Six Degrees of Canadian Separation
Winnipeg’s Boats (Sat., Beauty Bar, 8pm) drummer Shaun Gibson plays in fellow indie rockers and citymates the Details (Sat., El Sol y la Luna, 9pm), who toured with Vancouver off-beat popsters Mother Mother (Wed., Habana Calle 6 Patio, 1am), whose 2007 debut album, Touch Up, was produced by Howard Redekopp, who also mixed A.C. Newman’s The Slow Wonder. Newman’s niece Kathryn Calder sings in Victoria, British Columbia, trio Immaculate Machine (Sat., Habana Calle 6, 10pm), whose 2007 LP, Fables, features synthesizers from John Collins, who plays bass in punks the Evaporators (Sat., Habana Calle 6, 1am), featuring hilarious and controversial interviewer Nardwuar the Human Serviette, who famously interviewed Courtney Love (“Nardwuar, I hate your fucking guts. You’re such a pig”), who had a band called Hole, in which Melissa Auf der Maur (Fri., El Sol y la Luna, 12mid) played bass. – Darcie Stevens
WTF, Canada?
AIDS Wolf (Sat., Mohawk Patio, 9pm) Montreal noise quartet loves migraines.
Aun (Wed., the Music Gym, 10pm) Martin Dumais’ heavy, electronic minimalism from Montreal.
DD/MM/YYYY (Wed., Emo’s Jr., 12mid) Avant-garde math rock from Toronto’s mysterious fivepiece.
Delhi 2 Dublin (Wed., Copa, 1am) Vancouver fivepiece mixes sitar, fiddle, and electronics.
Katie Stelmanis (Fri., Speakeasy, 11pm) Tori Amos and Dan Deacon’s lovechild, from Toronto.
Lorrie Matheson (Fri., Momo’s, 7pm) Matheson’s vaguely Americana songwriting reveals love of Jandek and Wilco.
The Pink Noise (Sat., the Music Gym, 9:40pm) Toronto mystery in many ways.
Torngat (Fri., El Sol y la Luna, 8pm) Montreal instrumental trio experiments with French horn and electronics. – Darcie Stevens
Electro Dance Latinate
Selma Oxor (Wed., Wave, 9pm) Neon waves of frenetic sound and lithe female vox from Monterrey, Mexico.
We Are Standard (Wed., Karma Lounge, 9pm) Hypnotically danceable, impeccably mixed, and plugged-in via an extra-long extension cord from Spanish Bilbao.
Afrodita (Wed., Flamingo Cantina, 10pm) High-concept performance meets an undeniable affection for cumbia, zapped till extra-crispy from Mexico City. – Belinda Acosta
The Hip-Hop World Is Yours
CLP (Sat., Karma Lounge, 12mid) New EP Supercontinental would have you believe that Berlin’s CLP is up with Spank Rock, but the Boys Noize affiliate’s more often linked with Cali’s Zion-I.
SFDK (Wed., Esther’s Follies, 1am) Sevilla, Spain’s SFDK’s 2007 LP, Los Veteranos, attaches the duo’s silky flow to molasses-coated stomps.
Tommy Tee (Fri., Back Alley Social, 8pm) With 10 LPs released in as many years, Tommy Tee somehow still has time to make other people’s beats, including tracks with Smif N Wessun, M.O.P, and Sean Price. – Chase Hoffberger
A Haiku Tour of Portugal
Rita Redshoes (Sat., Aces Lounge, 12mid)
That’s a gentle voice.
Don’t take this the wrong way but …
My mom would like you.
Clã (Wed., St. David’s Church, 10pm)
Totally Euro
With an Eastern referent.
Pizzicato One.
The Legendary Tiger Man (Wed., Habana Calle 6, 9pm)
You stripped down the blues
And show titties in your vids.
Bet your ego’s huge.
David Fonseca (Thu., Stephen F’s Bar, 11pm)
All that emotion.
Sorry women caused you pain.
Here, have some Prozac.
– Michael Bertin
Eight Brit Unmissables
Primal Scream (Thu., Cedar Street Courtyard, 12:30am; Fri., La Zona Rosa, 12:45am) Screamadelica train-spotters uncorked both Dewar’s and fisticuffs at Ruth’s Chris Steak House during their last 512 riot/show. This time expect a (slightly) more Beautiful Future from the Glaswegian guitar-and-electronica godheads.
Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip (Thu., Aces Lounge, 11pm; Sat., the Scoot Inn, 10:20pm) Hyperintellectual, fully ineffectual hip-hop beardoes “Thou Shalt Always Kill.”
We Have Band (Thu., Latitude 30, 12mid; Sat., Volume, 12mid) Sexy Kitsuné up-and-cumming trio pets, shops, has girl, beatbox.
Dirtblonde (Sat., Emo’s Annex, 9pm) Dirtyfilthynastyrocknrollfuckers.
Fight Like Apes (Thu., the Rio, 1am) Pop-rocking Dubliners top Guinness in fookin’ ‘ell that’s brilliant! Test whilst singer MayKay’s supersonic squeal shatters pint glasses, eardrums.
Out From Animals (Thu., Wave, 10pm) Darwinian evolution no longer “theory.” Man + time = rock/roll/perfection.
Theoretical Girl (Sat., Latitude 30, 9pm) Brit-twee as f**k and twice as pretty.
Let’s Wrestle (Thu., Wave Rooftop, 11pm; Sat., Volume, 1am) They wish they were Hüsker Dü, but they’ve pinned the Fall. – Marc Savlov
Reggae Not From Jamaica
Doctor Krapula (Wed., Speakeasy, 12mid; Fri., Dirty Dog Bar, 10pm) Bogotá, Colombia’s ska Rastafarians punk you up.
Blue King Brown (Wed., Club 115, 9pm) Aussie posse pumps roots reggae and populist politics.
Bedouin Soundclash (Fri., Cedar Street Courtyard, 9:45pm; Sat., El Sol y la Luna, 1am) Canucks teamed with Bad Brains’ Darryl Jenifer to preach Street Gospels.
The Pepper Pots (Sat., Opal Divine’s, 11pm) Think Skatalites backing the Supremes with a Catalan accent. – Thomas Fawcett
What’s in a Name, Down Under?
Bang! Bang! Eche! (Thu., Maggie Mae’s Rooftop, 8pm) If “Eche!” is short for “Radio 4-esque danceable punk from New Zealand,” then we’re good.
My Disco (Wed., Soho Lounge, 10pm) Not disco at all. Math rock. With a small shrine erected to Steve Albini somewhere in Melbourne. – Michael Bertin
This article appears in March 20 • 2009.