Mike Dubue, founder and frontman of Ottawa-based experimental indie band Hilotrons, has spent the last few years stylizing discontent. Hilotrons’ latest album, To Trip with Terpsichore, is not so much about anger but more of an overarching dissatisfaction with the way things are. “Each song is relative to a situation,”[Read More…]
Tag: music
Busking for thought
Noah Margo-Dermer worked in a summer camp as a music programming director for the past two summers. After the summer of 2013, Margo-Dermer decided to take a step into the world of busking. “After playing music so much over the summer, I missed it,” he said. “So out of the[Read More…]
Joshua Radin: The subdued singer beyond Scrubs success
Joshua Radin recently released his new album Onward and Sideways, a heartwarming set of love songs dedicated to a woman in Sweden who happens to be his new girlfriend. “I didn’t expect it to be an album, I expected it to be love letters for her,” Radin said. “This album is[Read More…]
Research Briefs—Jan. 27, 2015
Is being bilingual better? A 2011 census of Canada revealed Montreal to have the highest rate of bilinguals in the country. While this figure may not come as a surprise to many, it does make Montreal the ideal candidate for demonstrating the ‘bilingual advantage.’ Evidence has shown that raising[Read More…]
Wrapping Up the Holidays
The McGill Tribune arts team presents an overview of the movies and music you may have missed over the break.
There’s no such thing as a magic bullet: Josh Hook on video games & success
Two Thursdays ago, Tokyo Police Club guitarist Josh Hook spoke to me over the phone from Whistler, BC, and warmly answered as many questions as I could muster about the band’s origins, Montreal coffee, N64 games, and advice for aspiring musicians. Hailing from Newmarket, Ontario, Tokyo Police Club first entered[Read More…]
McGill professor brings the noise at Montreal’s l’Off Jazz Festival
For years, trumpeter, composer, professional bandleader, and McGill jazz professor Joe Sullivan has been instructing McGill students and connecting them with the greater Montreal music community. When he performs at the Segal Centre this weekend with the rest of the Joe Sullivan Big Band—plus special guests Lorne Lofsky and Kirk[Read More…]
La Roux—Trouble in Paradise
Following a five-year hiatus, British electronic artist Elly Jackson—better known under her stage name La Roux—returns to the music scene with her second album, Trouble in Paradise. Focusing on the struggles Jackson dealt with during her time out of the spotlight, the album offers an interestingly upbeat and mature take[Read More…]
Bleachers—Strange Desire
Jack Antonoff’s newest project as a solo artist—under the name Bleachers—is an all-too-real escape from the filtered buoyancy produced by his other band, Fun. The album, titled Strange Desire, is cinematic, lightly processed, and overrun with adolescent intimacy interposed with adult tragedy. Its lyrics are splayed out haphazardly, and they[Read More…]
Lily Allen—Sheezus
A lot has changed for outspoken British pop star Lily Allen since the release of her second album five years ago, having since gained international success and initiated various controversies. While her initial style was known for being simple and relatable, she approaches her newest release, Sheezus, from a slightly[Read More…]