Latest News

a, McGill, News, SSMU

Failed PGSS CKUT referendum passes after excluding Macdonald campus ballots

by Ashley Kong on

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The CKUT Radio fee increase referendum in the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) took place on Oct. 21 to 27, 2015. The release of the ballot result, however, was postponed to Nov. 12 due to the inclusion of ineligible voters. After a recount of ballots, the referendum was passed with 760 votes for and 738 votes against.

The fee increase initially lost the referendum vote, with 910 votes against and 886 votes for, falling short by 24 votes. However the preliminary result was deemed invalid as it had mistakenly incorporated votes from PGSS members at the Macdonald campus, who were, in fact, ineligible for CKUT membership. Six-hundred and nineteen of the current total 8710 PGSS members are based in Macdonald campus.

“[Macdonald] Campus students don’t pay a fee to CKUT,” explained Diego Sandoval Hernandez, PGSS representative on the CKUT Board of Directors. “They are not considered members of the CKUT.”

Early last week, concerns arose as to whether a re-vote should be held. According to Colby Briggs, chief returning officer of PGSS, the miscount was merely a technical problem and could be fixed without organizing another round of ballots.

“The way I track it [is to] designate students with certain statuses,” he explains. “Then we go through [the online system] and negate any vote that should not have been cast—without anybody knowing how they voted.”

He continued to explain that the mistake was partly due to the confusion caused by the lists of students enrolled in various graduare progrannes provided by McGill.

“There [are] mistakes in them and there’s lack of clarity,” Briggs said. “According to one of the lists, there’re only two people in the Faculty of Law [….] But then there are another 200 [whom] are not listed as faculties, [but] graduate studies. I [have contacted] the representative at Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning [office] to determine who belongs where.”

Since the referendum has passed, there will be an increase from $3.75 to $5.25 in CKUT fee-levy collected from full-time graduate students per semester, and an increase from $1.88 to $3.38 for part-time graduate students. The increased fee-levy would be applicable only to the Downtown Campus and is opt-outable.

According to Cecilia MacArthur, chair of CKUT Board of Directors, the fee increase is expected to bring extra revenue to CKUT, which is running a deficit. The increased fee-levy collected from graduate students is estimated to be $10,000.

“We’re in a situation where our budget is quite tight,” said MacArthur. “We’re already running a $40,251 deficit this coming year. Would [the referendums] pass, the fee increase [collected from both PGSS and Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)] will bring us down to a $4,251 deficit.”

Similar voting issues did no affect the SSMU referendum for the same CKUT fee increase. According to Mathieur Rouleau, president of Macdonald Campus Students’ Society (MCSS), undergraduate students at the Macdonald campus do not participate in SSMU ballots and are not members of CKUT.

“We [MCSS] are equivalent to SSMU,” he said. “We do our own elections and referendums. The MCSS has not been asked by anybody to be part of the [CKUT] radio and we have not been historically part of the radio fund.”

The SSMU referendum on the same $1.50 increase in CKUT fee was held Nov. 11 to 15. According to the results released on Nov. 15 night, the referendum failed with 54.7% voting ‘No’.

a, Science & Technology

How does Google work?

by Mayaz Alam on

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Since its launch in 1998, Google has become known for its glasses, mail server, and cars. At its core, however, the multibillion-dollar company is still defined by its original purpose: Acting as a search engine. In one single day, more than three billion searches are made through Google, and it boasts more than one billion regular monthly users. Despite this ubiquitousness, many still don’t understand how it works.

In short, a search engine provides answers for users’ queries. When someone types in a query into Google’s search bar, Google’s automated robots ‘crawl’ the vast expanse of webpages, images, PDFs, and other files on the internet in search for an answer to that query. Google’s crawlers—the ‘Googlebot’—travel the internet through hyperlinks that direct it from one page to another. Basically, millions of little robot crawlers travel from webpage to webpage in search of the correct match, using hyperlinks as bridges between pages.

