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McGill Martlet Rugby
a, Martlets, Sports

Rugby: RSEQ playoff hopes in the balance as Martlets soar past Ravens

by Zikomo Smith on

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McGill Martlets
35

 

 

 

 

Carleton Ravens
0

 

 

The Martlet rugby team (2-3) bulldozed past the Carleton Ravens (0-5) 35-0 on Saturday at Molson Stadium to stay in the hunt for a post-season berth. If Concordia (3-1) defeats Sherbrooke (1-4) on Sunday or wins any of their remaining regular season matches, McGill’s playoff hopes will be squashed.

“[The game] definitely was a must win, [but] depending on what happens this weekend we might be out already,” Coach Matthew Stephens said.

McGill did not show any anxieties about qualification on the pitch, however, with a confident, hard-hitting performance. Captain and prop Audrey Marcotte, recently named to the RSEQ All-Star team, led the way with several incisive runs. Her fantastic handling and interplay with senior flanker Katrine Lightstone and veteran centre Caroline Suchorski kept Carleton off balance and helped draw a penalty from the Ravens in the 34th minute. Suchorski converted to put the score up 16-0.

“Audrey is our captain for a reason: She’s a great person and she leads on the field,” Stephens said. “She’s a handful for every team we play […] she plays like this every game, it’s the only way she knows how to play.”

McGill methodically wore Carleton down for the entirety of the game. Stephens made the tactical change of bringing in sophomore fullback Alexandra Robb in the second half to exploit Carleton’s tired legs and propensity to bunch around the ball. She rewarded him with a try in the 75th minute. Senior winger Deanna Foster passed to spring Robb loose who then broke four tackles on her way to score a try.

“We actually had [Robb] watch in the first half to see where the space was,” Stephens said. “Her job was to go in and turn the game around in the second half and I think she did that.”

Prior to their lengthy break, the Martlets seemed worn out and weren’t playing to their full potential.

“[The break] was great for us because before that we had four games in 15 days,” Stephens explained. “We did not have the time to work on anything. It was pretty tough, we needed that time off [….] It [was] a tough way to start the season, we had a lot of tough games early without time to really prepare. No excuses but we are trying to develop and get ourselves better.”

The Martlets play Bishop’s (0-4) next week and will keep one eye on Concordia’s (3-1) performance as their playoff hopes hang in the balance.

Sound bites

“It’s not just about running and smashing people, it’s about playing and looking for space and going into gaps and this game was the best game we have this year of doing that.” – Coach Stephens on the Martlets’ progress this season.

Moment of the Game

Alexandra Robb got the ball in the 52nd minute and then proceeded to slalom past four Carleton defenders. She stepped sharply and wriggled loose of the grasping defenders, further deflating the Carleton defence.

Stat of the Game

McGill has a positive point differential (99 points for, 91 points against) for the first time since their second week of the season.

Updated 10:45 p.m.: The Concordia Stingers defeated the Bishop’s Gaiters 81-5 on Sunday knocking McGill out of the RSEQ playoffs

a, McGill, Montreal, News, SSMU

SSMU, Anti-Austerity McGill stand in solidarity with Quebec teachers’ unions

by Alexia Martel-Desjardins on

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On Sept. 30, around 34,000 supporters of the  Fédération Autonome de l’Enseignement (FAE) protested austerity measures imposed by the Quebec government by marching to Square Victoria. The FAE represents eight teachers’ unions, and encompasses teachers from elementary and high schools in Montreal and its surrounding region. 

The 2015-2016 provincial budget saw a reduction in education spending of $76 million. Of that, $45 million has been taken from school boards across the province and $21 million from the CEGEP system.

 A McGill contingent to the FAE  joined the protest in a show of solidarity with the striking teachers. The McGill contingent was organized by students from different on-campus groups, including the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and Anti-Austerity McGill. The latter is a recently-formed student group, explained member Adam McKenzie.

 “[Anti-Austerity McGill] is a relatively new group, formed at ​Anti-Austerity Week at McGill,” McKenzie said. “[The group aims] to promote the anti-austerity movement at McGill and […] raise awareness.”

SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Affairs Emily Boytnick explained that increasing awareness about asuterity on campus is important given the effect it has had on the McGill community.

 “Certainly austerity affected McGill students,” Boytinck said. “More jobs [on campus] are becoming very precarious. We’ve also seen loss of TA hours [and] loss of classes in the Arts faculty.”

 Additionally Boytinck highlighted the effect of budget cuts on communities outside of McGill.

“McGill is just really getting the tip of the iceberg, and it is honestly  the children in the school system who are suffering,” Boytinck said. “Which is why the FAE is going on strike today, and [why] we want to stand in solidarity.”

Last spring, the FAE voted to hold three days of strike, beginning on September 30, 2015. Danielle Pelletier, a kindergarten teacher at Ecole Beau-Séjour Edifice Nord who attended the protest, said there will be more strikes in the future. 

 “There are no other dates that have been determined for the other strike days; however, they should take place before the end of October,” Pelletier said. “The services offered to students have decreased [a] lot […] and now the government wants to increase class ratios and to remove quotas on [students].” 

Schoolchildren are assigned a quota of one, two, or three. A child with a quota of two needs the attention and help equivalent to that of two students, and the same proportions apply for children assigned a quota of three. 

“If there are students with special needs […] we try to make up for everything but, at some point it gets very difficult,” said Pelletier. 

François Charron is a music teacher at École Des Roseraies and École Albatros and member of the teachers’ union from the school board Commission scolaire de la Pointe de l’Île who attended the protest. Charron expressed his disappointment regarding the bidget cuts imposed by the government. 

“There is a collective labour agreement that is being renewed at the moment,” Charron explained. “[For a year now] there have been at least 50 meetings between the FAE and the government, and there has been absolutely no progress.” 

The protesters hope that the march will help to bring the negotiations to a more positive conclusion.

“We hope to reach an agreement, and that the government will offer to the children of the next generation the conditions that we have had the privilege to experience,” Charron said.

Anti-Austerity McGill is planning to participate in upcoming protests and events. 

“There [was] another one on Oct. 3 with the public sector workers,” Mackenzie said. “We are basically trying to go to every one we can.”

 

 

 

a, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Not enough weeks in a year

by Antonina Scheer on

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Last week, The Tribune published an opinion piece "Too many weeks in a year," in which Norman Yallen questioned the effectiveness of Anti-Austerity Week, Indigenous Awareness Week, and Divest McGill’s Fossil Free Week. Yallen lamented the apathy of McGill students, argued that such week-long campaigns do little to encourage involvement. The argument rested on the completely unjustified assumption that these campaigns plan to do nothing visible for the rest of the year. Be assured, we will remain present.

It is myopic to qualify these campaigns as ‘transient’ because this was the only time they were visible to the author. This assumption negates the 51 other weeks of the year in which a phenomenal amount of work is done by movement organizers at McGill. For example, Divest McGill has diligently worked with the McGill administration, and written a research brief of 150 pages, while gaining the support and involvement of McGill professors, students, librarians, and departments. The Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) External and other actors at McGill work year-round to ensure that students’ views of austerity are known. Indigenous Awareness Week was actually organized by McGill, rather than student activists. As such, its goal was focused on awareness, which is critical within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, rather than mobilization. Failing to distinguish between these events reveals how little Yallen was aware of what was taking place on campus.

I agree, there is apathy among students, but it must be challenged. Criticizing the awareness-building efforts of organizers doesn’t help, it only entrenches the belief that students are powerless and might as well remain complacent. Concerning the accusation that these events failed to raise awareness, as a member of Divest McGill, I can speak for Fossil Free Week: hundreds attended our events, we accumulated almost 1000 petition signatures, and received wide-ranging media coverage from this newspaper, the McGill Daily, le Délit, Concordia’s The Link, Yahoo News, Vice, CIBL, the Montreal Gazette, and Radio-Canada. For a movement whose goal is to erode the influence of oil companies on public policy by spreading the message of divestment and climate justice, this is far from failure.

