Photo by raveneye | José. This week Toronto's favourite literary voyeur, Julie Wilson, relaunches her Seen Reading site, giving her very entertaining habit of spying on readers a whole new look. The biggest new feature is a podcast for every entry—lit geeks can listen to Julie while on transit, sitting beside someone who’s reading on transit, while listening to Julie talk about someone who’s reading on transit. As Julie herself said to Torontoist, "Very......

Photo of Tyr Jami and Todd MacDonald of The Winks by Jasa Baka Vancouver-born, Montreal-settled The Winks will be passing through Toronto this Sunday, May 18 (with Vancouver's Secret Mommy Quintet) at Sneaky Dee's. The cello- and mandolin-fused band welcomed 2008 with the end of a "63 shows in 71 days" tour of North America to promote the release of their EP Chours Girls, and this coming Toronto stop is one of many on......

Photo by petite corneille. Torontoist's lit pick this week? On Thursday award-winning Winnipeg author Chandra Mayor is in town to launch her short story collection, All The Pretty Girls, at Toronto Women's Bookstore. The evening is a bonus triple bill, as Mayor will be joined by two local femme favourites—Debra Anderson (Code White), and Zoe Whittall (Bottle Rocket Hearts). Rumour has it Whittall will be reading from a draft of her latest, currently untitled......

It’s been a while since the Okay Player collective have celebrated a release for anyone other than The Roots (yes, they just released their 10th full-length Rising Down last week, yes that is worthy of celebration). But this year, the collective is also celebrating Erykah Badu. After a 5 year hiatus following the release of a very underwhelming Worldwide Undergroud, the release of New Amerykah (part one of two EPs—the other scheduled to be released......

Photo by micgormit from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. This week internationally acclaimed author Maggie Helwig launches her new novel Girls Fall Down (Coach House Books) at the Toronto Women's Bookstore (73 Harbord Street). Torontoist is always happy to see local writers using Toronto as a setting for novels, and Helwig doesn't disappoint. In her rendering, a biological outbreak on the TTC sends the city into a panic, as stricken citizens are collapsing in subways......

On a dim fall evening last September, Neil Haverty (guitarist/vocalist of local alt-gospel collective Bruce Peninsula) peered thankfully ahead at the Tranzac’s seated crowd. With utter honesty he acknowledged how honoured he felt to be opening that evening for headliner Mike Feuerstack of Snailhouse, as he recalled an important time in his life when he incessantly listened to the Wooden Stars. This sort of admirable sentiment is often associated with Mike Feuerstack, for whom Sappy......

Photo by gp0256 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. If great female writers is what you're after this week, you're in luck. Tonight you can catch the always entertaining and edgy poetry of Tara-Michelle Ziniuk (Emergency Contact) at The Art Bar Poetry Series. Rumour has it that she'll be publishing her next collection, tentatively titled Somewhere To Run From, with Tightrope Books in spring 2009. The writer, performer, and activist will be joined by Sharon......

Summer's concert season is well on its way, folks! This week a handful of exciting dates were announced, including Montreal's orchestral pop collective Islands, who play on May 29 at the Phoenix, Retribution Gospel Choir (side project for Alan Sparhawk of Low), who will be at the Rivoli on June 21, and West Coast experimental veterans Frog Eyes, who play at the Horseshoe on June 23—get your tickets early! As for this week, young folk......

Truckloads of hype have preceded the arrival of Philadelphia’s Man Man at Lee’s Palace this evening. With heavy comparisons to the spirit of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa, and a show repertoire that includes opening for Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, the six-man (man) band have inevitably entered the zone of high expectation. The Toronto stop is included in their thorough North American tour (most recently selling out New York, Philadelphia and Boston dates), and......

Since its opening last October, Wrongbar has been a blessing to the Parkdale area. This Friday, it'll be hosting the second edition of the Stone's Throw Move Toronto party. The respected California indie hip hop and funk label will be sending off one of its biggest stars as Madlib spins a set. One half of Madvillian and Jaylib, Madlib also releases records under his Quasimoto guise. He will be joined by label mates Egon and......

