Ignorance is NOT Bliss
If you didn’t like country music would you go to a place like the Rodeo or Cheers on a Saturday night. Most intelligent people would avoid such places. However on Saturday August 23, 2008 a genius decided to go to Reflections in spite of his hate for the gay community. This guy in his infinite…
soory to the gang…
I”am typing this little note to THE family i’ve could’ve hurt. i was stoned and saying a lot of shit that could hurt a lot of people . like Bubbles Family man what was i fucking thinking , i”am sorry and i hang my sober head in shame, sober dickweed…
clean your nether regions somewhere else dude
So were in the Queen Elizabeth II hospital and have to use a public washroom. Great. So the place is populated and one of the hacks is dude, an employee, uniformed and displaying a QEII id. Finished his business I supposed and heads to the washbasins. Cool, public contact, infection control, all that sort of…
Gin
Please Die, you ruin lives. Furry freak
Thanks for the allergy attack asshole.
I’m just wondering why people feel it is absolutely necessary to put on 3 pounds of perfume before going to work in the morning. I thought a lot of offices were scent free. You know, people could be a little more considerate of people who might possibly be VERY allergic to your stupid, smelly perfume…
A good development proposal
As I discussed a couple of days ago, a newly constructed apartment building immediately across from the Hydrostone Market gets my nomination for Halifax’s ugliest building. I’m happy to say, however, that a proposal just up the street, at Kaye and and Isleville Streets, looks much more promising. I haven’t had time to read through…
Keith Urban slips a disc!
People magazine, your number one source for fast-breaking soft news, is reporting Keith Urban is all “Oi, my back!” Perhaps it’s a case of too much baby lifting, because new dad Keith Urban has been diagnosed with a slipped disc, his publicist, Paul Freundlich, confirms to PEOPLE. But don’t fear the back reaper! The rep…
A certain computer store.
I bought a custom made computer from ***** located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In under 3 months I had it back in the shop for repairs. The 1st time some cable were dangling outside my tower, and several cable weren’t connected either. And I needed a new tower, since they ruined it. The 2nd time…
Awful customers
To all the awful customers out there who take out their bad day on students just trying to live- I’m a human being, I do my best, when I handle you in your awful mood… still with a smile and kindness you have no right to treat me like your personal slave, like I’m lower…
Bouncers
Yea, yea, yea, we get that you hate bouncers. But if you want to accuse specific bouncers working in specifically named businesses of doing bad or illegal shit, you ain’t gonna do it here. Web site nazi
gum and respect
thank you to the fucking genius in clayton park who decided to spread gum across the cross walk button that i need to press every morning on my way to work. and way to be respectful of a memorial site two feet away. you are a fucking idiot. Gum Belongs In Your Mouth
Damn you time *Shakes Fist*
Why does there have to be so much of you between now and when I get to see my Becca??? Watch out for Beach Balls
A tale of two cities
“Hello!” I shout, as I descend a short embankment from the road into a makeshift campsite on the backside of Seaview Park. I’d been drawn here by the “Africville Protest” sign nailed to a telephone pole, but only now get a full view on the camp, which includes a camper trailer, about five tents, a…
Showcase showdown in Pictou
Two years ago, this newspaper did a “What’s in the water in New Glasgow”-style story when the East Coast Music Awards, seeing as how the tiny Nova Scotia town has produced JD Fortune, George Canyon and Bubbles. In November the water will be full of the sweat (and likely vomit) of the bulk of the…
damn drivers
once again, at the commons playground i was about to cross the street, i press the button and the signal goes off. i step to begin to cross. the car parked in front of me, zipped right past me. and then so did two other on coming cars. a jogger sees this, and shakes his…
Homecoming
CBC.ca reports: Olympic poll says Canadians happy with athletes, China and TV When rower Krista Guloien led a contingent of 100 Canadian Olympians returning from Beijing down the escalator at Vancouver International Airport Monday she found a country more than satisfied with how the Summer Games turned out.” “Oh, yeah? Was that poll conducted by…
Cape Breton Rip-Off
I have travelled to that fucking welfare rock for the last time. Every restaurant I went to over the week I was there (from Port Shitberry to Sydney via the Cabot Trail Borefest was a complete rip-off. The restaurants were dirty, the food complete crap (when you have to go to McD’s to get something…
Halifax films in TTC
Three films created through AFCOOP’s One-Minute Film Scholarship program are going to screen as part of the Toronto Urban Film Festival, from September 5-12. How cool is this, a transit-based festival! It’s the only one of its kind in North America, featuring a different urban-themed program of silent, one-minute films each day that will be…
swimmin wit da fishes
heh Forget swimming in the harbour, I’d like to see (insert publicity hounding official here) eat a nice yummy mollusk out of the gussied up cess-pool. Undefeated
driving dolt
To the loudmouth driver cursing bicyclists at the corner of Brunswick and Sackville streets Aug. 21 at 5 p.m. Let me get this straight, the world is heating up at an alarming rate due, largely, to carbon emissions from cars driven by knuckle draggers like yourself. Yet you think it’s OK to pointlessly rev your…
Buy fresh local produce or compost ?
