I was wondering who was going to get tapped to succeed “Diamond” Adam Giambrone as TTC Chair at City Hall almost as soon as it was starting to look as though Ol’ Robbo had the election locked down in the trunk of his car. I suppose, all things considered, we could have received a lot →
There is a lot to be said about the state of Jazz today, and most of that lot is far beyond my grasp as a music enthusiast. It is a sort of daunting lark for me to be able to review a Jazz record here, because Jazz is something that I’ve always found, frankly, a →
Beginning earlier this year with the Police State performance art piece at Dundas Square – in response to what we witnessed during our participation in the G20 protests – Starla Bontecou and I initiated the Change Toronto Performance Series. We recently produced a follow-up piece for this project, turning our focus this time to the historical →
I remember being told during training for some terrible retail job or other that if a customer has a good experience, they’ll tell someone about it; but, if a customer has a bad experience, they’ll tell ten people about it. Holy crap, right? Talk about bad for business. Surely this is a Fun Fact that →
A while back, I mentioned my intent here to begin studying the notion of “Fantasy Transit” in Toronto – the interesting phenomenon in this city where people are compelled to imagine a beautiful future free of time and money where one can build – inside one’s head, mind you – the city they’ve always wanted →
As of the date of publishing for this issue of Steel Bananas (October 15), there are ten days remaining until Election Day. During those ten fearful, fearful notches on the calendar, while all sensible Torontonians will be holding their collective breath in terrified anticipation, it is truly anyone’s guess what asinine shenanigans our esteemed mayoral →
“If you want to analyze the polls, Rob Ford’s not leading the polls. David Miller is.” – David Miller At this point we all know, without even having to refer to the wonderful assistance of Ipsos-Reid, that if David Miller were to seek re-election for a third term as Mayor of Toronto he would win →
Charging bluegrass screams majestically over the hills of Gallagher Park calling revelers of all ages back to their home tarps. The individual experiences that exist in traversing from side stage to side stage have now ended and now the communal experience of the main stage that will last for the remainder of the evening begins →
-Van Morrison – Wednesday 8:30 PM, Main Stage Obviously. I’m about 90% certain that Van Morrison is one of the music’s all time jerk-asses. Maybe it’s the alleged stage fright that he still hasn’t been able to shake, even after forty-plus years of touring, but it seemed pretty clear to me that he didn’t really →
By the time this article is published, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival will already have been underway at the Bloor Cinema for a few days. However, I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about the nature of alternative film festivals and their place in both the city’s cultural landscape, →
Photo by Matthew Filipowich Some people play fantasy basketball. Not me. I make fantasy maps and how I started doing this, I could never in my life say. Specifically, the fantasy maps that I have been known to occasionally make are TTC maps, things I’d like to see implemented, things that will never happen, things →
“I usually just have an unamplified electric guitar handy and I write a lot of songs, or at least riffs on the guitar while watching bad movies and TV shows. For some reason, that’s just where the magic happens.” If you are in a two-piece band, particularly a two-piece band with the standard guitar/drums setup →
Contrary to my typical time/space arrangement, I do not currently exist in Toronto – and thus at Eastern Standard Time. Rather, as of last week I have temporarily returned to my roots: Western Canada, Edmonton to be exact, and will be here visiting family and such for the next few weeks. It’s been pretty good →
London’s A Horse and His Boy are a band that I first caught wind of while attending the CD release show of last month’s cover band, Krupke. They were the opening band on that bill and I managed to catch some of their set, though for reasons which require far more explanation than I am →
I spoke to Krupke shortly before the very successful release party for their debut album, The Pony You Always Wanted Died Today earlier this month at the El Mocambo. It was a pelican of a time. There were no pelicans there. That I saw, anyway. The pelican: This band: Photo by Matthew Filipowich Krupke. Krupke →
