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 who are rooted in, Soul, Funk, Reggae, Beats, House, Breaks and all that afro-Jazz… 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.
Ben Bootsma, Matthew Maaskant, Keith Stirling and Jonathan Weverink are the boys that form qr5. They’ve got a pop indie sound that’s really upbeat yet totally mellow. The band have solidified themselves as Toronto locals. They’ve played weekly shows at College Street Bar downtown. They also sold out the first week in dowtown Toronto’s Rotate This after being featured in their listening booth. qr5 also have a proclivity for charity, having played benefit shows for non-profit organisations such as the Cambodian Land Mine Relief Fund and Artists Against War. We’ll be keeping you updated about their upcoming shows and albums. Until then, you can buy their latest album Pharmakon here. The album costs $12 plus $2 for shipping.
The Break Down started back in September of 2007 when they first jammed at the Thornhill Village Festival near Toronto. In the beginning, the band consisted of drummer Jay Sussman, bassist Richard Itzkovtich and signers Jay Jones and Lilly Mason. A year and change later they were joined by Demitri Petsalakis and several shows after that Alan Zemaitis came along on keyboard. The Break Down usually perform around Toronto and we’ll be sure to update you about their upcoming shows.
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: Miguel Migs Location: MOD Club, Toronto Link out: Click here Date: 2008-11-21
Miguel Migs has been in countless house compilations, not to mention his TV appearances like Six Feet Under, Sex in the City, and MTV’s Road Rules and Real World. His tracks fill nightclubs but his fan base are just as interested in chilling out with his albums too. “It’s music you can enjoy and listen to at home, in the club, or anywhere. Not necessarily just to rock the dance floor.” He’s been around the world playing his over 100 original productions and remixes. Check out what the hype is about at MOD Club in Toronto on Friday, November 21st.
[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: 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: 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.
NuJazz festival starts tonight! The festival features such heavyweights as The Herbaliser Band and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. On top of that, you’ll be able to check out some great Canadian bands such as Souljazz Orchestra, King Sunshine, Grand Analog, Planet Earth and The National Parcs. We haven’t forgotten about the DJs either. Canadian and local DJs such as The Footprints DJ crew, John Kong, More or Les, Rollin’ Cash, DJ Numeric and more. Click through for exact dates, listings, prices and online ticket purchasing
