Tag Archives: Toronto

SHAD | PEACE

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Oak and Oar

With his new album, Flying Colours, coming down the pipeline, Shad has released a little snippet entitled ‘Peace’. Peace will not appear on the full length follow-up to TSOL but sheds light on the direction of the album. Inspiration for ‘Flying Colours’ include, “Kyle Mooney, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Eli Stone, Queen/Spadina, Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, my friends, my family, 30 Rock, We Are the City, Tolstoy, good weather, and the idea that trying is worth it even if you fail.” What more can you ask for… “I thought I would share this rough mix of a new song (that wont be on the album) with you called “Peace”. It’s part of a group of new tracks I’ve been working on since April, and it sort of explains a bit of where my thinking arrived after working through so much in the process of recording the full-length. Some thoughts on the challenge of living peacefully in a violent world, of having hope and having fun in a world where it’s easy to despair, and accepting our own successes and failures and making some kind of peace with ourselves.” Via SHADK

Documentary | Big Lake Surf

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Oak and Oar

Film maker Quinn Merkeley set out on a documentary here in Manitoba featuring the Landlock Surf Crew. The Manitoba based crew, consisting of  Tom Stimson, Colin Fuchs, Stephen Carroll and Will Bergmann (whom for the record allowed us the use of his barn to shoot our first Homegrown video with Del Barber), have spent years, not only perfecting the art of lake surfing, but hunting for the ideal surf location on Lake Manitoba that today is only referred to as location X. I would love to know the amount of miles these guys have put on their cars pursuing their passion. The hunt for location X begins. _________________ Quinn Merkeley is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’ Lab and the National Screen Institute’s Totally Televisino program. He studied filmmaking directly under Ron Howard through all phases of production on the Universal Studio’s feature, Cinderella Man. On top of that he has four feature film scripts and numerous television series currently optioned. (via. NiceProductions)  

WEEKEND PLAYLIST | ‘BORN TO RUIN’ – Wildlife

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Oak and Oar

“…On The Heart”, Wildlife’s sophomore album, will be available everywhere March 5th, 2013 “The heart is a funny thing. It’s strong, vulnerable, vital, but unlike most of the important things in our lives, it’s not protected by bricks or kevlar. Unless you have a kevlar heart.. and if so, where did you get it? Can I have one? For the rest of us, we put ourselves out into the world blind and unguarded; we love, we live and sometimes we get hit (possibly hard). When we mess-up or get messed- up, our hearts help us use those mess-ups to learn, to light the way, and get a bit closer to a less messed-up truth. Wildlife has always kind of been about a similar kind of thinking. We’re all in this together, so lets get movin’, always forward, never back, don’t dwell on the past, let’s build on our mistakes, try new things and stop pretending you know everything cause you don’t and that’s annoying. AND That’s pretty much what our entire first record was about! Strike Hard, Young Diamond  (our first record) was a study of letting go, an observation of youth, what it means to be young, reckless, naïve and all of the incredible things that can come out of happy accidents. We used themes of adventure, exploration and vitality to explain jumping into the dark, deep water not knowing or caring where you came up for air. I guess it only makes sense that our new record is about realization. It probably asks more questions than gives answers.  The one answer it does give is really nothing new, but it has a lot of meaning to me either way, which is why we call it “…On The Heart”. We view it as an essay, a love letter, a tribute to the heart itself. Everything … Continue reading →

PLANET TORONTO | RYAN EMOND

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Oak and Oar

Planet Toronto from Ryan Emond on Vimeo. Ryan Emond at it again with the time lapse of Toronto. Toronto Tempo. “Over the years I have been inspired by my personal travels and popular documentaries like Planet Earth. I’d watch the various episodes for hours, developing my shooting style from what I saw. After the creation of Toronto Tempo last year I had the opportunity to jump around to many different countries and work on diverse and intriguing projects. When I came back to Toronto I was approached by Tourism Toronto to create a short piece on the city. They wanted to do something entirely different, they wanted to come away from the standard tourism video, so I figured I would step as far away from those videos as possible. I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to push my shooting style by employing a purely observational perspective. I intended to capture the city in distinctive form— I wanted to make this piece different. By utilizing time-lapse photography and slow motion to capture intimate moments, I was able to draw attention to what we might overlook, or only offer a passing glance to. I want to represent how we move through the city; how the weather moves through it and how the city breathes, transforms and grows each day. Much like other cities, Toronto is a place you have to experience to feel the energy and emotion that pulses through the streets and neighbourhoods. I hope that I can give you a brief glimpse of the beauty, and motivate you to come explore for yourself.”

TIMES NEUE ROMAN FEAT. RICH KIDD | LATE NIGHT TORONTO

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Oak and Oar

Lots of good music coming out of Toronto these days. The most recent getting some shine is duo Times Neue Roman. They released ‘Late Night Toronto’ about 8 months ago but came out with some visuals this week. The track features some vocals from Toronto’s Rich Kidd. The video itself tours Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford (rather a hand-made mask, portraying Mayor Rob Ford) through the infects of the city. “The mask becomes a vehicle to explore the dark and decadent geographies of Toronto after-hours”. However all that aside I think the part that had me hooked was the vocals by Colleen Rennison of No Sinner. No Sinner is a Vancouver-based rock and roll quartet comprised of Colleen Rennison (vocals), Eric Campbell (guitar) and Ian Browne (drums). I just recently came across their stuff (and by recently I mean because of this track). They have a really smooth and polished sound. If people are still on twitter you can check them out here. In conjunction with the song and video, they’ve also built a interactive Tumblr page to document Toronto’s after-hours happenings. Instagram users can tag #LateNightToronto on their nocturnal photos, and the images will automatically appear here: http://latenighttoronto.tumblr.com/ Follow @TimeNeueRoman

The Weeknd | Wicked Games (New Version)

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Oak and Oar

It was announced that Toronto native, The Weeknd, will be releasing his three mixtapes; House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence in the form of a mastered and re-edited trilogy. Among them will be this newly mastered version of “Wicked Games” which will be the first single of the set. The trilogy is slated for a November 13 release with Universal Republic. The Weeknd will take stage at the Burton Cumming Theatre in a weeks time.

COLIN MUNROE | UNSUNG HERO

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Oak and Oar

Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer Colin Munroe released his latest mix tape project this week entitled Unsung Hero. The Gower Ontario native continues to gain ground and make a name for himself as an emerging Canadian artist. Unsung Hero is sure to over shadow his earlier acclaim that has consisted of features with Wale, Asher Roth, Nottz’s and Kendrick Lamar. Unsung Hero meshes electronica, hip-hop and a touch of dub step and features the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, RZA, Cassie and Pusha T. Scars N’ Stars is sure to be on repeat today. DOWNLOAD

THE COVER | JOSEPH SOMO

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Oak and Oar

Denison, Texas native, Joseph Somo covers two of Canada’s biggest exports. First The Weeknd’s ‘The Morning’ off of House of Balloons and then a 6 minute rendition of Drake’s album ‘Take Care’. You can download these tracks here. (via. TheHardStyles)