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1 month ago | 
northerntransmissions.com | Erin MacLeod |Charles Brownstein
In Montreal, on a farewell tour of sorts – Portishead drummer and composer Geoff Barrow is leaving the trio – the krautrock experimentation of Bristol’s Beak> was met with some challenges, but still delivered. Any knowledge of the band would give a pretty good indication of what was to be expected: primarily tracks from their surprise 2024 album entitled “>>>>”, followed by a few older tracks. Beak> isn’t really a singles-driven outfit, nor do they engage in singalongs.
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2 months ago | 
northerntransmissions.com | Erin MacLeod |Charles Brownstein
In the aftermath of one of the biggest snowstorms in recent memory, a packed house in Montreal came together to listen to the atmospheric sounds of the three man band that is Molchat Doma, from equally snowy Minsk, Belarus, a country ruled by authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. The foggy stage was lit up with purples, deep blues, and flashing strobes, as the band launched into their first track, “Колесом (Kolesom)”.
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Nov 9, 2024 | 
thewalrus.ca | Erin MacLeod
“It’s only a racetrack. There’s nothing really to see.” This is what the woman said to me over the phone. I think her underselling the racetrack maybe had to do with my accent, so very not British, and hers so obviously so. It was evident to her that we had come from far away, and this clearly meant wanting to see something more than a racetrack in rural Yorkshire, so she didn’t want to promise more than she could possibly fulfill.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
northerntransmissions.com | Erin MacLeod |Stewart J. Wiseman |Charles Brownstein
Rain thankfully arrived on the final evening of Osheaga. There was an initial false alarm for “severe weather” in the late afternoon that interrupted the bulldozer of yelling energy that is Melbourne’s Amyl and the Sniffers, but a brief squall followed by a pleasant, relaxed spitting to accompany Hamza’s understated performance at dusk. Heat was the theme of the weekend. Yes, the weather – even Noah Kahan complained about feeling “disgusting”. Don’t worry pal: we were right there with you.
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Aug 3, 2024 | 
northerntransmissions.com | Stewart J. Wiseman |Erin MacLeod |Charles Brownstein
The 17th edition of Osheaga began on Friday under an unforgiving sun, with a sold-out crowd braving the heat. Spanning five stages and complemented by an array of food trucks and bar tents, the first day of the festival had something for every kind of music fan. Friday’s lineup alone showcased a wide range of genres, from the vibrant fantasy-pop of Melanie Martinez to the raw punk energy of Mannequin Pussy, and the heartfelt acoustic choruses of Noah Kahan.
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Jul 4, 2024 | 
mtlreviewofbooks.ca | Erin MacLeod
It’s been just over a year since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden teamed up to announce the closure of Roxham Road, an unofficial border crossing in the small village of Hemmingford, Quebec. Thousands of asylum seekers had been relying on Roxham Road each month to ensure their refugee claims found consideration in Canada.
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Apr 3, 2024 | 
spin.com | Erin MacLeod
Live at Pop Montreal, in the waning days of the sticky 2023 summer heat, long before their debut album was available, the duo known as Groundsound took the stage in bright, ruffled costumes that shimmered as they moved to the bass. The Riddim Writer—who, in another life, is Isis Semaj-Hall, literature professor at the University of the West Indies—drew the audience in alongside Gavsborg, a.k.a. Gavin Blair of the venerable Jamaican group, collective, and label Equiknoxx.
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Aug 19, 2023 | 
pitchfork.com | Erin MacLeod
From the first crash and gurgle of Reset in Dub, it’s clear that Adrian Sherwood’s extensive reworking of Panda Bear and Sonic Boom’s 2022 album offers a new perspective on the original—a reset of Reset, if you will. The Eddie Cochran guitar riff deployed on the album version of “Gettin’ to the Point” is gone, the verses have transformed into horn lines, and the chorus echoes over sirens, flutes, a thick wall of bass and drum, and classic dub effects.
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Aug 5, 2023 | 
northerntransmissions.com | Erin MacLeod |Charles Brownstein
Friday morning was cloudy and overcast, but the heavens appeared to part especially for Osheaga and none of the forecasted thundershowers hassled what Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne correctly described as “a perfect day for a festival”. The first of three days of music offered up so many options that it required a whole lot of running between stages to fit in as many performances as possible. This is definitely not a complaint.
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Aug 2, 2023 | 
northerntransmissions.com | Erin MacLeod |Évelyne Côté |Charles Brownstein
Of course, this year’s headliners aim to please: Friday it’s the house-tinged electronic dance music of well loved and oft heard on TikTok Rüfüs Du Sol. On Saturday, pop superstar Billie Eilish returns five years (and a pandemic) after her last appearance at Osheaga. And then, on Sunday, Montreal has the pleasure of welcoming living legend Kendrick Lamar for the third time at Osheaga…but it has been almost a decade since his last appearance. We are in for a treat.
