Gutted with Grace: A Truro Compilation

A compilation of new generation (the next wave or two beyond our generation anyway) bands from our hometown of Truro, NS:



And a really interesting article about Truro that reinforces my thoughts that there actually is something about that town that spawns a disproportionately high number of creative people.

Dan said to me in email after reading the above linked article, "If you call what we had going in the 1990's a scene, it's amazing how many of us are now full time employed doing something directly linked to what we doing then", which is, I believe, the crux of it.  Something about that town raises creative people that actually take the reigns and make their life about their art.  I think that is rare.

Jeff Torbert

Watering the vegetable garden in front of the studio today reminded me of this great album by Jeff Torbert.

Olivier Jarda

Thought I should draw your attention to the new album by Olivier Jarda.  Great voice, really smart lyrics:



And here's a super performance video from Southern Souls:

Recording Bass Guitar

Photos of the mic and board setup.

Drum mic setup

Omnis in the Jecklin disc, and e609 on the kick.

And the corresponding preamp and eq settings on the Toft ATB16.  Kick on channel 1, Jecklin pair on channels 2 and 3.

Halifax math-post-avant-hardcore compilation

We are included on a new digital compilation released today.  While the Halifax music scene has spawned a bazillion compilations, if I am not mistaken I believe this is the first to focus on the mathy / posty / side of things.

Download the compilation for free here.

From the press release:

"Over the last 20 years, Halifax has become known for a very particular coastal music scene, churning out explosions of slick, melodic indie-pop.  Yet below the sheen of the limelight, Halifax has also been home to an underbelly of angular and aggressive music that has excelled on the fringes.  Bands such as The Plan, North of America, and Equation Of State carved out the gritty niche for others like Contrived, Slight Return, Attack Mode, and Radarfame – paving the way for a new generation of musicians embedded in the history of start-stop rhythms, atypical time signatures, and dissonant guitar riffs.

How Did We Even Get Here? is a compilation of bands steeped in this tradition.  Whether it’s the onslaught of the mathiness provided by VKNGS, the Fugazi-esque post-punk of The Wides, the hardcore-inspired riffs of fRAME, or the post-rock soundscapes of Force Fields and Kuato, this collection of songs is a testament to the enduring dark cloud that lies beneath the silver lining in the Halifax music scene."