Various The Toronto Music Mission

It’s difficult to knock a compilation album with an objective as ambitious as that of the Toronto Music Mission. Students at the Harris Institute of the Arts have collected music from 12 of the Big Smoke’s most prominent pop/rock artists in hopes that sales of the CD will benefit the city’s homeless through the Daily Bread Food Bank. Featured songs include Tamara Williamson’s "Counting Sheep, ” Jory Nash’s "Jericho Now,” Emm Gryner’s "Julia,” Aaron Booth’s "I Was a Guest,” the Fembots’ "Broken and Blue,” Andre Ethier’s "Sinners” and Aengus Finnan’s "Fly Away,” among others. Though organisers of the compilation can certainly boast about the calibre of the artists who have donated songs to their noble project, serious fans of the participating musicians will notice that most of the songs here have been released previously. Some — including By Divine Right’s "I Love Everybody” — even reach back to albums that came out almost ten years ago. That said, Toronto Music Mission proves to be an excellent primer for listeners unfamiliar with the city’s vibrant indie rock community and, as stated earlier, you can’t slag this comp’s humanitarian intentions. (Confidential)

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