Ticket / CD Giveaway: Germans, Racoon Wedding, Schomberg Fair, Black Hat Brigade @ The Garrison, Toronto, 28 Nov.

Let me get right to the heart of the matter: this is your chance to get your hands on 4 CDs and 2 tickets to one heck of a local music showcase, all for the price of $0. Interested? Read on.

On Saturday, 28 November, Toronto's the Garrison plays host to four local(ish) bands. Two Narratives favourites, Black Hat Brigade and the Schomberg Fair, kick things off, followed by Brantford's the Racoon Wedding---who will be celebrating their CD release, and ending up with Germans. The whole thing will cost you $7 at the door (or nothing, if you win tickets from me). Black Hat Brigade haven't played in a little bit, and I'm itching to see them perform in this venue. Should make for a good combination. The Schomberg Fair have been touring all month, letting people all over Canada know about their awesome "speed gospel" sound, and getting the word out about their great new disc, Gospel. (Exclaim was recently suitably impressed.) I've never seen the Racoon Wedding, and Germans---well, I'll be glad to see them perform in a proper venue where they won't have massive technical troubles.

Here's a taste of what you'll be in for.

Download: Black Hat Brigade, "Zombie City Shake" (Fathers, 2009).
Download: The Schomberg Fair, "Trouble Will Soon Be Over" (Gospel, 2009).
Download: The Racoon Wedding, "Basement or the Attic" (Gather Gather Bones Rattle Rattle Truth, 2009).
Download: Germans, "I Am the Teacher" (Cape Fear, 2006).

Courtesy Zygiella, Two Way Monologues, and the bands, I've got a pair of tickets to the show to give away to one of you. In addition, this is a mega prizepack, and includes a copy of the new Schomberg Fair full-length, the Racoon Wedding disc, and two Black Hat Brigade EPs. For a chance to win, send me an email (historyjenATgmailDOTcom) by 11:59pm on Thursday, 26 November. Please put "MEGA prizepack" in the subject line, and your full name in the body. 19+ only, of course.

Fine Print: Germans, The Racoon Wedding (CD release), The Schomberg Fair, and Black Hat Brigade @ The Garrison, Saturday, 28 November, 9pm, $7.

P.S. Germans' "I Am the Teacher" video is v. cute.

Free Download: Black Hat Brigade offers "Zombie City Shake" for your Halloween Enoyment

Via Twitter Toronto's Black Hat Brigade offers up a free download of their song "Zombie City Shake" to get you in the Halloween Spirit!

Grab it at http://drop.io/bhbzombie!

Black Hat Brigade - Zombie City Shake

Hi-Hat Records and Friends Celebrate New Compilation

Hi-Hat Recordings, the record label of Spooky Ruben, the Schomberg Fair and others is celebrating the release of a new compilation album (Hi-Hat Comp #4) with two nights of music at the Rancho Relaxo.

On Friday September 4 (Facebook Event Page) Hi-Hat will present

Wildlife
Spookey Ruben
Black Hat Brigade
Sandman Viper Command

On Saturday, September 5 (Facebook Event Page) it's going to be:

Cut Throat Britva
the Job
Sitcom
Invasions

Each night is $7 or $10 with the new CD, Doors at 9 - Rancho Relaxo, 300 College Street in Toronto. So, if you're looking for some inexpensive weekend fun, want to see some of the cities up and coming acts and want to do it in a place where they serve killer fried, stuffed jalepenos and sangria downstairs - head on out!

New (free) Sampler from Zunior: w/ Black Hat Brigade, Analog Bell Service & More

Zunior is back with another collection of free stuff. They do this on a fairly regular basis in the hope of whetting your appetite for some of the music. All you need is a Zunior account (also free and they don't spam you) and you can download their latest collection which includes the Paper Cranes, Black Hat Brigade, CFL Sessions, Milks and Rectangeles, Analog Bell Service and more ...

http://www.zunior.com/product_info.php?products_id=2608.

Zombie City Shake - Black Hat Brigade at CMW '09

Secret Sessions @ Tara: Black Hat Brigade

The Secret Sessions @ Tara have posted the Black Hat Brigade session recorded on July 11:



You can download the session and watch video for it from Aux.tv at secretsessionstara.com where you can also find sessions by Barzin, Oh No Forest Fires, The NXNE Session (with Holler, Wild Rose, the Paint Movement and Josh Reichmann), Great Bloomers, and The Ghost is Dancing!

The next round of Secret Sessions is going to look like this:

August 1
THE FRAMEWORK
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

August 8
FINAL THOUGHT
MICHOU

August 15
THE JUNCTION
THE MOST SERENE REPUBLIC

August 22
GRAVITY WAVE
ARIETTA

August 29 (**Session starts at 8pm. 19+)
THE BOOKS ELUSIVE
THE BALCONIES
MODERNBOYS MODERNGIRLS

Toronto: Free All Ages Secret Sessions @ TARA

Aux.TV and TARA (The Audio Recording Academy) in Toronto are partnering for a set of free, all ages sessions starting tomorrow night in Toronto with the Ghost Is Dancing.

