2020 Releases That Slipped Through The Cracks
2020 was a year of serious growth for the Cups N Cakes Network. We more than doubled our volunteer team and were able to cover more Canadian music than ever before. Unfortunately, even with our expanded efforts, there are still some excellent releases that we missed. Today, our year-end coverage will look back at some key albums and EPs that we failed to cover in 2020. Your weekend just got better, please enjoy digging into our list of releases that “Slipped Through The Cracks.”
No Joy
Motherhood // Joyful Noise Records
No Joy, Motherhood…..well doesn’t that title say something! Motherhood is not sunshine and rainbows. It’s a thankless job but it does have its charms and enriching moments. Ages and stages was something I always said. The challenges change with age. Right now we’re at the teenage age at our house. I try to go back to my inner teenager. Remembering all the things she was feeling and going through. It was the worst age and I hated it! Finding your place in this world when you don’t fit in. You hate your body, you hate your parents. you hate the feelings inside. Yet somehow we made it out alive and became better people.
No Joy is the Montreal project of Jasamine White-Gluz. No Joy is not new to the music scene, there are many previous releases for your enjoyment but this one was five years in the making. Well as the saying goes…. Good things come to those who wait. It definitely was well worth the wait! It’s a trippy, industrial, nu-wave, shoegaze dream! Gosh... what a beautiful combination!
“Ageless” drew me in for the sexy synth and gorgeous vocals and effects. That 80’s nu-wave feel sprinkled with piano had me dancing in a dark club in my head.
“Signal Lights” has a feeling of running in slow motion in a dream. It’s dreamy and echoed vocals have you floating along. Then the guitar and drums really kick-in and give it some oomph and light! Get carried away with this one!
“Fish” is mystical yet heavy. Kate Bush meets Trent Reznor. I really love the light and dark of this track. I won’t operate on the constraints of this earth’s time and space. I’m fluid... ever changing and flowing, just like this song.
Don’t let Motherhood pass you by. Check out No Joy’s stellar 2020 album today! Your ears will thank you!
Love Always,
Green Noreen
Mundy’s Bay
Lonesome Valley // Pure Noise Records
Mundy’s Bay cook up a colourful mixture of pop punk and disco on their 2020 record Lonesome Valley, with captivating vocals delivered by Esther Mulders serving as the glue that holds it all together. Delving into darker, murkier intervals for their more brooding verses, her dreamy voice multiplies and surges forth in thick, layered choruses that harpoon us in place with their hypnotic warmth. The combination of the band’s crisp medium to up-tempo tendencies and Mulders’ hazy up-front singing - that could almost belong to a different genre altogether - cultivate something special that gets better with each listen. Their sound evokes early Metric, and brings to mind the glory days of the Vans Warped Tour (for me, those days are the early 2000s when bands like Alkaline Trio were just breaking out).
The album’s first track, “Goodbye,” is probably its catchiest. The band doesn’t waste any time getting to the chorus, with nicely-stacked vocals washing over us barely twenty seconds in. This brevity and pop sensibility is a trend on Lonesome Valley - tightly-bound songs that don’t get bogged down in overblown bridges or indulgent breakdowns. They grab you with Mulders’ voice and keep you there, embracing familiar structures but filling out that space well. “Seasons Pass” picks up where “Goodbye” leaves off, arriving quickly at another memorable refrain your head won’t let you forget.
Despite having the poppy chorus down to a tee, Mundy’s Bay brings a relentless energy that makes them one of the better live acts in Montreal - if loud, immersive rock music is your thing (and why shouldn’t it be?). They aren’t without their spooky moments either. Songs like “Heavy Bloom” and “Window In The Shade” explore a more shadowy side but don’t sacrifice any of the songwriting. My favourite, however, is the penultimate track, entitled “Moonlight.” The verses are awesome, with Mulders’ voice crooning in a deeper alto before bursting into a gorgeous chorus filled with lush harmonies that sit high atop the triumphant drums. The rest of the band sits back and lets her steal the show. And she does.
- Nick Maas
Mallory Chipman & The Mystics
AQUARIAN // Independent
Edmonton five piece Mallory Chipman & The Mystics are here to take you on a trip with their stunning debut record AQUARIAN, released earlier this year on May 29th.
