Laraaji's Spirit Moved Ottawa's Consciously Unconcious │ Exclaim! Centretown United Church, April 11

I got to see Laraaji perform in a 120-year-old church last night and @exclaimdotca.bsky.social let me write about it.

Laraaji at Centretown United Church, Ottawa, Canada.

Fave songs ft. James Gadson on drums. R.I.P.
1 Bill Withers- Use Me
2 Beck- End of the Day
3 Smokey Robinson- Being with You
4 Marvin Gaye- I Want You
5 The Jackson 5- Dancing Machine
6 Leonard Cohen- Be for Real
7 Diana Ross- Love Hangover
8 Bill Withers- Lean on Me
9 Gloria Gaynor- I Will Survive

Thundercat Hails the Influence of RATM, Kamasi Washington and Quebec Soft Rock Singer Gino Vannelli │ Exclaim! The Exclaim! Questionnaire

I got to ask Thundercat a lot of fun questions for @exclaimdotca.bsky.social, despite his constant trolling by mentioning how the Dodgers beat the Jays.
But I kept reminding him that I come from a specific place in Canada where we like the Tigers instead.
exclaim.ca/music/articl...
#MusicSky

"Protecting Canada" needs to mean more than militarism and extraction and exclusion. Let's remember to protect the nature that is all around us and that we are all apart of. 💚

Canada and Carney have promised to #ProtectNature. Let's hold them to it >> act.gp/4rJBnYg

Ribbon Skirt in Ottawa.

Stop the AI 'Bio-Timebomb' before it starts! This sounds like a bad movie, but it’s real: right now, AI tech CEOs are handing out “recipes” for bioweapons - viruses as deadly as COVID or even worse - to anyone with an internet connection.New “bi

Stop the AI 'Bio-Timebomb' before it starts! action.eko.org/a/stop-the-a...

I'm happy that Michael B. Jordan won the Academy Award for best actor. But, honestly, he couldn't of done it without the help of Scottie B. Pippen.

Sloan Were in Their Neil Young Era in Ottawa │ Exclaim! Bronson Centre Music Theatre, March 5

I've seen Sloan 14 times now. That's one concert for every 3.5 years I've been alive. And it never gets old. Read my piece on their latest visit for Exclaim! @exclaimdotca.bsky.social
#MusicSky

5 Emerging Canadian Artists You Need to Hear in March 2026 │ Exclaim! Meet Exclaim!'s latest New Faves, including fuzzed-out queer anthems from the Yukon, the Vancouver tsunami crashing emo's new wave and more

It's been too long a wait for @exclaimdotca.bsky.social to talk about the Montreal electronic musician, Maara. Thankfully, I was able to feature her in this month's 5 Emerging Canadian Artists You Need to Hear column.
exclaim.ca/music/articl...

Heated Rivalry: Season 2

The U.S. Men's Hockey Team gave more respect to a pedophile protector than to the U.S. Women's Hockey Team. Let that sink in.

Favourite songs written by Billy Steinberg. R.I.P.
1. The Bangles - Eternal Flame
2. The Divinyls - I Touch Myself
3. The Pretenders - I'll Stand By You
4. Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
5. The Bangles - In Your Room
6. Cheap Trick - Kiss Me Red
7. Tina Turner - Look Me in the Heart

Matt Berninger Forges Cross-National Connections: "The Canadian and the US Music Scene Is Porous" │ Exclaim! The artist is crossing the country with Hannah Georgas — just one of the Canadians he counts as a close friend

I got to speak with The National's Matt Berninger for Exclaim!. Super nice dude and loves to prop up all the musicians in his orbit.
exclaim.ca/music/articl...

My librarian wife also owns that shirt. Love it.

