By Curtis Wolff
You’re not in the mood for Tim Hortons but there you are, debating the merits of adding a hashbrown to your daily double-double-and-a-sausage-breakfast-sandwich routine. It’s a mundane aspect of Canadian life that doesn’t seem fit for songcraft, but no unremarkable topic is off limits for goofy Hamilton folk-rocker BA Johnston. Being forced to move to… Continue reading Spun: BA Johnston
Hoots Deuce is a cross section of the last half century of music wrapped up in a motown medley backed by R&B soul sisters. The EP constantly defies expectations as it swerves from one genre to another from one minute to the next. Pistol George Warren are a Sudbury, Ontario band known for their genre-bending… Continue reading Spun: Pistol George Warren
The picture of the grain elevator on the album art drew me in and the nine tracks of Skydiggers’s new album No.1 Northern did not disappoint. I had never heard of Skydiggers before, but their latest album celebrates 25 years together and pays tribute to great Canadian songwriters like Ron Sexsmith, Neil Young and Gordon… Continue reading Spun: Skydiggers
My first reaction to this album was “meh.” It didn’t grab me. But I kept listening to it and while I’m not about to proclaim You Are An Island as my next favourite album, it did grow on me and I soon found myself humming along with the songs. You Are An Island is… Continue reading Spun: Dustin Bentall and the Smokes
It’s clear while listening to …Like Clockwork that singer and guitarist Josh Homme is not the same person he was when Era Vulgaris was released six years ago. Homme experienced severe complications during surgery in 2010 and was bedridden for three months. He slipped into a deep depression and questioned whether or not he would… Continue reading Album Review: Queens of the Stone Age
While listening to country radio last weekend I was generally disenchanted with the new, repetitive music I was hearing. However, one song, “New Girl Now,” kept coming on and I began to enjoy it more and more every time I heard it. The DJ said it was by Belle Starr, whom I had never… Continue reading Spun: Belle Star
While I love ambient electronic, I am not an expert nor even an amateur enthusiast of ambient guitar drone. That being said, I was excited to unravel Bitter Fictions’s self-titled sixth album. While local journalist mogul and Shaking Box Music label head Devin Friesen might be better recognized for his work with Fast Forward… Continue reading Spun: Bitter Fictions
After a long road filled with hills and potholes, Lions in the Street have released their follow-up to their 2010 self-released debut album. Their initial debut with TVT Records in 2008 was pulled under by legal battles over rights. The On the Lam EP is filled with gritty rock and roll tracks that hark back… Continue reading Spun: Lions in the Street
By Taylor McKee
At this time of year there are plenty of reasons to be stressed out — there is an essay you haven’t started and finals you haven’t studied for, both in a class you skipped for months. It’s hard to relax and put your mind at ease. If you are looking for a welcome tonic to… Continue reading Spun: Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk
Vancouver MCs Dusty Melo and Marmalade, who are best known as members of the band Sweatshop Union, began their own hip-hop group in 2010. Called Pigeon Hole, this group’s debut album, Age Like Astronauts, was a difficult to classify cavalcade of experimental sound. Pigeon Hole’s second album, Chimp Blood, is similarly intriguing. Sweatshop Union generally… Continue reading Spun: Pigeon Hole