Click on each quote to read more.

“The startup companies put grand opera on a much smaller scale, [which makes it] more accessible.”

Stuart Martin, co-founder of Stu&Jess Productions

Last November, Stu&Jess Productions, a new opera company founded by Jessica Derventzis, recent graduate of Queen’s University, and Stuart Martin, recent graduate of the University of British Columbia, put on its first production, Gian Carlo Menotti’s short two-act opera The Medium. Harvey Lev, an artist who turned an old Verdun church into his residence and private gallery, offered his home as a venue, making Stu&Jess Productions’ The Medium truly one of a kind. They went on to present Le Docteur Miracle in late February in, of all places, the upper floor warehouse of the Techno-Lith paper company in Montreal.

“The music industry is very male-dominated, and to show female-identified youth that there are women out there making music is important.”

Heather Hardie, coordinator of Rock Camp for Girls Montreal (RCGM)

Rock Camp for Girls Montreal (RCGM) was co-founded in 2009 by two graduates of Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute, which studies feminisms and questions of social justice. Every summer, RCGM hosts a five-day session where girls aged 10 to 17 practice and play music while learning about anti-oppression and acquiring critical thinking tools to negotiate a male-dominated industry. The Camp reserves leadership positions for female, trans*, and gender non-conforming people. Registration is currently open for the 2014 session, which will take place at La Sala Rossa from July 21 to 25, with a showcase concert on July 26, and a recording on July 27. No prior musical experience is required.

“I can try to do as many interviews as possible — as humanly possible — to document these issues.”

Stefan Christoff, programmer of “Free City Radio” show at CKUT 90.3 FM

Last January, the “Free City Radio” show on CKUT 90.3 FM launched its latest project, the Free City Radio zine. The new zine series, created by Stefan Christoff, features transcripts of radio interviews, artwork, and photography. The zine is free from any corporate or state funding and publishes an issue every season. The first issue, produced in collaboration with Mostafa Henaway, a community organizer who works with the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal, looked at local gentrification and displacement as well as massive international political movements. For Free City Radio II, Christoff is partnering with Dru Oja Jay, co-founder of independent news network >The Media Co-op, to explore cooperative economic and social systems. The launch will take place on April 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore (2150 Bishop).

“Our vision is to close the gap between the hearing and Deaf world, with the use of theatre as a common medium.”

Seeing Voices Montréal

Seeing Voices Montréal, a McGill club founded in the fall of 2012, is Montreal’s first American Sign Language (ASL) theatre, and the only Deaf theatre company in the country. In early March, they presented their version of the Brothers Grimm’s classic, Deaf Snow White, combining spoken English and ASL. Seeing Voices went on to perform Deaf Snow White at Carleton University in Ottawa. Their “Introduction to ASL (with theatrical focus)” class, taught by Jack Volpe, a Montreal native who was born deaf, just began on March 27 (registration remains open until all spots are filled).

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Montreal has over 50 indoor and outdoor theatre and performance venues, according to the National Theatre School of Canada. The majority of these showcase francophone performances, while the Centaur Theatre Company and the Segal Centre for Performing Arts reign over the anglophone theatrical scene. But a number of independent anglophone theatre organizations have sprung up in the past few decades and continue to develop, often dabbling in bilingualism.

Amy Blackmore, director of the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival told Silo Magazine, “The [Montreal] anglophone community really needs the Fringe. The theatre community doesn’t have tons of opportunities for emerging artists in Montreal. Whereas, on the French side, there’s lots of opportunities all year. So they don’t need it as much as anglophone artists.” The Fringe Festival has recently implemented a quota to ensure it features both French and English productions. Blackmore reports that the festival headquarters themselves have become bilingual. “I’ve been joking about the idea of next year having a Frenglish category for quotas at the festival,” said Blackmore. “Now I’m wondering, is there a need for [a Frenglish category]?”

“As an audience member going to see performances I don’t feel that language should be a barrier,” explained Daniel Carter, the Drama & Theatre Representative for the Department of English Student Association (DESA), and the Publicity Director and Secretary for the McGill Savoy Society, “it is only one tool of many that is used in theatre, and understanding and meaning can come from several outlets, not just language. I’m hopeful to see a more diverse collection of theatre at McGill and in Montreal in later years; witnessing a performance in a different language is pleasantly surprising and enjoyable.”

But the number and diversity of people who come to see McGill theatre productions is still very limited, partly due to this language barrier. “Honestly, most of the people who attend [McGill theatre productions] are people who know someone in the show, or who are heavily involved in McGill theatre,” said McNeil.

This does not, however, limit the knowledge and experience gained from working with the McGill theatre community. For many, McGill theatre has been the stepping stone for later entering the greater Montreal theatre community.

“I have found that the strength of the McGill theatre community lies within the foundation it has provided for many people to move on into various theatrical performances in the larger Montreal community,” explained Jess Banner, Publicity Director for the Players’ Theatre. “Theatre companies have been formed and [have] succeeded in the world of Montreal theatre in part from the experience and support of the McGill community. As the community is fairly small, the sense of support is tangible.”

“A lot of theatre buffs from McGill have gone [on] to work within the established Montreal theatre community, and some have even created their own production companies,” said McNeil. “Quite a lot of these people are still in touch with their McGill roots, especially through social media.”

Juggling a class load and involvement in campus theatre often limits the time and energy students can put into looking for gigs off-campus. “My off-campus theatre experience is a bit limited [and] my main role is being a theatregoer and watching the plays and productions that are in the community,” explained Carter. “However, just this year, I have decided to branch out into the Montreal theatre scene and will be performing in the Montreal Fringe Festival in June.”

Despite the language barrier, theatre at McGill provides something unique and invaluable for students trying to turn their passion into a career. “I find that the student theatre at McGill is very politically, socially, and culturally aware, much like many productions that are being mounted in Montreal,” said Carter. “I like to think that both McGill and Montreal theatre [aim] to make a critique and be critical of things, rather than existing solely for entertainment. There’s quite a bit of experimental theatre that happens in Montreal and I think there is a simultaneous mirroring of this between student theatre and professional theatre. At the same [time], I think student theatre is more aware of itself as being something greater than just theatre and performance. It seems that many directors and performers want to do something with their work – to have an effect on those watching, not just being concerned with entertainment.”

Yet most acknowledge that members of the McGill theatre community still need to actively make an effort to get out of the bubble. “It’s difficult to get involved if you don’t have a network and the right resources,” said Carter. “In my experience, so far, it really depends on who you know. And while you are trying to build these connections, it takes a lot of time and patience to find the right opportunities and meet the right people who will be helpful in your theatre career. Also, not knowing the right vocabulary as you start off in Montreal theatre, and any greater theatre community, gets to be a bit inhibiting. It’s important to just keep trying and searching and not being afraid to take those chances [and to know that] something will come along.”

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“It’s an eclectic representation of the playwrights at McGill,” explained Mitchell, “people who are now just getting into it. That’s what we love about TNC, that it’s very intimate for a lot of people who have their first [experience] directing, acting, and stage managing.” For this kind of initial dabbling in the world of drama, 24 hours gives someone an ideal opportunity for free creative expression within the framework of an established theatre collective.

Given this creative freedom, TNC bases its choice of playwrights on enthusiasm and open mindedness, while trying to ensure a stylistic variety. “We’ve received a broad spectrum of stuff so far,” said Burley. “Some absurd plays, some lovely poems.” Some applicants are newcomers while others are reapplying “because they love it,” said Burley. A lot of applicants do come from the Drama program simply because they’re more likely to be part of McGill’s student-run theatre community, but TNC draws in playwrights from a variety of educational backgrounds – one of this year’s applicants, for instance, studies Biology.

The rules are simple: each selected playwright gets a first and last line for their script, dreamed up by the ARTifact coordinators with the help of McGill Drama professor Myrna Wyatt Selkirk. Every play will feature six to eight characters and be about ten pages long – which roughly adds up to 15 minutes – with only one lighting cue and one sound cue. Other than that, playwrights’ creativity is encouraged to run wild.

