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Toronto Public Library blogs are written by our staff in order to engage with the public. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Toronto Public Library. We welcome comments, but reserve the right to remove comments that are offensive, insensitive to others or unrelated to the topic being discussed.

01/21/2012

Discuss: Toronto is the greatest music city in the world.

In a recent cover story for The Grid, Andre Mayer asks the contentious question: Is Toronto the Greatest Music City in the World?  Toronto acts such as Drake, FeistFucked Up and Austra are making excellent albums that showed up all over critics' best of 2011 lists, providing plenty of evidence for even the most deferential of Torontonians to say, "Yeah, um, Toronto's music scene is pretty good right now."

The-cover-for-drakes-new-album-take-care

Drake, Take Care  

511xTNqiXpL._SL500_AA300_ metals

Feist, Metals

Indeed, The New York Times Magazine's Adam Sternbergh responded to the Grid article, with a piece, Toronto is Having a Seattle Moment, that urges Toronto to cast off modesty and accept the accolades with some unseemly, un-Canadian pride.

41BuNy8-FXL._SL500_AA300_david comes to life

Fucked Up, David Comes to Life  

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Austra, Feel it Break

We at Make Some Noise, of course, with our fond memories of Fucked Up and 800 escstatic fans packed into the Toronto Reference Library, or of Katie Stelmanis's powerful and passioned songs lifting the high ceilings at Bloor/Gladstone branch, have known all along how completely and truly Toronto rocks.

01/04/2012

January's Recommended Books

Have not been the sameHave Not Been the Same: the CanRock renaissance

(2001) Michael Barclay, Ian A.D Jack & Jason Schneider

Canada's musicians hold a respected and (compared to population) disproportionately large place in the international music community. With all of the Arcade Fires and MSTRFTs and Leslie Feists that are touring today, its easy to forget an earlier generation of Canadian rockers who not only broke our Nation into the international spotlight, but laid the groundwork for today's scene. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, performers like Daniel Lanois, kd Lang and a revived (rescusitated?) Neil Young were putting Canadian Pop firmly on the map, while other musicians like The Rheostatics, Sloan, Weeping Tile, Hayden and Thrush Hermit were fostering a strong and destinct Northern sound, and kickstarting the careers of such currently popular musicians as Joel Plaskett and Sarah Harmer.

Weighing in at close to 800 pages, Have Not Been the Same is just about as detailed an examination of this oft overlooked and highly fertile period of Canadian popular music as you'll ever encounter. Index.aspx

*NoiseNews!* Keep an eye out for a newly updated 2011 edition of Have Not Been the Same, coming soon to a library near you!

The showThe Show I'll Never Forget: 50 writers relive their most memorable concertgoing experience

(2007) Sean Manning (ed.)

Remember your first concert? Who were you most excited to see play live? Have any musicians changed your life?

In The Show I'll Never Forget, fifty writers, journalists, musicians and other creative types relate the stories of their most memorable shows. Find out why seeing Red Kross was so important for Carl Newman (of the New Pornographers), or why Patti Smith had such an effect on Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jennifer Egan.

 

Got another great book to recommend? We'd love to hear from you! Write us a comment below.

12/01/2011

December's Recommended Books

Index David Bowie: Starman

(2011) Paul Trynka

Today, David Bowie is widely recognised as one of the most famous and influential musicians to emerge in the second half of the 20th century. Yet this talented performer spent years struggling in semi-obscurity, written off as a one-hit wonder writer of novelty tunes (who can forget the horrible, hilarious "The Laughing Gnome"?). Paul Trynka's David Bowie: Starman chronicles Bowie's singleminded determination to become the huge musical star he is today.

Rockin' in the New World Rockin

(2011) Bob Tulipan

So you've got a great band, and you're ready to take the world by storm. The only thing that stands between you and superstardom is getting people out to your shows! In Rockin' in the New World, veteran music producer Bob Tulipan draws on several decades of experience in the music business to help you kick start your music career (and kick that job waiting tables).

 

Got another great book to recommend? We'd love to hear from you! Write us a comment below.

11/01/2011

November's Recommended Books

Index.aspx 33 Revolutions Per Minute

(2011) Dorian Lynskey

One of the most potent legacies of popular music is the protest song. From Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" to Public Enemy's "Fight The Power", few artistic products can claim a competing ability to move the masses to question institutional injustice. Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute examines the history of the protest song through essays about 33 of the most stirring and politically charged ballads of the last century.

The Death of Bunny Munro 9781554685400

(2009) Nick Cave

Lead singer of The Bad Seeds and Grinderman, Australian musician Nick Cave holds a prominent place in the rock n' roll canon. Not content to sit on his musical credentials alone however, Cave has also created work in other media, including film (he wrote the screenplay for The Proposition), and print. His 2009 book The Death of Bunny Munro tells the story of a sex-addicted businessman who suddenly finds himself responsible for his young son.

