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Category Archives: Music

Interview: SebastiAn

Published online for The Block Magazine. Interviewer Amanda Ash Despite his 6 years working with EdBanger records, producing tracks, creating remixes for the likes of Kelis, Klaxons, and Uffie and working alongside French electro alums like Mr. Oizo and Sebastian Tellier, 30-year-old SebastiAn has been a bit of an enigma, granting few interviews or media appearances. But with […]

Rihanna review: She wasn’t the only girl shedding her worries at Rogers Arena

Published in the Vancouver Sun June 24, 2011 BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN Rihanna knows how to throw a party — a sexy, steamy, tight-and-bright bash where yesterday’s troubles are crushed beneath mile-high stilettos and drowned by intoxicating club beats. As the Grammy Award-winning artist demonstrated to a packed Rogers Arena Friday night with the […]

Black Lips polish new album to high shine

Published in the Vancouver Sun June 14, 2011. BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN The Black Lips don’t need a special occasion to unleash their debauchery. It’s simply second nature for the Atlanta-based garage-punk quartet to shamelessly flop around on stage naked, swap spit with each other or publicly urinate on any given day. Considering the […]

Supertramp: Blasts from the past served up a tad mellower

Published in the Vancouver Sun June 3, 2011 BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN “When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful. A miracle. Oh it was beautiful, magical …” The lyrics to Supertramp’s The Logical Song weren’t just words to mouth along to Thursday night. They meant something much more to the middle-aged […]

Sultry singing star Anna Calvi fearless onstage, timid off

Published in the Vancouver Sun June 1, 2011 BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN Anna Calvi is fearless, or so the voice on her self-titled debut suggests. The British vocalist, hailed by the BBC’s Sound of 2011 as one of the year’s most promising new artists, is an emotional tempest when it comes to her haunting […]

Sam Roberts gives Malkin Bowl crowd a crash course with Collider, classic hits

Published in the Vancouver Sun May 28, 2011 BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN With six Juno Awards, gold and platinum records, and enough shaggy lumberjack hair to make women squeal for the past eight years, it’s safe to say the Sam Roberts Band is quickly becoming a Canadian music staple. It all started with Roberts’ […]

Kid Rock cleans up well at Rogers Arena

Published in the Vancouver Sun on May 17, 2011. BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN A lot of people hate on Kid Rock, but the truth is there’s not much to hate — any more, that is. The Detroit-based singer-songwriter, rapper and country artist is a changed man. He hasn’t put the most straitlaced foot forward […]

James Blunt brings balancing act to Vancouver

Published in the Vancouver Sun on May 10, 2011. BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN James Blunt is like the middle child in a family of radio superstars and soft-rock indie darlings: He seems to get lost in the fuss over his more defined siblings. Blunt, a British cavalry captain-turned-musician, straddles the border of Top 40 […]

Christine Fellows—Femmes de chez nous

Review and interview published in Exclaim! By Amanda Ash Take a black-and-white photograph and bring it to life — that’s what Winnipeg, MB’s Christine Fellows did with her fifth and most innovative release, Femmes de chez nous. The 13-track record and accompanying DVD, Reliquary/Reliquaire, were written during, and inspired by, Fellows’ six-month residency at Le Musée de […]

Melissa Etheridge’s fearless love captivates her devoted fans

Story published in the Vancouver Sun February 18, 2011. BY AMANDA ASH, VANCOUVER SUN Melissa Etheridge isn’t afraid to put fear in its place. Of course, we’ve known this since the early ‘90s. Ever since the raspy-voiced Kansas native rocked her way onto the charts in 1993 with her breakthrough recording Yes I Am, fans and […]