By Tobias Ma
Mourning Trance is the second album from Toronto-based indie rock group Still Life Still, originally formed in 1999. The band has undergone many changes over the years, finally releasing their first album, Girls Come Too in 2009. Mourning Trance carries more maturity and thoughtfulness than the band’s debut album. The lyrics, whilst not provocative, have… Continue reading Spun: Still Life Still
If you think Corb Lund is catchy, you might want to try Little Miss Higgins & The Winnipeg Five. I thoroughly enjoyed the authentic country blues sound of Bison Ranch Recording Sessions, the fifth album from Little Miss Higgins — also known as Jolene Higgins — who has been recording since 2005. She is joined… Continue reading Spun: Little Miss Higgins & The Winnipeg Five
Each song on Canadian-born singer-songwriter Pat LePoidevin’s fourth album is named after a town. While listening to the album it’s easy to imagine driving along a empty country road from town to town, the sun setting behind autumn trees, the windows rolled down to enjoy the last warm nights of summer. This is the music… Continue reading Spun: Pat LePoidevin
Royal Canoe’s album Today We’re Believers is a fascinating mix of different sounds that veers from soothing ambient electric one moment to high energy indie-pop the next. African drum beats, violin symphonies, plucky acoustic guitar rhythms and plenty of electronic sounds, the range of instruments brought to bear produce a wide range of songs across… Continue reading Spun: Royal Canoe
By Curtis Wolff
You’re not in the mood for Tim Hortons but there you are, debating the merits of adding a hashbrown to your daily double-double-and-a-sausage-breakfast-sandwich routine. It’s a mundane aspect of Canadian life that doesn’t seem fit for songcraft, but no unremarkable topic is off limits for goofy Hamilton folk-rocker BA Johnston. Being forced to move to… Continue reading Spun: BA Johnston
Hoots Deuce is a cross section of the last half century of music wrapped up in a motown medley backed by R&B soul sisters. The EP constantly defies expectations as it swerves from one genre to another from one minute to the next. Pistol George Warren are a Sudbury, Ontario band known for their genre-bending… Continue reading Spun: Pistol George Warren
The picture of the grain elevator on the album art drew me in and the nine tracks of Skydiggers’s new album No.1 Northern did not disappoint. I had never heard of Skydiggers before, but their latest album celebrates 25 years together and pays tribute to great Canadian songwriters like Ron Sexsmith, Neil Young and Gordon… Continue reading Spun: Skydiggers
My first reaction to this album was “meh.” It didn’t grab me. But I kept listening to it and while I’m not about to proclaim You Are An Island as my next favourite album, it did grow on me and I soon found myself humming along with the songs. You Are An Island is… Continue reading Spun: Dustin Bentall and the Smokes
It’s clear while listening to …Like Clockwork that singer and guitarist Josh Homme is not the same person he was when Era Vulgaris was released six years ago. Homme experienced severe complications during surgery in 2010 and was bedridden for three months. He slipped into a deep depression and questioned whether or not he would… Continue reading Album Review: Queens of the Stone Age
While listening to country radio last weekend I was generally disenchanted with the new, repetitive music I was hearing. However, one song, “New Girl Now,” kept coming on and I began to enjoy it more and more every time I heard it. The DJ said it was by Belle Starr, whom I had never… Continue reading Spun: Belle Star