by Olivier La Roche
It’s grimy, it’s catchy, and it’s distorted. Vancouver power trio Night Court’s newest record is everything you’d want from a punk release. Throughout its short runtime, Nervous Birds! Too presents sensational melodies that cut right through the lo-fi, greasy guitar riffs, creating an electrifying listening experience.
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by Keeley Braunstein-Black
The EP From the Hills, Beaten Roads, Down to the Trees by Sam Singer was released May 27, 2022. This short and sweet folk-rock EP with five songs, running approximately 16 minutes, was recorded at the Secret Beach, mixed by Micah Erenberg and mastered by J Riley Hill at No Fun Club. The artwork by Giuliana Guzzi-Gold, who also appears on the EP as a backup singer, depicts the hills, beaten roads and the trees as a sublime yet rugged flowing dreamscape of earthy pastel colours.
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by Noah Cain
The opening track and lead single of Songs from The Secret Beach by The Secret Beach is called “The Secret Beach.” So, what (and who and where) is The Secret Beach? If this were a murder mystery, “Micah Erenberg in the Interlake with the Tascam 388 Recording Console” would be an accurate, albeit inadequate answer. The Secret Beach contains multitudes. It is the evening behind the wind and a cat pawing at static on a TV screen. It is looking for a way out while knowing it needs to be there to be the one for everybody it will become. It is Existential Interlake Psych-Surf.
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by Sam Doucet
Life and death. Right and wrong. Gods and mortals. The story of Faust, now centuries old, is a tale many times retold but always rife with moral quandaries and philosophical implications.
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Sophie Claire Stevens hit the ground running as an artist in the summer of 2018. Those who were fortunate to witness her perform in any sort of capacity felt immediately connected, if not through her warm music, but her even warmer personality. In virtually no time, she was performing alongside Micah Erenberg at the Winnipeg Folk Festival over numerous sets. After a scheduling conflict for Micah, Stevens found herself performing alone on a bill opening for local indie pillar Kakagi, composing a set of her own material with a backing band to boot. With Love, Stevens’ debut LP, sees these songs finally given life beyond the stage.
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by Paul Newsom
Toronto singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman returns with an equally deft and personal album as her group’s prior efforts. The Weather Station’s previous forays into bluegrass, pop, folk and jazz shine through in turn on her newest record, whose musical tone meets the album cover’s dense-dark-hopeful vibe.
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by Daniel Kussy
On Pedro the Lions 2017 LP Phoenix, their first studio album in 18 years, the closing track “Leaving the Valley” anxiously documents a 12 year old’s uprooting and the stillness in motion that comes with trekking across the country in a van. The track wraps up with a guitar melody flickering like a lightbulb until the lights are gone.
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by Keeley Braunstein-Black
The Bros. Landreth are back and have done it again. Joey and Dave Landreth’s new album, released May 13, comes with a run time of just under 40 minutes. Come Morning is chalked full of emotion and harmony-heavy soulfulness. Tackling difficult emotional themes, Come Morning is about balance, fatherhood, priorities, emotional healing, hard truths, new beginnings, and change.
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by Matt Harrison
Released in late January 2022, Make a Scene is the newest album from Winnipeg’s own Sweet Alibi. These eight songs were collectively written by Amber Nielson, Jessica Rae Ayre and Michelle Anderson with bassist Alasdair Dunlop and drummer Sandy Fernandez.
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by Noah Cain
Richard Inman’s new album, Come Back Through, is narrated by desperate cowboys, gamblers, and lovers at the edge of what’s bearable. They stare down mistake-filled pasts, debt-ridden presents, and overwhelming futures, struggling with the question of hope. Recorded over a weekend, it is sonically unified and organic. You can feel the magic of that specific time and place as Inman’s baritone rises above classic country chord patterns and instrumentation. As with all of Inman’s work, the storytelling takes center stage.
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