Whokill, the latest from Merrill Garbus, the New Hampshire-based multi-instrumentalist otherwise known as tUnE-yArDs, is probably as polarizing a release as anything in recent memory. Her music is not just an acquired taste—either you appreciate it or you don’t—it’s a collage of influences (world beat, jazz, electronica) colliding in a tangle of rhythms, blips, honks and […]
Dave Hayden
Posted inArts + Music
Reunion
When it comes to our high school years, most people have delusions that they were somehow better than they actually were. It’s a natural defense mechanism, really. That is the premise of Pascal Girard’s new graphic novel Reunion—a humourous, if not slightly cringe-y account of how he convinced himself that he was a popular, cool […]
Posted inArts + Music
One Hundred Dollars
How you accept Songs of Man depends on preconceptions of how you think (or want) this band to look and feel. In other words, do you want the rugged rawness of the old or the layered polish of the new? Deep down, little has changed. The songwriting is still the gold-standard of storytelling in the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Timber Timbre
Since the last Timber Timbre album, the band has evolved from a solo sonic-exploration for front man Taylor Kirk to a full-time trio. Enter Mika Posen (violin) and Simon Trottier (lap steel), both of whom take on a greater role fleshing out arrangements more reflective of the greater free experimentation Timber Timbre concerts, including a […]
Posted inArts + Music
Lucinda Williams
More so than any of Lucinda Williams’ previous albums, Blessed brims with a strength and inner confidence that is startling. Even with her voice strained and on the verge of cracking, she is the one pointing fingers. It is marvelous to hear her snarl to a foolish lover—“good luck finding your buttercup”—not just because we […]
Posted inArts + Music
Scenes From An Impending Marriage
In his new graphic novella, Tomine leads us through the asinine and bizarre ritual that many couples reluctantly (or willingly) participate in order to try to plan “the perfect wedding.” Thoughtfully considered and humorously paced, Scenes depicts the ever-contrarian Adrian and his more enthusiastic fiancee, Sarah, negotiating the ridiculous tasks of choosing a font for […]
Posted inArts + Music
G. Love
WOW. Has G. Love has found his groove again. Which we say ironically, because on Fixin’ to Die, he has dropped the Philadelphia/dance-inflected grooves that defined his mid-career music. Instead he has returned to his roots: the blues, country and bluegrass that defined his first few albums. These songs burst with joie de vivre that […]
Posted inArts + Music
Cowboy Junkies
When Vic Chesnutt died a little over a year ago, it was a devastating after-shock to a community which had only just accepted a world without Elliott Smith and Mark Linkous. His life, like his art, was a cerebral mix of not-so-deftly negotiated tragedy and dry comedic wit. And those who adored him, did so […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mid-Life
To summarize Joe Ollman’s latest graphic novel Mid-Life as the story of a 40-something man going through a mid-life crisis would be to over-simplify the complexities that can bring anyone to the point of asking “How did I get here?” It is never just one simple decision or left turn, but a series of events […]
Posted inArts + Music
Before the End
If you have ever (even remotely) followed James Kirkpatrick’s career as a hip-hop/noise maker and visual artist (urban or otherwise), you will already know that his art is in a near-constant state of evolution. He is always staring past a horizon most of us have yet to be conscious of. And so it is with […]
Posted inArts + Music
Jason Collett
Though I have long admired Jason Collett’s talents, this is the first album I can truly embrace as an exceptional piece of craft. While other LPs have contained some pretty stellar songs, they existed in isolation and the albums never fully realized as a whole. Pony Tricks, on the other hand, is a unique vision, a distinct […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Radio Dept.
After listening to the first few tracks of this double CD collection, a squall of thoughts crossed my mind. The first being “Holeeeeey fuck, why have I not heard this before?” How did this escape my radar? And then after nary a few more–especially the deeply transporting “The New Improved Hypocrisy” –I was hooked. It was […]