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Mates of State + Suckers + Yawn @ Il Motore
Yawn is a (sadly) underrated band from Chicago, IL that set the bar high for the rest of the night at Il Motore. “Kind of Guy,” from Yawn's self-titled EP (2010), was even better live than recorded, and it becomes obvious why it’s their biggest hit. With looped vocals over Beach Boys-like humming and Animal Collective-like percussion, this is a band you don’t want to miss live.
Bringing the noise from Brooklyn, NY, Suckers were next on stage, and were the highlight of the evening. “Black Sheep,” from their album Wild Smile (2010), opened with hard drum kicks that became even harder and sweeter during the breakdown. During “Martha” the horns came in to literally blow you away. They closed their set with “It Gets Your Body Movin',” which essentially ended up getting everybody’s bodies moving. The vocals, horns, and drums during the build-up leave you on your tippy-toes wanting it to happen again and again. Suckers have a lot of passion and stage presence and it showed that night. It’s apparent that they really love what they do. I haven’t seen live music like that in a while, and you probably haven’t either.
Last (and least), was indie-pop duo Mates of State. They transformed the venue into what seemed like a “ladies only” bar. The audience consisted of cute couples, and when the music started the girls all got together in front of the stage while screaming the lyrics and dancing like pigeons. I was stuck in a chick-flick horror film. I have to admit, they did get me singing along and acting girly to their hit “Get Better” from 2008’s Re-Arrange Us. If only the rest of the show was as cool as that music video. Gardner’s vocals were very strong, dominant, and beautiful, but that’s just about the only thing that sounded beautiful coming from the stage. I managed to jot in my notebook, “this is what hell sounds like” after what was probably the five-hundredth time they sang “whoa, whoa, whoa”.
-Eileen English
Pop Montreal: Les Sexareenos @ Eglise Saint-Edouard
Pop Montreal, where have you been all my life? Or maybe it's better to ask myself why I haven't taken advantage of all the great shows that this concert series continuously offers year in and year out. It is not like I haven't known about them. I have always supported the record sales, the kid's Pop activities, and the annual BBQ held at Pop Montreal headquarters, yet, until this year, I had never seen any of the thousands of mind blowing shows offered by this the little festival that could. From what I saw this year, the tomfoolery ends right now, 'cause I'm a believer!
Speaking of tomfoolery, local legends Les Sexareenos headlined a show on Saturday, September 24th at the Eglise POP Little Burgundy (Eglise Saint-Edouard, corner of St. Denis and Beaubien). This was just within stumbling distance from my apartment, and expectations ran high for an all-out, balls-to-the-walls, crazy classic garage rock concert. The kids were put to bed, my better half stayed home to make sure that one of us acted like a responsible parent, and I was trying on various lamp shades around the apartment to see which one would stay on best while dancing like a fool.
This is the first time in over seven years that Les Sexareenos have played a live show together. Les Sexareenos where born out of another legendary Montreal garage rock outfit, the Spaceshits. The Spaceshits were literally blacklisted from performing in Montreal due to their ridiculous and crazy live shows, and they disbanded after a European tour in 1999. At that time, band members Choyce, Colonel Lingus (Skid Marks), and Blortz (Mark Sultan) were joined by "Work With Me" Annie on Farfisa and a new group was formed. The name Les Sexareenos came from a 1960's teen pulp novel, The Sex-a-Reenos, written by legendary rock'n'roller Ron Haydock. They played and toured extensively until the early 2000's.
By the time Les Sexareenos took to the stage, the venue had filled up nicely and the temperature shot up by 20 degrees. Although flying beer was constant throughout the show, and the small but dedicated crowd surfers ruled the front of the stage, the show never really hit a fever pitch. Instead we were treated to a good, solid show of classic garage rock. The set started off with "Watcha Gonna Do" and chugged along at a brisk pace. The major highlight for me was hearing "Everybody Sexareeno" and the frenzied dancing that ensued as a result. As good as the show was, I couldn't help thinking how this would have went down some eight or nine years ago with a venue appropriate to the number of people in attendance. That being said, Montreal has a host of top shelf garage bands that really know how to play this genre well and I was happy to see a band that helped shape the sound.
