Elzhi’s ‘Lead Poison’ Is Clever, Lyrical
Musically, Elzhi has aged well. His spacey soundscapes—akin to Zion I or Kid Cudi—make this album versatile. The synth-based beats conjure up feelings of both melancholy and joy.
‘Adult Teen’ a Perfect Pirouette of Pastels & Pain
Robin Edwards’ cavalier and yet biting approach as Lisa Prank is both emotionally cathartic and pastel-driven. Contemporary sonnets of pain and self-awareness are spattered, Jackson Pollock-style, with caffeine and listlessness.
Moonface & Siinai: My Best Human Face
If I was forced to pick a specific lineup of my favorite Canadian singer/songwriters since the turn of the decade – a “Mount Rushmore”, if you will – then I would find it impossible to keep Spencer Krug off the list.
Big Bloom’s ‘Heavy Angel’ Delivers, Gets Ruthless
Here, the band – Katie Howard, Alex Packard, Sean Daly, and Grant Gilbert – deliver a seismic blow with their debut LP, ‘Heavy Angel’. A staggeringly urgent record that brick layers confidence, fearlessness, mercurial visuals, and barbed love.
Whitney: Light Upon The Lake
The biggest reason they should emerge as one of the most exciting current bands is because they aim for – and actually pull off, with flying colors – the ability to form a sound that is simultaneously an homage to the great folk/pop artists of old, and a stampeding charge in the direction of the future.
Jessy Lanza: Oh No
It is in a three song stretch, starting with the true banger “It Means I Love You”, that we’re not only witnessing a vocalist and artist finding herself, but one who is charging ahead with energy and gravitas.
Anohni: Hopelessness
It’s almost a weirdly timed shame that this album released during the whirlwind of surprise drops from Beyonce, James Blake, and Radiohead, because it is every bit as good (and really, better) than all of them.
The Drones: Feelin Kinda Free
It seems to be an unfortunate reality that, even after a good decade and a half of releasing material, too few ears in the US have had the pleasure of witnessing the sounds of the Aussie group, The Drones.
Damien Jurado: Visions Of Us On The Land
Ever since the turn of the current decade, the music of veteran singer/songwriter Damien Jurado has seen an exciting, almost criminally under-appreciated string of experimental dream-folk offerings.
