Results tagged “laurabarrett”

Believe it or not, music videos still exist. Sound Tracks trolls the internet to find the best and the worst of local artists' new singles and the good, bad, or otherwise noteworthy visuals that accompany them.

Last year for the encore at their AIDS benefit concert at Hart House, the Hidden Cameras played a mean cover of "Umbrella." You know which "Umbrella" we're talking about—that amazing ubiquitous pop song, oft-covered but never really matched or trumped. Not until Joel Gibb and his dozen or so band members took it on in Hart House, at least: Gibb's pronounced croon somehow fit the song even better than Rihanna's resigned "ey"s, and the huge band—killer drum line and all—only added to it. People at the concert flipped out, as well they should have.

MUSIC: This morning, come to the Tranzac to celebrate the release of the highly-anticipated first album from Laura Barrett, Victory Garden. At 11:30 a.m., a healthy brunch made by Laura Barrett and Ajay Mehra will be served. At 1:30 p.m., music! There will be a set by Ghost Bees, a solo performance from Woodhands singer Dan Werb, and—of course—a performance by Barrett herself. The party will be framed nicely with animations and artwork brought to you by Tin Can Forest, Isaac King, and Chris DeCastro. Tranzac (292 Brunswick Avenue), 11:30 a.m., $10 ($17, with brunch).

It’s pretty much accepted fact that garage sales are in the top ten of all things awesome. And any time a business does one, like the TRANZAC is this Saturday, it only adds to that awesomeness.

Photo of Forest City Lovers by Joe Fuda

Photo by Stig Nygaard.

As the subject for a serious music book, Céline Dion––amazing or not––seems like an odd choice. In the latest book in the 33⅓ series, however––a series which typically looks at albums like the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds or Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures or the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St.––Carl Wilson, probably Toronto's pre-eminent music critic, takes it upon himself to "[strive] to understand Céline's global popularity," in the process "fac[ing] the question of what drives personal taste––and whether it's possible to change it." Wilson, needless to add, is a brave, brave man.

Kincardine-born, Mississauga-bred, Toronto-based, and Berlin-bound, Joel Gibb is the musical and managerial head of The Hidden Cameras, the fantastic and always well-populated music collective whose members have included Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Reg Vermue (Gentlemen Reg), Laura Barrett, Maggie MacDonald (Republic of Safety), Dave Meslin (founder of the Toronto Public Space Committee), Bob Wiseman, Steve Kado (founder of Blocks Recording Club, member of Barcelona Pavilion and Ninja High School), Ohad Benchetrit (Do Make Say Think), Don Kerr (The Rheostatics), and many, many others.

The Drake is gearing up for an ambitious week of post-holiday, end of year music celebration. They are calling the short run What's in the Box: 5 nights, 5 bands, 5 bucks—a clever ploy to attract the empty-pocketed portion of the city (that's if you go for the music, not the booze). Despite being known for attracting enemies to the neighbourhood in the past (err...every Saturday night), the 5 nights (5 bands, 5 bucks) of solidly booked bills might win over the locals, even if it's just for those 5 nights (5 bands, 5 bucks).

Photo of Julie Doiron courtesy of Jagjaguwar.

It’s fitting that Maggie MacDonald is one of four self-appointed prime ministers of the Republic of Safety. She’s a political and creative force, using art as her weapon of choice. Her current bands, The Hidden Cameras and the aforementioned Republic of Safety, are musical meeting points for sex and politics. She’s exhibited her visual art and had her comics published in The Globe and Mail and Lola magazine. When she was just 20, MacDonald ran a dynamic campaign as a provincial NDP candidate. Her writing, which has received accolades from none other than quintessential riot grrl Kathleen Hanna, includes a self-published magazine, the illustrated novel Kill The Robot and critically-acclaimed plays.

We realize that we probably talk about Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, way too much. So we're not going to talk about his free show on Saturday night at North York Central Library, also featuring The Creeping Nobodies, Hank, Ninja High School, and Bob Wiseman. Nope, not a word.

i (heart) music has just released their list of the 33 hottest bands in Canada for 2006, as selected by a more than forty Canadian music bloggers (including yours truly, current Torontoist contributor Carrie Musgrave, Said the Gramophone, former Torontoist contributor Frank Yang from Chromewaves, and lots of others). We don't mean to gloat, but it looks like we're still the best city for music in the country.

Ok, so there are no obnoxious hosts (yes, we mean you Mulroney!) and we don't get to vote by cellphone, but in a way SOCAN's Echo Songwriting prize is kind of like Canadian Idol. The award relies on your votes to decide which of these five artists have written the "most innovative, creative and artistic songs created in the past year." The prize is $5000 which should pay rent and utilities for about six months.

You'd have to be a curmudgeon not to like the Bicycles. It's hard to hate a band that opens a show with painted cardboard standups of various band members, sing Archies/Monkees inspired songs about girls from Montreal and visits to Australia, and fill their shows with handclaps, tambourines and harmonies that come straight from a 1970s bubblegum pop record.

A day late this week, but when you see the crazy number of new shows recently announced, you’ll understand why. With so much variety, there should be something for everyone coming up in the next month or so. Due to the large number of show listings, there will be no links this week (hey, it takes a LONG time to link up this stuff, my friends).

Who Is DJ Cyber-Rap?

And march over to the opening of Artcade tonight 7-10pm at Microplay (632 Queen W). The group show brings 11 artists and designers that are inspired by classic arcade games. One of our favourite illustrators, Chris Hutsul, is showing pieces like this badass bot, a mashup of two of our favourite pop-culture influences; Transformers and the 8-bit glory of the NES.

The temperature hasn't crept above freezing outside but that doesn't mean that you should stay in. There are a few crazy good shows in town tonight, and it's only Tuesday!

And the joke was: Dylan Reibling, he of the fake prom and (formerly?) of Wavelength, has recruited local talent for a night of tribute to Sloan.

Two more chances to see the much talked about Laura Barrett before the year is up: She'll be playing/baking at the Rancho Relaxo for the Band Bake-Off tonight and playing only at a Amazing confluence of Music and Funny! Holiday Fundraiser at the Silver Dollar on Thursday.

Barrett, a pianist who took up the Kalimba in the last year and a recent Linguistics and English U of T grad, has an artfully-packaged EP out called Earth Sciences. It includes a song called Stop giving your children standardized tests, part one. You can catch the sweet science nerd later this month at The Bagel, details of which the self-correcting power of the blogosphere will soon post in the comments.

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