Haligonian frequent flyers In-Flight Safety banked several thousand more air miles in just the last couple of weeks after bombing their way out to the Olympics in Vancouver for shows at the LiveCity downtown site as well as Atlantic Canada House on Granville Island. Following that, they jetted back to the Canadian far east for the East Coast Music Awards where they were again celebrated, this time with two trophies: Alternative Record of the Year (for last year's sophomore release We Are An Empire, My Dear ) and Group of the Year (for being themselves). The band received three ECMAs in 2007 for their debut full-length, The Coast Is Clear . Today the band announced they're ready to do it all over again, and at the end of the week will pack their bags and again set out across the country, from coast to coast, joined along the way on the Exclaim!-presented tour by Vancouver's Said The Whale and Tokyo Police Club keyboardist Graham Wright (his first solo tour) from Montreal on March...

Hear ye, hear ye, Vancouver's Hot Hot Heat has signed with Los Angeles-based Dangerbird Records as well as Toronto-based Dine Alone Records . Ostensibly, both labels will release the band's forthcoming full-length release, Future Breeds . Said Hot Hot Heat's Steve Bays, regarding signing to Dangerbird, in a release: "Because of the kind of record we were making, we realized early on that we needed to finish the entire record before looking for a home for it, if they 'got it,' then we could talk. Also, they're also just really cool people and that's huge to us because, at the end of the day, they are essentially inviting us to join their family. We are pretty thrilled." Here's Bays, on signing to Dine Alone, in a different release: "Just like our US label, Dine Alone got our vibe right away," explains Bays. "Because of the kind of record we were making, we realized early on that we needed to finish the entire record before looking...

It's pretty funny is that NXNE is going to have a presence at SXSW . It's not ha-ha funny. It's just funny. Why? We've been reading in several places that people unaware of NXNE and what it's about think that it's a big joke and that NXNE doesn't exist. Well it does exist, suckers, and it's existed since 1994. Besides, SXSWers on the message boards, etc, previously mentioned should take it as a compliment that NXNE exists, considering that it was modeled after SXSW. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, you know? Anyway, we're just being uppity now. The NXNE showcase at SXSW is an eclectic affair featuring some of the best and most interesting Canadian talent going these days. From Jully Black to Shout Out Out Out Out , LIGHTS to DD/MM/YYYY , this thing's got you covered like a jimmy hat. NXNE 2010 is happening in Toronto June 14-20. Along with the bands (650 or so) and films (40 or so) the fest has an interactive component and a charity...

We normally get between 5 and 12 press releases delivered to us per day. On a heavy day this can push 20, 25. One a light day, 2 or 3. In March, when Canadian Music Week (and its festival, CMF) in Toronto and SXSW in Austin are more or less back to back, that daily number gets ratcheted up. Way up. It's easy to skip most of it (sorry, publicists, but we really don't read everything you send us), except sometimes you see something that looks interesting. So you click on it and you realize that yes, this was the email that was different from the rest. With the entire music industry seemingly destined for Texas this week, it's interesting that while Danko Jones is, in fact, going, and more interesting that he's not going for SXSW. Texas Rockfest , now in its eleventh year, will be the target destination for Danko , the three-man wrecking crew out of Toronto. This news comes on the heels of the band going across Canada with the legendary Guns N' Roses and also just after...

Today Canadian Music Week (CMW), in combination with Galaxie (who run those digital music specialty channels for pay-TV subscribers that are quite handy when you're too lazy to get up and change the CD or plug in your iPod), announced the shortlist for the 2010 Galaxie Rising Stars Award. The Rising Stars Award - a $5,000 bursary - is given to the best Canadian independent release from the previous year (in this case 2009) as decided by a large cross-section of Canada's music media. Journalists representing print, TV, radio and online sources were asked to submit their subjective top five choices, based on artistic merit and irrespective of sales or chart position, and those picks were shortlisted to the following (in alphabetical order): Dan Mangan , for Nice, Nice, Very Nice (fileunder:music) Handsome Furs , for Face Control (Sub Pop) Japandroids , for Post-Nothing (Unfamiliar) The Rural Alberta Advantage , for Hometowns (Paper Bag) Timber Timbre , for Timber Timbre (Arts &...

