The fifth and latest studio album by The High Dials, a Montreal-based indie band, explores familiar territory by mixing pop and electronica with folk inspired melodies. The album successfully creates a distinct atmosphere while providing more traditional listeners with grounded and catchy melodies, despite suffering from a few subpar tracks.[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Peer Review: Cult Classic
When listening to the complex, polished, and innovative sounds of Cult Classic’s latest singles, one could be easily forgiven for mistaking the dramatic and trancelike music of self-described “creampop” Montreal band Cult Classic for that of a band with years more experience together. Despite forming just over a year ago,[Read More…]
Serpent’s Lullaby adds eerie beauty to Medusa myth
Serpent’s Lullaby, a 2014 short film that has been garnering buzz on the festival circuit and recently made its Canadian premiere in Toronto, is a deeply disturbing and undeniably fascinating take on the myth of Medusa in a modern setting. Its eerie motifs—arguably on par with those of American Horror[Read More…]
Album Review: CAIRO – A History of Reasons
Toronto-based indie rock group CAIRO, after garnering significant regional attention from the release of the music video for its single “A History of Reasons,” has delivered a full-length debut album that lives up to its hype. It is by no means groundbreaking, but is still a perfectly listenable amalgamation of[Read More…]
Waiting for August a tender portrait, but not much else
Waiting for August, directed by Teodora Ana Mihai, tells the story of 15-year-old Georgiana and her six siblings, who live together in a Romanian housing project. The pack of children must adjust to life when their mother goes to Italy to find work and Georgiana takes on the role of[Read More…]
Peer Review: Players’ Theatre Round Dance
When watching student productions, it’s easy to ignore the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a single show. From lighting and set design to casting and directing, every element of these productions is under the control of individual students. Off stage, many of these same players simultaneously spend their[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: What’s in a name?
Viet Cong’s new self-titled album manages to make me feel excited about guitar-heavy jams despite living in an age where there is a glut of such music. This Calgary four-piece is on the cusp of the almost unobtainable—a career in indie rock. However, what’s up with that name? Is it[Read More…]
Album Review: Jessica Pratt – On your own love again
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt is only 27 years old but returns on her second studio album, On Your Own Love Again , with an incredibly mature sound, reminiscent of an era long gone. Pratt’s music has a strong ’60s folk sound and with picked acoustic guitar and raw,[Read More…]
MMFA examines French Orientalism narrative of 1800s
In the midst of the frozen pipes, depressing darkness, and the icy sidewalks that accompany a typical Montreal winter, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is almost taunting the city to attend its sun-filled Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism exhibit currently on display. Focusing on the juxtaposition between[Read More…]
Windy City for the win in AUTS’ Chicago
Part of the thrill that comes from live musical theatre is knowing that something could go wrong at any moment, but rarely does. The best theatre uses this to its advantage, radiating a sense of jubilant spontaneity that wriggles its way into the audience’s hearts and leaves them humming the[Read More…]
