Halifax, Nova Scotia | THE COAST

Granelli lets go

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Percussionist Jerry Granelli isn't always on the move�he releases his first solo drum album 1313 this Saturday. by Sean Flinn JJerry Granelli is a man in motion. During conversation, he moves constantly, pushing hands, lifting arms, craning neck, bending and straightening core behind his desk.…

Superhero Girl

editor@thecoast.ca (Faith Erin Hicks) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Faith Erin Hicks]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The Sacred Prune of Remembrance (The Pumpkin Pie Corporation) by Sean Flinn On the whole, this sound---the central practice of collaging cabaret, ballroom, folk (from early 20th century North American to gypsy and klezmer), jazz, electronic effects and heavy-riffed rock and noise---has been done. Because this music is about big and bizarre gestures there�s little wiggle room.…

Walking shoes: Directed by DAMMSel

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Guided by iPhone GPS, Léola LeBlanc's DAMMSel Day takes walkers on a fictional tour of Dartmouth's sites. Sean Flinn follows. by Sean Flinn Léola LeBlanc wants people to see the sites of Dartmouth in a new way. "Basically I'm trying to create ephemeral landmarks," says LeBlanc, who lives and works in the city.…

The Acorn w/Gianna Lauren

editor@thecoast.ca (Tara Thorne) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Tara Thorne "This time we know what to expect," says Acorn leader Rolf Klausener of the band's show at St. Matt's, where the band played last HPX. "We had fun playing dodgeball in the gym downstairs with Ohbijou."…

Temple Grandin

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Directed by Mick Jackson (HBO Films) by Sean Flinn As far as movie titles go, her name needs no embellishment. Temple Grandin stands alone.…

Bloodhouse

editor@thecoast.ca (Laura Kenins) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Bloodhouse (independent) by Laura Kenins Six sharp tracks from local favourites Bloodhouse, this self-released tape does justice to the band�s scuzzy garage rock. Sounding (and looking) a bit like something from another era scooped up off an old car floor, the fuzzy guitars and bass lines deliver with tracks like �Digital Village� and �Eerie Power.� The distortion and reverb are turned way up, clouding over vocals and battered by percussion, lingering and giving the recording the full effect of seeing Bloodhouse playing in a decaying basement.…

Stephen Kelly: WaveUp

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Sean Flinn Halifax artist Stephen Kelly's kinetic sculpture and sound installation, WaveUp, isn't necessarily about isolation and the loneliness of a remote location, though that mood pervades the experience, just below the surface of the work. Attached to mechanized and levered arms, speakers are mounted to walls and suspended from the ceiling.…

The Jon Cohen Experimental

editor@thecoast.ca (Tara Thorne) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

w/Action Adventure and The Lucy Grays by Tara Thorne "Anything anybody needed I would provide," says Jon Cohen of his decade on the Montreal music scene. "You know, 'There's 100 guitarists on every street corner, but we need a harp.…

Objectified

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Directed by Gary Hustwit (Plexi Productions) by Sean Flinn Regular people are seen but not spoken to---only about---in transitional shots and sequences from one industrial designer or design writer to the next. In this documentary about �our complex relationship with manufactured objects� we get the stories from talking heads, but none from average people who�ve developed a devotion to or reliance on this or that thing; why they choose this object over the other.…

Sub genius

editor@thecoast.ca (Melissa Buote) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Indochine makes a great sandwich, and with help from a local bakery it could be true bahn mi. by Melissa Buote Sitting at Whet Cafe, chatting about meals we'd recently eaten, recipes we'd tried and our latest market excursions, my friend Simon stopped mid-sentence and mid-cupcake and dropped a delicious bomb. Suddenly, breathlessly, he said, "Youarenotgonnabelievethis!"…

Downtown shuffle

editor@thecoast.ca (Tim Bousquet) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The demand for downtown office space has collapsed, but the province is considering subsidizing construction of a huge new office tower. by Tim Bousquet Last week, infrastructure minister Bill Estabrooks told the Chronicle-Herald that he'll announce a decision about provincial funding for the proposed convention centre in downtown Halifax later this month. I'm guessing from the tenor of his public pronouncements so far that, despite a provincial budget shortfall that will soon loom to perhaps a half-billion dollars, Estabrooks will announce over $100 million in government financial support for the convention centre project.…

