Isenor’s third disc—the second in less than a year —is an excellent showcase for his brand of indie-folk and storytelling skills. Especially on songs like the title track, an amusing take down of aimless high school bullies who are hanging around “thinking of ways to be cruel.” The jaunty “Bend in the River” and “Illusions” have that […]
Dave Hayden
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Dave Hayden’s Top 11 Albums of 2011
13 & God, Own Your Ghost (Anticon/Alien Transistor) Underground hip-hop got a dose of self-reflection when 13 & God returned this year. The collective of Dose One, Jel and Notwist demonstrated a versatility that even seasoned jazz aficionados would shake their heads in disbelief at. Handsome Furs, Sound Kapital (Sub Pop) With ’80s new wave, […]
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Top 11 of 2011
Settle in and read our critics’ picks of the year. Learn about yourself and our writers in the process. Possibly a two coffee read and at least one of those coffees should have whiskey in it. MUSIC BOOKS DVDS VIDEO GAMES THE LOT OF IT
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Best music of 2011
Alison Lang Coast writer since 2007 Bad Vibrations, Black Train (Brotherhood) Bad Vibrations has what businesspeople would call a “consistency of vision.” With Black Train, these straight shooters will take you on a ride that is continually ghostly, tenebrous and spaced-out—brain food for headbangers. Bike Rodeo, Oh Bla Duh (Independent) Some bands out there raise […]
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Bad Vibrations
Expecting KC Spidle’s new band to sound like Dog Day is like expecting Dog Day to still sound the same without him. Neither does. Nor is BV much like Husband & Knife, KC’s lo-fi quieter side. Bad Vibrations is a different beast altogether. While there are some elements of each of his other projects, the […]
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Nova Cantabrigiensis
On the cusp of adulthood and hopeful days ahead, Devlin set out to study theology at the University of Cambridge, only to suffer a mental breakdown which derailed his career forever. The devastation lingered upon his return to Nova Scotia, and idealism and rose-coloured nostalgia led Devlin to create Nova Canatabrigiensis—a series of drawings representing […]
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Roadsworth (Goose Lane)
In Roadsworth’s work, crosswalks become candles. Sewer drains with dangling rubber stoppers. Concrete cracks become roots and branches with budding foliage. Or a whole parking lot that miraculously becomes a field of dandelions. Compared with fellow stencil masters Banksy or Blek le Rat’s political bent, Wordsworth’s oeuvre is rife with whimsy and playfulness. Like the […]
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Paying For It
Although the timing was unintentional, the most recent challenge to the constitutionality of our country’s prostitution laws provides an ideal backdrop to Chester Brown’s superb new offering. A treatise in two distinct sections, Paying for It is first and foremost a touching, honest and humanistic depiction of his experiences with sex trade workers and the debates […]
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LOW
The last two Low albums, The Great Destroyer and Drums and Guns, were angry, angular testaments that seemed to signal the band was moving beyond the quiet-but-intense-melodies which defined its first albums. But apparently not. Maybe that is because The Retribution Gospel Choir has provided Alan Sparhawk an outlet in which to unleash his fury. […]
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Sloan
When I think of my relationship with Sloan over the last two decades, I can honestly say I never expected the band to give me musical epiphanies or change the world. But I did expect consistency— in creating catchy, clever rock and roll, giving up hit after hit with no surprises. That is exactly what […]
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Chad VanGaalen
One of the great things about opening a Chad VanGaalen record is that you never know what to expect. You might hope for tracks like “Wandering Spirits” or “No Panic/No Heart”—two melancholic acoustic songs that strive to render the lonely comfortable—but his real knack is making “anything goes” feel truly remarkable. So it is with […]
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We Need Secrets
Kestrels’ Chad Peck’s new solo side project We Need Secrets, is—as the title implies—an intimate and musically contemplative affair, while still being about the love of what a guitar can become. Especially the closer “He Do the Police in Different Voices” which is 25 minutes of drone and echo musique actuelle best suited for rainy […]