Nas Was Less Than Legendary at Ottawa Bluesfest
Released 30 years ago, Nas's near-perfect debut, 'Illmatic,' quickly cemented the New York rapper's place among the greatest MCs. However
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 16, 2024
music reviews Archive
Future Star's Nostalgia Hits Home on 'It's About Time!'
For reasons that are difficult for me to fully articulate, there's something so quintessentially Vancouver about Future Star, whose
Alex Hudson•Jul 16, 2024Elisapie Broke Through at Winnipeg Folk Fest
The 49th annual Winnipeg Folk Festival was a marathon to complete. Weather closing in on a humid 35 degrees, rain and lighting popped
Myles Tiessen•Jul 15, 2024Lucinda Williams Set Winnipeg Folk Fest Alight
How many concerts or shows does one need to attend before live music begins to lose meaning? How many sweltering days under the burning
Myles Tiessen•Jul 15, 2024'Fly Me to the Moon' Doesn't Quite Achieve Liftoff
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, romantic dramedy Fly Me to the Moon highlights the efforts taken by NASA to ensure the Un
Vanessa Sanginiti•Jul 12, 2024Joe Goddard's Songwriting Is Elastic on 'Harmonics'
As a founding member of Hot Chip, Joe Goddard has long used his platform and resources to promote indie-leaning dance music
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 12, 2024Mas Aya Finds New Pathways on 'Coming and Going'
Brandon Miguel Valdivia often makes music for meditation, but his sound is more reflective of firing synapses in a mercurial mind
Chris Bryson•Jul 12, 2024Medicine Singers and Friends Dissolved Sonic Barriers at Ottawa Bluesfest
After twelve hours of persistent rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl over the Atlantic Ocean, Medicine Singers found themselves
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 11, 2024'Yintah' Urgently Honours Canada's Land Defenders
The day that LNG Canada authorized the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brimmed with
Leina Gabra•Jul 11, 2024Remi Wolf's Energetic 'Big Ideas' Is Full to the Brim
What's considered a "big idea"? According to Remi Wolf, "love, lust, anger, fantasies, harsh realities, vices, low lows and high highs"
Jordan Currie•Jul 11, 2024Cassandra Jenkins Searches the Cosmos on 'My Light, My Destroyer'
There is a careful balance between wry insight and open-heartedness in Cassandra Jenkins's songs. As on her very well-received 2021 album
Eric Hill•Jul 11, 2024The Chilling 'Longlegs' Nearly Lives Up to the Hype
Osgood "Oz" Perkins is an odd talent in Hollywood. The son of Anthony Perkins, who famously portrayed Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's
Andrew Roberts•Jul 10, 2024Seth Rogen’s 'Sausage Party: Foodtopia' Lacks Bite
Armed with a stellar ensemble cast including Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, Edward Norton and Natasha Rothwell, 'Sausage Party
Holly Hunt•Jul 9, 2024Future Islands Brought Out Ottawa Bluesfest's Inner Freak
Closing out the first weekend of the 10-day Ottawa Bluesfest with a headlining slot on the festival's second-largest stage, the Future
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 9, 2024At Ottawa Bluesfest, Pokey LaFarge Was Pure Energy
While the main stage buzzed with excitement for pop machines Carly Rae Jepsen and Maroon 5, the festival's tented area transported attendee
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 9, 2024Killer Mike Was a Tough Sell at Ottawa Bluesfest
Since their first-ever performance as a duo on these same festival grounds, Run the Jewels have become a staple at Bluesfest. With each
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 9, 2024Tokyo Police Club Were Positively Buoyant at Ottawa Bluesfest
On night one of Ottawa Bluesfest 2024, the organizers celebrated American independence with an all-Canadian lineup on the festival's
Daniel Sylvester•Jul 8, 2024Glastonbury 2024: Good Vibes, Nostalgia, Soccer and the Coldplay Effect
People keep asking how Glastonbury festival was this year, and I keep telling them about the night before I left for the festival
Stephen Carlick•Jul 8, 2024Kittie Were Back with a Vengeance at Festival d’été de Quebec
It was fitting that Kittie took the stage in what vocalist-guitarist Morgan Lander called "the heavy metal capital of our country" for
Calum Slingerland•Jul 8, 202450 Cent Proved His Staying Power at Festival d’été de Quebec
It's been 20 years since 50 Cent muscled his way into mainstream rap consciousness with Get Rich or Die Tryin', and 10 years since his most
Calum Slingerland•Jul 8, 2024Missy Elliott's First-Ever Headlining Tour Sent Vancouver into Hyperspace
It's hard to believe it's taken almost 30 years for hip-hop legend Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott to headline her first tour. Why now?
