RSS
Thousands screen for COVID-19, China lifts lockdown, Canadiens lay offs
Anchor: Luca Caruso-Moro
Writer: Hadassah Alencar
________________________________________________________________
Thousands screen for COVID-19
On its opening day, the first coronavirus screening center in Montreal tested over 2,000 people.
This was at the Place des Festivals clinic, where no appointment is needed to test.
Instead, people only need to show symptoms of COVID-19, like a fever, dry cough or trouble breathing.
Quebec cases of COVID-16 have hit 1339 as of Wednesday afternoon.
China lifts lockdown
After a two month quarantine in the province of Hubei in China, residents experiencing no cold symptoms are free to go outside.
The city of Wuhan, where the virus was first recorded, is the capital of the Hubei province and will remain quarantined until early April.
According to Chinese authorities, the rate of cases has drastically subsided with the Hubei province not recording any new infections for over a week.
The Canadien lay off
The company that owns the Canadiens hockey team has announced they will lay off 60 per cent of their staff.
Coaches and scouts will continue to receive their full salary. NHL players will also receive their full salary during the regular season.
All other employees will receive 80 per cent of their base salary for an eight week period.
COVID-19 Cases Spike in Quebec, Virus Layoffs Grow, Olympics Postponed
Sasha Teman
Maya Lach-Adelbaum
________________________________________________________________
COVID-19 Cases Spike in Quebec
Quebec has now reported a jump in its number of probable COVID-19 cases, now placing it at 628 cases.
Despite the rapid spread of the virus in the province, work continues to be a top priority for grocery store owners and employees. Our reporter Maya Lach-Aidelbaum has the story.
https://soundcloud.com/cjlo1690am/a-grocer-and-the-virus
Virus Layoffs Grow
Air Transat has had to lay off approximately 70% of its staff/workforce in Canada, amid COVID-19 related concerns.
These layoffs account for about 3,600 people which includes all of its flight crew personnel.
Air Transat had been operating in an effort to repatriate as many people back to their home countries, following many government officials' decisions to close their borders.
They were able to safely return more than 60% of their customers back to Canada as of March 22nd.
Olympics Postponed
The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics committee released a statement declaring that this year’s games will be postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
This announcement comes a day after Canada decided to withdraw its athletes from the summer games.
Canada’s Olympic Committee stated that a global health crisis is far more important than sports.
Another sporting nation which also refused to send its athletes to Japan amidst the pandemic was Australia.
Although a postponement of the summer games could cost the country billions of dollars, COVID-19 was making it difficult for athletes to train given that gyms, stadiums and swimming pools around the world had begun to close.
A Dive into Metalcore
Photo Credit: Chris Romano
As you may or may not know, I’m the Metalcore enthusiast at CJLO. Go ahead, call me a “poser” all you want. There is nothing better then a good Metalcore song during these quarantine times, where the only moshpit you might see is a hole in you wall with mushrooms growing out of it.
Since we are still in March and we enjoy our Metal music at the station, I decided to write this article explaining why Metal elitist fans don't like my favorite genre. Of course, this article is going to be biased. I’m listening to Parkway Drive, Norma Jean and August Burns Red while writing this but, I’ll try to be as objective as possible. Here are the four reasons why Metalcore is hated by Metal elitists.
1. A middle finger to two communities
The term Metalcore emerged in the 90s, when a few bands started mixing thrash and hardcore punk together. These artisits borrowed the screaming vocals and the breakdowns from Hardcore and the riffs from Metal.
We can compare Hardcore Punk, or just Punk, and Metal to the Capulets and the Montagues, making Metalcore Romeo and Juliet. Punk and Metal fans have been buttheads in the past, being very proud of their respective communities.
When some hardcore bands (which are punk bands that pushed the genre characteristics to the extreme) started using a more “metallic” sound was when the term metalcore first emerged.
To put it simply, both Punks and Metalheads are proud elitists of their genre. So, when metalcore came along, it was the bastard union of the two; making it the obvious scapegoat for the two communities. Since Metalcore takes a bit more of the Punk (with the screamed vocals and the breakdowns) compared to metal (the guitar riffs), it’s normal that the elitist Metalheads won’t welcome it into the community.
2. It’s too accessible
Let’s face it: metal elitists are hipsters. And what do hipsters do? They hate on anything that is too trendy or too accessible to the general public. As an example, you can take my girlfriend, who loves bands like I Prevail and Beartooth, but has some trouble getting into Mayhem, Asphyx or Darkthrone.
Death Metal, Black Metal and the such aren’t for everyone, either because it’s too heavy, too fast or too dark for the general public.