The 24 Hour Playwriting Competition is also a good way for actors to get their foot in the door. TNC will include any aspiring actors who volunteer, no audition required, whether they have experience or not. The whole process is centred on the playwrights’ personal vision. Playwrights also direct their own work, drawing on their actors’ input. For many participants, explained Mitchell, this is “their first time writing a play, the first time they experience what it’s like to [interact] with other people who are in it as well, [to see how] the actors and the audience respond to it.”

The 24 Hour Playwriting Competition has been going on for longer than Burley and Mitchell can remember. For a lot of students, especially those who aren’t in the Drama department, this is a pretty unique opportunity to try their hand at playwriting. “After [the competition] finished last year,” said Mitchell, “everyone was immediately so close. It’s unique to have something like this. A lot of [theatre] at McGill is very audition-based, very classroom-based. Outside of class, [this is] one of the bigger opportunities.”

The ARTifact coordinators would know a thing or two about this. The regular event they organize, the ARTifact evenings, are all about giving young artists a place to share their work. The ARTifacts usually happen the Tuesday after a show ends – the next one, Heartifact, is coming up in February (yes, it’s named for Valentine’s Day). “You can look at it like an open mic night,” explained Mitchell. “There are no rules at all. We have improv, we always have art showing, artists usually give an artist statement, lots of musicians, some comedy, really anything you’d like to share with other students.”

ARTifacts usually draw in people from all over McGill. “We had one girl who came to our first ARTifact with some of the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen and I ended up actually purchasing one because they were so nice,” said Mitchell. “She says she’s now considering applying to an art school because she thinks maybe science isn’t for her – [all this after] being able to share it with people [who were] so happy and enthusiastic.”

The competition component of the 24 Hour Playwriting Competition will continue on the night of the show. Each member of the audience will be able to use their ticket as a ballot to vote for their favourite play. “There might be a little treat for the winner,” hinted Burley. “You’ll have to come and see!” Mitchell teased.

The ARTifact coordinators emphasize the thrill of the competition’s last minute aspect. “It’s going to be stressful, obviously,” said Burley, “but so, so fun. Everyone always wants to see these plays because they’re touching and hilarious. There’s so much interpretation that can happen.”

“We’re going to be really silly about it,” added Mitchell. “We always are.”

TNC is accepting submissions for playwrights at tnc.artifact@gmail.com until January 14. Actors can email the coordinators to volunteer until January 16. The plays resulting from the 24 Hour Playwright Competition will be presented in Morrice Hall in the Islamic Studies building (3485 McTavish) on January 18 at 7 p.m., but people are advised to show up at 6 p.m. because the tickets, which are free, will disappear quickly.

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The premise of The Medium is simple, and satisfyingly odd. A scam artist stages fake seances to cheat gullible visitors out of their money. One day, during a seance, she feels something, or someone, touch her throat. In true Lady Macbeth fashion, she promptly starts panicking, and the musical descent into madness begins as she scrambles to put together the pieces of this eerie puzzle.

If this sounds pretty modern for an opera, that’s because it is. “The Medium was written in the late 1940s,” explained Derventzis. “[Menotti] went to a seance in Austria, and he was so affected by it that he decided to write an opera about it […] In the mid 1900s, there was sort of a resurgence of people trying to make opera be different and [move it away] from the Viking hats and the fat ladies singing.”

According to the duo, The Medium is the perfect introduction for opera newcomers. The opera clocks in at a short and swift 55 minutes – a refreshingly brisk take on a type of performance that can often extend to three hours. “Even as an opera lover, I have taken small snoozes during operas,” admitted Derventzis.

One of the best parts of Stu&Jess’ production is its setting. Martin called the venue “spectacular. [People] will be literally surrounded by music.” Harvey Lev, an artist who turned an old Verdun church into his residence and private gallery, has allowed the duo to inhabit the space for the run of the show. “It’s the perfect place for a spooky opera to happen,” said Martin. “When we first walked in there was a taxidermied raven. The opera is set in the medium’s living room, [and] instead of having to fill a room with stuff we found a room filled with stuff. There is legit art on the wall – [Lev] is a huge patron of the arts.”

Martin explained that their production company actually folds in nicely with the opera scenes in other North American cities. “There’s lots of small opera startups. In New York, there’s Loft Opera, [which presents] reduced (shortened) operas in lofts. In Toronto, there’s Against the Grain [Theatre],” he said. “The startup companies put grand opera on a much smaller scale, [which makes it] more accessible.”

Derventzis and Martin decided to create Stu&Jess last August, while “sitting in a piazza eating gelato”. They had both participated in Opera NUOVA, a summer program that aims to create bridges between members of the academic and professional communities. “We decided the only way we’re going to get opportunities [was] if we [started] something,” said Martin. Derventzis acquiesced, noting the lack of funding for the arts across the country.

“Nowadays,” Derventzis explained, “it’s important for all arts to come together, because there’s no money in any of the mediums. [Showcasing] this artist’s home and the art that he has in this venue [is] just another way to bring this all together.”

As of now, the Opéra de Montréal still overwhelmingly dominates Montreal’s opera scene. But Derventzis and Martin are hoping to mix things up. “It’ll be small this time,” said Derventzis, “but hopefully we get a bit of a following from this.” The Medium might just be the first of more to come, for both Stu&Jess and Montreal’s alternative opera scene.

The Medium will run from Thursday, November 7 to Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m. each day, at 3099 Wellington. Tickets are $15 for students.

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Matador / Other People

After a rather forgettable three-song EP, producer Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington team up once again for their debut album, Psychic.

The journey into Harrington and Jaar’s ambient world begins with “Golden Arrow.” Its slow, varied build, lasting a total of 11 minutes, may not be a casual listener’s favourite song, but its importance to the album as a whole is immeasurable. Not only does “Golden Arrow” act as an apt introduction to the atmospheric album, it also gives insight as to where Jaar is heading as an artist. Harrington’s experimental guitar riffs, jumping back and forth from bouncy to mellow, complement Jaar’s organ-like production, creating a perfectly full and haunting sound.

The album hits other high points with “Heart” and “Paper Trails,” both featuring a mix of soft, feel-good guitar licks with airy vocals and synth. Shortly after, the album loses its momentum. “Freak Go Home” is similar to “Golden Arrow,” although it lacks a sense of direction. To be fair, there are brief redeeming moments within the song, but, as a whole, it doesn’t keep up with the rest of the album. In fact, it’s not until the very end that Psychic proves itself to be one of the strongest albums released this year, tying up all loose ends with its poppy, echoing beats. The song “Metatron” concludes listeners’ short visit into the duo’s minds in a nicely satisfying way.

Psychic takes listeners on a journey, one that is sometimes lively and sometimes dark and unpleasant; as Jaar puts it, “the project’s called Darkside for a reason.” Psychic attempts to pack so much into a short time, triggering conflicting emotional responses within a single song, which may leave some feeling a little disoriented. This album may not please all first-time listeners, but for those who give it a chance, it’s an experience worth having.

-Christian Favreau

Lazer Kitty – Moons

Unsound America

Described as a Seattle “experimental-improvisational-space-rock trio who make soundtracks for the cosmos,” Lazer Kitty’s newest album Moons is nothing short of ethereal. The trio’s soundscape, inventive and textured, illustrates a cosmic sound infused with full bodied swells of synth punctuated with a crashing wash of cymbals.

Transporting listeners into the dark caverns of space, Moons feels like floating in zero gravity as breathtaking nebula swirl before your eyes. The album, sound-packed with a crossfire of synth waves, puncturing drums, and heavy bass, is designed for the fantastical mind. Although initially alienating, Moons grows increasingly more mesmerizing with each listen. The rippling instrumentals are mysterious and hypnotic, the abstract synth noises wander and rove, but not without intent.

From beginning to end, Moons offers a kaleidoscopic eccentricity. Opening with “Hyperion,” the extraterrestrial vibes launch into a funky melody – an eight minute escape into a galaxy far, far away. Guiding us into a lyricless space odyssey, track melts into track. “Dino Wipeout,” as the title suggests, has an ominous vibe, the guitar sombre but ending on a calming note. The celestial mood  combines a progressive rock rhythm that tinges “Pilgrimage” with indie psychedelic undertones and strikes a mystical groove in “Titan.” But, with other tracks on Moons, the band has deviated far from anything resembling a straightforward song, which leaves tracks like “Luna” and “Io” resembling something of a thought experiment. This album is most certainly for the audacious but earth-bound listener, with moments of cohesion, but  leaves more to be desired in terms of substance. The music doesn’t demand our attention, but it is these unfocused elements of Moons that make for perfect background, catering to a crowd that can appreciate the intangible yet abstract quality.