Howdy neighbors I read your article on buying local fruit and veggies and I couldn’t agree with you more. My wife and I took a drive to the beautiful Annapolis Valley and stayed overnight at a B&B around the middle of August and the next day on the way home we decided to support the…
Halifax’s ugliest building
Well, it’s a stiff competition, but I have a nomination. First, though, let’s look at the neighgbourhood. The Hydrostone Market, built soon after the Explosion, gets urban planning right: small shops directly on wide sidewalks and relying on mostly pedestrian traffic. Those who drive will find no off-street parking, but they can hunt for a…
Stars come out at the Marquee
The recent orgy of show announcements has been exciting in a “this is a real city after all!” kind of way, but none of them has particularly skewed our way. Until today. Even though they thought they were in Dartmouth, Montreal love bomb Stars dropped an amazing, torrential rain-filled, flower-flingin’ 90-minute Summersonic closer in July.…
Beijing Belly
When you are sick with the flu, just stay home. Do not go to work and spread it around. But no. You had to show us all what a great team player you are by insisting to go to work, when you are clearly still contagious. Now I am sick too. Thanks for that. And…
Shallow Fucks!
Do the single guys in this city have to be so picky? The other day, I met up with a guy I met online. We didn’t exchange pics previously but he took my word that I was attractive, and vice-versa. I met at a coffee place, pleased with what I saw. But after 5 minutes…
gas thief
To the stand-up person who stole the can of gas off of my balcony last night: I know that you were one of my neighbours. No one else could have seen the gas unless they were sitting on your balcony. I hope you used it in your car. It’s dirty as hell. Watch your back.…
It’s A Gas
It could very well be me and my poor navigational skills, but it seems like there are precious few gas stations that stay open past 10:30 PM. Now before y’all start throwing phrases like “carbon footprint” and “blood oil” at me, let me assure you that you’re preaching to the choir. I don’t even own…
just roll them around, thats it…
Well I thought I had seen just about everything in my time, but nada, not quite.. Picture this, the QEII hospital and men’s washroom…for the squeamish, turn away, for the interested, you turn away too.. Dude, an employee, ID displayed and striped uniform, I assume finishes his business and heads for the washbasins…it is after…
That Horrible Stink
What in the hell has happened to the new sewage treatment plant off of Barrington that went online earlier this year. I guess it was working fine, but something has seemingly gone terribly wrong at some point. The stench coming out of that thing is enough to make you vomit. Jesus I have to roll…
for the hospital ball washer
for the uniformed and ID’d staff guy in the public washroom at our major hospital. granted, a lot of people don’t wash their hands when they should, infection control and all, but hauling your frank and beans to a sink and having at them was a little over the top. maybe you don’t have running…
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…
Steam power- 1800s technology tommorow!
