Top Five: What electronic artist AA Wallace misses about Halifax

Former Halifax-based electronic musician AA Wallace returns from Toronto on Saturday to shake up The Seahorse (2037 Gottingen, 10pm, $12) with dance-party cone-heads Tupper Ware Remix Party. It's going to be all kinds of crazy, especially since Wallace just released his second party album In Alpha Zones, an 11-track synth-pop romp on Culvert Music. For his homecoming, Wallace tells us what he misses most about Halifax since leaving last year.


1. The "VLT Bubble" at Gus' Pub
With its many nicknames (for ex: The Little Casino, The Fishbowl), the VLT section of Gus' Pub is a treasure: "This is the best place to watch shows," says Wallace. "It’s elevated from the floor behind Plexiglass that reduces the volume of the show without making the music sound like crap." 

2. Brothers' Donair Pepperoni
"I love pepperoni," says Wallace. "Any time I’m somewhere new, I make an effort to try the regional gas station meats and nothing has beaten this yet." Spoken like a true Nova Scotian.

3. The $1 LP bins at Taz Records
"A lot of the drum and percussion samples I use for production come from 12’ singles were pulled from this library and I haven’t found anything that comes close elsewhere," says Wallace of the record store's discount dump. "Bonus beats from obscure singles from 1980 to 1984 are gold." 

4. Propeller's IPA
"They get this in sometimes at the LCBO (Ontario's NSLC) but sometimes will never suffice." 

5. Second-hand shops that aren't picked over by over-zealous re-sellers
Despite literally thousands of second-hand thrift stores in Toronto, Wallace says nothing compares to our Valu Villages or the infamous Guys Frenchys: "Video games, LPs and jean jackets are the few things I look for and which are scarcer than Mike Jackson sightings at shows."