Metalcore is a mix of Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk, using melodic riffs to mix it with some breakdowns and some hardcore screaming vocals. To the general youth, it’s kind of way to express some frustration, to rebel a little (not that you can’t do it while listening to some Darken Death Doom metal.)
Metalcore has gotten even more accessible with the Punk Goes Pop trend as few years back where a lot of Metalcore bands took songs like “Glad You Came”, “Bad Romance”, “I Kissed A Girl”, “Wrecking Ball”, and made a metalcore cover of it.
I remember back in 2014, the local news in Montreal (a.k.a CTV) talked about I Prevail’s cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. Of course, when something related to music gets on the news, it’s more accessible to everyone (with the exception of some people burning churches.)
3. The Influence of Emo and Pop on the genre
Some bands seem to be more hated than others. The first one that comes to mind is Bring Me the Horizon (BMtH). There hasn’t been a social media platform where I haven’t seen some people destroying Oliver Sykes and his band. Why? Two reasons mostly.
Reason number 1 - They have too many connections to the emo/scene movements
Reason number 2 - Their latest album(s) being too influenced by pop
One thing that I need to mention about BMtH is that they used to be a Deathcore band when they first started. As you go through their repertoire, you can see that it's pretty diverse from years to years. As they went through different phases, they went through different genres, but some themes remained through it all: the heartbreak, the hurting and all the edgy stuff usually associated with emo and scene.
They might have been the one that brought all the cringy emo fanbases into metalcore, or it might have been Falling in Reverse. Who really knows for sure? One thing is for sure. Most people went through some phases when they were younger and a lot of them are ashamed of themselves and cringing while looking at some old pictures. Elitist metalheads are kinda doing the same with the Metalcore cringy emo fanbase, some of its more emo bands like Bring Me the Horizons.
To add insult to injury, BMtH’s last album Amo (stylized as amo) mostly consisted of pop music, with a few Metal/Rock tints here and there. That kind of finished digging their grave for Metalheads, as pop is the most accessible and the most commercial genre that exist. The album wasn’t bad per say, it was better than most pop that airs on the radio these days in my opinion, but it wasn’t metal.
4. All the bands sounds the same
This last argument will also be a wrap up so bare with me. One of the most used argument against Metalcore is that all of its bands sound the same, which I would have to agree with to a certain degree.
To its defense, Metalcore became really popular around 2005 to 2010-ish. That was when all the social medias and streaming platforms started being popular too. Since a lot of bands became popular from Myspace (such as Black Veiled Brides, Bring Me the Horizon, Hollywood Undead, Job for a Cowboy and Suicide Silence to name a few). You would think that a lot of others would soon follow their tracks, hoping to become as successful. With the commercial success Metalcore had around 2010, it is understandable that a lot of bands would want the same as many other well established Metalcore bands on the market.
We also live in an era where the music industry is over saturated. Everyone can make decide to be a singer, make a band and start posting music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music or other music streaming platforms. A lot of Pop or Rap artists sounds the same. Metalcore is the most commercially successful genre of Metal. Therefore, it only makes sense that bands try to copy others’ sound to become successful.
I have seen a lot of people on forums (jazz musicians, metal critics and others) say that Metalcore was simple, unstimulating and generic. Well, this is where we can praise Bring Me the Horizon. Even though their last album was heavily criticized by Metalheads for being more Pop than Rock or Metal, it seemed to start a wave in the world of Metalcore. More and more bands started tweaking their sound in different ways, seemingly searching for something more unique and more personal. While looking to be the gateway band to get people into Rock, this shook the world of metalcore and challenged some bands to modify their sometimes-well-established sound to find a new voice.
In the end, you can like whatever genre of metal you want. But, if you think Metalcore is more Punk than Metal and that makes it "not Metal enough" or "heavy enough", follow the advice that Lzzy Hale, the lead singer of the rock band Halestorm, gave me during an interview. Go see a live show before you judge or say anything about it. You always get a better idea of a genre after seeing it live a few times then listening to a few albums on Spotify.
Jean-Phillppe aka JP, is the co-host of The Iron Club check them out every Sunday at 10pm.
CJLO DJ SPOTLIGHT
DJ Spacepirate hosts Burnt Offerings, the absolute worst show ever to curse AM radio. There he mostly plays brand-spanking-new Canadian metal, as well as other types of new Canadian metal. Sometimes he doesn't play Canadian metal from the past 3 months, such as Canadian metal from more than 3 months ago, or metal not from Canada but still from the past 3 months. He gets reduced rations when this happens.
Tune into Burnt Offerings every Sunday from 6 to 8PM!
