NEW Pack A.D. Video - Battering Ram.

N2D Show Alert! Sept. 12 @ Villains Beastro  Windsor, ON

The Pack ARE BACK!

The N2DS2W Holiday Gift Guide

"I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that."

If you're feeling like Lucy Van Pelt, we're not here to open up a psychiatry booth. But we might be able to help in the gift suggestion department. Because A Charlie Brown Christmas wouldn't be the same without the music of Vince Guaraldi, here are some of our favourite ideas for Canadian indie-themed musical gifts and more. After all, when all else fails, give what you really want and if it loves you, it will come back. Or something like that.

1. Bait and switch. Upgrade your family and friends to Canadian indie. Is your dad into country? He'll love Corb Lund or Lindi Ortega. Does your brother like Nickelback (our condolences)? Give him Arkells. Grandpa has the blues? Turn him on to catl. Grandma's into music from the 40s? We recommend Jill Barber and Belle Plaine. How about some Elliott BROOD goodies? Folk, hip hop, electronic, world, pop, 13 Days of Christmas by some great PEI bands...there's a Canadian indie upgrade for every genre, and you don't have to stand in line outside the Apple store to get it.  (**Disclaimer: these suggestions are for representative purposes only; they're a mere fraction of all the bands we love.)

2. I made you a mixtape. Minimal budget? In the spirit of suggestion no. 1, make your loved ones a mixtape of free (and at least partly if not all Canadian indie) music. And then guilt them later into buying the album(s). Here's a few for starters:

• Zunior compilations
• Paste Magazine Holiday Sampler 2012 (28 songs!)
• Dine Alone Records Holiday Sampler

3. CBC Radio 3 merch. Also your chance to drop heavy hints that you'd love some R3 merch for yourself. And if your recipients aren't into Radio 3 quite as much as you, they might like some CBC Retro.

4. Good for one live show. Remember how much your mom loved those coupons you made for her when you were a kid? You know, "Good for one vacuuming." Make a grown-up version: "Good for one live show." We're not talking about $200 tickets to a megarena in the nosebleed section. We're talking about taking your SO or friend to your local small venue that supports Canadian indie artists. It will be remembered way longer than those fuzzy socks or box of Ferrero Rocher.

5. A Diamond is forever (or at least 12 months). Canadian indie bands catl. and The Pack a.d. have both recorded at legendary producer Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders. You can see more female talent from around the globe in the Girls of Ghetto Records 2013 calenders. $20 in the US and $30 outside of the US. Paypal to jmosrite@hotmail.com or send a check or money order to Ghetto Recorders, P. O. Box 2533, Detroit, MI 48202 USA.


N2D photographer Russ Gordon's photo of The Pack a.d. is  Ghetto Recorders' calendar image for December 2012.

"Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know." Or maybe Kenny Loggins...

VIDEO - The Pack a.d. - Positronic

Directed by Lloyd Choi.


 

"This video has robots and fights and vomit. So, basically, we think it's great." The Pack a.d

CATL. To Trample Windsor

CATL.

Friday, November 9th
Phog Lounge  8pm
wsg Danny Kroha - ex- The Gories and The Demolition Doll Rods

Dirty. Sweaty. Fun. Toronto-based catl. are a ‘trio steeped in blues tradition yet refreshingly idiosyncratic’ (Vish Khanna | Exclaim! | May 2012).

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

And Soon They Will All Be Here

Toronto, ON's catl bring their dirty blues swamp boogie sound to PJ's Lager House this Thursday, Sept. 13. Oh, this is not the first time that catl have been to Detroit, (they recorded 60% of their latest album Soon This Will All Be Gone here with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders) but this will be their first ever public live performance in the Motor City.

catl are also included in this month's Mitten Movie Project – Independent Shorts - Main Art Theatre, Royal Oak, MI - 9/11/2011 7:30 p.m. Pre-sale tickets $8 by e-mailing mangilc@yahoo.com, Door $10
“GOLD TOOTH SHINE” by catl [music video] – Directed by Brett Van Dyke (05:51) (Ontario) (2012)



Listen and read more: http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/catl
http://www.n2ds2w.com/2012/04/working-blue-n2ds2w-special-edition.html 
http://www.n2dmediagroup.com/catl.htm

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Working Blue: an N2DS2W special edition featuring Toronto's catl.

 Purchase catl.'s new full-length record, Soon This Will All Be Gone, and you'll get 39 minutes of vintage blues filtered through 21st century Detroit and Toronto. But just like their albums are the pilot flame that ignites the band's scorching live shows, those 39 minutes represent a fraction of the sweat and tears, trials and tribulations that brought Soon This Will All Be Gone to fruition.

In conjunction with its release, we are pleased to bring you Working Blue: lifting the lid on catl.'s new album. Many thanks to catl. for generously allowing us to attend one of their sessions at Detroit's Ghetto Recorders last May, so that we could experience the creative process and share it with you.

Photo by Russ Gordon

The Pack Are Back!

Vancouver BC's The Pack a.d. return to the Motor City supporting their most recent album Unpersons and joining Toronto's Our Lady Peace on their Urban Grind Tour.

Saint Andrew's Hall
April 7, 2012
Detroit, MI
Ticket info here.

Once again, bring your earplugs. You have been warned.


Photo: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

VIDEO - The Pack a.d. - Sirens

"The Pack a.d.'s first single, Sirens, off of their album, Unpersons. Finally, we have our video for it thanks to the direction of Lloyd Choi and the erratic styles of Mr. Josh."

~ via The Pack a.d.

Dirty. Sweaty. Fun. Catl.

CATL & THE DAKOTA RING IN THE NEW YEAR!

 

       WHAT:    catl  New Year's Eve Party!

       WHEN:    Saturday, December 31, 2011

       WHERE:  The Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington Ave., Toronto

       COST:     TBA

Can a night be both classy AND sweaty? You bet your sweet maracas it can. Drop by The Dakota Tavern this New Year's Eve and send 2011 off the catl way: with a hard drinkin' n' dancin' BLOW-OUT to the slammin' tunes of your favourite R&B trio.

This New Year's Eve party promises to be a spectacular event replete with special guests, sexy midnight countdown and the friendliest/most fearless barstaff this side of the Yonge Street corridor!

Catl have a lot to look forward to this year. With the recent addition of new drummer Andrew Moszynski, the band has pushed their performance to a new level of intensity. 2012 will also see the band release their highly anticipated third full-length record Soon, This Will All Be Gone. And as always, catl promise to deliver gallons of sweat and tequila-fueled, dance-floor mayhem.

Admission TBA. No advanced tickets, just come by early enough to get yourself on the right side of the party.

Helloooooooooo 2012!


(from a catl press release)