Thank You!

Soundscapes will be closing permanently on September 30th, 2021.

Open every day between Spetember 22nd-30th

We'd like to thank all of our loyal customers over the years, you have made it all worthwhile! The last 20 years have seen a golden age in access to the world's recorded music history both in physical media and online. We were happy to be a part of sharing our knowledge of some of that great music with you. We hope you enjoyed most of what we sold & recommended to you over the years and hope you will continue to seek out the music that matters.

In the meantime we'll be selling our remaining inventory, including thousands of play copies, many of which are rare and/or out-of-print, never to be seen again. Over the next few weeks the discounts will increase and the price of play copies will decrease. Here are the details:

New CDs, LPs, DVDs, Blu-ray, Books 60% off 15% off

Rare & out-of-print new CDs 60% off 50% off

Rare/Premium/Out-of-print play copies $4.99 $14.99

Other play copies $2.99 $8.99

Magazine back issues $1 $2/each or 10 for $5 $15

Adjusted Hours & Ticket Refunds

We will be resuming our closing sale beginning Friday, June 11. Our hours will be as follows:

Wednesday-Saturday 12pm-7pm
Sunday 11am-6pm

Open every day between September 22nd-30th

We will no longer be providing ticket refunds for tickets purchased from the shop, however, you will be able to obtain refunds directly from the promoters of the shows. Please refer to the top of your ticket to determine the promoter. Here is the contact info for the promoters:

Collective Concerts/Horseshoe Tavern Presents/Lee's Palace Presents: shows@collectiveconcerts.com
Embrace Presents: info@embracepresents.com
MRG Concerts: ticketing@themrggroup.com
Live Nation: infotoronto@livenation.com
Venus Fest: venusfesttoronto@gmail.com

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding.

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1. TAME IMPALA - The Slow Rush
2. SARAH HARMER - Are We Gone
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4. DESTROYER - Have We Met
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Friday
May272011

WILD BEASTS - Smother

These gents have acquired taste written all over them—quirky pads of dark synths; herky-jerky beats that never settle on straight 4/4 rock groove; and, most contentiously, a near-sexual obsession with highly-dramatic falsetto and operatic preening. When this site reviewed their last effort, 2009's exceptional Two Dancers, these were all attributes that we pointed to in illustrating the brave conviction of this band. While this trait remains, Smother finds Wild Beasts less concerned with being bold and a little more focused on being quietly strange. Where Two Dancers often wailed and shouted its peculiarities to the world, Smother is delicate in its expressions.

Opener "Lion's Share" doesn't even introduce a beat into the proceedings, instead allowing singers Tom Flemming and Hayden Thrope to trade lines loaded with oblique ferocity: "I wait until you're woozy/I wait until you're lame/I take you in my mouth like a lion takes its game"; "Boy, what you running from?"; "I took the lion's share/not 'cause I didn't care/but just because it was there". It's a subtle, voyeuristic intro to a record that commits itself to the observation that "people are the strangest things".

Throughout, their characteristically shadowy sound ebbs and flows around the always thoughtful drumming of Chris Talbot. His signature approach to time-keeping sets itself on Smother as possibly their greatest asset—never taking a direct route through the tune, but always remaining immediate and embraceable. For a band as off-kilter as Wild Beasts are, it becomes the compass that keeps the album navigable and stable—from the stark stomp of "Plaything", the gently tumbling "Deeper", the bouncing "Reach a Bit Further" and all points in between, his drumming is an understated star.

As for the other 3/4 of the group, they show more than ever a desire to stay in the margins. Even their trademark breathy vocals are rarely overstated. Is this a tentativeness? Hardly. Smother has a coy elusiveness about it, for sure, but it's also supremely confident. On just their third album, Wild Beasts' bitter romanticism is making a case for them being one of the most special young bands working today. A taste not for everyone's palette, but one that is an indispensably heady indulgence once embraced.  

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