They may have cribbed their name from a 1891 Thomas Hardy novel, and Chart Attack might have called them “rock music for smart people,” but there’s nothing egghead-y about The D’Urbervilles, a couple of pals that started a band for drink tickets and rock shows then wound up winning over critics everywhere from New Brunswick to New York. Following a self-financed EP and tours with Canadian heavyweights like Malajube and You Say Party! We Say Die!, the band bowed with their debut full-length, We Are The Hunters, a post-punky slab of anthemic guitar revelry on the Out Of This Spark label in 2008.

Garage soul rock ‘n roll from Toronto, Canada, Modernboys Moderngirls are a band to watch in the months to come. Led by vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Akira Alemany, the six member band’s blistering live sets are quickly earning the group a reputation as one of the most exciting up-and-coming rock ‘n roll acts to emerge from the Toronto music scene.

Modernboys Moderngirls proved their rock ‘n’ roll mettle after standout performances at the Canadian Music Week and North by Northeast (NXNE) festivals. The band was also booked to play Edgefest 2008 (in support of such acts as Stone Temple Pilots and Sam Roberts Band)—all before even releasing an album.

The wait is finally over for fans of the band’s electrifying live performances. Modernboys Moderngirls self-released their debut full-length,I Might As Well Break It on June 26, 2008 . Mixed by Ryan Mills (Born Ruffians, Most Serene Republic), the album is an exposed live wire, that mimics the energy of the band’s live set, burning through 60s soul and garage, ‘50s pop gems and 70s punk-funk influenced songs.

With a fresh album hot of the presses and one of the only independent band entries to make into the CBCRadio top 30 (currently at 8) MBMG is ready to hit the road this fall with a tour that will include Ontario, Quebec and select U.S. dates. The band will also be performing at the prestigious Halifax Pop Explosion Festival held Oct 21-25.

Upcoming shows:
27 Sep 2008 20:00 Club Absinthe Hamilton, Ontario
18 Oct 2008 20:00 Petit Cafe Campus Montreal, Quebec
21 Oct 2008 20:00 Halifax Pop Explosion Festival Halifax, Nova Scotia

There was a time when music was a craft performed by artisans who rode the rails and played from the heart. A time when music was central to communities, bringing people together and inspiring change. If you have ever longed to go back to such a time, then Revival Dear will ride straight into your heart.

Revival Dear has found a way to pay homage to the past and herald in the future at the same time. Imagine a marriage between classic rock legends The Band and Fleetwood Mac, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of their sound. Yet Revival Dear’s music is fresh, totally alive, and very relevant in today’s music scene.

2 Oct 2008 9:00 PEPPER JACK Hamilton, Ontario
3 Oct 2008 9:00 CAMERON HOUSE Toronto, Ontario
4 Oct 2008 8:00 KING STREET THEATRE CENTRE Kitchener, Ontario
9 Oct 2008 9:00 THE RAINBOW Ottawa, Ontario
10 Oct 2008 8:00 CENTRE ST-AMBROISE Montreal, Quebec
11 Oct 2008 20:00 LA BAR SACRILEGE Quebec City, Ontario
15 Oct 2008 20:00 TRIBECA BISTRO BAR Halifax, Nova Scotia
18 Oct 2008 6:00 HOUSE CONCERT Breadalbane, Prince Edward
26 Oct 2008 20:00 FOLK FESTIVAL CONFERENCE (Thurs-Sat) Ottawa, Ontario
30 Oct 2008 9:00 LYDIA’S Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
31 Oct 2008 9:00 EGAN’S Fort St Johns, British Columbia
1 Nov 2008 9:00 CHANCES Fort St Johns, British Columbia
7 Nov 2008 9:00 IRONWOOD Calgary, Alberta
8 Nov 2008 9:00 THE SLICE Lethbridge, Alberta
14 Nov 2008 20:00 CAFE VOLTAIRE Prince George, British Columbia
15 Nov 2008 20:00 WHOLE WHEAT & HONEY Fort St Johns, British Columbia
16 Nov 2008 9:00 BETTER THAN FRED’S Grand Prairie, Alberta
19 Nov 2008 20:00 THE APOLLO Thunder Bay, Ontario
20 Nov 2008 9:00 LOP LOP’S Sault Ste Marie, Ontario

