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Hosted by Ahmad Moujtahed

Stories by Ahmad Moujtahed

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LOCAL

Due to multiple complaints over noise from outdoor summer events in Parc Jean-Drapeau, the city of Montreal has reached an agreement with South Shore St-Lambert.

With the exception of a few events, the new noise level will be 75 decibels. Concert promoters will be required to measure noise both inside and outside the site. An inspection team with the Ville Marie borough will also conduct periodic noise tests during concerts, according to Montreal Gazette.

St-Lambert residents can learn more about the noise limits during an information session scheduled to take place on June 27 at the city’s multipurpose centre at 81 Hooper St.

NATIONAL

Up until the year 2013, Canada had a lifetime restriction preventing men who have sex with men from donating blood. Since then, Health Canada has approved to grant this group of men a deferral period of five years for blood donation. In 2016, the deferral period was reduced to one year.

Recently, Health Canada has approved a request by Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec to reduce this deferral period from one year to three months, a significant step towards eliminating the deferral period entirely.

The announced change is based on an analysis that revealed that there will be no increased risk to the safety of blood products intended for transfusion. The possibility of transmitting HIV by transfusion is extremely low at present, namely 1 chance in 23 million in Québec, and the announced change will not alter this risk in any significant way.

The change which will apply both in Québec and in the other Canadian provinces will ensure safe non-discriminatory blood donations.

INTERNATIONAL

Uber and Lyft drivers have been fighting for years for the right to unionize and negotiate better pay.

Some drivers for those ride-hailing giants have decided to protest the declining wages.

Demonstrations took place on Wednesday May 8 in 10 U.S. cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York as well as some European cities like London.

The protests arrived just ahead of Uber's initial public stock offering, which is planned for Friday May 10. Uber hopes to raise $9 billion US and is expected to be valued at up to $91.5 billion.

It's not the first time drivers for ride-hailing apps have staged protests. Strikes were planned in several cities last month, although the disruption to riders appeared to be minimal.      

Alternative indie band Tokyo Police Club consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. Since they formed back 2005, the indie band from Newmarket, Ontario, has released four studio albums, six if you count the EP compilations like the band do. This current tour is in support of their newest album TPC, aptly named as after chasing a more radio friendly indie pop sound on their 2014 album Forcefield, it is return to their roots. Rob Schnapf, who worked on Champ (2010) returned to produce the album. On the band’s website they simply describe that “TPC is a rock record with tons of guitars” and that couldn't be more true.

The night at the Petit Campus starts off to a pretty full house around 8pm. Dizzy, having won this years Juno award for Alternative Album of the Year, are captivating the audience with their emotional ballads. The suburban indie pop band, lead by Katie Munshaw, play a fantastic 30 minute set. While their chill tunes have the audience swaying along, upon mentioning Tokyo Police Club the crowd erupts and you can feel excitement in the room already. Katie isn’t afraid to share her stories with the Montreal crowd either, talking about her big breakup and inviting the crowd to put up their “little middle fingers” and that “this song [Joshua] goes out to all the Josh’s out there”. They clean up and by now the room was packed, and people were excited for TPC to make their appearance.

By 9:10 the lights dimmed. The back curtain was mostly covered by road cases with the band’s many amps piled on top, no extra decor decor but they don’t  need it. The revealed drum set, covered with a “Don’t let them f*ck with your Heart” decal, lay in wait. The boys ran out and immediately jump into the first  track of TPC, New Blues. As Monks sang he invited to crowd to get closer and push forward. Both Wright and Hook jumped around on guitar, the band was not lying, this rock album features a lot of guitars. They are not shy to use the whole stage and get the crowd into it, stepping in front of their monitors to solo in turn. A quick “Hey!! Montreal!!” and they are into their next songs, back to back hits from Champ. The crowd loudly singing along to “Boots of Danger”, then Hook gets the crowd clapping along to Favourite Colour.

It’s back to TPC after that, other than a small interlude of their live-only instrumental track Zap! they make it through four new hits: “Hercules”, “Simple Dude”, “Outtatime”, and “Pigs”. The rock focus is really clear, but translates really well live. The LA vibes in Pigs’ guitar riff and the cowbell in “Hercules”, gives this a really fun college vibe, reminiscent of 2000s Frat Rock, with influences from Weezer to Vampire Weekend.  Wright even told Billboard, “Hercules is a special one because it sounds like how making this record felt to me…When [guitarist Josh Hook] and I were in the live room recording the guitars, it felt like a party the whole time. So I’m really happy that the sound of that party gets to be audible to everyone...", and a party it was, the crowd was jumping around and dancing almost the whole time.

It was not just the crowd enjoying themselves. Big smiles and laughs adorned the band as they bumped into each other, tossed the tambourine around, and even accidentally turned off another member's amp when putting down their whiskey. They did not hold back, each member had a designated towel because they knew they would be getting sweaty on stage. Monks emptied his water bottle all over himself, to cheers from the crowd of course. He was not afraid to show off his silly dance moves either between songs, earning quite a few laughs from the crowd, and even went on a tangent miming his morning routine. They rounded off their set with a few more songs from Champ, along with a couple highlights from all their other albums and EPs. Hearing the gritty bass-heavy “Nature Of The Experiment” was a nice surprise and change of pace. The band then stepped offstage, waiting to see if we’d stick around, and came back to end the show with the energetic “Cheer it On” and “Your English is Good”. They went all out leaving the mics and keys all fallen over on the ground by the end of the last solo. A memorable and exciting show that i can imagine much of the audience will be talking about this week.

