For anyone who has been following recent developments in the career of Spencer Krug, Dragonslayer won’t come as much of a surprise. Like his recent albums as a member of Wolf Parade and Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown’s latest opts for simpler arrangements, eschewing studio trickery in favour of live-off-the-floor immediacy. Read More
Category Archives: July 2009
SUBB
To This Beat (STOMP Records)
Review By Mark PaulHus
Punk rock and Jamaican music have always enjoyed a certain connection, compelling many bands to try and meld the two genres musically. Some, like the Clash and Operation Ivy, have done this with great success, while other attempts have resulted in nothing more than irritating carnival music.
Montreal’s SUBB are one of the few bands to come out of the ‘90s Ska-punk explosion that manage to combine the two genres with palatable precision. Read More
Kathryn Williams & Neill MacColl
Two (Nettwerk)
Review By Melissa Smith
With its cover art containing a meteorite with a vaginal looking gash (created by Williams), a Tom Waits’ cover song, liner notes listing a shed, basement and garage as recording venues, potential listeners might expect a recording that is dark and foreboding. Add to this mix the accompanying instrumentation of dulcimer, autoharp, organ, harmonium, melotron and flugelhorn, descriptors such as experimental and quirky come to mind. Yet these preconceptions could not be farther from the delicate and soothing sounds found on Two. Read More
Ford Pier
Adventurism (Independent)
Review By Alex Hudson
Adventurism is Ford Pier’s fifth full-length, and listeners’ enjoyment of the album will likely be determined by their tolerance for the former D.O.A. member’s theatrical vocal delivery and schizophrenic songwriting. Although he utilizes typical rock band arrangements, Pier’s vocal style is more akin to a cabaret singer, incorporating spoken word and dramatic yelps and hollers into his eclectic, genre-bending songs. Read More
Field Assembly
Broadsides & Ephemera (Independent)
Review By Luke Meat
What the hell has ever come out of the pit of humidity known as Windsor, Ontario? Well this year alone, the Phog Lounge in Windsor was voted Best Live Music Venue in Canada by CBC Radio 3 listeners prompting a slew of bands to start visiting while touring “Down East” as Ontarians call it. Also, they are starting to boast a strong (albeit small) local scene, including Field Assembly. Read More
Falcao & Monashee
Falcao & Monashee (Independent)
Review By Jordie Yow
This Vancouver duo’s debut album has an immersive sound with lots of slow builds and a gradual intertwining of melodies. It’s an urgent sound that carries forward the ideals of the post-rock movement of the ‘90s and early ‘00s, as they use instruments often associated with the rock tradition for making clearly non-rock sounds. They also use instruments from other genres such as the banjo, mandolin and harp. Rodrigo Falcao’s drumming seems to indicate some kraut influences, especially on tracks like “Starlight,” which is probably the album’s best. Monashee Sun’s vocals feature prominently in every song and are reminiscent of the ‘60s folk songstress Joan Baez. Read More
Apostle of Hustle
Eats Darkness (Arts & Crafts)
Review By Chad Thiessen
Eats Darkness, the third full-length from Apostle of Hustle, boasts a heavier sound than on their previous records. Those expecting an album that pushes boundaries will be disappointed to find that Eats Darkness stumbles through some darker, but mostly familiar material. Read More
Animal Names
Oh Yes You Better Do (Boat Dreams From the Hill)
Review By Mark PaulHus
Vancouver’s Animal Names seem to be caught in an innocent time warp, coming from a simpler place where the term “emo” has nothing to do with eyeliner or cutting oneself. The cover art of a balloon-headed, lime green canary, along with song titles such as “Crunk Crunk Croatia” and “My Friends for Mayor” indicate that the listener is in for something quirky and interesting from a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Read More
More Than This
The quest for entertainment beyond Granville St.
By Jessica Barrett
Friday night. Powell Street.
Head half a block west and you’re in Gastown. It’s a slightly more mature, less manic incarnation of the city-sanctioned Granville Entertainment District (GED) a few blocks away.
The same distance east is the apex of the Downtown Eastside—its own Dickensian revelry now in full swing.
The landscape changes on the short walk through Gastown to Granville. Dark cobblestone gives way to rubble of Canada Line construction. At present, Granville Mall is a stunted neon caterpillar scheduled to emerge a modern public pavilion—just in time for the Olympics. Read More
The Wind Whistles
Animals Are People Too (Independent)
Review By L.E. Portelance
Love, nature and being a genuinely rad person seem to be the gist of Animals Are People Too from this Coquitlam-based duo. The album starts off with charismatic and catchy tracks about keeping it real in “Turtle,” “Judo” and “House for a Mouse.” These tracks feature some delightful drumming and a bouncing bass that fosters folksy lyrics, an acoustic and electric guitar into a pleasant pop package while, “Making Your Own Stuff” and “Sleeping Lions,” promote a message of cultivating a harmonious ecological consciousness. Read More »