Globe and Mail

Steve Dawson doesn't want for work - the Vancouver producer and string-thing sideman keeps busy with projects galore. This year, he has his own albums to do, starting with the dashing roots music of Waiting for the Lights to Come Up, with Telescope still to come. Inspired musicianship and sound-crafting serves Waiting, a well-mannered collection with stick-out tracks that are invariably covers and instrumentals (Fun Machine One is a fun one!). It's a wonderfully coloured record - sliding and resonating guitars, animated pump organs and Wurlitzers, charming ukuleles and deft drumming - but Dawson's impassive vocals don't sell at all. He needs to work on that. Steve Dawson begins a Canadian tour tomorrow in Halifax, with a Toronto stop at Hugh's Room on April 8.

-Brad Wheeler