Out of this Spark

Saturday October 2nd

The D’Urbervilles (http://www.thedurbs.ca/)
Forest City Lovers (http://www.forestcitylovers.com/)
Light Fires (http://www.myspace.com/lightfires)
...Evening Hymns (http://www.eveninghymns.com/)
Tasseomancy (http://www.myspace.com/ghostbees)

Le Divan Orange – 4234 Boulevard St. Laurent – Montreal QC

Doors 8:30 PM - $8 in advance at www.popmontreal.com / $10 Doors

(Best to get tickets in advance, our showcase last year sold out in 20 mins)

Out of this Spark (OOTS) returns to Pop Montreal to share music from our label artists and our friends. Since our last visit, The D’Urbervilles have been placing the final touches on their next album. Forest City Lovers released their highly acclaimed new album Carriage. Evening Hymns joined the OOTS fold and will spend part of the Fall conquering Europe. Light Fires was born as the beats duo of Reg Vermue (Gentleman Reg) and James Bunton (Ohbijou). Tasseomancy morphed from the gothic remains of Ghost Bees.

In addition to our showcase on Saturday night, OOTS will also be co-presenting the Saturday Pop Montreal BBQ at Notman House with our friends at Mint Records and Fuzzy Logic Recordings. More details on that to come, but it is going to be epic. Piñata epic.

Just a reminder that the Toronto album release for Forest City Lovers' new album Carriage is next week, tickets are on sale now at Rotate This and Soundscapes.

Here is a poster :

Forest City Lovers have released Carriage onto the world and now are hurtling westward across the country.

Following closely on their heals Evening Hymns is also crossing the country heading in the same general direction.

Throughout the next month both bands will diverge and converge, on their travels. Check our tours section for more information.

You can follow the exploits of Forest City Lovers on exclaim.ca on their tour blog here.

Lots of stuff is going down.

We are busily preparing for the release of Forest City Lovers' Carriage, which will hit store shelves on June 29th.

Dates for Forest City Lovers' Western Canada tour are pouring in, and you can gander at a sampling on our tour page. Don't you worry Eastern Canada, your time will come.

Evening Hymns will also be touring Western Canada throughout July keep an eye on our website for more details.

The D'Ubervilles are placing the final touches on their new album, in the D'Uberbunker.

Friday May 7th

Out of this Spark presents ...

KASHKA (Kat of Forest City Lovers) - http://www.myspace.com/yeskashka
Jenny Omnichord - http://www.myspace.com/jennyomnichord

Tranzac - 292 Brunswick Avenue - Toronto ON - 10 PM - PWYC

KASHKA is the ongoing project of Toronto based songwriter Kat Burns. While she keeps busy with her main project, Forest City Lovers, sometimes songs come along that need their own warm blanket to be wrapped in.

Jenny Omnichord is the alter ego of 25 year-old Jenny Mitchell, also a member of notable indie bands The Burning Hell and The Barmitzvah Brothers. While Jenny plays many instruments, the omnichord, forgotten marvel of the 1980’s, is her first true love. With two critically acclaimed albums under her belt – Cities of Gifts and Ghosts, and Charlotte or Otis: Duets for Children, their Parents, and Other People Too – Jenny Omnichord continues to captivate new audiences with her skills in unlocking her instrument’s secrets, and her trademark insightful songwriting. Her new album – her first with a full-band - is set to be released May of 2010.

www.outofthisspark.com

Friday March 5th

Out of this Spark presents

Casey Mecija (http://www.ohbijou.com)
VIVIV (http://www.myspace.com/kennethreaume)
The Youngest (http://www.myspace.com/youngestyoungest)

Tranzac (front room) – 292 Brunswick Avenue – 10 PM – Pay What You Can

Friday February 5th

Out of this Spark presents

Whippoorwill (country band of Sylvie Smith of The Magic, with members of ohbijou and NQ Arbuckle)
Sunbear (http://www.myspace.com/thisissunbear)

Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) - 292 Brunswick Avenue - 10 PM – Pay What You Can

www.outofthisspark.com

Out of this Spark will celebrate its third anniversary in January with a special concert in Toronto.

