Sharp Music: War Child Heroes Compilation

by Mark on January 30th, 2009

 

We absolutely love benefit albums – or at least, that’s what we’d tell you if we were completely insincere. Not to belittle any specific causes, but benefit albums and concerts tend to be overflowing inane collaborations between has-beens looking to reignite failed careers and bloated rock stars wrought with white guilt. Don’t believe us? Look no further than the Music for Our Mother Ocean series, Live8 concerts, or anything Bono’s done in the last decade.

Which isn’t to say that we don’t appreciate activism in rock n’ roll; quite the contrary. Proper politicized rock n’ roll is amazing when it works, and that is precisely why we’re recommending War Child’s Heroes album. Comprised of some of the most exciting contemporary acts in music interpreting hits of bygone eras, this compilation produces some incredible (or potentially disastrous) pairings: indie-electro upstarts Hot Chip covering Joy Division, gracefully-aging punks The Holy Steady tackling Bruce Springsteen, nouvelle-riot grrls The Yeah Yeah Yeahs singing The Ramones, and the always-eclectic Beck interpreting Bob Dylan.

War Child – an organization providing humanitarian aid to war-affected children – deserves credit for coupling an intriguing album with a salient cause. And extra brownie points for staying as far away from Bono as possible.

War Child’s Heroes CD is available February 16th, and you can obtain the full tracklisting here.

Sharp Stuff: Olympus Photography Classes

by Mark on January 29th, 2009

Here at Sharp, we’re big supporters of self-improvement. Whether that means attending Porsche’s high-performance driving school, completing an MBA, or taking part in weekly pottery workshops (all suitable options– who are we to judge?), every man should pursue the full actualization of his abilities. And that is why we’re recommending the Olympus DSLR (or digital single lens reflex) classes – courses aiming at turning novice photographers into Brian Howells.

Each course is a half day, and tailored to some of Olympus’ most popular cameras, such as the E-420, E-520 and E-30. Led by veteran Olympus technical experts, these courses will be equal parts theory and practice. Along with exploring the fundamentals of photography, they will also familiarize students with the particular features and strengths of their cameras.

If you’re a point-and-click vacation photographer looking to improve your abilities, this is just the ticket. The next Canadian date lands on March 28th in Toronto.

You can get more information about these courses from Olympus’ website.

Sharp Reviews: “Che”

by Leo on January 28th, 2009

Do us a favour.

Call your kid up, the teenager who wears a Che t-shirt like it’s his job, yet couldn’t recite a single fact about the guy.

Pick him up and head over to the local cinema. Treat him to this four hour epic. Hell, get him a chili dog combo. He’s going to need the energy.

Remind him that the first film, El Argentino (The Argentine), is a warm up for what’s to come. (Che actually consists of The Argentine and Guerilla, each two hours long, with a one-hour break separating them.) When he fusses about how there’s no way he could sit through another two hour movie, tell him it’s for his own good. Tell him he owes it to the face on his favourite t-shirt.

Read the full review at sharpformen.com

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