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 acousti...
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News:: Paper Beat Scissors comes home
Quick Hitters:: Slim Twig - Spit It Twig Vol. 2
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I don't know about you folks, but when I think of this dark Toronto rockabilly troubadour, the first thing that comes to mind is mixtapes. Oh, perhaps I should mention that I just listened to Slim's 2nd free mixtape Spit It Twig! Vol. 2, because prior to now, I never would have thought anything of the sort when pondering Mr. Twig. So Slim Twig loves mixtapes, who knew? Perhaps not what one m...
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Five Funky Stories:: Jon Janes of The Mountains and The Trees + free EP
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Artist:The Mountain & the Trees
For years, whenever I thought of Newfoundland I only thought of Jockey Club beer, Iceberg tracking web sites and Ches' Fish & Chips, but lately more and more talented acts have been coming across our desk. Most people know Polaris Short-listers Hey Rosetta!, but the amount of good music coming from the Rock is insane. For me though, Jon Janes - aka The Mountain & The Trees - is the act I'm keep...
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Look to the Right --->
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Artist:James Mercer
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Track:Harverst
You see that button over on the right? It's hooked up to our bank account in the Cayman's that we use to pay for our mountains of coke. But in all seriousness, we've been running this site for about 8 years, and for the most part we've been doing it for nada but the chance to talk about music we like.In the last year we added some ads to the site but we have a few music projects we want to sta...
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Video Hits:: Dan Mangan, Great Bloomers, Minto, Winter Gloves & Matt Epp
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Ok folks, it's Thursday, and so I'm going to skip the foreplay and get straight to the hot Canadian music video action. Well, not right to it, as it's in the hill's bylaws that we must give some preamble for even the simplest of posts.I'm sure many of you have already seen the video we're leading off with today, but that's too bad, because if Snoop picked this guy up, he'd immediately drop him...
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Reviews:: The Wailin' Jennys Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House
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Traveling on the information superhighway, you are often forced to move at an autobahn worthy pace; hands gripping the wheel tight with eyes focused forward looking for potential pitfalls instead of enjoying the view. No matter how much you love a record, you need to find a new one for the next day or you have nothing to write about. Unfortunately, that means you almost never have the chance to...
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Five Funky Stories:: Oh No Forest Fires
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Artist:Oh No Forest Fires
WHAT!?! The random question machine is back? Oh yes friend, HPX is over, but the random question machine is here to stay. It`s just too fun a feature to put away, and I could say the same thing about this episode with frenetic Torontonians Oh No Forest Fires.As you might be aware, we did an assload of these 5FS posts in an attempt to preview as many of the bands & shows for last month's HPX,...
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Reviews:: A History Of Action In The North Atlantic
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Artist:A History Of
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Album:Action In the North Atlantic
I was chatting with Noyes poster boy (and all around good guy) Chad Peck the other day and mentioned that the bulked up Noyes roster is quickly making the Truro-based label one of the most consistent the hill deals with. Tons of PR firms and smaller labels flood you with emails, promising the next big thing only to disappoint, but when it comes to Noyes and the PR people they work with, they le...
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File Under Amazing:: Daniel, Fred & Julie
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Imagine a scenario where three of the best songwriters in the indie Canadian scene decide to make a record together. Not like a Monsters of Folk, but more haunting and pain filled like a Ghosts of Folk. Dan from Attack in Black showed up in New Brunswick, and presented Julie Doiron and Fred Squire (Calm Down It's Monday, Shotgun & Jaybird) an idea.The premise is so simple, but so amazing. Lets ...
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Quick Hitters:: The Zolas
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Artist:The Zolas
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Album:Tic Toc Tic
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Track:You're Too Cool
A few days ago, Victoria’s Immaculate Machine rolled into town. Normally, the Mint records pop rockers are more than enough reason to get any music fan out on a Wednesday night, but this time they brought some friends along for the ride. Sadly, I had (a) never heard of The Zolas and (b) never bothered to figure out their deal even after someone asked me about them. (A) + (B) = me (C)-ted on my.
