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Home Movies - PG-13
PG-13 is the latest release by Oshawa’s Michael Milosh, formerly of By Devine Right, under the Home Movies moniker. To be frank, this particular album doesn’t do it for me, and while the album grew on me after listening to it several times, it wasn’t enough to influence my initial reactions to the album. I find that there are few elements that work for me; in general I find the album lacks a sense of cohesiveness. Different idea threads strung along leaving me confused as to where Home Movies is coming from and where they are going. There is a mish mash of influences found throughout the album but presented in a way that leaves you feeling as if Home Movies haven’t quite figured themselves out yet; they are asking a lot of the listener in this regard.
Additionally, I don’t find the LP terribly accessible. It’s as if the album is one big inside joke that I’m not privy too, which makes it seem as if the joke is on me, the listener.
Musically, the album relies on the guitar work of Milosh, who presents himself as quite capable if unspectacular. There is a rawness found throughout, amplified by Milosh’s raspy and at times screeching voice, which is a real strength. Tracks like “Melon Collies”, “Headlines” and “Pisstank Serenade” give us a glimmer of what Home Movies can do, the energy they have and the kind of fun they try to project, but on a twelve-track album, these highlights are few and far between.
FINAL MARK: C
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
On Psychedelic Pill, Neil Young reminisces about the good old days. It is the first double album he has recorded, and is his longest album to date – it is nearly an hour and a half long.
For the second time this year, Young has teamed up with the band Crazy Horse; back in June, Young collaborated with them on Americana, which is a collection of traditional folk songs. Even though Crazy Horse has worked with Young in the past, their inclusion comes as a surprise, since the last time they worked together was on the 2003 Greendale release.
Young is not a stranger to long songs, his classics “Cow Girl in the Sand” and “Down by the River” are both ten minutes long. But on Psychedelic Pill Young sets a new personal record. The album kicks off with “Driftin' Back,” which is the longest song of the album at 27 minutes. The decision to put it at the top of the album was a bold choice, perhaps made in order to weed out the not-so-dedicated fans. Lyrically, it is either the most hilarious song of the year, or is Young's bitter ode to how much he hates the world. At one point he sings, “I used to dig Picasso, then the big tech giant came along and turned him into wallpaper,” which sounds a lot like a bitter old man complaining about the state of capitalism. But then Young sings “gonna get me a hip hop haircut,” which is the best dad joke I've ever heard.
If long songs aren't your thing, the shorter ones are worth checking out. The title track “Psychedelic Pill” could have been pulled straight from Young's 2010 grunge-rock album Le Noise, but with a fuller sound thanks to Crazy Horse. And then there is the folk song "Twisted Road", in which Young croons about the first time he heard his music idols Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and the Grateful Dead.
The biggest disappointment on the album is Young's tribute to his home province, “Born in Ontario.” Canadians never forget that Young was born here, but when his 2006 album Living With War was released, the underlying message within was that Young was now an American. Unfortunately Young's tribute to his home country is just a cheesy mess. Another disappointing song is “Love For a Man,” which is a bizarre track about angels and religion.
At this point in his career, Neil Young's fans will listen to his albums no matter what the reviews say. There are always amazing songs that prove that he still is a guitar force to be reckoned with, and you'll likely find a few flops. So if you like a long guitar solos, bitter old man lyrics, and still love Young's perfectly imperfect voice, this album is for you.
FINAL MARK: B +
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Alt-J spends a lot of time explaining their name. If you type alt and j on a Mac keyboard, you'll get a triangle. But what does that have to do with slick indie pop? Well nothing, but apparently it has a deeper meaning for the band. The symbol is used in math to mean slow change, which they decided best represents their new sound after dropping their original name, the Films. It's all conceptual nonsense for a band whose music is far from conceptual.
The album An Awesome Wave has been getting a lot of attention, having just won the prestigious Mercury Prize. Considering last year's winner was the extraordinary album Let England Shake by PJ Harvey, I was expecting something amazing. Instead of being blown away, I was just left confused. The band's sound is difficult to distinguish, which is often a good thing in music, since it shows creativity and innovation. But in this case, any innovation is out-shadowed by the fact that the songs are over-produced, and over-worked.
From the quirky, and theatrical song “Breezeblocks,” to “Tessellate” which is the band's failed attempt at trip-hop, to “Taro” which oddly enough includes bhangra music, one thing is certain – this album is all over the place. There are even a few snoozefest folk songs, that sound even more watered-down than anything by Fleet Foxes. To my surprise, the album includes a redeeming secret song called “Handmade,” which is reminiscent of early Devendra Banhart.
According to the band, their sound is called 'trip-folk.' Even though they made a valiant effort to pave the way for a new genre, Alt-J's debut album is too disjointed, making it impossible to understand what exactly trip-folk is.
FINAL MARK: C +
Temporary Foreign Worker Program under review
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program, will soon be under program review by the federal government.
Over years, the TFW has gained a bad rap for its treatment of migrant workers. According to Rabble.ca, this year, the TFW recruited migrant workers from China to work in a British Columbia coal mine. This coal mine received over 300 Canadian applications, however, all of the applications were denied.
According to Rabble.ca, this was due to the ability of speaking Mandarin as a qualification necessary on the application.
More controversially, the migrant workers were illegally asked to pay an approximate $12 500 in recruitment fees in order to work in Canada. This is likely due to lack of regulation in the TFW program.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the International Labour Organization's (ILO) declaration of fundamental principles and rights at work, may be a start of reference. however, as of yet, the Canadian government has not signed these international conventions.
