Category Archives: TVD Canada

THURSDAY, FEB 10

Herculoids Unite! A Benefit Show for DJ Kool Herc w/ Skratch Bastid, Starting from Scratch, Paul E Lopes, more @ Wrongbar (All vinyl DJ sets tonight! 100% of the proceeds go to helping Kool Herc)

Burner Thursdays w/ Barletta, Terror Tone, J-Lah and Paul David @ Andy Poolhall

FRIDAY, FEB 11

Justin Martin @ Wrongbar (event link)

Get Throwed/Steppin’ Uptown @ Crawford (2 different events on 2 floors @ Crawford – Get Throwed for all you southern hiphop fans, and Steppin Uptown if you feel like rockin out to a little new jack swing)

More Proof w/ the MP crew all night @ The Drake

Audacity w/ DJ Mensa @ Atelier

SATURDAY, FEB 12

Slowed w/ Lucie Tic and Torro Torro @ Blondie’s

The Twelves @ Wrongbar (event link)

Broken Hearts Dance w/ Riviera, Paul Revered, Le Freak C’est Keek and Ali Black @ Rasputin Vodka Bar

Scarborough natives The Carps are back once again with two new singles – Bo Jackson & Kelly Gruber. Since their last release, Waves & Shambles in 2008, the band has been hard at work, with Jahmal (drums) playing alongside the likes of MSTRKRFT, and Neil (bass/keys) doing what any other musician does on their off-time – studying for his PhD.

But nevertheless, the duo pick up where they left off, with their unique brand of soulful vocals mixed with hard, trashing instrumentals to bring you a couple tracks dedicated to some almost-famous athletes on the cusp of stardom but fell to injury. Something that clearly hits home for The Carps.

“We almost made a living off music for a second. This is our swan song, our knee surgery, our post Cadillac-golf club tabloid moment. These songs, some of them four to five years old are likely the most honest songs we’ve ever recorded. And whatever the outcome, we’re just happy to be The Carps.” – Jahmal

The album will be released as singles, so be on the lookout for 2 singles a month from these guys for the next 6 months.

The most recent installment of Toronto rapper Shaun Boothe’s “Unauthorized Biography Series” sparked interest from Diddy himself, who actually Tweeted the link, and Kanye West, who posted the video on his web site. History made twice!

Check out for yourself what all the (truly warranted) hype is about: Shaun Boothe’s “Unauthorized Biography of Sean Combs”

Doing our part to recognize Black History Month, TVD Toronto will be representing T Dot style, presenting an installment of Toronto staple Shaun Boothe’s Unauthorized Biography Series every Monday in the month of February.

The second in 12 parts of the series, we wanted to sneak one in this week so we can feature four more during February, because they are just that good! Stay tuned for segments on Oprah, Didddy and of course Mr Obama coming later this month.
Shaun Boothe’s Unauthorized Biography of Bob Marley

For more on Shaun Boothe check out http://www.myspace.com/shaunboothe.

THURSDAY FEB 3rd

Nick Teehan & The Jessica Stuart Few @ The Supermarket (event link)

Burner Thursdays w/ Barletta and Mandem N Tandem @ Andy Poolhall

FRIDAY FEB 4th

BFF Fridays w/ TheFranDiscos and StillTricky (hey that’s me!) @ Andy Poolhall (this is a party that my friends TheFranDiscos have asked me to spin at, so is it bad that I don’t wanna mention any others for tonight? Ha! No, seriously, you should totally come to this. And if you email me – sebastian at thevinyldistrict dot com – I might be nice enough to give you some guestlist love.)

SATURDAY FEB 5th

Faktory Saturdays w/ Bart Bmore @ The Social

Major Rager w/ Dirty Red, O-God, Ballistik, Billionaire, Mr. Mandelephant @ Andy Poolhall

Bang The Party w/ Andy Capp and Rod Skimmins @ Crawford

SUNDAY FEB 6th

Stay home and watch the Superbowl (Go Steelers!) or you can hit up Parts and Labour or The Drake for some big screen action and some pretty great food.

Last Friday saw Das Racist hit Toronto for the very first time to a room that made it feel more like the middle of July than the end of January. What it also saw was a crowd of people that potentially left feeling one of two ways – confused with a ‘WTF’ look on their face, or content with what they just spent $20 on.

As two-thirds of Das Racist hopped on stage (after a great set by Blake Carrington and a god-awful set by some opening DJ), they seemed relatively worried as something was missing. Their 3rd member, Victor/Kool AD, was nowhere to be found, which left an uncomfortable DR trying to buy time and an awkward promoter on stage trying to figure out what the hell he’s gonna do if the show can’t continue. During this time, another major issue came up – the sound. While attendees could hear things fine, apparently DR couldn’t hear much out of the monitors, which quickly becomes the biggest issue for an artist’s enthusiasm.

When their 3rd member finally showed up, and the show started to click, it became evident that Das Racist’s real Toronto fanbase didn’t care about sound issues or how many members were on stage. What they really cared about was rapping along to songs they bumped while passing a joint around. With a laptop armed with WinAmp (you remember WinAmp right?) dropping tracks like ‘You Oughta Know‘, ‘Shorty Said‘ and ‘Chicken and Meat‘, they got the type of reaction that only comes with high anticipation, and their ending track ‘Rainbow in the Dark‘ is what really made it count.

