Anthony Seck’s Feist documentary, Look at What the Light Did Now,  is going to be showing at SF’s Noise Pop Festival at the end of February. It takes a look at Feist and her group of collaborators, the people she calls her “amplifiers” — a range that includes Broken Social Scene, Peaches, Little Wings, Gonzales, and Kings of Convenience.

The tunes should be good, and I can’t imagine anything Feist-related would be difficult to watch. The doc is actually already out, but until Noise Pop picked it up I hadn’t heard of it. Watching it in a theatre will certainly dial up the charm factor.

Good new music venues rarely pop up around town so the Garrison on Dundas Street West is a welcome addition to the landscape.

Thanks in part to its smoking hot location and a well-known booking agent, the Garrison has made quite the name for itself in a relatively short time. Housed in a space that was once a Portuguese sports bar, the bar has a cozy front room and a large back room with a stage and tons of room for dancing. Already on the way to institution status the space has already hosted well-known local parties such as Turning Point and Trampoline Hall, and live acts like experimental punk band, Aids Wolf, and queer electro pop dancers, Kids on TV. Just this past month, Iowa legends, Leslie & the Lys, had the crammed venue jumping in a sweaty dance party.

Another great venue to open recently is The Annex Wreckroom. This space has existed in several previous incarnations  including The Tequila Lounge where I saw Peaches perform with Tracy and the Plastics in the 90s but now it hosts local DJ nights and brings in Canadian and international talent. It will be one of the many venues for Canadian Music Week coming up in mid-March.

I recently saw home-grown girl, Peaches, in concert and it was a true spectacle.  With multiple costume changes, from hairy suits to sparkly spandex, Peaches can do no wrong.

She played many of my favourite sexy tracks, some from her new album I Feel Cream and her outrageous antics on stage kept the capacity audience screaming and dancing all night.

Amanda Blank, the Philadelphian Spank Rock and Santigold collaborator, opened for Peaches.  Peaches-like, she delivered quick rhymes with a down and dirty vibe while wearing gorgeous spandex rock outfits.  A truly great show.

Portland’s sweethearts Gossip just released an awesome new album, Music For Men.  It’s awesome and hot. Beth Ditto’s sexy, soulful voice ALWAYS delivers.

Is Shitgaze the new Electroclash?

Performer of all things sexual, Peaches packs a more adult punch with her new album, I Feel Cream.  This album is phemomenal! Less electroclash than her former albums, this one’s smarter, more streamlined, and yet sassy as ever.

A super epic, crazy mishmash of mashups like you have never, ever heard,  DJ Girl Talk features hits from today and way back when, scrambled together in the coolest ways yet. Have a listen, or a sweaty dance party. You will freak out!

Girl Talk “Smash Your Head” (mp3)
Girl Talk “Hold Up” (mp3)
Girl Talk “Bounce That” (mp3)

It seems that great concerts usually happen in the summer in Toronto but this fall features a great slate of shows. The highlight of the month was Kylie Minogue on her first ever North American tour.

The girl can sing and put on one of the best performances I have ever seen, in any genre. Every single person at the show (10,000 strong) met Kylie’s enthusiasm with a 2 hour sing and dance-along.  Adorned in Jean-Paul Gauthier and Alexander McQueen, and backed by her endowed, err, talented dancers, Kylie gave it her all and the ecstatic Toronto crowd, which must have included a majority of the queer boys in the city, ate it all up.

Keeping the dance-floor going has been the goal of some amazing Toronto natives playing shows this fall.  Dragonnette did it last week at the Mod Club, and at the end of month one of my personal favs, Peaches,  is venturing home to play her raunchy classics, as well as newer dance beats from her latest album, I Feel Cream. It’ll be interesting to see what Peaches says about her homecoming on her tour blog.

Some imported acts with shows coming up include The Gossip, Mum and UK darlings, Florence and the Machine.  All in all it’s a good fall of music in T.O!