Who ever thought sine waves could sound so sexy? Hamilton’s electronic duo Junior Boys have been touring, getting 9.0 reviews on Pitchfork and spitting out golden albums for years, and now they’re getting it on at the Paragon. Saturday night the Boys are playing as celebrity DJs, rather than as a band, but either way […]
Feature
Posted inArts + Music
Shout out for Hollerado
“You’re totally going to write that Hollerado went to China to eat a lot of dicks.” Those are Menno Versteeg’s words, not ours. But Versteeg, the singer of the Montreal-via-Manotick, ON, power-pop foursome, is serious. He’s reminiscing about Hollerado’s recent tour of China, where, between busking at Tiananmen Square and getting shot at by the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Patchworking with Poirer
Ghislain Poirier has his hands full. The Quebecois producer is talking about why he can’t attend the Junos—his track “Wha-la-la-leng” is nominated for Reggae Recording of the Year—while two of his neighbour’s young children play in the background. Judging from the shouts and crashes, they are getting into trouble. “It’s just nice to be recognized […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Fugitives’ pieces
Vancouver quartet The Fugitives are soldiers for love. Sort of. In honour of their release, Eccentrically We Love, the band is touring Canada. The catch is a chunk of their CDs were swapped with Sade’s new album, Solider of Love, at the manufacturing plant. “This is an invitation to Sade,” says Barbara Adler, accordionist/vocalist. “We […]
Posted inArts + Music
Go symphonic with David Myles
David Myles’ excitement about his upcoming symphony performance buzzes over the phone line, just four days before the show. “When it was first mentioned, I freaked because I was so excited,” he says of when he found out the symphony wanted to book a show with him. Myles says he’s only been listening to recordings […]
Posted inArts + Music
Erin Costelo
Local lady Erin Costelo steps out of her jazzy piano pop and into the arrangement of orchestral music this Saturday with the Blue Engine String Quartet. “I have a bit of a background in classical music, and I’ve always loved string quartets, and it was a chance for me to combine my interest in composition […]
Posted inArts + Music
Measuring Metric’s happiness
Emily Haines is unhappy. The lead singer of Metric is doing the telephone equivalent of a press junket and I’ve been allotted 15 minutes. Ten minutes in, I ask about some controversial shirts Metric had created in efforts to raise money for Haiti. Part of the text on the shirts read “Help! I’m Alive”—a reference […]
Posted inArts + Music
Daniel, Fred and Julie strike off the band
Many bands form as structured entities. Members are sussed out for their possible contribution to the project, while other bands are mere coincidence and fate. Some bands aren’t even bands at all—just a few people who happen to make a record together on a sunny afternoon. Daniel, Fred and Julie are the latter. They’re playing […]
Posted inArts + Music
Working for Workman
Kim Munson is a huge Hawksley Workman fan. So devoted, the fashion designer used to make shirts for the Toronto-based musician, which she’d leave behind at his live shows. Then one day Munson saw an ad promoting Workman’s Canadian tour. He was wearing “shirt number two,” a smart black-and-white cowboy number. She called his manager […]
Posted inArts + Music
Calvin Harris, with Sean Keating and KayGee
The Scottish singer, songwriter, producer and DJ (pictured) is bringing his “king of electropop” status to the Palace on Good Friday (what is it with Good Friday performances this week?). Harris has worked with Kylie Minogue and British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and his second album was just released last year, reaching number one on the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Smitten with Smith
When Meaghan Smith performed her first song for an audience while in animation school, she had a one-person “crowd.” “My roommate came in, and I had to make her face the other wall, and me face the other way, and she had to just not ever turn around,” remembers Smith, a big smile on her […]
Posted inArts + Music
Joining Wolf Parade
Forget the mothers, guitars and brigades. Wolf Parade drummer Arlen Thompson, surely an expert on all things lupine, has two picks for the leaders of the wolf pack.”I love our (former) rehearsal-spacemates, AIDS Wolf,” he laughs. “And Steppenwolf.” But Haligonians don’t echo that sentiment. “This Heart’s On Fire” isn’t “I’m on Fire,” but Kijiji’s invisible […]
