I’ve written about the festival almost every year I’ve ever attended, including on its 40th anniversary, for and many other times since this newsletter began.

This year Hillside Festival’s weekend passes are sold out, for the first time since 2012. If you don’t have one, you should still get a day pass, and here are 12 musical reasons why:

Angine de Poitrine

Pretty sure you don’t need me to explain this at this point, but here’s an essay arguing that we’d have more creative bands like this one if society embraced UBI, or at least something like the recent Irish model for artists (although of course neither Quebec nor any Canadian jurisdiction has yet done so). Playing Sunday at 10 p.m. on the main stage — sure to be the biggest Hillside moment since Arcade Fire’s return engagement in 2005.

Austra

Katie Stelmanis’s latest record is a queer electro breakup disco party. This will be where the rave is this weekend: Saturday at 7.05 p.m. at Island Stage. She’s also in a workshop with Amy Millan, Torquil Campbell and Charlotte Cornfield on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the Sun Stage.

Charlotte Cornfield

Sure to be the weekend’s MVP, the Toronto singer-songwriter — who’s currently having an international breakthrough (thanks in part to Merge Records, original home of Waxahatchee) — is playing not only on Friday night at 7.15 p.m. on the Island Stage, but with members of Stars and Austra at the Sun Stage on Saturday at 4.20 p.m., the 10.30 a.m. Sunday morning gospel workshop on the Island Stage, and another Sun Stage workshop at 2.55 p.m. on Sunday, with Housewife.

Cowboy Junkies

These veterans, whose story I told in Have Not Been the Same, feature local Guelph hero Jeff Bird, who’s been in the band since The Trinity Session in 1988. Their latest, 2023’s Such Ferocious Beauty, is a recent career highlight; they’re not just an oldies act. The Cowboy Junkies are playing Sunday at 8 p.m., right before… Angine de Poitrine. At any other festival I’d be worried for the old-timers, but not here. Plus, during the Junkies’ slot, AdP fans should be checking out Fulu Miziki with Mad Professor at the Island Tent.

Donovan Woods

This former University of Guelph student has written a lot of great songs, but I think it will be hard for him — or anyone — to top this one:

Last time Woods played Hillside, his set was cut short by a thunderstorm. Maybe that’s why he’s getting 15 minutes more than a regular one-hour slot when he plays Saturday at 7.55 p.m. on the main stage.

Fulu Miziki

I’ve been waiting years to see this Congolese junkyard band, who look like the wildest dreams of Black Panther’s costume department. (They played Sunfest and Drom Taberna last year, but I had to miss it.) I’m beyond thrilled that they will be at Hillside — who, it must be said, has done an excellent job with African programming in recent years (BCUC, Bombino, Etran de l’Aïr, etc.).

This was one of the videos that first hooked me:

Do not miss Fulu Miziki’s set on Sunday — a.k.a. the Angine de Poitrine day — at 4.15 p.m. on the main stage, co-presented with Exclaim!.

Gord Grdina’s Haram

Grdina is a staple of Vancouver’s jazz scene, playing oud and guitar in various ensembles. He made a rare Toronto appearance recently at Wavelength’s Block Party, with German drummer Christian Lillinger. His Haram project, however, formed in 2008, is a sprawling big-band affair exploring Arabic repertoire, and their 2002 album featured guest Marc Ribot (Ribot will not be at Hillside).

This is their only (and first?) Ontario appearance; not sure who’s in the band right now, but it may include members of Destroyer (JP Carter) and Tagaq’s band (Jesse Zubot). They play Saturday at 2.15 p.m., on the Island Stage, co-presented by the Guelph Jazz Festival (where Grdina will be returning, solo and with Francois Houle, in September). Oddly enough, Haram is not booked into any workshops; hope they crash the microtonal one.

Horse Lords

Microtonal madness! Angine de Poitrine aren’t the only band at Hillside with twice as many frets on their guitars: Baltimore’s Horse Lords have been on this tip for a while. But don’t count on the two bands sharing a stage: while Horse Lords are in a microtonal workshop on Saturday at 7.05 p.m. on the Lake Stage, AdP will be finishing their set at Ottawa’s Bluesfest.

Mad Professor

Perhaps the best-known British dub master other than Adrian Sherwood, Mad Professor has been recombobulating an all-star client list for the past 40 years — most notably an album-length take on Massive Attack’s Protection, but also Depeche Mode, the Beastie Boys, Rancid, Horace Andy, U-Roy and more. Closer to Hillside, he delivered this 1994 remix for Guelph’s King Cobb Steelie:

He plays Saturday at 8.30 on the Island Stage, co-presented by Exclaim!. Here’s hoping the bass frequencies won’t interrupt Donovan Woods on the main stage. Mad Professor is also in a can’t-miss workshop with Fulu Miziki on Sunday at 8.30 p.m. on the Island Stage.

Magic Tuber Stringband

This North Carolinian trio may use traditional instrumentation in a folk context, but they do so alongside tape loops, field recordings, and with a sound that evokes ghostly landscapes and hidden histories. Their new album is inspired by the ecological fallout in a South Carolinian town from the military production of radioactive materials. Not exactly a hoedown; more of a haunting.

Magic Tuber Stringband play Saturday on the main stage at 1.05 p.m., at the Sunday morning gospel workshop on the Island Stage at 10.30 a.m., and in an “anything-goes” workshop with American Afro-pop artist Sinkane on Sunday at 7 p.m. on the Lake Stage. I hope they also crash the microtonal workshop with this next lady:

Gwenifer Raymond

Imagine Bert Jansch, Jimmy Page, John Fahey and Bruce Cockburn all embodied in a Welsh woman who moonlights as an astrophysicist, and you have Gwenifer Raymond. Seriously, check out this shredding:

She has a somewhat local connection in that her records are put out by Toronto label We Are Busy Bodies, which helps explain how she ended up at Mariposa and now Hillside. She plays Sunday at 2.40 p.m. on the Lake Stage, but also a strings workshop on the Sun Stage on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 5.35 p.m., and the microtonal workshop on Saturday at the Lake Stage at 7.05 p.m.

Stars

Stars take time off from their summer tour with childhood friends in Metric and Broken Social Scene to return to Hillside, a festival that nurtured all three acts early in their breakthrough periods. Heroes of the Hearts on Fire era, their set is sure to be packed with old favourites and tracks from their very strong 2022 album From Capelton Hill — which, as always, they threaten to be their farewell. See them while you can! No, really! They headline the main stage on Saturday at 9.40 p.m.

