Nü Sensae scores new six-stringer

Drummer Daniel Pitout and vocalist-guitarist Andrea Lukic have added Brody McKnight to the band.

Shake up at Siskiyou

Folk experimentalists Siskiyou will be down a man this spring when cofounder Erik Arnesen heads off to tour with the Ontario-based Great Lake Swimmers.

Rococode flex its creative muscle on Guns, Sex & Glory

Guns, Sex & Glory (Head in the Sand)

Redrick Sultan's Trolling for Answers covers all the bases

Trolling for Answers (Independent)

Theory of a Deadman comes back

Theory of a Deadman’s Tyler Connolly has been bashed for writing misogynist lyrics, but the chicks understand.

Student Loan Records set to drop Vancouver-area split singles

A newly formed boutique label is hoping to shine the spotlight on fresh-faced local acts via one of the recording industry’s oldest promotional tools, the seven-inch single.

Run-of-the-mill rawk review ruffles a Hopeless Bonito

You force the music section to referee a steel-cage death match between Elton John and Madonna, and we reward you with a Payback Time T-shirt and two tickets to a Live Nation club show of your choice taking place in Vancouver within the next four weeks. Here’s this week’s winning whinge.

Wolves in the Throne Room not yet out of the game

As the third part of a trilogy, there’s a sense of finality to Celestial Lineage, the most recent full-length from Olympia, Washington–based black-metal experimentalists Wolves in the Throne Room.

The Oh Wells' Not That Girl From Transformers doesn't stray far from its predecessor

Not That Girl From Transformers (Independent)

Johnny De Courcy is reborn on Bad Teeth

Bad Teeth (Green Burrito)

The Bonitos' self-titled 7-inch is stuck in a rut

The Bonitos (Skull Skates)

Top music of 2011: Sweet singles, cool concerts

Our critics look back on the bright spots in 2011's musical landscape.

Top 10 albums of 2011: Gregory Adams

There are strict regulations for these best-ofs that prevent me from detailing anything beyond the 10 finest slabs that rocked my 2011.

Help send Vicious Cycles to Cuba

Local punkers the Vicious Cycles are gearing up for a Cuban tour early next year, and if all goes according to a charitable plan the band will be instrumentless by the time it comes home.

Ghostface Killah remains dedicated to his fans

Eighteen years after dropping the first verse on the hip-hop touchstone Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Dennis Coles finally arrived in Vancouver.

Light Organ Records's Christmas sampler rings the bells

Light Organ Records is toasting the recent holiday-themed sampler Light Organ Records...With Bells On with a big winter bash at the Waldorf.

Andrew W.K. parties with Nardwuar the Human Serviette again

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the ever-sweaty Andrew W.K., it’s that the Michigan-bred rocker loves to party hard.

Replacements' documentary Color Me Obsessed tests your faith

Color Me Obsessed features more than 120 devotees dishing on their favourite band, the Replacements.

Guns, bombs, & rock 'n' roll are all in a day's work for Blackout Beach

Carey Mercer’s childhood fears of being pressed into combat shaped his latest Blackout Beach album, Fuck Death.

Mint Records celebrates its 20th birthday

Though they’ve dropped the Yuletide tag this year to celebrate their 20th anniversary, Mint’s seasonal bash at the Waldorf Hotel on November 25 will still be full of good cheer.

Kate Bush comes out of hibernation on 50 Words for Snow

50 Words for Snow (Fish People)

Laura Veirs makes music for the toddler set on Tumble Bee

Tumble Bee (Raven Marching Band)

Dixie's Death Pool's The Man With Flowering Hands is approachable avant-garde

The Man With Flowering Hands (Drip Audio)

Death From Above 1979 reunite with guns blazing

Considering the rapturous collective freak-out that Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler received at the Commodore, DFA 1979 might have been gone, but it certainly wasn't forgotten.

