furniture, take comfort in the fact that you can visit your local public library to catch......