6 more Hillside picks

Ebril: Dreamy ASMR folk-pop from 23-year-old Iraqi Canadian

Gizmo: PEI power-pop, in same vein as Absolute Losers, Two Hours Traffic and Sloan

Housewife: Young Toronto throwback to mid-2000s Canadian indie rock

Mae Martin: The comedian/writer/actor is not doing stand-up here; they’re performing their original music.

The North Sound: Saskatoon married couple Forrest and Nevada Eaglespeaker sing perfect harmony over Prairie country music.

Sinkane: Sudanese-American artist whose 2024 album produced by Money Mark conjures George Clinton, Stevie Wonder and modern Afro-pop. If we’re lucky, we may also get a William Onyeabor cover, because Sinkane is the musical director of the Atomic Bomb! Band, dedicated to the space-age funk of the Nigerian pioneer.

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All news no snooze

Sneaky Dee’s has been saved — though not because of a groundswell of grassroots support, but because the developer couldn’t be bothered to find out that the land is actually owned by RBC, which councillor Dianne Saxe discovered. No one looks happier than Indie 88’s Lana Gay, but shout out to the mayor for this:

Project Nowhere has announced the preliminary lineup for its festival on Dundas West, from October 1-3. It includes Detroit proto-punks Death, U.S. Girls, Ducks Ltd., A Place to Bury Strangers, Horse Lords, Ora Cogan and more. Full lineup and schedule will be out July 28, with tickets on sale July 31.

Do you want a Tranzac residency this fall/winter? Learn how to apply here.

There’s a new Western Canadian equivalent to the Polaris Music Prize, called the Meridian Prize. The ten shortlisted albums have just been announced, including recent works by Begonia, William Prince, Andy Shauf’s Foxwarren (who play Harbourfront July 11), Home Front, and Jairus Sharif — plus five others this Laurentian elite has never heard of, which, of course, is the point. The $5,000 winner will be announced October 3 at the BreakOut West festival in Victoria.

Because we live in a world where arts are always pitted against sports for public funding, either at grassroots levels or megaprojects, it must be pointed out that according to preliminary reports, Taylor Swift is likely to have made more money for Toronto’s economy than FIFA did.

Last week Billy Bragg and Wilco played a full set of Mermaid Avenue songs for the first time ever, at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA in western Massachusetts; Natalie Merchant was a (very pleasant) surprise guest. The takes a deep dive into the whole project and reviews the show.

Why did every little thing have to be so political

Wired reports on NYC’s Summer of Ludd(ites).

Mark Mattson of Swim Drink Fish (and a character in The Never-Ending Present) writes about the illegal catastrophe that is the proposed Island airport extension.

You might want to tweak your Instagram settings now that Meta has allowed anyone to use your posts in AI images, reports Wired.

T.O. SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

An entirely subjective and by no means comprehensive look at Toronto’s concert calendar, tailored to musically curious people who are probably (but not necessarily) over 40. My strong recommendations in bold. Suggestions welcome.

Don’t live in Toronto? Most of these artists are on tour, so check your local listings. Just kidding! There are no local listings anymore. Check the artists’ websites.

JUST ANNOUNCED (mark your calendars)

Nadjiwan: July 19 at Trillium Park (Ontario Place), part of Indigenous Sound festival

Fiver, Isla and the Sorry Brothers: July 24 at Dina’s Tavern. Album release for Simone Schmidt’s Fiver.

Lilly Hiatt: Aug 3 at the Horseshoe

It’s OK* World Festival: Aug 8 at Trillium Park (Ontario Place), featuring Gena (Live.e + Karriem Riggins), KeiyaA, Clairmon the Second, more.

Pecker: Aug 10 at Paradise Theatre 8.30 p.m. To me, John Waters’s masterpiece.

Peterborough Folk Festival: Aug 13-16. Featuring Bahamas, Shad, Begonia, Georgia Harmer, Kelly McMichael, Slow Leaves, Burs, more. Details here.

Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Country Flash: Aug 16 at the Horseshoe

Dobranotch’s Klezmer Circus: Aug 31 at the Great Hall. Yes, there is a real circus involved. Presented by Ashkenaz.

Louisa Lyne & Di Yiddishe Kapelye: Sept 1 at Lula Lounge. Swedish band performing Leonard Cohen songs in Yiddish. Presented by Ashkenaz.

Neta Elkayam: Sept 2 at Lula Lounge. Morrocan-Jewish singer based in New Orleans. Presented by Ashkenaz.

The Surfrajettes: Sept 4 at the Horseshoe

Guelph Jazz Festival: Sept 11-13. Featuring Francois Houle, Gord Grdina, Gerry Hemingway, Joëlle Léandre, Myra Melford, more.

Rheostatics performing Great Lakes Suite: Sept 12 at Paradise Theatre. Help Dave Bidini celebrate his only slightly belated birthday! #HaveNotBeentheSame

Roger Miller (Mission of Burma): Sept 20 at Bsmt254

Cultivate Festival: Sept 25-27 at Haute Goat Farm, Port Hope. Featuring Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Terra Lightfoot, Cuff the Duke, Waahli, Ahmed Moneka, Melissa Payne, Jimmy Bowskill Band, Polky, more. Here’s the really interesting part: the festival is PWYC. Details here.

Tiffany Haddish (comedy): Sept 26 at Elgin Theatre. Presented by Just for Laughs.

Pete Davidson (comedy): Sept 26 at Meridian Hall. Presented by Just for Laughs.

The Supersuckers: Sept 29 at the Horseshoe

Cortex: Sept 30 at Massey Hall. Heavily sampled French psychedelic jazz-fusion band of the mid-’70s.

John Cleese (comedy): Oct 1-2 at Winter Garden Theatre. Presented by Just for Laughs.

Rachel Reid Q&A: Oct 13 at Massey Hall

Diles que no me maten: Nov 6 at Dance Cave (Lee’s). Mexico City psych-pop.

Protomartyr: Nov 7 at the Concert Hall

Mary in the Junkyard: Nov 13 at the Garrison

L. Shankar: Nov 22 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Presented by Small World Music.

The Saami Brothers: An Evening of Qawwali and Khayaal: Nov 27 at Toronto Pavilion. Presented by Small World Music.

Constantinople with Ghalia Benali; Oum Kalthoum & the Quatrains of Khayyam: Dec 4 at George Weston Hall. Presented by Small World Music.

Tonight and ev-er-y night!:

The Tranzac, Drom Taberna, Cameron House and the Rex Hotel all have several great acts a night — just go! JazzInToronto.ca’s Instagram page has essential daily jazz listings at various venues. East-enders: always something on at Castro’s or Sauce on the Danforth or jazz at Hirut. Latin and Caribbean scene: Lula Lounge. Check out the eclectic lineup at the micro-intimate Sellers & Newel bookstore. The Whole Note lists classical events and more. Fans of experimental music, report to Earlobe. Hamiltonians need HamOntLive.