Sonically, AQUARIAN combines elements from jazz, progressive rock and art-rock in a whole new way. The dynamic vocal melodies, powerful guitar riffs and psychedelic synth sounds, along with a great rhythm section, create a tasteful atmosphere for Chipman to lyrically explore subjects both personal and political. The result is an unapologetic and constantly shapeshifting record that delivers on all angles.
The energy captured in these eight songs embraces an entirely new approach to making music while showing off the band’s talent and musical capabilities. Starting with the beautiful spoken word piece, “Wolf Children”, narrated by local artist NASRA, followed by the smooth rock tune “Indigo and Amber”, Mallory and the Mystics welcome you to be part of a unique musical experience. Let tracks like “Cool Ade” rock your bones, or tracks like “Fruits” or “Stranger’s Paradise” take you on an uplifting ride. And, as the cherry on top, we have “Queen of Swords”, a delicate ballad that concludes this beautiful record.
AQUARIAN was co-produced by Chipman and Mystic’s guitarist/keyboardist Brian Raine at OCL Studios in Calgary, and much of the album was composed by Mallory herself at a studio in an isolated town north of Edmonton. There, accompanied by an old upright piano and a few bottles of wine, she crafted the chord progressions and melodies for the record.
What are you waiting for? AQUARIAN is available on all the music platforms for you to listen to. And make sure to follow Mallory Chipman and the Mystics to stay up to date with their upcoming releases.
- Fel Gamarra
Cedric Noel
nothing forever, everything // Front Porch Records
Nostalgia - something we’ve all felt at one point or another, probably especially as of late. The sense of longing affectionately for something that you’ve experienced in the past is a common feeling that I notice often in myself, and is something that I felt as “New Recording 3”, the first track on Cedric Noel’s Nothing Forever, Everything began to play in my headphones. The Montreal based musician and producer released his new album, Nothing Forever, Everything, in March 2020 - and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The intimate sound and lyrical tenderness this album contains plays on personal change, discomfort, and acceptance.
Bare bones classical guitar paired with lush and decadent synth sounds give this project its strong foundation, with heavily layered, honest vocals which draw out a curiosity to know who is behind the microphone. Cedric Noel’s voice is gentle and upfront, yet cool and genuine. The concoction of these elements create songs that feel like soundscapes, with layered vocals floating alongside a swelling and constant synthesizer on tracks such as “New Recording 3”, “When I Wish I Could Sit Cross Legged” and “Everybody Wants To Love Me”. Noel simultaneously leads us down an uncomplicated and comforting path with songs like “Caught Second” and title track “Nothing Forever, Everything”, which feel vulnerable, exposed and very personal.
On Noel’s Bandcamp, he explains that in regards to the process of writing these songs, the tracks were developed quickly and as a form of “emotional and creative release”. “I turned out to really like them and felt they were whole enough to share”, in which I reply that even though these songs take a simpler approach, they feel swollen with emotion and filled to the brim with creativity - whole in a way that leaves me feeling inspired and excited for the next Cedric Noel release.
- LG
The Jerry Cans
Echoes // Aakuluk Music
The Jerry Cans are Northern-Canadian rock stars. After releasing their debut album in 2012, the band has been active in the Nunavut rock-scene and across the nation. I imagine that they are probably too modest to self-label themselves as “Ambassadors”, but I definitely see them as ambassadors of this Northern scene. They perform their songs in a combination of their native language Inuktitut and English. Members of the group formed Nunavut’s first record label “Aakuluk Music” in 2016 (check out their roster – a diverse collection of fantastic artists). It’s truly inspiring to see artists achieve national success and continue to give back to their home communities; there is real love in this music.
High off the success of their 2018 live performance at the JUNO Awards (which is where I first heard this group), the group hit the studio and released Echoes back in May of this year. Echoes is a collection of 14 rock and roll songs that range from the guitar-driven “Atauttikkut” to the synth-trance sounds of “Kazabazua”. The sounds of violin complement every song and weave a common thread throughout, which is quite the feat considering the eclectic nature of this album – a song like “SOS” has 90s-grunge vibes to it, while “Nameless” is a beautifully-performed crescendo and ascent that brings Echoes to its natural conclusion: an echo that slowly fades as the rhythm of the sound slows to nothingness. It’s not unlike the end of a whale’s song, fading into the darkness of the ocean – the album cover for Echoes seems quite fitting after you’ve enjoyed the album a few times.
