Hosted by: Saturn de Los Angeles
Stories by: Hannah Besseau
Produced by: Catlin Spencer

Tune in to Champions of the Local Scene on Wednesday, August 7th at 6 PM for special guest Noah Bick from Passovah! Steph and Noah will be talking about the second annual Passovah Summer Music Festival and playing some music by all the fab Montreal bands performing the fest August 9-11.

Hannah Georgas' self-titled album, Hannah Georgas, was included on the long-list for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize, which is a fitting acknowledgement for an artist whose star is clearly on the rise. While at first listen you will hear the vocal influences of Feist, you quickly realize that Hannah Georgas has truly cultivated her own voice and style. The album is a nice blend of acoustic and dancey electronic/synthesized musical worlds that allow a space for Hannah Georgas' vocals to shine through, allowing her to regale us with stories of longing, frenemies, and jealousy the kinds of stories that reverberate with the everyday.
Through a haunting pulsing synthesized bass that lies just behind the vocals, Hannah Georgas begins the album by asking, "Is there any love left for me?" An example of the kind of introspective question Georgas asks throughout the album. With "Elephant" her vocals sound as if they're escaping some cave, begging to be freed. The track reaches a crescendo with the addition of distorted guitars and drums, a release that sets us off on our journey through Hannah Georgas.
In the upbeat "Robotic", Hannah Georgas asks "to be reprogrammed, to be robotic, to press reset", as if this would be an answer to help avoid the feelings she's letting loose not only in the song, but also throughout the album. In our digital and tech-influenced world these notions of being reprogrammed and being reset resonate and make sense. Who hasn't wanted to press reset at least once?
"Shortie" is a fun catchy track. It's a quirky mélange of hip-hop vernacular, synthesizer grooves and a pop sensibility that playfully works the body into a dancing frenzy. "Millions" is an upbeat rock influenced song that kicks into high gear during the chorus where Hannah Georgas declares that she wants to make her millions especially "if s/he can do it what the fuck, how come I can't?" For me, these two songs are album highlights; I'm a sucker for tracks that make me shake.
I have feeling that this album is a good indication of what's to come from Hannah Georgas and that's great news.
FINAL MARK: A-
Produced by Erica Bridgeman
Hosted by Alex Masse
Stories written by Natasha Taggart, Catlin Spencer and Kristobal M. Eugenio
The residents' of the Yukon Territory are asking for higher refunds when they recycle beverage cans and bottles.
CBC News reports, that a 10 cent surchange is applied on any aluminum and plastic bottle or can purchased in the territory. When returned to the store for recycling, the refund is only 5-cents.
Recycling centres who handle the material get the difference for property handling and processing the containers.
They are amongst the many in the Yukon pushing for their government to raise the refund cap for recyclables, something that hasn't happened in the last 20 years.
Milk cartons and other single-use containers don't have a refund on them. This has forced the government of the Yukon to increase subsidies in order to encourage the recycling of these containers.
Flickr Photo by: Mr. T. in D.C.
Military personnel have been sent to Honduras' main prison following a deadly riot.
According to BBC News, the riot broke out due to a fight between gang members and other prisoners, resulting in the deaths of three inmates.
Authorities later found hand grenades and firearms in the prison. A military takeover of the prison has been undertaken.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reports that Honduran jails are regulated by the inmates themselves. The IACHR characterizes the country's prisons as "impoverished, overcrowded, and corrupt".
The country's main prison is located near the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.
Government figures reveal that twelve thousand inmates are currently being held in prisons with a capacity of only 8000.
STORY WRITTEN BY: KRISTOBAL M. EUGENIO
A group of investigators will be visiting Montreal in order to find out what happened in a water collision in the Port of Montreal.
CTV News is reporting an 186-metre cargo carrier ship crashed into a tugboat at around 9 pm on Saturday night.
The cargo ship was built in 2010 and was flying the national flag of Panama.
A spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said there were no spills or injuries and emergency services were not called to the scene.
Flickr Photo by: Dwilliams851
STORY WRITTEN BY: NATASHA TAGGART
A man is dead after being tasered by an RCMP officer in Alberta.
According to CBC, the 27 year old man died in hospital Sunday morning.
He had been taken into custody Friday night after an altercation with three RCMP officers at a gas station.
