Calvin Johnson
Before the Dream Faded... (K Records, www.krecs.com)
It has been three years since the release of Calvin "Indie Legend" Johnson's solo record, and over twenty since he first started making music. The guy's resume is scarily impressive - he was a member of seminal underground pop group Beat Happening, and also wrote and performed songs in Dub Narcotic Sound System and the Halo Benders. He founded K Records, without which Phil Elvrum might have never made music as strangely magical as he did with The Microphones, and on which Before the Dream Faded was released. And what a varied affair it is '“ Johnson switches between stark minimalism and jaunty instrumentation without missing a step, enlisting the help of the aforementioned Elvrum and fellow K artist Mirah to flesh out some of the songs. Yes, Before the Dream Faded is indeed a study in contrast; the charming twee-pop of "Your Eyes" would not sound out of place on a Halo Benders record, whereas "Obliteration Overload" could be the musical product of a whiskey-drinkin' 60 year old bluesman from the south. Oh, and for those not in the know, Mr. Johnson is the owner of a particularly sandpaperish baritone which he sometimes exaggerates for tongue-in-cheek shits and giggles. Still, Johnson is more endearing when he does doe-eyed earnestness ("When You Are Mine") than when he goes for wryly abstract affectation ("Red Wing Black"). In conclusion, if I had to compare this album to a Price Is Rightâ„¢ game, I would say it is probably not as enjoyable as Plinko, but probably cool enough to be Cliff Hangers. - PRAS RAJAGOPALAN
File Next To: Cliff Hangers but not Plinko.

The Castanets
First Light's Freeze (Asthmatic Kitty Records, www.asthmatickitty.com)
Castanets is one dude, Raymond Raposa, though fifteen people are credited on the album. His second release First Light's Freeze is sad, and spacey, and is exactly what you would expect when friends of Sufjan Stevens smoke a bunch of weed together and jam along to half-written songs. The arrangements of beautiful melodies, sung by haunting instruments that you often can't identify, drift through space, searching to create a sum out of parts. These wafting riffs are replaced by others, and occasionally the listener can pinpoint a sort of structure to it all, but by the time you've caught it between clasped hands it's no longer there. Vapour, emanating outwards to join the cosmos. The lyrics suggest friendships and war and whatnot. For those who just want to shed the weight of the world that accumulates around you, clinging to the fabric of your soul, dreamy soundscapes and a packed bong await you. For those of you who like to party and can't wait for First Impressions Of Earth to come out, get ready for the nap of your young life. - SEBASTIAN VON CLAPTRAP
File Next To: Waking Life with the sound turned off

Explosions in the Sky
How Strange, Innocence (Temporary Residence, www.temporaryresidence.com)
How Strange, Innocence is Explosions in the Sky's first real album, which was limited to a run of about 300 CDRs. It's now available in a new, remastered form, which has buffed out some of the rookie mistakes, and includes swanky new packaging. The more skeptical music fan may find themselves dismissing the effort as an easy money grab. But put How Strange, Innocence in your CD player or load it on your iPod and it will quickly remind you of how much raw talent this instrumental quartet is bursting with. What this album lacks in diversity, the band makes up for in true enthusiasm, lost in the moment of doing something great for the very first time. For a band like Explosions in the Sky, this is the moment when they had nothing to measure themselves against, free to do whatever they want. Eventually all instrumental artists have to overcome their body of work, to find new ways out of their tried and true formulas before they run out of steam. By no means is How Strange, Innocence the best thing Explosions in the Sky has ever done, but it's refreshing to hear the band in its infancy.- TYRONE WARNER
File next to: Mogwai, Low, Do Make Say Think

