reviews

Vivian Girls' Cassie Ramone Captures Otherworldly Enigma on 'Sweetheart' Solo Album

Exclaim! Staff Picks

PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2024

The first time I played Vivian Girls' self-titled 2008 album on vinyl, I listened to the entire thing at the wrong speed before I realized...

Gabi Hartmann Glowed with Careful Sophistication at Ottawa Jazz Fest

OLG Stage, June 27

PUBLISHED Jun 28, 2024

Sponsored by the French Embassy here in Ottawa, it was an hour of official Francophonia in the OLG tent's 7:30 slot on Thursday...

'A Quiet Place: Day One' Is a Muted, Meditative Spin on the Series

Directed by Michael Sarnoski

PUBLISHED Jun 27, 2024

Michael Sarnoski's directorial debut, 'Pig', cleverly hid a meditation on grief beneath a 'John Wick'-ian veneer, creating a deeply felt...

Guided by Voices' 'Strut of Kings' Is a Little Wobbly

PUBLISHED Jun 27, 2024

Like sands in an hourglass, so are the albums of Guided by Voices. While a handful of their 25 albums released since their reformation ...

Al Di Meola Faced the Rain at Ottawa Jazz Fest

Confederation Park Stage, June 26

PUBLISHED Jun 27, 2024

It was the wrong day to forsake the tented OLG stage (see you another time Commotions) for Confederation Park's open-air setup: it poured ...

Hiatus Kaiyote's 'Love Heart Cheat Code' Is the Future Soul JavaScript

PUBLISHED Jun 27, 2024

I don't know how much 'Love Heart Cheat Code' — the fourth studio album from Australian quartet Hiatus Kaiyote — is actually meant to take ...

'Brats' Can't Let Go of the Past

Directed by Andrew McCarthy

PUBLISHED Jun 26, 2024

In 1985, New York Magazine journalist David Blum wrote an article about a group of young emerging actors in Hollywood. At the time, Blum...

Mabe Fratti Has More Questions Than Answers on 'Sentir que no sabes'

PUBLISHED Jun 26, 2024

Mabe Fratti would make a good Oracle. In thinking of a tidy aesthetic phylum to classify the Guatemalan cellist, singer and composer's work...