Articles by Michael Barclay

Bettie Serveert All in the Family

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

You've only ever achieved modest success after three consistently improving albums, even though people only remember your debut. Your drumm...

Pet Sounds Sucks

The Story vs. The Songs

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

It promises to rally the biggest chorus of music geeks since High Fidelity opened. Brian Wilson, leader of the Beach Boys, is touring this...

Wim Wenders Should Quit His Day Job

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

I hate to be one to try limit cross-disciplinary artistic pursuits, but with a precious few exceptions, very few musicians make good actors...

Hawksley Workman

Takes His Pants Off

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

It's hard not to fall in love with Hawksley Workman. When his debut album, 1999's For Him and the Girls started to infect the international...

Tristan Psionic

Been A Long Time Since They've Rock'n'Rolled

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Running a successful business — Hamilton's Canadian indie empire Sonic Unyon Records — is only one of the factors that repeatedly delayed t...

The Salteens

Brevity is the Soul of Pop

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

By definition, pop should be short, sweet, and ideally a bit sharp. The Salteens, a three-year-old Vancouver trio, take these three tenets...

The Dinner Is Ruined Band

No Speed Limit

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Dale Morningstar may be known as the sound scientist in charge of Toronto's Gas Station studios and as the ringleader of Dinner is Ruined,...

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

In 1999, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a band that probably shouldn't exist. Their last album, 1996'sOne Hot Minute , was a crime against m...