Part gong show, part marathon and part support group, $Rockin’ 4 Dollar$ is one of the best events this city’s music scene offers. Every Monday night without fail, 12 performance slots are offered up and 12 slots are filled. (It’s like The Dirty Dozen, but with more musical numbers.) At the end of every night, […]
Mark Black
Posted inArts + Music
Glen Matlock is not Pistol-whipped
The most musically accomplished member of the Sex Pistols, founding member Glen Matlock, left the group in February 1977, about eight months before Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols went down in history. Depending on what you read, Matlock either left of his own accord, sick of the bullshit of manager Malcolm McLaren, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Talk of the town: best music of 2009
A History OfAction 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 MoorThe Conquering (Diminished Fifth) The stuff of heavy metal legend: surviving a car crash, Black Moor channels death and Kill Em All hooks making you […]
Posted inArts + Music
Billy Bragg stays true to rights
A deft lyricist with a warm and compassionate voice, 51-year-old Billy Bragg has never been one to duck the inevitability of romance or the importance of protest. “I’m trying to provide people with different perspectives on things, but not just one particular thing,” he says by phone. “The people that I worry about are the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Singled out: Top Ten Halifax Singles
Sloan & Eric’s Trip (Murderecords, Sappy, Cinnamon Toast, Cargo), CT 010, 1994. Two of the region’s best bands, before they reached legendary status, team up to cover each other’s songs to benefit CKDU. Tracks: Sloan, “Stove+Smother”/Eric’s Trip, “Laying Blame” Super Friendz, By Request (Murderecords), Mur 012, 1994. Try as they might, the band could not […]
Posted inArts + Music
Brutal Knights
The best part of each new Brutal Knights record are lyrics like “Draw a picture of me stealing your slice/While I eat a pizza slice” (from “Fight You in My Mind”) or ” One of my probs is your face/Please tell me how to solve it/Can I solve it using math?/My solution is to punch […]
Posted inArts + Music
Ghettosocks’ tasty Treat
Halifax-based MC Ghettosocks went from updating his Facebook profile and Twitter account with his “treat of the day,” to basing the concept of his new album, aptly titled Treat of the Day, around the idea. “I was kind of compelled to do this treat-of-the-day thing,” says Ghettosocks, AKA Darren Pyper. “For albums I get on […]
Posted inArts + Music
The rise of fall arts: performing arts
THEATRE A Beautiful View October 13-31 at Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle Street, $15-$35, 429-7070, neptunetheatre.com Love without labels. That’s what actor-writer-producer Jackie Torrens feels the two women in Daniel MacIvor’s A Beautiful View have spent 20 years working towards. “As humans, there seems to be a need for us to define something, to label it,” […]
Posted inArts + Music
Statues
Consistently infectious, Statues team up with P Trash and House Party Records, releasing yet another single that would make you hate yourself if you missed it. It’s damn near impossible for Statues to write a bad song. The real standout on this latest single is the first song on the b-side, “To the Top.” That’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Funny Misshapen Body: A Memoir, Jeffrey Brown (Touchstone)
With The Incredible Change-Bots, 2007’s hilarious take on transforming robots, Jeffrey Brown dispelled any notion that he was a one-trick pony. Funny Misshapen Body serves as a memoir, detailing his growth as an artist, struggle with Crohn’s disease and the release of his first work, Clumsy. Brown deftly demonstrates his abilities as an illustrator and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Best. Halifax. Concerts. Ever.
Sonic Youth Thursday, August 9th, 1984 Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Cafeteria One of the most talked-about shows of the last 25 years. Unfortunately, that talk is about how everyone missed it. Advertised as “killer rock + roll from NYC,” the poster, featuring a photo from Evil Dead, is one of the most […]
Posted inArts + Music
It’s all Something Good
Markit and Boy-ill are close. They’ve been friends for over a dozen years, following each other throughout HRM’s schools, basketball teams and later forming the hip-hop group Fax 4 with fellow MCs Spesh K and Quake, as well as being roommates. Their latest collaboration, Something Good, sees them working more closely together despite the fact […]