Slowdive Carried the Mantle in Ottawa
Even the most devoted Slowdive fans may be unaware of just how harshly the legacy press criticized the band during their brief
Daniel Sylvester•Jan 27, 2025
music reviews Archive
BIG SIS and NADUH Brought Hi-Vis Energy to Winnipeg
Winterruption may hold events all across the country, bringing in acts from all over the world; but at its core, it's a community-based
Myles Tiessen•Jan 26, 2025Don't Think Twice, Timothée Chalamet Was All Right at Double Duty on 'Saturday Night Live'
The third time hosting was definitely a charm for Timothée Chalamet, who was a fantastic performer with a lot of solid material to work with
Vish Khanna•Jan 26, 2025Nap Eyes and the Haileys Captured Eternal Magic in Winnipeg
Is it the genre that defines a song's perpetuity? Is it the fact that it's written down and recorded, or that it's played live in a communa
Myles Tiessen•Jan 25, 2025FKA twigs Brings Her Alien Electro Down to Earth on Ravey 'EUSEXUA'
I've historically been a bit on the fence about FKA twigs, whose alien art&B is vibey but tends to wash over me without leaving me much
Alex Hudson•Jan 24, 2025Cheekface and Tired Cossack Warmed Winnipeg with Cheery Optimism
Winter stains Winnipeg with a perpetual scar that each local begrudgingly learns to wear without much pride. Most people living here resent
Myles Tiessen•Jan 24, 2025'Flight Risk' Fails to Take Off
When it comes to high-octane action thrillers, there's a formula that many follow for a box office hit. 'Flight Risk' follows said formula
Marriska Fernandes•Jan 24, 2025'Presence' Is an Unexpected Fake-Out
More often than not, Steven Soderbergh's career is spoken of as this kind of Soderbergh movie or that kind of Soderbergh movie. His
Rachel Ho•Jan 24, 2025'Nightbitch' Has Both Bark and Bite
Of all the human experiences, motherhood is a particularly visceral. There's childbirth, of course, but then there are the the struggles
Alex Hudson•Jan 24, 2025Katie Tupper's Neo-Soul Is Well-Worn on "JEANS (fall on my knees)"
It's really hard not to compare Katie Tupper's voice to the "fields of butter" in her home province of Saskatchewan, as she once referenced
Megan LaPierre•Jan 23, 2025'Midas Man' Seeks to Understand the Fifth Beatle
The final shot of 'Midas Man' shows Brian Epstein, who found success and fame as manager of the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967
Rachel Ho•Jan 23, 2025'Hard Truths' Gets Real About the Human Condition
Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) has a lot on her mind and wants everyone she encounters to know it. Serving up her brand of opinions like a
Courtney Small•Jan 21, 2025Broken Social Scene Doc 'It's All Gonna Break' Remembers It in People
A big city, cheap rent, abundant talent, small egos and a disregard for commercial success. There were so many elements that went into
Ian Gormely•Jan 21, 2025Rose Gray Bets on Herself as the Next Big Pop Girl with 'Louder, Please'
If you needed an excuse to continue on last summer's antics, here it is. As derivative as its become to reference Charli XCX to every
Sydney Brasil•Jan 20, 2025Marlaena Moore Finds the Other Side on 'Because You Love Everything'
Marlaena Moore has always worn her heart on her record sleeve, but she's never offered as much as she does on 'Because You Love Everything'
Paul Blinov•Jan 20, 2025Motherhood Weather the Storm on 'Thunder Perfect Mind'
Fredericton weirdo-rippers Motherhood have returned with 'Thunder Perfect Mind,' the trio's fifth and most cohesive album yet. Inspired
Leslie Ken Chu•Jan 20, 2025Even Dave Chapelle Didn't Want to Be on 'SNL' for This Uneven Episode
As is his wont, Dave Chappelle did an extra-long and mostly strong monologue before ghosting for most of the rest of the show, while GloRil