So on Friday Steve and his party decided to axe the Joint Support Ship program (JSS), to replace the two supply ships we have (one per coast). You can read the story here on CBC; http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/23/ships-cancelled.html Remember the Sea King fiasco? Same thing all over again, except worse. It takes about 10 years between ship…
Moulin Rouge at the Alfresco Film Festo
To the two obsessed Moulin Rouge fans at the Alfresco Film Festo. You totally annoyed everyone within earshot by singing every breath of every song. If that wasn’t annoying enough, you also said all the lines a few seconds before the actors did! It’s clear that you’ve seen this movie waaay to many times. Grow…
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,…
Where The Fuck Are T he Metal Heads
ok seriuosly i cant find any metal heads in nova scotia did they like all die out. im sick of finding only punks and emos WTF. Upset Metal Head
EVER NOTICE
Published August 22, 2008. EVER NOTICE …the people who smoke are generally more disgusting than the average person. I am not talking about the actual habbit of somking itself being gross or the related side affects of smokin like yellow teeth or leather like skin etc… Ii just mean the over all package that smokers…
Spring Garden Hazards
Just because Nova Scotia is oblivious to the needs of people in wheelchairs doesn’t mean I have to tolerate life threatening ineptitude when I venture out. On Spring Garden Road there are many inconveniences, but three would earn gold at the Olympics of bad design. • Dresden Row Market o The only ramped entrance, at…
THANKS HALIFAX AVRIL 08
Published August 19, 2008. THANKS HALIFAX AVRIL 08 this is not a bitch but a thank you Halifax. for THE best Avril lavignee show i’ve ever been too. my first trip to the concert. and nothing to complain about except the stupid kids always moving around in front of me, other then that. thanks Halifax…
why can’t the boys get jobs
i love the show trailer park boys. it’s the best Canadian show on T.V. but my bitch is why can’t they get real jobs on the show if you had a job you can have the shit you want, all the shows are the same. what’s up with bubbles why does have fucking coke bottles…
DEAR ALL NEW PARENTS
I know you’re all proud as punch that you managed to make a baby, but the rest of your coworkers and/ or friends are probably mildly interested at best. it’d be nice if all conversations after you have a kid don’t lead to a conversation about poop/cartoons/the accidentally funny thing you new child did. and…
Get Out Of Your Truck and Ring the Damn Doorbell
I know a lot of construction workers and tradespeople start work at 7AM. But when you stop by my bar at 4 o’clock in the afternoon for your after-work beer, my day is just starting. So I don’t appreciate you sitting in the parking lot of my apartment building at 6AM laying on the horn…
Pot Smoking Cabbie
I cannot believe the sheer irresponsibility of the moronic cabbie who had the absolute nerve to accept a passenger while holding a lighter and a baggie. Your ass should be immediately terminated for driving impaired. How dare you risk the lives of others because you need to mellow out? Grow up, you asshole. This is…
Halifax cop charged
“Causing a disturbance”? I guess that’s one way of putting it: Police Officer Faces Criminal Charge RCMP today charged 26-year-old Adam Stewart Whynott of Halifax with causing a disturbance in a public place by fighting in relation to the June 22 incident in Digby. Adam Whynott is a three-year Constable with Halifax Regional Police and…
Mystical Treasures
The changing of seasons transcends business news in Dartmouth, as Morrigan LeFay’s Mystical Gifts (79 Alderney Drive) opens its doors on September 8. As a lover for all things medieval, gothic and Celtic, owner Rhonda Haley decided to take a risk and follow a dream she’s always had –to open a gothic/medieval clothing, jewelry and…
One bitch at a time
Seriously, if you want to respond to someone’s bitch, do it in the comments and don’t submit a new bitch. That’d just confuse everyone. And I’m not posting them besides. Web site nazi
To Sorry I’m not pretty enough!
How can you say “men” are more shallow then women. You haven’t met me yet. OTC
Pot smoking Cab driver!?
Good for him how else would you pass the time!!! Fuck you, risk the lives of others, shit woman GET OVER YOURSELF!!! The Boss
“” RIP BUBBLES”’
to the late great bubbles. of the show trailer park boys. .. was killed last night. in a car accident not released info yet. suspect drinking driving. is the cause. what shame he was a good acter, the show won’t be hte same without him rip mike shed isempty now…….
Driving with cell Phones
We’ve done it for years. The new law is some political bs!!! Go fuck your self you scared little bitch. You should be scared of me not an ipod! The Boss
folk music toilet turds
Lukewarm beige turds of formulaic fag-folk are just oozing out by the toilet load lately. Seems like every time I turn around there’s a ragtag band of ne’er-do-wells in anachronistic thrift-store costumes armed with banjos and a dusty Dillards LP scraped out of a dollar bin somewhere. Go to Ginger’s or Gus’s pub and you…
sober now saying sorry
i’ve was drunk as fuck and said some things i should’ve said the shit i did , i was high and drunk. my stpuid freinds egged me on, truth is we wrote shit about everyone, bubbles i’am sorry no disrepect to you, sober
mammels
we have a sanitary digital existance with swept floors and bleech and all the creature comforts, but im SORRY human beings need to piss, shit eat and sleep. Im tired of hearing that its unacceptable to piss on the side of a highway or in the bushes when you have to go. go ahead hold…
Love the Way We Bitch
Noah Logan: You’re awful in bed, and your junk is nothing to brag about. j-j-just another girl.
re: Nasty Lips
I don’t know… in a city full of art students and young artists is it possible she was working on an art piece???? Tolerant
Thr truth IS out there.
