Biffy Clyro: Opposites

With the charts dominated by catchy pop stars, and the occasional indie group who has broken through to the mainstream, it is refreshing to listen to actual rock ‘n’ roll. Biffy Clyro, a Scottish band currently touring with Muse made it big in 2007 with the release of their album[Read More…]

Scala & Kolacny Brothers: December

There are no “Hallelujahs” or “Jingle Bells” in this Christmas cover compilation, but the unconventional song choices, including covers of Linkin Park, Coldplay, and Damien Rice, only augment the audible pleasure of December. This is choir music: voice-centric and airy, but managing to stand out with exceptional emotional expression and[Read More…]

Frances Foster: dream catcher extraordinaire

Frances Foster’s paintings are a look through the eyes of another—an exploration of mind and memory. The Montreal-born artist and Dawson college alumna has received much praise for her work, on display in U.S. and Canadian collections throughout the past 20 years. Her solo painting exhibit Selective Memory marks Foster’s[Read More…]

Jason Lytle: Dept. of Disappearance

“I’ll crawl into the mountains, I’ll fall into obscurity/A phantom on the landscape, a memory of what used to be.” Nostalgia and longing—the voice and lyrics of Jason Lytle can’t be described without invoking these two sentiments. Dept. of Disappearance, his latest album, is full of unknown ‘somewheres’ and ‘someones,’[Read More…]

Jack Davey: LO-F! Side A

Jack Davey, frontwoman for the Californian electro-soul duo J*DaVeY, has gone solo. But for a singer who has opened for Prince, the Roots, and Janelle Monáe, the five-song EP falls distinctly flat. Davey’s voice, sultry, breathy, and deep, is wasted on what she calls “stripped-down grunge” and her attempt at[Read More…]

Degas’ “Little Dancer, Aged 14.” (pmcmurray.wordpress.com)

La Belle Époque, here and now

A unique opportunity to see works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissaro, as well as twenty-one canvases by Renoir, has opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). More than a million people worldwide have already viewed the 75 Impressionist paintings on loan from the Sterling and Francine Clarke Art[Read More…]

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