Arts

Bison guitarist/vocalist Dan And says it’s good for people in bands to get out of their comfort zone by playing with lots of different musicians. And the guitarist/vocalist for the Vancouver sludge-metal band is about to practice what he preaches: Bison’s show in Victoria—where And used to live—will feature the band playing older material, with […]

Rachel Beck Rachel Beck (Independent) 4.5/5 Prince Edward Island’s Rachel Beck breaks away from The Beck Sisters—the group she fronts with her sister Amy—on her self-titled debut album. This seven-track release provides various sounds while staying true to Beck’s singer-songwriter roots. The songs “Nothing in Between” and “Reckless Heart” showcase Beck’s edgy lower notes, while […]

Performance art offers to artists and audiences a rich language to resist and challenge sources of power and to make the invisible visible. Cassils—a Los Angeles-based artist originally from Montreal who will perform their Becoming an Image at UVic this month and then follow it up with a talk the next night at Legacy Gallery […]

What happens when your worst enemy is yourself? When you’re quick to criticize and beat yourself up simply because you can, not because you actually deserve it? ThySelf, put on by local dance company Broken Rhythms, explores self-sabotage and anxiety through dance; artistic director Dyana Sonik-Henderson says taking care of herself and her dancers so […]

Joshua Hyslop Echos (Nettwerk Music Group) 4/5 Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Joshua Hyslop’s third album, Echos, encompasses everything I love about the genre. With a combination of heavy acoustic guitar and whispered-tight-to-the-microphone lyrics of heartbreak, Echos is soothing and easy on the ears. Tracks such as “Fall” and “How You’ve Been” are reminiscent of Sleeping at Last […]

Comics and graphic novels have created some of the most legendary memories for both children and adults. Capital City Comic Con is a chance for likeminded people to bask in the creativity the world of comics has created. Comic Con director and Cherry Bomb Toys co-owner Candice Woodward says that she is really into supporting […]

Emma Cook Living Proof (Indoor Recess) 3.5/5 Emma Cook wrote her fourth album, Living Proof, as she overcame a head injury and post-concussion syndrome. By drawing on this, Cook creates a melancholic and haunting 10-track experience. The Toronto-based singer’s voice flips from powerful lower notes to a willowy, higher range, reminiscent of the Celtic sounds […]

Some of Canada’s most well-known bands have come out of Toronto and Montreal; the cities are known for having a much larger music-industry infrastructure than the west coast. Still, that didn’t stop Montreal R&B/soul musician Fraser Hamilton—better known by his stage name FRASE—from moving to the small town of Ymir, BC to focus on his […]

Black Wizard Livin’ Oblivion (Listenable Records) 4.5/5 Vancouver doom metal/stoner rock band Black Wizard’s fourth album Livin’ Oblivion is one hell of a raw and honest journey from start to finish. At times, it’s not as heavy as its predecessor, 2016’s New Waste, but its diversity pays off. Eugene Parkomenko’s hearty drum work on opener […]