After Macklemore & Ryan Lewis partnered up to bring us the acclaimed The VS. EP in late 2009, some fans feared a sophomore slump. Instead, the duo’s latest release, titled The Heist, plays like a veteran rapper’s ‘best-of’ compilation. In a surprising turn for a rap album, The Heist provides[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Mellowhype: Numbers
Unless you’re a well-versed hip-hop fan, it’s possible that your familiarity with rappers Left Brain and Hodgy Beats only stems from their frequently cited Odd Future involvement. The pair of artists, however, also make up the separate rap group Mellowhype, which recently released their third studio album, Numbers. In comparison[Read More…]
Wintersleep: Hello Hum
Although the Juno award-winning Wintersleep has been lauded as having released ‘the album of their career’ with Hello Hum, not much has changed from their previous work. The band brought producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips; MGMT) aboard for their fifth full-length album, although his presence is not especially noticeable. With[Read More…]
Horrors of war still hit close to home
The premise is intriguing enough: Jacqueline, a female combat officer who served in Afghanistan, wakes up in a dark hospital cell complaining of a phantom pain in her amputated leg. What follows, however, is more phantasmagoric—the brilliant Zach Fraser enters the stage as Jacqueline’s French-Canadian great-grandfather, who was unjustly shot[Read More…]
Wonder down under
In the past few years, Australian music has made a significant international impact. After Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” we arrive at a more recent phenomenon: The Jezabels. The ‘Intensindie’ quartet plays a fusion of alternative rock and indie pop that seeks to please. The band was founded[Read More…]
Mid-Fall Network Television Round-Up
HITS The Mindy Project (FOX, Tuesdays @ 9:30p.m.) The Mindy Project was a hit even before its premiere on Sept. 25. Creator, writer, and lead actress Mindy Kaling, who gained fame as the pop culture obsessed Kelly Kapoor on The Office, is to thank for its success. The show’s pilot was[Read More…]
What we talk about when we talk about Englander
“They’re in our house maybe ten minutes and already Mark’s lecturing us on the Israeli occupation. Mark and Lauren live in Jerusalem, and people from there think it gives them the right.” So read the opening lines of Nathan Englander’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank,[Read More…]
Taken 2: franchise taken one sequel too far
“Buddy, what’s happening? How’s the weekend?” “Hey dude, same old. But, I did see this movie—the one produced by Luc Besson? The guy that directed Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element. Oh, that’s what it was—Taken 2, with Liam Neeson.” “Man, I loved the first Taken! When he plays[Read More…]
In with the old, in with the new
Carmen, Rigoletto, The Magic Flute—all these works have had a profound influence on our society. Since its inception in the late 16th century, opera has been a powerful force in the arts. Today’s youth, however, see opera as old-fashioned, imagining grandiose theatres, flashy costumes, and hours of glass-shattering vocalizations. Nevertheless,[Read More…]
Could be Good
Poetry Reading: Bowering and Shikatani Hungry for a dose of delectable poetry? Missed out on 4Floors tickets? Thursday night, the literary worlds of Vancouver Island and Ottawa come together at the Atwater Library for live readings by Marilyn Bowering (2008 Fulbright Scholar) and Gerry Shikatani (Spanish Officer’s Cross of the[Read More…]