Bedouin Soundclash deliver their own kind of mass with new albumAfter a seven-year hiatus, Toronto reggae/ska band Bedouin Soundclash returned in 2017 with a few more things to say. But vocalist/guitarist Jay Malinowski says the band wouldn’t be playing together again unless it was from the heart. “The only way we were going to start playing again was if we were creatively inspired,” says Malinowski. […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: The Warhawks fight for cohesion on Starlight DiscoThe Warhawks Starlight Disco (New Rivals Entertainment) 2.5/5 Gloucester City, NJ indie rockers The Warhawks are back with their latest EP, Starlight Disco. The follow-up to their debut LP, 2019’s Never Felt So Good, Starlight Disco offers six new cuts and hints at a change of creative direction. The Warhawks lead with their familiar refined […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Wolf Parade get explosive with new recordWolf Parade Thin Mind (Royal Mountain Records) 4/5 “Explosive” is the only way to describe Montreal/BC-based indie rock band Wolf Parade’s fifth studio album, Thin Mind. The first track, “Under Glass,” screams for attention in its first 10 seconds and establishes the album’s sweeping pace. Rolling waves of instrumental energy crash into lyrical themes of […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Annihilator get heavy, emotional on new albumAnnihilator Ballistic, Sadistic (Silver Lining Music) 3/5 Diehard Annihilator fans will love the Vancouver-based thrash metal band’s 17th album, Ballistic, Sadistic. Written, recorded, and produced by band mainman Jeff Waters, the album features heavy, inferno thrash beats combined with shoelace-tying time changes and speed-metal movements. 2020 Annihilator sounds tighter and beefier than they have in […] Continue Reading |
What’s Going On: January 22 to February 4, 2020Thursday, January 23 Lecturing, listening, learning If you feel like you’re not up to par with your knowledge of Indigenization and colonialism, this one’s for you. The Victoria Historical Society (VHS) is presenting lecturer James Tait giving his talk “The Politics of Indigenous Resistance in early 20th Century BC.” Tait is an anthropologist and political […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: of Montreal delivers powerful pop with tons of texturesof Montreal UR FUN (Polyvinyl) 4.5/5 UR FUN is the 16th studio album from Athens, Georgia’s of Montreal, the indie/pop band led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Barnes. The album makes me want to laze in bed with a modern lover and sit in a discotheque in slow motion. First, Barnes pokes holes in your […] Continue Reading |
Girlfriend Material explore cool cars and the business of musicWhat makes a cool car cool? Graham Wright, vocalist/guitarist of Toronto-based rock band Girlfriend Material, is getting to the bottom of that question while challenging normative rock and roll tropes with his band’s unconventional social media presence. “I’m always fascinated by the way that rock and roll came of age when cars were the status […] Continue Reading |
All-male drag ballet company takes the stage in VictoriaWhen Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to town in February, the unconventional will take the stage. Sure, the program will include the second act of Swan Lake, Go for Barocco, and Paquita, but the all-male drag ballet troupe will present them as parody. The troupe—affectionately known as The Trocks—was founded in 1974 with […] Continue Reading |
Exhibit uses radical levity to explore Indigenous storiesA mixed-media art exhibit exploring the supernatural elements and beings of Indigenous stories through a modern superhero comic lens is coming to Open Space. When Raven Became Spider features work by six Indigenous artists: Joi Arcand, Shawn Beyale, Sonny Assu, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Jeffrey Veregge, and Julianne Beaudin-Herney. Curator Leena Minifie first designed the show for […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Bluebloods trip over own ambition on debut EPBluebloods Make It Rain (Independent) 1.5/5 It’s nearly impossible to pin down what Winnipeg’s Bluebloods are attempting to accomplish on their debut EP. During Make It Rain’s 20-minute runtime, the band delivers some daring genre blending but constantly trips over its own ambition. Led by guitarist Conrad Sweatman, Bluebloods primarily focus on the hardships of […] Continue Reading |
