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By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) – For a genre so packed with lone-wolf machismo, the best pal dynamic is at its strongest in hip-hop. From Dr. Dre and Eminem to the more recent Jay Z and Kanye West bond, some artists bring out the best in each other. For all its acrid violence and pinpointed rage, … Continue reading
By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) – Actress Leighton Meester’s debut album, Heartstrings, is upsettingly good. Here’s why. There’s a good reason why red flags shoot up every time a celeb launches the ‘music phase’ of their career. The last half century is rife with ‘triple threat’ performers including, Eddie Murphy, David Hasselhoff, J-Lo, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and the sparkly, nightmarish parade of Disney … Continue reading
By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) – Let’s be real here: club kids don’t exactly hold lyrics on a pedestal. They don’t care whether Calvin Harris and AVICII are telling a story or adapting verbal nuance. They want beats, heavy and dense; moody or mood-enhancing samples and maybe (and this is purely a bonus) words that aren’t total wharrgarbl. With that all said, … Continue reading
By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) – For over a decade now, we’ve gotten to know Karen O as the snarling, glamorous, flamboyant Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman. Clearly drawing on influences ranging from Mick Jagger to Joe Strummer, it’s been her on-stage style that’s helped create a modern rock staple, but we’ve also seen her mellower, … Continue reading
By: Robert Liwanag – On The Ocean at the End, Canadian rock trio The Tea Party faced a dilemma as a band re-entering music whether to follow the trends of contemporary music, reinvent its sound, or stick to what it knows best. They chose the latter (arguably the riskier decision for a band that’s been … Continue reading
By: Paula Reid – It’s been five years since Halifax-natives In-Flight Safety have released any new music, but their new album set for release today (September 9th) features long-awaited new tracks. Following 2009’s album We Are An Empire My Dear, the band’s warm and mellow sound was not particularly daring, and garnered comparisons to bands … Continue reading
By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) – Toronto’s the Wooden Sky have undertaken big changes, culminating in the release of their new album Let’s Be Ready. After founding their own label imprint – Chelsea Records – the band enlisted Chris Stringer of Timber Timbre as producer to capture their notoriously raw live energy while creating a more stripped-down … Continue reading
By: Anan Rahman (@anan_ra) – There was a time in the not too distant past when all the bands coming out of Canada seemed to have thirteen full-time members who were all hell-bent on making Phil Spector cower behind his wall of sound. It was good while it lasted, but lately it seems that the … Continue reading
By: Robert Liwanag – Being a political band today can be incredibly difficult. It’s harder for artists to express anything worthwhile, and easier to express misguided sentiments. Political bands also have the added pressure of wanting to be serious, and taken seriously, without coming across like self-righteous wannabe rebels. To make matters worse, … Continue reading
By: Anan Rahman – What sets apart Imogen Heap’s latest album Sparks beyond an ostensible collection of lush, post-modern pop songs is Heap’s truly panoramic breadth of vision. The album was painstakingly assembled over four years, featuring snippets of crowd-sourced audio bites, Bhutanese dranyens (when was the last time you heard that in a pop song?), and Heap’s … Continue reading
Aesthetic Magazine | Album Reviews, Concert Photography, Interviews, Contests 