CIGAR CLUB VOL. II INDEPENDENT Toronto’s Cigar Club remains one of the most unique and vital bands within the Southern Ontario scene. As they make their return with their second full-length studio album, following 2021’s Day, Now and, more [...]
BRIAN WILSON ON TOUR 1999-2007 OGLIO RECORDS I have said it before, and I will say it again, Brian Wilson’s solo music has never really received the recognition it deserves. As a solo artist, he wrote, produced, and recorded some brilliant [...]
THE BLASTERS RARE BLASTS: STUDIO OUTTAKES AND MOVIE MUSIC 1979-1985 LIBERATION HALL An American Music Story: The Complete Studio Recordings 1979-1985 was a superb release in last year’s Record Store Day offerings, a comprehensive five LP [...]
LØLØ GOD FORBID A GIRL SPITS OUT HER FEELINGS COALITION MUSIC LØLØ’s latest release, god forbid a girl spits out her feelings, plays like a confessional you weren’t necessarily meant to hear, but can’t look away from. There’s an intimacy woven [...]
FOXTIDE ENTROPY POSITION MUSIC California sounds revival? Not called as such yet, but that line leading from The Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield through the ‘70s scene seems to be being revived and modernized by the likes of The Lemon Twigs [...]
EMITTER EXTRA PALE INDEPENDENT Old sayings like ‘better late than never’ might sound trite sometimes, but in most cases, they turn out to be true. So is the case with Chicago’s Emitter and their old/new album, Extra Pale. So, [...]
FROG FROG FOR SALE AUDIO ANTIHERO Audio Antihero, the label that releases the music of the tricky little trio Frog, labels itself as ‘specialists in commercial suicide.’ Maybe they say that with their tongue firmly behind their cheek [...]
TIGA HOTLIFE SECRET CITY RECORDS After pioneering Montreal techno’s scene for decades and releasing his first solo record Sexor 20 years ago, Tiga is back with his sixth record, Hotlife, featuring collaborators Boyz Noize, Matthew Dear, [...]
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS THE WORLD IS TO DIG IDLEWILD RECORDINGS Two guys and an accordion walk into a Brooklyn apartment, and 24 albums later… Why did The World Is to Dig get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the dirt’s. The announcement of [...]
PRISM SHORES SOFTEST ATTACK MERITORIO RECORDS “Paperback Writer,” one of the greatest singles by The Beatles, never found its way one of their regular albums, but it did create one of the often underrated but at the same time greatly [...]
KAELEY JADE THE GREAT UNKNOWN INDEPENDENT Country music used to be full of formulas that begged to be broken, and for a while now Americana and alternative country artists did a great job in doing so. Joining those ranks is Edmonton-based Métis [...]
RICHARD BARBIERI HAUNTINGS KSCOPE David Sylvian-led Japan became legends of ‘80s electronic music, and Sylvian himself had a renowned solo career with a series of more and more experimental releases. Yet quite a few fans of the genre sometimes [...]
SPARKLER GLIDEWINDER À LA CARTE RECORDS Longtime shoegaze fans and followers surely have certain sound combinations in their minds that they would love to hear, and one such a combination would probably involve My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive [...]
PRYMEK & SAGE SHELTER AKP RECORDINGS If somebody would mention ambient music at this very moment, the first thing that might come to mind would be meandering electronics sounds. Yet the variation and spectrum of ambient music these days has [...]
TIGERCUB NETS TO CATCH THE WIND LOOSEGROOVE RECORDS Alternative rock is a genre that has tons of history. Emerging from underground shoegaze and the uprising of grunge, alternative rock became mainstream around the 90s. Since then, the category [...]
FISHBONE IN YOUR FACE / COVER YOUR FACE (40th ANNIVERSARY REISSUE) INDEPENDENT In 1986, alternative rock pioneers and legends Fishbone released their debut full-length studio album, In Your Face, following their eponymous EP, released the year [...]
JOE JACKSON HOPE AND FURY EARMUSIC A new Joe Jackson album is always big news. Each album is different and with each release you get the idea that Joe Jackson’s main concern is whether he likes what he is doing. Luckily, many others agree with [...]
HOLLY HUMBERSTONE CRUEL WORLD POLYDOR RECORDS Dread, despair, and falling into the abyss. It seems to echo the news cycle that is impossible to break out of. However, it’s not the case for British indie pop singer Holly Humberstone’s third [...]
AYSANABEE TIMELINES ISHKODE RECORDS In one of his last interviews, John Lennon talked about wanting to re-record a number of songs he wrote and performed with The Beatles. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the originals, but he felt they could use [...]
THUNDERCAT DISTRACTED BRAINFEEDER Six years ago, Thundercat released the critically acclaimed It Is What It Is. Since then, he has toured extensively as both a headliner and in support of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and has collaborated on tracks [...]
LOS RETROS ODISEA STONES THROW RECORDS Summer waits for no one. People out and about on the beach soaking up the sun, playing volleyball, or having a picnic. Summer also means the city comes alive. For 26-year-old Oxnard, CA-based artist [...]
GOOD KID CAN WE HANG OUT SOMETIME? GOOD PEOPLE RECORDS CO. Good Kid’s new album feels like both a homecoming and a leap forward. The band stays true to the bright, guitar-driven sound that first drew fans in, including tight rhythms, infectious [...]
SPACEPORT CUT THE LAKE AURA VORTEX RECORDS Minneapolis trio Spaceport is back with their second album Cut the Lake, with many missing their first offering Window Seat (2023). Maybe this time around that initial slip will be corrected, as the [...]
ELIZABETH AND THE CATAPULT RESPONSIBLE FRIEND COMPASS RECORDS The oh so sophisticated and fluid sound Responsible Friend, the new album by Elizabeth and the Catapult, might come as a surprise to the uninitiated, but Brooklyn-based Elizabeth [...]