Vish Khanna•Jan 19, 2025Sum 41 Were All Killer, No Filler in Calgary
Some 26-odd years ago, a group of teenage punks graduated high school and signed a record deal worth $3.5 million dollars. It was the large
Em Medland-Marchen•Jan 18, 2025Prism Shores Soar 'Out from Underneath' the Confines of Jangle Pop
Is there a single month where jangle pop is more imperative than it is in January? 'Out from Underneath' is the title of the sophomore album
Megan LaPierre•Jan 17, 2025The Weather Station Illuminates the World as It Is on 'Humanhood'
There are worlds beyond the world we see. So much music exists as doors to these other places, attempts to create passageways between
Kaelen Bell•Jan 17, 2025Neil Young's "big change" Has a New Band but a Vintage Sound
Neil Young has a new band and a new single. The all-lowercase group neil young and the chrome hearts have just rolled out their debut song
Alex Hudson•Jan 17, 2025'Wolf Man' Is a Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
Sitting through Leigh Whannell's 'Wolf Man,' I was reminded constantly of Philip Barkin's snarky, forthright poem "This Be the Verse." "They
Alexander Mooney•Jan 17, 2025Cameron Diaz Is 'Back in Action' with Dodgy CGI and Electric Chemistry
For all the action films Netflix churns out, their CGI remains the biggest letdown — and the studio's latest, 'Back in Action,' fails to be
Rachel Ho•Jan 17, 2025"Bologna" Already Sounds Like Classic Destroyer
Destroyer's latest single, "Bologna," just autoplayed on Spotify, and even though the song is barely a week old, I was instantly struck by
Alex Hudson•Jan 16, 2025'The Last Showgirl' Ushers In the Pamassaince
The Pamaissance is here. After 2022's 'Pam & Tommy' reappraised Pamela Anderson as a sympathetic hero, the 2023 doc 'Pamela, a love story'
Alex Hudson•Jan 15, 2025Though 'Grand Theft Hamlet' Be Madness, Yet There Is Method In't
English teachers absolutely love anything that makes classic literature seem cool to young people. Someone rapping 'The Canterbury Tales'?
Alex Hudson•Jan 15, 2025CJ Wiley's "Don't Die Charlie" Is a Matter of Life or Death
I remember hearing an early iteration of "Don't Die Charlie" at Lee's Palace when CJ Wiley played the 2022 edition of our annual Class Of
Megan LaPierre•Jan 14, 2025'Severance' Presents More Questions Than Answers in Creepy Season 2
As 'Lost' viewers will surely remember, thrillers that rely on ambiguity tend to be all setup and no payoff. The mystery is so gripping that
Alex Hudson•Jan 14, 2025Lambrini Girls Have Big Cunt Energy on 'Who Let the Dogs Out'
It's pretty prophetic of Brighton's Lambrini Girls to drop 'Who Let the Dogs Out' on the day that man south of the border conclusively
Allie Gregory•Jan 10, 2025'Young Werther' Puts a Fresh Toronto Twist on a Classic
Based on the 1774 novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Young Werther' follows the time-honoured tradition of
Rachel Ho•Jan 10, 2025'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera' Borders on Parody
'Den of Thieves,' the first entry in the heist thriller series from 2018, was a quiet financial hit earning a worldwide box office return of
Nathan Abraha•Jan 10, 2025Morgan Nagler Is Resolute on Solo Debut "Cradle the Pain"
Sometimes, I know there's a strong chance I'm going to like a song based on its title alone. "Cradle the Pain" is one such title that
Megan LaPierre•Jan 9, 2025'The Room Next Door' Is Cathartic but Clumsy
How much would you be willing to show up for an old estranged friend? In 'The Room Next Door,' Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha
Jordan Currie•Jan 8, 2025Ethel Cain Steps Further from the Light on 'Perverts'
There was a moment when Hayden Anhedönia was poised to break big. 'Preacher's Daughter,' her sprawling 2022 debut full-length
