CHARTattack

The fact that Victoria, B.C.'s Shapes And Sizes are the only Canadian band to be signed to Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty immediately gives the four-piece some serious musical cred.

For two hours, the Toxin Twins and the rest of Aerosmith put aside their various recent squabbles and gave Torontonians a nostalgic hard rock trip including all the hits from Toys In The Attic to Honkin' On Bobo.
 

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's career started with a prolific bang, collected here as Year One in part of Majordomo's ongoing reissue campaign.

The production team for this latest Nathan Lawr-led disc is a who's who of moonlighting Ontario musicians. It was mixed by Howie Beck, mastered by the Two-Minute Miracles' Andy Magoffin, and engineered by ex-Rheostatic Don Kerr and the Constantines' Will Kidman. (Another Constantine — Bry Webb — shows up for a guest appearance on guitars and vocals, too.)

Frazey Ford, a founding member of the iconic Vancouver folkies The Be Good Tanyas, has established herself as a credible grass roots artist. With the release of her Obadiah debut solo album, she seemingly works to stay true to her fan base, her musical comfort zone and to the genre that first helped bring her success.

Normally I'd be tempted to make fun of a band that sounded like '80s hair metal rejects, but it's a little hard to do with Vancouver's Krome.

The last few years have seen a resurgence in interest in Leonard Cohen, particularly just before and since the release of his Polaris Music Prize long-listed Live In London two-disc CD/DVD.

I was completely excited when I heard that Avenged Sevenfold were going through with the recording of their latest effort, Nightmare, following the death of drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan. Most bands would take some time off, so I was really thrilled that they were finishing the recording. Which is why listening to Nightmare is such a mixed blessing.

The first track on this second Provincial Archive full-length (their debut, by the way, is barely a year old) is noticeably similar to Freelance Whales' "Generator ^ First Floor" — the opening song from that band's Weathervanes debut.