Results tagged “rock”

Somewhere in the first half of this decade there was a handful of female artists and bands churned out into mainstream Canadian music and steered towards an edgy look and sound—for example, Avril Lavigne became an international Top 40 star, while Vancouver then-teens Live On Release and their single "I'm Afraid of Britney Spears" were banished to the one-hit-wonder subconsciousness of regular Muchmusic viewers. Based mostly on timing (oh, and uh, total gender association), innocent bystanders Magneta Lane got lumped into a similar rundown of names, and even after releasing their excellent third album, Gambling with God (while also jumping from indie powerhouse Paper Bag to powerhousier Last Gang Records), they might still be suffering from the initial wrong-place-wrong-time impression.

While it's no secret that we've got a wimpy soft spot for lush, melodic indie rock with banjos and acoustic guitars, we're tough enough (swear!) to dig melodies with a bit of balls, too. Few do it as well as local husband-and-wife thrash duo Lullabye Arkestra, and Threats/Worship is a stripped-down, fast, and heavy tag-team triumph whose genre at times masks just how angry and eerie it can get. Also, A+ on the title.

Gas prices in Toronto are at $1.09 or more a litre today, reflecting all-time record oil prices of over US$108 per barrel. For all our driving readers, it might cheer you up to consider that it's still cheaper to fill up your car with gas than say, orange juice or Diet Pepsi. By the way, if you do decide to go with orange juice, remember that the pulp-free kind is less likely to gum up your engine.

It's Canadian Music Week and that means there's an unusually large number of hip hop shows going on. KRS-One will be teachin' at The Opera House on Saturday as he continues his Stop the Violence movement. RZA dons his Bobby Digital mask on Sunday at the Phoenix. There's also grimy New York hip-hop (M.O.P. on Friday), French rap (DJ Orgasmic and Cuizinier on Thursday), and a strong showcase of local talent (Friday's Exclaim! event).

Iceland was made for you and me.

Photo by Darryl Scott.

Photo by Jeff Croft.

Though there are only three new films on release this week, it would be unfair to bemoan the shortage when one film, , is of a high enough quality that it might as well be the only film released. During TIFF 2007 Christopher Bird handed it a 5/5 and called it "a masterwork in every way that matters."

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

It’s that time of year again: the time when ironic bloggers across the world post links to the Star Wars Holiday Special, quip about how terrible it is, and boast about not being able to watch it all the way through (usually linking to the five-minute-long version of it on YouTube).

Over the past little while, Torontoist has been quietly absorbed in The Alphabet Game: a bpNichol reader. Edited by Darren Wershler-Henry and Lori Emerson, The Alphabet Game is an essential anthology for any reader of bpNichol, and is a great starting point for those who have yet to discover his work.

Photo from Deko-ze.

In what simultaneously has to be one of the most hilariously inspired and gut-wrenching punishments in the history of parental discipline, a local GTA father has set a new standard for puffing penalization. The man—an elementary school teacher known by the screen name "k_lid"—decided to sell his son’s Christmas present on eBay (a notoriously hard-to-find copy of the best-selling Guitar Hero 3 game) when he returned home from work early to find 15-year-old Isaac...

This weekend, resist the urge to do the same old bar hop and try a more sophisticated means of indulging your party ADD: the art show hop. Okay, so we just invented that term, but the city does have three rad art happenings going on almost simultaneously this Friday, November 30. And we say, why choose? To start your adventure, knock back a whiskey for warmth and head down to the Harbourfront, where the...

We don’t tend to post too often about video games here at Torontoist, what with basically the entire rest of the internet being devoted to it (well, that and anthropomorphic Star Trek slash fiction), but we do like to make special note when some pleasant news of local interest comes up, such as Toronto as a Half Life mod or the Toronto Indie Game Jam (Which we, er, forgot to mention this year. Our...

Bad news if you're a lacrosse fan: the 2008 National Lacrosse League season has been cancelled. Pick your joke: 1) "I'm sure all three of you are very disappointed"; 2) "Players are refusing to play until they get reimbursed for their bus tickets"; 3) "My God, this is the national sport we're talking about here! Why isn't Stephen Harper doing something, for the love of God?"; 4) "So, why are the Toronto Rock still offering season tickets for sale on their website?"

This weekend, Toronto will be a rockin' city, as the 2007 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships cut into town.

According to Doug Flavelle, "there are a lot of women with guitars in their closets." His studio, Guitar Girl, aims to get them out.

Torontoist finished Book 7 last night, and we're feeling a little down about the Harry Potter saga being over. Sure, everything turned out alright (and Mrs. Weasley said the B-word!) but we can't help feeling like the wizarding world no longer needs our support. Under normal circumstances, we would be binge eating and watching Prisoner of Azkaban on repeat.

Photo of In-Flight Safety courtesy of Craig Norris of CBC Radio 3.

Photo of delighted fans by Carrie Musgrave.

Photo of Cadence Weapon by David Topping.

For those of you with Rock Star ambitions but who were cursed with about as much musical talent as a pile of dirt, you are in luck. It's time for the Canadian Air Guitar Championships, and you know you're going to want to check this out for yourself.

Last night at the beautiful Winter Garden Theatre, the winners of the 28th Annual Dora Awards were announced in a ceremony hosted by the hilarious Rick Miller (of MacHomer and Bigger Than Jesus fame). The Doras are basically Canada's version of the Tonies, except you can't watch them on TV and see Molly Ringwald and John Stamos jazz-hand their way through a radical new interpretation of Hello, Dolly! As one might expect, the whole affair is generally more sedate and even less people care about the results. But we do! It's also somewhat validating to see shows that Toronto reviewed positively get the respect they deserve (and occasionally shocking to see the same respect lavished on things we thought were crap). Now, there were a lot of awards being handed out last night, so let's be a jerk and ignore the hard work of all the behind-the-scenes people and focus on the flashier trophies.

This summer, Toronto will attempt "to probe the causes of panhandling and seek solutions" after business owners launched a complaint at City Hall yesterday. A Tim Hortons owner alleges that one beggar slapped her hard enough to draw blood after she asked him to leave her store. Restaurant owners complain that the homeless steal money and food off of patios and harass the patrons. Is it time Toronto did something about the panhandlers that flock to the city for the warm months?

We have good news for fans of Joel Plaskett Emergency. Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 2), Joel's going to be shooting a video for "Fashionable People," the first video from his latest album, Ashtray Rock, and everyone's invited to take part.

When people first hear the words "Professional Pillow Fight League," they often conjure images of jello-wrestling and hair pulling. However, if you've ever been to a Pillow Fight League event, you know that the fights are real, they're violent, and they're bloody entertaining.

Remember how lame grade nine science class was?

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed.

Years spent on the Indie Rock scene should be measured in dog years: if a band manages to maintain its original line up for an entire trip around the sun, it should count as seven. Toronto’s Talladega has featured many members over the years, but the original core-duo of Stewart Whitehead (ex-Grace Babies) and Sean Bettam (ex-Chicklet) guides its flight path with endurance. Tonight, with new members Mark Buffone and Dave Cyr, they launch their sophomoric release, Up from Beneath (Fading Ways U.K.).