So these past few months have been pretty slow for transit. Or at the very least, relatively scandal-free, which leaves me with relatively little to rant about. No major announcements. No negative press, because let’s be honest, the TTC can barely afford any more bad buzz at this point; no positive press, because let’s be →
Recently I was asked by a friend for input into the cover art for his band’s record, which is set to be re-released with, you guessed it, a new cover. It had been discussed and decided that a new look might be just what the doctor ordered to get the most additional mileage out of →
Due to last month’s interview with local cycling advocate queenpin Yvonne Bambrick, I was unable to comment on the outrage that was the now infamous budget cuts that have basically rendered Transit City a David Miller vanity project at best. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for me, this past month has been pretty slow on transit-related news, →
The opinions expressed in the first few paragraphs of this column are in no way related to the interview that follows. They are expressly the views of the author and should not be taken as being connected to those of the Toronto Cyclists Union. Earlier today (April 13), it was announced that this summer will →
A simple request: Dear Kevin Drew, Your new songs are cool. However, I must humbly implore you to please stop trying to make Still Life Still happen. Still Life Still is not going to happen. That is all. Sincerely, C.S. Folkers Usually, when we think of local indie labels, our minds stray immediately to the →
Late Sunday night slash early Monday morning: Canadian Music Week and my sixth straight night of concert going is now over. A thin sheet of mist is currently dusting Toronto like the produce aisle of a grocery store. I’m exhausted, my head is spacey – I feel like my brain has been effectively liquefied – →
And people wonder why there was a fare hike. It costs absurd amounts of money to operate a large-scale transit system, let alone to improve and upgrade it. I’ll never understand, though, why it seems to cost so much more to build new things here than it does in Europe, where subway extension is a →
The history of The Band is easily one of the most fascinating in the canon of popular music. We all know the story: four Canadian dudes and another American dude form under the banner of being rockabilly mainstay Ronnie Hawkins’ back-up band, have a falling out with Hawkins, become Bob Dylan’s band, go off on →
So… it was a weird month for the TTC. Off the bat I should point out that this piece slanders just about everyone involved in any recent TTC-related news, as well as a certain faction of TTC riders, and also the Toronto Star. The moral of this story: everybody sucks. Full disclosure: I suck too. →
Here is a fairly legitimate neo-blue-eyed–soul outfit coming out of Calgary. Growing up in the territory of that city’s bitter hockey enemy, Edmonton, seventeen-year-old me would never have believed that anything worthwhile ever came out of Calgary. Hell, I would never have allowed it. Which of course isn’t to say that Calgary is devoid of →
Old Man Luedecke loves life. That’s about the long and short of it. If you take anything away from this piece, I’d prefer it if you think of Nova Scotia’s favorite singin’ banjo man as a guy who really digs living. And playing his banjo. Perhaps the most content guy in the world, Luedecke (who →
In the later months of 2009, the TTC announced the approved designs for four of the six new subway stations to be implemented as the Spadina Subway Extension. This past fall saw architectural plans for Highway 407, Steeles West, York University and Sheppard West stations brought to the table, which leaves the far less glamorous →
If there’s one thing I can really appreciate in music, it’s things that cannot be described easily. Musical projects that defy the classic Who-Meets-Who model and that cannot be tied down accurately without necessitating a lengthy explanation are likely to intrigue me the most. I suppose by that measure then, I must be totally flipping →
Bet all you commuters to York University are feeling pretty smug these days. You, with your fancy new bus lane, bet you’re feeling on top of the world; or at least as on top of the world as you can be until your subway finally comes rolling in to pick you up from in front →
So, OK. The first time I tried to write this piece, it just turned into a standard write-up of an event that I went to and it very pointedly didn’t engage with the ideas presented therein at all. I even started it in the standard way that you would start an article revolving around cycling. →
According to my macbook’s built-in dictionary: gam-bol verb (-boled, -bol-ing; Brit. –bolled, -bolling) [intrans.] run or jump about playfully : the man gamboled toward Connie. noun [usu. in sing.] an act of running or jumping about playfully “I guess this explains why I don’t really dance, I confuse running and jumping with dancing. I like →
