Ryan Leas

Ever since 2002, Pop Montréal has taken over venues across town one week a year for a far-ranging festival that balances established names and emerging acts. With some of the locals describing this year as feeling like the first “true” iteration of the festival since COVID, the excitement feels particularly palpable; there’s an electricity in the air while you drop in on wildly different artists just a few blocks away from each other.

It was bound to happen eventually: As we got deeper into Pop Montréal, the conflicts got worse. On Friday night, there was a ton to choose from, including a mind-blowing performance from Shabazz Palaces and the last minute addition of Backxwash when Junglepussy couldn’t make it anymore. Part of me wanted to go zone out to the ambient psychedelia of TENGGER. Unfortunately, they were on at the exact same time as Ratboys, and even with everything else going on across Friday night, it felt like Ratb…

“Hey dudes, have you stepped into your brand new life yet?” That was Robin Dann, vocalist of Bernice, relaying an email a friend had sent her some time ago to the crowd crammed in a tiny room to see her band on what was effectively the grand finale night of this year’s Pop Montréal. But she put the question to the audience, too, and spoke broadly about how there seemed to be something in the air, big changes afoot. By the time you get to the fourth night of a festival, you start to feel as if yo…

For over 20 years, Pop Montréal has taken over venues across the city for a festival that balances beloved local acts with international names, all fueled by a spirit of discovery. Before my first time here, I thought of it as more of a SXSW-style affair, with its gigantic lineup spread out over town. But now that we’ve come to the end of Pop Montréal 2023, it reminds me more of events like Iceland Airwaves. When people talk about Montréal’s European flair, they aren’t lying, and the festival’s…

You think you know where you are. The song is called “Within A Mile Of Dublin,” and for any outsider the music indeed soon conjures Ireland. A droning intro comes to life, a whistle leading an old-school reel — the sort of trad folk you can still hear in pubs across the country. Then things morph, mutate. A woman’s voice eerily intones the title, processed drums throb, and electronic sounds hiss and overcome the acoustic instruments at the song’s core. On his new album Look Over The Wall, See Th…

Over the last several years, you may have noticed a proliferation of nostalgia-driven package festivals, the likes of When We Were Young and Just Like Heaven, which curate lineups derived from specific eras and genres. Back in June, Darker Waves was one of the new names to enter the fray. Similar to Cruel World, Darker Waves is a new wave and goth festival that takes place a little outside of LA. (Darker Waves’ inaugural lineup actually shared many names with Cruel World’s original outing last y…

We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.

Stream the Toronto duo’s new LP and read our interview.

There are certain things aging rock stars say when they’re a few decades in and releasing their 12th album. They might say they are rocking harder than you’ve heard them in years, that “It’s a lot heavier than you’d expect.” They might say, no, really, “No hyperbole… this is our best work.” These are certain things members of Pearl Jam, a group of aging rock stars, said in advance of their own 12th album, Dark Matter, which arrives nearly 35 years into their career. As you might imagine, not all…

Annie Clark is course-correcting.