In this week’s edition of Tuesday Tracks we criss-cross the country from coast to coast, moving from Halifax all the way to Vancouver with a stop in Montreal in between. But while these bands may be separated by several thousand kilometres, each one displays a similar ability to get you out of your seat and […] More »

My first encounter with Kat Burns occurred ten years ago in Whitby, Ont. My family had a spare room in their basement that they were renting out and Kat Burns was a rebellious teenager in need of a roof over her head. She didn’t live there long—a few months at most. We never really knew each other. […] More »

This week Tuesday Tracks gets excited about suburban hip hop, trades in human interaction for some catchy guitar lines, and gets concerned about bratty kids. First: “Yaa I Get It” is the first track off Kenya-born, London, Ont.-raised MC Shad‘s upcoming release TSOL. His previous effort The Old Prince used wit and humour to separate himself […] More »

This edition of Tuesday Tracks is inspired by The Socalled Movie – a film about Ottawa-born, Montreal-based multi-disciplinary artist Socalled. The film premiered at Hot Docs last night and besides being taken by his brazen quest to simply create, I was shocked that despite the level of success he has achieved over the years, I’d never […] More »

As the weather warms up it seems the nation’s music industry is collectively waking up from a wintertime hibernation. Although based on the sheer volume of new releases slated for the next few months it looks like rather than sleeping, the time was spent locked in various recording studios—which is good news for all of […] More »

Michael Bublé might have walked out with the most hardware at last night’s The Juno Awards, and his wins might have prompted more than a few eye rolls from the more progressive listeners in the audience, but awards ceremonies rarely get it right. They rarely reward bravery in artistic expression or experimentation and settle for the […] More »

Admittedly, this week’s addition of Tuesday Tracks a little Toronto-centric. Generally, we like to ensure the cream rises from coast to coast, but the three songs selected this week were so strong it would have been tragic to bump any one of them even for a week. However, while the homebase may be Southern Ontario, […] More »

With the arrival of another Tuesday, we feel privileged to bring you another smattering of consumable Can-con. This week’s crop features a couple of anticipated new releases, and a group of inspired newcomers with old bones. Caribou is back with the followup to his Polaris winning masterpiece Andorra. The album, Swim, will be available April […] More »

It’s Tuesday, the day we run down a few picks of new and/or notable Canadian music. Just a digest of newish songs today, in contrast to last week’s epic paean to Tomboyfriend from Luke. What do you prefer for this feature? A quick selection of music to listen to, or a longer piece of writing […] More »

The distinction of “all time favourite song,” more often than not, is something reserved for the teenage years. For some, whose musical tastes stall with the arrival of adulthood, that all time favourite song might last a lifetime. For others, it simply becomes a reminder of those years when every new discovery carried significant emotional […] More »

One of the great redeeming aspects of big, multi-day, city-wide music festivals like Canadian Music Week/Fest is the opportunity for discovery. It’s very rare these days that one gets the opportunity to hear something truly great, for the first time, in a live setting. Generally, if I’m going to a show where I’m unfamiliar with […] More »