Selected New Releases: April 7, 2017 – Part 3/3

More than 24 new works by Canadian recording artists released this past Friday have come to our attention. We’ll give our usual capsule reviews but are dividing the big lot into three parts alphabetically by title. Below are the stately eight of Part 3.

After hearing Toquade, violinists may be inspired to switch to the viola. Montreal’s Marina Thibeault plays it beautifully on works written for the instrument. There are covers and originals, and she is joined by expert pianist Janelle Fung on some of the tracks. CBC Music recently wrote a nice summary of this exquisite classical album.

Ottawa’s Lynne Hanson dispenses roots-inspired singer-songwriter album Uneven Ground. She is known as playing “porch music with a little red dirt” and her talent on this will brush off any dirt from your boots.

Allophone world music veteran Alex Cuba is back at it. We acquired him from, yes, Cuba, as he settled in Victoria, BC. The two-time JUNO winner contributes to the pool of music this week new album Lo Único Constante. This one is a laidback café music affair, mainly just voice and guitar with some delicate percussion and occasional backup singers.

Hailing from Lafontaine, ON, everybody’s favourite Franco-Ontarian (well, that’s debatable) Damien Robitaille returns with Univers parallèles. The album puts the swag in swagger with an upbeat pop that adds some rockin’ and dancey vibes here and there.

Montreal alternative trio Barry Paquin Roberge gets stranded on the Avalon after finding a pawn shop bargain. A-ha-ha. Voyage Massage is the name of the album. It’s actually an Anglo work that is quirky, funky, and fun. We dig it.

Vancouver alternative band The New Pornographers, still in the running, gift the world with album number seven, Whiteout Conditions. The band won a JUNO back in 2001. As one would expect, the new album is a strong one with lots of good songs.

A couple of EPs came to our attention this week. Jennifer Gélinas from Shawinigan dabbles in world music using multiple languages including French and Spanish on disc D’Kana. It features Antonio Idiaquez. Montreal’s Black Sails for Red Seas offers wall-of-sound alternative rock on EP Wave II.

The New Pornographers’ Brill Bruisers

The New Pornographers is a Vancouver group that has just released its sixth studio album, Brill Bruisers. Mass Romantic, the band’s debut LP released in 2000, won a JUNO award for Best Alternative Album. The group is more of a collective of musicians, many of whom have released solo works and are involved with other bands. Musically, the style is lushness encased in gritty alternative pop/rock. The soundscape has thickened and become more focused since Mass Romantic, and the album’s Top 10 iTunes placement confirms it resonates well with the modern masses. We’ve embedded a recent brief interview and live performance of track “Dancehall Domine” from CBC Music to give you a taste.  iTunes

From Pink Chocolate to Elephant Stone, This Week’s Slew of New Albums

More than 10 new releases have finished off August with a bang after a scanty past couple of months. We will look at many of them in more detail later. But here is a quick summary.

Western Canada Releases

Billboard Canadian Hot 100 charting artist Stef Lang from Vancouver Island has launched a new urban leaning EP entitled Rubix. With a pair of JUNO nominations and one gold album, Vancouver punk outfit Gob has released its latest work, Apt 13. Also cruising out from the west coast, Brill Bruisers is the new album from JUNO-winning alternative band The New Pornographers. Manitoba’s Willows is the new moniker for singer-songwriter Geneviève Toupin. An album of the same name has been released.

Eastern Canada Releases

They say that Montréal is the indie capital of Canada. Five works have come out of the city this week. Bernhari is a brand new act that blends popular tones with some shoegaze vibes. The solid debut album is a self-titled affair. Made Them Lions, or M.T.L, is a 5-piece pop/rock/reggae group. They’re new eponymous LP is excellent. Neuroplasticity is the new album from JUNO-nominated “doom soul” artist Cold Specks. Press Play is a fusion pop album from Pink Chocolate. There’s some R&B and electro in the mix. Elephant Stone describes its music as “hindie rock / psyche pop”. The album bears the title Three Poisons. Ghost is a rapper from Québec. Le gars du nord is his new album. Oxygen: Inhale is the latest from JUNO-nominated Ontario Christian rock band Thousand Foot Krutch.

International Collaboration

Sounds of Sputnik is a project by Russian artist Roma Kalitkin. His new album New Born is a collaboration with duo Ummagma comprised of Shauna McLarnon from Whitehorse, YT and the Ukraine’s Alexander Kretov. The style of music blends noisy shoegaze, space rock, and dream pop. New Born contains five songs with several remixes of a couple of them. We’ll do a special feature on the project a bit later.