Out of this Spark will celebrate its third anniversary with a special concert featuring The D’Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers, Evening Hymns and Jenny Omnichord on Friday January 22nd at The Garrison. Full details are below:

Friday January 22nd

Out of this Spark 3rd Anniversary

with

The D’Urbervilles
Forest City Lovers
Evening Hymns
Jenny Omnichord
DJ Hurtsack

The Garrison (1197 Dundas Street West – Toronto ON)
Doors at 9 PM - $8 advance / $10 at the door - Tickets on sales at Rotate This and Soundscapes - 19+

Evening Hymns' debut full-length Spirit Guides is out in stores today. The vinyl version of the album should start being available next week.

Torontist.com has a review of the record today here.

A reminder that Evening Hymns will be hitting the road for dates throughout Ontario and Quebec starting this week.

The Toronto CD release for the record will be on Friday December 4th at the Tranzac with special guests Harbourcoats.

The Internet is a tricky place and our website inadvertently was plagued by some web gremlins over the last few weeks, but we are back and everything appears to be back to normal.

Thanks to everyone who came to our sold out showcase at Pop Montreal, apologies to anyone who was unable to get in, we will all be back to Montreal real soon.

The D'Urbervilles are going to be spending the fall hunkered down putting the finishing touches on their next full length album.

Forest City Lovers will start recording their next album in the New Year. In the meantime, next month they will be releasing a limited edition 7” with two new songs on it entitled, Phodilus and Tyto, which can be preordered off of their website . Later in October the Lovers will make the trek East for the Halifax Pop Explosion.

Evening Hymns is set to release his new album Spirit Guides on both CD and Vinyl in November. Evening Hymns will be hitting the road with our good friends in The Wooden Sky throughout November. If you look to the right, you can listen to three tracks from the new album.

That is it for now, stay frosty.

Next week Out of this Spark heads to Pop Montreal for the first time, details :

Saturday October 3rd

01:00 The D'Urbervilles
00:00 The Luyas
23:00 Forest City Lovers
22:00 Katie Stelmanis

Casa Del Popolo - Doors 9 PM

Thanks to all that came out for the weekend of shows celebrating the release of Friends in Bellwoods 2 in Toronto. We are still counting up all the funds raised for the Daily Bread Food Bank but the weekend completely overwhelmed all our expectations.

Friends in Bellwoods 2 is available now in stores and online, get a copy before they are gone.

The Friends in Bellwoods 2 celebrations don't end there however. The party comes to Guelph on Thursday September 17th at the Ebar, with Bocce, The D'Urbervilles and Evening Hymns. The next day things move to Waterloo, where The D'Urbervilles and Evening Hymns release Friends in Bellwoods 2 on the Grist Mill.

We are also busily preparing for the release of Evening Hymns' debut full-length album, Spirit Guides in late Fall.

We are excited to announce that the album will be coming out on both CD and Vinyl. Visit the release section for glimpse of what the album will look like, well the album will appear bigger in real life.

Finally in other news OOTS will be heading to Pop Montreal this year and we will be presenting a show at Casa Del Popolo featuring The D'Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers, The Luyas and Katie Stelmanis on Saturday October 3rd.

Thanks to all that made it out to our show at Summerworks last week, it was quite special. Thanks to Eric Warner and the people of Summerworks for making it happen.

OOTS historian Colin Medley recorded this video of a piece of the Forest City Lovers / D'Urbervilles collaboration.

Look over there. To the right. There are some selections from Friends in Bellwoods II for your ears.

Now look below. More info on a few of the Friends in Bellwoods II release parties. More parties coming.

Friday August 28th

FRIENDS IN BELLWOODS II RELEASE PARTY

with

Bocce / Ohbijou (special set with guests) / Forest City Lovers / Evening Hymns

Lee's Palace, Toronto ( 529 Bloor St.)Doors: 9pm, Music starts promptly at 9:30 Tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door Tickets on Sale Next Weekish

Wednesday August 19

Friends in Bellwoods presents a special Granny Boots with:

Gentleman Reg and Katie Sketch (delicious duets)/ Diamond Rings (John O'Regan brings dance moves, midi magic) / Casey Mecija (Ohbiboohoo)/ Emma McKenna (Fierce love!) / with DJ May

THIS IS AN EARLY SHOW, STARTS AT 7:30!!!

