It's Canadian Music Week! Here's something American.

Hi! It's me, e! Did you have a good winter?

I'm back in Toronto (well, the suburbs anyway) and loving the crisp weather and wide open spaces. Hong Kong was great, but there's something about Toronto that puts a spring in my step and a twinkle in my eye (not unlike what show tunes do for NPH). Or maybe that's just the reflection off the snow. It didn't help that during the descent into YYZ the flight attendant announced that Canada had just won hockey gold. It was like a Molson Canadian commercial, but in the air. And without the beer. Eh?

So, real quick, I just wanted to share some tunes with you. I apologize that it's not Canadian. However, Ontarian Timber Timbre and Vancouverite Dan Mangan are playing this Thursday March 11 at the Great Hall. Check them out if you can, cuz they're great.

You might remember the morning benders from our previous posts. The boys' newest album, Big Echo, is out today, and they are all over the internet promoting it, from blogging to tweeting to appearances on major music blogs. Still relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, the band (more specifically, their new label Plus One) has embarked on an ambitious media blitz trying to promote their album release (like making it easy for people like me to embed their album on my blog, even though I don't really know how I even did that).

Here it is for you to stream. You can catch the guys at the Drake Hotel on April 14th (tickets available at Soundscapes and elsewhere). I'll be the one in the front, starry eyed, notepad in hand.

I'm partial to Excuses. What do you think?

e

Catch her before she gets big and before she leaves the Cameron House!

Alejandra Ribera has been playing at the Cameron House on Tuesday evenings for over a year now. I was meeting my date in the Queen and Spadina area on a Tuesday night and I had also heard Alejandra on CBC one morning, so we met at this Queen West relic (booze, art, music and theatre all in one space!) for a drink in anticipation of some decent live music.

 (pic courtesy of her website!)

Around 9:30 pm, the place started to get packed but luckily we got  there early had scored some decent seats. From 10 pm onwards we were somewhat mesmerized by this young woman who performs with a vocal range that runs so deep and is filled with such maturity that you'd expect her to be in her fifties at least, not her late twenties!  She performed with a talented group of jazz musicians whose repertoire included jazzy ballads, smoky Spanish love songs and even a French number or two.

It's not only a cheap (pay-what-you-can) date night, but also a great show to bring relatives or your parents over Christmas. It attracted a diverse age range. Sadly I didn't take a any pics, nor could I find any pics on the internet of the inside of the Cameron House, but we watched Ribera and co play against a backdrop of red velvet curtains, frescos on the ceiling and walls adorned with both ants and x-mas lights. Curious yet? Yes it was both kitchy, surreal and romantic; a bar worth checking out if just to have the owner sell you beer in his shorts. And...might it be rumour? I was getting my haircut at Grateful Head and the guy beside me was chatting about it closing down to be replaced by a Crate and Barrel???? Even more reason to see it. 

Her final show at the Cameron House is on Tuesday the 29th! Get there early!  

Otherwise...her 2010 schedule is as follows:
Hugh's Room- January 17th
Moonshine Cafe- Oakville, February 27
Czehoski Restaurant, March 11th

S.