Trevor MacLaren

Emiliana TorriniFisherman’s Woman(rough trade)Filled with a lush and dreamy voice that was made for trip-hop, just as Beth Gibbons was. Fisherman’s Woman is a stripped-down affair from her trippy debut Love in the Time of Science. Taking cues from British folk hero Nick Drake, the disc is soft and beautifully laid out with awe-inspiring arrangements […]

No Doubt The Singles 1993-2003 (Interscope)When you throw aside the filler that often bogs down their discs, No Doubt is one of the best pop bands around. From the breakthrough single “Just a Girl” to their previously un-issued cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” The Singles is a fine collection. The disc shows their […]

Prince3121(NPG)Prince is back, not only in name but sheer musical force. Musicology wasn’t the comeback everyone hoped for—3121 is. Musicology seemed to be made specifically as a commercial comeback; 3121 lacks the feel of classic Prince for the sake of classic Prince. The record has a great cohesive structure that works Prince’s various musical moods […]

VariousBrats on the Beat(Go-Kart)Just when you thought the memory of the Ramones has been sold and spit upon enough, some other marketing genius finds a new way to disgrace it. This collection of pseudo and real punk vocalists with kids screaming along behind them to the choruses of Ramones songs is a travesty. The arrangements […]

Warren ZevonReconsider Me: The Love Songs(Artemis)The thing that made Warren Zevon a cult icon was not the fact that he was a great songwriter — although he was — it was the bitter, caustic wit that bled through his best work. A collection of Zevon’s love songs, then, lacks the wry critiques on modern life […]

Radio BirdmanZeno Beach(Yep Roc)Radio Birdman, masterminded by Ann Arbor’s Deniz Tek and fronted by Aussie surfer Rob Younger, set the scene for Australian punk. Fusing the signature garage punk of The Stooges and MC5, the band became legendary to followers such as Nick Cave. But releasing only two records between ’75 and ’78 made them […]

Ben LeeNew Wave(ben-lee.com)Australian troubadour Ben Lee has covered Against Me’s New Wave and made it available for free. “As heavy and gnarly as it sounds at times, it is unmistakably a pop masterpiece,” Lee writes on the blog entry accompanying the download. “I wondered to myself how these songs would sound acoustically.” By taking away […]

VariousThe Grass is Always Bluer (Nettwerk)The Grass is Always Bluer is a cornucopia of Americana with proceeds going to the Sweet Relief charity. Packed with some of the genre’s finest and fleshed out with some new players, the disc isn’t nearly as strong as it should be. Choosing weak cuts from Americana goddess Gillian Welch […]

Bonnie “Prince” BillyThe Letting Go(Drag City)This is a departure from the usual Will Oldham sound since it has major harmony contributions and string arrangements. A touch of British folk added with Oldham’s Appalachia revisited create one of his greatest efforts yet. Its genius of dark yet beautiful menace proves why Johnny Cash once called him […]

Paul AnkaRock Swings(Verve)Could this be anything other than a pathetic novelty record, like Pat Boone’s In a Metal Mood? Ottawa’s favourite son channels the spirit of Ol’ Blue Eyes, while Anka’s arranger recalls the moods and sounds of Sinatra’s great arranger Nelson Riddle. The end product is Frank’s Capitol era mixed with rock, alternative and […]