Mark Robinson

On Mark Robinson's second solo album, he follows in the footsteps of his 1998 Flin Flon project with some nods to Canada in name alone. Musically, Canada's Green Highways is a completely different animal. Throughout Robinson's career he has worked with a variety of superior indie pop collaborators, including Tsunami's Jenny Toomey in Grenadine, and Bridget Cross in Unrest and Air Miami, as well as with the folks from Versus on last year's Tiger Banana solo album. This time around, Trevor Kampmann, the exceptional producer and elctro-pop artist known as Holland, rides shotgun to stunning effect. Kampmann is a producer who really puts his stamp on projects, stripping down songs to their melodic soul and honing hooks so they connect with pinpoint accuracy. Robinson's lyrical beauty and sweet songwriting shines when sparse drum machine, guitar and warm keyboards accompany his bare voice. The arrangements are so clean, that the melodic transitions are displayed in their best light, like a great art gallery featuring modern minimalist masterpieces uncluttered, well lit and each displayed on a large white wall of their own. One can only hope that this isn't the last Kampmann/Robinson collaboration.