Music
Essays, blog posts, playlists, and more focused broadly on music. For more playlists visit my Spotify profile.
- La Rocca “Sing Song Sung” EP Review ()
Sing Song Sung gives a brief glimpse of what is expected for the band’s debut release later this year, The Truth. Recorded under the guidance of Tony Hoffer (Beck, Belle & Sebastian) in LA, La Rocca take a brash step into blue collar indie with this 4 song EP. The title track’s coarse harmony flows […]
- Ane Brun “Duets” Review ()
A tremendous thing happened to me while listening to this album. The realization of just how dense I truly am popped out at me as it finally occurred to me that Ane Brun is a folk singer. I hadn’t really considered this too much as I usually tend to think of Guthrie, Seeger and Baez […]
- Be Your Own PET ()
Out of Nashville, Be Your Own PET offer a brand female fronted rock that I have been waiting for. It seems that a female can’t front a band without immediately being compared to the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or any number of other modern acts. Yeah, they all play rock, we get it. […]
- Saturday Looks Good To Me ()
Detroit’s Saturday Looks Good To Me come highly recommended from a few friends. One calls them “sort of Beach Boys, Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian – real lo fi, very pretty stuff.” Another, Bethanne, says of the band “they’re really poppy and fun. You can listen to them and feel better about yourself because the […]
- The Fever “In The City Of Sleep” Review ()
I was lucky enough to have had the chance to see the Fever in Minneapolis a little while back and I was absolutely blown away. Before seeing the show, I hadn’t heard the band, but for some reason I had this inkling that they’d be a heavy-on-the-electronic light-on-the-rock type. Also on the bill were Rock […]
- The Sounds “Dying To Say This To You” Review ()
Where did you first hear The Sounds? I heard the band far before I ever heard of the band, on a television commercial. Some might have first heard the group on a video game. No matter where you heard the band, your reaction was probably similar to mine and you probably thought they rocked. I […]
- People In Planes “As Far As The Eye Can See…” Review ()
Sometimes it’s really hard for me to determine whether or not hype is a good thing. Sometimes it can lead to a situation where expectations are far too demanding of a band, movie, book, television show, or anything along those lines. I can look back, and honestly remember hearing about how great Coldplay were. Point […]
- Islands “Return To The Sea” Review ()
Islands is the ultimate summation of talents from a group of musicians from Montreal, with members from acclaimed, defunct band The Unicorns. Forming in 2005, the band saw a rotational membership in which musicians came and left, but ultimately became a solid six piece. The band later opened for Beck at the Pop Montreal Music […]
- Nardwuar The Human Serviette “Doot Doola Doot Doot…Doot Doo!” DVD Review ()
I first became in the know on who Nardwuar was like many Canadians, through his segments on Much Music. It was his absolutely distinct interviews with the celebrities, rock stars and even the average schmuck (but for the most part, celebrities and rock stars) with which Nardwuar carved a name for himself within the scene. […]
- Gus Black “Autumn Days” Review ()
Gus Black, formerly the “Don’t Fear The Reaper” guy from Scream, as well as “that guy with that song” from shows like Alias, Smallville and One Tree Hill, performs a variety of smooth and upbeat pop-rock songs on his latest album Autumn Days. It’s hard for me to put together any more info on his […]
- The Tiny “Starring; Someone Like You” Review ()
The Tiny are a collective that came about through a decisive decision to abandon a life of safety and discover the full capabilities of band members’ creativity. And that is simply what makes The Tiny such a special group, its members’ willingness to experiment. Throughout the course of “Starring; Someone Like You” there is a […]
- Stellastarr* “Sweet Troubled Soul – The Remixes” Review ()
I first got turned onto the band earlier this year and I got into them a bit, no matter how overdone the genre might be. This remix single, or EP, or whatever it is, offers a few remixes of the band’s single “Sweet Troubled Soul.” Surprisingly good remixes, actually. James Iha, of Smashing Pumpkins fame, […]
- Wolfmother “Wolfmother” Review ()
Wolfmother, the three piece from Sydney, Australia, will either hit you as a complete knock-off of late psychedelic hard rock, or a band that takes the essence of that time period and continues it wholeheartedly. My preference lies in the latter as the band completely embodies the classic metal sound without neglecting to complete the […]
- Ashley MacIsaac “Pride” Review ()
My first encounter with Ashley MacIsaac was with the high tempo punk-fiddle “The Devil in the Closet” off of his 1995 crossover album, Hi, How Are You Today? I went to a classy, sit down concert of the Nova Scotian’s at Calgary’s Jubilee Auditorium…with my mom…and it was rad; from there on out I’ve been […]
- The Meligrove Band “Planets Conspire” Review ()
So many great bands have come from Ontario and Quebec as of late that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with things. Toronto’s Meligrove Band is one of the recent buzzers that have really clicked with me. The band’s brand of smooth, piano driven rock might not exactly rock your face off, but it […]
- Clit 45 “2, 4, 6, 8…We’re The Ones You Love To Hate” Review ()
