UPDATES

UPCOMING SHOWS

July 12th
On Call Heroes, Stella, Fighting for Ithaca + Guests
The Bourbon
Details TBA

July 19th
The Biltmore
TBA

NEWS

10.05.25

I've never written any sort of album review, although I wouldn't actually call this a review, in fact I'm quite a terrible writer so you're not going to find any fancy lines or words and I'm not going to analyze every song, I'll leave that up to you, however I'm currently listening to the new Shad album TSOL, the follow up to the highly successful "Old Prince", and I feel the need to express the pure awesomeness of it in hopes to pursued you to go check it out. See I work for Black Box Music, Shad's label, so I had the privilege of listening to the recording process and with each new mix I heard I became more and more in love with just who exactly this artist is. Then when Dan Weston (he mastered the album) brought in the final masters and the 4 of us in the office sat, shared a few shots of whiskey and listened to it I knew Shad had a real gem on his hands. If you aren't familiar with Shad this Canadian rapper is known for his strong lyrical content and ability to appeal to both the urban community but also the indie/rock scene. More than just rhymes, Shad incorporates a variety of instrumentation and beats to support his lyrics ... this guy is diverse and it works! I think Shad's goal with this new album was to create a diverse and widely accessible Canadian hiphop record and I feel he rocked it. He has this ability to transcend hiphop and really make it palatable for a wide audience. His appreciation for live instrumentation (he himself plays guitar) and his understanding of how to create a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs is truly unparalleled in Canadian music. The quality of the instrumentation, the sequenced beats as well as Shad's lyrics and vocal performance has really determined his success. Not to mention his live performances ... he really kills it!

Back to the album ...

Shad's been known to work with some fantastic artist in the past such as Hey Ocean and this album certainly doesn't disappoint in the collaboration department with vocal appearances from such artists as Brendan Canning and Justin Nozuka, and a co-composer cred with another solid Canadian hiphop artist Classified. The album starts with an instrumental intro and ends with Shad just laying down some lyrics, a pure representation of his talent. The other 11 songs in between put together a solid mix of upbeat crowd pleasers and rhythmic, soulful songs with lyrics to inspire, something Shad certainly does. I think my favorite song is track #4 "Lucky 1's" or "We Myself and I" ... it's a hard choice with such a solid album like this. TSOL isn't set to be released until May 25th but you can now sample the whole album where Shad also lets us in on what was going through his mind with each song. You can also catch Shad in your city starting later this month while he tours the album, if you've never experienced what this guy has to offer I highly suggest you get your butt out to a show.

Brand new video for TSOL's first single "Yaa I Get It"

Track List

  1. Intro
  2. Rose Garden
  3. Keep Shining
  4. Lucky 1's
  5. A Good Name
  6. We Are The Ones (Reservoir Poetry)
  7. Telephone
  8. Call Waiting (Interlude)
  9. Yaa I Get It
  10. Listen
  11. At The Same Time
  12. We, Myself & I
  13. Outro

10.05.13

I had the pleasure of attending Matthew Barber's record release show at Toronto's MOD Club, arguably one of my favorite venues in the city; situated in the heart of Little Italy, it's atmosphere is intimate despite it's 600 person capacity, you're guaranteed to see the stage no matter where you stand and the sound is impeccable. You could also argue however that the sound was so because the artist standing on the stage was just that fantastic!

In the company of my roomy Meghan and Tom (Matthew Barber's agent at Feldman) we showed up to the venue early enough to catch the opening band, to our misfortune. The Wilderness of Manitoba was no ones cup of tea so at the expense of Sam Feldman Tom walked us across the street to enjoy a glass of wine on the company card.

Back in the MOD Club I was instantly captured by this mans stage presence. Regardless of whether you like his tunes or not you can't deny that this guy knows how to perform. He immediately engaged the audience with his wit and charm quickly showing his excitement for the recent Habs win just moments before he stepped onto the stage. Sporting his acoustic guitar and a few strokes on the keys, accompanied by Paul Mathew on bass, Joel Stouffer, drummer of electro/pop/dance group Dragonette and Jess O'Brien on keys, the boys played a solid mix of both old and new tunes that included a gem from 1997. I can honestly say that Matthew Barber is one of the best performers I've ever had the privilege of watching ... and I've seen my fair share. His voice outshines that of which you hear on his album and he offers a perfectly balanced mix of songs and audience interaction, no story was left untold. You can't help but notice, and even Matt had to comment, that he was playing to a silent and thoroughly enticed audience the entire night, with the exception of rowdy applause in between songs and my comment on how snapping was far harder then clapping when he asked for a bit of audience participation ... he of course heard this and poked a bit of fun at my apparent lack of snapping talent. After a two-song encore, one of which included just him and his guitar, the night ended and he emerged from backstage to schmooze the room, we left extremely satisfied with what we just saw ... oh and did I mention how beautiful of a man he is.

