Articles by John Amen
LAL Revel in Minimalism on 'Meteors Could Come Down'
PUBLISHED Nov 5, 2020
Meteors Could Come Down, the latest album by long-running Toronto-based duo LAL, is replete with enticing textural, melodic and instrumenta...
The OBGMs Offer an Undiluted Punk Manifesto on 'The Ends'
PUBLISHED Oct 28, 2020
The OBGMs' version of punk is one of unadulterated confrontation and catharsis, a visceral response to contemporary life, the durability of...
Plants and Animals' Eccentricities Come to Fruition on 'The Jungle'
PUBLISHED Oct 21, 2020
Montreal mid-aughts standouts Plants and Animals used each of their four previous albums to explore diverse, often divergent, sounds and ap...
Good Sad Happy Bad Blend Their Familiar Palette into New 'Shades'
PUBLISHED Oct 16, 2020
Integrating grunge, noise templates and avant-pop approaches, Good Sad Happy Bad (the new moniker for an updated Micachu and the Shapes, na...
Buildings and Food Makes the Retro Sound New Again on 'Up Down Strange Charm'
PUBLISHED Sep 24, 2020
Jen K. Wilson, a.k.a. Buildings and Food, hones the synth-y instrumentals and avant pop heard on her prior album, 2018's Quick Beat Save. T...
Joshua Van Tassel Fully Embraces His Classical Tendencies on 'Dance Music Volume II: More Songs for Slow Motion'
PUBLISHED Sep 8, 2020
Dance Music Volume II: More Songs for Slow Motion is a stylistic and visionary expansion on 2014's Dance Music: Songs for Slow Motion. As w...
Jyoti's 'Mama, You Can Bet!' Shows Why Georgia Anne Muldrow Is One of Her Generation's Greatest Jazz Artists
PUBLISHED Aug 28, 2020
With Mama, You Can Bet!, singer and multi-instrumentalist Georgia Anne Muldrow blends the funk, soul, and hip-hop-infused R&B of her eponym...
Jim O'Rourke's 'Shutting Down Here' Favours Subtle Contemplation over Big Payoffs
PUBLISHED Aug 11, 2020
With Shutting Down Here, singer-songwriter, composer and former Sonic Youth member Jim O'Rourke elaborates on previous electronic forays, i...
