10 Toronto bands that should be on your radar

by Mark Teo

March 6, 2014

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Photo by Rico Moran. Jesse Locke (L) and Tom Avis (R) are No Visible Means

As a city with countless intersecting scenes, Toronto’s musical output is staggering—and very much worth sifting through. Making sense of the musical glut, of course, can be an exhausting (though completely rewarding) exercise. That’s why we’re supremely thankful for blogs like Silent Shout and Weird Canada, who work tirelessly to document Canada’s regional music—Hogtown included. If you don’t read them regularly, you certainly should.

Naturally, when we heard that both blogs were working on a concert promotions venture—helmed by SS’s Tom Avis and WC’s Jesse Locke (who is also an AUX contributor), we were stoked. Avis and Locke have worked together before (with the All Toronto’s Parties collective and on the Weird Silence DJ nights), but now, they’re combining under the name No Visible Means, a moniker referencing a Lou Champagne System release.

Their first show goes down this Saturday at Toronto’s Oz Studios, with Freelove Fenner, Bile Sister, Man Made Hill, and Avis’ band, Gay, on the bill. Dilly Dally were initially scheduled, but sadly, they had to drop off due to injury. The updated event info’s right here.

“[No Visible Means] is basically a mutant hybrid of Weird Canada and Silent Shout bridging the gaps between the music we love,” says Locke. “The most important M.O. for me is putting on shows in alternative venues like Oz Studios that are affordable and accessible for everyone.”

“I think our tastes are quite complimentary. When we were talking about bands for this show we both kept suggesting things that the other wouldn’t have thought of,” adds Avis. “I find it’s really easy to get into a set pattern when planning these kinds of things, and, at least for me, stepping outside of the group I normally work with was a great opportunity to escape my tendency towards cyclical thinking.”

Regardless of their differences and similarities, one thing’s evident to us: Avis and Locke have excellent taste in music. So, we asked them to curate this list of their favourite Toronto bands—who, hopefully, will be making appearances on future No Visible Means bills.

 

New Fries

Photo: Bandcamp.com

“These guys are a pretty new band.  I heard somewhere that when they first started they had a different name every show, and at one point they were called Roseanne after Roseanne Barr,” says Avis, completely selling us on the band. “Not sure how accurate that is, but it’s an amusing origin myth. They’re really interesting, kind of reminiscent of Ludus in their spastic angularity and propensity for occasional jazzy flourishes. A super inventive bunch. I’m really excited to see what direction they decide to go in.”

 

High World

Photo: Lido Pimienta, via Soundcloud

“[They’re an artistic] supergroup of sorts,” offers Locke. “Thee almighty Lido Pimienta, Blake Blakely, Petra Glynt, and Mas Aya come together as this Liquid Liquid-style live DJ/percussion crew. Total party starter!” Check Lido Pimienta’s provoco-pop below.

 

Bile Sister

Photo: Bandcamp

“Julie Reich a.k.a. Bile Sister a.k.a. DJ Garbage Body first came on my radar as an associate of Wolfcow, but the alien soundtracks on her solo joint for Inyrdisk sent my brain sideways,” says Locke. “Now, she’s expanded the project with a full band of her own to pump up the warped diskotronix from her latest album, Faucet.”

 

Ice Cream

Photo: Facebook.com

“Ice Cream aren’t even fair. It’s Carlyn Bezic from Blonde Elvis et al., and Amanda Crist of Huckleberry Friends and they make super slick, minimal post punk,” says Avis. “They wring a huge amount of melodic weight out of really simple arrangements, and they project this sort of cold alien serenity that’s really effecting. Also, last time I saw them Carlyn was kind of dancing which I think is a promising development.”

 

Darlene Shrugg

This band is kind of the ultimate,” says Locke. “For their live debut on Valentine’s Day, the supertroupe of Tropics, Ice Cream and U.S. Girls kicked out some of the heaviest jams imaginable that turned out to be half Sabbath and Yoko Ono covers played like Les Rallizes Dénudés.” While we await recorded material from Darlene Shrugg, check out some Tropics below.

 

Seance Centre

Photo: Bandcamp.com

“Seance Centre is Brandon Hocura, who runs Polyphasic Studios, and his wife Naomi,” Avis says. “At Polyphasic, Brandon’s produced some excellent Toronto stuff, including the Sexy Merlin 12-inch that Pleasence Records put out, and the first Cellphone tape, which is unreasonably good.

“So it’s unsurprising that the Seance Centre EP, Chandigarh, is expertly put together. Sonically rich and varied and occasionally redolent of groups like Polyphonic Size and Transparent Illusion while never really sounding like them. Very few people get to do anything this well.”

 

Zacht Automaat

Photo: Bandcamp.com

“Bags inside bags inside bags,” says Locke.”The outernational expeditions of Carl Didur and Michael McLean were captured on my favourite release of 2013, Toronto or otherwise, the monolithic ZA.

 

FanFiction

Photo: Bandcamp.com

“FanFiction is Steph Davidson, who must have gotten even more popular on the internet, because I remember this project being impossible to Google six months ago,” adds Avis. “She makes instrumental electronic music that manages to feel both bracingly precise and wildly anarchic at the same time. She’s also a visual artist with an amazing website, and she made this video for Sexy Merlin’s ‘See You In The Dark.'”

 

Elrichman

Photo: Facebook.com

Full disclosure, here. Avis plays in Gay—a band we love—with Paul Elrichman, and helped produce his forthcoming EP. “But I refuse to let this obvious conflict of interest exclude him here, as I absolutely love what he does,” says Avis. “He has the unassuming songwriting sensibility of Nick Lowe and the voice of Edwyn Collins, which he compliments with an alarming compositional dexterity and a keen ear for arrangement.

“He put out an EP called Clarity a couple years ago that’s a lovely little document, and his new one has so far resulted in this truly ridiculous video. There’s at least one more truly ridiculous video on the way.”

 

The Soupcans

Photo: Bandcamp.com

“It’s kinda funny how the most absurd band in the city makes every other band look absurd in comparison,” says Locke. “Pure pigfuck.”

 

Tags: Music, News, Bile Sister, Gay, Lido Pimienta, new fries, Soupcans, Zacht Automaat

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