GRANNY BOOTS IS FREE/RADICAL/PATRIARCHY SMASHING ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS HOSTED BY CHELSEY LICHTAWOMAN AT THE GLADSTONE HOTEL.

Friday August 7th

Princess Century [Maya Postepski] (http://www.myspace.com/princesscentury)
Tirra Lirra [from Chicago] (http://www.myspace.com/tirralirratirra)
T H O M A S [Thom Gill of Toronto]

Tranzac (Front Room) - 10 PM - PWYC

We are proud to announce that Evening Hymns has joined the Out of this Spark family.

Out of this Spark will release Evening Hymns' debut full-length album Spirit Guides, in late Fall.

Evening Hymns is the project of Jonas Bonnetta, a musician/artist/sawyer who grew up in the countryside not too far from Orono, Ontario and currently calls Peterborough home. In 2007 he released the album Farewell to Harmony under his own name and the Let's All Get Happy Together EP under the Evening Hymns moniker.

Spirit Guides has been recorded by James Bunton of Ohbijou, who has previously worked on albums by Forest City Lovers, Bellewoods and many of the selections from the Friends in Bellwoods compilations.

Visit Evening Hymns' MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/eveninghymns to listen to an unmastered version of Dead Deer from Sprit Guides.

Out of this Spark is proud to announce the release of Friends in Belwoods II, a 40-song, double-album set of rare, new and unreleased selections from some of Canada's most innovative independent musicians, available August 25, 2009.

In 2006, Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija and her bandmate, James Bunton, knew it was time to document and showcase some of the music being created in her home on Bellwoods Avenue in Toronto. In an attempt to render a “digital diary of the house”, the pair curated the first Friends in Bellwoods compilation later that year. Their keen sense of changes taking place in the neighborhood, and their relation to the gentrifying forces at work, led them to consider the geographic connection between the house and a heavily trafficked food bank. As a result, all proceeds from the original and the second compilation go to The Daily Bread Food Bank. The first edition of the compilation has raised over $11,000 since its release two years ago.

Friends in Bellwoods II operates as an archival document that beautifully arrests and captures the sound of a moment in the city’s history. It features rare and unreleased tracks from acclaimed artists such as Final Fantasy, Forest City Lovers, The D’Urbervilles, Great Lake Swimmers, The Acorn, Sandro Perri, Basia Bulat, Timber Timber, Katie Stelmanis and Ohbijou. Many of the songs were recorded in the house; listen carefully and you might hear the detailing of the house’s life recorded—a window creaking, a kettle boiling, the resident dog shuffling, the constant rotation of friends and musicians that continue to animate a small bungalow on Bellwoods Avenue.

TRACK LIST

Disc One

1. Forest City Lovers – Minneapolis
2. Le Pigeon – Freezing Rain
3. Basia Bulat – My Heart Is A Warning
4. The Acorn – Slippery When Wet
5. Canadian Wildlife – Winter’s Moon
6. Double Suicide – Touch The Sun
7. Great Bloomers – Find My Way
8. Lisa Bozikovic – The Letting Go
9. Bellewoods – Kneel On The Apron
10. Kate Rogers – The Same Party
11. Timber Timbre – Water
12. No Kids – All That Heaven Allows
13. Snailhouse – Don’t Go Anywhere
14. Final Fantasy – Red Sun (Demo Version)
15. Sylvie Smith – On Our Own
16. Bruce Peninsula – In Parallel
17. Gentleman Reg – For Trust
18. Evening Hymns – Cedars
19. Kite Hill – Tom Thumbtack
20. The Bellwoods Crew – Staten Island Waltz

Disc Two

1. The Dinghies – The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
2. Bocce – Inspiration Bellwoods
3. Kids On TV - Poison
4. Katie Stelmanis – Believe Me
5. The D’Urbervilles – Magic Arrow
6. Sebastien Grainger – Home Is The Light
7. Violence – Living Off The Land
8. Ohbijou – An Ode To An End
9. Great Lake Swimmers – Send Me A Letter
10. The Low Notes – Glory Glory
11. Snowblink – When Pushed From A High Branch
12. lice - yggdrasil
13. Emma McKenna - Happiness
14. Richard Laviolette – Media Song
15. The Adam Brown – Joy Rider
16. The Phonemes – April, Let’s Send His Colleagues An Email
17. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Rough And Tumble
18. Tusks – New To Old Money
19. Hooded Fang – Highway Steam
20. The Wooden Sky – My Old Ghosts

