How ‘Much’ can you handle?
Much Music brings back some old favs in 2011

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Reviewer

ver the years, Much Music has

gradually descended from the

definition of hip to that of square.
Maybe it’s an age thing, but I remember
‘a time when the first thing Id do after
school was turn on Much and leave it
there for the rest of the day. At one point,
there was actually a decent variety of
‘original’ shows, and for whatever reason,
nearly all of them are gone now.

“Much on Demand,’ arguably the
most popular show, is now merely an
ugly shadow of MTV’s TRL, and about
six hours of the daily programming is
made up of tween dramas you can watch
on literally any other station. But the real
nail in the coffin here was that last year,
Much decided to cancel both ‘The Wedge’

and ‘RapCity’. Part of this decision was
due to the fact that Much recently asked
the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications) if they could
limit the amount of music videos shown
to twenty-five per cent of their daily
programming (instead of the mandatory
fifty per cent). On top of that, they
requested to remove several of their other
music-based shows, including ‘French
Kiss,’ which shows thirty minutes worth
of French music videos each episode.
Obviously the CRTC declined, and
now Much has to revamp itself once
again. Luckily, this includes bringing
back ‘The Wedge’ and ‘RapCity,’ albeit
in different formats. For those who
remember ‘The Wedge,’ it was an hour-
long program of music videos from
obscure and experimental bands of

different genres from all over the world.
‘RapCity,’ on the other hand, was often
shown in either half hour or one-hour
episodes, depending on the day of the
week. The show often included brief
interviews with various rap artists before
playing their videos — some popular, and
like ‘Wedge,’ some obscure.

These new versions of the two
shows will include having Canadian
artists host them. For “RapCity,’ Tyrone
“T-RexXx” Edwards will be hosting, and
for ‘The Wedge’, we get Damian “Pink
Eyes” Abraham, lead singer of Toronto
band, F—ked Up. Each episode of the
shows will feature interviews and live
performances, as well as music videos, of
course. Both shows will also be presented
in a one-hour format, which is another
plus.

Personally, I think the inclusion of
Canadian hosts —talented ones, at that
—is an excellent idea. Not only are you
hooking in their respective audiences, but
the inclusion of a personality is something
everyone can enjoy. The first episode of
the new ‘RapCity’ aired January 20 at
7pm, and “The Wedge’ will be back this
Wednesday (January 26), also at 7pm.

RAPCITY

 

 

Handle with care

The Oh Wells - The EP that we love

By Cody Klyne, Arts Editor

ou know when you’ re signing
y a letter and you want the reader

to know you mean what you’ve
written; you sign it off with “Sincerely,”
and then your name, right? That’s kind
of how I was left feeling after listening
to The Oh Wells EP, The Ep that we love.
It’s a letter signed “Sincerely, The Oh
Wells.”

Sincerity and honesty in a release,
from any band, brings something special
and unique to the at home listening
experience. You can tell when it’s forced
and you can tell when they mean it. In

this case, and in the case of the band as an
entity, it’s a defining characteristic. The
EP that we love is, as the title implies, a
vulnerable, if over too soon, first effort
from a great local band.

Over the course of five tracks: “I
Hate the Sun,” “Secret Society,” “Is it
Too Late to Apologize,” “Closure,” and
“Otis,” clocking in at total of eighteen-
minutes, reoccurring themes revolving
around relationships—friendships and
otherwise—as well as what happens
when those relationships work, and don’t
work out, are explored in colourful,
often revealing, detail. While I of course
strongly recommend supporting your

local music scene by getting out and
seeing them live, the songs on the EP are
a great representation of what you might
expect at a show, plus, the sound quality
is actually pretty topnotch. From the
popping percussion and quirky ukulele,
to the steady bass and soul-folk vocals
throughout, this is without a doubt an EP
that I love.

www.inyspace.com/theohwellsband
www.theohwells.com

the EP that we love

 

The Oh Wells _

 

A “balls out” performance

.-.literally
By Julia Siedlanowska

exuality, nudity, and electronic

rock and roll; The PuSh

International Performing Arts
Festival in Vancouver had the smarts to
present the innovative and provocative
performance of Poland’s In the Solitude
of Cotton Fields. Under the direction
of Radoslaw Rychcik, actors Wojciech
Niemezyk, and Tomasz Nosinski, in
collaboration with the “art-rock” band
Natural Born Chillers, created a piece
that threw at us, non-stop, the realities
and struggles of the story of “two men
who desire everything from each other.”

The performance teetered on the

very edge of creation, the audience
being constantly inundated with
images—through text (spoken in Polish,
but translated and projected in English),
movement, sound, and video montage.

6

My brain took in and analyzed, and
constantly tried to keep up, so that by the
end of the seventy five minutes it was
almost like a dream. I was exhausted and
inspired, the experience embedded into
my subconscious.

The text was translated from the
work of French playwright Bernard-
Marie Koltés. In it we experienced the
contrast between the beauty and structure
of the words and the raw, confusing
reality of their subject matter. The reality
being the story of two characters known
only as “The Dealer,” and “The Client,”
and their struggle in actualizing their
transaction; the tension between the
gentleness, and the animalistic nature
of the encounter. Parallels seemed to
be drawn everywhere between man,
beast, dealer, and client. The actors
did a beautiful job in portraying these
characters in a crazy performance of the

most absurd realism, and real absurdity.
In a talk back after the show on Thursday
at Performance Works, the director
mentioned that the greatest complement
he ever gets is when his colleagues
comment “The actors behaved just
like I do!” Niemczyk, and Nosinski’s
connection was striking, with a beautiful
brutality. They delivered a gutsy,
memorable, and nuanced performance.
Woven into the story, and in perfect
unison, was the background performance
of the Natural Born Chillers. During
Thursdays talk back, the question of
genre was posed. “We are electronic
rock,” says one member. “No! We don’t
have a genre,” insists another. Their
sassy attitude was reflected in their
music. The opening number: a sort of
techno-rock fusion with a voice saying
“Do you know where your teenager is
at five in the morning? Dirty dancing.

Listening to techno music.”

The performance brought back
memories of Stanley Kubrick’s “A
Clockwork Orange.” The band wearing
identical white pants and striped shirts
looked a little like Alex and his gang
(although didn’t give the impression of
being as immoral). The video montage
near the end of the show made me feel a
little bit like I was being overloaded with
sexuality, although in addition to porn
there were also clips from the movie
“Cry Baby,” children’s cartoons, and
some classic Western films. The director
and performers of this production were
equally as personality filled as the
fictional characters in one of Kubrick’s
films; walking the line between radical
genius, and lunacy. Just the way it should
be.