Its a fine Friday here in Halifax, and if you are here, you are no doubt busy working out your weekend plans in order to take advantage of the lovely weather we seem to have on tap. Well let's see if we can assist with a quick rundown of some events of interest. I say some events, but really, we all know there's only one can't miss show this weekend: Rob Base at The Palace. I keed, but only slightly. If you know the Ack and I at all, you know very well that [...]
There are some crazy things happening here in MTL thanks to the good people at M for Montreal . I'll be doing a better dissection of the conference, bands and antics later - honestly, Miracle Fortress fans are in for an (electro) shock and The RAA own every stage they play now - but there are a couple bands that are new to me that I'm super excited to check out. One band is Silly Kissers . These youngens are all about the shimmering, sunshine-y electro pop that makes you want to dance - [...]
To be honest, I have no idea what to say about the new Mitch Wiebe, Ray Fenwick, Rebecca Young project, Pastoralia . On first listen the songs are visceral, but they have a depth that you only stumble onto the more times the tracks repeat. The trio plays engaging albeit somewhat bizarre, organic electro pop, but I get the impression the method is as important as the madness. It's more than three friends tinkering with programming, bass and guitar throwing silly vocals over top of the mix. These songs have a heartbeat, and considering how cold the medium usually [...]
All right, the Ack is off gallivanting around Montreal with all the fancy music biz swells at M For Montreal , and yes, that leaves me back in Halifax minding the cyber store. And it also happens to be Thursday, so that means one thing: videos. We've had a couple of jam-packed editions of Video Hits over the last couple of weeks, and I wanted to keep that going, but I'd also been hyped on Canadian hip hop after spending the last week with Ghettosocks new album on repeat . So, guess what you're getting [...]
There's a good chance many of you reading this have not heard of Ghettosocks . That's fine, I mean, after all, that's what we're here for, to try and remedy that situation. But I will says this: if you like classic hip hop (more specifically hip hop & hip hop culture from the early to mid nineties), if you do hear a Ghettosocks album, I'd be willing to bet my leather Africa medallion that you're going to like it. In fact, we should make the Grand Wizard Ghettosocks required listening for any fan of Golden Age [...]
On his last effort ( review ), Jon Epworth wanted us all to know it's not the size of the room you play, it's the songs you write. He focused on substance over style, holding onto the fleeting notion that it's not what you sell, it's what you make. Some might call the notion naive, other's idealistic but as the music industry finds more and more cracks in the foundation, it's important to know that the music isn't suffering. I guess considering Turn Off Your Name II is the second piece to his puzzle, [...]
Pleasant surprises are rare in this day & age, but I have to say, one of the nice things about having one of these nifty music blogs, is that you tend to get pleasantly surprised on a fairly regular basis. This is exactly what happened when I listened to CFCF's Continent for the first time a little while ago. I knew nothing about him, other than that he was a Montreal DJ, and I'd seen his name out there as a remixer, but I was caught a little bit off-guard by how much I liked his [...]
First off, let me apologize for the lack of OSM-age last week. I hate to skip it, but time was scarce last weekend, and we wanted to ensure we got the awesome Paper Bag vinyl contest posted bright and early (as an aside, if you haven't entered that contest, do so now, as today will likely be the last day for it). But now we're back, and I wanted to return with a jumbo version to make up for last week's absence. But what to post? I was a little stumped for ideas, but [...]
We are going to take a trip south of the border today, visiting places that conjure up painful sporting memories. First we have Philadelphia. One of the first Steelers games I ever went to I scalped a ticket and ended up sitting next to the dude that dressed up like the Eagle. People pelted him (and me) with trash and plastic bottles. Not cool. What is cool however is long time herohill fav and Philly outfit, Hezekiah Jones . Driven by talented front man Raphael Cutrufello, we've been lucky enough to get Raph to record us [...]
One of the acts I'm most looking forward to seeing next week at M for Montreal is the nomadic Mark Berube - he's playing the M for Martini showcase on Thursday . He may call Montreal home, but he's traveled the world singing songs, and stock piling anecdotes and observations. The result is a unique sound built on his spoken word background, accordion and piano prowess and finely tuned travelers eye that are blended together into driving, indie-folk anthems and theatrical live sets filled with surprises and smiles. Whether it's opening with a heartfelt [...]
