The CHMA offices on the third floor of the Wallace McCain Student Centre saw a rotating cast of about ten on Sunday for their first record and gear swap. The initiative, spearheaded by staff member James Anderson, was meant to drum up interest and act as a test for future record swaps. Despite uncooperative weather and minimal advertising, the swap drew an interested crowd and was ultimately successful.

The event was a response to the dearth of physical music vendors in Sackville, a community building initiative, and an opportunity to advertise CHMA’s Indiegogo fundraising campaign in its final two weeks. Community members brought piles of classic vinyl and recent releases to trade, sell, or, in some cases, give.

In addition to music, attendees brought both operational and broken sound equipment to trade. Anderson was on hand offering quick diagnostic and, when possible, repair services by donation to the campaign.

CHMA hopes to respond to the community’s clear interest in the initiative by hosting similar swaps a few times a year. Although the small offices were adequate for their first swap, the station is considering a larger location, increased advertising, and potentially reaching out to Moncton record vendors. However, planning for these events is in its earliest stages.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, the acclaimed stage and film actor, was found dead last Sunday morning in his Manhattan apartment. Law enforcement officials stated that the cause of death was an apparent drug overdose. 

The actor’s body, which had a needle sticking out of its arm, was found Sunday morning by screenwriter David Bar Katz. Katz wrote two plays that Hoffman directed for the LAByrinth Theater Company.

Although Hoffman had been clean for twenty years, he had recently relapsed in his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and checked himself into rehab for substance abuse last year.

Hoffman’s death has led to an outpouring of support, sympathy, and fond remembrance from both fans and celebrities alike. The prominent actor, who received an Oscar in 2007 for his lead role in Capote, was working on several projects at the time of his death, some of which have been cast into uncertainty.

Philip Seymour Hoffman will surely be missed for his unique presence and contributions to film and theatre.

The 2014 Grammys provided its share of memorable moments, ranging from the disappointing, to the endearing, to the utterly confusing. Viewers, performers, winners, and losers alike took to social media to voice their opinions on the event. However, a few aspects of the show, most notably the awards given in the Rap and Rock categories, have been called out as more suspect than the award show’s predictably mediocre output.

Hip-hop collaborators Macklemore and Ryan Lewis nearly swept the rap category, winning Best Rap Performance (for “Thrift Shop”), Best Rap Album (for The Heist), and Best Rap Song (again, for “Thrift Shop”). They narrowly avoided a full sweep of the category, as Jay Z and Justin Timberlake picked up the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration award for “Holy Grail”. The sweep was considered by many to be a shock, considering the inclusion of Kanye West’s Yeezus and Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City on the list of nominees. In fact, Macklemore himself publicized, via his Instragram account, a text that he allegedly sent to Kendrick Lamar in apology for his win. The text read: “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love.” Macklemore and Lewis also won the award for Best New Artist.

Another award that invited speculation was Best Rock Album. The nominees for the award were Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Kings of Leon, Led Zeppelin (who won), Queens of the Stone Age, and Neil Young with Crazy Horse, the most recently formed of which—that is, Kings of Leon—was formed fifteen years ago. The criteria for Rock Album is nebulous at best, and the list of past winners, which includes The Black Keys, Coldplay, and Bruce Springsteen, emphasizes the degree to which the designator “rock” has become outdated. Perhaps all of more recently formed rock bands were funnelled into the equally unclear categories of Alternative and Metal, the latter of which Black Sabbath was also nominated for.

The evening also saw its fair share of odd collaborations and questionable performances, although there were a few standout performances. Among these was wife and husband Beyoncé and Jay Z, who opened the televised segment of the evening with what was supposed to be a surprise performance of the track “Drunk in Love”, from Beyoncé’s truly surprising late December release. One of the more questionable performances of the evening was Metallica’s rendition of their metal hit “One”, which was meant to pay tribute to the late Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed, who collaborated with the metal band on an ill-advised album in 2011.

Although the reputation of the Grammys has long been disparaged, the utter mess that was this year’s show stands out as one of the most confused and irrelevant in its history.

From the beginning of December until the end of January, pop culture publications in print and on screen publish litanies of lists. Although ‘best-of’ and ‘worst-of’ lists can become tiresome when they dominate social media, they are useful to casual consumers of media who may not have as much time as they would like to scour the endless internet looking for music, movies, and film. Here are a few albums and films, compiled with the help of the AV Club and Pop Matters, slated for release in 2014 that are generating excitement.

