Walking the line between mainstream and underground, Kendrick Lamar proudly raises the torch he was passed from West Coast legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Lamar, also a devoted fan of 2pac, brings these legendary influences together in a novel way in his latest release, Good Kid m.A.A.d. City. Although[Read More…]

With 119, Trash Talk is at a pivotal point in their career, and somewhat of a paradox. The band have reached the top of the pile as far as Hardcore goes, teetering between too much fame to stay underground and just enough notoriety to spread the word.  They’re constantly stirring[Read More…]

“I’ll crawl into the mountains, I’ll fall into obscurity/A phantom on the landscape, a memory of what used to be.” Nostalgia and longing—the voice and lyrics of Jason Lytle can’t be described without invoking these two sentiments. Dept. of Disappearance, his latest album, is full of unknown ‘somewheres’ and ‘someones,’[Read More…]

After Macklemore & Ryan Lewis partnered up to bring us the acclaimed The VS. EP in late 2009,  some fans feared a sophomore slump. Instead, the duo’s latest release, titled The Heist, plays like a veteran rapper’s ‘best-of’ compilation. In a surprising turn for a rap album, The Heist provides[Read More…]

Unless you’re a well-versed hip-hop fan, it’s possible that your familiarity with rappers Left Brain and Hodgy Beats only stems from their frequently cited Odd Future involvement. The pair of artists, however, also make up the separate rap group Mellowhype, which recently released their third studio album, Numbers. In comparison[Read More…]

Although the Juno award-winning Wintersleep has been lauded as having released ‘the album of their career’ with Hello Hum, not much has changed from their previous work. The band brought producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips; MGMT) aboard for their fifth full-length album, although his presence is not especially noticeable. With[Read More…]

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of David Bowie’s legendary 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Toronto’s Paper Bag Records (PBR) recently released a free cover compilation by multiple artists from the label. For Bowie fans, this may appear to be an exciting[Read More…]

Blue Swan Orchestra is the re-release of the Golden Boy’s 2003 debut album, and their latest since 2011’s Sleepwalker. The soft-rock/indie-pop band’s re-mastered album also features two bonus tracks, “Blind” and “Windows.”  The album’s greatest strength is the blend of the familiar sounds of indie and pop with uniquely evoking[Read More…]

Jack Davey, frontwoman for the Californian electro-soul duo J*DaVeY, has gone solo. But for a singer who has opened for Prince, the Roots, and Janelle Monáe, the five-song EP falls distinctly flat. Davey’s voice, sultry, breathy, and deep, is wasted on what she calls “stripped-down grunge” and her attempt at[Read More…]

In their nearly 20-year career, The Sea and Cake have not only maintained incredible consistency in sound and quality, but have also shown incredible versatility. Named after a mishearing of “the ‘C’ in ‘Cake,’” the Chicago-based quartet avoids the labels of genre (although post-indie-breathy-jazz-rock-fusion is a start)—The Sea and Cake[Read More…]