She’s looking across the table at me, but only because she’s trying not to look at him. We met a couple weeks ago at some friend’s friend’s party and got to talking about our mutual hatred of our Russian Lit. conference. (I recognized her right away but I let her[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Kyle Carpenter"
Hey Rosetta!: Seeds
When I saw Hey Rosetta! play in a crowded band shell in the pouring rain at Osheaga in 2009, the last thing on my mind was “Man, these guys sound like Coldplay” (coincidentally that night’s headliner). But when I started listening to Seeds, their third full-length album, I realized that[Read More…]
The (too) many uses of random
The word “random” has never sounded right to me. It hits the ear in an awkward way and for whatever reason it makes me think that you were just too lazy to come up with a more specific word. But there are bigger problems with this commonly used term. To[Read More…]
The CBSC f#&s up
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC)—a non-governmental organization committed to applying the standards of Canadian broadcasting to its members, made up of over 700 broadcasters—has recently ruled that the 1985 Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” must be edited for radio play. The problem? The word “faggot,” which is used[Read More…]
The Fake Shore
It would be easy to list the reasons why the Toronto knockoff of Jersey Shore—with the face palm worthy title Lake Shore—is an awful idea. So here goes. First, I think we can all agree that we’re sick of Jersey Shore. The flare-up cultural phenomenon’s success is based on its[Read More…]
The failures of “fail”
We’ve all seen it happen before. You dropped some books or spilt your coffee only to have your irritation and slight embarrassment punctuated by some giddy opportunist chiming in with a cringe worthy four-letter f-word: “Fail!” Aside from being grammatically incorrect, the real problem is the term’s origin. What was[Read More…]
Hipsters aren’t hipsters
Nowadays, it seems that when a subculture springs up it’s given a name before a proper definition. Remember the word “emo?” All of a sudden there was an umbrella term for a group made up of wildly different characteristics: Dashboard Confessional fans lumped in with The Cure fans, people who[Read More…]
Wintersleep works twice as hard on the road
bighassle.com It turns out that great albums can happen while you’re busy making other plans. Halifax’s Wintersleep wrote the bulk of their latest album, New Inheritors, while on tour. In addition to getting ready for their show each night, the band spent part of their soundcheck ironing out new songs.[Read More…]
The Postelles : The Postelles
The Postelles are an English accent and a few cheeky lyrics away from being a full-fledged Arctic Monkeys knockoff, but unfortunately their debut lacks the complexity of a Monkeys tune. Instead, it’s pretty straight pop. The instrumentation is minimalist at best (though not at it’s best when it’s minimal), with[Read More…]
Comeback Kid Sure Does Live up to its Name
Winnipeg isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think of the Canadian music scene, but there’s a good case for bumping it a bit higher on your list. The city has produced some amazing bands over the years: the Guess Who (and spin-off BTO), Propaghandi (and spin-off the Weakerthans), and a little artist named Neil Young. Comeback Kid represents the heavier side of the ‘Peg, and has carried on the city’s DIY punk tradition. “There’s always been a healthy underground following for the punk hardcore kind of thing,” says Comeback Kid guitarist Jeremy Hiebert. “I’m 34 years old and it’s never been super hard to find people who book local stuff throughout the years. There’s still kids doing that, renting community centres or whatever.”
