Reviews
Animal Collective Find New Life on 'Isn't It Now?'
Published Sep 26, 2023
At their best, Animal Collective deconstruct pop forms and ecstatically regurgitate them in inspired spurts, alive with ideas that resist no...
Articles By Alan Ranta
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![Animal Collective Find New Life on 'Isn't It Now?']()
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![Will Butler + Sister Squares Stake Their Claim on Their Self-Titled Record]()
ReviewsWill Butler + Sister Squares Stake Their Claim on Their Self-Titled Record Published Sep 22, 2023Life is a constant stream of shit, but sometimes getting beaten down can lead to a hot streak. Food, flowers, and psychedelics flourish wher...
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![Rifflandia 2023 Brought Star Power and Synergy to Victoria]()
ReviewsRifflandia 2023 Brought Star Power and Synergy to Victoria Published Sep 19, 2023After last year's victorious return, the 2023 edition of Rifflandia inevitably felt more low stakes, able to breathe without the burden of m...
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![A Brilliant Bass Coast 2023 Nourished the Soul]()
ReviewsA Brilliant Bass Coast 2023 Nourished the Soul Published Jul 12, 2023Between the years of COVID delays, catastrophic 2021 floods and unfortunately timed Rogers meltdown, significant effort was required to pull...
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![W.I.T.C.H. Create a Fantastical Meeting Place on 'Zango']()
ReviewsW.I.T.C.H. Create a Fantastical Meeting Place on 'Zango' Published May 31, 2023History tried to drown W.I.T.C.H., but they've resurfaced a miraculous 39 years after the release of their last album with a new offering th...
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![Olivia Jean's 'Raving Ghost' Is Decadent and Dangerous]()
ReviewsOlivia Jean's 'Raving Ghost' Is Decadent and Dangerous Published May 02, 2023Born in 1990, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Olivia Jean came up through the suburbs of Detroit, steeped in the music of the Gore G...
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![Kid Koala Is All Fun and Games on 'Creatures of the Late Afternoon']()
ReviewsKid Koala Is All Fun and Games on 'Creatures of the Late Afternoon' Published Apr 11, 2023Montreal-based turntablist Eric San, best known as Kid Koala, has been one of the most wonderfully inventive and wholesomely cathartic artis...
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![Tei Shi's 'BAD PREMONITION' Is a Good Omen for Her Future]()
ReviewsTei Shi's 'BAD PREMONITION' Is a Good Omen for Her Future Published Mar 16, 2023Success is measured by different methods. Many consider things like album sales, awards and stream counts to set the bar, while others may p...
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![Altin Gün Reignite on the Fiery 'Aşk']()
ReviewsAltin Gün Reignite on the Fiery 'Aşk' Published Mar 09, 2023Altin Gün love what they do. The Amsterdam-based psychedelic sextet have been thoughtfully mining the canon of Turkish folk for only a handf...
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![Quasi's 'Breaking the Balls of History' Delivers a Swift Kick in the Nuts]()
ReviewsQuasi's 'Breaking the Balls of History' Delivers a Swift Kick in the Nuts Published Feb 06, 2023Janet Weiss — undisputed legend of the Pacific Northwest music scene, having notably played in the supergroup Wild Flag and on a couple of S...
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![Makaya McCraven's Illuminating 'In These Times' Is a Crate Digger's Paradise]()
ReviewsMakaya McCraven's Illuminating 'In These Times' Is a Crate Digger's Paradise Published Sep 21, 2022Anyone familiar with the work of Makaya McCraven has an idea of what to expect from In These Times, his 2022 full-length effort for contempo...
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![At Long Last, Victoria Welcomed Rifflandia Back with Open Arms]()
ReviewsAt Long Last, Victoria Welcomed Rifflandia Back with Open Arms Published Sep 20, 2022After so much struggle and effort, it feels like a magnificent victory that Rifflandia not only came back, but also outdid itself in many wa...
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![Daniel Romano's Outfit Ponder the Divine on the Moonstruck 'La Luna']()
ReviewsDaniel Romano's Outfit Ponder the Divine on the Moonstruck 'La Luna' Published Sep 06, 2022Prolific alternative country, freak-folk, indie-rock troubadour Daniel Romano followed a path of heavenly inspiration tread by many, but con...
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![Hot Chip Dance Through Depression on 'Freakout/Release']()
ReviewsHot Chip Dance Through Depression on 'Freakout/Release' Published Aug 18, 2022Pop music is a complex beast. It has the power to uplift or obscure, to transcend or digress. Many uncomfortable truths have been exposed ov...
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![BC's Bass Coast Gave Their Community Protection from the World's Disasters]()
ReviewsBC's Bass Coast Gave Their Community Protection from the World's Disasters Published Jul 13, 2022A lot has happened since the last installment of Bass Coast, one of the largest and safest festivals in Western Canada. Like everything else...
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![Ghost Woman Haunts the Hallowed Halls of Psychedelia on Self-Titled Debut]()
ReviewsGhost Woman Haunts the Hallowed Halls of Psychedelia on Self-Titled Debut Published Jun 30, 2022Some bands may take razor blades to their amps to get that authentic Kinks fuzz going. For his self-titled debut as Ghost Woman, Evan John U...
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![B.A. Johnston Had Victoria Laughing at Themselves (and Everything Else) Phoenix Bar & Grill, June 17]()
ReviewsB.A. Johnston Had Victoria Laughing at Themselves (and Everything Else) Phoenix Bar & Grill, June 17 Published Jun 18, 2022When the going gets weird, troubadour-on-the-skids B.A. Johnston is already there, camping out in the parking lot and selling hot dogs out o...
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![Michael Rault Hits His '70s Stride on Self-Titled Album]()
ReviewsMichael Rault Hits His '70s Stride on Self-Titled Album Published Jun 14, 2022The album called Michael Rault sees our titular hero finding yet another gear in the studio, but it didn't come easy. Born in Edmonton, Raul...
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![Holy Fuck Had Victoria Raving to Rock Capital Ballroom, June 1]()
ReviewsHoly Fuck Had Victoria Raving to Rock Capital Ballroom, June 1 Published Jun 02, 2022Previously scheduled for February — and before that planned for a couple years ago — the long-delayed West Coast leg of Holy Fuck's tour in...
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![Ghostkeeper's 'Multidimensional Culture' Finds Healing in Art Rock Exploration]()
ReviewsGhostkeeper's 'Multidimensional Culture' Finds Healing in Art Rock Exploration Published May 26, 2022Ghostkeeper go their own way. The Calgary-based outfit have one foot in the spiritual realm and the other in the physical world. Drawing a l...
