Down By The Water

The Beats & Breaks music festival at Harbourfront Centre kicks of today and continues throughout the weekend (until July12). With a jam-packed itinerary, all at absolutely no charge, it promises to be one of the highlights of the summer concert season.

Performers include Winter Gloves, Parallels, Holy Fuck, DD/MM/YYYY and Rattlesnake Choir. As well, Saturday night boasts special guests Broken Social Scene, an appearance precipitated by cancellation of their (semi) annual Toronto Island Festival due to the expected competing noise from the Molson Indy.






If you'd like to become part of the entertainment, there's Hip Hop karaoke on Saturday afternoon - no street cred required. On the other hand, you can kick back and watch one of music-themed films that will be screened, among which is the fantastic 24-Hour Party People.





See at the lake!

Alan Cross Always Says It Best

R.I.P. Martin Streek.

The HBIC Exposed

Though I'm no fan of her celebrity-driven mandate for the US version of Vogue (especially compared to it's French and Italian counterparts), I've always found editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to be an endlessly fascinating creature. Her reputation as the cold, demanding dragon lady of the fashion industry is the stuff of lore.* Also, the woman has had the same bob haircut for at least 20 years and it was only within the last few years that she deigned to be seen in public without her trademark sunglasses. I mean, that's just crazy.

Soon hordes of fashionistas and the just plain curious will have the opportunity to observe the woman behind the myth. The documentary The September Issue, focuses on Wintour as she and her ever loyal (read:completely terrified) staff race to put together the fabled, heavyweight (a record 4 pounds) September 2007 edition of the iconic magazine. Here's the official trailer - the use of Destroy Everything You Touch (from the 2005 Ladytron album Witching Hour) is beyond perfect.

The doc isn't released until fall of this year so, as a prep, you might want to review the Anna Wintour 60 Minutes interview that aired earlier this year. It's worth the peep just to see veteran anchor Morley Safer get all kinds of snarky as he becomes further submersed in her unfamiliar world.

*I have nothing but the utmost respect for you and your work, Ms. Wintour. Please don't send André Leon Talley to beat my ass.

Late Night TV Preview: July 6 - 11, 2009

Here are some of the musical artists scheduled to appear on late night TV in the coming week. Note: * indicates an encore episode.

MONDAY

• Death Cab For Cutie - Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (11:35pm - NBC, ATV)
• Coner Oberst - Late Show with David Letterman (11:35pm - CBS, OMNI)
• No Doubt - Jimmy Kimmel Live* (12:05am - ABC, CityTV)
• The Lonely Island w/The Roots - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon* (12:35am - NBC, ATV)

TUESDAY

• Andrew Bird - Conan
• Ben Harper - Kimmel*
• M83 - Last Call with Carson Daly* (1:35am - NBC)

WEDNESDAY

• Amadou & Miriam - Fallon

THURSDAY

• Levon Helm - Letterman

FRIDAY

• Ray Lamontagne - Conan
• Maxwell - Letterman
• Mos Def - Fallon*
• Michael Bublé - Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:35am - CBS, E!)

**video begins at :30, ends at 4:54**

SATURDAY

• Beyoncé - Saturday Night Live* (11:30pm - NBC, GlobalTV)

A Big Up For Canucks

Better late than never.

Happy Canada Day!

Hope everyone is having a good time celebrating our lovely little piece of the Commonwealth. I've been experiencing an odd last couple of days/weeks and, for some reason, the following song has recently spoken to me in a way it previously did not. Plus, there's a lot of fireworks for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

Late Night TV Preview: June 29 - July 4, 2009

Here are some of the musical artists scheduled to appear on late night TV in the coming week. Note: everyone is airing encore episodes.


MONDAY

• Green Day - Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (11:35pm - NBC, ATV)


• Steve Earle - Late Show with David Letterman (11:35pm - CBS, OMNI)


• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35am - NBC, ATV)


• Melanie Fiona - Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35am - NBC)

TUESDAY

• Charles Hamilton - Carson

WEDNESDAY

• Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal - Conan


• Little Boots - Carson

THURSDAY

• Neko Case - Conan


• PJ Harvey & John Parrish - Letterman


• Phoenix - Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05am - ABC, CityTV)

FRIDAY

• Bat For Lashes - Kimmel


• N.A.S.A. - Carson

SATURDAY

• Tim McGraw (host), Ludacris & T-Pain (musical performers) - Saturday Night Live (11:30pm - NBC, GlobalTV)