VariousThis Bird has Flown(Razor & Tie)Cover albums are a tough sell. This 40th anniversary tribute to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul is not without its charm and a great line-up of indie rock types, but the soul quotient is low. The Donnas play it straight for “Drive My Car” — cutesy and boring. The Fiery Furnaces […]
Sue Carter Flinn
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Royal Wood
Royal WoodA Good Enough Day(Dead Daisy)This Toronto-based former child piano prodigy hasn’t squandered his natural talent or sweet tenor voice—A Good Enough Day is a pop delight, an old-fashioned train-car stocked with alternating riffs on love and heartache. Squeaky clean, but not overproduced, fans of Ron Sexsmith and Hawksley Workman—who plays drums on one track—will […]
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Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is MagicDirected by: Liam Lynch (IDP Films)Warning: if you find jokes about rape, AIDS and the Holocaust offensive, you might want to pass on the lovely Sarah Silverman. With her disproportionately long limbs, twinkling eyes and shiny hair that you’re just dying to brush, Silverman looks like she should be slotted into […]
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Christine Fellows
Christine FellowsNeverthelessSix ShooterSometimes you hear an artist and just know that if you met, you’d become friends. I like to think that of Winnipeg’s Christine Fellows, one of the most artistic and literary musicians working. There are references to poems by Marianne Moore and Yeats, and she pays homage to Tim Findley. Many of the […]
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Airstream Land Yacht
Airstream Land YachtKen BabstockAnansiConsidered one of the finest young poets in Canada today, Ken Babstock is the ideal re-entry for anyone who abandoned poetry in high school. Funny, contemporary and smart, Babstock delighted the crowds at the Halifax International Writers’ Festival when he read with the charming American poet Mark Strand. Babstock’s language is so […]
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Gorillaz
GorillazDemon Days (EMI)Damon Albarn exorcises a few musical demons on the follow-up to the Gorillaz’ self-titled debut, mixing up a cauldron of hip-hop and dark pop, tossed with a few zombie movie and spaghetti western soundtracks for good luck. Thanks to the contribution of producer Danger Mouse, the colourful result is a spellbinding, if sometimes […]
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The Bird & The Bee
The Bird & The BeeThe Bird & The Bee(Blue Note)Given lead singer Inara George’s coy Hepburnish looks and their home on Blue Note Records, it would be easy to mistake this LA duo as an innocent sunshine jazz outfit. That is, until you hear their electronica cover of Peaches’ “Fucking Boyfriend.” A mix of Burt […]
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The Hidden Cameras
The Hidden CamerasAwoo (Outside)The Hidden Cameras’ ringmaster Joel Gibb pushes that “gay church music” out of the chapel. Toning down the harps and horns, a great pop album emerges, built on the Cameras’ sing-along melodies and Gibb’s distinctive voice. There’s more time on the guitar pedal and, dare we say, a few radio-friendly ballads. “Lollipop” […]
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Christine Fellows
Christine FellowsNeverthelessSix ShooterFellows had me at the cover: a charming collage by Shary Boyle. Then it was true, swooning love, opening with a plucky, dramatic instrumental and a theatrical homage to Tim Findley’s Not Wanted on the Voyage. She even sends love letters to outsider shadow-box creator Joseph Cornell. Quirky and daring folk-pop, it’s no […]
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The Birth House
The Birth HouseAmi McKayKnoft CanadaJust like her plucky protagonist, the midwife-in-training Dora Rare, Ami McKay is one of those characters you root for—not that she needs your help. McKay’s first novel, set in rural World War I-era Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, planted itself firmly on all the bestseller lists this year, found UK and US […]
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R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12
R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12 (Jive)Ten years from now when MuchMusic does a 2005 retrospective, R. Kelly’s hip-hopera Trapped in the Closet will make the clip show. Michael Jackson could learn a lesson from Kelly about diversion tactics: Trapped is so over-the-top, so questionable in intent, you almost forget the dude’s been […]
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Peter Bjorn & John
Peter Bjorn & JohnWriter’s Block(V2)Fans of The Concretes will recognize lead singer Victoria Bergsman’s voice on the single “Young Folks.” A guaranteed party-maker, it’s also the catchiest combo of whistling, maraca and bongo beats around. Although this album confirms Stockholm’s place as the epicentre of European malaise pop, PB&J’s sound is obviously influenced by British […]