As the crawlers search, they create a massive index of files that can be recalled faster for future searches. Stored in data centres across the world, this index is roughly 95 petabytes (95 million megabytes) in size. Despite this size, not all links or webpages are included. Certain pages can be deemed ‘nofollow’ or ‘noindex’ by a site’s webmaster. The latter tells a crawler to prevent the page from appearing on search engine result pages (SERPs) while the former tells search engines to ignore any links that take users from that page. 

A variety of factors are known to affect where a webpage appears on a SERP. For example, if a user is searching “McGill University” the webpages that will appear high on the SERP will need to have the words “McGill” and “University” appear together, multiple times on the page. Webpages will get also get a boost if “McGill University” is in the heading, title, or URL of the page. The most important factors, however, are whether other pages link to the webpage and the website that the webpage belongs to. For example, if a webpage received many hyperlinks to it from a reputable and frequently visited website such as the New York Times it will appear higher in SERPs.

 In its early days, SERPs could easily be manipulated by webmasters to direct more traffic to their sites. Common tactics included adding hidden text or links to webpages or stuffing a webpage with an unnatural amount of keywords. These features trick the search engine into delivering pages that do not actually meet the query, causing it to underperform and provide useless information to the user.

Google uses over 200 different factors to provide search results, including things like site speed, and whether or not a website has a secure domain. Although the intention of having this many ranking factors is to show the most accurate results, in some cases, this can mean that Google will show two different users who type the same query different results. This is because Google is able to create a personalized searching experience, based on a variety of factors such as the user’s physical location, browser language, and previous browsing history. For example, when users search “cellphone,” they are served localized results for cellphone dealers based on where the search originated from. 

The result is an extremely powerful and accurate machine to answer the world’s questions. Although a more personalized browsing experience can be useful, it comes with a cost: A loss of privacy. The only way that Google is able to provide such hyper-targeted search results is by collecting and analyzing a massive amount of personal data from its users. As users use Google to acquire information, they also surrender their own, often without realizing. Sex, age, location—and even interests—can be ascertained from browsing history,

Despite the ever-growing issues of online privacy, there is no denying that the electronic exchange of data is a powerful tool that has shaped modern society. Today, a person can acquire a degree online, read a book off of a webpage, and send important documents to their loved ones with ease. This electronic revolution has streamlined society, and facilitated the lives of millions. And there’s no denying that throughout this process, the major player has been Google.

Biffteck
a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Laughs in the loft at the Danger Dulgar Comedy Show

by Alfie Crooks on

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The Danger Dulgar Comedy Show gathers a wide variety of Montreal comics together for one Sunday every month to showcase their material to whoever will listen, and throw a few dollars into an empty pitcher. It offers comedy at its rawest, with no lights nor even a stage—just a comedian, a mic, and a small collection of bar stools, glamorously tucked away in the corner of Bar Bifteck. The vibe at the bar wasn’t exactly abuzz—Bifteck hummed along with the same enthusiastic urgency of my grandma’s living room—but upstairs, a creative process was whirring. 

The comedians on Nov. 8 ranged widely from former writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Canadian Comedy Awards winner Heidi Foss, to McGill undergraduate student Emma Wen. The diversity of performers—in their ethnicity, comedic experience, and age—made for a show that was well-rounded and representative of the different voices that exist within the Montreal stand-up scene. 

