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Coming up tomorrow on Beat The World, we will be talking to Aristote Simonini of Little Lab, organizer of Village au Pied-du-Courant's Samedis Internationaux : NOUVELLE-ORLÉANS | 5 septembre! This event is happening from 3pm to 11:30, so Aristote will be phoning in from the site to tell us all to get down there! There will be Cajun BBQ and sweet beats by Unlog DJs Noyl, Famelik, Frisco Fog and Engone Endong; as well as Vinyl Love, Jitterbug Swing, Tshizimba, and Brassmob! This event is free and the perfect way to spend the first Saturday of September- celebrating New Orleans culture in Montreal. Tune into Beat The World to hear more info and the best music from around the globe, every Saturday Noon to 2pm!

LOCAL
by Catlin Spencer
 

A zoning change that would allow a ten storey complex to be built near the MUHC super-hospital was met with concern during a consultation on Wednesday.

According to the Montreal Gazette, the complex would house a Provigo, a Seniors residence and allow for apartments to be donated to the Children's Hospital Foundation to be used by families of hospitalized Children.

However, some residents near the site on the corner of Ste-Catherine and de Maisonneuve expressed concern over the possible increase in traffic and pollution if the complex was built – while others stated it is already bumper-to-bumper and pollution could not increase.

Westmount City Councillor, Cynthia Lulham says that both Westmount and N.D.G. should work together to discuss the possible traffic issue.

NATIONAL
by Catlin Spencer
 

As Frosh week begins for Universities across Canada, the York Regional Police in Ontario have issued a list of offences and their costs as a warning to students.

According to CTV News, the flyer entitled the “Frosh Week Expense List” was published on the police's twitter account on Thursday.

The expenses included fines including up to $5000 for tossing empty bottles from dorm windows, or initiating a roman candle firefight, while distilling moonshine would cost up to $6000.

The bottom of the flyer states that while it is not a legal document, it is intended to inform students of the potential consequences of their actions, and that the charges are taken from the Criminal code, Highway Traffic Act and municipal bylaws.

INTERNATIONAL
by Catlin Spencer

While no exact figure has been stated, British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to increase the number of refugees allowed to enter the United Kingdom.

According to the BBC, Cameron is expected to make the announcement in Spain after talks with his Portuguese and Spanish counterparts.

He maintains that accepting more refugees was not a simple task, a stance that was criticized by the Scottish First Minister, the former British Labour Home Secretary and a petition with more than 300,000 signatures.

The calls for action intensified after the picture of a drowned three year old, Alan Kurdi, who was part of a migrant boat trying to reach Greece, was published.

Let me cut to the chase and just post my first initial reactions to Disney Pixar's new film Inside Out: Man tears flowed out of me while I reminisced on childhood days. Inside Out is the best film I have seen so far this year, and it is possibly one of the best animated features I have seen in a while. It finds the long lost spirit and heart of Pixar.

As a studio, Pixar is known for making films with heavy emotional investments; not only for the characters on-screen, but also for the audience members watching the film, either for the first time or on repeated viewings. If you have no clue what I am talking about when I mention Pixar's emotional investment, it is best to watch the first few minutes to Up before continuing with this review.

And as a side-note: before heading to the theatre with younger audience members, note that the film might resonate with or confuse kids due to the fact that it deals with the topic of emotions in an sophisticated (Freudian analogies abound), but fun way. 

The story’s premise is a simple one. We see several emotions that live in Riley's head. There is Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black). Riley has just turned 11 and is moving to San Francisco. Joy tries her best to keep everyone up-beat as they navigate a new house and things like organic pizza. As Anger puts it, in one of the best lines in the film, "Congratulations San Francisco: you've ruined pizza. First the Hawaiians, and now you."  

The one emotion that seems like a loose cannon, at first, is Sadness. This is due to the fact that she tampers with the core memories that Joy has created. An accident caused by Sadness, tampering with the core memories, leads her and Joy to end up outside of Riley's head, leaving only Fear, Disgust and Anger. Riley shuts down without Joy or Sadness in her life, as the other emotions realize they cannot be Joy or Sadness. This is best exemplified during the dinner table scene.

Meanwhile Joy and Sadness navigate the exterior of Riley's head, which can be vast, endless, and entertaining in equal measure. Riley's imaginary friend Bing Bong, the new fictional Canadian boyfriend, Princess Unicorn, and the birthday clown are just some of the delightful and fun characters you will meet along the journey.

As for the heart-warming message that both the audience and Joy figure out at the same time? I do not want to spoil this highly pivotal, emotional moment. All I will say is: bring some tissues. 

