Maggie May
Smothered In Hugs

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Frank YangWhen I was out last night drinking myself into a mild state of oblivion, I thought it was for a friend’s bachelor party but in fact, I was saluting the memory of one of my favourite musicians – I just didn’t know it at the time. It was pleasant to wake up this morning without a hangover. It was far less pleasant to have the first thing I saw when going online that…

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Maggie May
Smothered In Hugs

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Frank YangWhen I was out last night drinking myself into a mild state of oblivion, I thought it was for a friend’s bachelor party but in fact, I was saluting the memory of one of my favourite musicians – I just didn’t know it at the time. It was pleasant to wake up this morning without a hangover. It was far less pleasant to have the first thing I saw when going online that…

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Dancing In The Dark
Dancing In The Dark

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Frank YangFrequently when picking covers for the week, I like to choose unexpected combinations of artists and tunes that might reveal heretofore hidden influences or depths of meaning. And sometimes, it’s just so obvious that you can’t NOT go with it. This is one of those times.

Ted Leo and Bruce Springsteen – both proud sons of New Jersey (okay Ted was born in Indiana but he grew up in the Garden State) and…

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Change Of Heart
Change Of Heart
Glory To The World
Anna
Watch The Waves
I Think I Need It To

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Frank YangThere’d been some underlying confusion surrounding Sunday night’s show at the Mod Club since it was announced. First it was El Perro Del Mar. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees. Then it was Taken By…

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When I’m Small

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Frank YangFor solo artists, it’s easy. Either play alone and keep things stripped down and simple (or, as is becoming more fashionable, looped) or gather up a band. Duos, however, are more and more inclined to try and make a go of it without hired help, particularly duos who’re already heavily reliant on technology for their studio efforts – after all, you don’t have to feed a laptop. And if the cost of that convenience…

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Baby’s On Fire

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Frank YangMaking the decision to start buying vinyl again late last year – for reasons of artifact fetishism, audio quality and just wanting to go buy stuff in record stores again – has been tougher than expected to follow through on than expected because, well, people keep sending me CDs. Yeah yeah, hard life. Acts like Shearwater, however, make it easier to enjoy both as the shiny plastic and vinyl versions of their new record…

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Midnight At The Movies

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Frank YangFrom the moment I first heard him sing one of his own compositions as the final track of Just An American Boy, the 2003 soundtrack/live album from his father and at the time bandleader Steve, it was clear that Justin Townes Earle had more going for him than just a famous surname. And since beginning his own solo career in 2007, it’s something he’s proven over and over again.

Though his work honours and reflects…

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Reflection Of The Television
Follow the Map
Ashes In The Snow
Juliette
Road Regrets
Jasper
Icarus
No Logic
Subtractions
Percussion Gun
I Can Talk
Something Good Can Work

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Frank YangSome sad news out of Scotland this week when it was announced that Twilight Sad bassist Craig Orzel had decided to leave the band, effective immediately. He announced his departure in a blog post, though it’s not really clear what “waking up baw deep in a granny” means and if that had any effect on his decision.

Though losing a founding member…

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Two
Two
Bear
The Universe Is Going To Catch You
On The Roof
Stairs To The Attic
Cold War
Keys
The Mighty Sparrow
Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler

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Frank YangEditors are from Birmingham in the UK and are weathering criticism for daring to mess with their sonic formula on their latest effort In This Light And On This Evening. The Antlers are from Brooklyn in the USA and are basking in acclaim and ever-growing attention in the wake of last year’s Hospice. Two bands who wouldn’t appear to have…

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Empty Hall Sing-Along
Morningside
Knock Knock
A Moment’s Peace For Mary Christa O’Keefe
Love In The Time Of Hopscotch
Oberkampf
Lay All Your Love On Me
Dissembler

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Frank YangI don’t really want to have to quote myself, but I kind of have to point to my writeup of Woodpigeon’s last visit to Toronto for NXNE 2009 to reinforce the fact that in all the times I’ve seen them perform – four or five as of this show – it has been an almost completely different band and/or…

