The Neighbourhood Mixtape is a collection of newly-released songs by Toronto musicians. The mixtape is meant to celebrate Toronto's music culture and provide a forum to listen to and discover new local music.

Every Sunday, I post a five-track mixtape (along with my own mini-reflections for each track) that you can download or stream as a soundtrack for the week.

Track #1: Evening Hymns, "Asleep in the Pews"

"The songs about Dad I'm really proud of, and I think that as a complete piece Spectral Dusk is a great picture of our relationship," Jonas Bonnetta said in a Call & Response interview. The new Evening Hymns track "Asleep in the Pews" (available for free download) expresses a heavy emotion - a memory and a lasting longing for closeness.

Track #2: The Darcys, "Edmonton to Purgatory"

The Darcys released their self-titled LP for free download this week via Arts & Crafts. Their track "Edmonton to Purgatory" demonstrates the band's ability to shift gears and switch pitch, from jarring trails of psychedelia to slow-moving ecstatic textures, fuzz and distortion.

Track #3: The Soupcans, "Pop Hit III"

The Soupcans' pack it tight in Vintage Pizza Party Cassette, an album full of raging fire and propulsive punk. "Pop Hit III" swoops with screams, leaving bruises wherever the sound lands.

Track #4: Del Bel, "This Unknown"

Del Bel's LP Oneiric is a record to look forward to this fall. We featured their blissful (and Broken Social Scene-sounding) track "Dusk Light" earlier this summer. Now, we're lucky to give you another preview of their song "This Unknown"; it shudders with a noir atmosphere of foreboding and serene percussion and horns.

Track #5: Bry Webb, "Rivers of Gold"

Constantines front-man Bryan ("Bry") Webb digs for solitude in the rambling track "Rivers of Gold", a song taken from his upcoming solo LP Provider (November 15th). "I was waking up early in the morning / I was sleeping on the ground / I was swimming in a sky of falling river/ I was driven by the sound," sings Webb, his voice echoing long and deep in all directions.

If you wish to be a part of The Neighbourhood Mixtape, you can contact Aldrin at aldrin [at] blogto [dotcom]