TRANSCANADARADIO is proud to celebrate Canada’s Current Cultural artists and their locations! Traveling across Canada’s vast surface and finding the best of the under and above-ground artists, and where to check them out in your favorite Canadian city! Pack your bags! We’re going on a road trip!
[UPDATE: Maya is playing a live show on CBC radio 1 on DEC 5th. We'll keep you updated]
Maya is one of Toronto’s young and upcoming musical talents. Her music is a blend of Jazz/Soul/House and Classical, making for both relaxing tracks and club anthems. Mayism got her career started very early. At 15, she had traveled around the world as both a soloist and chamber player. In recent years, she’s been the lead vocals for a TCR favorite – King Sunshine. Now, she’s launching her solo career and we’re sure she’s going to be huge. Check out the following tracks and judge for yourself!
Title: Alex Cuba Location: Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-29
Born in Artemisa, Cuba and living in Smithers, British Columbia, Alex Cuba’s name is very fitting in a North meets South kind of way. His music features sweet melodies, pop-soul choruses and rock chords that make for a great blend of old Cuban and new Canadian influence.
Alex has been a hit both locally and nationally from a young age. When he was 4, he appeared on Cuban national TV playing the claves (a percussion instrument) in a group directed by his music instructor father. His career has brought him close to such people as Roberto Fonseca and Javier Zalba (now with the Buena Vista Social Club), with whom he recorded three albums and toured Europe.
Hope to see you at his show at Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday November 29th.
Title: LAL Location: Wrong Bar, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-04
Lal, is Nick Murray on electronics, Ian de Souza on Bass, Rosina on vocals and Rakesh Twari on percussion. The band has been known to dislike being labeled a trip-hop band, and would rather describe their music as “the sort of music that you would hear in an opium den–something that can take you to a different place.” In any case, the band is a diverse blend of talent and musical stylings that sounds great in any night club or lounge. The band will be playing Wrong Bar in Toronto on December 4th so check them out.
Title: Delhi 2 Dublin Location: Lucky Bar, Victoria, British Columbia Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-28
Delhi 2 Dublin consist of 5 musicians who bring together electronica and world beats, all the while mashing up Bhangra, Celtic and Dub flavors. The band brings together tabla, fiddle, dhol, Punjabi vocals, and electric sitar over electronic beats that range from reggae to drum and bass. The band has put together some incredible performances such as Vancouver’s Celtic Fest in March of 2006 as well as Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 2007. The band will be rocking Lucky Bar in Victoria BC on Friday, November 28th.
Title: Fred Everything Location: Mercury Lounge, Ottawa Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-20
Fred Everything has over 12 years in the music business and over 100 productions to his credit. Born in Hull and raised in Quebec City, Fred has had a long career DJ’ing various venues around Canada. In 2003, Fred won best Electronic Artist at The Mimi’s award in Montreal. He now lives in Montreal, after having lived in San Francisco and working with Moulton Studios, where he’s working on his label’s 10th release. To hear his latest stuff, check him out at the Mercury Lounge, where he’ll be playing after elodieO on Thursday, November 20th.
Title: ElastoCitizens Location: The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2009-01-02
ElastoCitizens are purely about getting you to dance. Their grinding guitars, nasty girl-group dancing , feedback basslines, a heavy horn section and multiple singers make their concerts an electrifyingly original live music experience. Their MySpace is only showing 1 show and so I’m hoping it will be killer. If you’re in Toronto, see them play at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on January 2nd, 2009. Even if you’re still hung over from New Years, go see the show and use the booze-shakes to make your dancing skills all the better.
Title: Nomadic Massive Location: Brazil Link out: Click here Start Date: 2008-11-14 End Date: 2008-11-23
Nomadic Massive are a Montreal based collective of independent Hip-Hop artists who have come together in an effort to combine their energies and spread their music across borders. They’re doing a great job of tackling this effort by touring Brazil from November 14th to the 23rd. The crew has a really diverse background in the industry and culture with Chilean, French, Haitian, Chinese, Iraqi and Argentine backgrounds. The group is really trying to change attitudes about hip hop and the often scrutinized culture it promotes to create something that is 100p about love, peace and universal understanding.
Title: Kellylee Evans Location: Montreal Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-20
Kellylee Evans is a 2007 Juno and Gemini Award nominated singer-songwriter. Her smooth style urban-jazz has gotten acclaim from various magazines and artists. Rich, soothing, robust and energizing is how her music is described. Taking inspiration from Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann and Ron Sexsmith, Kellylee is sure to put on a good show at the Grey Cup celebration in Montreal on November 20th.
Title: DJ Shine Location: Ottawa Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-06
Jason Spanu, aka DJ Shine, is a Toronto-based electronic music producer/DJ with over 17 years in the business. Signed to Toronto’s Nice+Smooth label, he is also a member of Nelly Furtado’s band whom he spent the last three years on tour with. His sets cover a solid club vibe with genres such as house, jazz, techno and electro. He’ll be playing in Ottawa on Saturday December 6th, about the same time his next album drops, so be sure to check him out.
[UPDATE: Here's more info about the show]
Host: Joe Rowe & Meow Productions Location:The Cock and Lion Pub Address: 202 Sparks Street
Title: Thunderheist Location: Babylon, Ottawa Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-113
Thunderheist is among the grimiest electro out there. It’s like Peaches had sex with MIA on crank and Crystal Castles was watching. The Montreal-based duo had an insane show at NXNE in 2007 and have been featured in almost every Canadian music publication. Isis, is a Nigerian-born, Canadian-raised, emcee that has shared stages with a wide range of hip hop heavyweights like Bahamadia, M1 (Dead Prez) and even T.I. The DJ behind the band, Grahm Zilla, is an incredibly versatile producer & DJ who has spent over 15 years honing his skills. Check them out tonight in Ottawa at Babylon.