Producer Wrongtom takes tracks from Roots Manuva’s four proper studio releases and reworks them to re-imagine, perhaps re-emphasize the dub underlay of the UK MC’s material. Whole new beats are brought to bear, but sometimes it’s just a matter of making a small change to make a big difference. Tom alters the tempo for “Proper […]
Sean Flinn
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Tall tales
Stillness fills the inside of St. John’s United Church, a large red-brick building at the corner of Windsor and Willow streets. The church was closed two years ago when structural and environmental assessments concluded the building was beyond repair. Worshippers now assemble at the nearby Maritime Conservatory. Louisa Horne and Heather Bown have returned to […]
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HPX spotlight: Radio Radio
Radio Radio shows must produce two by-products, “sweat and smiles,” according to Gabriel Louis Bernard Malenfant, one of three members of the band (along with Alexandre Arthur Bilodeau and Jacques Alphonse Doucet). Much has been made of Radio Radio’s Acadian identity. The three hail from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The bio on their label […]
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Halifax Pop Explosion on parade
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 Tasseomancy The Company House, 10pm, $10 Sisters Sari and Romy Lightman play the Pop Explosion in mid-transformation. They’ve already changed their band name from Ghost Bees to Tasseomancy, the title of their excellent 2008 release. The changes are going deeper, explains Sari Lightman by email: “We’re focused on developing our skills as […]
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Nocturne spotlight: Ursula Johnson: Elmiet
The headpiece rests on a bust in the window, a superhero’s costume without a secret compartment in the hideout. Facing the street, it’s perhaps being hidden in plain sight. Passersby don’t recognize the mask, which will be worn by Ursula Johnson during Nocturne, as part of the Prismatic festival. It’ll cover her head and eyes, […]
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HPX preview: New town for New Pornographers
“That’s crazy,” he says on the line from Woodstock, New York, where he bought a house last year. “We should mark that,” he says, recalling the debut album came out in late October 2000. The collection of roughed-up new wave was released by the Mint Records label in Vancouver, the city where Newman grew up […]
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MacLeod in motion
In this high literary season, Alexander MacLeod continues to make moves. His first book, a short story collection called Light Lifting, is shortlisted for the Giller Prize. With that recognition in mind, the book’s seven stories confront a single, dominant question: “What constitutes a significant action?” MacLeod, an assistant professor in Saint Mary’s University’s English […]
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Small Sins
Consider the colour of this album’s cover and liner for a clue to the music within. Packaged in an aquamarine that’s at once cool and warm, these two currents meet and flow together in D’Arcy’s vocals, the instrumentation and arrangements. Again working with John McEntire, who produced and engineered the recording, and getting the whole […]
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MacLeod makes Giller shortlist
Alexander MacLeod‘s short fiction collection, Light Lifting, has been shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Published by Biblioasis, Light Lifting is MacLeod’s first book, though his stories have appeared regularly in Canadian literary journals. He also teaches in the English and Atlantic Studies programs at Saint Mary’s University. A short feature based on a conversation […]
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El Guincho
Pablo Dìaz-Reixa returns as El Guincho. Following his 2008 album, Alegranza, which garnered much international attention, pressure to move forward surely existed. For the most part, such a step is made. His vocal range and approach are limited, but he makes up for it musically: repetitive basslines, beats and samples and pitch in the higher […]
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A Week at the Airport
After a seven-day residency at London Heathrow, de Botton reveals the peninsular nature, not fully island or mainland, of airports. Entering these in-between spaces, we become projections of ourselves, a point underscored by Richard Baker’s photographs. We’re detached from our real selves, the ones at home and work. As passengers, we leave one aiport for […]
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A bushel of quick event picks
Dance SINS and Susie Burpee October 7-9, Sir James Dunn Theatre A killer night for dance fans, thanks to Live Art, starting off with a premiere by SINS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia). Xs is choreographed by Vancouver-based Daelik for SINS’ “Seven Deadly Sins Series.” Love watching these guys perform: Jacinte Armstrong, Susanne Chui and Sara […]