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J. Cole @ Club Soda
Once in a while, you get the rare opportunity to catch an artist right before they ascend to larger audiences. J. Cole, signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, is standing at the precipice of that ascension. His album Cole World: The Sideline Story is due out on September 27th and the promotional singles released have already seen healthy chart action on the Billboard 200. The rapper-cum-producer has managed to take a positive stance in recent interviews regarding his situation despite a myriad number of setbacks over the last two years - the most prominent of which has been that his major label debut, Cole World, has been perpetually delayed. Originally meant to come out over a year ago, the project has seen many release dates come and go before the late September date was settled upon.
All of that was merely context, though, for a pleasurable 70 minute set from the 26 year-old, who decided to leave all of those problems backstage and treated the crowd to an energetic and passionate set. Backed by two keyboardists and a DJ, Young Simba took the stage at Club Soda at around 9:30 and began to own it right from the get-go, eschewing the ultra-flashy demeanor of some of his peers in favour of a simple black shirt and pants ensemble. The crowd was primed for the North Carolina native, and there were numerous times in the evening where it was hard to find someone who wasn't singing/rapping along.
Thankfully, Cole kept the in-between song banter/shout outs to a minimum. Sometimes these things can go long and you can spend many minutes listening to someone go on and on before returning to the music, but thankfully Cole recognized this and kept the energy up, displaying his musical virtuosity by taking over one of the keyboard stands and playing a few numbers while also rapping. He also paused a few times during the performance to stare into the crowd and broke out into a broad smile before continuing with the show, seemingly humbled by the reception.
Blazing through tracks from previous mixtapes (the Drake collabo "In The Morning" had the entire crowd throwing their hands up) as well as choice cuts from his forthcoming album (including the Kanye-sampling single "Work Out"), J. Cole stalked the stage, looking genuinely pleased at the rather enthusiastic reaction he was getting from the MTL crowd. Cole's 2010 hit "Who Dat" got one of the stronger reactions of the evening, even as the beat from the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" was cut into the middle portion of the song for added value.
In the end, J. Cole put on a show that focused itself primarily on the music, and kept the theatrics and posturing to a minimum, thankfully maximizing his on-stage time to push a product that may prove to be the missing piece of the puzzle that'll help J. Cole break into the mainstream.
-Brian H hosts Countdown To Armageddon every Monday from 8-10pm
Cecil Di Ioia
What is your DJ alias? & what are its origins?
Cecil. It's honestly just a misunderstanding of my real name.
What is your show name?
Burnt Offerings
What genre?
The metal-est!
How long have you been at CJLO?
Probably 4 or 5 years now.
What is the best thing about working at CJLO?
It's a lot of fun and I enjoy the people I work with!
Describe your show as a potential life partner. What are its qualities?
It's always there when I need it (or even when I don't). It's never left me, never lied to me, never stole from me and never talks back to me. Unfortunately, it also means that it's a terrible conversation partner!
Two reasons you host a show
1) I love the music I play.
2) I've connected with so many great and interesting people!
What do you think makes your show unique?
It's hard to say.... There are so many great shows with so many great DJs that put a lot of their own work into them. So I guess what makes my show unique is the fact that mine is probably the only one that praises Greek gods constantly throughout.
If you weren't doing your show, in what other ways would you express yourself?
I'd probably be writing an online journal on some dinky website.
What was the biggest turning point in your musical journey?
Probably was when I started getting asked to do live band interviews. I knew then that my show had started taking a much more serious turn and that I had to keep working hard because it was paying off.
Fill in the blanks
If I could travel back in time and bring back anyone, I would bring back Dimebag Darrell. Because his death was not only a blow to the metal world, but because his death caused a lot of panic and worry amongst many bands while touring.
What are your 2 favorite albums of all time?
Iced Earth's The Dark Saga and Symphony X's Paradise Lost.
What is the one piece of technology you cannot live without?
Right now I'd say my external HD if only because I've put all my work, music and show recordings on it.
Describe yourself in 3 words:
Short, Greek and Metal!
September 14th, 2011
Read by Emily Brass
Produced by Nikita Smith
Stories by Emily Brass, Sarah Deshaies
Air Canada Flight Attendants May Strike
Air Canada flight attendants voted almost unanimously in favour of a strike. The employees could walk out as soon as September 21st.
Jeff Taylor is president of the flight attendants' union. He said union members are unsatisfied after ten years of making sacrifices to help the airline's financial situation.
Taylor said members would prefer to reach an agreement with Air Canada, but they are prepared to strike if necessary. The union overwhelmingly rejected a tentative deal with the airline in late August.
This could become the second strike by Air Canada employees in three months. Customer service and sales personnel walked out for three days in June.
A strike by flight attendants would have an immediate impact on the airline.
Turning down the volume on ads
Ever notice how TV commercials are always louder than the show you're watching?
Well, Nina Grewal did.
The MP from British Columbia decided to do something about it. She introduced a private member's bill to ensure that the volume of commercials would be consistent with regular television programming. But her bill died when the federal election was called earlier this year.
Now, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will take up her fight and introduce rules to make sure ads aren't louder than tv shows. The broadcast regulator promised to handle the issue last February, and has announced that draft regulations will be released by the end of this year.