Since no clear alternative to such campaigns was suggested in the aforementioned critique, it remains unclear whether these initiatives should be cancelled or conglomerated into one mega protest. A relevant term from the social justice movement is “intersectionality.” It emphasizes the degree to which social issues are interdependent. Provincial austerity may push McGill to be irrationally fearful of financial change and make it cling to investments in oil companies whose industrial activities disproportionately affect Indigenous frontline communities. Further highlighting this intersectionality was the strong presence of indigenous people at Fossil Free Week, Divest McGill’s invitation to table at Pow-Wow during Indigenous Awareness Week, and Anti-Austerity Week’s emphasis on environmental issues. So if it was bothersome to have the three issues presented separately, let it be known that the organizers deeply feel the interconnectedness of their causes. Through recognizing this intersectionality, and working in solidarity with one another, we’ll build a more diverse, interconnected, and powerful movement for justice—one week at a time.

Antonina Scheer is a U2 student in Earth Sciences and Economics and a member of Divest McGill. She can be reached at [email protected]

a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Meow the Jewels – Run the Jewels

by Ian Rodgers on

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It’s hard to have particularly high expectations when going into an album like Meow the Jewels. Cats as a meme became played out a while ago, peaking in 2013 when the touring Internet Cat Video Festival got some press. These low expectations were happily shattered by the talent of Run the Jewels in combination with multiple guest producers. Created via a Kickstarter campaign that took a joke from the Run the Jewels website, the album replaces the instrumentals from last year’s Run the Jewels 2 with cat noises.

Interestingly, these instrumentals are much darker than those on the original album; the growl of purrs giving many songs a low, rumbling bassline and an ominous tone. “Close Your Eyes And Meow To Fluff,” featuring Geoff Barrow, is in many ways an improvement on the original; instead of being too busy, it accentuates the political commentary of the song. This album is a great example of what should come from remixes, taking the existing material and giving it a new flavour. “Paw Due Respect,” featuring Blood Diamond, is a great example of this—it takes a song that was essentially an explosive interlude and weaves it into a sweet ballad.

Of course there are missteps. The Alchemist’s “Creown” has a childish quality to it, which doesn’t connect with the subject matter of the song. This low point is accentuated by 3D’s remix of the same song that comes at the end of the album. His experience in Massive Attack allows him to make the same song into a really excellent closer—another track that challenges the original. It seems ridiculous to make this complaint, but it’s easy to tell when the guest artist was more interested in the novelty of the cat noises than they were in making interesting music.

This aspect shows how this is a great experiment into what producers can do when placed within a set of limitations. Those who excelled used it as an opportunity to create neat music with a unique “kit” of samples, others phoned in meme songs. What’s interesting is how this ties into the group themselves; the darkness of their music combined with the ridiculous nature of the premise actually echoes the band’s over-the-top and nuanced persona. In a unique way, this album says a lot about production, something that is often missed in examinations of music. It would have been nice to see more contributions from Run the Jewels themselves—the vocals are unchanged and El-P doesn’t try his hand at producing, which is a shame.

Overall though, it’s nice that the first year of Run the Jewels’ history without a new album still results in some purrs.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Dan Bejar, the cryptic musician behind Destroyer, talks lyricism

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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In the wake of yet another critically acclaimed, lyrically daring, commercial left turn, people are beginning to truly obsess over Destroyer. The frontman of the Canadian indie-rock band, Dan Bejar, still doesn’t seem to get what all the fuss is about.

“It’s all stuff I’ve mined before, it’s like an era and feeling that comes very natural,” Bejar explained. “In many ways Poision Season is everything I like thrown at one canvas [….] I bet anyone who’s made 10 records have their [sound] all over the place…I like all sorts of different things.”

Despite his nonchalance, Poison Season is far from a typical Destroyer record, much less a typical record at all. Working closely with string arranger Stefan Buell, Bejar’s newest record is equal parts Young Americans-era plastic soul and chamber music. In many ways, it’s Destroyer’s darkest album yet, despite a few moments of pop bliss.

“Stefan’s arrangements were kind of eye openers,” Bejar said.”Sometimes they were in deep contrast to what I initially felt was the natural setting of the song. I was also expecting a world that was very alien to what I knew and I was right about that.”

