I wish I could make it that everyone who sees the Soft Skeleton has to drink Guinness, says Emily Haines, Metric’s cool, commanding and completely sexy front woman, as she takes another swig, “but it’s okay if you’re having, like, a vodka soda. I just don’t think you’ll totally get what we’re doing, but that’s okay!” Despite the absence of Guinness anywhere in the general vicinity, last Monday night’s show at Le National Théâtre was not lost on many.
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
REVIEWS
Motörhead. Kiss of Death. It’s time to dust off the cowboy boots and iron cross belt buckle and cut a rug to the 19th album by the UK’s original beer-drinkers and hell-raisers. Though markedly Motörhead, as per the abundance of ammunition adorning the cover to the plodding bass and bourbon-drenched vocals of front man Lemmy Kilmister, Kiss of Death is a pretty standard speed/thrash metal offering.
POP RHETORIC: I like it on top
Montreal is renowned for doing a lot of things very well – festivals, live music, smoked meat, poutine – but sometimes the things it does badly are overlooked. Specifically, pizza. There is no great pizza in Montreal. I know pizza isn’t a Montreal specialty, like smoked meat, but one might expect at least a few places to sneak in and corner the market.
PERSPECTIVE: Clix This
There is an excellent, clever and effective commercial invading our airwaves, and it drives me freakin’ crazy. Unilever, the maker of Axe deodorant spray, has hired ex-Newlywed Nick Lachey as their flirtatious, dimpled spokesman for its new fragrance, Clix.
POP MONTREAL: Born a ramblin’ man
What does Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, a 75-year old country folk guitarist, have to do with Pop Montreal, the city’s ecstatic embrace of the “next big thing”? Perhaps the most significant asset that Elliot’s Wednesday night set at the Ukrainian Center brought to the festival was authenticity.
POP MONTREAL: Spektor is simply spek-tacular
The National is a quaint theatre, the ambience a familiar one, ideal for Regina Spektor. The singer/songstress stepped onto the stage with a glittery shape in her hair and smiling red lips, her very presence giving the room a soothing glow. She began an acapella wonder and the crowd became entranced.
Putting Canada back on the television map
Tuesday evening saw the debut of CBC’s latest prime time original broadcast, the brainchild of Chris Haddock, nationally revered creator of decade-spanning Canadian success Da Vinci’s Inquest. His new series, Intelligence, examines a new facet of West Coast criminality, this time turning the camera towards the perpetrators rather than the victims and investigators.
MUSIC: Byrnin’ down the stale record industry house
Studying and an urgent need to pick up dry-cleaning in time for Thanksgiving may have deterred many from attending this year’s Future of Music Policy Summit, held for the first time away from its birthplace of Washington D.C., in McGill’s own Schulich School of Music.
POP RHETORIC: Moshing to Mozart
Let’s talk about a typical concert experience. First, there is the jazz concert, the one at a trendy bar downtown. You go to swanky clubs such as Upstairs and listen to some whacked out players spin out jazz tunes. These tunes are so full of energy and funk that you won’t hesitate to scream and shout, whistle and holla’, especially considering all the noise from the drunken 45-year-olds in the back of the room.
TVMcGill shines a spotlight on student films
With online video clips already a welcome distraction at the library, it’s hardly surprising that the Fokus Film Festival’s popularity has expanded exponentially in the past four years. The festival, hosted by TVMcGill, showcases the works of film-savvy, creative McGill students and awards prizes to the best films in each category.