If The Jerry Cans happened to slip through the cracks of your music listening this year, fret not! You have plenty of time to remedy this situation. Check out the lyric music video for “Atauttikkut”, and then check out Echoes!
- Alex Bennett
Dada Plan
DANCE MIRAAJ // Independent
After a five year hiatus, DADA PLAN has returned with their second album DANCE MIRAAJ, a dreamscape of ambient and airy Hip-Hop inspired instrumentation over which lyricist and producer Malcolm J. Biddle flexes a wholly unique and understated brand of lyricism. The only relatively mainstream artist that could be compared to DADA PLAN is probably Milo, although that wouldn’t be doing justice to the unique and intoxicating sound that is wholly their own. Biddle raps in a dense spoken word meter that oscillates between the mundane and the academically abstract, painting a surreal and vivid portrait of what Biddle describes as “a Babelesque spiralibrary of Northwest nostalgia, 20/20 technological paranoia, and stark self reflection”.
DANCE MIRAAJ is cohesive, and constructed to be the kind of album that you let play front to back. Diverse instrumentation including samples, vocal chops, flutes, and trumpets meld together over lo-fi and relaxed drums to evoke what can only be described as Mario cloud level vibes. As engaging and concentrated as Biddle’s writing is, their vocals are mixed back into the beat to become a part of the dreamscape, instead of being performed on top of it, giving the project an airy feel which leaves room for thinking, conversing, or anything else you might want to do to the sounds of this delightful album. With no hooks and long instrumental sections, like on the end of (Saw Flare) Scribble Nuance, where the beat takes time for a minute-long trumpet interlude, DADA PLAN will draw you in to their lo-fi, spacey world only to catch you off guard with Biddle’s fevered poetry.
- Devon Acuña
Iron Tusk
Iron Tusk III: Dream Eaters // Transistor 66
How did this EP get missed? It’s so heavy and deadly!!!
If you haven’t heard of Iron Tusk... ummm what are you waiting for? I initially got tuned into Iron Tusk through my band's drummer. He’d seen them play live in Edmonton and talked about it for a long while after the show. That was enough for me to check them out! I first heard the Dark Spirit EP, and WOW this Siksika sound is a style of its own... it’s that kick drum heartbeat, heavy vibe, and empowering words that really got me hooked! This music really seemed to help me embrace both my light and my dark sides.
And now for something a little darker and heavier than before... Iron Tusk III: Dream Eaters. Same great heavy sound fueled with a little more punch and a little more intensity than before. Maybe it’s renowned guitarist Craig Bear Chief that joins them on this third EP. This release came out in the spring of 2020 through Transistor 66 Records, an independent label known for supporting many diverse artists. Here are two magnificent tracks of mayhem for your enjoyment. “Dreaming City” and “Cloud Eater” which both feature their unique style and some deadly and heavy guitars and that indomitable kick drum heartbeat! A post punk/metal experience that follows up their earlier EPs with a kick in the face.
They may be hard as fuck but Iron Tusk is also very well known within the Siksika nation and Calgary area for being very active members in their communities. Promoting music as a positive outlet for youth through their music and a festival they put on called Moments Fest. They are fueling a positive movement with their music, and music is the medicine. Your ears really need to hear this one!!!
Love Always,
Green Noreen
Black Dresses
Peaceful as Hell // Blacksquares Records
Peaceful as Hell is the fourth and last full-length record by Black Dresses, the prolific Toronto-based noise pop duo of Devi McCallion and Ada Rook. Active from 2018 to 2020, Black Dresses released four full-length records and 2 extended plays, and notable collaborations like the remix cover of “745 sticky” by 100 gecs in “1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues” (technically, the last ever Black Dresses track).
