’Toban tracks
The hardest part of studying isn’t trying to learn the material in front of you. It’s trying to ignore everything else — that the entirety…
music
Les Shirley — ‘Forever Is Now,’ 4/5
Les Shirley understands energy — its power, its movement, when to blow it up and pull it back, the invigorating force of music that snakes…
Folk music awards show to take place online
The merits of institutional, award-based recognition will likely be debated until the sun explodes. Grammy awards can be affirming legacy-builders for the next generation of…
Jane Inc — ‘Number One,’ 4.5/5
Indulgence is a tricky thing. The line between splendour and overkill is a razor-thin tightrope that has sunk many an ambitious, maximalist records. Number One,…
Molly Annelle — ‘ELEVATOR MUSIC,’ 4/5
It is risky business naming your record ELEVATOR MUSIC. The name likely would not raise eyebrows coming from a hardcore band, but the association with…
Kae Sun — ‘Midnight and Other Endings,’ 4/5
Kae Sun’s 2018 full-length Whoever Comes Knocking was drawn in broad strokes — abandoning the rock and retro-pop of 2013’s AFRIYIE for throbbing basslines and…
DISHPIT — ‘DIPSHIT,’ 4/5
A lot has been said about culture’s current obsession with ’90s revivalism and, while usually fun and mostly harmless, it’s missing the one aspect that…
Trampy Trails — ‘I Lie Awake,’ 4/5
Beneath These Trees, the debut EP from Thomas Steur’s Trampy Trails project, was an exercise in simplicity. Whether by choice or necessity, the then-17-year-old’s first…
Of stars and sapphires
Being perceived is hell. The feeling that you are standing wrong in a crowd, that your voice is weird, that your clothes and skin and…
iskwē — ‘The Stars,’ 3.5/5
Iskwē’s acākosīk was a big record — massive walls of guitar, surges of programmed beats and spirals of synth that blew her commanding songs of…