Hope you're doing well. Here is my DJ bio and picture. I kept it real short, hope it's what you wanted! I'm DJ Lady Oracle, host of The Limelight on CJLO 1690AM alongside J-Nice since 2003. It is the longest running hip hop show on CJLO 1690AM. I'm also a professional DJ and DJ for events such as Urban Science’s Le Cypher, Kalmunity Vibe Collective, Jazz fest, NDG Arts Week and more. When I'm not DJing or woking at my day job, I'm chilling with friends and family, doing Pilates workouts, meditating, cooking vegan food and watching Netflix.
Check out The Limelight every Saturday from 6 to 8PM, or link with them on Facebook and MixCloud!
https://www.facebook.com/thelimelightradio/
https://www.mixcloud.com/limelightradio/
Why Beach Boys’ Party! is the Ultimate Soundtrack for Self-Isolation
Students pushed out of residence, EI applications boom, Feds announce virus response for First Nations
Stories: Luca Caruso-Moro
Reporter: Shanellie Marie
STUDENTS PUSHED OUT OF RESIDENCES
Students in Concordia’s residencies are being pushed out of their dorms in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19.
On March 18, students were given 4 days notice to pack up and leave.
According to the Civil Code of Quebec, students are entitled to stay in their residences as long as they are a full time student.
University President Graham Carr has vowed to accommodate students with nowhere to go and provide meals to residents in need.
The CSU has issued a statement saying, quote, “No one should be left behind in a health emergency,” and vowed to hold the university accountable.
EI APPLICATIONS BOOM
In national news, the federal government has been flooded with applications for Employment Insurance.
Prime Minister Trudeau says Ottawa has received about 500 thousand applications.
That’s compared to just 27 thousand, this time last year.
Rules for who is eligible for insurance were recently expanded to accommodate people out of work as a result of the virus.
FEDS ANNOUNCE VIRUS RESPONSE FOR FIRST NATIONS
The government has announced 305 million dollars for immediate response to limit the spread of COVID-19 to Indigenous and Inuit communities.
Several officials including Trudeau recognize the need for aid specifically directed to those communities, which are more likely to lack access to medical
infrastructure. Another 100 million dollar fund has also been unveiled to pay for medical equipment.
Increase in blood donations, COVID-19 sparks fears of racist attacks, Concordia residence evictions
Hadassah Alencar
________________________________________________________________
Increase in blood donations during virus pandemic
Legault asked Quebecers to donate blood on the COVID-19 update on Monday
A spokesperson for Héma-Québec said the number of daily blood donations decreased 75 per cent after people were asked to stay home last week.
Since Monday donations have bounced back to their goal of: 1000 per day.
Montreal's Korean consulate responds to stabbings
Montreal's Korean consulate issued a safety warning after two Korean men were stabbed in the city on Sunday.
The warning is due to broader concerns about coronavirus-related racism targeting canadians of asain descent.
The two men are in recovery and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Suddenly eviction notice for Concordia residence
Over 800 students at Concordia's three residences have been asked to evacuate their dorms.
And they’ve been given just four days to do it.
According to the university, the order was made over health concerns about covid-19 on campus.
This included concerns on how social distancing is difficult to practice in a residence.
Metal My Movie - Almost Famous
Photo Credit: IMDb
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, I decided to rectify a blind spot viewing of mine and watch Almost Famous. Directed by Cameron Crowe, the film takes a focus on life on the road of a rock and roll band and their fans known as groupies. Audience views the film through the protagonist, a journalist writing an article for Rolling Stones magazine. From these two thematics we can see Almost Famous from a Metal perspective.
Maybe more of a PG version of the Netflix original film The Dirt, the biographical film about the Mötley Crüe, Almost Famous is loosely based on Crowe’s experience working for Rolling Stones magazine. The film explores the life on the road of a fictional rock band called Stillwater and how ego plays a part in being in a band. For example, there is the ongoing ego riff between the lead singer Jeff (Jason Lee) and the lead guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup). There is also the relationship explored between Russell and one of the superfans of the group, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). It is when Russell’s wife enters the picture that their relationship becomes non-existent as he ignores Penny.
Just as Metal is sometimes seen as subversive to the times, Rock and Roll, at the time, was seen that way too. Annita (Zooey Deschanel) was the original fan of rock and roll music in William’s (Patrick Fugit) life. She introduced him to the genre that his mother Elaine found subversive (Frances McDormand). I don’t know why anyone would find Simon and Garfukle’s Bookends subversive, but those were the days. Elaine emparts her concerned motherly advice of “Don’t do Drugs” and doesn’t trust the members of Stillwater around her son, even though she knows it’s been one of his life long dreams to follow a band he has idolized. Penny Lane draws influence from The Beatles for her pseudonym groupie name, this can be seen as the other side of the spectrum of band fandom. She lets William know that she is more than a groupie; she is a superfan.