Every album by Black Dresses is dynamic, intensive, passionate, and strong, and Peaceful as Hell is no exception. Every single track in this 15-track record is so distinct in what they lay down. My own favorite tracks include “DAMAGE SUPPRESSOR,” “ANGEL HAIR,” “BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP,” “IM A FREAK CUZ IM ALWAYS FREAKED OUT,” “SCARED 2 DEATH,” “EXPRESS YOURSELF,” “CREEP U,” and “666.” Black Dresses lean heavily into an electronic sound, at times glitchy and experimental, often loud, and most certainly catchy as all hell. One of the strongest aspects that many of these tracks offer is a sharp and dynamic contrast between the softer pop sounds as opposed to the harsher hardcore punk punches that only hyperpop can bring together in such a fluid fashion.
It is also important to address that shortly after this release Black Dresses broke up due to prolonged harassment Devi McCallion has received around their first record, WASTEISOLATION. The record explored vulnerable themes within the confidence of being artists without the extensive audience that would be accustomed to such breaches of personal boundaries. Thankfully, by no means have Devi and Rook stopped making music while taking care of each other, as this year we also saw the release of Ada Rook’s 2,020 Knives and three albums by Devi McCallion – Crap shit as Girl Rituals, as well as Some New Form of Life and Magic Fire Brain with Katie Dey.
- Simone A. Medina Polo
We Are The City
RIP // Tooth & Nail Records
RIP. What an album. This is a big one for Vancouver band, We Are The City. Little did everyone know when it was released that it would be the last album for the band. Announced on October 9th , they decided to call it quits and released one last tune called “Lover Is Dead” a couple of days after.
I was actually introduced to We Are The City through this album at the start of the year, and what an album to begin on. It has so many great songs that I could talk about, but I will just pick out a couple of favourites.
Top song is definitely “You’re So Clean”. The guitar riff is catchy, the lyrics are a work of art, and the percussion is fully a groove. It’s a really fun song to listen to and the lyrics are more relatable that anything I have ever heard before. The verses and chorus differ in sound quite a bit, specifically with the guitar switching from a surf-rock sound to a fuller tone, which makes for a really interesting listen. Just when you think the song is done, it comes back with an entire section talking about the possibility of tomorrow.
Another song worth mentioning is the title track, “RIP”. It was originally written about mourning a friendship that felt like it was fading, but took on a new meaning after that same friend passed away. They then re-recorded the vocals a few days after, improvising new lyrics. The song is raw, emotional, and hits the heart hard with the meaningful words over a slow tempo.
This album is worth a listen. RIP We Are The City. The band will be remembered and cherished by many.
- Holly-Anne Gilroy
Zann Foth
Hindsight Cinema // Independent
On their debut EP Hindsight Cinema, Zann Foth’s vulnerable songwriting shines brightly amongst beautiful instrumentation and tender vocals. Right from the opening title track of the six song EP, it is evident that Foth will be reflecting on difficult past experiences: “Drawing back the curtain to my hindsight cinema and every episode I didn’t want to watch…” However, the EP never feels dark. Foth juxtaposes heavy lyrical content with fun word play and groovy tones to create a vivid and rewarding listening experience.
Foth explores acceptance of their identity on track two, the brilliant “Surprise”. They smartly stage a scene of hating the clothes they were expected to wear as a child: “let’s address the dress you dressed me in, the pattern was cute but I hated the fit... my Sunday best brought out the worst in me, so to hell with that dress you dressed me in.” Watch out, not only may you become more empathetic as you listen, but its catchy hook will likely become stuck in your head too.
The EP continues with its most charming track, “Move Myself”, where Foth recalls a summer fling while sounding like a mix of St. Vincent and Sean Lennon: “...are we dreaming or are we tangled in your bed? We must be dreaming… we’re prairies, mountains and a ferry apart, so for now I guess I’ll see you in my daydreams, I’d give you all you want.” Together with the Beatles-esque “Bicycle Dream”, the middle two tracks lighten the mood a bit before Foth reflects on dealing with an eating disorder on standout track “I Hate Reaching Out”. Foth closes the EP by moving into the present on the stripped-down “Here and Now”.
Hindsight Cinema was produced and engineered by Will Quiring (Close Talker). Foth and Quiring have known one another since they were toddlers. It’s important to note this connection as the deeply personal content of the songs requires a supportive and comfortable recording environment. Quiring’s production allows Foth’s vocal performances to hold a lot of conviction while still ensuring that the music never seems like an afterthought. The “surprise” seems to come at the end of your first listen when you realize you’ve been hit over the head with one of 2020’s best releases.
