Reviews

Would your mom and dad like The Everywheres? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe the delicate psych riffs and deliberate bass pluckings would remind them too much of smoking a bit too much pot that time in a friend’s dorm room, maybe they’d regret never starting that band. You don’t have to be similarly wrapped up in […]

An extremely off-putting voice speaks to you for nearly an hour in a halting and breathy manner about the universe, interconnectivity, relaxation, aliens. The story is that it was traded for gas money by an off-the-grid traveller dedicated to complete anonymity. Unfortunately, I was not hypnotized, but once you get past the truly unsettling voice, […]

With only 300 copies released on cool blue vinyl, this is a collaborative record between two Nova Scotian bands with the most consistent and unique sounds around. Cousins brings satisfyingly dramatic builds and concentrated rock simplicity, plus what appears to be a driving (hehe) ode to touring, “Road.” Construction & Destruction’s contributions remind me making […]

Roberta Bondar was Canada’s first female astronaut. Ottawa’s “steamy noise rock” band of the same name is shoegazing through a telescope in some far corner of the universe. Scratchy guitars, heavy bass lines and the ghostly song-birding of singer Lidija Rozitis are in full supply. Hiss, the follow-up to last year’s self-titled EP, does not […]

The flexi-sized Halifax combo played live shows for years, stoking curiosity about Eastern European melancholy and 1930s Parisian jazz, before hitting the studio. Now well into its recording career, Gypsophilia’s love of variations keeps the sound surging, well, forward like the label says. Muted trumpet, violin, acoustic bass and electric guitar veer off for solos […]

Jazz buffs have been anticipating this debut album from the winner of the Thelonius Monk Competition. A Miami native of Haitian heritage, McLorin is the whole package: a captivating singer and inventive pianist with a throwback’s sense of where jazz got a spark in the first place. “You Bring Out the Savage in Me” had […]

The third LP from this Buffalo trio sounds like it was written at Java Blend in 1996. Ramshackle girl-boy vocal tradeoffs, quiet-loud dynamics and driving guitars are the key elements in this 13-track indie-pop gem, packed full of surprise touches, like breath lines, a choir, ping-pongy synth parts. The rallying cry “Paint the Youth” demonstrates […]

This Halifax hip-hop crew has taken some time to refine a diverse lot of samples and ear-grabbing rhymes. The album is distinctive for the number of guest voices, including Becky Siamon and Ria Mae, and the gentle music beds toughened up with staccato ’90s-style raps. Prime Minister Harper gets his harshest musical dressing down to […]

Halifax’s Long Weekends returns with six-track Tell It To My Heart, recorded over a long weekend (what!) in May. A replacement for my well-worn copy of Warmer Weather, new songs go deeper into the sinister rattle of the band’s distinct lo-fi pop-punk. Vocalist/guitarist Noel MacDonald rings like a cynical Elvis Costello after a mean, messy […]

At long last, Montreal’s best-kept secret has released its debut batch of songs. Recalling the charm of Flying Nun records, the cheekiness of early Television Personalities and explicitly referencing The Velvets and The Fall, this gem may as well be required listening for campus stations nation-wide. If you yearn for the days when bands could […]

BC’s Shawn Mrazek is constantly compared to Lou Reed, which is tiring given how much energy and full, careful orchestration bubbles over his first solo LP venture, Thought He Was Dead. Not saying Lou Reed isn’t a happy guy, but you know. By comparison, Mrazek is high on life, taking his post-Evaporators honesty and building […]

Wondering where the Dixie Chicks leader has been since winning a truckload o’ Grammys back in 2007? Jamming in Ben Harper’s garage, apparently. On Mother, Maines takes a deliberate step away from the successful music that afforded her a six-year break and wanders through the adult alternative section. It’s nearly all covers, including one of […]