Tag Archive

Revelations from CMW: Tampons, A&R hawks and heavy metal acceptance

By Ben Stevenson

Having recovered from Canadian Music Week, we have a few observations to share beyond the usual “this band played, they were good” reviews. »

CMW Preview: Dentata’s got bite

By Ben Stevenson

3 a.m. is no time to begin writing. But Canadian Music Week has had me up all night, bouncing from one sweaty, gross venue to the next. I guess many of us will have to do the same thing today. It’ll be a tough slog. Toronto’s Dentata are much tougher than that. In fact,... »

CMW preview: Cynical Detroit duo Bad Party makes Toronto debut

By Ben Stevenson

Detroit industrial punk duo Bad Party – who make their Toronto debut at our CMW showcase this Saturday – mix pounding drum machinery and ripping guitar that makes you want to both dance around and rough someone up at the same time. But while frontman Nate Savino has a reputation for bad-assery, I found... »

Resonancity, Buzz Records and Dan Burke present CMW with smoke and grime at the Comfort Zone

By Ben Stevenson

Saturday, March 24 will be a landmark day for Resonancity. That’s the day we extend our reach from the comfortable confines of the internet to the sinister, oft-raided, and, if we’re being totally honest, kind of creepy (but awesome) Comfort Zone. The infamous den of iniquity will be the setting of our very first... »

Canadian Music Week 2011: The Darkhorses

By Ben Stevenson

One must dig deep to find gems at a festival pinning Papa Roach and Melissa Etheridge as top performers. So we weeded through the entire 800 band line-up and found 8 bands to make a Canadian Music Fest wristband worth while. Check in Monday for our live reviews. »

On the state of DJing: Wisdom from dance music’s big wigs at CMW

By Marsha Casselman

Last weekend we sat in on Canadian Music Week’s Dance Summit in Toronto, and the panel discussion went much deeper than clubs and drugs – one topic being the lack of originality in DJing today. With the advent of globalism and online downloading, the concern is that dance music’s regionality (ex. Chicago vs. New... »

Canadian Music Week Dark Horses: Honorary Torontonians

By Richard Trapunski

Don’t let the name fool you – Canadian Music Week isn’t a whole week, nor is it exclusively Canadian music. Yesterday we focused on Toronto-area acts, highlighting a few under-the-radar bands operating in our very own front yards. Obviously we will have more chances to see them throughout the year, so today we look... »

Canadian Music Week Dark Horses: Toronto

By Marsha Casselman

Today we kick off our coverage of Canadian Music Week, the so-called more industry-oriented of Toronto’s two mega music festivals. Fear not – there are better things to see than middle-aged, washed-up Can-con and Live Nation-sponsored R’n'B stars. Tomorrow we’ll bring you our favourite bands trekking in from out of town, but today is dedicated to Toronto-area bands... »