Maybe not all the rough edges of life on the road of a Metal band, but Crowe makes it a surreal experience of being on the road with a rock band in Almost Famous. It can be defined as a musical rock journey film if ever there was a sub genre. Nothing beats everyone coming together to belt out Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” on the tour bus. Crowe also focuses on how rock was perceived as a subversive culture that had it’s superfans that would go to lengths to keep up with the culture. For myself, my parents did right by bringing me up with Simon and Garfunkel, their music is timeless. This may be the best film Crowe has done in a while with Vanilla Sky being underrated and Aloha being critically panned. It seems that he put his heart and his soul into this film.
Next week Albert and David Maysle’s concert documentary Gimme Shelter celebrates an anniversary review and gets the Metal My Movie treatment. So what makes The Rolling Stones so Metal besides their longevity? Find out next week. Got any suggestions for a Metal My Movie segment then e-mail atmovies@cjlo.com.
CJLO's Top Metal Bands of 2019
Photo Credit: Diner Drugs EP Art
2019 is over and with it, another decade is gone. We, at CJLO, can be sentimental at times, so let's take a look back at the year and tell you what loud/metal bands got played the most at the station.
Now, before we get started, let me lay out what this list is so you don't get confused.
This list represents each artist and the number of plays they received by DJs on their shows. There is no collection of automated plays; these are strictly things picked out and played by DJs across the station, with the majority of them being from the Metal shows.
These numbers are strictly from chartable records, a.k.a new records. So there's no grand total number of times that Metallica got played anywhere here.
First, let’s talk about band names, because why not? As you know, Metal is sometimes a predictable lot, and band names this year ran a nice array of dark themes. Witch” and “Death” are commonly used words in Metal bands names this year, with the mainstay “Black” at number three — for those who are curious.
But enough of these “words", let's get to numbers. Here's some facts about what got played:
- Of all of the records sent in to CJLO this year, Diner Drugs managed to get the most airplay, which though I don't have numbers from anywhere else, is certainly a better statistic than at any corporate owned station in the city.
- Of the artists that got played, 36% were Canadian Content, so see CRTC, we're complying with our 35% mandate quite well, and that's just new records.
- Of the artists that got played, 13% were from Quebec, with the obvious majority being from around the Montreal area.
Without further delay, here's the top 200.
200. Goatees
199. Lochness (QC)
198. Creeping Death
197. Delain
196. Haunt
195. Full of Hell
194. Skid Row
193. Homicide (QC)
192. Northern Haze (CDN)
191. Marc Durkee (CDN)
190. Venom
189. Detainee (QC)
188. Whitechapel
187. Quiet Riot
186. CNTRL (CDN)
185. Iron Maiden
184. Jesus Chrusler Supercar
183. Amon Amarth
182. Jess by the Lake
181. Periphery
180. Thank You Scientist
179. Pelican
178. Twilight Force
177. .gif from god
176. Endvade (QC)
175. Seas (stylized as seas) (CDN)
174. Atria (CDN)
173. Spectres (stylized as SPECTRES) (CDN)
172. In Flames
171. Tragedy
170. Babymetal (stylized as BABYMETAL)
169. Breath After Coma
168. Shadow Weaver (CDN)
167. Airbourne
166. Völur (CDN)
165. Cattle Decapitation
164. Unearth
163. Baroness
162. Santa Cruz
161. La Chinga (CDN)
160. Jinjer
159. A Pale Horse Named Death
158. Deathchant (stylized as DEATHCHANT)
