Did you know that you love dancehall, soca and afropop music? Montreal-based DJ and producer Poirier is going to prove that you do, even if you may not know it yet. Poirier’s music is a fresh blend of big sexy beats and deep bass, with an international feel that you don’t often hear in Halifax. […]
Tiina Johns
Posted inArts + Music
Building Stories
Building Stories is not a book. It’s an immense box filled with hardcover graphic novels, mini-comics and oversized newspaper comics that together tell the story of an apartment building and its inhabitants. I’m not an anarcho-primitivist, but I love that Building Stories is a physical art piece that can’t be read on an e-reader. Chris […]
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Born Weird
Three things consistently make me cry with joy: Beyoncé’s “Halo,” when Christian the lion remembers his human friends and Andrew Kaufman. Kaufman’s novels are so clever and fun, I don’t realize how deeply his characters’ emotions resonate with me until I’m welling up. Born Weird is an expertly crafted modern fairytale about the emotions of […]
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(You) Set Me on Fire
Alison is a nerdy and (probably) queer girl, heading into her first year of university in a new town. She’s leaving behind the wreckage of her first relationship with a girl, which left her burnt—literally—when a cleansing ritual involving torching relics of her ex got out of hand. At school, Alison meets Shar who is […]
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The Soupcans
The Soupcans serve up garbage man realness, with punk so trashy the drums may be made of cardboard boxes. Relentless rhythms, tortured vocals, beyond-fuzzy guitars and my favourite bass tone—where it sounds like the amp is broken—come together to create perfect, painful punk. My favourite tracks, “Outlander” and “Altered States” have secret melodic hooks buried […]
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The Hive
Charles Burns, best known for covers of The Believer magazine and for his creepy, teen-horror epic Black Hole, has a singular, recognizable drawing style that makes you want to stare endlessly at the page, despite being repulsed by what you see. In The Hive, (the second book of a trilogy, following X’ed Out), Doug is […]
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Poison Shy
Brandon Galloway is an exterminator living in a depressed Ontario town, whose life consists of killing a six pack and trying to care for his schizophrenic mother. That all changes when he meets Melanie Blaxley after spraying her apartment for bedbugs. Melanie has a penchant for getting blackout drunk, having unprotected sex with strangers and […]
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The Blondes
As the coming apocalypse looms, I want to read more books about plagues, mass panic and government abuses of power. So I know what to expect, I guess? Emily Schultz’s The Blondes delivers a cool end of days story with a feminist edge. Hazel Hayes finds out she’s pregnant with her married professor’s baby, just […]
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I’ll Seize The Day Tomorrow
For fans of his great CBC Radio show, Wiretap, Jonathan Goldstein’s I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow is a perfect dose of Canada’s most lovable sad bastard. The book is Goldstein’s musings and daily interactions for the year leading up to his 40th birthday. Like Wiretap, I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow showcases his sardonic humour and […]