On Saturday night, Toronto-Halifax’s Sloan returned home to celebrate the 35th Atlantic Film Festival at a pass-holders special event at The Marquee Ballroom. There were also performances by The Brood, Rose Cousins and Buck 65 but I only made it for my Sloan dogs. Just after midnight, Sloan appeared and jumped right into “If It […]
Music
Tales from the Cryptorips & Viet Cong show tonight
Mark Mullane knows what’s up. The former frontman of Halifax’s ’90s phenomenon North of America got pals together last year and started Cryptorips, a semi-nostalgic return to the math-rock of his youth. After only a few shows, the band was exciting music nerds everywhere; in July, Cryptorips opened the Toronto reunion of ’90s indie-shoegaze legends, The Swirlies. Not […]
Nova Scotia Music Week nominees announced
The first round of nominees have been announced for Molson Canadian Nova Scotia Music Week, taking place in Yarmouth this year from November 5 to November 8. YEAH DOGGY. The NSMW Super Show closes it out on the Sunday night at the Mariners Centre. This year’s top nominees include In-Flight Safety with six nominations, Christina Martin and […]
Check out all these locals playing Pop Montréal
From this Wednesday until this Sunday, the city of Montréal will be “fire,” as they say. The kids say that. Dozens of music’s ‘coolest’ acts (Thurston Moore, for one, and Motörhead, for some reason) will take over the land of smoked meat sandies and cheap gross ’40s for Pop Montreal. I wish I could go but alas. Luckily The […]
From the car: a text-interview with Montreal’s Babysitter
Babysitter, one of Montreal’s gnarliest rock bands, will play in Halifax tonight and tomorrow night and you should almost definitely check them out. Do it for me. Originally from Victoria, B.C., the prolific trio of dudes relocated to the east last year and recently released a seven-inch split on Toronto’s Pleasance Records with Calgary’s Hagface (side note: last fall, […]
Photos: Rebecca West at Pro Skates
Last night at Pro Skateboards & Surfboards, 90s-era Halifax band Rebecca West reunited for a sick set in anticipation of the band’s performance at Pop Montreal later this month. Fronted by Allison Outhit, with Lukas Pearse on bass and Dale Hussey on drums, Rebecca West played from both Cinnamon Toast Records albums, including the amazing jam “State of Grace,” […]
Sunday Jam: The Okay Day Patio Party Playlist
This Sunday, 13 Halifax DJs and some special guests will ROCK YOUR FUCKING BODY all day and all night at The Argyle Bar & Grill ($10, 3pm to close). To celebrate this special event (and $3.75 drinks), we present The Okay Day Patio Party Playlist to start your weekend. Brought to you by OKAY TK, in partnership […]
Cinnamon Toast Crunch: Rebecca West plays ProSkates
This is a tale told a thousand times but just in case . . . Back in the early 1990s, with bands like Sloan, Plumtree, Thrush Hermit and jale, indie labels Cinnamon Toast Records and Murderecords, with Eric’s Trip just over in Moncton, a brand-new alt-weekly newspaper (ahem!) and a growing annual music festival, almost everyone thought Halifax was becoming “the next Seattle.” […]
Dark Arts: Matt Samways’ gothic lounge this Saturday night
“The more you sleep, the less you live. It’s pretty simple really,” says Matt Samways, electronic artist and the head of Halifax-based avant-garde label, Electric Voice Records. On Saturday night, Samways presents Sleep and Longevity, a multidisciplinary sensory-sound party at The Khyber (10pm, $5). With previous performances at Halifax’s outsider art festival OBEY Convention, Samways has shifted his […]
Tips on chips: two great music shows to see tonight
You know when you’re standing at Needs in front of the chips, not sure what to buy? Well, my hot dogs, I’ve got some tips for you. Tonight, Halifax has options with two great shows: crunchy rock jams or smooth pop-rock serenades. Honestly, I’m torn like a bag of Doritos. Should we split the difference? Should […]
String Things: German artist Helmut Lemke performs tonight
Tonight, UK-based, German sound and performance artist Helmut Lemke presents “Long Strings ‘n’ Short Encounters” at The Bus Stop Theatre (8pm), a collaborative, improvisational concert experience with Paul Cram (sax/ clarinet), Brandon Auger (modular synth), Lukas Pearse (bass) and Andrew Patterson (reading). It will be his only performance in Halifax. As one of the the Ballast artists […]
Interview with L.A. rock band Fragile Gang on love and loss
“Bands are like gangs,” says Arlo Klahr of Fragile Gang, “Gangs need each other to be strong.” Tonight at Gus’ Pub, Fragile Gang brings their folky post-punk, hazy heartfelt pop jams all the way to Gus’ Pub. The touring duo will be joined by Toronto post-punk band Casper Skulls, with Halifax locals Josh Salter and fuzzy pop ensemble The Everywheres […]