RELEASE SHOWS

Wednesday August 19th – Special Pre-Release Party at Granny Boots at The Gladstone – Toronto ON

Friday August 28th – Official Release Party Part 1 at Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON

Saturday August 29th - Official Release Party Part 2 at Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto ON

Out of this Spark (OOTS) is excited to announce that Timber Timbre has signed a worldwide recording, management and publishing deal with Toronto’s Arts and Crafts. Arts & Crafts will reissue Timber Timbre’s self-titled full-length album in Canada on June 30, 2009. Originally released in January on Out Of This Spark, Timber Timbre’s self-titled full length will also be released internationally via Arts & Crafts on July 28, 2009.

In addition, Out of this Spark has entered into a distribution partnership with Arts & Crafts.

“As a label we pride ourselves on our role in our local community and working with Arts and Crafts, who share our passionate belief in the strength of independent music, will allow us to grow and broaden the scope and reach of what we do,” states Out of this Spark’s Stuart Duncan.

"Bry Webb from the Cons turned me onto the Timber Timbre record and I immediately fell in love with it," says Arts & Crafts President, Jeffrey Remedios. "I went to acquaint Kevin Drew and he simultaneously tried to tell me. We both knew we had to try and tell the world about Timber Timbre and we're honoured he's giving us a chance to do just that." He continues, "Out Of This Spark has been doing great things for the Toronto music community and we're excited to be working more
closely with them."

“Out of this Spark has been privileged to have had the opportunity to work Timber Timbre (a.k.a. Taylor Kirk),” says Duncan. “We are thrilled that the world now has a chance to learn how exciting and innovative Timber Timbre’s work is.”

Our next monthly presentation at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick Avenue in Toronto)happens this Friday night and will feature Diamond Rings (John O from the D'Urbervilles), old OOTS friend Chris Yang and UK import M.S.

Show is around 10 PM and as always is Pay What You Can.

Guelph indie-sensation Jenny Omnichord and Toronto folkster Dog Is Blue share a lot in common. Most notably they're sharing a car, as they travel across eastern Canada playing music, basking in the gorgeous countryside and spreading all around good vibes. Also, Jenny has a new baby boy (along with an awesome duets record made in his honour) and Dog Is Blue just released his debut album, which is sort of like a baby. Furthermore, they each offer up endearing and melodic tunes full of charming lyrics. Check the tour section for dates.

Out of this Spark records presents the second of our monthly shows at the Tranzac :

Friday April 3

Picastro (http://www.myspace.com/picastro)
Casey Mecija (http://www.myspace.com/ohbijou)
Chriss Sutherland (www.myspace.com/chrisssutherland)

Tranzac (front room) - 292 Brunswick Avenue - Toronto ON

10 PM - Pay What You Can

More info on Chriss :

Chriss Sutherland was born in 1976 in New Brunswick, Canada. He grew up in central Maine a pained, confused but energetic boy. Playing in punk and hardcore bands during his high school years Chriss cultivated his social and political desires, which transformed into artistic/musical aspirations. Upon graduation in 1994 he moved to Boston to form Cerberus Shoal. Quickly, the group relocated to Portland, Maine and the Blue House (Tank 28). Chriss resided there 13 years working, living, creating, recording and touring with the many amalgams of Cerberus Shoal (10 full lengths, a bunch of splits and singles released). In the final years of his residency he helped to found the acoustic evolution of CS, a group called Fire on Fire (an ep and full length released by Young God Records). Now after so many collaborative years Chriss is journeying outside himself to record and tour with his own songs delivered in a solo fashion. Singing in both Spanish and English Chriss writes long, heavy rhythmic tunes on acoustic guitar, which turn into anxious pleas for sense and harmony. He released his first solo record “me in a “field”” in November of 2007 with Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Digitalis Industries. He is now releasing his second full length “Worried Love” with Portland, Maine’s peapod recordings.

Forest City Lovers' song "Don't Go" will be featured on the Explore Music radio show hosted by Alan Cross in the "One of The Five Songs You Must Hear” segment.

