Staff Picks

Mustafa Is Stripped Bare on "Name of God"
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Oct 18, 2023
It's been over two years since Mustafa shared his debut When Smoke Rises and since then, there's been a gaping hole in Toronto's music scen...
Mannequin Pussy Are Crushed by a Crush on "I Don't Know You"
Exclaim! Staff Picks
PUBLISHED Oct 17, 2023
Back in August, Mannequin Pussy shared the bloodthirsty banger "I Got Heaven," an absolute ripper offset by an ascendant '90s pop chorus. T...
'the rest' Confirms boygenius as One of 2023's Defining Bands
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PUBLISHED Oct 13, 2023
I have no clue how many concerts I've been to over the past 20-odd years of show-going, but I know exactly how many I've cried at: one. Tha...
Corb Lund Is a Hurtin' Albertan on the Weed-Gone-Wrong Anthem "Old Familiar Drunken Feeling"
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PUBLISHED Oct 13, 2023
As someone whose modest instrumental skill all but evaporates in altered states, the tale of "herbal terrorism" Corb Lund tells on new sing...
hemlocke springs Is Radically Sincere on 'going...going...GONE!'
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PUBLISHED Oct 12, 2023
As soon as I heard hemlocke springs yearningly screech "Secretly I'm aiming for a freedom that exceeds my expectations" on TikTok last year...
gglum Sifts Through the Mess on "SPLAT!"
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PUBLISHED Oct 11, 2023
A title like "SPLAT!" conjures visions of neon goop and cartoonish slapstick, but the latest single from London-based songwriter Ella Smoke...
Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist Stretch Out (Just a Little) on 'VOIR DIRE'
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PUBLISHED Oct 10, 2023
The other day, my colleague Calum Slingerland asked me what's the first thing that grabs me when I listen to a new hip-hop album; I respond...
Mary Lattimore Is a Singular Force on the Mesmerizing 'Goodbye, Hotel Arkada'
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PUBLISHED Oct 6, 2023
I made the mistake of starting my day with Drake's For All the Dogs, so hitting play on Mary Lattimore's Goodbye, Hotel Arkada felt like re...