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Friday: The Commonwealth Conundrum interviews Public Service Broadcasting

On Friday 3rd April, 5pm, The Commonwealth Conundrum Show will be interviewing one of their favourite new British bands, Public Service Broadcasting. PSB's uniquely spell-binding live AV Transmissions see them weave samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics as they teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future beaming our past back at us through vintage TV sets and state of the art modern video projection devices.

They’re playing Bar Le Ritz on Tuesday 7th April. Don’t miss it. Tickets available here.

Tune in Friday at 5pm to hear more! The Commonwealth Conundrum airs 4-6pm, every Friday on CJLO.

 

 

 

Fatal Attraction: Today @ 4pm- Interview w/ band: V for Escargot

This week on Fatal Attraction, Patricia will be interviewing indie rock band "V For Escargot".

The band features Philippe Petit providing lead vocals and playing rhythm guitar, Daniel Desjardins on guitar, Guillaume Fecteau playing drums and keyboards, Mathieu Leduc-Bouchard on bass and the lovely Raya Star's singing.

Their next show will be on April 11th at L'Escogriffe Bar Spectacle, and they will be performing with the Reverie Band!

V For Escargot is celebrating the recent release of their self-titled album, which can be purchased here.

To learn more about V For Escargot, you can check out their Facebook page here and tune into Fatal Attraction today at 4pm.

April 1st 2015

Hosted by Saturn De Los Angeles

Stores by Celeste Lee, Catlin Spencer and Tom Matukala

Produced by Tom Matukala

Sleater Kinney - No Cities To Love

Sub Pop 2015

Is it fair to compare a band and their work after a lengthy hiatus? While No Cities To Love, Sleater-Kinney's first album in 10 years, has been universally lauded, the question still remains relevant, and one that should be considered while reviewing the LP. I've come to the conclusion that, invariably there will be comparisons made. People will compare the band as if it were the same thing, but truthfully, just because the members of the band are the same, after a hiatus of a decade, a generation; it is in some very real sense comparing apples to oranges. Well, perhaps it's not that drastic a comparison, but the point is there is something tangibly different going on and we're not talking about the development of a band over time. We're talking about individual growth apart from a group dynamic. Contextual, environmental, musical changes... life keeps moving forward. My choice is to view this album through clean lenses; ones not blurred by the past. However, regardless of how you see the band and their return, it would be hard pressed to say anything but that this album kills.

It begins with "Price Tag", which doesn't simply open the doors to the album; it busts the doors down as if destroyed by some Marvel character. A crunchy guitar line begins before the rest of the band throws it down, driving the track at full speed. The chorus is catchy but ominous, warning that "We never really checked, we never checked the price tag, when the cost comes in, it's gonna be high... the good jobs gone it's gonna be raw".
 
"Fangless" continues the momentum with a somewhat cleaner sound surrounded by a jagged synth line, which snakes through Sleater-Kinney's more traditional instrumentation.

"No Anthems" rumbles along. The low end is seemingly de-tuned, which leads to an intensity to the track. Further, the song seems to speak of the above change in the band. The chorus claims that "I'm not the anthem, I once was an anthem, That sang the song of me, But now there are no anthems, All I can hear is the echo, and the ring".

The more one listens to the album the more it ensnares its listeners. No Cities To Love is fantastic from start to finish. It growls and crunches, while informing and commenting on society at large, at least in part. And, let us not forget its call to action "We win, we lose, only together do we break the rules."

 

--Fredy M. Iuni hosts Hiway 1, Mondays at 7:00 PM on CJLO.

FIFA: Ballet Boys: It’s more than just a story of boys dancing

If you have ever thought ballet dancing is all about young girls and pink frilly tutus, then think again.

This film, directed by Norwegian documentary producer Kenneth Elvebakk, follows the journey of three childhood friends all vying for their collective dream of becoming a successful professional ballet dancer. Originally released in 2014, this film was part of this year’s International Festival of Films on Art.

The journey to the top does not look easy as it looks. Lukas, Lorenz, and Torgeir, the main characters in this documentary, collectively juggle in between accomplishing various feats - such as keeping up with school grades, parents’ expectations, their own inhibitions, their personal ambitions, and forging a strong friendship amidst friendly rivalry, all within the confines at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where they see themselves at a crossroads.