157. Candlemass
156. Bat
155. Alaska (QC)
154. Cathartic Demise (CDN)
153. Rammstein
152. Sabaton
151. Monolord
 |
 |
 |
150. Va Rocks (stylized as VA ROCKS)
149. Toothgrinder
148. Blut aus Nord
147. A Primitive Evolution (CDN)
146. Getaway Van (CDN)
145. Black Mold
144. Gloryhammer
143. Juliet Ruin (CDN)
142. Killswitch Engage
141. Lee Aaron (CDN)
140. The Hu
139. Insomnium
138. The Listener (QC)
137. Profane Order (C)
136. Touché Amoré
135. BackStabbers (QC)
134. Shotgun Sawyer
133. Of Hatred Spawn (CDN)
132. Gazm (stylized as GAZM) (QC)
131. Dead Feathers
130. Texas Hippie Coalition
129. Guttrot (QC)
128. Zeal & Ardor
127. White Cowbell Oklahoma (CDN)
126. Red Cain (CDN)
125. The Flaying (QC)
124. Valley of the Sun
123. The Well
122. Häxan (CDN)
121. Häxor (CDN)
120. Hive (stylized as H I V E) (CDN)
119. Infrared (CDN)
118. TripleMurder (CDN)
117. Surface of the Sun (CDN)
116. Woodhawk (CDN)
115. Vultures (CDN)
114. TrollWar (QC)
113. Nachteule (QC)
112. OHMelectronic (CDN)
111. Haze Mage
110. Roadsaw
109. Sleepcircle (CDN)
108. Carnifex
107. Soilwork
106. Batushka
105. Norma Jean
104. Mark Morton
103. CJLO PRESENTS: Foreign Trade (QC)
102. Bewitcher
101. Anomalism (CDN)
 |
 |
 |
100. Dizzy Mystics (QC)
99. Disciples of Power (CDN)
98. Fever 333
97. Culled (CDN)
96. Northumbria (CDN)
95. Mayhem
94. Warsenal (QC)
93. Thrash la Reine (QC)
92. 3Teeth
91. Lüger (QC)
90. Dream Theater
89. Misshapen (CDN)
88. Damned Things
87. Zaum (CDN)
86. ALGORYTHYM (QC)
85. Scimitar (CDN)
84. Tales of the Tomb (CDN)
83. Gross Misconduct (CDN)
82. Grave Infestation (CDN)
81. Sunn O)))
80. Ritual Warefare (CDN)
79. Fractures & Outlines (QC)
78. Consequences (stylized as CONSEQUENCES.) (QC)
77. No Faith In Fortune (CDN)
76. Thanatos (CDN)
75. Oomph!
74. Danko Jones (CDN)
73. Concrete Funeral (CDN)
72. Sigil (CDN)
71. Gone Cosmic (CDN)
70. Knocked Loose
69. Sleeping in Traffic (CDN)
68. Sanctvs (QC)
67. Fayne (QC)
66. Vile Creature (CDN)
65. Hellnite (CDN)
64. The Altruist (QC)
63. Elektric Mistress (CDN)
62. Unburnt (QC)
61. Oppression (QC)
60. Sophist (CDN)
59. Modern Eyes (QC)
58. Kings Rot (CDN)
57. Mistwalker (QC)
56. Blue Cheese (QC)
55. Counterparts (CDN)
54. The Great Sabatini (QC)
53. Tunic (sylized as tunic) (CDN)
52. West of Hell (CDN)
51. Torche
 |
 |
 |
50. Despised Icon (QC)
49. Dead Tired (stylized as DEAD TIRED) (CDN)
48. Alienatör (CDN)
47. Oath Div. 666 (QC)
46. Wykan (QC)
45. Eclipser (CDN)
44. Sludgehammer (CDN)
43. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
42. Accursed Spawn (CDN)
41. Bled Out (CDN)
40. Incandescence (QC)
39. Monarque (QC)
38. Shezmu (QC)
37. Ye-Goat-Herd Gods (CDN)
36. Wormwitch (CDN)
35. Aphrodite (CDN)
34. Dizastra (QC)
33. Bring Me the Horizon
32. Heart Attack KIds (CDN)
31. Délétère (QC)
30. Black Galaxy (CDN)
29. Chainbreaker (CDN)
28. Maeskyyrn (QC)
27. Crimson Witch (CDN)
26. Warpit (QC)
25. Obey The Braver (QC)
24. Cell (CDN)
23. He Is Legend
22. Keys of Orthanc (QC)
21. Iron Kingdom (CDN)
20. Devin Townsend (CDN)
19. Tomb Mold (CDN)
18. VHS (CDN)
17. Messora (QC)
16. Kosm (stylized as KOSM) (CDN)
15. Big Brave (QC)
14. Black Mastiff (CDN)
13. Sandveiss (stylized as SANDVEISS) (QC)
12. Kobra and the Lotus (CDN)
11. Necronomicon(QC)
10. The Agonist (QC)
9. Seer (CDN)
8. Ossuaire (QC)
7. Chron Goblin (CDN)
6. Nightwitches (QC)
5. Hard Changer (CDN)
4. Waingro (CDN)
3. Gypsy Chief Goliath (CDN)
2. Trapped Under Ice (CDN)
1. Diner Drugs (CDN)
This article was brought to you in part of CJLO’s annual Metal March. Stick around for more metal-related content on-air and in the online magazine.
Pages
Staff Login | Advertise | Our Location | RSS | Contact Us
