hey rosetta!- seeds (3.5/5)

Hey Rosetta! is a “Canadian” band. Yes, they are from Canada but they are also “Canadian.” There is a sound to Canadian indie-pop that we all know as soon as we hear it, something set in sharp contrast to the clean and overly crisp sound of American indie-pop. Hey Rosetta! is to cod fishing as The National is to a presidential campaign. So what is it that makes Seeds such a perfectly Canadian record?

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iron & wine- kiss eachother clean (5/5)

Recently Sam Beam told SPIN magazine that Kiss Each Other Clean “is more of a focused pop record. It sounds like music people heard in their parent’s car growing up…that early-to-mid ‘70s FM, radio-friendly music” and he’s right. And it’s very surprising and very very very good. Excellent even. Astounding, actually. Even when you find yourself dancing in your car and you say, “WHAT? I’m dancing in my car to Iron & Wine? Is this happening?” It is, and you will love it. Completely. The days of Iron & Wine’s lo-fi home recording remain bubbling and simmering just underneath, but on the surface is a more refined, clean and deeply textured sound.

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spring breakup- it's not you, it's me (3/5)

Described in their press as “the unusual musical marriage between Yukon songwriter Kim Barlow and Mathias Kom, nouveau Newfoundlander and leader of The Burning Hell. They like to live as far as possible from each other, and then get together and write pretty little ukulele and banjo songs about the inevitable end of love.” Banjo! Ukelele! Girl/boy vocals! Oh my! Add in some heartbreak and you’ve got what amounts to the CUTEST 13 songs you’ve heard in a long long time. Cute hardly even begins to describe Spring Breakup, try: delightful, darling, adorable, and even saccharine at times.

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