Artichoke Vol. 5 No.3

mag

SEASON’S GREETINGS 08

Spotlight: Shirley Liang (close to/far from)home

DECEMBER 2015 | VOL. 5 N o . 3

2

ARTICHOKE

CONTRIBUTORS Editor-in-chief

Mayeesha Chowdhury

Writers

Alex Gage Byron Yan Christina Zisko Cole Kennedy Curtis te Brinke Diana Edelhauser Elijah Budgeon Luke Gagliardi Nadia Romopas Melissa D’Angelo Nirris Nagendrarajah Peter Ellman Rielle Ullberg

Art Director

Karen Keung

Designers

Camilla Dinardo Caroline Gonzales Daniel Kim Justin Veneracion Maryanne Cruz Michelle Fok Olivia Chan Scott Osbourne Simone Robert

3

CONTENTS VOL 5. No. 3 | DECEMBER 2015

HOLIDAY 2015

08

Spotlight: Shirley Liang Mayeesha Chowdhury

Major Speak

Creative

12 Take my Advice on How Not to Take Advice

Rielle Ullberg

14

Entertainment

Lifestyle

A Small Matter Luke Gagliardi

16

Between Panels: Make Comics, Not War Elijah Budgeon

30

I Moustache You a Question Melissa D’Angelo

18

Ladybird: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Brilliance Nirris Nagendrarajah

32

Christmas Time Diana Edelhauser

20

The Multiverse Cole Kennedy

34

Community Unity Christina Zisko

22

Albums of the Year Peter Ellman

24

The Year of the 6 God Nadia Rompas

26

The 12 Jams of Christmas Alex Gage

28

Christmas Cinema Byron Yan

4

ARTICHOKE

HEY EVERYONE!

EDITOR’S LETTER

I’d like to start by wishing y’all a very happy holiday season, and all the love for the upcoming exam season.

Thank you so much for making this year wonderful, and as this semester winds down, I’d like to take a moment to give the biggest thank you to Winters College Council for helping me settle into my position as the eic. A big thanks to Jordan Laffrenier for hosting the ewag Word Nights, they have been amazing so far, and I cannot wait to attend the ones next year!

Earlier this month, all the eic got together to host a mixer for all college newspapers. Working with these extremely talented writers from all over York was an amazing experience, and I am extremely glad I had the chance to meet every single one of them. At the same time, I had a great time meeting some of our readers, writers, and even some potential writers! Which brings me to my last (but not the least) round of thank yous: I would like to thank all the eics: Suneel Mistry, Veronica Rondidone, Janae Diaz, Rebecca Mangra and Gabi Smichovich for coming together and making this mixer possible!

This is our last issue of 2015 (what whaaat?!), and my team and I had a great time putting it together, so we really hope you enjoy it!

My feature for this issue is on Shirley Liang’s series “(close to/far from) home.” Shirley is a Visual Arts student at York, and her work involves cosmic imagery on wooden surfaces. Her print series is extremely interesting, so I would absolutely suggest that you drop by her exhibition at The Gales Gallery on: November 30th–December 11th (Gallery Hours: 10:30am–4:00 pm) Closing reception: December 10th (6:00pm–9:00 pm) If you ever want to speak to me, please drop by my office at Winters 004 or shoot me an email at: wintersfreepress@winterscouncil.com See you all in the new year!

LOVE, MC

5

WINTERS

EWAG UP— DATE

December Exhibitions and Events Endurance Jeremy Stellato Solo Exhibition December 7th–11th Reception December 7th 6-8pm Jeremy Stellato examines themes of Canadian national identity, guilt and the relationship between the individual and the natural world through the repurposing and recreation of organic materials.

Stellato questions the validity of contemporary notions of Canada and its cultural symbols by working with echoes of the nation’s most famous rodent, the beaver.

Material composition is blurred as deteriorating organic objects give way to interminable bronze snapshots. His works question human power, responsibility and longevity while imagining our future and forcing audiences to contemplate their impact on the works themselves as they navigate the gallery.

WCAC Exhibition Reception December 4th 4:30-7pm WCAC’s Final Show is an exhibition, where the collective work of the children from Winters Community Art Club’s Friday Youth and Creativas Program, are displayed.

This Fall’s Visual Arts Program revolved around the theme of superheroes! Participants explored what it means to be heroic—as well as identify heroes in their own

lives—through creative, hands-on tasks like painting, sculpting, and photography. Through exploring this theme, our participants from the two programs had a chance to explore their creativity while learning that heroes are present both in fantasy and in their own lives.

6

ARTICHOKE

November (Past exhibitions)

Go Global Gallery The Go Global Gallery exhibition featured a collection of photographs, art pieces (paintings, drawings, sculptures), videos, and other pieces/ media from students who participated in an international experience; either an exchange, internship or summer study abroad course in 2014-15.

7

FEATURE

EWAG Open Gallery November 16th-27th Reception: November 26th 6-9pm The Visual Art Student Association held a successful “Open Gallery� exhibition where Visual Art and Art History students from York University were invited to display their works from a wide range of art forms. Students were given a chance to collaborate with other students from the visual arts community.

8

ARTICHOKE

Shirley Liang is a Visual Arts student at York who is currently working on a print series, which explores the print medium through the use of wood, and cosmic images. By juxtaposing the tangibility of the wood surface against the intangibility of the cosmos, she reaches out to explore themes of how humans perceive what they do not completely understand. This is the primary basis of the series (close to/far from)home.

o/far from) home

WINTERS

9

BY MAYEESHA CHOWDHURY

Written in Shirley’s words Through an exploration of print media, I connect the terrestrial with the celestial. My focus is the juxtaposition of the familiarity and tangibility of wood and wood grain with the intangibility of the cosmos.