Photos by Matthew Filipowich// Steel Bananas’ Photo Editor, Matthew “The Pro” Filipowich and I are sitting at some ill-lit corner booth at the ancient West End haunt, the Lakeview Restaurant on a dark, wet and miserable evening. I’m wrapping up the “official business” section of our meeting with Toronto’s the Schomberg Fair, a band that →
These are some guys. These are some serious guys. These are some guys who take their name from a Jane Austen novel, but play one of the most deafeningly loud and intense live sets you are likely to catch in this town. These are some guys who are so ballsy as to openly and thoroughly →
When last we left our time-traveling rock and roll heroes, Jacqui, Steve and Liam, they had just slain the terrible dragon, known to many a villager as Shitty Music. I’m not going to give a full recap of their previous adventures, but needless to say, the Balconies kicked some serious ass all over time and →
Ted Killin Tuesday Sept. 29, 2009: Banana Boy took an easy cross-country jaunt into Sneaky Dee’s, only to be blown clear across the room by a shockwave of a larger-than-usual dose of PURE UNADULTERATED ROCK! He has, ever since, turned mystic and reads premonitions… of the future, which is how I know about the event →
Tinto Coffee House 89 Roncesvalles Avenue @ Marion Roncesvalles is littered with coffee joints, yet we’ve never ventured out there for our Caffeine-Buzzing purposes. What’s up with that? I don’t know, but it was something that needed to be rectified and rectified it certainly was. The Chief and I, we hopped on the 501 at →
September 22, 2009 Continuing on with our fruits and veggies thing that we’ve got going on, Steel Bananas recently launched a monthly reading series called the Monthly Eggplant to be held on the third Tuesday of every month – though this was not the case for the first instalment. Hilariously enough, the event, a joint →
Last month I was the fill-in guy for Nancy on Weird News, today I am holding up the mantle for everyone’s favorite cranky bastard, Mr. Daniel Bernstein. I’ve always enjoyed Trailer Trashin’. Furthermore, I’ve always enjoyed being something of a cranky bastard myself, so it makes perfect sense that when Young Daniel was unable to →
Living in the West End, I don’t often journey to Leslieville. I wish I did. I like it there – it’s a good place. Alas, it is rarely meant to be as my chronic North-of-Bloor-Syndrome is coupled with a crippling East-of-Parliament-Malady. It is a sordid state of affairs… Fortunately for those of us enjoying our →
I make a mental note to remember Tony Dekker’s constant fidgeting, tracing his fingers around the staples that hold a piece of plastic to cover the table he sits at. He circles them, he pinches them. He does all this ungracefully and nervously. He appears so tense, exhausted, perhaps even wired; truly the mastermind behind →
Awards are, almost as a rule, more than slightly lame – that much is to be certain and it is without a doubt an overwhelmingly silly notion to judge an artist based around the number of awards that adorn their bathroom walls, regardless of the credibility of the giver. No matter who is involved in →
photo/Ingram Barass As it turns out, Joel Plaskett is exactly as nice of a guy as I had thought he would be before I met him, if not even more so: it was almost gratuitous how disgustingly charming he is. If I’m not careful, I’m going to have a big, fat, wet and sticky crush →
Considering that we at Steel Bananas just gratefully received an exceedingly generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, surely it is entirely inappropriate for me to – on the heels of this phenomenal event – go right ahead and mention that the way in which the Canadian government’s Heritage department allocated funding to →
Our fabulous regular Weird News columnist, Nancy Situ has been experiencing some technical difficulties as of late and was unable to present the grotesque and hilarious results of her web scouring this month. However, we at Steel Bananas feel that to not give our readers a dose of the strange happenings around the world would →
John O’Regan; every time I’ve seen the unreasonably tall musician and artist in person, he’s been wearing a vintage basketball jersey. I don’t know what the deal with this is. I’m not sure if he really just likes basketball, really just likes irony or really just has a thing for sports swag. Perhaps some things →
Canadian cinema: the very mention of such a phrase is liable to make some gag with terror as images of Paul Gross, mountains, mounties and bad jokes about Anglo/Franco relations stream violently through their heads. Indeed, when Men With Brooms and Bon Cop Bad Cop are the most prevalent Canadian films to be released in →