Holy Fuck
S/T
Canuck quasi-supergoup Holy Fuck '“ its members include golden-voiced indie minstrel Brian Borchedt and recruits from Blue Rodeo and King Cobb Steelie '“ seem to be doing rather well for themselves these days. Folks are abuzz with excitement about their manic live shows; they are collaborating with hott hip-hop maverick Beans, and have been drafted by everyone's favourite stoner-psych outfit The Mars Volta to play a much-ballyhooed All Tomorrow's Parties gig in jolly old London, England. Why all the fuss, you ask? Well, this bunch take a largely improvisational approach to crafting sounds, allowing effects pedal tweaks, discarded synthesizer beeps and bass-heavy percussion to rub up against each other and coalesce into a shape-shifting, muscular mutant of noise. Pretty cool, huh? So how does a band whose watchword is unpredictability sound on the sometimes constraining medium of compact disc? Pretty damn good, if you must know. S/T starts off a little warily, but gradually, the album gathers momentum like a gargantuan industrial locomotive, its wagons held together by cheap duct tape, its Casio wheels creaking erratically as the tribal chug of the engine accelerates the whole steaming, rattling colossus on top of none-too-steady tracks, leaving you shaken, confused, and unsure of where exactly the destination is. '“ PRAS RAJAGOPALAN
File Next To: Not making use of the band's name in an all-too-obvious manner in this review.

Hudson Bell
When the Sun is the Moon (Monitor Records, www.monitorrecords.com)
Despite the renewed interest in keyboards, drum beats and samplers, it's good to know that there will always be some truly righteous dudes out there like Hudson Bell who aren't afraid to rock a long string of guitar pedals and let wail a droney, sludgey, swirly wall of sound that has been rarely seen this side of Y2K. On When the Sun is the Moon Hudson Bell stomps his way through seven shoegaze epics, his voice landing just a little north of Conor Oberst. The bass and drums don't mess around, they hold down the fort as Bell wades through his warm fuzz, complemented well by his really catchy tunes. Standouts include the swirling "Slow Burn" and rocker "Atlantis Nights." "The Falls" brings to mind some classic Smashing Pumpkins guitar magic, "Seven Cities" is a short celebratory jaunt, and "The Midnight Year" turns epic, dissolving sweet acoustic guitars into chiming church bells until a sad harmonica works its way into the mix. "Strange Lands" is a powerful show of bombast, leading into the sweet anthem "Sea Horse," a perfect summary of this too short album. It's a feel good listen that sounds great cranked up loud, and will no doubt make any listener want to lay down right beside Bell on those west coast rainbow covered hills. - TYRONE WARNER.
File next to: Dinosaur Jr., Matthew Sweet, Smashing Pumpkins

Minus Story
No Rest for Ghosts (Jagjaguwar, www.Jagjaguwar.com)
It's intricacy and attention to detail with every overlaying instrument made this album inviting from the first track played. With slow vocals that sound like a sad drone over the music, it's as though a traditional raga has been mixed with a symphony. And yet the rhythmic patterns incorporating the piano, bottles, and delay pedal give each song a distinct, appealing feel. With tracks like 'œLittle Wet Head,'? one of the best songs of the album, Minus Story's ability to create a rise and fall in intensity while still projecting a balanced sound demonstrates their creativity and talent. Their versatility on each of the songs makes No Rest for Ghosts a great discovery. This is one of those albums where it seems as though every day you find a new favourite '“ always the greatest to listen too! This record, along with their prior albums, is worth checking out. - Jasmyn Burke
File Next To: Bach meets Ravi Shankar and they decide to create beautiful music

