Nicholas Friesen
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Socalled: The best artist you haven’t heard yet
This past year has been a good one for Socalled.
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Cuff the Duke
Oshawa five-piece Cuff The Duke has been touring and recording for about a decade, and in that time their sound hasn’t evolved all that much.
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Wilco
Opening with the blistering, seven-minute shredder that is Art of Almost, Wilco’s eighth studio LP announces itself as the band’s best work in a decade.
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Dust Adam Dust
Semi-comparable to early Stereolab featuring Tokyo Police Club’s Dave Monks on vocals, local four-piece Dust Adam Dust defies any real comparisons.
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Kathryn Calder
Crashing into your headphones with the dense One Two Three, ex-Immaculate Machine/current New Pornographers’ vocalist/keyboardist Kathryn Calder’s second solo disc in a year is another brilliant offering.
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Politically charged theatre? Only if it’s Canadian!
For the last five years, local theatre troupe Theatre by the River has been performing a mix of classical works and new Canadian plays.
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Newermind
There are a few hits and a few misses, but everyone’s heart was in the right place on this tribute disc.
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Drawn Ship debut with a breakup album while keeping a sense of humour
Vancouver duo Drawn Ship just released its debut disc, the intimately huge Low Domestic.
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More music this week
More music this week.
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I toured the States, won a Juno and all I got was this awesome documentary?
Vancouver band Said The Whale has had a busy year.
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Something for everyone
In just nine years, Winnipeg’s FemFest has grown from an intimate showcase for local playwrights to a weeklong event that brings in artists from across Canada and the U.K.
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Ram Hoss
This would-be follow up to Calgary band Azeda Booth’s Tubtrek EP sees founders Morgan Greenwood and Jordon Hossack falling deeper into the trances and loops that the duo only began to perfect as Azeda Booth.
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Ian Kelly
This third outing from Montreal’s Ian Kelly is pretty slick, kind of timeless and full of tunes that would fit right into CBC Radio 2 Drive’s format.
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Box of Wolves
This three-track chill-wave offering is the first official release from The Venom Blog’s Gabriel Akinrinmade.
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The Pack A.D.
Produced by Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs), the fourth disc from this Vancouver two-piece guitar and drums demolishing duo kicks off hard with Sirens and never lets go throughout the 13 tracks.
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Samantha Savage Smith
Produced by Lorrie Matheson (Rebels United), Calgary’s Samantha Savage Smith has unveiled a striking debut in Tough Cookie.
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Dan Mangan
Canada’s newest indie singer-songwriter sensation Dan Mangan returns with a heck of a record. Opener About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All thunders in with a lush cradle for Mangan’s gravelly delivery, while Post-War Blues drives home a message as it gets your head nodding.
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PS I Love
Kingston noise/pop duo PS I Love You pull a Jesus and Mary Chain here by releasing a B-sides/singles collection soon after a debut.
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Paper Bag Records Summer Sampler
This seven-song set from Toronto’s Paper Bag Records doesn’t have any exclusive material, but it is a phenomenal showcase of some the hottest artists of the year.
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Greg MacPherson
GMac’s latest (and first for his Disintegration Records label) ranks up there with his best work to date.