-Gelila Bedada

Blue Sky Black Death – Glaciers

Fake Four

Glaciers’ first track, “I” (Blue Sky Black Death is anything but creative with its track titles), plunges listeners right into its own world with a slightly cheesy 1980s-soundtrack-gone-dark sound. Sporadic vocals and echoing sound effects make Glaciers’ sound, like its cover art looks, eerily intriguing. At times beautifully engaging, Glaciers is an album with highs and lows, a compelling musical exploration that fails to reach as far as it could.

Blue Sky Black Death, hailing from Seattle, Washington, is a production duo composed of Kingston Maguire and Ian Taggart, better known, respectively, as Kingston and Young God. The duo is known for their unique artistic process, mixing live instrumentation and sampling to create a multi-genre, layered sound. Glaciers, their fourth album, has a musical fluidity reminiscent of Montreal-based art rock band Braids and electronic legend Burial, an intricate bubbly pop meets ambient dubstep.

The duo provides soothing ambient instrumentals, with echoing vocals that can be a touch overdone, like on “II.” “IV” features vocals bordering on the lackluster and repetitive, but redeems itself with textured instrumental layering – pretty much as pop as ambient electronic music can get. With only one of its five tracks under ten minutes, Glaciers lives up to the immersive goal of ambient music, sometimes to the point where a listener might actually forget they’re listening to anything distinctive. Only in “III” does Glaciers’ much-heralded hip hop sound truly take centre stage, giving the track a stronger rhythmic backbone. In fact, “III” is the album’s strongest track, combining the rest of the album’s light ethereal instrumentals with a solid bassline and vocal hip hop touches. Turning up the hip hop influence a notch higher would have given Glaciers the chance to flourish that much more as an explorative electronic album. As it is, Glaciers risks falling through its shaky foundation.

-Nathalie O’Neill

The This Many Boyfriends Club – Die or Get Rich Trying

Whatever happened to reverb? The alt-rock music of the 1980s and 1990s was dripping in the stuff. Sometimes it was used to dreamy and decadent effect by shoegaze and dream pop acts like My Bloody Valentine, sometimes to create avalanches of sonic aggression (see every grunge act ever). These days, listeners looking for layers of swirling fuzz to swaddle their ears generally steer toward the electronic end of the Pitchfork spectrum, where echoing, distorted synths are thick on the ground. But there are those that prefer their drone old school, originating from guitar strings rather than computer keys.

For this particular flavour of music geek, we have The This Many Boyfriends Club (Cas Kaplan, Andrew Miller, Lara Oundjian, Veronica Danger Winslow-Danger, and Evan Magoni, among them two McGill alumni and one current student), who clearly seek to revive the ancient age of reverb. The early 1990s indie-rock scene is writ large across their new EP Die or Get Rich Trying, in the intertwined boy-girl vocals, the burbling rumble of the bass, the alternating roar and jangle of the guitars. This is especially evident in the endearingly cluttered quality of This Many’s arrangements – everything seems to overlap a bit, as if each instrumental track is racing the others to a song’s finish line. At times, it seems that the band’s musical intake is entirely limited to the years between 1988 and 1992.

While This Many’s focus could be called narrow, there’s no questioning the fact that they know their little corner of the pop music universe exceptionally well. They’ve nailed the Pixies’ stop-start dynamics on opener “Alright,” and “The Swan” is essentially a slightly shouty My Bloody Valentine track with a bit of chugging guitar on the verses for texture. They manage to effectively straddle the reverb divide, using noise to channel punkish angst and ambient melody. Get Rich Trying clocks in at a skimpy 10:41 for five tracks, and it’s unlikely to garner a terribly wide audience. But anyone looking for alt rock nostalgia is going to find just the shot of adrenaline they need

–Hillary Pasternak

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In 1991, the city bought the Blue Bonnets racetrack from a real estate developer for $50 million, renaming it the Hippodrome. In 1997, the City sold it to the provincial government at a loss, for $35 million. Last year, in March, Quebec announced it would let the city decide the Hippodrome’s fate, provided half of the profits from property sales end up in the provincial coffers. There’s still a lot of time left – property sales and development on the Hippodrome site are only slated to begin in 2017.

The Hippodrome area, located in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, is 43.5 hectares, or the equivalent of 80 Canadian football fields – about the same size as the Vatican City. Creating a new neighbourhood here is no small feat; once developed, the Hippodrome neighbourhood could eventually be home to 20,000 residents in 8,000 housing units – about the population of Westmount.

The City’s official website for the project lists the main challenges of the Hippodrome site as being “surrounded by rail lines, Décarie Highway and an industrial area,” with “no infrastructure, public utilities or local stores.” Bleak prospects. But there’s a twist urban planning fiends may appreciate. The City is proposing “an ambitious five-year planning project to create a new neighbourhood built around sustainable development principles” on the Hippodrome site.

“The city will establish an inclusive model community on this site,” explains the City’s website. “It will develop a world-class living environment incorporating [the] best practices of sustainable development, urban design and community participation.” This urban utopia is set to include car-free areas, parks, community gardens, green roofs, public transit, green architecture, and local services catering especially to families with children. No condos this time. Well, hopefully not – but the City’s love of the big dollars that come with condos is a powerful force.

For the Hippodrome project to work, Montreal’s municipal government needs to put aside its desire for immediate profit. The City has put little effort into developing more single-family residential units with two or more bedrooms in the past few years, a type of unit that has facilitated the creation of tight-knit, family-friendly communities in some of Montreal’s established neighbourhoods.

“[This project] is a fine example of utopianism,” said Nik Luka, a Professor in McGill’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and member of the city’s advisory committee for the Hippodrome project, in an interview with The Daily.

The idea that the Hippodrome site will be car-free seems pretty wild. This blank slate of a neighbourhood, only about nine kilometres away from downtown Montreal, is surrounded by the Décarie expressway. So public transit or not, residents of the Hippodrome neighbourhood will be hard-pressed to escape the lure of the automobile. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the City’s idea of encouraging public transit was just building up condos with no parking spots, leaving residents with the unappealing choice of either making the long trek to the one metro station near the Hippodrome site (Namur) or endlessly circling for the elusive parking spot.

The dream of a Hippodrome utopia is bound to slightly fade while we wait for the municipal elections coming up on November 3; we still have to elect the mayor who will have the final say in the Hippodrome’s fate. “The project seems totally moribund now, at least until the municipal elections have come to pass,” explained Luka. The time has not yet come for the little neighbourhood that could.

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The McGill Daily (MD): Is this the first time youíve done a Porn Karaoke event?

Sherwin Sullivan Tjia (SST): I did it once before two years ago and it was a huge success! I did not expect it to be so funny. I thought it would be all about sex. But folks in the audience were laughing the whole time. I learned a lot from that first one. First of all, make the porn clips shorter. And break up the porn karaoke with actual karaoke. Porn is such a concentrated and potent movie ó you have to have a palate cleanser after every few clips.

MD: Can you take us through the different steps of this karaoke competition?

SST: The competition element is very loose. People just sign up to “sing” a porn clip beforehand and we call them up one at a time. It’s very similar to actual karaoke, only we play porn clips, provide microphones, and play a cheesy 1970s funktastic porno soundtrack in the background. It is, frankly, ridiculous.

MD: Who will be judging the event?

SST: Myself, my co-host, and a secret judge hidden in the audience!

MD: Can you give us a little info on your background? How did you first start throwing events?

SST: I started putting on weird events a few years back. I wanted to put on events that I would want to go to myself. Also, I wanted them to be participative – excuses to do something, have a new experience. That’s why I did the slow-dances, the strip spelling bees, the crowd karaokes, the cardboard fort nights, the love-letter reading open mics. I wanted to create events that people could add to their bucket lists and tell their friends about. And I wanted my events to be warm and friendly. So many events are designed to be “cool,” so you feel like an outsider just attending. I wanted events where people had reasons to talk to each other, so they could form a kind of improvised community.

