Hot Ticket: Rich Aucoin, Pete Samples, Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda, Baths, Braids, Hooded Fang, Maylee Todd, Little Girls, Eric Chenaux, Grimes, Akron/Family & Delicate Steve
Live music picks for WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16 through TUESDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2011.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16 / RICH AUCOIN / THE DRAKE HOTEL / 1150 QUEEN ST W / $10 / 19+
The Rich Aucoin and Friends Tour stops by The Drake Hotel Underground, bringing their experimental dance-pop tracks - like "Brian Wilson is A.L.I.V.E." and the Daft Punk-inspired "Push". Rich Aucoin's newest EP is Public Publication - a four-track collection with a cover adorned with fans dancing, their arms in the air, a wild disco waiting to bust right out of the CD. Rich Aucoin's music is definitely best experienced live, full of colourful glow lights and rainbow parachutes. Joining Rich Aucoin will be indie-electronic artist Pete Samples.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 17 / WILD NOTHING / WRONGBAR / 1279 QUEEN ST W / SOLD-OUT / 19+
Wild Nothing's debut album Gemini warmed the hearts of a lot of music writers last year. Their singles "Summer Holiday" and the dreamy "Live in Dreams" made it onto every shoegaze and indie-pop list. But don't let the fact that the show is "sold out" stop you from checking Craigslist for tickets. Also, you can head down to Wrongbar to see whether they're selling extra tickets at the door. This is a must-see show. Opening for Wild Nothing will be L.A.'s Abe Vigoda.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19 / BATHS / EL MOCAMBO / 464 SPADINA AVE / SOLD-OUT / 19+
Southern California's Baths - aka Will Wiesenfeld - is another example of an artist from the bedroom noise factory. Named for the range of colours in the blue spectrum, his 2010 album Cerulean is a fluid and layered masterpiece, comprised of looping vocal lines, dusty beat echoes and sonic glitches. Montreal's Braids, who released their Native Speaker LP last month, joins Baths at El Mocambo.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19 / THE WAVELENGTH 11TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL / THE GREAT HALL / 1087 QUEEN ST W / $11 / 19+
If you didn't get a chance to buy your $33 all-access pass to the five-night/five-venue Wavelength Festival, you can still purchase a ticket to go see Toronto breakout band Hooded Fang and jazz-funk/R&B superstar Maylee Todd, along with Little Girls, Eric Chenaux and Grimes at The Great Hall on Saturday night. $11 sounds crazy for this amazing line-up, so be sure to arrive early.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 20 / AKRON/FAMILY / HORSESHOE TAVERN / 368 QUEEN ST W / $10 / 19+
Akron/Family's fifth album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT is a science fiction, electronic-pop playground. The album cover features a volcano glowing red on a blue backdrop of space, and it's no surprise that the tracks radiate and burst out like the Northern lights. End the week with the musical phenomena Akron/Family at Horseshoe Tavern with opening band Delicate Steve.
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Lead photo of Rich Aucoin by Ming Wu
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