Adria Young’s Top 10 Babysitter, Babysitter (Psychic Handshake) Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (OVO/YMCMB) Freak Heat Waves, Bonnie’s State of Mind (Hockey Dad) Future, Dirty Sprite 2 (Epic) Hag Face, R.I.P. (Psychic Handshake) Justin Bieber, Purpose (Def Jam) Nap Eyes, Whine of the Mystic (You’ve Changed) New Fries/Old & Weird, Juice (Pleasance […]
Doug Taylor
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Review: Joel Plaskett
The first thing you might ask with Plaskett is “Emergency or solo, rock or acoustic?” Drummer Dave Marsh and bassist Chris Pennell play on a good portion of the 13 tracks, often with extras. The Emergency is most robust on “Credits Roll,” where Erin Costelo’s piano boosts the bottom end and Peter Elkas adds a […]
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Review: Alana Yorke
Titled “The Wichita Years,” Alana Yorke’s opening track is a delicious entry point. A whirlpool of strings shows how ubiquitous Owen Pallett’s influence has become. Yorke sings about a film inside her head, inviting random reverie. If she reminds you of a certain Irish priestess of the ethereal, then it’s unanimous. Yorke’s vocals are less adorned […]
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Review: Christina Martin
With a voice full of longing and a producer/husband who’s the best pedal steel player around, Christina Martin pointedly sidesteps the option of classic country singer. Dale Murray plays straight-up rock guitar and solos tastefully on a number of tracks, particularly “I’ve Got a Gun.” Here, Martin asserts a menacing defense against a bothersome suitor: […]
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Long live CKDU!
CKDU-FM, Atlantic Canada’s most celebrated campus/community radio station, has just turned 30 years old. Opening up the birthday party to the public is a shindig on February 19 at Plan B on Gottingen Street and an exhibit, What’s Left on the Dial: A CKDU Retrospective, on March 2-8 at the Khyber. Last fall, CKDU hired […]
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Sloan
Sloan at the Marquee Ballroom Saturday, March 7 $25/$30 sonicconcerts.com Halifax’s most enduring rock export this side of April Wine, Sloan carries on a quest for the perfect hook. On its latest, the four make their practice of contributing individual songs more territorial, each taking a quarter of the running time, a reduced version of […]
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The Mellotones
The Mellotones Live! at the Seahorse (independent) New Year’s Eve 2015 with The Mellotones and DJ Savory Wednesday, December 31 at 8:30pm Olympic Community Hall, 2304 Hunter Street $40 A suitable keepsake for The Seahorse Tavern as it leaves its Argyle Street location after 66 years is the band that has made that downstairs hum […]
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TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2014
picks by David Dahms Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2 (Sony) Big K.R.I.T. Cadillactica (Universal) Cadillactica is a planet in a solar system near Earth’s. It was created by the 808. Big K.R.I.T is both supreme god and an everyman. He created this world and gave the people free will. Bass is the universal […]
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Soho Ghetto
As impressive as the debut EP Humble Beginnings Make for Good Night Life was, Soho Ghetto clearly had more to say. Marc-Antoine Robertson launches this album’s opener, “One at a Time,” in falsetto back and forth with a choir which leads to throbbing piano as he echoes Cutting Crew in 1985 with “I could die […]
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Ian Sherwood
Since moving east about seven years ago, Ian Sherwood has built a reputation as a musical dynamo. Though he gets significant friendly backup on this record, there’s no mistaking the energy source. A hootenanny sing-along spirit drives “Non-Believer.” The chorus “She’s in love with the faith in me” could easily be heard as “She’s in […]
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Various Artists
Seven artists share this exposure opportunity, achieving unity despite the variations. A neighbourhood encompassing the Mi’kmaq Friendship Centre, Hope Blooms Garden and Centre for Art Tapes has nurtured them to varying degrees. “Mi’kmaq Honour Song”, a lengthy rhythmic vocal contemplation, kicks off the set, performed by Rebecca Moore and Glenn Knockwood. If your touchstone for […]
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Fearing & White
Stephen Fearing has had a fertile twelve months. The superb Between Hurricanes dropped a year ago, then his rock band’s South, now a second collaboration with Andy White. This album is a lot like Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ latest. They boast the same drummer, Gary Craig, who injects extra oomph. Fearing tends to sing […]