The title of Ian Wayne’s new album, Risking Illness, comes from a song near the end of the album. “Winter’s” – like the rest of Continue Reading
Music Dose
Ethiopia's Qwanqwa Go From Pastoral Folk to Somali Funk on 'Volume Three'
Addis Ababa-based quintet Qwanqwa’s initial plans for their third album, the succinctly titled Volume Three, went as awry as everything else this year. Recorded in Continue Reading
Sea Girls' 'Open Up Your Head' Has Big Pop Hooks and Big Guitars
The all-male quartet Sea Girls’ debut album Open Up Your Head is a catchy, very listenable record full of mainstream pop-rock anthems in short supply Continue Reading
Mapuche Filmmaker Claudia Huaiquimilla on Indigenous Identity and Filming from the Trenches
Little Claudia Huaiquimilla didn’t expect to be paraded class by class like a museum exhibit in her first national holidays at an all girls Catholic Continue Reading
Thaba's "Warrior" Is Electropop Rooted in South African Pop Traditions
Thaba is a collaboration between South Africa’s Khusi Seremane (singer-songwriter) and American Gabriel Cyr, a producer and musician. However, the project will sadly be a Continue Reading
'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Makes the Most of Meta Commentary
Peter Parker/Spider-Man was first introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Captain America: Civil War (Russo Brothers. 2016). In that film, he is recruited Continue Reading
Doves Deliver a Familiar Yet Fresh Brand of Melancholy on 'The Universal Want'
Barely three words into the first full-length offering from Doves since 2009, the recently reunited Mancunian trio reminds us why its signature brand of melancholy Continue Reading
Buster Keaton's Last Silent Masterpieces: 'The Cameraman' and 'Spite Marriage'
This Criterion Blu-ray of a new 4K digital restoration of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman (1928) is actually a double-feature with his next and last silent Continue Reading
Tricky's 'Fall to Pieces' Lacks the Risk-Taking of his Early Work
It’s been 25 years since Maxinquaye, the trip-hop classic that shook the world. Since then, Tricky—the stage name of Adrian Thaws—has been living in its Continue Reading
Delta Spirit Return with 'What Is There'
When you start to ask questions about rock music from a decade ago, you can sound like you’re lying. Remember when the most exciting young Continue Reading
20 Years Ago Barenaked Ladies Found Maturity with 'Maroon'
I recently took a very unscientific survey among some music-loving friends concerning Scarborough, Ontario’s most famous band, Barenaked Ladies. One friend, Dave W., wrote: “I Continue Reading
Darlingside's Folk-Pop Shimmers and Shines on "Green + Evergreen"
Folk pop’s Darlingside share their third single from the upcoming LP, Fish Pond Fish, produced by Peter Katis (Brian Fallon, the National, Frightened Rabbit), and Continue Reading
Ade Mai Sings "I Love You More" as He Celebrates New Adventure
Ade Mai is a rising folk singer originally from Finland but now based by Bournemouth’s beaches in the UK. Mai bills himself as an “old Continue Reading
Pop's Cristina Hart May Be a "Bad Girlfriend" But She's Honest
London pop singer Cristina Hart may be a “Bad Girlfriend”, but she has a way with a catchy tune. The Swiss-born, Spanish and Brazilian artist Continue Reading
Manual for Survival's History of Chernobyl Resonates in Our Time of COVID-19
Kate Brown’s Manual for Survival: An Environmental History of the Chernobyl Disaster builds on her expertise in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and its consequences. Continue Reading
Fave Five: Roosevelt
When the young Marius Lauber premiered his first song “Sea” under his stage name of Roosevelt back in 2012, the idea of mixing indie rock Continue Reading
'All I Can Say' Examines the Final Years of Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon
All I Can Say is a documentary that chronicles five years in the life of late Blind Melon vocalist Shannon Hoon. It is not, however, Continue Reading
Toronto’s MKSTN Drops The Feel Good “Affinity”
Coming off a release through Majestic Casual with a glue70 remix and his own ‘Salt N Pepper’, Toronto’s MKSTN returns with Affinity. Inspired by isolated feelings Continue Reading
Sam Prekop Discusses Summer Places and His Modes of Musical Creation
When Sam Prekop isn’t crafting progressive, polyrhythmic pop tunes as the singer and guitarist for the Sea and Cake, he’s releasing records under his own Continue Reading
Mali's Afel Bocoum Is at the Top of His Craft with Star-Studded 'Lindé'
The first notes of Afel Bocoum’s Lindé are soothing and subtle, earthy strings and percussion walking in step with the artist’s gentle voice in an Continue Reading