Coming this week:

Beaches Jazz Festival: until July 26. Details here.

Yoo II with Nolan Potter, Colin Fisher: July 9 at Lee’s Palace. Québécois supergroup of Population II and Yoo Doo Right. Reviewed here.

Arielle Soucy: July 9 at the Burdock. Polaris-longlisted Québécois singer-songwriter.

Bob Wiseman: July 10 at Sellers & Newel #HaveNotBeentheSame

Musica Universalis, Not the Wind Not the Flag: July 10 at the Tranzac 9.30 p.m.

Jena Malone: July 10 at Baby G.

Peter Asher: Everywhere Man: July 10 at Hot Docs Cinema 7 p.m.

Digable Planets: July 10 at the Phoenix

Four Winds Music Fest: July 10-12 in Durham, Ontario, featuring Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Bros. Landreth, Reuben and the Dark with Bullhorn Singers, Tom Wilson, more TBA.

Big Brave, the Body: July 11 at St. Stephen’s in the Fields

Foxwarren (Andy Shauf): July 11 at Harbourfront.

Jim E. Brown: July 11 at the Garrison. Sold out.

Sonido Torontonico’s Cumbia Lab: July 12 at the Tranzac 10 p.m.

Lord Huron, Goldie Boutilier: July 13 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

John Oswald / Rob Clutton / Josh Cole / Nick Fraser: July 13 at the Tranzac 9.30 p.m.

Martin Loomer and his Orange Devils (big band): July 13 at the Monarch 7 p.m.

Buck Meek (Big Thief): July 13 at Great Hall

Angine de Poitrine: July 14, 15 & 18 at the Mod Club. Beyond sold out.

Jack White, Angine de Poitrine: July 14 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Marcos Valle: July 14 at Lee’s Palace

Lucy Dacus: July 15 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Buddy Guy: July 15 at Massey Hall. No, really, the 90-year-old is packing it in on this farewell tour—which is what, his fourth? Fifth?

Muse, Bloc Party: July 15 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Toronto Klezmer Society Epic Jam: July 15 at Tranzac 9.30 p.m. Come join! Sheet music and more info here.

Sate presents The Listening: July 15-18 at the Vault (2076 Danforth). A memoir/play directed by Djanet Sears.

Aziz Ansari: July 16 at Great Canadian Casino

Cypress Hill: July 16 at Fallsview Casino

Valerie June: July 16 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre Allied Music Centre (Massey Hall)

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears: July 16 at Longboat Hall

Molly Johnson: July 16 at El Mocambo. Album release.

Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt: July 16 at Revue Cinema 9.30 p.m.

Key summer dates

Billy Talent, Death From Above 1979, Hollerado: July 18 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Playing Billy Talent II for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Death Cab for Cutie, Japanese Breakfast: July 19 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets: July 21 at Mod Club

Herbie Hancock: July 26 at Massey Hall

Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars: Aug 7 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire

Alexisonfire, Underoath: Aug 14-15 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Performing Crisis for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Summerfolk (Owen Sound): Aug 21-23. Featuring Dan Mangan, Jane Siberry, Tom Wilson, Empanadas Illegales, Julian Taylor, Good Lovelies, more. Details here.

Toronto Folk Festival: Aug 21-23 on Ward’s Island. Featuring Abigail Lapell, Ahmed Moneka, Bobby Dove, Burs, Kobo Town, Meredith Moon, Mia Kelly, Divka, Jadea Kelly, more.

Blue Rodeo, William Prince, Billiane: Aug 29 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre #HaveNotBeentheSame

More Toronto concert listings until May 2027 are here and updated weekly for paid subscribers.

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Here come the regulars

Every Monday: Tranzac open stage, 6.30 p.m. (Sign up at 6 p.m.)

Every Monday: Sean McCarthy’s Taproom Gang (trad jazz) at Steadfast Brewing 7 p.m.

Every Tuesday: Julian Fauth at Sauce on the Danforth 6.30 p.m.

Every Tuesday: swing night at Drom Taberna

Every Thursday: Strangetooth (bluegrass) at Tranzac 7 p.m.

Every Thursday: Good Enough Karaoke (live band) at Wheat Sheaf Tavern

Every Thursday: Corin Raymond at Cameron House, 6 p.m.

Every Saturday: The Happy Pals at Grossman’s, 3.30 p.m. 56 years strong!

Every Saturday: Michael Louis Johnson and the Red Rhythm at Communist’s Daughter 4 p.m.

Every Saturday: Robertson & Kerr at Cameron House 8.30 p.m.

Every Sunday: Eastern European Brunch at Drom Taberna 1-4 p.m.

Every Sunday: John Borra at Communist’s Daughter 5 p.m.

Every Sunday: Colonel Tom at Cameron House 6 p.m.

Every Sunday: Doghouse Orchestra at Cameron House, 10 p.m.

Are you over 40 and/or did you grow up with freeform radio?

If so, curated Toronto concert listings from now until May 2027—are here for paid subscribers, and updated weekly.

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It’s better than bashing beavers, and it’s probably the first Adams song I’ve enjoyed in 42 years. We’ll save our CanCon dispute for another time.

Meanwhile, there is no better or more appropriate American song released in 2026 to matches the mood of that country’s bisesquiwhatever at an empty July 4 national fair, than this one by the Artist Formerly Known as Sturgill Simpson:

Things have been worse but I can't remember when
Wanna start a revolution, watch it begin

I almost titled this post “Make America not suck again,” another lyric from that song. But seriously, please: can this happen?

Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds – Mutiny After Midnight

(Atlantic Outpost)

Simpson’s entire career has been filled with left turns, from psychedelic country to Stax soul to fuzzed-out ’80s arena rock to bluegrass to yacht rock. Now that he’s adopted this new paradoxical stage name for himself and his band, Mutiny After Midnight is a perfect amalgam of almost everything he’s ever done — although no bluegrass.

“Excited Delirium” pairs pointed politics about living in a police state with a thrill-ride ZZ Top groove. It’s like Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” set at an anti-ICE rally: “How the hell you going to protect the peace, running ’round looking like you’re going to war?”

“Don’t Let Go” is a more more straight-ahead mid-tempo country rock song that would make Tom Petty proud — what could be more American than that?

Maybe “Stay on That,” which places a dirty musical pun — “Stay on that D, baby, ’til you hit that G” — over a groove that sounds like James Brown’s band meeting the Allman Brothers. Again, quintessentially American.

