We're finally pushing full steam ahead with a Canadian summer and we literally could not be happier about it. It's time to ruin all your jeans forever and turn them into cut-offs and start thinking about which music festivals you are going to get sun burnt at. To make things easier for you, our friends at Bear Flag wine are giving away some passes to this August's Grove Festival in Toronto. All you need to do is take a photo of a Bear Flag ad (on the street, on our website, or in our cool magazine) and submit it to the Bear Flag website. Easy, right?But, in case you’re super unlucky when it comes to contests, or not around the Toronto area, we put together a list of our must-see acts for this spring and summer’s season of music festivals across Canada.
How can you not be curious about the young boy turned rap star who disappeared to Samoa for over a year to learn about life on a maturation retreat? Odd Future has been through Toronto and Canada at large a few times—but never with Earl. We’re not really sure how good his live set is going to be at this point but that’s what makes him a must see. It’s the curiosity that’s driving this forward. Plus, with his new, debut album just around the corner hopefully there will be some exciting new material.
Not only do they have a great name with a very clever misspelling to already suck us into their world, Majical Cloudz has been making waves from within their hometown of Montreal that have been reverberating out to the rest of the country and the world at large, thanks to the power of the internet. If you haven’t heard the band before you can either just stop reading this and poke around their Soundcloud or take our word for it when we say that it’s some really moody, deep dark singing over a sea of pretty electronic synth patterns. We’re sure they’re going to be playing like, 1000 showcases to keep feeding their buzz, so it probably won’t be hard to catch them.
Osheaga was a tough call but really it’s hard to ignore Death Grips. Their music is basically a wall of noise constantly assaulting your ears and face at all times, born from some kind of weird mix of punk and hardcore gangsta rap that really just fits together into this messy noisy package. It works. Anyone who has seen their live show knows how captivatingly awesome they are live—and given their recent controversies of canceling entire tours and messing with their record labels, there’s always the chance a story will erupt when Death Grips are around.
Maybe we’re a little biased since these guys showed us such a good time we got pho and beers with them but we literally didn’t think hip-hop inspired jazz would ever be interesting until these guys came around. These lovably awkward internet nerds make some of the most fun live music around—and yet it’s inspired by classical jazz. Citing influences like Lil B and Gucci Mane will infuse your music with wonderful based energy, we suppose. Make sure you check these guys out and show Ryan Hemsworth some love too. He’ll be DJing at the festival and also provides an excellent example, for any crowd he’s playing to, on how to have a good time.
Pissed Jeans sort of sound like telling everybody to go to hell, in a really gratifying way; the kind of way that feels like one of those hardly-ever-happen moments where you think of a great comeback at just the right time, or simply flip two birds at once in the face of a challenging situation, without any care for repercussion or reprimand. That’s probably why Pissed Jeans are so much fun. Also, seeing them live takes the band to a whole new level. Brad, the singer, is funny as hell and the entire band exudes the type of consistent energy pretty rare in live bands, let alone touring bands, of the hardcore genre. Have you ever seen their interviews? They have bruises and cuts all over their faces most of the time. Don’t miss them.
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GROVE FESTIVAL – EARL SWEATSHIRT
How can you not be curious about the young boy turned rap star who disappeared to Samoa for over a year to learn about life on a maturation retreat? Odd Future has been through Toronto and Canada at large a few times—but never with Earl. We’re not really sure how good his live set is going to be at this point but that’s what makes him a must see. It’s the curiosity that’s driving this forward. Plus, with his new, debut album just around the corner hopefully there will be some exciting new material.
NXNE – MAJICAL CLOUDZ
Not only do they have a great name with a very clever misspelling to already suck us into their world, Majical Cloudz has been making waves from within their hometown of Montreal that have been reverberating out to the rest of the country and the world at large, thanks to the power of the internet. If you haven’t heard the band before you can either just stop reading this and poke around their Soundcloud or take our word for it when we say that it’s some really moody, deep dark singing over a sea of pretty electronic synth patterns. We’re sure they’re going to be playing like, 1000 showcases to keep feeding their buzz, so it probably won’t be hard to catch them.
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OSHEAGA – DEATH GRIPS
Osheaga was a tough call but really it’s hard to ignore Death Grips. Their music is basically a wall of noise constantly assaulting your ears and face at all times, born from some kind of weird mix of punk and hardcore gangsta rap that really just fits together into this messy noisy package. It works. Anyone who has seen their live show knows how captivatingly awesome they are live—and given their recent controversies of canceling entire tours and messing with their record labels, there’s always the chance a story will erupt when Death Grips are around.
SLED ISLAND – BADBADNOTGOOD
Maybe we’re a little biased since these guys showed us such a good time we got pho and beers with them but we literally didn’t think hip-hop inspired jazz would ever be interesting until these guys came around. These lovably awkward internet nerds make some of the most fun live music around—and yet it’s inspired by classical jazz. Citing influences like Lil B and Gucci Mane will infuse your music with wonderful based energy, we suppose. Make sure you check these guys out and show Ryan Hemsworth some love too. He’ll be DJing at the festival and also provides an excellent example, for any crowd he’s playing to, on how to have a good time.
OBEY CONVENTION – PISSED JEANS
Pissed Jeans sort of sound like telling everybody to go to hell, in a really gratifying way; the kind of way that feels like one of those hardly-ever-happen moments where you think of a great comeback at just the right time, or simply flip two birds at once in the face of a challenging situation, without any care for repercussion or reprimand. That’s probably why Pissed Jeans are so much fun. Also, seeing them live takes the band to a whole new level. Brad, the singer, is funny as hell and the entire band exudes the type of consistent energy pretty rare in live bands, let alone touring bands, of the hardcore genre. Have you ever seen their interviews? They have bruises and cuts all over their faces most of the time. Don’t miss them.