Within the microcosm of the evolution of every musical genre come a cycle of celebration, conformity, segregation, ingenuity, artistry, boredom, and rebellion. This is what has been going on in house and techno music at least–since they became the primary sources of 4/4 electronic dancefloor rhythms found clubs in the late 80′s and ’90′s. Read More
Montreal
aka La Métropole, La Belle Ville
Smashing the 4/4
Claire | February 1st, 2012
Winter Boots Done Right
Claire | January 31st, 2012
Sorel's Classic Joan of Arc
Fashionistas claim that fall is the best season for style due to the necessity for layering invoked by that chilly autumn breeze… Montreal winter, however, is a whole other story. Read More
Hrdvsion : Strangely Seductive Sounds
Claire | January 5th, 2012
To many aficionados of electronic music, he is best identified as Mathew Jonson’s little brother. But to those who love the bizarre, discordant, oft electro-infused tinges of his music, he is Nathan Jonson–better known as Hrdvsion. He grew up in Victoria, BC, playing a variety of musical instruments such as piano and washtub bass. But it was his dad’s MIDI keyboard that piqued his interest in sound production. He started fiddling around with it at the age of eight. His interests revolved more around destroying than creating sounds; smashing melodies and rhythms together in unconventional ways, more as a sort of sonic experiment than an attempt to create music that was cohesive and appealing to the listener.
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H&M : Beauty Rendered Digital
Claire | January 4th, 2012
On December 6th, 2011, a news bulletin was released with allegations that H&M has been using real models’ heads attached to artificially rendered bodies in their recent ad campaign–models whose unrealistically slender proportions make it nearly impossible for them to be real. At first the accusations seemed exaggerated and preposterous. Aren’t there enough real models who are slender enough to suffice? Apparently not to model H&M’s latest swimwear and lingerie collections.
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Puffed Sleeves Extreme
Claire | January 4th, 2012
I remember as a kid in the 1980′s being incredibly excited when I got my first pair of puffed sleeves. Read More
Lawrence: Step Back in Time to Dine
Claire | January 3rd, 2012
What do you get when you cross an old English pub with a classy restaurant, and plunk it in the heart of a vastly multicultural city like Montreal? The result is a restaurant with a soft glow emanating from the transparent incandescent bulbs hanging stylishly above the bar. A restaurant whose food represents a true fusion among English, French, and North American influences. Read More
The Skin I Live In
Claire | January 3rd, 2012
Almodovar. He could be called the master of darkness. Dark comedy, dark thrillers, addiction, convoluted murderous plots, dark-haired women and dark fantasies.
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Take Me To Your Atelier
Claire | December 16th, 2011
In French, Atelier means workshop, or studio. And due to its post-industrial nature, there is a lot of affordable real estate around town. What does this mean? For artists, musicians, designers, and other young creative professionals it is possible to rent space at a reasonably low cost. The result: an explosion of creativity. Production of new ideas, new materials, new artistic forms, and new clothes! Lots of clothes are manufactured here, and some of them never make it off the ground before hitting the racks at a ‘vente d’atelier’ (studio sale).
Raphael Lozano-Hemmer: Lighting Up Montreal’s Night Sky
Claire | December 15th, 2011
He hails from Mexico city but makes his home in Montreal and Madrid. A conceptualist thinker, Raphael creates interactive installations meant for large-scale public dissemination. Imagine architecture and performance art transformed into a technofied bricolage of light in motion. Read More
The Art of Cool: City Chic meets Lit Geek
Claire | December 15th, 2011
I remember hearing about Urban Outfitters when I was a teenager searching for new outlets of cool, modern, affordable urban clothing. I pored over their ads in Elle and Seventeen Magazine. Chic but not too fancy. Trendy but never splashy. Shiny and sparkly…sometimes. Ever-changing: yes. Their graffiti-scribbled logo lettering, when combined with messy-haired down-to-earth looking models wearing layered necklaces, tank tops and dresses, playfully posing in carefree positions tossing their hair around. Read More
The Librarian: Redefining Bass
Claire | December 14th, 2011
Okay, I’ll admit it. I have a minor obsession for females kicking ass in the music industry. Its probably largely due to the fact that I am a female in the music industry. But it is also partially due to the fact that there is something undeniably emotive about a woman conjuring music using an instrument, her voice, or a machine.
That’s why I would like to educate those of you who happen to be into bass music that there is a new star on the horizon. Her name is The Librarian.
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Black on Black
Claire | December 14th, 2011
Tights: they add drama to an outfit when worn black on black. They can double as tight pants to provide an underlayer of winter warmth, or provide a sleek sultry canvas for knee-high socks, legwarmers, short skirts, or a peekaboo playground for textured tights. They may be almost solid-thick, patterned, or practically sheer. Fishnet, lace patterns, thigh-high and control top. Wool, cotton, fishnet, nylon or silk: Choose the form + function that suits you best.
I See You Baby
Claire | October 31st, 2011
OK, admit it. Sometimes, occasionally, here and there, while waiting for a red light to turn green, walking up the street, or wandering through the park, you find your gaze drifting unconsciously toward a shapely woman’s butt,there is something ever-alluring about it. And when it comes to creating the perfect pant to make everyone’s look as good as it can be, Lululemon has it down to a science.
Phantogram
Claire | October 28th, 2011
I’m not an indie rocker type, so it takes a lot for me to like a band. But from the moment I heard the first licks of guitar from Phantogram’s When I’m Small, I knew these guys had something special about their schtick. Read More
The New Beatport
Claire | October 25th, 2011
I remember when I was a kid, going to the grocery store to buy my favorite cereal – Cinnamon Toast Crunch – only to find out that the ‘new and improved recipe’ was actually a step down from the original, when it came to both flavor and crunch. When I first tried the new Beatport during its beta testing phase in May 2011, I felt the same way. Read More