Reviews

There’s something eerily prescient about Cursed Arrows’ third full-length album The Madness of Crowds. Although Jackie and Ryan Stanley composed most of the songs prior to their move here last October, the music is an urgent and appropriate backdrop for the early months of 2011. The album addresses themes of violence and desolation, environmental degradation […]

Hugs are awesome. I appreciate that some people just aren’t into them, but to me they’re a triumph of human social evolution—flexible in application, intimate without crossing boundaries, a welcome reminder of the physicality that connects us as humans. Temporary Resident, the debut from Winnipeg duo Imaginary Cities, isn’t so dissimilar in its triumphs. Sometimes […]

Five piece indie-rock outfit Dinosaur Bones has been slaying the Toronto music scene for a few years of unsigned doldrums, but its recent acquisition by Dine Alone in 2010 has the band set to reach a wider audience. Made up of songs new and from previous EPs, My Divider offers a more polished sound, while […]

More so than any of Lucinda Williams’ previous albums, Blessed brims with a strength and inner confidence that is startling. Even with her voice strained and on the verge of cracking, she is the one pointing fingers. It is marvelous to hear her snarl to a foolish lover—“good luck finding your buttercup”—not just because we […]

Jill Barber’s fourth studio album, Mischievous Moon, is proof of the songstress’ articulate and confident manipulation of a sound which has become all her own. Partnering once again with Les Cooper—who co-wrote and produced the album—Barber’s crooning beside a set of delicious strings causes one to take refuge in a large soft chair, all the […]

Since the last Timber Timbre album, the band has evolved from a solo sonic-exploration for front man Taylor Kirk to a full-time trio. Enter Mika Posen (violin) and Simon Trottier (lap steel), both of whom take on a greater role fleshing out arrangements more reflective of the greater free experimentation Timber Timbre concerts, including a […]

Who is Young Galaxy, exactly? Just when you had the band pegged as an Arts and Crafts brand extension—a minor-league Stars or Broken Social Scene—it hooks up with Swedish dance producer Dan Lissvik, break out the drum machines and keyboards and drop Shapeshifting on Paper Bag Records. I’m tempted to consider the shift a cynical […]

Made up of three of the five members of the now defunct Oasis, Beady Eye sounds like Oasis, but worse. With the leaving of Noel Gallagher in 2009 from Oasis, bass player Andy Bell (formerly of shoegaze-lite band Ride) has taken over as a lead guitarist and songwriter for Beady Eye. Sadly, his work with […]

WOW. Has G. Love has found his groove again. Which we say ironically, because on Fixin’ to Die, he has dropped the Philadelphia/dance-inflected grooves that defined his mid-career music. Instead he has returned to his roots: the blues, country and bluegrass that defined his first few albums. These songs burst with joie de vivre that […]

Ottawa’s Kirk Ramsay pens lyrics that are frequently death-obsessed, end-of-the-line depressing, yet something in his delivery draws you in. “Every year I take another step down, and that’s another step closer to my home in the ground,” he sings, with a sense of honesty and intimacy it’s hard not to be swayed by. Ramsay’s songs […]

Acoustic bass and guitar, violin and mandolin with a bit of banjo, when played like this, create more electricity than they require. On its fourth album, the quartet from Toronto touches on jazz, bluegrass, chamber music and future mysteries without lingering for long. When drums check in, as on “Last Payphone in Parkdale,” they test […]

Edmonton-based Wool On Wolves gets an A+ for perseverance. After experiencing the worst side of any creative industry —being duped by the big guns—the fellas fought on to successfully release their first full-length Grey Matter. As far as folk-rock goes, the band is brilliantly tight and multi-faceted and a close listen reveals truly charming layers […]