Arts & entertainment – Oriol Salvador

Gord Downie y el oscuro pasado de Canadá

La música de The Tragically Hip y principalmente de su líder y letrista, Gord Downie, es clave para entender el rock alternativo de Canadá y, más importante todavía, ha ayudado a reconciliar a la sociedad canadiense con uno de los episodios más tristes de su historia reciente: el abuso sistemático a su población aborigen.

Arcade Fire fueron uno de los nombres más destacados en los pasados premios Juno 2018, que anualmente reconocen los mayores logros musicales en Canadá. La banda de Montreal se llevó el premio al Álbum del Año por su Everything Now y el International Achievement Award, que reconocía la carrera de la que, hoy en día, es una de las bandas canadienses más conocidas en el mundo. La gala también reconocía a Gord Downie, desconocido internacionalmente, como Artista del Año.

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Andy Shauf, la magia del folk

Entrevista al artista canadiense Andy Shauf el dia después de su concierto en el Primavera Sound 2016, en Barcelona.

Tras su actuación ayer en el Auditori, Andy Shauf ha charlado un rato con nosotros horas antes de su segundo concierto en el Primavera Sound 2016, esta tarde en la Sala Teatre del Primavera a la Ciutat, en el Raval. El multiinstrumentista ha participado por partida doble en esta edición del festival presentando su primer disco “The Party”, publicado por Anti Records y cerrando así la gira europea que lo ha tenido ocupado las últimas semanas.

En la entrevista nos explica que prefiere el acogimiento de actuar en una sala como el Auditori a los grandes escenarios. Continue reading “Andy Shauf, la magia del folk”

Fanfarlo – “Let’s Go Extinct”

Fanfarlo busca el sentido a la humanidad.

En ‘Reservoir’ (2009), la banda londinense Fanfarlo presentó algunos temas épicos – como The Walls Are Coming Down, Ghosts o Fire Escape – con unos violines y trompetas beirutizadas que todavía resuenan en nuestra cabeza.

En ‘Rooms Filled With Light’ (2012), reemplazaron esos violines por sintetizadores y un imaginario inspirado en los clásicos de ciencia ficción.

Dos años después, en el recién salido ‘Let’s Go Extinct’ – del que ya escuchamos un prometedor anticipo hace unos meses con el EP ‘The Sea’ – parecen haber encontrado el equilibrio entre contenido y forma.

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“Ernest & Célestine”

Movie review of the French animated comedy-drama film Ernest et Célestine (2012), based on children’s books by the Belgian author and illustrator Gabrielle Vincent.

This is not the first time that anthropomorphized animals are used to show the glories and miseries of our society. The technique is as old as humanity and is tied close to a little mouse that became the icon for a major animation film company (and for the 20th century in general) or even further, with the earliest fairy tales.

In the traditionally crafted animated film Ernest & Célestine, it is shown through two main characters, a little mouse and a big bear, outsiders of their respective societies, living in parallel worlds on the surface and in the underground.

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‘A Little History’ of the Kamloops Film Festival

The Kamloops Film Society (KFS) originally started in 1972, when film fans gathered to watch and discuss classic and current cinema. First known as Cariboo College Film Club, they neramed as Kamloops Film Society in 1994, under the Societies Act, and focused on three significant types of cinema – independent, classic and foreign – shown in weekly series that eventually became seasonal.

In the early years, the Society independently booked films with distributors and booking agents directly but in 1994 they entered the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) film circuit. Before the Kamloops Film Festival became a reality, in the early 1990’s, a PR officer, from the local ski resort Sun Peaks, approached the KFS with the idea of bringing the best of the Vancouver Film Festival to Kamloops.

Meanwhile, a Vancouver organization called ‘Moving Pictures’ headed by John Duppong, began a travelling film festival throughout the BC interior. In 1992, Duppong approached the KFS for support on Shadows on The Wall: The Meeting of the Waters Film Festival, an event held over three days in two separate venues on opposite sides of the city.

The partnership continued and, in 1996, the third edition of ‘Moving Pictures’ The Travelling Canadian Film Festival stopped in Kamloops for the first time, March 29-31, and included Canadian and French dramatic film released from 1990 to 1995 plus documentaries and short films. Three film and short film directors featured in the festival – Michael Gibson (Defy Gravity), Gary Burns (The Suburbanators) and James Genn (Direct Lines) – were invited to the special event Short Cuts & Long Shots, a workshop about getting started in filmmaking.

