• beast in repose

Here's the post where we do the usual blathering about how it's Friday and we're going to drink mojitos or whatever, and garden badly, and burn off our friend's arm hair with the BBQ (this actually happened last week) and try to hang out with as many dogs and cats as possible. Saturday in particular features a pile of great things, and many of them are free free free, which is great when you're trying to save money for mojito mix and hot dogs.

First, let's listen to a new Dog Day song from their upcoming album. It's called "Part Girl." Their new album Deformer comes out on August 2 and the album release party is at the Seahorse on August 5 with Bird World and those lovable kooks in Apollo Ghosts. Ugh. Boil this down and shoot it into my veins, I need it so bad, fixes, drug analogies, etc. The brain, it's tired!

Dog Day - Part Girl

1) Free Reading vs. Pie

Coast contributor Andrew Patterson will be reading from his new book of poesie, Shards Bring Luck, behind Elsie's beginning at 3pm. He will be supported by the great ginger wordsmith Geordie Miller and Ben Stephenson. Musical genius Mark Grundy will be playing an acoustic set along with the lovely Gianna Lauren. It is free and I am told there is pie. Jenner Brooke-Berger wrote about it here. I will be there.

2) Free Bands vs. Lemonade

A bunch of good bands are playing outside on Saturday just around the corner from this reading at Starbucks on Spring Garden Road. Proceeds go to the IWK. Many great bands will be playing, including the Scoop Outs, Whiskey Bent and Hellbound, Hind Legs, Like a Motorcycle, Aux.Out and S.S. Khandalla. It's free too and starts at 1pm, with free Starbucks lemonade, holy cripes. Pie and lemonade. I think I'm gonna die. Allison Saunders wrote about this here.

3) Free Bands vs. Dartmouth

After all the happy afternoon times, I'm going to the Pharcyde JazzFest show (not free, but still awesome) and then I will (drunkenly) walk over the bridge to the D, where Tongan Death Grip, Bad Vibrations, the Deadly Hearts and Moncton's re-united Pervert will be ripping it at Jacob's Lounge. This is such a good lineup and it's totally free. I could cry, it rules so much. Let's go!

• spinsandneedles.com

HRM Courts are not pursuing the case against Evolve Festival organizer Jonas Colter involving $4,500 worth of postering charges.
In an email to the Honorable Judge William Digby, copied to Colter’s lawyer Gordon Allen, the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office wrote yesterday that “there is no reasonable prospect of conviction on the charges before the court.” The case was originally intended to go to court Friday May 13.

During last July’s Evolve festival, Colter was arrested and fined 18 tickets at $250 each for 400 Evolve posters that had been placed in several Halifax neighbourhoods. The charges cited that Colter had violated HRM’s temporary signs bylaw by not using designated kiosks. Allen heard about the charges through a mutual friend and contacted Colter, asking to represent him in the case and offering his services for free. “Freedom of expression is near to my heart,” says Allen. “The exchange of ideas is how we advance. Whenever there’s something limiting that, it causes me some concern.”

Allen had originally intended to argue that the charges restricted Colter’s Charter right to freedom of expression. In an interview prior to the dismissal, he cited two examples of case law that established postering as a protected form of expression - Ramsden v. Peterborough in 1993 and R. v. Singh in 2010.

“I would have liked to see a ruling on this by-law,” Allen admitted yesterday in an email. “Hopefully the city will take heed and there won’t any tickets issued under this by-law in respect to posters.”

This year’s Evolve Festival is taking place July 22 — 24 and you can expect to see posters going up soon.

For a more thorough rundown of this postering bylaw and Colter's case, please see this excellent article by Hilary Beaumont.

Dear everyone, I am a dumbshit. In yesterday's blog post about local musician GIGAS, I spelled his real-life name incorrectly. His name is spelt Nick Iwaskow. Many apologies to Nick!
Errors aside, his music remains excellent and you really ought to go see him at 1616 Hollis this Saturday.

Depending on your feelings about the Muppets, this video - featuring spliced-together footage that somehow perfectly matches Kanye West's "Monster" - is either pretty dumb or the best fucking thing you have seen all week. I am the latter, due to the fact that Miss Piggy raps all of Nicki Minaj's lines. In leather.

Also, notice that they crib some of the video footage from Cookie Monster's "Healthy Food" rap. Remember that one?

Healthy food. Tastes so good.

