Feature

With India Gailey, sounds are louder than words

The composer/improviser/cellist from New Hermitage's solo work builds richness in its simplicity.

India Gailey at Open Waters Festival 2021 Sun Jan 10, 7:30pm Details and tickets at tickethalifax.com, $5/$10

By Morgan Mullin Jan 8, 2021

It's Kye Clayton's time

The young rapper and beatmaker is sharing his story to connect with yours.

By Morgan Mullin Jan 1, 2021

“Music, lyrics, and sounds can just bring this type of self-acceptance that we need.”

R&B force Kwento explains music as medicine for the soul

By Alec Martin Dec 29, 2020

The year the music lived

Despite everything—including the odds—some amazing music was made in 2020. Here, we look at some of the best.

We need music. There’s no other way to explain why it’s been with us for almost as long as fire has been.

By Morgan Mullin, Seyitan Moritiwon and Alec Martin Dec 22, 2020

Dave Gunning's golden rage

The Nova Scotian folk mainstay adds his voice to the chorus opposing the Cochrane Hill gold mine with new single.

A bird’s-eye view of a great river.

By Andrew Bethune Dec 13, 2020

Video

From A to Zamani

How the Halifax R&B singer-songwriter/producer made 2020 her year.

Evergreen Festival: John Gracie w/Zamani, Carloyn Curry Dec 18, 6-9pm, Facebook Live @EvergreenFestNS It's hard to imagine the certified triple-threat, SOCAN Young Songwriters Award-winning Zamani ever feeling awkward.

By Morgan Mullin Dec 3, 2020

Taking five with Braden Lam

The folky star-on-the-rise answers our most burning questions as he celebrates a new EP.

Evergreen Screen presents Braden Lam Sun Nov 29, 4pm Facebook livestream; Youtube livestream, free The first time Braden Lam played at The Carleton, it was to a sold-out throng of college kids, screaming their heads off.

By Morgan Mullin Nov 27, 2020

We love that Halifax musicians are building the industry’s future

Corey Writes shares his vision for what the music biz could look like.

If there was to be a rallying call for 2020 (and really, as survey replies told us, it was music that helped many in this tough time) the only song to consider would be "Lion" by Corey Writes.

By Morgan Mullin Nov 12, 2020

The Coast is back with the 26th annual Best Of Halifax readers' survey results

Special for this pandemic year, the theme is reasons we love the city.

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Nov 12, 2020

How to bring the party home

Local DJs helped us bust a move—and lift our mood—when we needed it most.

“My wife and I really looked forward to the living room dance parties with the kids,” one reader tells us in our Best Of survey.

By Morgan Mullin Nov 12, 2020

Halifax Pop Explosion's 28th festival should be starting tonight

Instead, there's been nothing but months of silence from the stalwart of Halifax's music scene.

Tonight should have been the first night of the Halifax Pop Explosion.

By Morgan Mullin Oct 21, 2020

Keonté Beals's coronation

With the debut LP King, Beals cements his legacy as one North Preston's most luminous R&B stars.

Keonté Beals, the soft-spoken R&B luminary of North Preston, had had a hard night.

By Seyitan Moritiwon Oct 1, 2020

Kestrels cracks open

Sometimes, the breaks come at the wrong time—but the Halifax rocker's best music to date couldn't come quick enough.

The year 2017 was a bit on all sides for Kestrels' songwriter Chad Peck, as a long-term relationship and his band dissolved simultaneously.

By Alec Martin Sep 29, 2020

Rich Aucoin's American fever-dream

The dance pop king's new LP, United States, is a tie-dyed exploration of late capitalism and its decay.

The opening notes of Rich Aucoin’s newest album—the oxygen-doused, psychedelic-streaked United States—sounds like the start of a movie: Close your eyes and you can see the screen rouse to life, a nameless city coming into focus.

By Morgan Mullin Sep 25, 2020

Collective Video's singular mission

Radstorm and Bleep in the Dark build a video archive of the sound of 2020.

How long ago was March?

By Alec Martin Sep 10, 2020

Nap Eyes knows what's new is old again

How the band's latest album—Snapshot Of A Beginner—acts as both a mirror and update to its 2014 debut.

If time is a flat circle, there’s one band that has worn down its circumference, a sonic traversing turning into a deep groove filled with shimmery, dirt-speckled indie rock.

By Morgan Mullin Jul 31, 2020

Kye Clayton keeps the beat

As the rapper and beatmaker celebrates a new mixtape, he guides us through the tracks he grew up on.

If 2020 belongs to anyone, a strong claim could be made on behalf of Halifax's own Kye Clayton: He's already dropped two EPs and several singles this year, all while growing the record label he co-founded, Let Dreams Be Noticed and becoming the valedictorian of his high school class. Furthering his case?

By Morgan Mullin Jul 25, 2020

Keonté Beals: A king secures his crown

The North Preston R&B heavyweight returns with a single made for this very moment.

Keonté Beals might have written his latest single—the newly released "King"—in 2019, but it's a song that holds the pulse of 2020 in its soaring piano intro.

By Alec Martin Jul 16, 2020

Kye Clayton, fresh prince of Uniacke Square

As part of our feature on the up-and-coming rapper/beatmaker, we ask Clayton to freestyle for The Coast.

“If the beat talks to me, I know exactly what I’m going to speak about on the beat. So I play a beat, freestyle the whole song—and then I’ll re-write certain words that don’t make sense or could be filtered.

By Morgan Mullin Jun 25, 2020

Video

It's Kye Clayton's time

The young rapper and beatmaker is sharing his story to connect with yours.

Kye Clayton waits for no one.

By Morgan Mullin Jun 25, 2020

Jah'Mila releases reggae rallying call to end police brutality

"Reggae has been the voice of the oppressed since its genesis," the Halifax singer says.

Jah’Mila’s “Chant Their Names” is a reggae anthem calling for justice, action and an end to police brutality—all while ensuring that no story is forgotten.

By Alec Martin Jun 18, 2020

“Music, lyrics, and sounds can just bring this type of self-acceptance that we need.”

R&B force Kwento explains music as medicine for the soul.

Music As Healing: A Zoom Panel feat. Kwento, NAT Chantel, Lindsay Dobbin, Rebecca Fairless, Bianca Palmer and Danielle Jakubiak Thu June 11, 7pm everyseeker.com

By Alec Martin Jun 11, 2020

At Home with Botfly

A raw re-imagining of the hardcore band's catalogue brings new depth.

With its latest EP, At Home with Alex, Botfly has stripped its sound bare—releasing something vulnerable, beautiful and surreal in the process.

By Alec Martin May 27, 2020

David Myles, hopeless romantic

Why Leave Tonight will make you believe in love songs—and easy listening.

The first time you listen to David Myles’s Leave Tonight, you’ll bite your lip.

By Morgan Mullin May 14, 2020

Aquakultre's feast of a lifetime

How the band's debut LP Legacy sets the table for excellence.

It’s clear from the very first guitar strum that opens Legacy—the long-awaited debut LP from neo-soul superstar-in-the-making Aquakultre—that the table is set.

By Morgan Mullin May 7, 2020

Video

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