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......

Canada's talented children have gone unexploited for far too long, an injustice that Universal Music has finally seen fit to remedy. According to Hollywood Reporter, the label has "joined the search for Canada's version of Miley Cyrus," and, with YTV, has created a new TV talent competition called The Instant Star, designed for children 15 and under. The winner gets a record contract, fame, and, presumably, a shot at pubescence. If the name of the......

Parkdale is most definitely in the house this weekend. On Friday, the Elizabeth Shepherd Quintet will be playing a CD release show at the Gladstone Ballroom. Parkdale (at right) is the follow-up to Shepherd's acclaimed debut Start to Move and is being released by Do Right! Music. John Kong has acquired an eclectic label roster and the label is top notch. They've already promoted Parkdale with a making-of video and a podcast. It's worked too,......

Photo of the Toronto Centre for the Arts by selosa On Thursday, Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of My Fair Lady makes its long-awaited Toronto debut. Just as significantly, however, its arrival brings a new lease on life for one of the city's finest major theatres.......

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......

American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann will be making an appearance in Toronto this week. She’s about to embark on a tour in support of her new album, @#%&*! Smilers (out June 3), which will see her back in Toronto for a concert on August 28, but you can catch a sneak preview instore at Sonic Boom (512 Bloor Street West) this Friday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. Mann is possibly best known for her musical......

The latest thing from New York isn't the fall/winter ready-to-wear collections; it's electro-fantasy duo Heartsrevolution. The boy-girl pair—call them the Crystal Castles of the Big Apple (they've released a 6" EP with those Toronto natives)—will be performing for the first time in our fair city this Thursday at Wrongbar, and it's sure to be rebellious. Lo and Ben began their career when Lo (Leyla Safai), a down-and-out L.A. girl who just wanted a little......

Showcasing reflections and refractions, shadows and sunrays, there's a party this Thursday to celebrate light and darkness in all of its forms. Windows to Mirrors is the release party for Blocks Recording Club's new, innovative DVD of shadow play and projection performance art. Last year, Final Fantasy himself headlined the projectionists expo, but this year, they're keeping it light with a couple djs and performances. Animal Monster and Data Stalker plan to keep partygoers......

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 from Skratch Bastid. It's a night of east coast hip hop at the Danforth Music Hall on Friday. Acclaimed party-rocking DJ Skratch Bastid will be manning the decks first as an opening act and then accompanying Buck 65, who headlines the night. The Halifax-raised DJ is well-known for his Imperial Death March beat juggling routine and is an accomplished turntablist. Recently, he laced Buck 65's latest album Situation, which has produced a video......

In the latest chapter for one of the area's longest-running bands, Teenage Head are celebrating the release of a new album this week with a concert on Friday at Jeff Healey's. Originally hailing from Hamilton, Teenage Head were one of the seminal bands at the infancy of the Toronto punk scene, along with bands like The Scenics, The Viletones, The Mods, and The Ugly. Frequently cited as Canada's answer to The Ramones—although their new......

On Thursday night at the Silver Dollar, Jay Reatard's show got ugly. The Memphis band's shows usually do, but almost never like Thursday's: Reatard punched a patron who climbed on stage square in the face and angrily packed up his gear (video above), before Dan Burke, the Dollar's legendary and notorious booker, hopped on stage himself, delivering a tirade against Reatard ("fuck this American...that's fucking pussy shit"). On his blog on Friday, Reatard recapped......

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......

Early last Saturday evening, about 60 people were sprawled on leather couches inside Parkdale’s Wrongbar listening to Florida-raised, Philly-based DJ/producer Diplo crack jokes about the cost of living in his home base. Apparently Philly is the place to be, in terms of both economic survival (he only pays $300 per month in rent!) and toughening your musical chops. A precursor to the sold out sweat-fest Diplo rocked later that night in the same venue,......

One of the biggest complaints that Toronto hip hop artists have is that they are ignored by local media, and, for the most part, they're right. Drop the Needle hopes to help remedy this by checking in with some of the city's finest artists each month to see what's up. Toronto hasn't seen a rapper quite like Luu Breeze before. The Scarborough-raised MC is unabashedly influenced by American hip hop stars and isn't particularly concerned......