There is interplay between the constraints of our physical borders and what exists outside of them—my works are moments collected of concepts larger than the space provided. By creating fictive views of outer space in my woodblock relief prints, I initiate a dialogue with the viewer concerning how we make sense of what we do not understand. The abstract imagery created in my prints allow the viewer to experience apophenia— seeing familiar imagery in something abstract or unfamiliar—allowing the viewers to come to their own conclusions of what the image depicts.

In using wood, I am able to impart the actual wood grain into my images—creating a sense of something recognizable in the abstract. Typically, I use fir as it has a very interesting wood grain and knot formation that translate as swirling stardust or distant celestial bodies.

By placing such recognizable imagery into my work, I am creating a dynamic between seeing the familiar in the unknown and by creating the unknown through the familiar. The colours I use reference stars and planets —their elemental makeup—yet also seem naturally terrestrial, reminiscent of landscapes found on Earth.

The interplay between the known and unknown allows us to connect to the stars. Every living being on Earth is made of the same material as stars—we are the product of billions of years of stars being born and dying. When we look up into the cosmos we are looking at ourselves, in the past and in the future. My work attempts to capture that relationship between humanity and our curiosity and yearning to understand where we come from.

(close to

10

ARTICHOKE

Home (2013)

Home is one of Shirley’s first space-themed prints. The piece was created as a final project for an introduction to relief course, with the parameters of open concept.

Interweaving the knowledge from this course, alongside the ideas from one of her anthropology courses about outer space, she establishes an understanding of space and how we relate to it. As nasa prepares for potential (hypothetical) missions to Mars, to set up small living spaces, since places on Earth are theoretically the most similar to Mars’ landscape (Utah, and other arid places). Referencing both images of Utah, and of Mars, I saw a lot of visual similarities while also seeing the shapes of the hills and valleys on blocks of pine and fir wood. Home is sort of a juxtaposition of familiar (and terrestrial) material (wood) and unfamiliar/cosmic imagery (Mars).

FEATURE

Apophenia (2013)

The work is meant to evoke a sense of vastness through size and imagery. The viewer is able to both focus on particular spots of the piece and also be lost within the larger expanse of colour. The wood grain and knots act as an analogue to the cosmos as swirling dust clouds and celestial objects whilst also acting as a visual anchor to earth—to home, remind the viewer of the familiarity of wood and the tangibility of this material. due to the abstract nature of this piece, the viewer is able to find familiar imagery in what is the abstract and unknown—we are able to recognize ourselves and try to find patterns in what we do not fully understand.

11

12

ARTICHOKE

TAKE MY ADVICE ON HOW NOT TO TAKE ADVICE 4th year in a 1st year class

BY RIELLE ULLBERG

as i write this article, ambivalent to the proceedings of my gen-ed class, I’m frightened by how little I care about engaging with a first-year lecture as a fourthyear student. I thought, first-year general education course, should be a piece of cake and a nice bookend to my four year degree. Despite this, my first-year class is not so much a nostalgic trip down memory lane as it is a hellishly tedious waste of time. This is not an attack on my classmates, the professor, or the course. Rather, it is a critical examination of the pedagogical shift that occurs between first-year academics and fourth-year studies.

And in this examination, my own academic growth is made much clearer to me.

While the holidays draw closer and fall transitions into winter, I’ve felt a curious mix of senioritis and nostalgia. Paradoxically, I can’t be

bothered to pay attention to this first-year lecture, and yet, I feel empowered by this campus; as a latte sipping, oversized-sweater wearing, grouchy-yet-fun-loving student, I begin to partake in both a unity of experience with my fellow academics, and the romanticism of the holiday season as experienced at York.

I have not, before taking this first-year class, realized how far I’ve come from my freshman year.

If that is the only thing I gain from this course, it might very well be worth it. It’s a safe assumption that my peers in this class are a general example of what I was like in the fall of 2012. Timid yet eager, present yet not participatory and confused yet open to instruction. I needed guidance I craved direction and structure in this world that was so foreign and convoluted to me. That may be symptomatic

of the abysmal construction of post-secondary education, but it is also a component of learning and academic growth. And while I understand the usefulness of this structure, as a fourth-year student I am not so enamoured.

In my first-year, I needed guidance; I craved direction and structure in a world that seemed foreign and convoluted. Oddly enough, the coddling I craved so much in first-year has become abhorrent to me in my final year.

The professor of my current firstyear course is employing a tactic of tough-love teaching. Her lectures extend beyond the course material, and she seems keen to provide a how-to guide on scholastic conduct, life choices, and learning styles.

As a first-year student, I would have soaked up this tutelage with proactive excitement and gratitude.

As a near graduate, I find her lecture

MAJOR SPEAK

style condescending and insensitive.

I know what I’m about, I know how I learn, and I know how I want to learn. If that means texting intermittently during her lecture, I will do so.

As someone paying an inordinate amount of money for these classes, I am given little agency on how I utilize them, and mold them to my preferences. I can only assume that this comes from the historically triumphant notion of “tradition�, and a pedagogy that subjugates students as unequal participants in the learning environment. Academia deprives students of their individuality, while simultaneously penalizing them for essays that are not critical and self-reflective. Students spend the initial years of their degree learning how to work within the rigidity of academia, and then, upon entering the latter years of their

degree, how to subvert all their ingrained habits in order to become professional, critical, analytical academics (or as students so often self-identify: professional bullshitters).

To any first-years reading, as I reflect on this class, I find a reverence for the early years at university, as well as a keen understanding of how the system moulds you over the course of your degree. Be ready for the shift from regurgitating facts to being critical of everything, and pre-empt that switch by questioning the system at an early state of indoctrination.

There are whole streams of academia that seek to upend and challenge the structuring of academia. These streams would advocate the growth and sustentation of our objectivity.

