On July 1, Canada turns 142 years old. That same day, Pier 21 celebrates its 10th anniversary as “Canada’s immigration museum.” At the museum, the holiday begins with an official citizenship ceremony at 10am, harkening back to the pier’s important history as a threshold—an entry point for one million Canadians, according to the museum’s website, […]
Sean Flinn
Posted inArts + Music
Musical layers peeled back in Sometimes Always
The elevator doors to the third floor part, allowing multiple and intermingling sonic currents to rush down the length of the narrow corridor, flooding the carriage. Against the flow of machine and mouthed sounds, a visitor steps into a gap in the room; a breathing space to pause and get bearings before plunging into Sometimes […]
Posted inArts + Music
Ceti Alpha
Ceti Alpha is the project of Dartmouth-based Nick Bevan-Johns. He sings and writes all songs on Telemetry, his second album and follow-up to 2006’s The Street. He also produces, plays guitar, bass, mandolin, omnichord and more. But Bevan-Johns brings in others to play parts—key parts—and to co-arrange this pretty pop melancholia. “Darkside Hill,” for example, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Erin Costelo
Fire & Fuss presents a classic pop musician at work. This is music aligned with soul, R&B and jazz, like the pop of the mid-’60s to the early ’70s. “Weak Like Us” has to be Costelo’s signature song: “Oh light, you betrayer/Oh night, you instigator,” she sings on the chorus; two short, smart lines illustrating […]
Posted inArts + Music
Joel Plaskett: Three for the road
Joined by a cast of musical characters, Joel Plaskett’s ambitious new triple album travels through modern rock and Maritime folk, reflecting on a life of “going away, being alone and coming home.” photos Riley Smith
Posted inArts + Music
Thibodeau’s poetry searches for the exquisite
The original version, Seul on est, won the 2007 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry in French. Now English readers get to experience this excellent work with One, thanks to a translation by Jo-Anne Elder. Thibodeau searches for “the exquisite,” a life of awareness where the beauty, good, belonging and love that the world has […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mike Evin walks the distance
Trudeau went on his long walk in snowy Montreal to decide on his political future. He returned resolved to leave public office. Bob Gainey, the Habs’ general manager, invited a floundering Alex Kovalev on a summer stroll in the city following the star’s bum season in 2006-07. The Russian forward returned to form, for awhile […]
Posted inArts + Music
White Cowbell Oklahoma
Twin guitars head up the charge with ’70s-styled harmonics and solos. Keyboards fill in with ghostly fog and analog weirdness. The rhythm section stays speedy and tight. Too often it sounds as though this Toronto band only wants to recreate a bygone era, its heroes—Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, early Judas Priest and also Edgar Winter, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
On My Sleeve gets to the heart of tattoo art
Cher Hann has long, lean arms, with veins visible. She rests the limbs on the cafe table, elbows pointing toward, and almost reaching, the outer edges. Her hands lie one on top of the other, beneath her heart, as she often leans forward and over the tabletop during conversation. Another heart, a tattoo she received […]
Posted inArts + Music
It’s Timber Timbre time in Halifax, this Saturday
The sound of Timber Timbre travels at its own pace, arriving unhurried. In the musical company of Taylor Kirk, the man behind the moniker, time slows down. The effect largely arises from his low, resonant voice—an aged sound. “I’m almost 28 now, and I’m a painfully shy person, so singing has come really slowly for […]
Posted inArts + Music
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Ten tracks of cranked and cranky soul, blues, R&B and rock come together in little more than 30 minutes. The Austin, Texas, singer/guitarist, backed by brilliant players on horn, organ, bass and drums, takes listeners to the point where all those forms intersect. “Sugarfoot,” “Big Booty Woman,” “Get Yo Shit” and “Bobby Booshay” demonstrate best […]
Posted inArts + Music
Heaven on Earth
Though the plot pivots on an abusive arranged marriage, this film shows how families can arrange themselves around problems in a way that facilitates catastrophe. Because he’s the cherished son working many jobs to support a multi-generational household, no one challenges or sanctions Rocky Dhillon (Vansh Bhardwaj) when he unleashes violence on his new bride, […]
