Midterm season isn’t complete with a good emotional break-down and a moment to just let completely loose. The best way to successfully accomplish both is by jamming out to your favourite guilty pleasure song, but not just any mildly embarrassing track. The perfect song for getting over midterm insanity is[Read More…]
Music
From The Viewpoint: CKUT presents Thursdays (A)Live
It’s Thursday night, and Gerts is buzzing with the low, steady hum of chatter and laughter. It’s not packed with bar-goers, but the crowd that has congregated this evening is laid back and relaxed, made up of a dozen or so small groups of friends huddled over beers. As host[Read More…]
Port Symphonies pays tribute to the “Queen of Crime”
Pointe-à-Callière Museum’s 22nd edition of Port Symphonies, featuring composer and trombonist Scott Thomson, honoured the achievements of Agatha Christie, the famed murder-mystery novelist. The concert was held in Old Montréal at Place-Royale Square, next to the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, where a current exhibition, Investigating Agatha Christie brings to light Christie’s many interests,[Read More…]
Pop Dialectic: Macklemore and the question of white privilege
Macklemore’s latest hit, “White Privilege II” gives the outspoken rapper a chance to delve into the serious issues of white privilege and appropriation in Hip Hop, but do his lyrics drive home a powerful point, or are they just an ironic display of the very privilege he’s lambasting against? “White[Read More…]
Black lights over America: How Black Power is transforming pop culture
Between Beyoncé’s Super Bowl show, Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy performance, and Kanye West’s assault on reason, Black Power is igniting every pop culture barricade in sight in defiance of convention. When Beyoncé released “Formation,” fans expecting another version of the club-ready recycled trap hit “7/11” were left distraught. Gone was the[Read More…]
Beyond Serial: Five podcasts worth your time
1. Mordern Love: The Podcast Modern Love has long been a staple column of the New York Times as a weekly glimpse into the surprises and tribulations of modern dating and relationships. Modern Love: The Podcast brings these stories to life with readings from actors such as Broadway star Lauren[Read More…]
Beyoncé’s “Formation”: The Queen’s reign over a monumental weekend
It’s been a monumental week for Beyoncé. On the morning of Feb. 6, one of the most influential women in the world released her surprise new song and video, “Formation,” to her official website and a music streaming service, TIDAL. The single is her first in over a year, after[Read More…]
Doctors deliver a superb orchestral performance at the I Medici di McGill Winter Concert
I Medici di McGill is an orchestra comprised of doctors and students of the McGill medical program who wish to contribute to the community through the healing power of music. This past Sunday, the stage was set for their Winter Concert, where old friends could be seen mingling and conversing[Read More…]
Trib Mix: LDR (long-distance relationship)
Despite the short days and cold weather—or maybe because of them—February has become the month for coupling, perfectly etched into the global holiday that is Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, with love comes heartache, a feeling that can be greatly exacerbated when every grocery store and pharmacy is decked out in heart-shaped[Read More…]
The darkness of Othello revealed in Opera Montreal’s Otello
Few stories are as tragic or as devastating as Shakespeare’s Othello, a drama that questions truth and character at its core. Guiseppi Verdi’s interpretation of the drama is equally haunting, with a satisfying balance of choral, solo, duet, and quartet pieces that highlight the complexities of the story. The libretto[Read More…]