Photo: Xenia França by Thomas Artuzzi

At this year’s SXSW, I saw a lot of female artists.  On Thursday March 14, I saw Xenia França from Bahia, Brazil who was part of a showcase for world music day at the Austin Convention Centre. She put on an incredible show.  She sang about female empowerment and loving yourself while being backed up by her band playing sounds of Brazil that made you want to move.

Later that night I saw a all female showcase hosted by DJ C Devone with DJ Milan who didn’t just stay behind the turntables. She came to the front of the stage with a microphone singing and dancing to Cardi B’s “Money.”   The first act was Adeela, a Hip Hop artist from South Africa.  She was followed by Azia from BET’s reality show Hustle in Brooklyn who is pursuing a music career with help from her father.  Her act was entertaining with a lot of heavy bass and booty shaking. She even invited a man onstage to show him how to dance.  

The next act was Destiny Rogers.  This young girl came on stage wearing track pants and a white sweatshirt with a Hip Hop/R&B beat behind her. She got to the mic stand, put on her mic and started singing with a beautiful voice which led to cheers from the crowd.  She covered H.E.R.’s “Best Part.” She also sang Tomboy from her EP of the same name which is out now.  She told the crowd that we were dope but we all yelled enthusiastically “You’re Dope!” When she was done the crowd yelled encore, in my 3 years at SXSW this is the first time I saw this for a new artist.  After watching all female Hip Hop artists with their booty out and dancing provocatively, it was refreshing to see a talented young woman bless the stage and get even more appreciation than those girls.

Friday I went to a music showcase at Lady Bird Lake, a spacious outdoor area that reminded me of Osheaga.  I got to catch Abhi The Nomad, an Austin MC by way of India.   It was a great performance by a very clever rapper who enthusiastically received crowd participation. He was followed by Kota The Friend from Brooklyn, who reminds me of J Cole. He had done so many showcases at the festival his voice was on the verge of cracking which made me appreciate his performance more. 

Next up was Kari Faux, a female MC backed by DJ Domo from Little Rock Arkansas. This artist had a track appear on Issa Rae’s Insecure.  Another great artist who rocked the crowd and had us ready to see the next lineup.

The headliner for the night was Dungeon Family with Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo, Big Boi and Sleepy Brown.   They performed classic tracks including “Cell Therapy,” “So Fresh, So Clean,” “Kryptonite,” and “The Way You Move.” Cee-Lo sang “Crazy” and the crowd went crazy.  His voice is truly incredible.  

As an Outkast and Goodie Mob fan since the beginning this was my favourite showcase at SXSW.  Even though the group is older, they showed no signs of slowing down.  They were dancing in step reminiscent of soul groups like The Four Tops and Temptations. We were told that they have new projects coming out so I will be on the lookout for that.

After I left Lady Bird Lake I went to the Co-Sign showcase. I saw two cool acts, including Jerry Paper from Stones Throw.  I also got to catch up with our Co-Sign family which is one of the things I looked forward to on our trip.

Finally what would SXSW be without hanging out with my fellow CJLO music directors?  Fun times were had as we discovered what was happening at the festival as well as discovering a bit more of Austin which is now of my favourite cities.

Amrew Weekes aka Lady Oracle is CJLO's Hip Hop Music Director and host of The Limelight, Saturdays 6-8 p.m.

Hosted by Ahmad Moujtahed

Stories by Ahmad Moujtahed

________________________________________________________________

LOCAL

After struggling with limited space in the past, Montreal’s McCord Museum will undergo a massive expansion that will triple the exhibition space.

The new $180M expansion will combine the McCord and the recently merged Fashion and Stuart Museums. The plan, which was announced on April 30, proposes to build a brand new structure on top of the existing McCord Museum on Sherbrooke Street near McGill University.

The architectural firm that will design the final plan has yet to be chosen, but museum officials say some parts of the original building will be kept.

Museum officials also hope to convince both arms of the government as well as private investors to fund the project equally.

Upon approval of the project, the McCord Museum will be closed for up to three years during the renovations

NATIONAL 

This year’s flood became the worst recorded in the history of the province of Quebec, when more than 6,000 people fled their homes in a matter of hours in Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac; when a dike breached, and water covered one third of the homes in the small town.

After ruling out the idea of holding an emergency debate or inquiry regarding the flood situation, Premiere François Legault says the government will strike a committee of cabinet ministers to come up with an action plan to deal with the aftermath of the devastating spring floods.

Short term measures will include reimbursements for flood damage. As for long term procedures, the action plan contains measures for building infrastructure ; as well as relocating homeowners out of flood zones.

INTERNATIONAL

Celebrated around the globe each year on April 30, International Jazz Day highlights the power of jazz as a force for freedom and creativity while promoting intercultural dialogue through respect and understanding.

This year’s International Jazz Day came to a thrilling close after an extraordinary All-Star Global Concert at the Melbourne Arts Centre's renowned Hamer Hall.

As part of the annual event, two weeks of jazz performances and educational outreach programming took place in cities across the host country Australia. Thousands of students in Sydney's New South Wales public schools took part in jazz education programs at the Sydney Opera House.

Other highlights included a special Jazz Day performance at the Adelaide Festival Centre and a "Women in Jazz" celebration in Perth.

The Global Host City for International Jazz Day in 2020 is Cape Town, South Africa.