RSS
Metal March
- Dodge Bow Montreal - https://www.dodgebow.ca/en/
- The Force Academy - https://www.the-force-academy.com/en/
- Drawn and Quarterly - https://www.drawnandquarterly.com
- Prosthetic Records - https://store.prostheticrecords.com
- Nuclear Blast - https://www.nuclearblast.com/en/label/
- Looters PR - https://www.looters.cc/
- Metal Blade Records - https://www.metalblade.com/
- Hopeless Records - https://www.hopelessrecords.com/
- Syndicate PR - http://www.thesyn.com/
- Turbo Haus - http://turbohaus.ca/
New Composting Facility Sparks Controversy, Hockey Player Taunted with Racist Remarks, New Humanitarian Funding for Yemen
Hosted by Ahmad Moujtahed
Stories by Ahmad Moujtahed
________________________________________________________________
LOCAL
Montreal City Council has awarded a $175 million contract to Suez Canada Waste Services Inc. regarding the construction of a new composting facility in the industrial sector of Saint Laurent borough.
Opposition councillors and suburban mayors have asked that the contract's approval be delayed for further study, especially that island suburbs were not given sufficient information to make an informed decision on the plant, even though they will be responsible for about 20% of the project’s costs.
The opposition are also concerned why the costs for the facility have considerably went up over the years since the project was originally budgeted at $46 million, and now its estimated cost has jumped to $175 million.
NATIONAL
The Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, a Quebec-based independent hockey league has apologized to a black player who had been taunted with racist remarks in a hockey game that took place last week in Saint Jerome.
Jonathan Diaby, a defenceman for the Marquis de Jonquière, said that after he was sent to the penalty box, a fan from the opposing team Pétroliers du Nord called the N-word and showed Diaby a picture of a monkey on his phone.
Diaby further revealed that his dad was told to go back home, and that he had no business in this country. The incident has sparked outrage on social media.
Robert Chevrier, co-owner of the Petroliers, said the team is trying to identify the racist fans so they can be banned from the arena.
INTERNATIONAL
UNICEF Canada welcomes the Government of Canada's announcement of new humanitarian funding of $46 million, in response to the humanitarian needs of people in Yemen.
For a little more than three years, Yemen has been withstanding a civil war that has killed nearly 10,000 people and pushed millions to the brink of starvation.
According to UNICEF, at least 2 million children are out of school and 8.1 million do not have access to safe water and sanitation services.
Sharon Van Etten, Remind me Tomorrow
Indie-folk songstress Sharon Van Etten made a return to the limelight last month with the release of her fifth studio album entitled Remind Me Tomorrow(released on Jagjaguwar). This new addition to the singer-songwriter’s catalogue, though dark and edgy at the core, brings out a different side of Van Etten, with a more in-depth outlook supported by a contemporary sound that features more layers and electronic instrumentation than her earlier work.
This is the New Jersey native’s first musical release in almost five years; during that time she stepped away from the studio to focus on school, acting duties and her newborn baby. This break from music was apparently exactly what she needed, as she has come back with ten new tracks that oscillate between calm and stormy energy.
The album opens with the sombre “I Told You Everything”, where she is recalling what seems to have been a near-death experience and serves as a good indicator of what will follow. She then drops the hammer with the head-bopping anthem “No One’s Easy To Love”, a muse-inspired tale, where she continues to showcase her vulnerable side backed by an infectious groove.
After giving it a thorough listen, the album becomes more revealing and stands out as a memoir. She ditches the cryptic lyrics and open interpretations she has accustomed us to in the past—and opts for a more relatable and straight-forward approach.
On the up-tempo fourth track “Comeback Kid”, she builds up a storm of teenage angst and rebellion with the distinguishable melody and the lyrics “I'm the runaway, I'm the stay out late”. This sets the tone for the next couple of tracks as she recounts a past toxic relationship and falls into an emotional coma.
