Cross-country skiing has a bit of an obscure beginning, but experts agree the sport is quite ancient. It is believed to have originated in what is now France as a method of hunting over 22,000 years ago. In present-day China, it is used as transportation. By the time cross-country skiing permeated into Scandinavia, it was bequeathed the current vernacular name of “skiing.” Tax collectors in Norway in the 10th century were actually sent out on skis to collect taxes from laypeople, and by the 13th century, cross-country skiing was used by troops in war.
Physicists rejoice! Cross-country skiing relies solely on the locomotive ability of the skier to propel themselves using hand-held poles and forward-pushing leg movements, rather than the gravity of downhill skiing and motorized assistance like ski lifts. As a result, cross-country skiing is practiced mainly on flat terrain or small hills.
Much like sprints and distance running, cross-country skiing races have varying lengths, ranging from a 1.5-kilometre sprint to a 50-kilometre marathon. Events can be individual races or team-driven relays.
Cross-country skiing became an Olympic sport in 1924 at the inagrual Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. Events in the Olympic repertoire have since expanded to include team relay, separate classical, and freestyle races. Cross-country skiing is the only event present at every single Winter Olympic games. 41,000 athletes identify themselves as cross-country skiers worldwide, lending to the growing popularity of the sport.
Different types of cross-country skiing exist, with different types of skis needed for each. The two most popular categories of cross-country skiing are classical, using poles and skis in a linear fashion within constrained track parameters; and freestyle, employing skating-like techniques with skis used as a type of long blade to gain momentum across terrain.
The Globe and Mail reports that the benefits of cross-country skiing outweigh almost every other type of exercise. Skiers have almost twice the cardiovascular and muscular fitness than other athletic individuals, and skiers have the lowest mortality risk of the entire population.
Raisa Smetanina, a cross-country skier from the former Soviet Union, is currently tied for the most Olympic medals won by a woman at the Winter Olympics (her last Olympics was in 1992). She was the first woman to win 10 medals, and at the time of her last medal, she was the oldest woman to ever win a Winter Olympic gold at 39 years old. The torch was passed onto Stefania Belmondo of Italy who tied the Russian powerhouse with 10 gold medals won—her medal torrent commencing the same year Smetanina won her last gold.
Whilst cross-country skiing is pretty contingent upon snowfall, avid skiers have found a technique to continue dry-land training. Invented in Italy, roller skiing is the tarmac equivalent of cross-country skiing. Wheels are attached to the ends of the skis, allowing for a similar technique to snow skiing. Roller skiing has developed into a sport in its own right, with competitions popular in Northern Europe.
The biathlon is built upon cross-country skiing, with the added element of shooting to create a new event. The most decorated Winter Olympian in history, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway, has won 13 medals in the biathlon. Interestingly, Norwegian cross-country skiers Bjorn Daehlie and Marit Bjorgen rank as the second- and third-most decorated men in Winter Olympic history, with 12 and 10 medals respectively.
Cross-country skiing was introduced as one of four Special Olympics snow sports in 1977. Canada has a strong Special Olympics cross-country skiing program in place, with offerings ranging in location from Nova Scotia to Alberta, to Yukon.
Campus organizations frequently work together on political and social justice issues. Last Fall, Divest McGill worked with Aboriginal groups on campus during the simultaneous Fossil Free and Aboriginal Awareness Weeks, and Divest McGill and Demilitarize McGill oftentimes collaborate. While the methods of each of these organizations have been criticized and praised in kind, less has been said on the intersection of these groups. At the start of a new semester, with many opportunities for collaboration on the horizon, it is important to consider whether such ties are effective or deleterious for these movements.
While intersectionality focuses on where social categories and social issues overlap and interrelate, pure inclusivity runs the risk of blurring the important distinctions between these categories and causes. A discussion that works to ensure a balance of these forces must take place on this campus, especially within and between activist movements.
