Category Archives: TVD Canada

Over 1,000 artists, 60 venues, 6 nights.

Canada’s largest new music festival is in its 31st year of showcasing some of the hottest acts and emerging Canadian artists. While CMW offers seminars, interviews, mentoring and networking for those leading and shaping our industries—for fans with a passion for new and live music, it is simply one of the best weeks of the year.

From March 19-24th, over 100,000 music fans are drawn to the city of Toronto to embark on the week-long path of music discovery that is Canadian Music Fest. Established as one of the largest and single longest running entertainment events, the festival has earned acclaim for introducing such artists as Metric, Crystal Castles, Arcade Fire, Mother Mother, Alexisonfire, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Ting Tings, AWOL Nation, Bedouin Soundclash, and many more.

With such an extensive list of artists, my advice is this: skip the ones you already know you love (they’ll be back) and take the time to find and discover the best of Canada’s up and coming artists. Here are TVD’s Top 20 recommendations for Canadian Music Fest 2013!

MISE EN SCENE
Thursday, March 21st, 2013 – 11pm at The Bovine Sex Club
Mise En Scene is a lovely and explosive pop rock duo from Winnipeg, Manitoba. What started as a friendship through a shared interest in painting and the arts evolved into a crowning mix of ’60′s pop, alt-country, early punk, and garage rock.

Read More »

Twenty-twelve is coming to an end and it has been a great year for Canadian music. The following are our picks for TVD’s favorite releases by Canadian artists for the year.

While you may have heard some of these records, there are definitely a few underdogs that you may not have been introduced to, so hear me out and you may just find some new favourites. Cheers to discovering new music!

Half Moon Run, Dark Eyes | This band is either completely on the ball with everything an indie music connoisseur is digging lately and running with it, or putting this record out this year was simply perfect timing.

Read More »

Since 2006, M For Montreal has been putting Montreal and Canadian music in the spotlight. This is the seventh year for the annual festival founded by Sébastien Nasra, in collaboration with the legendary British festival programmer Martin Elbourne (Glastonbury Festival, The Great Escape). The full-grown four day festival brings 100 performances to 16 venues and features no less than 100 Canadian artists, as well as a number of international artists.

Where to go and what to see at any music festival can be overwhelming. With M for Montreal’s long list of up-and-coming and also well known acts, TVD Canada is here to help you out. Whether you know them yet or not, these are twelve acts that you will not want to miss this year at M for Montreal.

KANDLE
Thursday, November 15th, 2012 – 2:25pm at Café Campus
Friday, November 16th, 2012 – 11:30pm at Casa Del Popolo
Kandle Osborne, daughter of Neil Osborne (54-40), was born in Victoria, British Columbia and is currently based in Montreal, Quebec. A young girl with an old soul, Kandle brings a graceful beauty to dark and mysterious songs.

HALF MOON RUN
Wednesday, November 15th, 2012 – 11:30pm at Sala Rossa
The members of Half Moon Run hail from Ottawa, Ontario and Comox, British Columbia and their early 2012 debut release, Dark Eyes, has been well received internationally. Their perfect and unique combination of indie, folk, pop and electronica guarantees a mesmerizing live performance.

Read More »

Vancouver! Don’t miss The Main Street Vinyl Record Fair this Saturday, November 10th, 2012, brought to you by Badbird Media, The Georgia Straight, and CiTR 101.9FM.

Attend the event and pick up a Vancouver Vinyl Discount Card, free with your admission, to save at some of your local record shops including Neptoon Records, Highlife Records, Redcat Records, Zulu Records, Dandelion Records and Zoo Zhop!

In support of CiTR 101.9FM, Girls Rock Camp and Safe Amp, The Main Street Vinyl Record Fair and Community Music Silent Auction will give you an opportunity to donate your old records to charity and receive a tax-deductible receipt for 50% of the market value. 100% of proceeds go to support local charitable organizations.

Read More »

Halloween is here and these Canadian artists want to help set you in just the right mood. With a wide variety of music and spooky videos, this playlist will do just that.

Happy Halloween!

“Monster Hospital”
Metric Official | Facebook | Twitter

“I’m Confused”
Handsome Furs Official | Facebook | Twitter

Read More »

Newfoundland born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Brad Fillatre took the stage at The Drake Hotel in Toronto after releasing his debut solo EP For Your Weakness through Sparks Music/Universal Music Canada this week.

Fans and friends filled the underground venue and found their seats as Brad opened the set with an acoustic guitar and harmonica. “Get out of my heart, get out of my head…” Everyone quieted down as Brad began playing the fourth track, “Face The Dark,” off of the new six-song EP.

After the second song, Brad invited a full band on stage for a few more, including two tracks from For Your Weakness. The switch of dynamics held the crowd’s attention and interest as he then beautifully closed the set alone, with a raw and stripped down version of “New Tattoo,” the first single from the release.

Read More »

For everyone looking for something new, with a bit of familiar, check out Eric Solomon and his new album Time Bomb being released on November 22nd.

Born in Montreal and raised in the African Congo, Eric was taught classical piano as a child before quickly graduating to drums, guitar, bass and keys. Eric’s sound is a unique brand of synth driven, electronic pop music infused with classic soul melodies that has been getting a lot of play all over the world this last year.

Describing his sound as “old sounds done new”, Eric’s music along with his various high profile remixes for artists such as The XX and Passion Pit have received rave reviews from Arjan Writes and Rolling Stone.com, in addition to landing him on the list of most trafficked songs on Hype Machine. His latest single “Addicted” is getting radio rotation across Canada, and the French version “Accro Te Toi” has spread like wildfire in his home province of Quebec.

A video for “Addicted” will be released later this week.

For all the house heads.

Some brand new remixes of Osunlade’s masterpiece, Envision. For those interested, this track comes fresh off of Pyrography – Osunlade’s final house album EVER!

Support the artists, buy the music.