Ontario-based Ley is a Zelig of Canadian music. He’s played country with Tommy Hunter, disco with the T.H.P. Orchestra and in the early ’70s band Brass Union. With partner Candice Bist, Ley’s been writing songs all along, inspired by everything from Sufi mysticism to slick fashion ads. His veteran session colleagues join in, providing an […]
Doug Taylor
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Sally Seltmann
These days, ethereal female singers could have their own aisle in your imaginary record store. This Australian siren would rate a life-size cutout at the entrance for the clarity of her vocals over strings and woodwinds, which glide deftly from counterweight to harmony. It’s debatable whether these songs would soar as they do without the […]
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Fearing & White
Stephen Fearing has had a fertile twelve months. The superb Between Hurricanes dropped a year ago, then his rock band’s South, now a second collaboration with Andy White. This album is a lot like Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ latest. They boast the same drummer, Gary Craig, who injects extra oomph. Fearing tends to sing […]
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Corb Lund
With his band, the Hurtin’ Albertans, Lund has landed on a prestigious US label. The foursome recorded a dozen of Lund’s finest songs at Sun Studios in Memphis with some extra rockin’ noise live off the floor. Since Lund began in a punk band, The Smalls, it’s not really a stretch. Lead guitarist Grant Siemens […]
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Dave Sampson
The title song was co-written by five people, so this album has a lot of support and good will behind it. Carleton Stone, Dylan Guthro, Gordie Sampson and Mo Kenney all turn up in various roles. Sampson’s throbbing percussive piano brings to mind Coldplay, perhaps too often. Fresher is the interplay of Guthro’s mandolin and […]
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Jon McKiel
For a six-song, 17-minute disc, quite a range of experience awaits the listener. Back east from Calgary, producer Jay Crocker (Ghostkeeper), guides the Haligonian McKiel past his pop sensibility into the wild side. The fourth track, “Twin Speaks,” wraps itself around some peculiar, memorable upper register plucking before descending into a pit of sonic chaos. […]
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Owen Pallett
The ace violinist-self sampler-arranger has been so busy supporting other acts, most notably Arcade Fire, anticipation has grown keen surrounding this album by the former Final Fantasy. Art-rock hero Brian Eno took note of 2010’s Heartland and volunteered some backup work on this one. With fewer exhilarating string flourishes and more synthesizer, In Conflict could […]
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The Trews
As it’s the first full album in three years from this Antigonish foursome, the eponymous title implies a hope to reach many new ears. “Transcendental disarray” describes the mess awaiting the “Age of Miracles” and its mix of faith, science and faith in science. The dynamic vocals of Colin MacDonald, briefly relieved by a harmonic […]
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Bette & Wallet
[iamge-1] The duo of Mary Beth Carty and Gabriel Ouelette is back with a slight tweak–he plugged in his guitar. She traded in her accordion, for the most part, for electric bass. Occasionally, as on “Administration,” you may be lured into prog-rock reverie before Celtic lilt and Acadian clatter take over. There’s a passionate critique, […]
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Jimmy Rankin
“Nobody said it was gonna be easy,” Rankin sings in “Falling So Hard.” He could be describing his solo career. Of course he’s celebrated here at home. However, the goal is to be on country radio all over, because with this album he deserves it. The first single, “Cool Car,” panders a bit. The title […]
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Pink Mountaintops
Was 1987 really “The Second Summer of Love” and does it deserve a resounding homage? “Dropout girls smoking Export A’s?” Really? Pink Mountaintops assembles its own war stories from the suburban teen experience. Surging hormones live again as reverb. There is so much echo on Get Back, it is the lasting impression to the point […]
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Ziggy Marley
At 45, Ziggy is nine years older than his father, Bob Marley, was when he died in 1981. Though he does have a similar vocal style, the tone is more upbeat than uprising. Ziggy’s songs dart in and out of what purists would call reggae, dangerously close to a Disney version. The title song, with […]