With the recent passing of Haydain Neale, the loss is deeply felt. But very soon the sound of that soulful baritone leads the listener to a lightness of heart, the spirit to a place of strength. Yes, that sounds heavy, but the man’s memory, legacy, is worthy of the sentiment. SOULmate, particularly “How We Do,” […]
Sean Flinn
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Lovesongs of Emmanuel Taggart, Syr Ruus (Breakwater)
On page one, readers awake with 45-year-old Emmanuel to his feeling of detachment from his own life. His disorientation deepening, Emmanuel takes a wrong turn, ending up in a stranger’s driveway. He’s mistaken as a long-awaited familiar. This sets him off on a personal quest to regain his bearings, meaning and purpose in life. Ruus, […]
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OS MUTANTES
Original co-founder Sergio Dias remains committed to the cause that birthed Os Mutantes back in 1966 in Sao Paulo: to challenge political and musical convention. The band’s configuration today differs from yesterday, but Dias coauthors these tunes with fellow Brazilian iconoclast Tom Zé, ensuring an always-shifting musical ground. The album combines heavy rock guitar chords […]
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Ruth Minnikin’s double life
After a ferry and a bus, Ruth Minnikin arrives at a North Street coffee shop. From here, she’ll go by foot. Late on a December day, the sun is low. Soon she’ll have to go postering in dying light. Death was on Minnikin’s mind during the making of Depend on This, not as doom and […]
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R.E.M.
R.E.M. remembers with this two-disc live album (plus DVD), recorded during a five-night stand at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin in 2007, before the release and tour for the outstanding Accelerate. Along with strong, strident versions of the new songs, they dig deep into album tracks from the first decade of the band, especially the […]
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The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History, John Ortved (Greystone)
Even those tired of The Simpsons will enjoy and gain great insight from this oral history (blocks of quotes broken up by the author’s narrative connections between topics and speakers). Sure, the book’s about the collection of cartoon characters, whose kooky lives and chaotic world we witness for a half-hour every Sunday night (innumerably in […]
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East of Berlin’s guilt complex
We witness events. We live much longer in their aftermath. This idea underpins East of Berlin, the Governor-General Award-nominated play being presented by Halifax’s 2b theatre company, directed by Christian Barry (see review page 52). “I was interested in talking about the fallout of the Holocaust,” says 31-year-old playwright Hannah Moscovitch on the phone from […]
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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 […]
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It Feels So Good When I Stop, Joe Pernice (Riverhead)
If some movie adaptations are better left as books, it’s best to stick with Pernice’s novel soundtrack (available on CD) for It Feels So Good When I Stop, rather than the novel itself. A nameless protagonist in his mid-20s withdraws to a small corner of Cape Cod to escape his failures in life (mainly a […]
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Monty Python: Almost the Truth: The Lawyer’s Cut
The first two discs contain a six-part documentary about the groundbreaking British troupe. Despite the use of new interviews with the six members, and other sources such as a hilarious Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden’s singer), there’s not much new ground covered. Who wrote with whom and who fought with whom have already been explored. There […]
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Black Feelings
Montreal post-punk power-noise trio Black Feelings focuses its energy on establishing and expanding a sense of volume, both sound and space, in their music. At this point at least, they’re little concerned with variation in melody and tone. Drummer-vocalist Owain Lawson’s voice lacks character other than he’s held at a distance in the mix. Guitarist-keyboardist […]
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Torbert and troupe
Music and food have always co-existed in Jeff Torbert’s life.He busked for several years at the Farmers’ Market. “I had long hair and a beard,” he recalls. “I was in the corridor near the fish guy.” A childhood friend took over his family’s farm near Windsor. Torbert has visited to hang and to help out. […]