An eclectic group of comedians was accompanied by an interesting variety of subject matter. Wen rattled off jokes about the relation between cell biology and modern economic principles before dryly commenting, “OK, nobody got that one.” One noticeable commonality between the comics was that a large portion of their jokes focused on personal vulnerabilities. Habib Saim and Tatianna Lah both delivered jokes about dealing with breakups and becoming newly single—usually ending in the remedy of frequent masturbation—while comedian Kieran Waters started his act by commenting on the shockingly few number of true friends he has on social media. Brutal, self deprecating humour is not uncommon in stand-up comedy, but it worked particularly well when coming from relatable amateur comedians. Similar to self-deprecating comedy, awkwardness became a common thread throughout the show. Whether it was a forgotten punchline, a cringe-worthy step into tastelessness, or simply a joke falling flat, the show was far from a smooth operation. You could see each performer trying out something new and then making a subtle, or not so subtle, mental note of the audience’s reaction. At the end of Saim’s final joke about asking to have a threesome with his neighbours, for instance, he exclaimed, “Fuck! I need a better walk off joke!” Even Foss, the award -winning veteran, pulled out some memorable one-liners that simply didn’t go down well. 

In these awkward moments and mishaps you can see the creative process of these performers. Finding what’s actually funny about a joke is a challenging task. Comedy is a very intangible form of performance, and it’s almost impossible to explain specifically why one joke is funny and another isn’t. The Danger Dulgar Comedy Show becomes the perfect venue for comedians to play to an actual audience while still working at their craft. They can go through the tedious creative process of finding the elusive golden formula for what makes people laugh through trial and error. 

If you’re looking for an eye-watering, a laugh-a-minute, professionally executed show, the Danger Dulgar Comedy Show might not be the place to go. The show doesn’t cater to the typical audience’s desires for cheap laughs, but it isn’t supposed to. This show seems to be primarily for the creative process of the artist, not the hedonistic desires of the audience. While the comic is trying to get the audience’s  approval, they end up feeling like a means to the end of an artistic process. For the casual fan of stand-up, this isn’t the most enjoyable experience, which explains the lack of attention given to the show. However, it accomplishes more than amateur comedy. It shows where the proverbial comedic sausage is made, in a strangely intimate and captivating creative workshop. 

a, Martlets, Sports

10 Things: Synchronized swimming

by David P. Stein on

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1 The first official synchronized swimming competition was held in 1891 in Berlin. Many synchronized swimming clubs were formed around this time, and Canada began developing swimming teams to compete in similar events in North America. These performances would soon be incorporated into music hall events, with theatres in London and Glasgow featuring massive water tanks to facilitate these performances.

2. Annette Kallerman, an Australian swimmer and actress, made the sport famous with her performance as an underwater ballerina inside a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome in 1907. Katherine Curtis, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was another pioneer responsible for bringing synchronized swimming to the University of Chicago, where one of the first ballet clubs took off and helped grow the sport immensely in North America. The first official event in North America took place in 1924 in Montreal. Peg Seller was the winner of this inaugural competition.

3. The sport was called “water ballet” before the terms “synchronized swimming,” or “synchro” caught on in the 1900s. At the turn of the 20th century, “water ballet” was still being used by many athletes.

4. The term “eggbeater kick” is used to describe a skill in which synchro swimmers tread water with their arms free to perform strokes. It is a fundamental skill for any synchronized swimmer as it provides stability for maneuvers above water. The swimmer should have their body at chest level to the water in order to properly perform an eggbeater kick.

5. There are three main types of lifts practiced by swimming clubs: The platform lift, the stack lift, and the throwout lift. All these lifts are slight variations of one another, but they all require an entire base of swimmers to support a teammate who will stand above the water and perform the highlight.

6. Despite synchronized swimming’s lengthy history dating back to the late 1800s, the sport was not part of Olympic competition until the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics. U.S.A.’s Tracie Ruiz won the first gold medal in the solo event, and team U.S.A. also won gold in the duet competition.

7. Michelle A. Cameron-Coulter and Carolyn Waldo won the first gold medal in synchronized swimming for Canada as a duet in 1988 at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Cameron was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1988, and was also inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

8. The pools used for international competitions must be a minimum of 20m by 30m, and within that a 12m by 12m area must be at least three metres deep. The water temperature must be 26 degrees Celsius throughout the entire event. Throughout each performance, underwater speakers are used to project music so the athletes can follow along to the beat.

