In true do-it-yourself fashion, Toronto singer-songwriter Danny Handes took pretty much whatever he could find—guitar, microphone, tambourine, knitting needles—and weaved an impressive debut album. The Asterisk Eye is a musical quilt, a patchwork of 14 songs that cover a lot of ground. It travels pretty much everywhere, from “So Bad” with its AC/DC-like driven riff to the softer land of “Our Leaves Are Green Again” and “Long Road,” which would be fitting on a mix-tape with the likes of Keane and Thom Yorke. “Hearts Again” is a catchy windows-rolled-down-on-a-cool-fall-night companion …

In popular culture the music box often holds magical powers; there’s an allure to it; you know the tune through and through, but it maintains its charm, it’s forever young, and every time you open the box you can close your eyes, hear the tune, and it’ll take you to that place. Canadian singer-songwriter-producer Sarah Shafey’s full-length debut Tiny Music Box is no small achievement, holding all the power and mysticism of a music box on steroids.
The album opens with “C’est Demain” and immediately the mood is set; mixed up …