Mac DeMarco was trying to break out of an artistic rut, a process that led to the conception of his latest project, Five Easy Hot Dogs. The album, released on Jan. 20, follows DeMarco’s road trip after a Bay Area show in mid-January of last year. He began driving north[Read More…]
Tag: album
Kacey Musgraves’ ‘star-crossed’ is a refreshing take on the breakup album
On Sept. 10, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves released her fifth studio album, star-crossed. Focussed on her divorce from Ruston Kelley—whose love story was detailed in her previous Grammy-winning album, Golden Hour (2018)—the album is a stunning project that navigates the non-linear healing process of grief. While Musgraves’ previous work[Read More…]
Ofer Pelz’s ‘Trinité’ experiments with audible embodiments of visual perception
Composers have experimented with the art of musical composition for centuries, but rarely have they gone so far as to remove something so integral to music as melody itself. Ofer Pelz is a Montreal-based composer, pianist, and improviser who uses traditional classical music instrumentation to create unique, experimental sounds that[Read More…]
Landing softly: A conversation with Japanese Breakfast at Bar Le Ritz
Japanese Breakfast–Brooklyn-based singer and guitarist Michelle Zauner’s solo project–released their sophomore album Soft Sounds From Another Planet (Soft Sounds) on July 14. Zauner was once the frontman of the emo indie band Little Big League, where her yelping vocals and decisive lyrics earned the Philadelphia band the designation of “underrated.”[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: OKNOTOK is not what rock and roll needs right now
For all their talk about being so vehemently anti-capitalist, and–by proxy–true to their art, Radiohead loves a good gimmick. It was around this time last year, for example, just days before the release of their first album in seven years, that the British rock band effectively erased themselves from the[Read More…]
Album Review: The Altar – Banks
Over the two years after the release of her first album, Goddess (2014) Jillian Banks—better known by her stage name, Banks—has climbed to success, winning awards and touring internationally with The Weeknd. The University of Southern California graduate’s academic background in psychology shines through in the themes she explores in[Read More…]
Album Review: Clay & Alex – At Home
At Home marks local Montreal duo Clay & Alex’s debut release and, as the title suggests, is an eight-song album recorded entirely in their apartment. The opener, “Hot Shame,” leads the album off on a relatively calm, yet hopeful note, with something that sounds like a mixture of Bon Iver[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: The element of surprise
In the face of rampant piracy, record labels have struggled to convince consumers to spend money on music. More specifically, the album format—once the industry’s largest source of revenue—has become too expensive for the average listener. Consumers’ listening habits are increasingly shifting towards faster, more digestible formats like iTunes’ $0.99[Read More…]
Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
“I’ve never been behind myself this much,” Los Angeles-based rapper, producer, and Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt said about his second LP, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. However, Earl’s confidence is more self-effacing and anti-social than Kendrick Lamar’s self-love anthem “i” or Drake’s grocery list of achievements[Read More…]
Lose your language to dance with Le Couleur
Montreal-based trio Le Couleur is back in town promoting their latest EP, Dolce Desir. The drummer of the electro-dance-pop group, Steven Chouniard, took time to speak with the Tribune in the midst of their tour, which began in New York City and will be continuing up to Quebec City. For[Read More…]