Photo by Tom (hmm a rosa tint). Get ready for an overload of launches—spring has finally sprung in the book world. Things certainly start off right as tomorrow Coach House Books hosts their spring launch at Stones Place. As far as book parties go, Coach House has a real knack for showing revelers a real good time. The evening will feature performances by writers from their current catalogue, including Maggie Helwig, Claudia Dey, Jordan......

This week's listings offer quite the myriad of options for all you concert-goers, from Nada Surf at the Opera House this evening to the Music Gallery's fundraiser with Swedish sweetheart Jens Lekman, Final Fantasy, and Katie Stelmanis tomorrow at the Great Hall. Wednesday, April 9 offers both The Dodos at El Mocambo and a sold-out New Pornographers/Okkervil River show at the Phoenix. Pas Chic Chic (a French side project from members of Godspeed! You Black......

Photo from The Chameleon Project. Local livetronica trio Chameleon Project celebrate their sophomore album ...if it takes all night with a two set-show at Revival on Friday. The instrumental group has undergone a number of changes since releasing their debut Stereoscopic five years ago. The new record features a stripped down sound and smooth guitar tones, which isn't surprising since their guitarist threw a Yacht Rock–themed party last year. Joining the group will be......

Photo by blimpa. A welcome literary sign of spring is National Poetry Month, a country-wide event that kicked off locally this morning with a shindig at Ben McNally Books featuring Poet Laureate for Canada, John Steffler. Until the end of April Toronto will see a wide variety of events and readings, each devoted to celebrating the cultural value of poetry. The first poetry event of note is this Wednesday's NicholBack, an ingeniously titled tribute......

Photo of David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors by David Topping. Perhaps it’s old news that Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors are playing Toronto again. The band was attached to Grizzly Bear's leg like a dryer sheet for a few years, opening most of their Toronto gigs, and they recently played Sneaky Dee’s last August to precede the release of their third full-length, Rise Above (an ode to Black Flag’s Damaged). But with said album bolted to......

A historic tour rolls into town this Wednesday, as Jay-Z and Mary J Blige bring their Heart of the City co-venture to the ACC. Since 1996, Jigga has released ten studio albums, two collaborations with R. Kelly, a mash-up album with Linkin Park, and an MTV Unplugged with The Roots. He also managed to squeeze in a three-year retirement, during which he served as Def Jam president. When no major labels would sign him, he......

The fantastic Ibi Kaslik is back with a follow-up to her stunning debut novel, Skinny (a book that cracked the New York Times best sellers list for two consecutive weeks earlier this year—no small feat for a young Canadian writer). Kaslik's latest offering, The Angel Riots (Penguin Books), is the fictional chronicle of two up-and-coming Montreal bands, and speculation has already surfaced that the author (who, while in high school, was in a band with......

This week's listings are definitely some of the most exciting in months! Obvious recommendations include Why? who play at the Silver Dollar on March 27; Basia Bulat, who plays Lee’s Palace on March 29; Owen, who plays El Mocambo on March 27; and The Roots, who play the Kool Haus on March 30. But those are shows that you probably already have tickets for. What you may not be so prepared for this week is......

Eric Warner has done it again! The man behind such endearing stories of booking concerts while still under-age, running an incredible independent label that just won’t stop, and being a soldier through those good ol’ days of Viking Club and Dollarama has just announced an ambitious lineup for this year’s Over The Top Festival. Equal parts film and music (with a hint of theatre), the festival spans five days from April 30 to May......

Photo by Jonathan Ponce from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's a bit of a slow week on Toronto's literary event calendar, as most publishers are in the final, frantic phases of producing their new spring catalogues. Enjoy your rest now, because things are going to get real busy come April. Having said that, there are a few gems for book lovers to attend before the snow finally melts and a packed schedule of spring......

