Enigmatic singer/songwriter Chris Adeney (aka Wax Mannequin) could be Hamilton's answer to Hawksley Workman. His vocal stylings are very comparable to Hawksley's, and they both seem to inhabit the same head space in terms of melody and lyrical sensibilities.

Refusing to be pigeon-holed, Wax Mannequin has just released his fourth full-length album Orchard and Ire (Infinite Heat/Sonic Unyon) and is currently on a cross-Canadian tour in support of it. He plays the Cameron House tomorrow night and it is PWYC before 10:30pm.

Why Wax Mannequin? What's so good about Hamilton? Why does he not mind this shitty summer we're having?

Keep reading for the complete interview.

While the Rogers Picnic at Fort York got rained on throughout most of the afternoon and evening, the crowd made the most of it, cheering along 10 bands and half a dozen DJs.

It was a family affair and I was surprised to see so many youngsters. I mean really young. Perched atop his daddy's shoulders was Julien Moise, a 21-month-old, attending his second concert already, albeit wearing his own hearing protectors.

"He came here last year, wearing these," said Julien's father Sebastien. "He even went to the Molson Indy with me wearing them."

In this instalment of "10 things" we talk with Johan Hultqvist, frontman of Toronto's Mr. Something Something, about bicycles, alternative energy, African rhythms, and green living.

Skating, wakeboarding, music, and all kinds of summer fun are coming to the islands on Saturday, when Wakestock 2008 takes centre stage.

Hip hop acts RZA, GZA, and Classified are among those taking to the stage at the festival, AND the afterparty at Sound Academy will feature DJ sets by Toronto's own K-OS and Lil Jaz, AND it also happens to be the Toronto finals for the DMC Canada DJ Championships. Saturday has the potential to be one heck of a day out in the city.

Here's a chance to experience it all. Continue reading for your chance to win passes to both Saturday events, and a copy of RZA's latest CD.

Berlin-based DJ duo M.A.N.D.Y. are leading the pack right now in the melodic techno/tech house genre. They have massive cross-over appeal as DJs because their minimal sets are filled with crisp beats and bass, but the tracks they like (and produce themselves) usually contain simple melodies that creep into ears from out of nowhere. That's what sets them apart for me, and I can't wait to see them at Randomland this Friday.

Between playing regular gigs at a North York bar and the writing and re-writing of an epic project, Toronto musician Darryl Costello always finds time to use his skill as a songwriter to brighten the lives of children.

Darryl is one of 120 songwriters around the world who write personalized songs for chronically and terminally ill children and young adults as part of a charity called Songs of Love. Over 15,500 children have received songs as part of the charity since its inception in 1996, and over the past couple years, about 30 of them have come from Darryl.

I spent an afternoon with him to watch and record how he writes a song. Continue reading to see and hear an audio slideshow of the process.