Sharayet el Disco (2022) + Ayam el Disco (2026) via @wewantsounds + DJ Arabesquo. Compilations of Egyptian boogie sourced from the country’s massive trove of cassettes from the late 70s through the early 90s, mixing classics from the likes of Hamid el Shaeri with a bunch of fantastic songs I’ve never heard before
2026. Wrote about Elaine Dewar’s final book for today’s paper — on settler Canadian obliviousness to the horrors faced by Indigenous peoples, featuring, well, at least one previously unreported Nazi-connected horror
2006 compilation of works by Salah Ragab, Egypt’s first big-band jazz bandleader. Most of these songs are on his debut 1973 Prism Music Unit album Egypt Strut, which is worth a zillion dollars; this Art Yard comp was his first major western release. After turning up nothing in Cairo earlier this month, I found this in the bins at Rotate
1994. Finally tracked down a pristine copy of On the Take after searching for years. A massive investigation into the ways money changed hands in the Mulroney era, featuring the Airbus saga and so much more. This kind of major, multiyear investigative book is almost impossible for an author to financially pull off in Canada anymore
2003 (2013 reissue). I came backwards into the Knife via Jose Gonzalez’s cover of Heartbeats (thanks to @cswebs ) and this album has been a stalwart ever since. Spending time in Germany over the last decade, too, and seeing how even-more influential it was on the Euro indie kids, has only deepened my appreciation for it
2026 — @trackchanges_ca by @cam_gordon_yyz . A hugely necessary book on the era of Canadian music in which I was raised. I chatted with Cam about it for a story out today — in which we discuss SloanNet (hell yeah), Stillepost (hell yeah), CBC Radio 3 (hell yeah), Chromewaves (hell yeah) and much more
Original @pavementband 1992 UK press and a longtime grail, copped last week from thee mighty @tinyrecordshop . The full-length debut of a band who influenced pretty much every other band I’ve ever fallen in love with
2025 by @nxthompson . I’m now on year 23 of near-daily running but am only just finding myself diving into books about it; this one, a gift from @__alexkress , is a meditative memoir on family and motivation and their ties to the sport
1970 (2018 repress). I’ve been obsessed with Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music since @max_tholl gave me this record in 2019. Keyboard Fantasies made him an accidental synth pioneer, but this album is a fascinating blend of jazz and folk recorded with the CBC. And over the past couple months, I’ve been working on a long profile on Glenn’s life, work and newfound dementia diagnosis for this weekend’s @globeandmail . You can read it on your nearest non-Meta app
2025 by my prolific colleague @hertzbarry . I might have only seen half these movies but let me tell you how delighted I was to discover that Arby’s is central to the Fast series’ establishment as a proper franchise. There’s really something in here for everyone!
