The music of Angus and Julia Stone has a strange effect on some people. After listening to them, many begin to think of the Sydney-based brother-sister duo as “their” band. When their music was playing at a recent party, I mentioned to the guy manning the iPod how much I[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Femme fatale
“Caution: there will be loud noises during this performance,” warns the door to Medea. The meaning of this sign came to light during the most explosive part of the play. A murder is revealed, and BAM! The back wall of the set falls down, revealing charred fabric and streams of[Read More…]
Avey Tare – Down There
Often overshadowed by the overwhelming success of his bandmate Panda Bear, many are probably unaware that Avey Tare—one-fourth of Animal Collective—works as a solo artist as well. Down There, his solo debut, takes the listener on an adventure through the depths of murky swamps, riding distorted synths and bass-heavy sampling[Read More…]
PS I Love You – Meet Me At The Muster Station
Let’s be thankful that PS I Love You are better at writing songs than they are at picking band names. While the moniker is ripe for ridicule, the 10 tracks that make up Meet Me At The Muster Station demand far more respect. Hailing from Kingston, Ontario, vocalist/guitarist and bass[Read More…]
Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love
Belle and Sebastian Write About Love is the Scottish group’s eighth album in 15 years, and their age is starting to show. Unfortunately, while their signature sound remains intact, the overall message of the album isn’t as obvious as previous releases. Frontman Stuart Murdoch doesn’t wear his heart on his[Read More…]
Michael Franti & Spearhead: The Sound of Sunshine
Michael Franti & Spearhead is best known for its frontman’s vocal politics. On The Sound of Sunshine —Spearhead’s seventh studio album—Franti continues to preach, spreading a message of positive change through his music. Issues of world peace and social justice aren’t as prominent on this album as on previous ones,[Read More…]
Beauty and its discontents
Adam Scotti “I like what I got, and I’m gonna protect that. Wouldn’t you?” After Steph finds out that her boyfriend Greg has just called her face “regular,” she delivers the play’s first monologue, in which she explains why, though still clearly in love with Greg, she had to go[Read More…]
Sufjan Stevens: not half as enslaved
Sufjan Stevens is a master designer of atmospheres. You would want to be a Jim Carrey-type character in a world of his design, and at the end of the movie you would ultimately choose not to escape through the hidden door. At will, and in bizarre, repeating cycles, he lulls[Read More…]
Leaping and soaring to Chopin
I have only experienced a few perception-altering performances in my life, and Friday night’s National Ballet performance of Marie Chouinard’s 24 Preludes by Chopin and Crystal Pite’s Emergence was one of them. Prior to the performance, I was certain I was not a person who could enjoy contemporary ballet. I[Read More…]
Dan Mangan is nice, nice, very nice
bcscene.ca It’s challenging to listen to Dan Mangan’s song “Robots” without singing along with the refrain: “Robots need love, too / They want to be loved by you.” Those words may or may not be true, but you believe them when you hear them. Perhaps Mangan, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter from[Read More…]
