Open Space: Taking attendance is detrimental to learning

Taking attendance in post-secondary education is an unnecessary practice that removes students’ ability to seek out occasional, one-time learning experiences. We get it: you want us to show up, but don’t we deserve a touch of autonomy? Taking attendance at this age is infantilizing. I’m one of the older students around, so I haven’t had […]

Continue Reading

New Music Revue: Royal Wood delivers letter to himself with Dear John

Royal Wood Dear John (Cordova Bay Records) 3.5/5 Toronto-based artist Royal Wood’s ninth album, Dear John, marries gritty blues with smooth folky hope reminding me of stomping in spilled beer on sticky tavern floors during my undergrad—a cozy place. Dear John is a letter to the artist himself, beginning at “The End of the Road.” […]

Continue Reading

New Music Revue: Cemetery Moon deliver solid black metal with Dominion of Ashes

Cemetery Moon Dominion of Ashes (Wulfhere Productions) 4/5 Connecticut black metal is alive and well. Initially a solo project launched in 2015 that turned into a full band in 2023, Cemetery Moon’s second full-length album, Dominion of Ashes, exceeds my expectations. The album fits into the black-metal glove perfectly, with deadly guitar progressions, powerful bass […]

Continue Reading

New Music Revue: Banquets face getting older on Petty Relics

Banquets Petty Relics (Black Numbers) 3/5 Banquets are a New Jersey four-piece indie-punk band who released their third album, Spit at the Sun, and played what they thought were their final performances in 2016. But they reunited in 2021 and now have made a return with Petty Relics—an album about getting older while still having […]

Continue Reading