ASIRT Executive Director Clifton Purvis said officers used a taser to subdue the man before handcuffing him.
Police said he went into medical distress and lost consciousness before being sent to the Royal Alexandria hospital, where he was reported to be in critical condition before passing away.
According to Purvis, it isn’t known yet if the taser contributed to the man’s medical condition and ensuing death.
This is the second death this weekend attributed to provincial RCMP officers in Alberta.
Another man died after being shot by an RCMP officer near Pigeon Lake Saturday evening.
ASIRT is looking into both cases.
Flickr Photo by: ActiveSteve
STORY WRITTEN BY: CATLIN SPENCER

So you procrastinated and missed your chance to get tickets to Osheaga this year. For shame! Don't worry, we've got you covered. CJLO's Chris MacGregor from The Feel Good Hit of the Summer (Wednesdays 3-4 pm) is covering the three day event, checking out all of your favorite bands for you. Live vicariously through Chris as he live-tweets and highlights all of the festival's biggest attractions. Check him out on twitter: @cwmacgregor, or better yet, check back here every day for a recap of the day's rockingest events.
DAY 3
1. Kendrick Lamar: For us, the true headliner of the day was Kendrick Lamar. By the number of "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" t-shirts in the crowd, he was the main attraction for many others as well. It was an interesting set, because for many of us, we didn't know what to expect. Would we get some of the more serious contemplative tracks that made Good Kid, M.A.A.D City such a phenomenal album? Or would we hear a more boisterous club banging set? It turned out to be the latter and not the former. It would have been cool to see a more varied set, but Osheaga's for the kids. Kids love yelling "Fuck that!" in their sing-alongs. Perhaps the funniest moment of our entire weekend happened when the little girl next to us screamed along to "Backstreet Freestyle" with the lyrics: "I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/So I can fuck the world for seventy two hours". Yup. That actually happened.
2. Icona Pop: Where all da white women at?!?! They were at Icona Pop for one of the biggest dance parties of the festival. The Green stage was packed to see the Swedish electro-glam duo belt out a high energy set that included house bangers like "I Love it", "Manners", and "Girlfriend". Icona Pop was seriously a good time, but we think we saw some people getting white-girl-drunk to the lyrics of "Girlfriend": "All I need in this life of sin is me and my girlfriend/Down to ride till the happy end, is me and my girlfriend". It was pretty cute, that's all we'll say. Especially when the rain showed up and the pink umbrellas bobbed up and down. So cute.
3. Disclosure: We found ourselves neglecting the electronic stage this weekend. It's not that we don't like the musicians that populate the stage. Acts like Bonobo, Porter Robinson, and Baauer are top tier, but sadly, they were victims of scheduling. We can only see so much. Luckily we were able to catch Disclosure's full set, and we're glad we did. We suspected Jessie Ware would get on stage to perform "Confess To Me" with the English duo, but we didn't think she'd stick around and croon and dance as long as she did. Everyone loves a festival collaboration.
4. Hot Chip: We are not fans of the night's main act, Mumford & Sons. Perhaps our journalistic integrity is at stake by making such a bold statement, but there was nothing anyone could do to compel us to the main stage last night, especially when Hot Chip were getting down with their funky selves at the Green Stage. As the fans poured in—likely escaping Mumf and co. like us—glow sticks rained over the crowd setting up a wicked neon dance extravaganza. As the band walked on stage to Michael Jackson, we remarked to ourselves, "Anyone who has MJ as their walk-on music had better back it up." And they did. From second-one, the London lads pleased a very energetic crowd, covered in a sea of neon blues and greens. It was a damn fine way to close out our festival.
5. VIP Access: Next year, do yourself a favor and spend the extra dough on some VIP tickets. Or better yet, volunteer at a community radio station and nab their passes. However you get yourself into VIP, you won't regret the decision. The food is better, the beer is cheaper, the lines are non-existent, and you may spot a Canadian celebrity or two – Jian Ghomeshi!?! *SWOON*. And have we mentioned the air-conditioned bathrooms yet? No? We, the Very Important People, need not concern ourselves with porta potties ever again. That is for the plebes.
