Just when you think summer is over (typically signified by hoards of students returning), September has lots still in store for those of us who never want it to end. The ninth annual House of PainTUrban Arts and Culture Festival runs Sept. 13-16 and features a variety of artists and activities. What I think is great about this kind of festival is that it is purely community-driven and brings together several art forms including graffiti art, music, dance, film, photography, clothing & crafts, spoken word and much more. On top of that, there are workshops for young people and new professionals who want to become more engaged in Canadian urban culture, which I think brings a positive and constructive atmosphere to the whole thing. This kind of grassroots festival, which is much different from the likes of Bluesfest, is has remained just that: a local-level series of events that reinforces how diversified and talented the arts in Ottawa really are. Chances are if you've seen some of the street art around the city, the artist will in some way be associated with this festival. With the Sunday HoP concert happening Sunday, Sept. 16th, new school and old school are coming together with acts like Shad, Maestro Fresh Wes, Kid Koala, Flight Distance, Radio Radio and Atherton taking the stage under the bridge to finish things off. Who says summer needs to end so soon?
Some big names in Ottawa's music scene achieved success last night at the Ottawa International Film Festival. Deservedly, Fevers, Flight Distance and Hilotrons all tied for first place in the Music Video Challenge at Babylon on the closing night of festivities. MC Devin Atherton hosted the event as it featured some of the finest artists in film and music that Ottawa has to offer. Fevers had their video for 'Passion is Dead (Long Live Fashion)' screened, which was directed, produced and edited by Shooter McNally. Flight Distance also used the night as a premier of their new video 'Blanket Party' off their sophomore album Bad Information released in 2011 and directed by Edward Fawcett. The Hilotrons (Kelp Records), who first released their self-titled album in 2003, received praise for their new video for 'Emergency' - a video which I have yet to find online, but will post as soon as it surfaces. Congratulations to all the participants, this years crop will leave us waiting in suspense for next year's OIFF Music Video Challenge.
The 2012 OIFF Music Video Challenge Lineup: EYES ON YA STAR - ERUPT EMERGENCY - HILOTRONS MAKE BELIEVE - THE LOVE MACHINE BLANKET PARTY - FLIGHT DISTANCE POST-SECULAR - THEATERNIA PASSION IS DEAD (LONG LIVE FASHION) - FEVERS ON HOLD - DENE SWAN I CAN - SOPHIA RADISCH HOUSE OF COMMON PROBLEMS - SILKKEN LAUMANN L.K.U.T. - ZOO LEGACY ASIAN FETISHIST - SCARY BEAR SOUNDTRACK THE PROPOSAL - PETER JOYNT
--------------------------------------
Fevers - Passion is Dead (Long Live Fashion)
Credits: Shooter McNally Director + Producer + Editor
Director: Edward Fawcett Sharpe Producers: Edward Fawcett Sharpe, Joel Barnes, Steve Jones Cinematographer: Joel Barnes Editor: Edward Fawcett Sharpe AD/Colouring Grading: Steve Jones
Music credits:
Performed and written by: Flight Distance (Bender, Patience, DJ Calkuta) Produced by: Crack Moses With co-production from: Kaem Mixed by: James Hancock From the acclaimed Flight Distance album, "Bad Information", 2011.
With their latest LP Goodnight My Dear…I’m Falling Apart, Amos the Transparent have sent a message that their music knows no bounds. Having received critical acclaim for their previous two albums, their most recent release is a testament to their ability to fuse diverse instrumentation and more experimental songwriting tactics with the honesty in lyrical content that has come to define the band’s music. While tracks like ‘Says the Spark’ and ‘Sure as the Weather’ have infiltrated the eardrums of indie music lovers across Canada, the album in its entirety is a journey through tame melodies, percussive onslaughts, and complex vocal patterns that never leave the listener unsatisfied. Variable instances of tranquility and vigor define the character of this album: both light and dark. These contrasting features make for an effective and balanced record.
The band is beginning its fall tour with multiple Canadian tour dates, the second of which was last night (August 16th) at Zaphod’s. Friends, family and a dependable fan base crowded into the venue in what felt like a fraternal gathering of sorts. Halifax native Ben Caplan started things off, with a voice that CBC’s Chris Norris describes as having a “rough around the edges, bar room salooney, Tom Waits vibe to it”. Caplan was sans his usual band, The Casual Smokers, but managed to rile the growing crowd up with just his acoustic guitar and pure vocal power. He is a true musician, creating unmistakably unique sounds that just happen to go well with bands like Amos. He also assured me he would be back to Ottawa in the coming months.