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Ghosts
Kingfisher

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Frank YangHad Tuesday night’s Laura Marling show taken place at originally-intended venue of the Drake Underground rather than its final locale of Lee’s Palace (just under three times larger), then there’d have been throngs of disappointed fans either milling around outside the Parkdale hotel or moping at home instead of nearly packing the Annex club (and burrito outlet), eager to hear Marling preview material from her forthcoming second album I Speak Because I Can, due out April 6.…

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Everything Is One Big Christmas
Book Of Love
Bluebird
Decepticon Island Optimists Club
Heaven’s On Fire
Answer To Yourself
Luna
Finish Line

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Frank YangIf I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t that excited for last night’s Magnetic Fields show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. After all, their last few records didn’t especially bowl me over and I was feeling somewhat pessimistic about what to expect from a performer who’s very much on record as being disdainful of the entire phenomenon of live performance.

I had seen them before…

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Pockets
Woodhands
I Wasn’t Made For Fighting

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Frank YangSomething of a cold snap hit Toronto yesterday, so I was fortunate to have an invite to what was promised to be a hot and sweaty dance party at the Smiling Buddha bar, soundtracked by Woodhands showcasing their just-released second album Remorsecapade. Granted, it’d have probably been just as warm if I’d just stayed home, but experience has taught me that the odds of dance parties breaking out in my living room tend…

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Lazy Days
10,342 Cuts For the US

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Frank YangBig-voiced frontwomen. Loads of synths. No guitars. This Saturday night at the Horseshoe will come two examples of how differently that same musical recipe can come out. On one hand, you’ve got Everything All The Time, led by Alanna Stuart, and their breezy, vintage-y feel-good synth-pop. On the other, the decidedly heavier and darker Lioness, who back Vanessa Fischer with sounds and attitude befitting their disco-punk roots. And rounding things out…

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I Want You To Know
Almost ready
Freak Scene
Forget The Swan
Pulling On A Line
Maniacs
Ayisha Abyss
For You
The Fade
Kaufman’s Ballad
Dream Smotherer
False Jesii Part 2
People Person
I’ve Still Got You (Ice Cream)

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Frank YangHad you the opportunity to go back in time and tell the 23-year old me that, in just over a decade, I’d be so fortunate as to see two of my all-time guitar heroes – Johnny Marr and J Mascis – live and awesome in a one-week span, I’d have told you to…

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Go On
Gold Rush
In The Night
Snakes & Ladders

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Frank YangIt struck me about mid-way through Basia Bulat’s concert at Trinity-St. Paul’s on Saturday night that though it was an album release show for her eagerly-anticipated new album in Heart Of My Own, the album wasn’t going to be released for another couple of weeks yet – January 26, to be exact – and as such, many/most of the just under 800 people in the sell-out crowd had never heard the…

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Go On
Gold Rush
In The Night
Snakes & Ladders

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Frank YangIt struck me about mid-way through Basia Bulat’s concert at Trinity-St. Paul’s on Saturday night that though it was an album release show for her eagerly-anticipated new album in Heart Of My Own, the album wasn’t going to be released for another couple of weeks yet – January 26, to be exact – and as such, many/most of the just under 800 people in the sell-out crowd had never heard the…

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We Were Aborted

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Frank YangWhen it first got out that guitar-god-who-walks-amongst-us Johnny Marr had joined English sibling-trio The Cribs, the initial reaction was skepticism. After all, if run through the NME de-hyperbolizer, the truth was probably more like he crossed paths with a Jarman or three on the street and said “hello” – and anyways, wasn’t Marr already occupied as a full-fledged member of Modest Mouse? Well, yes, but it seems that Marr is almost as good at time management…

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Panic

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Frank YangHere’s a little bit of trivia that I’m sure is interesting/alarming to me and me only – I haven’t seen Spoon live in over four years. The last time was at the Phoenix, circa Gimme Fiction in November 2005 and while I think they’ve only been here once since – a Kool Haus show in October 2007 which I skipped for whatever reason – it’s still a bit of a surprise. I did have a Britt Daniel encounter at…