- Greg Torwalt
Yaris Paris
Real Moves // Factotum Cassettes & Oddities
Vancouver based Yaris Paris is bringing a fresh and personal touch to his dream-pop sound with his debut album Real Moves, a fantastic record that did not get the attention it deserved. Released on August 9th with Factotum Cassettes and Oddities, Yaris Paris self-performed, self-produced and self-mixed all the songs in the album.
Now let me tell you about the musical vibes in “Real Moves”. There's a sweet balance between uplifting pop with a melancholic after taste and personal lyrics that talk about loneliness and alienation experienced in modern life.
Strongly influenced by the synth wave sounds of the 80’s and indie guitars with a modern touch of pop melodies, Yaris Paris is capable of drawing the listener’s attention into a colorful and captivating picture painted with his sounds. The result is an album that will only get better with time and not only deserves repeat play, they are in fact necessary.
Let tracks like “Take Slow” or “End of the World” make you dance, or take a few minutes to relax while listening to “Nothing to See Here” or “In Time”. The energy captured in these songs is a combination of sunny days at the beach and a rainy afternoon that makes you appreciate the beauty in a calm day. “Real Moves” will take you on a beautiful ride from beginning to end.
Now it’s your turn to take a listen and experience this record on your own. Real Moves is available on all your favourite music platforms.
- Fel Gamarra
Brittany Brooks
Lend Me Your Hand // Independent
On Lend Me Your Hand, Brittany Brooks invokes various folk styles in order to deliver a beautiful album that is rooted in the past, yet is secretly the ultimate product of summer 2020. While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide cancelling of tours, being stuck at home let a lot of songwriters focus on composing and recording new songs. Brooks recorded the songs for her new album in her living room, and various other musicians recorded their parts remotely from across the country. The beauty of it is that you’d never guess that the album was recorded in this way; the icing instruments support Brooks’ guitar and banjo playing perfectly, so it’s as if the musicians are jamming away in quarantine together. Tasteful pedal steel playing from Aaron Goldstein adds some flair to the songs, and Alex Ginella’s fiddle dances along with the banjo and guitar in “Mulberry Tree.” Then, David James Allen lends his voice to “Man on the Road,” giving the album a warm and tender duet. Like her country-leaning contemporaries Secret Sisters, or her freak folk distant cousins Josephine Foster and Joanna Newsom, Brooks pledges allegiance to classic folk female vocalists like Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Mary Travers. Her technical prowess is palpable throughout, and her stunning voice takes on different colours to match the moods of the songs. She uses it to conquer spirited strummers in the style of Tallest Man on Earth (“The Long Road”), banjo ballads reminiscent of Old Man Luedecke (“Plane From Saskatoon”), and classic country à la Johnny Cash (“Goodbye, So Long”). Lend Me Your Hand is a folk music education of sorts, and Brittany Brooks is as good a professor as any folkie out there.
- Devon Dozlaw
Klô Pelgag
Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs // Secret City Records
While we are always aiming to expand the diversity of the music covered at Cups N Cakes, francophone music can often fly under our radar. Upon listening to Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, the third full-length from Quebec singer-songwriter Klo Pelgag it became clear that this record slipped through the cracks and is worth much acclaim. Pelgag’s baroque take on pop at times feels limitless. The album's setting is set and closed with instrumental tracks. Between is a theatrical sonic journey as Pelgag weaves through a multitude of arrangements and moods.
The album picks up pace with “Remora,” a peppy indie pop tune that twists to a dark place. “Umami” contorts its lead hook overtop a silhouette of harmonies till the track sways into ebbing textured synths.
By the time the listener gets to the meat of the album it becomes clear Pelgag is indiscriminate in how she shapes her intricate compositions. “J’aurai les cheveux longs” is a delicate ballad led by piano, while a chorus of strings emphasize Pelgag’s gentle vocals. On “Soleil” an album highlight, Pelgag is accompanied only by a section of horns. The album reaches its climax with “Malamime,” a synth-pop odyssey with a cut in its jib.
Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs is an elaborate and beautiful exploration into a moment in Klo Pelgag’s existence. In it she paints a beautiful story in an array of different forms. Whether the minimal take on “Fur Elise” or the heavily coloured synths of the albums titular closing track, Pelgag is astute in getting her emotion across.
