A History Of
Action in the North Atlantic (Noyes)
High-octane, Maritime-themed math rock? Yes, please. A
History Of gets the Halifax music scene right, and finally gives us a
full-length record. —LK
Black Moor
The Conquering (Diminished Fifth)
The stuff of heavy metal legend: surviving a car crash, Black Moor
channels death and Kill Em All hooks making you wonder why you
stopped headbanging. —ML
Classified
Self-Explanatory (Half-Life Records)
The DIY work aesthetic and tightly wound flow of Enfield’s
Classified paid dividends in 2009 with his latest
disc, Self-Explanatory, blowing up across the
country. —TS
Construction and Destruction
Video et Taceo (independent)
“I’ve got the heart and stomach of a king/eat that you motherfucking
princes.” This duo makes surprisingly catchy and suddenly beautiful
music as bold as it is prescient. —TT
Contagium
seven-inch (Black Raven Records)
The first release on Victoria’s Black Raven Records is this debut
seven-inch from Halifax’s Contagium. Three songs of classic crust
inspired by Amebix and Heresy. —MB
Erin Costelo
Fire & Fuss (independent)
Costelo’s voice, in both senses of the term, sets her apart.
Lyrically, she offers fresh metaphors and takes new routes to meaning.
Vocally, she commands attention. —SF
Cousins
Out on Town (Youth Club)
A quintessential Halifax low-fi gem—as depressing as uplifting,
with sounds as melodic as a clear summer’s day and as distorted and
creeping like a fog bank. —ML
Amelia Curran
Hunter, Hunter (Six Shooter)
We all knew Hunter, Hunter would be fantastic, and Curran did
not let anyone down. But now that others have finally picked up on her
talent, our “told ya so” may soon become “we knew her when.”
—DH
Dog Day
Concentration (Outside)
Once again Dog Day delivers smart and subtle pop songs, proving
things don’t have to be overdressed or obvious to work and to work
well. —SF
Dog Day
Elder Schoolhouse (Divorce)
Recorded with Rick White, there’s an eerie feeling throughout to
this record, building up to a long noise piece that’s definitely not a
pop song. —LK
ECT/Reclusive Mute
split seven-inch (Radiator Collective)
Electro Chiac Therapie is arguably the most unique punk band in the
Maritimes. Combining punk, electro and French pop, this team-up
with Gary Flanagan delivers. —MB
Ghettosocks
Treat of the Day (independent)
Peanut butter, poutine and tasty hip-hop? Sounds like Saturday
night, thanks to our smooth emcee and guest spots by Edgar Allen Floe,
D-Sisive and more. —SCF
The Gideons
Oxford Street (independent)
This teddy-boy party band has grown into an assured group of
songwriters. This album is its swan song—cheeky, ragged, heartfelt.
—AL
Jenn Grant
Echoes (Six Shooter)
Her first record was charming, but Echoes is spectacular,
with that effortlessly breathtaking voice draped around richly
textured, sometimes dark and melancholic songs. —DH
Gypsophilia
Sa-ba-da-OW! (independent)
Awarded best jazz recording at Nova Scotia Music Week, this is a
must for every cool cat, but too genre-bending for jazz obscurity. Be a
real hipster and finger-snap along. —ML
Hermitofthewoods
Love’s Dark Season (independent)
This rapper and poet explores the fallout of a failed marriage with
a skilled, soulful patter that’s forever on the cusp of breaking.
—AL
Husband and Knife
More of Them (Than Us) (Divorce) KC Spidle hits
lower lows than last year’s An End, but with a creepy, intense
psychedelic feel. There’s something new in this tape every time I
listen. —LK
In-Flight Safety
we are an empire, my dear (Night Danger)
A true band effort, all four members make memorable contributions to
this melancholic and uplifting album. People will play it for many
years to come. —SF
Jenocide
Machines to Make Us Wet (independent)
The boys wanna be her, the girls wanna be her. Jen Clarke’s
electro-raunch-pop is like a diamond-encrusted boxing glove to the
head: tough but glittery, and a shitload of fun. —SCF
Kestrels
Primary Colours (Noyes)
A Kestrels song will draw you in with keening voices and melodies.
Then the band opens its gullet, smacking you with a headful of fuzz. A
good way to die. —AL
Minivan Halen
seven-inch (Kingdom of God)
The late, great Minivan Halen’s seven-inch on Kingdom of God has
riffs for days, which only makes it more painful that this band’s
career was so short. —SJ
Ruth Minnikin and her bandwagon
Depend on This (Songmill)
Out December 16 and produced by Andrew Watt, Halifax’s first lady of
folk moves in a new direction, collaborating with Chuck Blazevic
(Dreamsploitation) on production and arrangements. —SCF
Joel Plaskett
Three (New Scotland)
A well-told story from a guy who just may be Canada’s Paul
Westerberg and who recognizes there’s room for multiple voices (Rose
Cousins, Ana Egge, father Bill). —SF
The Prospectors’ Union
Old Wonders (Just Friends)
This digital EP, available at herohill.com, is a night-winding-down
companion to the stellar Syracuse—a bit softer, a bit lighter,
a touch twangier, but just as hard-hitting and deftly played.