The seventh track “Malibu” is a piano ballad of two runaways, which reflects the bitter sweetness of a careless time as she hums the words “We held hands as we passed the truck just a couple of dudes who don't give a fuck”. At this point the album has really slowed down but not enough to lose interest. It quickly bounces back on the following track “You Shadow”, which features loud drums and heavy synths that accompany a jaded Van Etten, who subtly borrowed Allison Mosshart’s fierceness to manifest her dislike of fake people by chanting “You ain't nothing, you never won”.
The album eventually closes with “Stay“, a dreampop-infused finale that serves as the light at the end of the tunnel. Though I wouldn’t call it the pièce de résistance in this record, it shows an empathetic side of the singer-songwriter that allows her to send a positive message across without sounding too preachy.
Considering her last two albums (Tramp in 2012 and Are We There in 2014) ran on a more stripped-down vein, Remind Me Tomorrow comes off as Van Etten’s most accomplished album to date. The change of sound and balance between intimate and atmospheric songs are clear signs of the singer-songwriter’s growing artistry, and the resulting ten tracks are pieces that fans will relate to as much as they will enjoy them.
Essential tracks: “No One’s Easy To Love”, “Comeback Kid”, “You Shadow and Stay”.
Buffy Saint-Marie @ Corona Theatre, Feb 16 2019
It’s very seldom that you see a performer arrive to more admiration and praise than 77 year-old singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie received last week at Corona Theatre. While the show was not quite sold out, the energy in the room could have filled a football field. This concert showed that even though Buffy has been touring for half a century, she can still be trusted to put on a great show.
Despite the large venue, looking around, it felt like everyone knew each other. Before the opening act took the stage, attendees everywhere were hugging, laughing, and introducing themselves to each other. Concerts like this make the big city of Montreal feel like a small, intimate town. The crowd was refreshingly diverse (in comparison to the sea of Dickies-clad white students I’m used to at mile end shows). While the average guest skewed older, there were plenty of young families and students filling up the seated venue.
The lights went down and Josh Q. stepped out, rather sheepishly. I previously had no knowledge of Josh Q., researching him I knew to probably expect a singer-songwriter type, but I was blown away by what I got that night. Josh Q. usually plays in his band The Trade-Offs with accompanying guitar from Jeff Maurice, but tonight he stood alone. After a brief intro, Josh launched into his first song with just his acoustic guitar. His voice immediately captivated the whole room. Though his stage presence at first seemed lacking, his powerful, brooding voice took me by complete surprise. Every lyric he belted was dripping with emotion and urgency.
In the middle of his set Josh Q. asked if anyone was from Nunavut, his home province, which was met by applause and hollers from a group at the back of the balcony. Then, he explained that his next song, “Qaumariaq”, would be in Inuktitut, again to roaring applause now from the whole crowd. Despite not understanding any of the lyrics, I’ve had the song stuck in my head for the days since. Later on, Josh Q. introduced “Ghost” as a call and response. I typically hate this move by performers, with a voice like that, I want to hear him sing, not random concert goers. Most of the audience was eager to participate in the singing, so the choice for a sing-a-long didn’t fall flat, though it still felt too “arena rock” for this particular show in my opinion.
After an almost forty minute intermission the lights went down again and a voice over the speaker announced that Buffy Sainte-Marie would be taking the stage soon, but first she asked for a short video to be shown. The video was in a word, odd. Buffy, being an activist above everything, created a video to highlight the injustices happening in the world today. Set to her 2015 song “Power In The Blood” the video was a collage of rapid fire images of war, political figures, indigenous rights protests, and dancing skeletons (for some reason).
When Buffy finally came on stage, by the applause alone it was obvious that she has made an immense impact on countless people over several generations. She performed with so much power and intention, every word of protest felt just as fresh as the day it was written.
A few songs in she pulled out an indigenous mouth-bow to show the audience. She joked about how it was called a “primitive” instrument by a music anthology she had read, to the all too knowing eye-rolls and chuckles of many in the audience. She then introduced the next song, an American folk standard, according to her “from the real primitive culture, the United States”, to a massive laugh from the audience.