DAY 2
1. Beck: In what started out as a somewhat laidback or even subdued performance, Beck rounded into form to deliver one of the best shows of the festival. Once Rishi Dhir from Montreal's Elephant Stone was carted on stage with his signature sitar to help out on "Loser", everyone knew it was time to jump up and down. From then on, Beck had the crowd, coaxing some dance moves with an injection of classic covers like "I Feel Love" and "Billie Jean". By the way, who else other than Beck can seamlessly insert a dance classic like "Billie Jean" into the middle of a country song like "Sissyneck"? And as impressive as that was, it was the genius blending of soul, hip hop, country, and R. Kelly (because R. Kelly is his own genre) into "Where it's At"—quite possibly the best closing song we could have asked for.
2. Imagine Dragons: OK, so Imagine Dragons were pretty great. We went into the weekend knowing nothing about the band, yet having them recommended by everyone under the age twenty. We soon realized that we'd heard this music before, in commercials, tv shows or... we're not sure where, but it's bubbled up from the ether at some point. No matter, it was extremely positive vibing generic festival rock for the kids, but we were at a festival for the kids. By this point in the weekend, we hadn't seen a bigger, more electric crowd, singing along to all of the songs - all of which, we're still unfamiliar with. We must be old.
3. The Food: We've never been to a festival with better food. The inclusion of Montreal's top tier food trucks (Alexis le Gourmand, Lucille's Oyster Dive, Le Smoking BBQ, Landry et Filles, just to name a few) was probably Osheaga's smartest move. Even better, the prices aren't inflated like one might expect. You're still paying $9 for your lunch, but you just bought a pulled pork sandwich with BBQ sauce made of we don't know what. Shut up and eat your delicious food.
4. The small stage: As great as some of the main-stagers were, it was the small stage that really shined bright yesterday. Sets by Wild Nothing, Groenland, Deap Vally, We Are Wolves, and Explosions in the Sky gave us a chance to leave the hordes of youngsters and channel our inner hipster. Whether it's true or not, everyone checking out the Green and Tree stages feels like they're ahead of the curve, in on a secret that the general populace at the main stage hasn't yet clued into.
5. Tricky Goes Metal: Speaking of the small stage, one of the weirdest—and therefore, best—performances of the day goes to Bristol native, Tricky. Perhaps the victim of an awkward timeslot at 5 PM, Tricky had to pull out a few ...tricks... to entice the crowd into feeling his vibes. After twenty minutes of nightclub fare, Tricky slowed things down and hauled a couple dozen fans up on stage to dance along to "Ace of Spades". The following fifteen minutes included a gyrating and taunting frontman saying "Are you scared, Montreal?", an Elvis impersonator, awkwardly and drunkenly dancing white people, and a dude with a plastic flamingo on a stick. Whatever works, right?
DAY 1
1. The Cure: In a day full of upper-echelon main stage performers, Robert Smith – dressed in red lipstick and moon boots, because, obviously! – put everyone to shame. Roaring through a two-hour set that included just about every track you could have wished for, The Cure played to an admittedly older, more refined Osheaga crowd (me thinks the hipsters ran off to watch A Tribe Called Red). Our only complaint is directed to the jerk that cut off the band's PA with 30 seconds left in closer "Boys Don't Cry". It didn't matter. We all sang along with the band, anyway.
2. Alt-J: The Mercury Prize winning quartet hit the stage sounding like festival veterans. It's hard to fathom that their debut came out less than a year ago, given that they played to the first huge crowd of the day. When the bass dropped on "Fitzpleasure", the crowd lost their minds and sang along for the rest of the set. Alt-J truly was the first huge act of the festival and will be bona fide headliners in due time.
3. Lax security: What sounds like a slight against Osheaga really is a benefit to the throngs of fans seeking an altered state of mind. While chilling to DIIV at the Green Stage, we overheard a conversation between a couple of American tourists, "Weed is legal in Canada, right?" "No, just in Quebec I think." You're wrong, bros. It's only legal at Osheaga, apparently. Not to sound like an old man or anything, but have you ever seen so many people smoking weed before?
4. Main staging: Friday's lineup was stacked. If you posted up – as we did – near the main stage, you were doing alright. With respect to bands like Beach House, A Tribe Called Red, and Baauer (who all put on fantastic performances, we're told), there's no way we're leaving a main stage that consisted of Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Alt-J, Two Door Cinema Club and, of course, The Cure. Every one of those bands brought their best efforts, making Friday the most likely candidate for the best day of Osheaga.
