Bill Johnson contributes eight originals to his Still Blue, each one a fine example of a contemporary blues song, not merely a retread of a familiar 12 bar theme, and each sung in his evocative voice. The variety of approaches, from the sne...
Martin Springett's The Gardening Club is cosmic Canadiana at its best, and his story is a CanCon prog rock version of the Searching For Sugar Man saga
Let me preface this review by saying Iâve known Summer since she was barely out of her teens and coming out to sit in or jam at various venues I was playing at around Victoria BC. Iâve watched her career with great interest and she has ...
Montrealâs own Eternal Husbands have released their third album French Exit.
Within, the band has once again merged the ambiguous genres of pop, noise and shoegaze, resulting in their best work to date.
French Exit features soothing...
Fans of guitar tone have a lot to learn about Bill Johnson. His fourth album, Cold Outside should be the one that has this Vancouver Island native flying high above the radar, finally. Ripe with an abundance of select tracks, Johnson proves...
Metal Blade Records
Bison is the most hyped band in Vancouver right now. Sometimes hype can be a tough thing to deal with, but these fuckers keep coming through every time. Every show is better than the next, so every album is obviously ...
Black Wizard
s/t
Vancouver's music scene seems to be traditionally known for two things: drugs and hard rock. Despite the critical pitfalls of these influences, the city has a habit of inexplicably turning out the most palatable and au...
Derek Miller
The Dirty Looks
Arbor
I try to balance the good and bad in my reviews, even if I'm not into the style. I don't like saying it, but the sophomore album from Ontario's Derek Miller thoroughly sucks. It sounds like a bar band...
The Stolen Organ Family Band
Horse Treats (Indie)
It pays to have an open mind in this business of writing about music and putting it to press, especi...
Sopranoâs Bar, Victoriaâs only live karaoke joint and notorious dive bar, has closed its doors for good, going out with a bang on New Yearâs Eve.
A message posted on the barâs Facebook page on Dec. 31 served as the official annou...
BLACK MOUNTAIN
In The Future
Jagjaguwar
When I hear Stephen McBeanâs slowly-picked A-minor guitar intro for âStormy High,â Iâm almost tricked into thinking itâs a cover of âHellâs Bells,â but then the swing-time Black...
ENGLISH MOTETS
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park ¡ Hyperion CDA68256
The Gesualdo Six hardly need a review of this their debut CD: within days of its release around Easter it was top of the iTunes classical chart. The CD is a collection of E...
When The Wilderness took the stage at Skeleton Park Arts Festival in the summer of 2019, they were met with uproarious applause. People got up from their lawn chairs and their picnic blankets to dance and sing along in the late afternoon su...