This Week in Music rounds up the latest news, releases and concerts coming to Toronto.

Toronto concert announcements totally off the hook
The time for next year's big concert announcements has officially arrived. From Lady Gaga and One Direction to Xiu Xiu and Perfect Pussy, music fans are perking their ears up like pups at dinner time. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks? Yes please. Another Arcade Fire $how? Whatevs, sure. I've plugged a bunch of new concert announcements below, but definitely add more in the comments - we need this adrenaline to get us through winter, right?

Trust announce new album

Trust are like that goth who puts on gold glitter makeup and charms everyone on the dance floor by knowing all the words to every Ke$ha banger and every Kate Bush ballad. Their new album Joyland has been slated for March 4, 2014. You can watch a trailer - really more of a teaser - below.

Long Winter to get even more all ages, merge with AGO 1st Thursdays
The Long Winter series was already all ages, but now they're having a special afternoon session just for hip kids - maybe because at the main events, the smaller little squeakers would get smushed. You can bring your cute little ankle biters to The Great Hall on Saturday, December 28th to see Ali Eisner, Hooded Fang, The Woodshed Orchestra, Space Chums, Clara Venice, Lido Pimienta, and Unfinished Business. If you don't go, your kids might miss out on being the next Broken Social Scene. Find out more here. Long Winter is also taking over AGO 1st Thursday on January 2, 2014. Snowblink, Doomsquad, Isla Craig and Henri Fabergé will perform and Katie Stelmanis of Austra will DJ.

Makeout in the new Kevin Drew video
Broken Social Scene leader Kevin Drew has put out a casting call for couples to make out (or possibly more???) in a new music video. "The video will be a visual documentary composed of artful photography featuring diverse couples of various ages (25+) and orientations engaged in passionate and intimate sexual moments... You and your partner must be prepared and able to be in various states of undress and comfortable performing on camera." Have fun y'all.

Dine Alone Records announces Alexisonfire box set

This stacked boxset is a gift giver's head-scratcher - you can't buy the box set until 12:01AM EST on December 25. Check it out at Alexisonfire's website theonlybandever.com. Hypothetically if Alexisonfire were the only band ever I'd be sad, but at least there's a lot of stuff to chose from.

New Toronto music videos

Damn, Metric's new video is good. It's a mini short film with lush colours and a touching little magical realist story. The vid was directed by Yes Yes Y'all's Sammy Rawal, whom we interviewed last year. Watch "Lost Kitten" starring Sheldon McIntosh below.

Toronto ex-pat Aidan Baker (Nadja) released a video a few weeks ago for ‪Already Drowning‬, his collaboration with Toronto artist ‪Clara Engel and the title track from his female vocalist-fronted, water-spirit centric album from earlier this year. The dark, DIY vid captures the drunken, tormented, Berlin-ian mood that the album got down so perfectly.

Hot tickets

Sean Nicholas Savage / December 9 / Double Double Land (209 Augusta) / 9pm / $10
For a long time it seemed like weirdo lo-fi poet Sean Nicholas Savage didn't fit in to Montreal's vibrant buzz band export scene. Now fans outside MTL are finally taking notice of his bleeding heart and strange, basement loner R&B folk thing. Savage's vocal experimentations flit between the creepiest new romantics of 80s pop and How to Dress Well - who admittedly aren't that different at first listen, but you know what I mean - and old rock strangers like Chris Bell. Don't miss seeing this in an intimate spot tonight. Sing Leaf and Ice Cream are also on the bill.

Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires / December 12 / 8pm / Kool Haus (132 Queens Quay E) / $25.50
How excited for Charles Bradley are you? Bradley's been called revivalist (as in his sound echoes soul of the 60 and 70s) but one listen to - or look at - this guy makes it clear there's no summoning of the dead going on here. Bradley's admittedly old-souled Americana R&B touches on the truest nerves of life in a way music rarely does, or ever has. The Kool Haus gig will be a treat.

Local hot tickets

Wired City Music Festival / December 12 / Various venues / PWYC/$10/$15
In what could either be a fun way to spend a Thursday or an overambitious head scratcher, a team of Radio and Television Arts students at Ryerson are throwing the Wired City Music Fest. 5 bands will play 3 venues throughout the city - Bruce Peninsula, ColinResponse, KC Roberts & The Live Revolution, Union Duke, and Long Range Hustle will play gigs at Adelaide Hall, Measure and Ryerson University. Every performance will stream live at each location. In a city where 5 band bills for local shows are common, I'm actually not sure if this project is ambitious enough, but the concept (and investigating the question of whether or not they can pull it off) could be fun.

More local gigs:

• Bespoken - a local supergroup composed (heh) of Nick Storring, Brandon Valdivia (Mas Aya, Pachamama, Not The Wind Not The Flag, Picastro), Matthew Ramolo (Khôra), and the two artistic directors of chamber music group the Thin Edge New Music Collective, Ilana Waniuk (violin) and Cheryl Duvall (piano), will play at the Tranzac on Tuesday, December 10th.
• The next Long Winter will be Friday, December 13 at The Great Hall (1087 Queen St W). The all ages, pay what you can show includes performances by Doldrums, Hooded Fang, I am Robot and Proud, Beliefs, Fresh Snow, Nick Ferrio & His Feelings, Demolition, Milk Lines, Omhouse, and LLVK.

Recently announced concerts

• The Wooden Sky's Annual Holiday Revue, Sunday, December 29, 918 Bathurst (918 Bathurst St), $20
• The Class of 2014, January 11, 17, 18, 24, Silver Dollar, $6
• Kevin Devine, January 11, The Drake Hotel
• Perfect Pussy, January 25, Silver Dollar
• Pup, January 31, The Garrison
• Phosphorescent, February 1, The Mod Club
• The Black Angels w Roky Erikson, February 11, The Phoenix
• Com Truise, February 12, Wrongbar
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, February 22, Lee's Palace
• Xiu Xiu, March 9, The Garrison
• Lady Gaga, July 9, Air Canada Centre
• One Direction, August 2, Rogers Centre
• Arcade Fire, August 29, Molson Amphitheatre, tickets on sale Dec 13

What we got up to this week

• The top 5 bars to see drag shows in Toronto
• July Talk & Frank Turner defeat the Sound Academy

Photo of Trust by Brian Morton