Album Reviews: Janelle Monae, The Pixies, and a throwback to Elliot Smith

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September 9, 2013

Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady

The Electric Lady continues Janelle Monáe’s ambitious seven-part concept series, loosely based on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, in which she stars as a time-traveling android named Cindi Mayweather, sent back in time to free her fellow cyborgs from the persecution of a secret society of tyrannical despots.

It’s high concept, to be sure, but Monáe’s talent and charisma have always grounded her gleeful musical experiments. The Electric Lady, her latest full-length, is no different.

Following on the heels of 2010’s The ArchAndroid, Monáe’s newest LP shares its predecessor’s boundless creativity and energy. With over 19 stellar tracks, she combines New Order synths, Curtis Mayfield orchestration, hip-hop beats, Jimi Hendrix guitar solos, strummed ukuleles and hot-blooded funk, among more than a few other genres.

I don’t envy record store owners who plan to sell — and surely run out of — copies of The Electric Lady: it doesn’t fit comfortably into “rock,” “soul,” “hip-hop,” or “pop” sections, although a strong argument could be made for its placement in each.

At the centre of The Electric Lady and its constantly shifting moods and genres is Monáe’s vocals — from passionate croons over lost lovers to bubblegum pop sing-alongs to rapid-fire rap verses — making her voice the most versatile tool in her impressive arsenal.

Elsewhere, the album’s trio of skits — featuring a fictional radio station run by androids, who serve as a metaphor for ostracized minorities — keep the album’s complex story arc from derailing.

Monáe makes it look easy. Like her tuxedo-clad image and her immaculately coiffed hairdo, her music seems at once carefully designed and completely effortless. The Electric Lady easily ranks among the year’s strongest releases, an inventive and self-assured mission statement from one of the strongest creative forces in the industry today.

Pixies – EP1

Like many Pixies fans, I have trouble reconciling Black Francis’ genius as a songwriter with his downright draconian rule as bandleader of the Pixies. Naturally, Kim Deal, the band’s long-suffering bassist, vocalist and secondary songwriter, bore the brunt of the abuse. After all, her songs were arguably just as good as Francis’, and her ambition made it so the two were barely on speaking terms by 1990.

So when the group reunited in 2004, I — like many others — wondered how long it would take before Deal left the band to focus on her own group, The Breeders. The answer was June 2013, and it seems fitting that the band would release EP1, their first new release in 22 years, following Deal’s departure.

With no one left to challenge Francis’ vision, EP1 bears a striking resemblance to Francis’ solo material as Frank Black, and though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it certainly comes as a disappointment to those of us who thought “a new Pixies album” meant, well, a new Pixies album.

The band, whose new bassist is also named Kim, have done an admirable job updating their sound for a contemporary audience: their famous loud-quiet-loud dynamic and Francis’ screech have been replaced by studio sheen and surprisingly airy balladry, albeit with their lyrical perversity intact.

The only song on the four track EP that bears resemblance to Golden Age Pixies is closer “What Goes Boom,” which is reminicsent of “Gouge Away,” the closing track off the band’s 1989 masterpiece Doolittle.

Sadly, the simple truth is that the Pixies just aren’t the same without Kim Deal. Her clean vocal harmonies and economic basslines are sorely absent from slow-burners “Andro Queen” and “Indie Cindy.” Even a squealing call-and-response guitar solo in “Another Toe in the Ocean” — classic Pixies — isn’t enough to save EP1 from feeling like a stitched-together Frankenstein of this formerly great band. This monkey’s gone to heaven.

Elliot Smith – Either/Or

When I listen to Either/Or, I get to revisit my past selves who’ve done the same thing. I remember which lines hit me when I was 12, 15 and 18 years old, and I’m surprised at which ones hit me now.

I remember which songs have earned a place on one of my many mix tapes, and which songs I associate with people that I used to know. Listening to this record feels like visiting an old friend: like many Elliott Smith fans, I feel like I know him, if only by virtue of his honest — and often biographical — songwriting.