MD: Your events are always pushing people toward a more queer-friendly and open-minded attitude. Do you think Montreal Porn Karaoke can help create a safer and more accepting environment?

SST: I am hoping to show a wide variety of porn, and I encourage the participants to have fun but not at other people’s expense. I think we all have to work together to create a safe space for folks to express different kinds of sexualities. I kind of see myself as the coach of a volleyball team, and when you come to one of my events, you agree to be a warm and friendly team player.

MD: In that vein, what do you think of the porn that’s around today? Some people argue that all porn has negative consequences, while others think it can be an important part of our lives and our sexuality. What’s your take on all this, and how does Montreal Porn Karaoke fit in?

SST: I don’t think porn is getting better or worse. It’s kind of in a holding pattern. I wish it were more artistic or interesting. My favourite movie ever is Gummo, and I wish they would make porn like Gummo. The entirety of porn these days are like action flicks, recycling the same explosions and plots. Certainly porn is a fantasy reality and you shouldn’t take it too seriously. It’s a dark, campy, horny Hollywood. The trouble is when you mistake fantasy for reality. Nobody is saying the Fast & Furious movie franchise is encouraging speeding and car accidents, even though it probably is. Porn is judged much more harshly because America has a neurotic complex about sex, but not violence. Porn Karaoke is hopefully a place where people can have fun with porn in a public way that isn’t untoward or inappropriate.

MD: What would you say to those intrigued by porn karaoke but a little too shy to try it?

SST: You can just watch! Just like regular karaoke, if you are too shy, you can just have a drink, enjoy the show, and watch your friends make fools of themselves!

Montreal Porn Karaoke will be hosted at MainLine Theatre (3997 St. Laurent) on Thursday, September 5 at 9 p.m.. Tickets are $8 at the door.

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Kasner first picked up the guitar in high school, forming a band with a few friends. After over five years of playing and performing and countless band names, Kasner’s efforts ultimately led to the band Silk Screaming. The band has played at Pop Montreal for the last two years, and has opened for many Canadian and small American bands over the years, including California band We Are Scientists.

The transition to solo artist for Kasner stemmed “more out of frustration than anything else,” as band members successively dropped out and joined in over the years. After putting off his solo album’s release and allowing his personal compositions to pile up, Kasner finally put End of the Night online on May 1, in a soft release coinciding with his own birthday.

Kasner describes his music as “psychedelic-influence alt-rock.” His sound has been described by critics as “Sex Pistols meets Beach Boys,” a comparison Kasner deems fitting for his surf-punk pop sound. The songs on End of the Night read like a collection of various genres, reminiscent of musical history, including Hendrix-like guitar solos.

“It’s an amalgamation of my thoughts over the years,” Kasner says about End of the Night. “The central theme [is really in my] sound.” Citing The Dandy  Warhols, Blur, Oasis, and the Velvet Underground as his influences, Kasner centres his music on simplicity and repetition. “When you find a combination of chords that really works,” he enthuses, “it induces you into a trance [and you] lose yourself in different parts.” Succinctly, Kasner is a firm believer in a ‘less is more’ philosophy, striving to emulate the greats he looks up to.

The lyrics on End of the Night reflect Kasner’s interest in simple, repetitive sounds. The album’s titular song includes such passages as “drive around/ head downtown […] have some more/ till you’re on the floor” and “off to a bar/ it’s not very far/ had some time to think/ now I need more drinks.” “Sympathy to the Man,” arguably the strongest track on End of the Night, is the best illustration of Kasner’s potential. The track has a down to earth, bare-bones acoustic sound that the rest of the album lacks.

Kasner’s professed belief in ‘less is more’ tends to get lost in End of the Night’s production. His effortless melodies and simplistic lyrics would best suit an acoustic sound, but Kasner opted instead for a fuzzy lo-fi finish. His proficiency on the guitar and the way his playing pairs seamlessly with soft singing tend to get lost in the intricate layers of sound effects he opted for.

By the time I finished listening to the whole album, Kasner’s songs had blended into a homogeneous whole. End of the Night makes for some laid-back easy listening, and this seems to be what Kasner was aiming for. But with no strong message running through it, Kasner’s work risks getting lost in the sea of indie albums.

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As this music festival nears its seventh birthday, it seems that the name ‘Osheaga’ has permanently entered Montreal’s music vocabulary and is now walking the fine line to becoming a summertime cliché. With the promise of offering a “world-class European-style” event, the Osheaga music and arts festival stands as the largest festival of its kind in Canada. It will be taking place amongst the stunning greenery of Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène.

This year’s headlining artists span a spectrum of musical genres. From indie rock to hip hop, the 2013 lineup brings together numerous favourites from around the globe, making it surely impossible to see it all. Headliners include The Cure, Phoenix, Mumford and Sons, Beach House, New Order, Vampire Weekend, and Kendrick Lamar, with many more such as Florence and the Machine and The Weeknd likely to be announced in the coming weeks.

Fresh and local bands not to be missed include electronic music group A Tribe Called Red, who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, and dubstep-influenced dance music with elements of traditional First Nations music, particularly vocal drumming and chanting. From the international music scene, Osheaga has plucked artists such as American rapper and lyricist Azealia Banks, England’s folk punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner, and Ireland’s indietronica group Nightbox. The festival also caters to those sporting a twin fetish, featuring the indie rock sister act Tegan and Sara as well as the electro-house EC Twins.

With three-day festival passes starting at $235, and a range of corporate sponsors that reads like a brand-recognition eye exam (H&M, Bacardi, Coca Cola), this crown jewel of Canada’s mainstream-for-the-cool-kids music scene better deliver. Osheaga will run from August 2 to 4.

Piknic Electronik

Enjoy jamming to electronic beats? If so, keep your eyes (and ears of course) open for this year’s tenth edition of Piknic Electronik at Parc Jean-Drapeau. An electronic music fest that runs every summer from May to September, Piknic invites you to check out a host of DJs, both international and local, who play an eclectic array of beats every Sunday evening. Think of it as the warm-weather alternative to Igloofest, where you get to bask in the long-awaited heat of summer and admire a snow-free Montreal. And seeing as it’s a family-oriented event where all ages are welcome, kids, parents, and grandparents are all invited to jam along (granted, just how much fun they would be having is questionable). Whether you’re done with school for the year, done for life, or have the misfortune of taking summer classes, why not kick start the impending warm season with a visit to Piknic?

Piknic Electronik will run from May 19 to September 22. Tickets are $12.

MUTEK

On its website, MUTEK describes itself as an “international festival of digital creativity and electronic music.” The MUTEK festival will showcase “sound, music, and audio-visual art.” MUTEK aims to be at the forefront of innovation, supporting emerging voices and presenting festival-goers with unique audio and visual experiences. For its 14th edition, MUTEK will feature both local and international artists, from electronic stars to budding newcomers. The ‘mu’ in MUTEK derives from the word ‘mutation’, reflecting this festival’s effort to embrace and stimulate creativity. From house to IDM to instrumental hip hop, MUTEK spans a wide range of electronic styles.

Artists performing at MUTEK range from the straight-dance-based DJs of yesteryear to more pop, funk, and minimal artists. Matthew Herbert, a British electronic musician, will be performing at MUTEK for the first time since 2005. Herbert, as he’s commonly known, was a legendary figure on the 1990s house music circuit, and his set will likely reflect that. Jamie Lidell, whose output spans electronic dance and more traditional, vocal-based pop music, promises to be more conventionally accessible for those festival-goers who aren’t as used to club settings. Andy Stott from the UK and Moritz von Oswald from Germany will round out the bill with their moody, minimal techno. With shows performed in larger venues such as Metropolis and SAT, MUTEK promises to facilitate the mood with immersive visuals and enthusiastic crowds.

Passes for the entire five days of the festival are $200, with weekend passes running at $120. This year’s individual ticket prices have not been announced, but will probably range from completely free to $40. Individual tickets will go on sale April 9. MUTEK will run from May 29 to June 2.

