RSS
February 14th 2011
News read by Sofia Gay and produced by Erica Fisher.
Stories written by Corentine Rivoire, Sarah El Fangary, Marcin Wisniewski and Chris Hanna.
Protests in Yemen Continue As Police Clash with the Protesters
Police have clashed with the protesters on the third day of anti-government protests in Yemen. The protesters are demanding are political reform and the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Like the Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak, Ali Abdulah Saleh has been in power for over 30 years ruling with an iron fist. And like the Egyptian ex-president he tried to blunt the unrest by promising not to return.
Several thousands protesters, many of them students tried to reach the main square. They were pushed back by the police using clubs.
Inspired by the revolution in Egypt, both Yemen and Algeria are currently experiencing politically based protests. The events occurring in the Middle East have had many compare the situation to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989.
Since January of this year and the ousting of the Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, North Africa and the Middle East have been a hot bed of revolutionary spirit.
Montreal's Arcade Fire takes home most important Grammy
Montreal’s own Arcade Fire took home the Grammy for Album of the Year for The Suburbs. It was the band’s only win of the night. Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs beat out albums by Eminem, Katy Perry, Lady Antebellum and Lady Gaga. Eminem had 10 nominations. He left with only two wins for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance. Country trio Lady Antebellum took home five awards, including Song and Record of the Year for their hit “Need You Now.” Canadians Drake and Justin Bieber lost the Best New Artist award to jazz musician Esperanza Spalding.
Other Canadians had better luck. Michael Buble’s album Crazy Love won the Best Traditional Pop Album award. Neil Young’s “Angry World” won the Grammy for Best Rock Song. The three-and-a-half hour telecast was jam-packed with performances, and started with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who only appeared in a pre-recorded video. Other performers included Cee-Lo Green, Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Rihanna and Janelle Monae.
Unsuccessful attempt to rob ATM due to vehicle oversize
In local news, the police is still on the lookout for a thief that attempted an unusual robbery on Sunday morning. The man used a stolen front-loader to try and drag out the National Bank ATM in a mall in Pointe aux Trembles. The botched robbery failed because the vehicle was too big and got stuck inside, according to Montreal police Constable Olivier Lapointe. Although the damages are estimated to reach thousands of dollars, nothing was stolen. The picture was taken by Dave Sidaway for The Gazette.
The Radio Dept. @ Petit Campus
It’s strange how you remember the exact moment when you got into a band. In some cases, I think of people that got me into certain bands. For example:
-Miss Ginger, whose mixtape got me into The Replacements, The Pixies and Redd Kross
-Shane, my former HMV boss, who got me hooked on Townes Van Zandt & Big Star
-Lise, who gave me guitar lessons and a burnt copy of The Jam’s All Mod Cons at the end
Naturally, I remember DJing a CJLO event five years ago where former CJLOer Alex Huyhn told me about The Radio Dept. So I wrote their name on a piece of paper and put it in my wallet. Since then, they’ve remained one of my favorites. (Thank you Alex!)
Since being introduced to them, I must’ve listened to their first 2 albums hundreds of times. Their debut, Lesser Matters, is the perfect blend of Shoegaze and Noisepop, while Pet Grief relies more on slick production, synths & drum machines. Both albums feature splendid vocals (Johan Duncanson) that hover just above the distortion. Their new LP Clinging To A Scheme falls between the two, though its sound leans closer towards that of newer synth-oriented recordings.
So what did I think of their sold out Petit Campus performance??? 7/10
First off: why play Petit Campus? It’s tiny, and the sound isn’t great. They could’ve easily sold out a slightly bigger venue; though, to be fair, many of them were booked on a busy Saturday night (Best Coast, Wavves, Julie Doiron and Heart were all making pit-stops in MTL).
The setlist was fair. They JUST released Passive Aggressive, a retrospective album that featured 2 discs full of goodies, and so you’d expect a bunch of great songs. Their performance relied rather heavily on the new album and featured a few non-album A-sides & B-sides ("Freddie & The Trojan Horse," "Messy Enough", "The New Improved Hypocrisy"). Few older songs ("Ewan," "The Worst Taste In Music") made their way into a fairly short set (14 songs), but they received the greatest reception.
Their live setup featured two guitars, a bass (rarely used) and a keyboard. Though I’m fully aware that their last 2 LPs did not include a drum-kit, I was immediately bothered by the ultra-hollow keyboard drum sounds bouncing off the walls. Their studio albums are so meticulously crafted that it’s understandably difficult to recreate that sound onstage. I felt the same way after seeing Miracle Fortress play for the first time. I absolutely LOVE the Five Roses LP, but seeing GVP play his songs live just ruined it for me. Although The Radio Dept.’s show felt slightly cheapened by an ineffective drum machine, it was still a decent show and they continue to be one of my favorites.
In their defense, who wants to lug a drum-kit around the frozen Canadian tundra?
---
Click here and here to see some awesome videos I shot at the show, and here for the full setlist.
-Catch Mike B hosting The Lonesome Strangers every Tuesday from 8-10pm
February 11th 2011
News read by Jason Rouah and produced by Erica Bridgeman.
Stories written by Joel Balsam, Jacqueline Di Bartolomeo, Alina Gotcherian, and Samah Fadil.