The night continued with Toronto’s Battle Mountain Band, a group that was formed by friends who also belong in other bands. For a side-project band that seems to be around just for the sake of a creative outlet, their opening performance of “My Weekend” gave the impression that this band had been around for years. Their set was fun, free-spirited, and laden with bits of humour as they encouraged everyone in the crowd to get closer to the party on stage. Echoes of folk rang through in many of the guitar riffs, and flowing bass lines gave many of their songs a classic feel. In the footsteps of bands like Good Old War, all the members of Battle Mountain Band are lead vocalists, trading verses and bringing a different style and sound to each song. Even in songs like Detroit, which is about one of their ex-wives, all members shared the stage equally. The only shortcoming was some missed vocal harmonies; while not a major issue, it was distracting at points. The overall performance, however, was rhythmically sound and well executed. Ottawa native Trevor James explains, “Now all engines are firing, we’re back writing lots. We just recorded three new tunes, doing lots of shows… but typically we’re always working and writing no matter what. While transitioning from Montreal to Toronto there was a bit of a lull, but yeah everything is very casual with the Battle Mountain Band since we all have our own projects outside of this one.”
Amos the Transparent came on as the headliner, opening with the song ‘Title Track’ from their debut album Everything I’ve Forgotten to Forget. Their band chemistry was apparent right away as Chandler’s vocals carried perfectly with the variety of instruments on stage. Much like their latest album, their set flowed through peaks and valleys of emotion. Eloquent cello playing by Mike Yates tempered the crowd’s liveliness, which was quickly invigorated by the triad of guitars and two-piece brass. Throughout the entire set it was obvious that the band and audience were thriving off each other. During the performance of ‘Lemons’, Chandler got the crowd singing the background melody without having to persuade them. This dynamic reached a new height when the crowd screamed the refrain “I was meant to go alone” during the song ‘Greater Than Consequence’, which I found to be surprisingly different from the album version I was familiar with.
‘We always look at it in two ways’, says lead vocalist Jonathan Chandler, ‘there’s live Amos and there’s studio Amos. Live Amos always plays the songs that we come up with in the studio, but we kind of take a no-borders approach. We can go ahead and have two drum parts going at the same time as well as a quartet of vocals and three guitar parts in the studio, it sounds cool through the speakers but how are we going to do that live? I think that’s where having seven of us up there allows us to do more, we can each add our own thing on stage.”
One aspect of the show that cannot be overstated is the presence of Kate Sargent. Being the only female on stage, Sargent’s vocals compliment Chandler’s in such a way that it adds another layer to the band’s identity. In songs like ‘Up & Out’ and ‘Sure As The Weather’, her singing is just as pervasive as Chandler’s is, bringing more depth and beauty to their performance. I was as impressed as the girl standing next to me, who happened to be screaming “You are blowing my mind” repeatedly to Sargent between songs. I don’t blame her. Her stand-alone verse in ‘The Stale Scent of Old Beer’ made the entire crowd go silent, after which drummer Chris Wilson took the opportunity to end the song with thunderously climactic percussion. Chandler explains, “We added Kate and Mike after the album was recorded, and I really wish they had been there through that process, because they really do have great ideas and a neat perspective on things”. Wilson also says that, “It’s allowing us to explore more sonic possibilities than we did as a three-piece or four-piece. It’s allowed us to reach greater heights, dynamically and in the intricacies of our songs”.
As far as indie music goes, Amos the Transparent is arguably Ottawa’s greatest export, having their music heard nationally through CBC Radio 3 and on shows like Studio Q (where Jian Ghomeshi referred to the band as “The Canadian Wilco”) and internationally at SXSW Music Festival. It isn’t hard to imagine that this is only the beginning.
One of Ottawa's main exports as far as Canadian indie music goes is Amos The Transparent, a band that has been flying high form the critical acclaim of their first two albums and receiving praise for the most recent release Goodnight My Dear... I'm Falling Apart. Personally, the band has grown on me for a few reasons. First, out of all the music that's out there, songs or bands appeals to us for various reasons. Sometimes it's image, catchiness, or lyrics - in the case of Amos, it's a bit of everything. But to me the most attractive aspect of their music is honesty. The honest composition and delivery of their music is refreshing every time you put on their albums, and none more so than their latest release. Their announcement of festival dates at Pop Montreal and Halifax Pop Explosion affirms that they are serious about making their voices heard across Canada.
Tonight they are set to play Zaphod's, I'll be following up this post with a review/interview with the band in collaboration with Apartment 613. In the meantime, here are their tour dates and latest video for "Says The Spark".
