In the 10 years since his last proper album, 2003's Now, More Than Ever, Toronto singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie became a composer for hire. His soundtrack work covers TV commercials, video games (Sword & Sworcery) and indie films (Indie Game: The Movie). In 2007 he wrote most of the materials for his new album, then he let them sit at the back of his head. When he finally came around to finish it, it's been a decade since the Canadian indie rock guru left his holy temple. This aptly named album, Takes Time, feels completely unrushed, well-rounded, and organic. Folky guitar picking sets against Guthrie's youthful voice; simple melodies yet filled with lovely details. Each violin swell and trumpet blare sounds deliberate. If there's a thing that tells about a sentiment that's not too old but no longer young, this'd be it. A masterful return.

Playlist:

Wild Nothing - A Dancing Shell

Robyn Hitchcock - Be Still

Milo Greene - What's The Matter

Jacques Greene - On Your Side (feat. How To Dress Well)

Freddie Dickson - Shut Us Down

Mishal Moore - Get It Again

Rose Windows - Wartime Lovers

Chelsea Light Moving - Groovy & Linda

Jim Guthrie - Taking My Time

Jim Guthrie - The Rest Is yet to Come

Jim Guthrie - Bring on the Night

Jim Guthrie - Don't Be Torn

Petit fantôme - Etre honnête

Daughn Gibson - You Don't Fade

KID A - BB Bleu

Crocodiles - Cockroach

Chris Picco - In Your Light

Dean Blunt - Road 2 Redemption

Oneohtrix Point Never - Meet Your Creator

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Québécois singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe is an intriguing existance. His alternative music style derives from French chanson, cabaret, pop and classical; his lyrics are unusually poetic, somber, and even abstruse to some. He seems most at ease behind his piano, but he also relentlessly renovates his materials and brings new elements to his work. He's meticulous and demanding about his music; he's also not shy about revealing his imperfection in his songs. Punkt, his 4th original full-length, is also his most pop attempt. Under the musically diverse appearance, he tries to reinvent the chanson while contemplaing love, sex, life and death.

Playlist:

Classified - Inner Ninja (feat. David Myles)

Thundercat - Oh Sheit It's X

Standish/Carlyon - Gucci Mountain

Ben Pearce - Patticakes

Hibou - Glow

ADULT. - Tonight, We Fall

Solar Bears - Oceans Bleeding Through

Pierre Lapointe - Les remords ont faim

Pierre Lapointe - La sexualité

Pierre Lapointe - Monsieur

Pierre Lapointe - La date, l'heure, le moment

AV-K - Torsion

Montag - The Last Call

Albin de la Simone - La fuite

Local Natives - Wooly Robot

Saltland - Treehouse Schemes

Eluvium - Happiness (feat. Yo La Tengo)

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Young Galaxy is a band that has no shame of showing how they learned to be a band in front of everyone. Their sign to Arts & Crafts seemed so promising that the fall became much greater when their self-titled debut didn't reach the label's expectation. They broke free and self-released their second album, Invisible Public, which garnerd a deserved Polaris Music Prize nomination, but the success soon turned into the fear of repeating what's expected to work. Shapeshifting, their third full-length documented that momentous break of their music trajectory and their first collaboration with Swedish producer, Dan Lissvik. Now, Ultramarine is their most confident collection of songs to date yet. Recorded by 5 of them all together live in Gothenburg by Lissvik, the immediate chemistry, visceral energy, and the new gained courage of taking risks enhance these glimmering dream-pop songs. They are not perfect, but they sure reflect where and who they are right now.

Playlist:

Scott & Rivers - Homely Girl

Bravestation - All We Have Is Us

The Uncluded - Delicate Cycle

Griffin House - Go Thru It

Majical Cloudz - Bugs Don't Buzz

Jill Barber - Mélancolie

Baths - Miasma Sky

Young Galaxy - Pretty Boy

Young Galaxy - Hard To Tell

Young Galaxy - New Summer

Wolf People - Thief

Until The Ribbon Breaks - Pressure

Le Couleur - Voyage amoureux

Everything Is Made In China - Division Light

Snowden - The Beat Comes

Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal (Nosaj Thing Remix)

Quickbeam - Immersed

Phoria - Set Your Mind On It

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Hiding in his home studio 40 minutes away from Amsterdam, 24 year-old Jacco Gardner hands out a debut, Cabinet of Curiosities, that sounds like straight from the late 60's. Fully embracing the era that inspired him to create, this multi-instrumentalist did everything himself, just like the old way, except with a little analog mixing help from Dutch producer Jan Audier, who first-handedly cultivated Nederbeat scene back then. The fey materials and romantism acquired from Gardner's fantasies and sentiments puts on an unworldly coat to his music. If nothing else, his Baroque pop wonderland is at least a nice bridge to Syd Barrett, Curt Boettcher, and Brian Wilson.