Destroyer is currently in the midst of a North American tour, touching down at Montreal’s Fairmount theatre on Oct. 1. In contrast to solo acoustic shows that he’s played in the past, Bejar is once again touring with a full band.

“There’s challenges when it’s me, by myself, finding arrangements for very simple guitar and voice for songs that weren’t recorded or imagined that way,” he explained. “What we’re doing on this tour is not that different from when we went into the studio.”

In addition to Destroyer, Bejar is also a longtime member of Canadian indie-rock royalty The New Pornographers, contributing three songs to their most recent album, Brill Bruisers (2014).

On the topic of his trademark songwriting for Destroyer, however, Bejar was typically cryptic.

“I think it changes,” he said. “It’s always a collaboration musically. I think maybe [lyric writing] has changed subconsciously to match my current way of singing, but I don’t really sit down and think about it. It’s just a little mist that I happen to walk through [.…] When the real work is to be done, I sit down and find a chord structure so I can show it to the band. At that point the work is about 2 per cent done.”

 

SSMU McGill
a, News, SSMU

SSMU VP Internal Lola Baraldi has resigned, citing personal reasons

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) Internal Lola Baraldi resigned from her position last Thursday. Kareem Ibrahim, SSMU president, elaborated on Baraldi’s resignation.

“[Baraldi is] resigning due to personal reasons,” Ibrahim said. “It definitely brings us great sadness to see her leave. She’s been a great member of the team. ”

According to Ibrahim, Baraldi’s portfolio will be delegated among the remaining SSMU executives as well as permanent staff.

“The large majority of the VP Internal’s tasks are going to be delegated to the VP External, Emily Boytinck, and the VP University Affairs, Chloe Rourke.” Ibrahim said. “This includes 4Floors, and the Francophone Affairs [Committee] going to [Boytinck]. The yearbook fee, the website overhaul, and the student engagement committee going to [Rourke]. We also hope to consult the […] primary staff of the VP Internal regarding what they would like in terms of increased resources and support, be that an additional staff member or increased hours.”

Other tasks, such as management of the SSMU listserv and social media accounts, as well as chairing the Student Engagement Committee, will be delegated to Kimber Bialik, VP Clubs and Services.  

Baraldi’s resignation comes two months after the resignation of former General Manager Jennifer Varkonyi​, who resigned in August, also due to personal circumstances. Ibrahim spoke to the increased workload that SSMU employees face in light of these personnel changes.

“The delegation of the responsibilities from these two roles is evidently going to pose a great challenge to the executives,” Ibrahim said. “We had come into this year very ambitious, very keen, with a lot of ideas […] and a lot of those projects are going to evidently fall to the backburner […] because we’re going to be hiring and training a new general manager [and] we’re also dealing with the loss of an executive.”

Ibrahim continued to highlight certain aspects of his portfolio that will be affected by the resignations.

“I wanted to implement an employment equity policy at SSMU, […] implement an opt-in consultation listserv, [and…]work with the VP [University Affairs] on some equity programming,” Ibrahim said. “I personally will be doing my best to plan in advance and delegate, so a lot of the ideas I have can actually be realized this year [….] We’re definitely doing all the contingency planning available to make sure our team is supported, and our output to students remains consistent.”

Ibrahim stressed that SSMU will continue to prioritize certain projects such as the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill and the SSMU Daycare Centre, which hasn’t had a director for six months.

“MoA negotiations [with McGill] are beginning this year and that’s not something that we can ignore,” he said. “Lease negotiations for the SSMU daycare centre are beginning this year [….] In terms of the executive team as a whole, other priorities include ensuring that our […] student-run cafeteria continues to run efficiently.”

Going forward, SSMU will continue to face personnel challenges.

“Our building director is going to be leaving on paternity leave soon, any time this week […] until January,” Ibrahim said. “That will involve delegation of tasks as well—giving more responsibilities to our food and beverage director and our security manager.”

Tasks that used to fall under the job description of the general manager will be delegated to SSMU executives until a new general manager is hired.  Among these are staff managment, building operations, human resources, and the daycare. 

The comptroller, will serve as Interim Finance Officer advising SSMU executives in financial matters, such as budgeting. 