Critical analysis is a learned skill, and for those of us that are still learning, the best thing I can advise

13

is to screen any advice that you receive with a microscopic lens before adopting it into your life. At the end of my degree I want to be able to say that I have forged my own path and made decisions that would benefit me and my academic accomplishments.

14

A Small Matter

ARTICHOKE

BY LUKE GAGLIARDI

It’s a small matter to create art.

I learned how in shop class, but perfected the art in the dark of my step-father’s garage. You cut along the grain, follow the whirls, and avoid the knots. It’s craftsmanship, all that cutting. Destruction is the only art. Tearing down has always been more cathartic than building up. Imagine the Buddhist sociopath that lives in the castle he builds; sick fucker.

Imagine the poet that publishes her poems in the whitest part of the fire, she who sells hardback ashes in a burned-out Starbucks, now, for a limited time, serving the whitedwarf frappé, with frothed milky way and cosmic dust sprinkle.

It’s a small matter that requires attention; it requires skills, and the tools that wield them. It’s a small matter to dam the circulation. You can use duct tape, but zip-ties work better, and the purring sound they make

as they tightens around limbs layers nice with the beginning screams. The wait is essential.

You may wish to gag your audience to stifle the noise that may infringe on the visual symphony that plays as their limbs mottle to the watercolor tune of Aurora Borealis. You may be impatient at first, but a slow rise is necessary for the denouement; as azure turns to tope and then lavender you start to hear the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, bellowing below the soft moans of the audience. By the time sun sets on the flesh above the tourniquet, and the northern-lights give way to midnight, the fat bitch with the horns is really belting it out.

It’s a small matter to rosin the metal bow. The jig-saw comes first, the starting screaking cry of the concert master, its vibrato composing the beginning notes of the symphony; the crotchets, minims, and quavers following freckles and wrinkles,

CREATIVE

avoiding knots of ligaments and tuberous white patches of skeleton.

It’s a small measure to bang the percussion. The chisel, the masons drum stick, comes first, smashing the skin stretched and quivering over the patella. Let it sound with the pealing thunder of the snare. Let the hungry-steel incisor rip flesh and part bone.

It’s a small matter to release the rest of the orchestra; to watch the instruments weave in and out of barely dripping flesh that parts to the likes of the Tenon saw who tears tendons with a tenderness that leaves the gagged audience head banging to the barely pulsing beat.

It’s a small matter to revel in it. To phase into the rapture, and let the dismemberment assemble a brief paragon. When it’s done you have erased a human. You have quartered them to complete the crescendo. It’s a small

matter to consecrate their corpse. It’s a small matter to write-off the materials, before the celestial tax-season.

When the art is over, and the concert is finished, it’s a small matter to ready yourself for the math.

It’s a small measure to measure the trunk, weigh the jerrycan, and count the matches.

You estimate the kilometers and drive; into the sweet night, where you stack the severed limbs in an equilateral-pyramid over the trunk that once colligated them, and light a fire to marshal the poets from their dark caves and gory garages.

It’s a small matter to create art; all it takes is sacrifice, all it takes is destruction.

15

16

ARTICHOKE

BETWEEN PANELS: A SILVER AGE EXPLAINED—MAKE COMICS, NOT WAR

BY ELIJAH BUDGEON

With the Comics Code Authority putting limitations on comic book content, comics and superheroes went through an overhaul to match the times. Science fiction became a popular genre choice at this time because aliens and super-science reflected the climate of age. People were afraid of a Communist invasion and splitting the atom made anything seem possible. This would be reflected in the weirder, more child-friendly pages of early Silver Age comics.

In 1956, DC Comics revamped old Golden Age superheroes with new costumes, new alter egos and even newer science oriented powers. This brought us the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and the Atom as we know them today. DC comics would put the old heroes; Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman together with the rebooted heroes, and two new ones, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, making the Justice League of America in 1960: the first comic book about a team of superheroes.

In the meantime, the writers of Atlas Comics (formally Timely Comics) in accordance to the Comics Code Authority churned out morality tales about monsters. Stan Lee in particular was tired of it and decided to do one last comic with artist, Jack Kirby on their way out. They capitalized on the popularity of team books and created the Fantastic Four in 1961,

Entertainment

17

inspired by the space race with Soviet Russia. Soon after, Atlas Comics was renamed Marvel Comics, and created the Incredible Hulk, derived from the anxiety around nuclear weapons testing. This was as the beginning of a demographic change for Marvel, instead of young children making up their readership; it became high school and college-aged youth. This information prompted Lee to create Spider-Man, a teenaged superhero who debuted in the final pages of Amazing Fantasy #15. The success of Spider-Man led to his very own comic, the Amazing Spider-Man #1 in 1963.

The appeal of Marvel Comics was the approach they took in contrast to their competitors at DC Comics.

Marvel heroes were more human; they had more pronounced flaws and fears, which DC heroes lacked.

They were more self-assured, authoritative and very much a part of the system while Marvel heroes faced daily struggles like racism, prejudice, and making rent; the Thing for example, was a character who despised having his powers. The Marvel heroes became symbols within the youth counter-culture of the 60’s; the Hulk who routinely faced off against the establishment when angered, Spider-Man, a teenager taking on the adult role of a superhero, and the X-Men who were walking metaphors for oppressed minorities.

These characters meshed well with the antiestablishment generation. By the end of the decade, the social tension in the United States of America reached a boiling point ; the Vietnam War got worse, both John F. Kennedy and Martian Luther King. Jr were assassinated, and whatever hope and vigor The United States had post-World War II was squeezed out. As a result people were more willing to talk about issues of race, drugs and to a lesser extent, war. The Silver Age came to an end in 1970, and the more tarnished Bronze Age took began its course.

