Electronic

How ‘Dance Monkey’ took Toni Watson on a ‘roller-coaster’ ride

 Nick Krewen Special to the Star Toronto, Toni Watson feels your pain. The Australian native professionally known as Tones And I, the originator of the impossibly irresistible chart-topping smash “Dance Monkey,” was really looking forward to entertaining you at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in April when COVID-19 interrupted her plans. “Toronto was meant to be my biggest show of the whole tour, so that was really exciting,” said Watson last…

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She’s been poor, homeless and a ‘doormat.’ Now she’s a four-time Grammy nominee bound for Toronto

Nick Krewen Special to the Star January 8, 2020 Fear is either a paralyzer or a galvanizer, and no one knows that situation better than four-time Grammy nominee Yola, the current purveyor of big-voiced country soul. After wrestling with self-doubt for decades – and finally winning the battle with the release of her critically acclaimed debut solo offering Walk Through Fire, the Bristol, U.K.-based singer and songwriter refers to it…


Clairmont The Second is up for a climb

Nick Krewen Special to the Star July 20, 2019 Clairmont The Second may be one of the more ambitious rappers out there, but he’s in no rush to achieve the lofty stardom to which he aspires. “We knew from the start that it was going to be the long game,” said the Juno-nominated hip-hop artist born Clairmont Humphrey, who hails from the Jane and Weston area of Toronto and brings…


Oh Wonder catching breaks with catchy tunes

The duo behind Oh Wonder — playing the Danforth Music Hall for three nights — are quick to say they’ve been lucky. Nick Krewen Music, Sun., Sept. 17, 2017   What’s that old saying? One makes plans and God laughs? Not that there are any religious connotations surrounding the generally low-key, dual-vocal pop created by London-based electronic pop duo Oh Wonder, but record deals and world tours weren’t something that…


Jean-Michel Jarre finally plays Canada, after 40 years of electronic music

Pioneering work with synthesizers and spectacle finally brings him to Toronto’s Sony Centre on May 9. Nick Krewen Music, Wed., May 3, 2017 Despite the fact he’s sold millions of albums around the world with such instrumental epics as Oxygène and Zoolook, synthesizer and electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre has never played Canada. Until now. After releasing 22 studio albums and six live ones, Jarre, 68, will finally plant his…