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!
We’re back from an extended holiday vacation. I hope your holidays were as good as mine. I was in upstate New York with family. Lots of booze, food and good times. Thanks for reading and stay tuned because we have a myriad of great bands and events to tell you about. Oh and if you’re wondering, the above pic is from LNP and it’s just how I wish my holidays went.
You might remember Marco DiFelice as the leadsinger of canuck indie juggernauts superGARAGE. But with the release of Sun That Somewhat Sets, DiFelice has dropped the growling guitars and pop sweetness of his old gig in favor of contemplative folk music. Real gorgeous stuff that gets by on subtlety, texture and pure emotion. Meet Marco Solo (get it?), a streamlined, grown-up DiFelice, crafting full-bodied suites of sound from his guitar and anything else lying around. The video for lead single “Your Ghost” reflects Marco’s introspective aesthetic with dark, pencil drawn animation. It kind of creeps us out. But, you know, in a good way.
Empire ISIS, Canada’s breakout international phenomenon is bringing a “Brand New Style” on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 as she releases her sophomore album since 2007’s critically acclaimed demo LP “Sound The Trumpets”. Empire ISIS aka Empress Gangstress brings a new meaning to word “World Music” by breaking down the musical barriers and fusing hip hop and reggae into a pop format on her second LP “Brand New Style”. ISIS has stayed true to her roots and movement while gaining international recognition on her DIY approach. The album should be a hit so be prepared for some Canadian jams.
Biz Markie is coming to Ottawa soon and will be playing Babylon on Saturday, December 20th. Twenty years after the man born Marcel Hall’s absurdly catchy hip-hop/R&B hybrid Just a Friend conquered the airwaves, it seems Biz Markie is only now set to make his first appearance in Capital City.
“My focus is on DJing right now,” Biz reports. “I already did the beatboxing. I did the rap. That was in my younger days.”
This is going to be a great show so if you’re in Ottawa I suggest checking it out. Show starts at 10pm. See you at Babylon!
Joni NehRita is a songwriter in the truest sense of the word. Every song is its own entity but she also has the ability to float from classic R&B to reggae, pop, and jazz. NehRita’s fans boast that her music is “smooth, infectious, lush, and inspiring” and that she has “the voice of an angel”. Having a live rhythm section on her album gives her songs an earthiness and vibrancy that’s often lost on R&B/urban records today. Lyrically, Joni reflects on matters of the heart and challenges us to live more spiritually. If you missed her performance at Maxwell’s in Ottawa, Philip Bast from The Record was there to capture some live footage and chat with Joni for a few minutes. Watch it here!
Toronto quintet The Great Bloomers specialize in galloping roots, deliciously sloppy indie rock, and spindly guitar-led noise nuggets that pack as much potency in three minutes as neatly-composed pop records do in 40. Formed only a few short years ago, the Great Bloomers have quickly transformed into one of Toronto’s most inspiring young bands. Their ascent can be chalked up to, among many other things, the strength of last year’s compact debut EP. Both reminiscent of 90s giants past, and slacker rock icons to come, tracks like the sprawling, triumphal “Catching Up” cobble together harmonica, swathes of noise, and awesomely atonal Malkmus noodlery to create deeply affecting, timeless indie rock.
Hey Ocean aren’t interested in doing things anyone’s way but their own. From formulating the unique brand of pop that bolsters their sophomore release, It’s Easier to Be Somebody Else, to releasing the record on their self-owned label, Pop Machine, these up-and-coming Canadians are blazing a trail of their own and wowing the music world in the process. Melding the quirky melodies of Asleigh Ball and David Beckingham with the wildly energetic bass of David Vertesi and the groove-obsessed drumming of Daniel Klenner, Hey Ocean’s brand of post-modern pop bristles with distinctive life and energy.
A Jersey boy with his heart firmly planted in Detroit, Morgan Geist is a techno-head raised on everything from the sound of 80s synth-slingers Devo and New Order, to the resounding boom of hip hop, the improvisational ease of jazz, and, oddly enough, 60s Hindi film soundtracks. It’s this voracious musical appetite that’s convinced the likes of Hugh Masekela, Telex, Erlend Oye and The Rapture to tap him for remixes. Launching his own label, Environ, Geist has released a string of albums that flirt with disco, techno, soul and all flavors in between. His latest, Double Night Time, is no exception, featuring the rapturous “Detroit.”
CKUT Montreal and The Goods are holding a New Years Eve bash at La Sala Rossa. The GOODS, started in August of 2002 by Scott C and Andy Williams to provide a warm alternative to the average Montreal night out. The GOODS only mandate is great music, whether it’s known, forgotten, or yet to be discovered. With one foot planted firmly in the past, and the other moving forward to the future, some guests have included Keb Darge, Mr. Scruff, DJ Spinna, A Man Called Warwick, Quantic, Moonstarr, Tom Thump, Jason Palma, DJ Kobal, Philarmonix, Mr. Attic, Heavyweight Art Installations, Mark de Clive Lowe, Bembe Segue, Specifics, Kahil El Zabar, Russ Dewbury, DJ Format, Robert Strauss, Mad Mats, DJ Nu-Mark, Afrodizz, Josh Deep, Karsten John, Nickodemus, Domu, and Bugz in the Attic. With the help of the unique atmosphere and no frills charm of La Sala Rossa, soulful dancefloor movements and the musically diverse party have definitely found a home in Montreal. Join the FaceBook group and support the scene.
There couldn’t be a better name for this Toronto mystical disco three piece. Lioness’ Vanessa Fischer, AKA the soul-punk queen of No Dynamics, boasts one of the most primal voices in all of Canada, a surprising roar more befitting of the Serengeti than Southern Ontario. Joining her in the aptly named venture are controller.controller vets Jeff Scheven and Ronnie Morris, whose propensity for dark, stomping disco pulses only further accentuates Fischer’s show-stopping wail. Forming only one short year ago, the band has put the early fruits of its labor together on a self-titled EP, produced by Rob Sanzo at Signal to Noise and delivered by the fine folks at New Romantic. The sound? Everything from a synth shoved through a lawn mower to a Nintendo dying in the desert. All replete with the kind of impassioned howls and fuzzed-up bass lines that’d make The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Death From Above 1979, and Shiny Toy Guns jealous with envy. Don’t believe? Check this.