The history of racial relations in North America has certainly been a topic of interest among filmmakers and playwrights in recent years—one which audiences have been happy to engage in. One need look no further than the recent successes of Django Unchained, Fruitvale Station, or the buzz around 12 Years[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Rallumons le Red Light reclaims Montreal’s Red-Light District
Whatever its faults, Montreal’s entertainment district cannot be described as poorly lit. On the evening of Oct. 24, a new artistic illumination joined the gaudy lights at the intersection of St. Laurent and Ste. Catherine. An excited crowd came to witness the unveiling of Rallumons le Red Light, an installation[Read More…]
Krewella DANS la ville
Krewella is one of music’s most fascinating emerging acts. Their debut album Get Wet was released last month with a strong chart performance, and the group landed in 44th place in the DJ Mag Top 100 this past week. Consisting of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf, as well as Kris[Read More…]
Black Milk – No Poison, No Paradise
Black Milk’s sophomore album, No Poison, No Paradise, is the perfect blend of smoothly laid hip-hop beats and a techno-synth vibe. The Detroit rapper-emcee introduces a new kind of soulful lyricism mixed with a story-teller vibe that was largely absent from his 2010 release Album of the Year, a mix[Read More…]
tick, tick…BOOM! is no bust
It’s a musical where “everybody we know wants to be something else.” With a cast of three actors and a live four-piece band, Tuesday Night Cafe (TNC) presents tick, tick..BOOM!, by Jonathan Larson, best known for bohemian rock musical Rent. Choosing love, success, or passion as life’s top priority is[Read More…]
The Head and the Heart – Let’s Be Still
I listened to Let’s Be Still on constant alert for a track that might outshine “Rivers and Roads,” The Head and the Heart’s traditional concert -closer and all-around gem of a song. In that regard, their sophomore album didn’t succeed—the sendoff song is still the cream of their catalogue—but when[Read More…]
The Strumbellas – We Still Move on Dance Floors
Canadian indie rockers The Strumbellas have been described as alt-country and ‘popgrass,’ among other ambiguous labels, but I can’t say I have a better phrase for what they do. Their sophomore album, We Still Move on Dance Floors vacillates between the quiet and unobtrusive, as well as a forced pep[Read More…]
Gerontophilia: an unconventional love story
Gerontophilia, the first ‘mainstream’ venture of provocative Toronto based director, writer, artist, and photographer Bruce LaBruce, is the beautifully shot story of Lake (Pier-Gabriel Lajoie), an 18-year-old gerontophile (one who is sexually attracted to the elderly) and his love affair with 82 year old Melvin (Walter Borden). In the film,[Read More…]
Art imitates life, in all its monotony
Jonas Mekas has been making movies ever since he stepped off the boat from Lithuania to Ellis Island in 1959. These films have covered a diverse array of topics and have ranged from the provoking and intellectually challenging to the downright bizarre. Known colloquially as the ‘godfather’ of American Avant-Garde[Read More…]
School of Ska
“Two roads before you, and you must make your choice,” legendary ska singer Roy Panton intoned during the final night of the 2013 Montreal Ska Festival. His words aptly described the contrast between the final two nights of the festival, though thankfully for many Montreal ska fans, they didn’t have[Read More…]
