Live music picks for WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23 through TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23 / HEARTBEAT HOTEL / DRAKE HOTEL UNDERGROUND / 1150 QUEEN ST W / FREE / 19+
WILLIAM NEW's Elvis Monday series moves to a Wednesday this week, with a featured performance by HEARTBEAT HOTEL a new group whose mind-melting psychedelia points to the future of Toronto's underground music scene. Don't miss THE PEOPLE OF CANADA's opening set!
www.myspace.com/heartbeathotelwilleatyoutoo
www.myspace.com/thepeopleofcanada

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24 / KIDS ON TV AND DIAMOND RINGS / GLADSTONE HOTEL / 1214 QUEEN ST W / 19+
Toronto party-starters KIDS ON TV have been putting on fun, '80s-electro-influenced shows that mix fashion, performance art and music for years now, releasing their new "Shape Shifting Mutants" EP on the Blocks Recording Club with a double bill featuring D'URBERVILLES frontman John O'Regan as his new-romantic alter-ego DIAMOND RINGS.
www.myspace.com/kidsontv
www.myspace.com/diamondringsmusic

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26 and SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27 / THE HOLD STEADY / LEE'S / 529 BLOOR ST W / $2.50 / 19+
THE HOLD STEADY are quickly becoming one of the strongest contenders on the indie circuit to break through into the mainstream, with a sound that owes more to the classic rock of BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and BOB DYLAN than the obscure art-rock favored by many of their Brooklyn peers. Catch them now before they return to T.O. as arena-sized pop/rock hitmakers!
www.myspace.com/theholdsteady

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26 / HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE / OPERA HOUSE / 735 QUEEN ST E / $20 / 19+
This nine-piece Chicago jazz group features eight brothers (all sons of legendary jazz musician Phil Cohran) on trumpet, trombone, saxophone and sousaphone, backed by drummer Christopher Anderson. They've served as a backup band for high-profile artists like MOS DEF and BLUR, as well as recording with ERYKAH BADU on her latest album, and released ten recordings on various labels over the last six years.
www.myspace.com/hypnoticbrassensemble

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26 / WHITE LIES / THE PHOENIX / 410 SHERBOURNE ST / $20 / 19+
Less than two years after the formation of the band, London's WHITE LIES have become one of the UK's hottest new bands, performing at massive music festivals this summer such as Oxegen, Glastonbury and T in the Park, with a sound similar to the post-punk revival of bands like INTERPOL and EDITORS. Knowing the British media's penchant for quickly chewing up new artists and spitting them out, one can only hope that they prove to be more than just a flash in the pan.
www.myspace.com/whitelies

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27 / WAVELENGTH 482 / SNEAKY DEE'S / 431 COLLEGE ST / PWYC / 19+
Toronto's music institution Wavelength is moving for the first time in seven years, following ex-Sneaky Dee's booker Shaun Bowring to his new venue The Garrison at Dundas & Ossington. Don't miss this last Sunday night showdown featuring Burlington indie-rockers SANDMAN VIPER COMMAND, electronic artist THE SALES DEPARTMENT, and spacey pop from LET THERE BE LIGHT and DEBBIE SUEDE.
www.myspace.com/sandmanvipercommand
www.myspace.com/thesalesdepartment
www.myspace.com/lettherebelux
www.myspace.com/debbiesuede

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28 / BAJOFONDO / OPERA HOUSE / 735 QUEEN ST E / $25 / 19+
This South American music collective effectively blends acoustic tango music and electronica for a chilled out, open-minded sound that has been embraced by fans of world music, techno and trip-hop alike. The perfect soundtrack to a summer evening, BAJOFONDO arrive here a little late, but are more than welcome to stay!
www.myspace.com/bajofondomardulce

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28 / ARCTIC MONKEYS / KOOL HAUS / 132 QUEENS QUAY / ALL AGES
ARCTIC MONKEYS will forever be known as the band that eclipsed OASIS for having the fastest selling debut album in the history of the UK, 2006's "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". Their speedy, lyrical sound has dominated the British airwaves in the years since, and the band seems to be on a roll, already releasing their third album and exploring new sounds courtesy of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE frontman JOSH HOMME.
www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29 / KMFDM / THE PHOENIX /410 SHERBOURNE ST / $22.50 / 19+
One of the original pioneers of industrial music, German group KMFDM formed in Europe in 1984 but relocated to America to join in the early industrial scene along with bands like FRONT 242 and MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT. Unlike almost all of their peers however, they've managed to outlast the boom and subsequent decline of industrial music in the '90s, retaining a hardcore fanbase and keeping a tireless recording and touring schedule that sees them releasing an album or EP every year since 1986. www.myspace.com/officialkmfdm

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29 / MICACHU AND THE SHAPES / EL MOCAMBO / 464 SPADINA AVE / $13 / 19+
22-year old singer Mica Levi studied classical music at an early age, and combines her musical training with a love of UK hip-hop acquired in her teens to create a unique genre-bending style, transcending genre boundaries with a mishmash of sampled sounds, home-made instruments and experimentalist pop hooks.
www.myspace.com/micayomusic

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Photo by Kylah on Flickr.