To speak in plain terms about the music on Either/Or is to scratch the surface of its impact. The melodies are textbook Tin Pan Alley, the vocals airy and unconfident. Drums and bass are present in Elliott’s songs for the first time on this LP, although they add relatively little to the mixture, and most of the album’s best tracks (“Between the Bars,” “Angeles”) retain the tried and true guitar-and-vocals foundation on which Elliott built his solo career.

But like The Mountain Goats or Will Oldham, Elliott’s music is first and foremost about the lyrics: the words on Either/Or are nimbly poetic and quietly heartbreaking, and any knowledge of Elliott’s tumultuous personal life or the circumstances behind his eventual suicide only serve to lend extra gravitas to the already devastating impact of his songs.

I think of Elliott’s final live shows, when he was too strung out to remember his lyrics; his fans would sing them for him. These songs, personal enough to be diary entries, take on new meaning for each new listener.

Though this album may be too melancholy for some, those who pay close attention will find a wealth of deeply felt songwriting from arguably one of the most beloved musicians of our time. Either/Or is the most cohesive and measured album that Elliott ever recorded, and more than 15 years after its release, it can still bring listeners to tears with a single chord progression.

Join the club: SFU Agreement Society

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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JOIN THE CLUB is a feature that highlights SFU’s lesser known clubs and non-existent organizations.

This week we highlight . . .the SFU Agreement Society

Founded by disgruntled members of SFU’s Debate Society who just wanted everyone to get along, the SFU Agreement Society is a group of students who get together weekly to practice saying “yeah, that sounds about right.” The club tackles all sorts of issues except any that are in anyway controversial or could possibly cause members to have a disagreement, which might lead them to give reasons for why the other is wrong in an organized and civilized fashion. Due to this policy, the club has never brought up the issue of setting a time for meetings fearing it would cause unwanted “debate.” Although they’ve never formally gotten together to agree on things, they all concur that this is probably for the best.

Faculty of Education given $100,000 for Aboriginal space

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of Canada and the United States (UA Local 170) has recently gifted $100,000 to SFU’s Faculty of Education, to be used to create a gathering space for indigenous students within the faculty space on the Burnaby campus.

The funding is to be used to create a safe space, as well as purpose-built offices, “to advance indigenous education within our faculty and also within the communities that we serve,” according to Ron Johnston, director of the Office of Indigenous Education for the Faculty of Education.

Johnston described how the funding came to be given after a dialogue was started between the faculty and UA 170 about what the Faculty of Education is trying to do in terms of Aboriginal advancement of indigenous education in the faculty. During the discussions, Johnston said that the gathering space came up as “one of the foundational building blocks that was deemed to be one of the most important pieces.”

As the funding has just been gifted, there are many conversations that need to take place before it’s determined exactly what the Aboriginal gathering space will look like. Said Johnston, “I think some of the details will be flushed out when we actually talk to the students themselves. There will be a dialogue to figure out what that [space] means to them and what would be most beneficial to them. I think that will be a bit of a process, and I don’t know what that looks like right at this particular time.”

It is, fortunately, an opportune time to start discussing the creation of the space, as the Faculty of Education is currently undergoing renovations and determining where different offices and services are going to be positioned.

When asked about whether there is a large need for a space like this, Johnston responded, “I certainly think so. I think that research indicates that Aboriginal students and people being able to have designated spaces creates a sense of place and belonging. That itself will help more students to be successful in their program of study.”

“It will also create opportunities for open dialogue and discussion amongst the students, and there will be levels of peer mentorship and support,” Johnston continued; “whatever will help Aboriginal students to move ahead on their educational journey will be a positive thing.”

Currently, 54 per cent of Aboriginal children are graduating from high school in BC.

Currently, 54 per cent of Aboriginal children are graduating from high school in BC, and Johnston stressed the importance of providing as much support as possible for Aboriginal people going into education to reverse this trend.

“Some of these complex social issues can be discussed amongst Aboriginal students that are training to become teachers or educational leaders in their specific areas of research interest. I think it’s just good all around,” said Johnston.

Johnston said it is difficult to know exactly how many Aboriginal students are currently enrolled in the Faculty of Education, and speculated that many students choose not to self-identify.