Leslie Ken Chu•Jul 5, 2024'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F' Is a Crime Against Nostalgia
At this point, Eddie Murphy is a cultural institution — a powerhouse comedian and performer who cultivated a career based on lewd jokes, bo
Marko Djurdjić•Jul 5, 2024The Thrilling 'Kill' Slays Hollywood's Popcorn Blockbusters
Back in the 1960s, Hollywood hit a bit of a snag: the Golden Age was over, the Hays Code was petering out but still in effect up to 1968, a
Rachel Ho•Jul 4, 2024'The Bear' Season 3 Isn’t Quite a Full Meal
As strange as it may sound given how successful Season 2 of 'The Bear' became, I believed at that the time that the series should've ended
Rachel Ho•Jul 4, 2024'MaXXXine' Lacks Moxie
In California in the mid-'80s, a serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker hunted through San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles
Alisha Mughal•Jul 3, 2024Truck Violence Plumb the Loudness of the Outskirts on 'Violence'
There's something fascinating about Canada's prairie towns. The ghostly howl of the wind, the whispering of the grass, mist gathering
Amber Ranson•Jul 3, 2024Kristin Witko's 'A Course in Miracles' Is a Mirror and a Telescope
"We're grotesque, but we're feeling right at home." Those were the closing words Kristin Witko spoke on her 2019 debut album, the refracted
Leslie Ken Chu•Jul 3, 2024Mo Kenney's "Evening Dream" Is a Polaroid of a Bittersweet Breakup
Mo Kenney's "Evening Dream" is a breakup song that plays out like a movie — even when the emotions are painful, the hazy glow of nostalgia
Alex Hudson•Jul 3, 2024pHoenix Pagliacci Is Thrillingly Multifaceted on 'Dichotomy'
'Dichotomy' is the perfect title for pHoenix Pagliacci's new solo album; the Toronto MC and singer (known for formidable work in groups like
Kyle Mullin•Jul 2, 2024Norah Jones Closed Out Ottawa Jazz Fest with Twists and Tenderness
The park was packed and sight-lines were at a premium for the last big night of 2024's Ottawa Jazz Festival, with Norah Jones
Luke Pearson•Jul 2, 2024Butcher Brown Were Loose and Authentic at Ottawa Jazz Festival
After the laid-back, Mediterranean breeziness of Gabi Hartmann on Thursday, it was a whole different kind of melting pot in the OLG tent
Luke Pearson•Jul 2, 2024Camila Cabello's 'C,XOXO' Nearly Sticks the Landing
It would be easy to pick on Camila Cabello. The painfully obvious rebrand she underwent for her fourth solo album conjures images of
Josh Korngut•Jul 2, 2024Vivian Girls' Cassie Ramone Captures Otherworldly Enigma on 'Sweetheart' Solo Album
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
Alex Hudson•Jul 1, 2024Gabi Hartmann Glowed with Careful Sophistication at Ottawa Jazz Fest
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
Luke Pearson•Jun 28, 2024'A Quiet Place: Day One' Is a Muted, Meditative Spin on the Series
Michael Sarnoski's directorial debut, 'Pig', cleverly hid a meditation on grief beneath a 'John Wick'-ian veneer, creating a deeply felt
Rachel Ho•Jun 27, 2024Guided by Voices' 'Strut of Kings' Is a Little Wobbly
Like sands in an hourglass, so are the albums of Guided by Voices. While a handful of their 25 albums released since their reformation
Daniel Sylvester•Jun 27, 2024Al Di Meola Faced the Rain at Ottawa Jazz Fest
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
Luke Pearson•Jun 27, 2024Hiatus Kaiyote's 'Love Heart Cheat Code' Is the Future Soul JavaScript
I don't know how much 'Love Heart Cheat Code' — the fourth studio album from Australian quartet Hiatus Kaiyote — is actually meant to take
Megan LaPierre•Jun 27, 2024'Brats' Can't Let Go of the Past
In 1985, New York Magazine journalist David Blum wrote an article about a group of young emerging actors in Hollywood. At the time, Blum
Rachel Ho•Jun 26, 2024Mabe Fratti Has More Questions Than Answers on 'Sentir que no sabes'
Mabe Fratti would make a good Oracle. In thinking of a tidy aesthetic phylum to classify the Guatemalan cellist, singer and composer's work
Eric Hill•Jun 26, 2024Jamboree Mourn the Salad Days on 'Summerland'
It rises from the prairie landscape as a defiant obelisk. Two sixteen-story towers joined together by an all-embracing tropical atrium
Myles Tiessen•Jun 26, 2024Islands Sail into the Sunset on 'What Occurs'
There's a sense of finality floating on the sun-warmed waters of 'What Occurs,' the tenth album by Islands, the near two-decade-old
Vish Khanna•Jun 26, 2024Yorgos Lanthimos's 'Kinds of Kindness' Is a Poor Thing
There's never a dull moment in the cinematic mind of Yorgos Lanthimos — but that doesn't always result in decipherable work. A modern fable
Barbara Goslawski •Jun 26, 2024ML Buch Dissolved Membranes and Charged Molecules in Toronto
ML Buch is a rock star. The Danish composer, producer and songwriter's Tuesday night performance at Longboat Hall — her second-ever
Kaelen Bell•Jun 26, 2024Kehlani Is Living Well on the Careening 'Crash'
These days, our main pop girls work in feedback loops. They live in, respond to and build on the lore that surrounds them — no questions
Ian Gormely•Jun 25, 2024Cinna Peyghamy Took Sled Island Somewhere Else
While headliners Show Me the Body raged at the #1 Legion, a few blocks west, a sonic transformation was taking place in the basement
Em Medland-Marchen•Jun 25, 2024Enny Owl Cast Quiet Spells at Sled Island
Taking the stage at Pin-Bar in the late afternoon on Saturday, LA-based folk artist Enny Owl's sleeper set was a highlight of this year's
Em Medland-Marchen•Jun 25, 2024Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton Brought the Finest Funk Weirdness to Ottawa Jazz Fest
Under the enduring leadership of George Clinton, the look and feel of the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic has changed significantly since
Daniel Sylvester•Jun 25, 2024Ottawa Jazz Fest Got a Jolt of Meathead Machismo from Moon Hooch
After losing Thundercat to Bluesfest last year, there was perhaps some behind the scenes bemusement at the Ottawa Jazz Festival in the know
Luke Pearson•Jun 25, 2024Begonia Provided a Gateway at Ottawa Jazz Fest
The jazz gods intervened on the first night of 2024's Ottawa Jazz Festival. After three days of sweltering temperatures there were sweaters
Luke Pearson•Jun 24, 2024