LAL Revel in Minimalism on 'Meteors Could Come Down'

Published Nov 05, 2020

Meteors Could Come Down, the latest album by long-running Toronto-based duo LAL, is replete with enticing textural, melodic and instrumental...

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 app...

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, nam...

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. Th...

Joshua Van Tassel Fully Embraces His Classical Tendencies on 'Dance Music Volume II: More Songs for Slow Motion'

Published Sep 08, 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 wi...

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 eponymo...

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, in...

Jason Molina's Posthumous 'Eight Gates' Sounds Incomplete, but It's a Treat for Dedicated Fans

Published Aug 06, 2020

The nine songs on Eight Gates comprise the last batch of recordings made by Jason Molina before his death in 2013. Several of the tracks suc...

Skullcrusher Lets Her Influences Show on Promising Debut EP

Published Jul 23, 2020

Skullcrusher's eponymous debut EP spotlights Helen Ballentine's natural talent as a singer-songwriter, even though the four-song sequence of...

Nicolás Jaar's 'Telas' Is a Cosmic Voyage Through an Ambient Universe

Published Jul 14, 2020

Nicolás Jaar's Telas brings to mind nascent stars and galaxies, protean adaptations, and ever-expanding space. The album's complex design an...