Arts

Camosun alumnus Jeff Mason’s first novel, The Symmetry of Belief (self-published), is heavily influenced by classic sci-fi, fantasy, and horror by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Frank Herbert, and J.G. Ballard. The story is reminiscent of Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” in which humans willingly fall from heaven, or, rather, ascend from paradise into the cruel void […]

Arthur Black’s Paint the Town Black (Harbour Publishing) is a stream-of-consciousness series of opinion column pieces written by a 71-year-old white Canadian male who is an ex-CBC host and comes across as very anti-technology. This book’s content comes as no surprise but will still keep you shaking your head all the way through. I’ve never […]

When Victoria’s Nick La Riviere started to put together the material for Another Time Around, his second studio album, he knew that there was going to be one major change: the album was going to have vocals on it. His debut, 2009’s Too Much to Do, was completely instrumental, but the music dictated singing this […]

Led Zeppelin Presence (Atlantic Records) 5/5 And so the Led Zeppelin reissue series comes to an end, for now, until the whole damn catalogue gets reissued again. You know what? Ain’t a rock band since that’s created so much richness in such a small amount of space as Zep did, so that’s fine by me. […]

Lucero All a Man Should Do (ATO Records/MapleMusic Recordings) 4/5 Long known in the musical circles I tend to gravitate towards as “the band that covered Jawbreaker’s ‘Kiss the Bottle,’” Memphis-based Lucero delivers their gritty country-rock with passion and confidence here on their tenth album. Don’t go thinking this is mainstream pretty-boy country-pop; this is […]

Frog Eyes Pickpocket’s Locket (Paper Bag Records) 3/5 Victoria indie-rock band Frog Eyes has gathered a new assortment of musicians to create an even darker, more unique sound on this album. Vocalist/guitarist Carey Mercer still makes his mark with his signature shaky style, and he is accompanied again by his wife Melanie Campbell, who blends […]

What a summer finale: during the span of 11 days, the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival will bring spoken-word poetry, dance performances, and fully-produced shows to nine different venues around town. One of the interesting things about Fringe, which is now in its 29th year, is that it gives young companies (from all over the world) […]