[Photos/Matthew Filipowich] Jason Ball, the man behind the lush sixties-pop throwback project, Hopeful Monster, has just put more sugar in his coffee than I ever thought was possible. Has he recently spliced his DNA with that of a fly and I’m Geena Davis? It strikes me that this would be a perfect opportunity to compare →
I’ve said this on the SB blog and I’ve probably said it a bunch of times in other places, but Fox Jaws totally saved my fucking Friday that one time. We were wandering around Little Italy and Kensington for hours looking for a decent band, but alas, all we caught were generic indie-rockers, tasteless girl-punks →
Lined up along Whyte Avenue – essentially Edmonton, Alberta’s equivalent to Queen West – for the weekend of July 10-12, over 230 E-Town-area visual artists set up shop in front of the many pubs and stores along the strip to sell their wares and get a little work done in the unseasonably cold weather. November’s →
“I’m kind of cooking dinner while I talk to you, I hope that’s Okay?” I’m informed midway through my telephone interview with Annie Clifford, banjo-player and co-frontperson of Kingston’s twelve-piece bluegrass band, The Gertrudes, whom I recently saw tear down the Rivoli on the last night of this year’s NXNE. It strikes me as somewhat →
The Most Brutal Burnout Ever So listen, the 60s died brutally. We all know that. All that optimism and goodness, the fond things, just got absolutely suffocated and beaten down by too many years in the jungle, unforeseen technological advances and the inevitable rise of globalization. The Beatles broke up in 1970. Looking back, as →
Chris Eaton is a man who likes his narratives like he likes his schemes for world domination: elaborate. Truth be told, as per my interview with the Toronto-based songwriter/novelist, I was unable to ascertain whether or not this jovial, bearded troubadour indeed had aspirations for any sort of global takeover (I assume not, but you →
The primary question posed at the panel discussion on the Art of Children’s Books at OCAD was a very simple one: what is a good picture-book? Is it the writing, the illustrations or a combination of both? Is it a given book’s ability to appeal to both children and adults, or is it the book’s →
Ninety years is a pretty big gap by today’s standards. While in the past it was entirely commonplace for whole millennia to just zoom by without much really changing in the way of, well anything, what with the rate that things progress these days, fifteen minutes ago might as well have been a bygone era. →
My first Luminato experience this year – or ever really as I was scarcely aware of the seminal arts fest until this year (my bad!) – was an installation from New York City-based artist Tony Oursler called Forty One – Five, a collection of three (though I only saw two because I couldn’t find the →
After that self-indulgent wankfest that I wrote last month on the Balconies, I’ve been hard-pressed to figure out what to do with myself in present and future articles. Even King Frankenstein, our esteemed Assistant Editor asked me how I planned to up the ante this time – and with great skepticism and apprehension I might →
The Beatles as Postmodernists As with most things Pop-related, the best place to start this madness is with – yeah – The Beatles. It is utterly impossible to escape the relentlessly extensive range of their mighty influence – and all the same, why would you want to? Opposed to the vast majority of the Pop →
“We want the death of rock and roll. This is the music of the minions. This sound is a terminal condition.” -Constantines, from “Arizona” (2001) Typically, or at least, from what I’ve gathered, the venerable Postmodern Stamp of Intensity, when it comes to music only seems to pertain to that most discerning of musics: the →
I feel like I’ve fallen into a kind of formula with my interview pieces lately. I dunno… it sort of seems like they all fit into a pretty strict format and personally, I don’t condone this repetition; it’s boring. Typically, when I set to writing out a piece after doing an interview, the result seems →
Do you ever find that when you try to do anything productive in your house, you always just end up reading arbitrary Wikipedia pages and back-articles from Pitchfork? Does the combination of rumbling roommates, a cat that’s always doing something weird and having all of your personal belongings in one spot make accomplishing things a →
For years now I’ve been telling people that there are few material things in this world I’d like more than a banjo, and people always think I’m being ironic – “Yeah, a banjo, that’d be great! Ha! Ha!” – because you know, banjos are for like rednecks and such. I still don’t have that coveted →
