Critics’ Picks of the Year

TOP 12 FILMS OF 2012: Jacob Boon Coast writer since 2011 Jacob Boon will sometimes check his email in the theatre during a bad movie. He is not a very nice person.   Ruby Sparks (Fox Searchlight) Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris  An introverted novelist’s dream girl magically springs to life from the […]

Adria Young Coast writer since 2012 Adria Young, unofficial president of the imaginary Shotgun Jimmie Fan Club, is counting the days until Jimmie’s next album and *Come Cry with Me* by Daniel Romano. Sloan, Twice Removed Deluxe Edition (sloanmusic.com) By the second album of its career, Sloan achieved indie-rock pop perfection. A reissued vinyl box […]

Justin Hartling Coast writer since 2012 Currently has a Wii, Xbox 360, N64, PS2 and a SNES hooked up to one TV and has yet to burn his apartment building down. Assassin’s Creed 3 (Ubisoft) ACIII features everything you know and love about the Assassin’s series. Great parkour elements, inventive ways to kill and highly […]

Whitney Moran Coast writer since 2012 Whitney Moran is a serial coffee reheater and editor who enjoys the company of books over most people. A Matter of Life and Death or Something (Douglas & McIntyre) LOCAL By Ben Stephenson “…the rocks and leaves and plants and animals never do anything silly like kill each other […]

Rich Aucoin, We’re All Dying to Live (Sonic) The master of ceremonies for Halifax’s best confetti-filled dance parties finally reveals the soul behind his show—and it’s every bit as magnificent as we could have hoped. Austra, Feel it Break (Paper Bag) Like fire and ice, Feel it Break‘s tightly wound electro shouldn’t mix nearly so […]

13 & God, Own Your Ghost (Anticon/Alien Transistor) Underground hip-hop got a dose of self-reflection when 13 & God returned this year. The collective of Dose One, Jel and Notwist demonstrated a versatility that even seasoned jazz aficionados would shake their heads in disbelief at. Handsome Furs, Sound Kapital (Sub Pop) With ’80s new wave, […]

Algoma (Invisible) By Dani Couture This debut novel is best devoured next to a woodstove in a snowstorm, as it conjures chilly, lovely images of loss, wilderness, weather and a chain of siblings christened after a fleet of ships. And Also Sharks (Cormorant Books) By Jessica Westhead The Antagonist (House of Anansi) By Lynn Coady […]

Carsten Knox Coast writer since 2003 Bobby Fischer Against the World (Mongrel) Directed by Liz Garbus Once upon a time, chess champions were famous. This doc follows the chaotic life of the biggest ever, and how pressure to compete drove him off the rails. Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge […]

Julianna Barwick, The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty) A world unto itself, The Magic Place is the year’s most evocative and outright gorgeous album. Built almost entirely from Barwick’s hushed vocals, her wordless sound sculptures are entirely transcendent. Destroyer, Kaputt (Merge) Fifteen years on, one of Canada’s greatest current songwriters is still surprising his audience. Delivering […]

A Description of the Blazing World (Freehand) By Michael Murphy Easy to Like (House of Anansi) By Edward Riche The Great Leader (House of Anansi) By Jim Harrison Great Village (Cormorant) By Mary Rose Donnelly Irma Voth (Knopf Canada) By Miriam Toews The Magician King (Viking) By Lev Grossman The second in a trilogy of […]