Picture This is not your typical art show. Young artists show their work and display it cautiously, but they are relaxed, easy-going, extremely talkative and...buzzed.

My old roomie and friend Mike Juneau is an OCAD student who originally attended the University of Guelph-Humber. After one year of being in a program he was disappointed in, he decided to apply to OCAD with high hopes of being accepted. Juneau's photography, documentaries and artwork were well received and now he is in his second-year at OCAD, discovering more about his artistic belonging in the city.

Juneau decided to make photocopies of sketches/drawings from a black book filled with analogies and ideas. Juneau explained, "These drawings have been a collection of over three years."

Mindi: I know that you started a new band since the Tangiers named Jewish Legend, but can you tell us what makes Jewish Legend so different from Tangiers music-wise?

Josh Reichmann: Tangiers is a rock band - always was A.A. true rock band. We covered a semi-large spectrum of feelings within the rock paradigm, but still rock. Jewish Legend sounds like the wind, like the sad, like the joy of re-birth, like honesty, like pomp, like flutes, thumping organ, and the body conscious rhythm of the saints. Or less straight forward but more open.

Mindi: Are the Tangiers completely over and out or will there ever be a reunion?

Josh Reichmann: Tangiers may live again. James is becoming a lawyer and I'm becoming a shaman- the combo could be a spectacle at least.

The live show of a musician is the true representation of an artist. It is all right there in front of you; the voice, the struggle, beauty and ugliness. When a dry mouth opens so awkwardly, but then a beautiful noise escapes. The picture might not look good, but goose bumps on an arm feel good.

One thing is for certain: Watching Emily Haines is not watching Metric. Sharing piano solos and quietness between word and rhythm, Haines captured the spotlight purely by being a singer/songwriter and not a "sex" icon.

That raw quality is what Emily Haines has been sharing with us since she stepped foot on stage with Metric. But now, we see her differently. Her lyrics are wise and her hands aren't holding a microphone, but rather, cradling a piano.

My old room mate Mike Juneau and fellow artists Jesse Ewles and Todd Julie will be showcasing illustrations and paintings tonight at the Tranzac.

I checked out OneLooseBoot and Flaming Unicorn Skeleton from the flyer and they are visual music production/promo designers who have worked with Broken Social Scene, Four Tet and Imogen Heap.

Nevermind the art! Rockers Cities in Dust, Rock Plaza Central and The Carps! will be playing and Shit Le Merde will be spinnin'. How sweet!

The doors open at 8 with a $7 cover.

photo credit: mike juneau

Richie Volume, Love Lee and Loveke are The Hoa Hoa's -- pronounced Wha Wha's -- and everyone is a vocalist. These three personalities are fun and eccentric. Just picture a bright ball that never stops bouncing around from wall to wall, yeah, that's my metaphor of them.

The Hoa Hoa's released Flower Flowers in April 2005 and have been writing new songs since. The album has 11 songs about love, darkness and hope. There is some Cure influence from albums Seventeen Seconds and Faith heard in guitar parts, but this is what makes The Hoa Hoa's wonderful, they are familiar, therefore comfortable.

I met up with poet Rocco de Giacomo at the Java House last week to talk about his new poetry collection Leaning Into the Mountain. De Giacomo, 34, was nice enough to give me a free copy.

Influenced by contemporary poets, de Giacomo enjoys the book Know Your Monkey by Elyse Friedman and doesn't deny having Allen Ginsberg's audio recording of America on his ipod.

"When I was 21, I had a really rough two months and during that time, the actual writing helped me get through it," de Giacomo said. "As I took writing more seriously, I realized how much more natural it was for me to do it."