Singer/songwriter Chris Velan , a socially-concerned fellow, is gearing up for what might be his most important tour yet. As he is a partner, now, with 1% for the Planet , his cause, well, is earth. And since we all live on the earth, he's basically playing shows to you, for you. Probably best not to think about the logic on that one. The Montreal artist, long a friend of the environment and an enemy of those who would seek to besmirch it, will be touring Canada "in an effort to bolster awareness about local environmental issues and those organizations working for change." In an effort to raise money and awareness, Velan will be playing club shows (in basically every large city between Vancouver and Montreal) as well as performing in-store at Mountain Equipment Co-op locations. So, what's 1% for the Planet? We're glad you asked. A wonderful organization, 1% for the Planet is a veritable plethora of companies of various sizes that donate 1% of their sales to environmental...

If you've never been to Chester, NS, you're missing out. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet and some of the nicest sunsets you'll ever see. Okay, that's probably true and all, but we're totally making it up. We've never been to Chester, but if you wanna know more about the town, you should ask Old Man Luedecke , who's probably going to be passing through your town soon. Old Man Luedecke isn't actually that old a man, but he seems like it. A single, solitary hombre onstage with a banjo doesn't exactly lend itself to conversations on modernity, but when you hear what he's got to offer, it doesn't really matter much. A Juno winner for best Roots album in 2009, Old Man Luedecke is releasing his new one, My Hands are on Fire and other Love Songs , on March 30. The release is put out by Black Hen Music . Once again produced by Steve Dawson (who once again worked with Jenny Whiteley on her new one, Forgive or Forget , which is, now that we...

There's always been a place at the table for muscular, female-fronted rock; a respect for the girl who can run with the boys. And then some. From Blondie to Garbage to No Doubt to Canada's own Joydrop, there is a strong rock legacy in this regard and Toronto's AfterpartY ( www.afterpartyband.com ) are looking to attach their name to it with the imminent release of their album debut, the 10-track The Army You Got (the writing for which would owe a debt, spiritually at least, to each of the aforementioned acts). Fronted by 23-year-old vocalist and band co-founder Kristina B, the four-piece AfterpartY didn't take any chances with The Army You Got (to be released March 30 on Sound of Pop Records, www.soundofpop.com ) enlisting a broad range of producing troops in the form of Haydain Neale (singer for Jacksoul, and who died from lung cancer last November 22, may he rest in peace), Rob Sanzo (Sum 41, Danko Jones) and Alex Bonenfant (Crystal Castles, Neverending White Lights),...

While 2010 is still a young year and there's no award for Album-of-the-Year-So-Far. That said, one of the hottest Canuck albums going these days, as we're entering the second quarter of 2010, is Yukon Blonde 's self-titled debut. Given a bunch of pre-release props by the likes of "The Vancouver Sun, Billboard, The National Post's Ampersand and CBC Arts," the album has, since its release, been gathering more steam. As the band plows headlong into Toronto and CMW , they do so with the following props pushing them into the station. "Granted, musicians have been mining '60s psychedelic pop with increasing frequency. This B.C. quartet, however, recognize the timelessness of those original sunny trailblazers came not in an aesthetic but in crisp melodies. Whether it's the folkish, all-together harmonizing on "Wind Blows" or a bouncier cut like the soaring closer, Yukon Blonde's eponymous debut is elegant yet straightforward." [Mirror]...

Ongoing force to be reckoned with Billy Talent got an unexpected boost to their already good fortunes today with the announcement that the Toronto four-piece is up for (one each!) four Juno Awards this year: Group of the Year, Album of the Year (for the simple if accurately titled Billy Talent III ), Rock Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for Rusted from the Rain , even though to these ears Tears Into Wine is by far the best tune on the album). If Germany counts for anything in this regard, and we remain unconvinced that it does, it then bears mentioning that Billy Talent also picked up a nomination for their apparently highly-esteemed (we'll have to take their word for it on this) Echo Awards in the Artist/Group International Rock/Alternative/Heavy Metal "category" (to put it generously) where they'll doubtless face stiff competition from that Knightrider guy. The announcement of the Juno nominations today coincides with the beginning of the band's 20-date...

