Amen Dunes, the psych-folk three-piece with a name like a Nevada church group, played the Biltmore on a hot Wednesday night – 26 degrees, the closest Vancouver will get to a desert-esque. It was a quiet night and a quiet crowd, newcomers slipping in to the strains of opening two-piece Steve Jr., who revealed it was […]
In the five years Cloud Nothings have been pumping out music, lead singer and songwriter – and for a while the band’s only member (he played all the instruments and then mixed them together) – Dylan Baldi has released four albums, toured extensively in North America and Europe, and also managed to pack the Rickshaw […]
I know I love the Ballantynes. I catch them whenever I can. They get better every time I see them. The East Van seven-piece was in fine form last Thursday at the Imperial, kicking things off with a bang and quickly moving on to “Stay” off their 2012 seven-inch, “Misery / Stay”. Set staple “No […]
Of late I’ve noticed that everyone has a Mac DeMarco story. Given that this Canadian buck used to live in Vancouver for a chunk of his life, before packing off to the east coast, this should not come as a surprise or, really, news. It seems nowadays you can barely mention to someone that you […]
Chelsea Wolfe has received significant critical attention for her recent albums, Apokalypsis (2011), Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs (2012), and her most recent LP, Pain Is Beauty (2013). While she may not like to tie herself down to a genre, it’s plain what she’s doing: taking the dark, often violent sounds and imagery […]
Vancouver’s Real Ponchos released their debut album, the soulful, earthy, and immeasurably heartfelt Since I Let You Go, last May. On the strength of their full length and last year’s self-titled EP, the band was lucky enough to have embarked on a two-month excursion that took them all the way to Nova Scotia and through […]
Halifax’s bluesy garage rock duo Cousins released their latest full-length, The Halls of Wickwire, on May 13 via Hand Drawn Dracula. It’s an excellent album of hard-hitting blues rock with a punk edge, and the Vancouver crowd at the Media Club past Friday the 13th was lucky enough to have witnessed Cousins play it nearly […]
I needed to see this show. John Grant opening for Elbow at the Commodore on May 23 meant that I had a ticket in my hand long before I’d even heard whether or not I’d being giving coverage. Grant’s video for “GMF” made it to number four on Vancouver Weekly’s “Best Music Videos of 2013″ […]