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.
For Porcelain, Rogers moves forward from the 60s and into the early 70s, especially the Rolling Stones-style glam rock balladry of Mott the Hoople.
Like Squeeze’s recent Spot the Difference CD, Regeneration faithfully recreates Styx’s classic-rock singles with the band’s current touring lineup. This is both a treat for current fans and a means for fans to thank their heroes for soldiering on.
A collection of shelved material turns out to be a treasure trove.
Thought experiment: What if Weekend was the first band you’d ever heard?
It’s accessible and relatable because who hasn’t had a few years of living dangerously.
Le Chelsea Beat are are welcome new band of bad-ass fuzzed out pysch rockers that slay in both official languages.
On Mesdames et Messieurs.. , this gang of crack musicians have created a pared-down half an hour plus slab of mod, psych and freakbeat influenced tunes that carry a wide range and obvious love and capacity for the genre.
Occupying the middle ground between the more ethereal Brock Van Wey and the darker and dirtier Thomas Watkiss, this is an exceptional debut.
Happy Black Friday. If you go anywhere to shop today, head to your local indie record store and give thought to this, the second Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings review of the week.
For conceptual depth, musical ambition and instrumental command, Quadrophenia remains unmatched among the Who’s canon. This set gives Who fans unprecedented insight into a justifiably beloved album.
An album against cheap fuel and capitalism, it actually is indisposable.
How can ghosts have gravitational pull?
This 45rpm single demonstrates afresh that the leftovers from soul providers Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings top many artists’ prime cuts. “He Said I Can” is a funky strut, while B-side “It Hurts to be Alone” reinterprets a Wailers classic recorded in 1963.
White Wives demonstrate really anthemic songwriting chops with very interesting concepts and influences, mainly from the Provo Movement of the 1960’s.
Earnest, hardcore and totally driving, The Speaking Tongue’s first full length carries with it all the weight and grit of the Mississippi Delta where it was recorded.
This former Revolting Cock reinvents himself by taking a fresh approach to the past.
New Blood seems best suited as a gift to Peter Gabriel’s most committed fans – the devotees who are interested to see Gabriel unmake and recreate a favorite song like “Solsbury Hill,” and the ones who want to focus upon the power of his singular voice.
Projekt mastermind takes listeners on an expanded journey into the vast unknown. Do not operate heavy machinery while under its influence.
It’s important to keep your expectations in check since this is a mixtape but his talent is so much greater than most hip-hop artists that even his leftovers are better than those artists’ singles.
A concise description of the third track, the cleverly titled “Cyst and Decease”, would be “Captain Beefheart in Space”.
An idea that started a few years ago has led to a 7” on Matador.
This Lp pulls no punches and sounds as good in 2011 as I imagine that it must have in 1982.
I know you’ve been burned by the initial debuts of modern-day “girl groups,” but The Bandana Splits have a few things to show you with their debut album.
