Tunes From Away

for you.’

The track “Full Time Dazing” is almost too real for me. From the background static to the repeating guitar melodies to all the lines about being lost at sea, this track is like a dissociative episode.

That feeling is similarly echoed in ‘That Room,’ where I’m not really all there, and the world around me no longer feels real. It’s the type of track you could just turn on, sit back, and let yourself get completely lost in it.

Dil Brito Fences Glimpses Glances

In most parts of his music, he doesn’t need lyrics; the melodies say it all. The small comforts of this album make it feel incredibly warm and welcoming. It has almost a nostalgic haze type of vibe to it. I think the best part about it is that this isn’t some pretentious ass shit. It’s complex and beautiful, but it still doesn’t feel as though it’s trying to aim too hard for that target audience of ‘snobby hipsters who listen to folk music and probably think that they’re both better than you AND too smart

I think that within his music, there’s also a bit of connection there too. It goes around full circle. There’s a type of weird deja vu throughout the album where you hear a new sound and go, “wait, I think I heard that before” or there’s some musical repetitiveness there, just enough that it seems as though it’s really tying the whole album together in a sense.

Dil Brito’s music overall feels incredibly powerful and poetic. In both the aspects of musical parts and lyrics, I believe that Dil Drito truly does have an incredibly unique and interesting style and sound.

GABRIEL FARS

The album closes with “O Saturn,” a bittersweet conclusion. It wraps up the album well because it sticks to the same space themes. Overall, I think this album is solid, and I look forward to any future releases by the group. In my opinion, it feels like a follow-up is in order, as the album ends a little too soon. Hopefully, they won’t keep me waiting very long.

pieces of phrases and jokes overheard. In short, the movie is profoundly Winnipeg. There is no pretense, only a dogged earnestness. The Saskatoon expat Kitz Willman seems to be tapping into the same stream with his latest release, Grim Errands.

JAKOB SHEPPARD

Not long after moving to Winnipeg, Kitz Willman released the stunning Royal Visit to Uranium City. Royal Visit was a blast of free jazz saxophone, colonial critique, scaegorial nonsense, and punk aesthetic wrapped in a babushka. With Grim Errands, the sonic pallet is streamlined to sinister synths and off-kilter samples but what really stands out is Kitz style of rapping.

In December, I went to see the cult classic Crime Wave at Cinematheque by Winnipeg director John Paizs. Crime Wave is brimming with ideas, freely mixing ideas in a charming, haphazard way. A bit of surrealism, some sardonic and dark prairie humour, a kitschy 50s vibe, bits and

To my ears, there is a lot of stuff that is just straight-up nonsense and free associations. Other lines have clearly been written out. In a way, Kitz is sampling himself, using premeditated lines as a jumping point for improvisation. More than a few times, I could only laugh and shake my head at some of the lines he spits. There are also incredibly biting lines like in Rap Journalist “Doesn’t know how to pronounce Fanon but wants to ask a black rapper about everything that’s going on.”

This one deserves your ears and attention. SCOTT PRICE

Graham Kartna Toot Toot

Toot Toot is the latest album from Hamilton-based electronic musician Graham Kartna. Known by indietronica fans for his collagelike style of incorporating various sound bytes, voice recordings, and the occasional robot voice within his music, Kartna is a unique talent and a prolific artist, having released over 20 albums since 2011.

Toot Toot begins with “Mai Donkey,” a dreamy, cheery, and hopeful instrumental that pleasantly invites the listener in with the sound byte, “Good evening, I like you very much.” “Mai Donkey” is a wonderful introduction to Kartna’s new album and his brand of music for new and curious listeners. You’ll find Kartna uses a variety of sound clips creatively throughout his songs, and you may even notice the subtle undertone of humour present in his work.

“Only At Your Convenience” is one of the tracks on the album where we find some offbeat vocals describing an awkward, slightly apathetic, slightly neurotic character who knows what’s up but also knows there’s not much anyone can do about it. The lyrics are forgiving, and the overall feeling of Kartna’s music is a sense of not taking oneself too seriously. Be goofy, be quirky, and most importantly, have fun. You get the impression throughout Toot Toot that Kartna is having a lot of fun creating his music. It’s silly, uplifting, uses weird computer synths, and is also incredibly endearing. Songs like “Your Continued Work,” with samples of a young lady saying, “I love you,” and “Night Sweats,” where the lyrics display a certain level of selfacceptance and humbleness.

“Oh Lourd/Toot Toot” is another example of strategically awkward vocals and lyrics sprinkled with humility. About halfway through the song, we’re giving a delicate and playful instrumental that really perks up the ears and gets you moving.

We’re brought back down to a more baseline and chill-ish walking tune with “Window Shopping,” and we can sense during “Jellystoning” that Kartna is preparing us to depart from his fascinatingly glitchy world. Closing the album with a beautiful arrangement of samples and cuts, “How Can You Tell” says goodbye in good fashion.

The best part about a Graham Kartna album is that you can’t expect where any song will go next, so if you’re someone who enjoys an adventure in electronic compositions–he certainly is the guy for you.

JACLYN WESEEN

CADASTRAL MAPS TIN-EAR

Tin-Eared typically means someone who is insensitive to or lacks the ability to appreciate or make good judgments about music. But I can tell you that

Tin-Ear is anything except that.

This is exactly the type of music you would expect to come out of Prince Edward Island. If you want to listen to something absolutely jazztastic, or music that tastes positively scrumdiddlyumptious, Cadastral Maps is it.

It feels as though, throughout the album, there’s a bit of a journey there. It’s almost as though the lead singer is trying to tell us a story through their lyrics. I think it makes you feel more connected to what they’re trying to say with the music. It makes you want to listen in closer and carefully decipher what they’re trying to say throughout the songs.

“Fling Straw Man” is a track that reminds me of those soft and sweet parts of my childhood. Knowing that it’s over now but looking back sweetly at the memories.

The lyrics and track of “Star Song” solidify the magical and almost fantasylike themes of the album. Especially with all that talk about dragons. The whole album is a journey, and Tin-Ear is just trying to help guide you through it and trying to show you where to go. Cadastral Maps is that perfect blend between fantasylike and child lofi focus type of music. It’s calming but not boring, which is exactly the type of music I’m looking for.

GABRIEL FARS