issue 11 // volume 44

Give us the politics, Rosemary

> New version of ‘The National’ targets a younger generation

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

A fter CBC announced Adrienne
senault, lan Hanomansing,

Andrew Chang, and Rosemary Barton
as the next hosts of The National, a lot
of people wondered if the show would
now appeal to a younger demographic
in the age of internet news. Earlier, |
had written my predictions of the new
version of the show. The revamped
version of The National has been highly
anticipated, and after a three-month
wait, it began on November 6, 2017.

The program begins with the
headlines of top stories instead of the
hosts explaining the top stories. In
the opening episode, the hosts talked
about the changes in the show and
Hanomansing said that, “One thing
that isn’t new: The journalism that
you expect. That will stay the same.”

The hosts appeared in three different
cities: Arsenault and Hanomansing in
Toronto, Barton in Ottawa, and Chang
in Vancouver. The top story in the first
episode was the breaking news of the
police officer who was shot in Abbotsford,
which Chang handled because Abbotsford
is near Vancouver. Then Hanomansing
did an in-depth analysis of the shooting
that happened in Texas for 11 minutes.
After that, Barton gave an update on
the Paradise Papers, which the show
talked about a lot the day before.

The second half of the show is
still the same, concerning itself with
special reports. In the first episode,
Arsenault talked about ISIS.

The new version of The National
is like cable news, Japanese news, and
internet news all at the same time. The
graphics look like what you might see
in a video in a website. Also, instead of
putting the graphics in the centre of
the screen, they are placed on the sides
of the screen. The show looks like this
because you can watch it in more places
including on YouTube, Facebook, and
Twitter. The set looks like the sets of the
Situation Room and Meet the Press.

The hosts assume that millennials
are watching the show and they give
background on stories by showing
graphics—although in most of those
stories in the first episode, I knew the

 

facts already. During stories, the show
displays a graphic that previews what
they will show later. For example, during
Hanomansing’s analysis of the shooting
in Texas, we saw the words, “8 Minutes:
Trudeau accused of hypocrisy after tax
haven investigation,” at the top of the
screen, which is very tabloid. Older
viewers might be put off by the part
in the show where they say that if you
want to see the stories that The National
was not able to show, subscribe to the
show’s newsletter The National Today
because they may not have e-mail.

The show is now live in all time
zones, at least during the segment the
National Tonight, which could have been

arts // no. 7

Still from ‘The National’

called Happening Now. Chang explained
to me on Twitter, “T’'ll be live on the
program over a five-hour period each
day. (Five editions across the country).”
In the first episode, Chang gave updates
on Donald Trump's visit to Seoul.
During transitions between stories,
the hosts had conversations, making them
look like they are best friends. While all
of them were great at hosting, Barton
is the only person who talked about
politics, and I would have liked to hear
the other hosts talk about that as well.
The new version of The National is
great for a current generation and if it
does well ratings-wise, the experiment
of the new format seems to be working.

Joji's debut EP leaves a lot to be desired.

> ‘In Tongues’ EP review

Joshua Toevs
Columnist

 

x *&

n Tongues is the debut EP from Joji,
who is known for his comedic, musical
alter ego, Pink Guy. Where Pink Guy is
abrasive, brash, and comedic, Joji was
created to allow for a more melodic
and subdued approach to making
music. Unfortunately, as a whole this
album feels too boring and bland,
and this attempt to make legitimate
music comes off as very surface level.

On this album, Joji presents an
avant-garde approach to lo-fi pop music.
He uses his vocals as an extra layer to
the instrumentals, allowing an entire
song to be presented as one entity. There
is definitely a James Blake vibe to the
sound, as a lot of times the vocal tracks
are mixed in a muffled or distorted
way to detract from one part of the
song being dominant over another.

There are a couple of good songs
on this record, which lead to a bit of
replayability. “Will He,” the lead single,
is a strong contender for song of the year,
for me personally. The song features a

jazzy piano melody that gives flashbacks
to certain instrumentals from the film La
La Land. That piano piece is paired with
a knocking 808 drum beat and trappy
hi-hats that give a little bit of character
to the instrumental. The song is about
an ex-lover of Joji’s, and he ponders if her
new love is as intimate with her as he was,
or if the new flame will play music the way
that Joji did for her. Joji juxtaposes this
with the acknowledgment that he treated
her poorly and that there are reasons as to
why their relationship didn’t work out.
The song “Demons” is a decent
track with its southern drums and
a vocal sample that is chopped and
screwed, giving the song a demonic
feeling. The song is about Joji fighting
his own demons and overcoming them,
which leads to one of the better lyrical
performances on the entire EP.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album
ranges from boring to indifferent. The
acoustic guitar on the closing track
“Bitter Fuck” feels shoehorned in, while
“Worldstar Money (Interlude),” includes
a sample from the titular website that
is annoying and skippable. This EP as
a whole is a lyrical dark hole, with Joji
not having much of anything to say
throughout most of the tracks. His low
vocal range on “Window” feels out of

 

place with the rest of his vocal attempts
and leads to a completely bland song.

Overall, the beautiful piano
arrangements on each song and In
Tongues as a whole will keep you checking
in on more of Joji’s music as he shows

Cover of ‘In Tongues’

an ability to make interesting songs.
However, his lyrical content and vocal
abilities need a lot of work and practice if
he wants to become anything more than
an afterthought in the lo-fi pop landscape.