Reviews

Whokill, the latest from Merrill Garbus, the New Hampshire-based multi-instrumentalist otherwise known as tUnE-yArDs, is probably as polarizing a release as anything in recent memory. Her music is not just an acquired taste—either you appreciate it or you don’t—it’s a collage of influences (world beat, jazz, electronica) colliding in a tangle of rhythms, blips, honks and […]

Learn and Burn is the latest release from Saskatoon four-piece The Sheepdogs, and it is a slice of pure nostalgia that harkens back to ’60s and ’70s-era AM rock radio. Some bands try to achieve the same retro aesthetic and it feels forced and pretentious, but from the moment the play button has been pressed, The […]

Thanks to its (very stupid) title and booklet art—poop Jesus, get it?—this latest album from Vancouver punks Living With Lions managed to raise the ire of James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage. In response, the band volunteered to recall the album so it can be reissued sans government logos, also returning $13,000 in FACTOR funding. […]

On its second album, this PEI quartet adds more layers, which tend to obscure the lyrics somebody spent so much time dreaming up. When the words do cut through—like on “Get Off”—there are shards of engaging scenario and story. “I like that you’ve got intellect not ruined by too much internet” is a sharp line […]

Portland’s Liz Harris returns in fine form with a double LP of ethereal experimentation. Though not quite equalling the sublime sinkhole of her 2008 release Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, this similar-minded set still manages to gently lull the listener into its unique world of tape warble and heavenly vocal loops. Harris has […]

Sometimes, it seems as if the state of sound in 2011 is stronger than the state of song. Case in point: The Golden Record, the first release from Iowa-born, Montreal-based songwriter Little Scream (Laurel Sprengelmeyer). Layered and intricate, the album—featuring Arcade Fire’s Richard Perry as co-producer—oscillates between dense anthems and sparse, breakable ballads. It’s likely […]

It’s easy to buy into the Odd Future hype. But their messianic leader, Tyler, the Creator’s new solo album falls flat compared to the work of OFWGKTA’s MellowHype and Frank Ocean. The beats are boring and the lyrics are overtly offensive. That’s not to say Tyler, the Creator isn’t creative. He’s good at marketing himself, […]

How you accept Songs of Man depends on preconceptions of how you think (or want) this band to look and feel. In other words, do you want the rugged rawness of the old or the layered polish of the new? Deep down, little has changed. The songwriting is still the gold-standard of storytelling in the […]

Psychedelic Horseshit’s name and weirdo garage rock pedigree suggest a record that’s a wall of fuzzy noise, but Laced jumps all over the map. “Puff” is a mass of bleepy sine tones and launches into the industrial Skinny Puppy-like growl of “Time of Day.” The record strays into feedback-filled surf rock and then changes gears […]

If in some magical alternate universe Simon & Garfunkel had made Radiohead’s Kid A, this is probably what it would sound like. Helplessness Blues, the second full-length from Fleet Foxes, is leaps and bounds better than its previous self-titled release due to crisp production and more refined sonic textures. With less of the band’s trademark […]

Quaker Parents return with more restless, shoestring pop; combining a plethora of clever quips, jittery guitars and stripped-down drums.“Teeshirts” is a standout with its anthemic, ’60s girl-group chorus. The flip side is a decidedly scrappier affair: Dream Friends muster up all their wide-eyed enthusiasm and earn their keep on their debut outing. As everything wanders […]

Humble & Brilliant is an apt title for the fifth studio album from Haligonian MC Jesse Dangerously, who’s been living away the past couple of years. Not only does it demonstrate the depth of the Halifax hip-hop scene, but it showcases an artist who deserves the attention of mainstream audiences. Jesse Dangerously’s work may not […]