As is the chorus on “Everyone is Welcome,” which flips the Statue of Liberty on her head: “Nothing matters anymore, didn't you hear? Everyone is welcome to drown here.”

That’s before we get to the cover of William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” a 1961 single from the earliest days of Stax. Or, in the record’s biggest gamble, its most ridiculous move, and also one of its triumphs: a reggae cover of Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” (yes, really).

Throughout it all, the band is blazing hot, perhaps in part because the record was recorded mostly live at Dan Auerbach’s Nashville studio, and the songs written on the spot. The normally lackadaisical Simpson is positively energized — and, yes, horny. “Situation” is about as close to Prince as white men are allowed to get in pop music. Whereas “Viridescent” is sweetly romantic.

Please enjoy the dance music video of the year:

Back in March, being the contrarian he is, Simpson initially threatened to release this only on physical media and, in Cindy Lee fashion, as a one-track YouTube stream. But as of a couple of weeks ago, it’s available on all streaming platforms.

No Canadian tour dates at the moment. His own country needs him.

(Update: He’s playing Vancouver on Sept 19)

Vince Staples – Cry Baby

(Loma Vista)

The narrative here is that this is rapper Vince Staples’s “rock” album — which, on many levels, is true, with its fuzzy electric bass, live drums and distorted guitars, which owe a lot to Danger Mouse (who’s not involved, but it sure sounds like he could’ve been). But it also points to the absurdity of genre in a segregated music industry in a country that’s turning the clock back on 75 years of civil-rights gains. In everything he’s done, Staples has blurred musical lines while being one of the most compelling rappers of his generation (he’s 32).

On a musical level alone, Cry Baby will easily be one of the best American records of the year, and one that will hopefully bring Staples a whole new audience.

But just as important is the lyrical punch Cry Baby delivers in 2026 America: Shootin' stars, scars like stripes, red, white, and blue police lights. Then there are the videos, one of which is too disturbing to post here directly, but this one gets several points across in more tasteful ways than Childish Gambino’s “This is America’:

The album release show, featuring a full live band, is on YouTube. Vince Staples brings his band to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 4 — two years to the day from when I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play Toronto on the last night of America.

Laurie Anderson and Sexmob – Let X = X (Live)

(Nonesuch)

“This is the time, and this is the record of the time.”

The three Laurie Anderson albums I enjoy the most are live records: Home of the Brave (1986), Live in New York (2002, recorded days after September 11, 2001), and now this.

Why is that? Maybe because they confirm the fact that Laurie Anderson is not an alien being nor a sentient android tasked with writing remarkable poetry but, in fact, a human being who makes music with other human musicians.

Here, she has (yet again) some of the best musicians in New York City: the band Sexmob, led by trumpeter Steven Bernstein with two other players doubling on horns and guitars (Douglas Wieselman, Briggan Krauss), and the incredibly versatile rhythm section of Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen, both of whom are frequently found with Bill Frisell and/or John Zorn.

Most curious is her cover of a song by her late husband, Lou Reed. That in itself is not odd at all, but she chose “Junior Dad,” from his final album, Lulu, the much-maligned collaboration with Metallica. She sings the mournful song — Kirk Hammett’s favourite, apparently — in such a low register I had to wonder if it was a sample of Reed’s original vocals. Most affecting is the song’s final lines:

When my father died
They put him in the ground
When my father died
It was like a whole library had burned down

It’s a career-spanning set, and colours some corners of her career I’d forgotten about, sometimes intentionally (like the reggae song “It’s Not the Bullet That Kills You”). While Anderson has consistently released contemporary material that speaks to the times (2010’s Homeland is another favourite), it’s chilling how prescient her earliest work sounds 45 years later.

“We are all going down … there is no pilot.”

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All news no snooze

Angine de Poitrine’s free outdoor show at the Montreal Jazz Festival likely set an attendance record — impossible to quantify, of course (70,000+?), but organizers said they hadn’t seen anything like that since Stevie Wonder drew 200,000 there in 2009. If you want evidence that this band isn’t just an online novelty, there’s the proof right there. Six people were taken to hospital, which made the news — but really, it’s surprising that it was only six people in a crowd that size at the height of summer. Local authorities say the number of emergency calls was no different than for Osheaga or other large events.

reviews what he managed to see at Montreal’s festival, including Cécile McLorin-Salvant, Sullivan Fortner, and a 20-year-old trumpeter.

Ottawa’s big Canada Day concert was cancelled due to extreme heat conditions. Meanwhile, Peter Nicholson explains why a new Western oil pipeline doesn’t make sense on any level, especially economically.

Now that the trailer for Matt Johnson’s Anthony Bourdain biopic has dropped, writer Cailey Rizzo penned a beautiful piece about addiction, suicide, the promise and peril of travel writing, and learning to love your local environs.

Rush had to postpone two Texas gigs due to Geddy Lee’s laryngitis and bronchitis.

Entertainment lawyer and former Lemonhead/Blake Baby breaks down the numbers on why some people believe that to succeed in the music business you need $250,000 more than you necessarily need talent.

Did/do you have a child who was/is obsessed with trains? Maybe to an unusual, obsessive degree? TNIT pal and documentarian Ian Daffern is crowdfunding to complete his beautiful film Railfan, about children on the autism spectrum for whom New York City’s subway system is a source of endless fascination.

Leslie Feist wants you to know the Toronto Island airport expansion is “a horrible idea for a thousand reasons.”

AI-eee!

Zeynep Tufekci on the human touch in the age of AI:

Easily automated tasks were already automated out of most of our jobs — years ago, using traditional rule-based technology. Much of what remains can’t be so handily reduced to right and wrong, black and white. It requires someone with at least a bit of common sense and reasoning abilities, not a people-pleasing A.I. chatbot that can be sweet-talked into doing things that defy logic.

Grace note

on Mel Brooks’s centenary, fatherhood, pissing your pants, and tragicomic jokes passed through generations:

Mel Brooks turns 100 today, which feels almost redundant. He’s been pretending to be ridiculously old for most of my life. He was already the 2,000 Year Old Man when I first learned about him as a kid, so 100 almost feels like he’s getting younger. It’s an absurd number to attach to him. A century sounds dignified, and Mel Brooks has spent his life treating dignity like cowboys farting around a campfire.

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T.O. SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

An entirely subjective and by no means comprehensive look at Toronto’s concert calendar, tailored to musically curious people who are probably (but not necessarily) over 40. My strong recommendations in bold. Suggestions welcome.

Don’t live in Toronto? Most of these artists are on tour, so check your local listings. Just kidding! There are no local listings anymore. Check the artists’ websites.

JUST ANNOUNCED (mark your calendars)

Sate presents The Listening: July 15-18 at the Vault (2076 Danforth). A memoir/play directed by Djanet Sears.

