Music

The only man in ION history to interview himself, Jesse R. Berlin is a provocateur; a contemporary Svengali coated in a smooth special sauce of intrigue. In a time where we appear to be at either a crossroads or dead end of music, Berlin manages to either breathe life into the medium, or perhaps that breathy noise coming from the Glitter Lung LP is music's last gasp.

Local dance floor heroes and recent Mom + Pop signee’s HUMANS have unleashed the video for their new single "Water Water". Directed by Peter Ricq, this Red Violin-esque clip is a day in the life of a cleverly branded bomber jacket as a group of twentysomethings lend it, steal it and, most memorably, sleep with it.

"Action", the new track from Cassius, comes with the promise of upcoming new material from the pioneering French production duo, as well as the excitement of featuring both Cat Power and one third of The Beastie Boys. The B boy in question, Mike D, has said that this new song felt to him like a lost Compass Point recording that you would’ve heard at The Loft in early 80s NYC, and in true fashion the highlight of the song is the production. It captures the feel of something that would’ve come out of the Bahamas based studio in the late 70s or early 80s.

"No Love Like Yours" begins with the guy from Ima Robot waking up from a drug bender and trying to remove the bugs from under his skin by removing his beard. Is all lost for this drug-addled soul? Better take a walk down Piety Avenue just in case (hard to be so heavy handed with holes in your palms). Anyway, he finds his nuevo hippy band friends, rolls around in piles of cocaine with them, and pulls the trumpet player aside to blow more up his backside before climbing into a coffin for his rebirth. "At least it's gorgeously captured, right?" WRONG.

It's a shame that The Violent Femmes' first album in over 15 years is titled so poorly. By the second song, the unfortunate, confusing, and grating "I Could Be Anything," listeners will realize that no, the Violent Femmes can't do anything they want-- or more accurately, they shouldn't. There are a few missteps like that on the album -- "Traveling Solves Everything" comes to mind as well.

Drafting behind her recent Jody Glenham and the Dreamers video, visual provocateur Megan-Magdalena has directed the first video from Twin River's upcoming full length. The clip probably has a metaphorical element that I'm missing about contemporary society, but I choose to believe it's simply about cake and fun masks, because interpreting visual art isn't really in my wheelhouse as much as music and words are.

Like many rural, middle class Canadians, I adore the mall. There's nothing I want to buy there apart from the occasional three pack of underpants, but it's like crawling back in the womb for me. I have fond memories of hiding behind racks of clothes, trying to hide from my mum, and begging for a quarter to ride the horsey or to get an Orange Julius.

A little over three years ago, prolific magic music man Ty Segall went on WGN's morning show and went completely ballistic, nearly inciting an in-studio riot during hours in which many people aren't even awake.

The title of La Sera's new album Music For Listening To Music To is a misnomer. With a deft hand, La Sera has put together a collection of ten songs that masterfully blend into the background, barely registered at all. Perfect for the backdrop to a chill party, or a millenial-friendly commercial for a banking app. That's not to say there's anything wrong with that. Fans of La Sera's lilting style will find a lot to love here, especially on "Nineties" and "High Notes".

Before Benjamin Franklin traveled to France and inadvertently created modern medicine, patients were more like customers, and told doctors what to do rather than being observed and diagnosed. Back then, nostalgia was listed as an official illness in the doctor's handbook. We're unsure of what the cure for nostalgia was, but if it were still considered an illness, writing about Nada Surf in 2016 would be one of the symptoms, especially on Thursdays, a day of the week generally reserved for such a sickness.