Flame on!

Christian Hansen and the Autistics, The Secretaries, Cadence Weapon, and The Be Arthurs are some of the Edmonton artists who will be serenading Wednesday's Olympic torch relay as runners and flame make their way around the city.

Hansen and his bandmates are some of the performers at the first stop in the Butterdome. (Time: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.) The Secretaries will rock it out in Abbey Glen Park, on Jasper Avenue and 102nd St. (Time: 5:55 p.m. to 7 p.m.) Cadence Weapon and The Be Arthurs are part of the festivities at Winston Churchill Square, where the torch relay will end around 7 p.m.

Here's the full schedule.

Happy Weird holidays!

Does Aaron Levin ever sleep?

When he’s not posting album reviews on Weird Canada, running Cantor Records or making his own music, he’s organizing gigs -- whether it be last month’s Wyrd Fest or a bunch of shows over the next few weeks, featuring the likes of Roland Pemberton III, Mark Templeton, and Peace.

(Levin MUST catch a few zzzz’s … the first time I met him, he had a gravity-defying case of bed head.)

Here’s a list of his upcoming events:

* Friday, Dec. 18: The Pop Echo poobahs celebrate the label’s five-year anniversary with sets by Outdoor Miners, Heat-Ray, DJ Roland Pemberton III (Cadence Weapon’s alter ego), and Levin’s own band, Jazz, which proudly boasts no web presence. Where: New City, 10081 Jasper Avenue. Tickets: $5. Time: 9 p.m. (Read my feature on Pop Echo in Friday's Edmonton Journal.)

* Sunday, Dec. 20: Levin teams up with another local D-I-Y promoter/musician, Cecil Frena (Push Pins) to reissue Doug Snyder & Bob Thompson’s ode to heaviness, Daily Dance, on Cantor. The duo won’t perform -- the disc is 36 years old -- but Frena’s band, Gobble Gobble, Mark Templeton, and Beneath These Idle Tides will. Where: Avonmore Hall, 7902 73rd Ave. Tickets: $10. Time: 7:30 p.m.

* Sunday, Dec. 27: Edmonton expat Sean Nicholas Savage will release the vinyl version of his latest effort, Spread Free Like A Butterfly. Also sets by Silly Kissers, Makeout Videotape, The Bummers, and a Cadence Weapon surprise. Where: The Pawn Shop, 10545 Whyte Ave. Tickets: $10. Time: 9 p.m.

* Tuesday, Dec. 29: Peace, featuring ex-Social Wire singer Dan Geddes and former All Purpose Voltage Heroes drummer Conor Mayer, headline this home-for-the-holidays show. (The two Edmonton natives now live in Vancouver.) Also on the bill: Puberty, Friendo, Sans AIDS and Mount Doom. Where: The ARTery, 9535 Jasper Avenue. Tickets: $10. Time: 8 p.m.

Criticism, schmiticism

Edmonton artists are taking bit of a bashing.

1. Earlier this week, Cadence Weapon was criticized for picking Douglas Coupland's Generation X as his choice for CBC Radio's annual Canada Reads contest. (I thought it was a safe selection, others felt he should have opted for an Edmonton author.)

2. Shout Out Out Out Out was dissed in the latest issue of GQ. The local electro-rockers topped the magazine's annual list of terrible band names. (Hey, I can think of a lot worse. Septic Flesh, for starters. And, as much as I like 'em, The Rural Alberta Advantage doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.)

Oddly enough, GQ is the second New York magazine to make fun of the name of an Edmonton artist. "Finally, what the fuck is a Cadence Weapon?" Michael Hogan asked in a Vanity Fair column about bad band names. Well, it's definitely not a band name.