Playlist:

Deerhunter - Monomania

White Laces - Deep Moves

ERAAS - At Heart

Marina and the Diamonds & Charli XCX - Just Desserts

Kirin J Callinan - Embracism

Tricky - Tribal Drums (feat. Francesca Belmonte)

Raffertie - Benediction

Wampire - Curiosity

Jacco Gardner - Clear The Air

Jacco Gardner - The One Eyed King

Jacco Gardner - Summer's Game

Reversing Falls - Curse This Place

The Baptist Generals - Broken Glass

WTCHS - Mr. Hands

Thoughts On Air - Harness

Sarah Neufeld - Hero Brother

Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett & Shara Worden - You Will Return

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With the release of their debut full-length, Ritual Tradition Habit, dark-pop quintet The Belle Game is on the rise. Hailed from Vancouver, their full and lush arrangement, delicate use of horns and strings, and occassional hymnal harmonies raises the comparison to big lineups such as Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire. Led by the soaring and hypnotic vocals of Andrea Lo, The Belle Game intertwines the delicate guitars and keyboard lines with pop rhythms and projects a bewitching sounscape that is rarely witnessed in a debut.

Playlist:

Janelle Monáe - Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erykah Badu)

Wax Idols - The Scent of Love

Cold War Kids - Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky

Goat - Goatman

STAARK - Shadows

Tizzy Bac - 有人

Christopher Owens - A Broken Heart

The Belle Game - River

The Belle Game - Bruises to Ash

The Belle Game - Wait up for You

Half Moon Run - Call Me in the Afternoon

Koreless - Sun

Moon King - Glass

The Last Royals - I Hate California

SQÜRL - Pink Dust

The KVB - Dayzed

Shlohmo - Don't Say No (feat. How To Dress Well)

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Singer-Songwriter Leif Vollebekk spent two years finding the perfect takes for his sophomore album North Americana. He wrote 10 songs "that can hold up in a storm" and got himself a great band of musicians; the rest of the making, however, took him from Montreal to a studio in Manhatten, from a farmhouse in Woodstock to a masion outside of Paris. Entirely recorded live on analog tapes, this record captures those moments so perfectly that it sounds immediate and old, shimmering and dusty at the same time. Fans of Dylan and Buckley, don't miss out.

Playlist:

Basement Jaxx - Back 2 The Wild

Jérôme Minière - Girophares

Honest - New You

Medicine - Long As The Sun

The Morning Birds - Born To Be Alive

Poliça - Tiff (feat. Justin Vernon)

About Group - Walk On By

Leif Vollebekk - Cairo Blues

Leif Vollebekk - Takk Sömuleiðis

Leif Vollebekk - When the Subway Comes Above the Ground

Bahamas - Burn as Bright (feat. The Weather Station)

Holograms - Flesh and Bone

Groenland - Immune

Bibio - You

Dirty Beaches - Landscapes in the Mist

王菲(Faye Wong) - 致青春

Colin Stetson - High Above A Grey Green Sea

Valleys - Hounds

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Yes I know The National is not a Canadian band. The header picture is to show how excited I am about their upcoming album Trouble Will Find Me.

Playlist:

British Sea Power - Machineries Of Joy

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark)

The National - Demons

Woodkid - The Great Escape

The Dear Hunter - Whisper

Choir of Young Believers - Nye Nummer Et (Norwegian: New Number One)

Levi Weaver - I Am Certain I Am a Train

She & Him - I Could've Been Your Girl

Fyfe - Solace

Queen Of The Stone Age - My God Is The Sun

The Soft Moon - Want

Kylesa - Unspoken

Fossil Collective - Wolves

CSS - Hangover

Telekinesis - Ghosts and Creatures

Spazzkid - Forgiveness

Teen Daze - Hidden

Dream Boat - Sea to Sky

Primal Scream - 2013

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Blue Hawaii shared the same breath in early 2010 with Arbutus Records, the DIY community in Montreal that also fostered Grimes and Doldrums. After releasing their debut EP, Blooming Summer, Raphelle Standell-Preston came back to her group, BRAIDS, and Alexander Cowan departed for Europe and its dance scene. In 2012, Blue Hawaii decided to make an album. They composed separately and recorded intermittently. This overwhelming space between the duo transformed itself into the introspection of how art and technology influence modern human relationships. Spacious and delicate, Untogether conveys the sense of belonging, self-awareness and the longing for communication.

Playlist:

Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop

New Politics - Harlem

Torres - Mother Earth, Father God

K-X-P - Staring At The Moon

Empress Of - Hat Trick

Daughter - Still

Fallulah - Dried-Out Cities

Lotide - Turn The Eyes

Blue Hawaii - Follow

Blue Hawaii - Try To Be

Blue Hawaii - Yours To Keep

Moon King - Dreamtrap

Club 8 - Stop Taking My Time

Mount Kimbie - Made To Stray

Saskatchewan - Possession

Dana Falconberry - Crooked River

Thee Oh Sees - Toe Cutter/Thumb Buster

Elephant - Skyscraper

KaiL Baxley - Say Goodbye To The Night

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