9. McGill University alums Penny and Vicky Vilagos don’t only share the same last name. The twin sisters share the same birthday (April 17, 1963), as well as a synchronized swimming silver medal which the pair earned for Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In 2013, they were both inducted into the McGill Sports Hall of Fame.

10. In February 2015, McGill University’s synchronized swimming team won its 12th National Championship since the Canadian University Synchronized Swimming League’s inaugural 2001-2002 season. McGill’s best kept secret is its synchro program—the gold standard among Canadian universities.

a, Out on the Town, Student Life

Noble Café: Embracing the cold in comfort

by Rachel Summers on

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Noble Café brings a new experience to the typical Montreal coffee scene. This quaint hot spot, nestled in Plateau-Mont Royal, attracts residents young and old with its community feel, heated terrace, and friendly staff. Situated right across from Laurier metro station, the café opened in mid-August, but its official launch party was held last month to coincide with the re-opening of the Laurier Avenue subway entrance. 

The interior of Noble Café is bright and fresh. It strikes the perfect balance between modernism—with immaculate white walls and exposed brick—and a homey feel, with colourful flowers and pumpkins on the windowsill. Noble provides a unique and charming experience, as there is no indoor seating, but rather a heated exterior terrace. Co-owners Marc-Antoine Paquin and his wife Marie-Hélène Choquette were inspired by cafés in Europe who keep outdoor patio spaces open all year and embrace the colder weather. 

“They do this in Oslo and Helsinki,” Paquin said. “[They have] heaters in the winter and give people blankets to drink their coffee.” 

Paquin plans to keep the heaters on throughout the winter during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons for a couple of hours while the weather is sunny enough—the perfect activity for a lazy afternoon. This experience can only be elevated by the absolute perfection that is Noble Café’s raspberry Danish pastry.   

All the pastries at the café—raspberry Danish, croissant, and chocolatine—are delicious and affordable. There is a great selection of beverages for those who want a dose of caffeine, and for those who prefer an alternative. Coffee lovers can choose from all the standard espresso options as well as filter coffee. Other options include hot chocolate, chai lattes, teas, kombucha, mochas, and dirty chais. 

[URIS id=38862]

The quality of the coffee is excellent, which is no surprise given the hard work and enthusiasm that the owners put into the cafe. Paquin wanted to ensure a fun outdoor experience, while maintaining the utmost quality of service for customers. He felt it was important to buy from Canadian roasters, as well as roasters that provided single-origin coffees. 

“We have so many good roasters in Canada,” Paquin explained. “This is important to us—coffee in Canada and Montreal is growing really fast.”

Deciding which coffee to use at the cafe was a long process. Paquin and Choquette talked with 10 different roasters across Canada and the United States before making their decision. After a long deliberation, they decided to source their coffee from Kittel, a local Montreal roaster, and Phil & Sebastian, a roaster in Calgary.

[Kittel] only uses single-origin coffee [and] not a mix of coffee from Brazil or Colombia,” Paquin explained. “Single-origin coffee gives a specific flavour to each cup.” 

Paquin has not only done an excellent job with the café, but provides a refreshing perspective to those who may be contemplating a change in their career. He is an engineer and worked in sustainable energy for eight years, but his passion for coffee and desire to work in closer contact with people pushed him to take the leap of faith. He ultimately left his job and opened Noble Café.

“The hardest part is making the commitment of doing it,” Paquin said. “It does come with stress and fear, but at the end, it certainly helps you figure out what you need to do and where you need to put your priorities. I’m tired, but I’m happy.’’ 

The hard work that went into the café appears to be well worth it. Noble café is busy with patrons grabbing a beverage and treat before hopping on the metro, or those sitting outside and enjoying the neighbourhood. When summer rolls around and the heat lamps are retired for the season, ice cream will be on the menu, and the plan is to introduce nitro-brew coffee as well. 

