England is the birthplace of progressive rock, where classical training and being well-read need not be a handicap when clanging out some chords. Imogen Heap turns obsessions into satin layers of her own voice. She’s a control freak. More people helped with the liner art than with the music. The similarity to Kate Bush is […]
Doug Taylor
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Rich Hope
There is not much new to what Rich Hope does, save the crunchiness. You could call his blues a white-boy, minimalist sock-hop strain were it not for the many twists and turns his guitar navigates. On the slow numbers like “Death Bed Blues,” he’ll remind you of The Black Keys. When the tempo’s up, it’s […]
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BLK JKS
Out of Johannesburg, South Africa, arrives a quartet likely to scare you. Rock does register with Africans. At times, it seems the speakers or your head might explode from the layers of rhythm, noise and the unknown. The title and album images suggest an aftermath of some trouble when humanity has no toys to filter […]
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Drive-By Truckers
The Truckers’ previous albums have tended to be cinematic in their way with characters and settings. This set includes two alternate takes and two covers, including Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” with a boost from three singers trading verses and, of course, extra guitar. Admirers may gasp that a song as anthemic as “Rebels” has […]
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Levon Helm
On his second album since battling cancer, the only American in The Band seems positively robust. “Where’s the dignity in a crop that you raise to burn?” muses a farmer who turned to growing marijuana in “Growin’ Trade”. The only Helm original, it’s also the catchiest tune on Electric Dirt. Not that the Grateful Dead […]
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The Henrys
The Henrys’ chief asset, the ethereally eccentric Mary Margaret O’Hara, sings on just four of the 15 tracks on Is This Tomorrow. The good news is that Martina Sorbara and Becca Stevens possess similar qualities. They may not imitate the other instruments and bewildered birds, but they do ground the sonic experiments in a bit […]
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Cracker
David Lowery may never be a household name, but his body of work is getting impressive. From Camper Van Beethoven to this ninth Cracker album, his wit and energy feel unstoppable. Sunrise rocks to varying degrees of punk. “Hand Me My Inhaler” pogos out, while others display a greater range. “Show Me How this Thing […]
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Spinnerette
Brody Dalle sets a new standard for showing off the bod after giving birth: Try underwear close-ups ‘fore and ‘aft on the CD jacket. Before spawning, she was centrepiece of punk band The Distillers. Most of Spinnerette bursts in solipsistic LA style above keyboard grind, while guitars chirp and Dalle bellows, happy to be back […]
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Steve Earle
Country-folk singer-songwriter and poet Townes Van Zandt died in 1997 on New Year’s Day. A dozen years later, his cult has grown beyond country contrarians. Fellow Texan Steve Earle’s spin is spirited and often flavoured with an Irish folk lilt; in other words, not so depressing. Van Zandt’s most famous song, “Pancho and Lefty,” is […]
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Romi Mayes
The guitar moan and studio science of Gurf Morlix inject plenty of Texas into the sound of this well-travelled Manitoban. It also makes Lucinda Williams comparisons unavoidable. Beneath the fight in her voice, there is more sadness in Mayes’ songs than on 2006’s Sweet Somethin’ Steady, the most engaging mess of Canadian country east of […]
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The Novaks
The sophomore album by Newfoundland’s Novaks, three years in the making, was recorded at Halifax’s Sonic Temple. There’s a whiff of Toronto fussiness, wherein guitars can lose their quirks and get treated like another drum kit. Nevertheless, this ranks, along with the band’s debut, among great Atlantic Canadian rock records. “Destroyer,” an engrossing live opener […]
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K-os
The mantle of “favourite rapper among those who could live without rap” weighs heavily upon the bearer. k-os’s 2006 offering, Atlantis, rocked the mainstream so hard, he became the personal jingle-meister at As It Happens for a while. As if to avoid being called a sellout, he’s devised the remix project and “karma donation” scheme […]