Arts

For the actors in Being Here: The Refugee Project, getting into the role meant something a little different. The play, created by Joel Bernbaum, is verbatim theatre, meaning these stories are presented in the person’s own words—false starts, filler words and all. “We are speaking word for word, every ‘um’, comma, interrupted word and interrupted […]

It’s not just about the music for Hermann’s Jazz Club manager Nichola Walkden. For 40 years, the club has been bringing people together, making multi-generational impacts through music and giving people hope. But it’s been hard—really hard—this past year. She and her all-women management team have gotten creative and provided what she calls an essential […]

Doohickey Cubicle Don’t Fix Anything 😉 (Independent) 4.5/5 Imagine that you’re in bed struggling to fall asleep. After about 15 minutes of tossing and turning, you decide to try some relaxing music. But what will you listen to? Well, I’ve got great news for you: Vancouver-based soft rock/synth-pop band Doohickey Cubicle—formerly known as Booty EP—is […]

Myopic & At the Graves A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread (Grimoire Records) 4/5 Get ready for some of the best doom music around with the release of the collaborative album A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread by Washington, DC progressive doom trio Myopic and Baltimore’s one-man sludge/doom band At the Graves on Grimoire Records. […]

Last month, the Victoria Film Festival trudged through COVID restrictions by going digital to make 50 full-length films and 23 shorts available online. A quick scroll through the lineup would reveal a face familiar to many who have attended classes at Lansdowne in recent years. Follow My Brain is a locally made short that documents […]

Toby Lawrence is creating the space for big conversations about art, curation, and relationality. In connection with Krista Arias’ Earth Is My Elder exhibit, running now at Open Space, Lawrence has launched a podcast, In Relation: Engaging Curatorial Hospitality, to make these conversations accessible. Arias and Lawrence met at the UBC Okanagan campus as PhD […]

The Earth Is My Elder, running now at Open Space, starts before you even enter the gallery. The poetry of artist Krista Arias is stencilled in neon pink on the pillars out front of the gallery, her voice carrying from speakers over the din of the street, and the second-story windows full with the vibrant […]

LIZZARD Eroded (Pelagic Records) 4.5/5 Get ready for some great alternative music in Eroded, the fourth album from French rock trio LIZZARD. Listeners new to the European rock scene will be amazed by this album’s quality. Eroded is a great example of combining melodic and hardcore styles. The music is fascinating with various sounds in […]

Anna Akana No Longer Yours (Jenga Productions) 4/5 Anna Akana has followed up Casualty, her 2019 debut album, with No Longer Yours, a six-song mini-album that features her popular single “Pink.” A proud member of the bisexual community, the Los Angeles-based Akana uses her pop music to be open and reflect on her personal experiences […]

When it comes to positive things you can say about COVID-19, the list is very short, but one of the few things that this pandemic has done is reinvigorate the need for inspirational art. With her new film Marlene, Calgary-based director Wendy Hill-Tout proves how essential inspirational art is. Marlene revolves around Marlene Truscott’s side […]