Exclaim!'s 25 Best Albums of 2024 So Far
In recent years, the warm glow of poptimism has faded into toxic stan factionalism, as fans wage war on the internet in defence of massive
Exclaim! Staff•May 31, 2024
music features Archive
Arooj Aftab: "It's Always Been Really Natural to Just Go Against the Grain and Not Give a Fuck"
Pakistani-American musician Arooj Aftab mirrors my soul when she tells me, with a laugh, that her favourite track off her fifth studio
Alisha Mughal•May 30, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Sled Island 2024
Held annually in downtown Calgary since 2007, Sled Island has long been a Canadian music festival favourite for its eclectic programming, a
Calum Slingerland•May 29, 2024Straight Outta Moose Jaw: Hip-Hop Nostalgia Is Big Business for Small Cities Across Canada
To paraphrase Ice Cube's biggest hit: we gotta say it's a good day. Not just for the South Central L.A. neighbourhood he rapped so famously
Kyle Mullin•May 29, 2024Five Must-See Acts at 2024's Niagara Jazz Festival
Niagara Jazz Festival Presented by TD Ready Commitment is returning for its 11th edition this year, happening June 21 to 29 across the
Exclaim! Staff•May 28, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Hamilton's FrancoFEST
Haven't you heard — Francophone music is popping off these days! French Canada has produced some of the best albums in recent memory, cross
Exclaim! Staff•May 28, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival's 25th Anniversary Edition in 2024
Celebrating its 25th anniversary edition in 2024, the Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival will return to Vancouver Island's Ship Point
Exclaim! Staff•May 27, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Fredericton's Harvest Music Festival
Founded in 1991, Fredericton, NB's Harvest Music Festival prides itself on being a global experience, bringing together artists and genres
Exclaim! Staff•May 25, 2024Five Must-Sees Acts at TD Toronto Jazz Fest 2024
Celebrating its 37th year, TD Toronto Jazz Fest is scattering some heat across the city, celebrating the best in hip-hop, Afrobeat, alterna
Sydney Brasil•May 24, 2024This Funny Week in Funny Tweets: May 24, 2024
Category is: things I need, a DJ succeeds, corporate greed, Bill Maher requires weed, and much more from this week in funny tweets
Vish Khanna•May 24, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Hillside Festival 2024
Happy Hillside! Guelph, ON's much-loved Hillside Festival is back this year with more stellar artists, high-sun lake swims and impeccable v
Exclaim! Staff•May 24, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Ontario's Springtide Music Festival 2024
Since launching in 2018, Springtide Music Festival has brought a cavalcade of artists to Uxbridge, ON, ushering in the summer with sounds f
Exclaim! Staff•May 24, 2024Our Favourite Albums Not on Streaming Services
Streaming services have been financially devastating for musicians — but they're an absolute miracle for listeners, giving fans access to t
Exclaim! Staff•May 23, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Northern Lights Festival Boréal 2024
Sudbury, ON's Northern Lights Festival Boréal returns this July 4 through 7, bringing another stellar crowd of Canadian artists with it
Exclaim! Staff•May 23, 2024Five Must-See Acts at York Region's Aurorapalooza 2024
Aurorapalooza returns to Town Park in Aurora, ON, on August 17 this year. Organizers have now unveiled this year's lineup, and it just might
Exclaim! Staff•May 22, 2024Five Must-See Acts at the 2024 Calgary Folk Music Festival
Each summer, Prince's Island Park hosts the Calgary Folk Music Festival — an event that's going strong more than four decades since it was
Exclaim! Staff•May 22, 2024Five Must-See Acts at British Columbia's Forest Echoes Music Festival 2024
Taking place from June 28 to 30 on a pristine 20-acre property in Cultus Lake, a freshwater backwoods paradise near Chilliwack, BC, Forest
Alan Ranta•May 21, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Vancouver's Music Waste Festival 2024
This year marks the 30th edition of Music Waste, an iconic underground festival that has helped define the Vancouver indie music scene for
Exclaim! Staff•May 20, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Niagara's No Man's Land Festival 2024
Given southern Ontario's rich history of giving rise to some of Canada's finest rock, punk and metal exports, it's a relief that No Man's L
Calum Slingerland•May 17, 2024This Funny Week in Funny Tweets: May 17, 2024
We asked Lauren Boebert to autograph a "Beetlejuice The Musical" playbill, a pear's YouTube channel, BBL, a spell, and much more from this
Vish Khanna•May 17, 2024Steve Albini on Shellac's New Album, His Love of Music and His Hatred of Promoting It
"I mean, this is more talking about our music than I think anyone outside of the band has ever requested of me," Steve Albini told Exclaim!