Festival of Friends: July 31 to Aug 2 in Gage Park, Hamilton. Headliners, in order, are Feist, Dallas Smith, and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings backing up a bevy of stars, including Hawksley Workman, Maestro Fresh Wes, Dan Hill, Andy Kim, Ashley MacIsaac, Chantal Kreviazuk, Teenage Head, more. Free. Details here.

Old Crow Medicine Show: Aug 4 at History

Honey Jam: Aug 20 at Allied Music Centre (Massey Hall). 31st annual new talent showcase.

Howard Jones, Wang Chung, the English Beat, Modern English: Aug 23 at York U Stadium

Empanadas Ilegales: Aug 28 at Lula Lounge. B.C. psych-cumbia band.

Supercrawl: Sept 11-13 in downtown Hamilton, featuring Population II, Aysanabee, Mariel Buckley, Grapes of Wrath, William Prince, Reuben & Bullhorn Singers, Gizmo, Golden Feather, Chore, more.

Beautiful View festival: Sept 18-19 in Belleville, featuring Sarah Harmer, Jeremie Albino, and Ada Lea, Cadence Weapon, Thanya Iyer, more.

Brandon Flowers: Sept 24 at History

The Good Brothers: Oct 24 at Allied Music Centre (Massey Hall). Retirement show for Larry Good.

Blondshell, Prewn: Oct 27 at Danforth Music Hall

Tonight and ev-er-y night!:

The Tranzac, Drom Taberna, Cameron House and the Rex Hotel all have several great acts a night — just go! JazzInToronto.ca’s Instagram page has essential daily jazz listings at various venues. East-enders: always something on at Castro’s or Sauce on the Danforth or jazz at Hirut. Latin and Caribbean scene: Lula Lounge. Check out the eclectic lineup at the micro-intimate Sellers & Newel bookstore. The Whole Note lists classical events and more. Fans of experimental music, report to Earlobe. Hamiltonians need HamOntLive.

Coming this week:

Kelly McMichael (full band), Sophie Noel: July 2 at the Cameron 9 p.m. Maximum summer vibes here:

Run with the Kittens: July 2 at the Cameron 10 p.m.

Kevin Breit & the Holy Men: July 2 at the Bell & Beacon

Dan Mangan, Joel Plaskett: July 2 at Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington #HeartsOnFire

Mariposa Folk Festival: July 3-5 at Tudhope Park, Orillia. Featuring Father John Misty, Billy Bragg, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Sarah Harmer, Dan Mangan, Foxwarren, the Barr Brothers, Ducks Ltd., Great Lake Swimmers, Reuben & the Bullhorn Singers, Kalisway, Kelly McMichael, Lemon Bucket Orchestra, Gwenifer Raymond, more. Ticket info here.

Beaches Jazz Festival: July 3-26. Details here.

Tortoise, Basic (feat. Doug McCombs): July 3 at Concert Hall

Tania Gill presents Handcrafted Music: July 3 at Tranzac 7 p.m.

Ronley Teper and the Lipliners: July 3 at the Rex 5 p.m.

Washboard Hank & Reverend Ken: July 3 at the Cameron 6 p.m.

Freeman Dre and the Kitchen Party: July 3 at the Cameron 8.30 p.m.

Lionel Richie, Earth, Wind & Fire: July 4 at Raptors/Leafs Arena

The Church: July 4 at Concert Hall

Teiku: July 4 at Conxt By Trane. Chicago jazz luminaries from Natural Information Society and others play “Passover melodies in an improvised music setting.”

You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine: July 4 at Hot Docs Cinema 7 p.m.

“Weird” Al Yankovic: July 5 at Fallsview Casino

Aja Monet: July 5 at Great Hall

Taj Mahal: July 5 at Winter Garden Theatre

Santana, the Doobie Brothers: July 5 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Dave Clark presents Ethan Scott and Aniqa Dear: July 5 at Tranzac 7.30 p.m.

Muneed Hermans Quartet: July 5 at Contxt by Trane.

AntiDiva: The Carole Pope Confessions: July 6-7 at Paradise Theatre 6.30 p.m.

Oren Ambarchi: July 6 at Allan Gardens

Goat, Teke:Teke: July 6 at Concert Hall. Swedish heavy psych freaks.

Peripheral Vision (Hogg/Harley/Herring), Angelica Zavala Quartet: July 7 at Tranzac 9.30 p.m.

Cola (fka Ought): July 8 at Longboat Hall

Brodie West Quintet: July 8 at Tranzac 9.30 p.m.

Yoo II with Nolan Potter, Colin Fisher: July 9 at Lee’s Palace. Québécois supergroup of Population II and Yoo Doo Right. Reviewed here.

Arielle Soucy: July 9 at the Burdock. Polaris-longlisted Québécois singer-songwriter.

Key summer dates

Four Winds Music Fest: July 10-12 in Durham, Ontario, featuring Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Bros. Landreth, Reuben and the Dark with Bullhorn Singers, Tom Wilson, more TBA.

Jack White, Angine de Poitrine: July 14 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Marcos Valle: July 14 at Lee’s Palace

Lucy Dacus: July 15 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Buddy Guy: July 15 at Massey Hall. No, really, the 90-year-old is packing it in on this farewell tour—which is what, his fourth? Fifth?

Hillside Festival: July 17-19 at Guelph Lake. Featuring Angine de Poitrine, Fulu Miziki, Cowboy Junkies, Donovan Woods, Stars, Matt Mays, Hollerado, Mae Martin, Mad Professor, Austra, Charlotte Cornfield, Gord Grdina’s Haram, Gwenifer Raymond, the Pairs, much more. Ticket info here.

Billy Talent, Death From Above 1979, Hollerado: July 18 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Playing Billy Talent II for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Death Cab for Cutie, Japanese Breakfast: July 19 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets: July 21 at Mod Club

Herbie Hancock: July 26 at Massey Hall

Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars: Aug 7 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire

Alexisonfire, Underoath: Aug 14-15 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Performing Crisis for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Summerfolk (Owen Sound): Aug 21-23. Featuring Dan Mangan, Jane Siberry, Tom Wilson, Empanadas Illegales, Julian Taylor, Good Lovelies, more. Details here.

Toronto Folk Festival: Aug 21-23 on Ward’s Island. Featuring Abigail Lapell, Ahmed Moneka, Bobby Dove, Burs, Kobo Town, Meredith Moon, Mia Kelly, Divka, Jadea Kelly, more.

Blue Rodeo, William Prince, Billiane: Aug 29 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre #HaveNotBeentheSame

More Toronto concert listings until May 2027 are here and updated weekly for paid subscribers.