In the Coast's Critics' Picks list for Music, published last Thursday, we incorrectly identified the label that released Bad Vibrations' Under Pressure seven-inch. We identified the label as Brotherhood Cassettes, who actually released the Bad Vibrations/Bloodhouse split tape earlier this month. The seven-inch was actually released this past June by Sewercide Records.

Even though the labels are different, we can attest that both recordings are bomb. Go here to take a listen and enjoy a free download of the split tape.

• "what's kept you together all these years?" "stonehenge"

For the past three years, PIG has been a lynchpin in Truro’s burgeoning music scene. The band, who sort of defy description—-Weird Canada calls them “adjective-punk,” which works for me—-experiment with drone and noise in a purely uncalculated and intuitive way. This becomes twice as scary when you realize most of them are just barely out of high school. When we heard the band was finished, we were bummed, but we also know that their sound and attitude will live on in other realms. We emailed Tyler Fleck, who confirms: “I think all the people in PIG have some sort of project on the side at this point,” he says. His explanation for the split is equally succinct: “I can’t speak for the rest of the band, but I think it’s the simple matter that we`ve done all that we could do. PIG began as a sort of experiment that came naturally and that aspect of the band has never really left. At the same time we just kind of slowly deteriorated, like most things do over time.” See PIG’s final deterioration this Saturday at the Khyber with Bloodhouse and Rape Faction, 8pm, $6.

• sad face

After four years of playing face-rattling rock n’ roll, the Cuban Assassins are calling it quits, with a final show on Canada Day at Gus’ Pub with Myles Deck and the Fuzz Troublestarters and Flagshipsinker.

Bassist Brent Gelkie is pragmatic about the split. “We’ve been playing the same set for over a year now. We haven’t added anything new to it. I think when that happens, it’s time to quit.” he says. After taking a break from playing live earlier this year, the group tried to write new songs, but it was a struggle. “We weren’t on the same page musically and it wasn’t coming together,” Gelkie says. “We were just writing the same song over and over. We’re a real one-trick pony.”

Gelkie, drummer/singer Jason Wilson and guitarist Bruce Parks remain good pals and Gelkie says he has nothing but fond memories of the entire experience. “We loved playing with all our favorite bands,” he says. “C’mon, the Brutal Knights, our second show was opening for D.O.A. in Moncton—-we were so lucky.” If the Cuban Assassins were a one-trick pony, they stomped the hell out of this city—from playing the final show in Hell’s Kitchen to their roaring split 7” with Myles Deck and the Fuzz. We bid them a mournful adieu.

In a move that most likely surprises no one, Pacifico's White Party featuring Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino has been pushed back from its original date of May 6. So, you know, there's still time to shell out $85 to hang out with this deliriously tanned pile of man-skin, sinew and gloss. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, the post announcing this auspicious event is here.

• those are baby making eyes.

The new date is June 17th. This plus the recent Snooki drink-and-food-throwing incident makes me think the Jersey Shore star might be fading a little. The shock value of a Guido/Guidette in their natural habitat is greatly diminished when there are 200 spectators and a TMZ cameraman in the immediate vicinity. I miss the glory days, back when shit was pure, when beefcake Ronnie mused, "You never fall in love...at the Jersey Shore."

Loveable local dudes The Sorrys smelled something fishy when they saw the album cover for Caribou's latest, Swim. The artwork bears an awfully close resemblance to the artwork for the Sorrys' Neanderthal Cell Phone, created by James Rothenburg. Lead singer Trevor Millett has taken it all in stride, though. "At least someone liked our artwork, even if our CD didn't sell that well," he says.

• a photo i took of A/V at Evolve 2009

What's with every band/person I like moving to Korea or Japan to teach English? Did I do something wrong? Goddammit, you jerks!
Anyway, that's what my favorite New Brunswick-ian dance-punker A/V is doing. He plays his last show tonight at the King's Wardroom. Immediately afterwards, he ships off to South Korea for a year of wrangling with kiddies. Sounds like someone else we know.
He'll be joined by Jenocide and my tears. No cover but you need some ID and if you don't go to King's, you need a student to sign you in, and blah blah blah I'M SO DEPRESSED RIGHT NOW.

In honour of Henry Rollins' Rebecca Cohn spoken-word show today, here's one of my favorite interviews, where he gets all pissy with our national treasure.

• A Razzie and an Oscar? Who am I, Julia Roberts?

