A wickedly fun festival. Check it out at www.nxne.com. Capitalmag favourite Woodhands is playing on Friday June 8th at Comfort Zone in Toronto. Their single í¢â‚¬Å“Caní¢â‚¬â„¢t See Straightí¢â‚¬  is Exclaim magazineí¢â‚¬â„¢s June TRACK OF THE MONTH! Check out more capitalmag news and event listings.

This issueí¢â‚¬â„¢s theme í¢â‚¬“ SEEK í¢â‚¬“ inspired Vancouver-based artist Nathalee Paolinelli to put colourful pen to paper and create the SEEK banners you see at the top of each page. Her work can be characterized as a combination of loose drawing technique, classical illustration, and contemporary graphic design. Check out the exclusive capitalmag.com interview in Critical Culture.

Each issue, capitalmag.com invites a new artist to interpret the issueí¢â‚¬â„¢s theme. This issueí¢â‚¬â„¢s theme í¢â‚¬“ SEEK í¢â‚¬“ inspired Vancouver-based artist Nathalee Paolinelli to put colourful pen to paper and create the SEEK banners you see at the top of each page. Her work can be characterized as a combination of loose drawing technique, classical illustration, and contemporary graphic design.

HotDocs rolled into Toronto last month just in time for the weather to be far too nice to want to spend any time in a darkened room, but this didní¢â‚¬â„¢t stop line-ups springing up across town over the weekend.

Despite the similarities in name, The ReelWorld Film Festival has nothing to do with unknown celebrities in contrived scenarios as in the MTV television show, but is an annual film festival based in Toronto. Currently in its seventh year, The ReelWorld Film Festival manages to focus both on diversity within films, and the broad range in homegrown Canadian films.

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The recent cancellation of Cosimo Cavallaroí¢â‚¬â„¢s art show at Lab Gallery, in New York City, which included a chocolate sculpture of a nude crucified Christ, entitled My Sweet Lord, has profound consequences for the art world. Artists who use Christian imagery to deliver their message are no strangers to controversy; in fact they seem to court it. But that may soon change because the demonstrations that closed Cavallaroí¢â‚¬â„¢s show represent a new and effective threat to artistic expression.

Bands like the Bare Naked Ladies and the Tragically Hip play off cleverly chosen and awesomely inappropriate band names to gain attention for their mediocre music. Such is not the case with Portlandí¢â‚¬â„¢s The Blow, whose silky synth pop is worthy of all the recent praise and far from the hangover inducing white stuff.

Dntel

Dumb Luck

Sub Pop

When Dntelí¢â‚¬â„¢s Life Is Full of Possibilities came out in 2001, it blew my mind. Seriously, it was one of those albums I continuallyí¢â‚¬”and likely annoyinglyí¢â‚¬”pushed on friends for years, raving about clicks & cuts and electronic mastery. Now, six years later, Jimmy Tamborelloí¢â‚¬â„¢s Dntel is back with Dumb Luck, and it comes as a bit of a mixed blessing. Like Possibilities, the follow-up boasts a barrage of guest vocalists, including Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, Fog and Grizzly Bear. So many in fact that they leave little room for Tamborelloí¢â‚¬â„¢s previous play on ambient cut-and-paste structuresí¢â‚¬”something this record desperately needs. Instead, more traditional song structures dominate, as well as some rather cringe-worthy lyrics. To make matters worse, limp guitar lines also compete with Tamborelloí¢â‚¬â„¢s lush, electronic textures, taking away what he does best and making the record more of a lackluster indie affair than a memorable electronic one. Ií¢â‚¬â„¢m sad to say this, but no raving will be had this time around.

I live on the left coast of Canada in a mid-sized city called Vancouver. You may know it as Hollywood North, host city of the 21st Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, pot capital of Canada, one of the worldí¢â‚¬â„¢s most livable cities í¢â‚¬ ¦ blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. The theme of this monthí¢â‚¬â„¢s Capital Magazine is í¢â‚¬Å“seek,í¢â‚¬  and seeing that Ií¢â‚¬â„¢ve been cooped up for the last year and a half doing my masterí¢â‚¬â„¢s, this month I was seeking that perfect musical experience to celebrate.

The eighties are making a comeback in film this year. Whether due to a lack of imagination, or a general interest in the return of our favourites characters from a bygone era, several franchises are set for rejuvenation in 2007. Weí¢â‚¬â„¢ve already had Rocky Balboa and Die Hard, Rambo and Indiana Jones are all set to make a comeback over the next 18 months. Yet the rejuvenation is not limited to action pictures as animated childrení¢â‚¬â„¢s hits Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or TMNT as they are now known) and Transformers are also set to return in a big way. TMNT is already upon us and cleaning up at the box office, while a new big budget, live action version of Transformers is expected in a few months. Inevitable cash in or a valuable trip down memory lane? Ití¢â‚¬â„¢s a tough call.