It’s easy to frame the discussion into the classic dichotomy of breadth and depth. On one hand, attempts to link seemingly distinct causes is one way of building a broad coalition. For example, in an article published by the McGill Daily, one member of McGill Against Austerity stated that provincial cuts to social welfare programs disproportionately affect women. The argument is that such connections between the groups affected by austerity—such as women, students, and public sector employees—is essential to mobilization against the provincial policy. Divest McGill has collaborated with Aboriginal rights groups, citing the negative effects that the industrial activities of fossil fuel companies and the provincial government’s Plan Nord have had upon Aboriginal communities. Intersectionality is therefore effective in bringing both more breadth of support and depth of policy to a movement.
While intersectionality focuses on where social categories and social issues overlap and interrelate, pure inclusivity runs the risk of blurring the important distinctions between these categories and causes.
In order to succeed, a social movement must have broad support, as well as an informed and comprehensive agenda. Intersectionality broadens support by connecting advocates from distinct groups. Thus, those inclined to activism benefit from sharing their causes with one another as they gain lobbying and staying powers. Not all activist movements are large, but people power can be the difference. And this power is easier to accumulate when the issues are more clear cut, such as with tuition hikes. For students, increasing the tuition is clearly a negative proposal; thus, mass protests ensue. For issues of austerity, divestment, demilitarization, Aboriginal awareness, etc., the causes and consequences are far less clear-cut. Intersectionality thus provides thoroughfares between these issues, and connects groups who share similar perspectives and objectives.
However, intersections may be taken too far, and so limit the benefit of such connections. An organization’s message of inclusivity can sometimes reach too far beyond the beliefs of the majority of its supporters, and the resulting linking of two causes has the potential to alienate would-be supporters. Such is certainly the case where mainstream movements work in tandem with more radical ones, such as when McGill Against Austerity marched alongside communists and anarchists shouting “1-2-3, fuck the bourgeoisie [and…] class war” as part of a collective strike in early November. In such situations, an association can easily blemish the movement as a whole in the eyes of a less-informed, more moderate observer.
Campus activists are thus in a quandary. Isolate themselves, and they lose the power of collective voice. Expand their message too much, and it may well appeal to a substantially smaller proportion of people. The solution is a pragmatic one. Theory, in activism, much as anywhere else, should only be applied to the degree that it obtains results. This means that groups should make careful decisions based on Realpolitik—decisions based on real circumstances rather than on ideological precepts—before lending support to any movement. The calculation of such considerations may fly in the face of the idealism that serves as a foundation for many of these movements, and as such, may be difficult to reckon for those with many strong sympathies; however, leaders of such movements must be both passionate and strategic, and wager small victories against grand defeats.
[audiotrack title=”The Sport Authority Ep. 2: The evolution of small ball” songwriter=”Aaron Rose” date=”January 12, 2015″ width=”700″ height=”200″ src=”https://24f2041bb5b609d25f1a97039f71682cc9154421.googledrive.com/host/0B9rQxTeDv2duM0FmSjBSYkZFS1k/Sport%20Authority%20episode%202%20small%20ball.wav” autoplay=”on”]
At 35-2 the Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA by far. They’re revolutionizing the game in a way never seen before. For decades bigger was better, but now that’s not necessarily the case. Basketball fans are seeing a confluence of two phenomena: A heightened value on the three-point shot and taller players becoming more skilled. In 1999, Dirk Nowitzki transformed the game, becoming the first seven-footer to attempt 300 three-point shots. Now, it seems common place for teams to have their big men shooting outside the paint, sometimes from beyond the 3-point arc. 7’3” rookie Kristaps Porzingis has taken the league by storm, shooting a quarter of his shots from 3-point range.
It is interesting to note, however, that while ‘small ball’ has only become popular recently in the NBA, collegiate teams have been trotting out squads with three or four guards for decades.
Starting in the late 1930s, Princeton basketball Head Coach Franklin “Cappy” Cappon invented the so-called “Princeton Offence.” Unable to recruit the country’s best big-men, Cappon innovatively predicated his offence on having five players who can all pass, shoot, and dribble at a relatively high level. CIS basketball teams have been finding ways to deal with the same issue for decades. After two seasons as the Redmen’s starting small forward,junior Michael Peterkin has moved to the bench as Head Coach Dave DeAverio has elected to play more ‘small ball.’ This podcast talks with both Peterkin and Coach DeAverio about the recent trend and how it has affected the Redmen.
