FONTAINES D.C. DOPAMINE CHAMBER XL RECORDINGS Dopamine Chamber is Fontaines D.C.’s fifth album, following 2024’s hugely successful Romance. There was a lot of pressure for the band to live up to the expectations set by Romance, not only did they [...]
LEVELLERS LEVELLING THE LAND WARNER/RHINO RECORDS Back in 1991, I was a poor student attending University Of Toronto, so I could not afford CDs, but I could afford cassettes. So, I purchased this album in that format and wore it out. It is a [...]
LUCY DREAMS LIVE AT WIENER KONZERTHAUS SONICWAVEARTPOP Before Lucy Dreams released their most recent studio album, VVVVV, they performed it, in its entirety in concert. This live album, which was released with absolutely no fanfare or publicity, [...]
GENESIS FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION ESOTERIC RECORDINGS/CHERRY RED RECORDS It is March 1969, and an album from a new band appears in record stores. The band is Genesis and the album is From Genesis to Revelation. It is a clever title, but sadly [...]
SUNNAN SPAGHETTI SOUL INDEPENDENT Spaghetti Soul is Sunnan’s sophomore album. They are a Swedish collective who have issued seven singles in preparation for this album. Since their debut album, 2025’s Cinema, the band has issued several singles [...]
THE BEATLES RUBBER SOUL – SPECIAL EDITION (SUPER DELUXE) APPLE/UNIVERSAL MUSIC Rubber Soul is a very interesting album in The Beatles catalogue. It is arguably one of their most important, as it was a bridge to Revolver from their early [...]
GENE CHAMPAGNE TOO POP FOR PUNK…TOO PUNK TO CARE SIOUX RECORDS Gene Champagne has quite a history in rock ‘n’ roll, or rather punk. Besides making his own music (and by that, I mean he does everything), he is the drummer with Teenage Head, a [...]
NOFX 40 YEARS OF FUCKIN’ UP: SOUNDTRACK + SCORE FAT WRECK CHORDS The title of this album, 40 Years Of Fuckin’ Up, gives away the plot in some ways. NOFX has been around for 40 years, but their debut album, Liberal Animation was released in 1988, [...]
SPOONS NIGHTLIFE SPARKS MUSIC Spoons released their debut album, the brilliant Stick Figure Neighbourhood, in 1981, but it was their second album, Arias & Symphonies that launched them into a different stratosphere. The album contained the [...]
AYRIA 13 STITCHES ARTOFFACT RECORDS Jennifer Parkin is a Toronto artist who has performed and recorded under the name Ayria since 2003. 13 Stitches is her first full length album since 2022’s This Is my Battle Cry. Time has not made Ayria more [...]
MIKE DALEY – YORKVILLE: HOW A 1960s COFFEEHOUSE SCENE REWROTE POPULAR MUSIC SUTHERLAND HOUSE BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY I was eager to read this book, as this is an era and place that has not had deep dives written about it. From 1954 [...]
RICHARD BOWES – GARY NUMAN: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY SPENWOOD BOOKS BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY Tubeway Army, featuring Gary Numan, released their self-titled debut album in 1978. By 1979, Numan began dominating the charts in the U.K. both with [...]
THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION FREAK OUT! (60th ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE EDITION) ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe Has it really been 60 years since Freak Out! by The Mothers Of Invention (led by Frank Zappa) made its debut? Yes, it has, and to celebrate a new box [...]
TERRY DRAPER THE ODYSSEY TERRY TUNES RECORDS Terry Draper loved to play music, in my conversations with him, he never saw creating music as work. It was what he did, and he enjoyed it. Perhaps his only problem, and this is not a bad problem, was [...]
SON LUX YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) WAXWORK RECORDS The second release by Son Lux in 2026, which comes very quickly (about one week) since their previous album, Out Into. But, as one can see, Your [...]
EUROPE COME THIS MADNESS HELL & BACK RECORDINGS It has been far too long since we have had a new album from Europe. However, Come This Madness is well worth the wait, and may just be their best album. Come This Madness is the band’s 12th [...]
ORBITAL GLASTONBURY 1994 LONDON RECORDS Glastonbury is one of the most famous and popular music festivals in the world. As such, the performances are often recorded for and transmitted by the BBC TV and radio. These broadcasts are often [...]
SOFT CELL DANCETERIA REPUBLIC OF MUSIC Soft Cell’s latest album, Danceteria is a very bittersweet album. Listening to it, it seems very sad knowing that this is the last album by Soft Cell. Dave Ball (who provides the instrumentation for this [...]
HILLS AND VALLEYS, THAT IS HOW WE ROLL A CONVERSATION WITH MIC MICHAELI OF EUROPE Since 1983, Europe has released 11 albums. The band formed in 1979, under the name Force, but by the time they signed their first record deal, in 1982, the name [...]
WE’RE UP IN THE STARS AND WE’RE FLYING TONIGHT A CONVERSATION WITH MARC ALMOND OF SOFT CELL Soft Cell probably didn’t know it at the time, and may disagree today, but when they released their debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, in [...]
TO SCRIBBLE OUTSIDE THE LINES SOMETIMES IS A GOOD THING A CONVERSATION WITH IAN BLURTON Ian Blurton has been part of the music scene since the 1980s. Over time he has been in several bands, including the original drummer for Cowboy Junkies, and [...]
BLURRED CITY LIGHTS UNREST ELAB RECORDS Unrest is Blurred City Lights’ fifth album, and their first since 2024’s Overload. They make music that is best described as a form of shoegaze but also incorporates industrial, doom, death rock, and [...]
FREE UNDER FIRE GRAFFITI IN THE GARDEN RUNNING ON INSTINCT Free Under Fire is a band based in Ajax, Ontario, where Steppenwolf’s John Kay got his start with The Sparrows. Free Under Fire carries on the hard rock-heavy metal tradition of that [...]
SARAH CREAN HEIRLOOM INDEPENDENT Listening to Sarah Crean’s sophomore album, Heirloom, it is hard to believe this is only her second album. The fact that she produced, wrote (or co-wrote), and put together this album at her young age is a [...]