On April 1, Radiohead asked their fans to remix "Nude," one of the tracks from 2007's In Rainbows. Fans could buy any or all of the five "stems" of the song (voice, guitar, bass, strings/FX, or drums), create a version of their own, and upload it to radioheadremix.com. Two weeks later, and Toronto's own Holy Fuck sit comfortably on top of the 1,800 other mixes on the fan-voted list; Todor Kobakov—who has done string......

It's a Hollertronix weekend as Wrongbar hosts Diplo on Saturday and Eli Escobar on Friday. While he may have dipped a little under the radar in the last couple of years when was the ambassador for baile funk, Diplo has serious skills. He has secured a place in many a music lover's heart for producing M.I.A.'s fantastic "Paper Planes." The Philly based DJ is also responsible for acclaimed remixes for Kanye West and Yeah Yeah......

On April 3rd, Trevor Norris successfully defended his dissertation "Consuming, Schooling and the End of Politics" and was awarded a PhD in Philosophy of Education by the Ontatio Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). On April 4th, a party was held at the Bedford Academy in his honour. Little did Trevor know that into this party would explode his friends in the shape of a uniformed marching band, banging......

When NOW featured Crystal Castles as their cover story two months ago, implicit in the whole article were three little words that get tossed around again and again when people talk about the band: next big thing. The details of the buzz band's rise are astonishing and fascinating—the mic check discovered by a label in 2005; the 7" records released in the following two years selling out fast; the insane live shows filling up......

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......

Let's just get this out of the way right off the bat—Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are a very very very good band. When we wrote about them last February on the heels of a way-too-short performance at Sneaky Dee's, we ran through the band's history with drummer Philip Dickey, and gushed that they "have a knack for hooks, likeable melodies, and a kind of rough, untidy rock and roll sound that is......

In a city that, he says, is devoid of an electrifying dance music scene, Matt Sims is offering up a brand-new way for party-goers to dabble in dj beats. "I feel there been a lot missing from the dance music scene down here," Sims wrote in a release sent to Torontoist, "so we’re here to save it!" His solution? Dopplehertz. Dopple-whaat? The new group is promising to throw parties and spin sounds all 'round town.......

On Sunday night, local musicians will be playin' the blues to treat a case of the blues. Blueslink [PDF] brings the Gary Kendall Band, Margaret Stowe's S'Women in Blues, The Danny Marks Band and all their low-down grooves to Jeff Healey's Roadhouse to help kids get their groove back. All proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction going to youth and families in the city through YouthLink, a program offering support and drop-in programs......

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......

Haydain Neale has been making slow, but steady progress following his devastating vehicle accident back in August, according to music insider Larry LeBlanc. The musician and lead singer of Toronto-based jacksoul suffered serious brain injuries after a car made an unsafe turn and collided with Neale's Vespa scooter at Eglinton Avenue and Kennedy Road. The band had performed just a week earlier at the My Mississauga summer festival to support their June album mySOUL,......

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......

Quick, what's the one thing you want from Kanye West? A new, spectacular album? No. Perhaps a free concert at Nathan Phillips Square? Wrong again. If you're being completely honest with yourself, what you really want is for Kanye West to start his own travel website. Who the hell needs Expedia anyway? Kanye's site has everything the big boys don't offer, like a low-resolution scan of his latest album's artwork splashed across the top......

A group of Ryerson Radio and Television Arts students have turned what was supposed to be a by-the-numbers school project into a charitable event supporting the Regent Park School of Music, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching music to kids in the area. Fourth-year students Aaron Zorgel and Jeremy Mersereau (of Great Lenin's Ghost fame) took their project idea, a collaborative ten-song album called Student Lounge, and decided to donate the proceeds. Though most......

Find out what happens when musicians trade guitars for paint brushes this Friday, April 4 at the opening of Whippersnapper Gallery's latest exhibition Colour is the Keyboard. From 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. that night, visitors are invited to view artworks by Buck 65, Justin Peroff (Broken Social Scene), Will Zimmerman (Shout Out Out Out Out), Dallas Wehrle (Constantines), and over a dozen other rockstars in Whippersnapper's second floor studio (587A College Street). We're......