 Ibrahim stressed that SSMU would continue to consult with students during these transition periods.

“We hope that the typical roadblocks that our team would face during the year due to poor communications with the student body […] can be minimized through consistent contact and good consultation so that we can really just focus on the challenges we have at hand,” Ibrahim explained.

SSMU Legislative Council called a by-election on Thursday  evening to fill the position. The new VP Internal will be in office from Jan. 1 to May 31, 2016.

bobs burgers
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Fall 2015 TV Preview

by April Barrett, Steffen Engling, & Christopher Lutes on

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The Muppets

In The Muppets Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang return to the screen in a more adult-targeted comedy. The show follows the ‘real’ version of The Muppets behind the scenes a of a talk show. Conservative groups in the U.S. have already called for a boycott against the new show. One Million Moms advised everybody to avoid the “new, perverted nature” of the program. Based on these statements the new Muppets promises to be quite entertaining. The audience seems to think the same; the show premiered with solid ratings, fulfilling everyones dreams of finally hearing Kermit crack those dirty jokes.

Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC

Quantico

Quantico, named after the site of the FBI’s training academy in Virginia, follows a group of trainees who have just joined the Bureau. As the group helps uncover the background of a disastrous terror attack, they have to rely on everything they have learned in their training to prevent a future disaster. The show cleverly integrates cutbacks and training exercises with the story of an ongoing investigation. The plot revolves around recent graduate Alex, played by Priyanka Chopra, who previously enjoyed massive success in India’s Bollywood industry. Overall, the show looks to be a solid crime series.

Sundays at 10:00 p.m.on ABC

Fargo

For the second season of Fargo, viewers will be treated to an entirely new storyline. While the show is still set in the American Midwest, the new season takes place in 1979. Looking at a younger version of the law-abiding patriarch played by David Carradine in the first season, Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) has just returned from Vietnam and is now in charge of solving murders committed by the local mob. On top of that, Solverson will also be responsible for the protection of Republican Presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan, who visits the town on the campaign trail. Most importantly, the show is still written by Noah Hawley and the Coen Brothers are still executive producers, so there should be no reason for season two not to gain the critical and popular acclaim of its predecessor.

Returns to FX on Oct. 12

Scream Queens

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, co-creators of Glee and American Horror Story, are back at it again this fall with Scream Queens—a college campus horror-comedy that focuses on a cult-like sorority and the murderous shenanigans they always seem to get themselves in. Half blood bath and half satire,Scream Queens is bolstered by a cast of familiar faces: Jamie Lee Curtis as the cynical dean of students, Emma Roberts as sorority dictator, and a host of others including Ariana Grande, Keke Palmer, Lea Michele, and Nick Jonas. Scream Queens promises to be a typical Ryan Murphy creation: A coming of age story that is equal parts bizarre, gruesome, and ridiculous.
Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on FOX

Bob’s Burgers

Emmy award-winning Bob’s Burgers is back for its sixth season this fall. The show picks up again with the beloved Belcher family—Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Louise—running their burger joint despite a continual series of mishaps. This season, viewers can expect such incidents as Tina riding a horse for the first time, Bob getting glued to a toilet, and Gene leading a hunt for a two-butted goat. Ranked by TV Guide as one of the top 60 cartoons of all time, Bob’s Burgers continues to set itself apart for a winning combination of hilarity and good nature.
Sundays at 7:30 p.m. on FOX

Master of None

Comedian Aziz Ansari is on top of the world right now. In a year that has already seen him release a bestselling book and a stand-up special to a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden, he continues to rise by creating and starring in a new series on Netflix. /Master of None/ combines the theme of his book—romance in the modern world—with a fictionalized account of his earlier life as a struggling actor in New York City. While that may sound like the least original premise in television history, Ansari has always had an interesting take on well-worn material, looking at familiar subject matter from an outsider’s perspective.
The entire first season is on Netflix

