Without a doubt, it's going to be a hot weekend for music in Toronto. There's that one certain music festival that everyone's talking about, but there's also something else you should be aware of - the Better Reasons Festival at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick); a very cool fund-raiser for a very cool cause.

The three-day pay-what-you-can event will raise money for Sketch, a Toronto-based group that creates art making opportunities for street-involved, homeless, and at risk youth.

Brant Bjork is in no danger of becoming a huge pop sensation, and that suits him just fine. As a founding member of Kyuss who's also served time in Fu Manchu and Queens of the Stone Age, Bjork has definitely earned his stripes in the riff rock world, and he's quite happy doing his thing his way.

His new album, Punk Rock Guilt, is a purely analog document of stoner metal that's truly been a "long time coming." Over the phone from his home in California, Bjork tells me "it's been on the shelf for about three years ... I hadn't been working on it. I just made it and then sat on it. It just kind of sat there and collected dust, and then we just realized now's a good time to release it."

If you're passionate about music, as I am, you tend to view time spent listening to a band as a sort of bizarre relationship, whether it be a casual flirtation or a full blown romance. Just so long as it doesn't turn into a case of stalking, all is fair.

I've been following R.E.M. for over two decades now, since the night I stumbled upon their first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman (when they played "South Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" before it even had a name). From that day on, I was hooked, slavishly devoted to the Georgian quartet's effortless melodies and Peter Buck's chiming, Byrd-ish guitar textures.

The idea behind Bellevue came about in September 2002 as Kingston resident Brent Hough packed up his guitar and his 4-track and moved to Toronto hell-bent to put together the band of his dreams. It turned out to be easier said than done, but after 5 years of hard work things are really starting to come together for Hough and company.

"I think we've had probably four drummers who've at least been around for a few months or more and then either didn't work out or whatnot," recalls Hough, "and a couple of different keyboard players. All in all, there's probably been at least twelve different people in the band. Luckily now we're at the point where we all get along and everyone seems to work well together."

To those familiar with Jim Ward's history - guitarist for post-hardcore ensemble At the Drive-In, frontman for alt-metal combo Sparta - his new band, Sleepercar might come as a surprise. No longer surrounded by Marshall stacks, Ward is now armed with an acoustic guitar singing country-infused tunes accompanied by very un-rock instruments like lap steel. It's almost as if the young man from West Texas has finally made his peace with where he comes from.

"I had been listening to the Old 97's for a couple of years," he tells me over the phone, "and I sort of started just finding my way into that world. And it took a long time (seven years) before it went any further." He actually started writing tunes for this band while he was still touring with At the Drive-In.

"I wanted it to be honest," says Ward. "That was my main thing. I didn't want it sound like I was nicking somebody else's sound."

Are local chip-pop darlings Crystal Castles a couple of common crooks? If you ask Belgian producer Lo-bat, the answer could surprise you.

It would appear that local duo have raised hackles within the Creative Commons community, who allege that the Toronto musicians violated Lo-bat's rights when they sampled his song "My Little Droid Needs a Hand" outside the provisions of Creative Commons licensing.

The song in question, "Insecticon," is currently listed on the band's label's MySpace page as CC vs. Lo-Bat, but that wasn't the case when the track first surfaced, and to many this doesn't go far enough.