The T.O. Do List: November 27

by: Toronto Notes

November 27, 2009 12:00 AM

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1. Champion is basically the Moby of Montreal. His sonorous “No Heaven” scores videogames and CBC’s The Line, while his Juno-nominated The Remix Album allowed everyone from Patrick Watson to The Detroit Grand Pubahs to play with the deep cuts of 2004’s Chill ’Em All. Resistance is Champion’s first album to feature new songs in four years and it takes a decidedly different turn: revelling in harsh industrial beats at the Reznor’s edge, “So Big” plays with pulsating French sayings as the guitars crank louder; the soul-infused “Backing Off” uses blues solos to create hot licks; and “My Black Saab” builds to a metal-worthy wail. No longer the stuff of French chill-out lounges, Champion’s Resistance invites Prodigy comparisons. It’s really too bad there are no more Matrix sequels to score. Champion & His G-Strings play the Mod Club (722 College) tonight with Good Rats Radio. $15 from Rotate This, Soundscapes, Ticketmaster.

2. British drum ’n’ bass heads Blu Mar Ten represent for the more complex, atmospheric end of the genre’s wide spectrum. They’ve been experimenting with sound since the mid ’90s, producing sweet D&B for labels including LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking as well as making downtempo, house, breaks and left-field business for Naked Music and others. After remixing the likes of Erykah Badu, the guys returned to their D&B roots for a series of singles and now give us their beautiful full-length, Natural History. Part of the proceeds from tonight's appearance at Blue Moon (725 Queen E.) go to the Toronto Wildlife Centre. With DJs Frankie Gunns, Capro and Hydra, plus MCs Lucid, Elle Be and Nova. $10 before midnight.

3. Fosse meets Rupaul in Soup Can Theatre’s first production, Love Is a Poverty You Can Sell. The musical melds classic with contemporary, borrowing from Threepenny Opera creators Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for an updated version of 1920s Berlin cabaret. They sell it as a mishmash of “bohemian riff raff” with an indie-music afterparty — so, at the very least, it’ll be an eclectic gathering. Friday and Saturday (Nov. 27-28) 7:30-11:30pm. $15; students, seniors and art workers $12. Bread & Circus, 299 Augusta. 416-336-3399. www.breadandcircus.ca.

4. Drop that lace hanky and quit crocheting doilies — this weekend, being a lady is all about bold statements in politics and the arts. Now in its ninth year, Ladyfest continues its mandate of DIY feminism through a variety of disciplines: chase down those evenings of hip hop and indie-rock and visual art with Sunday-afternoon workshops on everything from bike repair to sex workers’ rights. Don’t forget your canned goods — each event features a food drive for Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter in Rexdale. Go to www.ladyfesttoronto.com for the complete festival schedule. Ladyfest runs to Sunday (Nov. 29).

5. Opening in finer cinemas today: There’s no shortage of grim imagery in The Road, the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prizewinner about the journey of a man and his son across a ravaged, depopulated landscape after some unspecified catastrophe. Much of this is given additional weight by the presence of Viggo Mortensen, the only contemporary American star who’s gaunt enough for the task. Yet these images — brought to the screen by Australian director John Hillcoat — do not belong to some far-off dystopia. While the task of bringing such a celebrated book to the screen is never without its complications and compromises, one thing that the film makes starkly and uncomfortably clear is that this is not science fiction. After all, many of the people in our world live like this right now. For more, read Jason Anderson's cover-story interviews with Mortensen and Hillcoat.

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