Music

CMW 2014: Who you shouldn't miss on Saturday, May 10

by AUX staff

Former coremen Nothing like their shoegaze dark, dark, and darker.

Canadian Music Week, after five packed days, comes to a close today, but it’s going out with a bang: Today, Osheaga heads up a showcase, with Doldrums and Dan Boeckner DJing, at Adelaide Hall. Punk legends Television—who are hilarious interviews—take the stage at the Phoenix. And there’s so much more—and to help you sort through the wreckage, we’ve selected these six must-see sets. That’s a wrap!

 

biZzarh

We’ve long adored bizZarh, the soul-rap duo of Charli Champ and Dollar Paris. With an EP in the works, the duo is beginning to realize the vast potential they exhibited in their first song, “Trans Phat,” and their sound is evolving: Their new music exhibits spacey future R&B production and an wonderful penchant for playing with binaries—Paris’ provides fluid, shimmering singing, while Champ’s up-front rap’s drenched with attitude. Add in Wiccan influences, a love of ’90s digitalia, and an obsession with Erykah Badu, and it’s a fact: biZzarh are one of the most compelling acts in Toronto. (MT) (11:00 p.m., Drake Underground)

 

Indian Handcrafts

Indian Handcrafts deserve to be clouded in smoke. Their sound packs an incredible punch, especially given they’re a two-piece, with a groovy stoner witch backbone that rattles through neck-snapping hooks and crawling crescendoes. We inexplicably left them off our list of emerging metal acts, maybe because we’re absent minded but maybe because we’d assumed they’d already arrived. With an impeccable sound and Sargent House backing, they’re certainly due. (TM) (11:00 P.M., Virgin Mobile Mod Club, 720 College St.)

 

The Indies

The Indies are always kind of the crown jewel of CMW—you get to see emerging bands (like the Strumbellas), established acts (Little Dragon), good hangs for the night with musician and media pals, food and drink, live shows and celebration, plus a whole performance space filled with other show-goers. What more could you want? Hidden Cameras and Born Ruffians performances, too? Cool. They’ll be there. (NV)(7:00 p.m., Kool Haus)

 

Nothing

Nothing singer Domenic Palermo took quite a bit of time between his last band, Horror Show, and current project Nothing, but it wasn’t your standard hiatus—he served two years of a seven-year sentence after stabbing a man, and his good friend Josh Tshirlig was killed in a motorcycle accident. The Philly native returned with a demo as Nothing in 2011, and earlier this year released the excellent (and spookily titled) Guilty of Everything. If you like your stories rich (and dark) and your shoegaze dark (and rich), go see Nothing. (NV)(10:30 p.m., Adelaide Hall)

 

Pkew Pkew Pkew (Gunshots)

There’s a special patch you hit in your mid-20s, where you realize that your life’s expectations don’t match its realities. (Man, those Thought Catalog posts are so true.) You might’ve expected to work a well-paying—but perfectly ambitious—middle-class job. You might’ve expected to be in love with someone better-looking than yourself. Maybe, just maybe, you thought you’d be in a position to own a dog. But in reality, you’re living with seven dude-roommates in a crumbling Victorian. Old Milkwaukee tallboy empties, littered all around your floor-inhabiting mattress, are a significant source of income—a good thing, really, because part-time telemarketing gigs don’t pay shit. The only thing in your fridge is a half-empty bottle of Sriracha. In your mid-20s, life is terrible. But it’s also fucking glorious, and Pkew Pkew Pkew’s singalong punk-pop sounds exactly like that golden, shitty era. When you go see them tonight, expect to get soaked by no less than three brands of beer—Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Style Pilsner, and the aformentioned Old Mil. You’re going to fucking love it. (MT) (10:00 p.m., Silver Dollar)

 

Single Mothers

There’s maybe no better choice to open up for OFF! than Single Mothers, who when they’re not getting creeped on by lonely dudes on Facebook stand tall as one of the best heavy punk bands in the current Canadian scene. Their sound isn’t the easiest to define, but is best summarized with words like caustic, aggressive and… sweaty. You’re going to get pushed, and you’re going to fucking love it. (TM) (11:00 P.M., Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor St. W.)