Buffy played for about an hour: short but powerful. She sang the classic hits like “Universal Soldier” and “I’m Going To Be A Country Girl Again” as well as recent favourites like “You Got To Run”. Despite being without her touring band, Buffy’s voice and charisma carried all the power she needed. She also had the perfect amount of chatting between songs, something the fans seemed to crave, which makes sense, she was hilarious.
Sometimes, when seeing a musician who has been at it for awhile, the show can feel rehearsed and emotionally stunted, but that was not the case with Buffy Sainte-Marie at Theatre Corona. The concert was intimate yet packed, emotional yet funny, showing that Buffy Sainte-Marie’s genius is just as powerful today as it was 50 years ago.
Haley Hates the Cold, Andy’s Favourite Colour is Red
Photo: Arielle de Pagter
On February 7, Andy Shauf brought his month long North American tour to Montreal’s Rialto Theatre. That Thursday night saw a brief respite from the bitter winter, with temperatures creeping above zero for what felt like the first time in ages.
However, the magnitude of this event was lost on opener Hayley Heynderickx, who was confused how anyone could stand living in such a polar climate. The Portland based Filipino-American folk singer concluded that the only way Montrealers could possibly cope with the long winter months is if they all found someone to hibernate with. This is of course before breaking their hearts when the sun finally returns. Although at first she appeared shy and soft spoken, standing alone on stage, Haley’s wit and warmth soon drew admiration from the crowd, who were charmed by the relatively unknown out of towner.
Described as “tenacious” by Pitchfork and “open-hearted” by Rolling Stone, Heyndrickx has drawn critical acclaim in recent years, with her track “The Bug Collector” reaching into NPR’s 2018 top 100 songs. In the Rialto, her frenetic finger picking style and playful melodies allowed her lyrics to seamlessly connect quirky life events to the pains of stress, strife and heartbreak. Arguably, the pinnacle of the set was during “Oom Sha La La” where the song’s highly infectious chant began to permeate throughout the crowd until most of the audience was singing it back to her. Heyndrickx finished her set with the same unguardedness and vulnerability that she began it with. The song “Fish eyes” is an ode to her parents strange first date. In short, Haley Heyndrickx was a gift for all those who made the effort to show up early.
Support over, the crowd swelled and coalesced around the stage, before breaking out into applause when Andy Shauf appeared. Unlike Heyndrickx, the Saskatchewan headliner was joined by a full complement of guitars, percussion, piano and a clarinet. These combined to give his lavish orchestrations a thick and silky sound. Though he did not play anything from his most recent Foxwarren project, Shauf’s devoted fan base were not left disappointed. The first role of the drums on “Quite Like You” was met with an immediate cheer as the crowd danced and swayed – a rare moment of playful joy in his otherwise melancholic and brooding repertoire. Tracks from earlier albums such as “Darker Days” were also absent, with Shauf having said an interview that he no longer had any personal connection to the experiences those songs described. Instead, Shauf interspersed tracks from an unnamed forthcoming album in between old favourites. Highlights included the grand strings and clarinet arrangement of “The Magician” and the long fog horn sounding drones of “I’m not Falling asleep” that reverberated around the Rialto.
Andy Shauf stayed true to his “outsider looking in” perspective that characterised The Party, his 2016 Polaris Prize nominated album. Quiet and reserved, he prefers the audience ask him questions, explaining he has no stories about himself to tell. The crowd eagerly obliged, filling the downtime between songs with questions ranging from Andy’s favourite fruit (cantaloupe) to his favourite song (“The Boys Are Back in town”).
For me, “Martha Sways” stole the show. The stripped down and bittersweet ballad brought the crowd to their knees, mesmerized by every excruciatingly sad and beautiful syllable that escaped Shauf’s lips. Hardly anyone made a sound until the last note had completely faded, breaking the hypnotic spell that the entirety of Theatre Rialto had been put under.
