In 1855, there was a clown riot or two in Toronto, actually. While Christo Graham wasn’t there, he and album collaborator Tyrone Savage have immortalised the horrifying and hilarious mayhem that inspires Clown Riot, the 10th album by the Toronto musician, actor, and graphic designer. Overture, the actual overture from the play and album is out today, May 7. The full soundtrack will be released digitally through We Are Busy Bodies on May 30.
Toronto psych-rock experimentalists LAMMPING return with “Never Never,” a full-tilt collaboration with Montreal rockabilly legend Bloodshot Bill, out May 6 via We Are Busy Bodies. The track supports their upcoming album Never Never, set for release on June 27, which marks the first installment of an ambitious four-album journey that will span genres, collaborations, and sonic time-travel over the next year.
Orbital Ensemble is the new group from the thriving Toronto jazz fusion scene, bringing an immersive fusion of psychedelic grooves and jazz melodies influenced by MPB (Música Popular Brasileira). Inspired by road trips playing 70s MPB and Afro-Brazilian drumming – the psychedelic jazz debut, Orbital is the debut album from Orbital Ensemble. The project is headed up by multi-instrumentalist Felipe Sena, a Brazilian-Canadian...
We Are Busy Bodies and Black Sweat Records (Europe) announce the release of Yorkston / Jaycock / Langendorf, the collaborative album by James Yorkston, David A Jaycock, and Lina Langendorf. The album’s atmospheric soundscapes. Yorkston’s evocative nyckelharpa, Jaycock’s intricate instrumentation, and Langendorf’s expressive saxophone lines create a richly textured journey—both intimate and expansive. The album will be released on May 23, 2025.
Acclaimed Toronto-based composer Nick Storring today announces his ninth full-length recording Mirante, and releases the first track taken from it, Roxa I, a lush mass of percolating melodic and percussive figures. Mirante, which will be released on March 21st 2025 on We Are Busy Bodies, can be regarded as an homage to Brazil, albeit an oblique one, especially given that two of the tracks were composed well before Storring even visited the country for the first time.
Peace Flag Ensemble return on their third LP with sharper focus and a wider lens. The record is their most canorous and their most accessible. The ambient free jazz collective’s early recordings were gauzy, percussion-less affairs where the piano was sparing and additional instrumentation was often textural, but on Everything Is Possible each member of the sextet finds space to shine while simultaneously lifting each other up.
Toronto-based lo-fi pop group No Frills returns with the release of “Shopping in the Toothpaste Aisle,” the first single from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Sad Clown out March 7, 2025 through We Are Busy Bodies. Known for weaving sardonic punchlines into sunny pop hooks, lead songwriter Dan Busheikin continues to strip his songs down to their essentials while reflecting on deeper themes like depression, mortality, and self-loathing — all with a playful twist.
Record Record Label, a Canadian vinyl reissue label operated by We Are Busy Bodies is announcing three vinyl reissues as part of its ongoing release series by late 90s Saskatchewan alternative group Filmmaker, orchestral pop ensemble The Hylozoists, and mid-90s grunge torchbearers hHead. All three albums will be released on February 28, 2025.
We Are Busy Bodies is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a five-day festival. This celebration coincides with the label’s 200th release: the third album by Saskatchewan ambient jazz group, Peace Flag Ensemble, set to be released in March 2025. The album, titled Everything Is Possible, is a fitting reflection of the label’s journey and achievements.
“We Are Busy Bodies has always been a labor of love,” says founder Eric Warner. “I’ve always believed that I could find an audience—whether a few hundred, a thousand, or more—that shares my passion for discovering new music."
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