Month: October 2019

Categories
Sports

Commissioner for a day: Sports editor Matthew Ohayon’s changes to the NHL

Hockey is a great sport, but it can be vastly improved.

After a long, grueling and fairly uneventful offseason, the NHL is finally back and hockey fans could not be more excited.

So on this eve of the 2019-20 season of the NHL, I thought it would be fitting to do what I do best: complain about how the league is run and throw out some ideas of how I could make the NHL better if I were commissioner.

Before I get into the fun stuff, I understand that there are a bunch of caveats that wouldn’t allow me to make these changes at the snap of a finger.

Alright, now that the housekeeping is out of the way, without further ado, Commissioner Ohayon’s changes to the NHL:

1.Completely eliminate the shootout.

The NHL struck gold with the implementation of 3-on-3 overtime. Everybody from players to fans finds it incredibly more exciting than a defensive 4-on-4 showdown. Hockey prides itself on being called the ultimate team sport so why does it make sense that a game would boil down to be decided by a shooter versus a goalie? Since 3-on-3 was implemented, everyone watching sits at the edge of their seat for the whole five minutes.

There is simply no excitement about the shootout anymore and it involves no team play, which is the foundation of hockey. Overtime goes until someone scores; in the current three-on-three set up, a goal is bound to be scored within 10 minutes. No one would complain about more of that.

2. Format of the NHL Playoffs

I may be in the minority when saying this but the playoff format needs to be revamped. The idea of growing rivalries was nice in the first few years but I’ve grown tired of seeing Boston eliminate Toronto in seven games every year. The romantic narrative of Crosby versus Ovechkin has spoiled.

I know what you’re thinking, well what can be changed? I propose that instead of the top eight teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs, that the top 16 overall teams qualify. Not only would the definitive 16 best teams qualify, but also it would create some interesting matchups that we would only be able to see in the finals.

3.  Abolish the “loser point”

This one is pretty simple. Why do teams secure a point for reaching overtime? It’s the NHL’s equivalent of a participation medal. The abolishment of the loser point would mitigate the fact that when a game is tied, a team that is desperate for a point in the standings is content with going to extra time.

Also, the loser of a game should not be rewarded in any way. Sure a 43-27-12 record sounds better than a 43-39 record, but the fact still remains that this hypothetical team lost 39 games. The NBA, MLB and NFL don’t reward teams for making it to overtime, why does the NHL?

Feature graphic by @sundaeghost

 

Categories
Music

A look at Kanye West’s influence on hip hop before the release his new album

“Jesus is King” is set to drop…at some point

When he isn’t stirring up the world with controversial political and cultural remarks, Kanye West is making headlines in the world of fashion. Musically, West hasn’t made news, apart from the cancelling of Yhandi back in September of 2018.

While the musical phenom has been laying low this year (certainly by his standards), that notion will surely change when his upcoming album Jesus is King is released. While many may argue that this will result in Yeezy once again disrupting the hip-hop hierarchy, I would argue that his position in said structure – as King and Supreme Ruler, has never faltered.

West arose in a time period dominated by hip hop artists whose lyrics generally evoked expensive lifestyles and gangster personas, with the unspoken consensus being that these were themes that needed to be discussed in order to be taken seriously in the industry. At the time, West earned his credibility through his creativity as a producer for the record label Roc-A-Fella.

In releasing his debut album, The College Dropout, the self-promoted rapper did two things; he bridged the gap in hip hop that emerged between mainstream and underground empires over the last decade, and created a successful “regular guy” rapping persona that was significantly more relatable to listeners.

Wearing his original pink polo, West modified the prerequisites to having a fruitful career in the genre by rapping on subjects like materialism, religion, and family. By changing the general perception of what a rapper must be, he paved the way for new sets of talent that may have never emerged otherwise.

West induced a plethora of musical concepts consumers are exposed to today. The confident Late Registration formed a celebratory and grandiose feeling while he introduced instrumentation from other genres that hadn’t been heard in rap music before. If West needed any more justification of his dominance, he got it when hard-hitting Graduation outsold 50 Cent’s Curtis in a clash between contemporary and traditional rap. The album started a trend by blending hip hop and electronic music.

The most influential of his works is none other than 808s and Heartbreak, where a heavy-hearted West experienced a personal crisis and let it out in the form of exceptional ballads intertwined with auto-tune and a TR-808 drum machine. The result was a project so unique that critics at the time struggled to label it rap.

Kid Cudi, who helped in the making of 808s, saw all of his major albums that followed a similar archetype make the top-five on the Billboard Top 200. Auto-tune as a technique in rap became more popular after 808s through artists like T-Pain, Future, Travis Scott, the Weeknd, and Young Thug, who have made it a staple on most of their projects.