 

 Got another great book to recommend? We'd love to hear from you! Write us a comment below.

10/20/2011

Meet the Noise: 5 Questions for MANGOPEELER

Spaceportal

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce MANGOPEELER. Sometimes called Jeff Garcia, this talented Toronto artist does all kinds of neat stuff. Of particular interest to the Make Some Noise crew however, is his frequent collaborations with members of the local music scene. As a member of the arts collective Exploding Motor Car, he's contributed to music videos for bands like The Acorn, Slim Twig and Ohbijou (among others). His screen printing skills have been employed by many Toronto musicians too, and he's been involved in image installations for Toronto's Wavelength Music series.


(FUN FACT! If you happen to bump into Drake at the Drake, there’s a good chance he’ll be rocking one of his Mangoness’ awesome Aaliyah T-shirts).

Jeff took a few minutes to answer some questions about his collaborations with members of the TO music scene.

Why are you so drawn to working with other artists, and across artistic media?
Keeps me fresh and other people too. Jamming with people usually brings out the unexpected. Its humbling and breaks me down if I get used to making things in a fixed way. I grew up reading Bruce Lee books, can you tell? I like to keep it Halo Halo (its a filipino dessert but also the name of my studio translating into 'mix-mix' in English). From kids, to my contemporaries, to grocery store clerks I'll jam with anyone. I was just in Fiesta Farms this morning and did a great piece with the a girl putting away some eggplant. Its just about playing!


What’s the most interesting project you’ve done with a Toronto musician?
Oh man, too many to think of! My friends are my favourite artists.  From throwing free outdoor shows at my house and studios to working on handmade posters, its all interesting or I wouldn't do it. Man Made Hill wearing a cd-vest during a classic set at Halo Halo Village for VCR Dungeon- a show celebrating all things analogue,  until the cops showed up. Fleshtone Aura opening for I D M Theftable at my Earthship with my cat Shouty, then recording a contact mic cactus the next morning. I used to have a music project with Andrew Zukerman and Amy Lam called 'Hard Love in Times New Roman'. I think there are more words in the name than the number of shows we played.  I think I hadn't even met Amy and we were already in a 'band' together. She ended up living in my old room on Major St where I used to throw house shows with my 3 good bros and our cat Boaba, the Admiral, RIP. Masked Bruho performances in the alleyway, Nacho Man of the Utah Jazz solo vomit, The Pink Noise living room light show, Shazaam on the rooftop, oh man, legendary era! Oh yeah, doing shirts for Drizzy Drake, and driving in a Black Range Rover with his bodyguards at 3am so they can give me a 'stack of cash' to help pay for my Life Insurance was also topps.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to find a musician to collaborate with?
They are probably your friends so just ask them to jam on something. Put out a cassette tape together, do a gigposter for one of their shows. Go to the park or the train tracks and do some field recordings. Throw a party in your living room or garage and put them on the bill. Do a residency with them to learn more about their music collection and rare LP's. Go for a late night bike ride to the beach, spark a fire and viiiiiiibe out. 

Just ‘cause this is the library’s website after all, what’s the last really good book you’ve read?
I read how I collage, a few books and source material at a time. I'm reading Biospheres- From Earth to Space, a book that inspired my current self-imposed residency at Halo Halo Village. It was printed in 1989 and hopefully it will help me build an independent, living biosphere here. I'm also reading Come Alive! The Spirited Art of Sister Corita. Its about one of my favourite artists, a radical screen printing nun from the 60's that organized colourful marches, taught art through workshops and bringing in her friends as guest speakers, like John Cage and Charles Eames. I'm teaching a Sister Corita Printing workshop in October using old screen printed methods so this book is perfect right now. I also hit a little snag recently and my good friend Andrew lent me John Cage's biography and Stan K gave me a vintage Golden Book Encyclopedia he found on the street on his way to school. I'm cutting that one up. My favourite book of all time is Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe. 

We’ve heard through the grapevine that you make fine fruit juice. What musician (living or dead) would you like to make a beverage for,  and what would you put in it?
My shipmate Mairi Greig, is a dancer has a fancy juicer that we call the Flux Capacitor for the Earthship. I think if Sun Ra came by for some hangs I'd brew up a Space is the Place for him. It would include my Spaceways Kaleidoscope Syllabus of intergalactic Nutrition, Astral Perversions, Psych Bikes, Cosmic Soba, a seed of Musique Concrète Teleportation, Sponge Bob, Third Eye & Animal Cracker Finders Keepers, Shooting Stars shots, Subterranean Found Object Finders Fees, Trips to The Crystal Cave and through The Secret Portal!!!!!!!! It would look a lot like a ripped off version of that drink Orbitz. Remember that one hit wonder?

