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Of Monsters & Men and For A Minor Reflection at The El Mocambo in Toronto
Frank YangIt’s hard to believe it was only a month ago that I was roaming the streets of Reykjavik, getting ready to dive headlong into Iceland Airwaves. Not that long ago, but enough to welcome a...
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M83 and Active Child at Lee’s Palace in Toronto
Frank YangA few songs into M83′s performance at Lee’s Palace on Friday night, frontman and mastermind Anthony Gonzalez stepped to the mic and said something to the effect of, “thanks, this is our first...
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Review of We Were Promised Jetpacks’ In The Pit Of The Stomach
Nic ShonfeldAlongside labelmates and countrymen The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit, Glasgow-via-Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks should have formed a 21st century dream team of new Scottish...
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Review of Big Deal’s Lights Out
FacebookOn paper, London’s Big Deal doesn’t really bring a lot to the table. Two guitars – one acoustic, one electric – and two voices – one American male, one English female – and that’s about it....
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Review of Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny’s Yours Truly,...
FacebookAfter writing up some bands lately whose names have either undersold or misrepresented the music they present, it’s rather refreshing to have an artist whose public identity promises exactly...
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Graham Coxon tries to make up for last Blur record by promising new Blur record
Black Arts PRGraham Coxon has come up with a pretty clever way to get the word out about his forthcoming eighth solo record A+E, which is due out on April 2. Sure, the giving away a free MP3 from the...
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Slow Club and Air Waves at The Rivoli in Toronto
Frank YangIt’s said that for bands seeking exposure, television is the new radio as far as reaching a mass audience is concerned. Sheffield’s Slow Club can probably speak a little to that, having done...
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The Wedding Present, The Jet Age, Toquiwa and Zarigani $ at The Horseshoe in...
Frank YangSomewhere over the last few weeks Sunday night’s Wedding Present show at The Horseshoe got co-opted as the “closing party” for Canadian Musicfest, an appellation I personally refused to...
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Friends, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, DIIV and more at NXNE
Frank YangIt was sometime on Friday that, in looking at my NXNE schedule, that I realized just how Pitchfork-y it all was and for that, I apologize. It wasn’t intentional, but there’s no arguing that...
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Saint Etienne and Snowblink at The Opera House in Toronto
Frank YangSo after a five year layoff, following the almost-simultaneous implosion of all my bands, I’ve begun picking up the guitar again on a regular basis. Mostly just messing around, getting my...
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Summer Camp “Fresh”-en up for second album
Eleanor McDowallHaving gone high concept with their ’80s teen movie-evoking, fictional California community-set debut album Welcome To Condale, English retro-lectro-pop duo Summer Camp have been...
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Review of Trans’ Red
Chris McAndrewThough I already celebrated the existence of Trans – all-caps is about as excited as I get online, I’ll have you know – I only recently got a hold of Red, the first in a series of EPs...
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Swervedriver veer back into fast lane with new album
Gaz FailFor a band that’s so intrinsically connected to the idea of powerful cars barrelling down the highway, Oxford’s Swervedriver have taken a pretty leisurely path since they reunited in 2008,...
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