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Soundstreams, Dusk Dances, and the Latte Art Smackdown: T.O. Events for July 18-August 1, 2013
Journalist and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman reads from his latest collection of essays entitled I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real and Imagined). 6:30PM-9:30PM. July 23. Gladstone Hotel. $8-$10. The 19th annual Dusk Dances Festival brings contemporary choreography to Toronto’s public parks. Host dancers lead neighbors, kids, and passersby into dynamic dance routines.…
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Never Mind the Musicians: Toronto’s Bill Wood
In this series, Trevor Abes sits down with local lights in the Toronto music scene. Since 1986’s hit album Just In Time To Be Late, former Eye Eye vocalist Bill Wood has had a family and started a successful renovation business. Yet his dedication to music has never waned. In 2007, he released a solo…
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Young writer workshops, Mad Pride, and George Elliott Clarke’s Beat Café: T.O events for July 4-July 20, 2013
Repair Café Toronto gives household items a new lease on life. Visitors can bring in broken computers, small appliances, small furniture, lamps, clothes, and jewelry and learn how to fix them with the help of volunteer professionals. 10AM-2PM. July 6. Skills For Change (791 St. Clair West, 2nd floor). Free. The 20th Mad Pride Toronto Festival revels…
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Culture Hawker Chronicles: Patrick Grant and Kops Records
In this series, Trevor Abes gets to know the people behind the counter at Toronto’s music stores, book shops, and art galleries. Patrick Grant has his hustles. He’s been the general manager at Kops Records going on four years and he sings lead in Patrick Grant and the FleshVignettes, an indie rock sextet with soul and funk influences. He…
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Fringe, Florence, and the Female Eye: T.O. Events for June 20-July 4, 2013
Book Self-Publishing: Production, Marketing, and Distribution is a crash course for writers looking to bypass the traditional trade publishing route. Learn about design, E-books, ISBN registration, and the legal avenues available to protect written works. 6:30-8:15 PM. June 24. Brentwood Library. Free. The 2013 Fringe Festival is a theatrical spectacular that stages 148 performances ranging from…
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Portrait of a Record Store: She Said Boom! Roncesvalles
She Said Boom! takes its indelible name from the first song on Toronto post-punk band Fifth Column’s All-Time Queen of the World. It has two locations (393 Roncesvalles Ave and 372 College St), under separate but amicable ownership, that serve two very different communities. The College store is close to Kensington Market and the University…
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Jazz, journalists, bpNichol, and the roaring 1920s: T.O. Events for June 6 – June 20, 2013
Coach House Books is celebrating the release of a new collection by bpNichol, entitled a book of variations: love-zygal-art facts. The night will be hosted by the book’s editor, Stephen Voyce, and features readings by Margaret Christakos (What Stirs, Multitudes) and Paul Dutton (Aurealities), plus a short-film screening by Justin Stephenson. 7PM. June 6. No One Writes to…
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Stars, Sistahz, Ed Keenan, and Thomas King: T.O. Events for May 23-June 6, 2013
The largest event of its kind, the CONTACT Photography Festival brings together local and international artists at over 175 venues across Toronto. This year’s theme, Field of Vision, focuses on how photography affects imagination and our apprehension of the everyday. May 1-31. Various Venues. Free. Just like its name, rock.paper.sistahz is a dynamic, multifaceted festival…
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Forging Connections at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (2013) was not your average convention. People weren’t dressed in carefully considered costumes or walking around in character stockpiling freebies indiscriminately. Set in the Toronto Reference Library over the second weekend of May, the intimate space lent itself to discovery and spontaneous conversation more than sweaty-palmed, star struck fervor. TCAF opened…
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Record Store Review: Kops Records
Founded in 1976 with a focus on soul music and mod subculture, Kops Records (229 Queen St. West) is Toronto’s oldest independent record store. It’s known for housing the largest selection of seven inch 45s in Canada and for an abiding dedication to musical roots. According to General Manager Patrick Grant, “[Kops] specializes in unveiling…
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Staff Selections: Ellis Iyomahan
The resident IT expert at Play de Record and owner of Studizzy Productions recently sat down with me to talk DJing, music, and life. Born in Oslo, Norway, to Nigerian parents, Iyomahan has been living in Toronto for the past four years, and has produced tracks for the likes of Susie Kylie, Jhyve, and the late…
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Record Store Review: Grasshopper Records
Enveloped in a neck-protecting aura of Wu-tang posters, busted amps, Star Wars figurines, and portraits, the vinyl-only Grasshopper Records (1167 Dundas St. West) feels like your coolest friend’s apartment if everything in it went up for sale. Decked out with two black pleather couches and a club chair with armrests wide enough to hold your…