WE'RE SUPPORTING

Japanese artist Ikeda Manabu creates the most detailed, expressive, and awe inspiring artwork which literally rolls across the canvas with subtle colours amidst waterless wave-like formations. Each work is constructed upon a series of intricate miniatures which play out across broader themes of unrest and movement. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Canada seems to be the land of amazing ambient metal duos. Montreal has Menace Ruine, and Toronto has Nadja, a formidable couple that churns out huge-sounding, bass and electronics-driven doom that draws your gaze up towards the stars just as old cathedral ceilings humble the faithful and make them think of the Almighty.

WE'RE THINKING

Yann Gross’ photos of tattooed bikers, cowboys, drag races, and Confederate-flag-adorned trailer homes are unnerving documents of the American experience. But his subjects aren’t American, they’re residents of the Rhone Valley in Gross’ native Switzerland. Judging from his photos, Europeans don’t necessarily look down their noses at the U S of A. Some of them actually celebrate it, blemishes and all.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

Summertime at McCarren Park in Williamsburg is picturesque. It’s often filled with a mix of people, old and young, picnicking or sitting in the shade, running along the track or playing soccer (or football, depending on where you’re from). It’s also connected to a now defunct McCarren (swimming) pool which transforms into an outdoor concert space on Sundays during the summer. In the past, performers such as Leslie Feist, M.I.A., The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Broken Social Scene have performed. Read more

Oh man! If I was twenty again, a jumble of nerves and a well of electric energy, I’d be in the front row for every damn MGMT gig. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

The current economic crisis has got us missing our frivolous spending past. But we need to be strong and resist fashionable purchases, right? Wrong. We’ve just got to get a little more creative with our rationalisation. And that’s why we don’t just want a hand-made one of a kind silk scarf from label Trust Fun. We actually need it. Started by Sydney-based graphic designer, Jonathan Zawada, this label’s signature scarves support our justify-it-to-buy-it philosophy with their multi-purpose versatility. Soft sheer silk in amazing one-off colour combinations just don’t go out of style, and with more uses than we can list, they’re one piece you can validate. It’s the rescue purchase we’ve been waiting for.

WE'RE READING

Our friends over at SNAP!, Montreal’s only free and independent arts and lifestyle magazine have just released their fourth issue in which they look back and celebrate the faded beauty of past eras, grandmas and grandpas, Polaroids, antique finds, old wisdom and vintage style. Yeeha! They also remember the best of 2008 in Montreal arts, with a variety of writers and photographers giving their take on their favourite cultural discoveries.