While we’re in the heights of summer, getting over the hangover of the past weekend’s peak summer festivals, it’s hard to believe it’s already time to be thinking about the next season. A perennial highlight of the fall festival calendar is the Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX,) this year taking place Oct. 19-22, and yesterday they released their line-up.
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Headlining the festival is the veteran Newfoundland band Hey Rosetta! who are always a hit. Also in the large type are Basia Bulat, PUP and White Lung, any of whom could be riding high on a Polaris Music Prize win. Holy Fuck, The Barr Brothers and Tuns round out the favourites from the top of the chart, but, as is always the case, there’s plenty of excellent music to be found in the “small print” acts.
Hannah Georgas, Mo Kenney (supported by Symphony Nova Scotia,) Royal Canoe and Nap Eyes are all must-see shows. If you’re looking for something a little noisier, check out Pkew Pkew Pkew, Fake Palms or Monomyth. Folk? Supermoon. Pop? Alana Yorke. Hip hop? City Natives. And of course lots of rock. There is someone performing for almost any genre you can name. (Sorry, no polka… yet.)
HPX is promising more acts will be announced between now and opening night, so keep tuned to their socialmedia for updates. Of course, you can always point your browsers to their website to fill yourself in, as well as grab your tickets or wristbands and subscribe for their mailing list.
Bet you thought you were done with the Maritime FOMO. Two weeks after HPX, Nova Scotia plays host to yet another totally stacked festival, Nova Scotia Music Week (NSMW.) In-Flight Safety (who will be performing) shared their poster yesterday as well. There is some cross-over acts, but a whole lot of other amazing music to be heard as well. Check out this line-up, too.
Hamilton (Definitely not the city in Ontario. The big musical that made Broadway cool again) has broken records, indeed, but one of its biggest achievements is bringing rap and hip hop to new audiences who may not have seen its potential as a marvellous and diverse art form.
Despite its very American story – the musical depicts the United States’ Founding Fathers after all– people from all over the world have been mesmerized by the music and the spirit of Hamilton. Of course, that includes Canada.
Inspired by the rumours about a Toronto production opening sometime in the near future, the success of the Original Cast Recording — the album hit #1 on the Billboard Rap chart, only to be dethroned by Drake’s Views — and K’naan attending the show and hanging with the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, we decided to created our dream cast of Hamilton with amazing Canadian rappers and singers. A show with a cast this stacked could get even the most vociferous opponent of musical theatre onboard.
Buck 65 as Alexander Hamilton. The musical’s namesake was a prolific, yarn-spinning, ambitious, creative force. Hamilton hustled his way from Caribbean orphan to US Treasury Secretary and right-hand man to George Washington. Rich Terfry, the rapper/storyteller/CBC host from Mount Uniacke, N.S., seems like a logical choice to fill this Founding Father’s shoes.
Shad as Aaron Burr. In contrast to Hamilton’s impulsiveness, his rival Aaron Burr was cautious, reflective, and measured — while equally intelligent — and Shad has the serious demeanour that seems to be needed for the role. The London, Ont., rapper has a long career in spot-on, strong rhymes, and his new project has brought further proof of his vocal ability, which is needed for big numbers like “The Room Where it Happens.”
Basia Bulat as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda has described Eliza’s role as “pure goodness,” and projecting that is something Basia Bulat does with ease. Her beautiful and haunting voice, added to her powerful performances, fit Eliza’s emotionally-charged songs perfectly. Just listen to “Burn” from the Original Cast Recording and Bulat’s “It can’t be you” one after the other and you’ll see what we mean.
k-os as Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson. This dual role requires a big personality — someone with rapid-fire rap skills, charisma to burn, and an instant aura of respect onstage. Who better than k-os, who has fearlessly spoken truths about being a rap artist in Canada since 1993.
Cadence Weapon as George Washington. The trailblazing poet laureate from Edmonton recently wrote for The Guardian about the adversities and the hope of putting hip-hop in the spotlight, which in the beginning meant defying the stereotype of Canadian identity. With a career that spans more than a decade, Cadence Weapon has become an authority — you might say even a “presidential” voice — not only in Canadian rap, but anywhere.
Kinnie Starr as Angelica Schuyler. Powerful, smart, sensible. Those are some of the adjectives that describe Angelica, the oldest of the Schuyler sisters, and they’re equally appropriate to describe Kinnie Starr. The Calgary singer who mixes hip hop and rock in her music is very vocal about her Aboriginal heritage and her political stances. She never backs down, and neither does Angelica.
