July 6, 2022

Winnipeg
19° C, Partly cloudy

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Arts & Life Arts & Entertainment Music
WEATHER ALERT

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

New Music

Reviews of this week's CD releases

Posted: 3:00 AM CST Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

Matt Andersen

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 3/2/2016 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Matt Andersen

Honest Man (Stubbyfingers Inc.)

Award-winning New Brunswick singer-guitarist Matt Andersen makes a stylistic about-face on his seventh album, the wonderful Honest Man, and it rates as one of the best from the big man of Canadian blues.

Recorded in New York, New Jersey, Halifax, Nashville and Kingston, Jamaica, the album is a full-blooded, blue-eyed-soul set that, at 10 songs, is short but oh so sweet. Breakaway pulls its positive, bouncy vibe from classic Al Green sides, while the title track and the hot Who Are You Listening To? use Andersen’s blues-guitar authority and golden pipes to get their moods across. Even the slow-jam ballads (I’m Giving In, Quiet Company, Last Surrender) owe their smoothness to their Muscle Shoals forebears, yet are stamped with Andersen’s charm.

Honest Man is neither a tribute to classic soul music, nor a pastiche for profit; it is the sound of an artist who’s dedicated to expanding the reach of his music. It honestly gets the job done — and then some. ★★★★

DOWNLOAD: Honest Man, Let’s Get Back

— Jeff Monk

Basia Bulat

Good Advice (Silent City)

Basia Bulat may have seemed a sunny indie-folk popster over the past 10 years, but some observers will have noticed the autoharp-wielding Toronto singer-songwriter was pushing her effervescent material, highlighted by her Natalie Merchant-esque voice, into darker, more exploratory territory on each of her three albums.

On Good Advice, Bulat takes a sonic leap forward, while at the same time wrestling with the draining emotions of a relationship’s end. She’s made synths and keyboards her main instruments, and she’s also working with a new producer (My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James). The result is almost a moderated pop feel, as if Bulat were well aware these songs could lead her into full-blown Adele territory. She and James come close to that sort of melodrama on the slower material, but these tunes largely work because they’re performed as songs rather than vocal showcases.

There’s still sun here, though: the lyrics on the opening trio of songs are as personal as anything Bulat’s written, but the tunes are as upbeat as her most celebratory material. ★★★1/2

Download: La La Lie

— John Kendle

 

Corin Raymond

Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (Local Rascal)

Winnipeg-born Corin Raymond is back with yet another linguistic masterpiece.

Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (see what he did there?) is full of fun wordplay right from the opening track, Hard on Things — "I’m hard on my body, I’m hard on my bones / I’m hard on every tool I own." From there it just gets better with songs like Morning Glories that really come alive with it’s vivid "pigeon conductors," "drunken John Priners" and "stray cat collectors."

Under the Belly of the Night is Raymond’s heartfelt ode to those classic artists who’ve passed on before their time… and those radio stations that keep the music alive.

Raymond may not be the best singer around but, like Neil Young or Townes Van Zandt, he’s truly one of a kind, with his rarely heard beat-poet influence and musical timing.

Whether real or made up, it’s apparent Raymond really cares about the characters who reside in his exceptional and engaging songs. ★★★★

Download: Morning Glories

— Bruce Leperre

 

 

Hélène Grimaud

Water (Deutsche Grammophon)

On this unusual new release, acclaimed French pianist Hélène Grimaud explores the power and beauty of water with 16 evocative tracks, including solo works by nine late-romantic and 20th-century composers.

The concept album was originally spawned by the ecologically minded musician’s 2014 site-specific installation in collaboration with visual artist Douglas Gordon, which transformed New York’s Park Avenue Armory Drill Hall into an "endless field of water." The live recording of Grimaud’s watery-themed program grew to become the basis for this disc, with seven electro-acoustic transitions by award-winning composer and DJ artist Nitin Sawhney subsequently added to help create the CD’s fluid narrative.

Selections include expected French classics: Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie, Fauré’s Barcarolle No. 5 and Ravel’s Jeux d’eau. However, Grimaud’s sensitive artistry is at its best during the lesser-known, more contemporary works: Berio’s Wasserklavier and Takemitsu’s Rain Tree, each washing over the ear like a musical meditation. Also included is bonus track Water Reflections, featuring the pianist’s own short poetic musings on each piece, further underscoring her personal commitment to this life-giving, increasingly threatened resource. ★★★★

— Holly Harris

 

 

New singles

Rihanna feat. Drake

Work (Universal)

If you were hoping for another We Found Love or Don’t Stop the Music, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. While Work is probably the most upbeat song from RiRi’s newly released, largely experimental downtempo album Anti, it lacks real bite in almost every way. The beat is breezy but minimal, the lyrics are lazy and unintelligible for the most part, even Drake sounds kind of bored. For a song titled Work, it doesn’t seem as if a lot went into it. ★★

Gwen Stefani

Make Me Like You (Interscope/Universal)

The Free Press | Newsletter

Shelley Cook | Uplift

A weekly review of funny, uplifting news in Winnipeg and around the globe that is delivered to your inbox each Wednesday.

Sign up for Uplift
Sign Up

After a couple of fairly underwhelming comeback attempts (Baby Don’t Lie, Used to Love You), Stefani finally hits the nail on the head with this fantastic disco-pop track that’s more than likely a reference to new boyfriend Blake Shelton. Sounds kind of like a jacked-up version of the Cardigans’ Love Fool if it were performed by Maroon 5. ★★★1/2

Tiesto & Oliver Heldens feat. Natalie La Rose

The Right Song (PM:AM/Universal)

The original instrumental version of this song, last year’s chugging, futuristic groover Wombass, was — and remains — a killer club record. This more radio-friendly version featuring vocals from Somebody singer Natalie La Rose is decent, but doesn’t really add anything remarkable. ★★★

 

— Steve Adams

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism.
BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top