What does it take for a normal 40 something man to meet a normal 40 something woman through a dating site? Tell me what words have to be spoken. What has to be conveyed? They claim to want the truth from men (NO HEAD GAMES PLEASE) but truth from a man doesn’t seem to be…
Cupcakes, beef chow mein, cheese
So you obvs already know about the Minks CD release tonight at Gus’—save room for cupcakes, my dudes, although Matt Charlton has already claimed he is going to win—and you’ve got your sleeping bag all rolled up for the Neil Young on-sale tomorrow, but what to do after that? First off, if you are one…
Cell Phone Signalling & Smoke Fumes
Maybe we can come up with a signal to alert the driver behind someone that is suddenly pulling over to use a cell phone.It’s great that “some”people caught on that cell phone while driving is illegal,but abrubtley pulling off to the side of the road with no warning is very upsetting.And while I’m at it..SMOKERS,especially…
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…
Do they clean the streets in Halifax anymore?
Every summer I used to see the students with their brooms and dust-pans sweeping up the crud on the side walks….they seem to be awol this year….I have never seen the streets as dirty as they are….what gives??? it’s too early in the am
Poor Adam Vancouverdan
I’ve never heard a sadder quote than Adam van Koeverden’s this morning on CBC, seconds after choking. “All I have is an apology. I’m sorry. And I hate watching people apologize after bad performance, but now I know why they do it, because there was a lot of pressure on me.van Koeverden floundered eighth of…
holier then thou ‘friend’
Ever had a friend who made you feel like shit for non intentional acts you commited in the name of love/insanity? Then they act like they would NEVER commit such an attrocity. Then they secretely contact the person who dumped you because that was the person you dumped them for? Yet they claim to be…
Atlantic Fringe Festival this week
2B (Or Not 2B)A.A. Amirault (Halifax). Frazzled Franny is looking for love in the wrong places. Comedy. Imperial Room, Neptune Theatre, 1593 Argyle, 7pm. $6 Songs From the PlaysA concert by Alastair Macdonald (Dartmouth). Cabaret, Khyber 3, 1588 Barrington, 8pm. $6 Belindance Greatest Hips!Halifax’s premiere belly dance troupe presents a feast for the eyes and…
The GREATEST Olympics music mix EVER, Vol. 1
Assmbled by the staff at The Coast after 13 days of solid Olympic viewing. Most of the songs are on this fancy audio player, so you can listen to them. I know this list is very nearly perfect, but did we miss anything? Like what? Let us know. Olympics Opening ceremonies The New Seekers, “I’d…
Lesley Carvery dances like a star
In 1936, after returning from a sojourn in France, Josephine Baker starred in the prestigious Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. Among the reviewers was a New York Times critic who called her “a negro wench.” After her role in the production finished, Baker returned to France within a year and became one of its most beloved…
Pissed off
To the guy on the football team (blue jerseys) playing at the Wanderers grounds last Sunday that was pissing on the fence.We were walking by on the sidewalk & saw you there,USE a public washroom or Johnny on the spot.Little kids that can’thold it ,I can understand.Grown people,especially men that piss to the wind on…
The Peggy Show says farewell
After five seasons and over 400 performances, it’s time to say goodbye to The Peggy Show, John Beale’s comedic look at the history of Peggy. “I’m excited to start something new,” says Beale, who received a grant to go back and study masters clowning with his Parisian teacher next spring. Beale’s last year-lonng studies in…
Why do Electric Paper Towel and Taps mock me?
Why can’t you give me enough freaking paper towel or water to get the job done right the first time. Why do you spit out a second of water then stop, until I fully remove my hands, get the vanity soaking wet then return them for another second of water…. Why do the paper towel…
Crappy architecture
This is Bauer Street, just south of Cornwallis. These buildings on the west side of the street, which were evidently built somewhat recently. Note the garages dominating the first level facade, and the accompanying curb cuts and concrete driveways. The curb cuts remove on-street parking, and so residents are parking on the driveways. The result…
The Incredible Picnic
Let’s hope it’s a sunny tail end of August, as it’s a weekend of planned outdoor events. On August 24 bring family and friends for a local food celebration – Picnic on the hill at Garrison Grounds. Foodies from all over Nova Scotia are promoting the concept of eating what is available from local producers,…
Spring Garden Art and Sidewalk Sale
With the end of summer drawing near local shopkeepers are gearing up to put their fall inventory on display. To help with some of this seasonal change over the 7th annual Spring Garden Art and Sidewalks Sale is taking place this weekend, August 22 and 23. While majority of merchants along the bustling downtown strip…
Ladies beach volleyball final
1:06 am Right now the Chinese Beach Volleyball team is giving American beach volleyball juggernauts Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor a tit for tat, neck and neck gold medal game. This final is a semiotic mess. What does it mean? Tanned US teammates Kerri and Misty define this sport. They are as American as Pamela…
Ladies – Be Careful
To the drunk girl we escorted through the commons at 11:30 at night who could barely stand: your friends suck for letting you walk home alone like that and some VERY bad things could’ve happened to you if we hadnt been there. To the douche who SPED up and almost hit her when he saw…
Nasty Lips
To the girl asking random guys in front of pogue fado if you could kiss them and get a picture of the lipstick mark on their cheeks. What the hell do you think you are? Your friends looked horrified to even be in the same city as you. I’m sure if the young men you…
I want my jacket back
To the jerk who stole the white and green polka-dotted jacket from Ouro Preto Cafe Tuesday afternoon, please return it ASAP. It’s very recognizable so you won’t be able to wear around here anyway, plus it’s my very favorite jacket. So if you believe in Karma do the right thing. Sad
This week’s live gig snap
Fancy Lebanese Country BandSaturday, August 16, 11:32pm, Ginger’s Tavern
What’s that you say?