Rich Aucoin + superfossilpower @ Petit Campus
Prior to his show, I had heard very little of, and knew even less about, Rich Aucoin. His visit to Montreal’s Petit Campus on Thursday, February 3rd provided an extraordinarily satisfying evening, to say the least. Rich Aucoin, a Halifax, Nova Scotia native, is no stranger to Montreal. He lit up the dark venue with glow sticks and a projection of feel-good messages; they addressed certain people in attendance, superfossilpower, Petit Campus and Montreal. It really made the audience feel welcome. He won me over right from the start by displaying “Mason Windels Is Like A Nice Wind” on the propped-up screen. He soon came out offering 3D glasses, which allow the audience to enjoy the homemade 3D film that he synced to his set.
In my experience, artists who set up to play among their crowd are a sure bet for an amazing show, and Rich Aucoin was no exception. He started his set with YouTube clips of goats screaming like men played by his companion Jimmy, and followed with a crowd-countdown and confetti shower while playing “More Than A One Night Stand”. The excitement created by his introduction did not let up as he moved into “At War With The Cynics (An Opening)” from his 2007 EP Personal Publication. He kept up this energetic pace throughout the night.
I had previously been introduced to Rich Aucoin by searching through the greatness of www.weirdcanada.com, that’s where I first heard my two favourite songs of the evening: “PUSH” and “Brian Wilson is A.L.I.V.E.” Between songs the audience was given a chance to catch their breath and cool down while he taught them the chorus chants for the next song. He also took the time to upload a series of viral videos, like “G.I. Joe PSA Spoofs” and “Double Rainbow”, which would lead into the song’s beat.
He displays a lot of dedication for both musical and visual art. At one point he asked the crowd whether anyone was familiar with The Dark Side of Oz (a synchronization of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz) and proceeded to sync his music to a compilation film he made; it featured clips from classic films like How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Superman, It’s A Wonderful Life, and several more. On top of the visuals, his supply of props and endless amount of energy and excitement made for a creative and memorable show. He ended it with an unexpected, but well-deserved, encore cover of Daft Punk’s “Human After All."
I could go on forever about this night, so I will stop now. Luckily for Montreal, Thursday, February the 3rd was not Rich Aucoin’s last visit. He will be back in Montreal on Thursday, February 17th at Il Motore with the Pop Winds (Arbutus Records), which shouldn’t be missed. Do not worry about this review spoiling anything, he promises to deliver a new experience every time.
-Mason W hosts Midnight Love Affair every Sunday night from 11pm-12am
-Photo taken by Kang Min Lee
Art Matters, Ten Years in the Making
Concordia’s beloved Art Matters festival is kicking into gear for its 11th edition. This year, however, is special – it’s been ten years in the making.
On Thursday, February 10th, Art Matters unveiled its retrospective 10th anniversary publication at a stylish press cocktail on the second floor of the MB building. A few dozen art students – many of them curators of the upcoming shows – as well as a handful of press members nursed glasses of wine as they mingled and peered over the dapper booklets.
Assembled and designed by festival co-producer Stephanie Laoun, together with Sean Yendrys, a design “wizard” and art director for Art Matters, the turquoise booklets visually outline the evolution of the festival over a decade.
Over the years, Art Matters has been a showcase and platform for burgeoning talent in the university, providing student artists with professional experience and all-important exposure. At the same time, the entirely student-run, non-profit festival is a gift to our festival-loving city too. Over two weeks of innovative, multi-disciplinary art by more than 200 up-and-coming Montreal artists in local galleries throughout the city - and one “retrofit dumpster.” What’s there not to love?
This year features a not-to-miss opening party at Espace Reunion March 4th, plus exciting bands and DJ’s, musical “happenings”, and an event at Nuit Blanche called “Decadence”.
The student crew that has been toiling hard since the summer to bring us Art Matters was giddy over artists like Grimes, Pat Jordache, Roadsworth, and Andew W.K., among others, taking part.
At the press cocktail, the theme for this year’s festival was summed up by Laoun: “as we look back, we also look forward.” In the spirit of looking back, festival founder Julie Fowler, dubbed “the mother” of Art Matters, made a special trip from B.C. to speak about the festival’s humble beginnings. As it turns out, Art Matters started off as a one-day fundraiser for the Fine Arts Reading Room which was, at the time, in quite the dilapidated state. Fowler laughed over what was then a more serious concern: a leaking ceiling and computers roughly a quarter century old.
Of course, Art Matters went on to do much more than fix the Reading Room’s sad ceiling. It united the vast array of disciplines under the Fine Arts umbrella and put the Concordia Fine Arts department, and most importantly, its students, on the map.
The 11th edition kicks off on March 1st with three vernissages, and runs till March 19th.
Check out artmattersfestival.com for festival information, artist statements, and dates.
Joel Balsam interviews ASFA Presidential candidate Alex Gordon
ASFA elections take place February 15-16-17.
Interview by Joel Balsam
Video by Katie Brioux
Two more contestations in ASFA elections
Two more contestations have been brought against ASFA executive candidates, one of which has resulted in sanctions.
Nick Cuillerier is ASFA’s chief electoral officer. At Thursday’s council meeting, he reported Tanya-Michelle Contente was banned from campaigning for three days for improper use of a mailing list. Contente is a candidate for VP internal.
Last Sunday, VP Finance candidate Pier-Luc Péloquin received the same sanction for a similar infraction. Under Annex A of ASFA’s electoral bylaws, these infractions are considered insider exploitation. A third contestation involving accusations of plagiarizing campaign points was dismissed.
Cuillerier noted that Annex A lacks rules regarding plagiarism. He said that is something he will review in his electoral report.
Pages
Staff Login | Advertise | Our Location | RSS | Contact Us