—TT
River Water
Long Lake (independent)
Made entirely in February, Josh Dean’s sonic experiment is a scrappy
soundscape pierced through with lyrics about his day-to-day, sung in
earnest and with full heart. —TT
Meaghan Smith
The Cricket’s Orchestra (Sire)
Beneath my leather-clad chest is a heart that melts for Meaghan
Smith’s unaffected old-timey pop. It’s too good to wait for the coming
Canadian release. Download it on iTunes now. —ML
The Got to Get Got
Sahalee (Noyes)
Halifax’s super-group, led by Mark Mullane, doesn’t disappoint with their debut album. A fun, joyful cacophony of sound, that is as fun to listen to on headphones as it is to watch live. —SCF
Tongan Death Grip
seven-inch (House Party Records)
I strongly believe Tongan Death Grip’s seven-inch is the wickedest
recording of the year. I would stake a lot of money on that, if anyone
is interested. —SJ
Dinuk Wijeratne/Kinan Azmeh
Complex Stories, Simple Sounds (Incognito)
When these two old friends and established composers/performers
catch up, they make music. Recording in a Lunenburg church, Wijeratne
and Azmeh extend greetings and talents here. —SF
York Redoubt
Cheap Funerals (Hot Money)
The tape Cheap Funerals, available for free download on Hot
Money Records, has four amazing songs that will get nostalgia going for
this band for years to come. —SJ
York Redoubt
York Redoubt (Noyes/Hot Money)
The city’s most promising debut this year, York Redoubt goes on
all of my mix tapes for out-of-towners and ex-locals with their
well-crafted, distorted indie rock songs. —LK
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This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.
Not to nitpick, but come on: no mention of Old Man Luedecke (he won a Juno!) or The First Aid Kit’s “Rocket Summer” EP?
Old Man Luedecke’s album came out in 2008, so it wouldn’t have made this year’s cut (these are just 2009 releases), but he was in last year’s issue–in fact he was on the cover in one my all-time fave photos jumping on a trampoline in yellow socks! I heard that he’s recording now, so I bet we’ll see him here next year.
Rocket Summer is 2007–but great pick!
Kudos to Halifax’s least-liked indie band, The Ether, for putting out two really good albums of elegant trash this year (i’m partial to the first one, Paint The Walls In Blood). The Scribbler “My Old Lady” 7-inch was also really great.
FYI–Robbie Shedden was there representing Dog Day as well as TGTGG.
Maybe this wasn’t an oversight and was intentionally left out because he did not play on Concentration or Elder Schoolhouse, but I felt it was worth mentioning.
Not to nit pick, but what’s with all the goddamn white people on the cover? Were white people just the best at music? Seems reallllllly whack to me.
Thanks Crys, you’re right, that is why he was listed as TGTGG only, but I’m really glad you mentioned it here. (BTW, the HPX show at the Seahorse was amazing).
William Blake, if you feel there are specific albums that should have been included, we’d love to hear what they are. In order to come to this list, we polled 10 of our regular music reviewers and writers, all of whom have varying tastes. This is the list they came up with, and I respect their decisions, but we’re here to celebrate local music in its entirety, and now’s your chance to weigh in.
As for the musicians that are actually on the cover, we had a list of 30 bands. As a visual rule of thumb (it’s also impossible for a photographer to manage many more people), we never put more than about 4-5 people on the cover, but this was a special circumstance. So we started going down the list (in no order) contacting bands, expecting that people were busy, not interested, etc. and that we wouldn’t get too many people, but wow, we were wrong! Everyone enthusiastically RSVPed right away, and then, sadly, we had to stop contacting people because the photoshoot would have taken all night, the photographer would have killed me, and looked terrible with so many people. So yeah, some bands who had great albums and who made the list didn’t get on the cover but it was definitely not a biased decision or deliberate omission.
Also, as I have told many people from many different areas of music, if you feel like a certain type of music is underrepresented in the paper, we are always open to new writers and reviewers with knowledge and enthusiasm for various musical & arts communities, who want to contribute. All people need to do is send a writing sample and some potential story pitches or review ideas to arts@thecoast.ca to be considered.
Ridiculous – whose list is this? Not mine.
Rising Waters.
A heard this band called Rising Waters, they have some serious songs that I have never heard the like of before, (I am 28 years old and I have over 1500 cd’s, albums and cassettes). Dude can hold a note until the cows come home. I spoke to the manager of the band at the bar and all he said when I asked about them releasing an album is “we have two albums awaiting recording”. I don’t know what that means, but there are some great songs, they have one about the death of Kurt Cobain that is very serious. So that is one band that missed this list…another is Alice Stops Time, I seen these guys the same night, it was a packed bar on Argyle, the foggy Goggle I think, or the seahorse…but they were great as well, had like a wintersleep sound, I don’t know if they have an album either. I am from the west coast and can’t believe all the talent around this city. Super-unknown music scene! I hope the metal heads don’t succeed in branding halifax as a metal city though…metal seems to be making fun of music, I mean I like Uncooperative Death and Orchid’s Curse, but not these other metal bands that buy a bc rich and a coffin case and act like Jack Black or Spinal Tap.