Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Written by Gary Erickson
by Gary Erickson - BASICS Online (August 2010) Showing at Tequila Bookworm from August 1-31, a viewer can stop for a drink and a bite, surrounded by recent memories of Queen West’s past. Jeff Caires’s computer manipulation of local street panoramas offers an intelligent and critical perspective on Toronto’s urban life.
As art, a level of commodification is present in glossy objects and mirror finishes, in contrast with the gritty nature of the Queen West views. The subject becomes clarified in the frame, made accessible by the selling price.
As urban history, the works are preservation, in ancient amber, of our Queen West neighborhood on the edge of condo destruction. The glossy photo records are a token of our momentary melodrama, before the violent shift to the next scene in Toronto time.
As political ideas, a big box retail store, with “eco boho flaming feather boa champagne legend lofts” on top, is violently growing across the street, well watered by developer money. The afternoon shadow of the beast throws the sidewalk patio of the city housing project on Portland Street into the cold and dark. The tenants yell: Congratulations condo owners! Congratulations city!
Saturday, 07 August 2010
Written by Editor
by Ajamu Nangwaya
 While the April 2010 news of the $438 million economic impact of Caribana is worthy of celebration and all the media attention that it has generated, I hope that as Canadians we will open our eyes to the monumental failure of government funding of this phenomenal cultural festival. An Ipsos Reid Economic Impact Study clearly established that Caribana is the most lucrative festival in all of Canada. Yet the Calgary Stampede which attracts millions of dollars in annual government funding is touted as the largest "Canadian" festival with its $173 economic impact over ten days. It is estimated that Ontario's cultural institutions bring in a yearly income of $4.5 billion, while attracting 3 million patrons. About 1.2 million people participated in the 2009 edition of Caribana and over 300,000 of these revelers came from abroad. It ought to be clear that dollar-for-dollar, Caribana's economic performance leaves its more favoured cultural competitors in the dust.
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Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Written by Editor
By Makaya - BASICS Issue #20 (July / August 2010)  Live on stage at London's Royal Festival Hall, Gil Scott-Heron told the audience that he “hates war” and in a lengthy monologue went on to tell his fans that his Israel concert would be cancelled.
Scott-Heron is best known for his ‘70s classics 'The Revolution will not be Televised' and 'The Bottle' as well as his involvement in the 1980s South African anti-apartheid movement. His music and poetry have been consistently anti-racist and extremely critical of government regimes all over the world for over 30 years. He has influenced a whole generation of artists and activists, who were more than surprised when they learned of his Tel-Aviv tour date. Audience members at a previous concert crowded the artist, urging him to change his mind by reminding him that his decision to play in Israel was contrary to everything that he has stood for. Security had to be called in to stop the hecklers from disrupting the show.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Written by Editor
by Derek Rosin - BASICS Issue #20 (July/Aug 2010) The British graffiti artist known as Banksy recently paid his first visit to Toronto, hitting our city with some of his signature stencil pieces.
The visit coincides with the release of a new film about the artist, Exit Through the Gift Shop. Stylistically, Banksy's work is quite different from the culture of hip-hop graffiti that has been the dominant form of street art for the past few decades. But like the paintings of his hip-hop cousins, Banksy's work retains its subversive quality, partly because the very act of making this type of art is considered to be a crime.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Written by Editor
By J.D. Benjamin - BASICS Issue #20 July/Aug 2010 Footage is released on the internet of fully armed police raiding a working class rooming house, brutally beating and terrorizing anyone in their path, and rounding up members of a minority group. It ends with a scene of unbelievable carnage and gore. The latest Wikileak from Iraq or occupied Palestine? Nope. It's the new music video for the song Born Free by M.I.A., an artist know for mixing radical politics and social commentary with her music. Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., is a British musician, record producer, fashion designer, activist, and visual artist of Sri Lankan Tamil refugee origin. She blew up in 2008 when her song Paper Planes was used in the trailer for Pineapple Express and the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. She has been nominated for 2 Grammies and an Academy Award and placed on Time Magazine's 2009 list of World's Most Influential People.
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Friday, 16 April 2010
Written by Editor
New play to address the gentrification of Queen St. West Varrick A. Grimes - BASICS Issue #19 - May/June 2010 The rising price of housing and commercial real estate in Toronto demonstrates a certain set of values taking hold of our city. These are the values that drive developers and decision-makers, and have an enormous and ongoing impact on communities in this city. Exploring the theme of how traditional working-class neighbourhoods change over time into the “hip” and moneyed neighbourhoods, FIXT POINT theatre, in association with Theatre Passe Muraille, is creating a performance about the strip of Queen Street West between Bathurst Street and Spadina over the last 30 years. This performance, called “Tale of a Town,” will be playing above the Pizzaiolo at 609 Queen Street West between April 30 and May 16 (south side, just east of where the fire was in 2008).
