Today, some listeners are voicing concerns that dubstep is a dying genre—a fad that existed solely as an exciting, contrarian alternative to the growing popularity of catchy electronic pop. Likewise, they argue that with new mainstream acceptance, the genre is floundering—the limelight brings the destruction of a genre that can[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Hollerado: White Paint
The 2009 release of Hollerado’s breakthrough debut, Record in a Bag, uprooted the band from small-town beginnings and propelled them into the indie limelight. The band’s sophomore effort, White Paint, is the culmination of the ensuing four years—more than a thousand live shows and several tonnes of confetti later. The[Read More…]
PVT: Homosapien
The title of Australian trio PVT’s fourth effort Homosapien sheds light on the band’s perspective on sound. With its scientific tinge, the title alludes to the electronic infrastructure of the album. The band’s progression from instrumental electronic rock to a more electro synth-pop sound began with their last album, Church[Read More…]
Music journalism: you’re doing it wrong
Last week, the New York Times’ credibility was called into question when reporter John Broder’s negative review of the Tesla Model S, an electric car, was challenged by none other than the company’s CEO, Elon Musk. The story caused a stir in the press, simply because the subjects of mainstream[Read More…]
McGill’s Savoy succeeds with uproarious comic opera
As senate reform once again makes its awkward, halting round through this country’s public consciousness, it is perhaps timely to reflect on this peculiar institution’s elder brother: the British House of Lords. No longer a bastion of the hereditary aristocracy—though they still hold a seventh of the seats—the upper chamber[Read More…]
Picks for the 2013 Oscar Winners
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a reputation as tame, dust-covered fossils that shirk from innovation and gravitate towards the crowd-pleaser. This was true for the Best Picture winners of the last two years—both The Artist and The King’s Speech are fine, but not spectacular, eulogies for[Read More…]
Cooking up a family feud
The world of haute cuisine is a mystery: what happens in the kitchen is usually kept secret, and what comes out is invariably delicious, beautiful, and expensive. Every dish has a deliberate balance of textures, flavours, and colours. Similarly, every restaurant has a clearly defined balance of power that inevitably[Read More…]
A legendary film dynasty unveils its prince
Charlie Sheen is clutching a bottle of vodka in one hand, and $800 worth of caviar in the other. The two alternate in entering his mouth. These are comfort foods—the taxi driver was unable to supply the “coke” and “grass” that Sheen initially requested. No, this isn’t TMZ’s latest update.[Read More…]
A History of Violence
“Empire does not require love, only loyalty.” With this, the stage is set. Waiting for the Barbarians is decidedly anti-love, presenting instead a steel-cold latticework of power relations and authoritarian abuse. For Empire imprisons all semblance of humanity, then throws away the key. Treading a thin line between provoking masochism[Read More…]
Hosanna: flaunting convention one dress at a time
The ’70s were a time of societal progress; Quebec’s Quiet Revolution irrevocably altered the political and civil landscape, giving members of the LGBTQ community a foothold in metropolitan life which they had previously been denied. It is at this time of great socio-political upheaval that the title character in Michel[Read More…]
