It’s about a month until Canadian Music Week, which runs from March 21-25 in Toronto, Ontario. This Festival packs in a whole amalgamation of music-related activities. It seems to be a lot like Canada’s version of CMJ. It’s a conference, it’s a festival, it’s a tradeshow, there are film screenings, award ceremonies, and all kinds of marketing and social events. In other words, it’s an over-stimulating cluster fuck, but chances are high you’ll find some precious gems in the craziness of it all.

But focusing on the music…

There’s the not so under the radar artists like Passion Pit, Childish Gambino, Fanfarlo, Tribes, Cloud Nothings, Caveman, and tons more of that along with the seasoned likes of Martha Wainwright. The festival has also taken the liberty of spotlighting a handful of bands, some of whom we’re not sure exactly why, but there are a few we do agree with:

The Apache Relay – “..indie-roots band (whose members) discovered a shared love for the timelessness of Motown records, the weight of Springsteen’s Nebraska, the textures of modern rock bands, as well as the intensity of really skilled acoustic players.” These guys are also playing SXSW beforehand.

I Am Oak – indie folk from Dutch songwriter Thijs Kuijken, who combines banjos with interesting cross sticking to drive a catchy vocal melody.

Last Year’s Men – a sort of snot-punk garage band that actually understands where the roots of that type of music came from.

There are plenty of ticket options to choose from, with the most straightforward one being the 5-Day festival wristband for $75. That gets you into all music showcases, film fest screenings, and the comedy fest. Check out all ticket options and follow the latest Tweets for updates.