The Georgia Straight

11 hours ago | straight.com | Mike Usinger

Recordings by Mike Usinger on June 6th, 2025 at 11:16 AM Alien BoysLive At Rain City Recorders (Independent)Admittedly, it somehow seems wrong to start with the cover song, but it’s a marvel on Alien Boys’ Live At Rain City Recorders. The Vancouver punk provocateurs look across the pond for inspiration, going to town on PJ Harvey’s 30-year-old breakthrough “Down By the Water”. The original version, produced by Harvey and Flood, was snaky, sultry, and ominously creepy.

2 days ago | straight.com | Mike Usinger

Arts Features by Mike Usinger on June 4th, 2025 at 11:50 AM The new cross-Pacific collaboration Sloth Canon makes a strong case that we’re all architects of our own misfortune, unwilling to slow down a progress-obsessed world even though we’d probably be happier.

1 week ago | straight.com | Nathan Caddell

Music by Nathan Caddell on May 29th, 2025 at 1:06 PM For the second year in a row, bbno$ will put on Baby’s Bonanza, a concert at the PNE Forum featuring the uber popular Vancouver hip-hop artist and a collection of friends. This year’s version includes Priyanka, Ikky, Yung Kai, and Jungle Bobby. Like last year’s effort, and because bbno$ is a patron saint, all proceeds from the event will be donated to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

1 week ago | straight.com | Mike Usinger

Not every song, whether you’re talking the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray”, or the Angry Samoans’ “You Stupid Jerk”, enters the world fully formed. Most begin as snippets, riffs, lyrics, bridges and choruses—small ideas snatched out of the ether like gifts from the creative gods, and then stored on Garageband or Abelton or Pro Tools for later use. That kind of explains the beginnings of 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions, the latest from Portland cult-faves Blitzen Trapper.

1 week ago | straight.com | Mike Usinger

Urban Living by Mike Usinger on May 28th, 2025 at 1:54 PM Known and loved as a West Coast holiday-season tradition, the Weirdos Market has announced a spring edition. On June 8 at the Birdhouse, Vancouverites will get the chance to pick up mounted scorpions and taxidermied baby ducks, Victorian-goth jewelery, freak-flag-flying art works, and punk-rock doll’s heads. Billed as The Spring Weirdening, the day-long indoor-outdoor celebration will spotlight 30 artists.