Gary Clark Jr. | This Land
Gary Clark Jr. is mad as hell — and he's not going to take it anymore. Same as anyone with a lick of sense who pays any attention to...
Finders/Keepers | Three Great Recent Albums You Should Hear Today
On today's menu: Some tasty slices of frewheeling British alt-rock, groudbreaking Danish death metal and irresistibly groovy London soul-jazz. Get ’em while they're hot. Or at least still pretty...
DIY Discovery | мʌvʌ
Most of the music I hear is sent to me by labels and publicists. But there’s nothing like getting it straight from the source. Welcome to the latest instalment...
Cass McCombs | Tip of the Sphere
Some artists write songs that make the whole world sing. Cass McCombs writes songs that could make the whole world shut up and listen — if he could get...
Queen Zee | Queen Zee
When Iggy Pop calls you "strange ... dirty ... weird (and) crazy," you know you're doing something right. Truth be told, gender-bending Liverpool glam-punks Queen Zee are doing plenty...
Robert Ellis | Texas Piano Man
"I'm f---ing crazy," asserts Robert Ellis by way of introduction on his latest album Texas Piano Man. As opening lines go, it's definitely an attention-getter. And perhaps even a...
Jon Fratelli | Bright Night Flowers
This is not the Jon Fratelli you're thinking of. Except that it is. Confused? So is anyone who buys this disc expecting to hear the rambunctious pop-rock Jon crank...
Long Ryders | Psychedelic Country Soul
It's been a long time coming. More than three decades, in fact. For those keeping score at home, we last heard new studio tracks from paisley cowpunks The Long...
Czarface & Ghostface Killah | Czarface Meets Ghostface
The latter is arguably The Wu-Tang Clan’s most colourfully creative, unstoppably prolific and collaboratively daring member. The former is an underappreciated hip-hop supergroup co-starring producer 7L, rapper Esoteric and...
Dale Watson | Call Me Lucky
You can call Dale Watson lucky if you want. And he's undoubtedly had some good fortune over the years — like being born with a rich set of well-deep...
J.S. Ondara | Tales of America
The American Dream doesn't get much better than this. Six years ago, 20-year-old Nairobi native J.S. Ondara won a Green Card lottery and moved to Minnesota — where he...
Tedeschi Trucks Band | Signs
"I don’t always love music that tries to be this brand-new discovery every time," Derek Trucks told me in 2016. "A lot of my favourite music is from bands...
Broken Social Scene | Let’s Try the After Vol. 1
Don't get too excited, Broken Social Scene fans. Let's Try the After Vol. 1 is not the Toronto collective's followup album to 2017's Hug of Thunder. It's just a...
Back Stories | My Review of XTC’s 1999 Masterpiece Apple Venus Vol. 1
Two decades ago this week, XTC’s eagerly awaited comeback album Apple Venus Vol. 1 was released. Here's a slightly edited what I had to say about it back then....
Charlie Faye & The Fayettes | The Whole Shebang
Even nostalgia needs an update every now and then. And who better to bring classic girl-group pop into the modern world than Charlie Faye and The Fayettes? They've already...
