In Montreal, Canada, Cancer Bats interview you!

On this episode of View from the Venue, I sat down with Cancer Bats at Foufounes Electriques. They were on their Bastards of Reality tour, trekking across Canada and the United States as a Black Sabbath cover band called Bat Sabbath. Liam and Jaye promptly began to interview ME. Part 1 contains lots of hating on Christmas, goth talk, Black Sabbath praise and a serious question here and there. In part 2, Cancer Bats continue to make me...

Montreal’s greatest dual-vocalist rock group of all-time, Wolf Parade, found international success during their short but explosive run. Their Sub Pop debut, Apologies to The Queen Mary, was a critically acclaimed album that put Montreal on the map as a prominent indie scene. Recently, a site called WolfParade.nonstuff.com has put up a free bootleg for download titled "Rostraver Ice Garden 10-8-2004" which is a live set that was recorded while the band was on tour supporting Modest Mouse and ...

One week into JEFF The Brotherhood's 2012 North American tour with The Kills, Twee Time's Stephanie had the chance to chat on the phone with guitarist Jake Orrall about his new gear, the Infinity Cat label's Canadian connection, and what's going on with the band since signing to Warner Bros. Records. Below is the audio from the full interview or, if you prefer, a transcript of the highlights.

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So the final weekend of Igloofest has passed. The previous weekend saw the festival achieve its first sold out night, and the trend continued, most notably with Igloofest achieving sold out status hours before the doors opened for the closing night. I guess having names like Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock, Green Velvet, Maya Jane Cole and Diplo was enough of a good reason for fans to come and brave the elements. Although the elements came in a...

NHL:

The focus in the NHL this past weekend revolved solely around the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, which took place in Ottawa this year. The festivities began with the All-Star fantasy draft, a new concept in its second year that calls for two team captains to select their teams from a pool of selected players, forming two teams that will go against each other in the Skills Competition and the actual All-Star game. This year’s captains included hometown hero Daniel Alfredson in perhaps his swan song season as the captain of...

On this episode of View from the Venue, I caught up with Junior Battles. They're currently touring in continuous support of their first full length release, Idle Ages, which you really should be listening to if you like pop punk, because if you aren't already, you're totally missing out. Go on, do it. Their intricate song construction and pop sensibility makes them stand out amongst the punk crowed. Singer/guitarist Sam Sutherland talks to me about leaving the southern Ontario nest for more fertile grounds, why his voice sounds so pretty and the little things that make touring with a van that has a hole in the floor worth while...

Haywire will throw you to the ground and leave you to die! Well, that’s what the female protagonist will do to you if you cross her. Her name is Mallory Kane and she is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Well, let me tell you that it made quite the impression on me. Mallory Kane has been double-crossed and she is out to seek the truth and kill whoever gave the order. Mallory works with some heavy hitters who are just as dangerous as her, so she must use her training to fight for her life and survive the heavy threats that are on her tail. The film is only an hour and a half long, so I do not wish to reveal too much...

After a hot first weekend that provided us with awesome acts like Buraka Som Sistema, A-Trak and Mala, it was going to be hard for the second weekend to top it, but it did, in a big way. On Saturday night, more then 10 000 fans flocked to the site in the Old Port, making it the first ever sold-out night in the history of Igloofest. The stellar lineup may have helped them reach such an achievement. The three days featured big names like Tiga, Pearson Sound, ...

NHL:

Another week full of storyline in the NHL this week, but we’ll stick to a topic that has sparked a lot of debate: following the nearly-horrific injury that Taylor Hall suffered from a teammates skate blade in warm-up (while not wearing a helmet), should the NHL make helmets mandatory during the warm-up for all teams? While I think it’s a good idea, I don’t see it happening; I doubt the players would go for it. The NHL can’t get them to wear visors during the games, why would they accept being forced to wear extra protection during a simple warm-up? While this was a fluke accident and probably won’t happen again, it still makes...

Every month I’m going to post mini blurbs/summaries about books I’ve recently read AND I’m going to tell you why you should read them too, all in the most interesting, non-preachy, non-educative way possible. Also, since this we are a music station, not only will you be learning about some amazing literature but you’ll gain music knowledge too. How? Each novel gets its very own soundtrack! So take a look and listen. I recommend you listen to the soundtracks as you read the reviews.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs...