Reviews

For years Solange Knowles struggled to escape the shadow cast by her older sister, unable to achieve the same mainstream success. Now that R&B has been heralded by tastemakers as the most hip of all genres, Solange has reinvented herself as one of the movement’s indie figureheads. Her new EP, True, has the fingerprints of […]

The Soupcans serve up garbage man realness, with punk so trashy the drums may be made of cardboard boxes. Relentless rhythms, tortured vocals, beyond-fuzzy guitars and my favourite bass tone—where it sounds like the amp is broken—come together to create perfect, painful punk. My favourite tracks, “Outlander” and “Altered States” have secret melodic hooks buried […]

This Scottish DJ has written and produced a succession of UK dance hits. Five of them are on 18 Months. Only “We Found Love” with Rihanna has been a chart-topper on this side of the ocean, so far. Harris employs a rhythmic keyboard attack on the heels of repetitive chorus. You know it’s coming but […]

The lead singer from Slowcoaster steps forward with substantial Cape Breton support, with tunes designed to make you hum later at unexpected moments. On first listen, MacDougall sounds like a poppier version of Gordie Sampson, who co-wrote “Don’t Hold Your Breath.” Jamie Foulds (Remember Realworld?) produces and plays piano. JP Cormier also pitches in. The […]

On their third full-length album, Jackson & the Daddys stretch out to let all seven pieces show what they can do. Guitarist Marc Doucet is a scorcher when given an opening. The title track features Dave Harrison on trumpet, Dawn Hatfield on baritone and Jackson on tenor saxes, each soloing amiably and economically. An engaging […]

Often a year-end EP release serves as a cleansing of inferior material. This is thankfully avoided with Dirty Projectors’ About to Die EP, as the art-rock band continues its evolution into more melody-friendly terrain. Since the sunshine-pop title track was already a highlight on the magnificent Swing Lo Magellan, it’s easily the best song here. […]

Vancouver’s Needles//Pins kicks off 12:34 with the somewhat nihilistic “I Don’t Mind” (which appears to be a testament to the healing powers of a hook-up) and the rest of the album shimmies along accordingly. Needles//Pins is strumming our pain and embarrassment through tight garage songs, chronicling drunk-dials, hating on exes, getting too high, getting the […]

The bastard by-product of an affair with Crystal Castles, ex-touring drummer Cam Findlay’s solo recording project Kontravoid mixes the desolate electronica of The Human League, while channeling a vocal prowess straight from the grave of Ian Curtis. On its self-titled debut, Kontravoid creates a sonic landscape filled with atmospheric synths and down-tempo drum machines. But […]

Fellow songwriters like Ron Sexsmith keep praising this fellow and he lives up to it on this double CD. He is at least an acquired taste as a singer. The lyrics should enable a shift in perception about that. If “Autumn Leaves” make you blue, know “there’s a summer sun inside” them. “Evil and stupidity […]

Stop Motion Massacre cloak its fun-loving garage music in tons of fuzz, the group’s three distinct voices and styles giving Beneath The Lost Vault 1977-74 a “something for everyone” feel. The blood-red splattered cassette careens through 15 short-but-sweet tracks sprinkled with bratty/tortured screamed back-up vocals, thoughts on getting older, chord progressions that would fit perfectly […]

It’s been awhile since anyone has put together a punk rock compilation from this region, let alone one as good as this. Most of the songs are unreleased which means songs from defunct bands like Dead Red and the Dean Malenkos finally see the light of the day. Fear of Lipstick, Tongan Death Grip and […]

It’s good to be able to amuse each other, especially when you are remotely situated. If a visitor were to land at this cabin, he’d be taken with his hosts’ ability to pick, strum and harmonize, even if there’s nobody holding down the bottom end. Positivity, devotion and frolics with nature are impressions Grassmarket leave, […]