December Monthly Music

It’s the end of 2010! Holy crap! Music has been really wicked this year, but you know what, we here at Dork Shelf are kind of glad we’re on to the next round. We’re excited for a fresh wave of newly made-up genres and themes. While this year gave us Kanye, teenage dreams, The Suburbs and more, next year could hold more west coast chillwave bands, danceable Brit Pop and hopefully a lot more interesting local Toronto bands (wink).

But it’s not over yet. December offers a nice roster of concerts to see before the year is caput. So get out your winter dancing boots!

AUSTRA - Katie Stelmanis
AUSTRA

This weekend, Toronto bands AUSTRA (enchanted, dark rock) and Little City (content folk-pop) both will be showing off some new sounds, with AUSTRA at the Bovine Sex Club on Friday and Little City at Velvet Underground on Saturday. Also, Halifax party man Rich Aucoin will be at the Supermarket on Friday, bringing the total count of times I’ve missed this man to somewhere around 20, I’m sure. He’s well-known for his colourful and crazy concert antics, so we have to see him before he gets even bigger!

Next weekend, Hooded Fang (happy pop!) are having their album release party at the Drake Underground, while British melancholic popster Badly Drawn Boy holds court at the Great Hall, both on the 9th. Broken Social Scene and Superchunk take up residence at the Sound Academy on the 9th and 10th, though only the 10th is still on sale at this point. Superchunk will play an in-store show at Sonic Boom on the 9th, at 3 p.m.

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Sandman Viper Command
Sandman Viper Command

Some holiday events will reign strong this month, with Audio Blood’s Two Night Stand at the Rivoli on the 10th and 11th. 10th features Charlotte Cornfield, Sandman Viper Command, Make Your Exit and more, while the 11th has Teenage Kicks, Clothes Make the Man, The Balconies and more. No Shame and The Singing Lamb will hold two holiday shows as well, with Germans, Bear Trees and Uncle Bad Touch on the 16th at Garrison and The Magic, Everything All the Time, THOMAS and The Winks on the 17th at the El Mocambo.

Before the month is up, there’s also The Darcys, Whale Tooth and Bravestation to catch at the Silver Dollar on the 18th, My Chemical Romance at the Sound Academy the same evening, and Jason Collett’s Basement Revue series at the Dakota, with only the 28th show with select tickets left (this is an ASAP matter).

Elliott Brood
Elliott Brood

This year, I’ll be bringing in 2011 musically, and I hope you will too. I’ll be at the Tranzac for their New Year’s Eve celebration, with Hooded Fang, Light Fires, Sister, The Wilderness of Manitoba, Dr. Ew, and more. Tickets are $15 in advance and doors are at 8. Other good NYE shows include Elliott Brood’s famously rockin’ show at Lee’s Palace and I know the Garrison has a show planned, but I’m not sure who will play yet.

Steve McKay
Steve McKay

Here are some musician suggestions for December fun. Steven McKay (of Bruce Peninsula) released his self-titled solo album in the fall, but it deserves some wintery listens as he offers quite the pick-me-up attitude.

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The Eatons, a fast-paced pop rock group actually make Scarborough sound kind of fun. They’ve just released their Handover EP.

Allie Hughes, who offers the female vocals on McKay’s album, is also becoming quite well-known around the city for her quirky solo work. She’ll release an album in the upcoming year, but she has a show on the 17th at the Mod Club with Sweet Thing, which is mysteriously titled as a Christmas Wedding on her website…

As always, for more music musings, visit my website, RoundLetters.



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