Matt has a few show dates that if you by any chance are close enough to attend I highly suggest going to. Regardless of your musical preference you can't help but appreciate his live show. It's artists like Matt who have reestablish my belief in this industry, although I wonder how this guy hasn't blown up ... I don't doubt that he will, as long as he continues playing these sort of intimate shows.

"True Believer" is the latest release from this Toronto-based singer-songwriter and the vinyl LP is now available for purchace and includes a digital download card of the album with the bonus track "Wasn't Born To Leave You". Since emerging on the scene in 2003 this is Matt's fourth full-length album and follow-up to the internationally acclaimed and Juno-nominated record "Ghost Notes" (Outside Music) and major label release "Sweet Nothing" (Warner Music Canada) for which he saw commercial success.

"True Believer" is a hearty homemade soup with a broth heavily steeped in the rock'n'roll singer-songwriter tradition of Young, Petty, Dylan and Springsteen; yet it features dashes of the ashes of Hank Williams, the spirit of Paul Simon and the timeless essence of The Band. " (Official Bio)

http://www.matthewbarber.com

http://www.myspace.com/mbarber

http://www.twitter.com/mattbarbertweet

http://www.youtube.com/meansandends

Record Label:

Outside Music Label (North America), Code One (Australia)

10.03.15

This was my first CMW, so I don't have much to compare it to, but the fact that I am still trying to catch up on sleep a week later is a pretty strong testament.

Sarah's top CMW performances (there were way too many amazing shows I didn't even get to see, its hard to pack in 700 bands in 5 days)...

10.03.10

March 10th marked the start of the 2010 Canadian Music Week and Brampton's The Imports got to kick it off with their performance showcase at Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Tavern, the prime CMW venue to be at. Even though the band hit the stage at 8:45, a somewhat early time slot, the beer-soaked crowd was not deterred. They flocked to the stage as the boys played both old songs off of their EP, as well as brand new tunes from their upcoming full-length, which is to be released this spring. As a treat to the crowd, the guys came equipped with an army of young ladies all sporting brand new Import tee's to hand out free sample CD's with new music on it. This was quite the hit amongst the crowd.

The 6 piece did not fail to impress me once again. In fact, this was the strongest performance I had seen yet from the guys. There was not one person who wasn't moving to their melodic rhythms or singing along to Earl's smooth vocals. Like all CMW showcases the set was all too short which left the crowd wanting a lot more. They did, however, set the tone for the rest of the night. Following in The Imports steps were Kemeal Evans, Live How You Love, Bella Clava and Brazen Angelz who took to the stage to entertain a packed Horseshoe house.

The party went very early into the morning like all good shows do.

Keep checking their MySpace for photos as well as footage our awesome video team took that night! www.myspace.com/theimports

10.03.04

Wow! What an amazing night! I just got home from Venue where I had the pleasure of seeing Sweetheart, Spotlight Carnival, Run the Red Light + Bodhi Jones play one heck of a show!

Bodhi Jones got the night started off with an intimate acoustic performance that was well put together and captivating. He was followed by Run the Red Light who gave it their all for a very energetic set. Then Spotlight Carnival entertained the audience with an interesting combination of shoegaze, ambient rock and witty banter. Sweetheart closed the night with a professionally executed energetic performance.

If you weren't there, you really should have been! Check out each and every one of these artists. They will blow you away.

10.02.23

We had an amazing time tonight at Cafe Deux Soleil with Jesse LeBourdais, Troi Poizon, Zenith D Wonderpants and the crazy screaming French woman ... That's right everyone: Never a dull moment with Less Than Three!

So thank you to everyone who came out, the guys for playing and Cafe Deux Soleil .... even though they hate babies ....