You can listen live on Monday, March 23 if you live in Canada:

Toronto: from Monday to Thursday at 7pm (ET) on 102.1 The Edge
Hamilton: Weekdays at 1pm (ET) on Y108
London: Weekdays at 6:30pm (ET) on FM96
Winnipeg: Weekdays at 6:30pm (MT) on Power 97
Vancouver: Weekdays at 8:30pm (PT) on 99.3 The FOX (CFOX)

If you don’t live in Canada you can listen online: http://www.exploremusic.com

Many indie music fans who have been to Guelph will be familiar with the Family Thrift Store operated by impresario Ray Mitchell. To say that this store and the people connected to it have had an immense impact on independent music and culture in Guelph and beyond would be a vast understatement. The success of what our label is and will become has vast roots in the music scene that the Family Thrift Store helped foster in Guelph. Some of the earliest (and most memorable) concerts we organized took place in the Thrift Store or its various warehouses. The D'Ubervilles have used it as a rehearsal space. The Family Thrift Store and our friendship with Jenny and Ray Mitchell was our entry point to independent music, and it sadden us deeply to learn that this Guelph cultural institutional will soon be forced to close its doors. There is not enough space on this page to go into the complete details of the situation, but generally low income tenants and small businesses are being displaced to be replaced with a new library, high end residential space and a parking lot. Whether you believe this tide of "development" is good or bad, the process that has taken place to make it happen has been quite flawed and will result in shutting down a key cultural institution and putting many low income tenants out on the street. For more information and updates join the Friends of The Family Thrift Store facebook group here.

A reminder that Out of this Spark, will be presenting a show every first Friday of the month at the Tranzac, and our concert series kicks off this Friday March 6th with Kite Hill and Griffin Epstien. Come to the Tranzac early to catch Le Cyc, Kazoo of Guelph’s Bike Opera. Doors for Le Cyc will be at 9 PM and our after show will begin around 10:30-11:00 PM. The sophomore edition of our concert series, on April 3rd will feature Picastro, Casey Mecija and Chriss Sutherland.

The Timber Timbre record has been in stores since early January and the response has been overwhelming. Glowing reviews of the record have been featured in NOW, The Globe and Mail and throughout the different spheres of the Internet. Timber Timber will be hitting the road in various directions over the next few months. This Thursday, February 12th the official Toronto CD release will be at the Music Gallery as part of the Wavelength 9th Anniversary weekend. That show is also the start of a mini tour with Ghost Bees. More dates around Ontario fill out March and then Timber Timbre will head to Japan!!! Campus Radio has also embraced the album, with the record charting nationally at #7 for the month of January.

This evening Forest City Lovers and Geoff Berner kick off their tour of Ontario and Quebec with a show at the Ebar in Guelph. Tomorrow, Friday February 6th the Lovers and Geoff will be in Toronto at the Tranzac. These show are part of the album release tour for Geoff Berner’s new album Klezmer Mongrels. The Forest City Lovers also have a new web domain, guess what it is? That’s right it is www.forestcitylovers.com. On it they are running a contest giving away free tickets to tomorrow night’s show at the Tranzac!!! Free tickets and drawings of beaver inspired squirrels, what else could you ask for in a website? If you like radio, Kat of Forest City Lovers will be talking with Vish Khanna on CBC Radio 3 around 10 am on Friday February 6th. Later that day at noon Kat and Kyle will be on CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto on the radio program Electric Boogaloo.

Thanks to everyone who came to our 2nd Birthday Show in Toronto and Guelph, both shows were sold out and we are very happy that we got to share what we do with so many people.

Our third year looks like it is going to be exciting one, it has gotten off to an amazing start with the Timber Timbre release but more is in store, wait for it ...

In the meantime here is a video from Colin Medley of part of our birthday show at The Tranzac, it is the D'Urbervilles performing their new song Gunhammer.

More from videos from Colin are here.

A reminder that Timber Timbre's new self-titled album is out in stores next Tuesday.

If you live in Toronto Timber Timbre will be performing an in-store at Soundscapes (572 College Street) on Thursday January 15th at 7 PM .

Out of this Spark will be celebrating
its second anniversary this January with shows in Toronto and Guelph.

