Leo Negro paints a portrait of a multifaceted artist who has grown over the course of his output, and provides a reminder that creating space to express the myriad aspects of oneself usually enables the best art-making. Here the result is an interesting and soulful album that is even greater than the sum of its parts.

On The Dancefloor succeeds in the most fundamental way that Ska music can; it’s fun. It makes you want to party, to dance in your seat with no concern that your neighbor’s lit cigarette has fallen square in your lap. I had fun listening to On The Dancefloor, and you would too. Buy it from Bandcamp because Spotify is scum.

As an album that allows dust to settle in creaking floor boards, the rocking of chairs, and homey untreated acoustics, Eye of the Storm is an invitation to a personal space, almost confessional in scope.

The toughest part about starting this review is the syntax. Is it Tebby & The Heavy? Tebby And The Heavy? Depending what website you’re looking at, or what artwork, both options can be found. One of life’s mysteries, I suppose. I have a fondness for a nice “&” so I will stick with that. Regardless of what you call them, the Edmonton three-piece’s debut full-length Heavy Afternoon, needs no such deliberation - the album just straight up rips. 

There is an air of naturalist mysticism to Bugland that White-Gluz openly embraces with her depiction of the titular Bugland as a place of safety withdrawn away from the accelerated state of the music industry and capitalist demand which White-Gluz looks at with suspicion. Bugland takes what Motherhood was able to accomplish for White-Gluz’s creative development while adding collaboration to the mix to help bring out more out of that artistic direction.

Just as folk hero Maud Lewis’ tiny coastal cottage became her best known work of art, so, too, does Ada Lea’s daily life in the Mile End become the considered artwork itself. The album illustrates that with every friendship loved and lost, every Bunz trade secured, every street corner crossed, every kettle set to whistle, Levy is indeed painting her masterpiece.

The first 24 seconds of side one of Red Shift Tape Vol. 1, the first tape from Overdrive II Oblivion, leaves an impression. For those 24 seconds, there is nothing but bass. At 0:01, the track begins abruptly with a bassline that is filthy dirty. It feels like the track starts in the middle of an idea. It’s heavy. Like, HEAVY. Heavy and rough. Jagged and uneven. Imperfect. It’s relentless and tone-setting. It’s 24 seconds and it feels like forever. Every second of it is rustic and beautiful.

There is something special about a band of friends exploring mental health, shared anxieties and finding joy in shared catharsis.  Obviously, every member of this supergroup is rather busy with their regular gigs. Romano’s outfit tours relentlessly and releases new music at a remarkable pace; Alexisonfire is an active concern again; and The Bear was picked up for a 5th season, to say nothing of the growing Matheson restaurant empire. That said, if an opportunity presents itself for Pig Pen to make another record, I really hope they do.

"With this snapshot of what you can find in the deconstructive worlds that KERUB fleshes out, I encourage people to give APHANTASIA a shot since it is their most accessible yet ambitious release yet. This is a producer that you will see expanding their already prolific catalogue and getting more deeply involved in other people’s work”

palace oaks has delivered an incredible debut record with insular mountains. Having seen the progression of Young’s work over the years, the qualitative leap in this latest release is quite impressive and she should be commended for the strides she has taken in her D.I.Y. spirit.

White’s brand of psychedelia has always leaned rural — not in genre, but in spirit. Again carries that same energy: songs that feel found rather than written, cracked open in a moment of solitude and preserved like amber. There’s no grand statement here, and there doesn’t need to be. Just one of Canada’s most enduring songwriters getting on a roll and riding it until the wheels fall off.

On So Fed Up, Bill coughs, wheezes, sneezes and sputters 12 tracks of grit, grease, and sleaze into our olfactory.  And it smells, dare I say, quite good.  

Like Hell! is an album that can appeal to listeners who are fans of wide-ranging artists such as indie rock like Car Seat Headrest and LCD Soundsystem, queercore like An Albatross or The Blood Brothers, or other fellow noise punks like Black Eyes.