2013 ended with a surprise, and critically lauded, eponymous release from Beyoncé, which ensured that the music world, although not a homogenous entity by any measure, had momentum going into 2014. On Jan. 21, the popular punk band Against Me!, of punk hotbed Gainesville, Florida, released their first full length album in four years. The album, entitled Transgender Dysphoria Blues, is the band’s first release after singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace came out as a transgender woman in 2012; it will be released via their own record label, Total Treble Music. The concept album is about a transgender prostitute and will be one of the first punk records to discuss transgender experiences.

In the world of hip-hop, anticipation has been rising for the collaborative LP by Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs and California producer Madlib. The duo have released a few singles, most notably “Deeper,” from the album, entitled Piñata, which is slated for release on Feb. 4. As is the case with Against Me!, the highly anticipated album will be released via Madlib’s own label, Madlib Invazion.

Damien Jurado, the Seattle, Washington folk artist whose works oscillate between spare acoustic songs and lush orchestral arrangements, released his eleventh studio album, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son, on Jan. 21 via Secretly Canadian. Although it is technically his eleventh album, the prolific Jurado has released dozens of EPs, singles, and collaborative efforts; most recently, and notably, Jurado appeared on two tracks from electronic musician Moby’s 2013 release Innocents.

In the world of film, three veteran auteurs are slated to release movies this year. Wes Anderson, whose The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore have been rereleased by the esteemed Criterion Collection, will be seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel hit theatres on March 7. The film, which revolves around a friendship between a hotel concierge, his friendship with a young colleague, and a bequeathed painting, features Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, and Jude Law, among many others. 

Paul Thomas Anderson, director of such acclaimed films as The Master and Boogie Nights, will be releasing his adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s detective novel Inherent Vice. The novel has been called one of the most accessible pieces to come from Pynchon, who is notorious for his long, complicated works. Joaquin Phoenix, who worked with Anderson on The Master, will be featured in the film.  

Finally, Jean-Luc Godard, the French New Wave director who has been frequently cited as one of the most revered filmmakers of the twentieth century, will be releasing a film entitled Goodbye/Farewell to Language. Although Godard has been actively engaged with experimental and progressive film techniques since the 1960’s, this will be his first feature film in 3D. The divisive film technique may finally be embraced by critics and auteurs alike, depending on the success of Godard’s film, which is about a couple who suffer from communication issues that are mitigated by their talking dog. 

“Montgomery Street”—Jesse DeNatale 

(Soul Parade)

This song is all about the way things progress and move forward. At least, the music is; the lyrics, however, are about the way things get dizzy and fall over sideways. This one clocks in at 6:18.

“Lunar H”—Califone 

(All My Friends Are Funeral Singers)

This track is a bonus track from the LP. Consider the lyrics: “call your shadow home.” It is a track that has movements and those movements make you feel a little bit uncomfortable. 14:59, this one’s a long one.

“The Battle of Hampton Roads”—Titus Andronicus 

(The Monitor)

Autumn is not all about people crying into the sound holes of their acoustic guitars. Sometimes it’s about pretending you’re Bruce Springsteen. Fourteen minutes of anthemic punk.

“Last Call”—Kanye West (College Dropout)

I’m not sure if people gather around the fire and tell each other stories after the crops have all been harvested, but this might be the modern equivalent. A couple of excellent verses followed by an intriguing spoken word section. Some of Kanye’s signature lines are on this song: “Oh my god, is that a black card? I prefer the term African American Express.” 12:41. 

“Ithaca”—Tyler Lyle (Expatriates)

Lyle confronts the kind of mythology we make of folk music and make folk music of. He refuses to deviate from the three chords he uses. He spits into his hand, runs it through his hair, and sticks his arm, elbows deep, into Greek mythology. He comes out with 12:02 of dying light, a sunset that lasts unsettlingly long.

“Marquee Moon”—Television (Marquee Moon)

Dylan Thomas was thought to have said “rage against the dying of the light,” but this is a classic misattribution. Tom Verlaine said, “shake your goddamn shoulders into the dying of the light,” and all he said it with was six strings.

“Wakin on a Pretty Day”—Kurt Vile 

(Wakin on a Pretty Daze)

This song does not have any movements. It rolls off the tongue and it rolls right along and then, before you know it, it is finished. 9:31—”Don’t worry about a thing, it’s only dying.”

“The Kids”—Lou Reed (Berlin)

Lou Reed died the other day. Some things can’t be shook off like seasons. It doesn’t matter how long this song is.