Halifax Is Burning :: S02E03

I had this weird cold/sick/throat thing going on this week, so my voice was a little wacky on the ol' radio Tuesday night. That being said, the archives are still down (I know, I know), so if you didn't tune in, you missed out on all the fun.

Track List
Myles Deck & The Fuzz - Lights Out Electric Co.
The Numbered Head - Man Action
Major/Minor - Take Care of Your Suitcase
The Pinecones - Tea Tonight
BA Johnston - Jesus is from Steeltown
Shotgun Jimmie - Mind Crumb
The Super Friendz - 10 Lbs
Richard Lann - Henry's House
Postdata - In Chemicals
Windom Earle - Greg's Song
Gamma Gamma Rays - Roam
Contrived - The War To Settle The Score
Cold Warps - I Got Opinion, Dude
Tongan Death Grip - Japanese Game Show
English Words - Rope
Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees - You Don't Miss Me
The Roots (featuring Erykah Badu) - You Got Me

Halifax Is Burning :: S02E02

Halifax is Burning...literally!


Today felt like the apocalypse. Fires, floods, the second coming of Christ. Typical day in Halifax or end of the world? Who knows.

Archives are still down at CKDU, but they will be back online soon soon soon. Promise.

Lotsa good shows happening in town this week, so I had lots of good tunes to play. Hope you didn't miss it sucka.

TRACK LIST
A History Of - DC Heat
Black Moor - Red Blood, Cold Steel
Laura Merrimen - Time
Sam Ryan - White Ceiling
The Prospector's Union - The Valley Neighbors
Glory Glory Man United - Friends of the Seen
Gamma Gamma Rays - Growth & Health
The First Aid Kit - My Resignation
Force Fields - Dog Food Thumb
The Establishment - Only Exercises
Cousins - Three Years Old
Dog Day - Synastry
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
Daft Punk - Around The World/Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Here's an article about that crazy South End Fire. Heavy hearts go out to those who are temporarily homeless and jobless due to the big ol' blaze.

Halifax Is Burning :: S02E01

A new year, a new season. Deal with it.
The archives are still on the mend over at the station, so - unfortunately - no mp3 download again this week, but with everyone back from holidays everything should be fixed soon soon soon.

This week's show was great. Haligonian singer/songwriter and blogger extraordinaire Mary Stewart.

Mary came into the studio to talk about her faithfully committed blog, A Song A Day, where she writes a song every single day, video tapes herself playing it (one take, no re-dos), and uploads it to her blog. EVERY DAY!

She's up to song 118 now, so I had her in to talk about the blog and to play a few songs live on the air.

Track Listing
Mardeen - Ice Truck Killer
The Danks - Treaty Connector
Boxer The Horse - Jackson Leftfield
Mary Stewart - Sweeter Than
The Danger Bees - Paper Thin
Mary Stewart - Library
Contrived - Not A Goodbye
The Holy Shroud - Calling in Confederate Debts
Broken Ohms - Choix
Iron Giant - Creator of Scars

Halifax Is Burning :: S01E014

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010.

Tonight on Halifax Is Burning I performed not one, but two countdowns - the Top 5 Local Singles of 2009 and the Top 10 Local Releases of 2009.

These are all basically based on iPod spins. Did I listen to these songs/albums a boat load over the past twelve months? Hell yes. Hence, the lists.

Unfortunately, the servers are still down over at CKDU, so downloading the show from the archive still isn't a possibility until the new year when the techs are back online. So, in lieu of that, I put together a sweet download for you. Get it while it's hot.

Track List
TOP 5 SINGLES of 2009
#5 - Milks & Rectangles - Slander Debunked
#4 - Prospector's Union - Valley Neighbors
#3 - TGTGG - Gettin' Dirty In The Afterlife
#2 - Kestrels - Ridicule
#1 - The First Aid Kit - New York City

TOP 10 RELEASES of 2009
#10 - The Slate Pacific - Safe Passage
#9 - Myles Deck & The Fuzz - Police Cops 7"
#8 - A History Of - Action In The North Atlantic
#7 - Share - Slumping In Your Murals
#6 - The Olympic Symphonium - More In Sorrow Than In Anger
#5 - Mardeen - Single #1
#4 - Bloodsport - Goodbye To The Holy Mountain
#3 - Dog Day - Concentration
#2 - Cousins - Out On Town
#1 - York Redoubt - self titled

Halifax Is Burning :: S01E013 - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

Well, the Christmas Holidays are upon us, and I'm sitting in my parents' basement in Sluice Point so I wasn't around to do my show this week. Luckily, I found an awesome fill-in, my good friend Jean-Paul Joseph Marc André à Billy à Michel sur Armand!

