Indie Music 85 (25 June - 1 July 2009).

I'm trying out a different format this week. Let me know if you hate it.

Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto, all for $10 or less. If I'm missing something you think I should list, or you have any comments, let me know. I star (*) shows that most interest me.

Like this list? Join my Facebook group to get my weekly Toronto indie music listings. Subscribe to my weekly podcast (or download the episodes) here, or through iTunes. Or just listen to the latest one, and all the other ones, at Zygiella. Make sure to check the rest of my blog for show reviews and photos, giveaways, and downloads.

Last week was all about NxNE. See my posts from the last few days for much more about that. And stay tuned for special NxNE podcasts in the coming weeks. (No regular podcast this week, sorry.)

Tonight (Thursday), Ohbijou releases Beacons at the Opera House w/ Great Bloomers, and Evening Hymns (playing as a 7-piece!). Tickets are $13; worth it. Or else go party with the Miles, the Sweatshop Hop, and others at the Drake, $5 (before midnight). The Drake’s serving until 4am. At Rancho Relaxo, check out The Shotgun Wedding Band, The Natural Shocks, Australia’s The Boy Who Spoke Clouds, and The Quantum Jitters. $6. Ronley Teper & her Lipliners will impress in the Tranzac’s front room, 10pm, pwyc. Clothes Make the Man and Hijack Delta are at the Bovine tonight, $5, while The Key Frames and friends play at El Mocambo, also $5. The Toronto Acoustic Songwriters Collective presents An Acoustic Roots Revue featuring Chris Assaad, Lisa Marie Kruchak, Liam Kearney, Brooke Harris and hosted by Rhythm Nomad at the Cameron House, 9pm, $8. Glory Glory Man United, !ATTENTION!, and
Birmingham are at the Boat, $5.

Tomorrow (Friday), there's the Royal City tribute show at Tranzac, $10, or else head to the Horseshoe for a great lineup: Sunparlour Players (CD release), Hylozoists (vibraphones are sexy, eh?), and Wayne Petti & the Thieves. That's Wayne Petti from Cuff the Duke's new band. This show is also $10, only at the door. Sneaky Dee's has a stacked lineup, including weirdos Pony Da Look, Nifty, and Animal Monster, only $5. At the Silver Dollar (cover unknown, but maybe $6?), you can catch Hurry Hard, Jetset Motel, The Strumbellas, and The Jessica Mitchell Band. Rancho Relaxo is hosting rock bands Poisonous Glass, A Northern Drawl, Christian Zucconi, and Cold Dead Hands ($6). For rock of a different sort, Anagram and Catl (2 sets) are playing at Mitzi’s Sister. Not to be missed, if it’s your thing, $5. The Trauma Tone Festival, also billed as “The Toronto Extreme Music Fest” takes over the wee Rearview Mirror tonight and Saturday. Details here. The Darlings of Chelsea release their new disk at the Velvet Underground with an early show (starting at 9pm) at the Velvet Underground, $8. Jane’s Party kicks off their summer tour at C’est What, $5. Orangutan, Cody Elliott, The Youngest, and Daunting Village are at the Press Club, pwyc.

Start your weekend off with a free, all-ages acoustic set by the usually hyperactive Oh No Forest Fires, 554 Queen St. E, 5pm. Saturday night, there's that show at the Horseshoe for which I’m giving tickets away (Modernboys Moderngirls w/ Everything all the Time, The Balconies, and Gentlemen Husbands, $6). Zunior (“the little digital music store”) celebrates its 5th anniversary by taking over the Tranzac. All the details are here. I may opt for free tonight: Islands, Gentleman Reg, Kids On Tv, and Hooded Fang are all playing as part of Pride, on the South Stage, starting at 8pm. Oh my! (There’s lots more free music all weekend.) LICE and TONNN release their split 12" with friends Ancestors, 10,000 Watt Head, and DJ/MM/YYYY (cute) at the new Poor Alex (772A Dundas St. W, upstairs), 9pm, $5. The Assistants and The Cheap Speakers got a gig at Neutral (part of the last Kensington Station night), $6. Fleece Elves, The Suncapades, and Universe 326 take over Mitzi’s Sister. At Odds With Even, The Boo, Yoshi, and Jay McCaroll are at Smiling Buddha, $5. Just around the corner from where I live, a local group is putting on the Light Up Our Alley Street Festival. Bands performing include Revolution Love, The Sure Things, Gutstrings (The Winks side-project), Sick Friend, Ten Thousand Creatures, and more. It’s free and happening in the alley at Dupont/Spadina.

On Saturday and Sunday the 6th Annual Toronto City Roots Festival takes over the Distillery District, with free music all afternoon and into the evening/night. For more details, click here.

This is outside my usual price range for these posts, but I will let my love for all things Wavelength win me over: Magik Markers w/ Mouthus, Gastric Female Reflex, and Wasted Nymph. This one’s happening outdoors on Saturday, in the Music Gallery courtyard (the church at 197 John St.). Music’s at 9pm, $15 at the door; less in advance, for Music Gallery members, and students. The Music Gallery is also hosting another show as part of their Summer Courtyard Series on Sunday night. Seeing Veda Hille, Christof Migone, and others will set you back $20, or less in advance, for MG members, and students.

Wavelength itself is happening Sunday night, as always: Bombs, Pick A Piper (!), Pace the Stairs, and Ace Kinkaid, all at Sneaky Dee’s starting at 9:30pm, pwyc. Also that night, Burn Down the Capital brings Zs, Child Bite (!), Feuermusik (!), and Talk Normal to the Boat, $8. Steamboat's summer residency at the Dakota Tavern continues tonight, $5, with "special guests Andy Swan and Matt Murphy as well as a mind shattering horn section!" Wow.

I went to my first Elvis Monday this week (I know, finally), and it seems like these free Monday shows are the place to be if you live anywhere near the Drake (and even if you don’t). Mondays are also free at the Horseshoe Tavern.

Tuesday brings The Hoa Hoas, The Zoobombs, Mother Murder, and the Owle Bird to the Silver Dollar, all for $8. High recommended. Check out 4 bands for free at the Horseshoe: Tenn Fold, A Fourth World, Crash Karma, and Bury the Bully. Melissa Bathory releases her new album with help from The Wilderness of Manitoba at the Parkdale Drink, 9pm, $10.

Celebrate Canada’s birthday on Wednesday with Zeus (who impressed me during NxNE) at the Dakota Tavern on Wednesday night. This one’s presumably a $5 cover. (Re)live your punk rock youth at Siesta Nouveaux (Eating Glass, Fortune Teller, Brick, Scarred Love, Homesick, and Double Cheeseburger), 6pm, $10. If you’re feeling more indie, head over to the Drake Underground for The Lovely Killbots, The Paint Movement, and Provincial Parks, $5. Catch the Constantines and Chad VanGaalen at Harbourfront, 8pm, free. At 3pm, Criminal Records hosts Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, free and all ages, of course. A band will be playing on the marquee of the Bloor Cinema at 7:30pm, performing "Blue Velvet," "Love Letters," "Crying," "In Dreams," and "Get Back." For more details click here. There's a million other awesome things happening.

Missed anything? Let me know!