Drake, who has made a name for himself in his use of emotional breakdown and sorrow in his tracks, has gone on the record and said: “I [have] the utmost respect for Kanye West. I’d even go as far as to say he’s the most influential person as far as a musician that I’d ever had in my life.”

The fact of the matter is, West is the forefather of modern rap and R&B. He doesn’t need to headline mainstream news to be a part of it. Like how children emulate their parents’ values through their influence, Yeezy is constantly reminding the public of his musical supremacy through his effect on other artists’ works.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
Music

Australian artists Mallrat and Allday bring their rap and hip hop to Montreal

Photo by Britanny Clarke

Mallrat + Allday at Le Ministere for their first Montreal show

Australian musician Grace Shaw,  who goes by Mallrat, is now old enough to be in the venues she is getting booked at – but that wasn’t always the case. After releasing her first EP at just 17 years old and quickly gaining popularity, she often had to be escorted quickly out of most of her venues. Now having graduated from school, the indie pop and hip hop singer is free to go on a larger tour, co-headlining alongside one of her major influences and friend, Allday.

Montreal was the fourth stop on the “Mallrat & Allday North American Tour.” The show began at 8 p.m. sharp at Le Ministere, when supporting act Japanese Wallpaper took to the stage. The venue has a very low stage but because it wasn’t overly packed, everyone had a clear view of the many instruments set up across the stage. Japanese Wallpaper was a fitting choice as he had helped produce tracks for both Mallrat and Allday in the past. The thirty-minute set got the crowd ready for more, and gave some time for the room to slowly fill up.

By 8:50 p.m. Allday got on stage to some loud cheers from a few fans who were clearly there for him. They fans knew every word, and you could hear their dedication in their singing. Allday had a drummer and a backup singer, and was accompanied by Japanese Wallpaper on keys. Starting off with his newest single, “Protection,” and then fan favourite “Switch Sides,” it was going well until the power on stage shut off and the track came to a halt. Allday was very professional, laughing along with the crowd, and asking for poutine recommendations. He settled on going to Patati Patata after the show.

After everything was fixed, Allday dived into some more hits to finish of his set. “Restless,” the most pop-like song on the setlist thus far, really let Allday show off his singing talent. The room was heating up but he told us how he bet his bandmates that he wouldn’t take off his grey oversized suit jacket no matter what, and that he wasn’t going to lose with only one song left. They then played “In Motion,” a track featuring , Japanese Wallpaper.

Mallrat didn’t keep us waiting long. Mallrat’s live DJ, Denim, came out to get the crowd pumped. She then hopped onstage as the track “Sunglasses” came on. While I do usually prefer live drums, having DJ Denim on backup vocals and her DJ equipment gave the set a very club-like feel, and the bass and drops sounded great.

Mallrat expressed how lovely she found our city, having spent the morning out shopping with Denim. The stand-out moment of the concert was when Mallrat sang “Circles.” It’s only been out since Sept. 5 and it was only her fourth time playing it live, so she warned the crowd that it’s a challenging song and that she would try her best. With a lower range than most tracks and very breathy vocals,  I understand why. But Mallrat knocked it out of the park to loud cheers from the crowd.

Once “Groceries,” Mallrat’s most popular single played, it seemed like the show was over. But the crowd chanted “one more song!” and Mallrat came back out, flattered.  They played “Uninvited” and while most of it was on the backing track, the crowd really got into it. She even invited two young fans from the front row to come dance and sing on stage.

Mallrat, Allday and Japanese Wallpaper put on a high quality show with a small budget. While it didn’t have the most intensive production, the way they all synergized into each others’ sets and rolled with the punches demonstrated their skill and chemistry together as friends, on and off stage.

 

Photo by Britanny Clarke

Categories
Opinions

The movie Tall Girl reviewed by a tall girl

Netflix just came out with a movie called Tall Girl. Guess what it’s about?

Sixteen-year-old, six foot one, “misunderstood” student Jodi is trying to get through high school, despite intense bullying due to her height. The movie wasn’t that good, but that’s not why I’m here.

For context, I’m six feet tall.

Life has consisted of my parents explaining that I really was five years old, despite being almost a foot and a half taller than my peers. I was the tallest in my class until high school, and – you guessed it – I did play volleyball and basketball. Being tall is the biggest and most obvious part of my physical identity. Quite like the movie depicts with Jodi, my height is usually the first thing someone notices about me.

If you’re a tall girl, then you know exactly what I mean. Growing up in a society where women are taught to take up less space, be “dainty” and “cute,” can be difficult when you are basically making out with your knees on every bus, train, or airplane.

Just like Jodi, I used to want to shrink. Actually, a lot of the thoughts and worries she had, I had too. The movie displayed a lot of truths about the experience of tall women, but one thing it very obviously lacked was perspective.

