Music Emissions

You've got to give Iggy Pop points for effort. The former Stooge takes a big detour on his new album Preliminaires...

Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Ms. Estrella Cristina at first listen sounds like many. After repetitive exposure, her lungs, and moxy can draw comparisons to few that are many.   This Is Life, a quickly put together E.P...

Just when you thought there was no reason to buy a full CD, the Pomegranates release Everybody, Come Outside! This is the second full release for the Cincinnati-based band, and has them sounding more confident and consistently tuneful...

As one of thrash's forerunning bands (not only in their native Europe but throughout the world), Germany's Kreator have the sort of reputation only albums like Pleasure to Kill (1986) and Terrible Certainty (1987) could justify...

Blitzing, overpowering, but still unexpected Screamo from Epitaph. Well maybe not as much Emo and more Scream, and certainly more Punk than Pop. Going into the review, one question simmered.....

Having never been a huge Beatles fan, I didn't have to control my excitement as much as I've had to with the past two Easy Star All Stars' releases...

Dog Is Blue is the stage name of Toronto musician Paul Watson. His latest release is the ghost-folk album ...Makes Ghost Noises.Nowadays when an artist makes sparsely arranged acoustic music with a subtle synth embellishments they almost inevitably get compared to acts like Bon Iver...

Keeps You Up When You're Down is the aptly titled fourth album from Winnipeg rock trio The Perms. It's the band's first studio album in over three years.The album is a collection of twelve melodic pop rock songs...

I was shocked when I was looking back and saw that Grandaddy's Sophtware Slump hadn't been reviewed yet. This album is indeed a modern day classic that every indie music fan should have in their collection...

  Once the opener, "Fire" kicks in, with its burst of dangerous, almost out of control guitar riffs by Christoph de Babalon, you might think you are in for a messy, noisy ride. You are, but "Ification" is more than that. Pure is mostly an idea...

  C'mon get happy! Copilots deliver a bright message of hope in a way that is authentic, rocking, and never precious. The songs here reflect a hard-won optimism, won through personal battles with trauma and in the pain of their friends...

Last Saturday I crowded with a hundred or so of the most tattooed, pierced, unwashed people I’d ever seen in the basement of a seedy punk house in West Philadelphia known as the Shore House...

The interestingly titled The Binary Marketing Show are a experimental noise pop group coming from Brooklyn. Pattern marks the groups third full-length album and it is the first I have heard of the band. The music can only really be described as revolutionary...

  This is one Mudwagon that takes us fourwheelin' through some greasy, sludgey, glorious turf, being a collection of improv tracks that pay homage to the free styles of the past while incorporating some of that same freedom found in newer genres...

  Returning from a three year hiatus, Dar Williams' latest offers nothing new, which will please her legion of fans. "Promised Land" is filled with the poetic, country/folk-tinged ballads and light Pop she is famous for, though nothing jumps out as a strong, add-it-to-the Best-Of list...

Veckatimest is the highly anticipated new album from Brooklyn experimental indie rock quartet Grizzly Bear. But if you're reading this you probably already know that.Now I've never understood the fanatical devotion that the band inspired among its fans...

Pittsburgh-based electronic indie band Black Moth Super Rainbow are back with a new album. Eating Us is the fourth full length studio record from the group. Produced by Mercury Rev's Dave Fridmann, the album is an journey through various branches of electro-weirdo music...

City of Black & White is the new album from Oregon-born singer/songwriter Mat Kearney. The record is Kearney's third full length.It would be a stretch to say that Kearney breaks new musical ground or pushes sonic boundaries. What he does deliver however, is enjoyable adult pop rock...

I'm just not sure what to think of the whole situation.  From the artist name to the music itself...

linus.maybe (interesting name...) are a younger outfit out of Switzerland (color me stupid for not knowing more about this country's rock scene) and just released their debut album Attitude last year. According to their bio, the "rock star thing" is what drives the band and that really makes sense...

Jeremy Enigk is probably best known as the frontman for Seattle post-grunge band Sunny Day Real Estate...

Apostle Of Hustle is one of a plethora of Broken Social Scene projects, this one a trio led by BSS guitarist Andrew Whiteman...

Continuing the flurry of activity we have another digital download from the Greatest Rock and Roll Band In the World, The Supersuckers. This one is Eddie Spaghetti and Rontrose Heathman recorded at the Barge Inn (a name that's far more clever when you say it out loud) in Seattle in 2001...

So out of seemingly nowhere, Regina has become a bustling musical hot bed. Not bad for what Winnipeggers have called "the crotch of Canada"...

When you're talking about Cannibal Corpse, you're talking about pioneers of a scene that's been kicking out the gore-laden brutality for 20+ years. You're talking about forerunners and innovators of a style and, as such, much respect is assumed in simply mentioning the band...

Coming to you by way of NYC is Jennifer Logue, a young, bright, rising star on the alternative country/singer-songwriter scene. She's released two EPs so far, but claims this 2nd release Pretty to be her first "official" release as it signifies more of who she really is as a musical artist...

Odd artist names are not always the binder for unique music. BUT! in the case of What Time Is It Mr. Fox? the music is as unique and drama-ful as can be such generic instrumentalist times. No, this isn't a concept album from a left field Emo band. Simply put. this is beautifully composed music...

