As Paper Beat Scissors, spatial explorer Tim Crabtree has always verged on the experimental. After releasing his second album last March, and touring Canada, the UK and Europe for most of 2012, Crabtree is back in Halifax working on new (top-secret) releases with Echo Chamber’s Charles Austin. Out of necessity, Crabtree is a one-man band. […]
Adria Young
Posted inArts + Music
Heavy Bricks
all ages Heavy Bricks The Halifax hardcore punk scene is on fire. Four almost brand-new punk bands—Nuisance, Weed Thief, Sleight and Bricks—play the Sad Rad on Friday with Concrete Asylum and D-beat punks Life Chain. Like any small scene, members collaborate and cross-pollinate new bands. Example: last fall, Bricks asked Newfoundlander Jono Whittle to join […]
Posted inArts + Music
Perchance to dream
The story behind The Bus Stop Theatre is that a bunch of people got together and made it happen,” says Clare Waqué, the primary operator of the rental venue on Gottingen Street. Since March 2010, the Bus Stop has hosted independent theatre, art exhibitions, music and literary events at affordable rates. The venue relies on […]
Posted inArts + Music
Raise the roof
Since 2004, music blog Herohill has posted hundreds of reviews and news about local indie musicians. Based in Halifax, Bryan Acker and Shane Nadeau, the folk-focused creators of the site, are also jurors for the Polaris Music Prize, SOCAN and the Junos. Not bad for a couple of music bloggers. But after years of pro […]
Posted inArts + Music
Get ‘LO
At the end of last year, Drake released The Motto, which made YOLO (You Only Live Once) the most abused phrase of 2012, so much so that his mixtape with the bawse Rick Ross, originally titled YOLO, was later renamed. But YOLO dominated pop-culture and, by extension, our vibrant Halifax music scene. This year, everybody […]
Posted inArts + Music
Critics’ picks: music
Adria Young Coast writer since 2012 Adria Young, unofficial president of the imaginary Shotgun Jimmie Fan Club, is counting the days until Jimmie’s next album and *Come Cry with Me* by Daniel Romano. Sloan, Twice Removed Deluxe Edition (sloanmusic.com) By the second album of its career, Sloan achieved indie-rock pop perfection. A reissued vinyl box […]
Posted inLifestyle
Youth and mental illness
Suffering for years from depression and psychosis, Michael Smith was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2006. After six months in the Nova Scotia Hospital in 2008, he heard about Laing House. He says dropping by was one of the best decisions he’s ever made. “Initially, it seemed like the only place I could go. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Year of rad
You know how cool Ice Cube sounds when he says he had a good day? Imagine if he’d had a good year. For a collective of musicians from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, 2012 has been a super productive 365 days. They reunite on Friday for a real pal party at Gus’ Pub. As […]
Posted inArts + Music
Hot for teacher
“It was all Patsy Cline and Hank Williams in my house,” says vocalist and award-winning saxophonist, Shirley Jackson of her Alberta upbringing, “but as we grow as musicians, we develop our own tastes.” Seeking deeper moods, she moved to the Maritimes in 1988 and found a wealth of untapped talent. “The east coast is a […]
Posted inArts + Music
Lone Cloud blends Mi’kmaq tradition and modern style
Suffolk Downs, Boston, 1966: The young Mi’kmaq artist, activist and musician Alan Syliboy sees The Beatles. His life is changed. “That was when I got really passionate about music,” Syliboy says. “Some friends told me there was a band that was on The Ed Sullivan Show that I had to see. And then, it was […]
Posted inArts + Music
Heart of metal
Why should you go to Mettalfest? For Rob Nickerson of Black Moor, the answer is pretty obvious: “Two nights of great heavy metal music for one price.” The brand new heavy metal festival, celebrating the first anniversary of promotional firm Mettalworx Music Group (hence the name) hits Gus’ Pub this weekend. Eight of the gnarliest […]