Ninjaspy creates its own scene
It only makes sense that unconventional music should be released in an unconventional fashion. Ska/metal band Ninjaspy’s upcoming EP No Kata, a 10 ½-minute piece of music employing its trademark genre-hopping and warped time signatures, will feature an accompanying graphic novel in which the song’s lyrics make up the narrative and dialogue. The effort is […]
Big Sugar returns to play EEC Nov. 3 – is this a Canadian reunion trend?
OK, now it’s an epidemic. Another noted Canadian band from the mid-’90s is coming back from self-imposed hiatus – Big Sugar. Gordie Johnson’s first claim to fame will return to town to play the Edmonton Event Centre on Thursday, Nov. 3. With Wide Mouth Mason opening – with Gordie on bass – Big Sugar is […]
The Tea Party to rock Edmonton Nov. 18 – the band, not the political movement
No politics … just rock and roll. That’s what it says on the Tea Party’s website, so as not to cause confusion with the American right-wing political movement that’s sprung up since the last time the popular “Moroccan-roll” band toured Canada and which apparently wants the teaparty.com domain in the worst way. The Tea Party […]
GIGGLE CITY: Dummies take the heat for Damien James
It’s not the comic crossing the line – it’s his puppets! The peculiar art of ventriloquism may seem like a crutch, a prop, a gimmick that can hold you back from the true pursuit of comedy, but it’s actually very freeing. You can get away with murder up there – as long as you blame […]
City and Colour brings Little Hell to the Jube January 25
Going unplugged turned out to be a great career move for Dallas Green, who became “City and Colour” (Dallas = City, Green = Colour) for a solo career that one could argue far outshines his work in his punk band Alexisonfire – or at least opened up his songwriting gifts to a new audience. Said […]
WHO’S IN THE BAND: Bachman & Turner tonight at the Jube
It’s all well and good if you’re Pearl Jam and stay together 20 years before some bigshot Hollywood director makes a movie about you. That’s easy. Twenty? Try 20 DIFFERENT bands over 50 years, Sonny Boy, when you’re actually entitled to be called “classic rock” and you argue about who was in the room when […]
EIFF REVIEW ROUND-UP: From Fightville to Bob and the Monster
Did anyone actually sit in a movie theatre on such a beautiful weekend? Don’t worry, film buffs – the Edmonton International Film Festival continues through Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Garneau Theatre, Empire City Centre and other venues around town. From heavy documentaries to road trip movies to romantic comedies to stuff we still can’t […]
EIFF REVIEW: Green Wave a call to arms short on solutions
As with the documentary Crime After Crime, which screened yesterday, Edmonton International Film Festival entrant The Green Wave suffers from a heavy directorial hand and some arch overacting. Nonetheless, it succeeds in its purpose: illustrating the brutal crackdown on rallies for political reform in Iran. This job is made easier, of course, by the fact […]
EIFF: A Generation of Whine
Entries are being now taken to come up with a name for the new generation that recently came of age and hates Generation X as much as Generation X hates the Baby Boomers. They’re here … and even that reference is out of date (Poltergeist, 1982). Any ideas? Generation Y is lame, Next Generation is […]
EIFF REVIEW: Fightville captures humanity behind mixed martial arts
There’s a moment early on in the documentary Fightville that elegantly summarises a key theme: that success demands discipline, while life demands honesty. Young Albert Stainback is explaining his motivation for wanting to be a pro fighter. It’s about his difficult life, his father’s murder, the abuse his mother suffered. He’s a smart, perceptive young […]