Pinetop Seven
The Night's Bloom (Barbary Coast Recordings, www.pinetopseven.com)
Taking photographs of the midnight sky is a practice in modern day interpretation. To capture the beauty of naked space and stars is pointless; they end up as little white dots on a black rectangle, a disappointed appropriation. In the woods, a camera's flash will illuminate the trees overhead into slender white fingers and obscure the beauty beyond their reach. If anything, the photographs won't remind anyone of the beauty of the stars, but will be a reminder that it was a sky worthy of taking a picture, despite the bland results. The night can never be fully captured, and will only really exist in it's fully splendor when a lonely soul lifts his face skyward. Pinetop Seven's fifth album, The Night's Bloom, is a testament to the solemn beauty of darkness, stillness and loneliness. Despite being brisk and colorful, Pinetop Seven's music will whisk away the listener into the ether, and will feel like floating as a part of the empty expanse between the planets. - TYRONE WARNER.
File next to: Iron & Wine, Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Sailboats Are White
Turbo! (Let's Just Have Some Fun, www.letsjusthavesomefun.com)
Let's Just Have Some Fun may be more than just the label that (self) released this album (check the website for three excellent mp3 downloads). It also may be the guiding principle behind the writing, recording and production of this album. The artwork for Turbo! is a wry send-up of the artwork (specifically the Geffen re-issue) of Pere Ubu's debut classic Modern Dance album from 1978. The songs on this disc also seem to hearken back to the spirit of that era without trying to replicate it quite so closely. Some of the songs on this album are so short and infectious that they demand immediate repeat listening. The instant catchiness of the music is balanced by the incessant ranting of lead singer Kevin Douglas, who adds his dense lyrics in a hoarse shout most of the time. Kevyn Wright (self) produces the album, and does an excellent job. There are many subtle touches and wonderful hooks throughout the album. A sense of humour is also in ample supply. This is an impressive debut release. '“ PADDY O'DONNELL
File Next To: Almost Hardcore Old-School New-Wave Electro Punk from Hamilton.

Silver Sunshine
A Pocket Full of Pure Spirit (Empty Can, www.silversunshine.com)
The name of this group had me thinking it was some sort of psych-sunshine group. Unfortunately, it's nothing nearly as exciting as that. This EP kicks off with 'œ144,000'? (presumably taken from the Jehovah's Witness theory that there is only enough room in heaven for 144,000 souls, though you wouldn't know it from the lyrics) that plays like a poorly written Sloan b-side. Terrible production and overwrought vocals leave me feeling a little disappointed, which is only compounded by 'œWaiting for the Sun'?, which makes the previous track seem almost great by comparison. A tacky organ leads into an almost direct rip of a Smog track ('œMy Family'?) as played by'¦ Sloan. Seriously, what is this? Who are these guys? This is awful, derivative music. That's all that can really be said. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: Bad bands with good names.

The Skygreen Leopards
Jehovah Surrender (Jagjaguwa, www.jagjaguwar.com)
It's five in the morning and I'm sitting in a cold house listening to Jehovah Surrender. The production crackles and I realize there is no better time or place to listen to this sort of music. While not as immediately compelling as their debut, Life & Love in the Sparrow's Meadow, this EP plays off of their more haunting qualities, sounding like a trio of lost sides from some early folky (jamming with a drummer in a warehouse). There's a melancholy here that's perfect for these cold nights, a sort of haunted ambiance that makes the music that much more affecting. Tracks like 'œApparition of Suns'? and the title track play on the new folk trend for making warbly bedroom music, but one-up it with cavernous production and booming drums. It's a kind of dichotomy that makes the music even better than it would have been had the band just played it straight - the songs are sad, yes, but they will still make you get down. '“ ANTHONY GERACE
File Next To: Jewelled Antler, Grand Ulena, and the new folk

Tall Dwarfs
Weeville (Remaster/Reissue) (Cloud Recordings, www.cloudrecordings.com)
New Zealand's Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate have been making music together since 1978, though only as a duo called 'œTall Dwarfs'? since 1981. Weeville was originally released in 1990, and marked some changes to their sound and direction. Pre-Wee, Tall Dwarfs were a fairly lo-fi enterprise, which was a large part of their character & charm. This release found them honing their craft, writing much more realized songs with greater stylistic variation and better production than ever before. When I first heard this album fifteen years ago, I felt that some of the duo's uniqueness had been lost in the exchange. I still feel that it isn't until the seventh track, the excellent 'œPirouette'?, that they truly hit the full breadth of their peculiar stride. And yet, every track on this remastered reissue proves to be memorable, still shows their unique charter, and is worth listening to. This is a strong disc, after all. It's an excellent introduction for newcomers and a solid release in the catalogue for fans. '“ PADDY O'DONNELL
File Next To: Kiwi-core, Flying Nun, Blues, Folk, Psych, DIY Pop, + weirdness, machines, rhythm makers & an arsenal of toys