The Sadies take a ride with Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Venerable Toronto roots-rock outfit The Sadies are hitting the road for a Canadian tour with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, who are touring in support of their phenomenal new Americana album. The bands will be making a stop in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 19, and Los Lobos is also on the bill. The Sadies — guitarists/vocalists Dallas and Travis Good, drummer Mike Belitsky and upright bassist Sean Dean — recently released a new album with Andre Williams dubbed Night & Day.
Here is the band during the recent North by Northeast Music Festival playing at the Horseshoe Tavern with Andre Williams:
Another Cuddy arrives on Queen West
When Blue Rodeo and their lead singer Jim Cuddy started making music in Toronto, it was on the cusp of the Queen West scene. Life revolved around a few key bars and restaurants of that era, and one of the most important was The Cameron House. Fast forward a few decades and The Cameron is still a great place to listen to live music. And, this July and August, a Cuddy will once again be involved. This time, however, it is Devin Cuddy stepping to the mic just like his old man Jim did many years ago. The young Cuddy, who plays piano and sings in a four-person outfit, has a new album on the way this year, and should garner significant attention over the summer as he begins his two-month Wednesday-night residency.
The love child of Ziggy Stardust and Lady Gaga
Diamond Rings was back in the game last month when he released the first single and video for "I'm Just Me," the first song off his forthcoming album slated for release this fall. John O'Regan, former frontman for indie rock band The D'Ubervilles, has obviously invested a significant amount of time in the production of his new disc that is co-produced by Grammy-nominated Damian Taylor (Björk, The Killers) and it shows on the first track — a seriously full-on, explosive synth-dance tune that offers up a fuller mix without sacrificing O'Regan's characteristic vocals. It's a winner; check it out below.
Going to church
Evening Hymns also announced the date for their release show in Toronto to celebrate their new album, Spectral Dusk. The band, fronted by songwriter Jonas Bonnetta, plays the Great Hall Lower Theatre on Aug. 17 as part of the SummerWorks Music Series. According to a press release, the album was recorded in the "woods northeast of Perth, Ontario in January 2011 and at the Glen Gordon in Toronto, Ontario throughout 2011." Spectral Dusk is the follow-up to their well-received debut album Spirit Guides. The album is said to be a "reflection, a study of loss, pain, and hope" stemming, at least in part, from the death of Bonnetta's father in 2009.
Here is the first track, "Arrows," off the new album:
First Albums
What is the first record Konrad Commisso of Toronto band Poor Young Things bought?
"The first album I clearly remember buying (on cassette, actually) was Our Lady Peace's Clumsy. Walkmans were still huge and I was right around the age where kids would start buying their own music to listen to through headphones. If you were 11 years old back in 1997 (ed. note: I was most definitely not), and had a TV with MuchMusic, you knew who Our Lady Peace was, it was that simple. In retrospect, the album was one of the best out of a crop of really solid '90s alt-rock albums that came out of the Canadian music industry. I wouldn't be so into OLP after that (much like anything you really hold on to and identify with as a kid), but listening back I realize how much that album is remembered as one that sort of defined itself as an introduction to fresh and exciting rock music for a whole lot of Canadian kids."
Poor Young Things' debut EP, Let It Sleep, was released earlier this year with a full-length release to follow later this year.
Here is the title track from the landmark OLP album (FYI, Our Lady Peace play Echo Beach at Molson Canadian Ampitheatre on Aug. 19):