Until then, winter is coming and Noble Café is ready to embrace it. 

Café Noble is located at 430 Avenue Laurier Est. You can also find them online at facebook.com/noblecafemtl.

James Bonding
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Seduced & Reduced: A look into the thinly-veiled sexism of the James Bond franchise

by Rebecca Potters on

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It is no mystery that James Bond has a superseding alpha-male ego, backed by his presumptuous sexual advances and licence to kill. However, the largest amount of sexualization and marginalization of female characters does not come from Bond himself, but from the writers, directors, and costume designers of the James Bond franchise.

The opening credit of every Bond film features a dramatic and beautiful song, Mr. Bond shooting a gun, and stunning women—all of whom are scantily clad, nude, or nothing more than a silhouette. This is the timeless preface to every film: James Bond is going to kick some ass and get laid.

In each film, the scarcity of women is all too obvious. The franchise’s most recent instalment, Spectre, features a mere five women: one nameless young woman in Mexico City and another at a board meeting in Rome—who is allowed a few lines to her name—as well as Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris); Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci); and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). The fleeting two-minute interaction with the nameless woman at the beginning is a perfect example of Bond’s reputation as a womanizer and the faceless roles that women play in the franchise. She has no further purpose in the film and is immediately written out. Later on, Moneypenny has already rebuffed Bond’s inevitable advances in previous films and he now treats her as a respected coworker; however, that did not stop the writers from placing a man in her bed and having Bond chastise her for it when calling her in the middle of the night— nor did it stop the costume designers from dressing her in lingerie when answering said call.

Lucia Sciarra—although refreshingly mature compared to the typical ‘Bond Girl’—was painted as weak and vulnerable, and made no more appearances in the film after being seduced and reduced by Bond. In regards to costume design, the viewers’ final impression of Lucia is that of her lounging on her bed in a corset and thigh-high stockings, which is unrealistic for two reasons. The first being that—before becoming intimate with Bond—she was coming from her husband’s’ funeral. It is highly unlikely that a woman in mourning would be wearing a full corset and garter set beneath her clothes. The second unrealistic detail lies with this question: Why would she re-dress herself in the intricate lingerie set after her encounter with Bond just to lounge around her home? She serves no purpose other than as an informant and a sexual object for both Bond and the audience.

Although Madeleine Swann is portrayed as tough, terse, and powerful at times, all is lost when she is captured and tied up for Bond’s rescuing. There is no context to her capture, and she just assumes the ‘damsel in distress’ role to stick with the theme of Bond coming to the rescue and saving a woman in need. What took the sexualization of Madeleine even further was her outfit upon meeting the villain, Ernst Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). She’s given a pair of stilettos and a body-hugging dress with an intricate pattern of swirls and curves bringing attention to her bosom and genitals. This was a not so subtle move by the costume department to once again remind the audience that Madeleine is a woman.

The sexualization and marginalization of women throughout the franchise is ever present in Goldfinger (1964) and Quantum of Solace (2008), where the deaths of two Bond girls were accomplished by covering their naked bodies entirely in gold paint (Goldfinger) or in oil (Quantum of Solace). The stripping down of these women—literally and figuratively—do nothing more than rob the naked dead girls of their identity and dignity.

It is not a secret that the 53-year-old franchise has exploited women for their bodies and marginalized them for their gender ever since the release of Dr. No in 1962, but as time goes on and audiences become more socially conscious, perhaps the viewers will see a greater change in the portrayal of women. Even Daniel Craig himself says that the Bond films have “nothing” to teach us. So buckle up everyone, it’s time for the damsel-in-distress roles to be cut, and for Jane Bond to make her screen debut.

a, Science & Technology

McGill researchers identify racial preterm birth disparity

by Sihara Wickremasinghe on

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Today, the inequalities faced by different racial groups are far-reaching. So much so, researchers have found, that individuals can be affected before they’re even born. In the U.S., data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2004 to 2006 has shown that black women experience preterm births 4.7 per cent more frequently than white women. Whether or not this was happening in Canada remained unclear, however, until this past week. McGill researchers have found that in Canada, black women are also more likely to have preterm births than white women.  

