Indie rocker Brian Borcherdt feels haunted whenever he returns to his home province. “There was that time the ghost of an old sea captain sang backups and then stole all the beer from backstage. That was neat,” Borcherdt says cheekily of coming back to play shows in Halifax, like his upcoming slots at this year’s […]
Music Festivals
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Punk as Fucked Up
Very few Canadian bands are as epic as Fucked Up. With dozens of releases, including the 2012 Polaris-nominated David Comes to Life and 2009 Polaris winner The Chemistry of Common Life, Fucked Up has been kicking ass since 2001. Between collaborations and tours with rock legends, killer Christmas singles, suing Rolling Stone and eccentric frontman/The […]
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Ghost’s chance
Blending Métis styles of musical folk and Midwestern blues, and basically every genre that fits including experimental psychedelics, Ghostkeeper is a haunting experience in memory and creativity. This cross-country five-piece, named after lead guitarist-vocalist Shane Ghostkeeper, with drummer-vocalist Sarah Houle, wunder-guitarist Jay Crocker, bassist Scott Munro and multi-playing Ian Jarvis, released Horse Chief! War Thief! […]
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Flip side
Not quite a year ago, Montreal jazz musician Peggy Hogan had some downtime after releasing a solo album. Idle hands are the devil’s tools and Hua Li was born. Using her Chinese name, Hua Li became Hogan’s alter ego, the ultimate bad bitch/femcee who runs the party and has the best makeup. “Hua Li was […]
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Islands are forever
“I don’t believe it’s the last record, but if it is, I think I will be satisfied with the body of work left behind. Ski Mask would be a graceful exit,” says Islands’ Nicholas Thorburn. “Stylistically, the music represents the entire catalogue and even the songwriting spans the last seven years, so it is an […]
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Big breaks
Toronto grunge/noise punk trio METZ has one of those career stories that most bands only ever dream about. Formed in 2008, METZ jammed it out for awhile, cultivating a sick live show and releasing a couple EPs before getting signed by Seattle’s Sub Pop Records, the home of grunge. It’s a tale that doesn’t get […]
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No Joy’s luck
“We do not wear earplugs and as a result are deaf which leads us to turn up our amps even louder,” says No Joy’s Jasamine White-Gluz. Fair enough, considering the intense wall of sound No Joy produces every night. With Laura Lloyd, White-Gluz’s reverb-heavy guitar fill every empty space of the Montreal band’s latest, Wait […]
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A Tribe Called Red
It’s National Aboriginal Day when I finally get a chance to chat with DJ Bear Witness, one of the trio that make up A Tribe Called Red, and the Ottawa native is already in the midst of what he says will be a non-stop summer. The day before Bear Witness, Ian “DJ NDN” Campeau and […]
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Cyndi Cain
Cyndi Cain’s newest album, Soul Food, released Saturday, July 13 at the Marquee for the Jazz Festival, is a live off the floor, recorded straight to tape R&B wonder, and it came from a little pain, a little love and a lot of friendship. “When I think soul food, I think community, it’s not always […]
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Alex Cuba
Alex Cuba (AKA Alexis Puentes) moved to Canada for love, but so far, the sentiment is unrequited. “It’s not a secret that there is no market for Latin music in Canada. Anything I do will be considered world music, but world music has a very small-minded way of thinking about music,” says the Smithers, BC-based […]
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Zulkamoon
“What’s on the horizon for us? Well, we’re coming out with our own coffee—we’re gonna be selling it as merch,” says Mike Nahirnak, one of the guitarists behind Zulkamoon’s “folk, rock, blues, jazz, reggae, ska, cumbia, you name it, it’s in there” sound. Inti Gonzalez, Mexico City transplant, the other guitarist and the nucleus around […]
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Gypsophilia
Keep your eyes peeled for Gypsophilia this summer. Identifying features, you ask? Well, what do seven people lugging around at least as many hefty instrument cases getting on a Greyhound bus look like? If Ross Burns is to be believed, probably like they’re having a lot of fun. Burns and six of his best pals […]
