ph5

First of all I want to apologize to all the albums I listened to in March and loved and wanted to talk about but couldn't because of these ridiculous self-imposed limitations I've given myself for this show. Surely someone else out there has and will give you the love and attention you deserve. March was insane. I could've done like three episodes on March along. Instead you get this one. I hope y...

If January kicked off the year with a bang, February caused that momentum to come to a screeching halt with more of a slowly deflating whoopie cushion. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but come on - in terms of new releases, it wasn't great. Have no fear, I still managed to find something to talk about for 72 minutes. Really selling this episode, aren't I? Let me start over. Another month, another episo...

And we're back, with the first episode of season 4. Make it make sense. While most years start with a stretch and a yawn, January roared to life with a series of extremely impressive releases by some new favourites and some old friends. Speaking of old friends, the amount of name drops and callbacks in this episode was ridiculous. Talk about fan service. There's no way of knowing for sure, but if...

I might be insane releasing this episode two days before Christmas but the reality is that, in a lot of people's minds, the year 'ends' with Christmas and that weird week afterwards leading up to New Year's Eve doesn't really exist with a particular time and space so still focusing on things that happened that year during that week is like uh why are you bothering the year's over just move on with...

Every artist who has ever released music has done so in hopes to end up on a year end list. it's literally the whole point of doing it. I'm mostly kidding, but December is always a fun time of year for reflecting back on the past 12 months and determining how the music you listened to helped to shape and define them. As always, we start of by going through #25 - #11 of my favourite records of the...

It's getting cold and dark, might as well settle in with a brand new episode of ph5. October was a bit of a return to reality after the abundance of September. Instead of 3 album of the year candidates we only got one. What a shame! Wild how these things vary month to month. Also, just want to make it as clear as possible that ph5 is wholly against the genocidal war crimes being committed not only...

Sorry for the wait. September was just a lot to take in. Also I'm sick. After a tepid spring and summer release-wise, last month was absolutely bananas. Sooo much great new music. Narrowing down the list of records I wanted to talk about from September was extremely challenging, but as your willing and gracious host I must do what has to be done to serve the show. Albums discussed below! Animal Co...

Have you ever tried recording a podcast during an air show? Don't. That was ridiculous. After a brief hiatus from the standard format, we're back with a round up of August's releases after July was too mid to even talk about. August on the whole wasn't too amazing, and I meant to keep this one short and sweet but somehow ended up talking for 80 minutes...I have a problem. With discussions the cycl...

So July was trash (in terms of new music releases anyway - pretty great month otherwise! Instead of wasting your and my time talking about how mid it was, I decided to do an episode on something infinitely more interesting/important - the annual New Friends Festival. Taking place over the August long weekend, the 3 day festival focuses on screamo and screamo adjacent music...and I had the absolute...

Sun's out. Bird's are chirping. And the music is mid. What is up with that. June was one of the weaker months for releases in recent memory but there was still more than enough to talk about. Not to mention I make a great joke about 'email' that is worth listening to the entire episode for. Despite being pretty low key in terms of good releases, one of my most anticipated albums of the year DID dr...

May was Phil's birthday! Everyone drop a Happy Birthday in the comments. Wait you can't do that for podcasts. Never mind. May was cool in that sense but musically it was somewhat sparse. Don't worry - Phil still managed to find something to ramble about for a straight hour. What else is new? Albums discussed below:billy woods & Kenny Segal - MapsBlindfolded and Led to the Woods - Rejecting Obl...

Sorry for the wait. It's been one of those weeks! I promise the wait will be more than worth it though, as April featured some of the best releases of the year so far. Despite my exhaustion and slightly hungover state, I did my best to do them justice. This month featured welcome returns by some old favourites, an unwelcome return by someone just plain old, and the year's first EP inclusion. I'm g...

Listen. What else was I supposed to do, okay? There were FIVE Fridays in March. And great records released on every single one of those Fridays. Rules are meant to be broken or whatever. On this month's episode, I go long (like, way long) on the unexpected highs (and lows) of March's releases, and muses on the unlikely cultural and foundational growth of one of my favourite genres. RIP Ryuichi Sak...

