The album is supposed to evoke the feeling of the end of a relationship. And since it is not as fun as the start led me to believe, I guess that makes sense.
Those expecting the high-octane hard rock of Deep Purple from Roger Glover’s fifth solo album will be surprised, but not disappointed.
Every time I think I’ve plumbed the depths of this city’s wellsprings of great music, something like cassette labels Kinnta and Hobo Cult pop out, all explosions and rainbows with a whole batch of amazing.
Though there are light r’n‘b touches on a few of these songs, this is ultimately a singer-songwriter album and a great one at that.
Clearly this is an album made by 40 somethings instead of 20 somethings.
Shape Shifter is truly a jewel in the craft of Komodo’s (nee Matthew Burton) oeuvre. Originally known as Subluna, Burton’s established a global reputation for roof-raising live sets and enjoys a local rep for nurturing an aspect of the dubstep/bass scene since it’s inception into the Canadian east coast scene.
Philadelphia-based Dr. Dog’s sixth album finds the band at their most mature-sounding, leaping far beyond their previous work.
In our jaded times, Young Jesus proves that Home can be where the heart is.
Some people like their punk rock to look a certain way and sound a certain way. That’s fine, don’t waste your time here.
Austin, Texas rockers The Strange Boys tone down the garage, turn up the piano, and make a wonderful little retro-pop record.
The album is good on the whole but the band’s celestial aura is fading.
Though others may disagree, I think that this album is a mix of good and not so good.
This is exactly what it says it is.
Identical twins from Ottawa, Rob and Peter Johnson wove a heavy duty tapestry on this tasty little four song 7” EP as Shahman. Occupying and interstitial space between math-y and slow paced Shellac dream-time and burned out early Mogwai post-rock, the corona of cathartic but eloquent screaming and metallic breaks in each song drive this boat over the proverbial mountain.
This exhaustive compendium of prolific punk weirdness documents 25 years of uncompromisingly off kilter songs by The American Devices.
Bristol-based band’s debut album is something out of this world. No, really.
Applying old-school business sense to the modern music market, this EP is available as a free downloadable single of sorts through Eleventh Key to promote Wrath of Typhon’s full-length, Speak from the Fire.
Neverever’s new EP will come into your life for a brief moment, then fly away, leaving you heartbroken but all the richer for having experienced it.
Al Jourgensen’s country alter ego has delivered his best non-Ministry effort in ages.
Who knew Black Widow‘s 1970 occult rock LP Sacrifice would become such a sacred text?
McGraw has described the process of making this album of covers as “the art of selling out,” and he makes admirable work of it. The song selection for Popular Music runs the gamut from guilty pleasure to hidden treasure, with surprising depth and personality.
Leader Rob Carlyle‘s long-simmering brainchild boasts all the sex, sin and sleaze we’d expect from the purveyors of the song “Big Fat Sexy Mama.”
This album belongs in the same conversation as other classics of the genre and time period like Love’s Forever Changes and The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle.
This collection is like manna from heaven for fans of this amazing, chaotic, passionate post-hardcore band.
An embarrassment of riches, this limited-edition collection plays not only a great outtakes album, but like one of their best albums period.
This lighthearted collection of fresh material from the “living” King of Rock and Roll plays it mostly straight, but it’s not hard to tell that those involved have their tongues planted firmly in cheek.
Three founding members of space-rockers Tarentel reform and release a satisfying collection of mellow, tranquil music.
We finally get domestic versions of Clark’s early albums, and they provide a clear argument that Clark should be as venerated as any better-known name of his generation.
Rather than pigeonhole themselves with boring clichés, Canada’s Brains are more a punk rock band with a rockabilly edge.
This jazz-minded Mercury Rev side project’s second album finally sees a domestic release. Better late than never…
It’s always nice when a band goes the extra mile and decides to compose songs instead of stringing together riffs.
While not nearly as bombastically poppy as their debut, there are still moments of big fun but also some surprisingly poignant moments worth experiencing.
Like a lot of artists who put a ton of hard work into making it look easy, Viola is a master of subterfuge.
2011, and power-pop is taking over.
A concert remake of Miles Davis’s seminal fusion album Bitches Brew.
Gregory Scott Slay—the former drummer of Remy Zero—did not let Cystic Fibrosis stand in the way of his final musical statement.
The Hebden/Reid collaboration came to an end with the death of Steve Reid, but this two-disc document excellently serves its purpose as final testament.
Six albums and over a decade into his career, Winnipeg guitarist/singer/song-writer/ activist/Disintegration Records boss Greg MacPherson is refusing to let up.
Condron notches at least one should-be classic with “Blurred,” which pulls an equal measure of Dream Police-era Cheap Trick glam and classic Dave Edmunds melodic roots-rock.
Much of Wright’s material surveys wounds and casualties on the battlefield of love. Judging by this album, Wright has both loved and lost, and If We Never … is his way to mourn and celebrate all of it.
On Eztica, Soriah (Enrique Ugalde to his folks) seems to emerge from some other dimension, one in which sunlight, sand and smoke intermingle, reflecting at odd angles off the droning soundwaves that flow from his throat.
Winnipeg’s indie- pop duo keep things simple and stunning.
Seven long years have passed since we last had a LP from the Bevis Frond. The Leaving of London makes clear what empty, empty years those were.
Basing itself around Human Switchboard’s lone 1981 album, the collection adds various studio, demo and live sessions for a fairly comprehensive portrait.
Susanne Tabata’s documentary, Bloodied But Unbowed: The Life and Death of Vancouver’s First Punk Scene 1977-1982, has been released in a three-DVD set teeming with extras.
Of this concert film’s seventeen tracks, seven are drawn from 1978’s worthy Some Girls. Live in Texas is a time capsule from when the Stones’ flame last burned its brightest.
The second coming of Naked Raygun? I don’t know but these guys are good.
