Reviews

Six sharp tracks from local favourites Bloodhouse, this self-released tape does justice to the band’s scuzzy garage rock. Sounding (and looking) a bit like something from another era scooped up off an old car floor, the fuzzy guitars and bass lines deliver with tracks like “Digital Village” and “Eerie Power.” The distortion and reverb are […]

Rich Aucoin aims to destroy dance music’s greatest irony: that its communal audience experience is built on songs often recorded in isolation by studio auteurs. In contrast, over 500 musicians from across Canada contributed to this EP—a companion piece to his forthcoming full-length—and you can hear their weight behind every electro beat and singalong. The […]

Forget that this record is a soundtrack because it isn’t—at least not in the traditional sense (ie glorified mixes of classic rock or otherwise well-trodden material). The lone pre-released track is Buck 65’s “Girls with Boyfriends,” which can only be found on an obscure tour compilation that sold out a few years ago. But that […]

A split between two bands taking their names from semi-gross sexual references, Halifax’s Meat Curtains and Vancouver’s Pompoir, this tape keeps the lyrics and sound dirty with sludgy punk rock. The Meat Curtains side features grungy guitars with a post-punk ethos. “Dream Pig” has all the brashness of Hole’s first album, and the scratchy vocals […]

The Mideastern beauty who is Leonard Cohen’s companion steps forward. Cohen helps out with production and illustration. Her singing style is somewhat talky, dramatic in the manner of early Springsteen. The songs are all her own, save “Romeo and Juliet” by Mark Knopfler. Mixed clearly above her band, Neema is not above adapting nursery rhymes. […]

Original vocalist Skye Edwards rejoins the Godfrey brothers (Paul providing beats and turntablism, Ross playing trippy, soulful riffs) for Morcheeba’s seventh proper studio album. Edwards is still a sleepyheaded singer and the Godfreys don’t want to disturb her. Their playing sounds like an attempt to remember a dream. Often they haunt these songs and it […]

Throughout much of its fifth release, Montreal trio Land of Talk trades its sharpened edge for a feathery one. Tempos are slowed. Vocal and musical tones are softer, with strings, horns and acoustic instruments present. The first three tracks follow a gentler, graceful arc until the fourth “Swift Coin” cuts across the sky in pursuit […]

Originally begun as an art-rock collaboration, the ex-Halifax band finally puts out their first full-length release, with the current lineup including the powerhouse team of brothers Christian (Burdocks) and Jef (Special Noise) Simmons. Though the members have moved to Montreal, you can still hear the east coast experimental-pop sound in their music. The intense basslines […]

Jenny Lewis bought a house in LA’s Laurel Canyon and with her boyfriend, Johnathan Rice, helped resurrect the storied singer-songwriter scene Joni Mitchell smoked her way through in the ’60s. I’m Having Fun Now is reminiscent of that sound, with its warm, laidback acoustic vibe and dreamy girl-boy harmonies. As with Rilo Kiley, Jenny and […]

You Love You is the kinetic sophomore release that manages to harness the raw ferocity of NYC band Semi-Precious Weapons. This is pop-infused glam rock that provides a good incentive to check out the band live. It doesn’t hurt that Lady Gaga herself hand-picked SPW to support her Monster’s Ball tour and claims they are […]

An independent music community has coalesced over the last couple decades in Taiwan, which has both borne the burden and resisted the weight of Chinese rule for more than 60 years. This is a collection of noise rock instrumentals from Taipei quartet Aphasia (a term for loss of speech, usually following head trauma or injury.) […]

Featuring four of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick’s weirdest, coarsest bands, this EP hits like a Colt 45 hangover. A live, unedited recording from Sydney’s Mess Folk tries to capture the band’s live sound, louder and more abrasive than its lo-fi bedroom recordings. Halifax’s Meat Curtains’ “Get Rebel” snarls with raw, gruff vocals and heavy […]