Flesh & Bone

This new miniseries looks at the gritty underbelly of the modern competitive ballet scene. Shot on location in New York City, the show is visually stunning, with gorgeous Manhattan rooftop shots and highly kinetic filmmaking in dance segments. The fact that it’s only eight episodes means it will be able to tell a self-contained story without having to cater to audience ratings across multiple seasons. Under the direction of Moira Walley-Beckett, former producer and writer of Breaking Bad, the show looks to be more Black Swan (2010) than Swan Lake.
Premieres Nov. 8 on Starz

Nathan For You

One of the most intensely bizarre shows in television history, Nathan for You is a mash-up of an uncomfortably intimate character study and reality show. It follows Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder as he tries to help small businesses with off-the-wall ideas. For instance, an attempt to help a failing coffee shop spiraled into the" Dumb Starbucks" phenomenon. What elevates the show, however, is how Fielder himself deals with these experiences, presenting a version of himself that is hilariously desperate to make some kind of human connection, no matter how artificial it may be. This arc lends a connective thread to otherwise unrelated events, and creates a legitimate sense of pathos in this otherwise silly comedy.
Returns to Comedy Central Oct. 15

The Leftovers

Taking place in a world where two per cent of the world’s population suddenly vanishes without explanation, The Leftovers was one of the best shows on TV last year, using its premise as a conduit to meditate on faith, family, and loss. Entering its second season, the series transports the bulk of its main cast to Miracle, Texas, a fictional town that didn’t lose a single citizen in the ‘departure.’ This seems like fertile thematic ground, where the emotionally damaged main cast can be juxtaposed with a group of relatively normal people.
Returns to HBO Oct. 4

Jane the Virgin

Following an insanely confident first season, Jane the Virgin returns for a second round with a lot of expectations to live up to. The show, which follows a young woman who accidentally gets artificially inseminated, was somehow able to maintain a breakneck pace across 22 hour-long episodes. On top of that, it was able to deftly blend broad telenovela-esque plot elements: Secret twins! Insane coincidences! Long-lost relatives! With low-key character moments that kept the show emotionally grounded, no matter how ridiculous the plot could get in a given week.
Returns to CW Oct. 12

Chvrches Every Open Eye
a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Every open eye – Chvrches

by Ian Rodgers on

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CHVRCHES’ new album Every Open Eye shows them trying to find balance on a tightrope between pop and alternative. At their best, they create pop anthems that are sincere to their core and have a unique sound. At their worst, their tracks drag on and fail to hit any kind of sweet spot acoustically. The album begins strongly with “Neverending Circles,” launching the listener into the album with a crunchy synth noise reminiscent of some of the best on The Mother We Share (2012). “Make Them Gold” is inspirational and defiant, with lead singer Lauren Mayberry proclaiming, “We are made of our longest days,” and shows that the adversity she faced personally has only made her stronger.

The album only begins going downhill when it slows down on the back half. “High Enough to Carry You Over” is not only a boring ballad, but one that inexplicably removes the band’s greatest strength—Mayberry’s voice. The male members of this band simply don’t have the talent to carry on without her voice leading the way. The lyrics are trite and the music is generic, the whole track just feels like filler material. “Empty Threat” gets the album back on track, but there’s a feeling that it has already lost its momentum and started to drag, with the songs lingering 10 to 20 seconds too long.

At 42 minutes, the album is relatively short, but drags on unnecessarily. “Down Side of Me” is an interesting song, but tries to incorporate too much and dedicates a lot of time to stripped-down verses with a beat that sounds ripped from GarageBand. Overall, the main problem with the album is that it doesn’t seem to hit the massive highs of The Bones of What You Believe. That album had some absolutely fabulous breakdowns, usually with the help of sampled vocals to give things an organic feeling, something this album lacks for the most part. It feels like CHVRCHES has attempted to make their music more friendly to a pop audience, but in the process, they have lost track of their strengths.

There are enough good singles on this album that seem to indicate success, and will play well live, but it lacks an overall sense of immediacy. In a year which has seen several releases from comparable synth-pop bands, (Braids and Purity Ring come to mind), CHVRCHES don’t put forward something that competes. Overall, this is an album which will please fans, but isn’t likely to make the band stand out in the independent scene.

