canada
ALBUM REVIEW: Braids soar on ‘Shadow Offering’
“YOU want me to love myself, more than I love anyone else / I tire of myself sometimes, just like I tire of you … do I need you, do I want you, do I hate you … I’m here for you, even if you don’t want me to be”. So offers Raphaelle Standell-Preston during …
Track – Moscow Apartment – Halfway
‘Halfway’ from indie duo Moscow Apartment is a whimsical joy – floating on delicate guitars and subtle harmonies to create a track that is beautiful in its low-fi fragility. Moscow Apartment consists of Canadian singer-songwriters Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla who will release an EP entitled ‘Better Daughters’ in June with a full band. ‘Halfway’ …
Album Review: Song, By Toad -Split 12″ Series Vol. 7
We’ve already lamented the announcement last year that Edinburgh-based Song, By Toad Records was calling it a day. If this is its last release then it’s appropriate that its one of its signature split 12″s. (Although don’t be fooled, it’s a 12-song album.) The idea is simple and speaks to the heart of the label. …
EP: Ummagma – LCD
I’m a little late to the party on this one but towards the end of last year, Canadian/Ukrainian due Ummagma released EP “LCD”, consisting of two versions of “LCD” (mixed by Dean Garcia from seminal shoegaze band Curve) and additional tracks “Lama” (one mixed by Robyn Guthrie of The Cocteau Twins) and “Back to You” …
MEET: We interview Safakash, The new face of Canadian Hip-Hop
What do Drake, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber have in common? They all come from Toronto, the largest city in Canada. They have dominated global music charts throughout 2015-16 with their catchy pop tunes. And they also love to praise their home city, making Canada sound like a cool new place to make music. But …
Say Psych: Helios Rising by Moths and Locusts
I only came across Moths and Locusts earlier this year when I heard the band’s first album from 2013, ‘Mission Collapse in the Twin Sun Megaverse’, quite by chance after pushing on a conversation between two friends on social media. Initially thinking from the title that it would be some sort of straight space rock …
Track: Aggression – Unleashing the Ghost
Despite the fact their inception was way back in the 80s, Canadian thrashers Aggression are still active, and making new music. Following on from 2015’s Fractured Psyche Demons, the band return with a new record – Fragmented Spirit Devils, due in October. The record features nine new tracks, along with a cover of Nazareth’s Razamanaz, …
Say Psych: The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol 3LP Box Set
The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol (TBWNIAS) is a band that I first came across last year when Cardinal Fuzz released ‘Masters of the Molehill’, apparently the band’s ninth album. Such was it’s impact on me that within a couple of weeks it was on our list of essential albums for 2015. Little did …
Track: Black Atlass – Island Love
Ahead of his album Haunted Paradise which drops this summer via Fool’s Gold, Canadian electronic soul/R&B singer songwriter Alex Fleming, who records under the moniker of Black Atlass has released the latest insight into his new record with a single, Island Love. As with the previous tracks he/’s recently released – Haunted Paradise and Tonight, …
Say Psych: Playlist 9/2016
This weeks Psych Insight playlist is an all-Canada special! Ten tracks from ten great bands all producing great music over the last half century, with a definite nod to the current scene which appears to be in fine health. The music speaks for itself, but I thought I’d add a bit of atmosphere with a …