His encore was short and sudden, consisting of another new track and leaving the audience yearning for one more familiar sing along. I was also slightly disappointed that Haley Heyndrickx did not return on stage for a collaboration. Nonetheless, the outstanding display of love, loss and vulnerability that both artists portrayed during their performances more than made up for the slightly abrupt ending.
Internal STM Disputes, Halifax House Fire Kills Seven Children , L'Oreal's Women of Worth
Hosted by Ahmad Moujtahed
Stories by Ahmad Moujtahed
________________________________________________________________
LOCAL
The Société de transport de Montréal is calling on a workplace tribunal to intervene and order its unionized maintenance workers to stop purposely slowing down their work as a form of illegal pressure tactics that is causing a 10% shortage of the required number of busses during rush hour.
During the hearing, the maintenance union president said he gave no order for his members to slow down their work and further revealed that the STM has employed a new method of refuelling buses that has resulted in a record number of them running out of fuel while on their routes.
NATIONAL
A house fire in Halifax claimed the lives of seven children, the youngest of which is only three months old. The incident, classified as the deadliest house fire in recent Nova Scotia history, happened in the Spryfield community of Halifax. All the victims are members of a Syrian family who moved to Halifax in 2017 in order to seek safety from the ongoing conflict in their native country.
Halifax regional police are investigating the incident, but still have no through leads as to what might have initiated such a catastrophic fire that sealed the fate of seven young lives.
Images of the fire were shared on social media. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “Words fail when children are taken from us too soon, especially in circumstances like this”.
INTERNATIONAL
In an attempt to honour a diverse group of women who inspire and foster change through their humanitarian efforts, L’Oreal Paris announced the remarkable recipients of its third annual Women of Worth program.
Each Honouree will be receiving a $10,000 grant for her charity, as well as an all-expense paid trip to the Awards Gala which will be held in Toronto on International Women's Day, March 8th.
By visiting womenofworth.ca, Canadians can cast their vote online for one National Honouree who will be awarded an additional $10,000 grant.
Mick Jenkins at L'Astral, Jan 28 2019
Mick Jenkins stopped in Montreal to promote his newest album, Pieces of a Man. The album is a homage to legendary poet and artist, Gil Scott-Heron, borrowing the title of Scot-Heron's debut album.
Jenkins opened with the track “Stress Fracture” where he received vocal-assistance from longtime collaborator, theMIND. The slow burning track was an indication of where the concert was headed. It was a mostly muted affair with no huge mosh-pits or bangers one might expect from a hip hop show.
Mick Jenkins is different. His music isn’t intended to be hard hitting. Instead, it tries to be a learning process, full of lessons and knowledge Jenkins has to offer. The album focused on themes such as self reflection, consensual sex, and, of course, weed. The one (and only) problem with concerts that focus on lyrics is that the instrumentals can sometimes overpower the vocals. This happened only a few times, but it was enough to ruin the immersion that Jenkins tried valiantly to bring.
Midway through the concert, Jenkins took a detour from performing songs off Pieces of a Man to perform hits from his previous projects. The crowd (understandably) lost control when he started to play “Jazz” off his most popular mixtape, The Water[s]. In an otherwise quiet concert, this performance livened up the crowd quite a bit.
While his rapping is almost always the reason listen to Jenkins, he demonstrated his singing chops when he performed his most pop-sensitive song off his new album, “Plain Clothes.” The chorus of the song saw him trying his best to hold the melody with some help from theMIND. Whether autotune was involved or not is irrelevant because the performance of the song was among the best of the night.
The end of the concert was a bit awkward. To rile up the crowd, Jenkins began playing “514”, a tribute to Montreal and asked the crowd to sing along. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t know the lyrics as well as Jenkins hoped. However, they tried their best, singing the chorus somewhat well before he veered off into the next song.
Overall, Mick Jenkins put on a good show at L’Astral. He brought energy, fierce raps, and a true willingness to liven up the crowd. Despite some technical hiccups and an awkward performance dedicated to the city, Jenkins put on a valiant performance demonstrating in full force just how great his rapping actually is.
