Bastille Give Me The Future Republic Records/ Universal Music Formed in 2010, British quartet Bastille presents their fourth studio album entitled Give Me The Future. The underlying theme with this work according to frontman Dan Smith is [...]
GREAT LAKES CONTENDERS HHBTM RECORDS It seems that at the moment, if you exclude grunge, most of the music of the 90s is in some sort of a doghouse. And like any other decade in music that was residing there (at least for a while), there are not [...]
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS SEE THROUGH YOU DEDSTRANGE See Through You is fully stocked with post-punk basslines, jagged rhythm tracks, squalling guitars, disembodied vocals, and nonsensical lyrics, then dressed in a thick sludge of dissonant [...]
Black Country, New Road Ants From Up There Ninja Tune Records Ants From Up There is the second studio album from Black Country, New Road. Just four days prior to the release of the album, lead vocalist Isaac Wood left the band citing struggles [...]
The Jazz Butcher The Highest In The Land Tapete Records The Highest In The Land is a difficult album to review. Pat Fish, who started the band and was in essence, The Jazz Butcher, passed away, quite suddenly on October 5, 2021. When an album is [...]
Mary Hopkin Pieces Mary Hopkin Music Mary Hopkin has released her latest album, Pieces. It was recorded in her home studio, and she is assisted by her daughter Jessica Lee Morgan on backing vocals, guitar, and ukulele, Morgan’s partner Christian [...]
LEIF VOLLEBEKK NEW WAVES (LIVE RECORDINGS ’19-’21) SECRET CITY RECORDS Following his 2017 breakthrough album Twin Solitude with the soul-baring songs of New Ways, Leif Vollebekk continues to deliver deeply emotive indie folk music. [...]
Jethro Tull The Zealot Gene Inside Out Music/Sony Music Ian Anderson has released several solo albums in the past 19 years. However, with The Zealot Gene being the first album by Jethro Tull in almost two decades, expectations are high. Ian [...]
THE TEMPTATIONS TEMPTATIONS 60 UNIVERSAL MUSIC In 1958 Otis Williams formed a singing group with his friends, Otis WIlliams And The Distants. They didn’t have a lot of success but four years later when they changed their name to The Temptations, [...]
SPACEFACE ANEMOIA MOTHLAND Quite a few bands and artists have their favorite pastime, and usually it is yet another music project, that somehow or partly doesn’t fit with their ‘main’ project. It also can happen that this side project can become [...]
Betty Moon Undercover Evolver Music Undercover may be Betty Moon’s most ambitious yet. She is a talented and brilliant songwriter in her own right, but here she has decided to record a collection of covers. Her interpreting songs should come as [...]
BAT LIPS BAT LIPS III INDEPENDENT Having released Bat Lips II in 2019, the Austin-based metal outfit Bat Lips have returned. For their third, the trio has released the three-song EP Bat Lips III, a brutal tour de force of alternative metal. Bat [...]
COMEBACK KID HEAVY STEPS NEW DAMAGE RECORDS/NUCLEAR BLAST Hardcore leviathans Comeback Kid have been in the genre game for 20 years. With years comes experience and knowing how to work the genre field to your favour. Comeback Kid has never [...]
Various Artists C91 Cherry Red Records Almost four decades ago, back in 1986 when New Musical Express ruled the world of music journalism, the paper issued now the now-famed c86 cassette, which was full of sharp, sometimes shocking new [...]
JOHN MELLENCAMP STRICTLY A ONE-EYED JACK REPUBLIC RECORDS With his 25th album, Mellencamp portrays himself as a wisened, reflective musician. The days of “suckin’ on a chili dog outside the Tastee Freez”, are far behind him and he no longer [...]
RAINE HAMILTON BRAVE LAND INDEPENDENT Chamber folk never really became a sub-genre in itself. Usually, artists that pick up on that concept, and quite a few did go that route, usually have a song or two on their albums that can fall within that [...]
Clever Hopes Artefact Independent When a band (in this case a duo) takes its name from a W.H. Auden poem, you simply have to prick up your ears and listen. Sometimes such a build-up can be a big letdown, but in the case of Clever Hopes’ debut [...]
Len Mizzoni I Know Who I Am Independent I Know Who I Am is Len Mizzoni’s fifth album in five years. Every album by Mizzoni is different and unique, yet they all carry the Mizzoni stamp. He has released a couple of very strong, political singles [...]
Tall Folk Wiser Independent Having a good sense of humor in any kind of music, even more so in melancholy-oriented folk/roots genres certainly can further artists’ cause: “Lara is from a long line of long legs. Jack is an extension of [...]
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE OLD DEAD YOUNG: B-SIDES & RARITIES ARTS & CRAFTS It’s been almost five years since Broken Social Scene have released any new material, and though Old Dead Young is far from new, it quells the thirst of those who [...]
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS THE BOY NAMED IF UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA “I’ve got my reputation to think about – I’ve got three, four, five songs to write before midnight…” This quote is fiction, but the words were actually uttered by [...]
The Weeknd Dawn FM Republic Records Toronto’s very own The Weeknd has returned with his highly anticipated album, Dawn FM. Following his acclaimed 2020 release, After Hours and his notable 2021 Superbowl half-time performance, The Weeknd has [...]
DEAD ECHOES TWIN FLAMES INDEPENDENT Ohio’s Dead Echoes have hurled themselves into the rock/metal world with the release of their debut album Twin Flames. Real emotions and experiences are what makes for some great writing, and the album has [...]
The All-American Rejects Move Along (Hyper Deluxe Reissue) Dark Operative Everyone remembers when bands like The All American Rejects began to surface in the rock scene early 2000s. A contagious earworm for the audio senses is an understatement [...]
