There’s a fine line between being enjoyably quirky and just being too smart for your own good, and 2012 Mercury Music Prize shortlisters Alt-J straddle that line without ever consistently sitting in either camp. They’re occasionally sublime, often a little too twee, but it’s the risk you run when you dabble in music big on restrained tension and light on carnal energy.
Stereolab was a curious phenomenon. Throughout the ’90s and into the aughts, the British band always seemed to complement the major musical trends that came and went around them* while standing apart on a wavelength of their own. Their dalliance with shoegazing guitars and devoted pop craftsmanship felt current, but Stereolab’s centre stage was always occupied by vintage synthesizers and organs, and the velvety French-accented tones of Laetitia Sadier.
Teesri Duniya Theatre continues its more than 30 years of producing progressive, socially relevant theatre with their latest production of Where the Blood Mixes, directed by Lib Spry and playing at the Centre Culturel Calixa-Lavallée until Sept. 30. It’s moving theatre that showcases Ken Loring’s play about the legacy of residential schools upon first nations communities.
Dan Parent, the man behind Archie comics’ first (out) gay character talks to Cult MTL about Riverdale’s biggest controversies.
Alex Rose’s Made in MTL series, exploring films from the vaults shot and/or set in Montreal, launches with this analysis of The Pyx, a 1973 cop thriller starring Christopher Plummer, Karen Black and various local notables.
Montreal’s official geekend (ugh!) came to a close last night, and while attendees delighted the eyes with their creative costumes — from the sweetest lil’ baby Yoda to a gender-bending Clockwork Orange gang — we kept our ears peeled, too. Here are the choicest quotes from the cavalcade of characters.
Heading to this year’s bonsai expo, I expected to meet a few eccentrics. Bonsai, after all, is an art that combines horticulture with heightened aesthetic sensibilities and obsessive compulsiveness.
I was, put simply, hoping for weirdos I could write the shit out of.
* Sample live previews of the season’s local theatre scene
* See The Magic of Lanterns light up the Botanical Gardens
* Check out roller derby doc Derby, Baby
* See metal and jazz meet at la Sala Rossa
Sasha, our resident sex expert, offers advice for aspiring dominatrices and those in search of vegan-friendly sex products.