-Kevin Gascoigne
October 12, 2011
Read by Emily Brass
Produced by Nikita Smith
Stories by Lindsay Briscoe, Alexa Fay, Emily Brass, Sarah Moore, and Amrit Sanger
U.S. blames Iran for domestic terror plot
Already hostile U.S.-Iranian relations took a turn for the worst when Washington publicly accused the Iranian government of backing a terrorist plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington.
According to U. S. officials, Iranian agents tried to recruit Mexican drug-cartel gangsters to bomb a restaurant at which the ambassador was eating. As the hit men were already working for U.S. authorities, the plot was uncovered before it could progress beyond planning.
Officials announced that the United States would take action to hold Iran accountable. An arrest has already been made and the U.S. Treasury Department has designated three high-ranking Iranian officers for sanctions.
The Iranian government dismisses the accusations and accuses President Obama of trying to divert attention from economic issues with new propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Vitamin E could prevent prostate cancer: study
A recent study tracked 35,000 men to see whether Vitamin E would help prevent them from getting the prostate cancer.
In fact, the research found that the vitamin may increase men's risks.
Compared to those taking a placebo, the men who took a Vitamin E supplement had a seventeen per cent increased chance in getting prostate cancer.
Doctors admit that they do not know why Vitamin E increases men's chances for getting the cancer. But they discourage men from taking the supplement.
Safe injection clinics coming to Quebec
Drug addicts in Quebec will soon have safe places to shoot up.
This comes after a recent supreme court ruling that helped save Vancouver’s safe injection clinic. Quebec’s Health Minister is in favour of the decision.
Saying they should be exempt from prosecution for drug possession and trafficking. Two Quebec organisations have already jumped on the chance to start up clinics of their own. And could be opening their doors in the next few months in Montreal and Quebec City.
Deer violently attacks farmer
A deer farmer in New Brunswick has been killed by one of his own deer. Police discovered the man’s body in an enclosed field on his property in Saint-Leonard.
The 55 year-old man was found with multiple antler wounds. An RCMP Sergeant says the deer might have attacked the man because of mating season.
Marc Violette says male deer are competing for female deer at this time of year. And the male deer detected the owner as being a threat.
The victim's wife called police after he went out to feed the deer and never returned.
October 11, 2011
Read by: Esther Viragh
Stories by: Mali Navia, Aisha Samu, Nikita Smith and Katie McGroarty
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Government intervention likely in Air Canada labour dispute
A threat by Air Canada flight attendants to strike has the federal government considering intervening in the labour dispute. The flight attendants have rejected a deal made between the union and the airline. They plan to go on strike as early as Thursday.
In a statement, the Labour Minister made it clear that work stoppage is unacceptable in this time of fragile economy. This is the second time a tentative deal has been rejected by the flight attendants.
The Labour Minister admitted that the rejection of two consecutive agreements shows a possible problem with the Canadian Labour Code.
In the event of a strike, Air Canada has said that it will maintain a partial schedule. Customers flying within the next five days will be allowed to change their travel dates at no charge.
Special ASFA By-Election Report - Katie Brioux for VP Communications and Promotions
She may be a rookie on the Concordia political scene but it’s not like Katie Brioux is new to the trade.
She is a fourth year specialization in Communications and Graphics Editor at the Concordian Newspaper.
She will try and take her art and communications skills to be the next Arts and Science Vice President of Communications and Promotions.
“Because I work at a newspaper, I’ve grown to be accustomed to and all I really want to do is be more involved and get more hands on and sort of help the school even better. Not just by doing cool cartoons anymore but by advertising real things and by making it more well known.”
If elected, Katie has a plan to bring promoting events down to a more personal level.
“Sort of a fun idea I thought of was to have video blogs. News video vlogs if you will of basically me just being like hey guys these are the events coming up you should totally participate its going to be amazing. Here are some meetings coming up there’s going to be be really cool speakers… blah blah blah. Just some really cool things happening that ASFA organizes because ASFA is always on top of those really cool things.”
Katie hopes that her communications background will give her a leg up on opponent Alexis Suzuki.
Polls are open to Arts and Science students on October 12th and 13th.
Joel Balsam, CJLO News, Montreal.
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