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Here come the regulars

Every Monday: Tranzac open stage, 6.30 p.m. (Sign up at 6 p.m.)

Every Monday: Sean McCarthy’s Taproom Gang (trad jazz) at Steadfast Brewing 7 p.m.

Every Tuesday: Julian Fauth at Sauce on the Danforth 6.30 p.m.

Every Tuesday: swing night at Drom Taberna

Every Thursday: Strangetooth (bluegrass) at Tranzac 7 p.m.

Every Thursday: Good Enough Karaoke (live band) at Wheat Sheaf Tavern

Every Thursday: Corin Raymond at Cameron House, 6 p.m.

Every Saturday: The Happy Pals at Grossman’s, 3.30 p.m. 56 years strong!

Every Saturday: Michael Louis Johnson and the Red Rhythm at Communist’s Daughter 4 p.m.

Every Saturday: Robertson & Kerr at Cameron House 8.30 p.m.

Every Sunday: Eastern European Brunch at Drom Taberna 1-4 p.m.

Every Sunday: John Borra at Communist’s Daughter 5 p.m.

Every Sunday: Colonel Tom at Cameron House 6 p.m.

Every Sunday: Doghouse Orchestra at Cameron House, 10 p.m.

Are you over 40 and/or did you grow up with freeform radio?

If so, curated Toronto concert listings from now until May 2027—are here for paid subscribers, and updated weekly.

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Earlier this month, on June 11, I ran into a fellow critic at the Polaris Prize longlist launch — well, I mean, the room was obviously full of fellow critics, but this was an acquaintance from out of town who was excited to catch some acts at NXNE, the big industry “discovery” festival which was kicking off that evening. He asked me who I was going to check out. I honestly forgot it was happening; I haven’t been in years, for a variety of reasons professional and personal, but mostly because of indifference. I just don’t care anymore about the kind of music I’m most likely to encounter there.

I’ll stick to the eclectic folk festivals, or Wavelength or Project Nowhere, or, increasingly in my middle age, the jazz festivals.

It started with a monster of a show that wasn’t associated with any festival, just a tiny supper club bringing in two legends.

June 19 Kahil El’Zabar, David Murray at Contxt by Trane

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A primar…

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Setting – s/t

(Thrill Jockey)

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It was announced today at 6 p.m. The jury of more than 200 musicfolk from across Canada voted on 202 albums suggested by their peers. There is no qualification criteria other than Canadian citizenship / landed immigrant status, and the album must have been released between April 1, 2025 and May 1, 2026.

(This week’s live music listings are here.)

Jurors now vote on these 40 albums to compile a shortlist, announced July 10. Winner will be announced at the gala September 22.

Here’s my annual look at how the long list breaks down, demographically and otherwise. Last year’s was here. I’ve been doing some version of this for the past 20 years.

Mistakes are inevitable, corrections are welcome:

Familiar faces

Previous winners: 3, + 2 Heritage Prize winners

Dan Snaith (Daphni/Caribou), Beverly Glenn-Copeland (Heritage), Kaytranada, Peaches (Heritage), Tanya Tagaq

Former shortlisters: 13

The Beaches, Begonia, Bibi Club, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Dominique Fils-Aimé (3x), Andy Shauf (Foxwarren), Holy Fuck, Les Louanges, Ouri, Pup (2x), Shad (5x, holding the record), Tobi (2x), Charlotte Day Wilson

Former longlisters: 10

Aquakulture, Mariel Buckley, Charlotte Cornfield, Home Front, JayWood, Rochelle Jordan, Men I Trust, Tami Neilson, Arielle Soucy, Propagandhi

New faces: 12

Angine de Poitrine, Baby Nova, Boy Golden, Ora Cogan, Cootie Catcher, Nadah El Shazly, Catherine Leduc, No Joy, Pony, Julianna Riolino, Slash Need, Katie Tupper

Geography:

International expats: 5 (Daphni in London, Kaytranada and Rochelle Jordan in L.A., Peaches in Berlin, Tami Neilson in New Zealand)

Montreal: 9. Montreal normally smokes Toronto in these rankings; this year they’d be tied, if I still counted L.A. resident Kaytranada as a Montrealer. But then I’d also have to count fellow Angelene Rochelle Jordan as a Torontonian, so…. yeah, this is complicated.

Toronto/GTA: 10. We’re claiming Tagaq and Polaris all-timer Shad, who’s been back here for a while now.

B.C.: 1 (Ora Cogan)

Quebec outside Montreal: 2 (Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Angine de Poitrine)

Prairies: 8. This might be the Prairies’ biggest-ever showing, including two from Saskatchewan (Foxwarren, Katie Tupper) and four from Winnipeg (Begonia, Boy Golden, JayWood, Propagandhi), which should finally alleviate some of that city’s sad-sack reputation at Polaris.

Atlantic: 3 (Aquakulture, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Baby Nova). UPDATE: BGC spent many recent years of his career renaissance in Sackville, and the band is East Coast, but he and his wife Elizabeth have been in Hamilton for a couple of years. Still count?

Ontario outside Toronto/GTA: 2 (Pony from Windsor, Julianna Riolino from Niagara Region)

Gender

Female-fronted: 23/40

Co-ed led: 2 (Bibi Club, Cootie Catcher)

Trans man: 1 (Beverly Glenn-Copeland)

New Canada:

No DNA tests involved here, but there are 8 acts of African-Canadian origin, two other acts with at least some melanin, and one self-identified Indigenous artist.

Genre

Genre is over! But here goes:

“Rock,” a.k.a. music centred around electric guitar: 7 (the Beaches, Bibi Club, Boy Golden, Cootie Catcher, Home Front, No Joy, Pony)

Art-y Polaris bait: 7 (Nadah El Shazly, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Foxwarren, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Catherine Leduc, Ouri, Tagaq)

R&B: 7 (Aquakulture, JayWood, Rochelle Jordan, Kaytranada, Les Louanges, Katie Tupper, Charlotte Day Wilson)

Pop-ish: 3 (Baby Nova, Begonia, Lou-Adriane Cassidy)

Aggressive/heavy: 4 (Angine de Poitrine, Propagandhi, Slash Need, Pup)

Folk-ish/singer/songwriter: 3 (Charlotte Cornfield, Ora Cogan, Arielle Soucy)

Electro: 3 (Daphni, Holy Fuck, Peaches)

Country-ish: 3 (Mariel Buckley, Tami Neilson, Julianna Riolino)

Rap: 2 (Shad, Tobi)

ASMR: 1 (Men I Trust)

Also notable: I believe the Tobi album is the first live album longlisted in the prize’s history. UPDATE: Leonard Cohen’s Live in London longlisted in 2009.

