Scottish folktronica outfit Molly Wagger gained quiet but consistently positive recognition for their 2011 debut, Flambeaux. The record is a heady brew of subdued electronic texture and warm, rich emotion; certainly, it is more than deserving of its various accolades and remains criminally underplayed the world over. The voice of singer Charlie Denholm warranted favourable comparisons with The Beta […]
Julian Casablancas and the boys are back, or, they will be in March. The internet was graced last week with “One Way Trigger”, the first track from the band’s anticipated fifth studio album, Comedown Machine, and already favorable comparisons have been drawn with A-ha (“Take On Me”) and Maná (“En el muelle de San Blás”). But before […]
David Jacobson plays simple acoustic guitar lines like a man capable of more than a little Frivolous Complexity, who has nevertheless learned the value of restraint. ‘Please Tell Me’, the opening track of his scintillating debut Come Around Again, lilts into being with a simple strum that shimmers with grace-notes and sophisticated ornamentation before resolving into […]
I am literally dumbfounded that the new Denzel Washington film is guilty of the following atrocities (all the while garnering rave reviews in the press): – Un-ironically using the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Under the Bridge’ to score a heroin montage – Un-ironically using the Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ not once, but TWICE, to […]
It was a brisk, sunlit afternoon and I was walking along Queen West, headed into the city to meet a friend for dinner. As I passed the south gates of Trinity Bellwoods, I pulled out my phone and absentmindedly flipped over to my Instagram feed like the modern, connected fellow I am. There, I saw […]
Modern classical music is primarily a consort of the modern musical elite, with little to no basis in consumer demand. It is more often than not the product of a graduate thesis, or commissioned by an eccentric for equally eccentric ends. They Will Take My Island by Robert Martin is one such project. At this juncture I […]
Mount Kimbie and Squarepusher- DANFORTH MUSIC HALL, Nov. 2 Staying relevant is difficult for modern musicians. Ubiquitous online scrutiny coupled with the limitless ability to release and re-release material has created a musical landscape where rapid change is not only expected, it is demanded; this is particularly true of electronic acts. Genres and sub-genres emerge, embellish […]