By Alicia Ward
Country music enthusiasts with a hankering to hear some banjo need to pick up Patrick Brealey’s album Mercury in Songbirds. From high tempo songs perfect for hoedowns to bluesy hip shakers, this album covers all the country music bases. “My End of The Deal” starts with a strong banjo lick renewing a country music appreciation.… Continue reading Spun: Patrick Brealey
By Alicia Ward
The Fugitives have put together a short five track EP incorporating perfect harmonies with spoken word lyrics. The way they display those parts is out of the ordinary and unexpected in most of their songs. Although original, this component can seem at times out of place and cheesy amongst the various perfect melodies, as in… Continue reading Spun: The Fugitives
By Alicia Ward
The Parlour Steps have composed a very catchy infinitely listenable album in The Hidden Names. The songs never become old due to the constantly shifting nature of the album. From upbeat, to slow moving tracks, Names is more than an enjoyable listen — it’s an album you cannot help but tap your foot to. Parlour… Continue reading Spun: Parlour Steps
By Richard Lam
The vibrant cover of Mumiy Troll’s album gives a good hint of what to expect from this Russian rock band. You have a psychedelic tiger-in-a-Superman-costume, a cowboy with guns drawn, a UFO, a nuclear briefcase and perhaps most mysteriously, an oil rig. Translated, the band’s name is “The Mummy’s Troll,” which is based on a… Continue reading Spun: Mumiy Troll
Improvisation is an art form based on a performer’s quick wits and ability to roll with the punches. Done well it looks effortless, like a well-rehearsed skit or play. Done badly, it ends up being scenes about brown grappling hooks:”I’m going to need an everyday colour from the audience. Just go ahead and shout out… Continue reading Brown bears wielding grappling hooks and other improvised delights
Fitting in is tough. You need a certain style, a particular flair and in the case of the fickle music industry, a sound that audiences identify with. For Vancouver-based band Elias, finding a niche to fit into is a particular challenge. Because the group is so musically varied, Elias had trouble finding gigs when they… Continue reading Elias find themselves a Lasting Distraction
Dan Mangan is eager to admit he’s in flux. After touring for four years on the strength of his debut LP, Postcards and Daydreaming, he has recently released critically acclaimed follow up, Nice, Nice, Very Nice and the differences between the two are remarkable. “I’d get calls from journalists and the first question they’d ask… Continue reading Mangan offers upbeat music for the depressed
After Finnish pop-metal band Lordi won the famously fickle Eurovision Song Contest, most people thought the only music coming out of the Scandinavian country was headbanging tunes. Rubik proudly show the music scene in Finland isn’t just brutally fast, guitar-shredding black metal bands. “The majority of those bands that have broke, and gotten out of… Continue reading Rubik’s roots really help them to rock
Wrong Rosary Musa is a middle-aged man who moves to Istanbul working as a muezzin and singing the daily prayer call in an Islamic mosque. Starting a new life, he moves into an apartment where he meets his next-door neighbour, Clara, who was orphaned at childbirth and raised by nuns. The film alternates between her… Continue reading Film Fest, week two: a lot of twisted love
According to French Fashion designer Christian Lacroix, “Haute Couture should be fun, foolish and almost unwearable.” Such a statement holds true in the public mind when considering the sometimes esoteric world of fashion. Runway models often seem like alien beings, drifting down the catwalk with attire inconceivable in both cost and appearance. Designers take pride… Continue reading Fashionistas flock to Fashion Week