Locals will proudly inform you (in addition to boldly asserting that Harvard is America’s McGill) that Montreal is Canada’s worthy answer to New York. While the general sentiment is somewhat bucolic, Montreal does hold a few gems that would fit snugly on the ground floor of a refurbished textile factory[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Bodybuilders have feelings too
Teddy Bear is a study in contrasts. The dissonance between a tattooed, muscle-bound hulk of a man and his utter domination by those thin and frail is a wonder to behold. This is the state in which Dennis, the titular character of Teddy Bear, is introduced: so nervous on his[Read More…]
Roman Holiday
Despite a longstanding love of film, I’ve never been drawn to Woody Allen’s neurotic charm. My review of To Rome With Love, therefore, should have been nothing more than another addition to the burgeoning disappointment of the majority of film critics. In fact, I was so taken aback by its[Read More…]
Life and death meet the quotidien
This September, the aesthetic of mortality is on display in Montreal for Life and Death, Expressions of Daily Activities in the Worldview of the Contemporary Indigenous Peoples, an exhibit at the Espacio Mexico exploring the spaces between the funeral and the festive. The intimate venue, showcasing roughly 40 arts and[Read More…]
Purity Ring: Shrines
The debut album from Montreal duo Purity Ring defies definability. Airy, synth-pop, electro: each label is only a piece of the puzzle. The picture only becomes clear once one listens to their tracks. “Obedear” is a subdued single full of the swirling, jangling pop that Purity Ring is known for.[Read More…]
Mother Mother: The Sticks
Ever since the release of their debut album Touch Up in 2007, BC’s indie rock darlings Mother Mother have been know for their catchy rhythms and haunting harmonies. Three albums and a whirlwind global tour later, they have returned with The Sticks. The Sticks aims for a cohesive theme, a[Read More…]
Cold Specks is heating up
It’s the taping for an early November episode of venerable UK music show Later… with Jools Holland and 24-year-old Al Spx is making her television debut with only a single to her Cold Specks moniker. She stands in the centre of room, bathed in a blue spotlight, hands clasped and eyes closed, and launches into a haunting a capellagospel[Read More…]
Blitzkrieg and Jitterbugs: McGill during wartime
Elizabeth Hillman Waterston enrolled at McGill in September 1939—the same month that Hitler’s Panzer divisions first rolled into Poland and World War II began. When one thinks about how fraught with tension the McGill campus has been this year, with students locking horns over issues like the Quebec government’s proposed tuition fee[Read More…]
The hypocrisy of “artist supporters”
I’ll admit it: I used to download music illegally. Let’s face it, nearly everyone who owns a computer with Internet access has, at one point in their life, downloaded a song, album, or even an entire musical collection through suspicious avenues. It’s become so popular that entire music stores have[Read More…]
Bully is a wake-up call for more than just students
After a typical day of school, 12-year-old Alex Libby jumps on the trampoline in his yard, or walks around the neighbourhood, delicately holding hands with his angelic sister Jada. Sometimes, he throws rocks near the train tracks behind his house as the burly freights pass. In the morning, Alex heads back to[Read More…]