Louis Pavlakos is the host of Trappin' in Traffic, CJLO's newest hip-hop show, every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
Jonathan Personne Explores the End of the World on Debut Album
Photo: Dominic Berthiaume
When listening to Histoire naturelle, the excellent debut album by Jonathan Personne, alias of Corridor singer and guitarist Jonathan Robert, one gets a sense that the breezy project was composed in a matter of days, such is the cohesiveness of the project.
The exact opposite occurred though. The project started out about four years ago when Robert received an 8-track recording device as a Christmas gift from his girlfriend. Experimentations with the recorder lead to the “unexpected result” of his first album, which was stitched together in the last year or so. “I think I was able to achieve something narrative through the whole album, even if it wasn’t the original goal,” Robert says about the project.
Driven by the theme of “the potential end of the world,” Robert looked to the Museum of Natural History for inspiration when crafting the album its title track in particular. “It’s just a song about seeing me in the future and how humans will perceive our era,” Robert explains, “the same way we perceive the caveman. Like when we go next to a cellphone and a bottle of beer [laughs], instead of the caveman trying to make a fire.”
Histoire naturelle’s 12 tracks vary in style, from desert dream pop and spaghetti western rock to jangle pop. “Comme personne” and “Sans nom” get the album off to a rousing start, but for the most part the rest is a more tranquil affair. The bare arrangements have the effect of highlighting the songwriting skills of Robert, normally hidden under the layers of guitars and murky post-punk atmospherics present in Corridor’s music.
This results in the standout track from the album, “Dernier voyage.” A beautiful song draped with sparkling guitars and piano chords, with Robert’s voice floating above them, intoning us of his final voyage to an unknown destination. If this is Robert’s ode to the end of the world, it’s certainly a beguiling send-off. Tying everything together are several lo-fi interludes mostly composed of found sounds and ambient guitar, creating a world within the album for listeners to inhabit.
Robert is also a visual artist and illustrator, designing the artwork and posters for Corridor and other local acts. With his solo project, Robert was able to apply the same solitary discipline of his visual art onto his musical vision. “I always like to have input on the visual aspect of my music,” Robert says, “I think it’s very important. I’m kind of a control freak, and that was not complicated for me for this one because I was kind of alone to lead that project.”
However, that doesn’t mean Robert is clamoring to work more outside the confines of his main musical project. “I think sometimes it makes me more appreciative of my relationships with my mates in Corridor,” Robert remarks. “I think it’s really hard to have a whole project on your shoulders, and it becomes really exhausting at the end. So that’s why it took me four years [laughs], I didn’t want to have that much pressure. It made me realize that it’s nice to have a great team too. Both are really interesting aspects and I love both, but you really need to choose with who you work.”
It’s no surprise then that for a solo album, Histoire naturelle features plenty of collaborations, including with members of Ponctuation (whose Guillaume Chiasson co-produced the album), VICTIME, Laurence-Anne, and even his bandmates in Corridor. It was a natural decision for Robert, due to the spirit of comradery from the recording sessions. “They were my friends,” the artist notes, “so that was not complicated, I was just telling them what to do. I didn’t have to debate on where the song was going, so that was pretty simple and pretty easy.”
It’s those same friends who will be aiding Robert bring his solo project to life in front of an audience for the album’s launch show. “I’m excited,” Robert notes, “because it’s not going to be the first show we’re making. We kind of kept a really low profile for that aspect of my life when I was doing shows as Jonathan Personne in the past. It’s going to be the ninth or the tenth show I’m doing with the project, but I’m excited. In the end I’m gonna play with people I’m used to playing with.”
Whether Robert’s songs as Jonathan Personne will influence Corridor’s own future output, the artist doesn’t see that happening. In fact, Robert doubts future material under his nom de plume will sound like the quieter and reflective passages that mark much of his debut. “I know when I compose melodies,”Robert says, “it’s kind of obvious to me [what] doesn’t stick to a Corridor song, so I better keep it to myself. Even when I’m jamming with Corridor, there’s some riffs I get my bandmates [to say] ‘keep that for yourself’ [laughs].”