Fringe Festival

Populism and the arts had a baby, and they called it the Fringe Festival. Created in 1947 by artists who, feeling they were being excluded from the Edinburgh International Festival, decided they were going to have their own party and none of you jerks are invited so there, this intercontinental phenomenon is now in its 21st year in Montreal. Artists from the worlds of music, comedy, dance, and theatre are selected by lottery (albeit a lottery slightly tweaked to favour Quebec artists), and given censorship-free run of venues in the Plateau Mont-Royal, Mile End, and downtown areas. This year Fringe will feature such colourfully-named acts as Fuck You! You fucking Perv! (a performance piece by artist Leslie Baker, involving confrontational tap dancing and off-colour humour), How to be a terrorist (a solo show by Jimmy Grzelak, which is about the Boy Scouts of America), and FASTER Presents: The Elephant in the Room (a “modern day musical fairytale”).

Prices will vary for individual events, but a three-day pass is available for $30. The Fringe Festival will run from June 4 to 24.

Festival International Nuits d’Afrique

Since 1987, the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique has brought together the best of old and new musical traditions from across Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. This year, the festival will be taking place in venues dotted across Montreal. With a strong commitment to showcasing top artistic talent, the festival has brought together many of the world’s greatest and most passionate performers, enabling it to remain at the forefront of artistic creativity. This year, the festival is offering a record number of 91 shows and workshops produced and given by more than 500 artists from 32 countries. Nuits d’Afrique is an affordable way to experience the music, culture, and personality of dozens of countries around the globe without the airports and jet lag.

The festival lets you pick and choose which events to attend, with packages of three shows on sale for $70 and five shows for $100. For those travelers on a tighter budget, the festival will also be offering a selection of free concerts between July 19 and 21.

Festival TransAmériques 

The Festival TransAmériques (FTA) describes itself as “multilingual, hybrid, [and] festive.” Combining dance, performance art, and theatre, often in a single  performance, FTA evidences the collaborative potential of the contemporary art world. The FTA’s mission for community outreach means meetings with the festival’s featured artists, workshops, and free parties are also included in its programming.

FTA’s programming is not only entertaining, but often includes relevant social and political critique. Take “Dachshund UN,” a performance installation by Australian artist Bennett Miller, featuring volunteer dachshunds sitting at a model United Nations. Quirky, yes. But, according to Miller, also a representation of the interaction, unpredictability, and racial diversity of the actual UN. Or Johannesburg-based choreographer Robyn Orlin’s piece “Beauty remained for just a moment then returned gently to her starting position…” which offers a critique of South African society. Besides its inclusion of international artists, the FTA also showcases local talent such as Montreal performance artist Dana Michel, who will be presenting “Yellow Towel,” an exploration of stereotypes of black culture.

FTA events are mostly spread out across the Plateau Mont-Royal and downtown area in venues including Monument National, Centre Phi, and the outdoor Place des Festivals. Some of the shows can be pricey, with tickets up to $60, though festival-goers can purchase packages at discounted rates. FTA runs from May 22 to June 8.

Suoni Per Il Popolo

Does your music collection tend toward the obscure? Do the sounds of strange instruments – or normal instruments used in innovative ways – make you wide-eyed with awe? If the answer is yes, head out to music festival Suoni Per Il Popolo. Self-described as showcasing “avant garde” and “experimental”sounds, Suoni Per Il Popolo promises to deliver all of the strange and the obscure without any of the pretension.

Suoni Per Il Popolo will take place from June 5 to 22 throughout some of the city’s best small music venues, including Sala Rossa, Casa del Popolo, and Il Motore. The festival’s website organizes its artists by genre, ranging from “hip hop” to “contemporary classical” to “noise.” With many shows in the $10-20 range, it’s the ideal opportunity to catch a glimpse of something unique without shelling out too much hard-earned cash. If money is no object, there is also the $200 festival pass, providing unlimited access to experimental soundscapes for the entire eighteen days of Suoni.

For those who dig anything folksy, be sure to check out The Black Twig Pickers for a thorough dose of Appalachian-inspired harmonica and banjo. If dark, apocalyptic droning is more of your thing, San Francisco’s The Soft Moon will leave you equally impressed and unsettled. Nouveau jazz libre du Québec, formed in the 1960s, provides a not-so-quiet reaction to the Quiet Revolution.

If you’re not here during the summer, check out one of Suoni’s off-season shows. On April 30, He’s My Brother She’s My Sister will be playing at Casa del Popolo. This show should be perfect for anyone searching for a interesting mix: the band’s song “Clackin’ Heels” contains guitar, cello, multiple vocals, and the sound of one of the members tap dancing.

Elektra

If you want to spend the first week of May floating around a digital soundscape, check out Elektra, a Montreal festival of the digital arts happening from May 1-5. Two elements – “electronic music” and “visual creations” – fuse to form the basis of the festival. In its fourteenth year, the festival attracts acts from all over the world, but also strives to include local Montreal artists.

The festival’s goal is to explore the new opportunities that technological advances bring to digital art. This year’s theme, “ANTI/MATTER,” asks the visitor to dive into a profound philosophical pool of sound, graphics, and light. It is not merely a spectator event, as evidenced by one of the festival’s key components – the International Marketplace for Digital Arts. The IMDA is an opportunity for collaboration and inspiration, giving budding electronic musicians with a penchant for design a chance find like-minded artists.

One of this year’s headliners is ATOM, the mastermind also known as Uwe Schmidt. The German musician and composer, praised by Wikipedia as the “father of electrolatino, electrogospel and aciton (acid-reggaeton),” will perform his newest album, HD, accompanied with wild visuals. Schmidt describes his creation as “spiritual, musical and scientific” all at the same time. If you seek satisfaction for the mind, soul, and ears, make your way to ATOM on Friday, May 3.

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Serai publishes “thoughtful essays, reviews, commentaries, short stories, poems, artwork, videos, music, and much more,” according to its website. Over its 26 years of existence, Serai has published the work of over 400 different contributors. “People write for us from Australia, India […] the whole world,” explains Rana Bose, a Serai founder. Along with regular issues, which are released every two to six months, Serai also has daily columns such as Maya Khankhoje’s coverage of Montreal’s International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA). Serai now has 250,000 hits per month and reaches international audiences, boasting nearly 2,000 regular subscribers. “We want to expand beyond 3,000,” notes Bose.

Serai’s origins are tied in with Montreal’s South Asian Women’s Community Centre. A few Serai founders, most of whom are South Asian and Indian immigrants, were also writers for the Centre’s magazine. “Serai started with an anti-racist focus,” explains Bose. Serai began as a monthly print magazine, continuing to print for the next three years, until it could no longer afford the primary costs. As a result, Serai subsequently began online publication in a quarterly format. Bose agrees that the switch to web was a “blessing in disguise,” preventing Serai from being “confined to a certain community.” Bose explains that “the times have changed and the magazine has evolved.”

Serai is Persian for ‘resting place’ or ‘place of transience’ for a traveller. “In the mid-1990s,” says Bose, “the composition changed considerably to include more than just immigrants.”

“It [tells] the story of an evolving allophone community,” says Barnard, who describes Serai as “a collective.” Every issue is curated by a different editor who seeks out relevant and thought-provoking content. The Serai team is notably diverse, reflecting the webzine’s mandate to “bring the margins to the centre.” One editor is a well-known Montreal musician, another is a professor-cum-environmental activist. Columnist Khankhoje, another founding member of Serai, was born of Belgian and Indian parents and grew up in Mexico. Bose himself is somewhat of a nomad: having left his native India to study engineering in the U.S., he lived south of the border for five years before moving to Montreal, where he has now been living for 35 years. He describes himself as “an engineer, but also a poet and writer.”

“Our readership is mostly English, as are the writers,” explains Khankhoje. He explains that submissions in other languages are “welcome,” despite the fact that they are “the exception rather than the rule” in this overwhelmingly English publication. In the past 26 years, Serai has received 14 submissions in French, and has also published pieces in Spanish.

Serai’s current issue, “The Literature Issue – Subtlety in Stigmas and Stereotypes,” has a prominent poetry and short fiction focus, but also includes book reviews, essays, and interviews. “We try to put out a literature issue every year,” says Bose. “Along with other [regulars], such as our annual cinema issue.” The most eye-catching content in Serai are the pieces that fold political issues into the arts.  Highlights of their current issue include an interview with Indian cinema curator Meenakshi Shedde entitled “Indian Expressionism – The Fascinating Marriage of Indian and German Cinema,” as well as an editorial by Bose himself, “Literature and Remaining Idle No More.”