Taking inspiration from the music of the legendary French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Halifax’s Gypsophilia combines hot jazz and European gypsy music, adding their own modern edge and fusing elements of tango, klezmer, funk, and classical in their original music. Admired by listening and dancing audiences young and old, the group’s passionate, exciting and sophisticated sound has quickly catapulted them to unprecedented jazz popularity in Nova Scotia. Not simply a Gypsy-jazz cover band, Gypsophilia’s unique voice comes from the fusion of the members’ diverse musical and artistic backgrounds, as well as from their innovative and eclectic original repertoire. Initially formed for an appearance at the 2004 TD Canada Trust Atlantic Jazz Festival, the band was impressed with the immediate and passionate audience response.

Since then, Gypsophilia has played numerous club shows, private functions, fundraisers and more formal concerts, regularly attracting sold-out crowds. Performance highlights include a series of wildly successful swing dance costume parties (co-produced by JazzEast), and performances at festivals, including the TD Canada Trust Atlantic Jazz Festival (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), the Rimouski FestiJazz International (2006), Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival (2006) and the Deep Roots Festival in Wolfville (2006). In all of these contexts, Gypsophilia’s efforts to explore new musical ground have been met with great enthusiasm and support from listeners. The band’s most recent project is a debut album of original music, entitled Minor Hope, which was released in May 2007.

23 Aug 2008 21:00 Blacksheep Inn Wakefield
24 Aug 2008 20:00 The Mercury Lounge Ottawa
26 Aug 2008 21:00 The Pepperjack Cafe Hamilton
28 Aug 2008 22:00 The E Bar Guelph
31 Aug 2008 17:30 The Ashkenaz Festival Toronto
31 Aug 2008 22:00 The Boat Toronto
3 Sep 2008 22:00 Rancho Relaxo Toronto
5 Sep 2008 22:00 L’escalier Montreal
12 Sep 2008 21:30 Ginger’s Tavern Halifax
11 Oct 2008 20:00 Lane’s Liverpool

Escape Goat Records and Bruce Peninsula proudly present a freshly-issued piece for your crates. A document of Bruce Peninsula’s earliest rally-calls, this 7″ record collects 3 traditional songs, as ingested and interpreted by the many heads and hands of a Toronto-based clubhouse band.

They claim they’re headed off in a few new directions lately, but Bruce Peninsula began as a band huddled around the flame of mesmorizing, archaic recordings cobbled together and collected in the first half of the 1900’s.

This release finds the band taking on “Lift Him Up, That’s All” (rechristened “Lift ‘Em Up” but based on the song by Washington Phillips, a masterful Texan preacher/songbird that lived between 1880-1954), as well as 2 old call-and-responses, “Rosie” and “Jack Can I Ride?”, both of anonymous origins.

Upcoming shows:
9 Aug 2008 20:00 Whippersnapper w/ TGTGG, One Heart Many Hands Toronto, Ontario
22 Aug 2008 20:00 Horseshoe w/ Cuff The Duke, D’urbervilles Toronto, Ontario
23 Aug 2008 21:00 Peterborough Folk Festival Peterborough, Ontario
24 Aug 2008 19:00 Murdered City @ Ford Plant Brantford, Ontario
18 Sep 2008 20:00 Casbah w/ Apostle of Hustle Hamilton, Ontario

The Rest’s second album Everyone All At Once has just been released! Here’s what they had to say about it:

For our second record Everyone All At Once we decided to write and arrange the songs in isolation. We drove away from our select cities, A.D.D. distractions, relationships, and most importantly any escape from making music. We brought food, clothes, alcohol, and a van full of instruments. We woke to a lake, a forest, two cozy buildings, and a room full of instruments. We wrote and made noise until the sunset, beat on drums while howling at the moon (alcohol), and fell asleep aware and anxious to repeat the day before…

After multiple trips we said goodbye to scenic isolation and embraced urban isolation, knowing that we were working on the music that would capture the sound we had been chasing for five years. We spurned the comfort and relaxation of the night to crawl into basements, and fill forgotten living rooms. After close to a year of this consuming rehearsal regime we returned to Catherine North Studios with Dan Achen to record our planned madness, attempting to corral the songs and each individual’s energy into a preserved piece of electronic data. Everyone All At Once accomplishes these goals, and expands on what we had originally intended to achieve. Encapsulating the album title in sound, ideology, and ambition. Ready to escape isolation once and for all.

