Banditos Banditos Bloodshot Records Banditos’ first ride is a good one! Much heaping of praise is deserved for this 12-track album, as the raw wall of sound is centre stage for this high-flying, blues rockin’ Birmingham, Alabama [...]
Warm Soda Symbolic Dream Castle Face Records Warm Soda frontman Matthew Melton crafts tidy songs about summer. Actual lyrics be damned – the words themselves deemed irrelevant by the vibes, man. Warm Soda spins quick and catchy ditties meant to [...]
Patrick Watson Love Songs For Robots Domino Records I was first introduced to Patrick Watson in 2012, at Austin City Limits (ACL). I had never heard of him before seeing him on the lineup that year; he was seemingly as unknown as one can be, [...]
Mumford & Sons Wilder Mind Island Records Lovers of banjos and chewing tobacco beware; the latest release from Mumford & Sons may make you uncomfortable, but not regretful. Perhaps it is important to start the review by mentioning that [...]
Frank Black and the Catholics The Complete Recordings Cooking Vinyl Frank Black has announced a compilation album will be released for Frank Black and the Catholics. The band is considered to be an underappreciated gem in rock and roll and is [...]
Braids Deep in the Iris Arbutus Records Let down your electronic braids! Originally from Alberta, the now Montreal-based trio of Raphaelle Standell, Austin Tufts and Taylor Smith continue to move the Braids brand forward with their third [...]
Blur Magic Whip Warner Music Canada Twelve years after their last album and recorded in Kowloon, Hong Kong (which might explain the album cover), Blur is back with an album that well…..is basically a Blur record. The old Blur. No monster hit [...]
Great Lake Swimmers A Forest Of Arms Nettwerk / Weewerk A Forest of Arms is a collection of profound and musically dynamic tracks that runs deeper than meets the ear. The stunning acoustics on this 6th studio album by Toronto folk rock darlings [...]
The Charlatans UK Modern Nature BMG/Chrysalis Modern Nature has been making waves. It is The Charlatans UK’s first release since the death of drummer and long-time member Jon Brookes, who died of brain cancer in August 2013 at the age of [...]
Kathryn Calder Kathryn Calder File Under: Music Kathryn Calder is the space between sentences, the calm before the storm, the tether that grounds the otherworldly personalities of her band The New Pornographers. Originally brought on to perform [...]
C & C Surf Factory Garage City Six Sooter Records C & C Surf Factory is a band with a great blend of garage-based rockabilly and surf guitar jams, brought to you by Toronto axe masters Colin Cripps and “Champagne” James Robertson. Their [...]
Limblifter Pacific Milk We Are Busy Bodies Limblifter is back and rousing nostalgia for old fans of the Vancouver indie rock band. Having first heard the heavy guitar songs “Screwed it Up” and “Tinfoil” off their [...]
Doldrums The Air Conditioned Nightmare SubPop The test of a great album isn’t necessarily that it blows you away at first listen. The true mark of a timeless record is that it grows on you steadily and gets better the more you play it, a very [...]
Loopity Goofs Secret Gems Hidden Weapons Black Crack Records The long awaited, debut full-length album from Toronto’s Loopity Goofs is LOADED with killer beats, sample and grooves. Gord Shields and Scott Atherton are the brains behind [...]
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell Asthmatic Kitty The entrancing sound of Sufjan Stevens’ unmistakable music is beautiful. The unpredictable yet cohesive sonic journey through his new album Carrie & Lowell will undoubtedly hold your [...]
Ron Sexsmith Carousel One Warner Music Canada/Compass Records Ron Sexsmith is a great songwriter and his newest album Carousel One is full of lyrical highlights. The album, which was produced by Jim Scott (Wilco, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo [...]
Death Cab For Cutie Kintsugi Atlantic Music Kintsugi, the latest work from American group Death Cab For Cutie, is titled after a Japanese form of art involving fixing broken pottery where breakage and repair is not hidden but is acknowledged and [...]
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Freedom Tower: No Wave Dance Party 2015 Mom + Pop Music “C’mon fellows, we’ve got pay respect!” Jon Spencer howls on “Funeral,” kicking off the Blues Explosion’s second post-hiatus LP. After 2007, the Jon Spencer [...]
Killawatt émigré Osiris Matthew Watt, widely known as Killawatt, shows the progression into a more mature artist with his debut album émigré. He is no longer simply putting out dubstep, but venturing into the realms of electronica, bass, and [...]
AWOLNATION Run Red Bull Record Run is an ambitious and impressive project. AWOLNATION’s sophomore album was written, performed, and produced entirely by lead singer Aaron Bruno. The album features 14 new songs that go in many different [...]
Tobias Jesso Jr. Goon Arts & Crafts Records Goon, the debut album of Vancouver-based songster Tobias Jesso Jr., sounds like it came straight from the 1970s. Part early solo-McCartney, part Billy Joel, and part Randy Newman, the songs on Goon [...]
Twin Shadow Eclipse Warner Bros “That moment when something pure and constant is broken, where you’re filled with vulnerability, that moment is what I live for in art,” says George Lewis, Jr., aka Twin Shadow. “I’ve [...]
Joel Plaskett The Park Avenue Sobriety Test Pheromone Recordings Without being too hyperbolic, Joel Plaskett’s latest album The Park Avenue Sobriety Test is perhaps his best yet. The album is a tribute to the artist’s own life. The acronym The [...]
Dope Stars Inc. TeraPunk Independent Dope Stars Inc. is an alternative and industrial rock band from Rome that was founded in 2002. The band has released four albums and three EPs, along with their upcoming TeraPunk. Described as having a [...]