While the documentary’s namesake may spark your curiosity from a spectator's perspective, the way how Elvebakk presents these narratives is not only tactful in the sense of documenting the lives of these young dancers and having them share their stories in front of the camera as they go; he focuses on the human emotions that surround this discipline than what people think about boys taking a discipline that is long been perceived to be feminine in most minds. It has a neutral tone yet it has an engaging feel, it bears no sensationalism but it will make you want to learn more, the desire is at the heart of this story, and perhaps, it be one of the strongest points in this film.

Another strong point to why Ballet Boys stands out is how diverse ballet dance can be, and how it can break cultural and social barriers. While we see how Elvebakk presents into the narrative the tale of two Norwegians, one vying for a spot at a prestigious school in London, and another who’s still on the fence of deciding where to go in his life, it also presents the story of a dancer who identifies himself as part of a cultural minority who is vying to reach his dream despite the personal struggles and expectations that come his way.

There’s something magical about this dance that we see in Ballet Boys: its a viewfinders window into fulfilling a lifelong dream, a dream that defies the gender norm of perceived masculinity and femininity. The film does an excellent job in putting our impressions all aside, with crisp cinematography, a really inviting ambient soundtrack, and a satisfying and euphoric emotion of cheering for these young prodigies in their own right when you finish watching it.

In essence, dance is an expression of the soul, and this documentary captures the humanness of this art in what would be the best objective way possible. Watching this within the first five minutes of this documentary, and it will capture and warm your heart, and moreso root for these kids. “Ballet Boys” definitely good food for the soul.  

In a universe where the heteronormativity is broken, this is one for the books in the way that these voices - an unlikely one - are being heard and shared to the world.

Ballet Boys played as a part of the 2015 edition of the Montreal Festival international du film sur l'art

Ghostface Killah/ GZA/ Cappadonna Show Apr 3- Champagne Productions on Champs Apr. 1 @ 6pm + Contest!

It's the official countdown to Ghostface KillahGZACappadonna show- next Friday, April 3 at Théâtre Telus! Got your tickets yet? CJLO - 1690AM will be interviewing Champagne Productions, the promotion company behind this show Wed at 6pm on Champions of the Local Scene and is pleased to co-present the event! Opening acts include The Moon Crickets and DJ Merciless, Lord Fury & Killah Priest. Tune in to hear the latest scoops from behind the scenes (like how you could meet Ghostface Killah & GZA before the show!) PLUS what else they've got coming up! A lucky someone will even win a pair of Ghostface tickets- find out how below!

Winners will be announced Thurs on Something For The Radioyour weekly Thurs afternoon Hip Hop dose at 3pm hosted by D-Shade and Redd Dredd. In the meantime, check out last week's episode where DJ Storm stopped by to chat up D-Shade- making a 2/3 reuinion of Montreal hip hop pioneers Shades of Culture at CJLO- listen for yourself!

Ghostface Killah/ GZA/ Cappadonna Contest Details:

text GHOSTFACE and a number between 1 and 100 to CJLO 1690AM (514-848-7471). You can enter more than once by commenting your name and the same number on our facebook post and twitter.  

Enslaved with Yob @ Foufounes Électriques

Presented by Greenland Productions

Winter drags on in Montreal, and yet the spring touring season has begun. Over the next few months, bands from around the world will stream through our city and make the emergence of the grey tidal wave of trash buried under the ice a little more palatable.

While I've seen a few great shows through the winter, it was time to kick spring off at Foufs with the somewhat odd pairing of Yob and Enslaved. While, on a superficial level, pairing an American doom band with Norwegian Viking metallers seems like a questionable choice, the crowd wasn't as split as I previously thought it might. In conversation, some friends posited that much of the audience would leave after Yob, but that didn't seem to be the case, or perhaps, since set times were posted, some showed up simply to see Enslaved. Either way, the venue was packed for both bands, and the audience seemed equally appreciative of both.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch the opening bands, doomy locals Show of Bedlam, and the psychedelic stylings of Philadelphia's Ecstatic Vision, but despite some logistical issues I was happy to see that I hadn't missed a single note of Yob, who, in all truthfulness, I was most excited to see. Yob is, like High on Fire or Motörhead, one of those three-piece bands that manage to absolutely crush every stage they stand on. I have incredible respect for three pieces, and I particularly love that Yob are able to balance bonemashing heaviness with subtle, searing melody. The stand-out experience for me was the way vocalist and guitarist Mike Scheidt (of equally CJLO beloved Middian) uses his voice; one moment a bellowing roar, the next a searing screech, experiencing that elasticity live was absolutely transcendent.

