OBEY Convention is always a head trip. The three-day fest, held the weekend of May 24, calls itself “Atlantic Canada’s most adventurous music festival”—a title it lives up to beautifully as it repeatedly exposes Halifax to sounds newly invented, or that few of us knew existed. This week, the fest announced the full list of […]
Music
Posted inArts + Music
Matt Mays moves up
Matt Mays w/July Talk, The Beaches Saturday, January 20, 8pm Scotiabank Centre, 1800 Argyle Street $37.50-$57.50 sonicconcerts.com Matt Mays camped out overnight to get tickets for a Neil Young & Crazy Horse show at the arena formerly known as the Metro Centre on November 5, 1996. He got tickets 10 rows back, but pushed ahead […]
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Playing somebody else’s songs
In whole acts of love and admiration, here are the tribute shows I have personally produced, played and sung in: Tori Amos, Under the Pink (May 9, 2014); Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill (June 12, 2015, two shows); Tori Amos, Boys for Pele (January 20, 2016). These are three of the most important albums of […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mauno brings it all home
Mauno w/Jon McKiel, Juice Girls Thursday, November 23, 8pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street $10 Nick Everett doesn’t beat around the bush. The music he makes as a part of the band Mauno—with guitarist Scott Boudreau, bassist/vocalist Eliza Niemi and drummer Adam White—carries this same affects as his conversational style: Spry, thoughtful, quietly intellectual. […]
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Lisa LeBlanc, the star
Lisa LeBlanc w/Quiet Parade Saturday November 4, 8pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street $15 Lisa LeBlanc’s been thinking a lot about high school lately. After all, it is autumn, the season of nostalgia. Walking through curling fallen leaves back in her hometown, just last week, she found herself back in the garages of her […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Making space for oppressed people is an act of love
When I was in bands with a bunch of men and boys in my tween/teenage years, no one bothered me. I was protected by my all-straight male bandmates. Once I launched my own solo project, all of the outside noise and interest in my music (for all the wrong reasons) began to open my eyes […]
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Premiere: In 3/4 by The Hypochondriacs
In 2012, Josh Bravener teamed up with his brother Aaron to start a band. The Fredricton-based group is now made up of four people known as The Hypochondriacs, and they’re about to launch their debut album. “We really wanted to demonstrate what we sound like live. The album’s very similar to our live show,” says […]
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Floodland releases new album Static Walls
Floodland Album Release Party Friday September 1, 10pm-2am The Seahorse Tavern 2037 Gottingen Street $10/$15 Floodland is rolling into the Halifax Urban Folk Festival (HUFF) with its new album in tow. The four-piece band is predominately known for its live shows around the city. On Friday, Floodland is joined by Beauts and No It’s Fine […]
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A feast of Transfiguration Day’s tunes
Transfiguration Day at King’s Chapel Sunday, August 6, 7:30pm King’s College Chapel, 6350 Coburg Road free This coming weekend, the members of Transfiguration Day mark their first anniversary of performing together as a musical group. The name comes from the Feast of the Transfiguration: A Christian festival celebrated on August 6, commemorating the transfiguration of […]
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Pride is political and Pride is a party
The east coast is bustling in July. Anyone who’s spent a winter on our fair coast knows that the two months of summer we get are used to their full potential as best we can. Pride week is no exception to that and is always one of the best times to be in Atlantic Canada. […]
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Westvilladelphia, born and raised
If you zipped through our New Music playlist with ease, we have a little something extra for your ears. Andrew Johnson—a Westville-born hip hop artist who goes by the name Anewbis—just launched his debut album. Johnson first hit the stage last September, opening for Quake Matthews and Kayo at The Commune in New Glasgow. Johnson’s […]
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A Canadian, through and through
Founded in 1967, the Halifax All-City Music program provides free music education for public school students throughout HRM. In addition to string, choral, and band instruction, the program boasts three jazz ensembles that challenge students to “learn the art of spontaneous creation,” the HACM website notes. So I was stunned to discover during a recent exchange […]