Friday, 16 April 2010
Written by Editor
Caravan of Hope raises $1300 to purchase ambulances Danny Cota - BASICS Issue #19 - May/June 2010 Great music, local talent, drinks-a-plenty, and all for a great cause. On April 1, the Caravan of Hope hosted a fundraiser at Mitzi’s Sister (1554 Queen West), raising over $1300.The Caravan of Hope is currently raising funds to purchase 13 decommissioned ambulances from the City of Toronto. These ambulances will be driven by volunteers to El Salvador, to be used as mobile medical units serving the general public and helping Salvadorians who would otherwise be without access to basic medical care.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Written by Editor
On Friday, March 26, 2010, BASICS Editor Steve da Silva caught up with G1 and Rodstarz of the South Bronx Chilean hip-hop group Rebel Diaz. Rebel Diaz was in town to perform at Barrio Nuevo’s benefit concert ‘Chile Can Rise’ – a fundraising initiative to raise money for grassroots people’s organizations in Chile rebuilding their society after the February 27 earthquake. BASICS: Thanks a lot for agreeing to this interview with BASICS. G1: Always man – thanks for having us. It’s not the whole crew – it’s two-thirds of Rebel Diaz, but it’s a pleasure for us to be here. We’re from Chile, so it’s important for us to be here supporting the grassroots efforts to help the people out in Chile. Rodstarz: Blessed to be here – we always down for community radio.
Friday, 08 January 2010
Written by Administrator
Corrie Sakaluk - BASICS #17 (Jan/Feb 2010) In December 2009, the estate of legendary jazz musician Chet Baker joined a long list of thousands of other plaintiffs in a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four principal members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). If the lawsuit is successful, the total amount of money owed to musicians could equal up to $6 billion... Originally launched in October 2008, the lawsuit has gained momentum as new plaintiffs, like Baker, continually sign on. This is not surprising given that more than 300,000 songs by Canadian and non-Canadian artists are currently on what is called a “pending list”, which forms the basis for the launch of this important lawsuit. The pending list contains songs that record labels like the ones listed above are supposedly waiting to receive rights for, while already using those same songs on compilation CDs or live recordings.
The list was initially created after a change to Canadian copyright law in the late 1980s. Since this time, members of the CRIA have been engaging in widespread copyright infringement using the list. The record labels create, press, distribute and sell the CDs, but do not obtain the necessary copyright licenses in advance.
This refusal to respect the labour and rights of musicians by obtaining the proper authorization to re-produce their work strikes many as particularly offensive given that these record labels have aggressively pursued Canadian consumers who download and otherwise obtain, share or reproduce music for not respecting copyright laws.
Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Written by Administrator
by Sana Malik
BASICS Issue #13 (April/May)Steven Soderburgh's 4.5 hour biopic on Enrnesto Che Guevara is an accomplished and respectful take on the revolutionary years of Che’s short life. For those who expect a celebratory tribute to the Latin American figure, Soderbergh’s piece will seem like an ambiguous attempt to represent a hero’s tale. However, Sodebergh’s depiction and stylistic choices – always showing not telling – are as complex as its subject. Che was a principled man, but he was not without flaws or errors in judgement. This is an epic that celebrates his victories, but it just as easily leads you into the frustration of crushing defeat that Che was surely encountering. Soderbergh's strong cinematic overtures, and especially the contrast in pace and tone between part one and part two provoke questions on who Che was as a revolutionary and as a leader forced to make conflicting decisions. And that's exactly where this picture is its strongest- never making any judgement calls but leaving the viewer in the position of dissecting Che’s actions as a man of principle, without ever making his thoughts or actions palpable. Part one juxtaposes scenes of guerilla fighting in the ‘50s in the Cuban heartland with Che’s first visit to the UN in 1964. His zeal and confidence are on full display in the gritty black and white reel, and a BBC reporter’s voiceover perfectly intonates the simultaneous suspicion and intrigue the West held of Che. It’s here that Soderbergh introduces and plays on the iconic and visionary poses that make the Argentine recognizable as a revolutionary, while the battle of Cuba wages on in subsequent scenes. Indeed, Che is to remain an enigma in Soderbergh’s vision - adding to his larger than life image as a popular icon – and Benicio del Toro captivates with perfection in the lead. Del Toro’s Che is equally compassionate and cruel, sometimes dogmatic and other times rash, his brilliant intellect on display and his crucial miscalculations crushing. It makes the man all the harder to understand. After the battle has been won and Cuba’s glorious socialist revolution is in place, part two begins with Fidel Castro reading Che’s farewell letter to the Cuban people he helped free from the forces of imperialism. Che’s vision for a free and socialist Latin America has compelled his return to Guerilla warfare and to Bolivia and to his eventual death. This story is less about his image as a revolutionary icon and more about a man as complex and conflicted as a determined fighter. The glamour is left behind in part one, and the continuation is a jauntier, more reflective piece that captures more of Che’s raw emotion and human spirit. Or at least as much as much is accessible. Soderbergh reconstructs the complexity of Che’s covert battle – in the landscape and with himself – through discrete, but powerful sequences in the fateful year Che spent in the Bolivian highlands. Che sees everything that happened in Cuba in reverse: he is rejected by the peasants he hopes to liberate, his battalion shrinks as fighters die, are wounded, or run away, and the American-trained Bolivian militia encroaches his terrain. But he never turns back and that is the biggest message this film delivers. The film is challenged by it’s slow pace and choppy storytelling attempting to mesh parts that don’t quite work together. It’s not entirely a glamorous portrayal and part two, especially, will probably suffer in commercial success. But it’s as honest, direct and significant as the subject it portrays.
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