Blanche Devereaux bids adieu

Shortly before the band's November gig, guitarist Greg Pothier confirmed that he and drummer Dan Kurc were taking a break.

Scratch Records limits hours; HMV set to close downtown Vancouver store

Vancouver's brick-and-mortar music shops are feeling the pinch.

There's plenty of treasures on Atlas Sound's Parallax

Parallax (4AD)

Dodson Neighbourhood House opens new all-ages live venue

The East Hastings space will give the under-19 crowd opportunities to play and attend regular music happenings.

Waldorf Hotel goes mega-scary for Halloween bash

Last Halloween, the Waldorf Hotel threw a massive grand-opening party that rebranded the building as a multilevel arts hub. This year, the venue is upping the ante.

Rickshaw Theatre gets remodelled

Anyone who stopped by the Rickshaw Theatre over the last week no doubt noticed the improvements the club has undergone of late.

Nyala restaurant closes up shop

Just as the venue gods giveth, the venue gods taketh away. Ethiopian restaurant/music hub Nyala is shutting its doors.

The Holey Sheets get charitable with a Halloween-themed offering

The Holey Sheets (Independent)

Shea Carter embraces the love on his self-titled EP

Shea Carter (Independent)

Foo Fighters show Vancouver what a real rock concert is all about

For over two-and-a-half hours, the quintet assaulted the audience with a juiced-up run-through of their back catalogue, though they kicked things off with a one-two punch of newbies.

Moonface moves ethereal light years from Wolf Parade

Former Wolf Parade member Spencer Krug follows up 2010's Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums with Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped.

Siskiyou breaks down barriers on Keep Away the Dead

Keep Away the Dead (Constellation)

VIFF 2011: Quirky love throbs in The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye

The origins of Marie Losier's music-documentary-cum-love story, The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, lie not in the filmmaker's love for her subjects' tunes but in scuffed footwear.

GSTS! is stuck in the early aughts on GFTF!

GFTF! (Needs More Ram)

Busting out of the music wasteland: Baptists

The award for the most evil act in town goes to doom-punk combo Baptists.

Busting out of the music wasteland: Shi Yi

Mysterious minimalist rock duo Shi Yi plays so infrequently that you probably didn’t notice that the band had been on hiatus the last few months due to singer-drummer Erika Petro’s broken foot.

Choir experience coloured Active Child's sonic world

As harp-playing beatsmith Active Child, electroacoustic musician Pat Grossi has travelled the continent countless times.

Devo brings its perverted disco to Vancouver

From the throb of “Peek-a-Boo!” to the herky-jerky “Girl U Want”, Devo is just as sexed-up as ever.

Wild Flag's eponymous debut is just as good as its all-star lineup

Wild Flag (Merge)

Victory Square Block Party offers a mixed bag of summer sounds

Though there are a countless ways to celebrate the Labour Day weekend, for many local music fans the only way to truly ring out the summer is to head down to the annual Victory Square Block Party.

We're in a Teen Daze at the Victory Square Block Party

Earlier on the in-between band music honed in on some local tunes of yore from Ladyhawk and Certain Breeds.

Victory Square Block Party teaches important lessons about unicorns

Peace just wrapped up a terse set of post-punk jams. Now Pop Electric, a roller-skate sporting dude in Aladdin Sane facepaint and pink spandex is squirting water everywhere.

It's definitely shorts weather at the Victory Square Block party in Vancouver

Things are kicking off quietly at Victory Square with Bleating Hearts’ currently sound checking their singing saw.

The Walkmen are happy sad sacks on latest, Lisbon

The Walkmen's latest album, Lisbon, was inspired by two gloomy trips to the city.

Victory Square Block Party hits Vancouver this weekend

For the better part of a decade, the free outdoor event has brought out a number of the city’s finest independent artists to the Downtown Eastside for one last summer bash.

Revved-up Japandroids return to action in Vancouver

While the new songs kept kids moving, once the band pulled out its back-catalogue favourites, the place went bonkers.