Oval Scis

Published Jan 14, 2020

After taking a nine-year hiatus early in the millennium, Markus Popp (aka Oval) has been pushing his craft into broader territories, moving...

Psychic Void Skeleton Paradise

Published Dec 19, 2019

The goal for many punk bands is to simply be a punk band. But Psychic Void seem fixated on pushing their craft into the psychic void. Skelet...

Pluralone To Be One With You

Published Nov 19, 2019

Before Josh Klinghoffer joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2007, the California guitarist enjoyed a career as a session/live musician for a...

Chet Baker The Legendary Riverside Albums

Published Nov 19, 2019

Although admired throughout his career, Chet Baker was never revered in the same manner as mid-century peers like Miles, Ornette and Coltran...

Owen Pallett / Carmen Elle 27 Club, Ottawa ON, November 15

Published Nov 16, 2019

Five years and counting since his last full-length, and just as long since his most recent solo appearance in the nation's capital, Owen Pal...

Guided By Voices Sweating the Plague

Published Oct 30, 2019

Eight years, five EPs and 13 LPs since their reformation, it's no longer surprising to witness Guided By Voices put out so much music so con...

Anamai Dream Baby

Published Oct 22, 2019

Although Anna Mayberry and David Psutka may be best known for their HSY and Egyptrixx projects, there's something to be said about how much...

808 State Transmission Suite

Published Oct 08, 2019

In the late '80s and early '90s, 808 State helped pioneer British electronica with a trio of LPs, influencing pioneering artists like Aphex...

Operators / Legal Vertigo Club Saw, Ottawa ON, October 4

Published Oct 05, 2019

As bandleader of Operators and co-songwriter in Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner has toured non-stop over the last half-decade, playing at least on...

Gaby Moreno & Van Dyke Parks ¡Spangled!

Published Oct 01, 2019

Even if you neglected to listen to a single lyric, ¡Spangled! still comes off as a powerful political statement. Performed by 37-year old Gu...

The New Pornographers In the Morse Code of Brake Lights

Published Sep 24, 2019

In the past half-decade, the New Pornographers have enjoyed a return to form. Surprisingly, bandleader Carl Newman has achieved this by movi...

Fly Pan Am C'est ça

Published Sep 18, 2019

On their first album in 15 years, Fly Pan Am return wiser and more established by coming off wilder and less structured. Once known as an of...

Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters CityFolk Festival, Ottawa ON, September 15

Published Sep 16, 2019

Before Robert Plant took the stage to close off Ottawa's four-day CityFolk Festival, the former Led Zeppelin frontman asked security to make...

Fly Pan Am Are Inspired and Full of Ideas on New Album 'C'est ça'

Published Sep 16, 2019

After a 13-year hiatus, Fly Pan Am have reformed — or, as they would put it, drifted back together. Speaking with Exclaim! ahead of the rele...

SQÜRL The Dead Don't Die

Published Sep 10, 2019

Just as his deadpan zombie comedy, The Dead Don't Die, left critics baffled, Jim Jarmusch's soundtrack for the 2019 film contains a number o...

Joan Shelley Had to Let Go for New Album 'Like the River Loves the Sea' to Flow Out

Published Aug 29, 2019

Joan Shelley might seem like an easy artist to understand; she's a folkie from Louisville whom, for close to a decade, has crafted thoughtfu...

The Futureheads Powers

Published Aug 27, 2019

Of all the dance-punk acts of the mid-'00s, it seemed as if the Futureheads ended up being the ones who just couldn't move forward; eight ye...

Joan Shelley Like the River Loves the Sea

Published Aug 27, 2019

The secret to Joan Shelley's appeal is how she makes collaboration sound so intimate and singular. On her seventh solo LP, Like the River Lo...

Paranoid London PL

Published Aug 27, 2019

On their self-titled debut, Paranoid London expertly followed the blueprint laid out by Chicago house — craft personality-rich beats and fin...

Shawn Mendes / Alessia Cara Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata ON, August 18

Published Aug 19, 2019

In the pop music world, word is that Shawn Mendes has been known to put on one of the most electrifying live performances around, eschewing...