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Serious Bedtime
300 Pages
Smells Like Secrets
Robin The Boy Wonders
It’s Not Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye
Albatross
When Brakes Get Wet
Consolation Prize

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Frank YangIs there any better/lazier way to start of the new year’s concert calendar than with the band that closed out the old year’s sched? I think not. And so The Balconies, who were one of the last bands I saw in 2009 are the first I’ve seen in 2010, thanks to last night’s show at Supermarket. And…

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Little Mascara
Campaigner
Straight To Hell
No Surprises
Rocket Man
Man Out Of Time
Wendell Gee
American Girl
Florida

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Frank YangSo I’ve been posting a cover a week for about seven years now, and that’s kind of neat and all, but I bow down before Mr. Bill Janovitz, erstwhile frontman of Buffalo Tom, who’s been engaged in a much more impressive weekly cover series at his blog “Part Time Man Of Rock” over the past year, where he’s been recording and posting a reinterpretation every week since…

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Robin The Boy Wonders
It’s Not Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye
Through The Winter
Telescopes
Serious Bedtime
300 Pages
Smells Like Secrets

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Frank YangPeople traditionally go to great lengths to avoid getting a lump of coal for Christmas but there’s something to be said for getting a big pile of rock for the holidays. And it was rock – and lots of it – on offer Saturday night at the Horseshoe for Jingle Bell Rock, an evening presented by promotions company…

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Robin The Boy Wonders
It’s Not Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye
Through The Winter
Telescopes
Serious Bedtime
300 Pages
Smells Like Secrets

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Frank YangPeople traditionally go to great lengths to avoid getting a lump of coal for Christmas but there’s something to be said for getting a big pile of rock for the holidays. And it was rock – and lots of it – on offer Saturday night at the Horseshoe for Jingle Bell Rock, an evening presented by promotions company…

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Dead Deer
Broken Rifle
Cedars
I Will Haunt You
Saturday
What’s Up Jackal
Red Light Love

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Frank YangThe Bellwoods crew is certainly setting a high standard when it comes to set dressings. Thanks to them, I’ve now attended shows in the heart of a volcano, an exploding library in the sky and as of this past Friday night, a heavily wooded lumberjack camp. In reality, it was the Tranzac and the occasion was the record release party for Evening Hymns’ new album Spirit Guides; a grand and…

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Photograph
Treading On Snails
Bastard Engine

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Frank Yang

Who: B For Butterfly
What: English duo apparently not given to divulging much information about themselves, but prefer to let the music speak for them. And the two songs they’ve offered up say volumes; haunting and spare, rooted in folk and versed in rock and rich with melancholic melody and soaring harmony. If everything that showed up in my inbox was half as beautiful, it’d be a better world.
MP3: B For Butterfly – “Photograph”
MP3: B For Butterfly –…

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Jump In The Pool
Paris
Basic Space
Crystalised

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Frank YangWhen I caught Friendly Fires at Lee’s Palace back at the end of March, they were here as support for White Lies and their high-energy disco party easily stole the show from the angst-ridden headliners. And while their profile has since grown to the point that they were able to play their fourth local show in just over a year on Wednesday night at the Phoenix, buzz-wise the shoe was on the other foot…

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Dominos
Velvet
Andrew
Tentacles
Even Heroes Have To Die
Prepare Your Coffin
Change Of Heart

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Frank YangIf you had told me that everyone piled into Lee’s Palace on Sunday night wasn’t, in fact, specifically a fan of The Big Pink but of British music from the ’90s in general, I’d have believed it. For much/most/all of the appeal of the London-based duo and their debut A Brief History Of Love centers around how effectively they combine the best bits of shoegaze, Britpop and Madchester into new…

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Say My Name

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Frank YangThis one has apparently been sitting in my coffers since 2005, which means it dates back to well before the time that I had any tags on MP3s beyond, well, artist and title. But really, doesn’t the post title say it all? Assuming the time period is correct – which is no certainty – you’ve got a Mississauga Goddamn-era Hidden Cameras doing a live cover of Destiny’s Child, who were putting out their final album…