Getting back into the swing of things in the Winter term can be hard after a relaxing holiday break, but it’s even harder if you’ve resolved to be healthy this year. Around New Year’s, after a holiday season of sugary desserts and multiple course meals, a common resolution students make is to get their health back on track. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. When school starts to get busy again, it’s easy to let those resolutions fall by the wayside. Breakfast can quickly transition from a healthy balanced meal, to a greasy breakfast sandwich from whatever café is closest to the first class of the morning. The key to keeping resolutions past the first week of school is making them sustainable. This green smoothie is simple, takes less than three minutes, and can be carried on the go. It’s not laden with insanely healthy ingredients like spirulina or kale, but it is straightforward and easy to keep making when things get hectic. Although a smoothie might seem meagre for breakfast, the peanut butter and chia seeds make this ‘green monster’ filling and will keep hunger at bay until lunchtime. With two servings of fruits and vegetables, this smoothie checks all of the health boxes, and will make keeping New Year’s resolutions a little bit easier.
Ingredients
1 cup of almond milk or other non-dairy milk
1 cup of spinach
1 large ripe frozen banana, chopped into chunks
1 tablespoon of almond butter or peanut butter
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
A pinch of ground cinnamon
Directions
Place all of the ingredients in a blender, with spinach on the bottom. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.
In the early days of 2016, refugees have dominated the news cycle in much of the world. While in the United States, most Republican politicians seem to be arguing over the best plan to keep refugees out, up North the discussion is the opposite. Canadians are wondering why only 6,000 of the 10,000 refugees promised by Trudeau—a number already lowered from the previous 25,000 refugee target—have made it into our country.
This has largely been seen as a failure on the part of the Liberal government, either because it fell short of its pledge or because it made a promise that it knew they could not keep; however, while criticism is being levelled against the only policy of the new government that has already achieved concrete results no one seems to be talking about how the government is going to fulfill the other promises the Liberals have made: Marijuana legalization, electoral reform, and the inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. The Canadian public and media must light a fire beneath the government when it fails to deliver on domestic policy in addition to any perceived shortcomings in humanitarian responses.
An earlier article for the Tribune discussed the limitations of political pledges, with specific focus on Trudeau’s pledge to admit 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015. One of the main points was that the fixation on a certain target overshadows long-term policy, policy that would perhaps be more beneficial to the cause. This same logic can be used to debunk the argument that falling short of the 10,000 refugee goal is a political breakdown that requires a response from the government. Though this is a setback, in no way should it be seen as a failure.
Of all the promises that the prime minister and the Liberal Party made during the campaign, accepting refugees is the only one that has actually had concrete results so far.
Of all the promises that the prime minister and the Liberal Party made during the campaign, accepting refugees is the only one that has actually had concrete results so far. Over 6,000 refugees have been accepted, and, although the timeframe for admittance has been revised, there is no sign that the government is planning on altering the substance of its refugee policy. The campaign to legalize marijuana is only in its infancy, with the two secretaries to the Minister of Justice who will handle the case only being named last month. On top of that, both election reform and an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women have only been discussed vaguely. Despite this, it is the failure to meet the 10,000 refugee target that has received the most attention.
This is not to completely excuse the government from breaking its promise. The Liberal party pledged to bring 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015. Although the pledge was unrealistic, the policy has yielded results. Refugees are coming to Canada and will continue to do so in 2016. It is time to move on from the fact that not quite as many refugees got to Canada by the end of 2015 as we would have hoped. Trudeau and the Liberals made that promise as outsiders without a full understanding of the political and logistical realities that they would encounter once actually faced with bringing 25,000 refugees to Canada.
Yes, it is now 2016. No, there have not been 10,000—let alone 25,000—refugees admitted into Canada. Trudeau deserves some flak for that. But there are over 6,000 refugees of the Syrian crisis who have been brought to Canada since the new government formed, and more are on the way. Meanwhile, none of the other promises that the government made seem any closer to reality than the day they were announced. Let’s stop nitpicking the time and numbers on which the promises that the Liberals are actually starting to deliver, and begin to question them about the ones that they are not.