Linguistics:

Four artists sing exclusively in French; Bibi Club split between French and English.

Three instrumental albums: Angine de Poitrine, Kaytranada, Daphni

The Egyptian-born Nadah El Shazly sings in Arabic.

Popularity Contest:

Who’s going to make tomorrow’s headlines? In other words, who among this list of random Canucks actually register on the public consciousness?

Angine de Poitrine, obviously. I mean, even Billboard loves them.

Also the Beaches, who just got yet another viral bump after one of their performances was a major plot point in the hit Prime series Off Campus. Rochelle Jordan was a huge international critics’ favourite in 2025. Peaches seems to get more popular the older she gets, and of course is beloved in Berlin. And Men I Trust continue to be one of Canada’s hugest streaming success stories.

Other Canucks with enough international cred to make the wire stories include Charlotte Cornfield, Daphni, Bevery Glenn-Copeland, Kaytranada, Tami Neilson, No Joy, Propagandhi, Pup, Charlotte Day Wilson.

Age: Look who’s 40+!

At 82, Beverly Glenn-Copeland is one of only two octogenarians to ever make a Polaris longlist, after Leonard Cohen.

Then comes Peaches, who turns 60 this fall, and has been fending off ageist barbs since she dared to be a sexual being at (gasp) 33.

Somewhere in their 40s and 50s are: Bibi Club, Dan Snaith (Daphni), Holy Fuck, Tami Neilson, No Joy, Propagandhi, Shad, Tagaq.

The youngest is definitely, if you couldn’t guess by the name, Cootie Catcher, who in one interview said they were in high school in 2020, which makes them 24, tops. The deceptively named Baby Nova is 28.

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Polaris Hall of Fame:

This extremely unofficial ongoing exercise awards 3 points for a win, 2 points for a shortlist, and 1 point for long list.

This year marks an affirmation of Polaris’s top two all-timers: tied for top spot in the Hall of Fame are Shad and Dan Snaith (Caribou/Daphni), with 11 each points each. Shad is notable for not ever having won, but for getting shortlisted for every record he’s put out. They were both longlisted this year, so they remain tied. Should one of them get shortlisted, or win, they’ll sit alone at the top. (FWIW I think that’s unlikely.)

(The next tier down has 9 points: Feist, Arcade Fire, Cadence Weapon, Basia Bulat, Snotty Nose Rez Kids.)

Former winners Kaytranada and Tagaq both inch up the list, now with 7 points each (joining them there are US Girls, Joel Plaskett, Patrick Watson, the Weeknd, Destroyer).

Two-time shortlisters Dominique Fils-Aimé, Pup and Tobi also all inch up a bit, to 6 points. (10 others are also at 6 points.)

Comeback of the year: Holy Fuck, who haven’t been on a longlist since 2010 (they were shortlisted in 2008) — 16 years ago. This beats Dan Mangan, who had an 11-year gap between longlisting, between 2012 and 2023. UPDATE: Also Sarah Harmer, who had a 14-year gap between shortlisting in 2006 and longlisting in 2020.

Heroes to zeroes:

There are many notable omissions this year: prominent Polaris alumni who did not make the long list. This is inevitable as the prize gets older — and the jury, as always, skews young — but what’s particularly surprising is how many recent names don’t appear on this 2026 list.

Notably absent: recent winners Debby Friday (2023), Cadence Weapon (2021) and Lido Pimienta (2017), who also shortlisted in 2020 and made her latest record with 2006 winner Owen Pallett.

As for big commercial names, global superstar Daniel Caesar did not make the cut for the first time: all his previous releases have shortlisted or longlisted. I didn’t expect former longlister Justin Bieber to make it, but his latest did have a lot of critical acclaim — outside Canada. And speaking of critical fame: former longlister William Prince continues to rack up accolades everywhere, but his latest is not on the list, and yet his producer, Boy Golden, somehow is.

Shortlisters of the last 10 years who didn’t make it on to this year’s longlist: Bambii (2024), Dan Mangan (2023, 2010), Status/Non-Status (2022 as one half of Ombiigizi), Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2021), Witch Prophet (2020, longlisted in 2023), U.S. Girls (2020, 2018, 2016; also longlisted in 2023). Of those, only Simpson is the real shocker to me: she put out a great record to rave reviews.

Cult favourites Purity Ring (2013) came back, as did Mac DeMarco (2014), but neither made the cut. Longtime Polaris faves the New Pornographers (2006, 2015) didn’t make a longlist for only the second time. Was only slightly surprised another longtime Polaris fave, Kathleen Edwards (2008, 2012, longlisted in 2021) didn’t make it. Early Polaris faves Metric (2006, 2009) have a great new album, but it came out on the last day of eligibility; it will be eligible again next year.

Patrick Watson, who won in 2007, hasn’t longlisted since 2015 — though he’s doing just fine lately, thank you.

Shortlist prediction:

I usually get at least 5 correct, though never more than 7.

Angine de Poitrine, Aquakultre, Bibi Club, Charlotte Cornfield, Rochelle Jordan, Les Louanges, Men I Trust, No Joy, Pup, Arielle Soucy

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Here’s the full list:

Nothing completely blew me away this Polaris season. I think 10 of these albums are really great, 5 are good, and the other 25 are either meh or I never need to hear again. Be your own judge!

Angine de Poitrine - Vol. II
Aquakultre - 1783
Baby Nova - Shhugar
The Beaches - No Hard Feelings
Begonia - Fantasy Life
Bibi Club - Amaro
Boy Golden - Best of Our Possible Lives
Mariel Buckley - Strange Trip Ahead
Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Triste animal
Ora Cogan - Hard Hearted Woman
cootie catcher - Something We All Got
Charlotte Cornfield - Hurts Like Hell
Daphni - Butterfly
Nadah El Shazly - Laini Tani
Dominique Fils-Aimé - My World Is The Sun
Foxwarren - 2
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Laughter In Summer
Holy Fuck - Event Beat
Home Front - Watch It Die
JayWood - LEO NEGRO
Rochelle Jordan - Through The Wall
Kaytranada - AIN'T NO DAMN WAY!
Catherine Leduc - Les jours où il neige à tous les postes
Les Louanges - Alouette!
Men I Trust - Equus Caballus
Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl
No Joy - Bugland
Ouri - Daisy Cutter
Peaches - No Lube So Rude
PONY - Clearly Cursed
Propagandhi - At Peace
PUP - Who Will Look After the Dogs?
Julianna Riolino - Echo in the Dust
Shad - Start Anew
Slash Need - SIT & GRIN
Arielle Soucy - Passages
Tanya Tagaq - Saputjiji
TOBi - For Good Measure (at Dreamhouse Studios)
Katie Tupper - Greyhound
Charlotte Day Wilson - Patchwork

Personal faves not on the long list:

Goldie Boutilier (reviewed here), Patche (reviewed here), The Dears (reviewed here), Absolute Losers (reviewed here), Terra Lightfoot (reviewed here)

Memorials – All Clouds Bring Not Rain

(Fire)

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Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers - Ruido Tovar

(Ansonia)

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(This week’s live music listings are here.)

