Jenn Hardy, who wrote the current This Magazine cover story on permaculture for the July-August 2009 issue, was interviewed yesterday by CFAX 1070 in Victoria, B.C., about her feature article, her world travels researching this story, and how people can live more sustainably today. She talked for almost 15 minutes with Murray Langdon, the host […] More »
Quebec artist’s electronic soundscapes are rooted in our home and native land LISTEN: “200 Years Ago” from Tim Hecker’s An Imaginary Country On September 30, 2006, as part of Toronto’s interactive art celebration Nuit Blanche, Montreal musician Tim Hecker hid 10 speakers in the branches of a tree across from the Mercer Union art gallery. […] More »
The web allows immigrants to straddle two worlds like never before As in so many immigrant families, weekend mornings in my house always meant one thing: “our shows” on TV. We are of Indian descent, and the sounds of the latest Bollywood hits were a staple of our Saturdays and Sundays, as much a part […] More »
Calgary band is big in Europe, but home is where their hearts are Woodpigeon may very well be the biggest Canadian band you’ve never heard of — literally and figuratively. The eight-member Calgary collective’s wistful, lyrical alt-folk has been drawing capacity crowds and garnering deafening buzz in the U.K. and Europe over the past year, […] More »
Tonight the Polaris Prize, the “$20,000 prize for a full length Canadian album, judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales” will be awarded, and both the timing and the artist lineup are delicious (if unintended). One of the bands whose artistic merit is being judged this evening is Holy Fuck, […] More »
So last night, the Arcade Fire played Saturday Night Live for the first time, performing two songs from their upcoming Neon Bible album. In the above clip the band plays their first song, “Intervention,” after which frontman Win Butler smashes his acoustic guitar. Speculation as to why has been met online with a predictable array […] More »
The year two thousand and six was a strange one for music. No real discernable trends, little consensus on the best the year had to offer, and yet some astounding performances from artists across many genres. A panel of This Magazine bloggers and contributors (Calvin, Krisztina, Lisa, Annette, Joyce and myself) have endeavored to make […] More »
If you’ve spent much time in Vancouver, especially East Vancouver, you’ve probably been captivated by the migration of crows from downtown to parts east that occurs around dusk each day. From the window of my old, top-floor apartment on East 10th, it was a comforting ritual to watch. Now, a group of musicians are ready […] More »
The struggle for social justice has always had a rousing soundtrack—from solidarity-inspiring union hymns to folk songs to hardcore anthems. To mark This’s 40th anniversary, we’ve put together a list of 40 essential “songs of resistance,” starting with 1966 and going right up to the present. After the jump, see the list, check out clips […] More »
So Forbes just released it’s annual list of the top earning dead celebrities (surely you’ve been craving such a list for a while now). The top spot went to Kurt Cobain. Fifty million dollars. Wow. He’ll surely be on the list again next year since his sober (ahem, cough, cough) widow sold 1/4 of the […] More »
A while back I wrote about the creation of the Polaris Music Prize, a new award recognizing excellence in music by naming the top Canadian album of the year. At the time I gave a suggested list of nominees, which, as it turns out, included a few of the actual finalists: Broken Social Scene’s self-titled […] More »