Results tagged “artscrafts”

Lady singer-songwriters get an historically raw deal (thanks for nothing, Lilith Fair). But when you're lumped in, first and foremost, with company as incestuous—and hugely successful—as the Arts&Crafts crew, you've got not only the means but the insular support to create and release, unafraid. Amy Millan, luckily, has nothing to be afraid of anyway. The Toronto-born-and-raised, now-Montreal-moonlighting chanteuse released her sophomore solo album, Masters of the Burial, earlier this month, and through laments of her own and some choice covers, she paints another dusty, unabashedly pained-artiste portrait of romantic solitariness.

We're the first to admit when we're slow to catch onto something, and especially if it's something this good. Now that we've taken a second to swallow our new-release flavoured pride, we'll get back to listening to Zeus's already-month-old EP, Sounds Like Zeus, the next sure-to-be success story for Arts&Crafts. Lucky for us, they're not going anywhere.

Anyone who follows this sort of thing probably remembers the oohs and aahs that followed after The Most Serene Republic signed to Arts&Crafts; they were the first non-Broken Social Scene-affiliated band to do so, but their inclusion was a natural fit. The Milton, Ontario, septet drew both praise and criticism for their proggy art-pop likeness to their label daddies, and on their new release, ...And the Ever Expanding Universe, they don't seem to be in a hurry to change many minds ("Phi 2").

A new release from mega indie(ish) entity Arts & Crafts can either elicit a dedicated excitement or a slightly more jaded (and healthy) skepticism. On one hand, there is an undisputed affinity for the little homegrown label that could—and did, and still is—and, on the other, there's the poisonous burn-out factor, the feeling that our reigning DIY community kings have grown too comfortable, too inclusive, too safe.

Every Tuesday, Torontoist scours record store shelves in search of the city’s most notable new releases and brings you the best—or sometimes just the biggest—of what we’ve heard in Sound Advice.