Last week Belle and Sebastian were at Massey Hall for two nights, playing their first two albums in their entirety for their 30th anniversary: Tigermilk the first night, If You’re Feeling Sinister the next. For longtime fans of the band, this was a big deal: by the time the band became a proper, regular, touring unit in the early 2000s, those first two records were far in the rearview mirror, and many of those songs were never performed live.

I’m one of the very few B&S fans — this week was my fifth time seeing them — who think their later albums are much, much better than the first three, but we can fight about that later. I wasn’t planning on going to these shows, but a friend offered a last-minute ticket to Tigermilk, and I was more than happy to go. (Thanks, D.)

I was reminded that it was Belle and Sebastian who pioneered the modern trend of “playing the classic album” live in its entirety, a trend to which pretty much every artist with a career longer than 10 years has now succumbed.

Part of me thinks it’s cynical nostalgia-bait to lure in fairweather fans who don’t care whether or not you continue to create new material, and who want to have an entirely predictable night out. But the music fan in me loves the chance to hear deep cuts that would never normally make a current set list.

Just please: don’t play the album in order. Let us have some element of surprise.

In 2015, the Tragically Hip were in a lull: a legacy act with an audience who mostly wanted to hear their ’90s hits. They also weren’t getting along very well; they’re one of the few bands — anywhere, ever — to maintain the original lineup for more than 30 years, and things were feeling stale. They reluctantly agreed to do a “deluxe” box set of their bestselling album, 1992’s Fully Completely, and then do a tour where they played the album in its entirety.

The result: they once again became an arena act. The band felt more personally connected than they had in at least a decade. That confidence bled into their next record, their most creative in years, Man Machine Poem — which would turn out to be their swan song, for reasons every Canadian knows.

I get into this below, in an excerpt from The Never-Ending Present, about the challenges of being a legacy act, giving the fans what they want, and how the concept of “playing the album” evolved from Brian Wilson to All Tomorrow’s Parties to the nostalgia-industrial complex it is today. With quotes from Jay Ferguson of Sloan (who are hosting their annual garage sale today) and Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene, who toured the 20th anniversary of You Forgot It In People a few years ago — something Gord Downie urged them to do years earlier.

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It was Belle and Sebastian who changed the live-music industry—ironic, for a band who put out three records before they ever played two consecutive dates.

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Pyle’s memoir, Rough Description, is available now on ECW Press. The Shadowy Man, Kids in the Hall composer and Sadies whisperer has written a really lovely and excellent memoir about queer Toronto, punk rock, American indie rock, glam app…

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Here in Toronto, our mayor premier wants to spend up to $5 billion on an airport extension in the middle of downtown, on the waterfront, next to a swath of park space that all Torontonians and …

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Call & Response

Against the List, for Love of Art

When The New York Times released its list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters, incensed friends texted. “Can you believe they left off X or Y…

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2 months ago · 5 likes · Michelle Mercer

I’m a firm believer in year-end lists for reasons of discovery, and because they’re essential timestamps that counterweight overwhelming ephemera in the online age.

But canonical lists like the NYT o…

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Movie you should watch with your 86-year-old mother: last year’s Andrea Gibson doc Come See Me in the Good Light, about a 50-year-old poet who doesn’t let a terminal diagnosis diminish their lust for life. Although my mom did ask, about 20 minutes in, “Is that a man or a woman?” (Also recommended: Mike Birbiglia specials.)

Movie you should definitely not watch with your 86-year-old mother: Grey Gardens. “I can’t say I’m enjoying this,” said mine, drily, about 30 minutes in.

New music for Mothers Day from Toronto songwriter Abigail Lapell, a concept album with nine songs (get it?) about motherhood. Recorded in BC and featuring duets with some other mothers (Frazey Ford, Jill Barber), it draws in part from Lapell’s experience as a new mother who underwent years of IVF and once suffered a miscarriage on stage. But it doesn’t do so directly: Lapell is a poet and a storyteller, not a memoirist. I wrote the bio for the record. Lapell headlines Hugh’s Room on May 22.

Charlotte Cornfield’s new album has perhaps the best titled song about new motherhood:

Hearts on Fire readers: The new Broken Social Scene album, the first in seven years, was informed in part by the passing of several parents. Welcome to your 50s! Kevin Drew talks to Chris DeVille at Stereogum about that, and a lot more. Ryan Dombal at Hearing Things also has a good convo with Drew, who has excellent advice (that I thankfully heeded years ago):

Ryan Dombal: I wanted to ask you one more question about your mom’s passing. I’m very close with my own mom, who is doing well but is also getting older, like all of us. Do you have any wisdom to share as someone who’s been through that experience?

Kevin Drew: Ryan, look at me: press record. Do what we’re doing right now with your mom, because there’s going to be a day when she’s not going to be here. By the time I realized I should have pressed record, I thought, Why didn’t I do this earlier? You keep thinking you’re gonna have time. You don’t. Do it now. And you’ll have that forever. Ryan, you interview so many people—have you interviewed your mom? It will probably be your favorite interview ever.

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This Mothers Day, I want to talk about this woman:

My mother was an elementary school principal. That tells you a lot about her: extremely organized, big-picture thinker, photographic memory for hundreds of people’s personal details, caring and compassionate in ways that maintain a structure of support while leaving you to figure out the tiny details yourself — whether you’re a teacher, student, or her own child.

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In 2024, they assembled a night of Replacements covers b…

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Three years from today will be the 200th anniversary of the first patent filed for an accordion. I hope you’re planning the appropriate celebration that this occasion clearly warrants.

To prepare, I highly recommend the 2019 book Accordion Revolution, by Vancouver writer and radio host Bruce Triggs, which documents the North Ame…

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Here’s this week’s salad.

Snõõper – Worldwide

(Third Man)

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His breakout album in 2009, which topped an Eye Weekly national critics’ poll for best album of the year, opened with “Demon Host,” …

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This week, three musically unrelated albums that feel like the first warm breeze of the season.

Nyssa – Cursebreaker

(Six Shooter)

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So as an arts critic who went to a high school named after a then-current pope, I have to ask about…

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