![CD Review – April Smith, Songs For A Sinking Ship [2010, self-released]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2348473_lg.jpg)
Toronto - The internet is the great democratizer of our age. To be fair, we're still struggling with what exactly it means when everyone is given an anonymous and potentially powerful voice. As with any technology, we must take the pro's with the con's. It's both over and under-whelming to see what we humans can do with this here internet. But if one thing is clear, it's that the rules, they are a changin'. For the the music business, it's been inexorably changing, and quickly too. Just think of how the music industry used to operate prior [...]
![CD Review: Lali Puna – Our Inventions [2010, Morr Music]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2311923_lg.jpg)
It has been over 5 years, but Munich based Lali Puna is back, or should I say is going to be back, with a new release on April 1st, Our Inventions . The band is fronted by singer and keyboard player Valerie Trebeljahr, with help from members of The Notwist (Christian Hei, Markus Acher) and drummer Christoph Brandner. I remember catching the Lali Puna video for Micronomic on The Wedge several years ago. That song prompeted me to buy Faking The Books way back in 2004. If you are a [...]
![CD Review: The Pinecones – Sage [Just Friends, February 9th]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2298868_lg.jpg)
I love Just Friends Records . If you remember my shitty Julie Fader review from Pop Montreal, all I really remembered from the show was my Cheval Blond and that the guitar player was wearing a Just Friends T-shirt. Maybe I just like owls? So when I heard of a new release by The Pinecones, I got excited. Sometimes I pick up a CD and try to judge the style of music based solely on the album art. Some times I am right, other times I am totally wrong. [...]
![CD Review: Retribution Gospel Choir 2 [2010, Subpop]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2288852_lg.jpg)
Toronto - I've seen Low a couple of times now and while I definitely enjoyed them, I will admit that I got a little bored during their sets. In fact, Low was a band I didn't pay that much attention to until I happened to catch the brilliant documentary Low-You May Need A Murderer , more a portrait of singer Alan Sparhawk and his own set of beliefs and opinions than a straight band documentary. After that I became a full on fan and was excited to see what they would do next. I also discovered Sparhawk's [...]
Toronto – OK, so first things first, this 3 song EP is only slightly over 5 minutes long, which means it took me less time to listen to it than to write this review. But it's awesome. For those who don't know, Melt Banana is a Japanese noise rock band that has been described (on Wikipedia anyways) as "new wave grindcore." Their songs are short and fun blasts of high pitched vocals, blasting drums and crazy guitar noises, sounding a bit like what might happen if you teamed up a bunch of hyperactive kids on a sugar rush with a [...]
![CD Review – Bomb in a Birdcage, A Fine Frenzy [2009, Virgin]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2252364_lg.jpg)
Toronto - Bomb in a Birdcage is the latest album from the band A Fine Frenzy . The group is fronted by red-headed Alison Sudol and this release follows up their debut, One Cell In The Sea. The sophomore effort is a well assembled piece of singer-songwriter fare that exudes innocence. While this album has decidely more edge than the first, it remains within the same realm. This is a good thing. If anything, it demonstrates a logical evolution from the debut. Ms Sudol and her band have grown more comfortable with each other and the [...]
![CD Review: Gospel, Schomberg Fair [Hi-Hat Records, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2174257_lg.jpg)
Toronto - Music is a like a huge evolutionary tree. One style can change and evolve into another, and elements of that style may split off and create entirely brand new branches of music. That isn't to say that any music that is "new" is necessarily "better". Just like evolution, the adaptive changes that occur allow it to better exist in its new environment. The successful adaptations survive and multiply, and the unsuccessful fade away. The one amazing thing about music that makes it markedly different from evolution is its ability to fuse completely different styles into [...]
![CD Review: Teen Dream, Beach House [Sub Pop, 2010]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2162296_lg.jpg)
Ah, the internet. Home of the leaked album. Purveyor of band hype. How I love thee at times like this. Beach House's junior release Teen Dream is something I've been anticipating for awhile now, and is still slated for release by Sup Pop in North America on Janaury 26, 2010, but is quickly making its rounds as "the" premature leak to listen to in November. Seeing as I'm usually at least one calendar year behind the times on the best new things, the fact that I'm paying attention to Beach House at all should tell you something. They've [...]
![CD Review: Prairie Cat – It Began/Ended With Sparks [Fuzzy Logic, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2153477_lg.jpg)
There is nothing I like more than getting a new CD and upon my first listen, trying to pick out the song that I would release as the first single. I call this game Record Industry Executive. I then call my girlfriend and as soon as she answers I simply say, "I smell a hit", then hang up quickly, pretending that I just made a bunch of people rich. The new Prairie Cat album came across my inbox a few weeks ago. Released on Fuzzy Logic I got pretty excited, because [...]
![CD Review: Daniel, Fred & Julie [You've Changed Records, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2134523_lg.jpg)
What's the deal with collaborations? In recent months there has been Mosters Of Folk , NOVELS and now Daniel, Fred & Julie . This most recent addition includes some heavy hitters from the east coast. The Daniel part is Daniel Romano who sings and plays guitar in Attack in Black . Fred is Fred Squire who sang and played guitar in legendary indie-rock group Shotgun and Jaybird, and the Julie is none other than Julie Doiron, as in the legendary songwriter, singer, guitar shredder and member of Eric's Trip. [...]