The sessions will be recorded by the TARA students and available for free download. They will also be put up as a podcast on iTunes. AUX TV will provide exclusive coverage of the sessions and feature interviews and footage each week.

Tomorrow's Secret Session starts at 5 pm at TARA (554 Queen Street East) and future sessions look like this:

JUNE 13 – GREAT BLOOMERS
JUNE 20 – NXNE SESSION – Holler, Wild Rose!, The Paint Movement, Josh Reichmann
JUNE 27 – Oh No Forest Fires
JULY 4 – Barzin
JULY 11 – Black Hat Brigade
JULY 18 – The Artist Life

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Herohill makes some Polaris predictions.

iheartthemusic interviews Black Hat Brigade.

Sunparlour Players cancel western tour dates.

Consequence of Sound reviews Rock Plaza Central.

jctrevors has a nice photset of the Superfantastics at the Dome in Halifax.

BlogTO interviews Black Hat Brigade.

Out Of This Spark has info on an upcoming Tribute to Royal City - to be held in Toronto and Guelph.

Radio 3 has info on a doc about Vancouver's vanishing music (and cultural) venues.

Coverters & Black Hat Brigade at Cafe Dekcuf

On May 22nd i(heart)music got Black Hat Brigade to Ottawa.
It is their third time in Ottawa.
I was happy to see them again.
I guess you can say "Third times a charm"??

The first band to play was an Ottawa band called Converters.
From what I was told from Matt of i(heart)music was that it was either their second or third show meaning that they are new band.
They were great, rocking it up.
The lead singer sound very much like Roy Orbinson.
Maybe they will get to play more show in Ottawa and beyond.


Waiting a few more minutes for Black Hat Brigade to set up.
They have alot of equipment to put up on the stage and it was crazy.
They were very amazing and love their high energy sound.
They are a band you have to see live. Why? Because each members (minus the drummer) alternate turns in playing a different instrument and vocals.
Its great to see the dynamic of the band and never gets boring if its the same old routine.
I recommend that seeing them live.

Get their new CD called "Fathers"

I (Heart) Music v. SOCAN II

It would appear that, through tremendous support from readers, musicians, bloggers and others that I (Heart) Music will continue. Through a combination of donations of money and music and a settlement with SOCAN the blogger/promoter will be able to settle with SOCAN and continue to blog and produce live shows. First, it was announced, that in addition to monetary donations that a number of musicians have dedicated songs to a benefit CD:

"I'm extremely grateful to everyone who's helped out, and all the people whose name appears to the right will be rewarded for their generosity in the form a compilation album that I'm in the process of putting together. It's going to feature new, rare and unreleased tracks donated by the likes of Bonjour Brumaire, The Burning Hell, Amos the Transparent, These Electric Lives, Black Hat Brigade and a whole bunch of other great artists (including some other big names who are just in the process of figuring out what songs they can provide), and it's my way of saying thank you in a non-email way.

Second there is a very interesting tidbit of SOCAN info in the post that does not seem to be widely known:

"I also learned that, contrary to what a lot of people have told me in the last week, just because a show costs less than $6, it doesn't mean that it's exempt from SOCAN. It only means that SOCAN doesn't have to reimburse artists for those shows. I'm going to repeat that, since everyone I've told that to has responded with a stunned silence: SOCAN is legally entitled to royalty payments for every show in which either one member of a band is a member of SOCAN(or one of the songs performed was written by a SOCAN member), regardless of the show's price. If a show is greater than $6, then the SOCAN-member bands are allowed to apply to be reimbursed for performance royalties (starting at $75 per show). If, however, the show is $6 or less, than SOCAN gets to keep the money. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the logic of that, but, apparently, it is the law. So that defence didn't work either."

Third there is a benefeit show coming up - see image below or visit I (Heart) Music and read the whole thing.



Cheers to the music community for pulling together and helping to keep a good thing going, in spite of SOCAN!

Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade

I suspect everyone here is on board with how awesome the Black Hat Brigade is, so, the fact that Fathers is pretty excellent shouldn't really surprise anyone. What might surprise you is the range that the band shows in their new 8-song album/EP.

You might also be excited to learn that they've got a few shows coming up, in particular, Torontonians will want to check out their May 29 CD release at the El Mocambo as part of the Pitter Patter Music Festival ...

See the full post at the BM.

Zygiella Podcast #36

Jen and Tyler on stuff coming up in Toronto including Beth in Battle Mode, Ghost is Dancing, Black Hat Brigade, Woodhands, how the can go about becoming fraternal twins without actually being related and other really important stuff!


download here