Category: Features

Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Summer’s over, folks

by Sheldon Birnie

Well, friends, the Harvest Moon Festival wrapped up this past weekend under Sunday’s grey skies. The weekend was a beauty for an outdoor festival, and about as far removed from last year’s chilly, drizzle soaked romp as could be. The sun was shining Friday as I drove into the sunset, and Saturday hovered around 30 degrees. People walked around the community barefoot, bare chested, and smiling ear to ear, soaking up the last of the season’s rays. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Summer’s over, folks”

Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Harvest Moon Festival closes out the season

by Sheldon Birnie

Well, friends, summer’s officially over, or will be once this weekend’s Harvest Moon Festival comes to a close on Sunday afternoon. The last outdoor festival of the year here in Manitoba — where we’re lucky to experience an abundance each summer, from the Winnipeg and Brandon Folk Festivals, to smaller community events like Rainbow Trout, Harvest Sun and Harvest Moon — this fest out in Clearwater, MB is a special one. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Harvest Moon Festival closes out the season”

Posted on

CINEMATTERS // Momentary Vitality: Sigur Rós – Varúð

Vote for Momentary Vitality in Sigur Rós’ Valtari Mystery Film Experiment!!

By Andrew Mazurak

Joel Penner is a local photographer and videographer who has submitted his concept video to Sigur Rós’ Valtari Mystery Film Experiment; a TalentHouse.com contest that lets fans create music videos as inspired by their new album Valtari. Voting ends on September 18th so make sure you spread the word! Perhaps this will grow big enough to get all the members of Sigur Rós to finally tour here one of these years.

Stylus: Sigur Rós videos always seem to be consciously boundary defying and gorgeous works. How did you come up with the concept for your mystery submission??
Joel Penner: The ideas for my videos usually come to me pretty naturally. I’ll listen to a piece over and over as ideas pop into my mind and become clearer with each listen. After I’ve begun brainstorming I start experimenting to see if those ideas make sense visually. The music thus provides some of the core ideas in terms of its rhythm and emotionality, aspects which I then try to transpose with my expansive palette of floral textures, colours and dying contortions that have been captured across hundreds of flowers. I didn’t do it for this video, but I also like focusing on making sequences that represent larger ideas that govern the lives of the flowers themselves. For instance in my video to Nosaj Thing’s “Fog”, I make sequences based off of Fibonacci spirals, as the Fibonacci sequence determines phenomena like the arrangement of seeds on a sunflower head and the placement of leaves on some plant stalks amongst other phenomena.
Continue reading “CINEMATTERS // Momentary Vitality: Sigur Rós – Varúð”

Posted on

DREAMS AND LANTERNS with Purity Ring


By Kyra Leib

It’s a good thing that I changed my shirt and brushed my hair before hearing Megan James of Purity Ring say “Hey, I can’t see you!” when I sat down to have a chit chat with the hot new band over Skype. I turned on the video and there they were; Megan and Corrin Roddick sitting for a moment in the darkness of Roddick’s apartment before turning on the lights. “There, that’s better” I said as the lights came on and Roddick’s gorgeous apartment came into view. I began shooting questions at the duo and here’s what came of it! Continue reading “DREAMS AND LANTERNS with Purity Ring”

Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Lindi Ortega, honest and raw

by Sheldon Birnie

Lindi Ortega is a Toronto born singer-songwriter with pipes of a honky tonk angel. Now based out of Nashville, Lindi is poised to release her sophomore LP Cigarettes & Truckstops, on Last Gang Records October 2nd. Her tunes touch on classic country themes of heartache, hard travelling, over indulgence, infidelity, and all that good stuff. While the production and writing give nods to country music’s past, Ortega’s tunes are contemporary in all the best ways. Next week, she’ll be cruising the Hillbilly Highway through Winnipeg opening for k.d. lang. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Lindi Ortega, honest and raw”

Posted on

Propagandhi :: Rec hockey and Failed States


by Sheldon Birnie

On September 4th, Epitaph Records will release Propagandhi’s sixth studio album, giving heavy hitting music fans a few months to enjoy headbanging along with it before constricting economic and geo-political realities propel our society into its final phase or, alternately, “Nibiru comes flying out of the Oort cloud and annihilates Earth in late December.” Over a couple beers on a blistering hot July afternoon, Chris Hannah sat down with Stylus to chat about rec hockey, the state of the world, and the new record. Continue reading “Propagandhi :: Rec hockey and Failed States”

Posted on

Trampled by Turtles :: Slow and steady wins the race


By Scott Wolfe

These bluegrass boys just released their new album Stars and Satellites in April and have a hectic touring schedule planned for the summer. Stylus talked with Eric Berry (mandolin) over the phone to catch up with the band, chat about the new album and (personally) get super stoked for their show at the West End Cultural Center August 30th! Continue reading “Trampled by Turtles :: Slow and steady wins the race”

Posted on

Hillbilly Highway – Dylan’s Tempest about to drop

by Sheldon Birnie

Love him or loathe him, it’s impossible to argue the influence ol’ Bobby Dylan has played not only on those who travel the Hillbilly Highway, but how we, as listeners, view the Highway itself. From his galvanizing early work, to his genre defying output on Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, the new pastoralism of The Basement Tapes and John Wesley Harding, through all the ups and downs from Planet Waves to Street Legal, Infidels through Oh Mercy and beyond, Dylan’s output alone is staggering. The fact that the lion’s share is gold is enough to humble – or shame – any would be songwriter. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Dylan’s Tempest about to drop”