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Porte Disparu

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Frank YangDifferent bands have different attitudes towards the in-store set. Some treat them like opportunities to strip down and get intimate with their audience (okay, that sounded much dirtier than intended but you get the meaning), others don’t seem so comfortable with the setting and obviously want to get their sets done as quickly as possible. Montreal’s Malajube, in town a day before their show tonight at the Horseshoe, treated their Wednesday night in-store at Sonic…

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Frank, AB
Don’t Haunt This Place
Karmonica
Quarantine Girl
funeral Singers
Ape-Like
This Is Our Perfect Crime
Pale Bride

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Frank YangIt was just 51 weeks ago that The Rural Alberta Advantage first stepped onto the stage at Lee’s Palace, there as support for a co-headlining show featuring two of the most lauded indie acts in Canada – The Acorn and Ohbijou. They seemed a bit awed by the scale of their surroundings, having mostly played the smaller, cozier rooms of the city to that point, but were far…

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My Maudlin Career
French Navy

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Frank YangThings that you can take to the bank: one, that every couple years Scotland’s Camera Obscura will return with a new album of gorgeous, increasingly orchestral pop and two, that they’ll tour North America at least twice in support of said record, if not more.

To point one, we have their latest record My Maudlin Career, released back in April, and to point two, we have a two-week trek that started earlier this week and which…

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I Keep Faith
Take Down The Union Jack
Must I Paint You A Picture?
Valentine’s Day Is Over

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Frank YangQ: Without a new record to promote – Mr. Love & Justice has been out for close to two years – what reason did Billy Bragg have for staging an ambitious cross-Canada tour?

A: Who cares? Any time you get the opportunity to see Billy Bragg live, you take it, no questions asked.

Of course, I say that having missed his last three appearances in Toronto…

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Bit Part
Something Hiding For Us In The Night
North Dakota
The Wooden Sky
Bluebirds

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Frank YangIn leading up to Friday night’s show at Lee’s Palace, I’d wondered aloud as to why it had taken The Wooden Sky so long to play a proper hometown show, what with their latest record, the ex If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone having come out all the way back in August. Walking into Lee’s, I got my answer – they were building their sets.…

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Johanna
Havin’ My Baby
Clips

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Frank Yang

Who: Think About Life
What: Montreal outfit hasn’t quite managed to translate the insane energy of their live show into a recording – that’s near impossible and probably dangerous – but they do capture the anything-goes, good-times-till-you-drop spirit with their disco-rocking second album Family. They play the Phoenix on November 20 supporting You Say Party! We Say Die!
MP3: Think About Life – “Johanna”
MP3: Think About Life – “Having My Baby”
Video: Think About Life – “Sweet Sixteen”
MySpace: Think About Life

Who: Ava Luna
What: Brookylnites make…

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Doomsday Devices
E.H.M.
The Fight At The End Of The Tunnel
Marching Through Your Head

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Frank Yang

Who: Golden Bloom
What: Latest record Fan The Flames is chock full of thoughtful and shimmery power-pop oft compared to Summerteeth-era Wilco. A bevy of downloads and an interview with main man Shawn Fogel available at Ryan’s Smashing Life.
MP3: Golden Bloom – “Doomsday Devices”
MP3: Golden Bloom – “E.H.M.”
MP3: Golden Bloom – “The Fight At The End Of The Tunnel”
Video: Golden Bloom – “Doomsday Devices”
MySpace: Golden Bloom

Who: Zeus
What: Retro-minded Toronto quartet whose debut EP Sounds Like Zeus strikes…

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Bit Part
Something Hiding For Us In The Night

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Frank YangIt’s been over two months since The Wooden Sky released their fine new album If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone, and in that time they’ve toured across this country and the one below, made a documentary and gathered accolades wherever they’ve gone, but they’ve yet to play a proper hometown show in support of the new record. They’ve done little gigs in basements and on rooftops but nothing in…

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