Rabble.ca reports that according to the ILO, approximately 100 000 rights have been violated for seasonal agricultural workers in Ontario alone by restricting unions.
STORY WRITTEN BY: HANNAH BESSEAU
BC Blackout protest at gas station
In Vancouver, a protest forced a gas station to nearly shut-down its business.
30 people from the proactive environmental collective BC Blackout rallied in front of a Shell gas station in Vancouver's East-End neighbourhood on November 10th.
Vancouver Media Co-op's Zig-zag reports that the rally was against Royal Dutch Shell's involvement in expoiting Alberta's Tar Sands. Shell is also a part of various pipeline projects, most notably the Enbridge Keystone pipeline.
The protestors barricaded the gas station and gave leaflets to inform pedestrians. Motorists who passed by honked in approval.
About 30 policemen followed the protestors when the rally began at a nearby park all the way to the gas station. No arrests were made.
BC Blackout protestors claims their presence alongside with the policemen helped out in showing down that gas station's daily business.
An identical rally occurred on October 23rd by another collective known as The Rising Tides Vancouver-Coast Salish Territories.
STORY WRITTEN BY: SATURN DE LOS ANGELES
November 13, 2012
Hosted by: Kurt Weiss
Stories by: Danny Aubry, Carlo Spiridigliozzi & Hannah Besseau
Produced by: Catlin Spencer
Animal protection laws to be strengthened in Montreal
The city of Montreal is undertaking an ambitious project to enhance animal protection laws.
In a report by the McGill Daily, the city working in tandem with the SPCA is encouraging new pet owners to adopt animals from shelters in favour of pet shops. 200 pets were sdopted at the last "Operation Adoption" weekend in late October.
A new animal shelter for greater Montreal is to be built by 2014. Martine Painchaud, the press secretary for the mayor's office told the Daily that a government-run shelter will resolve a lot of Montreal's pet abandonment issues. Each of the 19 Montreal Island boroughs have their own animal protection laws. The mayor's office is suggesting 1 bylaw for all of the boroughs.
Quebec's record on stemming animal cruelty has been questioned recently. One of the cases that drew outrage, was the abuse of animals at the Berger-Blanc for-profit animal ahelter.
Flickr Photo by: lynnefeatherstone
Marois's 2016 daycare plan
Premier Pauline Marois promised that by 2016 every child within the province will have access to a $7.00 a day daycare space.
According to the Gazette Marois stated that 28,000 new spaces will be created.
Marois promised that the price for subsidized daycare spaces will remain $7.00 a day until 2016.
Owners of private unsubsidized daycare centres feel that it`s unfair that they will not be assigned to the new spaces.
Marois admitted that she favours state run early childhood centres because of the high rate of dissatisfaction for private daycare centres.
CJLO 1690 AM's Artist Outreach Program
Hear Marshall and Serge talk about the program on Champions of the Local Scene (Wednesdays 6-7pm).
Thanks to the CRFC, CJLO 1690 AM is proud to launch the Artist Outreach Program, a program run through the station to produce radio quality EPs for bands that have the content but may not have the financial means or technical skill to produce their content in a radio acceptable format. With this project CJLO aims to provide a stepping stone for local artists in the Montreal community to learn about how to get their music played on the radio and create a physical product that they can use to achieve this goal.
If your application is successful, CJLO will provide the services of a free recording in our studio and a mix and master of an EP’s worth of the chosen artist’s music (approximately 15-20 minutes long). This is however limited to approximately 70-80 hours of labor per artist/group to be split up between studio time, time for the producer to complete the mix/master, and time spent preparing the promotional materials to be sent to other radio stations.
Grâce au CRFC, CJLO 1690AM est fier de lancer le « Programme d’aide aux artistes », un projet de la station qui vise à produire des enregistrements (EP) de haute qualité pour les bands ayant du matériel musical mais qui n’ont pas les moyens financiers ou les compétences techniques nécessaires pour se produire eux-même dans un format acceptable pour être diffusé à la radio. Avec ce projet, CJLO espère offrir un tremplin pour les artistes montréalais en leur apprenant comment avoir leur musique diffusée en onde, et en produisant un enregistrement qu’ils pourront utiliser pour atteindre cet objectif.
Nous tenons à remercier le CRFC de nous offrir cette occasion de soutenir la scène musicale locale et nous avons très hâte de travailler avec les extraordinaires artistes montréalais.
Dans le cadre de ce programme, CJLO offrira gratuitement des services d'enregistrement dans son studio et effectuera le mixage et la masterisation d’un EP (durée d’environ 15 à 20 minutes). Le nombre d’heures de travail est toutefois limité à 70-80 heures séparées entre le studio d’enregistrement, le mixage/masterisaton et le temps requis pour préparer le matériel promotionnel destiné aux autres stations de radio. Après ces étapes, chaque artiste sera informé sur la meilleure façon de présenter leur musique pour la distribution radio.
Si vous êtes un artiste et êtes intéressé à participer au programme, veuillez remplir le formulaire d’application en cliquant ici avant 15 février 2013.
Si vous avez d’autres questions, veuillez contacter notre responsable de la liaison avec les artistes, Serge Del Grosso : radiometres@cjlo.com
November 12th, 2012
Hosted by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Stories by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi, Aisha Samu, Alyssa Tremblay & Daniel J. Rowe
Produced by: Hannah Besseau
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