Not only did he do an awesome version of hosting the first ever Halifax Is Burning Christmas Special, he also debuted a bunch of new holiday tunes by bands like The Superfantastics & The Heavy Blinkers. And on top of all that, he even snuck his own Christmas tune into the mix!

The CKDU archives are still down for now, so I've hosted this show on my own personal server as a Christmas gift to all the dedicated listeners out there in radio/internet land.

And as a bonus gift, I've also included a download link to
Jean-Paul Joseph Marc André à Billy à Michel sur Armand's soon-to-be classic Christmas ditty, "A Whole Mess of Lobsters."

Enjoy!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

December 22, 2009
(right click, "save as," send to Santa!)

Track List
The Superfantastics - Do They Know It's Christmas?
The Heavy Blinkers - Silence Your Drum
Tom Fun Orchestra - Merry Christmas From Me To You
Rich Aucoin - Oh My God!
Death by Nostalgia - Carol of the Bells
Jean-Paul Joseph Marc André à Billy à Michel sur Armand - A Whole Mess of Lobsters
BA Johnston - BA Johnston Sings A Christmas Song
The Superfantastics - Star of Christmas
Mike O'Neil - Skating
Old Folks Home - Frosty The Snowman
Kyle Evans - A Wonderful Christmastime
Hoop Dreams - Under A Christmas Star
The O By Gollies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Quiet Parade - What Child Is This?
Carmen Townsend - O Come All Ye Faithful
Wintersleep - We Three Kings


CHRISTMAS BONUS DOWNLOAD!

Jean-Paul Joseph Marc André à Billy à Michel sur Armand - A Whole Mess of Lobsters

Heavy Blinkers Christmas Song/Video

One of Halifax's quintessential mainstays, The Heavy Blinkers, have just released a new Christmas song about the little drummer boy, complete with a really cool video.

Download the mp3 HERE.

Watch the awesome video here:


Recently named one of "The Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Heard' by Spin magazine (July 2009), The Heavy Blinkers' long awaited new record, Health, includes contributions from renowned artists such as Sondre Lerche(Astralwerks) and Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas (Drag City). The album will be released in March, 2010.

Halifax Is Burning :: S01E012

Unfortunately, some servers are down at the ol' station - so I couldn't put up this week's episode for download.

But if you didn't listen to it live on the radio (which, PS, you should have), my friend Leah Hassin joined me in studio to talk about this:

From EXCLAIM.CA

Exclusive: Joel Plaskett Confirms Thrush Hermit Reunion
12/14/2009 By Vish Khanna

After a weekend rampant with speculation, Joel Plaskett has confirmed that his beloved former band, Thrush Hermit, will indeed be reuniting for a short string of dates in 2010.

Among the most respected and emulated artists to emerge during the mid-’90s Halifax pop explosion, bolstered by Sloan's Murderecords, Thrush Hermit featured Plaskett, Rob Benvie, Ian McGettigan and Cliff Gibb. When Gibb departed in 1999, drummer Benn Ross joined the Hermit to tour behind what was arguably their best record, Clayton Park.

Since the band's demise, Plaskett has gone on to a storied solo career, Benvie has dabbled in music, but is mostly immersed in writing as a novelist, and McGettigan has been playing on and producing records by others, most notably those of the Joel Plaskett Emergency.

In an Exclaim! exclusive, Plaskett answered questions about the reunion in an email interview this morning:

So, is there a Thrush Hermit reunion of any kind happening? If so, where and when will this take place?

Joel Plaskett: Yep! In March. Not sure if the dates are totally locked down yet but it's looking like Moncton, two nights in Halifax, Ottawa and two nights in Toronto. Maybe one more somewhere else in Ontario. Wish we could go out west but we gotta keep it brief.

What exactly prompted this particular reunion show/tour? Who initiated it?

JP: Rob may have brought it up first. We'd been batting it around casually for about a year, but we wanted to make sure the timing made sense.

Is this a one-off or is there any possibility that a tour or further collaboration might happen?

JP: As it stands, this is a one-off tour. We're all busy with our own agendas and we wanted to do this, so we are all pressing pause on our other lives to make it happen in March.

How do you feel about getting the band back together to play again?

JP: I'm super-excited to rock out with the boys again... and to play some serious riffs.

Here are all the Thrush Hermit reunion tour dates announced so far:

3/19 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/20 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/24 Peterborough, ON - The Historic Red Dog
3/25 Ottawa, ON - New Capital Music Hall
3/26 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
3/27 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace

In celebration of this most awesome announcement, Leah and I hosted a Thrush Hermit marathon for the whole hour and played some sweet tracks from classic albums like 1995's Smart Bomb, 1997's Sweet Homewrecker, and 1999's Clayton Park. Shoulda been there.