Though the hit-making peak for Pet Shop Boys was 25 years ago, that’s more a reflection of mass obsession today for the new and transgressive than a reduced pop flair. Nothing on Electric will make you forget West End Girls, but there’s still jump in the fastball. Now into their 50s, Neil Tennant and Chris […]
Doug Taylor
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Cheryl Thibideau
This album crosses the line between independent and vanity. It’s well-packaged and -produced, with notable cameos (Ian Tyson, Johnny Burke) and countrified hits (Dave Clark Five, Buffy Sainte-Marie). Even an original, “Honeymoon,” borrows liberally from an Anne Murray chestnut. The sense is of someone moving to make their pastime a second career. A melding of […]
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The Chronos Band
This select crew of nine players found time away from backing the likes of Cyndi Cain and Garrett Mason to forge its own funk. The numbers led by bassist/composer Rhéo Rochon, like “Crabwalk” and “Galapagos,” show the influence of Antibalas and Fela Kuti, creating space for hooks and solos. Live, they’d stretch out well beyond […]
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Cyndi Cain
Having paid her dues belting out the hits for tourists in the tropics, Cain delivers bona fide east coast soul on her second album. When she releases the hounds vocally on the title song, domesticity breaks into a spiritual. Cain’s chemistry with her band enriches the the atmosphere, not unlike Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. […]
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CFCF
Montreal multi-instrumentalist Michael Silver, known as CFCF, changes it up a touch on his second full-length album. Rhythm is now more an atmosphere inducer than a stoker of physical response. Opener “Beyond Light” throbs with tribal, primeval power to a make a little electronic noodling much more entrancing than it would otherwise be. Silver sings […]
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Dennis Ellsworth
If you remember Dennis Ellsworth from his rock band The Rude Mechanicals, you’ll find Hazy Sunshine less saucy but more melodic. Having moved from PEI to Ontario and back again, he has been prolific. Along the way, he co-wrote “Coke Machine Glow” with Gord Downie. It’s included here, with Kinley Dowling’s somber viola and lush […]
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The Sadies
After 20 years and countless collaborations, The Sadies merit their reputation as a superb supporting band and live act. The question arises: Why do their own songs generally fail to lodge in the memory? A troubled response might be—rock and country are in conflict. Following Dallas and Travis Good’s recent fine album with extended family, […]
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Braids
These Calgarians have found Montreal a more nurturing artistic base for experimenting with words and electronics. Raphaelle Standell-Preston is the impish angelic voice negotiating soundscapes her bandmates concoct. “He’s so carefree. Why can I not be?” she sings in “Girl,” as if disoriented in a setting that would wash past the listener if she weren’t […]
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Jessy Lanza
In the realm of ethereal feminine vocals over rumbly, sparkly machines, Canada is giving Scandinavia a good run. Similar in genre to Grimes, Austra and Braids, yet distinctive in her goal is Hamilton’s Jessy Lanza, getting a big assist from Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys. Synthesizers were strange, then dominant, oppressive even in the 1980s. […]
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Kim Wempe
A prairie gal who travelled east years ago and liked the supportive atmosphere, Wempe writes songs that would stand up solo if needed. On Coalition, she engages a robust roster of players for a set that will get the folkies up to shake it out. There’s a gospel, or at least inspirational, fervour throughout. The […]
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Christine Campbell
Breaking loose for a spell from the hard rock outfit Stone Mary, Christine Campbell is full of surprises. The mostly acoustic setting gives her room to display a vast vocal range and fluid guitar style that would get lost in amps turned to 11. Thom Swift contributes a rich helping of slide to make “Gleam” […]
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Hanni El Khatib
With one album under his belt, this LA-based rocker teams up with Dan Auerbach. If Head in the Dirt sounds a bit like early Black Keys, chalk that up to Auerbach’s enthusiasm and Khatib’s flexibility. Both sense that older blues and rock will inform what they do, but need not limit it. “Save Me” has […]