February. What a stupid word! Like come on. It's like purposefully difficult to say, kinda like how the month is purposefully difficult to survive. I hate February. Didn't hate its music releases though! In this month's episode, Phil gets in touch with his youth, in more ways than one, and reflects on what it actually means to enjoy music. How do we learn to enjoy things that are intentionally imp...

I don't know how we got here but here we are, at the end of the first month of 2023. As Smash Mouth wisely stated, 'the years start comin' and they don't stop comin''. January started the year off relatively weak in terms of new music, save for a flurry of excellent releases at the end of the month. Is there any better feeling than hearing that first record of the year that you really like? Probab...

This was a year filled with opuses so it only seems fitting that we conclude it with an opus of our own! Join Phil on the longest ph5 episode to date as he runs down his top 10 albums (and top 5 songs) of 2022. Come on, its that weird time between Christmas and New Years where nothing exists and nothing matters, not like you're doing anything else important anyway! Thanks as always for tuning in,...

Everyone knows that the only real reason to listen to new music is to make a list about it at the end of the year, and we're finally here! You guys have already read everyone else's year end lists so you might as well check out mine too. Although historically speaking (sample size: 1) the #25-11 episode has the lowest listenership of any episode of the season; good thing I made this one 90 minutes...

Listen. I tried something, it didn't work. Happens to the best of us. Wanna know what I'm talking about? Only way to find out is to listen to the latest episode, a special/not so special two-for-the-price-of-one podcast extravaganza. Don't say you weren't warned! Albums discussed below: Drake & 21 Savage - Her Loss Dream Unending - Song of Salvation Elder - Innate Passage Fleshwater - We're No...

Man RIP Takeoff! What the hell! Another young legend gone...I'm getting pretty sick of this crap. Anyway. Death is some heavy stuff, and a lot of the records discussed on this month's episode deal with complicated emotions. Big shout out to Bob McCully for joining me once again so I'm not wading through all this turbulence alone! Albums discussed below: Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST B...

...and we're back. After August's sabbatical (don't worry you really didn't miss any good music anyway), Phil's back with more good meat and potatoes ph5 content. September more than made up for the garbage of August with tons of great new releases...but unfortunately some big disappointments as well. Ain't that just how life goes. Releases discussed below! Alex G - God Save the Animals Behemoth -...

Does anyone actually know what the deal with Civic Day is? I'm not complaining I just don't understand it. Anyway, what better to do on a completely ambiguous holiday such as Civic Day than spend ~100 minutes discussing the music from the previous month? My thoughts exactly. This month I welcome back Bob McCully to discuss the new Scarcity record and black metal in general, and I go deep on pop's...

Summertime is in full swing and things are getting hot and heavy here in the city! With a resurgence of fantastic aggressive music, things are getting hot and heavy in Phil's ears too! June saw some of the biggest stars in the world move in some unexpected directions, and featured some of the more intriguing, mysterious music to be released this year. Albums discussed below: Alexisonfire - Otherne...

Ah...summertime. Sweat stains, sunburns...and new music! Lots of it. On this month's episode, Phil dives into the music of May, featuring a lengthy discussion on one artist's opus of generational trauma...that's right folks, we're talking about Ethel Cain's new album. Oh yeah, Phil talks about that other one too. You know which one I mean. Albums discussed below: Boldy James & Real Bad Man - K...

April was crazy busy and I worked every day this month - thank god for the amazing ambient records that came out this month to help ease the pain. On this month's episode, I talk about ambient's healing powers, some much needed closure with one of my all time favourite bands (that came from an unexpected place) and a few rap records that were wildly different - in both substance and quality. RIP G...

March always does that really annoying thing where it pretends Spring is beginning like 4 times. It sucks! At least the music was good though. March saw the release of a lot of exceptional yet wildly different takes on pop by really talented women, as well as some old favourites rearing their heads again after extended absences - to mixed results. I promise you I don't talk about Will Smith. Album...