Now that you’re done watching the 800m runners FLY over the ground, there’s some hard-hitting dialogue coming from the sidelines:CBC commentator: “Gary, you said yesterday after you ran that it was a stupid race.”Canadian Gary Reed: “You know, I was mad at myself for a minute, but I just got ready for this race, and…
Hope it was worth it….
4 1/2 years of a good thing…Sure, we had problems. Who doesn’t, but you got rid of all our problems the second you picked up and fucked some guy in our home while I was away..In our KITCHEN!! Problem solved…Here’s one guy you’ll never have to lie to or cheat on ever again. See ya!!…
Immigration disabled
To the editor, Bruce Wark does an excellent job of exposing an appalling, outmoded approach to persons with disabilities still sanctioned by our immigration system in “Immi-can’t” (Upfront, August 7). It is applied in a variety of ways to exclude otherwise qualified immigrants and their families. As the NDP representative in the parliamentary review of…
Road rage, rotten council
To the editor, In response to Phillippe Magown (“North end parking pains,” Letterhead, August 14), I say “Welcome to this backward city.” This city council really does not understand anything about less cars on the road and the environment. The main problem with this council and this city is amalgamation—most of the deadbeats on council…
Palermo mishears song
To the editor, I would like to raise an objection to Mark Palermo’s categorisation of Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl” in his review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona(Cinema Palermo, August 14). Where, other than our own social preconceptions (and other critics’ comments), is he getting the idea that her song “slights teenage homosexual desire”?…
Women’s Diving
I’d like to whine that it’s not fair, or that there was some judging bias, or something like that.But Canada got second because the Chinese women are good divers. They’re small, and they’re shaped like they’ve been flattened out with a planer. And they have good control, good rotation and they fit between the molecules…
Can we raise the bar?
I never feel smarter than when I read the comments people leave on news stories on a certain Halifax news papers ( wink wink ) website. Seriously, is everyone in Nova Scotia mildly racist, near illiterate and knee jerkish morons that like to sum up complicated issues with cliches?, or just the ones who like…
why not me?
You always go for random girls, and you know you have a good girl waiting for you here. We’ve been friends for so long and I know you care about me, and you know how I feel about you, so why is it so hard for you to be with me? Are you embarassed because…
Christie Blatchford almost out of words!
Christie Blatchford writes today in the Globe on how blogging and web 2.0 and comments are destroying journalism. Or Blatchy’s brand of journalism. Oh, H,F,B, are you really twisting the knife?
Various environmental issues
Local foodThe local food movement is growing by leaps and bounds, as our news story this week attests. But I want to draw extra attention to the province-wide “Incredible Picnic” mentioned in this week’s Shoptalk, the local version of which will be held this Sunday on the Common from 11am to 3pm. It’s worth stopping…
Protesting the cops
Some of the folks who were arrested at the Chebucto Road protests are filing formal complaints at the Halifax Police Department, today (Thursday) at noon. They are asking people to attend a rally in front of the PD in support. Those arrested allege that excessive force was used during the arrests.
Stadacona Shitheads
Thanks for waking up the neighbourhood at 7am on a SUNDAY morning! The TRASHY hiphop music/noise was especially appreciated, ASSHOLES! Oh yeah and to the lame ass fool SCREAMING “Good Morning Vietnam” over a PA system, did that make you feel special? Oooh your originality was so inspiring, everyone was really impressed with your idiocy…
Steve Poltz
Steve PoltzTraveling(98 Pounder Records)This album won’t help Steve Poltz, playing at the Carleton July 7-9, rise above the already swollen ranks of singer-songwriters today. Like former Wallflower Jakob Dylan, Poltz is a dutiful soldier, whose service doesn’t distinguish him one way or another. Traveling has the requisite sweet songs (“Stay Away A Little Closer,” among…
The Pack A.D.