Show Details :

Saturday January 10th – Tranzac Club (Main Hall) – 292 Brunswick
Avenue – Toronto ON
with Forest City Lovers, The D'Urbervilles, Timber Timbre and Jenny Omnichord.
$8 with non-perishable food item / $10 without. Doors at 8 PM

Friday January 16th – The Albion Hotel – 49 Norfolk Street – Guelph ON
with The D'Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers, Jenny Omnichord and Timber Timbre
$10. Doors at 9 PM.

A few exciting things to note over the next few months.

Forest City Lovers will be helping The Bicycles celebrate the release of their new album Oh No It's Love in Toronto at Lee's Palace on Saturday November 8th. The night is a reprise of their The Last Schmaltz, where The Bicycles will play songs with a bevy of bands Last Waltz style, including the Forest City Lovers and a whole whack of others including Matt Murphy, The Old Soul, Laura Barrett, The Hooded Fang and practically every other band in Toronto.

The D'Urbervilles are going to play their first shows in Toronto since June, when they play two nights at The Tiger Bar in December, entitled Rock 'Em Sock 'Em 1 & 2. Here is a poster :

Also a reminder that the Jenny Omnichord record will be officially coming out in stores on November 18th. Line up in front of your favourite retail outlet now !!!

Out of this Spark is proud to release the new duet album of children’s songs by Jenny Omnichord, Charlotte or Otis : Duets for Children, Their Parents and Other People Too.

Having given birth to her first child on September 19th 2008, Jenny Omnichord is set to release her album of original children’s songs, written and sung with an impressive list of friends and collaborators.Special guests on the record include Andy Magoffin, 2008 Polaris Prize Nominee Shad K, Wax Mannequin, Scott Merritt, Kim Barlow, Jim Guthrie, Great Aunt Ida, Old Man Luedecke, Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers and Andrew Penner of Sun Parlour Players

The record is already available at zunior.com, but the official release date is Tuesday November 18th, 2008.

Apologies to the Internet, our website was down for a few days. You may have found the ads for spark plugs somewhat confusing for a few days, but everything is back to normal.

The OOTS family is about to hit the road in various directions. Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles will be heading to Pop Montreal this weekend. Timber Timbre will be hitting the road with Great Lake Swimmers in mid October.

The Timber Timbre record is going to be mixed and mastered later this month in preparation for an early winter release. Visit
Radio Free Canuckistan for an interview with Timber Timbre’s Taylor.

Stuart was interviewed for CBC Radio 3 about his thoughts on Toronto, which can be read here.

Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers is organizing this month’s Wombat Wednesdays concert series at the Tranzac. More is available here and here is a poster :

Forest City Lovers recorded an episode of Fuse for CBC Radio One last month that saw them paired up with the Finest Kind a band featuring FCL's Mika Posen's Father.

The show will air this week on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoon (September 20th) at 3 pm.

This sadly will be the final episode of FUSE and we are grateful that we got to be a part of it.

More info on Fuse and where and how to tune on their website.

Sonic Unyon has teamed up with Zunior.com to launch their new online store. All our albums can now be purchased from the site for $14.99 giving you an immediate download to your desktop followed by delivery of the CD to the doorstep of your home - shipping included anywhere in Canada. The store can be found at www.sonicunyonstore.com. In the store you can also find exciting releases from other labels that are part of the Sonic Unyon Distro family including Blue Fog and Constellation Records.

We are very excited to welcome Timber Timbre to the Out of this Spark family. OOTS will be releasing the upcoming Timber Timbre full length mid-fall.

Timber Timbre has already released two amazing albums, 2007’s Medicinals and 2005’s Cedar Shakes. If you would like to listen to some of their music check out : http://www.myspace.com/timbertimbre.

Watch the website for more details.

There are some new videos in the video section from Forest City Lovers' Western Canadian tour. Check them out !!

As mentioned in earlier notes, John O had surgery this week and The D'Urbevilles have had to cancel a few shows while John O recovers.

The D'Urbervilles will no longer be playing Wolfe Island in early August, but still hope to play their remaining shows throughout the month.

Keep watching the site for updates.