“We’ve never really had [this type of] data at a national level in Canada so it [had not] been known whether the same pattern […] might also be relevant,” Britt McKinnon, a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy, and a co-author on the paper, said.

McKinnon, along with the other researchers, wanted to shed light on the success of Canada’s universal health care system by examining the incidences of preterm births.

“The different historical experiences of black populations in the two countries, as well as Canada’s commitment to universal health care and perception as a more egalitarian society [might] diminish racial discrepancies,” said McKinnon. 

Though the study revealed that the absolute rates of preterm births were lower for both black and white women in Canada, like the U.S., there exists a difference between preterms of black and white women. In fact, 8.9 per cent of infants born to black mothers were preterm, whereas for white mothers, it was only 5.9 per cent. 

The researchers are now trying to understand why this difference exists, however, the reason has proved to be elusive. 

“[We] examined a limited set of socio-demographic factors [education, maternal age, nativity, etc.],” McKinnon stated. “[But we] did not find that these factors explained any substantial proportion of the observed article disparity in preterm birth in Canada.” 

Studies using U.S. datasets, such as Racial Disparities in Preterm Birth published in 2011 by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, suggest that elements like socioeconomic disadvantage and stress induced through life experiences—such as racial discrimination—may play a role. Not enough analysis has been done, however, to confirm if the same factors apply to Canada. The national context of both countries is too different to be able to procure a definitive conclusion as of yet. 

“The majority of black women in the U.S. are U.S.-born and are descendants of slaves,” said McKinnon. “Canada’s black population is mostly foreign-born, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean.”

This kind of information is relevant for both public health and clinical interest and also acts as a guide for future research. Understanding the basics of this disparity could help find a resolution to serve the future generations of the black population in Canada. Until then, a number of factors still need to be inspected, such as health behaviours—smoking, obesity—and neighborhood conditions. 

“At this point, this has been a descriptive study,” said McKinnon. “The results should encourage future research to understand whether factors like socioeconomic disadvantage, discrimination and health behaviours contribute to the observed differences in preterm birth risk between black and white women in Canada.”

a, Martlets, Sports

Synchronized Swimming: Martlets synchronized, symmetrical, and sensational

by Genevieve Citron on

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Saturday’s Synchronized Swimming Invitational brought fierce competition and excellent choreography in front of a packed audience at McGill’s Memorial Pool. The overflowing bleachers—full of family, friends, and fans—radiated excitement and anticipation for McGill’s 12-time Canadian University Synchro Swim League (CUSSL) title winning White Team. McGill dominated the invitational, walking away with high scores to accompany their high spirits. Still, the stiff competition demonstrated that the Martlets cannot rest on their laurels looking forward into the season. 

The first portion of the meet presented graceful solos, duets and novice routines—each team’s performance offered the crowd a unique display of elegant athleticism. With a competitor in nearly every bracket, the Martlets hardly left the pool, and were able to keep the McGill spirit strong. The team competition in particular brought out the collective character of the sport.

While technically impressive, the performances were also extremely entertaining. The flow of smart and innovative pop culture references added to the energized atmosphere throughout the hall. The Carleton Raven’s Bring it On-themed routine incorporated stunting reminiscent of cheerleading, while John Abbott College’s hip hop-inspired routine exuded swagger and creativity.

When the Martlets finally took the deck, the stands went wild. McGill began their routine with intricate deck-work to the Lion King’s “Circle of Life” before diving two-by-two into the deep. The team, swimming into their first lap, performed smooth and energetic choreography. Their graceful routine saw McGill first form a symmetrical base for their gravity-defying highlight—it set the stage for their intricate canons of pointed toes in suspended leg extensions. Their near-perfect piece earned the team an impressive score of 65.6, with 32.5 points for technique and 33.1 points for style and artistry.

