Archive / 2009 / MARCH

The Stills & Feist Win Junos
The Stills  and Feist walked away winners at the Juno Awards this past weekend. The Stills won both Alternative Album Of The Year for Oceans Will Rise as well as Best New Group. Feist's video for Honey Honey, directed by Anthony Seck was victorious in the Video Of The Year category. Congrats to both. You can see the full list of winners at the Junos site.

Too Slow For Love
Constantines Rolling Tundra Revue with the Weakerthans gets started this Thursday in St. John's, Newfoundland, and will cover Canada from one end to another. To commemorate this epic adventure, the band have put together Too Slow For Love, a companion EP to Kensington Heights, featuring newly recorded alternate versions, recorded at the Bathouse in Kingston, Ontario. Too Slow For Love will be featured as bonus material with the purchase of Kensington Heights and will be included for free when you purchase the album.
Kensington Heights is available today (March 17) with the bonus EP for $5.99 at iTunes or GalleryAC for a limited time. For more information visit the Too Slow For Love release page.

All information on the Rolling Tundra Revue including dates and ticket information can be found on their tour page.


Too Slow For Love Tracklist:
01 Young Lions (Stripped down version, originally from Shine A Light)
02 Shower of Stones (Stripped down version, originally from Kensington Heights)
03 Conductor (Stripped down version, originally from Tournament of Hearts)
04 Our Age (Stripped down version, originally from Kensington Heights)
05 Strange Birds (originally by Jon Langford & The Sadies)
06 Do What You Can Do (Stripped down version, originally from Kensington Heights)
07 I Will Not Sing A Hateful Song (Stripped down version, originally from Kensington Heights)

This Book Is Broken
Arts & Crafts is proud to announce on behalf of House of Anansi Press, details of the forthcoming book titled, This Book Is Broken, a biography, documenting the incredible story of the ever-evolving indie-rock collective that is Toronto’s Broken Social Scene. The book is drawn from hours of interviews with members and affiliates of the band; complemented by over 150 exclusive artworks, gig posters, full-colour and black & white photographs, taken from the personal collections of those closest to the band. This Book Is Broken will be available throughout North America, May 16.


With a foreword by Broken Social Scene co-founder Brendan Canning, This Book Is Broken was compiled and written by Toronto journalist and Eye Weekly editor, Stuart Berman. Berman’s writing on music, pop culture and the Toronto music scene has appeared in Pitchfork, Magnet, The Village Voice, Azure, The Toronto Star and the National Post.

 The biography tracks the group’s inception by friends, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning and their ground-breaking performances at Ted’s Wrecking Yard in 2000, that raised the bands local status to mythical proportions; the creation of Arts & Crafts records as well as a documentation of life on the road with revolving bandmates, including Feist, Jason Collett, members of Stars, Apostle of Hustle, Metric and The Dears.
 
A limited and numbered amount of Hardcover versions of This Book Is Broken signed by the band are available for pre-order now at Arts & Crafts online store:  $60/CDN will get you a signed limited edition along with an Arts & Crafts bookbag or the limited edition book without bag is available for $50/CDN. The Trade Paperback editions sell for $29.95/CDN and can also be purchased with a bookbag for $40/CDN.

New Releases, New Signings
Arts & Crafts Productions is proud to announce details for what is shaping up to be a remarkable and creatively diverse year. We'd like to welcome Years, Still Life Still and Zeus to the fold, and announce details for the new Apostle Of Hustle album. Read the full details below.

Years
Arts & Crafts announces the signing and debut release from Years, a beautiful and inspired self-titled album due for release May 5. A true visionary of compositional soundscaping, Ohad Benchetrit, provides an immense soundtrack and illustration of his accomplished production and guitar proficiencies.

Apostle Of Hustle
In keeping with unconventional and original works, Arts & Crafts announces the latest release from Apostle Of Hustle with Eats Darkness, May 19. With each release this trio of Andrew Whiteman, Julian Brown and Dean Stone, push and punch at the boundaries, yet manage to reign in all the passion and energy, creating a record that is raw and explosive, while remaining thought-provoking, dynamic, infectious and unforgettable.

Still Life Still
Arts & Crafts also announces the signing of Toronto-based Still Life Still to the label, publishing and management roster. The youthful quintet has already been heralded by Exclaim! and NOW Magazine as one to watch. The band is currently working with producers Martin Davis Kinack and Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew. Their debut EP will be released in June with their full-length expected in August.

Zeus
Anyone who has seen the amazing live performances Jason Collett has been offering this past year while promoting his album, Here's To Being Here, can attest to the musicianship and power of his backing band, Zeus. Zeus is now part of the A&C label, publishing and management roster. Their debut EP is expected for release this spring.

A Tribute to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall
Jason Collett will be taking part in The Canadian Songbook: A Tribute to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall at this year's Luminato Festival in Toronto. Full Details below
Luminato takes its celebration of the guitar to Massey Hall for a tribute to legendary Canadian rock ’n’ roller
Neil Young. Luminato’s The Canadian Songbook: A Tribute to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall assembles a line up of 18 bands, singer-songwriters, and guitarists to perform original arrangements of all 18 songs from Young’s recently-released historic and influential 1971 concert. Performers include: Holly Cole; Cowboy Junkies; Bill Frisell Trio; Issa (formerly Jane Siberry); Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian); Colin Linden; Harry Manx; Danny Michel; Steven Page; Carol Pope; Roxanne Potvin; Sarah Slean; and musical director Kevin Breit.
Wednesday, June 10 at Massey Hall
$59.50-79.50

Jason Collett Pays Tribute to Neil Young
Jason Collett will be taking part in The Canadian Songbook: A Tribute to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall at this year's Luminato Festival in Toronto. Full Details below

Luminato has assembled a stellar line up of artists to perform original arrangements of all 18 songs from Young’s recently-released historic and influential 1971 concert.

Performers include: Holly Cole; Cowboy Junkies; Bill Frisell Trio; Issa (formerly Jane Siberry); Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian); Colin Linden; Harry Manx; Danny Michel; Steven Page; Carol Pope; Roxanne Potvin; Sarah Slean; and musical director Kevin Breit.

Tickets are available here.

Happiness Comes Alive
Charles Spearin is bringing The Happiness Project to life for four performances this week. The dates are listed below. Don't miss the rare opportunity to see The Happiness Project live.

03/11/09    Toronto, ON The Music Gallery
03/12/09    Toronto, ON The Music Gallery
03/13/09    Montreal, QC Il Motore
03/15/09    New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge

As Seen Through Windows Available Today.
Montreal's Bell Orchestre release their sophomore full-length, As Seen Through Windows today. The nine-song full-length is filled with stunning, lush instrumentation, and builds off where their acclaimed, Juno nominated, 2005 debut, Recording A Tape The Colour Of Light, left off.

Recorded with John McEntire (Tortoise/Sea & Cake), As Seen Through Windows continues the sextet's exploration of various classical styles and non-traditional musical forms to create a panoramic soundtrack, expansive and enveloping, both challenging and pleasurable to the listener.

The album is out now at your local record shop, GalleryAC, and all digital retailers.

The Stills To Perform At The Junos.
The Stills will be playing the on air telecast of this year's Juno Awards. The band are nominated for two awards, Alternative Album of the Year for Oceans Will Rise, and New Group of the Year. You can get all the details at the Juno's site.