The Friganza returns! It's been a while since we've posted our rundown of the weekend shows here in Halifax, but you'll have to cut us a bit of slack, as we've had a few things going on. But things, schmings, there's a lot going on, so let's get to it. If the two of us can power through the illness in our bodies and households, you'll find us at the Paragon, taking in a show we've been looking forward to for a while: The Deep Dark Woods & Elliot Brood [...]
Originally I planned on writing an opus about this record. I was going to try to connect you to the record through my eyes and ears, talking about how the first listen it hit me like no other record this year. Praise the trio for following through on a premise so simple, so pure that you can't help but fall in love with the results. I mean, three successful, talented song writers revisiting timeless tracks that have been passed down from generation to generation (minus the two originals), recording in a garage with shitty gear in just a [...]
Next week I'll be heading up to Montreal to rub elbows with the big names in journalism and help promote the ever growing and successful Montreal scene. As one of the delegates for M For Montreal , basically we roll into the city and get treated to shows and sit down time cou http://www.blogger.com/img/bla nk.gifrtesy of some of the best bands in Montreal (and some extra special guest from other provinces). Now, if you scan the list of people coming to this event , you might wonder how we are standing on equal ground with Exclaim! [...]
Between the two of us here at your favorite kung fu dude-mascotted music blog, I'd have to say I'm really not the guy you go to for hot new indie music trends. The Ack is certainly the guy to go to for that kind of thing, as he manages to do a rather decent job keeping his incredibly white fingers on the pulse of those things. I'm more the guy to go to when you're wondering which Chubb Rock album was the best (most people will tell you it's The One , but I'll always be partial [...]
When it comes to super groups, for me I'm not sure there is much better out there than Daniel Romano from Attack in Black, Julie Doiron and the all-too-often overlooked insanity and awesomeness that is Fred Squire . That being said, finding out about their amazing record built on classic on folk songs rearranged in Fred's garage was like waking up on Christmas morning and finding out that not only did Santa exist, but you were his favorite. Knowing how much of an impact Daniel, Fred & Julie made [...]
There's a chance you might have gotten this impression if you've been reading my curmudgeon-esque posts for any length of time, but when I lived in Toronto, I was not "up in the club" all that often. Bars, pubs, even the odd tavern - sure, I was in my fair share of those, but attendance at the city's dance-oriented establishments was rather poor. However, if I still lived in T.O., there's an event coming up this weekend that might have gotten me to go against the grain. Skratch Bastid Presents: Scratch, Skratch, Scratch [...]
I absolutely hate it when super blogger Craig Bonnell beats us to the punch on little known roots artists living in the Great White North. Not because he doesn't constantly offer up DIY gems for his readers, but because I like to think we have our finger on the (Canadian) pulse here at the Hill when it comes to an incredible talent like Manitoba's Cam Penner , well, we should have been in the know. Cam's new record, Trouble & Mercy is devastating. The songs were written on a six month [...]
Seeing as how this is merely an average Monday morning in November, I'm guessing many of you weren't overly psyched to greet the day. Well, let us turn that around quick fast: with a simple email to us you could win yourself 6 beautiful vinyl albums from Paper Bag Records . Yes friend, you read that correctly, not 1, not 2, and not even 3, but 6 lovely vinyl albums. And I do mean lovely (and somewhat rare): All Paper Bag Records vinyl releases are produced in limited quantities on [...]
I'm not sure if a better show will come through Halifax in the few months. Without a doubt, Polaris short lister Alberta's Elliott Brood and criminally overlooked The Deep Dark Woods from SK are going to absolutely burn down The Paragon on November 13th , and we want to give one lucky reader the chance to see both acts for free. Hell, you can even take a guest. Everyone already knows and loves the Brood - I'd say that there performance at the Polaris gala stole the show - but Halifax, [...]
A while back, I gushed about Tim Crabtree 's newest EP - under the moniker Paper Beat Scissors - and was equally impressed by his live show when he and a huge collection of friends warmed the stage for Caledonia. For those new to the band's sound, honestly, the picture I've included sums it up perfectly. Warm fuzz, soft focus and incredibly captivating. The Flickr EP is a beautiful mix of acoustic guitar, strings, subtle electronics and tribal percussion, but for anyone in Halifax, seeing these songs take new life in [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
