By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
October 7, 2009

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project where individuals create postcard-sized works of art on which they confess a secret.
Approximately 1.5 million visitors begin their Sunday mornings looking through 20 secrets, ranging from molestation, adultery, and abuse to humorous or embarrassing, and some confessing the sender’s hopes and dreams.
PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God, released Oct. 6, is the fifth PostSecret book from creator Frank Warren, who is now busy putting on PostSecret events at college campuses.
The new book was born from an exhibit called “All Faiths Beautiful” Warren was asked to be a part of by the American Visionary Art Museum. Warren submitted 200 postcards containing spiritually-based secrets.
Warren says the cards include secrets about private fears or hopes or personal religious thoughts, things people might not share with anybody else.>>

By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor

October 7, 2009

Getting a hold of Said The Whale can be troublesome if they happen to be travelling across Northern Ontario on their way to Montreal. As it turns out, Rogers’ cell phone service isn’t so reliable out there.
“Rogers is just really shit in Northern Ontario, it’s just in and out all the time,” explained a frustrated Tyler Bancroft, one fifth of Vancouver’s Said The Whale.
Their album, Islands Disappear, is set to be released Oct. 13. This time around, the band had their line-up filled out and ready to go.
On their first album, Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia, Bancroft said they had a rotating cast of people. “We just had these people on the road that were touring in support of an album they didn’t play on, so it was just really nice to have a full actual line up for the whole record,” he said.
“It felt like a real band supporting a record, which was great,” Bancroft continued.
Bancroft also cites working with Howard Redekopp on the album as a positive experience for the band. Redekopp comes with a lot of experience. >>

By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
October 7, 2009

Ottawa band The Balconies’ debut self-titled release is garnering this indie band some well-deserved attention.
The brother/sister/boyfriend trio (composed of Jacquie Neville, Liam Jaeger, and Jacquie’s brother Steve Neville) delivers on their new album. It’s catchy in a good way—well-written lyrics and powerful vocals give The Balconies a high-energy vibe that seeps its way into their live performances.
That’s not to say it’s all rock and roll for The Balconies. They slow things down on such tracks as “The Slo,” “Lulu,” and “Skinny Dipper.”
The album gets things moving again with “Rest Up,” their vocals flying in an unruly symphony sure to get you out of your seat.
The band has previously shared the stage with such acts as Land of Talk, The Bicycles, Young Rival, and Mother Mother, among others.
Don’t miss your chance to see The Balconies live at Phog on Oct. 8! The Lance is giving away two pairs of tickets and two CDs! To win, email larts@uwindsor.ca or send us a message on Twitter at UWindsorLance with your favourite Balconies track before noon on Oct. 8. Winners will be drawn at random. Good luck!. >>