The D'Urbs, just returned from Ottawa where they played the Ottawa Blues fest opening up for Matthew Good. The boys have also been busy writing new songs and one of these new songs is going to be a featured on a split 7" with a band from the "Western" part of Canada, which will be released in the Fall.

As some of you may know, John O has also been dealing with some health issues of late. We are happy to report that he is doing well, but he will be having surgery later this month. To give John time to recover the D'Urbs will no longer be playing at Rancho in Toronto on July 24th or at Sappy Fest in early August. A few of the other dates in August are a bit tentative for the time being, but the doctors feel he should be in good shape to play the shows listed, but keep an eye on our site for updates

You can follow the progress of the Forest City Lovers' tour across Canada at the Tour Blog that they are doing for Exclaim! at :

http://forestcitylovers.exclaim.ca/

The Forest City Lovers are busily preparing to head west in a few weeks. For complete details visit the tour section of the website.

The D'Urbervilles recorded a session for CBC Radio 3 in the winter and you can listen to the results here. The are also about to embark on a mini tour of Ontario and Quebec, which includes a stop in my birth place, Belleville.

Finally the rock comes back to Belleville.

Tim of The D'Urbervilles called into CBC Radio 3 this past week, to give them an update on their tour and the activities of the band.

Listen to the interview here.

Both the Forest City Lovers and D'Urbervilles records have been doing well on the National Charts recently. Last week Haunting Moon Sinking was #11 and We Are The Hunters was #8.

Both bands are currently touring out east and things are going well. They made it there without any issues. Yesterday they got to swim in a salt water pool. John and Steve were sick but they are on the mend. They are in Halifax tonight and tomorrow if you want to say hello.

Check out the tour section for all their planned movements.

Haunting Moon Sinking is now available for purchase on iTunes, if you are a fan of the iMusic.

The record was also glowingly reviewed in this month's Exclaim, where it received an exclamation point which I believe signifies that it is good.

Both the Forest City Lovers and The D'Urbervilles have been receiving flattering articles in various publications.

Visit each of their artist pages to read some of these writings.

For example today both bands were featured in Eye Weekly in Toronto.

If you happen to be in Toronto swing by Sonic Boom and look at The D'Urbervilles window display. Then go inside and buy something. Also listen to the rhythmic sound of people flipping through the cds, it is almost hypnotic.

You should also wander to Soundscapes in Toronto to view a window display put together by Kat Burns for the Forest City Lovers. Also go inside to buy something. I recommend the DVD of The Harder They Come.

It is organized chaos at the OOTSquarters.

The D'Urbervilles album We Are the Hunters has been out on the streets for over a week now and the boys started off their onslaught of CD release shows last evening in Brantford at the Ford Plant. Tonight Waterloo, tomorrow the world.

A picture and article regarding the work of The D'Urbervilles is visible in this month's Exclaim.

Forest City Lovers' new release Haunting Moon Sinking will be coming out on March 11th. If you want a sneak peak of the record, you can now purchase a digital copy of the record (with the artwork) from our friends at Zunior. Forest City Lovers are going to be playing an in-store at Soundscapes on Sunday March 9th at 4 pm. Then there is this:

Tickets for the Toronto Double CD release show are now available at Rotate This and Soundscapes. This is show just a small part of the touring plans of both bands, check the tour section of the site for more details.

The D'Urbervilles debut full-length We Are The Hunters, is officially out now. You should be able to find it in your favorite indie record store and the occasional chain outlet.

For those who are more digitally inclined the record is also available (with artwork) from Zunior for only $8.88. Zunior is amazing and you should support it if you can.

The album is also available via iTunes if you prefer to get your music from the iMachine.

Mail order for physical copies of the record should be available soon via the Sonic Unyon online store, but they have been having some server woes, which should be resolved shortly.

You can also request your local campus radio station play some D'Urbervilles. The record has been charting on the national charts recently.

This week on the Chart chart the record clocked in at an impressive #11, just nudging out Hayden. We met Hayden once, he was nice.

We have made some changes to the design of the site. It is a bit less boxy. If you are keeping score at home this is the third version of the Out of this Spark website.

A reminder that The D'Urbervilles full length debut We Are The Hunters, will be coming out this Tuesday. If you would like to get a digital copy, the record is now up on Zunior for only $8.88.

More tour dates for The D'Urbervilles cross-canada tour are also rolling in, check the tour section for more details.