Zachary Carson is a fourth year joint honours political science and international development student. He enjoys listening to Canadaland podcasts, watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and dogs.
Last year was an exciting year in space. In 2015, the Dawn orbiter visited the dwarf planet Ceres, scientists photographed the surface of Pluto in unprecedented detail, and Matt Damon even got stuck in spaceagain. But knowing what’s already happened is easy—it’s predicting the future that’s hard. But that doesn’t stop scientists from trying. Here are the astronomical and astrophysical events scheduled and predicted to occur in 2016.
Total solar eclipse
What: The moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, completely obscuring it and casting a dark shadow.
When: March 9, 2016
Where: The event will be visible from much of the Pacific Ocean, as well as most of Asia and Australia, who will only see a partial eclipse.
Annular solar eclipse
What: Solar eclipses usually come in pairs due to interactions between orbits. About 177 days after an eclipse on the southern intersection of the orbit will be another eclipse on the northern intersection. This will not be a total eclipse, but rather an annular (ring-like) one, as the sun will still be visible as a bright ring around the edges of the moon.
When: Sept. 1, 2016
Where: Visible from almost anywhere in Africa.
The ExoMars trace gas orbiter
What: A probe designed to search for trace amounts of methane and other gases that are signs of organic activity. It will be launched by the European Space Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos.
When: March 14, 2016 The launch was originally planned for Jan. 7, but was delayed due to technical reasons.
Where: Mars
First partial lunar eclipse
What: As the moon will pass through the Earth’s penumbra, but not its umbra (i.e., if you were standing on the moon, you would see the Earth block part of the sun, but not all of it), the event is not a total eclipse, but will be striking, and visible from Canada.
When: March 23, 2016
Where: Visible to the naked eye from most of the world except Europe and Africa.
Second partial lunar eclipse
When: Sept. 16, 2016
Where: Visible from anywhere except the Americas.
Transit of Mercury
What: A planetary transit occurs when a planet passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, and shows up as a black dot on heliograph plates (like a solar eclipse, it is harmful to observe with the naked eye).
What: The Juno spacecraft is a NASA research probe which will offer new data on Jupiter’s history and makeup using microwave radiation as a sort of lower-frequency radar.
When: The probe is scheduled to arrive on July 4, 2016. It was launched in August of 2011 and is expected to provide useful information well into 2017.
Where: The orbit around Jupiter
Perseid meteor shower
What: One of the most striking and visible meteor showers, easily viewable because of its frequency (about a meteor per minute) and brightness. The spectacle occurs when the Earth passes through the debris trail of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which orbits the sun every 133 years, and the meteoroids burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteors have been referred to as “The Tears of Saint Lawrence.”
When: August 12 to 13, 2016
Where: Anywhere, but ideally in a grassy park, at night, far from city light pollution.
China builds FAST
What: The behemoth Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), when completed, will be the largest and most precise radio telescope in the world. It is similar to the famous Arecibo Observatory in design, but will greatly surpass the South American telescope in ability.
When: Slated to be complete by September 2016 (construction began in 2011).
Where: The Tai Wo Taipa depression, a karst depression—a type of large natural basin—in Guizhou Province, China.
The November 2015 revision to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Global budget, approved on Nov. 30, 2015, reflected changes from SSMU’s earlier financial plan approved this past June. The largest changes were seen in the Student Fees and University Centre Operations sections of the revision.
A difference of over $55,000 between the June and November budgets can be seen in the Student Fees department, with SSMU noting that revenue from fees was initially estimated conservatively and ended up generating more funds than predicted. The updated budget projects approximately $1.77 million in revenue from total student fees in the 2015-2016 academic year.
Administrative fees also saw a significant drop from the June budget, from $1.36 million to $1.35 million. This is due to a decrease in salary expenses following the resignation of the building director, the general manager (GM), and the SSMU Vice-President (VP) Internal. This change is only around $7,000 because of an increase in paid student staff to offset the effects of the permanent staff resignations.SSMU also spent $17,000 in GM recruitment and $5,000 in legal fees.