18

ARTICHOKE

BY NIRRIS NAGENDRARAJAH

Like any of the iconic director and actress, artist/muse, duos that have preceded them— Bergman and Ullmann, Antonioni and Vitti, Nichols and May, Ozu and Hara, Almodóvar and Cruz, Cassavetes and Rowlands, Fassbinder and Schygulla—Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig’s romantic and creative relationship has, over the course of a few films, begun a nouvelle vague, one in which we are only just in the midst of.

Gerwig, as Florence Marr, drives down the streets of LA while the sun peaks out behind her profile and as Harry Savidies’s lens unpeels her throughout Greenberg we fall in love with this woman like it was for the first time. Running down Chinatown se to David Bowie’s “Modern Love,” Gerwig, as the titular Frances Ha-, shows her audience what its like to be free and content when you have nothing going for you in a moment Truffaut would be proud of. Walking down the steps in Times Square awkwardly but epically and yet still gracefully as Brooke Cardinas towards her almost half-sister in what will evolve into a muse/artist role in Mistress

America, Gerwig makes her audience laugh and allows them to get the chance to watch her cry.

Florence, Frances, Brooke (lyn); A breathe of fresh air, the French new wave Star, the New York do-it-all. Gerwig is at once a muse and an artist creating characters with Baumbach that rely on her talents and allow her to effortlessly become these women struggling to figure out themselves, their artistic lives, and most importantly and influentially, friendships.

Like Wes Anderson—whom Baumbach cowrote The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou with—Gerwig and Baumbach (Gerbach/Baumwig) have created a family of friendships that interconnect with the work of their contemporaries: Dean and Britta Phillips who score Mistress America also star as the dinner-table couple in Frances Ha, with Dean showing up in MS and While We’re Young; Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys plays a father in WWY and is a long-time friend of Baumbach; playwright Annie Baker who writes the Criterion essay “The Green Girl” for FH is a supporting

ENTERTAINMENT

character in WWY while Michael Chernus who was in Baker’s The Aliens is a deus ex machina in MA; Ben Stiller, Baumbach regular, surprises in WWY while Adam Driver, who was also in FA, of Girls fame, stuns; Lola Kirke, sister of Girls star Jemima Kirke leads MA, and the six-degreesof-separation go on, but what is exciting is that these films, about friendship, are a product of Gerbach’s friendships, borrowing from real life experience and conflicts of what happens when art and friendships and love collapse and collide: Frances Ha on examining pre-marriage friendships, While We’re Young on authorial integrity at the cost of friendship, and Mistress America on the great beginnings of intense platonic and artistic love.

This is cinema that shows the importance of art, creation, and friendships that, nowadays, seemingly have no significance on screen and off.

Of the moment you realize that the star of your life only sees you as a supporting character, how does one negotiate that? These relationships that are dealt with on screen end up being compelling

and, embarrassingly, rare, but Gerbach are doing just that: unique and personal cinema that rings truer than Lena Dunham’s waning vision in a blockbuster marketplace.

Mistress America ends with a voice-over the image of Gerwig and Kirke laughing over a thanksgiving dinner through a restaurant window in the same spot they were in the first night they met each other: “Being a beacon of hope for lesser people is a lonely business.”

There is no question that for Baumbach and Gerwig life imitates art as much as their art imitates their life; the two are inseparable and product is impeccable. There is no Noah’s Arc without the power of his leading lady, Greta Motherfucking Gerwig—like all dynamic director/actress duos the star tends to shine longer—and with her first directorial debut, Lady Bird, on the way, its time for my beacon of hope to soar, on her own.

19

20

ARTICHOKE

THE MULTIVERSE COUNTLESS WORLDS INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

BY COLE KENNEDY

ENTERTAINMENT

21

The multiverse… a notion that still remains hypothetical among scientists in the real world but exists as a prominent subject in fiction, particularly comic books.

The Multiverse is the concept of infinite universes where, say, alternate versions of us exist. The concept spawns from the thought

that our universe may share space and time with others. In comic book terms, the idea is simple enough: if readers are unhappy with the current version of a character, or unhappy with the current status of the fictional world itself, writers and artists can create a new version.

But how do they introduce a new

version without completely erasing/ invalidating the old? By creating an alternate universe, that’s how, an alternate universe where new variations of these characters exist. If writers and artists want to replicate this process over and over again? A Multiverse is formed.

The idea of the Multiverse opens a crisis-level of infinite doorways to infinite earths for writers and artists, allowing them to flex their creative muscles and write characters the way they want to, not the way they’ve been written for 75 years. DC Comics started an imprint in the mid 1980’s called “Elseworlds”. These books focused on the classic DC heroes and villains, but showcased them in new settings, or with new powers, or even entirely different origin stories. Gotham

By Gaslight explores Batman if he existed in the era of Jack the Ripper in London; Red Son delves into the possibility of Superman’s rocket landing in Russia, and how growing up in communism would alter his characteristics; and stories like The Dark Knight Returns and Kingdom Come take story queues from the monthly titles (or what’s known as the main continuity), and use the knowledge readers already amass to showcase twisted, and sometimes dark, futures. In short, there is no end to the kinds of stories you can tell with the Multiverse.

The Multiverse extends far beyond the pages of comic books and graphic novels. If you watched the Justice League Unlimited cartoons on TV, if you’ve seen DC’s animated film The Flashpoint Paradox, if you’ve kept up with the CW’s current hit series, The Flash, you’re watching three different versions of the same character. The Flash exists across all media (just like any character), written by different writers, drawn by different artists, read by different readers. If Grant Gustin is your Barry Allen forever, that’s great. In 2018, when The Flash movie premieres, some fans may prefer Ezra Miller’s portrayal of Barry to Grant’s. That’s fine too.

The point of the Multiverse is that it allows the creators to tell all kinds of stories with one character. You can enjoy the movies without having to connect it to the events of that same character on TV because they are purposely separated. More importantly, it gives audiences multiple versions of their favorite character that they can then pick and choose and determine which specific ver-

sion they prefer. My favorite Batman is Michael Keaton, but I’m happy that I can choose between him and Christian Bale (and soon, Batfleck).

