Why should I pay over $300 for the MONO remixes of the Beatles’ albums when I can just reach over to my old Harmon Kardon receiver and push the “mono” button? Maybe we should just pan everything over to one “earbud” and put the $300 on paying down our personal deficits? It would leave one […]
Music
Posted inNews + Opinion
NSCAD: where art and music converge
The Khyber ICA is steaming hot, packed with bands and fans for the Totally Wicked Music Festival, a one-night music event where bands come together for one night and play one song each. The first Totally Wicked Music Festival happened 10 years prior—an idea born on the NSCAD campus after an Anna Leonowens exhibition opening, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Ears ring for Cobra Jets
After a few line-up changes, Friday night at Gus’ with The Motorleague, The Cobra Jets, The Cuban Assassins and The Baketones promises to be a rip-snorting, ribcage-juddering rock ‘n’ roll party that will leave you with ringing ears and dry heaves. That’s the ambition of Frederiction’s Cobra Jets, anyhow. “Our sound has been described as […]
Posted inArts + Music
York Redoubt on fire
York Redoubt has a self-deprecating streak, but the band doesn’t need it. Over sushi on Quinpool, the band gripes at length about how terribly they played at a PEI show the previous night, and refers to the content of their tape released this spring as “crappy York Redoubt.” All this bad press from a young […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fall music review
September Releases York Redoubt, s/t (Noyes/Hot Money) After a coast-to-coast summer tour, including a coveted slot at Calgary’s Sled Island Festival, York Redoubt releases its self-titled full-length. Recorded by uber-engineers Charles Austin and Dave Ewenson, this fantastic album is full of sonic surprises, melding noise, harmonies and ragged lo-fi goodness. September 5 at The Seahorse […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sappy comes to town
If you missed the last train to Sackville and you’re not heading to New Brunswick’s SappyFest this weekend, some of those bands are coming to you. The Gertrudes, an 11-piece roaring clan from Kingston, are playing Gus’ Pub (August 3). The band tells us they “sound like a ol’ time saloon party in deep space…experimental […]
Posted inArts + Music
Band-made celluloid: rock film clips
In amongst his 244 soundtrack appearances, Paul McCartney has 23 official credits as an actor, mostly voiceovers and Wings DVD compilations. Of course, he did appear as himself in the Beatles movies of the ’60s, including A Hard Day’s Night, Help and Magical Mystery Tour. And in 1978, McCartney appeared in an uncredited cameo in […]
Posted inLifestyle
My summer: David Christensen, musician and collaborator
Ukulele lessons aside, Christensen started playing music seriously at age 10 when he picked up the saxophone. Now an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, he’s known for his orchestral arrangements—having worked on Symphony Nova Scotia shows with Joel Plaskett, Jill Barber and Buck 65—and has played with a who’s-who of the Halifax scene. Earlier in June he added […]
Posted inArts + Music
Zuppa powers
On a frigid Saturday afternoon, the cast of Zuppa Theatre’s Poor Boy is gathered in the Neptune Studio, where in four weeks they’ll launch a show that’s changing every day. The set is beginning to come together—long strings through a series of paper sheets, dangling record sleeves, actual vinyl and a suitcase here and there, […]