Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov
The 2010 Sled Island festival covers no fewer than 17 venues across Calgary’s downtown and inner city, and approximately 12,000 bands are here to take part – or at least it feels that way. And while my goal is to cover as much ground as possible and to try to give you [...]
Posted in Miscellany, Music Reviews
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton
There aren’t many surprises on David Cross’s first album of stand-up in six years, as his favourite topics, including politics, religion, drug-use/abuse, and being forced to live amongst the wilfully ignorant are all tackled in his sarcastic, often painfully blunt style.
Posted in Miscellany, Music Reviews
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Kevin Hartford
Congratulations, the sophomore album by Brooklyn band MGMT, is heavily influenced by sixties and seventies rock. Each track becomes a game of spot-the-influence, and it’s a difficult game to win – there are multiple nods to decades past on each of the nine songs presented here, with any number [...]
Posted in Miscellany, Rock + Pop
Rating: 1 / 5 Reviewer: Kevin Hartford
Imelda Marcos was once the First Lady of the Philippines, though she’s remembered primarily for owning several thousand pairs of shoes. She rivaled Marie Antoinette in her ability to waste taxpayer money and contributed significantly to the billions of dollars in debt her husband racked up during his twenty [...]
Posted in Miscellany, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton
Suppose you were to combine equal parts of the stark-yet-danceable post-punk of Joy Division, the tribal drumming of early ‘80s Killing Joke, the eclectic electronic pop of M.I.A. and, just for fun, abundant bassoon. These New Puritans’ latest effort, Hidden, could very well be the outcome of such an [...]
Posted in Electronica, Hard Rock + Metal, Miscellany, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Celeste Seiferling
It is impossible to listen to Sings for Lovers without wanting to fall in love. Ray Charles takes cheesy lyrics like “you make me happy when skies are gray” and makes them not only believable, but genuine.
Posted in Jazz + Blues, Miscellany, Music Reviews
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Jon Roe
Tony Simon (aka Blockhead), the producer for Aesop Rock, has put together a collection of moody soundscapes on his fourth solo effort, The Music Scene.
Posted in Electronica, Miscellany, Music Reviews
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton
Timber Timbre, led by vocalist and principle songwriter Taylor Kirk, are somewhat of an enigma in the Canadian singer-songwriter scene. Finding the words to accurately describe Timber Timbre’s music, including their self-titled third album, is indeed a difficult task.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Miscellany, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
