Degree
Master of Arts
Program
Popular Music and Culture
Supervisor
Norma Coates
Abstract
In the early 1990s, the Halifax music scene was catapulted into the limelight as Canada's answer to the Seattle grunge scene. Dubbed the Halifax Pop Explosion, the surge of bands that became popular during this time came of age in an already well-established music scene with nurturing local infrastructure. At the forefront of the city's mainstream success, the band Sloan and their peers had developed a particular style of songwriting and performance that led the media and local audiences to believe that a particular 'Halifax Sound' had emerged, a notion that still reverberates in the local music scene. Using the diverse styles of Sloan's first two albums as a case study, this thesis explores, through both musicological and cultural analysis, the existence of a cohesive 'Halifax Sound' and its impact upon those who were, and still are, invested in the city's small-town status as unique, isolated, and authentically 'local'.
Recommended Citation
Hamel, Danielle, "The Halifax Pop Explosion: Music Scenes, Sloan, And The Case For A Halifax Sound" (2013). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1741.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1741
Transcription of Vocals
500 Up.pdf (124 kB)
Transcription of Vocals
Coax Me.pdf (120 kB)
Transcription of Vocals
People of the Sky.pdf (128 kB)
Transcription of Vocals