andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

George Stroumboulopoulos will launch his new music program, The Strombo Show, on CBC Radio 2 on November 8th.

The former Muchmusic VJ and host of CBC’s The Hour will sit down with Rich Terfry on his Radio 2 show “Drive Live” at 3: 30 p.m. today and provide further detailss behind the show’s motivation and content. Terfry, an acclaimed Canadian rapper who performs under the stage name ‘Buck 65,’ has hosted his show for about a year now.

Strombo’s passion for music and entertainment has filtered through the premier entertainment mediums in Canada, leading to this modern assortment of local and international music. The show will also include discussion surrounding the current state of the mainstream and underground industry.

The Strombo show will accommodate an audience who has witnessed Stroumboulopoulos’ progression through the media over the last decade.

How many people does it take to shut down a New York City block and cause a riot? Two, provided they are armed with a synthesizer, drum machine and a discography under the guise of Mstrkrft.

It’s true, Toronto’s electro-house darlings were slated to play a club in NYC two weeks ago and oversold the venue so much that more than 2,000 hipsters were stuck in line outside. But the hype surrounding the DJ duo drove the mob into frenzy, inciting a riot that was eventually quelled by the NYPD itself.

“It was a pretty proud moment that we double-sold the club and had a street in New York City closed down, even if just for a few hours,” Jesse Keeler, one half of Mstrkrft, tells andPOP. “The fact that that’s happening … that takes a long time to build.”

Mstrkrft was born in Toronto in 2005, storming clubs and parties with their take on the burgeoning electro-house trend. After dominating the GTA scene, the duo made up of Keeler and Alex Puodziukas (otherwise known as Al-P) stepped up their game.

First came the singles “Easy Love” and “Work on You” before an official LP, “The Looks,” debuted in July 2006. Then came the tours: Canada, North America, the world.

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Buck 65 will soon be heard — not just played — on the radio.

The Canadian artist, whose real name is Rich Terfry, will host CBC’s Radio 2 Drive on weekdays, starting on Sept. 2.

A third of Terfry’s show will feature contemporary Canadian artists, and will focus on singer/songwriters. It will also occasionally feature live performances and interviews with other artists.

“I’ll be playing music and telling stories! My two favorite things! I’m sure I’ll have the chance to be exposed to and educated by lots and lots of new music and musicians from all over the world everyday. This job promises to allow me to grow a lot.”

This won’t be Terfry’s first time hosting a radio show. For 11 years, he hosted a campus radio show.

Buck 65 and the Constantines’ Bry Webb are a few of the artists featured on the all-Canadian soundtrack for “This Beautiful City,” which debuted at Toronto’s International Film Festival last September.

The album hits stores May 20 and sees other musicians like Shad and Jewish Legend with Sebastien Grainger contributing previously unreleased songs.

“This Beautiful City,” which was shot in Toronto by first-time writer/director Ed Gass-Donnelly, follows the lives of five people in the city’s lower west end after they meet under tragic circumstances.

Aaron Poole and Caroline Cave won besting acting prizes at the ACTRA Awards earlier this year for their roles in the drama.

The movie is showing at several U.S. film festivals and one in Barbados this month. Torontonians can catch the flick – as well as performances by a few of the soundtrack’s artists – when it plays at the Royal on May 23.

Here are the artists and songs appearing on the “This Beautiful City” soundtrack:
• Sunparlour Players – “Bless This City”
• Bry Webb – “Big Smoke”
• Buck 65 – “Kennedy Killed The Hat II”
• Emilie Mover – “Mountainside”
• The Ghost Is Dancing – “Flying Cars”
• Andre Ethier – “Self Love”
• The Ghost Is Dancing – “Jane Station”
• Jewish Legend and Sebastien Grainger – “Feel The Rise”
• Shad – “How Hard Hearts Can Beat”
• Sunparlour Players – “We Want What’s Right”
• Bry Webb – “Positive People”
• Dave MacKinnon – “Valentine’s Day 1981″

Canadian indie musicians will prove they can conquer the world of visual arts too, when Toronto’s Whippersnapper Gallery hosts an art exhibition featuring their work.

The exhibition, dubbed Colour Is The Keyboard, runs April 4 to 14 and is co-curated by OCAD student Rachel Verbin.

Artists confirmed to showcase their visual artwork include Buck 65, Chad VanGaalen, Matt Collins (Ninja High School), Dan Deacon, Tomas Del Balso (dd/mm/yyyy), Andre Ethier, Matt King (dd/mm/yyyy), Marco Landini (Lullabye Arkestra, Mean Red Spiders), Chloe Lum (AIDS Wolf), Sean Maxey (the Doers), Ian Vanek (Japanther), Dallas Wehrle (Constantines) and Will Zimmerman (Shout Out Out Out Out).

Toronto progressive/new wave rockers dd/mm/yyyy will perform at the opening reception on April 4.