After years of backing Canada’s indie-elite, folk rocker Alfie Jurvanen took his Robbie Robertson-esque step out of the shadows last summer (Jurvanen went with live mics mind you).  Under the moniker Bahamas, which is inspired by the Wreckless Eric classic (I’d Go the) Whole Wide World, Jurvanen released his debut LP “Pink Strat” on July [...]

Cramped in a poor excuse for a bar in Gunchester, England, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting much when the owner ushered Alberta Cross onto the stage; I was happily mistaken.  Despite Swedish frontman Petter Stakee’s accent, he sings like a country-boy from Tennessee.  Blending a blues-folk sound reminiscent of Neil Young, you’d be [...]

After returning home with the prestigous Juno award for “Roots Solo Album” in 2009, Toronto born (Nova Scotia migrated) Old Man Luedecke is venturing out this year with another album.  Due for release next Tuesday (March 30th), Old Man Luedecke’s follow up to the 2009 “Proof of Love” is titled “My Hands are on Fire [...]

Today’s song comes from Calgary’s favorite indie minstrel Danny Vacon and his other musical project, The Dojo Workhorse.  I Got Life can be found on the quintet’s 2009 debut full-length album “Weapons Grade Romantic” which hit shelves last summer.  The project, which emerged to fill Vacon’s need for a non-Dudes creative outlet, produces a folksy [...]

I remember a time not so long ago when Dan Mangan was known only by the fringiest of indie-fringe outside of Vancouver.  Now, I can’t walk through the frozen pizza aisle of my grocery store without all the single men breaking into a chorus line of Robots, or the dark-eyed cashier singing the harmony from [...]

Diamond Joel Plaskett unleashed his most ambitious work to-date last year with his 3-disc, 27-song, epic Three.  With the help of Ana Egge and Rose Cousins on accompanying vocals, Plaskett found himself  with another album shortlisted as the best full-length Canadian release of the year; the other album was Ashtray Rock from Plaskett’s full-band project [...]

Basia Bulat broke into Canada’s national indie spotlight in 2007 with the success of her debut LP Oh, My Darling.  Released through Hayden’s Hardwood Records, Oh, My Darling would go on to share space on the shortlist for Canadian album of the year with the likes of The Weakerthans, Stars, and Holy Fuck.  Bulat’s long-awaited sophomore [...]

Two years ago, Wintersleep front-man Paul Murphy lost his grandparents; his mother lost her parents.  With the help of his brother Michael, some free time in Nova Scotia, and the wonder that is scotch, Postdata was born as a gift for Mom.  12 ideas for an album were laid down using the most modest of setups [...]

Chicago-based indie-label Drag City leaked the 3rd pre-release track from Joanna Newsom’s forthcoming album this week, raising questions as to why the first 2 have no been posted here yet.  Today’s track, titled ‘81, was the first song to be leaked back in late January from Newsom’s 3rd full-length effort Have One On Me.  Confirmed [...]

Patrick Watson’s third full-length album Wooden Arms did what any good album should do, and divided music critics last year.  While some praised it’s audacity to experiment with nods for album of the year, others denounced its sound as too organic and went as far as describing the sound as “a group of classically-trained buskers”; [...]

Bedouin Soundclash front-man Jay Malinowski is slated to make his debut as a solo artist with a 13-song LP next Tuesday.  ”Bright Lights and Bruises” will be Malinowski’s first musical endeavor sans Soundclash bassist, and writing partner, Eon Sinclair since the two met in University eight years ago.  While Malinowski’s vocals will remind of the Juno-winning [...]

The title-track from Noah and the Whale’s 2009 LP The First Days of Spring opens with the line “It’s the first day of spring and my life is starting over again”, and immediately sets the melancholic tone for the remainder of the album.  The release, which is the band’s sophomore full-length effort, narrates lead singer [...]

Gavin Gardiner of The Wooden Sky has piles of perfectly-formed melodies scattered around his home, I’m convinced of it.  Every song I hear from the Toronto indie/folk-rock ensemble finds a way to lodge itself into my brain and gently gnaw, relenting only after I perform it for friends from my couch.  The Late King Henry [...]

With the exception of sex and drugs, there are few things more satisfying than a well executed key-change.  Doin’, from Canadian Chris Adeney’s indie/folk/progressive-rock project Wax Mannequin, features one such key-change; unless completely dead inside, listeners should experience a moment of head-bobbing.  The song can be found on Wax Mannequin’s fifth-full length effort “Saxon”, released [...]

Defiant to the bitter end, Hayden delivers a fine piece of scorned indie/folk love-rock with Let’s Break Up.  Found on Paul Hayden Desser’s 2009 full-length release The Place Where We Lived, the song offers a number of lines that should be immediately written down for use if ever on the shittier side of a break-up.  Like [...]

2009 brought the debut album from Rich Terfry (the man behind the Buck 65 moniker) and his newest collaborator, Belgian producer Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê.  The electronic/hip-hop project, known as Bike for Three!, released More Heart Than Brains this past summer to almost exclusive acclaim.  Today’s song is not from that album, nor is it [...]

Here’s a fun little activity for everyone:  The next time you have nothing to do, grab the blankets off your bed, throw them across your couch/coffee table creating a fort of sorts, shut off every light in your house/apartment, climb in with a flashlight, and listen to the new Timber Timbre album; friends of mine [...]

I haven’t listened to a lot of Dallas Green/City and Colour in about 6 months.  This is due in part to a self-inflicted saturation of the project in 2008 and early 2009, and in part to my discovery of Dan Mangan last year, who has fared quite admirably in satisfying my moody acoustic/folk-rock needs.  However, [...]

There are a lot of things to like about today’s tune.  There’s that sort of Jim Cuddy mixed with Joel Plaskett vibe that can be heard, there’s the fantastic harmonies during the chorus that just ache to be turned up, and then there’s the charming lyrics like “I’m too old for the girl I love but [...]

Yesterday, Vancouver’s indie/folk-pop ingénue Hannah Georgas walked away with CBC Radio 3’s Bucky Award for “Best New Artist”.  Not 10 minutes later, I received a text from a friend letting me know that Radio 3’s best new artist was somehow missing from my blog that was supposed to highlight best new artists; she quickly followed this up [...]