University Centre Operations is budgeted at $371,644, more than 60,000 more than SSMU projected in June. This is due in part to increased expenditures of materials and supplies, as well as maintenance costs, such as the repairs on the ramp to the main entrance of the SSMU Building. Under this portfolio, increases in both Gerts’ profits and security costs are stated to be the result of the accounting change. Due to the fact that security costs are no longer charged to Gerts, the bar saw an increase in profits while security showed an increase in expenses.
Additionally, the president’s portfolio is budgeted at $3,576 more than in the previous budget, following the establishment of the Family Care department at McGill. This sum of money will be used in the planning of orientation events for student parents, and undergraduate membership in the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Study Sundays program, a monthly event for student parents to study and receive free childcare.
SSMU reported a negative $22,000 change in the Food and Beverage Operations Department, mostly due to budgeting of the Student-Run Cafe (SRC). Prior to the revision, the Cafe was budgeted as if it had reached full sales potential right after its opening. The SRC reported a decrease in food sales revenue by approximately $90,000 net of food cost and salaries.
The VP Internal’s portion of the budget review states that the 2015-2016 Old McGill Yearbook is not predicted to run a deficit. This is attributed to a plan for the Yearbook to be covered by a separate fund or be published online.
Is this one of the tightest RSEQ regular season hockey races in recent memory?
“Absolutely,” Head Coach Peter Smith said after McGill’s hard fought 1-2-shootout loss to Montreal on Sunday in McConnell Arena.
The first place Montreal Carabins (8-3-1) are only two points ahead of the third place McGill Martlets (7-3-1)—the two teams are separated by the Ottawa Gee Gee’s (8-4-0).
In a gritty, low-scoring performance, McGill outshot Montreal 38-33, and converted on one of their three power plays. Montreal opened the scoring in the first period, with McGill sophomore forward Marie Philip-Lavoie retaliating with a score seven minutes into the second period.
“I think it’s two real good teams and I think the game […] was indicative of that,” Smith said. “It was two teams playing hard, and playing fast. It was, all in all, a good game.”
It is a testament to both teams’ excellent defence that neither scored until Montreal won in the shootout. Both teams were also stuck in a stalemate in the first overtime period.
“As a team we defend very well,” Smith said, “We play well in our own end, we defend the rush well. I think all six players on the ice have a real good focus on that. I would not consider us to be a defensive team, but we are defensively sound.“
McGill could not get it done in the shootout, however. Marion Allemoz of the Carabins was the only player out of four able to score, while the martlets missed all of their shots.
“I think we are disappointed with our performance in the shootout,” Smith said. “But it’s not like we don’t work at it, and we’ll get better at it.”
McGill beat the Concordia Stingers (3-7-2) 5-2 on Friday at McConnell Arena, earlier in the week. Senior centre Melodie Daoust, fresh from captaining Canada to a gold at the Nations Cup tournament in Germany, had two assists and a goal just six hours after returning to Canada. Senior forward Gabrielle Davidson scored a brace, with the other goals coming from fifth-year forward Joanne Cagianos and sophomore forward Alexandria Serpico.
The 1-1 start to the new 2016 year also proved that McGill had got over its early season power play blues. McGill were 2-4 on the power play against Concordia and 1-3 against Montreal.
McGill will play away against Carleton next weekend. With the race for the RSEQ regular season title heating up, every game is a must-win game for all teams around the league.
Quotable
“We want to be defensively sound so we can get back on offense. Our team does a good job of playing with structure when we don’t have the puck.”—Smith on the Martlets defensive style.
Moment of the game
The Montreal Carabins’ shootout goal was the only one scored in nine combined attempts between the two sides.
Stat corner
The Montreal Carabins lead the McGill Martlets 13-11 in their last 24 head-to-head games, a testament to how closely fought these games are.
Unlike Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, which arguably set the trend or working on an album in a cabin in the woods, B.C.-based The Sylvia Platters, that followed the trend, have created an album that sounds nothing like the natural serenity of a forest. By instead labeling themselves as power pop, their debut album Make Glad the Day fits the pace of a hectic, mindless errand run through the city on a Monday. This is stomping music: Guitar-driven, upbeat, and loud.