5. WiFi lounges and phone recharging: If you've got some time to kill and you're full from one of the gourmet food trucks (more on those tomorrow), why not chill in a hammock and check your emails? Is your phone just about dead? There are plenty of places where, if you've brought your charger along, you can plug in your phone and recharge. As Osheaga has expanded the festival grounds, it's nice to see that they're making great use of the space.

Pete Douglas, the host of CJLO's The Live Wire Show (Saturdays, 9-10 am), reviews some of his favourite acts from the 27th edition of the Festival International Nuits d'Afrique back in July, and discusses the trials and tribulations of outdoor versus indoor shows, and parking in downtown Montreal during the city's summer Festimania.
I would like to begin by congratulating the management and staff of the Festival International Nuits D’Afrique on the festival this year, and special thanks to our World Beat music director Ms. Kelly Belfo for coming through for us once again!
The Indoor Shows
We have been spoiled by the festival with some great indoor performaces over the past couple of years, but I found the 2013 edition of Nuits d'Afrique was lacking in that area. Perhaps this occurred due to the lack of sponsorship this year, because when you look at the schedule of outdoor shows compared to the indoor shows, you may understand where I am coming from. However, two indoor performances—one at le Cabaret du Mile End, and the other at Metropolis—were some of the best of the festival.
MARIA DE BARROS
Maria De Barros' performance at Cabaret du Mile End on July 12th showed you an artist that has grown in many areas of her on-stage performance. She seems to be very much at ease than when I first saw her a few years ago. Her interactions with the audience in the different languages that she speaks went over really well with those of us who understood the Creole. Her singing was in fine form, and the band (as usual) was tight and well rehearsed.
To me, the beauty of it all was that the band members were from diverse cultures, and that was evident in their newer compositions. They seem to have married the different musical genres from their cultural backgrounds, and the result was a non-stop dance party.
Maria and I were old Facebook friends long before the rest of the world discovered her; this was back when it was mostly musicians keeping in touch with each other about their up coming gigs. Fast forward to 2013, and there were quite a number of people waiting to meet and greet her after the show, which to me spoke volumes about her performance.
KASSAV'
At the Kassav' show, my acquaintance Ray Blaze asked me a certain question, and I quote, "Pete, where do they get their energy from?" The name "Kassav" is the Creole word for the cassava plant. The answer to his question about the energetic properties of that fruit, I simply don't know, but Kassav's show had energy.
Kassav, the creators of the musical genre zouk, remains one of its driving forces. Their show at the Metropolis on July 13th was just another great classical Kassav party. I could tell that they were a bit tired, but never the less, the energy was still there. The horn and percussions sections were given their time to shine and they delivered.
In all fairness, Jocelyn Beroard was the most energized of the main core of the band that night, and so the show in itself was nothing but magic.
The Outdoor Shows
I made one of the biggest mistakes when attending a festival at Quartier des spectacles on Saturday, July 20th. I went by car, completely forgetting that the Just for Laughs festival was on. By the time I finally found parking, Joyce N Sana were just finishing their set, so I missed them!
MAZAGAN
The next band on stage was Mazagan from Morocco. The band's high energy level had the crowd in a dancing mood that lasted the entire set. Their style of music is a mixture of hip hop and their natural African roots blended so well and made some really nice grooves. Their bass players had a nice steady groove that was not too over powering. The rest of the band members were just having a fun on stage, which spilled over onto the crowd in attendance. Although I am not versed into the hip hop thing, I must say that I enjoyed their show. Mazagan is a band that should be brought back to Montreal.
KADAN'S
Kadan's is a band made up of musicians from the islands of both Martinique and Guadeloupe in the French-speaking Caribbean. Their style of music is a mixture of cadence and zouk. Unfortunately for them, I had just finished watching the band Kassav' a few days earlier, and when I watched Kadan's for the first time, I was left with no other choice but to compare them with Kassav'.
I did not like the mix that the sound engineer gave them. Their style of music requires a heavy mix of the bass and drums. The vocals at times were strained. I could not always understand what was being sung or said. They tried their best to get the crowd going "Kassav' style", but in my view, the people were more receptive to them when they played their more traditional style of music.
They said that this was their fifth trip to Montreal over the past few years. I have seen the name Kadan's before, but I never did read up on them. I will defiinitely go and see them again.