He hopes that the gifted funding and the space, which he estimates will be created and functioning within the next year, will help to create awareness of the issues that many Aboriginal students face within the SFU community.

“I think a lot of people aren’t really well-informed about some of the issues and challenges that Aboriginal Peoples face when they come to postsecondary,” said Johnston. “I think we’ve come a long way, yet at the same time there’s still a lot of work that we need to do.”

Shocking Photos of Damage at SFU

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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The current condition of the Burnaby campus is so bad that over the past year Peak Humour has compiled the following photos that show just how much significant damage is all around us.

1. Broken pencil found on desk of Peak Humour Editor Brad McLeod.

2. Graffiti discovered on a beam next to the desk of Peak Humour Editor Brad McLeod.

3. Substantial food stain found inside a notebook where Peak Humour Editor Brad McLeod writes his hilarious “Questionable Information” facts.

Word on the Street: Terrible Casting Decisions

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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Man cancels opening of new ski resort after becoming aware of tiny flaw on molehill location

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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A local entrepreneur has hit the brakes on his plan to build a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art ski resort after he discovered that the molehill he intended to build on had a small dent in it that could potentially make the resort at risk of earthquakes.

Although the man has been accused of overreacting to such a minor problem, as the odds of an earthquake coming in the next hundred years is 1 in 25,000, he says he isn’t taking any chances on this enormous project and is also hopeful that he can manage to make a federal case out of his situation.

With files from The Idiom Inquirer

Student unions look to leave Canadian Federation of Students

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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A CFS Day of Action in Toronto in 2008

Last week, a group of organizers from various universities across the country announced plans to begin petitioning to leave the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) — a nation-wide lobby group whose mission statement, according to their website, is to “provide students with an effective and united voice, provincially and nationally.”

Currently, CFS — founded in 1981 — represents over 80 student unions and half a million individual students from various universities and colleges across Canada, with the largest concentration of post-secondary institutions being located in Ontario.

This latest push to leave the CFS includes student unions from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Capilano University, the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, Laurentian University, and Dawson College. This defection could leave the CFS without representation in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec.

In the release made by the student organizers, Ashleigh Ingle, a graduate student at University of Toronto, stated, “Many of us are longtime student organizers and have seen students attempt to reform the CFS from within for decades, but to no avail.”

She continued, “Students are realizing that their interests are not served by the Canadian Federation of Students. We are not walking away from organizing at the national and provincial level; we are creating the space for that to happen effectively.”

SFU’s undergraduate student union, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS), formally left the CFS in 2012 after a 2008 referendum showed that 67 per cent of voters wished to leave the federation. A lengthy legal battle ensued between the two parties, which was eventually settled out of court. The case cost the SFSS over $450,000 in legal fees.

They’ve been very resistant to change.”

– Alex McGowan, Kwantlen Polytechnic, University student

In 2011, the Concordia Student Union also began the process of attempting to sue their way out of CFS membership, becoming the 8th university at the time to do so. Complaints about membership with the CFS revolve around the organization acting non-democratically, and not representing its student members.

“Mainly, it’s their inactivity, the fact that they haven’t been doing anything with our money,” said Alex McGowan, a Kwantlen Polytechnic University student and West Coast representative of the movement. “They haven’t been effective, all the services and discounts that they provide us are already provided by our student association, and the lobbying has been ineffective.”

McGowan went on to describe the CFS’ “anti-democratic nature.” He said, “They’ve been very resistant to change, and students trying to work within the organization have to be able to get elected.”

Currently at Kwantlen, a full-time student pays $8.52 per semester to the CFS, while a part-time student pays 95 cents per credit. In order to leave the CFS, a student union needs to have 20 per cent of the student body sign a petition in favour. After that, a date is set for a referendum, which passes by majority.

Petitions like this have sprung up at the other 15 institutions involved in the statement, which also encourages other university student unions to take the same steps.

CFS internal coordinator Brent Farrington said that the reasons and unions behind the movement is unclear. “The real question for us is who they are and where they are, because it’s quite vague . . . We’re mostly just trying to find out what the actual grievances are. We’re kind of in the dark.”

