new release Archive
26 Oct 2018
Sloan: Past, Present and Future
Indie rockers Sloan have built an impressive body of work since forming in Halifax, Nova Scotia back in 1991. Whether the foursome should be classified as indie rock or power […]
23 Oct 2018
Album Review: Gwenifer Raymond — You Never Were Much of a Dancer
There’s a dark undercurrent to much of the folk music coming out of the tradition of the British Isles; maybe that has to do with the region’s history. But that […]
18 Oct 2018
Fantastic Negrito: We Can Turn It Around (Part 4 / conclusion)
Continued from Part Three… And even though Fantastic Negrito is now a high-profile Grammy-winning performer and recording artist, he still feels and maintains a close connection to that neighborhood. “The […]
17 Oct 2018
Fantastic Negrito: We Can Turn It Around (Part 3)
Continued from Part Two… The production on The Last Days of Oakland is “boxy,” and Xavier says that that quality is a deliberate aesthetic choice. “I wanted it to feel […]
16 Oct 2018
Fantastic Negrito: We Can Turn It Around (Part 2)
Continued from Part One… A 2014 EP titled Fantastic Negrito debuted Xavier’s new approach. Ostensibly blues, the five-song EP draws from a wider array of influences. Released to enthusiastic critical […]
15 Oct 2018
Fantastic Negrito: We Can Turn It Around (Part 1)
(An edited version of this feature appeared in print in Living Blues Magazine.) All photos © Audrey Hermon Kopp Fantastic Negrito is a a lot of things. On the surface, […]
13 Oct 2018
Album Review: Elza — Nothing’s Wrong
Combining literate, singer-songwriter approach with instrumentation that draws form trip-hop and moody alternapop, Canadian artist Elza has crafted an album of subtle beauty on Nothing’s Wrong. Elzy doesn’t possess the […]
12 Oct 2018
Diali Cissokho’s Story Songs
When Diali Cissokho moved to North Carolina in 2010, he knew hardly anyone. The Senegalese musician didn’t speak English, and had no one with whom to play music. But with […]
06 Oct 2018
EP Review: Monique Angele – Alive
Australia-based singer-songwriter Monique Angele is from Canada; her performance schedule is neatly split between the two countries. Despite its name, this EP is a studio collection. It features Angele’s gentle […]
06 Oct 2018
Album Review: The Goldwyn Experiment – Avenue B
An elegiac piano melody, “Prologue,” kicks off the album, with a feel not totally removed from Jim Steinman’s Meat Loaf-era work. It’s subtle assured and inviting. Toward the end of […]