Jodi fits every societal beauty norm. She is straight, lean, white and cis-gender. I guarantee that if this were real life, Jodi would not be bullied or ostracized to feel like an other as she was in this movie. It placed Jodi into a narrative of systemic discrimination, and that’s the problem.

Jodi is not a minority. She’s not even an outcast. She’s a privileged young woman that wants to fit in with her peers – quite like I did. Listen, I get it. I still have trouble feeling confident with my height. Some days I feel like it’s truly all people can see. However, framing Jodi this way is not only inaccurate, but it causes distortion and misunderstanding regarding a larger problem of prejudice.

So, to be clear, I am talking about two very different things. The first thing is my experience with my physical identity and the reality of existing in the world with a larger body. I can speak to this experience being difficult and frustrating. I can speak to being teased, feeling undesirable, and wanting so badly to fit in. The second thing, nonetheless, is very different; and the distinction here is crucial. What Jodi and I cannot directly relate to is being marginalized. This movie blurs that line. It places tall white women into a discussion that we should not lead.

Look, I would love to see more tall women with leading roles on television. Watching someone I can identify with physically on screen makes me feel empowered. This, on some level, speaks to the power of representation. This being said, I think it’s pertinent to note that as a white woman, I am constantly being represented, be it on television, movies, magazines, etc. This representation allows white women to have a range of emotions, personalities, characteristics, and nuances that people of colour, and other marginalized groups lack in film. This movie placed Jodi in a specific box and chalked it up to her height, when in reality, Jodi would not have been consistently influenced by this stigma.

Teen movies and romantic comedies have an impact on how we view the world, especially for women. If Netflix really wanted to make a movie with a tall girl in it, I would have been thrilled, along with 15-year-old me. But by framing it as a negative part of her personality, and not letting her just exist as a tall girl with normal problems, relationships and interactions, it really failed for me.

Instead, they created an oversimplified and erroneous depiction of an issue that is not systemic and is more to do with having trouble finding size 13 women’s shoes.

 

Photo Source: Netflix

Categories
Music

Bahay celebrates Filipino futures

Photo by Adela Kwok

“Bahayathon” flaunted hip-hop talents at The Blue Dog Motel

As the Filipino-Canadian Futures conference was rescheduled for the following day due to the climate march —Montreal artists affiliated and apart of Bahay took the stage in celebration of the conference Sept. 27.

Bahay means “home” in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines. The local organization offers “a home away from home” for creatives and promotes the diversity of Asian representation in music.  

Their pink house logo glowed above the stage where artists Lolo Boy, Waterboii, Yenny, Bea di Vinci, Eezahyah, Gxlden Child, and DJ sixM0nths played the cramped venue.

Behind the DJ booth Coolchels, engulfed the show-bar with her song arrangements. While Coolchels was hard at work, people struggled for space along the narrow dance floor. Soon enough, a heat wave overwhelmed the heavy atmosphere, throbbing in the various beats.

Lolo Boy, a local Haitian artist, was first to perform with his so-called brother. Side-by-side they carried the crowd through dance tracks and Lolo Boy’s auto-tuned vocals. The venue grew humid by the time he performed “Toxic,” which had a toned-down vibe compared to the other tracks. The lyrics in “Toxic” spoke of a toxic relationship. Hands swayed the air to the slowed R&B track.

Before Filipina-American rapper Bea di Vinci seized the stage with her lyrical flow, Waterboii showcased his Vietnamese hip-hop fusion “Du Ma Mai” and “Blue Eyes // White Dragon.” His rap style had a sinister quality to it. As he spoke from a personal place, he bellied his frustrations as an Asian up-and-coming rapper. The crowd jumped to the haunting tone of his voice.

“Go with the flow, but affect the flow,” said Waterboii about finding his space in the hip-hop music world.

As “Bahayathon” continued through the morning, The Blue Dog Motel was a space for both Asian and non-Asian local artists to show off their music and styles. Artists from other cultures were encouraged to perform as well. Bahay, as an ongoing roster, has become “a home for everyone” who is apart of the different Montreal diasporas.

“It is a passion project,” said Waterboii, co-founder and president of Bahay.

“South-East Asian people are often underrepresented in the whole Asian umbrella, South-Asian people too,” said Waterboii. “That’s something we’re going to try to improve.”

As a producer and rapper, Chuong Trinh who is known artistically as Waterboii, began Bahay with Coolchels.

“It’s a lot of mentoring, it’s a slow process –you can’t ask for more, I am so blessed to have these people doing volunteer work,” said Waterboii.

Amita Biona, who is part of the collective’s external affairs team, explained that they began operating independently.

“Our main demographic that we’re trying to bring in is from the universities,” stated Biona. “But the big thing we want to do is kind of connect the university people to the greater Montreal area.”

While Bahay started as a series of fundraising concerts that targeted South-Asian and South-East Asian artists, it is building and reaching a broader community of creatives everyday. 

