This certainly ain’t your typical 19-member big band. The customary saxes, brass, clarinets, strings, piano, bass and percussion are present, but they’re augmented by the electronics of Uli Böttcher, Christoph Schiller’s spinet and unspecified “objects” sonified by Olivier Toulemonde. The wide orchestral palette is used to great effect, with constantly shifting timbral colours.
All he ever wanted, underdog mic controller Ian Bavitz once rapped, was to pick apart the day and put the pieces back together his way.
Under the handle of his long-suffering hip hop alter-ego Aesop Rock, Bavitz put that sentiment to wax on the title track of his now-classic debut EP for Def Jux, Daylight. Time being what it is, Aes Rizzle has since married, divorced, taken a dignified bystander stance in the collapse of a movement he helped create, displaced his NYC paranoia to roost beneath Cali palms and realigned himself under the Midwest stars of Rhymesayers Entertainment, seemingly at ease with the inclement conditions of life on the whole.
Wither the student strike? With nightly protests on ice and casserole concerts quieted, a loose assembly of local groups wants to ensure the movement doesn’t fade as a provincial election looms.
Scaling back from last week’s wide reach, the series offers an old-fashioned Walt and Jesse-centric episode… but of course, things have changed since the old days (of merely a year ago in the BB timeline).
Our intrepid correspondent reviews the highbrow cable channel’s trashiest offerings.
Trans women are not forced by any publication or website to show their faces; this is a decision they make on their own. My understanding is that trans women do this because they want to flaunt as many assets as possible that ensure their passability — a contentious subject in itself.
* Grumman’78 is serving up tacos for lunch
* One of Fantasia’s best, Toad Road
* Kishi Bashi and Tall Tall Trees at Il Motore
* Speakeasy Burlesque
* Head & Hands annual volleyball fundraiser, Serve
* SWAP Team’s Take Off Your Clothes event @Place des Arts
* MEG festival’s takeover of Piknic Électronik
* The Mechanical Bride, The Warped Forest at Fantasia
* Canadian Comedy Awards vote
Free donuts! Hustle to the launch party for Chez Boris and scarf down some hot, fresh carbs, just because you can. 5151 Parc, 9 a.m.–9 p.m.
Chow down on free food and drinks while meeting with representatives from a variety of local and international charities to see which one might best benefit from your donation at Yelp Helps. Les Deux Gamins (170 Prince Arthur E.), 4-6 p.m., free
See techno star Squarepusher headline this month’s Piknic 10 series, marking the 10th anniversary of the outdoor dance weekly. With DJ Kobal, Ikonika at Parc Jean Drapeau, 6 p.m., $25+
The Just for Laughs Film Festival wraps up with acclaimed documentary Beauty Is Embarrassing. NFB Cinérobothèque (1564 St-Denis), 7 p.m., $12.39
Catch a new documentary about Montreal’s the Dears, feat. one of Cult MTL’s editors at their old Mirror cubicle. CBC, 7 p.m.
See Zaki Ibrahim live at The Goods, with resident DJs Scott C and Andy Williams spinning hip hop, soul and funk. La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent, 2nd floor), 10:30 p.m., $15
Fantasia rages on with another weekend of cinematic insanity. See our critics’ picks here.
Remember John Lennox? He was a local scenester circa 2005, then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. He re-emerged in Chicago a few years ago with a band, Panoramic & True, who released a 12-inch EP and made a couple of local appearances. Now they’re back with an LP, 14 of Lennox’s songs played by an eight-piece band.