The band’s sound mixes the classic elements of ’60s rock (hence the power pop) with the urgency of punk and the laid-back tones of surf, creating a very strange feeling of frantic relaxation. The snappy riffs sound like they want to wander off, but they never actually do. Barring a quick ballad-like interlude in “Bloody Knuckles” and the final track of the album, the pace is set early—there is no dawdling in these tunes, even when it really feels like there should be.
This is in part due to the vocals. Though the instrumentals borrow from older genres, the vocals take influence from pop punk: Think Diarrhea Planet, or even Green Day. This creates a harsher, almost jarring effect that is most prevalent in the more upbeat tracks on the album, such as “Boeselagerstrasse.” It’s interesting to listen to, but it doesn’t really work and takes away from what could otherwise be a pretty good sound.
The band prides itself on its mix of genres, and calls the album a “thrilling embrace of our fleeting existence.” Though the album does call into question the listener’s purpose, the better music is borne of the band not trying to be every single guitar-rock genre. Songs like “Girl With Curious Hair”—atmospheric and lazy, but still sticking to the pace—are where the band sounds most natural: Subdued vocals with colorful tones. The band aspires to create their own sound, but Make Glad the Day sounds best when it sounds familiar.
One could say The Sylvia Platters tried to do too much with the album, and that would be a fair assumption. The lyrics are forgettable, the details in the production are often questionable. The album certainly has a novel concept, but the execution is lackluster, and ultimately leaves the music without momentum in a heavily saturated industry. Guitar rock has many unique-sounding genres, and though mixing them is possible, this is not a good example of it.
Sounds Like:
Rooney meets Viet Cong, gets intoxicated, and puts on a show in a basement.
Standout Track:
“Bloody Knuckles”
Standout Lyric:
“Sleight of hand and twist of logic, solemn and severe.”
This year, the Arts & Entertainment section editors worked with our staff writers to come up with the best songs, music videos, albums, TV shows, and movies of 2015; however, not everyone’s favourite made the list. To let the close runners-up shine we’ve each picked our two most-beloved snubs that we felt deserved to make it into the final list.
This is something that shouldn’t have worked under any circumstances. Adapting an 800-page historical biography of relatively-obscure founding father, Alexander Hamilton, into a genre-bending hip-hop infused Broadway musical sounds like an exercise in creative hubris. Instead, it accomplishes the impossible by weaving a coherent personal narrative into the broader historical context of America’s founding and early years as a nation. Hamilton is an incredible synthesis of everything great about hip hop and history and musical theatre. It also reframes the narrative of American history, giving it back to the people who actually shaped it in the first place: Orphans, immigrants, rebels, and underdogs.
Mistress America
Writer-Director Noah Baumbach and writer-actress Greta Gerwig have proven themselves to be an unstoppable creative partnership. After Baumbach’s ho-hum While We’re Young, he returns to straight comedy, following a college freshman (Lola Kirke) in New York City who gets pulled into the orbit of her soon-to-be step-sister (Gerwig), an impulsive self-described ‘entrepreneur.’ Featuring one of the most tightly-written scripts of the year, the film nails the anxiety and possibility of starting university in a new city. Gerwig turns in a fantastic performance as Brooke, imbuing the character with the perfect amount of self-awareness and lack thereof.
Probably one of the biggest surprises this year, Carly Rae Jepsen’s second studio album, E.mo.tion, absolutely shattered her status as a one-hit-wonder. Packed with one masterful pop song after another, E.mo.tion surpasses its closest ‘80s-evoking competitor, 1989, with ease. Jepsen’s once-derided vocals now possess a noticeably smoky quality while the lyrics are both clever and witty. While her debut album, Kiss, felt immature and underwhelmed due to its uninspired lyrics and undercooked production, E.mo.tion absolutely wallows in its fabulously ‘80s retro vibe. “Run Away With Me” provides a screaming saxophone, “Warm Blood” is an irresistible journey into pulsing beats and synths, while the stunning highlight, “Your Type” is easily one of the finest pop songs released this year—E.mo.tion is the best album you didn’t know you needed to hear.