Heteronormativity is everywhere

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Peak Web

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September 9, 2013

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Heteronormativity is pervasive, even in the ivory towers of academia. Heteronormativity is when heterosexuality is treated as more natural than other sexual orientations, and is inherently damaging to queer people. It was the fear of being treated as deviant — which happens almost every day of my life as a direct result of being openly gay — that prevented my coming out for a very long time.

In this column throughout the semester, I will be challenging heteronormativity and making it clear that heteronormativity — like homophobia — is always unacceptable. This first installment will focus on heteronormativity in the heterosexual world. Part two will focus on my own experience as a queer person who internalized heteronormativity and my inability to acknowledge and resist it.

I will not be addressing arguments for and against homosexuality; there is a good deal of material available for those interested in the topic, and 500 to 600 words simply cannot do it justice.
Regardless of the cause of homosexuality, I believe that, as queer people are doing no harm to others and are well-established as a legitimate sexual orientation, we should be treated with all the respect granted to heterosexuals.

Heteronormativity is to acceptance as homophobia is to tolerance. While the homophobic person is unable or unwilling to tolerate queer people, heteronormative people are unable or unwilling to accept queer people as true equals. Because it is subtler than homophobia, heteronormativity often operates under the heterosexual radar, and is dismissed by heterosexuals when concerns are raised.

This in itself is harmful: queer people are told via the acceptance of heteronormativity that our marginalization is legitimate, regardless of personal impact. The queer person’s self-esteem is secondary to the institution of heterosexuality.

As suggested, even the enlightened university student is often prone to heteronormative remarks. Comments I have encountered include the suggestion that to speak of characters in an historical novel as queer is to “project” a “modern” identity upon them. Radcliffe Hall and other historical queer figures would object to this notion. However, when I objected by citing such examples, I received blank stares in response.

I dreaded this class from then on, particularly that student and others who agreed with them. This was compounded when the professor completely ignored my email about how marginalizing the student’s statements were and how it affected me personally.

I am grateful that, at this time, I was out of the closet and had mostly come to terms with my own internalized heteronormativity. However, coming out should not be a stressful event to plan and practice; it should not even be necessary. I had to wait months before coming out to my heterosexual parents because they had heard distressing news two months after I realized I am queer.

This meant I had to lie to them by making up male names for the women I was dating. I wanted to be honest with them — I wanted them to know me — but this was not possible at the time because they, too, had been indoctrinated by heteronormativity. When I finally came out, I was confessing rather than sharing. I wanted to soften the blow, but knew there was no way to do so.

Living a lie means constantly testing the waters of social interaction. If someone makes a heteronormative comment around a closeted queer person, it is likely that person will internalize the comment — as we have been taught to do — and stay closeted for longer. Being closeted is painful, and is something we as a society should seek to reduce.

SFU grad film premieres at TIFF

By

Peak Web

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September 9, 2013

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It all began in a monastery. Devan Scott, an SFU film studies graduate, was helping out a friend with a documentary being shot at a monastery. After living with the monks for three days, an idea was formed, and Paradiso was born.

Scott’s grad film, a black-as-night comedy, follows two brothers after the sorting of the second coming. Cain is sent to heaven — mistakenly — and his brother to hell, a slip-up that Cain spends the span of the film’s 13 minutes trying to remedy. Joined by St. Peter, a scruffy, white robe-clad, foul-mouthed angel of sorts, Cain confronts God and tries to set the record straight: he was not meant for heaven, but his brother was.

The short film has been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Short Cuts Canada Programme, a feat that only a handful of SFU film grads have achieved. “It totally blindsided me. I didn’t think it was programmable; it’s profane yet deals with religious iconography. It was a film I made just for fun for myself,” Scott says.

The film is a manifestation of Scott’s ideas about existentialism and religion at the time, his visit to the monastery acting as a sort of incubation period.