The Pack A.D.Funeral Mixtape (Mint Records) When The Pack A.D. ripped into their first notes at this year’s NXNE music festival, Toronto’s stinky Sneaky Dee’s instantly transformed into the back room of a southern American blues dive. Refreshingly authentic without a trace of hipster irony, the Vancouver duo, Becky Black and Maya Miller, will have…
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…
Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro EscovedoReal Animal (Back Porch/EMI) Long ago, Alejandro Escovedo was tagged with the label “guy who deserved greater recognition,” from his early punk days with Rank and File, cow-punk/alt-country with True Believers or solo folk-pop (see the 2001 album A Man Under the Influence). The 2006 album The Boxing Mirror garnered more acclaim because it…
Slim Twig
Slim TwigVernacular Violence(Paper Bag) The frustrating circumstances that inspired this recent Slim Twig EP should be worshipped. If failure and rejection always led to dark rockabilly meets wheezy keyboards wrapped in tasty lo-fi production, Webster’s would change the definition of failure to “unequivocal success.” Recorded in 2006 when Slim Twig (who’s just one guy from…
The Creeps
The CreepsLakeside Cabin(BLACK PINT)The Creeps follow Danzig or The Misfits in the traditions of dark punk rock, but work present-day crimes into a record that’s eerily catchy. This is the Ottawa band’s third full-length release, following 2005’s Back to the Bin, and it takes a darker turn than their earlier records. Playing music about lurking…
Dan Savage
Q: You usually get mail about the sex lives of your readers, being a sex-advice columnist and all, but I have a problem that has nothing to do with sex. I have a parenting problem and given that you are a fellow parent, I’m hoping you have some insight. My brother is a social conservative;…
Amos Garrett
Amos Garrett Get Way Back: A Tribute to Percy Mayfield(Stony Plain) Ace session-guitarist Garrett (that’s him on “Snowbird” and “Midnight at the Oasis”) has a soft spot for the late Percy Mayfield, whose greatest acclaim came 50 years ago. Melancholy steeped in sardonic reflection distinguishes Get Way Back. Its timing benefits from renewed interest in…
The Lodger
The LodgerLife Is Sweet (Slumberland)Life must be sweet for The Lodger singer/songwriter Ben Siddal. How else could he consistently write songs that are so irresistibly cheerful? For their sophomore release, The Lodger attempt to deepen their sound, with a greater inclusion of instrumentation and down-tempo tracks. Regardless of their efforts, their sound still relies heavily…
Dartmouth’s Urban Farmers
Jean Snow says she gets her best rest between 5am and 9am. She hits her sleep stride when most farmers are getting up. “But we’re urban farmers,” says the 53-year-old. “So it works perfectly.” Snow and her husband Bob Kropla, their two teenagers and their five-year-old golden retriever, Sam, live east of Prince Albert Road…
The Charlatans
The CharlatansYou Cross My Path (Cooking Vinyl) It’s been nigh on 20 years since Some Friendly, with its dance-floor-friendly single, “The Only One I Know,” came out as part of the first stage of Britpop in 1990 and ’91. Several albums later, only fans who’ve hung in with the band all these years will really…
Black Lungs
Black LungsSend Flowers(Dine Alone Records)As Dallas Green is working towards establishing City and Colour as a household name, fellow Alexisonfire bandmate Wade MacNeil is releasing the debut album Send Flowers from his side project, Black Lungs. As suggested from the title, the tone of this disc is thematically heavier than the work being released by…
Minks kick out the fun
Gathered around food while shooting jokes and giggles back and forth, it’s obvious The Stolen Minks are a band that appreciates fun times. There are very few pauses in conversation as they talk about all that’s led to the release of their second full-length album, High Kicks. They wouldn’t seem out of place as kooky-yet-cool…
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…
Glory Glory Man United
Glory Glory Man UnitedFriends of the Seen (From Here to There Records)In possession of the best moniker on the Halifax music scene, Glory Glory Man United release their debut EP, Friends of the Seen. This may be off-base, but actually, it approximates what would happen if Q and Not U, circa 1999, covered Thrush Hermit’s…
Ontario’s wild ideas
I just got back from a trip to Ontario. The leadership over there has some pretty wild ideas. Our province and our regional municipality could learn somethingfrom Ontario. Very few visitors to Ontario bother with the northern half—225,000 square kilometres of boreal forests, or four Nova Scotias. Ontario’s supreme leader, Dalton “no lips” McGuinty, recently…
Mirrors
It would have been better as a short, or at least at a brisk 90 minutes instead of two hours, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that Mirrors is the rare horror film that deserves to be seen in a theatre. After the Saw movies diminished the genre (they look worse than a CGI episode),…