“I’m probably the most Canadian French-Canadian I know,” chuckles Antoine Bédard, usually known by his electro-moniker, Montag, to which I inwardly sigh a heavy groan of relief. Have I become so complacent in my Canadian ways that I forget that to ask a staunch Montreal Man like this a question like “how would you describe →
You know that it’s kind of a weird day when it’s eleven at night and you hear your roommate waking up to go to work for twelve; you hear him rumbling around, coughing or whatever, and you’re sitting there trying to write your piece half thinking that you’ve stayed up all night sitting at your →
“I make music that I enjoy the most. It’s really all about me; I basically just make music for myself. Call me selfish… but if people dig it, that’s cool. I don’t try to fucking cater to anybody.” So I’m hanging out at the Rivoli over a few pints of Amsterdam Blond with Toronto’s DJ →
Ah, the Man-Crush, is there anything more beautiful or more hilarious? I implore you, do tell, for I can’t think of anything. What could possibly be better than watching one man (especially if he’s the sort of chap who maintains an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality) unashamedly swoon and fawn over another man? All signs →
Canadian Music Week isn’t so much a week as it is a Canadian Music Weekend. It runs from March 12-14 at venues all over town. It would certainly seem, judging by the official poster, that the organizers of the twenty-sixth annual Canadian Music Week festival and conference don’t want you to come to their event →
I’m at least fairly certain that the vast majority of the hits to Zeus’ Myspace page are from me. Ever since I first saw them at Lee’s back in October with Jason Collett and Rock Plaza Central, I have been checking back to their site with frightful regularity for at least two reasons: one – →
Jane’s Party - The Garage Sessions (Self-Released) www.myspace.com/janespartyband Aside from maybe a handful of Brit-Pop records here and there, I’m fairly certain that the most recent album that Jeff Giles owns is Deja Vu. The primary songwriter and keyboard-player of local troublemakers, Jane’s Party, has such an acutely developed lyrical and musical style, so thoroughly rooted in late-sixties folk-rock, →
Say what you will about Dinosaur Bones (bearing in mind that as of this writing, I have heard nothing negative about them), say what you will about indie-rock and the Toronto scene and all that other jazz; just ask yourself this: do you get your eight glasses of water a day? Be honest- you don’t. →
Actual Trivial Pursuit Question: How many blowholes does a toothed whale have? I got it wrong; it’s two, apparently. I thought it was one – what do teeth have anything to do with an animal’s respiratory system? Unless every whale, when it’s developing it’s teeth, doesn’t quite know what to do with them (like humans) →
2008 was weird for a lot of reasons and for a lot of people (for such reasons). It’s a weird time to be a Canadian and indeed, a citizen of the world; everything just seems to be in limbo. For one thing, we don’t even have a government anymore, technically, what with parliament prorogued and →
He takes me in his arms and embraces me tenderly, yet firmly with one hand cradling the back of my skull and the other reaching across the plain of my back and he squeezes me and whispers something to me and I tell him I’ve missed him, where has he been, and he replies by →
Ashcliffe October 2, d. Martin Scorsese, w. Laeta Kalogridis, Steven Knight, s. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley Martin Scorsese’s first post-Departed flick has a fairly badass cast and is based on a novel by the same dude who wrote Mystic River (Dennis Lehane), which I enjoyed despite not really →
I once said that Will Sheff from Okkervil had the best hair ever. As it turns out, Jason Collett can definitely compete for the title. That guy has awesome, awesome hair. I should do an entire post devoted to comparing their respective haircuts. This is just one of the many perils of the omnipresent Man →
Yesterday I was reading Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, for school – a novel I was determined to find mildly amusing at best – when I came to a point about two-thirds through where I was forced to rest the Norton Critical Edition on my chest, take a long swig of my beer and exclaim to →
Jane’s Party w/ Big Stero Thursday, November 6, 2008 C’est What, Toronto I think that the moment I realized that I actually like Jane’s Party more than I originally thought I did came about midway through their hour-long set when I was trying to plan out in my head how I was going to write →