Reviews

Dartmouth’s Thrillah Kane opts not to play around with his follow up to Thrillville. With a greater focus on a more party-friendly club sound, Kane still attacks a verse like it’s his job. Whether backed by icy cool synths or heavy floor-shaking beats, Thrillah sounds equally comfortable and pitch perfect. There’s a staggering amount of […]

Magical bindles full of psych, harmonies, guitar proficiency and an ever- present ghostly vocal effect are all over this stunning debut. Dusty and perfect, and 100 percent unapologetic about refusing to reinvent the wheel. You should be fine with that, because these are GOOD SONGS from GOOD MUSICIANS (Outtacontroller’s James O’Toole and Fat Stupids’ Craig […]

Two years after its entire online discography disappeared, Halifax ex-pats turned pug farmers Fuck Montreal are back with Saturn Return, a 31-track super compilation. Lurching from freaked-out pseudo pop to near dirges, this is the best of the best of Alex Currie and Jenna Empey’s basement-born lovechild. There’s lots to get excited about on this […]

The most remarkable achievement of Being Elastic is not that a Halifax-bred band scored an American record deal. The big win here is that Each Other has mastered turbulent pop as an art form. These guys have been at it for years, and they have grown from 100-riffs-per-song to a place where they have total […]

The most remarkable achievement of Being Elastic is not that a Halifax-bred band scored an American record deal. The big win here is that Each Other has mastered turbulent pop as an art form. These guys have been at it for years, and they have grown from 100-riffs-per-song to a place where they have total […]

Fresh off winning the CBC Searchlight competition for new acts, Newfoundlander Downey justifies the kudos on his second album. He sings like your buddy. The Ambiguous Case is a spirited, mostly acoustic band that may remind you of sunny 1970s folk-rock hits like “Sweet City Woman.” Banjo and trumpet get along beautifully on “Outta Your […]

The follow-up to 2011’s Early in the Morning was perched atop my year’s most-anticipated albums list and for good reason. James Vincent McMorrow takes the kind of Bon Iver-inspired harmonies and what I like to call mellow-moaning to an emotional peak–it’s the kind of music that soundtracks everything from fucking to weeping with equal aplomb. […]

Not averse to cadging a lyric here or going on a rant there, Dinah Thorpe keeps it fresh and flowing on her third album. Anyone who remembers Meryn Cadell, another Toronto singer-talker a generation ago, will be familiar with such an issue-driven approach. Rob Ford, Stephen Harper and pushy motorists get Thorpe’s attention, the opposite […]

Three albums in a dozen years are sufficient to mark the Refugee All-Stars as distinct among African groups for their varied attack. The North American ear generates a physical response to hearty brass-guitar throwdown, even while wishing for more distortion in the latter. We like to rock. Reggae rhythm is reserved for sad songs about […]

On the Australian trio’s fourth full-length, they do practically everything right; but nothing really “right on.” Grassed Inn is a charming record full of steady, stretched out rock songs. Throughout a protracted 45 minutes, Blank Realm’s influences float safely between the shambolic shores of Flying Nun New Zealand and the more straightforward, earnest sounds of […]

“Still remember all the words/to every song you’ve ever heard/drive,” Marissa Nadler sings on the mournful opener of her sixth record, the ironically titled July. But there’s nothing sunny here, nothing that’s gonna make you want to head to the beach, and you would not even dare bump this on the way. This is a […]

Hiraeth is a Welsh word. There is no English analogue for it, but it envelops nostalgia, loss, missing something and homesickness. Right now I miss my friends. Right now I’m thinking they’re probably listening to the dumpster-load of Fela Kuti dropped onto Bandcamp two weeks ago, hitting the illicits and on the nights where the […]