Colin MacKenzie

ControllerController, History(Paper Bag)If Blondie and Television had some lurid affair in the alley of CBGBs back in the day then Controller.Controller would be their illegitimate daughter, now grown up and living in Toronto. The EP History has bite and wall-to-wall late ’70s/early ’80s (pre-The Edge) twanging twin new wave guitar. Each song throbs, driven by […]

Code PieThis Habit(Flagless)Computer geeks will understand the name Code Pie. What starts off as mad scientist Björk-style electronica slowly evolves, by the end of the six- minute lead-off track “Bang,” into a very current and epic alternative pop album. Put together using cello, trumpet, a “shitty” Casio keyboard, two guitars, percussion and a six string […]

Justin Rutledge and the Junction FortyNo Never Alone (Six Shooter)Batten down the hatches, pour yourself a drink and turn your stereos up because this feller could be the reincarnation of Gram Parsons. Not since Ron Sexsmith’s debut has anyone offered up such heartfelt lyrics, so prominently placed on sleeve. It’s fully entrenched in the traditions […]

Liz PhairSomebody’s MiracleColumbiaLiz Phair’s desperation to be loved, to be a sex symbol and to be a massive rock star can get a little irritating. But even when she sold her soul and sound over to the Matrix — on 2003’s oft-maligned self-titled pop experiment — it was her songs and her songwriting craft that […]

Beta BandThe Best of(EMI)Do you remember in High Fidelity when John Cusack holds up a CD and tells one of his socially inept clerks to watch as he sells five copies just by playing it? The band he was talking about was the Beta Band, the CD, a fantastic release called Three Eps that turned […]

P:ANOBrigadoon(Mint records)Mint Records is the little engine that could. More than 10 years in the game and still it continues to put out the sweetest of charm-infused pop. P:ano’s sound harks back to the Winnipeg label’s salad days of Cub and seven-inch singles. Brigadoon is the band’s third album but its first on Mint records. […]