We have placed some selections from the Forest City Lovers new album Haunting Moon Sinking in the audio player. A reminder that the album will be hitting the streets on March 11th.

Speaking of hitting the streets The D'Urbervilles will be hitting the road with their new album, We Are The Hunters in March and April, traveling across Canada.

Forest City Lovers will join them for the Eastern part of the jaunt for a series of Double CD Release juggernauts.

Visit the tour section of the site for all the details.

We Are The Hunters will be coming out next week, on February 19th. The record should now be available at many of your favorite community radio stations, if you feel inclined to request it.

Exclaim has a nice little mention on The D'Urbervilles on their website.

Read about it here.

Sample some fine new D'Urbervilles music in our little audio player. Two tracks from We Are The Hunters are available to be listened to. A reminder that We Are The Hunters is going to be hitting the world on Tuesday February 19th.

We also have a sampling of some of the CD release dates the boys will be playing. Make note of the dual CD releases with the Forest City Lovers in Guelph and Toronto. Synergy people, synergy.

Celebrating the roots of the communities that helped shaped us, Out of this Spark presents four Monday nights of music with Toronto musicians sharing the stage with artists from Guelph in the Tranzac's Tiki Room.

Monday February 4th

Matias (http://www.myspace.com/_matias_)
Chris Yang (http://www.myspace.com/chrisyangchrisyang)

Monday February 11th

Kat Burns (http://www.myspace.com/forestcitylovers)
The Magic (http://www.myspace.com/themagiclovesyou)

Monday February 18th

Kaeru (http://www.myspace.com/restandrun)
Mandibles (www.myspace.com/mandiblesband )

Monday February 25th

Nina Nielsen (http://www.myspace.com/ninanielsen)
Jessy Bell-Smith (http://www.myspace.com/jessybellsmith)

All shows at 9 PM Tranzac Club Tiki Room 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto ON
$5 at the Door

As I type this The D'Urbervilles record is being mastered. All the mixing was finished this past weekend, the album should be going to press sometime this week or next which is exciting. The record will be in stores mid February and touring will follow after that. New D'Urberphotos have also been taken, and you can take a gander at them on their section of our website.

The Forest City Records album also now has a release date of March 11, 2008. Mark your calendars now!!!

In other news, I am still continuing to winter bike. The lowest temperature I have biked in thus far has been minus 14 degrees Celsius without the wind chill.

More details have emerged about the pre Xmas Oshawa Hometown Hoedown and we have put some relevant details on the tour section. You can check out the full lineup at www.durhamrock.com.

We have also added a somewhat fancy, internetized audio player to the site. It currently features selections from Friends in Bellwoods and Forest City Lovers' 2006 release, The Sun and the Wind. To accommodate the extra amount of awesomeness the player adds to the site, we have made the web page slightly wider. How much wider you ask ? 160 pixels wider.

Us OOTSers, a name I just invented for those who are friends of Out of this Spark, have been struggling to acclimatize to cycling in the cold. I personally have pledged to bike through the winter. My hypothesis is that it doesn’t actually get that cold in Toronto during the winter and it will be good exercise. This weekend was the first test of sub zero cycling this year and I survived relatively unscathed. I do need better protection for my face though, but really who doesn’t?

At OOTS we are going to being embracing winter full on as we are putting out two records in the midst of the blustery reverse hell that is Canadian winter.

The D’Urbervilles full length debut is going to be entitled We Are The Hunters and here is its track list:

1. Knock Out The Fat
2. We Are The Hunters
3. Dragnet
4. Hot Tips
5. This Is The Life
6. The Receiver
7. Spin The Bottle
8. National Flowers
9. Belladonna, Deadly Nightshade

Exciting stuff.

The Forest City Lovers record is nearing completion as well and we will keep you fully apprised of all developments.

Both The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers are going to be playing at the Velvet Elvis’ Hometown Holiday Hoedown in Oshawa right before the celebration of Xmas. Watch the tour section for more details. From what I hear it is going to be crazy. Not regular crazy, Oshawa crazy.

When Forest City Lovers went west this summer, while in Vancouver they recorded a session for CBC Radio 3.

Listen here for a sampling of some old favourites and new songs.


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