Pico Iyer, Canada’s expat book noticer, has a piece on Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing in a recent Times Literary Supplement (no link, sorry — subscribers only. I know, I know). He has much praise for Cohen, which makes me happy. I think Lenny deserves the Nobel, easily as much as Dylan. However, I disagree […] More »

Because I’m a big fan of lists, especially musical lists, I bring up this effort from The Guardian in the U.K.: “50 Albums That Changed Music.” I’ve only read the first 10 or so, but I like what I’m reading. Serious respect for Dylan, the Velvet Underground and NWA. Anyone take umbrage with the selections […] More »

Inspired by the looming Dominion Day weekend, a 7 hour return “motor coach” ride to Calgary and Mason’s earlier protest song playlist request, here is your all for singing you around (hee) Canada Day playlist request. The Rules: 1. Can-con (obviously). 2. Sounds best with windows/top down and singing along out loud. (Even if you […] More »

What is your favourite protest song? I’m working on a very fun project for the magazine and I’m trying to compile as many essential songs of resistance as I can, from 1966 onward. Any genre, and country, any language—I’m trying to make this pretty comprehensive. Sure to make my list already are artists such as […] More »

Carl Wilson at Zoilus has an entry about the Polaris Music Prize, a new Canadian music award born from the desire to recognize recordings on the basis of artistic merit instead of commercial success (fingers pointed at you, Juno Awards). The winner of this year’s Polaris, which counts albums released between June 2005 and May […] More »

The Vertical Struts, named from a photo of the remaining stubs of one of the World Trade Center towers, are a two-man (Raymond Biesinger and Trevor Anderson), ’50s-style garage-rock combo from Edmonton. They are self-proclaimed throwbacks with songs about boys who love boys, boys who love girls and socialism. They recently released their first single—recorded in Edmonton by Veal’s Nik Kozub—solely on seven-inch vinyl. More »

From the godfather of punk to the underground's fairy gothmother, meet the leaders of a lifestyle revolution, whose style and attitude long ago transcend the mainstream More »

Why indie artists should stop worrying about “stolen” music More »