The CRTC received just over 300 complaints about loud commercials in 2010, an increase over previous years.
Broadcasters like Shaw and Bell had argued that the industry should handle the issue on its own, with self-imposed regulations. But they will comply with the CRTC's decision.
Grewal called the move “great news.”
September 12th, 2011
Read and produced by Nikita Smith
Stories by Chris Hanna, Sofia Gay, Aisha Samu
Montreal Alouettes Defeat Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Montreal Alouettes won 43-13 against the Hamilton Tiger Cats on Sunday in Montreal.
Calvillo shined as he threw four touchdown passes, three of them happening in the second quarter. He also scored his second four hundred-yard game of the season. Thanks to Calvillo’s touchdown passes, the Alouettes gained a twenty-nine to one lead into the second quarter.
Hamilton’s Justin Medlock brought the score to twenty-nine – ten after kicking three straight field goals in the first half.
Brandon Whitaker caught the first of Calvillo’s touchdown passes while Jamel Richardson caught seven passes for one hundred thirteen yards. And Sean Whyte hit his second field goal of the game with only five minutes and twenty-six seconds remaining.
The Alouettes rebounded from a two game loss, placing them in second position in the Eastern Division.
Jogger hit by car in Côte St. Luc
A woman is in the hospital after being struck by a car in Côte St. Luc Sunday morning.
The thirty-five-year-old is in a stable condition. She was jogging with other runners and the car swerved off the road.
One of the car’s side mirrors struck her, and she hit her head on the ground too.
The driver sped off after the accident, but a witness got a detailed description of the car. The driver appears to be a grey-haired man in his fifties.
Police are looking for a grey Honda Civic missing a side mirror.
Top 10: DC Relaunch Titles
Recently, I found myself at FanExpo with a buddy myself. I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince him to get back into comics, and one of the conversations that came up was about the cool new books in the DC relaunch. Now that we're only a week away from Montreal's own ComicCon, I thought I'd give you comic fans out there my Top 10 list of books you should be checking out in the relaunch (in no particular order).
#1 Action Comics - Grant Morrison wrote an absolutely amazing Superman story already with "All-Star Superman" and now's his chance to play with Superman in the actual DCU proper.
#2 Wonder Woman - Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are two amazing talents; they've described the book as a mythological horror, which is EXACTLY what I've been wanting from Wonder Woman forever. At Fanexpo, Azzarello said he had a specific story in mind that he wanted to tell, so I'm guessing his run won't be too long. I'm glad it's going to have a proper beginning, middle and end.
#3 Batman - Scott Snyder's Detective Comics pre-reboot was absolutely amazing, and his Batman looks just as good. I'm a little upset that Jock and Francesco Francavilla aren't going to continue working with him, but the art I've seen from Greg Capullo looks absolutely amazing.
#4 Swamp Thing - This is going to be another one by Scott Snyder, and I've yet to read anything by him that I haven't completely loved. He's easily one of the best new talents to come along in years, and everything he writes is an absolute must buy.
#5 Frankenstein - Jeff Lemire wrote a Frankenstein mini during Flashpoint and it was one of the best things that the event produced. I haven't read "Flashpoint #5" yet, but it seems like some stuff that happened is going to carry forward, Frankenstein included. I'm really, really excited for more Frankenstein.
#6 All-Star Western - This basically sounds like the new Jonah Hex book; the same writers are involved here so there's no reason to expect anything less than something fantastic. Moritat is drawing this too and I've loved his work on Elephantmen; I can't wait to see him draw Hex and an old timey Gotham.
#7 Stormwatch - Aside from the last arc of Action Comics, Paul Cornell has never let me down. This book is bringing some never before seen characters into the DCU (Wildstorm's Stormwatch) and partnering them with one of my favourite DC characters, Martian Manhunter. I don't fully know how this is going to play out yet, since DC been fairly quiet about all the new series, but they seem to be a new team meant to police the new superheroes.
#8 Animal Man - Like Swamp Thing, this book is tied in to the "Dark" side of the DCU. Jeff Lemire is writing this, too. Apparently, the series will focus a lot on Buddy Baker's family, and if Jeff Lemire is good at one thing, it's family dynamics (aside from small-towns and hockey). The "Dark" section of the DCU is easily the segment I'm most excited for.
#9 Blackhawks - Mike Costa wrote the amazing G.I. Joe Cobra series that focused on the black ops side of the G.I. Joe universe, so I'm sure he's going to write a great black ops DC book. One of the things I'm most excited about in the new DCU is that there are more non-superhero books than before (although still not enough for my tastes).
#10 Justice League Dark - I'm not really excited about the new Justice League book, despite the all-star team of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, but JL: Dark? That, I'm super excited for. Deadman, Shade, Constantine and more mystical DC people on one team? In the corner of the universe I'm most excited for? Yeah, I'll be getting this.
-Ryan "Gobo" Closs
September 9th, 2011
Read by Joshua Nemeroff
Produced by Erica Bridgeman
Stories by Danny Aubry, Nikita Smith, Erica Bridgeman and Joshua Nemeroff
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