On his new release, Suzy 6 Speed, Bay area rapper and producer Iamsu! trades the bass-heavy beats and dreamy stoner synths of the critically acclaimed spring release Kilt for high BPMs and an endless supply of carefully programmed snare claps. Su’s smooth, sing-song flow contrasts with the mixtape’s high-energy production,[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Chilly Gonzales: Solo Piano II
Canadian pianist and rapper Chilly Gonzales’ career has gone from strength to strength in the last few years. Since the release of his instrumental album, Solo Piano, Gonzales has collaborated with Feist and Peaches, performed with Drake, and released the electro-rap albums Ivory Tower and The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales. His[Read More…]
Out of the cavern
Indie pop-rock band, Malajube—named after a mash-up of the words ‘maladie’ and ‘jujube’—has become somewhat of an icon in both their native Quebec and the rest of Canada for their musicality and ingenious approach to achieving fame. An undeniably catchy blend of riffs, synths, and vocals makes the perfect recipe[Read More…]
Bond is back: the man behind the code name
Skyfall, the 23rd entry into the 50-year-old Bond film franchise, brings the spy hero back to life. It features both a restored Bond (Daniel Craig), back for more action after being declared dead, and offers a revival of the classic 007 formula. If 2006’s Casino Royale was the origin of[Read More…]
Pitfalls of generosity; or why best friends have their own credit cards
Front of house are still serving up interval drinks and the audience are taking their seats as, mere metres in front of me, an Athenian noblewoman—whose tribal dress from the previous act has transformed itself into a Dobby-the-house-elf-esque toga—buries her sobbing form into the depths of the imposing construction that[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…]
Could Be Good
Comedy: Mike Delamont at the Mainline Theatre Comedian Mike Delamont, who has sold out performances from coast to coast, brings a trio of shows to Montreal this week. Mike Delamont: Husky Panda, as well as the acclaimed God Is a Scottish Drag Queen and its sequel, will enjoy a four-day run.[Read More…]
The introspective and the aesthetic
The temptation to force similarities is there, but the styles and aesthetics seem decidedly different. Upstairs, blurred dreamlike photographs of the Danish landscape are in a room adjacent to motorcycle-inspired sculptures. A floor below, photographs with sharp geometric angles hang across from colour-coded diagrams with a sociopolitical focus. Similarities between[Read More…]
The Coup: Sorry to Bother You
The outspoken, openly communist The Coup did not produce their sixth album, Sorry to Bother You, with easy-listening in mind. Rather than concerning themselves with typical hip-hop mainstays like money and women, The Coup use music to disseminate ideology The album keeps its distance from the over-produced hits often popular[Read More…]
Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos
If one had to sum up Donald Fagen’s latest offering, Sunken Condos, in a single word, it would unquestionably be ‘smooth.’ From the funky five-minute opener “Slinky Thing,” the album establishes a mood of sultry reverie that holds (although admittedly not always so effectively). Nevertheless, the nine tracks constitute an[Read More…]
