Mister Fusty, Connect EP

By John Lane

In the interest of full disclosure, right off the bat, Mister Fusty (a.k.a. Rob Gibson) is a musical comrade-in-arms who collaborated on a track from my recent album. That out of the way, I was a fan of Mister Fusty long before I mustered up the nerve to ask him if he would work with me.

I discovered him somewhere between his first album Honest Blundering (November 2006) and the follow-up Sparkle Darkly (August 2007). These two instrumental-only albums knocked me off my feet and made me reconsider the whole idea of what it means to write a melody line.
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Wild Beasts, Two Dancers

By Ann Clarke

Its not often that I’m ever impressed with any new band. I rarely am . . . but occasionally something crosses my radar that is worth further investigation. Wild Beasts are one of those oddities that I probably would’ve overlooked due to their stupid name. However, the stupidity stops right there with their name, and after listening to them, it is ironically appropriate.
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Japanese Gum, Hey Folks! Nevermind, We Are All Falling Down!

By Hanna

Japanese Gum are an Italian experimental music duo (based in Genova). Hey Folks! Nevermind, We Are All Falling Down! is their first full-length album, consisting of songs previously released on EPs and some new songs.
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The Futurebirds, Hampton’s Lullaby

By Adam McIntyre

On Hampton’s Lullaby, The Futurebirds create lush, reverby indie pop with varied acoustic instrumentation and those western Americana leanings. These guys from Athens harmonize, they twang with beards, they do some pretty damned interesting gritty guitar solos. . . and did I mention that they like reverb?

They’ll probably stop just short of reminding you of My Morning Jacket (though they do remind me a bit of a favorite band of mine, Hands Down Eugene) and in spite of the steel guitars and southern-sung style, they’re unlikely to evoke a country vibe. More like Pernice Brothers having a country-tinged lullaby writing session.
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The Birthday Cakes, Expansion Pack

By Jemiah Jefferson

Okay, these guys are total freaks. And I think I love them. Don’t be fooled by the cheerful grins on this trio of damn handsome ginger brothers, nor by their love of really dreadful ’80s sweaters and paint-streak-patterned T-shirts: The Birthday Cakes are ready to rock your face off and make you howl at the moon (or at least roll up a really good werewolf mage).
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Young Doctors In Love, 5 Golden Greats EP

By Less Lee Moore

Toronto five-piece Young Doctors In Love has recently released 5 Golden Greats, an EP that is aptly titled and perfectly suited for sunny days and hot weather. These five tunes are catchy without being repetitive, hefty without being heavy, and unique without being precious.
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Peggy Sue, Fossils And Other Phantoms

By J Howell

Watch the video for “Watchman” and download the song here.

Peggy Sue singer Katy Young recently said of Fossils And Other Phantoms that the main themes of the album are “absences and presences, and the emotional and physical beings that remain after various endings.” This is a break-up record, but fortunately, it’s a damn fine one.

Peggy Sue—composed of Young, co-singer/guitarist Rosa Slade, and drummer Olly Joyce—mine some raw emotional territory on Fossils, and it’s a rather melancholy record. In places, it’s reminiscent of, say, Beth Orton, but with a somewhat more aggressive point of view. While the subject matter may not exactly be fun, and thus some songs may not quite enjoyable as such, the presentation is admirably insightful and interesting.
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Johnny Dowd, Wake Up The Snakes

By J Howell

It’s more than a little puzzling to me why Johnny Dowd isn’t better known or revered as a master of American music. Dowd’s latest release, Wake Up The Snakes, is everything that rock and roll could and should be, or at the very least, one badass variant thereof.

In this day and age, even if Dowd isn’t exactly a household name (and I have to admit, prior to near-synchronous name-dropping in song by Howe Gelb and seeing the brilliant film Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus a couple years back, Dowd was a stranger to me, too), it’s easy enough to find a lot of recurring descriptors and comparisons on the Internet. While it may be somewhat lazy, it’s not exactly a huge stretch to say that listeners who enjoy the work of Nick Cave or Tom Waits, or readers who like Harry Crews, will likely find a new favorite in Dowd: he deserves the respect those three command.
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Shad, TSOL

By Matt Demers

When an acclaimed artist manages to dodge the sophmore album curse, it almost becomes a race to see when he or she is going to screw up. Each successive album becomes a nail-biter, with fans and critics alike hoping that this album won’t be the CODA of the artist’s discography, condemned to ridicule and revulsion.

Listening to rapper Shad’s prior two albums, you’d think karma would be against him. 2005’s When It’s Over and 2008’s The Old Prince are cornerstones in Canadian hip-hop, and represent an intelligent artist whose sound is maturing. This year’s TSOL, released on May 25, looked to be a next step for Shad: he had perked listeners’ ears with The Old Prince‘s catchy tunes and deep message, and now had a stage to define himself. This was his chance to emerge from his London, Ontario beginnings and show people what he was made of.

And thank God he didn’t screw up.
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HTRK, Marry Me Tonight: In Memory Of Sean Stewart

By Julie Finley

At the end of 2009, I stumbled upon an Australian band known as HTRK (pronounced “Hate Rock”). Their name was linked to the late great Rowland S. Howard, and I had to figure out what the connection was (this was before Rowland had passed. . . R.I.P. RSH!)

HTRK were linked to a few musical icons other than Rowland, all part of a corps of musicians hailing from Melbourne, Australia. The most direct link is to The Devastations. HTRK Singer Jonnine Standish is married to The Devastations’ Conrad Standish, and the matrimony doesn’t end there; the other members of HTRK (Nigel Yang and Sean Stewart) were involved with the Devastations musically as well.
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