Various Artists – Sweet Treats: Live Sessions from CJSW 90.9 FM
On CJSW, variety is the name of the game. So it’s no surprise that Sweet Treats: Live Sessions from CJSW 90.9 FM (available for a minimum pledge of $120 at this year’s funding drive, from October 23 through October 30) is a more eclectic mix than most. The organ-based jazz of Sinistrio sits between the … Continue reading
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Now in its 26th year as a band, venerable psych-rock weirdos The Flaming Lips can be forgiven for a little indulgence. The band’s homemade sci-fi flick Christmas on Mars was a curiosity, a mind-bender that tried the patience of even hardcore fans. Clocking in at 73 minutes and containing a slew of abrasive samples and … Continue reading
Fast Romantics & Secret Broadcast interview
They say great minds think alike. Secret Broadcast and The Fast Romantics were two of the five local bands to win $15,000 from Calgary radio station X92 last year as part of its Xposure contest. There were no strings attached to the money and no guidelines for how it should be spent; just the hope … Continue reading
CD review: Lhasa – Lhasa
Montrealer emerges from half-decade silence with another masterpiece. New York-born, Mexico-raised Montrealer Lhasa de Sela waited five years between her 1998 debut, La Llorona, and its follow-up, 2003’s masterful The Living Road. In that time, she quit the music industry to join a circus in France, eventually finding the inspiration to cobble a near-perfect album … Continue reading
SXSW 2009
Every March, tens of thousands of music fans, industry workers and hangers-on descend upon Austin, Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW), an orgy of sheer aural mayhem. With nearly 2,000 musical acts performing in every available space the city’s downtown has to offer, it’s the kind of event that’s difficult to sum up in a … Continue reading
Calgary boosterism
There’s no way around it — 2008 has been a banner year for Calgary’s music scene. Major events like Sled Island and Juno Fest attuned at least a few outside ears to local music, while Virgin Fest introduced acts like The Summerlad and The Firm Handshake to Calgarians more inclined to seek out Stone Temple … Continue reading
Sarah Slean – 2006
I used to tie myself in knots thinking I wasn’t doing the right thing, or I wasn’t doing enough. That wondering itself is exactly what you should be doing. It’s the process itself, and getting there or not getting there is completely missing the point, I think.
The Consumption 