Baio The Names
a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: The Names – Baio

by Jennifer Chan on

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Chris Baio, known for playing bass for Vampire Weekend, has taken a step out on his own, producing a studio album that has been five years in the making. Released under his DJ name, Baio, this is his first full-length album following his two EP’s Sunburn (2012) and Mira (2013). He recently moved from Vampire Weekend’s native New York to London and this experience has had a clear influence on his sound and themes of the album. “I came to in a city still indifferent to me / The big sky can humble, it’s too high to see” is an embodiment of these emotions from his track “Endless Rhythm.” The album opener, “Brainwash yyrr Face,” combines beat riffs and synth layers, which create an extremely relaxed experience while building anticipation for the rest of the album. “The Names” and “Needs” are both faintly reminiscent of Vampire Weekend; however, by the time it comes round to “All the Idiots,” the mood shifts from bright melodies to an infiltrating techscape with hard-hitting, undulating drum tracks. This makes the later track, “Endless Rhythm,” a fresh break from the rest of the album, with its main melody being played on a piano compared to the heavy synth of other tracks. The album ends with the instrumental “Scarlett,” which has an undertone of melancholy covered by a steady harpsichord melody that gives the song a sense of hope. It’s the sort of song that will probably be heard in the next indie teen self-discovery movie.

The one misstep is that the two songs—“Sister of Pearl” and “Endless Rhythm,” which were released over the summer—raised the expectations for the album. Compared to these two singles, the rest of the album lacks a sense of vibrancy;however, the album altogether is cohesive and its beat versatility makes it one to dance, run, or study to. The compilation creates a glacial landscape that would have been the album of the summer had it been released two months earlier.

The Names exhibits Baio’s musical capabilities and personality. His talent is also displayed considering that Baio produced the album himself with help from only a few friends. Baio just delivers to the expectations that stem from his Vampire Weekend connection and he branches off from that by distinguishing himself as his own artist, with his own unique sound.

Disclosure Caracal
a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review : Caracal – Disclosure

by Maxime Scraire on

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Three years ago, house-pop duo Disclosure took the reins of the U.K. house revival movement by dropping the one-two punch of singles “Latch” and “White Noise.” Their major-label debut, Settle, ended up being nothing less than a feature-studded masterpiece that redefined dance music. By mixing both past and present Disclosure launched a trend that hit its stride last year overseas, and is currently still gaining momentum on U.S. charts.

“You hear house music on the radio all the time now and that’s great, I’m glad the record helped to bring that forward,” older sibling Guy Lawrence told Buzzfeed this summer during the promo tour for their new LP, Caracal. “But now that’s done, let’s try something else.”

Such declaration may come as a shock to fans, but truth is, Disclosure is no more a house duo than Kanye West is purely a hip-hop artist. Each uses their respective genre as a means to achieve what they’re really interested in: Pop music. And on Caracal, the group’s pop ambitions are less diluted than ever.

Their latest album works as a succession of perfectly crafted dance-pop gems with a touch of soul and R&B. The songs are much more conventionally built this time around to assure accessibility and mainstream success, but the multilayered and slightly left-field production makes sure to generously reward multiple listens. Even with the aforementioned changes, Disclosure’s imprint remains omnipresent throughout, thanks to their characteristic drum pad configurations, ’90s-reminiscing reverbed synths, and bouncy bass lines.

Highlights include “Magnets,” featuring Lorde, with its hypnotic, barely-holding-onto-anything verses that explode in the catchiest chorus the singer has ever written. “Good Intentions,” a dancey reimagination of what made Miguel’s Wildheart a modern R&B classic, and “Hourglass,” a diva-making turn for neo-soul band Lion Babe with a bridge that’ll make clubs jump for the year to come; however, Caracal is so packed with hits that it’s barely impossible to tell which tracks will receive the ‘single’ treatment, if it doesn’t end up simply being all of them.

Ultimately though, what Caracal lacks is the same sense of general excitement its predecessor was dripping with. Nothing here is as revelatory as “Latch” was when it was first released, and the record as a whole isn’t trying to launch any kind of new movement. The result is the sound of two visionary pop-masterminds slowing their pace to evaluate their options, challenging themselves to try new directions in order to come back so far ahead of the mass, catching up with them won’t even be an option.

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