The Darts The Darts Dirty Water Records First, let us be clear, this is NOT the nine piece doo-wop band who were huge in the UK in the late 1970’s. That was Darts, there is no ‘the’. The Darts are the polar opposite. This is a four piece band [...]
The Black Clouds After All Capacitor Records I hopped on the elliptical torture machine and cranked up my headphones with no expectations. From the first riff, I was hooked. After All, The Black Cloud’s third full length album, is the perfect [...]
Verena von Horsten Alien Angel Super Death A Tree In A Field Verena von Horsten lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland. She has a quirky, dark-pop vibe that has gained her a substantial loyal following. On January 13, 2017, she released her [...]
Ryder Ryder IV EP Independent If you are wondering whether the nostalgic classic rock and metal sounds of the 70’s are still around in 2017, the answer is yes. Ryder is a newly formed hard rock group out of Queens, NY, and they seriously rock. [...]
Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 3 Mass Appeal Records 2016 has been a difficult year to say the least. In the year we witnessed a Reality TV Star become Leader of the Free World leave it to Run The Jewels, the knock out duo of Killer Mike and [...]
Nine Inch Nails Not The Actual Events Independent ANNOUNCEMENT AND RELEASE DEC 15 2016 NIN.COM is down. Only this appears… It’s happening. FINALLY! I’ve decided not to eat or sleep or communicate with the world until it happens. I will [...]
T.I. Us Or Else: Letter To The System Grand Hustle/Roc Nation Us or Else: Letter to the System emerged from Us or Else, the six-track EP released in September of 2016. T.I. is a high-profile advocate of Black Lives Matter. His album Us or Else: [...]
The Doors London Fog 1966 Rhino Records Nearly every band from the ‘60s and ‘70s has put out a compilation of unreleased material. Normally, it’s hard to see this as anything more than a cash grab from old bands with nothing new to offer the [...]
Neil Young Peace Trail Warner Music Canada/Reprise Neil Young returns with his 37th studio album and second new release this year, Peace Trail. Throughout the 10 songs we hear Neil characteristically protesting – this time he [...]
Astrocolor Astrocolor EP Last Gang Records Hailing from Victoria, B.C, the electronic band Astrocolor have begun to make some very interesting and unique music, in contrast to their previously released and critically acclaimed Christmas album. [...]
Erasure From Moscow To Mars Mute Records To celebrate their 30th anniversary, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell (known to us all as Erasure) thought they should put together something retrospective: a 12 CD plus one DVD boxset. 13 discs in total. This [...]
Crystal Lake True North Artery Recordings The metalcore ebb and flow of Crystal Lake… Tokyo’s hardcore/metalcore 4-piece band Crystal Lake has been around for longer than most people realize. They’ve been around since 2002, with Ryo [...]
The Adventures Of The Silver Spaceman Bare Bones Part II: Electric Earth TAOTSS Bare Bones Part II: Electric Earth is the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s Bare Bones Part I: Oxygen is Flowing Although the Bag May Not Inflate. As the [...]
Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygène 3 Sony Music Canada Almost forty years to the day of the original album, Oxygène, comes Oxygène 3. For those familiar with this electronic wizard’s music, no explanation is necessary. For those who are only now [...]
Childish Gambino Awaken, My Love! Glassnote Entertainment Group When was the first time you discovered Donald Glover? Was it through his music as Childish Gambino? His standup? His writing on “30Rock?” Perhaps it was when he was an actor in [...]
Telefon Tel Aviv Fahrenheit Fair Enough Ghostly International Telefon Tel Aviv reissues its September 2001 release Fahrenheit Fair Enough on Ghostly International. Joshua Eustis is currently the only member of the group, after friend and [...]
Dungen Häxan Mexican Summer Sweden’s psychedelic rockers, Dungen, are known for their insane live performances and distinct sound. Their latest work, Häxan, is an instrumental album that doubles as a narrative accompaniment to Lotte Reiniger’s [...]
The Weeknd Starboy Republic Records / Universal Music Canada Who is Abel Tesfaye? This isn’t something you’ll be hearing this year. Tesfaye, AKA The Weeknd, was propelled full-throttle onto the pop scene when his massive 2015 hit, “I Can’t Feel [...]
Lil Yachty Lil Boat Universal Music Canada Lil Yachty is one of the major breakout hip-hop and trap stars of the past year. During 2016 alone, he was featured on the cover of the XXL Freshman Issue, appeared as a model in Kanye West’s [...]
Sydney Blu Bouncin’ EP Playmobil On November 25, Canada’s “leading house and techno vixen,” Sydney Blu releases her ‘Bouncin’ EP on Playmobil with Mihalis Safras’ Material Series. Described as “strong, sinfully, [...]
Various Artists Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl Polyvinyl Records Over the past 20 years, the independent music scene has changed significantly. Bands have come and gone and styles have changed, yet Polyvinyl Records remains true to its DIY aesthetic [...]
BrokenRail BrokenRail Independent BrokenRail’s self-titled debut album is chock-full of elements that make up a good rock album, like hard riffs and catchy beats. It’s similar to the sound that a lot of bands were releasing in the late 90s and [...]
Immanu El Hibernations Glitter House Records With so many bands trying to make it in this insanely competitive and difficult time for the record industry, it can be difficult to stick what you do best. It’s hard to make something you love while [...]
Justice Woman Warner Music Canada / Ed Banger Records Since French duo Gaspard Augé & Xavier de Rosnay released Cross in 2007, you would probably have had to live under a rock to have missed the smash hit single, “D.A.N.C.E.” If you’ve been [...]
