▶︎▶︎ LPS / EPS

Dame Cook, △ (Toronto  ON)
The chilling and mysteriously entitled ∆ by Dame Cook is not for the faint of heart. This collection of electronically spun songs oscillate between screeches and airy keyboard notes: they are like spectres. “24” acts as a brief respite because it sounds like you've stepped into a garden but then you realize the garden is haunted too.
Laura Stanley

Elaquent, Forever is a Pretty Long Time (Toronto  ON)
This smooth, highly enjoyable beat tape from veteran producer Elaquent is pushed even higher by great features and tight run time. If you enjoy any Dilla-adjacent underground hip-hop, Forever is a Pretty Long Time will flow directly to your pleasure centres.
Mac Cameron

No Museums, Moths (Edmonton  AB)
No Museums, Edmonton’s hardest-working, most under-appreciated and criminally overlooked band, closed out 2019 by dropping Moths, their ninth record in six years (and that’s not including music released under previous monikers Twin Library and The Public Library). Moths follows a similar pattern to its predecessors (lo-fi, succinct bedroom indie-pop awash in guitar reverb and jangly melodies) but what sets this album apart is its forward momentum. Six songs in “Charlotte Ray” adds the subtlest hint of electronics and backwards tape and suddenly No Museums finds yet another gear and begins to sound like a whole new band.
Jim Di Gioia

Penny Diving, Big Inhale (Montreal  QC)
The driving psych-pop-rock rhythms of Penny Diving's Big Inhale are irresistible. Right from the start of the album, Penny Diving put their foot on the gas and they never take it off. As the passenger, all you can do is stare out the window, watch the scenery go whipping by and fall into a trance.
Laura Stanley

storc, II (Vancouver  BC)
Vancouver-based storc's second LP is more than just your typical basement noise-punk record. The several two-minute tracks that jostle and bounce off the wall give way to the closing track, “Remains of Comets”, a seven-minute proggy arrangement that has flavours of Mastodon. Loose ends begin to tighten up with each and every listen.
Michael Beda 

Truster, Scared Animals Return Home (Edmonton  AB)
A droning, dark one-two punch from this heavy and promising three-piece from Edmonton. Stacy Burnett's vocals are nearly completely swallowed by the sludge, amplifying the darkness while giving the listener something to root for amidst the weight of Truster's sound.
Mac Cameron
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▶︎▶︎ SONGS

“Young Buck” by Braids (Hometown  PR)
“Young Buck”  is a lusty, sexy slapper with a strange sadness lurking beneath the surface. Impeccable production gently pulses beneath a steady dance beat while Raphaelle Standell-Preston gorgeously puts all her desires out in the open.
Mac Cameron

“The Fifteenth Curse” by Deperuse (Montreal  QC)
There’s nothing at all evil about “The Fifteenth Curse” from Montréal-based act, Deperuse. Psychedelic-infused guitars swoop and swirl, atmospheric synths swell as if they’ve been conjured through a magical spell. It’s at turns dense and brooding, then light and airy, but altogether alluring.
Jim Di Gioia

“Je te veux” by ELLE SPEX (Hamilton  ON)
ELLE SPEX is the musical pseudonym of multi-disciplinary recording artist/producer Luke Hellewell and their latest offering, “Je te veux”, is a spellbinding marriage of sound and vision: fellow Hamilton-based visual artist Nathalie Cortes collaborated with ELLE SPEX to create the song’s heady, dream-like video, a perfect complement to the intoxicating and catchy-as-hell song. SPEX’s breathy delivery savours every single syllable and lyric. The words themselves are lip-smacking celebrations of infatuation and the first blush of true love heightened by images of models Vuyelwa Gwanzura and Isaiah Achmed dancing, kissing, embracing, and courting “under the red lights of Steel City’s favourite nightclub, Sous Bas.”
Jim Di Gioia

“Without a Farm” by Hobby (Toronto  ON)
Beneath the lo-fi production of Hobby's “Without a Farm” is a soaring countryfied rock song that sounds like a long-lost late 60s classic. The fuzzed-out sound and slacker sensibilities try to take away from the gorgeous harmonies and impeccable songcraft embedded in the song, and yet, the beauty cuts through.
Mac Cameron

“Delighted To Be Spoken To” by Jaunt (Toronto  ON)
“Delighted To Be Spoken To”, a single from Jaunt's forthcoming record All in One, is about being grateful for the simple things in life. “Notice the tint on your window soon / shattered and squinting the sun finally rising above you / beautiful stress,” sing Jaunt among their signature wobbly-pop grooves. In these stressful, isolated times, there's nothing better than being prompted to be thankful.
Laura Stanley

“Anew Day” by Luka Kuplowsky (Toronto  ON)
Luka Kuplowsky's first release since the brilliant What Kind of Animal is, somewhat surprisingly, an EP of covers. However, the thoughtfulness of his arrangements and vocals is more than apparent in the first release from that EP, a cover of Mary Margaret O'Hara's “Anew Day”. Kuplowsky pays ample tribute to the uplifting song with tight bass and percussion, and his soft, gentle vocals pair perfectly with Felicity Williams when she joins in partway through. Stay tuned for the EP, which will also see him cover Arthur Russell, Judee Sill and Justin Haynes with an excellent backup band that includes Thom Gill, Evan Cartwright and more.
Michael Thomas

“Hello Stranger” by Russell Louder (Charlottetown  PE)
Have you ever looked in the mirror and not recognize yourself? It's horrible to feel so disconnected from yourself and it's an uphill, difficult battle to regain control. On their new electro-pop single “Hello Stranger”, Russell Louder acknowledges this struggle but also manages to turn the song into a celebration of self. Each pulsating beat is a step towards rediscovery and that's worth a party.
Laura Stanley

“Waiting for Grace” by Marker Starling (Hometown  PR)
Featuring Stereolab's Lætitia Sadier, this preview of Marker Starling's upcoming album High January suggests it will be the sonic sequel to 2018's Anchors & Ampersands. Warm instrumentation and pop melodies are buoyed by a hint of sadness always present in Christopher A. Cummings' soft and sweet voice. 
Mac Cameron

“My Blue Jean Baby” by Cayley Thomas (Edmonton  AB / Toronto  ON)
Cayley Thomas' “Blue Jean Baby”, a cut from her forthcoming record  How Else Can I Tell You? (out May 1), is less about an LA Lady and more so about how you can lose touch with yourself when you have a crush. Fittingly “Blue Jean Baby” is hypnotic and mirrors the stupor you fall into when you're under the spell of somebody cute. It's a countrified song with a lulling beat and lots of softly delivered twangs which altogether makes “Blue Jean Baby” hard to resist.
Laura Stanley

“Aquatic Ruin” by Year of Glad (Montreal  QC)
“Aquatic Ruin” is a spine-tingling new song from Montreal's Year of Glad (A.P. Bergeron). On it, Bergeron grapples with the climate crisis and the coupled feelings of dread and anger but he does so with softness, his voice is rarely above a whisper, and envelops listeners with an atmospheric electronic soundscape.
Laura Stanley



 

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