Conjuring up a rather hazy, faded aesthetic on her latest album, San Francisco-based Jessica Pratt singularly wrote, recorded, and produced 2015’s most reminiscent record. On Your Own Love Again harkens back to an era in which simple, guitar-laced melodies bubbled underneath beautifully-crafted vocal melodies were all the rage. Pratt floats through the album’s short 10 songs, her striking Kate Bush-esque vocals drifting up and down an impressive register, and forces the listener to pay attention to the devastating, love-torn lyrics. Perhaps the standout is “Back, Baby,” in which the line, “People’s faces blend together like a watercolour you can’t remember,” provides more nuance and thought-provoking imagery than the rest of her pop peers could only dream of managing throughout an entire career.
Relative newcomers within the metal community, Deafheaven are continuing to expand and redefine the genre with its latest release New Bermuda. Alongside Jack Shirley, the sound engineer behind their breakout album Sunbather, Deafheaven further cemented themselves as the pioneers of a self-created sub-genre: A combination of black metal and indie-oriented shoegaze, known as ‘blackgaze.’ What results is an excellent slew of heavy-hitting noise.“Baby Blue” stands out as the strongest track on the record, showcasing the band’s aptitude for both calm and chaotic sounds. Vocalist George Clarke delivers an astounding performance, noticeably distorting his voice with more growls this time around, and is backed by an extremely tight band.
Despite the occasional anachronisms and minor tampering with chronology, Netflix’s Narcos still manages to tell a compelling and often overlooked historical tale. Interweaving actual news footage and political interviews in between fictionalized narratives, the show does a fantastic job displaying historical facts with enough creative license to generate emotional attachment and foster a more personal investment in said historical events. Given the unfortunate rise in international terrorism over recent years, Narcos offers an important historical window into the politics of fear and demonstrates how much a single group can threaten a state, without even the use of the internet.
Earl Sweatshirt’s second album lives up to the title; most tracks are moody and introverted, with lyrics stark against a minimalist, yet sometimes messy background of sparse piano, synths, and drumbeats. Two tracks, “Huey” and “AM // Radio” have the assured attitude that Sweatshirt introduced in his last album, Doris, but I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside generally goes as twice as slow without losing any lyrical punch. In this pared-down style, Sweatshirt seems more confident and refreshingly, more honest.
In its fifth studio album, Beach House delivers the newest installment of the soundtrack of a timelessly nostalgic and faintly adolescent daydream. The band hasn’t changed much in the past 10 years, but in Depression Cherry they seem to have perfected their formula for ethereal, sentimental tracks. Depression Cherry delivers the classic Beach House sound without being boring or repetitive: The choral opening of “Days of Candy” and the surprisingly harsh guitar in “Sparks” add exciting and new layers to the songs. With every release, Beach House seems to shape the landscape of people’s most elusive dreams. Depression Cherry is no exception.
Eric’s Picks
Neon Indian—VEGA Intl. Night School
It flew under the radar, but Neon Indian took a massive step forward with VEGA Intl. Night School. By trading in acid-washed chillwave tracks for coke-fueled disco bangers, Alan Palomo has crafted his most thrilling album so far. Highlights include the reggae romp of “Annie,” the Moroder-esque “Slumlord,” and “Dear Skorpio Magazine,” a lighthearted ode to a 1980s Italian smut magazine. Don’t expect any lyrical innovations from Palomo here, but VEGA is one hell of a party record. A must own for Beegees and Daft Punk fans alike.
FKA twigs – “In Time” (Or anything off M3LL155X)
Following last year’s excellent LP1, FKA twigs put out another marvellous project this year with her M3LL155X EP. In contrast to LP1, these songs have a darker aesthetic. From the hypnotic groove of “Figure 8” to the new school vogue of “Glass and Patron,” the EP was just as boundary pushing as one would expect from an artist like twigs. The highlight might be “In Time,” a mind-boggling mixture of trap, pop and experimental electronica; however, you could really make an argument for any of M3LL155X’s songs to be in the top 10 of the year. Twigs is just that good.
Boundless: McGill Tribune Special Issue
November 30, 2016
The Sport Authority EP. 7: Looking back at Sam Hinkie and The Process
April 12, 2016
Rare books: The hard spine of the modern library
April 5, 2016