Depending on who you ask, you’ll end up with a different answer in regards to the show. You might get an angered fan who paid admission just to hear “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” (which didn’t happen, by the way). Or you might get someone who thought the trainwreck performance was fantastic. What’s certain is that Das Racist are a toss-up; if you’re familiar with the shtick, and aware of the fact that they’re not your typical rap group, then you knew what was coming. If you expected tight deliveries with a true-to-life hiphop stage presence, then maybe you’re not as big of a fan as you might think.

FRIDAY, JAN 28

Das Racist @ Wrongbar (presale tix sold out, but rumor has it there will be tickets at the door!)

Salacious Sounds 2 Year Anniversary w/ Torro Torro, DJ Cal, BABE and The Makeover @ The Mod Club

Synchro Fridays w/ DJ Mensa, Lucie Tic, Pho (Bonjay) and Mr. Mandelephant @ Andy Poolhall

SATURDAY, JAN 29

Footprints w/ Jason Palma, General Eclectic and Stuart @ The Rivoli

SBTRKT w/ XI and Sylvermayne @ The Social

SUNDAY, JAN 30

In My Room w/ Terror Tone on CKLN 88.1 – 1AM-3AM (tune in when you stumble home on Saturday night)

Big Sean @ Stussy (he’s gonna be at the store and there will be plenty of refreshments available)

“I’m a writer trying to write my mind out of hell..”

Toronto native D-Sisive (or Derek Christoff, his given name that his next LP will be released under) has borrowed Sigur Ros‘ “Festival” to release some dark inner thoughts in a way that might have you wondering why you didn’t pay attention to him before this. Discussing the music industry, being unable to be sold as that ‘picture perfect’ mainstream artist, and really just putting his heart and soul into his music, “If I Live to See Tomorrow” covers topics that have noticeably rubbed D-Sisive the wrong way for quite some time.

With a relentless flow and an ability to vividly paint the picture of frustration he’s been going through, he’s eager to win over those who’ve doubted him in the past.

Download the track here.

We here at TVD Toronto have taken it upon ourselves to get you caught up on what’s happening this weekend in our lovely city. We know you’ve had a rough week (we all have – it’s cold as a mother out there!) and you might need a drink or 6, so here’s what we think are the best parties to down a few beers at and get your swerve on.

THURSDAY JANUARY 20

Galapagos w/ Kyle Hall, mymanhenri & Dougie Boom @ The Drake Underground

Burner Thursdays w/ DJ Barbi, Paul D & Barletta @ Andy Poolhall

FRIDAY JANUARY 21

Pop With Brains (5 year anniversary!) w/ BABE, Secrettes & The FranDiscos @ The Rivoli

LRG MRG w/ Lucie Tic, O-God, Ballistik, Mandelephant & Billionaire @ The Supermarket

SATURDAY JANUARY 22

Gossip Folks (all Missy Elliot and Timbaland music, all night. Yeah I said it!) w/ DJ Caff & Andrew Roti @ Midpoint

Lauryn Hill @ The Sound Academy (sold out! I hate you if you got tickets.)

Chromeo w/ Young Empires @ The Opera House

**If you’d like your event posted up here please hit us up @ toronto [at] thevinyldistrict [dot] com with an event link and a flyer. Thanks!**

The second week of January is that perfect time to reflect on what really caught our attention in the year that passed and place bets on what you think is going to pop off in the new year. Needless to say, we here at TVD Toronto had to put our brains together to come up with what we think will be the records we’ll be talking about in 2012. And it gives you lovely readers a chance to see what we’re really all about when it comes to tastes and our abilities to see past the marketed hype. So here it is, our respective Top 11 of 2011 (see what we did there?).

Theresa’s Picks

Candy Coated Killahz – Neon Black

• A local duo that’ll entice both your eyes and ears. Be on the lookout for a video for their lead single to be all up in your face real soon.

Islands – TBA

Fleet Foxes – TBA

Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne

• Yeezy probably had the best year anyone could’ve hoped for, and with this release slated for March, it’s safe to say he might just have keep that ball rolling.

Radiohead – Dead Air Space

• A no brainer.

Rye Rye – Go! Pop! Bang!

Das Racist – TBA

• Playing in Toronto January 28 @ Wrongbar (keep your fingers crossed for an interview!)

Shaune Boothe – TBA

The Shins – TBA

The Streets – Computers & Blues

Toro Y Moi – Underneath the Pine

Sebastian’s Picks

Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV

• If Weezy’s lead single “6’ 7’” doesn’t make you want to punch someone in the face for absolutely no reason, well, I don’t know if there’s any way to fix you.

Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Drake – Take Care

• Toronto’s most loved and hated superstar drops his sophomore effort this year and will once again erupt in heated debates amongst hip-hop heads everywhere.

The Rapture – TBA

Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes

Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don’t

Andre 3000 – TBA

• There have been whispers about this record heard in late 2010. If this actually happens, heads might explode.

Hercules and Love Affair – Blue Songs –

Passion Pit – TBA

Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne

• T mentioned this in her list, but it’s so huge it has to be mentioned twice.

The 84.85

• Local cats Cass and Jay have been doing the rounds in Toronto for quite a while, and with an EP slated to drop this year, now’s a good chance for you to get real real familiar.