“They spoke in literature and words that moved mountains and churned up the rivers,” writes Bose of the First Nations women who began the Idle No More movement.

Although Serai’s mandate is to provide coverage of the arts, their analysis of popular culture’s political implications alongside their creative content frequently causes a splash. Bose explains that “anything that deals with Quebec issues” is particularly attention-grabbing. “[We published] an issue on Palestine that was popular a few years ago,” he adds. Bose describes the growth of Serai’s influence as “exponential,” as both the diversity of contributors and the readership base grow. Past thought-provoking pieces include Sujata Dey’s “Community Organizing in Côte-des-Neiges Then and Now,” Mirella Bontempo’s “The Multicultural Panic,” and Shubhobroto Ghosh’s  “‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others’: an examination of identities.”

A not-for-profit publication, Serai has been receiving funding from the Canada Council for the Arts for the past five or six years under the electronic publishing category. “We were the first magazine to apply for it,” says Bose. He laments, however, that Serai has been plagued by “diminished funding,” which creates “a lot of pressure” for the webzine. The editors are all volunteers – funding serves to pay contributors. The volunteer basis of the Serai team reflects the personal connections editors feel to Serai’s mission. For instance, Patrick Barnard, a Westmount resident, first got involved in 2007 with an article called “A big story in a small place.” An environmentalist, Patrick Barnard tackles “the turf war” that pitted local residents against the City of Westmount over the latter’s proposed replacement of all the green spaces in Westmount Park with synthetic turf.

Serai’s upcoming issue, “Class, Caste: Cultural labels?” will explore how Canada’s political issues are influenced by class. “[This theme] covers lots of issues,” explains Bose. Serai, which Bose describes as an exploration of “the minorities within the minorities,” promises to keep pushing the envelope in upcoming issues. Their coverage has a wide span, and the fact that they’ve been finding new margins to bring to the centre, staying fresh since 1986, should be applauded. While “the minorities within the minorities” is not an obvious interest for many people, it is by writing about these issues and topics that we can bring them closer to the mainstream, and popular concern.

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Robinson approached TNC with an idea for a play featuring semi-fictional characters based on his experience growing up with “street punks who dealt drugs, crazy tattoo artists, skin heads, [and] abusive cops who liked to chase kids with mohawks. I was having such trouble writing the show,” writes Robinson in his Director’s Note. “It was too close to home, too cathartic even.” So he let the cast and crew build the story themselves, through rehearsal and improvisation, to create a collaborative piece. The resulting story follows Danny, his live-in girlfriend Camille, and his best friend Stevie, through their experiences with drugs and encounters with the law. The precarious balance of their lives is disturbed following the arrest of Danny and, later on, Stevie. The play also follows the teens’ prosecutors, Officer Davis and Judge Parks.

The production’s pace is engagingly dynamic, with short scenes lasting only a few minutes. This ensures an almost perfectly smooth flow between the multiple overlapping narratives. The main fault of the production lies in its lack of an emotional grey area. The cast relies on instantaneous outbursts, frequently breaking into shouting matches, to convey powerful emotions. These over-the-top moments are less effective than the more powerful toned-down scenes, which hit a little closer to home. With the emotional middle ground missing, the piece has an occasionally jarring feel.

Cara Krisman as Stevie, Justin Lazarus as Danny, and Kim Drapack as Camille sometimes overreach their characters’ edginess, especially near the beginning. It takes a few scenes for the characters to develop beyond rebellious punk-kid stock figures, and only in the second act do they really take on multidimensionality. The resulting characters’ variety makes them believable, as their personal paths are intricately woven together in a vivid mimicry of real relationships.

Based on a True Story offers the classic villains-with-secret-personal-struggles narrative. Officer Davis’ background story is simple and effective, more so than Judge Parks’ cliché family ties to the street kids. Davis’ complex but relatable individuality comes across as a nuanced interpretation and deconstruction of an authority figure, as Ruderman manages to fold in issues of police brutality with Davis’ personal struggles. While he recounts a story of colleagues beaten with bricks by angry kids, it becomes increasingly clear that his duties on the beat leave him worn out, and his demotion to a desk job is a blessing in disguise.

“There is no wrong or right presented by this devised piece […] it shows only choices,” writes Robinson. But the ideas in Based on a True Story are perhaps more ambiguous than Robinson originally intended. The characters’ paths are shaped as much by outside events as they are by their own choices. Despite being too black-and-white at times, Based on a True Story manages to draw in the audience with its smooth pace, believable characters, and complex relationships. Robinson’s production, gripping and raw, is an entertaining embodiment of devised theatre’s ability to create naturalism onstage.

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“There are 500,000 buildings on the island,” explained Bumbaru in French, “and 45 per cent of these were built before World War II.” Heritage conservation traditionally focuses on important public buildings, yet the scope is broadening with the changing definitions of heritage. Cameron identified ‘vernacular’ architecture – buildings designed with localized needs, materials, and traditions in mind, such as the Plateau’s triplexes and Griffintown’s factories – as an important new category. “The Plateau Mont-Royal has the biggest concentration of vernacular heritage architecture in the world,” explained Norris in French. The sheer quantity of these types of buildings may render them less important to jaded Montrealers, but it is this widespread iconic architecture that fuels gentrification and the tourism industry.

‘Immaterial heritage’ is another relatively new concept in the realm of heritage conservation.  Immaterial heritage refers to cultural activity occurring on a given site, for instance, a neighbourhood’s traditional point-of-sale for Christmas trees. Bumbaru used a term borrowed from the Ontario government, describing the Mount Royal Cemetery as a “landscape of memories.” The recognition of immaterial heritage as protection-worthy  reflects the flourishing role of conservation in preserving the city’s cultural heritage as a living and evolving force to be passed on to future generations.

A central tenet of all four speakers’ presentations was the use of Montreal’s heritage as a stepping stone to the future. Cameron proposed sustainability as one of the main challenges of heritage conservation, casting conservation agents as curators of the city for future generations. Bumbaru referred to this as “perenniality,” stressing the importance of balancing social, economic, and environmental considerations. As a wink to the provincial license plate, Bumbaru joked, “I remember and I envisage.”

By definition, curators of any kind must determine what to include in their collection. Cameron adds nuance to this challenge, pointing to the “multiplicity of values” clamouring to define heritage status. Many aspects must be considered when according heritage status. Not only a specific building’s historical importance, but also its aesthetic context, should be taken into account. In China, vernacular buildings surrounding the Dalai Lama’s residence were removed and replaced by a parking lot, damaging the visual integrity of the site. Similar disruptions to the integrity of the urban landscape are occurring in Montreal. “Public access to city views is threatened,” said Bumbaru. “Walls of condos are selling the views.” In addition to determining what is worth preserving, conservation agents must also agree on the management process. One proposed solution to this issue is to consult the community when choosing which sites to focus on and how to manage them. Conference organizers described the evening as a step toward greater citizen involvement, providing popular education to community residents.

“The owners are the first preservers,” emphasized Bumbaru. He lamented the current emphasis many owners place on restoration at the expense of preservation. “The first protection is maintenance,” he said. Lane echoed these ideas in her presentation. “Quebec’s climate makes water the number one enemy in conservation,” she explained. “Water infiltrates building walls and freezes, causing the most threatening damage.”

Collaboration with local communities is characteristic of Montreal’s heritage conservation movement, which often receives the cold shoulder from municipal government. There is little financial incentive for owners to put in any conservation effort; in fact, it is most advantageous for them to do nothing – “demolition by negligence,” as Norris described it. “There is a dilemma faced by property owners,” said Norris in an interview with The Daily. “If they let their building deteriorate, they can then get permission to demolish and build something cheaper.” Norris cited the Fonds du patrimoine culturel québécois, a provincial organization, as the main source for heritage conservation subsidies. However, the low amount of annual funding offered is quickly exhausted each year. Municipal employee Luc Côté said in a phone interview with The Daily that there are no subsidies for heritage buildings. “Montreal only had three or four public buildings that were recognized as heritage buildings and exempt from taxation,” he explained in French, “but this status was cancelled this year. An owner can apply to get subsidies for renovations, but taxes on his property will also increase correspondingly with value.”

