Magazine

Independent, provocative, now! The CJLO Magazine is the resource for features, reviews, and interviews. Established in 2004, and run by dedicated CJLO volunteers, the magazine covers the latest and best in local and international music, art, theatre, film, festivals, and more!


Isabella Lovestory – Pop Princess, Thrift God

Approaching the balcony of Projet Casa, I couldn’t help thinking that Isabella Lovestory had stumbled onto the wrong stage. Let me set the scene: a bourgeoisie house in the Plateau, repurposed into a contemporary art gallery called Projet Casa. The balcony of Projet Casa is old fashioned, featuring a charmingly dilapidated wrought iron balustrade. It looks over Projet Casa’s small parking lot. A huddle of mortals gathers, gazing up at the sexy, hot pink MTV goddess, almost glowing against the grayness of her stage.


ANDREW DOMINIK’S BLONDE: A CRITICAL REVIEW

CW: This article talks about sexual assault present in the film. 

Existing in the spotlight is very complicated and complex; even now, it is rare to come out unscathed—both in the public’s eye and in your own. This, if nothing else, is clear throughout Andrew Dominik’s Blonde (2022), the newly released Netflix film calling itself a fictional portrait of Marilyn Monroe and “the price she paid for fame.” 


Gulfer + Deanna Petcoff + PACKS + Jaywood's Playful Performances for This Year’s POP Montreal Music Festival

As we swung into October, crisp weather, colourful trees, and the POP Montreal Music Festival reappeared to remind us of the everchanging seasons. More than 400 local and overseas artists and bands gathered at over 50 venues around the Mile End area and across the city for another glorious week of live music to raise the chilly spirits. 


Pop Montreal: 2022 Edition

It's the time of year again where the city’s heartbeat is a little more uptempo. The streets are plastered with pastel coloured posters with beautiful faces on them. Shops, restaurants and venue doors are left half-open despite the start of the autumn cold. And anyone you may bump into in the mile end area will be either coming from or going to one thing: Pop Montreal and Pop Montreal.


Festival de Musique Émergentes 2022

For the last few years prior to the pandemic I had been quite fortunate to attend FME, Festival de Musique Émergentes in Rouyn-Noranda. So much so that the festival is now something I always anticipate. So after a couple of years' absence and this being the 20th anniversary of the festival, I was particularly excited about heading up to this year's edition. The usual seven hour drive turned into an epic test of patience when every road ahead was traffic jammed.


Dime's 2022 Glory Challenge

 

Montreal streetwear and skate brand, Dime brought their Glory Challenge back for its sixth edition last Saturday. Despite a two year gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their audience has continued to grow. Brand new challenges were being presented, and there was no shortage of skaters eager to conquer them. However, the goal isn't fame or fortune. “Getting together and having a community, that’s why I’m here,” said Leon Dechapdelaine, a skater hailing from Quebec, who was invited to the event.


Echo and the Bunnymen: 40 Years of Magical Songs

There was an electric undercurrent of excitement as fans shuffled into the Corona Theater last Monday night to see legendary post punk/new wave act, Echo and the Bunnymen. The band is currently on a tour of North America celebrating over 40 years since the band’s incarnation in Liverpool’s punk scene in the early 80s. 


Perturbator & HEALTH @ Corona Theatre

2022 has seen a lot of action for synthwave in Montreal. April saw Dance with the Dead rock Les Foufounes Électriques and just before that, Carpenter Brut having stormed through M-Telus. The double bill of Perturbator and HEALTH on September 8 brought another taste of the niche genre, this time at the Corona Theatre.


At the Gates at the Corona Theatre

The At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul anniversary tour stopped in Montreal this past Friday. The seminal 1995 album turned 25 years old in 2020, and while the band was supposed to embark on a special tour that year to celebrate, virus-related delays resulted in the live dates getting postponed to this year. Thankfully At the Gates stayed true to their plans, touring the highly anticipated live set for North American audiences this year.


What to expect at This Year's 20th Edition Festival Musique Emergence

The 20th edition of Festival Musique Emergence (FME) is about to take off over the Labour Day weekend of 2022. For four days the northern Quebec city of Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec becomes a hub of all things cool.


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