Muse was heard across the world this year with their official Olympic anthem “Survival.” Their sixth album, The 2nd Law, followed hot on its heels, and much like their Olympic debut, brought back the grandiose musicality and exuberant magnitude that Muse fans have been dying for the band to rediscover.[Read More…]
Music
Thus:Owls : Harbours
Oct. 5, 2012 proved to be a day of excitement for experimental-pop group Thus:Owls. Not only was it the release date of their most recent album Harbours, but it was also a day of positive response from devoted fans. Erika Angell, a Swedish singer/composer is to thank for gathering this[Read More…]
Cruel Summer: G.O.O.D. Music
If summer was cruel to producer Kanye West, this album makes me wonder if it was just because his artistic ambition was not up to its usual standards. Coming out on the tail end of the warm season, G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Summer largely misses the mark of a classic summer[Read More…]
Sic Alps: Sic Alps
Nostalgia is the first word that comes to mind upon hearing the first strings on the new self-titled album from Sic Alps. Nostalgia, in this case, refers to a wistful longing to have had experienced the wild changes of the ’60s. Listening to this album feels similar to being transported[Read More…]
Dwight Yoakum: 3 Pears
For the past 20-odd years, Dwight Yoakam has been writing and singing what he calls “Honky-tonk music.” Honky-tonk indeed: his new album, 3 Pears, released last month, has a distinct ‘bang-that-keyboard, strum-that-guitar’ feel. 3 Pears both is and isn’t a typical country album. While Yoakam’s voice is tinged with Southern[Read More…]
The Noble Thiefs: Beyond the 11th Deck
We live in an age of the retrospective—of Adele, sampling, and electro swing. The challenge for vintage-inspired artists is updating oldies to the tastes of the 21st century. The Noble Thiefs, a Winnipeg-based band, are foraying into vintage-modern territory by combining a gaggle of genres. Their debut album, Beyond the[Read More…]
Christopher Smith: Earning Keep
Christopher Smith is more than just a musician. Hailing from Vancouver, Smith began as a visual artist but found the the medium’s boundaries too constricting. Naturally, he transitioned to music, and now works as a singer-songwriter. Moving away from the sound of his previous album, The Beckon Call (2010), Earning[Read More…]
Paper Lions: At Long Creek
Indie-rockers Paper Lions’ new acoustic EP, At Long Creek, is only one of the exciting ventures the Prince Edward Island band is embarking on this year. Other projects include the release of a full-length sophomore album this winter, and the video for their song “Travelling.” At Long Creek is a[Read More…]
Patrick Wolf – Sundark and Riverlight
Although just 29 years old—by many standards a “young” artist—Patrick Wolf’s repertoire speaks beyond his age. After 10 years and five studio albums later–including the much acclaimed Wind in the Wires and the recent 2011 release Lupercalia–the English singer-songwriter has become synonymous with melodic, haunting lyrics, and musical progressions on[Read More…]
Klarka Weinwurm – Continental Drag
Klarka Weinwurm’s newly released full length album, Continental Drag, attempts to demonstrate a folksy ambiance with the precision and steady rhythm of traditional indie-rock. With lyrics resembling the scattered verses of Kimbya Dawson and endowed with an odd feminine huskiness, one is prone to think that the album fits the[Read More…]