The Tribune

Their music has been featured in Spiderman 3, they’ve opened for Coldplay, their last album was a contender for Canada’s coveted Polaris Music Prize—and you’ve probably never heard of them. Straight from the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Black Mountain has spent the last six years perfecting their unique, ‘70s[Read More…]

cufftheduke.ca Sometimes it pays to have good friends. Or, if you’re Toronto’s Cuff the Duke, good friends who are also Canadian rock legends. Last year, Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor approached the band and invited them to record some songs with him. “He came to us and said, ‘Let’s just record[Read More…]

When Johnny “Pops” Papalia, Godfather of the Hamilton Mafia, was shot on May 31, 1997, he left behind a power vacuum in organized crime in Ontario that would eventually become a revolution. As the head of the Hamilton Mafia, Johnny Pops had just one rule: his people could not deal[Read More…]

Maroon 5’s third album, Hands All Over, is a revamped version of their typical sound. With bold guitar riffs, distinct vocals, and a crossover into a medley of genres, this bittersweet funk album is typical Maroon 5 with a few unexpected, but excellent, twists. The opening track and single “Misery”[Read More…]

It’s hard to believe that an album covering 35-year-old soul songs could generate so much hype, but with John Legend and the Roots, it’s hard not to take notice. The songs discuss war (frequently making a connection between Vietnam and Iraq), poverty, violence, and social justice. But the sound has[Read More…]

blogs.sltrib.com Listening to the sounds of indie darling Feist is always a treat, but Look at What the Light Did Now, a documentary portraying the artist’s journey as she recorded her Grammy-nominated album The Reminder, turned the audible into a visual treat as well. This year, Pop gave Montrealers the[Read More…]

borealisrecords.com Katie Moore is a Montreal-based songstress who needs nothing more than a guitar and her hauntingly beautiful voice to entrance an audience. And at Le Cagibi on Friday night, that’s exactly what she did. As she performed some tunes from her 2007 solo album Only Thing Worse, including “It’s[Read More…]

You didn’t have to be familiar with Mahala Rai Banda—a Romanian Gypsy band—to have found yourself dancing your head off at Cabaret Mile-End last Wednesday night. Literally meaning “noble band from the ghetto,” Mahala Rai Banda has managed to turn traditional gypsy music into a frenetic, multi-genre, club-hopping synergy that[Read More…]

billions.com The idea of Montreal’s Think About Life playing a free show at the tiny Le Divan Orange during Pop was a great idea. Except that the show was at 4 p.m. on a Saturday. So while the venue was packed for their late afternoon set, the things that make[Read More…]

nyctaper.com The glitzy, gender-bending alter-ego of Toronto’s John O’Regan, Diamond Rings brought his ‘80s-inspired glam pop to Le Divan Orange Saturday afternoon as the not-so secret guest. With his kitschy costumes, cheesy dance moves, and dinky keyboard lines overtop of programmed beats, there’s a lot to not like about O’Regan’s[Read More…]