In January of 2009 five of Canada's top young songwriters locked themselves in the Chemical Sound recording studio in Toronto and vowed not to come out until they had written and recorded a five song EP. This Canadian super group has since given themselves the name NOVELS and features Tokyo Police Club's Graham Wright , Will Currie of Will Currie and The Country French, Luke Lalonde of Born Ruffians, Dean Marino of Tin Star Orphans / EX~PO and Jason Sadlowski . This NOVELS [...]
Every once in awhile, a show comes along and completely blows your mind by the sheer randomness of it. When I saw bauhaus back in 1998 at what was once known as the Warehouse, a muscle-bound freak started random fistfights with everyone around him (women included), a future boyfriend's watch was smashed in, and management confiscated the camera I had smuggled in. Last night's Atlas Sound show had a few medical emergencies, a beyond sold-out crowd, and most memorably, my encounter with Bradford Cox. The evening started off innocently enough. The Selmanaires , another Atlantan outfit invited [...]
Every once in awhile, a show comes along and completely blows your mind by the sheer randomness of it. When I saw bauhaus back in 1998 at what was once known as the Warehouse, a muscle-bound freak started random fistfights with everyone around him (women included), a future boyfriend's watch was smashed in, and management confiscated the camera I had smuggled in. Last night's Atlas Sound show had a few medical emergencies, a beyond sold-out crowd, and most memorably, my encounter with Bradford Cox. The evening started off innocently enough. The Selmenaires, another Atlantan outfit invited out to [...]
![CD Review: Bebel Gilberto – All In One [Verve, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2065323_lg.jpg)
Toronto - How do you link the following topics: traditional Bossa Nova, modern electronica, music royalty, and soul revivalists? The answer is of course Bebel Gilberto . Her latest album All In One has just been released, making it her debut on the Verve label. Furthering her work of creating Bossa-Nova infused pop, All In One provides a laid-back and non-confrontational vibe. Gilberto keeps things updated by partnering with such modern luminaries as Mark Ronson and the Dap-Kings. At the same time, she remains firmly grounded in her colourful past by working with a [...]
![CD Review: Gossip – Music For Men [2009, Back Yard Recordings]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2051517_lg.jpg)
Toronto - It's hard for me to write a subjective review about Music For Men, the latest and greatest from dance-punk trio Gossip , as I'm quite enamored with the group - particularly lead singer Beth Ditto. Loud, brazen and oozing with confidence, Ditto has long been a favorite of mine. It was her offstage activities - particularly, her dedication to LBGT and women-centered issues - that attracted me to her music in the first place and I have yet to be disappointed. Music For Men is the fourth studio album from Gossip and [...]
![Music Review: LIGHTS – Saviour EP [2009, Underground Operations]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2027377_lg.jpg)
Toronto - "Every singer has a unique style," my friend, an accomplished musician, once told me. "A good singer tries not to deviate from that style. Think about it: a person with a 'bluesy' voice won't make good heavy metal music and a person with a childish voice won't have range or depth to do soul." He raises a good point. Consider Avril Lavigne, a singer whose poppy voice and kid-friendly lyrics make her version of "rock" offensive to anyone over the age of twelve. The same can be said for someone like [...]
![CD Review: Polynya – Crop Rotation [Childhood Pet; 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2017242_lg.jpg)
This post is being brought to you by a special guest columnist and our resident 4AD guru, Jeff . I'm interested in weird geographical anomalies like the Sargasso Sea so when a CD by a band called Polynya landed on my desk I actually knew what their name was all about. A "polynya" is an enclosed area of unfrozen water surrounded by ice. The band Polynya, from North Carolina, is similar - in that they quickly melt away any hesitations by immersing the listener in [...]
![CD Review: Logos – Atlas Sound [Kranky, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2014437_lg.jpg)
Although the official release date for this is October 19, I can't resist the urge to review Logos right now. I'm late for the gatecrashing, but who cares. Logos is one of the best releases of 2009 and that's all you need to know. It's hard for me to decide whether this release is better than Cox's 2008 release Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel...he describes the latter as "introspective" and Logos as "worldly" and "extrospective" . Let's put it this way...Let the Blind was a truly solo [...]
Out today in the US is the second album from southern UK band Wild Beasts, "Two Dancers". I guess that means this isn't really a preview as it is out now, but I can't call it a review because I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet. However, I caught half of a set they played at SXSW (which equals about 2.5 songs) and have kept them in the back of my mind since. Please enjoy the video for the single "All the King's Men" below, but be warned, you'll be humming it all day once [...]
![CD Review: Octoberman – Fortresses [White Whale Records, 2009]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1947958_lg.jpg)
Fortresses is the third full length release for Canadian wordsmith Octoberman (Mark Morrissette). The press release for Octoberman states that this is Morrissette's most thematically unified work which examines a variety of relationships. I would agree with this statement as the relationship theme became fairly evident upon my first listen. Several relationships are explored on Fortresses such as a musicians relationship with his fans (opening track The Backlash ), different lovers ( Dancing With Your Ghosts ) and obviously what most male musicians write about, relationships with girls, girls, girls. [...]
The Panic Manual
![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Chromatics: “Into The Black”
Download: The Violet Lights - "Sex and Sound"
Sunday Means Eight Of The Best
[Listen/Download] Sean Nicholas Savage- She Was The One
