Stand-up comedy seems absolutely terrifying. Just the image of someone present and alone in front of an audience primed with expectation and anticipation that something hilarious will happen over the course of a 20-minute set is paralyzing. “It’s a pretty risky art form, some nights you can walk off and everyone will love you and […]
Alex Mitchell
Posted inArts + Music
See Bonesaw
“Crapshoot” is a pretty fair and diplomatic way of describing work in the service industry, especially so when there’s a strong possibility your boss will leaf through the local alt-weekly and read an article about your band. “You have those days,” says Bonesaw guitarist Sam Beeley, “where you just want to come home and sit […]
Posted inArts + Music
Castle on a cloud
What makes a really sad song so wonderful? Why does it feel so fantastic to just bum yourself out sometimes? Toronto’s Jennifer Castle has apparently figured out how to channel the contently sorrowful spirit of Roy Orbison and puts it on full display in her latest release, Pink City. The record comes off as an […]
Posted inArts + Music
Return of the PIG
There are very few eternal truths in this world. You shouldn’t be a dick to animals, shows don’t start at 10pm and the internet is the shittiest place to hang out (thanks Be Bad). But there’s maybe one more beyond those: Truro has housed some of the most wildly inspiring, chaotic and punishing music this […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mitchell Wiebe’s fade to black light
In the window display of a former pharmacy-turned-Dooly’s-turned-Starfish Properties blightscape, Mitchell Wiebe is standing amongst his paintings. Black light spreads down from the ceiling and rises up from the floor. “It’s like enter the dragon, exit the poodle or something,” says Wiebe. The space looks like a terrarium for a collection of uncanny characters and […]
Posted inArts + Music
Tuff stuff
Whether you learned about it from your aging Deadhead parents, an older sibling or your Karpetface bandmates, we all know the totally wild Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz sync-up. There is no doubt it blows your mind to this very day. No? You don’t want to talk about if they meant […]
Posted inArts + Music
Events/Literary/Comedy
Canadian Surf Film Festival Now celebrating its third year, the Canadian Surf Film Festival (September 27-30) showcases material designed to appeal to surfers and non-surfers alike. “We program the festival for surfers or surf culture enthusiasts, but we also program it for the general public,” explains development director and co-founder Keith Maddison. “We’re well aware […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fall Arts Preview 2012
Click here to read up on a packed fall of fun with events of the visual art, film, musical, literary, theatre, comedy and dance variety.
Posted inArts + Music
Give Propagandhi a chance
We’re living in the future. All-in-all it’s a pretty cool future. But it’s definitely the kind of future you can get bummed out about pretty easily. Michael Jackson is dead, Kim and Thurston aren’t a thing anymore and there’s an honest-to-gosh genre of music called seapunk (which may or may not have everything/nothing to do […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Now start a band
You did it. You somehow managed to con your family into believing you’re independent enough, responsible enough and maybe even mature enough to leave behind that sleepy farmhouse you’ve been calling home for so many years and head out to college in the big city. Now is the time for you to go forth and […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Soupcans heat it up
Along with the bevy of psychy avant-garde experimental performers slowly trickling into town this week, Toronto trashrock villains The Soupcans are on their way, toting a garbage bag full of their own particular brand of frenetic energy. Picture G.G. (RIP) covering Arab on Radar without the matching outfits and you’ll get a loose idea of […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bill Orcutt’s musical gestures
At the age of 10, Arkansas blues musician CeDell Davis began suffering from polio. The disease struck him so severely it rendered his hands all but useless. He loved making music so in order to keep playing he flipped his guitar, restrung it and began fingering notes on the neck with a butter knife. The […]