The voice acting is so well-cast; you could say it is type-casted. I have included some of the best of reasons with YouTube clips following this review. This film is for all ages, and for the adult that says “I don't think I want to see a kid’s film,” I say to you: find it in you to see the layers of complexity that the Pixar team has developed to explain emotions. This is a top notch animation work that truly exemplifies the ability of Pixar to understand the emotions that live in our heads. 

5/5 

Joy voiced by Amy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5sgX9gH8hc

Sadness Voiced by Phyllis Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ILunvlm1YU

Fear Voiced by Bill Hader https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtHJYa6xu4

Disgust (With Vanity) voiced by Mindy Kaling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRjenLqGqm0

Anger Voiced  Lewis Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bzO2NcylwI

"Montreal needed this, and it needed it sorely."

Obscene Extreme was a four-day smorgasbord of grindcore and death metal with over fifty bands for a headbanger to see. The very first instalment of the North American version of this hit European grind festival was a punishing delight for moshers and thrashers alike, bringing all together with the fury of pulsating blast-beats, distorted riffs, and growled lyrics. The mosh pit was active throughout the night, and was full of people in all kinds of costume - there was the classic guy in a banana suit from previous European iterations, as well as multiple kinds of masks, full body costumes, and more. People threw beach balls, toilet paper, and various inflatable objects around the pit as participants engaged in circle-pitting all throughout the festival. It was madness, and the kind of madness that I would like to see more often. Now, here are the groups that blew me away:

Jig-Ai took me (and a number of others) by surprise. This Czech group entered the show as relative unknowns, but left if with a legion of new fans. Their energetic take on goregrind inspired some of the more inspired moshing that I've seen in recent times, and their stage presence is as lively as their music. Their guitarist made good use of Theatre Telus' ample stage room as he darted from one side to another, jumped in the air, and swung his hair around. Agathocles reminded us all that "grind is protest," and blitzed through songs from their career spanning 30 years and countless releases. Frontman Jan AG interjected between songs with great one-liners, such as "nihilism and alcoholism are the only isms that I support." Gruesome entertained us with their painstaking re-creation of the sound of Death's first couple of albums. This was the very first show ever for this group of death metal and grindcore veterans, which isn't too bad considering that they already have an album out on Relapse Records. They played their entire album, plus "Born Dead" and "Baptized in Blood" by Death. Great stuff.

Putrescence were an early favourite of day number three, despite a sound issue that left everyone hearing a low-pitched hum throughout two thirds of their set. They didn't let this deter their orgy of grinding violence, as Soiled Mike led the crowd from song to song. Malignancy particularly blew me away, as their technical riffs and turn-on-a-dime drumming showed me the true extent of what tech-death can do. Danny Nelson's deadpan stage banter was hilarious to behold, and his unique approach to growling over the music was inspiring. Magrudergrind were bleeding amazing, and their vocalist impressed us with his ability in frontman jumps. The TP throwing reached its peak during this set, and the moshing was most intense. I'd go see them again. Broken Hope impressed us all with a set of old and new songs, with a healthy selection of tunes from Bowels of Repugnance and Swamped In Gore. Damian Leski provided sick, barfingly low growls that complimented the chugging riffs, and more than rocked the tunes once sang by now-deceased Joe Ptacek. Trap Them reigned on stage with a fervor not seen since the sacking of Rome, and each song from them was like getting kicked in the groin by a horse (but in a good way). Dropdead grinded though a set of socially-conscious tunes, as frontman Bob Otis peppered their time on stage with speeches concerning the welfare of animals, among other topics. He took the time to remind the audience that change begins with us, and they we need to change ourselves in order to change the world.

The real centerpiece of the whole festival for me, however, was Immolation. Having long been a fan of Immolation's body of work, this was the group to which I was most looking forward. I was not disappointed in the least. While they played a number of songs from their newest album, Kingdom of Conspiracy (an admirable album, to be sure), they lit a fire under the crowd with blazing renditions of classic songs. I had goosebumps when they played "Of Martyrs and Men", as well as "Higher Coward". The most enjoyable moment for me, though, was when they closed with their classic song "Close to a World Below". It was nothing short of epic. All of us in the crowd raised the horns in hails of this wonderful song. It was exhilarating. 

Obscene Extreme 2015 was an amazing time, and I only hope that it returns for another round in Montreal next year. Grindcore is protest, and grindcore is art. Let us all come together in the pit with funny costumes and mosh until we cannot mosh anymore. If not, then this earth is nothing but a world of shit.

--Sean Z. hosts the Sublime State Of Doom, only the heaviest and most brutal metal every Monday from 8 to 9 PM on CJLO.