There was a time in Halifax, not so long ago, that if you wanted to dress in local designs or with the environment in mind you’d end up looking like a church-basement yoga instructor or decked out in a tartan muumuu. Well, you’re lucky, fashion-conscious students: It’s a great time to move to this city […]
Sue Carter Flinn
Posted inArts + Music
Skratch Bastid’s Labour Day Barbecue
It’s July in Reykjavik, and a small crowd mills around waiting for a local hip-hop show. A prototypical-looking Icelander, wearing a cassette tape around his neck, does his thing before Josh Martinez takes the stage, with the soon-to-be-shirtless Irish DJ, Flip. Perhaps it’s when DJ Flip spins the opening of “Eye of the Tiger,” accompanied […]
Posted inLifestyle
Kick-Ass!
The Olympics end on a hilariously sad and pathetic note when Cuba’s Angel Matos deliberately kicked a referee smack in the face after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal match, for taking too much injury time. He got pissed, pushed a judge, THEN pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat, from Sweden. THEN Matos spat on […]
Posted inLifestyle
Gonna give you a new verse
I admit, I couldn’t get the enthusiasm to set my alarm for 6am, like I did for the opening ceremonies but I did watch some of the highlights. In short, Jackie Chan, fireworks and David Beckham. British singer Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page performed “Whole Lotta Love.” With a few changes: “Way, […]
Posted inLifestyle
Arts vs medals
Way to kill my Olympic buzz. I was just about to blog about how much I enjoy BMX racing (and that awesome three-way spill last night) and this was sent to me. According to today’s Globe, “More than $40-million in savings the federal government will reap from controversial cuts to arts and culture funding will […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sigur Rós
Sigur RósMeð suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (XL) Sigur Rós knows how to make you cry, even if you can’t understand a bloody word. The Icelandic band’s latest, which translates to With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly, begins warmly with the thumping, acoustic “Gobbledigook” and lovely vocal harmonies on “Inní mér […]
Posted inArts + Music
Steve Coogan: a star reborn
It’s fair to say that Steve Carell should thank Steve Coogan for the $175,000-plus pay-cheque he receives for each episode of The Office. Years before Ricky Gervais became the insufferable paper-pushing David Brent in the original UK version of the show, Coogan had perfected the role of self-absorbed ignoramus with his cultish mock TV and […]
Posted inArts + Music
Tagaq
TagaqAuk/Blood(Jericho Beach)Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq Gillis’ debut Sinaa and her collaboration with Björk introduced audiences to the rarely recorded indigenous art form. Tagaq fearlessly experiments with the emotional trance-like quality of her voice. It’s not always accessible, which may be why she includes instrumentation and collaborators. On “Gentle,” Tagaq’s otherworldly singing takes a backseat […]
Posted inArts + Music
Elliott Brood
Elliott BroodMountain Meadows(Six Shooter)Bands with a distinctive sound, like Toronto alt-country (often called “death-country”) trio Elliott Brood, must grow tired of reading “tumbleweeds, train tracks, whiskey and dust” in the press. But the band members are masters at creating compelling narratives with such eerie ambiance you can’t help but pick road grit from your teeth.Recorded […]
Posted inArts + Music
Adam Puddington
Adam PuddingtonBack in Town (Hay Sale)Although Adam Puddington is an Almonte, Ontario, guy, his latest release, Back in Town, could refer to the east coast. Produced by Dale Murray, recorded in Dartmouth, with featured performances by local talents such as Kinley Dowling, Dan Ledwell and former Guthries Ruth Minnikin, Serge Sampson and Brian Murray, it’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Beck
BeckModern Guilt (Interscope)Beck Hansen must have spent hours listening to his old vinyl when writing the mellow Modern Guilt. The LA sound is shot straight out of 1960s Laurel Canyon, complete with psychedelic guitars, surf-rock riffs and acid-freaky piano sounds that’d make Sergeant Pepper proud. But this current-day hippie keeps it contemporary, thanks to Danger […]