Enslaved hit the stage next, and opened with "Thurisaz Dreaming", the first track from their new album, In Times. While I can't be called a huge fan, I appreciate many of their songs and I absolutely loved the spectacle, from the shirtless guitarist's antics, to the banter between songs, rife with typically dry Scandinavian humor. The show was an anniversary of sorts, noted lead singer and bass player Grutle Kjellson, taking the opportunity to point out the only other original member of Enslaved, guitarist Ivar Bjørnson. Enslaved had played their very first show in Montreal back in 1995 on this very same stage at Foufs, and it was clear that the band has a healthy back catalog of songs to choose from. Over the course of the show, they dug through the years, but also played several songs from the new album, and with an average song length of about 7 minutes, I'm sure there were many popular songs that fans didn't get a chance to hear. I am not overly familiar with their full catalog, I was particularly pleased to hear "Death in The Eyes of Dawn", the stand-out track from RIITIIR, so I was satisfied. Twenty years on, Enslaved are still delivering, blending elements from many aggressive genres into epic songs that are alternately melodic, imposing, and ferocious, a glimmer of fire in a never ending winter.

 

--Hear Angelica on the airwaves every Wednesday from 7 to 9 PM on BVST, the best (and worst) rock 'n' roll, country, punk, and metal, from right here and around the world.

FIFA: Mugshot: An anatomy of prison portraiture

There's something eerie about being photographed moments after being arrested - but who knew that someone's misery can also be another person's artistic masterpiece, or even a scoop that's just waiting to be nourished by the hungry pages of the tabloid?

There's more to a mugshot than just an image, and there's more a story than just seeing someone smiling (or posing with umph and enthusiasm, or with utmost distaste and disgrace) for the camera.

Put together by Canadian director Dennis Mohr and writer Rob Ruzic, Mugshot is a 2012 feature documentary screened at this year's International Festival of Films on Art that looks into our fascination for this strange photographic ubiquity. It's informative, engaging, and fun; it packs a lot of punches, and yet at the same time, it invites us to learn and know why we get so worked up over a simple photograph of someone that we may perhaps know.

The cowboy-slash-Western-like musical tone, gives an endless presentation of these mugshots - from those of centuries past to the ones you may see online nowadays - all panning back and forth on your screen, will simply either make you laugh, giggle, churn, and cringe at any given minute. They can also be really distracting when you're trying to listen to an expert's personal opinion or narrative about a certain photograph. But then, it cannot be helped when you're curious to find out what made that alleged criminal commit to these crimes in the first place.

What's even more fascinating is how the filmmakers plunge you - as the spectator - into the lives of the various interesting characters being interviewed in collecting these mugshots for their own pleasure - or perhaps someone else's pain. For instance, there's a publisher in the U.S. who puts out a popular weekly paper of all of the mugshots of recent arrests with their names and motives for the crime done; a freelance designer having field day collecting, analyzing, and reading into the behavior involved regarding ancient portraitures of criminals printed from the 1800s; and a peculiar historian who travelled all the way from the British Isles to North Carolina just to learn the backstory of every recorded criminal that has been documented. You'd probably think they're crazy and have no idea to what they're doing with their lives. Or maybe not.

There are polarizing opinions to this kind of photography as well as there's also people interviewed in this documentary who have been taken in mugshots that simply say that it is not one's own moment to ridicule someone who have been warranted an arrest for a petty crime. Portraiture can also be seen as profiling someone who is a criminal who has done something wrong - disregarding everything else that person else has done in their lives.

As a whole, Mugshot will definitely spark an emotion, or a myriad of it - whether you're amused by the celebrity shots of people getting arrested for doing no good, or upset at how and why some people decide to extravagantly shame alleged criminals without the consideration, or privacy. Or maybe wonder why some people will go out of their way to hunt down for criminals.

Regardless of how you feel, "Mugshot" does its job as both a feast for the eyes and a nifty one-hour underground history lesson packaged into an engaging contemporary documentary film. Timely in a decade in selfies and the like, this one is worth checking into the lens' other side.

For a photo that's worth a thousand words, a mugshot can have a deep meaning.

 

- Mugshot played as a part of the 2015 edition of the Montreal Festival international du film sur l'art

Monday, March 30th, 2015

Hosted by: Danny Aubry

Stories by: Emeline Vidal, Danny Aubry & Julia Bryant

Produced by: Julia Bryant

Friday, March 27th, 2015

Hosted by Catlin Spencer

Stories by Catlin Spencer Patricia Petit Liang

Produced by Patricia Petit Liang

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