“Demolition usually means replacement with a building we could find anywhere,” explained Norris, “rather than something unique to Montreal.” Preservation of the city’s heritage was highlighted as an important goal for Projet Montréal. Party leader Richard Bergeron used the opportunity for a short promotional speech, explaining the ways he would use the information delivered in the conference to add heritage conservation measures to his platform. Bergeron described himself in French as “a champion for Montreal,” explaining his ambitions to be curator of the city rather than simply mayor of its residents, while Norris described the financial dilemma heritage owners face as “something we as a party are looking into.”

With a history plagued by threats of cultural erasure, provincial and municipal efforts for the preservation of a distinct heritage are a struggle closely tied to politics. The conference’s Griffintown surroundings offered a potent example of the multifaceted nature of heritage conservation. The neighbourhood’s industrial buildings – products of an earlier chapter of Montreal history – are in the process of being destroyed, or refurbished and rebranded, steering the neighbourhood away from its traditional working class demographic toward gentrification. The aesthetic of distinct heritage architecture is a potent economic force, drawing in tourists and investors. Heritage protection is not simply a nostalgic indulgence – it is the presentation of a historical and cultural narrative that extends into the city’s future.

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The time span of the exhibit is so extensive that the collection can offer only a cursory glance at best – a summary of a long and complicated history plagued with cultural tensions. The first room of the exhibit, presenting the initial discovery of Machu Picchu, offered a brief yet pertinent insight into the subjective archaeological process of uncovering artifacts of Peruvian history.  At the time of its discovery, the site was a fact of life to locals. They lived there and grew their maize on the ancient Incan terraces, but newly-arrived archaeologists put a stop to this, taking over the site in the name of excavation. This archaeological context, however, is somewhat glossed over in the rest of the exhibit, leaving the viewer to wonder how the specific pieces were selected and which factors determined their importance. The introduction to the exhibit claims these relics are symbols of “living cultural identity,” yet the multiple intersectionalities of culture fail to come across. In fact, the trajectory of the exhibit seems to reinforce an overly predictable colonialist narrative in which European conquest is presented as an inevitable turning point, something all of the area’s pre-Columbian history had been building to.

The first part of the exhibit focuses on artifacts of pre-Incan peoples – such as the Chavín, Mochica, Paracas, and Chimú – who predated European contact.  The second portion focuses on the Incan empire and its transformation by Spanish conquest. The third component of the exhibit features colonial art and works of the “Inca Renaissance,” followed by pieces of Indígenismo, a movement fueled by Peru’s 1821 independence, which extended into the 21st century.

The pre-Incan portion centres on material objects. These object – for the most part ritualistic – depict human sacrifice, war, sexuality, death, and the afterlife as embodied by human figurines, anthropomorphized agricultural goods such as maize, and feline and snake motifs. Unsurprisingly, gold features prominently both in this section and in the rest of the exhibit, reflecting the attraction Peru held for the Spanish colonizers.

After the many rooms of pre-Incan pottery and jewellery, the exhibit segues into artifacts from the Incan empire and the period of colonial contact, including eye-catching llama-fur textile tapestry. Pre-contact Incan culture is only briefly presented before an unsettling and abrupt shift into Spanish colonial art. The lack of diverse perspectives is echoed by the paucity of artifacts which seem to truly represent indigenous Peruvians’ experience of colonization. In fact, the only colonial-era piece accurately depicting the horrors of conquest is a series of drawings by  Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala depicting the realities of indigenous oppression for the Spanish king.

The remainder of the colonial section marks a radical overturn of aesthetics. The works featured are, for the most part, neo-classical religious-themed oil paintings and ornamental metalworks. The minimal presence of authentic Peruvian subjects and artists in this section points to the missing voice in the narrative of colonialism, especially noticeable in the absence of any mention of the Mita, a forced labour system used to extract the precious metals for many of these artworks.

The exhibit shifts again in its last section, exploring a series of post-independence works. At this point, the variety of media grows, as the proportion of paintings diminishes in favour of photographs, engravings, prints, sculptures, and mixed-media works. The theme of Peruvian identity is reiterated in a somewhat mechanical fashion by accompanying audio of children singing the national anthem. This section showcases the hybridization of post-independence art, as traditional Peruvian art and Spanish influence converged to create a bi-cultural artistic movement.

The artworks bookending the exhibit reflect the intended message of fruitful cultural marriage. The first artwork to greet visitors is Francisco Laso’s 1855 European-style painting Habitante de las Cordilleras, a portrait of an indigenous man holding a pre-Columbian artifact thought to embody Peruvian identity.  However, when related to the exhibit as a whole, this iconic painting’s meaning becomes more nuanced. One of the final pieces of the exhibit is an Arquebusier angel, a hybrid doll-like sculpture of a Spanish woman made from materials traditionally associated with indigenous culture.  While this angel appears on the surface as a unified, victorious marriage of Hispanic and indigenous cultures, the sculpture also brings to mind the chilling incongruities of post-colonial culture.

The narrative of colonialism is a challenge to broach in a single exhibit, given its controversial and lasting legacy for Peru. Peru’s current indigenous population, estimated as between 30 and 45 per cent of the national population, still faces many struggles of social integration, economic opportunities, and political rights as discrimination carries on. The hybrid artistic identity expressed in this exhibit seems somewhat discordant with Peru’s current cultural reality. Kingdoms of the Moon and Sun strives to fold all the pieces of Peruvian history into a morally satisfying, aesthetically pleasing result, but is this really a desirable objective? Although the artworks in this exhibit are worthy of appreciation in themselves, the survey of Peruvian art presented in this exhibit is overly broad, at times ignoring the lasting repercussions of historical narrative.

Kingdoms of the Moon and Sun will be on view at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from February 2 to June 16

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It’s impossible to describe anything as being made for ‘a certain audience’ without sounding insulting. That said, LA punks FIDLAR’s self-titled debut full-length is exactly that, no slight intended. FIDLAR are self-consciously aligning themselves with a visible, tried-and-true tradition of California punk music. The only reason that these guys are an ‘indie’ band in 2013 is because the last wave of LA surf-punks to hit the mainstream have either traded in their membership cards for their creative ambitions (blink-182, Green Day) or settled into respectable semi-obscurity (the Offspring, the Vandals, and pretty much all of the rest of them).

That isn’t to say that I’m not glad to find FIDLAR under the mainstream’s radar, as their incessant and anthemic declarations of their love for weed, beer, cocaine, and cheap sex probably wouldn’t move a whole lot of units in Idaho, even if anyone was buying CDs anymore. There’s no poetry here, kids (“Why did you go betray me/you’re such a whore”), but if you’re one of the thousands of post-alt kids who torrented the entire Black Flag discography before going to the Wavves show, there’s plenty for you to love in FIDLAR. Singer Zac Carper has a pleasing early-Westerbergian yelp, and as cliché as it sounds, there is a charmingly unrelenting energy to the whole affair. There may not be much to set FIDLAR apart from the storied lineage they claim, but it does the heart good to know there are still dirty kids playing punk rock in the basements and skate parks of middle America.

–Cas Kaplan

Everything Everything – Arc
Sony RCA

Everything Everything are riding back into town upon the electro-synth-and-guitar stallion that they broke in during their first album. While the horse was easily spooked, Jonathan Higg’s falsetto vocals were a masterful rider, and, after crossing the river of Mercury Prize nomination, the water is steaming off its back in the midday sun. This new album is a more refined entity with the guitars thrown in sparingly and songs more reliant on vocal arrangements, synth, and drums.

Lead singles “Cough Cough” and “Kemosabe” open the album in familiar territory, but about halfway through the record it becomes clear that there has been a change of gear.

“Duet” stands out as a track representing a new kind of confusion; a yearning love song set to strings, yet with lyrics littered with post apocalyptic imagery. By the end of the song, Alex Robertshaw is thrashing madly and semi-tonally at his guitar. As solid as this second album is (and for whatever it is worth, maybe even better than the first), I liked how nuts Everything Everything’s first LP was. It was called Man Alive. There was wittiness, guitars, and electro hooks in abundance. The wit, sadly, is gone, but as Arc rolls into its final track, “Don’t Try,” we are reminded that this stallion can run as fast as some of us remember.

