The dedicated group of writers at Music-Critic.ca have compiled their lists – each one has picked their five favourite records of 2012, and selected the one the proved to be their biggest disappointment. As usual, the diversity of the choices is staggering.
Arts & Crafts: 2003-2013
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: David Coats |
You’d be hard-pressed to name a more important, more successful music label in Canadian history than Arts & Crafts. 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of the label started by little-known indie musician Kevin Drew and major label expat Jeffrey Remedios, that would go on to revolutionize the Canadian record industry » Read More
Foxygen – We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto |
Jello Biafra sang about the hippies never coming back at the close of the 1970s – Foxygen are yet another example of just how wrong punk was about the fate of their forerunners. » Read More
Justin Rutledge – Valleyheart
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy |
Little darling, I’m along for the ride/You’re the one I want to be quiet beside/Rest your head until you dream of a rhyme/So many sparrows, so little time. » Read More
Ke$ha – Warrior
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Rating: 2 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy |
Goodness gracious Ke$ha has managed to achieve the exact level of mediocrity that all her previous efforts have led us to expect – only this time with dubstep! » Read More
Big Boi – Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto |
Big Boi’s rap sheet makes it abundantly clear that he likes to have his fingers in a lot of different pies. Best known as the earthier half of OutKast, one of the most successful, and increasingly separated, hip-hop duos of all time. Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours marks Big Boi’s second solo album and reveals a tremendous sonic shift in Big Boi’s ear. » Read More
Interview with … Christian Hansen
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Michelle Kennedy |
Christian Hansen is a man who plays in a band with his wife Molly Flood. Christian Hansen is also a band that features the man and his wife as its sole permanent members. It’s pretty confusing and not confusing at all. Formerly Christian Hansen and the Autistics, this new incarnation is more about celebration than responding to backlash about the name itself. I asked Hansen if it was a hint to a future of solo music making. » Read More
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto |
The hill rises towards the moon from the forest like a smooth green dome meeting its silvery equal. A light mist circles in the foot of trees like a moat. I cross the threshold and begin my ascent into the light, moving ever closer towards the large incandescent orb that waits for me at the top. » Read More
Ladyhawk – No Can Do
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto |
Vancouver’s Ladyhawk explode with the title track of their third full-length album. “No Can Do” is two and a half minutes of cheerful jangly pop music reminiscent of The Shins at their best. » Read More
