The discrete opening notes from lead-off single ‘Desperation Breeds’ recalls the sombre atmosphere of Bird’s earlier works, like ‘Scythian Empires’, but whereas Armchair Apocrypha featured sweeping strings, Break It Yourself feels more restrained.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy |
Jack White may well be rock and roll’s greatest trickster—a shape shifter of the highest order.
The White Stripes were always a deceptively simple band; accessible and ever straightforward. But diving into their music, audiences were treated with a depth and precision often lacking in their garage-rock revivalist brethren. » Read More
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Sean Marchetto |
M. Ward’s seventh studio album has been on my iPod for a few weeks now. It picks up nicely from where Hold Time left off, continuing that nostalgic Buddy Holly folk-rockabilly thing that Ward is so charming at. » Read More
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Michelle Kennedy |
I’m writing about Canadiana and that quest for “National Identity” … Or at least that’s what I tell Bahamas’ Afie Jurvenen in the awkward first moments of our conversation. And we talked about that but about so much more too. Mostly, we talked about love. And Toronto. And music … and Toronto. » Read More
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Sean Marchetto |
“Winnipeg is sunny and warm,” says Ben Worcester, one of the principal songwriters for Vancouver’s Said the Whale. It’s Sunday afternoon and the band is headed home after seven weeks on the road for a tour that saw them start in California and will see them leave for the United Kingdom after a brief rest. Along the way they’ll have crossed the continent twice. » Read More
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Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
From sea shanties to pop songs, from blues rock to straight up guitar wanking—Joel Plaskett really can do it all. His albums have run the gamut and his live show does the same with ease. In Calgary’s Mac Hall, he even threw in a lip sync version of his own ‘Fashionable People’, albeit the version he did for the CBC children’s show Mamma Yamma. » Read More
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Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
John K. Samson has got to be one of the most low maintenance rock stars in Canadian history. In jeans and sneakers, he milled about the stage of the Palomino for about 10 minutes before his set started—staring at the ground, pacing, casually plucking at a guitar. » Read More
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Andrew Mitchell |
Eight And A Half’s self-titled album focuses on themes of confusion, self reflection and the type of grief that normally results from some sort of dissolution. Seems apropos considering that the newly formed band comprises Liam O’Neil and Dave Hamelin, two recent orphans of Montreal indie band The Stills and Justin Peroff, the offshoot drummer from Broken Social Scene. » Read More
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy |
It’s springtime! The sun is out, people are wearing less clothes and patios all across this land are filling up. And The Great Lake Swimmers’ beautiful new album, New Wild Everywhere may just be the soundtrack for these warming days. » Read More