These companies, like DC and Marvel, the companies that house all these iconic characters, shouldn’t try to keep everything connected.

They shouldn’t constrict themselves to one singular continuity. One continuity restricts their creativity.

They should embrace the diversity the Multiverse offers. At the end of the day, the readers are diverse and unique. Ms Marvel used to be Carol Danvers, a blond, Caucasian woman. Now, she’s Kamala Khan, a Pakistani American. Superman is almost always portrayed as a white male, but there are alternate stories where he’s African American. These characters should be as diverse as the fans that read them, and the Multiverse allows access to that diversity. There’s something for everyone when there’s more than one of everything.

22

ARTICHOKE

Best Albums of 2015 PETER ELLMAN

These lists are always contentious, but as I try to convey every year, if you find something you respond to in this list, then it was worth it. As a general note of taste (perhaps to save you time), I’ve generally been gravitating towards albums that I perceive as having something unconventional or innovative about them, usually in terms of instrumentation or stylistic fusion.

Most if not all of these albums incorporate both acoustic and electric sounds, pitch and noise elements, groove and ambience. Hope you find something you enjoy!

BRAIDS - DEEP IN THE IRIS Braids seem to have really refined their sound and their musical focus with this album. While their experimental synth sounds were foregrounded in the past, they are now more smoothly blended with acoustic drumming and ‘live’ piano sounds. Singer, Raphaelle StandellPreston’s voice is also much more present allowing her incredibly personal and political songwriting to shine through. This was my choice for the Polaris Prize shortlist winner.

ANAMAI - SALLOWS This was one of the most captivating new records and band-discoveries for me this year. This record has the sparse intimacy of a single voice and guitar but exists within a whole universe of reverb and drones. Anna Mayberry’s deadpan delivery is very well suited to the huge, lonely spaciousness and nearly-atonal ambience.

Powerful stuff.

COLIN STETSON & SARAH NEUFELD - NEVER WERE THE WAY SHE WAS Two of the best concerts I’ve ever been to have featured Colin Stetson (the most recent being this duo touring this album). While Sarah Neufeld is admittedly much newer to me, their chemistry and combined talents are simply mind-blowing. Stetson’s saxophone arpeggios and overblowing blended with Neufeld’s dynamic and technical violin playing produce an impressive range of psychic and emotive states.

ENTERTAINMENT

SON LUX - BONES I’m not sure how to categorize this (beyond loosely electronic) and that is one of the strengths of the album.

Son Lux’s singing ranges from an intimate whisper to celebratory exclamation, with an emotional waver imbuing his sometimes-cold synth sounds with a warm humanity. Instrumentally it’s weirder and more frenetic than say the synth-pop of Chvrches, but also comes from a more psychedelic planet than the introspective dance-floor jams of Caribou.

ASTRAL SWANS - ALL MY FAVOURITE SINGERS ARE WILLIE NELSON The “one guy with a guitar” model faces an uphill battle in order to stand out these days, but Matthew Swann’s album seems so effortless and heartfelt at the same time, it’s impossible to ignore. His personal confessions are lifted by their catchiness and sweetened with a charm and strong sense of humour (see the title).

FATHER JOHN MISTY - I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR Misty’s ridiculously funny and surreal persona from his last album is still here, but he’s digging deeper into his love life with that same wicked wit and humour.

Musically his singing is front and centre in the mix and the folk rock band is fleshed out and sweetened up with lush string arrangements.

KENDRICK LAMAR - TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY Everyone’s probably recommended this album to you by now, and someone has also probably already ruined the surprise guest appearance of a certain dead rapper at the end. Just check it out and listen for the many, many connections to black history both politically and musically. I can also happily report that in live performance Kendrick is quite capable of filling a huge festival stage all with his own presence.

23

THE PUNCH BROTHERS - THE PHOSPHORESCENT BLUES These guys have covered Radiohead and Debussey compositions, and written their own incredibly catchybut-still-technical tunes, all with a somewhat standard bluegrass lineup of guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. That might sound wacky but their music is actually just really great and fun with substantial talent and thought behind it. They are also very capable of emulating the crystal-clear, Beach-Boys-gone-pastoral vocal harmonies of Fleet Foxes but seem to be having much more fun with it, almost as if they’re in a musical theatre production.

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR - ASUNDER, SWEET AND OTHER DISTRESS One of the most important and interesting post-rock bands (next to Mogwai and Sigur Ros) return with another mind-blowing masterpiece. This one contains some of the heaviest material they’ve written so far, and the album as a whole feels the more composed and less jammy than previous releases. Despite the heaviness and darkness of this album (or maybe because of it?), their live concert in September conveyed a huge optimism and joie de vivre.

CHRISTIAN SCOTT - STRETCH MUSIC To call this a jazz album does an incredible disservice to the reading of the title as a mission statement. Despite stretching his music in all directions (global and pan-historical) Scott and his band sound cohesive and singular. Whether it’s a bluesy riff in 7/4 time, ambient synth pads, or percussion rhythms from all over Africa, Scott’s virtuosity and sensitivity tie it all together. I’ve described his past work as ‘Miles Davis jamming with Radiohead’ but even that sensationalist statement seems inadequate.

24

ARTICHOKE

The Year ofthe 6God

BY NADIA ROMPAS

ENTERTAINMENT

If you had told me a year ago that I would voluntarily write an article about Toronto rapper Drake, my instant reaction would be to either laugh and/or question my future self’s sanity. In fact, the most mainstream artist I really liked was Usher, and that was in middle school (for real though, Confessions deserved that Grammy).

But times are changing and identity is fluid, and just like any other person whose best friend loves hip hop music, listening and rapping (singing?) to his surprise 2015 mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, is pretty much an expected outcome of that friendship.

