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…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
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…]
Venice in all its glory
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is showcasing their interdisciplinary exhibit, Splendore a Venezia, exploring the interplay of visual art, music, and political culture in the Venetian Republic between the early 16th century and the fall of the Serenissima. The museum investigates these overlaps, exhibiting a diverse collection of work: [Read More…]
Preaching from the choir: The Zolas explore their musical evolution
When I called to interview Zachary Gray of The Zolas, he was in a line deciding on a pastry to buy in Toronto. Since September, after stops in Toronto and Hamburg, Germany, they’ve been on a Canada-wide tour. Now, Zolas is embarking on a 30-day tour with Ottawa’s Hollerado and[Read More…]
The Italian surveillance job
Gianfranco Rosi’s panoramic portrait of the working communities connected by Rome’s Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA) highway hews closely to broad-brush expectations of what one might find in the region: a man chews a cigar in the golden bathtub of a palatial home, a fisherman trawls for eels at dawn, and[Read More…]
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
It always disturbs me when I hear one of my female peers say something to the tune of, “Don’t worry—I’m not a feminist or anything,” as if it’s something to be embarrassed or even worried about. Thankfully, Imago Theatre’s production of If We Were Birds screams feminism, highlighting the strength[Read More…]
Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt
No one would have thought that any band could surpass the unique sound—or should I say noise—of legendary grunge-rock band Nirvana. But Pearl Jam did. The Seattle-based band’s career began with their grunge debut album Ten (1991), but the band’s music seemed to transition to a more alternative rock sound[Read More…]
