BLACK PAINT BLACK PAINT INDEPENDENT For years, Black Paint has established themselves among the most exhilarating up and coming bands to emerge from the Greater Toronto Area. Blending aggressive blues rock with monstrous riffs, the power trio is [...]
MELISSA AUF DER MAUR BASS WOMB ROOM: MY ’90S 4-TRACK DEMOS X FIELD RECORDINGS ENVISION RECORDS Melissa Auf der Maur has been quite busy of late. Six months ago, she released Even the Good Girls Will Cry, her self-written memoir of her [...]
A. LEE EDWARDS INTERPRETING HEART SOUNDS VOL. II YOU KNOW WHAT…? RECORDS When you are a true songwriter (in both heart and mind) it is something, any discerning listener can hear instantly. It says that Interpreting Heart Sounds Vol. II [...]
DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS LOVE HEAVENLY RECORDINGS Kevin Rowland and his Dexys Midnight Runners have been around for decades now, and have gone through quite a number of changes, both in musical styles covered, as well as the number of members in [...]
SOFT LOFT THROW THE DICE PIAS Quite a few listeners will shy away from any type of music that has that pop label somewhere in its description. Yet, there should be no shying away from it, particularly if such an epithet is actually suitable. [...]
THE CRANBERRIES LIVE AT THE LONDON ASTORIA II, 1994 ISLAND RECORDS I’ve already spoken about the peculiar happiness and melancholy that pervades any Cranberries release in 2026 in my recent take on their anniversary release, and this is another [...]
BEN FOLDS FIVE BEN FOLDS FIVE (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) UNIVERSAL MUSIC It was always surprising, to me anyway, that Ben Folds Five’s self-titled debut album did as well as it did when it was first released in 1996. The combination of [...]
MIKE D THANK YOU CAPITOL RECORDS/UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA Since the untimely 2012 passing of Adam Yauch, perhaps better known as MCA, things have been relatively quiet among the Beastie Boys camp. While surviving members, Mike D and Ad-Rock have [...]
ASHER WHITE LOVE AGGREGATES JOYFUL NOISE RECORDINGS It just might be that as an artistic soul that dabbles in a number of art forms, musical, visual, and other, you would pour an emotional outburst through seemingly disparate modern music [...]
THE WARNING EVERYTHING’S FALLING LAVA/REPUBLIC RECORDS Everything’s Falling is the kind of album that comes from a band that not only knows who they are, but also draws power from consistently staying on its own unique track. They don’t [...]
BEARTOOTH PURE ECSTASY FEARLESS RECORDS Beartooth is back with their sixth studio album, their first with Fearless Records, Pure Ecstasy. Frontman Caleb Shomo has no doubt written the most unashamed and open record Beartooth has done yet. He is [...]
DINOSAUR JR. THERE NEAR JAGJAGUWAR Dinosaur Jr. is a band with a long history. Originally formed in 1984, this American rock band has previously released a total of 12 albums, and is now gearing up to release their 13th project, There Near. [...]
PULP LIVE! ROUGH TRADE RECORDS When Pulp and Jarvis Cocker (the band’s soul and brain) appeared back in the 90s, quite a few critics, even with all the praise, didn’t expect either to last long on the music scene, tying Pulp and [...]
THE JAYHAWKS SANCTUARY PARK THIRTY TIGERS When The Jayhawks initially appeared exactly four decades ago, nobody really expected that this band, then led by Gary Louris and Marc Olson, would make such an impact on country rock with their [...]
BANANARAMA TRUE CONFESSIONS (40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) LONDON RECORDS Has it really been 40 years since Bananarama finally made it in North America with their third album, True Confessions? It is hard to believe. Listening to it in 2026, the [...]
NIGHT RANGER BEST OF FRONTIERS MUSIC SRL Night Ranger is a misunderstood band. Since their debut album in 1982 (Dawn Patrol), they have released 13 studio albums. But perhaps because they best known for their hit single “Sister Christian” (from [...]
WINE LIPS TV DINNER STOMP RECORDS Toronto punk outfit, Wine Lips, have returned with their fifth full-length studio album, TV Dinner. The record follows a trip of singles released this year – “Semi-Detached Furnished Home,” “Projector” and “If [...]
PEIRSON ROSS & DOPAMINE DREAM HOMAGE TO LOVE: RECORDED LIVE @ KENSINGTON SOUND INDEPENDENT Intimate is a word that is used quite often in describing a musical event. However, it really is the only word to describe this live recording. [...]
WESTSIDE COWBOYÂ IT GOES ON ISLAND RECORDS When a band of conservatory students from Manchester possesses the ability to channel the power-pop stylings of Teenage Fanclub, the soaring choruses of Travis, and the melodic warmth of Catatonia, it [...]
ALEX AMOR HEAVENLY BODIES VERO MUSIC Some rock critics who take themselves seriously (probably too seriously) shy away from any music that has an even a remote connection with modern forms of pop (pure pop even more so), particularly the pop [...]
TONY HANNAH LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INDEPENDENT Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn (sadly, both gone now) left such a big legacy in what country music is today that for years (or even decades) it will be quite hard not to compare up and coming female [...]
ALEX DUPREE TALKING TO THE DOG SCISSOR TAIL RECORDS For those who follow all things folk/country/Americana in all shapes or forms the title of the new Alex Dupree album is no mystery – it is a quote from country music legend Hank Williams who [...]
THE AFGHAN WHIGS SOFT CONTROL THE ROYAL CREAM/BMG Whatever the alternative rock term was supposed to mean when it was coined, or what it means in today’s musical terms, makes no difference as far as Greg Dulli, The Afghan Whigs, and the [...]
THE TRAGICALLY HIP LIVE JULY 22 – AUGUST 20, 2016 UNIVERSAL MUSIC The Tragically Hip burst onto the music scene from Kingston, Ontario and very quickly ascended to rock royalty in Canada. There were many factors. Their music, their stage [...]
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