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herohill / music nova scotia artist of the month:: acres & acres
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Artist:Acres & Acres
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Album:All Nations
The release of the fantastic new record from Acres and Acres - All Nations (review) - has gone and come, sadly with little fanfare. Even with a coast to coast train tour, Kris Pope and David Scholten still fly under the radar in the city they call home. It's a shame, because the simple premise and recording style of All Nations resulted in a record that knocks you on your ass, but never hits yo...
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Old School Mondays:: Grandmaster Flash Edition
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Unless you're like the Ack, and you boycott any video game that requires you to do anything more complicated than repeatedly mashing one button, you've likely heard of DJ Hero. DJ Hero is exactly what you'd think: a DJ-based take on the Guitar Hero or Rock Band music simulation games that have blown up in the last few years. It looks pretty cool, and I certainly want to try it, but one of the...
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Sunday Morning Coffee:: BIrd & Bear
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Artist:Blrd & Bear
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Album:Into the Moon
I'm not sure I could have found a better fall EP or a better candidate for the old Sunday Morning Coffee section than the debut from Bird & Bear. This Newfoundland folk duo is built on the crystal clear, traditional folk vocals and guitar work of Jillian Freeman and the drum/banjo/drum machine support of Jon Janes (aka - The Mountain and The Trees).Bird & Bear are about to release their debut E...
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Contest:: Win tix to The Wooden Sky in TO
The Wooden Sky have come out of nowhere to release one of the best roots records of the year. If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone (review) is a slow burner laced with emotion and bar ready sing-alongs. It's also a lock for my Best-of '09 list.So what does that have to do with you? Well lucky reader, we have two tix to their hometown return show at Lee's Palace in TO on Nov. 13th, and
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Friday Fun:: Lionelween
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Originally, I was planning to bring back the Friday Showstravagnza today, our weekly rundown of the best weekend shows happening in Halifax, which has been M.I.A. for a while. The was my plan, but instead I spent last night carving this Lionel Ritchie pumpkin:I think you'll agree that my time was spent wisely. However, there's one show I want to mention: the immortal DJ Jazzy Jeff is coming t...
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News:: Vote for Bend Sinister - Peak Performance Project
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The amount of funding being awarded to the independent and small label bands in Canada is pretty impressive. You constantly hear about people like The Swiss (@polarismusicprize) or something like the Verge awards raising cash to help support the arts and in a time where the government is doing the exact opposite, it’s the very tiny silver lining in a very large dark cloud that constantly pours .
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Quick Hitters:: Zoey Van Goey
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This morning I was running on vapors. It’s hard enough to plug away on a keyboard when the music you want to gush about is creative and inspiring, but when the release pile hits the typical year end slump, sifting through the discs is almost like a punishment.Thankfully, I remembered I still hadn't mentioned Glasgow outfit Zoey Van Goey or their debut full length, The Cage Was Unlocked All Alo.
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Video Hits:: Tom Fun, Said The Whale, Octoberman, Little Girls, Classified
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Track:Thirty Reasons
As we make our way through fall out here in Halifax, things are finally getting back to business, or rather posting, as usual. The Polaris is over, HPX is over, and so we're back to bringing you that sweet, sweet can-con, errrr, content. And because it's Thursday, that means one thing, Videos! As you might imagine since we haven't run an episode of Video Hits in a while, we've got quite a ba...
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Reviews:: OK Cobra - Delirium Tremens
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OK Cobra is a name I'd heard for some years in Canadian hip hop circles, but I must confess that until now I don't think I'd actually heard their music. I was more familiar with the duo because of the presence of frontman Fritz The Cat (aka Ryan Somers), and his near-mythical status in Canadian underground hip hop due to his role as the publisher of the infamous hip hop 'zine In Search Of...Di...
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Concerts:: Sunparlour Players, Octoberman, Empire Lights & The Schomberg Fair
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Album:Wave North
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Track:Build It Up
Has any music loving Haligonian actually recovered from another amazing HPX? '09 brought in an embarrassment of National and International talent but the rocking just doesn't stop here in Canada's ocean playground. In the next 10 days, we have some absolutely stellar acts playing shows and the hill wouldn't be doing it's duty if we didn't talk about the bands still willing to make the extra 12-...
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