Vish Khanna•May 17, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Thunder Bay's Wake the Giant 2024
Wake the Giant is more than just a music festival: it's a self-described cultural awareness project, created with the goal of making Thunde
Exclaim! Staff•May 17, 2024Five Must-See Artists at the 2024 Canmore Folk Music Festival
Claiming the title of Alberta's longest-running folk music festival, the Canmore Folk Music Festival is gorgeously situated in the Rocky
Exclaim! Staff•May 16, 2024Streaming Must-Sees (and Must-Skips) in May 2024
Every now and then the internet's hype for someone or something proves extremely warranted. The explosive love for Conan O'Brien upon the
Rachel Ho•May 16, 20248 Emerging Canadian Artists You Need to Hear in May 2024
We're about a month out from the summer solstice, but it's starting to feel like summer's already here — beers and beaches and sunburns
Exclaim! Staff•May 15, 2024A Guide for #BootsBound Country Fans Heading to Boots and Hearts 2024
Boots and Hearts is not only Canada's largest country music festival, it's grown to become the one of the country's biggest music events
Alex Hudson•May 15, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Ontario's Paris Drinks Fest
Who's thirsty for some great music? Paris, ON — located close to Brantford, less than an hour outside of Hamilton — is home to Paris Drinks
Exclaim! Staff•May 15, 2024A. G. Cook Revolutionized Pop Music, and Now He’s Finding New Ways to Push Its Boundaries
A decade ago, British alt-indie label PC Music caused a tectonic shift in the UK underground dance scene. Spearheaded by pop music mad scie
Josh Korngut•May 14, 2024Owen Teague and Kevin Durand Bring Humanity to Simian Roles in 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'
According to Owen Teague and Kevin Durand, two actors who make their simian debut in Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fran
Marriska Fernandes•May 13, 2024Five Must-Sees at 2024's Halifax Jazz Festival
Returning to its namesake city from July 9-14, TD's Halifax Jazz Festival is back this Summer with another crew of unmissable acts from the
Exclaim! Staff•May 10, 2024This Funny Week in Funny Tweets: May 10, 2024
Put up a fence to hide the boat from view, Macklemore dropped a song like this before you, dropping Toronto real estate value, what do we h
Vish Khanna•May 10, 2024The Beatles' Feature Films Ranked from Worst to Best
The Beatles are back on the silver screen — or, rather, the silver stream. The 1970 film Let It Be has been lovingly restored and rerelease
Liam McPherson•May 10, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Victoria, BC's Wonderment 2024
Produced by the Garden City Electronic Music Society (GCEMS), Wonderment has earned itself a reputation as one of British Columbia's most
Alan Ranta•May 9, 2024John Frusciante and Venetian Snares Say Releasing Music Is Like Sharing "Pornos of Your Sex Life"
As the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Frusciante has sold millions of albums and played some of the world's biggest stages
Alex Hudson•May 9, 2024Bibi Club's Raw Chemistry Taps Into a "More Complex Feeling Than Joy"
Coursing along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River is Autoroute 40, a concrete artery between Ottawa and Quebec City. Along its run
Sydney Brasil•May 8, 2024Frank Turner Says "Fuck That" to Becoming a Legacy Act
In a recent interview, Frank Turner said that his new album, 'Undefeated,' is the best work of his career. It's a bold claim for an article
Graham Isador•May 7, 2024This Funny Week in Funny Tweets: May 3, 2024
Trying to request "Sledgehammer" when I'm drunk, Von ShitzinPantz stunk, testing the Cybertruck's trunk, Ant and MJ dunk, and much more fro
Vish Khanna•May 3, 2024Jim Gaffigan Finds Fun in the "Absurdity of Humans"
During a transitional scene early on in Netflix's Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld's new satirical film and directorial debut about the invention
Vish Khanna•May 3, 2024Weezer's 25 Best Songs Since 2000
Weezer's self-titled LP, widely known as the 'Blue Album,' turns 30 on May 10. It's a major milestone, but a bittersweet one, since it
Alex Hudson•May 2, 2024Five Must-Sees at 2024's Toronto Comic Arts Festival
It's that time of year again, folks! Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is heading back to the Reference Library for the weekend of May 11
Allie Gregory•May 1, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Suoni Per Il Popolo 2024
Montreal's long-running Suoni per il Popolo is the embodiment of an adventurous, community-driven music festival. Its 2024 lineup is
Alex Hudson•May 1, 2024The Hold Steady's Craig Finn on How Toronto "Changed the Whole Way We Tour"
The Hold Steady changed the way they tour after an excellent run of Toronto shows, says vocalist Craig Finn on the first episode of
Exclaim! Staff•Apr 30, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Dawson City Music Festival
The Dawson City Music Festival is returning to Yukon this year, bringing with it a stacked slate of Canadian artists from local
Exclaim! Staff•Apr 30, 2024DijahSB on Getting Shouted Out by Kid Cudi and How Rapping Is Like Wrestling
Even if DijahSB doesn't release any new music this year, 2024 is already poised to bloom beautifully for the rapidly emerging Toronto rappe
Kyle Mullin•Apr 29, 2024Five Must-See Acts at New Brunswick's AREA 506 Festival
Prepare to go runnin' through the 6 with your woes — the 506, that is. In case you didn't know, the 506 area code is in New Brunswick — and
Exclaim! Staff•Apr 29, 2024Five Must-See Acts from the 2024 Vancouver International Jazz Fest
Now 39 years in, the Vancouver International Jazz Festival is firmly entrenched in its city's music scene — all year round through the Coas
Exclaim! Staff•Apr 26, 2024This Funny Week in Funny Tweets: April 26, 2024
toot, reports about Donald's poop chute, Taylor's work falls into disrepute, TikTok gets the boot, and much more from this week in funny t
Vish Khanna•Apr 26, 2024Five Must-See Acts at Westward Music Festival 2024
Vancouver's Westward Music Festival has spent the last few years on COVID-19 pandemic-induced hiatus. Back in Mount Pleasant this June 22
Exclaim! Staff•Apr 26, 2024Christian Sparkes Hails Newfoundland's Stormy Influence on 'The King Tide': "People Are Very Creative in These Remote Places"
A quick nip outside the shuttle bus to grab a picture of the angry shoreline seemed like a great idea in the moment. But standing on the
Rachel Ho•Apr 26, 2024Jon Bon Jovi Reflects on His Star-Making Moment in 1980s Vancouver: "It Was the Wild West"
Bon Jovi are synonymous with their home state of New Jersey: they're friends with Bruce Springsteen, their frontman proudly wears a "New
Alex Hudson•Apr 25, 2024