Dolly Parton I Believe In You Sony Music It’s been 50 years since Dolly Parton released her first album. Since then, she has gone through many incarnations. I am not just referring to innumerable changes in wigs and rhinestone-clad dresses, or [...]
The Glorious Sons Young Beauties And Fools Black Box Music The stories that come out on The Glorious Sons’ new album Young Beauties and Fools are independent in their own right but when tied together in a hastily wrapped package, make up the [...]
The Pack A.D. Dollhouse Cadence Music Strange and eerie is the overall feel of The Pack A.D.’s latest album Dollhouse. This should be no surprise as it provides comments on our current political, violent state of living. Dropping on October [...]
Dhani Harrison In///Parallel Hot Records Ltd It cannot be easy being the offspring of a Beatle in the music world. Stella McCartney has done extremely well in fashion, and Mary McCartney has carved out her own niche in photography, but when it [...]
Liam Gallagher As You Were Warner Music I’ve always found the machinations of the Gallagher brothers intriguing, and so when I had the opportunity to review this latest album by lead vocalist Liam, I jumped at the chance to find out what [...]
The White Buffalo Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights Unison Music Group I need to get out of this city. The money is running out and I seem to be heading nowhere fast. I call my brother — he’s three years younger, in a similar boat. [...]
Shigeto The New Monday Ghostly International Zachary Saginaw, a.k.a. Shigeto, has always been a musical chameleon, and the genre-bending groove master is at it again on his latest album, The New Monday. His first full-length solo project since [...]
Little Miss Higgins My Home, My Heart Independent Little Miss Higgins, a.k.a. Jolene Higgins, originally out of Brooks, Alberta and now living in rural Manitoba with her partner and son, writes, plays and sings in a beautifully authentic [...]
I Like To Sleep Bedmonster All Good Clean Records Based in Trondheim, Norway, I Like To Sleep is a band that feed off playing instrumental “powerjazz” with extreme improvisation, and off kilter 60’s freejazz vibes. Their vibraphone, baritone [...]
Marilyn Manson Heaven Upside Down Loma Vista Recordings It seems this past week or so has been a buzz of news surrounding The Anti-Christ Superstar, Marilyn Manson. First there was the report that he thought he may have broken his ankle at a [...]
The Northern Pikes Big Blue Sky (Super Sized) Universal Music Canada Although I love The Northern Pikes, I have not pulled out my copy of Big Blue Sky in a few years, so when I approached this 30th (30th!) Anniversary Super Sized version of the [...]
Mirah Sundial Absolute Magnitude Records As an artist that fills a room with charisma, excitement and trepidation, singer-songwriter Mirah is captivating with her ease and self-confidence embedded in her sweet folk melodies. The magic behind the [...]
Wolf Parade Cry Cry Cry Sub Pop It’s always hard to predict who will stick around when a band calls an indefinite hiatus. Not every group’s work stands the test of time, and irrelevance sometimes seems imminent for even the most promising of [...]
David Bowie A New Career In A New Town (1977-1982) Parlophone David Bowie was to the 1970s what Elvis was to the ‘50s and the Beatles were to the ‘60s. He was the most dominant and experimental force in possibly the most musically diverse decade [...]
Max Webster The Party (Box Set) Ole Label Group/Anthem Records Formed in 1973, Max Webster became one of Canada’s biggest selling and most prolific live bands, led by frontman Kim Mitchell. Included in this eight-vinyl disc box set are [...]
Acid Baby Jesus Lilac Days Fuzz Club Records Acid Baby Jesus’ 2011 self titled debut album was one of those records that seemingly sprung from nowhere. Straight out the gate with psych guitars blazing and self assured garage roars, it [...]
Primus The Desaturating Seven ATO Records Whilst being apropos, I was certainly skeptical of a new Primus album that is entirely inspired by a children’s book. I’ve always enjoyed the dark side of Les Claypool’s writing; the social commentary, [...]
Black Pistol Fire Deadbeat Graffiti Modern Outsider Down and dirty, lethargic and healing, Black Pistol Fire’s newest album Deadbeat Graffiti can easily go head to head with the best albums of 2017. The twelve tracks on this album are [...]
Chris Rea Road Songs For Lovers BMG The return of Chris Rea, not that he disappeared or that it has been that long between records, but Road Songs For Lovers feels like a return. Not a comeback, just the return of a good friend. It is hard to [...]
Pearl Jam Let’s Play Two Republic Records/Universal Music Canada Not sure if you’ve heard, but in what may be the most exciting moment in sports history, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last year, ending a 108-year drought. Having [...]
Shania Twain Now Mercury Records Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Shania Twain was inescapable. Her reign over both pop and country music was fueled by a string of hits from her four records, including “That Don’t Impress Me Much”, “Up”, [...]
Jason Crosby Cryptologic Blue Rose Music You may not know the name, but you do know his work. Jason Crosby is an in demand session artist who has played with more artists than he can remember. To name a few, he has worked with Blind Boys of [...]
Blancmange Unfurnished Rooms Blanc Check Records Blancmange is Neil Arthur, or Neil Arthur is Blancmange. Since Stephen Luscombe left the band (the other original member) due to health reasons, Arthur has carried the torch and continued on under [...]
Cindy Doire Panorama Arté Boréal Panorama is Cindy Doire’s fourth solo album. Doire is one half of Scarlett Jane, a fantastic folk duo who have issued two multi nominated folk albums. Panorama is Doire’s third album recorded in French. Over the [...]