TOUR DATES
Aug. 10 @ The Branch, KEMPTVILLE Aug. 16 @ Zaphods, OTTAWA (w/ Battle Mountain Band, Ben Caplan) Aug. 17 @ Rivoli, TORONTO (w/ Revelstoke) Aug. 23 @ Maxwell’s Music House, WATERLOO (w/ Sandman Viper Command) Aug. 24 @ APK, LONDON Aug. 25 @ Phog Lounge, WINDSOR (w/ The Archives)
On September 15, Ottawa is going to get a first-hand view inside the creative mind of Rolf Klausener (The Acorn) when the inaugural Arboretum Festival kicks off. This unique collaborative project will meld all different aspects of what makes Ottawa such an amazing city: music + gastronomy (which, if you don't know, is the art/science of eating food) + visual art. While there isn't a thick wooded area surrounding the Arts Court, the Ottawa Jail Hostel should prove to be an excellent venue for all types of Ottawa personalities to make an appearance and share their trade with us. Many of you may have already seen the beautifully designed posters up around the city, I was almost caught doing a fist pump in the air when I saw Cadence Weapon's picture staring at me today. With artists such as Cadence Weapon, Adam Saikaley, Roberta Bondar, Andrew Vincent and Ohbijou taking part in the festivities, the talent is nothing short of extraordinary. Of course, music is only part of the equation... this festival promises to bring together the best arts, food and culture Ottawa has to offer. Take a glance at the full lineup here, or alternatively, check out the poster below. As the festival motto goes, 'We are totally doing this!' Tickets $25 - more info here.
I'm currently sitting on a Greyhound on my way back from a great weekend in Toronto, awkwardly typing away and trying really hard to drown out the snores from some guy in front of me. One of last week's highlights for me was having the opportunity to sit down and meet Devin Atherton, an Ottawa MC who's been making a name for himself and his music in the last several years. I met him originally a few weeks back at the '4in1' Acoustic Park Session at which he performed some really impressive acoustic versions of his songs. He was kind enough to invite me over for a few beers, and we sat around listening to tracks and talking about music for a few hours. I don't claim to be huge into the hip hop scene here, but I've always taken an interest in MCs who have something substantive to say. Following the footsteps of other Canadian rappers like Shad, Cadence Weapon and Classified, Atherton not only brings lyrical skills, but also intelligent and relatable themes that make his songs very accessible to listeners. Not to mention that he is his own boss, producing the majority of beats on his new album No Threat himself and guiding almost all aspects, from the artwork to which artists are featured. He's also the founder of Ottawa's Hip Hop Karaoke at Mugshots Jailhouse Hostel & Bar, and is a major personality in support of Ottawa's hip hop scene and music community as a whole. It was exciting for me to be able to chill with him and discuss music, our respective projects, and life in general. To top everything off, we went out to a new establishment on Somerset called Union, which I have to say might become one of my new favourite spots. There we ran into some of his friends, including Jordan from The Love Machine and DJ Calkuta from Flight Distance, two groups which I hope to feature on Showbox in the near future. I have included a link to Atherton's Bandcamp page where you can check out No Threat in its entirety, as well as the interview we had.
Interview: Atherton Tell me a bit about Vinyl Tap and how it came to be, and how you hooked up with some of the artists.
Vinyl Tap in the beginning was a label, and the idea was to kind of go at it with a strength in numbers philosophy. Got all my friends on, we’re making music, doing things, to get behind one name and one symbol and just push the Ottawa music scene through that. It still is a label, in the loosest sense of the word, you know? It’s currently whatever I want it to be… an online magazine, it’s a promotions company, a fashion company – when I’m doing business, those are the two words that I hide behind.
With you new album No Threat, why is it special to you and how has it deviated from your previous work?
This album is extremely special to me because it’s more of me than I’ve ever put out. It’s my work essentially, you know? I did most of the music on it, wrote all the lyrics to it, had the concept of the title for it, I knew exactly what I wanted for the album art, the features on it I knew what I wanted, I really got to dictate everything from start to finish whereas before I had at least one other person working with me. So this was my most ‘selfish’ album, where I had the most control. I think a lot of artists have that, it’s my most egotistical album but also my most honest album.
How did you bring in some of the artists you wanted on the album?
Well they’re all just friends, everyone I approached to be on the album is someone I already had a loving relationship with already and are people that I respected musically. Patience from Flight Distance used to be my roommate, I’ve been playing shows with Whitney (Sound of Lions) and watching her blossom for years, Dave Wickland used to play in a band with me, Kilgore who recorded the whole thing and engineered it, produced my last record and produced the first beat on the album. So, you know, they’re all my friends, everyone on that album is someone I’ve made music with but that I also hang out with.
What were your experiences like at Canadian Music Week and NXNE?
