Martin Springett's The Gardening Club is cosmic Canadiana at its best, and his story is a CanCon prog rock version of the Searching For Sugar Man saga
Black Wizard
s/t
Vancouver's music scene seems to be traditionally known for two things: drugs and hard rock. Despite the critical pitfalls of these influences, the city has a habit of inexplicably turning out the most palatable and au...
BLACK MOUNTAIN
In The Future
Jagjaguwar
When I hear Stephen McBean’s slowly-picked A-minor guitar intro for “Stormy High,” I’m almost tricked into thinking it’s a cover of “Hell’s Bells,” but then the swing-time Black...
THE BLACK HALOS
We Are Not Alone
Acetate
God bless Billy Hopeless & the Halos. They’ve earned their entry into that category that bands like Motörhead, AC/DC, & The Ramones (the Holy Trinity of Rock) fit into – you always know wh...
Bill Johnson contributes eight originals to his Still Blue, each one a fine example of a contemporary blues song, not merely a retread of a familiar 12 bar theme, and each sung in his evocative voice. The variety of approaches, from the sne...
Cadence Weapon
Afterparty Babies
Big Dada
4/5
Canada doesn't produce a whole lot of hip-hop in general, let alone the sterile mall haven of Edmonton. As such, the sophomore album from Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) is going to ...
With her fifth album release on April 1 and Western Canadian tour dates throughout April, Orit Shimoni’s Bitter is the New Sweet opens up an exciting new chapter in the life of one Canada’s most brilliant and lyrically impactful vocalis...
Angela Verbrugge: The Night We Couldn’t Say Goodnight (Gut String) A review of the debut album from the Canadian vocalist
Let me preface this review by saying I’ve known Summer since she was barely out of her teens and coming out to sit in or jam at various venues I was playing at around Victoria BC. I’ve watched her career with great interest and she has ...
Metal Blade Records
Bison is the most hyped band in Vancouver right now. Sometimes hype can be a tough thing to deal with, but these fuckers keep coming through every time. Every show is better than the next, so every album is obviously ...
'A must-have for anyone looking for a good time.
You're gonna shake your rump on the stompiest sounds
around! Lots of styles, well done, raw sound... Will
find a place within the collection (and hearth) of
people supporting self-produced bands. The ar