Aubrey Drake Graham has come a long way from being an actor in the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation in the early 2000s. Since then, he has gained popularity and prominence as a rapper not only in the Toronto hip hop scene, but also worldwide. Although his previous albums Thank Me Later (2010), Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was The Same (2013) have cumulatively contributed to his current standing, even dubbing him as the father of the *cough most annoying cough* acronym YOLO, the Internet literally freaked out when If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late dropped on iTunes in February, via Cash Money Records. Billboard reported, that the mixtape holds the title for the most streamed record in the first three days on Spotify with 17.3 million plays, surpassing his previous record by 2 million, and followed by top spots in the North American charts.

The mixtape itself has 17 tracks that plays on droney sounds and amusing lyrics. From more chest- beating tunes like “No Tellin’” to more synth-induced, hazier numbers like “Company,” there is a certain hypnotic element that keeps our attention intact on top of his lyrics. Known as the original sad rapper, Drake sustains this label by writing about his woes in his journey to, and living in, fame. But, just as you quickly relate to his small vulnerable bars, Drake’s egocentric lyrics about his growing popularity is really

25 the entertainment hot-spot. As a matter of fact, twenty five seconds into the mixtape, he goes on to say: “If I die, all I know is I’m a motherfucking legend,” which I’m not even going to argue against because given his current status, it’s probably true.

This summer, however, Meek Mill posed allegations towards Drake for using ghostwriters, and from this, we learned two things: music is a collaborative process and think before you tweet. In July, Meek Mill tweeted that Drake “don’t write his own raps,” which was the reason why the Toronto rapper’s verse will not be on Meek’s new LP. Following this accusation, Drake released his diss tracks called “Charged Up” and “Back To Back,” which became viral. Meek Mill’s silence in-between these releases and weak comeback track presented the obvious winner at the end. In a rare interview with Drake for the September issue of The Fader, he discusses this summer beef by unashamedly explaining the collaborative nature of his songwriting from the very start. With the collaborators credited in his albums, we learn that exposure to other artists and writers is an important step in any artist’s journey to develop their own sound. So, as for Meek Mill, his defeat in front of millions of users would be a tough one to recover from.

After all this, Drake has grown stronger as a brand and an artist, as he hasn’t stopped churning out new music. With the infamous bouncy single “Hotline Bling,” in which its merchandise has become a trend in it of itself, alongside his recent collaborative mixtape with Future titled What A Time To Be Alive, Drake’s tenacity has put him in most people’s good side in Toronto (or the “6”). With numerous tracks representing his hometown, it has become obvious as to why Torontonians are happy to have him (yes, even our politicians and sports team). At the end, The Fader sums it up nicely; we like him not only because he is actually trying to make music for you, but also for the fact that, being a Drake fan is fun.

26

ARTICHOKE

The 12 Jams of Christmas

BY ALEX GAGE

ON

Holiday traditions can bring us together but they can also be stressful enough to cause alopecia in even the best of us. There is one tradition particularly more maddening than the rest; honestly it is downright cruel and unusual. I am speaking of course of the December (and November and sometimes October) doldrums of bad Christmas songs that are harass­ingly pumped into every commercial public space big enough for a set of speakers. But, as I said, holiday traditions do have the power to bring us together. So, in keeping with the spirit of these traditions, I have assembled here twelve jams to break up the monotony and bring Christmas joy back into the lives of all whose ears they reach. If you are hosting a Christmas party, please, be kind; insert a couple of these into your mix. You’ve got to have some holiday tunes, but that doesn’t mean it has to be Dolly Parton’s Christmas catalogue on infinite replay. Even if you like Dolly Parton, that is a personal hell I could wish upon no one. While this list isn’t comprehensive—it’s 12 songs—consider the following a step towards honouring the Geneva Convention.

TH E F I R ST D AY O F Christmas...

1

“AIN’T NO CHIMNEYS IN THE PROJECTS” SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS I imagine this song was written in two stages: Stage 1) Sharon Jones says to the Dap-Kings, “Alright fellas, this year we’re making Christ­ mas cooler than a cucumber — so cool it’ll bring back the phrase ‘cooler than a cucumber.’” Stage 2) The Dap-Kings look at each other, shrug, and lay down a horn hook fat enough to drop a fully grown reindeer. They are still working on bringing back cucumbers.

2

“EVERYDAY IS CHRISTMAS (WHEN I’M LOVIN’ YOU)” CHARLES BRADLEY If you don’t know who Charles Bradley is yet, you have a corner in your soul yet to awaken. Charles Bradley is a truth teller, not a soothe-seller. A veneer of that old Motown sound may have come back into fashion in recent times but Charles Bradley is nothing but the real thing, the bleeding core.

Literally a Soul survivor, look up his life story and you will know that this is a man who truly believes in Christmas — and when he pleads his case, so will you. There is nothing about this track that isn’t sugary-sweet satisfaction but without the artificial preservatives or sweeteners.

3

“SOULFUL CHRISTMAS” JAMES BROWN Your Godfather love’s ya and sends you this Christmas card from 1968.

Nobody does it better. James Brown wishes you incredibly Meta good tidings and cheer as he thanks you for buying his records and coming to his shows (which in itself is kind of amazing). If you find yourself hosting a party this Christmas, or music duties get delegated to you, put this one on and you’ll be in store for a low down, bumpin’ soulful Christmas scene on the dancefloor (or living room — whatever).

27

ENTERTAINMENT

4

5

“O HOLY NIGHT” ARETHA FRANKLIN I am no authority on orthodoxy, but I am pretty sure listening to this one counts as going to church for a whole year. (Mariah Carry’s version is frankly wonderful also. Wait for the climax with the choir—but don’t count on getting out of the Christmas Eve service with it.)

