With the charts dominated by catchy pop stars, and the occasional indie group who has broken through to the mainstream, it is refreshing to listen to actual rock ‘n’ roll. Biffy Clyro, a Scottish band currently touring with Muse made it big in 2007 with the release of their album[Read More…]
Articles by Joanna Schacter
DJ Marez takes on the Montreal music scene—and his first year at McGill
Marcos Orta, also known as DJ Marez, lives a double life. ‘Up and coming’ is one way to describe this U0 McGill commerce student. “That obnoxious guy who takes command of the music during parties”—his own words—is another. Lucky for us, a quick listen to his SoundCloud station proves that[Read More…]
Danish winter much warmer with steamy liaison
Costume dramas are a risky business. Either they’re artificial and implausible, or the novelty of lace-sleeves, elaborate hairdos, and expensive props simply overshadows the plot and the acting. There are times, however, when this isn’t the case; when the historical background is the focus, and costume only succeeds in augmenting[Read More…]
Scala & Kolacny Brothers: December
There are no “Hallelujahs” or “Jingle Bells” in this Christmas cover compilation, but the unconventional song choices, including covers of Linkin Park, Coldplay, and Damien Rice, only augment the audible pleasure of December. This is choir music: voice-centric and airy, but managing to stand out with exceptional emotional expression and[Read More…]
Frances Foster: dream catcher extraordinaire
Frances Foster’s paintings are a look through the eyes of another—an exploration of mind and memory. The Montreal-born artist and Dawson college alumna has received much praise for her work, on display in U.S. and Canadian collections throughout the past 20 years. Her solo painting exhibit Selective Memory marks Foster’s[Read More…]
Defecation, death, detritus: a Catalan artist at work
In February of this year, modern art lost an important figure. Of the hundreds of paintings, drawings, and prints left behind after Antoni Tàpies’ demise, more than 80 have been acquired by Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts due to the generosity of several donors. In Memoriam: Thirty-Three Prints and a[Read More…]
Jason Lytle: Dept. of Disappearance
“I’ll crawl into the mountains, I’ll fall into obscurity/A phantom on the landscape, a memory of what used to be.” Nostalgia and longing—the voice and lyrics of Jason Lytle can’t be described without invoking these two sentiments. Dept. of Disappearance, his latest album, is full of unknown ‘somewheres’ and ‘someones,’[Read More…]
Jack Davey: LO-F! Side A
Jack Davey, frontwoman for the Californian electro-soul duo J*DaVeY, has gone solo. But for a singer who has opened for Prince, the Roots, and Janelle Monáe, the five-song EP falls distinctly flat. Davey’s voice, sultry, breathy, and deep, is wasted on what she calls “stripped-down grunge” and her attempt at[Read More…]
La Belle Époque, here and now
A unique opportunity to see works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissaro, as well as twenty-one canvases by Renoir, has opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). More than a million people worldwide have already viewed the 75 Impressionist paintings on loan from the Sterling and Francine Clarke Art[Read More…]
At the intersection of light and technology, art emerges
In When Do I See Photons? Oswald Wiener, cybernetician, author, and inspiration for the inaugural exhibition at the Goethe-Institut’s new locale, poses this very question. Photons, the smallest particles of light, stimulate our retinas. So what does it mean to ‘see’? Five artists, all students at Transmedialen Raum de la[Read More…]
Dwight Yoakum: 3 Pears
For the past 20-odd years, Dwight Yoakam has been writing and singing what he calls “Honky-tonk music.” Honky-tonk indeed: his new album, 3 Pears, released last month, has a distinct ‘bang-that-keyboard, strum-that-guitar’ feel. 3 Pears both is and isn’t a typical country album. While Yoakam’s voice is tinged with Southern[Read More…]
La Rentrée: sex, identity, and nothingness
Painting, sketchwork, photography, and performance art are on display at La Rentrée, highlighting pieces by Eliza Griffiths, Pierre Dalpé, and Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte that explore themes present in contemporary art. Love, Alienation, and Free Association Eliza Griffith’s suite of paintings and drawings explores issues of need, estrangement, intimacy, gender identity, and[Read More…]
Patrick Wolf – Sundark and Riverlight
Although just 29 years old—by many standards a “young” artist—Patrick Wolf’s repertoire speaks beyond his age. After 10 years and five studio albums later–including the much acclaimed Wind in the Wires and the recent 2011 release Lupercalia–the English singer-songwriter has become synonymous with melodic, haunting lyrics, and musical progressions on[Read More…]