http://thedurbs.ca Hip Hopping Happenings Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:47:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Hey Y'all, Sorry that you haven't heard from us lately - but we've been hiding out the last week and a half putting the finishing touches on our new record. So far things sound awesome and we're all really excited to have the chance to share some of our new work ... http://thedurbs.ca/target-remains/ We're happy to announce that our label Out Of This Spark is turning three this year!  We'll be throwing down tomorrow night at The Garrison in big, bad, Toronto, ON.  Come on out and see the entire label roster (plus a few surprises) and be sure to congratulate our Pep Pep ... http://thedurbs.ca/threes-a-crowd/ So Ben Rayner asked me for my Top Ten Tracks of 2009 and they've ended up in today's edition of the Toronto Star - right next to picks from Gentleman Reg and Damian Abraham of Fucked Up.  If you want to see who made my team (hint: PS I ____ You? ... http://thedurbs.ca/top-ten-w-ben/ Whew! Just got back from my uncle's cottage north of Oshawa where we were working on demos for two new songs. One sounds like The Prodigy! Sort of. Regardless, you should check out this video of them playing Firestarter in 1996! When we weren't building fires or making crazy techno synth ... http://thedurbs.ca/armageddon/ Hey Pals, If you're not watching Eagles vs. Falcons this coming Sunday you should definitely come see us play at the Mod Club here in downtown Toronto. We got a last minute gig opening for Mew, who according to my online research are both: 1. Danish 2. Proggy Tim and Kyle are also fresh ... http://thedurbs.ca/modern-clubbing/ Here's a new video that our pals at Vancouver based video blog Winnie Cooper put together after interviewing Greg, Kyle, and I during Pop Montreal this past October.  How they copped that footy from White Men Can't Jump I'll probably never know.  Shit, I don't even want to know.  Copyright! In ... http://thedurbs.ca/woody/ Hey Pals, Sorry for the prolonged silence upon the web blog front. I just moved into a new place here in Toronto and between painting the living room and recording a brand new song, things have been pretty insane. That said, the band JUST returned from an amazing weekend at Pop ... http://thedurbs.ca/laser-tag/ Hey Pals, In case you haven't connected the dots, I've started playing a few solo shows in and around Toronto under the name Diamond Rings.  Doing stuff on my own is basically a means for me to indulge in my more theatrical side and buy some new outfits guilt free.  I just ... http://thedurbs.ca/rockcrits/ Check out this awesome cake that was sitting around backstage at V Fest today. Holy geez. It tasted pretty average, but it's not every day your band name gets to be on a cake. Here's a run down of the rest of the day: Pet Shop Boys = Modernist spectacle (in ... http://thedurbs.ca/let-them-eat-cakes/ So I think this D'Ubervilles thing is becoming really trendy.  Our cover version of Timber Timbre's Magic Arrow (which of course is available on the new Friends In Bellwoods 2 compilation album being released this Friday) just got big upped by the Guardian!  However, they (surprise) spelled our name wrong. ... http://thedurbs.ca/silent-r/ Hey dudes, As of today you can download 2 new songs free from our website. They're both hip hop collaborations featuring Vish Khanna from CBC Radio3, Guelph’s Noah23, and Hamilton’s own New Slang. Not to mention our own Greg Santilly. You can access the downloads on the Music page. In other ... http://thedurbs.ca/hip-hop-tracks-free-downloads/ Thanks for skipping out on work early to film this video, Coco. Especially huge thanks to everyone that came out to this show and made our big night (and Stu's birthday) such a success. John O http://thedurbs.ca/all-in-the-family/ Here's the second in what might become a regular series for The D'Urbs. Trick Tip #2 features yours truly and Greg Santilly taking the Wolfe Island, Ontario locals to school (literally) on the basketball court outside of Marysville Elementary before our early evening set. The festival was great too, BTW. ... http://thedurbs.ca/globe-trotting/ Hey Dudes, Just in case you haven't visited in awhile, we've got a cover version of Timber Timbre's Magic Arrow right here on our Myspace page.  It's going to be available in the physical as part of the most awesome Friends In Bellwoods compilation album which will be released later this ... http://thedurbs.ca/bowz-n-arrowz/ One of the best parts of Sappy Fest was just getting to hang out in a really great town and meet some new people.  Case in point being the afternoon we spent at Shotgun Jimmie's farm, where Mr. Indie-Rock Toronto aka Colin Medley shot this quick little tutorial with our ... http://thedurbs.ca/trick-tips-with-g-money/ Sappy Fest was great. Top bands, top friends, top of the world. The whole deal. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible! The plan was to keep y'all up to date with some quality blogging, but between swimming at the beach, baking cakes, and seeing some of our favourite ... http://thedurbs.ca/friendlys/ The packing has begun. It's off to Sappy Fest with us for a weekend of fantastic musical awesomeness. Before picking out my best outfits I had time to stop by the residence of Stuart Duncan (aka the big cheese behind our label Out Of This Spark) to help fold the ... http://thedurbs.ca/gatorbeer/ Hey Y'all, So we all made it back safe and sound from Montreal. We're really excited with how well things went in the studio and can't wait to play some of these new songs in a few weeks! Mega props to Drew Malamud for hooking everything up and treating us right. I ... http://thedurbs.ca/kingstonia/ Yeah, Tonight's the night. Our last evening of recording in Montreal is upon us.  It's been a solid four days and we're really excited with what we've accomplished. Kyle laid down some sweet bass grooves before leaving us for the Northwest Territories and the Folk On The Rocks Festival with our ... http://thedurbs.ca/fort-vox/ What It Is, Recording is super fun. We even have a pinball machine here in the studio. Exploring the stars and the entire universe is something we're all really big on right now. Check it. Oh, and as it turns out, Kyle DID bring his camera on the trip, so that's why ... http://thedurbs.ca/pinball-wizzardzz/ Hi friends, We're really saddened to have learned of the passing of Michal Majewski, who was a fantastic concert poster artist from our hometown of Oshawa, Ontario. I don't want to say much because he and the band weren't very well acquainted, but our mutual pal Colin Medley does a good ... http://thedurbs.ca/majewski/ Yo, We're in Montreal. Right now. We just dropped off our gear at Studio Plateau and start recording tomorrow. We had a great drive up the 401 this afternoon which included our requisite stop at Harvey's in Kingston. Sad to say they're out of those free burger coupons that they were ... http://thedurbs.ca/fringtones/ So the Pulp Fiction show at MOCCA was totally rad last night. You should really check it out if you're in Toronto and like irreverent little doodly type drawings and funny videos. Kudos to band manager Remi Arora for snapping this great pic. It's from the cover from a zine made ... http://thedurbs.ca/beardo/ Hey Yo, Thanks to everyone who came out for our set last Wednesday at the Drake.  It was nice to see so many happy faces and kick NXNE off with a bang.  There were some seriously good shows this past weekend, no? For those of you that missed our set, we're going to ... http://thedurbs.ca/extra-pulpy/ Hey Yo, Our friends from the Musebox put together a podcast highlighting some of their top picks for NXNE.  Follow the link to hear songs from our pals Green Go as well as a full interview with yours truly.  Lots of juicy gossip and such. Oh yeah!  Come on out and shake ... http://thedurbs.ca/museboxing/ The Toronto Star's Ben Rayner was kind enough to ask me to contribute to an article in today's paper coinciding with the Neil Young tribute concert at Massey Hall tonight. Ben basically asked a bunch of local musicians to pick their favourite NY tune and explain why they like it ... http://thedurbs.ca/forever-young/ Just a quickie this time.  The good folks over at the UK blog The Line Of Best Fit just put together a great compilation featuring a whole bunch of really awesome Canadian acts and we made the cut!  Even more exciting is that fact that our pals Ohbijou, Forest City ... http://thedurbs.ca/whoa-canada/ Since returning from European tour with Forest City Lovers, Kyle Donnelly has been tough to track down. Everyone wants a piece of this guy now that he's all wordly-like, which means that he's been running all over southern Ontario catching up with family and friends for the past few weeks. However, ... http://thedurbs.ca/cottage-cheese/ Thanks to local videographer and Soundscapes employee Colin Medley for the tip on this one.  Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready has lobbied successfully to get the governor of Washington to pass a law stipulating that businesses must grant people with inflammatory bowel diseases guaranteed access to their washroom facilities in ... http://thedurbs.ca/do-not-go-in-there/ You know the feeling when you have a really big secret that you can't tell anyone?  You're really excited but also nervous that you're going to spill the beans by mistake?  It's almost like having to go to the bathroom when you're in the backseat of the van on the ... http://thedurbs.ca/oots-crafts/