Typically, gutter-punk is best done when you have a string of experiences that give you the edge that the music requires. It’s hard a lot of times to define whether or not the music is genuine, example: Mr. Billy Joe Armstrong slummed it when growing up, and you don’t really hear the same bitter, aggressive […]
- Duane Andrews ()
Recent East Coast Music Award winner for “Instrumental Recording of the Year,” St. John’s, Newfoundland’s Duane Andrews serves as not merely a guitar player, but a continuation of history. His use of traditional folk, jazz and classical styles effortlessly plot a scene, voice dialogue, and peak before concluding and exiting the song in an entirely […]
- Girls In Hawaii “From Here To There” Review ()
Gentle, dreamy pop-rock is something I don’t usually kick back and relax to. Belgium-based Girls From Hawaii are some such band, yet they aren’t a typical abstract, hazy band as the band is both part Belle and Sebastian and part rockers. I say this because when I first heard the band, the song was “Flavor.” […]
- Ane Brun “A Temporary Dive” Review ()
Norwegian born Ane Brun comes from an amazing background of international indie success. Her 2003 release, Spending Time with Morgan, was nominated for the 2003 Swedish Independent Music Awards and its follow-up, A Temporary Drive, went gold after only three weeks. This album is a beautifully expressive warp of emotion, stressing not merely abstract love […]
- Die! Die! Die! ()
Auckland, New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die! have a dramatic power that has been noticed by some essential bands in todays musical environment. The trio has proven that their powerful, spastic rock translates into a live setting through tours with Franz Ferdinand, Wire and current tour-mates Wolfmother. Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies) recorded the bands last album […]
- The Birthday Massacre “Violet” Review ()
Ah yes, the spooky kids. It’s really hard to stay away from poking fun at a band which appear entirely in Hot Topic clad, and call themselves Chibi, M. Falcore, Rainbow, Aslan, Rhim and o-en. OK, and they have song titles like “Horror Show,” “Play Dead,” and “Happy Birthday.” Please bear with me. The band […]
- Ultimate Power Duo ()
One would think that “the masters and purveyors of demolition rock” would hail from a multi-decade history of kickin’ ass and takin’ names. Well, they don’t. Saskatoon’s Ultimate Power Duo started two years ago, and have seen both coasts of Canada and all places in between. Their sound calls back to original American punk, y’know […]
- Bullets and Octane ()
Hailing from California is one of my latest guilty pleasures, Bullets and Octane. I found these guys on Shoutweb, a site I visited in high school to stay hip with the smooth sounds of nu-metal. Why should you care? Drummer Ty Smith played with Guttermouth, one of my favorite punk bands of the last few […]
- Mikaela’s Fiend “We Can Driving Machine” Review ()
Seattle’s Mikaela’s Fiend is a two piece noise rock band comprised of cousins, Chris Ando and Donnie Shoemaker. A while back when the trend was to delve into the deeper extremes of noise and move away from the typical riffage and harmonization or hard rock and metal, along the lines of The Locust, I often […]
- Electric Six and the Fever at First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) ()
I was actually pretty excited to see Rock Kills Kid. After hearing their latest album, Are You Nervous?, I had a good idea of the electronic-based rock that I was going to here. Before the show I was able to head backstage and I meet RKK guitarist Sean, which gave me a cool introduction to […]
- Nardwuar Interview ()
Nardwuar has long since made a name for himself through his unique, high pitched interviews in which he is known to delve into areas of pop culture history generally unknown to the masses. His band, the Evaporators, follow suit, living in obscurity while playing music reminiscent of a parade of caffeine induced indie-geeks (the good […]
- Roger Joseph Manning Jr. ()
Manning checks in with sounds reminiscent of mid ’90s pop-glory along the lines of Matthew Sweet. How fitting as he was a member of indie pop-rock darlings Imperial Drag. Manning’s career has been amazingly expansive, but I first remember seeing Manning as a part of Beck’s band in the Sexx Laws video (which completely blew […]
- Matt Costa “Songs We Sing” Review ()
Matt Costa’s history seems to precede him coming into the new year. After touring with Jack Johnson, Fader magazine named Costa the #3 thing “You didn’t appreciate enough in 2005.” All that while it’s becoming increasingly popular and acceptable to explore relationships and emotions through acoustic ballads and slow winding lullabies. However, with few exceptions […]
- Danko Jones ()
I’ve been a fan of Danko Jones since the release of their single “Bounce” around 1999. With a tight knit, pounding funk rock, I was introduced to the band initially through the music video for the single. I remember being blown away by an abundance of sexually intensified power and I was greatly impressed by […]
- Justice “Waters of Nazareth” EP Review ()
This 3-song release from the French duo, Justice, dazzles without becoming prey to the electronica of the over-glorified club scene. “Waters of Nazareth” is absolute tech-funk; a hybrid of entirely synthetic, late stage industrial with a late blooming progressive beat. Creating a dreamy sequence while staying miles away from ambient, “Let There Be Light” and […]