Selected New Releases 2 June 2015

Montreal’s Elephant Stone has released a remix album called ES3PRMX containing previous songs redone in a more intense, electronic vibe. In keeping with the trio’s interests, the album effectively paints a picture of setting suns and heavy moons; it’s very well done.

Juno award winner Hawksley Workman from Toronto sets off new album Old Cheetah, an alternative work punctuated by his characteristic quirky vocal style.

Also from Toronto is alt-pop diamond-certified group Barenaked Ladies rolling out latest studio album, Silverball. The band has won 8 Juno awards to date.

Simon I is the alias of Simon Proulx, a member of JUNO nominated group Les Trois Accords from Drummondville, QC. He has launched solo album Simon I which is an Anglo work.

For some children’s music, Maple Ridge, BC’s Hilary Grist contributes Tomorrow is a Chance to Start Over.

R&B enthusiasts can check out the cool grooves of Sean Jones‘ Waiting for Midnight. He’s from Toronto.

EPs this week are out from Swift Current, SK’s Colter Wall. He does Americana, and Imaginary Appalachia is his debut.

Miracles, continuing its concept for doing songs in motel rooms releases the latest Motels ***** with featured singers Xavier Cafeine, Mara Tremblay, and the aforementioned Simon Proulx.

Calgary country crooner (and actor!) Wes Mack delivers a self-titled 4-track record.

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.