The Tribune

The program cover for Opéra de Montréal’s performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore leaves a lasting impression.  It displays a gaping witch with fiery hair, her expression carrying both a hint of personal pain and menacing madness.  Though the opera does tell the story of a troubadour and his turbulent[Read More…]

Vanessa Heins “Death country” might seem like an awkward pairing of words, but once you’ve heard the music of Elliott BROOD, you’ll understand how perfectly this self-labeled genre can work. Although the label is descriptive of their older work, the band’s newest album, Days Into Years, strays from this categorization.[Read More…]

Two weeks ago, SPIN Magazine announced it would be discontinuing its traditional in-print album reviews in favour of 140-character reviews posted on Twitter (@SPINreviews). SPIN reasons that, thanks to the Internet, listeners don’t depend on professional critics to act as authoritative voices about new releases: all anyone needs to discover[Read More…]

Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune There are stories that are fun, pleasing, and uplifting to the soul and spirit. Then there are others that are dark, brutal, and challenging to watch unfold. And then there’s Sweeney Todd.  One of Stephen Sondheim’s best known works, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of[Read More…]

Given standard music etiquette today, classical music is quite peculiar.  Most, if not all people, view music as a natural experience, akin to dance.  It causes us to move, jig, and even flail about. At a classical music concert, those would be the last things you would want to do[Read More…]

cametgreg.fr Entering the final semester of fourth year is a bittersweet feeling. Four magical years of hard work and occasionally excessive partying are coming to a close, and you are confronted with the feeling that you haven’t accomplished anything you had meant to do when you first came to this[Read More…]

hdfreewallpaper.info There are films that I want to like so, so very much, and Carnage is one of them. The fact that all the right ingredients—a Tony-winning play, a famed auteur, A-list talent—resulted in a mediocre exercise in uncontrolled social degeneration proves that cinema cannot be explained via reductionism. Some[Read More…]

The original Guided By Voices lineup has at last reunited for the first time in 15 years, and with the release of Let’s Go Eat The Factory comes the return of their iconic lo-fi, garage band sound. Starting with the electrifying opener “Laundry and Lasers,” it’s clear that lead singer[Read More…]

John K. Samson has penned some impressive lyrics as the frontman for beloved folk-rockers the Weakerthans, but none may better capture the heart of his music than the simple refrain of “I hate Winnipeg.” It’s the half-joking lyrical crux of 2003’s “One Great City!” a song about Samson’s love-hate relationship[Read More…]

January doldrums got you down? Take a look some of the Tribune A&E contributors’ favorite winter pick-me-ups.  Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay: “212” Off-kilter delivery and confident lyrics make Azealia Banks rap’s most exciting star to watch this year. Take a seat, Nicki Minaj. Split Enz: “I See Red” Because[Read More…]