Largely a staple of turntablism (can I get a wicka-wicka-wha?), the long running DJ Olympics returns after a postponement earlier in the year. Citing venue and funding issues organizers vowed to not “half-ass our way through this event.” Pitting DJs, beatboxers and MCs against each other, competitors have 15 minutes to wow the crowd and […]
Loukas Crowther
Posted inFood + Drink
Cheap Eats – Seven Dishes under Seven Dollars
$6.50 – McCoastal breakfast sandwich Coastal Coffee The description of the McCoastal, Coastal’s breakfast sandwich, comes across as tasty but innocuous: two fried eggs, havarti cheese, maple sausage on an English muffin. But the actual physical presence of this delicacy is something else altogether. It is roughly the size of a small human baby. The […]
Posted inArts + Music
Slayer
ZOMG NEW SLAYER. Listening to this and I am back in junior high wearing all black and pretending I am better than everyone, when in reality I am totally jealous of my friend’s Amiga and will punish his level 26 mage with my sadistically nerdy dungeon-mastering ways. (Magic missile this, you better-computer-having jerk.) Twenty-six years […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pissed Jeans
I know I should’ve reviewed this when it first came out, but I needed time to let my gushing fanboy-ness settle a bit. Like, could there be a more personally relatable album released this year? Apathy, listlessness, workplace drudgery, male pattern baldness, the uneasy acceptance of adulthood, the need for a good massage—real talk, yo. […]
Posted inFood + Drink
All you can eat buffet makeover
“So, do you want to go classy or dirty?” These were the words that started our buffet journey. (Actually, they were “We need a student related food story by Monday.”) The assignment: create food porn from the endless troughs of buffets and make the cheap and plain into something fancy—high dining for the sub-$20 crowd. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Arctic Monkeys
I wish I hadn’t read that Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) produced this album. It’s all I can hear. Every little hook, the guitar tone, even the nonchalance of the singing. Homme might as well have moved to Sheffield long enough to adopt the accent and started a new band. Actually…what has Queens […]
Posted inArts + Music
Amanda Blank
We all know how humid it’s been, but damn, this album is like, all hot and shit. Nestled between Lil’ Kim and Peaches on the raunchy female MC spectrum, Blank’s I Love You is a summer party album oozing with sex appeal. Backed by reigning electro/hip-hop kings Diplo & Switch (Santigold, MIA), help from Spankrock’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Major Lazer
They say Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who lost his arms in the secret zombie wars of ’84 and had them replaced by Lazers. It’s the perfect backyard barbecue album where Diplo and Switch and all the MCs would hang out. I would be the whitest person there and get all uncomfortable and drink […]
Posted inArts + Music
Empire of the Sun
If I lived in a futuristic ’80s B-movie like the duo Empire of the Sun apparently does, this would totally be the album I would seal the deal with. (I imagine by this point in the future Sade and Massive Attack will have lost favour as archaic reminders of backwards times.) I would meet you […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Manners: Tourism 101
Dear Tourists, Here’s how it works: We’ve got the cultural and historic sites, the cute little tugboat and, of course, the lighthouse. That’s why you’re here. And you’ve got the dough. That’s why we welcome you. We’re going to get that dough by pulling you into Halifax’s restaurants, “the premier culinary source for food and […]
Posted inArts + Music
LMFAO
All-over patterns, check. Forgotten nostalgia, check. Lenses-free glasses and skin-tight pants, check. Absolute dedication to partying, check. Hipsters: it’s officially over—will.i.am has found your cloning facility and is using it to produce MCs like Redfoo and Sky Blu (ZOMG their outfits are colour-coordinated to their names, sweet). Party Rock pulls together MSTRKRFT’s table scraps, unapologetic […]
Posted inArts + Music
MSTKRFT
Retaining their identifiable sound and love for all things cowbell, Fist of God makes up for last year’s string of letdown remixes with its breadth of guest appearances. “Heartbreaker,” featuring Grammy-winning John Legend, is a huge departure from their sweat-stained club bangers, with its delicate piano loops and smooth vocals. Guest spots from Toronto’s Jahmal […]