I think the first festival I played was Canadian Music Week and that was in 2006, so six years ago, and then it seemed so overwhelming… it was the be all-end all. We were going to break through because of this festival. Being on the other side of it now, playing both festivals a number of times, I just look at it as a really good weekend to see great music and be a part of something greater than what I do. There’s lots of potential to meet other musicians. I’ve never gone extremely hard networking with people there, and I think there is more that I could get out of those festivals and people do get more out of those festivals, but I just like seeing some great shows and hopefully perform the best that I can. The last two years at NXNE I was given showcases, small club called the Painted Lady, and that was great because I could bring in friends. A few years ago I brought in The Love Machine, last year I brought Flight Distance, so it was just cool to bring friends on to a well-respected festival.
All-time, who is your favourite MC and why?
All time? Paul Simon. Paul Simon was the best rapper to ever exist. I love Paul Simon. Rhymin’ Simon, that’s who he is man. But the first rapper to ever blow my mind was KRS-One, and a song from his self-titled album called “The Truth”. It’s a song about Christianity, and about the obvious flaws in taking the Bible literally… he picks it apart. Some lines on it “What if Jesus Christ was shot in the head with no respect, we’d all have little gold guns around out neck.” It just made me think in a new way that I’d never thought before, made me realize the power of hip hop at that point – the power of words in a song. People are attracted by the beat or the rhythm, but the true hip hop fan stay for the lyrics and that’s when I was like ‘shit’ there’s something happening here… Not to say that image doesn’t hold weight anymore, because those are the initial things that attract you, you know? It’s like a girl, if she’s beautiful then you want to get to know her better and maybe find some depth to it. I don’t front, if a rapper wants to uphold a certain image then that’s great. If that attracts you to that rapper and gets you to listen to his or her music, then you find out whether or not it’s something you want to get into.
Do you find it tough to come up with good samples?
Well, other than the first beat which was made by Fresh Kils, Track one on the album, the rest of the album, tracks two through ten were completely sample free. That was a very enjoyable aspect, fiddling around in my room coming up with melodies. I mean when you put your mind to it, it’s so easy to make music. Especially if you’re by yourself, to be a one-man band. The possibilities with electronic music are ridiculous, which is why I think a lot of people can get into right away, and why there are so many rappers and beatmakers out there. You really just need a laptop and the ability to download and crack a program, you’re just a Youtube video away from learning how to do that (laughs). So for me, it’s harder to write the lyrics, because the lyrical aspect is a lot more personal and a lot more direct and I feel like at the end of the day that’s what I’ll ne judged upon. That’s what will attract someone to the music, that’s what will keep someone there you know?
What do you want people to take away from your music after listening?
My biggest hope is, at the end of the day, I hope they relate to it. I hope they’re like ‘shit, this is good', I hope they can dance to it, but more importantly I want people to be like ‘hey, I could be friends with that guy’, you know? For me it’s just about relating, and understanding each other.
This past week has been pretty hectic, moving into a new place and helping friends move apparently takes a while. I wanted to write about a show I went to last week, one that was probably one of the funnest I've been to all summer.
The bill was a wild one, with The Dead Zone starting things off with hardcore punk and then the Musettes calming things down with their beautiful harmonies and melodic music. I had been meaning to see them play for a while now, hearing great things about their live performances. Not only were they happy to be on the bill with a few punk bands, they got the crowd at Zaphod's on their side immediately. I was curious how the contrast in genres would play itself out, but I was completely blown away with how talented these girls were. Check out their CBC Music page here.
As far as ska/punk goes, it's a really tough genre of music to break into. It's one of those things that has been done so many times that it's hard to imagine anything original being brought to the table. Not to say that these bands don't have something to offer, reggae and punk-influenced music by nature is limited in terms of style. Ottawa's own Cardboard Crowns are an example of a band that refuse to be part of the herd. They get that it's not always about the music, but about the identity of the band as a whole. What separates them from the pack is their character on stage, and the fact that their primary goal isn't to get money or fame. It's to get people together and have the best time possible, not taking themselves too seriously. Between the goofy clothes and funny on-stage banter, it was pretty evident that Joel, Matt, Frank and Tokyo were having as much fun as everyone watching the show.
The obvious highlight of the show was the encore. The lead singer Joel told everyone to come on stage, and almost the entire crowd got up and danced the rest of the night away. The last time I saw something like this happen was when Iggy & The Stooges did the same at Lollapalooza in 2007. Getting the crowd involved in the fun made the night that much better, as the energy from their set reached a peak. Their set included my personal favourite, "Down To Earth" as well as great new tracks "Global Citizen" and "Long-Armed Bandits". As far as shows at Zaphod's goes, this one was the most fun I have been to. Keep an eye out for these guys playing in Ottawa again, the Crowns do not disappoint.