Jonathan Personne performs at L’Escogriffe (4461 Saint-Denis) on Saturday, Feb. 16, 8:00 p.m., $10
Alex Viger-Collins is the host of Ashes to Ashes, your weekly dose of modern pop, every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
CJLO's To-Do List - Feb 15-17
Every weekend in Montreal is filled with plenty of opportunities to experience music, art, film, and theatre, as well as just a good time. At CJLO, we want to help you find the best events in town, and perhaps introduce you to some new artists or venues. So, here is a list of events happening this coming weekend, February 15-17, to get you excited and give you some ideas.
Friday, Feb 15
- Dance away the Valentine's Day blues at The Diving Bell Social Club's Anti-Valentines Day - Part II. Featuring 80s anthems, 80s costumes, and your favourite Montreal artists. The party starts at 9, tickets are $12 presale, $15 at the door.
- Get your basement punk fix with The Adults' Tape Release at La Sotterenea with support from DBPS (featuring CJLO's own Zak Slax), and Vitex. Doors at 10:30, music at 11. Tickets are $10 PWYC
Saturday, Feb 16
- For the more academically minded, there's the FASA Artist Panel: Redefining & Reconsidering Space at The Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art of Concordia University. The theme of this panel is (dis)location:Art in a Mobile Age and is moderated by CJLO's New Director Luca Caruso Moro.
- The Gothfather himself, Peter Murphy is bring his 40 Years of Bauhaus tour to MTELUS. Murphy will perform The Flat Field in it's entirety as well as all your favourite Bauhaus hits. Tickets are $40 advance, $47 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, with Desert Mountain Tribe opening at 8.
Sunday, Feb 17
- Get ready to lineup early for a surpise show by Hubert Lenoir at Quai des Brumes. The 5 à 7 will feature jazzy unplugged versions from his hit album Darlène. The show is pay what you want. Doors open at 5, but you might want to get there early as availability is very limited.
- La Vitrola is hosting an evening of Music and Words by Shalabi, Hoefle, Mavreas, and Lee. From 8:30 to 11:30, enjoy music, poetry, spoken word, and performance work at Montreal's longest running literature and music show. Tickets are $7.
McGill College Redevelopment, CAQ Support, Haitian Deportations Halted
Hosted by Alexandre Denis
Stories by Alexandre Denis
________________________________________________________________
LOCAL
McGill College Avenue could be the next street to get a facelift in the city. Montreal’s Public Consultation Office recommends narrowing the street to two lanes to create a pedestrian plaza.
This move is one of the Plante administrations many ideas to make the city less car-centric. The idea was first announced in August but the city waited for a public consultation before moving forward with the project.
The possible changes would include widening the already large sidewalks from President-Kennedy to Sainte-Catherine. The project would take advantage of other developments in the area such as the McGill REM Station and the Sainte-Catherine redevelopment.
PROVINCIAL
The CAQ may have won a majority last election but their ideas may not be as popular as they might have thought. A new study shows that it was a desire for change that led to victory rather than their electoral promises.
55 per cent of their voters said they voted for change. Only 17 per cent said they voted because they liked the CAQ platform. The Liberal and Quebec Solidaire voters were much more enthused by their party’s ideas. Around a third of them voted because they supported the platform.
The CAQ also has considerable opposition to it’s main ideas from its base. Around 40 per cent do not support its major promise to reduce immigration.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada is halting all deportations to Haiti due to the ongoing crisis in the caribbean nation. The island has seen violent protests in the past week calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moise.
Ottawa has also updated it’s travel advisory to Haiti. It recommends Canadians avoid travelling to the country. Canada is currently working to get any Canadians out of Haiti. The Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince will remain closed but consular services are still available by phone or email
Pages
Staff Login | Advertise | Our Location | RSS | Contact Us
