“I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t coming for school, I just got in my car and drove here,” says Gianna Lauren. The Edmonton native arrived via Ottawa in January, with an EP (Fist in a Heart) and a plan: to become part of the local music scene. “I found the scene really insular,” she […]
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Electro Chiac Therapie: brutal acadian punk
“We thought, ‘Let’s do all sex lyrics, but we’ll do them in French so nobody knows what we’re talking about,’” says Lindsay of ECT. Two-thirds Acadian, the threesome (by stage names Lindsay Sue, Mimi Ostie and Fritzi LeBaron) sing in chiac, known as an English-tinged “brutalization” of Acadian French. They get audiences dancing by playing […]
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OWL under pop’s quiet wings
OWL came into existence last summer when Matthew MacDonald made a few tracks on his computer and convinced girlfriend Vanessa Murnaghan to write lyrics for them. After an initial bout of nerves, the pair had a song and sent it around to friends. “They liked it,” says Murnaghan, “so we just kept making more.” Murnaghan […]
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Reading Classified’s Self Explanatory
Luke Boyd feels like a regular guy, though some things in his life have changed. While his picture’s being taken for this article, a surly man in a black leather jacket watches. During the interview, the man sits in the room, silently reading a paper. Daniel Robichaud is Sony’s regional promotion manager for the Atlantic […]
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Musquodoboit choir’s small wonders
The show’s set-list reads more like a college radio chart than typical choral fare. There’s no “In the Jungle” or “This Land is Our Land.” (Sorry, Pete.) There are a few special guest performers from the local music scene—Rich Aucoin and former Haligonian Mike Evin. And all 80 singers will be covering locals Aucoin, Joel […]
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Joel Plaskett: Three for the road
Joined by a cast of musical characters, Joel Plaskett’s ambitious new triple album travels through modern rock and Maritime folk, reflecting on a life of “going away, being alone and coming home.” photos Riley Smith
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Caledonia release new full-length CD, We Are America
Zac Crouse is spending his rainy Sunday hand-screening t-shirts. “It’s fun, it just takes a lot longer,” the Caledonia bassist-singer-songwriter reports. “And it’s cheaper.” The DIY ethic extends beyond merch to every part of Caledonia—the Halifax quintet’s new LP, We Are America, was funded in full by the band. Recorded at Echo Chamber last summer, […]
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Wextra special: Interview with Tori Amos
On her last album, American Doll Posse, Tori Amos adopted four personas—cast in Roman and Greek mythology—to perform its 23 songs. This time around, it’s just her. She rang The Coast from her home in Cornwall, England (evening weather report: “Enh”), where she and her engineer husband, Mark Hawley, plus Marcel Van Limbeek, produced Abnormally […]
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Tyvek wraps up the night at Obey
Detroit may have made the news recently for its dwindling auto industry, but the city’s future prospects may lie elsewhere. “I think the music scene has more of a future than the cars,” says Kevin Boyer, guitarist for Detroit’s Tyvek, who headline this year’s Obey Convention. The city has a rich musical tradition in genres […]
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Mike Evin walks the distance
Trudeau went on his long walk in snowy Montreal to decide on his political future. He returned resolved to leave public office. Bob Gainey, the Habs’ general manager, invited a floundering Alex Kovalev on a summer stroll in the city following the star’s bum season in 2006-07. The Russian forward returned to form, for awhile […]
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Sure Thing: Soaking Up Jagged
Sometimes life after art school just isn’t arty enough and that’s when you need to start a performance-art band. Soaking Up Jagged was formed in 1997 by NSCAD grads Mitchell Wiebe, Rebecca Young, Chad Jagoe and James Matthews. Wiebe, a musician and painter who seems to have about nine bands on the go these days, […]
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It’s Timber Timbre time in Halifax, this Saturday
The sound of Timber Timbre travels at its own pace, arriving unhurried. In the musical company of Taylor Kirk, the man behind the moniker, time slows down. The effect largely arises from his low, resonant voice—an aged sound. “I’m almost 28 now, and I’m a painfully shy person, so singing has come really slowly for […]