“It really changed my view on religion. I used to think not only that the whole thing was based on fiction, but that the entire lifestyle based on it was kind of stupid. Seeing these people . . . they’re very content and are really hurting the planet less than I am and are really having a higher standard of life doing it. It made me think ‘maybe it isn’t so bad,’ but at the same time it got me thinking: if god existed I’d be really, really screwed.”

The end result is a film tinged with the existential terror of living in an indifferent universe where there are no real choices. “The thing about Cain is he never has much agency. He kind of gets tossed into heaven and he only has one option, and that’s to try and talk to God. St. Peter is the one who either has to help him escape or not. He represents the kind of natural, logical conclusion to there being an all powerful God, where he’d have to have people who have no choice but to help him, regardless of what they think,” Scott says.

If god existed I’d be really, really screwed.”

– Devan Scott, director and screenwriter

The chilling ending of the film — which I won’t give away here — demonstrates this thinking, a visual narrative indicating that there’s no way out: “I think the ending is a case where it’s me following the idea of heaven to its conclusion. In the more pop cultural forms it’s this green field, in others it’s literally whatever makes you happiest. What if what makes you happiest is rebellion? And not being in heaven? Then the only definition for heaven would be a lie. You would have to literally live a lie.”

Paradiso’s place in TIFF’s scheduling may have something to do with the very personal quality of the film. It’s possible it’s this very reason that “a lot of people who make shorts [with the express purpose of] festivals . . . don’t tend to get in. Often the films kind of lack soul.”

As for Scott’s own success, as well as his filmmaking philosophy, it’s all very close to home. “The ones [I’m most proud of are] where I just hit on something really personal for me. They’re almost mischievous, where I feel like I’m gonna get away with something. If I feel like I’m being told not to make something, I’ll make it; I have a rebellious streak that only manifests in movies, apparently.”

Next he’ll be working on a project based on a recent news article about a white supremacist who is trying to take over a small town: “I thought, that’s incredible, it’s basically a political zombie movie.” Before he turns his “five pages of word vomit” into a script though, he’ll be seeing as many films at TIFF as he can.

“We bought tickets to [Alfonso Cuaron’s] Gravity and [Errol Morris’] The Unknown Known. There’s also the new Kelly Reichardt film, the new Claire Denis film, so I’ll be busy.”

University Briefs

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EIC

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September 9, 2013

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Students choose arts and social sciences over high-paying majors

According to a new CIBC World Markets report, university students are still pursuing low-paying majors over lucrative ones — and they know it. Benjamin Tal, CIBC Deputy Chief Economist, notes that fields like physics, math, medicine, and engineering will “. . . have this nice rate of return on education . . . social science [and] those kinds of fields do not give you the same rate of return.”

Though students are aware when they enter lower-income fields, the number of students applying for higher-salary majors has not increased over the last decade, says the report. It suggests that the trend is driven by the joy of learning about fine arts and social sciences.

With files from CBC News

Saint Mary’s Frosh leaders slammed for controversial chant

Community members both on and off Saint Mary’s campus are up in arms after an Instagram video captured Frosh leaders teaching a chant to new students that glorifies non-consensual sex with underage girls.

The chant — which according to Student Association President Jared Perry has been taught to Frosh for years — goes, “Y is for your sister, O is for ‘oh so tight,’ U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for grab that ass — Saint Mary’s boys we like them young.”

In reaction to the chant, the University has ordered the 80 frosh week leaders and the entire Saint Mary’s University student union executive to take sensitivity training. Additionally, the executive is being sent to a conference on issues of sexual violence and consent at St. Francis Xavier University next week.

With files from The Journal

Saving face by wearing makeup

Pissed your pants during a nerve-wracking tutorial presentation? A new University of Toronto study suggests putting on makeup may relieve your embarrassment. The research suggests that metaphorical thinking — like saving your face by restoring it with makeup — affects daily behaviour and helps cope with negative emotions like humiliation.

“Although embarrassment leads people both to hide their face [with an item like sunglasses] and to restore their face, only by restoring their face can their embarrassment be decreased,” doctoral student Ping Dong explains. “It is interesting to speculate that people who wear cosmetics on a daily basis may be more tolerant of potentially embarrassing behaviour.”

With files from The University of Toronto News