The Offspring & Pennywise @ Molson Amphitheatre, July 2

2009/07/03

Last night's trip to Toronto's concrete musical fixture involved stocky blond men, lots of f-words and a certain amount of emotive anger. No, this wasn't some reenactment of the time a bird smashed into Fabio's nose — it was the return of Pennywise and The Offspring, two bands who rank shortly behind Green Day in helping make something resembling SoCal pop-punk bigger than a few religions.

Sonic Youth @ Massey Hall, June 30

2009/07/02

There are Sonic Youth guitars that sound like airplanes about to jet off into the sky. There are Sonic Youth guitars that sound like choir bells, chiming on the offbeat. There are lunar mission-control guitars and underwater-sea anemone guitars and rootsy Neil-Young-solos guitars and static-clinged-hump-the-amplifier-crescendo guitars that make your heart race. Any Sonic Youth concert is more about ideas than feeling — and the band is very much constructed that way.

Rodriguez

2009/06/30

A Mexican-American labourer from the heart of Detroit, 67-year old folk-funk singer Sixto Rodriguez is the most recent legend to be rescued from the dusty basement of obscurity by Seattle reissue label Light in the Attic.

The right to rule

2009/06/30

It’s been a long road for Femi Kuti, but the crown prince of Afrobeat is taking things one day at a time

Gary Burton & Pat Metheny @ Four Seasons Centre, June 29

2009/06/30

Appropriately, jazz-guitar deity Metheny is again playing with the band that introduced him to the world as 20-year old prodigy back in 1974: the Gary Burton Quartet. What began as a one-off reunion gig has turned into a three-year outing for Burton’s band; last night's Toronto date marked the end of their current tour. Consequently, everybody seemed eager to exhaust all the ideas in their respective arsenals.

Chris Potter's Underground @ The Pilot, June 29

2009/06/30

Potter's phrasing was just as immaculate as every other aspect of his playing, to the point where you almost wonder whether he has any flaws at all.

The Boss is the new King of England

2009/06/30

This week: how Bruce Springsteen ruled the roost last weekend at Glastonbury. Plus: Spoon triple your pleasure on their new EP; and MGMT meet McCartney.

Slanted and disenchanted

2009/06/30

I wanted indie rock to save me. I really thought it would. I wanted Liz Phair’s languid monotone to confirm that I wasn’t a perverted nymphomaniac, or not the only perverted nymphomaniac. I wanted the half-secret venues down gravelly alleyways and the band names that nobody else knew to justify and reward my enduring awkwardness, my suspicion that we were miles smarter and specialler than we might be. It worked, for a while. But in the end, indie rock let me down.

AFI on ETV

2009/06/29

The crappy weather at last weekend's Edgefest gave us the perfect excuse to take shelter in the press tent and talk to emo-goth icon Davey Havok about his band's upcoming album, Crash Love

Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth

2009/06/29

EYE WEEKLY spoke to the silver-haired Sonic Youth guitarist on the eve of their Tuesday-night Massey Hall performance about crafting their latest album, The Eternal, the death of the music industry and whether Sonic Youth still sound their age.

Sonny Rollins @ Four Seasons Centre, June 26

2009/06/29

The thrill of listening to Rollins today comes from hearing a craftsman who has relentlessly perfected an individual style.

Maria Schneider Orchestra @ Fleck Dance Theatre, June 28

2009/06/29

Big-band jazz is a lot like baseball. There are a considerable number of players standing around in the outfield or sitting on the bench, waiting to contribute their specific talents. And then there’s the rhythm section of bass, drums and piano working as hard as any pitcher/catcher combination to keep the game moving. All of which is more or less contingent on the soloist stepping up to the plate and knocking one out of the park. Or something like that. In any case, the Maria Schneider Orchestra is a good team to watch.

Jonathan Richman & Vic Chesnutt @ The Great Hall, June 25

2009/06/26

The Massachusetts proto-punk legend and his weirdo Athens opening act beat the heat (and copious sound problems) to make a PDA-happy crowd fall in love all over again

The Daily Distraction: special all-MJ edition

2009/06/26

Like pretty much all sentient beings, we here at the Daily Distraction were pretty floored at the announcement of King of Pop Michael Jackson’s death by cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon. Here's a look at how various artists and media are paying their respects, including Circle Research's new MJ remixes, the Village Voice's archive of Jackson journalism and EYE WEEKLY's Top 5 round-up of Jackson's best post-Thriller moments.

The Daily Distraction: June 25

2009/06/25

Today: The Dirty Projectors get an a capella clean-up. Plus: UK indie-pop outfit Marina and the Diamonds shine in their fab new video; and Wilco: more dad-rock than ever.

The King Is Dead

2009/06/25

If celebrity deaths come in threes, then — following this week's passings of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett — somebody up there was saving the biggest for last.

Behemoth

2009/06/24

There’s nothing more dangerous than smart miscreants. They use their acumen to stir up shit, which describes Gdansk, Poland’s Behemoth to a T.

Ohbijou

2009/06/24

Toronto chamber-pop ensemble Ohbijou melted legions of hearts with the winsome sounds of 2006’s Swift Feet For Troubling Times.

The Daily Distraction: June 24

2009/06/24

Today: Gentleman Reg gets into a twitter about Polaris long list snub. Plus: ex-Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs recruits Kevin Drew for a new solo album; Iggy Pop joins Fatboy Slim on Letterman; Tokyo Police Club check in from Hoboken; and Marilyn Manson: not the most graceful ex-boyfriend.

Back in Black

2009/06/24

Gentleman Reg has been waiting for a breakthrough since he watched label Three Gut Records fold half a decade ago, shortly after releasing Darby & Joan (his last record, up until this year). After some failed attempts to find a new home, the singer-songwriter was left with a collection of new songs and a sense of self-doubt.

Summertime rolls

2009/06/23

Whenever someone asks, “what’s new” we never know what to say. Well, now you can have an answer at the ready with our A-Z guide to summer music.

The Daily Distraction: June 23

2009/06/23

Today: everyone else is weighing on the Perez vs. Will.I.am beef, so why not Toronto indie musicians? Plus: Lily Allen tells George W. Bush to fuck off (perhaps a little too late); Noel Gallagher slams Oasis' "cheeky-cunt" fanbase; Guided by Voices documentary gets re-jumpstarted; and The Worst Band Ever.

Dirty Projectors in car accident en route to Toronto

2009/06/23

After the Dirty Projectors' highly anticipated headlining appearance tomorrow night at Lee's Palace was cancelled this afternoon by the show's promoter, the Brooklyn art-rockers' label, Domino Records, have released a statement explaining what happened.

Henry Owings: the last rock critic

2009/06/23

We caught up with the Chunklet zine impersario last week at North by Northeast to talk about the future of old-fashioned, snarky indie-rock criticism in the age of rampant, blog-buzzed hipsterism.

Making plans for Mika

2009/06/23

Although most of them are still feeling the free-booze aftershock of the MMVAs, a Czehoski’s full of music-industry people (and me) are cooperatively nodding along to new tracks played at a hangover-unfriendly volume by UK pop star Mika, who has joined us at the Queen Street restaurant for a Monday morning listening party. Mika’s new album won’t be released until September, but Mika is a young and savvy pop star with his own ideas about how his business rolls, so we’re here now.