Album Reviews: February 15, 2017

 Owen Maxwell takes a look at new releases from Mother Mother, Sinkane, Vermont, Bikini Deathray and March Break Club. Mother Mother – No Culture (Vancouver) Vancouver’s most dangerous art-rockers hit back with the surprising No Culture. Right of the bat this record establishes its voice firmly in a heavy but

Monthly Series Aims to Bring Women to the Front of Local Music Scene

 Photos by Kamara Morozuk The newcomer adjusts her microphone as a veteran of the Ottawa music scene looks on. Perhaps she is wondering to herself what this new voice will sound like. Pat Moore was there once, after all, in another era. There at the beginning of the road facing an

Canada’s Stage to Shine Brighter Than Ever in 2017!

 This morning inside the National Arts Centre the message rang out as loud as a 1st of July firework: in 2017, the NAC will be Canada’s stage. Though the NAC has always celebrated the diversity of Canadian arts since opening its doors back in 1969, next year’s big 150th birthday

The Top Apps for Canada

 2016 has been a great year of technology in Canada. Over the past months, many new inventions, items, and ideas have been presented and put into production. This has been possible and showcased at various tech shows that have happened this year such as The Cyber Summit, Design Thinkers, and the

Passion, Ghosts and the Roots of Royal Wood

 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. -Proverbs 29:18 “To be honest, I can't remember a time where music wasn't my driving passion. Nor can I recall a moment in years gone by, where music didn't surround me at every turn,” said

Ein Prosit! It’s Oktoberfest!

 All photos by Andre Gagne. When you’re a reporter at Beau’s Oktoberfest and you’ve forgotten your notepad you have to rely on some relatively hazy memories coated in a layer of partially transparent jelly once morning rolls around and you sit down at your desk. Am I really recalling a

Fiery Folk: Union Duke Lights Up the Blacksheep Inn

 Matt Warry-Smith, a member of the Toronto band, Union Duke, has a tattoo on his leg of the words “Keep Music Evil” that’s visible below the cut off point of his Bermuda shorts. The audacity of the phrase, coined by Anton Newcombe, epitomizes the band’s fresh and furious take on

The Festival of India Returns with a Wave of Culture and Colour!

 All photos by Andre Gagne. To the sound of a sitar, a surge of culture and colour is about to wash over Marion Dewar Plaza bringing with it all the traditional food, workshops, dancing and, of course, music that is the Festival of India. The three-day event beginning on August

Lemon Bucket Orkestra is Ready to Bring the Party to Chamberfest!

 All photos by Andre Gagne. It’s like they descended out of the Carpathian Mountains, wild eyes, frantic, bodies full of lightening. You can picture them roaming the roads shortly after the midnight hour, from village to village, these roving Romany with only one need: to pump into an audience as

Two festivals combine for an evening of Ukrainian music

 All photos by Andre Gagne. September, 1891. With little more than what could be carried the first immigrants from the Ukraine left their homeland with all the fears, worry and wonder that accompany the following of hopeful dreams in an uncertain time. Hearing about the free land of Canada, a

Raising the Barre

 If you’ve ever done a fitness challenge, you know how daunting just starting can be. All you can think about is just how long 30 days can feel and whether you’ll actually be able to stick with the process and produce the results that got you interested in the challenge

Escapade festival Stylz

 It's year six and Ottawa’s popular Escapade festival continues to host some of the biggest names in electronic dance music. Deadmau5, Zeds Dead, Mark Knight and Tiesto have all headlined the festival in the past. However, along with the music and its various sub-genres, the EDM culture also brings with it

A Familiar Bell Ringing

 Photo courtesy of stevebell.com. Steve Bell, the long-time Canadian musical sensation, is bringing his voice and his guitar to Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church on June 12. The singer-songwriter has long been considered a voice of hope and faith for his listeners worldwide, his Christian lyrics and pleasant melodies providing

Rocking for Rogers House

 Do you like music? Of course you do. How about music for a great cause? From Friday June 3rd to Sunday June 5th, the charming La Piazza restaurant is putting on its 7th annual, 3-day rock concert as part of Manotick’s Dickinson Days Festival. The event comes about every year

A Musical Farewell with Oliver Jones

 Photos by Andre Gagne and supplied by the National Arts Centre. Oscar Peterson watches the sun set from the corner, his piano by his side. A swinging melody plays from above as a couple hurriedly approaches. “I hear he plays just like him,” the woman says, jutting her thumb towards

Get Happening in Hintonburg

 All photos by Andre Gagne Hintonburg is a neighbourhood that always seems to be changing and accepting of new and fresh ideas. Case in point, did you know that in 1896 it was the first place in Canada to show a newfangled idea called moving pictures when a film was

Slideshow: Get Close to Hedley at the CT Centre

 All photos courtesy of Michael Wing. On Saturday the 23rd, Hedley rocked the Canadian Tire Centre to its foundations with the help of Canadian artists Carly Rae Jepsen and Francesco Yates. Local Photographer Michael Wing from MIKE’S MEDIA will bring you right to the front row with his fantastic shots of the artists

Milestone Year for Grassroots Festival with a Stellar Line-up to Match!

 Iconic folk singers/songwriters, Garnet Rogers (left) and Dave Gunning will headline at the Ottawa Grassroots Festival on Saturday, April 24th. Dave Gunning photo by Jonathan Beadle.  I love this time of year and the transition it brings.  Warmer days and the first shoots of early bulbs appearing in the garden are

The True North’s Serenade

 Photo by Beverley Daniels.  What does Canada sound like? Some would say it’s the whisper of a cold wind blowing through the needles of a pine tree. Others think of the sudden crack of a slapshot and the bitter hiss of a skate blade digging into a turn. For Eleanor McCain,

Frank Turner Proves To Be Anything But Sleepy

 Folk-punk favourites Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls recently passed through Ottawa, performing at the Bronson Centre Theatre on March 12th. Photographer Michael Wing from MIKE’S MEDIA caught all of the action… including some surprise crowd surfing. Check out Wing’s incredible shots by scrolling down through the article below. You

Rocking with ‘Boom’ at the NAC and Orpheus’ ‘A Chorus Line’

 A scene from 'A Chorus Line.' Photo courtesy of Orpheus Musical Theatre Society.  There are only two days left to catch Boom at the NAC and three days to catch A Chorus Line, Orpheus Theatre’s latest show now on at Centrepointe Theatre. Time is of the essence. In Boom, award-winning

The Many Journeys of Laila Biali

 “Intense focus on the verge of chaos at all times,” says Laila Biali on how her new album House Of Many Rooms began its journey in the studio. With a full choir steeped in gospel grace, a 15-piece string section, one wailing sax solo and tonal shifts accentuating a more

Belle Starr Packs Its Fiddles for Ottawa

 In the 1800s, Belle Starr was the name of a notorious American outlaw. Today the title has also come to represent a Canadian female trio, who similar to the rebel, defy categories. The band, consisting of Miranda Mulholland, Kendel Carson and Stephanie Cadman, hit the road this February on a

Jim Bryson Returns Home

 “If it looks like I’ve seen a ghost I just want to go home” -Jim Bryson (Cigarette Thin) It’s 4 a.m. I am awoken by Jim Bryson’s voice singing about ghosts. Below me the snowploughs clatter in the street. Bryson’s new album, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place, has seemingly

A Great Time To Be Alive with Megaphono Round Two

 All photos by Andre Gagne.  “What a great time to be alive,” says Amanda Lowe as she strums a few notes on her guitar. If you are a music fan in Ottawa this week, those words couldn’t be more true. Lowe was taking the stage in the aptly named Pressed