Author Archives: Justin

Bahamas’ “I Got You Babe”

By Justin | May 5, 2012

With just a guitar and a drumset—and occasionally, two lovely ladies in coordinating dresses humming—Afie Jurvanen is able to create compelling, easy-going rock tunes served with a side of folk. “I Got You Babe”, from his latest full-length, Barchords, opens with a catchy Weezer-esque riff and floats along to evocative cymbal accompaniment matched by Jurvanen’s [...]

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Conservative vs. liberal TV

By Justin | April 17, 2012

As if more evidence were needed that liberal-leaning Americans are more intelligent (and have better taste) than conservatives: The top-ten Republican-tilted shows are “The Office,” “Rules of Engagement,” “The Mentalist,” “New Yankee Workshop,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Castle,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Dancing With The Stars,” “The Biggest Loser,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” The top ten most Democratic-leaning [...]

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Obama’s rhetoric vs. Obama’s policy

By Justin | April 8, 2012

Mm, tasty: But as liberals have repeatedly learned to their dismay, the devil is not in the poetry of the president’s election-time rhetoric but in the prose of his apparent eagerness to seek out a compromise on almost any Republican proposal offered him. Liberals have spent decades trying to adjudicate the claims of their conflicting [...]

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Quick list: SXSW 2012 shows

By Justin | March 21, 2012

Looking back, my final estimation is that SXSW 2012 was nothing short of incredible. Like last year, I saw almost exclusively Canadian indie acts. However, unlike last year, I saw more than twice as many shows (a whopping 52 this year, compared to 23 last year). Like last year, I ran into CBC Radio notable [...]

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The flight and the blackness

By Justin | January 15, 2012

I was only seven at the time—though, in those lighter days, I would have no doubt told you I was seven-and-a-half, in the manner that all children do, so eager are they to grow up and grow away—and I wasn’t expecting it to happen. Really, I wasn’t. I mean, it seemed like it would be [...]

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Forest City Lovers’ “If I Were a Tree”

By Justin | January 15, 2012

I was on YouTube the other day and came across a very catchy song by a band that gets nowhere near the attention it deserves: “If I Were a Tree” by Forest City Lovers. This song, with its cute yet rather vindictive lyrics, can be played on repeat for an hour without it getting old. [...]

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“Little Mountain” due out March 6, 2012

By Justin | December 19, 2011

Vancouver, B.C. indie rockers Said The Whale—fresh off their latest tour across the United States accompanied by fellow Canadians We Are the City—announced that their next full-length album, Little Mountain, will be released on March 6, 2012. The first single from the new album, called “Heavy Ceiling”, is now available on the iTunes Store. In [...]

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SXSW 2012: Canadian indie invasion

By Justin | December 11, 2011

The third round of official South by Southwest 2012 showcasing artists was announced last week, adding another 400 bands to the roster for what’s become, in the somewhat modest words of SXSW organizers, “one of the largest, most influential, and most anticipated music events of the year.” Along with that third round announcement came a [...]

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Hollerado’s “Good Day At the Races”

By Justin | November 30, 2011

Sitting at a respectable #11 (and having peaked at #9) on the Canadian alt rock radio charts this week, “Good Day At the Races” is, in the usual style of Hollerado, catchy, quirky, and fun power pop-rock. Selected as the first single off their 10-inch compilation album, Margaritaville 2: The Reckoning—which, interestingly, comes bundled with a [...]

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Bruce Peninsula’s “In Your Light”

By Justin | November 27, 2011

Airy guitars and quick plucks of the strings open Bruce Peninsula’s latest indie-gospel choir-rock tour de force, “In Your Light”. The ten-piece Toronto band’s second full-length album, Open Flames, was released last month after the year and a half of anticipation and sadness that followed band member Neil Haverty’s being diagnosed with leukemia. (Haverty’s cancer has [...]

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