  Gritty and Stones-y, with heartbreak and defiance in every line, Holland can sing the hell out of a sad ballad or a snotty rocker. "The Living And The Dead" puts to shame virtually everything you've heard that passes for country & country rock these days...

  Ten face-opening songs, six of them hardcore glory, with three or four less-inspired, kinda lame tracks. Still, Red Fang rock, and have that sharp-riffing, slow, building menace that shows they've been listening to their Sabbath, Melvins, and maybe, if I can dream, MC5...

To my ears, country music is something that really walks a fine line. It has to be three things: honest to it's roots, easy to listen to, and most of all, a fine teller of stories. Most of what I hear from modern country betrays these three ideals to varying degrees...

  It really isn't until the fourth track on "Love," Flipper's first set of original material since 1993, that you can exhale and believe...

A San Francisco, CA bred formation designed from hiatus band members of Rum Diary, Built For The Sea, Mijuanito and The Action Design is a pure example of what rhythm and melody should mean to music today...

Hailing from Rochester, NY, Candella are a fast-rising alt-rock/metal band who've only been on the scene for a couple of years now...

The Hundreds and Thousands is a brand new band that Nettwerk Records has signed up. What's the big deal? Well, band members Ian LeFuevre, Peter Von Althen and Maury LaFoy, all formerly of Ottawa's Starling were bordering on success with their previous band...

Ode to Sunshine is one of those albums I have been meaning to listen to for ages! Best quick comparison I can make is the Walkmen only much brighter. I think the issue with Delta Spirit is their label. Rounder isn't really known for their pop acts...

I am a bit late on Takka Takka and their second album Migration but as I always say, good music always deserves to be heard. I missed out on Takka Takka debut album despite the glorious acceptance the media gave it. Migration is their sophomore album and it is indeed no slump...

More than a few bands translate better in a live environment than they do in a studio, and Seatlle, Washington's Desillusion happen to be one of them...

Revisiting the re-visitations of their last release Hair may have been hard for most artists, but these Washington (state) guys. It seems The Lonely H is a sincere renaissance for classic rock in the 21st century...

  In a twist to the usual tribute compilation. "Born To The Breed" celebrates the obscure original tunes of an artist who made her bones through covers. Judy Collins has had a career spanning such personas as 60s muse, 70s limp pop chanteuse, to, well, not much after that, discounting live shows...

  It is hard to believe that there are only five tracks here. The immense space created by synths and guitar loops by Canadian Ryan Ferguson is stunning...

  Experimental drone artist Dirk Serries has been making music both minimal and majestic for over twenty years, on his own and with vidnaobmana...

For a self-made, self-promoted and self-reliant band to defy the often less talented but more money backed competitors...

Did you do it too? No, Cary Judd is not a courier of Nashville Country sound. After giving the third release of his career three complete spins, I'm impressed with how easy it's made to enjoy such a bubble gum sound without wanting to hate myself...

Hawk Is Howling is the new studio album from Scottish instrumentalists Mogwai.Now with the exception of RATATAT and old Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet I'm not much for completely instrumental albums...

This guy is good. Evidently, Kevin Devine is merely a victim of the human condition that keeps us all trying to survive every big or small moment in our days. The only difference between him and us is that he knows it, so he milks it...

Summer camp is where all the young lovebirds come to flock and chatter, hoping to make connections under a blistery sun. Some find their first kiss under the moonlight here, while others find heartbreaks and petty fights...

Pop-punk: it has become a very hot item in music among today’s youth, though the rest of us would probably say that it has become far too sugary and senseless for a decent listen...

Here's an interesting up-and-comer out of Cali, Kaleo Futuristo. I say "interesting" because it seems he's being hyped up all over the place, from the mainstay internet bios and props to being featured on various television programs and even a movie or two...

Not often do I have the respect and patience for electronic music.　 There's just not a lot of chance for mistake, and that's half the fun of making music, avoiding mistakes or melody mishaps...

If anything can be said about Joe Delaney and his pet project Joetown, it's that the influences contained within their collective sound-sphere are like a history lesson of hard rock...

It has been a while since we've seen a Tindersticks album. 5 years to be precise. In the interim Stuart Staples relocated to France, released two solo albums and built his own studio. The Hungry Saw marks a change for the North American market as well...

Let's face it, much of the hard rock you hear on "alternative" rock station (I'm looking at you 102.1 The Edge) sucks monkey nuts. Well I think I've come across a solution to their problems: meet Ottawa's Iconoclast. Their latest release is a self-title 5-song EP...

Pree is the new band from ex-Le Loup member May Tabol. The DC based band released their debut EP, A Chopping Block on March 24th.The first thing that strikes you about Pree are the Regina Spektor-style vocals. Yes, that does mean they sound like someone singing with a mouth full of cotton...

North Elementary are an indie power pop group hailing from Chapel Hill, NC...

Anyone who's paid any attention at all to the Toronto indie rock scene over the last decade or so will already be familiar with Celtic-inspired Enter The Haggis...

Fewer things in life bring more joy to this reviewer's life than the promise of new material from Canada's own Devin Townsend...

Warsaw Village Band is a group almost impossible to define, but surely impossible to ignore...