Zachary Houle is a writer living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has been a Pushcart Prize nominee for his short fiction, and the recipient of a writing arts grant from the City of Ottawa. He has had journalism published in SPIN magazine, The National Post (Canada), Canadian Business, and more.
Features
Wednesday, November 9 2011
The Olivia Tremor Control Reissues 'Dusk at Cubist Castle' and 'Black Foliage'
Overall, there is much to admire and frown upon in equal measure when it comes to Dusk at Cubist Castle and, more especially, Black Foliage.
Wednesday, September 14 2011
The Cavedogs' Joyrides for Shut-Ins
During the summer of 1995, my life working in a lumber mill was a living hell. The little-known debut album from the Cavedogs, Joyrides for Shut-Ins, was the life jacket that got me through it.
Tuesday, April 26 2011
The Dismemberment Plan's "Emergency & I": A Record of Colossal Possibilities
This is an album that reaches out, grabs you by the throat, and just doesn’t relent. There’s not a misspent note or dishonest emotion.
Friday, September 3 2010
The Dream Syndicate's Sophomore Album Stereo Blues
Is Medicine Show a blueprint for all that was wrong with bands signing to major labels 25 years ago or is it a truly great, overlooked gem of an album? Well, the answer is somewhere in the middle.
Columns
Wednesday, January 12 2011
'The Sentimentalists' Is a Novel That Lives Up to Its Title
The Sentimentalists has all of the hallmarks of a book published in Canada circa 1972, full of purple prose, a seemingly anti-American tract, and a classic rural setting, aka: Can-Lit.
Friday, November 12 2010
Hüsker Dü: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock
What the world really needs is a straight-up account of one of the most important rock groups of all time. Now we have it in the form of music scribe Andrew Earles.
Friday, September 10 2010
Ironically Facebook and Its 500 Million Friends Remain Largely a Mystery
In the beginning, Mark Zuckerberg was a socially-awkward teenager, a computer science major at Harvard University, who arrived toting an eight-foot-long whiteboard as a brainstorming tool...
Reviews
Friday, February 10 2012
A Place to Bury Strangers: Onwards to the Wall EP
For those looking for something as strong as industrial-strength floor wax to serve as a dessert topping, this EP will handily do the trick.
Friday, February 10 2012
Unicycle Loves You: Failure
Failure is ultimately an album you can put your arms around and give a great big hug to, and – maybe, just maybe – a big, wet sopping kiss.
Tuesday, February 7 2012
Trailer Trash Tracys: Ester
The band name is silly. The album cover art is atrocious. The opening song is merely a wall of noise. But once you get past all of that, Ester is a rewarding slice of shoegazey dream pop that’s evocative of ‘50s R&B and surreal movie and TV soundtracks.
Monday, February 6 2012
Drunken Prayer: Into the Missionfield
Into the Missionfield is far, far from being a horrible album, but it doesn’t light a torch for a new brand of Americana either.
Wednesday, February 1 2012
Black Bananas: Rad Times Xpress IV
Jennifer Herrema, ex of Royal Trux, and her cohorts deliver a confounding record that is clearly a candidate for most audacious album of the year, a mere five weeks into 2012.
Blogs
Monday, September 19 2011
The Fireweed Company - "The Philosophical Song" (video)
It’s taken nearly 20 years, but the small town Canadian roots-rock band the Fireweed Company have finally, finally, gotten around to making a video. And a not bad one at that.
Friday, October 8 2010
Exploring Chicago: 'Chicago X'
If it were possible to both love a song for its beauty and hate it for its oversaturation and slushiness at the same time, “If You Leave Me Now” would be Exhibit A.
Friday, October 1 2010
Exploring Chicago: 'Chicago Transit Authority'
In 1969, 'Chicago Transit Authority' was a cutting edge album and, in some ways, Chicago, the band, would never be so unpredictable, so vibrant, and so passionate than they are here.
Friday, September 17 2010
Exploring Chicago: 'Chicago VII'
Chicago VII is a crucial addition to Chicago's catalogue, despite its commercial overture. It was the sound of a band exploring their origins through the inclusion of jazz-like pieces, while simultaneously refining their pop sound to a polished sheen.
