Plain as Ghosts — ‘Sleepless Shadow,’ 3.5/5
How one understands Plain as Ghosts will depend largely on how they contextualize its brand of thunderously precise rock. If well versed in the unfortunate…
music
From summer camp to the spotlight
Justin Benlolo remembers his first song clearly. Instead of it being about teen angst or first love, it was about summer camp. “I used to…
Andy Shauf — ‘The Neon Skyline,’ 4/5
There is a formula to what Andy Shauf does. His music is detailed and incisive, lighter than air, filled with a sprightly mix of guitar,…
The North’s shining stars
I have yet to recover from the sudden passing of Kelly Fraser. But the truth is, we should never recover from it. Mental illness —…
An upcoming solo EP to mark a new beginning
Odario Williams was in search of a fresh start. Or rather, he felt a fresh start in the air, with his friends and family yearning…
Hut Hut raised from the boards of Boats
Like some gangly misbegotten phoenix, Hut Hut arrives — dusting off the ashes of the beloved Boats — and steps into a new world of…
Tramping the trails of Winnipeg
Living in Winnipeg is not always easy, but it’s always something. Cold enough to crack bones and hot enough to melt pavement, Winnipeg is a…
Sam Singer — ‘Don’t Mistake Me for a Lovebird,’ 4/5
Though electronic music and programmed sounds can have every bit as much humanity as live instrumentation, there may always remain that pervasive belief that real…
Bluebloods — ‘Make It Rain,’ 3.5/5
The nature of the growing pop music monogenre — music that’s promoted largely on the way it blends multiple, supposedly incompatible genres — means that…
Casati — ‘This Is Just To Say,’ 3.5/5
In Casati’s wide-eyed vision of folk music, there’s a refreshing absence of whisky and murdered wives — rather, the trio crafts a gentler world, one…