- Kennedy Pawluk
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
Love Valley // Treasure Island Recs
Love Valley, the latest release by Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, is a masterclass in restraint. It marks the most stripped down - yet still fully fleshed out - offering that the Calgarian singer-songwriter has put out to date. The product of 5:00 am recording sessions at OCL studios with long-time collaborator and friend Josh Gwilliam, the pace and heart of the record reflects its early morning origins, ebbing and flowing gently, rising softly and slowly. The album’s title Love Valley doubles as its setting with the fictional swathe of land acting as the backdrop for Fitzgerald’s musings on escape (see “Harley Davidson”), communion (see “Good Plates”), simplicity (see “Famous”) and retreating to nature (see “Back on the Farm” and “Our River”). The vocals are close and intimate, rarely utilizing the gifted vocalists full range. Instead, the lyrics are delivered in a conversational whisper, cataloging every minute detail of a personal dream, so rich in its description that it feels more like a memory than any kind of aspiration. The album is stark in its composition but with a depth that defies its musical simplicity, every instrument holding space for another vignette of life in Love Valley; the drums roll gently like the foothills, other times beating low and persistent like the call back to the idyllic domestic dream Fitzgerald illustrates in the lyrics; the acoustic guitar parts are picked out just for the occasion, like the good plates brought out for dinner; soft synths, occasional horns, and subtle organ colour each song with a unique light. Overall, the record succeeds in feeling like the dream it chronicles, both pure and simple.
- Mark Coughlan
French Class
Tape 2 // Independent
French Class is an indomitable minimalist techno beat maker from Winnipeg. Their second EP, Tape 2, continues with more whimsical beat loops, catchy and bouncy, making you feel like you’re in a time machine going through 8-bit video game worlds of a bygone era. The magic of these tunes lies in the combination of simple elements- jerky rhythms and robotic bounce evokes rudimentary shapes and blazes of colour- all swirling and pulsing in their cartoonish mix. Don’t deny it- these proto-techno tunes swag as hard as early breakbeats; you can almost hear the happiness emanating from the technology itself, a virus free robot in reboot, seamlessly putting sequences together, and swirling in kaleidoscopic celebration when the right mix is made. Each track is like a new level in the game, a journey to the climax, a fire breathing Bowser, at the 11:23 mark on this 14 and a half minute EP. Tape 2 is a feast for the senses for those who have stared into screens at the arcade, square glasses on, manoeuvring little objects to the whim of their hand, collecting tokens and selecting prizes: will it be a bronzed nintendo controller, a pink stuffed pug named Ducky, or a medium sized squishy? French Class is the game and the prize.
- JD Ormond
Velvet Lagoon
Introducing Hologram // Independent
Velvet Lagoon is an artist I discovered searching for an opener for a show in Montreal. The project by musician/producer Billy Pelletier is a true obscurity, having rarely performed and certainly not outside of his homebase. This doesn’t deprive Lagoon of deserving mention in the infinitely long list of releases this year. The release in question is a 3-track EP titled Introducing Lagoon, meant as a primer for his upcoming concept album Hologram and the Garbage Youth. While Pelletier handles songwriting, production and spoken word (in French), lead vocal duties (in English and French) are filled by Quatre Gareau as the titular Hologram, a character whose space fantasy origins bring into question how literally the more imaginative lyrical lines are meant to be taken as she tells us stories from her life in song. The music itself adds to the theme, in a style I can best describe as psychedelic dream pop as the instruments and vocals are all drenched in reverb against percussion so sparing that downtempo doesn’t seem adequate enough of a word to describe its character. The closest thing to an upbeat song we have on the EP is the single “Midnight Swim” (whose decidedly racy music video could only come out of the intriguing and sexually liberal counterculture you’d find in a place like French Canada), but even it readily welcomes you to an acid-tinted dreamworld that makes you want to float on a river and just soak in what you’re hearing. It doesn’t hurt that each song is written in a way to make it as memorable as possible either. While this music may never be heard live outside of Montreal, Velvet Lagoon nevertheless deserves a healthy amount of art pop-loving listeners coast to coast.
- Ty Vanden Dool