25 Jul 2008 20:00 The Casbah Hamilton

Haven’t heard of Jon McKiel yet? Perhaps its because he’s spent the last year hauled up in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in a dim lit house, armed with a guitar and a cigarette, writing beautifully affecting indie-pop songs. Joined by his bandmates Josh Kogon (bass), Cory LeBlanc (drums), Mike D’Eon (guitar) and Colin Crowell (synth and trumpet), Jon improves on the tradition of fellow Canadian bands like The Stills and Great Lake Swimmers by combining deep pop sensibilities with rich descriptive lyrics and haunting melodies. On songs like “Poor Heart” and “Get Caught,” Jon McKiel delivers the genuineness that has attracted many to fellow singer/songwriters like Andrew Bird, Stephen Malkmus, and Ryan Adams.

Jon’s new album, “The Nature of Things,” was released by Wednesday Records on February 12, 2008. The album follows Jon’s self-titled debut, which was dubbed The Coast’s “Top 50 Albums of 2006.” “The Nature of Things” was recorded at the old Fort Apache in Boston (home of the Pixies’ “Come on Pilgrim,” Radiohead’s “The Bends,” and Dinosaur Jr.’s “Green Mind”) by Thom Flowers. The record was mastered by Noah Mintz (The Dears, Stars, and Broken Social Scene) at Lacquer Channel in Toronto.

Upcoming shows:

28 Jun 2008      20:00    Sled Island Festival @ Marquee Room  Calgary, Alberta
29 Jun 2008     22:00    Canmore Hotel     Canmore, Alberta
01 Jul 2008     20:00    Ottomon Lounge     Medicine Hat, Alberta
04 Jul 2008     20:00    Lydia’s     Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
08 Jul 2008     21:00    Albion     Guelph, Ontario
09 Jul 2008     20:00    Casbah     Hamilton, Ontario
10 Jul 2008     21:00    Rancho Relaxo     Toronto, Ontario
19 Jul 2008     20:00    Green Mountain Festival  Nanimo, British Columbia

Little Foot Long Foot, born out of necessity. This two member Toronto-based band was conceived from a tribute act. Isaac Klein (drums) bought his second tom to bash like Bonham, and Joan Smith (guitar and vocals) did her best to carry off Plant’s feminine machismo without stuffing her pants. After discovering that the smartest business decision for a tribute band is to add as many midgets as possible, Joan accepted her inability to shred wicked solos, strapped on a fat loud guitar and dug out her originals. Isaac put away the second tom so that Joan’s amp would fit in his car, and they journeyed towards a new horizon where White Stripes comparisons were lush and unavoidable.

Being a two piece band is all Little Foot Long Foot has in common with The White Stripes – musically they couldn’t be further apart. Joan’s voice is hard to put to words, there are moments when you can picture her chugging back JD straight from the bottle, channeling Joplin herself. From a light Billie Holiday to a Dylan feel. Be sure to check this Toronto Blues-Rockn’ duo with their injections of sarcastic prose at one of these great venues.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

June 17th 9pm Mercury Lounge, Ottawa with Bible All Stars
June 18th 9pm Brasserie Lafontaine, Riviere Du Loup
June 20th 9pm The Capital, Fredericton with Chris Colepaugh
June 21st 8pm Summer Solstice Festival, Saint John’s
June 25th 10pm Tribeca, Halifax
June 28th 9pm Brennans, Charlottetown
June 30th 8pm The Mersey House, Liverpool
July 4th 8pm Chuggles, Antigonish
July 5th 8pm Seahorse Tavern, Halifax
July 8th 10pm Gus’s Pub, Halifax
July 10th 9pm The Capital, Fredericton
July 11th 8pm Duncan’s Pub, Amherst with Jon McKeil
July 12th 8pm JB’s Pub, Springhill NS with Nicknameless
July 18th 8pm A Khord, St John’s
July 19th 8pm Doc Dylans, Moncton
July 23rd 9pm Divan Orange, Montreal
July 24th 9pm The Rainbow, Ottawa
Aug 14th 8pm The Supermarket, Toronto
Aug 15th 9pm PepperJacks’s, Hamilton

With all the thousands of bands taking part of the web community, Youtube.ca invited Said the Whales to there launch party last November.