 

Photo by Adela Kwok

Categories
Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty

Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty

The Swedish Queen of dark pop has found a new path with lots of sunshine

Swedish artist Tove Lo usually creates alternative and honest pop songs about heartbreak, where the production suits the darker corners of the club. On her new album, Sunshine Kitty, Lo has been walking down a much brighter path – one that has a promising and very well-produced foundation throughout (almost) the entire album.

Tove Lo has changed her lyrical universe surrounding broken hearts and drugs, to embrace inner peace and falling in love. She wants you to actually enjoy the parties you attend, instead of being smashed and wasted on the dancefloor. Unfortunately, there are some quite dull moments between the delicate pop bangers; where songs like “Mateo” and “Shifted” give the vibe of waiting in line for the washroom at a party, where you are feeling impatient and restless.

Throughout the 40-minute album, Tove Lo is guiding you through her newfound happy place. Unfortunately, this positiveness doesn’t have quite the same feeling of sincerity and honesty that can be found on Lo’s earlier productions.

All in all, I am sure to give this little Kitty a spin or two, especially when I’ll be going out to dance the night away.

7/10

Trial Track: “Really don’t like u” ft. Kylie Minogue

Star Bar:

“They say be one with the city

So I’m standing in the sun all day

Got their manners mapped out

And they just smile, no matter what I say” (Lo on “Anywhere u go”)

 

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

Engineering students show up en masse at CSU meeting

In support of clubs ranging from Space Concordia to UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) Concordia, dozens of students from Concordia University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science attended Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) on Sept. 18.

The meeting was largely focused on allocating funds for a variety of on-campus initiatives and organizations. Engineering students from a variety of clubs presented funding requests to the CSU.

Space Concordia is an on-campus organization dedicated to building the first student-designed rocket capable of entering outer space. According to Space Concordia’s website, the group’s rocketry division has never had a launch failure in the last four years. The organization’s President, Hannah Halcro, presented to CSU and secured funding for another year. Halcro said she did not expect the CSU’s overwhelmingly positive reaction.

“I’m floored and surprised and so so so happy,” Halcro wrote in a statement to The Concordian. “The CSU’s support means so much, to not just me – I think I can speak for all of us involved in technical projects at Concordia.”

There are eight seats allocated to the School of Engineering and Computer Sciences on CSU’s Council of Representatives. Six of the seats remain vacant with only two councillors serving.

Désirée Blizzard, CSU finance coordinator, and fourth-year engineering student, said in previous years she was not involved with on-campus politics because of work. Although Blizzard was unable to partake, she said she has friends who are involved in clubs and need more funding. “I was always kind of jealous at the intensity they go at their projects,” said Blizzard in an interview with The Concordian. “I also know how much in engineering you need to rely on technology.”

UAV Concordia is a student club that competes internationally with UAV technology, such as drones. They requested newer computers. According to representatives from the club presenters, members often have to camp while travelling due to budgetary constraints.

This year, UAV Concordia received funding to continue operating and upgrade its existing technology.

Blizzard said that supporting on-campus clubs like Space Concordia or UAV Concordia assists the clubs financially and also symbolically. She said providing funds to engineering clubs shows students in those programs that CSU values them.

“Breathing life into these relationships between CSU and engineering, if anything, would encourage some engineering students to run for council,” said Blizzard.

After the engineering presentations finished, many of the students left the meeting. Following the CSU’s approval of the Space Concordia budget, Halcro said she felt encouraged by CSU listening to engineering student’s concerns.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Blink-182 – NINE

Two albums post-Tom Delonge, Blink-182 sounds self-aware, embracing angsty past

Don’t be mistaken. NINE is nothing like turn-of-the-millenia Blink. The band’s latest album revives their old sound, owning up to their angsty punk-rock origins and facing Mark Hoppus’ ongoing battle with depression. It’s safe to say that the band has successfully found their footing after co-lead vocalist and guitarist, Tom Delonge, left the band in 2015. Delonge, who co-founded the band with Hoppus while they were in college, gave the band their reputation for being immature prankster heartthrobs.

Their evolved sound lies somewhere between electronic and alt-rock, using contemporary production techniques to put forward anthems and quick bangers for new and old fans alike, such as “I Really Wish I Hated You” and” Pin the Grenade”. If you haven’t listened to these legends before, I really recommend diving into their old youtube videos before listening to the new tracks to really get a grasp of how much Delonge’s replacement, Matt Skiba (from Alkaline Trio), has helped their musical growth.

9/10

Trial Track: “Darkside”

Star Bar:

Photographs of you are still haunting my halls/

Still framed in blue, saying nothing at all/

Sacrifice myself, leave me dead in the sun/

Put it on a shelf, leave it there for everyone to see (“No Heart To Speak Of”)

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