I'd also make my girl, Aaliyah, a lovely mango smoothie under moon on a beach....... RIP Babygirl xo

Mass


10/12/2011

Come Hear the Yorkville Sound

Yorkville

During the 1960s, Yorkville flourished as the hub of Canada’s bohemian scene, Toronto’s equivalent of New York’s Greenwich Village or San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. A haven for artists, students and other counterculture types, it was a time when Canadian songwriting blossomed and the careers of many local musicians were launched. If you entered one of its many clubs and coffee houses you might have heard the music of future folk and rock stars like Ian & Sylvia, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot, or lesser-known artists like Kensington Market, David Wiffen and Bonnie Dobson.

On Friday, October 21st, the Toronto Reference Library will host a concert reliving Yorkville’s magical music scene of the ‘60s. Come out and enjoy free performances by:

The Yorkville Sound
Friday, October 21, 7-10 PM
Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St.

10/08/2011

October's Recommended Books

Index.aspx Dirty Drunk and Punk

(2011) Jennifer Morton

Canadian punk rock visionaries or the scourge of Kensington Market? Legendary Toronto band Bunchofuckingoofs were a bit of both. Created as the result of a dare in 1983 and based out of a series of flophouse-cum-beercans in Toronto's iconic Kensington market, Bunchofuckingoofs were steeped in a committment to anarchic social conciousness that extended to every aspect of their lives, on and off stage. Jennifer Morton's book explores two decades of Bunchofuckingoofdom, and the chaos that surrounded them. 

Mawil_theband-cover The Band

(2004) Mawil

Ah, the high school band. Raucously echoing out of out of sweaty basements and bedrooms, a hallowed vessel of youthful dreams of stardom. Mawil's 2004 book The Band is a joyful tribute to the tradition of youth musicians - the drummer that changes after each gig, the audiences of five (including bandmember's parents), and the desperate attempt to impress girls.

Got another great book to recommend? We'd love to hear from you! Write us a comment below.

10/02/2011

Meet the Makers of Mighty Uke

Mighty_uke_poster

On Saturday October 8th, the makers of the critically acclaimed Canadian documentary Mighty Uke will be stopping by the High Park Library to screen their film, and answer some questions. After, they might even teach you a Ukulele trick or two if you bring your Uke along!

This workshop is free, and everyone is welcome.

Meet the makers of MIGHTY UKE
High Park Branch, 228 Roncesvalles Ave.
(just South of High Park Blvd.)
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.

09/28/2011

Make Some Noise News: Hooded Fang, Harvest Festivals and Ukuleles

Hooded-Fang-Tosta-Mista-Album-Cover-1-914x1024Looking for fun local music-themed stuff to do for the next few weeks? Well, look no further! The Make Some Noise program has a pair of exciting events to tell you about.

 This Saturday, stop by the Sanderson Library to rock out with acclaimed indie artists, Hooded Fang. As with all of our concerts, this one is free and all-ages.

By coincidence, on the same day, Scadding Court Community Centre’s Live Local Market is hosting a Harvest Festival to celebrate food grown and produced in and around Toronto. This day-long event will feature local food and fun activities for people of all ages. It’s a way to celebrate the harvest and to get people thinking about World Food Day coming up on October 16, 2011 – a day that highlights the issues behind poverty and hunger across the globe. (+ There's going to be a BOUNCY CASTLE! Yesssssss).

Mighty_uke_posterThen, next Saturday, the High Park Branch will be hosting a screening and workshop with the  creators of acclaimed Canadian documentary Mighty Uke. Watch the film, and then catch a couple of pointers on playing this wicked tiny instrument.

HOODED FANG live in the stacks
Sanderson Branch, 327 Bathurst St.
(at Dundas)
Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.

Meet the makers of THE MIGHTY UKE
High Park Branch, 228 Roncesvalles Ave.
(South of High Park Blvd.)
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.

09/01/2011

September's Recommended Books

Index.aspx Chaos Mission

(2003) Lorenz Peter

Originally published as an underground 'zine, Chaos Mission is a harrowing (and at times hilarious) comic autobiography by artist and musician Lorenz Peter. Starting with his disenchanted youth in 'Fort McMurder', Peter goes on to describe a decade of his life in Vancouver and Toronto whose hallmarks include bouts of heavy drug use and periods of semi-homelessness. From this dark period  emerges a young man with a distinct artistic drive and vision to accompany his physical and psychic scars. Peter Lorenz currently lives in Toronto where he creates music with sound-rock provocateur Corpusse.

CBGB OMFUGIndex.aspx

(2010) Ian Brill (ed.)

In the 1970's, CBGB was eponymous for the New York punk scene, and it hosted such legendary acts as the Ramones, Blondie, the Talking Heads and The Fleshtones before anyone else would put them on stage. CBGB OMFUG lovingly chronicles the history and mythology of this now legendary club through a series of short comics.

 

Got another great book to recommend? We'd love to hear from you! Write us a comment below.

  • Borrow CDs by local and Canadian artists.
  • Read the latest books about music.
  • See live concerts in the library stacks.
  • Learn about making music at workshops led by musicians.
  • All for free.

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