The T.O. Do List: June 27 & 28 2009

by: Toronto Notes

June 27, 2009 12:00 AM

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1. From Nirvana to Be Your Own Pet, the Sonic Youth endorsement is both an essential rite of passage for fledgling punk bands and a savvy device for keeping the Sonics’ fountain of Youth flowing. But with Connecticut duo Magik Markers — whose 2007 album Boss was produced by Lee Ranaldo — Sonic Youth can retire knowing the family business is in good hands. Like SY in the mid-’80s, Magik Markers have gradually transitioned from pure noise to more controlled displays of discord; if the Markers have toned the squall, they can still make you squirm, be it through deviant, Royal Truxian blues boogie (“Don’t Talk in Your Sleep”) or ghostly piano balladry (“State Numbers”). But more than anything, the Markers and SY share a kill-yr-idols contempt for nostalgia — to wit: “The Lighter Side of… Hippies,” a sludge-punk sledgehammering of ’60s utopianism (“cokeheads sang, ‘teach your children well’ and wonder now how it all went to hell”) that sounds like it was recorded live from the scene of the Tate-LaBianca murders. The Magik Markers play an outdoor show in the Music Gallery courtyard (197 John) Saturday (June 27) at 8pm with with Mouthus and GFR vs Wasted Nymph. $12 at Rotate This, Soundscapes, Ticketweb.ca. Door: $15/$10 members

2. Medeski Martin & Wood are one of the best examples of jazz-influenced artists who regularly blur the line between accessible and difficult. With their alt-rock-inflected, turntablism-heavy 1998 album Combustication, MMW broke though into the mainstream stoner-festival scene and even managed to crack the Billboard 200. They also served as the rhythm section on guitarist John Scofield’s well-loved A Go Go, an album that’s become the blueprint for innumerable hippie jams. They make a return appearance to the Toronto Jazz Festival Saturday (June 27) at Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen W.) 8pm. $30 from Ticketmaster.

3. It might be an indie-rock cliché, but for all intents and purposes, The Sea and Cake are criminally underrated. The four Chicago-based art-school graduates, who had previously played in groups including Shrimp Boat, Gastr Del Sol and Tortoise, came together in the mid-’90s to create jazzy, introspective pop that sails on a melancholy breeze. With eight albums to their name since 1994, The Sea and Cake are primarily noted by critics for one thing: consistency. The band makes a special appearance at the Toronto Jazz Festival Saturday (June 27) at Supermarket (268 Augusta). With Valery Gore. 9:30pm.

4. Harsh and challenging, Brooklyn avant-jazz brutalizers Zs’ Music of the Modern White vibrates the very nerve endings of your aural receptors; high-register saxophone wailing, dense electronics and percussion spasms weave together throughout the brief but caustic six-part suite. While MMW offers interesting sonic exploitation, the truly exceptional moments come with the percussion opening to “MMW I (Part 1),” the handclap-and-guitar interplay of “MMW II (Part 2)” and the shrill, sustained peak of the suite’s conclusion. In sum, Zs make good chill-out music — if you’re a fan of ecstatic free jazz, that is. Zs play The Boat (158 Augusta) Sunday (June 28).

5. And, oh yeah, apparently there's some big parade happening this weekend? Anyone have any details?

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