The horns are cued, the spit traps blown. Piano’s keyed, bass is tuned. Perhaps most important, the lights are coming up in a packed joint. So listen up baby, with cats comin’ from the world over to break it down for you, better you do your part to get this whole city jumpin’. And since… Continue reading Festival promises real razzmatazz
Month: June 2004
Zatoichi does not disappoint
By Jeff Kubik
By Jeff Kubik
There are more than a few ways to make a samurai movie. Given the range of ways a man can be dismembered alone, the diversity of executions and choreographed swordplay is boggling. And yet, in many ways, they remain largely the same movie–good finally triumphs over evil, as katana meets juicy, graphic flesh. Thankfully, it… Continue reading Zatoichi does not disappoint
Will the Liberals get voted off the island?
With the federal election looming, the political opinions and priorities of all interested Canadians are coming out in casual conversation. The only thing to be said with certainty is that they are as varied as our country’s multicultural background would suggest. University of Calgary faculty is no different. The president of the University of Calgary… Continue reading Will the Liberals get voted off the island?
Jay Bennett & Edward Burch
There’s no shortage of pop songwriting groups. Even within the pop spectrum of alt-country, there are the Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and Lambchop, just to name a few. Jay Bennett’s collaboration with Edward Burch can’t be written straight off, even if it is just a splinter of a splinter (Bennett left Wilco, which was formed… Continue reading Jay Bennett & Edward Burch
Patti Labelle
By Вen Li
Like so many previous highly-polished albums that clearly cost a pretty penny to make, self-proclaimed First Lady of Def Soul Patti LaBelle’s Timeless Journey may look good but lacks musical substance. As this is a so-called “classic” album, at some point in history she must have dazzled… somebody, at least twice. She must have done… Continue reading Patti Labelle
Ghostface
Wu-Tang may be gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t flog a dead horse for all its worth, right? Ghostface Killa’s latest outing Pretty Toney Album is no exception, with the titular hero yammering on about the same old lack of comeuppance and his hypocritically obscene personal wealth. Is this all it takes to make… Continue reading Ghostface
Feist
Ex-Calgarian Feist has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. The singer and guitar player’s high school punk band lucked into opening for the Ramones on a Calgary stop and Placebo (the local incarnation, not the successful British group) made a solid name for themselves before she moved to Toronto.… Continue reading Feist
Reggae Cowboys
The Reggae Cowboys look exactly like their name would suggest–the pictures on the CD insert show three dreadlocked men straight from the Caribbean decked out in Western garb. Everything appears normal until you notice a young Ron Jeremy lurking in the corner. First it was his “performance arts” that attracted the public eye; next he… Continue reading Reggae Cowboys
Jim Lauderdale
“We both wear a wedding ring/yours of tinfoil, mine of string/if it ain’t love at least we laugh a lot.” That line sums up my association with country music in general and Jim Lauderdale’s Headed for the Hills in particular. Country music isn’t my first love. In fact a couple of years ago I couldn’t… Continue reading Jim Lauderdale
8 Ball and MJG
By Trenton Shaw
With the release of Living Legends, their first album on the Bad Boy Records, 8 Ball and MJG take a turn for the worst. These rappers have built a name for themselves for over 10 years in the southern underground rap scene, only to have their music stripped of its raw flavour by mainstream pop… Continue reading 8 Ball and MJG