JENNIFER CASTLE w/ The Belle Comedians, The Weather Station, Spring Standards Saturday, October 22, The Company House, 8pm, $10 Many of the songs on Jennifer Castle’s major-label debut Castlemusic are unadorned; tunes like “Powers” make their mark with delicate strumming, spare, rattling percussion and whispers of flute. Though the music is low-key, an enormous strength […]
Alison Lang
Daily Picks: Friday
Dog Day w/Shotgun Jimmie, The Skeletones Four, Reversing Falls, Old and Weird Friday, October 21, Gus’ Pub, 9pm, $10 Friday’s Pigeon Row Showcase is going to be a doozy. To celebrate the fifth year of being a rootin’-tootin’ promotin’ machine, Pigeon Row gathered some of their favourites to make a very sweet lineup. If you […]
HPX 2011: Tuesday
yeah The desire for familiarity and comfort can sometimes derail the most ambitious of plans. That’s more or less what happened last night at the Seahorse. After the Deadly Hearts wrapped up their set with the usual dry aplomb, there was a unanimous consensus of “fuck it, let’s go to Gus’.” Sometimes you just wanna […]
HPX 2011: Tuesday Highlights
Oh my God, everyone. Halifax Pop Explosion starts tomorrow. Batten down the hatches, friends and enemies. I’ll post a “survival guide” tomorrow so you can see how one asshole recovers from a week of loud music and self-abuse. In the meantime, I thought I’d post some personal daily highlights and see how far off the […]
Vibe alive
There are some bands that wear their influences on their sleeve. To some extent, this is true about Bad Vibrations. Over the past two years, KC Spidle, Evan Cardwell and Meg Yoshida have developed a sound shaped by a variety of influences, culminating in their monstrous debut LP Black Train. The stewing pieces of Bad […]
One Hundred Dollars’ story time
One Hundred Dollars believes in storytelling. For the past five years, the Toronto band has relayed the tales of troubled souls, urban decay and social inequity with a rich and heartfelt alt-country sensibility. The mind behind these stories is lead singer-lyricist Simone Schmidt, who first began composing songs for the band with musician Ian Russell […]
Jeff Beck’s Haligonian Bassist
Jeff Reitzel Rhonda Smith Tonight, when you’re sitting in the Metro Centre with your mom and dad, watching them rhapsodize over Jeff Beck, you might want to sneak a glance over at the stately woman accompanying him on bass. Rhonda Smith was born in Halifax and moved to Montreal as a child. There she became […]
Video: Cold Warps Get Stupid Tattoos
YER NOT DEAD, LIARS! Be thankful for this video from your favorite insouciant long-distance punkers Cold Warps. The video for “Stupid Tattoos” was filmed about a year ago and features the band – Paul Hammond, Ryan Allen, Dominique Taylor and Lance Purcell – getting, well, stupid tattoos. (My favorite is the one that reads “Tatoo.”) […]
Daily Picks: Friday
DOG DAY w/Shotgun Jimmie, The Skeletones Four, Reversing Falls, Old and Weird Friday, October 21, Gus’ Pub, 9pm, $10 Friday’s Pigeon Row Showcase is going to be a doozy. To celebrate the fifth year of being a rootin’-tootin’ promotin’ machine, Pigeon Row gathered some of their favourites to make a very sweet lineup. If you […]
Five Questions About Napalm Death
Napalm Death Can I be real with you guys for a second here?The truth is that while I am a fan of certain metal bands, I actually know sweet fuck all about grindcore. Thanks to the film Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey , I am aware that grindcore is, like, a thing in metal. But I […]
The Rebirth of Pervert
Pervert “Pervert was the only band I knew that didn’t have a Myspace,” says Kyle MacDonald. He’s the newest addition to the Moncton powergrunge ensemble, currently emerging from a yearlong hiatus. As a stalwart member of the Moncton music scene, MacDonald can lovingly trace the band’s history back to 2008 when it formed from the […]
Rain men
Rain Over St. Ambrose was initially conceived during a period of loss. A year-and-a-half ago, longtime Yarmouth musician Curtis LeBlanc passed away onstage—shortly after urging his son Cory to try fronting a band. Cory had spent a long time as a drummer playing with musicians like Jon McKiel and Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees. […]