American Teen’s no Breakfast Club
In 2006, Nanette Burstein aimed to find a place with a single high school and film its senior year. She found herself in Warsaw, Indiana, a generic North American town distinctive as Midwestern US only by its occasionally flat accents; otherwise it’s white, upper-middle-class and Republican. “Red state all the way,” the opening narration says.…
Lil Wayne
Lil WayneTha Carter III(Universal) Tha Carter III is the most anticipated album of 2008 (unless Dre finally decides to drop Detox). While it may appear that Lil Wayne came out of nowhere to take the hip-hop scene by storm, he’s appeared on countless singles and seems to have taken up residence in the studio, while…
Black Francis
Black Francissv n f ng rs (Cooking Vinyl) The Black Francis moniker is so entwined with the Pixies, it is hard not to expect a certain brand of songs with its use. And on sv n f ng rs (the follow-up to last year’s excellent Bluefinger) you get just that on “garbage heap” (which nods…
Slashing patrol pay
Here we go again: Multinational giant outbids Canadian outfit and workers take a hefty pay cut. Except that’s a deep, dark secret you’re not supposed to know. In this case, the workers are the 10 to 12 parking enforcement officers who patrol Halifax streets. For the past 40 years, they’ve been wearing the uniform of…
The Longshots
“Our neighbourhood is filled with crack, and the CIA won’t take it back,” Ice Cube raps on his new album Raw Footage. But where’s the link between the street tales of this self-proclaimed west coast war lord and his penchant for family movies like The Longshots? Today, Cube is probably much closer to being his…
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…
John Hiatt
John HiattSame Old Man(new west)Same Old Man sounds like the work of a middle-aged man who’s content with his life. The songs on it aren’t covering yesterday, but providing a closer look at where the man is today (along the lines of Neil Young’s Silver & Gold). Old tried-and-true topics (love, relationships) are covered throughout.…
Fleet Foxes
Another generation of musicians discovers the Sixties.
Quiet Parade w/York Redoubt, Jon McKiel
Quiet Parade may have been quiet in the past, but this Saturday, the Halifax pop band will be crowding onto the tiny stage at Ginger’s Tavern to release its debut album, Labour Day. “The name is emblematic of the kind of music I wanted to play, music that starts kind of quiet and ends loud…
Tropic Thunder
Cries of protest over meanness in Tropic Thunder need perspective. It’s a satire reflecting Hollywood vainglory—of course it’s offensive. That Ben Stiller put this into a major summer comedy is only bettered by how good a movie it is. Fake trailers kick things off by pedalling egotistic junk, with an accuracy for how many movies…
The Carleton works out the quirks
Just when I think there couldn’t possibly be room to jam another restaurant on Argyle, along comes The Carleton, a joint venture by Mike Campbell and Mike Rhodes (formerly of MuchMusic and all-round music-guru types). The Carleton is right on the corner of Argyle and Duke, in a historic building dating back to the 1700s.…
Coldplay
ColdplayViva La Vida(EMI)Viva La Vida is one of only two discs that have managed to wedge themselves into my stereo for weeks at a time recently (the other being Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III). This is not to say it was love at first listen—Violet Hill didn’t elicit a response until it was presented with…
Cut Copy
Cut CopyIn Ghost Colours(Modular Interscope) When Australia’s Cut Copy released its debut album, critics were apprehensive. Virtually all reviews heralded Bright Like Neon Loveas a remarkable album that was unfortunately too dance for indie rockers and too rock for dance fans. For In Ghost Colours, Dan Whitford and friends carefully arranged and mixed the album…
Elvis Costello and the Imposters
Elvis Costello and the ImpostersMomofuku (Lost Highway)As broad a path as Elvis Costello has blazed, he’s never equalled his first three albums (My Aim is True, This Year’s Model, Armed Forces) for grabbing your eardrums by the collar and shaking them. A few tunes on Momofuku enter that realm. They fuse current fears (“No Hiding…
Sian Alice Group
Sian Alice GroupThe Dusk Line EP(the social registry)Known for playing guitar-based songs with a shimmering, expansive quality, as on their debut album 59.59, British band Sian Alice Group have really changed things up with this EP. The vocals of Sian Ahern, combined with the piano accompaniment of Rupert Clervaux, give these songs a firmly minimalist…
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…
Hilotrons
