▶︎▶︎ LPS / EPS

Sarah Feldman, Grids EP (Montreal QC)
Sarah Feldman's Grids EP is an enthralling avant-garde/experimental release. The percussive elements and electronics on these electroacoustic tracks blink like a train-crossing sign, filling the four songs with a hypnotic array of plinks, plonks, and the occasional plunk too. All of the proceeds from Grids are going to a Montreal community organization that supports low-income trans women. 🙏🏼
Laura Stanley

Field Guide, Full Time (Toronto ON)
Field Guide (Dylan MacDonald) is reeling from a break-up on his debut EP Full Time. Across the four warm, soft-folk-rock tracks, the Toronto-by-way-of-Winnipeg singer-songwriter instinctively reaches across his bed only to find that nobody is there. The EP's heady emotions are summarized best at the end of the boppy title track when MacDonald sings: “I don’t think we’ll love again, but I think I’ll love you always.” If you've left Andy Shauf's Party and have had enough to drink at the Neon Skyline, Field Guide's Full Time should be your next stop.
Laura Stanley

lawrence teeth, soft cure (demos) (Calgary AB)
On the generous demos release soft cure, Lawrence Teeth's Seth Cardinal Dodginghorse puts together a seventeen-song mix of lo-fi pop-rock, eerie electronic pieces dubbed "pastelwave," and winey shoegaze. There's a lot to dive into and there are great sounds everywhere you turn.
Laura Stanley

Maud Gonne, Magnetic Variations (Guelph ON)
Allow Maud Gonne — the side-project of Guelph-based singer/songwriter Nick Zubeck — to pick you up and carry you away to Magnetic Variations. It's a pretty soft place built by a lot of synth sounds that are sometimes light and airy, sometimes round and soft, and sometimes they shake anxiously. But no matter the temperament, Magnetic Variations offers a temporary respite from the world and we're happy to visit.
Laura Stanley

Alex Nicol, All For Nada (Montreal QC)
Alex Nicol (of Montrealers Hoan) lays out some velvety indie-rock tones on the lovely All For Nada. The album calls to mind the more haunting moments of Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out and flirts with Timber Timbre-style atmospherics. Songs like “Trust”, “Family Lines”, and “Mirage” float on dreamy vibes while Nichol's voice, crystalline and understated, lays down intricate and dense lyrics that draw you deeper into his rich sounds.
Jim Di Gioia
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▶︎▶︎ SONGS

“Edge of a Dream” by Jenny Berkel (Ontario)
Jenny Berkel's “Edge of Dream”, her first new song in five years, is exactly how she describes it on Bandcamp: a lullaby. Her folk song is plush, quiet, and rocks gently, guiding you into a blissful state. Berkel reaches Anne Murray-levels with her vocals too. All proceeds of “Edge of Dream” go to the Hamilton-based multi-service organization Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre.
Laura Stanley

“Rise” by Big Little Lions (Royston BC)
“Rise” is a lovely pandemic-themed tune by two performers separated by physical distant but connecting: Helen lives in BC; Paul's in Cincinnati. But together as Big Little Lions, they rise to the challenge of interpreting our daily challenges and universal struggles into song. 
Jim Di Gioia

“Heartwork” by Big Share (Montreal QC)
There's a line on Tiohtià:ke / Montréal-based duo Big Share's new song “Heartwork” about “a juggler making do with rotten fruit” that's comical and sad all at once. The idea of engaging in anything — whether its one's craft, relationships, or daily navigating life — with anything less than the ideal tools (both physical and mental) is daunting. The reality is that we all do it in some capacity daily. Through their winsome melodies and folky charm, Chesley Walsh and Luke Fowlie don't condone or condemn; instead, they acknowledge that when the time comes, it's best to deal quickly and swiftly: “What’s the point of delicate? Whose and what’s the etiquette?”
Jim Di Gioia

“In a Spell” by Rose Brokenshire (Toronto ON)
As quarantine inexorably marches on, the concept of time is becoming increasingly meaningless, and that idea is front and centre in this new song from Rose Brokenshire. A simple piano chord progression anchors Brokenshire's heavenly vocals as she wonders where her time has gone: she's read the news, she drank some juice, but somehow it's already 1 p.m. Fittingly, she wrote this song in the same kind of timeless daze that permeates this song. It's a soothing track that also has an ethereal spookiness to it — where the hell is our time going?
Michael Thomas

“Keep Kicking” by Sameer Cash (Toronto ON)
Sameer Cash's “Keep Kicking” begins quietly: gentle piano chords and the quiet taps of what may be an electronic drum machine. The latter sounds like Cash is steadily picking away at a huge boulder that's in his way; slowly, he's moving forward. Near the end of the song, the tapping fades away for a moment and Cash stands up and sings, “They're sitting there silently just sipping beer quietly. Then she just shouts out loud: ‘HONEY DON'T DIE ON ME!’” It's a goosebump-inducing moment and it feels like a kick in the ass.
Laura Stanley

“Love Song for the Haters” by Fleece
Fleece's first piece of new music in three years is as warm and cozy as their name. Love hurts, and ending it can be for the best, especially when you've had time to reflect on the wrongdoings. Thankfully, the indie-psych quartet assures that you're not alone in the quest to absolve yourself from a toxic past.
Michael Beda

“Every Day It's the Same” by Andrew Haust (Toronto ON)
“Every Day It's the Same”, the first song on Toronto-based musician Andrew Haust’s album, My Role in the Banana Hoax, is anything but same-samey lo-fi slack rock. Starting at a speed half-way between “baked-out-of-my-gourd” and “I-think-the-uppers-are-starting-to-kick-in”, Haust’s nondescript, asymmetrical indie-pop tune completely switches gears just under the half-way mark. As the song crashes into a massive wall-of-guitar power-rock song, Haust blasts away any lingering “heard-this-before” ideas from the first half of “Every Day It's the Same”. If you find “Every Day It's the Same” is your kind of speed, you’ll find more of the same expectation-crushing songwriting on the rest of My Role in the Banana Hoax.
Jim Di Gioia

“Everybody BAILED!” by Ill Tone (Vancouver BC)
Fun because it's sad and true, Vancouver BC-based MC Ill Tone's “Everybody Balied!” is both a lament on the perils of putting oneself out there, whether through performing or social engagement and a statement of resiliency and determination to see one's ideas and goals through to the very end.
Jim Di Gioia

“Birthmark” by No Joy (Montreal QC)
“Birthmark” is the lead single from No Joy’s first LP in five years, Motherhood. Songwriter Jasamine White-Gluz does her best to fatten up the listener with the most decadent ‘song sundae’. Layers upon layers of complex, diverse instrumentation drizzle like syrup, with each measure providing further toppings to ensure that you’ll fulfill that sweet tooth of yours.
Michael Beda

“Holding Space” by Romana (Toronto ON)
Maybe more so now than ever, space is a premium, a luxury. That's something that multi-disciplinary artist Romana has been exploring through a series of weekly live Instagram interviews and performances (follow her at @romanakassam) she's named after her latest single, “Holding Space”. Romana says the song is meant to spark conversation: “There is not enough dialogue around emotional health and well-being, which is honouring your true feelings and expressing them. This song encourages emotional awareness and gives permission to say ‘no’ to the things that don't serve you.” “Holding Space” serves up a sly and sophisticated blend of R&B and pop unburdened by genre limitations that not only holds its proverbial space, but the listener's attention as well.
Jim Di Gioia

 

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