While the Invitational was a fantastic showing of hard work and talent, it does not contribute points towards the national rankings. Nevertheless, the competition was a great way for the swimmers to celebrate the sport and perfect their technique before the real deal in the winter semester. McGill’s Assistant Coach Hannah Ungar noted that there is more analytical fine-tuning that the team must do before upcoming competitions.

“What you’ve seen today is the beginning stages of the routine,” Ungar explained. “We [later] go through every piece of the routine and do a lot of work with the mirror so the girls can see [if they are uniformed].”

The team will also go through rigorous pool, dry land, and cross training that the team goes through in order to develop their skills to their full potential.

Martlet Head Coach Lindsay Duncan expressed tremendous pride in the team’s development and direction.

“They started out the season as individual swimmers with their own individual strengths, and more than any team that I’ve seen since I came to McGill […] they’ve really come together,” Duncan said. “So now it’s not stand-out individuals here and there—they pull together and swim well as a unit, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

The Martlet synchronized swimming team will continue to prepare for their competition in February at the Eastern Canadian Championships in Guelph, Ontario. While Duncan expects a tough test, she is confident that her team will walk away victorious.

“The calibre of the competition across different schools is getting better every single year, and so we have to step up our game,” Duncan said. “There are more and more teams that are in the running for medal positions at Nationals. So it’s the usual type of preparation, to be ready to have their absolute best swim. I think they can do it [and] have their best performance in the end.”

Grimes Art Angels
a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Art Angels – Grimes

by Ian Rodgers on

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Grimes (the stage name of ex-McGill student, Claire Boucher) is not your dream girl. In a music industry that wants to turn performers into a unified brand, Grimes falls into an odd position. She defies easy characterization: She is too weird to be a true pop artist, but is too connected to the genre to fully discount it. Her latest project, Art Angels works through this complex image.

The album moves from relatively simple pop ballads like “California” to the more bizarre pieces like “SCREAM,” all without missing a beat. While she was known on her previous album for grimy, synth-driven songs like “Oblivion,” Art Angels features punchy guitar riffs that sound straight off of a soft-rock mix—especially in tracks such as the title song, “Artangels.” These instrumentals are woven in with Boucher’s ethereal voice in a way that recalls dreamy days of summer.

What makes Art Angels such an interesting listen is that it acts as a great pop record, but never loses the unique and eclectic DNA that made Grimes such a weird and fun musician in the first place. Melodies move in unexpected directions, but the payoff is always something you can dance to. Album closer “Butterfly,” is an excellent example of this variety within the music, moving from a bubbly melody to a pounding chorus punctuated by screams and a multitude of layered synths.

Lyrically, the album tells Grimes’ story since her last album Oblivion (2012). She is moving away from home, having others try to define her career, and dealing with a history of drug abuse. Throughout, there is a common element of Grimes’ defiance towards all these factors. Of particular note, lyrically, is the weird and wonderful “World Princess Part II,” a callback to her second album, Halfaxa (2010), which speaks to her frustration with being seen as frail, and having ‘big men’ try to take creative control. “Venus Fly,” featuring Janelle Monáe, is a badass feminist anthem that challenges men who attempt to objectify women. Ultimately, Grimes wants to show that she is “too scary to be objectified,” and this album shows it.

Grimes’ three years away from the music industry were well spent. She has developed her sound past the more basic and unpolished work of her earlier albums without allowing her individual aesthetic to fall away in the process. The result is a complex and layered album as a whole, backed by excellent, uplifting, and powerful singles. “Flesh Without Blood” is easily one of the best tracks she has ever made, mixing guitar and synth with a punchy, whip sharp beat.