A few days back we told you about how Bruce Peninsula and Muskox recorded a track, "Shanty Song," for a split 7" that the two bands, PS I Love You and The Gertrudes are putting around the time of the Apple Crisp Music Festival in Kingston, Ontario. The song is a reworking of the original song from Bruce Peninsula's A Mountain Is A Mouth. That was the tip, the rest of the iceberg, fittingly, is below. Frankly, though, it's not so much an iceberg as an ice look-back, and forward. The year 2009 was very good for the soulful, gospel-y Toronto-based band. A Mountain Is A Mouth , their debut, formally announced their presence to the country that wasn't in Toronto, Ontario, and earned a lot of nice praise along the way. As such, 2010 has to venture outwards, into new terrain and onto higher mountaintops, pun intended, to top the year that came before. And they're fixin' to do just that. Bruce Peninsula's March is as packed as packed can be, with shows hither...

A throbblehead, as you may have extrapolated by now, is a bobblehead doll, albeit with one critical difference: you're not going to find a Peyton Manning, a Vladimir Guerrero or even a Barack Obama throbblehead. No sir. The purveyors of throbbleheads - website Aggronautix, who can be found at www.aggronautix.com - specialize in archival punk (real punk, none of this whiny suburban boy-band crap) paraphernalia as well as, apparently, old-school punk-derived novelty items like polyresin bobblehead-style dolls of early punk rock icons. The company/website started last year with a 2,000-strong, numbered, limited run of a GG Allin (circa 1991) throbblehead that sold out almost immediately (this was followed by a 500-unit, "Extra Filthy Bloody" super-limited edition GG Allin doll with enough blood and feces on it to make even Allin gag... okay, probably not). Subsequent dolls have included Tesco Vee of The Meatmen (and founder of Touch and Go Records), Milo of the Descendents, a...

Perenially popular Toronto-via-Halifax rockers Sloan weren't joking one bit when they said last November that they'd be mainly concentrating on a digital-only format for future releases. "Sloan would like to continue using this [digital] model so they can release new tracks more spontaneously in the future," they said at the time of the release of their five-song Hit & Run EP (a reference to an accident last summer in which Sloan lead singer and bassist Chris Murphy was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left with neck and back injuries as well as a broken collarbone). Well, it appears the future to which they referred has arrived: Sloan have just announced the release of the band's first-ever exclusive rarities collection, titled B Sides Win: Extras, Bonus Tracks and B-Sides 1992-2008 , a 26-song compendium of tunes that weren't good enough to make it onto their many albums. Or, um, should we say, rather, got lost on a mixing board somewhere? Were actually...

Suoni Per Il Popolo , easily Montreal's (Canada's?) most eclectic music festival, is turning ten this year. A stunning achievement when you consider how leftfield music hasn't ever been profitable and how music festivals that tend to last tend to be the ones that sell-out (pejorative, people) the most and suck the hardest, we think that's a cause for celebration. Thing is, if you're celebrating because of Suoni you may as well be celebrating at Suoni. Which, you know, you can do. Nay, should do. The decade anniversary of one of the most inclusive and outstanding music festivals anywhere promises to be a good'un for Suoni, which is happening in Montreal June 7 - June 23 this year. In Montreal summer festival-speak, that's: post-Fringe, pre-JFL, and in medias res-Montreal Jazz Fest. As usual, Suoni will "feature an eclectic variety of music genres such as avant folk, experimental electronics, free jazz and improv, loud rock, musique actuelle, noise/drone/freedom...

Remember: Just because it's called Pop Montreal doesn't mean it doesn't go on the road, you know. To prove that that's so, that we're no fibbers, Pop Montreal is gonna prove it in just over a few weeks, taking their show on the road to put on two showcases at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas . It's a nice time of year, this. Seriously. No foolin'. We get press release after press release announcing showcase after showcase, and, well, they all seem pretty darned good. But then we sift through them to find the best bet for your buck, and, well, the Pop Montreal people have it, dropping more than their fair share of talent on the capital of the Lone Star state. The first Pop Montreal-presented showcase at SXSW promises to be the cheesiest. Literally. Put on by and named after quite possibly the funnest band ever, Hollerado , Hollerado's Nacho House is a day party worth your time and gastrointestinal pain. Starting at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday March 18 at Lovejoy's...