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!
Title: vitaminsforyou Location: The Drake, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-06
Bryce Kushnier’s vitaminsforyou have been hailed as the early originators of the lo-fi bedroom electronics scene. After having received critical acclaim for their albums I Am Sorry For Ever and For Always, as well as The Legend of Bird’s Hill, vitaminsforyou went on to tour with big labels around the world. Their tours have brought them through North and South America, as well as throughout Europe. They’ve played with The Stills, The Notwist, Ghislain Poirier, Venetian Snares and more. As I’m sure you’re super impressed right now, you should take a listen for yourself. A free track was posted to the vitaminsforyou MySpace page and we’re hosting it here. Or, you could check them out at The Drake on December 6th in Toronto.
Title: DJ Vivie-Ann Location: Business, Montreal Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-31
I don’t think the music in the above video is her work but it does give you a good impression of what it’s like to be at DJ Vivie-Ann’s sets. The 24 yr old DJ has residencies around the world including Palladium in Acapulco, Hulala in Rome Mokai in Miami, and last year in Ibiza at Penelope. A six-year student of conservatory piano and a graduate of McGill University’s computer science program, she’s obviously not made for a cubicle world and has taken her talents to the nightclub scene. With her first release in 2006, she’s still going strong playing shows back-and-forth between Canada, Brazil and Morocco among many others. Check her out in Montreal on New Years Eve at Business.
Title: K-OS Location: Calgary, Alberta Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-28
K-OS was raised a Jehovah’s Witness in Toronto. Not that it has anything to do with his music but maybe it does. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses into rap? Maybe they like trance. In any case, K-OS has had a whole bunch of jams and an incredibly long career. His mainstream superstardom has lasted a whopping 6 years. If you’re looking to feel nostalgic about old albums or interested in what he’s doing these days, check him out in Calgary on the 28th of November.
Title: Mother Mother Location: Richard’s On Richards, Vancouver, BC Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-28
The Vancouver-based band Mother Mother have just put out their sophomore album, O MY HEART, out on Last Gang Records. This is the same record label that has signed such bands as Metric, DFA 1979 and The New Pornographers. The band provides an artistic and original expression of modern pop music that contains rich vocal harmony, deeply poetic lyricism, and dynamic instrumentation. You can hear all the hits from their old albums as well as tracks you may have never heard before at their CD release party at Richard’s On Richards in Vancouver BC on November 28th.
Title: Femi Kuti Location: Montreal, Toronto Link out: Click here Start Date: 2009-01-14 End Date: 2009-01-15
Femi Kuti accompanied his father’s musicians until 1986 when he went solo and began his own band. For the next 20 years, Femi developed an afrobeat with soul-jazz nuances that is entirely his own. He sang with Motown back in the early 90’s and then took a radical shift of musical stylings in 2001 when he joined forces with rappers Mos Def and Common for the album “Fight to Win.” Femi also has his own nightclub, the Shrine, located in Lagos, Nigeria. The Shrine is a political hot potato as well as a great place to hear cutting-edge African beats. You can check it all out in Femi’s DVD “Live at the Shrine” or hear him when he comes to Canada in January of 2009.
Title: Ben Wilson Location: Tranzac, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-29
Ben Wilson is from Ottawa but he’s done a lot of traveling in his day. His album Staying Places, is dedicated to his travels. Written, recorded, produced and mixed by Wilson in his own basement studio, the artist demonstrates a motivated and independent attitude. Take the time to hear about his unique perspective on the places he’s been both physically and mentally. He’ll be playing the following venues:
11-24 – Peterborough, Ontario – The Spill
11-26 – London, Ontario – The Alex P. Keaton
11-27 – Kingston, Ontario – BarNone
11-29 – Toronto, Ontario – Tranzac
Title: Caridad Cruz Location: Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield (Ottawa) Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-30
Caridad Cruz Vilain was born in Havana, Cuba, into a musical family deeply rooted in Afro-Cuban culture. Her family was always musically inclined and her father was an accomplished professional violinist. Caridad’s career began in 1993 as she played venues across Trinidad, Cuba, Costa Sur and Ancón. In 2007, her career took off on the Ottawa scene with appearances in the National Arts Centre’s Quebec Scene festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival and the Ottawa Bluesfest. Check out her blend of Cuban and French music on Sunday, November 30th at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield.
Title: DJ Colette Location: Reflections Cabaret, Halifax Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-31
DJ Colette is super cute with a heartwarming demeanor. For the past ten years she’s been with the SuperJane troupe with fellow Chicagoan DJs Dayhota, Lady D. and Heather. On top of that, her independent tracks have been incredibly successful. Her album Hypnotized became the most downloaded dance album on iTunes (US). Other songs like “What Will She Do for Love” became Billboard’s No. 1 Dance Club Play Single as well as being licensed to The Devil Wears Prada soundtrack. You can check out her latest stuff when she plays Reflections Cabaret in Halifax on New Years Eve.
Title: Joubin Location: Stereobar, Montreal Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-30
Joubin is Persian and from Montreal. He’s had a successful career that has included producing remixes for Chus & Ceballos, Victor Calderone, D-Formation, Lula, DJ Paulo, That Kid Chris, Carlos Fauvrelle, Midnight Society and others. He puts on a great house set and he’ll be playing Le Stereo in Montreal on November 30th.
Title: Team Canada Location: Quebec City Link out: Click here Date: 2008-12-05
Team Canada are DJ Grandtheft from Montreal and DJ D.R.one. The two began their careers together throwing rip-roaring parties on the East Coast and released their first album together in 2004 called “Classic Material Volume 1″. They’ve gotten so big that even DJ Z-Trip played one of their tracks, without a shoutout I must add. Recently, the group signed with DJ AM’s management team in LA joining a strong team of AM, A-Trak, Steve Aoki, Eli Escobar, Stretch Armstrong, DJ Spider, DJ Fashen, Kevin Scott, DJ Scene and Pase Rock. Team Canada are signing their own DJs too with Jr. Flo (Toronto) Illo (Ottawa) Pump (Calgary) and Hedspin (Vancouver), forming their own crew/management agency: The Eh! Team. Check out them out in Quebec City on December 5th where they’ll be playing club bangers like the one embedded below.
