Tenci A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing Keeled Scales Whenever you encounter an artist or a band you did not have a chance to hear before, the first thing you do is try and make a comparison – who do they sound like, or to whom you can [...]
PJ Harvey B-Sides, Demos & Rarities Universal Music/Island Records Concealing almost no part of her musical progression, PJ Harvey’s B-Sides, Demos & Rarities provides us with a road map to her as an artist, as well as a person, and [...]
Pholo When The Soul Sleeps Artoffact Records Since the late ‘80s, Russian post punk bands are characterized by nostalgic auras and cold haunting melodies composed by synths textures, guitar riffs, drum machines, and brooding bass lines. Siberian [...]
Tod Lippy Closer Than They Appear Independent There are two basic criteria to judge a covers album. One is the choice of the covers, the other is the way they are (re)interpreted and/or re-imagined. And usually each of those is usually quite [...]
Jason Collett Head Full Of Wonder Arts & Crafts Whether it was his work with Broken Social Scene or solo, Jason Collett was never an artist who stood still. He always left his fans wondering what he’s going to do next. So, not to leave [...]
ÆSTHETIC WILL – “AFFECTION” A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE “Trying to drink from the bottom of Niagara Falls”. This is how the Milanese band Æsthetic Will describes their sound when asked. And the suggested image [...]
Various Artists Brown Acid: The Fifteenth Trip RidingEasy Records “The Beat Goes On”, title of one of the two best songs Sonny & Cher recorded together, kind of stuck beyond the song itself, and it seems it is something that can [...]
Dan Mangan Being Somewhere Arts & Crafts Ok, so there are certain canons and formulas for any musical genre, and that includes folk music as the domain of singer songwriters, where you don’t go further than mid-tempo and favor your [...]
Lee Fields Sentimental Fool Daptone Records This is soul singing legend Lee Fields’ first new album in three years, and also his debut album for Daptone Records, though he has had 45s on the label before. It is also a strong, no-nonsense soul [...]
I Ya Toyah Ghosts Independent The three-song EP Ghosts was just released by the Chicago-based artist I Ya Toyah (née Ania Tarnowska). It is currently available on Bandcamp, and will be available on other platforms, and in physical form, in early [...]
The Mary Wallopers The Mary Wallopers Independent The Mary Wallopers hail from Dundalk, Ireland and consist of brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy, and Seán McKenna. They have been described as a contemporary Irish folk band, but, I think this is [...]
John Entwistle Rarities Oxhumed – Volume One Deko Music Probably only Who fans, and maybe people of a certain age, will remember that John Entwistle had a very solid, and long standing solo career beginning in the 1970s and continuing well [...]
The Beatles Revolver – Special Edition (Super Deluxe) Apple Corps Ltd./Universal Music The Beatles entered EMI Studios on April 6, 1966 to begin work on their follow up to their brilliant, ground-breaking, and landmark album Rubber Soul. [...]
Alex Roberts Love & Supernatural Mottow Soundz When some artists come up with anniversary editions, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the initial release was an enormous success with the audience. Quite often, they want to bring to the [...]
Polyphia Remember That You Will Die Rise Records When looking at heavyweight metal bands like Polyphia, it’s easy to see why they are not only one of the biggest instrumental acts in the genre but also in the world. Since they came onto [...]
Allman Brothers Band Syria Mosque: Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971 Allman Brothers Band Recording Company With their live shows as revered as their most classic studio albums, it is no surprise that we are still receiving unreleased live [...]
Robyn Hitchcock Shufflemania! Tiny Ghost Records Robyn Hitchcock is often dubbed as ‘the modern day Syd Barrett’. Ok, the comparisons can be made, with Hitchcock’s penchant for all things psych and left-left-field lyrics, yet [...]
Christopher Ward Spark Of Desire Warner Music Canada Back in 1978 when this album was first released, baroque pop was something of a dirty word. It was all either punk (the hardcore stuff first) or commercial versions of hard rock/heavy metal. [...]
Simple Minds Direction Of The Heart BMG Direction Of The Heart is Simple Minds’ 18th studio album. It is also their first album since 2018’s Walk Between Worlds. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill remain the core of the band, and they have been part [...]
Sloan Steady Murderecords/Universal Music If currently there is a band/artist that is truly keeping the flame of power pop burning, not just in Canada but around the world, it is Toronto via Halifax magicians Sloan. Steady, their latest album, [...]
Ora Cogan DYED Independent Ora Cogan’s music is very difficult to fit into one genre. This is not a criticism, quite the opposite. Over her seven albums, Cogan has touched on several styles of music. And all of her genre leaping is evident on [...]
Mal Continuous Short Feature Film Pirate! If you think the title Continuous Short Feature Film by Los Angeles musician/visual artist Mal (they) has a deeper meaning, it certainly does. Yet, it also actually refers to a continuous short, 20-min [...]
Black Lips Apocalypse Love Fire Records Musical maturity brings its own set of challenges, and avoiding the temptation to settle into a familiar sound is perhaps top of the list. Having hit their 10th studio album, The Black Lips have got over [...]
Julian Taylor Beyond The Reservoir Independent Following the release of his critically acclaimed 2020 album, The Ridge, Toronto’s Julian Taylor has returned with his latest record, Beyond The Reservoir. Produced alongside his long-time [...]