Man, I need something to wash the boring-as-shit taste of last night's Academy Awards out of my mouth. You can re-visit the Coast's infinitely more entertaining liveblog of the event, and if you want to read some funny celebrity Tweets about the event, go here.

I'm told the ECMAs were slightly better, if a mite predictable and slightly uneven, sound-wise. Stay tuned for more weekend coverage from Coast photographer/hero Scott Blackburn. In the meantime, here's the results:

ECMA 2010 MUSIC AWARD WINNERS

Sennhesier Entertainer of the Year / Artiste de l'année
Joel Plaskett (NS)

Female Solo Recording of the Year / Enregistrement de l’année — artiste solo féminine
Catherine MacLellan (PE) — Water In The Ground

Group Recording of the Year / Enregistrement du groupe de l'année
In-Flight Safety (NS) — We Are an Empire, My Dear

Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year / Enregistrement de l’année — artiste solo masculin
Joel Plaskett (NS) — Three

FACTOR Recording of the Year / Enregistrement sonore FACTOR de l'année
Joel Plaskett (NS) — Three

Rising Star Recording of the Year / Enregistrement de l’année — Étoiles de demain
Kim Wempe (NS) — Where I Need To Be

Vibe Creative Group Single of the Year / Chanson de l'année
Joel Plaskett (NS) — Through & Through & Through

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year / Compositeur ou compositrice SOCAN de l’année
Joel Plaskett (NS) — “Through & Through & Through” (Performed by: Joel Plaskett)

Video of the Year / Vidéo de l'année
The Tom Fun Orchestra (CB) — Throw Me to the Rats (Directed by: Alasdair Brotherston & Jock Mooney)

MB2/Joint Venture Aboriginal Recording of the Year / Enregistrement autochtone de l'année
Forever (CB) — Reborn

Alternative Recording of the Year / Enregistrement alternatif de l’année
In-Flight Safety (NS) — We Are an Empire, My Dear

Bluegrass Recording of the Year / Enregistrement bluegrass de l’année
The Grass Mountain Hobos (PE) — ZOOT!

Blues Recording of the Year / Enregistrement blues de l’année
The Hupman Brothers (NS) — Countin’ Quarters

Country Recording of the Year / Enregistrement country de l’année
The Divorcees (NB) — Last of the Free Men

Folk Recording of the Year / Enregistrement populaire de l’année
Catherine MacLellan (PE) — Water In The Ground

Francophone Recording of the Year / Enregistrement francophone de l’année
BLOU (NS) — Noël Blou

Gospel Recording of the Year / Enregistrement gospel de l’année
The Ascensions (NB) — No Greater Love

Instrumental Recording of the Year / Enregistrement instrumental de l’année
Andrea Beaton (CB) — Branches

Jazz Recording of the Year / Enregistrement jazz de l’année
Gypsophilia (NS) — Sa-ba-da-OW!

Loud Recording of the Year / Enregistrement loud de l’année

The Motorleague (NB) — Black Noise

MapleMusic Pop Recording of the Year / Enregistrement pop de l’année
Joel Plaskett (NS) — Three

Rap / Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year / Enregistrement simple rap / hip-hop de l’année
Classified (NS) — Anybody Listening

Sirius Satellite Radio Rock Recording of the Year / Enregistrement rock de l’année
The Novaks (NL) — Things Fall Apart

Roots / Traditional Solo Recording of the Year / Enregistrement folklore / traditionnel de l’année — artiste solo
Lennie Gallant (PE) — If We Had a Fire

Roots / Traditional Group Recording of the Year / Enregistrement folklore / traditionnel de l’année — groupe
Dawn and Margie Beaton (CB) — Taste of Gaelic

R&B/Soul Single Track Recoding of the Year / Enregistrement gospel de l’année
Jamie Sparks (NS) — All I Need — Remix

Bell Aliant Fan’s Choice Video of the Year
The Motorleague (NB)

Cape Breton Credit Unions Fan’s Choice Artist/Group of the Year
Samantha Robichaud (NB)

Director’s Special Achievement Award
The Rankin Family

Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award
Scotty Turner

The Scene and Heard blog has reached 420 comments. You all owe yourselves a good bout of relaxing.

• Wendy Lynch Redfern
• I'd place some money on them to win

Revel in the Modest Mouse Halifax aftermath. A pretty entertaining read, overall.