By Ken Clarke
In commemoration of three decades in the business, Alligator Records amassed a wide assortment of blues flavours and styles in 30th Anniversary Collection.A few of the numerous highlights include blistering guitar from Johnny Winter, soulful harp from Junior Wells and a previously unreleased, live cooker from Albert Collins and The Icebreakers. Of course, this double… Continue reading 30th Anniversary collection
Throughout the past four years, Supernal has been harnessing their alternative-rock sound by building a local fanbase through shows like last year’s Bermuda Shorts Day.Supernal proves their weight not only with the standard straightforward alterna-pop songs they are known for, but Living and Breathing, also contains some lighter songs proving the true abilities of this… Continue reading Living and Breathing
Recently, we’ve been bombarded with a pile of artists trying to mix-and-match two or more styles, hoping to be the next Nü-Metal. With 12 tracks of their “N*Sync gone bad” sound, Adema’s self-titled album actually fares quite well. Crunchy guitar riffs and cascading vocals make this album appealing to a much wider audience than most… Continue reading Adema
By Steve Moody
This is good music disguised behind a facade of depressive pretentiousness. If the maudlin nature of the first track doesn’t discourage you, Tom McRae’s self-titled album will catch you off guard. While McRae’s guitar sounds are nothing unique, they are not cookie cutter coffeehouse gloom either. He blends solo guitar work with unusually uplifting instrumental… Continue reading Tom McRae
By Raquel Mann
Garage-punk bad-asses, yeah! With all the mainstream soft punk floating around today, these four rowdy rockheads sure know how to refresh the headbanger’s soul. Just by looking at New Variations’ kinky cover, you can tell that The Exploders are all about sexy hard rock ‘n’ roll. The album busts out with vigorous lyrics, accompanied by… Continue reading New Variations
By Phil Vorvis
Fans of Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette will like Joydrop’s Viberate. The album should be bestowed the title of “official highway CD.” The continuous energetic music is tailored for the long haul on the road and Joydrop fits the bill. Songs like “American Dreamgirl” and “Thick Skin” have strong vocals that bring out the angst… Continue reading Viberate
By Nicole Kobie
The songs featured in Driven are strange choices on which to set a racing story. The soundtrack starts off in gear with Tantric’s radio-hit “Breakdown,” but stalls fast and hard on the next track. For some reason or another–likely insanity–the remaining songs are mostly modern country tunes, with a few soft-pop attempts, and one painful… Continue reading Driven
By David Kenney
Ahh, another electronic collection to soothe the senses. And of course, all the usual subjects are out to play. More Moby, Sneaker Pimps, Everything But the Girl and Massive Attack are for anyone missing those records. Still, chilloutmix2 isn’t without some fab lesser-knowns. Moloko, St. Etienne, Thievery Corporation and the lush-sounding Spiritualized round out a… Continue reading Chilloutmix2
You know you can’t stop a good thing and Canadian hip hop is about as good as it gets. With artists like Choclair, Swollen Members and Kardinal Offishall all consistantly hitting their stride, it is a good time to be part of the urban underground north of the 49th. Fortunately, the music industry has finally… Continue reading The Longplay
Ohgr’s newest release, Welt, is painful, yet strangely amusing to listen to. These NIN try-hards sound like a bad feedback monitor. The intro to the song "Kettie" made us wonder if our stereo was broken. Another song’s background sirens and chanting guitar chords sounded like Ohgr were being chased by both the bad-music police and… Continue reading Welt