HilotronsHappymatic (KELP RECORDS) Ottawa’s Hilotrons seem to aspire to an infectiously danceable blend of new wave and electronic music. Peppy and upbeat, Happymatic brings to mind bits of ’80s hits, Britpop and video games, but feels just not quite as happy as promised. They’ve got their synthesizers together and electronic beats and handclaps often meld…
Snailhouse
SnailhouseLies on the Prize(unfamiliar)Why is it that the most original and influential musicians in this world labour in relative obscurity, squeaking by on a pittance, while lesser artists get all the acclaim? It shouldn’t take a shout-out from someone like Elvis Costello (who famously name-dropped Ron Sexsmith) or being on a movie soundtrack (few knew…
Adam & the Amethysts
Adam & the AmethystsAmethyst Amulet (Pome/Distribution Fusion III)Miracle Fortress member Adam Waito took some personal time to record this album in his Montreal apartment. But, from the album art (images of the Terry Fox memorial and a postcard look at Kakabeka Falls) to lyrical content (motifs of the large-scale nature in the land over Lake…
Bonnie “Prince” Billie
Bonnie “Prince” BillieLie Down in the Light(DRAG CITY)Will Oldham’s music is always inspired. It’s reassuring to see that even after 34 releases—21 EPs and 13 full lengths—he can still unravel the human psyche with an honesty few dare approach. Aside from a superb touch with melody, it’s unfiltered candour that makes his writing so alluring…
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann@#%&*! Smilers(superego) A dealer in grim-yet-hooky popcraft, Aimee Mann consistently delivers tales of characters adrift in melancholy, Southern California-style. But her last two non-holiday records, Lost In Space and The Forgotten Arm, have nothing on this one. Tracks like the Wurlitzer-adorned lead single “Freeway,” about a friend’s addiction problems, and the early-life-crisis ode “31…
The Damnsels
The DamnselsMy Gender Role (indie) Moncton’s The Damnsels’ latest EP-release show coincided with their breakup show, which is a shame because in the unnecessarily male-dominated climate of the maritimes’ alternative music scene, we need more bands like this. A pop-punk trio made up of two girls and a guy, The Damnsels seem not to take…
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…
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…
First Words
First WordsCheaters(Dead Beats Entertainment)First Words is an east coast hip-hop revelation featuring Fredericton MCs Sean One, Above, DJ STV and Halifax producer JoRun Bombay. The output–as is usually the case when JoRun is producing–is clever and creative, always showcasing the strengths of the individual MCs. Seemingly functioning like a modern-day Atlantic Canadian Native Tongues, their…
Supergrass
SupergrassDiamond Hoo Ha(Parlophone/EMI)This constantly overlooked UK band has slugged it out with heavy-hitting, soulful rock since the early ’90s and for what? Not the fan base that blindly followed numbnut bands like Oasis. Diamond Hoo Hamakes yet another strong case for this group, led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Gaz Coombes. On “The Return of…” he sings about…
Robert Forster
Robert ForsterThe Evangelist(Yep Roc)After Grant McLennan’s sudden 2006 death, many fans waited eagerly for a statement from fellow Go Between collaborator Robert Forster. Now, our patience has been rewarded. The Evangelist, Forster’s first solo record in years, is a wonderful display of wholehearted songwriting—especially when Forster deals head-on with his longtime friend’s death. Incorporating McLennan’s…
Matt Mays & El Torpedo
Matt Mays & El Torpedo Terminal Romance(SONIC)You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but the new Matt Mays album—with its glossy, hot-pink and machine-like metal heart artwork—perfectly suits the shift this album displays over its predecessors. Where previous albums reflected Mays’ strong rural-roots influences, only one song on Terminal Romance (the Tom Petty-ish “Stand…
Ron Sexsmith
Ron SexsmithExit Strategy Of The Soul(Warner)Ron Sexsmith is one of the country’s best songwriters—always flying under the radar of mass popularity, even though Dylan and Costello are professed fans. The singer’s often accused of being a sad sack, and Exit Strategy Of The Soul has its share of neurotic love-loss songs, like “Hard Time,” but…
My Morning Jacket
My Morning JacketEvil Urges(ATO) My Morning Jacket’s fifth release Evil Urges shows the band moving away from the country-rock of It Still Moves and into more of Z’s experimentation. The songs sound more structured and less jam-based. Gone (for the most part) is the reverb vocal which has almost become a trademark. In recent interviews,…
Jewel
JewelPerfectly Clear(Open Road) While Jewel’s foray into dance pop on 2003’s 0304 was all wrong—right from the start—one cannot completely dismiss this attempt to redefine herself as a new-country singer. Except for the genre’s cliched production qualities, the songwriting here isn’t too far off what she abandoned after three very successful folk/singer-songwriter albums. Especially “Love…