The result is a complex and layered album as a whole, with production that has a lot of stylistic flourishes that come out through repeated listens. Grimes has talked repeatedly about her frustration with male producers trying to push her to the sidelines, and this album serves as a middle finger to all of them, both in concept and through its excellent production. This is the Grimes album her fans were waiting for; she has kept what makes her fabulous and relatable despite her ascension to pop heaven.

Standout track:

“Flesh Without Blood”

Best lyric:

“B-E-H-A-V-E aggressive/tell me I'm a monster looking so fresh-uh”

Sounds like:

Pop written by Daenerys Targaryen in space.

a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

The week that was for McGill Athletics: Nov. 16

by McGill Tribune Sports on

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In this week’s edition of the week that was for McGill Athletics the McGill Tribune Sports team looks at Gladyz Hakizimana and Sebastian Boyer, our athletes-of-the-week; Redmen basketball and Martlet basketball; as well as our weekly edition of by the numbers.

Beyond the box score

Redmen Basketball

McGill dominated the Bishop’s Gaiters 94-68 in their season opener on Saturday in Lennoxville. Junior point guard Jenning Leung had a career high 29 points on 9-20 shooting and was complemented by third year shooting guard Dele Ogundokun’s double-double—he scored 21 points and reeled in 10 rebounds. McGill dominated Bishop’s in every aspect of the game—they never conceded a lead, they outrebounded the Gaiters 44-29, and shot an excellent 44.9 per cent from the field. McGill also won the turnover battle and outrebounded the Gaiters on the offensive glass 24-8, contributing to their lopsided victory. McGill will face rivals Concordia next weekend at Love Competition Hall on Nov. 19.

Martlet Basketball

The Martlets also dominated Bishop’s in Lennoxville on Saturday, winning 70-44 and holding the Gaiters under 10 points in three of the quarters. Captain Diana Ros continued her excellent form, leading the team with 13 points. McGill never conceded the lead and were buoyed by an excellent overall shooting performance—they hit 44.8 per cent of their field goals and went 7-18 beyond the arc. McGill’s bench was also on fire—they outscored their opponent’s bench 36-13. On defence, they held the Gaiters to 30.2 per cent from the field and comfortably won the turnover battle 13-26. The No. 3 ranked Martlets will face the Concordia Stingers next week at Love Competition Hall.

Tribune Athletes-of-the-Week

Gladyz Hakizimana

Shooting Guard, Martlet Basketball

Freshman – Social Work

Rookie shooting guard Gladys Hakizimana came off the bench to post a career-high 12 points in the Martlets’ 70-44 win over Bishop’s on Saturday. In just 18 minutes of court time, Hakizimana went an efficient 4-for-7 from the floor while playing lockdown perimeter defence. The most impressive aspect of her game was is the ability to draw contact and get to the free-throw line. Hakizimana went 4-for-6 from the charity stripe. While she’ll be utilized as a bench sparkplug at the time being, her continued development will be crucial for the Martlets as she could crack the starting lineup at some point this season.

Sebastian Boyer

Back Row, Redmen Rugby

Freshman – Arts

Freshman Sebastien Boyer was the hero in the Redmen rugby team’s improbable comeback win against Montreal in the RSEQ Finals on Friday night. With his team down by six in extra time, the league’s Rookie-of-the-Year wiggled his way into space and dove just over the line for a game-tying try to set up a walk-off conversion from senior centre Thomas Stokes. Boyer’s try gave McGill its ninth rugby title in the last ten years, and helped the team avoid a heartbreaking loss in the Finals for a second straight year.

By the numbers

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16

Margin by which the Redmen basketball team outrebounded Bishop’s in their season-opening win over the Gaiters

31:24.9

CIS cross country Rookie-of-the-Year Jeremy Briand’s 10 kilometre time.

997

Record breaking attendance at the RSEQ Final played at Molson Stadium between McGill and Montreal on Friday night.

(Photos courtesy of McGill Athletics)

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