INTERVIEW: LOST LANDER (PORTLAND)
This past August I decided to take up my best friend’s offer and head on out for a mini-vacation to the Pacific Northwest to check out Seattle and Portland. The trip also helped quash a longstanding void in traveling involving the States-Europe I’ve got down pretty well. Portland’s a mecca for
REVIEW: YOUTH LAGOON – THE YEAR OF HIBERNATION (2011)
It was on an overnight camping trip that I first heard of the artist Youth Lagoon. I had been speaking with a friend about music tastes, and somewhere between Local Natives and Jon Foreman, Youth Lagoon came up. I recall thinking “huh, what a strange name” and mak
REVIEW: MINA TINDLE – MINA TINDLE EP (2011)
It could just be me, but it seems French singer/songwriters are upping their game of late. Maybe it’s because everyone’s been doing Erasmus the past decade, breaking out of their comfort zones and spending times around off-campus parties in college towns in America soaking in the culture while r
INTERVIEW: THE DØ (PARIS)
Earlier this year, word came across the Atlantic to me in the States that Paris’ The Dø were working on a new album. When our France-based writer offered to review it, I definitely wanted to hear what her thoughts were on it since the first single, “Slippery Slope”, was a shocking, fresh s
INTERVIEW: YOUNG GALAXY (MONTREAL)
Young Galaxy and I just chatted once again (our previous interview in February), getting a progress report on how the year has gone since the release of Shapeshifting to the acclaim of Gorilla vs. Bear, Polaris Prize and Pitchfork. Yet that hasn’t been the biggest event in the lives of Step
REVIEW: BEIRUT – THE RIP TIDE (2011)
To call Beirut a band has always seemed inaccurate. Troubadour troupe has a nice ring to it, but it’s awfully long. Since their debut in 2006, the group has presented itself as a worldly entity, borrowing musical bits and pieces from around the globe. Thus far they’ve taken listeners t
Review: Kitsuné Maison Compilation 11 (2011)
Six years after the first Kitsuné Maison Compilation the Paris based fashion and electronic music label have reached their 11th instalment of the indie inspired club music collection… or is that club inspired indie music? This is a question which has followed the label around the past decade. The
Review: Love Inks – E.S.P. (2011)
Something is happening. You can never put your finger on it, nor that it is occurring until years later. It starts unknowingly when a friend or two disappears from your city. You hear word of where they end up, and it’s a conundrum. “Why?” is the most response. Then as seasons approach a
INTERVIEW: MYNAMEISJOHNMICHAEL (NEW ORLEANS)
Ever since autumn, two friends have been gradually leaving traces of info about NOLA (New Orleans, Lousiana) and the state itself. Just like giving limited edition tidbits that are soon pulled away before given back, a general buzz has been building through their-and I quote-“subliminal messag