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
Monday, May 21 2012
Scout: All Those Relays
While not a revelatory statement from an artist who has been quiet for far too long, those who’ve followed Scout will be nevertheless just simply happy to have this one-woman band back.
Thursday, May 17 2012
Racing Heart: To Walk Beside That Ghost
Made with the backing members of both St. Vincent and Sufjan Stevens’ bands, To Walk Beside That Ghost is a retro-infused indie folk album, taking cues from the music of the 1960s, ‘70s and early ‘80s.
Monday, May 14 2012
Beach House: Bloom
Bloom should be to the year 2012 what Loveless was to 1991, or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was to 2002, or Funeral was to 2004: a landmark release.
Monday, May 14 2012
Black Tambourine: OneTwoThreeFour EP
The OneTwoThreeFour EP sounds like a band that never went on a rather lengthy hiatus, and they take some iconic material and make it their own.
Friday, May 11 2012
PS I Love You: Death Dreams
With longer songs, a darker theme, and catchier melodies, Death Dreams is a second album that doesn’t fall prey to the sophomore slump. Instead, it builds on past successes and expands the group’s ambitions.
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.
