The constant flow of people was in stark contrast to the story he would tell me about his most amazing experience as a busker. Sometimes, according to Mike, it only takes one girl and a bit of music to bring a whole station to a standstill.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 17 / SCOUT NIBLETT / HORSESHOE TAVERN / 368 QUEEN ST W / $11.50 / 19+
In January, British-born singer Scout Niblett announced that she will be recording the title track from her latest LP The Calcination of Scout Niblett a hundred different times. Each version will be sold only once so that the buyer owns the sole copy of the recording. Head to the Horseshoe tonight to ask her what version she's at, but make sure to get there early for opening sets from local acts First Rate People and Picastro.

THURSDAY MARCH 18 / A WILHELM SCREAM / THE MOD CLUB / 722 COLLEGE ST / $14.50 / ALL AGES
Punk rock takes over the Mod Club on Thursday evening when Windsor's Orphan Choir, Toronto's own Junior Battles and Maine's Outbreak open up for the always ferocious A Wilhelm Scream. AWS have been delivering their own brand of melodic hardcore to ravenous fans around the world for well over a decade, beefing up their sound and picking up a few more members throughout their journey. The quintet's latest release was a self-titled EP dropped in June of 2009 through Paper & Plastick Records.

• Holy Fuck to release Latin on May 11
• 2010 Indies handed out
• D-Sisive and Buck 65 team up for collaborative project
• Young Artists for Haiti re-imagine K'Naan track
• The Burning Hell embark on massive tour in support of new album
• Times Neue Roman sign to YYZ Records
• Elliott Brood, Forest City Lovers and DD/MM/YYYY prepare for SXSW 2010 in Austin, Texas.

Plus videos and/or downloads from Hooded Fang, Laura Barrett, Will Currie & the Country French, D-Sisive, Forest City Lovers, Times Neue Roman and Jason Collett with Bahamas and Zeus.

Marianas Trench, whose singer Josh Ramsay is pictured below, picked up the award for Astral Media Radio Favourite Single and Favourite Video of the Year for Cross My Heart.

I was highly anticipating this, seeing as I missed the last show Woods played here a few months back. To give you an idea of how I feel about this band, I compare their live show to what a guy walking for days in the desert must think of finding a bottle of water. This is pretty similar to how I felt when I first saw them one hot and hungover day in Texas last year. Woods was the one band I was really excited to see out of the CMF lineup, and for good reason.

Rather than taking in the awards show at the Royal York, I chose to venue hop on Saturday night, starting at the Horseshoe before heading to the Garrison and the Bovine for sets from The Wooden Sky, Moneen and Saint Alvia, respectively.

It all started to come to come together when a little bird whispered something in my ear about a day show going on at John O'Regan (you do know Diamond Rings, don't you?) and local filmmaker / man about town Colin Medly's apartment. It was the perfect start to my day, I thought, and what else was I going to do at 1 p.m.? Watch Simpsons reruns online?

Julie Fader, Brian Borcherdt and Postdata took full advantage of the incredible acoustics of the venue and brought along a few special guests for the show including Randy Lee (formerly of the Bicycles), Graham Walsh (of Holy Fuck) and Tony Dekker (of Great Lake Swimmers).

With such a relaxed atmosphere the majority of the crowd remained seated throughout the night, giving the performers their undivided attention from start to finish. Check out some photos and videos from the incredibly intimate concert.

So I should start out honestly -- I'm not 100% behind CMW, or CMF, or whatever it's actually called. It's easy to criticize a Canadian-themed festival that consists largely of American bands, and features a headliner that is almost completely out of touch with current music (Our Lady Peace). But when it becomes hard to find nuggets of fun, it makes it somewhat more worthwhile, I think. This show at Annex Wreckroom was one such nugget.

Check out my photos from the shows:

Kim's bubbly disposition and instant likability are only matched by her beautiful voice, which filled the air and made heads turn at Runnymede station. I spent some time getting to know her and unearthed a personality as bright and welcoming as her smile.

Far more than a night of nostalgia, there were three other formidable performances on the bill, including Australian singer Kate Miller-Heidke, Montreal's The Mission District and Toronto's own Sadie May Crash.

But as the night went on it became more apparent by the crowd's reaction that most of them were there to see Platinum Blonde rock The Mod Club, which is incidentally run by singer Mark Holmes since its inception in 2002. And rock it they did.

The first and only Toronto stop on The Bonfire Ball Tour was an amazing night, with all three acts helping play each others songs.

Here's a look at what's in this CMF-focused edition of Toronto Music News:

• Video and mp3 downloads from Styrofoam Ones
• Audio Blood Media prep for CMF with video and free mixtape
• The Hoa Hoa's play the Optical Sounds Showcase
• The Wooden Sky, Yukon Blonde and The Balconies prepare for a sweaty night at the Horseshoe on Saturday
• Diamond Rings at Double Double Land
• Dinosaur Bones prep for SXSW with CMF show at the Silver Dollar