A year after, the Kamloops Film Society took up the role of ‘Moving Pictures’ and organized their own first KFS Film Festival. From 1997 to 2000, the first editions of the festival brought to Kamloops movies from Canada, United States, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain. Directors such as Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), Bruce Sweeney (Dirty) and Ryan Bonder (DayDrifit): producers like Rosamon Norbury (Better Than Chocolate) and actress Gabrielle Rose (The Five Senses) visited Kamloops, attended the showings and accepted Q&A periods.

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TRU Actors Workshop is ‘starving’

Review of the play Curse of the Starving Class, written by the American playwright and actor Sam Shepard in 1978 and performed by students of the Theatre program at Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

Playwright and actor Sam Shepard wrote the play Curse of the Starving Class in 1978 but in the words of Wesley Eccleston, a professor with the TRU theatre arts program, it is still relevant because “families still struggle with the (same) challenges.” Eccleston directs the production, which starts Feb. 28 at the Actors Workshop Theatre in Old Main.

The characters are part of the Tate family, a dysfunctional American family where the dad, Weston (Michael Hogg), spends long periods away from home and comes back drunk and aggressive while son, Wesley (Justin Hall), pees on the floor of the kitchen, daughter Emma (Allison Clow) plans her escape and mother Ella (Alley Barton) wonders how to work it out and go to Europe.

“These characters are starving for the things they think will make them happy,” Eccleston said.

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Vincent Moon c’est Creative Commons!

Profile of the independent filmmaker from Paris, the original creator of La Blogothèque’s Concert à Emporter (Take Away Shows).

Mathieu Saura, better known as Vincent Moon, is one of the greatest and more respected filmmakers you can find, nowadays, licensing his work under Creative Commons, allowing its use and remix for derivate works. His work is available for free on Internet, he is a nomade artist building an audience on social media and keeping his projects alive by donations (crowdfunding).

Early on his career – not using Creative Commons, yet – he became known adapting filmmaking style ‘cinema verité’ to document bands playing one or few songs off the stage, on acoustic, in streets, parks, flats… anywhere. This music video subgenre, that was known as ‘Concert à Emporter’, or Take Away Shows, started in La Blogothèque. The list of bands Moon’s lenses captured includes: Arcade Fire, Phoenix, REM, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent or Bon Iver.

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Locarno brings Latin sound to TRU

Review of the Live at TRU! show that the Latin music band Locarno brought from Vancouver to Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

A cold winter day provided a great opportunity for people to head inside the TRU Alumni Theatre for the first Live at TRU! performance of the new year.

From Vancouver, Tom Landa, front man of multi-Juno nominee The Paperboys, was introduced to the TRU campus and Kamloops audience with his side project, Locarno on Jan. 17.

Locarno is his new band, started about two years ago.

“We played a lot on the festivals season, all around Canada and in short tours like this weekend,” Landa said. The recent short tour included shows in Ashcroft on Jan. 18, and Kelowna on Jan. 19.

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Thought provoking Wave

Movie review of the German sociopolitical thriller Die Welle (2008), shown at a movie night organised by TRU Intercultural Council to discuss acceptance in social groups, unity, conformity, bullying and the chances of a dictatorship in first world societies.

German movie Die Welle (The Wave) was shown on campus at the TRU Intercultural Council’s second monthly event, held Wednesday, Nov. 21, at the Alumni Theatre in the Clock Tower. Approximately 50 students and some faculty left studying for midterms and assignments aside to enjoy an evening of film and discussion with free popcorn and drinks.

The Intercultural Council, which aims to integrate domestic, international and aboriginal students into the university culture, organized a movie night after an on campus DJ event last month.

“We wanted to do something that would be interesting, thought provoking, entertaining and [with] a cultural relevance,” said Andrew Dalgleish, a TRU student and member of the Intercultural Council.

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Music Makes Meals goes bigger

Preview of Music Makes Meals, a one-day music festival headline by Colleen Rennison’s No Sinner to raise funds for Kamloops Food Bank.

In its seventh year, Music Makes Meals presents a lineup of local talented musicians to raise funds for the Kamloops Food Bank.

Saturday, Nov. 10, three local bands — Solara, Matt Stanley & The Decoys and Henry Small Band — plus special guests No Sinner from Vancouver, will be playing a show at the Kamloops Convention Centre.

The event started six year ago, according to Kamloops This Week’s Dale Bass.

“The food bank in Kamloops was having significant problems,” Bass said. “We ran a story in our paper where the executive director said they may have to shut down.

“Two friends of mine [TRU alumni Joey Jack and local singer-songwriter Danie Pouliotte] e-mailed me and said, ‘We need to do something, let’s do it with music.’ We called up a few friends and put together the first Music Makes Meals night at The Blue Grotto, where we had been until this year.”

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