Jenny Charlesworth

Jenny Charlesworth is an arts and culture journalist and Deputy Editor at Spinner Canada. She regularly contributes to The Straight, Concrete Skateboarding and The Grid. A music and pop culture enthusiast, Jenny has written for The Wire, The Globe and Mail, Paste Magazine, Montecristo Magazine, Color Magazine, The Block, HUCK, AOL.com and The Tyee. She lends her expertise to CTV National News. In 2010, Jenny was a member of the Polaris Music Prize Grand Jury.

Top 10 albums of 2011: Jenny Charlesworth, The Straight

If this were about top songs, I’d be the laughingstock of the Straight’s music department. Not only would Britney Spears be getting a shout-out, so would Rihanna and Drake. For the sake of my street cred, thank Christ almighty we’re looking at long-players.

Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams 

A 20-something girl singing about her dead mother doesn’t exactly scream “record of the year”. But nothing tops Only in Dreams. Pack leader Kristin “Dee Dee” Gundred pushes through the pain with earworming hooks and fierce vocals. There’s no wallowing here, just a badass babe who’s hell-bent on showing off her garage-rock diploma.

The Black Keys - El Camino 

There’s a chance this record sucks. Most of us are so doped up on the duo’s down ’n’ dirty blues-rock that it would take a guest turn by J.D. Fortune to make us cry foul. But I’m hoping it’s more than El Camino euphoria that’s making booty-shakers like “Run Right Back” and “Lonely Boy” sound so good.

Atlas Sound - Parallax

It’s no wonder Bradford Cox recently suffered a nervous breakdown. Between his Deerhunter gig and Atlas Sound solo project, there’s hardly time to kick back in the La-Z-Boy. He might have dodged the meltdown had he half-assed Parallax, so let’s applaud Cox for sacrificing his sanity in the name of whipping up more cockeyed pop.

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Thinking Outside the Manager

PHOTOGRAPH BY TENZIN DORJE

A look inside the non-denominational nativity play that’s taking over the Brick Works… “Silent night, holy night” might be the traditional setting for a certain holiday tale, but The Story, Theatre Columbus’ outdoor play based on the Nativity, promises very little of either. The imaginative walk-about—which weaves its way throughout Toronto’s historic Evergreen Brick Works using the kilns, pavilions and quarry garden as backdrops for the holiday spectacular—updates the ancient tale of Jesus’ birth with an all-inclusive secular spin. Audience members—we recommend travelling with hot cocoa in hand—follow the usual suspects (Mary, Joseph and the three wise men are still the stars of this non-denominational revamp) on an hour-long, one-kilometre journey that recasts the Nativity as a comedic morality play. Director Jennifer Brewin gave us the lowdown on the winter spectacle that runs Dec. 13–30 and is sure to delight the whole family—and startle more than a few unsuspecting passers-by.

1. “When you’re going into public spaces and telling stories there, a linear narrative is important—especially when you’re in a rambling, chaotic outdoor space like the Brick Works,” says Brewin. “Playwright Martha Ross comes at this as a parable, as a story for our time. She took from the Bible and brings the characters to life in a secular context. A baby is born basically in a garbage dump and we decide he’s going to be a leader. So there’s a democratic appeal; your faith can come into it but it doesn’t have to.”

-Published in The Grid Dec. 11, 2011 (click here to read full story)

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon ‘Stands Behind’ Anti-Grammy Comments

After slagging the Grammys and going head to head with the Avalanches on account of his “sell-out” Bushmills Whiskey endorsement, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is trying to set the record straight.

Speaking to Q host Jian Ghomeshi during a live tapping of the CBC show in Toronto Thursday morning, Vernon addressed the comments he made to the New York Times regarding the Grammy’s compromising artist integrity.

“I think I can stand behind all that stuff,” he said. “I come from a place where music, growing up, was an expression, it was a journey, a vehicle for self-discovery. So I’ve always been a little bit hesitant of the industrial approach to music and making music.”

“I don’t think it’s wrong,” he continued. “Like, Micheal Jackson is the best, everyone loves Michael Jackson, but his success became sort of fuel on top of fire on top of fuel — and obviously it didn’t work out well for him personally. But the whole system is just bizarre to me, but at the same time people love it, [that kind of music is] on the Top 40 for some reason. I can’t just sit here and say that I’m right.”

Though Vernon’s complaints about the award show were a previously unpublished part of an earlier interview, the Times only ran then the day after Bon Iver nabbed four Grammy nominations, including a Best New Artist nod. This created an awkward situation for the singer-songwriter, even more so if the band walks away with a golden gramophone or two on Feb. 12.

“I was a high-school football player and basketball player, and winning [was] awesome,” he told Ghomeshi. “But music, when you win, it’s almost like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’”

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