Meredith Shaw
Tuesday, July 2
Part of Birds on a Wire
The past two years have been a whirlwind for the dynamically delightful Toronto-based singer/songwriter Meredith Shaw.
After releasing her critically-acclaimed, effervescent and delightfully refreshing debut album, Place Called Happy, she embarked on an extensive tour with Big Sugar, criss-crossing the continent, assembling experiences and stories that were irresistible fodder for Shaw’s clever and creative imagination.
She will be releasing a series of three-song EPs affectionately coined ‘Tringles’ with special guest artists and producers that capture the essence of her talent, charm, personality, playfulness and also boldly proclaims a confident maturity as a songwriter.
She beams with justifiable pride and excitement when thinking about the upcoming release, Trouble, as it represents a significant step in her artistic journey and also effectively captures the different sides to her delightfully complex personality.
And her many fans are also excited to hear the new music coming from their favourite, fabulous singer/songwriter.
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Mitch Winthrop
Sunday, June 30 10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
$5 door (19+ LLBO)
Mitch Winthrop began his career as a disco and funk DJ in Toronto in 1979, and began to develop what was to become a huge following by the mid 80s. Additionally, he has hosted and/or programmed over six different house music mix shows on various radio stations, spanning the last ten years. This wealth of experience includes stints on Energy 108 (Canada's biggest dance station), Buffalo, New York's WBLK, as well as the original Keys To House (a nationally syndicated program in the U.S.), and the first ever house music show on Canadian radio (The Rhythm Method on CHRY in Toronto).
A proven live performer, Mitch has spun memorable sets in New York City and in Germany, and has also amassed a portfolio of many residencies in significant Toronto clubs. His audiences there have come to expect a solid repertoire of hard New York Tribal House and pumping garage, mixed elegantly to his very high standards. Mitch's credentials as a studio artist are also impressive. He has remixed tracks for 'Lil Louis and The People Movers, among others; he has collaborated with The Stickmen; and he has also been featured as producer or remixer on releases for Hi-Bias, SPG, Quality and Container Records, Germany. Mitch's most recent release, Still Groovin' (Aquarius) is still tearing up floors everywhere.
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Elise Epp
Tuesday, June 18
Part of Birds on a Wire
Elise Epp is a prairie-raised singer-songwriter who has found her home
creating chamber folk-pop in Toronto’s indie music scene. Founder of the
six-piece chamber pop band Theodor, Elise honed her talents as an
orchestrator creating lush, symphonic soundscapes with intricate and
interwoven melodies.
Elise’s work pulls from a wide variety of musical sources. It is rooted
in the classical, a nod to years of training first as a violinist then
as a trumpeter and singer, and draws natural comparisons to the likes of
Beirut and Owen Pallett. Her crystalline voice is reminiscent of a
young Kate Bush: sweet yet strong, bringing her unique pop pieces to
life. Her songs show a stark contrast between bright, catchy melodies
and dark narratives, inspired both by the folk music of her youth and
the melancholy German Lieder that played an indelible role in her
classical training. Along the way, Elise’s unforgettable and often
highly personal songs balance the philosophical and the emotional.
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Data Romance & Dent (Doors at 10 p.m.)
Wednesday, June 19
$7 (AA/Lic)
Data Romance (Vancouver, BC)
Ajay Bhattacharyya and Amy Kirkpatrick, both 25, first came together two years ago in their hometown of Victoria on Canada’s Vancouver Island. Kirkpatrick had moved to Vancouver proper, where she started using her training to do lights for the city’s biggest clubs. Bhattacharyya, meanwhile, had come to the city to study sound design for film.
From the circuit-bending tonalities mirroring Nine Inch Nails to the feminine aspect evoking the mystical eroticism of Lykke Li, Data Romance provides an evocative, haunting, groove-filled soundscape.
Dent (Guelph)
I suppose it’s not uncommon for a band to be a product of their environment, but for this band the constant surroundings of old noisy electronic devices, high piles of recording equipment, and the drive to conquer the world of Lo-Fi Electro-Rock has made their objective inescapable. Think fat keyboards intertwined with fuzzy 8-bit bass and driving back beats that sound like they’ve been dragged through a ditch. Top that off with infectious vocal melodies sung in harmony and you have Dent.
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Northcote, The Matinee, The Treasures
Thursday, June 13 (Doors at 10 p.m.)
$12/10 w/ a food item
AA/Lic
Northcote (Victoria, BC)
Matt Goud (aka Northcote) may take you by surprise when he steps up to the mic. Though the soft-spoken Goud is known by friends and family as a gentle giant, he infuses his original songs with a uniquely powerful and confident voice.
Born and raised in small-town Saskatchewan, his early exposure to music was a mix of traditional country on AM radio and the hymns he learned at his childhood church. However, it wasn't until he discovered punk and hardcore music that he realized music’s healing and therapeutic power.
Over the past eight years, few young musicians in Canada have put on as many miles as Goud, who toured for years as a member of a post-hardcore band and has more recently transitioned into life on the road as a singer/songwriter with accompaniment by an ever-rotating slew of guests and friend musicians.
The Matinee (Vancouver, BC)
Shoot out the lights, and stone the roses—there’s some strong autobiography going on between the lines of The Matinée’s debut full-length album, We Swore We’d See the Sunrise. Taking its title from a line in “L’Absinthe”— the true story of a night of madness and delirium experienced while on tour in Quebec told between bouts of sparkling down-country guitar work from Matt Rose—what we hear is a band whose five members have known each other since high school, throwing everything they have into a record they’re treating like a milestone.
And the work was hard. Emboldened by their third place win in the 2011 Peak Performance Project and the subsequent record deal that followed, The Matinée ducked in and out of different studios, experimented, and generally strove—because they could— to be as great as possible for the year or so they spent working on this much- anticipated release.
The Treasures (Toronto, ON)
Toronto roots rockers the Treasures have honed their back-to-basics sound the old-fashioned way: through the boot camp of constant gigging. Specifically, the kinds of bar residencies where you're expected to play multiple sets a night for an audience who are often there more for the beer than the band. If you can succeed in that kind of challenging setting, you know you can take your act anywhere.
Formed in 2009, they've built up a dedicated following over the past few years, winning over audiences with their sweet harmonies, nostalgic melodies, and warm classic twang. Instead of a single frontman, they share vocal duties and all help out with writing the tunes. After all, some music is more about the song than the video, and for the Treasures, the song is always supreme (even if that means that the guy who wrote it might not be the one singing the lead in the end)
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