Stars Campbell Welcomes Daughter

With Father's Day just a few days away Torquil Campbell of Stars and Memphis and his wife, actress Moya O'Connell have given birth to a daughter Ellington Beatrice Pepper Campbell according to Jeffrey Remidios of Arts and Crafts. Congratulation to the new parents and happy birthday Ellington!



Stars - Sleep Tonight

Timbre Timbre Signs to Arts and Crafts

Congradulations to Timbre Timbre, Out of this Spark and Arts and Crafts. According to CBC Radio 3 and Arts and Crafts, A & C and Out of this Spark are partnering to re-release Timbre Timbre's self titled debut (originally released in January).

"Bry Webb from the Cons turned me onto the Timber Timbre record and I immediately fell in love with it," says Arts & Crafts President, Jeffrey Remedios. "I went to acquaint Kevin Drew and he simultaneously tried to tell me. We both knew we had to try and tell the world about Timber Timbre and we're honoured he's giving us a chance to do just that." He continues, "Out Of This Spark has been doing great things for the Toronto music community and we're excited to be working more closely with them."

As a side note I found it somewhat amusing that the Arts and Crafts release refers to Out of this Spark as an 'upstart' record label. I suppose, if talking to an international audience, that may be true but with Timbre Timbre, Forest City Lovers, the D'urbervilles and Jenny Omnichord on board Out of This Spark hardly seems like an upstart anymore.

That aside, Arts and Crafts is celebrating the signing by giving away a free MP3 of Timbre Timbre's song 'Lay Down in the Tall Grass'

Timber Timbre - Oh Messiah


Upcoming Timbre Timbre dates:

5/13/09 - Sherbrooke, PQ @ Tapageur
5/14/09 – Sackville, NS @ Struts Gallery
5/15/09 – Halifax, NS @ Caleb's!
5/16/09 - Halifax, NS @ Company House
5/17/09 – Breadelbane, P.E.I. @ Funk the Dunk Festival
5/18/09 - Charlottetown, P.E.I. @ Ampersand
5/21/09 – Toronto, ON @ 67 Nassau St / Over The Top Festival
5/25/09 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON @ Arcadia
5/26/09 – Thunder Bay, ON @ The Apollo
5/27/09 – Winnipeg, MB @ Lo Pub
5/28/09 – Winnipeg, MB @ Graffiti Gallery
5/29/09 – Regina, SK @ The Club
5/30/09 – Saskatoon, SK @ The Stall Gallery
5/31/09 - Saskatoon, SK @ House Show
6/2/09 – Medicine Hat, AB @ The Ottoman Lounge
6/4/09 – Edmonton, AB @ Hydeaway
6/5/09 – Calgary, AB @ New Black Centre
6/6/09 – Canmore, AB @ Canmore Hotel
6/8/09 – Kelowna, BC @ The Blue Gator
6/10/09 – Vancouver, BC @ Little Mountain Studios
6/11/09 – Victoria, BC @ Solstice Cafe
6/12/09 - Vancouver, BC @ Secret Loft/ Waste Fest
6/18/09 – Toronto, ON @ NXNE
6/19/09 - Ottawa, ON @ First Baptist Church
6/20/09 – Montreal, PQ @ Plaza St. Hubert

Apostle of Hustle announce tour and want YOU to open!

Apostle of Hustle have announced a tour of southern Ontario during May. You can score a free digital copy of their new album Eats Darkness out May 19th, 2009 if you pre-order tickets to any of the shows.

And as a pretty awesome added bonus, they're having a contest to find opening bands for the tour (see dates below). Interested musicians can submit their info, a myspace link, and a short summary of their music and why they(you) should be Apostle of Hustle's opener by email to [email protected] by May 1 (more info here). This is a great idea, and I can't wait to see whomever wins and opens alongside Apostle of Hustle.

5/20/09 – Guelph, ON @ E-Bar
5/21/09 – Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
5/22/09 – Peterborough, ON @ Montreal House
5/23/09 – Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
5/27/09 – Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club
5/29/09 – Toronto, ON @ The Music Gallery
5/30/09 – Waterloo, ON @ Starlight Room

You can also acquire a free copy of Apostle of Hustle's song Perfect Fit by signing up for their mailing list.

Kevin Drew dives into film-making with The Water

The Water, a 15 minute film by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew will premiere this Friday, April 10th on Pitchfork TV. The film short features Irish actor Cillian Murphy, Canadian actor David Fox, and Canadian musician Leslie Feist as well as Feist's song 'The Water'. The Water is a visual poem which questions love, life, and death representing the song of the same name.

Bell Orchestre N.E. American Tour Starts Soon

Great American music blog Brooklyn Vegan has been touting Bell Orchestre lately, more evidence of Canadian music spreading abroad. The six member band cites influences as varied as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Arvo Pärt, The Penguin Café Orchestra, and Talk Talk, but crafts a decidedly unique pastiche of sounds on their instrumental tracks - sometimes pastoral, sometimes raucous, always unique and cerebral.

The band scored huge on its sophomore release on Canadian Indie mega-label Arts & Crafts: As Seen Through Windows features John McEntire (Tortoise, the Sea and Cake) recording the disc. Here's how the band describes the result on their own website:

"The result is at once fierce and beautiful, delicate and dirty. McEntire’s
extensive studio knowledge and attention to craft provided Bell Orchestre with a
kind of bridge, spanning the diversity of their sound to create a richly layered
and sonically expansive recording; a recording that closely mirrors Bell
Orchestre’s very process of making music. Opening with the distressed sound of
muted and distorted horns, strings and drums—an almost monstrous sound, the
album effortlessly shifts into an elaborate and soaring movement, sometimes
edging close to fragility, sometimes on the verge of exploding, but never once
faltering nor threatening to lose its way."

Sounds amazing to me....

The band heads out on the road the first week of April, hitting mostly Quebec, eastern Ontario and Toronto, and culminating with what I am sure will be one of THE must-see sets at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. What's really cool is that Bell Orchestre has secured a few churches to perform in (notably in Kingston and Ottawa), and that ought to be one fantastic experience.

Here are the dates - don't miss it if you can:

4 Apr 2009 21:00 Sydenham Street United Church w/ Colin Stetson Kingston, Ontario
16 Apr 2009 20:00 Theatre Granada w/ Colin Stetson & Julie Doiron Sherbrooke, Quebec
17 Apr 2009 19:30 Theatre Petit Champlain w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Quebec, Quebec

18 Apr 2009 20:30 First Baptist Church w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Ottawa, Ontario
19 Apr 2009 22:50 La Tulipe w/ Colin Stetson & Little Scream Montreal, Quebec
23 Apr 2009 23:00 Starlight Social Club w/ Colin Stetson Waterloo, Ontario
24 Apr 2009 20:00 Courthouse w/ Colin Stetson Toronto, Ontario
25 Apr 2009 20:00 Casbah Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario
30 Apr 2009 18:30 Le Poisson Rouge New York, New York
1 May 2009 21:00 Somerville Theater w/ Colin Stetson & The Havels Somerville, Massachusetts
10 Jul 2009 20:00 Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg, Manitoba
11 Jul 2009 20:00 Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg, Manitoba

And here's Bell Orchestre performing at the Hillside Inside Festival in Guelph earlier this year:

Too good to pass up

I was sent an email today from Arts & Crafts and in it was possibly one of the best music videos I've seen in a long time. So good in fact that it deserves to be shared and seen by all. The video is for Brendan Canning's song Love Is New and addition to paying homage to Saturday Night Fever, it features a host of cameos from Canning's friends and band mates. You can find the video here and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.