This week Musicologist wants you to meet Sing Leaf. This orchestral/experimental-folk sextet combines intricate pieces of woven sounds ranging from airy flute to a reversed loop of acoustic guitar to sparse banjo overtop of minimalist electronic bases. Their sound is warm and sincere, and offers promising comparisons to many of the ripened initiatives in similar genres (Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, for example). Sing Leaf play at a much-anticipated......

Panel from Emily Pohl-Weary and Willow Dawson's Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate #4, courtesy of Willow Dawson. Ten weeks of fantastic, free writing workshops have just been announced as part of the Parkdale Street Writers program. Coordinated by the multi-talented poet, YA author, and Kiss Machine founder Emily Pohl-Weary, the workshops start April 1 and are led by some kick-ass local writers and artists, including Mariko Tamaki, Willow Dawson, and Kristyn Dunnion. You don’t have......

Torontoist is ahead of the game for previewing some of the best music choices this week (Queen West fire benefit, Forest City Lovers' CD release) but Musicologist will give you one more recommendation—just for kicks. When UK’s Field Music announced a (begrudged) break last year, who knew David Brewis would be in Toronto playing a show under a different name and clean ethos so quickly? School of Language and their debut LP Sea From Shore......

Photo of Julie Wilson, courtesy of Julie Wilson. Julie Wilson has become a favourite in literary entertainment over the past few years. Since 2006, her popular blog Seen Reading has been keeping Toronto book geeks amused by tracking the city's public reading habits. The concept is both simple and ingenious—Wilson spots a stranger reading, guesses where they are in the book, transcribes the passage onto her blog, and then lets her imagination run wild.......

Photo of Forest City Lovers by Joe Fuda Torontoist is gearing up for the annual Canadian Music Week this week. CMWist's complete coverage of show listings and a constant outpour of recommendations and reviews throughout the week will keep you all focused with that overwhelming 500+ band schedule. But CMW aside, Soundscapes will be hosting a handful of free (yes, free) in-store performances throughout the week running parallel to CMW, and supporting the new......

Detail of photo by the Frankfurt School from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.. This week is Freedom to Read Week, a national event that encourages Canadians to value their right to choose what they read, and to recognize the individuals who fight to protect that right. Celebrations against censorship are happening across the country—locally PEN Canada is presenting an evening of readings and performances to promote a new anthology, Writers Under Siege: Voices of Freedom......

There are tons of great shows for all you concertgoers this week, including a particularly time-sensitive one tonight. Apparently a sold-out Wrong Bar for Crystal Castles last Thursday was not enough for the electro-punk duo. A last-minute show has been booked at the Wrong Bar tonight (alongside LA’s Health) before they continue on with their extensive North American tour. With no tickets to be purchased in advance, you better drop what you’re doing and immediately......

Photo by Darryl Scott. Danger! The Mothership descends onto the Phoenix this Monday, bringing George Clinton and his ace group of funkateers, Parliament Funkadelic, into town to tear the roof off the mutha sucka. Meer mortals are powerless to Dr. Funkenstein and his bop gun. All attempts to fake the funk are punishable with potential exile to the Zone of Zero Funkativity. Accept that it's one nation under a groove. (Note: resistance to groove......

You really have to wonder how performance artist and sexual activist Louise Bak always manages to schedule the very best mix of the Toronto literary scene for her Box Salon series. The successful poet and CIUT "Sex City" host founded the event back in 1998, and a decade later it is still the most entertaining literary night out in Toronto. While many other reading series can be hit or miss, the Box is consistently fresh,......

A brief stint of Radiohead concert rumours spread like wildfires last week. Ticketmaster had announced that the band would play two shows on May 26 and 27 at the Air Canada Centre, but mentioned neither the date for the tickets to go on sale nor the price of the tickets themselves—the announcement was quickly removed from the site. This is not the first time Ticketmaster has announced a Radiohead show that did not exist, and......