—Daniel Woodhouse

Homeshake – The Homeshake Tape
Fixture Records

“This is central control,” repeats Reverend Short, in a low tremor,” we are ready to transmit.” Within seconds, the white-haired, ‘UFO channeling’ Reverend begins to speak with an alien from planet Jupiter, all in the comfort of his Midwest American home. For occult enthusiasts, the warping of a classic clip is what gilds the jangly guitar-laden track “Northern Man” in Homeshake’s debut album, The Homeshake Tape.

Following in the footsteps of hip hop artists MF Doom and Wu-Tang Clan, Homeshake’s tracks pay tribute to childhood relics by sampling the likes of Dragon Ball Z, intergalactic sound effects, and stoner double-entendres into his grunge rock aesthetic. This collection of nine soul-inspired, home-recorded jams creates the ideal downbeat soundtrack for twenty-something nihilists.

Fading in from the outer recesses of Outremont’s dream-pop sound wave, Peter Sagar, the man behind Homeshake, crafts warbled yet eerily smooth guitar riffs that offer a languorous alternative to the Montreal scene. Displaying a penchant for lo-fi experimentation, Sagar cleverly blends dissonant chords and out-of-tune vocals with spontaneous beats, and sets it to the syrupy hooks of his guitar. Though many listeners have noticed the similarities between the hazy harmonies of Homeshake and fellow Albertan expat, Mac DeMarco, the pocketed bass-lines that underline Sagar’s tracks hint at a stronger root in soul and hip hop. By trading in the raw and kinetic energy of Green and Burke for languid and groggy ballads, such as “Moon Woman,” his tape manages to push the boundaries of distorted soul.

Departing from his former solo project, Sans AIDS, an outfit that was reminiscent of a Guided By Voices record played at half-speed, Sagar’s recent release has shown significant development in quality and production. The tracks seem to explore interim states of lucidity that stir in the moments before his instruments wake to a complete melody, and dissipate by the time his voice drifts out of tune. At the end of the day, The Homeshake Tape offers a homegrown taste of moon rock for the dazed, the stoned, and the deluded.

—Mercedes Sharpe Zayas

Ducktails – The Flower Lane
Domino Records

With a title like The Flower Lane, you’d expect the cover of Ducktails’ newest album to be pretty much anything other than a plain black-and-white tile pattern. Yet these seeming opposites – poetic romance and precise technique – are exactly what Ducktails’ fourth album is all about.

The trendy, nostalgic, lo-fi style is appealing, but perhaps overused. Ducktails’ minutely-produced aesthetic feels somewhat too clean-cut and predictable for the blurry lo-fi world the band usually inhabits, but The Flower Lane redeems itself with compelling instrumental passages. With this first studio album, Ducktails is leaning toward a more structured and lyric-centered pop style.

The new LP is guitarist Matt Mondanile’s effort to transform Ducktails from a solo side project for his band Real Estate to a diverse collaborative endeavour. While collaboration means a greater variety of details – sax solos and synth riffs galore – it also subtracts from the contemplative, personal, and authentic style of Ducktails’ previous work.

Mondanile’s voice is constantly casual, à la Ariel Pink, while The Flower Lane’s bubbly electro-pop explorations bring to mind Cut Copy. The album’s first single, “Letter of Intent” – featuring ethereal vocals by Future Shuttle’s Jessa Farkas (think Au Revoir Simone) – is charming, but fails to deliver the unique punch a single calls for. “Under Cover” combines the album’s strongest elements in a single track: a soothing summertime feel, simple and effective instrumental riffs, and cheeky lyrics (“do you want to go under the covers?”) murmured in a detached and easygoing tone.

Ducktails’ greatest potential lies in the casual, almost haphazard, lo-fi folk instrumentalism they have previously explored. Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics, Ducktails’ last album, had a more compelling, flowing depth to it, but The Flower Lane evidences a keener exploration of pop vocals, making for what is, at its core, a cheerful synth-pop album. While The Flower Lane has some interesting instrumental passages, Ducktails seem to be losing track of their charmingly casual style with occasionally repetitive and over-structured motifs striving to cover a lack of genuine passion.

—Nathalie O’Neill

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The play unfolds late at night in Hosanna’s apartment. Hosanna, costumed as Elizabeth Taylor and fresh from social humiliation, returns from a rival drag queen’s Halloween party. Cuirette arrives shortly afterward, joining her in a long and often quarrelsome discussion, occasionally broken up by his own tangential rants. Hosanna takes centre stage for most of the second act, straddling a chair, emulating this physical barrier between her and the audience by recounting a detailed version of her success at the party – which turns out to be a deceitful fantasy – before backtracking and telling the audience how the evening actually unfolded.

Leydon first read Tremblay’s work last year on a friend’s recommendation. Involved with Players’ Theatre as well as the student strike, Leydon saw the potential of putting on Tremblay at McGill. “I thought it’d be great to do this at McGill,” says Leydon, “to bring awareness to Quebec history.” While Leydon attaches a significant level of importance to the historical roots of the play, the questions of identity that Hosanna explores fit nicely into the realm of contemporary self-questioning. “I know what I want in the theatre,” Tremblay once said. “I want a real political theatre, but I know that political theatre is dull. I write fables.”

The authentic (hidden) body and the way we dress it for performance was an apt political metaphor for Tremblay, but does not come across as clearly in Leydon’s production.

“When the blinking pharmacy sign [outside the window] goes out,” explains Leydon, “Hosanna is no longer rooted in her physical location in a Montreal slum, and is then able to escape into fantasy.” Leydon sees the historical setting as a pillar of his production, but it is only rarely highlighted with certain elements such as the blinking light. For the most part, action is isolated to Hosanna’s breach-free apartment, giving it a timeless quality. The phone rings a few times in the first act, but we never hear the caller’s voice. Cuirette talks about their taxi driver, but we never see or hear him. Reality is flipped upside down within the world of the play: existential musings are mostly tangible, while the outside world remains blurry.

Daniel Carter is a natural as Hosanna: his performance depicts the gradual surfacing of Hosanna’s layers. Hosanna swings from man to woman, often finding herself somewhere in between. Although his direct interpellations and eye contact with the crowd tend to diminish the overall effect of solitary anguish, Carter, for the most part, navigates the intricacies of his role seamlessly, even managing to shed real tears. Cameron Oram, in the role of pot-bellied biker boyfriend Cuirette, is initially a backdrop to Hosanna’s struggle, but manages to build up a certain intensity as his frustrations increasingly parallel and overlap those of Hosanna.

The cast’s acting ability is a pillar for the success of Tremblay’s meta approach. Leydon shows us performers performing, reminding us that we are constantly playing a role in our own lives.

Fleshing out the unadorned script, TNC’s  set adds a lushness to the play, anchoring the characters’ theoretical explorations. Rather than choosing to use a relatively bare stage, the three-dimensionality of Hosanna’s world makes her reflections more tangible as everyday trans* challenges. While Hosanna explores somewhat abstract dichotomies of fantasy/reality and authenticity/performance, Leydon manages to keep audiences engaged with a quotidian tinge. Hosanna’s party flop is only a single event in her ongoing identity crisis; her intense self-questioning in turn brings her back to hopelessly dwelling on this single event.

The imperfections in Leydon’s production are quickly forgotten in light of the bigger picture. The bunched-up seams in Hosanna’s costumes remind us that she is wearing multiple layers, and that these layers aren’t completely opaque. The actors stumble at times – a few lines were stuttered, a shoe strap broke, and pins fell off Oram’s jacket – but these flaws only strengthened the metaphor of theatre as imperfect reflection of real life.

Hosanna leaves many of the questions it raises unanswered – but the point is that there are no definite and universal answers. Our daily struggles are manifestations of the abstract and esoteric questions we ask ourselves about what is real and what is performance. Leydon’s production successfully communicates these links by attaching them to a personal experience.

Hosanna will be playing from February 13 – 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and seniors, and $10 for general admission. 

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