Remix Ottawa’s Friday the 13th Shindig @ SPAO
We can’t seem to keep Mike Powell away from our city. Everyone in the Pop Drone family wishes they could have him for longer but sadly he’s already gone again… One half of Dialoog was in town just long enough to spin some new tracks by local artists, remixed by a bunch of sweet future-folk.
Guerilla Magazine hosted an event at SPAO on Dalhousie with a mix of locals & visiting bands. We arrived just as the first began. Kaylie Seaver’s voice is as melancholy as her lyrics, even when she covers Thrice’s “Digging My Own Grave.” We arrived within minutes of her start, a sultry opener to the evening for Guerilla Magazine’s 38th issue launch. The good folks from Pop Drone released a remix album of Ottawa music called, simply, Remix Ottawa. Artists from Roberta Bondar, Scattered Clouds & High Waters to The Peptides, Pipahauntas & Fevers offered up their tracks to be remixed & remagnetized by the likes of Dialoog, Radioactive Bishop & Canteen Killa. Racine is a featured artist for one track and the remix artist for Quoi qu’en diront les médias’s “Rachel, où que tu sois.”
Mike played the first five tracks after Kaylie’s set, to the crowd’s pleasure. Want to have it in your earholes wherever you go? You can download it for free or just stream it here:
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Stoney Martins & Tobacco Joe played some gringo westerns & southern ballads to bring us back to live music in the larger studio at the School of Photographic Arts. They played some stomping tunes, with their Mexican pointy boots, and appealed to our rural sides. Stoney was the MC of the evening, introducing each act & DJ drop. After his set he invited The Haig to take the stage.
The Haig played several tracks from their impending EP Template for Disaster, and a cover. Mean Dorris mentioned they “didn’t write that song!” just to be clear. No, “Devil’s Got a Gun” was written by Whitehorse. “Actually one of the guys from Whitehorse is here tonight.” A guy named Jona Barr who plays as Old Cabin, who is actually from the Yukon not the band. His set included Théan Slabbert, AKA Velodrones, of duo Bosveld & guitarist for Claude Munson. Together they played moving songs about growing up in the North and flipping the van on the first day of the six-week tour, all complemented by synthetic running waters & howling winds from a synthesizer. Richard from The Haig said he wanted to catch a wild salmon with his bare teeth to the sound of Old Cabin’s tunes.
Afterwards Théan played his solo act with a guitar, a Mac & synth. This blushing electro folk performer wanted us to clap less, to no avail. I’m thinking this might be a hidden gem of Ottawa’s repertoire, I really can’t wait to see him again. He’s redefined the one-man band, trading cymbals on his feet for a synth on his lap. Odd echoes & nature sounds. Plus there might be something by Bosveld coming out in May to look forward to.
Last but not least, before Mike brought on the second part of Remix Ottawa, a band called Eraserheads projected & played their show for an impressed audience. The two guys in the band met at SPAO, so it was serendipitous to see them play there. Their music is as jumbled & odd as the movie by David Lynch…
We can look forward to more Remix Ottawa in 2014!