Favourite Pogues songs featuring Andrew Ranken on drums. RIP.
1. Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl)
2. Dirty Old Town
3. If I Should Fall from Grace with God
4. The Irish Rover (feat. The Dubliners)
5. Haunted
6. The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn
7. Sunny Side of the Street

Favourite albums featuring Fred Smith on bass. RIP.
1. Television - Marquee Moon
2. Television - Adventure
3. Tom Verlaine - Cover
4. Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime
5. Television - Television
6. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine
7. The Roches - Nurds
8. Richard Lloyd - Alchemy
9. Tom Verlaine - Flash Light

Fave songs feat. Billy Bass Nelson. RIP.
1. Funkadelic- Maggot Brain
2. Funkadelic- What is Soul?
3. Funkadelic- Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow
4. Funkadelic- You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
5. Parliament- Breakdown
6. The Parliaments- (I Wanna) Testify
7. The Temptations- Shakey Ground

Ilhan Omar is tougher than any Republican this administration can shit out.

Fave LPs feat. Sly Dunbar on drums. RIP
1. Bob Dylan- Infidels
2. Sly & Robbie- Rhythm Killers
3. Herbie Hancock- Future Shock
4. Grace Jones- Nightclubbing
5. Serge Gainsbourg- Aux armes et cætera
6. Peter Tosh- Equal Rights
7. Sinéad O'Connor- Throw Down Your Arms
8. Sly & Robbie- Language Barrier

Favourite Siouxsie & The Banshees songs featuring Kenny Morris on drums. RIP.
1. Hong Kong Garden
2. The Staircase (Mystery)
3. Helter Skelter
4. Playground Twist
5. Mittageisen

Ku Klutz Klan.

Favourite Brigitte Bardot songs. R.I.P.
1. Bonnie and Clyde (with Serge Gainsbourg)
2. Comic Strip (with Serge Gainsbourg)
3. La Madrague
4. Moi Je Joue
5. Bubble Gum (with Serge Gainsbourg)
6. Harley Davidson
7. Je t'aime... moi non plus (with Serge Gainsbourg)

Fave songs feat. Joseph Byrd.
1. The United States of America - The Garden of Earthly Delights
2. The United States of America - Hard Coming Love
3. Joe Byrd/Field Hippies - The Sub-Sylvian Litanies
4. The United States of America- The American Metaphysical Circus
5. Joe Byrd - The Yankee Doodle Boy

Fave songs feat. Steve Cropper. RIP.
1. Booker T. & The MGs - Green Onions
2. Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness
3. John Lennon - Stand by Me
4. Booker T. & The MGs - Time is Tight
5. Frank Black - Dark End of the Street
6. John Prine - The Great Compromise

Exclaim!'s 20 Best Songs of 2025 │ Exclaim! Your daily dose of the best music, film and comedy news, reviews, streams, concert listings, interviews and other exclusives on Exclaim!

I got to write about Marie Davidson's sassy dancefloor banger, "Fun Times," for Exclaim!'s 20 Best Songs of 2025 list.

Canada needs a monopoly buster! ⚠️ Canada will pick its next Competition Commissioner soon! Sign by Nov 28 ✍️ to demand a leader who will #StopMonopolies and fix Canada’s competition crisis ⚖️. https://openmedia.org/Competition4Cana...

⚠️ Canada will pick its next Competition Commissioner soon! Sign by Nov 28 ✍️ to demand a leader who will #StopMonopolies and fix Canada’s competition crisis ⚖️. openmedia.org/Competition4... @openmedia.org

Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2025 │ Exclaim! Your daily dose of the best music, film and comedy news, reviews, streams, concert listings, interviews and other exclusives on Exclaim!

I got to write about Exclaim!'s @exclaimdotca.bsky.social number one album of 2025, the much-deserving Bite Down by Montreal's Ribbon Skirt.

Favourite Jimmy Cliff songs. RIP.
1. The Harder They Come
2. Many Rivers to Cross
3. You Can Get It if You Really Want
4. Guns of Brixton
5. I Can See Clearly Now
6. Wild World
7. Wonderful World, Beautiful People
8. Vietnam
9. Reggae Night
10. Treat Youths Right

Fave somgs featuring Mani on bass. RIP.
1. Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
2. Primal Scream - Accelerator
3. Stone Roses - Love Spreads
4. Primal Scream - Swastika Eyes
5.Stone Roses - Fools Gold
6. Primal Scream - Kill All Hippies
7. Primal Scream - Kowalski
8. Stone Roses - I Am the Resurrection