Vanessa Heins “Death country” might seem like an awkward pairing of words, but once you’ve heard the music of Elliott BROOD, you’ll understand how perfectly this self-labeled genre can work. Although the label is descriptive of their older work, the band’s newest album, Days Into Years, strays from this categorization.[Read More…]

Two weeks ago, SPIN Magazine announced it would be discontinuing its traditional in-print album reviews in favour of 140-character reviews posted on Twitter (@SPINreviews). SPIN reasons that, thanks to the Internet, listeners don’t depend on professional critics to act as authoritative voices about new releases: all anyone needs to discover[Read More…]

Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune There are stories that are fun, pleasing, and uplifting to the soul and spirit. Then there are others that are dark, brutal, and challenging to watch unfold. And then there’s Sweeney Todd.  One of Stephen Sondheim’s best known works, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of[Read More…]

Common’s The Dreamer/The Believer is not just an album, but also a statement to critics and fans alike in response to 2008’s disappointing and generally dismissed Universal Mind Control. This time around, Common is defiant and triumphant; his sound enhanced by longtime friend and producer No I.D., who produced the[Read More…]

Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune My mother, like many, used to stress the importance of good manners. But what happens when yours has none to spare? Well, something like Hay Fever, apparently. Set in the bohemian period of the roaring twenties, the play follows the eccentricities of the Bliss family[Read More…]

aceshowbiz.com Coriolanus is not an easy movie to watch. Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, an adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known tragedies, is no popcorn action flick. The plot is complex, the war scenes are more brutal than exhilarating, the dialogue is heavy, and the characters defy empathy. But for those[Read More…]

New Jersey’s Real Estate and Brooklyn’s the Babies played a sold-out show last Wednesday at La Sala Rossa. Local trio Reversing Falls opened with their tuneful and distorted pop punk, using a  drum machine so good that it took this reviewer about 30 seconds to realize there wasn’t a live[Read More…]

The original Guided By Voices lineup has at last reunited for the first time in 15 years, and with the release of Let’s Go Eat The Factory comes the return of their iconic lo-fi, garage band sound. Starting with the electrifying opener “Laundry and Lasers,” it’s clear that lead singer[Read More…]

John K. Samson has penned some impressive lyrics as the frontman for beloved folk-rockers the Weakerthans, but none may better capture the heart of his music than the simple refrain of “I hate Winnipeg.” It’s the half-joking lyrical crux of 2003’s “One Great City!” a song about Samson’s love-hate relationship[Read More…]

January doldrums got you down? Take a look some of the Tribune A&E contributors’ favorite winter pick-me-ups.  Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay: “212” Off-kilter delivery and confident lyrics make Azealia Banks rap’s most exciting star to watch this year. Take a seat, Nicki Minaj. Split Enz: “I See Red” Because[Read More…]