7

“AMAZING GRACE” JEFF BECK 10

“LITTLE DRUMMER BOY” CHRISTOPHER LEE Merry Christmas from, yes: Saruman.

Whatever inspired the late wizard’s symphonic metal phase, it prob­ably wasn’t holy. Nevertheless, when it comes to the list of Christmas miracles, this was definitely one of them.

Maybe not high on the list, but at least as unexpected as Tiny Tim’s implied polio recovery.

11

…And after your partner forgives you, this is what you ought to hum for the rest of the day—very loudly (just in case you left the Christmas playlist on repeat shuffle).

“MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY” THE BOSS (A.K.A. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN) Be merry and be loved­—by order of the commander of the blue collar.

There is nothing off the beaten track about this Christmas record; just about everyone and their mother has heard it. But it has everything going for it. Like with Charles Bradley, this is a contemporary secular-commercial, clichéd Christmas song but, like with Charles Bradley, it’s almost naive earnestness is musically unstoppable. You just believe whatever it means to you about Christmas time.

“MISTRESS FOR CHRISTMAS” AC/DC I’m not saying it sends a good message. I’m just saying long live rock and roll. It’s good to give (rock out responsibly).

8

TO FIGHT TONIGHT)” THE RAMONES You might need this one should number 7 have come on a little too loud during a particularly tense moment of Christmas planning… use it wisely.

“GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN” TONY IOMMIM AND DIO The olde gods of metal bring you tidings of comfort and joy…Oh, and of fucking metal! You’re welcome.

6

9

“THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTMAS” QUEEN Even if the easy 80s arrangement of the music is a complete phone-in, this one makes the list because let’s be real, it was fucking Christmas every time Freddie Mercury opened his mouth.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS (I DON’T WANT

K Have a F U N Y Christmas.

12

“X-MAS DONE GOT FUNKY” JIMMY JULES & THE NUCLEAR SOUL SYSTEM This was a tough slot, competing with Ike and Tina Turner’s “Merry Christmas Baby” and such gems as “Santa’s Got A Bag Full Of Soul” by the Soul Saints Orchestra, but with lines like “It was a mother….

A mother of anticipation” there was no choice but the clear choice: the funky choice.

28

ARTICHOKE

CHRISTMAS CINEMA BRYON YAN

So it’s the week before Christmas, and you want to get into the mythical Christmas Spirit. You’re in bed with your pyjamas and think to yourself: “Okay, what will get me in the mood? Should I read something? No, I do enough of that at school. Decorate the house? Sure, I could, but I’m not taking that stuff down come January.” So after this internal conflicted dialogue, you settle with powering up your laptop to watch your favourite Christmas films. Here are my favourites to watch at this time of year.

ENTERTAINMENT

1 Home Alone (1990) This is an obvious no brainer. A cult classic. A Blitzen blockbuster, if you will. Jam packed with holiday themes, settings, and endlessly quotable one liners, this film is a surefire way to get you and your family into a jolly mood.

Also Joe Pesci is in this film. I just can’t say no to Joe. “Keep the change, ya filthy animal!”

2 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (2001) Now this film is not inherently a Christmas film, but the kids do celebrate the occasion for the most part and the setting in this film sets a great Christmas mood. I still remember the first ever shot I saw of all the kids dining in the great hall with all the floating candles and the flying ghosts. That was also the first time the audience was introduced to “Nearly Headless Nick”. I have such fond memories of this film and it will continue to be a classic for me.

3 It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) may be one of my favourite Christmas films of all time and arguable the most famous It’s a great movie about self worth, and the importance of family. George Bailey is down on his luck businessman who believes the world is better of with him dead. His guardian angel decides to intervene and show how much good George does for not only his family but for his whole town. Guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

These are my go to holiday films that do not disappoint.

Other honourable mentions include Elf, Die Hard and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Hope this short list can help you and yours have a festive holiday!

Hit me up at: byronyan@my.yorku.ca

29

30

ARTICHOKE

I MOUSTACHE YOU A QUESTION

BY MELISSA D’ANGELO

The ‘stache: man’s pride and joy.

But what about in November?

What is it then? A sign of strength?

Recognition? Support? Awareness?

Movember is the month to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer, as well as mental and physical health issues faced by men.

The Movember Foundation and Prostate Cancer Canada have teamed up in order to help educate, and raise funds for research and support services for men and their families.

During the month of November, men around the world grow out their facial hair, as one of many ways to show support of the cause. However, support is not limited to men alone: women (who are known as “Mo Sistas”) help by setting up team captains to recruit “Mo Bros” to raise funds and encourage others to join

31

LIFESTYLE

GROOMING TIPS the cause. This fundraising is set up by the Movember Foundation and can be found on their website if you and your friends would like to join.

Although this is a national event, there are also community events that are available ̶ individuals come up with their own event ideas and are able to post it on the site, where details are left for others to join and tag along.

Make sure to grow and groom like a gentleman for 30 days! And don’t forget to document your moustache’s growth to share with Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world.

• • •

Shampoo regularly Condition for softness Steam and cleanse to avoid dryness or itching

STYLING You will need: • Barber’s clippers • Fine tooth comb • Mirror • Razor • Precision 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Choose your stache Dampen hairs to be cut Comb hairs in one direction Remove strays and trim Use clippers for consistency Foam/razor Wax for shape (optional)

32

ARTICHOKE

CHRISTMAS TIME IS ALWAYS HERE

BY DIANA EDELHAUSER

Brandishing my pumpkin spice latte, cuddled up in my turtleneck sweater, I’m frantically reviewing for midterms- it’s November, after all. People around me are still talking about the Halloween parties they went to a few weeks ago. But me? I’m over that already.

I’m back to my every day routine of online window shopping, making gift lists and singing along to Frank Sinatra’s Christmas classics. This is the true story of a year-round Christmas lover.