Black Blizzard

editor@thecoast.ca (Shannon Fay) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly) by Shannon Fay Black Blizzard was published in Japan in 1956, leaving its mark on the emerging Japanese comic book industry with its longer narrative and adult-oriented story. The manga is like a Hitchcock film on paper: two convicts handcuffed together try to evade police in the middle of a snowstorm.…

Pole of confusion

editor@thecoast.ca (Hilary Beaumont) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Halifax�s postering bylaw is a mess of ambiguities, enforced by personal opinions. Is it time to head to court? by Hilary Beaumont Eight staples per poster, four per side: that's how you'll recognize the work of Ian McRuer. He aligns the temporary signs one on top of another with a bit of space between, as if in an outdoor gallery.…

Citizen Leslie

editor@thecoast.ca (Lis van Berkel) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Former north end legal aid attorney Megan Leslie is an improbable Member of Parliament: a committed community activist who doesn�t see her career in politics as her goal in life. by Lis van Berkel January 2009 Sensible is the word that drifts to mind when describing how Megan Leslie looks, waiting in the upper foyer of the House of Commons. Wide-legged brown slacks.…

Purge

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Sofia Oksanen (Black Cat) by Sean Flinn Aliide Truu is an elderly woman living alone on a farmhouse in rural Estonia. When Zara, a �[m]uddy, ragged, and bedraggled� girl� fleeing her abusers hides on Aliide�s property, the two women intrinsically identify the other�s survival impulse and slowly recognize a shared history.…

Food for (sexy) thoughts

editor@thecoast.ca (Dan Savage) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

But when maple syrup is on the menu, the smell is another guy�s fetish. Plus: When you are---and when you�re not---a sexual predator. by Dan Savage Q A few nights ago, I got drunk and knocked on my roommate's door and confessed my attraction to him while he was lying in bed in nothing more than his skivvies. (It was dark and I stayed at the door, so I didn't know that until after the fact.)…

Keep 'em rolling

editor@thecoast.ca (Michael Fraiman) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Picnicface is looking for your wheels and your wallets for their feature film, Roller Town. by Michael Fraiman Of the 15 roller-skaters circling the Olympic Community Centre, almost every one has fallen down at least once. The guy in racquetball goggles and a red tie-dye tank top might be the most adventurous, but the newly formd Halifax Roller Derby Girls are clearly the most skilled; there's a white-and-blue afro wig, a heavy-set gentleman with a thick white beard and a dead-ringer for Breakfast Club bad boy Judd Nelson.…

Gentleman Deluxe

editor@thecoast.ca (Carsten Knox) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Deluxe Anthems (independent) by Carsten Knox Dammien Alexander of Philadelphia, adopting Halifax as home, is a man of many names. He goes by Dame Alexander and his current project/alias Gentleman Deluxe, his third release following Beautiful and We Are Who We�ve Been Waiting For.…

Free Will Astrology

editor@thecoast.ca (Rob Brezsny) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Turn to a greater imagination, capricorn by Rob Brezsny VIRGO (August 23-September 22) �The trouble with life isn�t that there is no answer; it�s that there are so many answers,� said folklorist Ruth Benedict.…

The American

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Matt Semansky One's enjoyment of The American depends on one's feelings about George Clooney. Director Anton Corbijn is clearly a fan, having placed almost the entire weight of his movie on the actor's immaculately dressed shoulders.…

John Mellencamp

editor@thecoast.ca (Doug Taylor) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

No Better Than This (Rounder) by Doug Taylor The yelps of Johnny Cougar have never felt so distant. Mellencamp joins producer T-Bone Burnett in the Southern rooms where Robert Johnson and Elvis Presley made their mark, as if to join spirits.…

Christina Martin's happiness

editor@thecoast.ca (Holly Gordon) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Newly engaged, the singer-songwriter releases her third album, the very personal I Can Too. by Holly Gordon "I just have to find a spot," Christina Martin says while walking onto a beach in Pugwash, NS, before lunch on a Sunday morning. The singer-songwriter just arrived home from a whirlwind, week-long trip to Montreal and wanted to do this phone interview via her cell on the beach.…

True Story by Paul Partington

editor@thecoast.ca (Mike Holmes) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Mike Holmes]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Jill Hennessy

editor@thecoast.ca (Trevor Savory) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Ghost in my Head (Master Rock) by Trevor Savory Jill Hennessy has declared her true passion is music and not acting. While Hennessy is best known for her work on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan, Ghost in my Head is a surprising effort, as actors-turned-musicians don�t have the best track record (David Hasselhoff, Steven Seagal).…