Combining the talents of some of Canada's biggest rock stars — Sam Roberts, Chris Murphy of Sloan, Dave Monks from Tokyo Police Club and Hol...

Sloan were Canadian legends throughout their '90s heyday. Sam Roberts reigned supreme over mid-2000s airwaves. But it's arguably the glossy,...

What instruments spring to mind at the mention of "alt-folk?" Acoustic guitars? Banjos? Fiddles?   If bawdy, blissful brass wasn't your fi...

"Playing dominos in the general store / Ain't nobody playing them games no more" sings Jerry Leger plaintively, as fiddle notes all but weep...

Oh bless Seth and Scott Avett — at least their hearts are in the right place. The well-meaning alt-folk siblings pull out all the stops on n...

Some touring musicians like to call themselves road warriors, but Sturgill Simpson takes that term to Mad Max extremes on Sound & Fury, the...

"Heavy is the crown, but love the way fit on," Skyzoo spits on the chorus of "Carry the Tradition," making bearing that weight sound less li...

Impressive as elaborate lyricism can often be, there's also something to be said for simplicity. No MC in recent memory has made that case m...

Like the simple yet deliciously tempting milk bottles on its cover art, Bas's latest release is a fresh batch of tracks that'll quench your...

Rap's most eclectic producer sets his sights on yet another genre, and once again draws on that style in inventive and exciting ways. This t...

Hip-hop's good guy has a confession to make. Yes, Chance the Rapper — the church-going, gospel-inclined, typically chipper MC — has learned...

Maxo Kream will sound like a true student of the game during your first listen to Brandon Banks, the Houston MC's major label debut. Back-ha...

For a rapper like Freddie Gibbs, any old beat would frankly do. So astute is his auteurist eye for nitty-gritty details, so athletically nim...

Who says growing old can't be fun? Willie Nelson makes it sound like a gas on Ride Me Back Home, his latest LP and one of the best in the li...

Panting. A racing pulse. Palpable, all but audible perspiration. Howling creatures in the distance.   These are but a few of the elements...

How can grief sound so gorgeous? Nevada City, CA singer-songwriter Mariee Sioux deftly pulls off that dichotomy on "Baby Wave," a key track...

NASCAR isn't a typical touchstone in hip-hop lyrics, to say the least. But leave it to Blu to boldly go outside the box and name-check drive...

We all know the worst hip-hop glamorizes materialism and excess. But some of the best rap elevates such desires into fantasies that can insp...

Hate Logic all you want — you're only giving him more ammunition.   He spits quicker than an automatic rifle on "Homicide" (the smash sing...

In the tradition of Curtis Mayfield's "Miss Black America" and Sam Cooke's "You're Always On My Mind," Carlton Jumel Smith's "Woman You Made...