After a successful Canada Day takeover of London, the Canadian Blast team took some time off to reflect and begin planning for what is going to be a very, very busy autumn season at Canadian Blast. One look at the listings shows how many Canadian bands are active in Europe right now. It's fantastic. To celebrate, we're going to be going to be taking some of them to some familiar conferences and festivals, while also trying out some new ones for the first time. And of course, there will be a few small events alongside in the UK to keep the 'Canadian Blast Presents' banner busy as well.

To start, we will be heading to Berlin for two festivals: Popkomm and Jazzkomm, with the support of the OMDC and the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada and our partner Canadian Music Week. On Wednesday September 8th we will present our Jazzkomm showcase featuring Brandi Disterheft, François Bourassa, Hilario Duran Trio, Johanna Sillanpaa , Johnny Favourite and Tyler Hornby at the Frannz Club. Then on Thursday 9th at Silverwings we present Jully Black, Jonas & The Massive Attraction, Yukon Blonde and Delhi 2 Dublin between noon and 4PM. It's right beside the conference centre in the Templehof. Popkomm will also feature sets from Rich Aucoin and Hamilton's Caribou will also be headlining the Berlin Music Festival that weekend, a fringe event linked to the festival. Don't miss both if you're in the Berlin area.

The following week, we will travel to Sofia, Bulgaria for our first foray into the South Eastern European Music Event (SEEME). more...

Hot on the heels of the August edition of the TLOBF podcast, Oh! Canada returns to once again bring you a selection of some of the finest music coming from Canada. This month we feature tracks from Polaris shortlisters Shad and Radio Radio (fresh from their "Canada" festival appearance last month), more lyrical wordplay from Nova Scotia's SJ the Wordburglar and Grand Analog, an exclusive preview from the new Provincial Archive record, plus new tracks from the likes of Women, Ten Kens, Bird & Bear, Les Jupes and Mardeen.

Guest artwork for this edition comes courtesy of Jon Janes (aka The Mountains & The Trees) who will be heading back to the UK in September for a handful of dates, including shows with Horse Feathers, fellow Oh! Canada favourites Elliot Brood and also a show at End of the Road festival. Also heading this way in the autumn are Women and Ben Rogers (keep an eye on Oh! Canada in the coming weeks for more details).

Ah, Cologne. What a lovely German city. While Cologne is not the prettiest city on the surface, as much of it was bombed to the ground in the war, there's a certain relaxed feel and openness that makes it one of Germany's best.