OneRepublic – Dreaming Out Loud
Rating: 2/5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov For all of the inventiveness that Timbaland has brought to hip-hop over the years, his first foray into the world of R&B lite as overseer of OneRepublic is a painfully tedious affair.
Posted in Rock + Pop
The Cansecos – Juices!
Rating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Andre Guimond The Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Toronto FC and The Cansecos all have something in common other than being semi-sports related Toronto-based groups: they’re all struggling to discover who they are. That’s not to say that any one of them won’t look (or sound) pretty good at times – based purely [...]
Posted in Electronica, Rock + Pop
The Killers – Sawdust
Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov For a band with only two proper albums, The Killers have already made a name for themselves when it comes to drastic reinvention.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild
Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Trent McMartin In the summer of 1992, as Pearl Jam’s Ten was racing up the charts, Christopher McCandless, a young American adventurer, left behind his old life, hitchhiked to Alaska and died in the wilderness.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Rock + Pop
Billy Talent – 666 Live
Rating: 3/5Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov 666 Live is a fans only affair from beginning to end. The CD portion of the CD/DVD set is taken from their concert in Düsseldorf, Germany, where the band is adored as much as they are in Canada.
Posted in Hard Rock + Metal, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Raine Maida – The Hunter’s Lullaby
Rating: 1/5Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida takes a dour turn as a humourless activist on the acoustic singer/songwriter set, The Hunter’s Lullaby, but for a man who’s gone to such lengths to rediscover himself as a political artist, his album is oddly lacking in true protest songs.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Angels & Airwaves – I-Empire
Rating: 3.5/5Reviewer: Trent McMartin At first glance, I-Empire would seem like a direct sequel to A&A’s first record, 2006’s overtly anthemic We Don’t Need to Whisper. It’s all here: the ostentatious build-ups, the highly optimistic lyrics, and the undeviating 80’s influence and style. However, given a closer listen, it becomes apparent that the group’s sound [...]
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Amateur Radio Operator – Sirens of Titan
Rating: 3.5/5Reviewer: Trent Depue It doesn’t take any longer than a few chords of Sirens of Titan’s opening track ‘Watershed’ to realize that you’re going to be in for quite a treat on this, the debut album from Seattle-based Amateur Radio Operator.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
