Music-Critic.ca » Top Rated

She & Him – Volume Two

Michelle — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:08:53 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy It easy to picture Zooey Deschanel in an old sepia toned boudoir surrounded by everyone’s grandmother’s pearls and lace gloves; her inexplicably beautiful eyes sparking in the fading light of a warm California evening. It’s less easy to picture M. Ward there. His retro is lo-fi: transistor radios [...]

2009 RECORDS WE MISSED – The Dudes

c.t.ner — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:54 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Connor Turner The temptation to write a review for the awesome Blood Guts Bruises Cuts by abusing the term dude is far too rare of an opportunity to pass up. So do accept our apologizes for this low-brow review. That being said, the latest from The Dudes is freaking dude-tastic. [...]

2009 RECORDS WE MISSED – Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle

GregH — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:51:34 +0000

Rating: 5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Most Carolyn Mark records evoke images of a continuous party that would, in all likelihood, be the most fun party you ever attended. Red wine, new best friends, and food are a few common themes, especially on 2002’s Terrible Hostess and the excellent 2004 album The Pros and [...]

2009 RECORDS WE MISSED – The Antlers

Andre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:38:53 +0000

Rating: 5 / 5 Reviewer: Andre Guimond Shrouded in the mystery of whether or not Hospice tells the real or imagined story of frontman Peter Silberman’s loss of a lover to bone cancer, this is a heart wrenching album undoubtedly full of the expression of real pain and misery, regardless of its back story. You [...]

Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are

Lukas — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:11:53 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Lukas Clark-Memler The album commences with a whispered request for a story, and so begins the daring and mesmerising musical accompaniment to the timeless story, Where the Wild Things Are. Karen O, of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame, put together an ensemble cast of indie superstars performing together under the moniker [...]

Anti-Pop Consortium – Fluorescent Black

Garth — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:40:27 +0000

Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Garth Paulson It’s not often in today’s reunion obsessed musical landscape that the results of getting the band back together are better than the first time around. Today, people seem to be content with their old favourites getting back together for a string of sloppy, nostalgic shows. If they happen [...]

Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy

Nathan — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov Doug Martsch hasn’t exactly been prolific since forming Built to Spill in 1992. Under the BtS name, just seven studio albums have seen the light of day. But given how good those seven have been, it’s hardly a quality-quantity ratio argument worth having. There Is No Enemy is [...]

Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence

Jon Roe — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:15:28 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Jon Roe By combining soulful harmonizing and light guitar backing, the Kings of Convenience have crafted the perfect soundtrack to staring longingly out a rain-spattered window with Declaration of Dependence. The Norwegian folk duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have been together since 1999 and made a bit [...]

Valleys – Sometimes Water Kills People

Garth — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Garth Paulson Sometimes Water Kills People, the debut album by Valleys might be the best example of an album name to album content marriage of 2009. After all, no one ever suspects water. It’s just always there and then wham; you get too drunk, pass out in an alley and [...]

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – And The Horse You Rode In On

D.C. — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:54:40 +0000

“I hope you catch syphilis and die alone.” And with that, so begins the third album from Chicago’s Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.