Luke Lalonde (Born Ruffians) as King George III. With a cameo performance that doesn’t even hit the 10-minute mark, the sassy King George nonetheless makes audiences laugh their heads off by taking himself way too seriously — leading to nothing being serious at all. This character gets three 60s-like, Beatles-esque pop songs, and Luke Lalonde would deliver them extraordinarily well.
Def3 as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton. The Saskatchewan rapper has a fresh and youthful sound, just like these two characters — Laurens is Hamilton’s friend and confidante in Act 1, and the same actor plays his son Philip in Act 2. Def3’s Latin American ancestry and the bundle of “charisma and good looks” make this choice even more fitting.
Odario Williams (Grand Analog) as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison. This double role has “sidekick” qualities — in Act 1, Hercules is one of Hamilton’s entourage and in Act 2, Madison is Jefferson’s right-hand man, but to reduce these parts to the sidelines is unfair. Both parts require versatility, a broad skill set, and the talent to own a name that you can’t imagine without, as Miranda told The Rolling Stone, “picturing Busta Rhymes saying it.” We think Odario is up to the task.
Lindi Ortega as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds. The powerful Jasmine Cephas-Jones – who also plays two roles during the show, as do many other cast members – truly shines in the part of the plot-shaker Maria Reynolds. The sexy character who seduces Hamilton (resulting in America’s first sex scandal!) really requires a sexy performer, and Lindi Ortega would not only provide a marvellous interpretation, but she would also offer new perspectives to the soul/R&B-influenced score.
The countdown clock is finally winding down. We’re just hours away from the announcement of this year’s Polaris Music Prize Shortlist. The 40 albums below will soon cut down to ten.
Art Bergmann, The Apostate
Justin Bieber, Purpose
Black Mountain, IV
Jean-Michel Blais, Il
Basia Bulat, Good Advice
Daniel Caesar, Pilgrim’s Paradise
Tanika Charles, Soul RunD
City and Colour, If I Should Go Before You
Cœur de pirate, Roses
Dead Obies, Gesamtkunstwerk
Destroyer, Poison Season
Dilly Dally, Sore
Drake, Views
Essaie pas, Demain est une autre nuit
Fred Fortin, Ultramarr
Foxtrott, A Taller Us
Grimes, Art Angels
Half Moon Run, Sun Leads Me On
Veda Hille, Love Waves
Jazz Cartier, Hotel Paranoia
Carly Rae Jepsen, E•MO•TION
Junior Boys, Big Black Coat
Kaytranada, 99.9%
Jessy Lanza, Oh No
Majid Jordan, Majid Jordan
Michelle McAdorey, Into Her Future
Nap Eyes, Thought Rock Fish Scale
Safia Nolin, Limoilou
Operators, Blue Wave
Peaches, Rub
PUP, The Dream Is Over
Daniel Romano, Mosey
Andy Shauf, The Party
The Strumbellas, Hope
Suuns, Hold/Still
U.S. Girls, Half Free
Un Blonde, Good Will Come to You
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
White Lung, Paradise
Donovan Woods, Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled
The livestream now over at what do you think of this list?
Polaris 2016 Facts
This is perhaps the most “mainstream” long list ever produced by Polaris, featuring the likes of Justin Beiber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Drake and The Weeknd
Just one album on this year’s long list is a self-titled release; that of Majid Jordan
This year’s nominees aren’t big on punctuation. Just five albums feature anything beyond the alphanumeric in their titles. Donovan Woods was the most diverse in his punctuating, using both a comma and an apostrophe in Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled. Bullet points and apostrophes appear most often with two each (Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION, Donovan Woods’ nomination and Daniel Caesar’s Pilgrim’s Paradise)
Dead Obies take the prize for this year’s tongue twister. Hoping they make the Shortlist just so we can hear the announcer and all the radio hosts stumble over Gesamtkunstwerk
You’re not too badly off this year if you didn’t pay attention in French class. Essaie pas and Coeur de Pirate are the only glaringly obvious francophone artists on the list (correct me if there are more,) and Coeur is significantly bilingual on Roses
This post is the most tagged ever (81!) in OurBasement’s short history
Relisten to DarBarSpecial’s Polaris Long List Playlist!
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