For most Canadians, Christmas ends as soon as Boxing Day hits- not many have the emotional capacity to handle both at once, and that’s fine. I understand. I can’t expect everyone to have an almost obsessive love for Holiday cheer. But for me, Christmas day is the saddest of the whole year. Why should I wait another 365 days to experience the joy all over again? So I don’t. I keep it going. December 26th is the first day of next Christmas.

How could I stop listening to the music? Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Puppini Sisters... Ask me for a Christmas playlist, please, I am bursting to give you one! There is never a good reason

to turn off a velvety voice crooning about a winter wonderland. The Trans Siberian Orchestra doesn’t only sound good in the winter, but I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it, since 97.3 stops treating you to the delightful scores of noel before the year even ends. I will not conform to what public radio suggests! I will sing along with Bing Crosby every darn day!

A few years ago, I reached emotional maturity.

Is that what they call it when gift giving becomes a true joy? There’s something about the picking and the deciding and the card swiping (this is starting to sound like a shopping addiction confession...) that is just so rewarding, and made grander by the love you feel when actually giving the gift. I love finding that perfect little something that fits a loved one so seamlessly, as if it were made for them, and as if me discovering it was a stroke of fate. That’s the funny thing about fate, it doesn’t only strike around Christmas. It strikes year round, so how could I deny myself the joy of it all? No. I see, I buy, I give. Vene, Vidi, Vici... Or some version of it.

LIFESTYLE

And the sweaters?? Oh, Christmas sweaters you are so ugly but I love you so. You are bright and pompous and completely tasteless- words I would never use on a Linkedin profile, but that are so flattering in the context of Christmas sweaters.

Granted, for most of the year I wear mine in the privacy of my apartment, and never ever to job interviews, but the sentiment of affection is always there, and that’s more than could be said for December-only Christmasers!

Decorating for the big day is crucial. Think of it this way: you’d never perform Swan Lake without practicing your grand jettes for months, would you? heck no! So how can I be expected to put up my decorations and adorn my tree with only one week to go? There’s too much room for error, too many variables at play and simply too many things to get done in such little time. The garlands, the wreath, the lights, the globes, the stockings, the resetting of an entire home’s colour scheme, it’s all hard work. So I start early! Lights are not a seasonal thing, so those go up first­—January sounds about right. My birthday is in

D’S CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST Cold December Night - Michael Bublé | Do You Want to Build a Snowman - Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn & Katie Lopez | Baby It’s Cold Outside - Idina Menzel & Michael Bublé | Jingle Bells - Michael Bublé ft. the Puppini Sisters | Carol of the Bells - Trans Siberian Orchestra | The Christmas Song - Frank Sinatra | I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jessica Simpson | Silver Bells - Dean Martin | Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea | Santa Tell Me - Ariana Grande | I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Gayla Peevey | Twelve Days of Christmas - Bob and Doug McKenzie | Underneath the Tree - Kelly Clarkson

33

February, so I like to get those candles arranged. And September is the start of school, so I get those long garlands going because my education is a long ordeal (ha! /sorry). Now, bear this in mind: I do not leave my decorations on after Christmas! That’s just weird!

Take down, put up, love, repeat.

Being a year-round Christmas aficionado is a labour of love. It takes hard work, dedication and belief in magic. Also, an obsession with Olaf quotes and an almost-creepy memorization of Michael Bublé’s Christmas schedule. Hey, someone’s gotta do it! But I invite you to try it for at least a year.

Embrace the spirit of Christmas for 365 days. Don’t mock others for what makes them happy, don’t dish out dirt, take note of what makes those around you happy and find small reasons to do good every single day. Listen to music that makes you dance, dress up in whatever makes your heart warm. Find the magic in every single day, because it’s there, and it gets renewed every Christmas.

34

ARTICHOKE

Community Unity

BY CHRISTINA ZISKO

LIFESTYLE

Christmas is one of those holidays that brings everyone together. But that’s not the only event exclusive to December that can strike up some warm smiles and new friendships.

Everyone knows the big ones- February is Black History Month, and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to name a couple.

But for those who don’t know, in addition to National Tie and National Watermelon Month, December is National “Hi, Neighbour” Month.

The goal is to branch out and get to know the people in your community, which is a perfect idea for the Christmas season.

People are becoming less and less engaged with their communities. Some of us (myself included) don’t even know our neighbours names, let alone have any sort of friendship with them! At my childhood home, my parents were friendly with all of the people on our street. I remember a few of them even cheering me on as I learned to ride a bike.

After moving away, I realized that we didn’t cultivate that same relationship with our new neighbours.

A good relationship dynamic within a community where members know each other’s names and actually talk to each other, can be a very positive addition to our lives, and this Christmas season, I challenge myself as well as you to cultivate that in our own communities. The idea of togetherness is central to the “Christmas spirit” as any

35

holiday movie or song will tell you. We often feel that this unity only extends as far as our families. We exchange gifts and share meals with our loved ones, but how often do we spread some of that Christmas joy outside of our homes? I mean, even The Grinch ended up loving all of the citizens of Whoville by the end of that movie, so we can at least try!

If you don’t know your neighbour, it might seem a little daunting to just arrive on their doorstep with a batch of homemade brownies. There are actually much easier and smaller ways to recognize (your neighbour) this month. A quick “How are you?” at the bus stop or mailbox. Even a simple smile to a neighbour while walking down the street can do a lot to promote a sense of inclusivity in the community.

“Hi, Neighbour” month begins in December, but it doesn’t have to end in the new year. The benefits of being connected to neighbours and the community are vast. The feelings of inclusion, friendship, safety and support that come with relationships with people outside of our usual family and friend groups can only be a positive thing. There’s no reason that “Hi, Neighbour” month can’t be every month. So give it a try. Who knows when you might need to borrow a cup of sugar!