Bernice – Puff

Toronto digital pop experimentalists Bernice have impressed us with early singles “St. Lucia,” “Don’t Wanna Be European,” “David,” and “Talking About Her,” songs that zeroed in on a liquid electronic pop sound that struck an enticing balance between playful abandon and chilly remove. Now those tracks have been packaged into an EP called Puff along with a new song called “Gemini.” On the whole, the project reminds me of what Thom Yorke’s solo albums might sound like if they weren’t so insular and dour. Its blend of physical, emotional, and cerebral is well worth your time, so stream it below.(Stereogum)+stream

Low Joy Ceiling & Surf Dads – split EP

Premiere! This is the debut on-line appearance of a split between Surf Dads and The Low Joy Ceiling.(Ride TheTempo)+stream

Nickelback – Feed the Machine (RCA)

This Friday, Billboard Magazine’s Group of the Decade (1999-2009) releases its ninth album. Titled, Feed the Machine, this is the first album to follow the Canadian quartet cancelling the majority of its tour in support of 2014’s No Fixed Address. Lead singer Chad Kroeger required surgery on a vocal-cord cyst, so the band was obliged to bow-out as he went through a significant recovery process.(Vancouver Sun)

Also comming out this weekend is Natural Sympathies’s latest EP on cassette at a launch party being held at the Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre & Galleryin in Regina on Saturday the 17th. More details via Facebook