Ian Gormely•Jan 7, 2025'Squid Game' Loses Its Own Deathmatch in Season 2
Season 1 of Hwang Dong-hyuk's anti-capitalist thriller 'Squid Game' sits atop the Netflix throne. The cultural phenomenon debuted in 2021
Sarah Jessica Rintjema •Jan 6, 2025'Music from the Merch Desk (2016 - 2023)' Has Perfect Playlist Fodder for All Types of Aphex Twin Fan
I tend to prefer fairly nice-sounding electronic music over punishing beats, so even though Aphex Twin's recent two-and-a-half-hour
Alex Hudson•Jan 6, 2025'Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird' Humanizes Two of the Era's Greatest Rock Outsiders
Relationships are hard. Friends, family, lovers, acquaintances — none of it comes without effort on both sides. "People think that love is
Ian Gormely•Jan 6, 2025'Wallace & Gromit' Inventively Tackles the Digital Age in 'Vengeance Most Fowl'
After three shorts, a full feature and the greatest novelty mug to ever exist, 'Wallace & Gromit' returns to screens, and it's going post
Nathan Chizen•Jan 3, 2025"Windows" Could Be girlpuppy's "Silver Springs"
"Glass houses cliché," I type into the Google search bar, amazingly unable to remember the exact verbiage of a phrase that has always
Megan LaPierre•Jan 2, 2025'Vermiglio' Paints a Pensive Family Portrait with Secrets and Snow
'Vermiglio' might take place in a remote village in the snowy mountaintops of the Italian Alps during World War II, where isolation and
Jericho Tadeo•Jan 2, 2025'A Complete Unknown' Offers the Same Old Side of Bob Dylan
Biopics, particularly music biopics, often follow a hollow recipe that, in recent years, has begun to sour, with a slew of derivative
Marko Djurdjić•Jan 2, 2025Take That, Biopics! 'Better Man' Bests the Formula
What makes 'Better Man' a distinctive music biopic among the seemingly endless sea of the subgenre is not the fact that director Michael
Rachel Ho•Dec 25, 2024Martin Short Brought a Parade of Celebrity Cameos to 'Saturday Night Live'
With a little help from many celebrity friends, the brilliant Martin Short finally joined the Five-Timers Club and appeared in most of the
Vish Khanna•Dec 22, 2024'Nosferatu' Feeds Off of Its Predecessors
In singing the praises of F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent odyssey Nosferatu, Roger Ebert described the film as, "in awe of its material. It seems
Alisha Mughal•Dec 20, 2024Be Prepared, 'Mufasa: The Lion King' Circles Back to Its Classic Origins
From its opening tribute to the late James Earl Jones, Barry Jenkins's 'Mufasa: The Lion King' makes certain to pay care and respect to the
Nathan Abraha•Dec 20, 2024The Weather Station Is Shadowboxing Herself on "Body Moves"
On "Body Moves," Tamara Lindeman is shadowboxing, dodging the swings and fakeouts of a form in rebellion. The latest taste of the luminous
Kaelen Bell•Dec 16, 2024'The Brutalist' Builds Up and Tears Down the American Dream
The first thing that Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrien Brody) sees upon emerging from the dark, cramped
Courtney Small•Dec 16, 2024Chris Rock Relived the Good Old Days on 'SNL' with Help from Adam Sandler
Chris Rock returned for a strong episode of Saturday Night Live, joined at one point by his 'SNL' castmate Adam Sandler, and Gracie Abrams
Vish Khanna•Dec 15, 2024The Tragically Hip and Feist's "'It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken'" Carries the Spirit — If Not the Sound — of Gord Downie
The Tragically Hip have wisely not reunited since singer Gord Downie's tragic death in 2017, but they closest they came was doing a
Alex Hudson•Dec 13, 2024Montreal's Graham Steinman Communes with the Sublime on 'migration's only natural'
Being from the middle of nowhere doesn't necessarily mean you feel connected to nature in a way others don't. On the contrary, people like
Megan LaPierre•Dec 13, 2024