Said the Whale are presently on a cross Canada tour. They will be playing with an amazing list of artists including; Hey Ocean, Dan Mangan, Matthew Barber, Lotus Child and The Hermit. Check your city to catch one of their shows, you should definitely hit it! S.T.W also have some slick T-shirts, I got my self one.

As a bonus, I’ve included a clip of their show at the Merc and an unbelieveable experience that happened outside just after their show.In this video a local Ottawa ByWard Market vagabond, was so moved by the name of the band “SAID THE WHALE”, that he reached deep into his bag to show the band members that he had a “SAVE THE WHALES” pin! In actuality it was a “SAID THE WHALE” tour pin from Vancouver.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
June 5th, 2008 Vancouver, BC | Biltmore **CD RELEASE SHOW!!** w/ Lotus Child and Maurice
June 13th, 2008 Windsor, ON | Phog Lounge
June 14th, 2008 Toronto, ON | NXNE @ The Rivoli w/ Matthew Barber
June 15th, 2008 Hamilton, ON | Casbah
June 17th, 2008 Sault Ste. Marie, ON | Loplop’s w/ Hey Ocean
June 18th, 2008 Thunder Bay, ON | Jack’s w/ Hey Ocean
June 19th, 2008 Winnipeg, MB | The Lo Pub w/ Hey Ocean
June 20th, 2008 Regina, SK | The Exchange w/ Hey Ocean
June 21st, 2008 Lethbridge, AB | The Slice
June 22nd, 2008 Calgary, AB | VIRGIN FESTIVAL
June 25th, 2008 Canmore, AB | Canmore Hotel w/ Hey Ocean
June 26th, 2008 Golden, BC | Roadhouse Tavern w/ Hey Ocean
June 27th, 2008 Kelowna, BC | Doc Willoughby’s w/ The Hermit

“Blues for people who hate blues,” they distill rock ‘n’ roll, punk and country into their heady house-rockin’ punch. Give them a stage, any stage and they’ll put on the best show they can for whoever’s there. Each one is a seasoned pro on their instrument of choice but, never afraid to take chances, the boys are fond of switching it up in an on-stage game of musical chairs. To quote a much used and abused cliche, The Perpetrators have to be seen to be believed.

Buy their albums!

Now… go see them!

28 Mar 2008 21:00 The Bristol Place London, ON
29 Mar 2008 20:00 The Horseshoe Tavern Support for Luke Doucet’s CD Release Toronto, ON
30 Mar 2008 20:00 The Boathouse Kitchener, ON
4 Apr 2008 22:00 The Bristol Place London, ON
8 Apr 2008 22:00 Pepper Jack Cafe Hamilton, ON
10 Apr 2008 20:00 The Dakota Tavern Toronto, ON
11 Apr 2008 21:00 Loplops Sault Ste. Marie, ON
12 Apr 2008 21:00 The Apollo Thunder Bay, ON
18 Apr 2008 02:00 Ryerson Elementary School Winnipeg, MB
19 Apr 2008 22:00 Brunkild Bar & Grill Brunkild, MB
9 May 2008 20:00 Ozzy’s Winnipeg, MB
10 May 2008 20:00 Ozzy’s Winnipeg, MB
18 May 2008 20:00 Private Party Vancouver, BC
18 May 2008 20:00 Private Party Vancouver, BC
24 May 2008 22:00 Lydia’s Pub Saskatoon, SK
8 Aug 2008 20:00 Trout Forest Music Festival Earfalls, ON
9 Aug 2008 20:00 Trout Forest Music Festival Earfalls, ON
10 Aug 2008 20:00 Trout Forest Music Festival Earfalls, ON

Bambi Blue