And this year, there’s even more reason to get down to Arts Court. In addition to the usual free programming at the Fringe courtyard, The Fringe will be putting on a series of free concerts featuring some of the most interesting musical performers around. The courtyard behind the fringe festival will be graced by the likes of The PepTides, The Elwins, and StillNative.

Part concert series, part celebration of the Fringe itself, the free concerts will begin on June 19^th in tandem with the Fringe’s launch party. And what better way to celebrate everything Fringe than with a performance by the PepTides, Ottawa’s premiere doo-wop-rockabilly-funk band. There’s something about their music that just screams “reckless abandon,” something the Fringe has always traded in. And if their performance at last year’s Bluesfest was any indication, the audience is in for one heck of a treat.

The very next night, June 20, the courtyard will play host to the preview night, in which every Fringe performer will have two minutes to hook the audience. After that display of frenetic theatre, the Blue Sky Miners, a Toronto folk act, will take to the stage to cool things down.

The concert series comes to a close with performances by The Elwins (June 27^th) and StillNative (Canada Day). The Elwins are a pop-rock quartet from Toronto, and their stage banter alone is enough to make them worth checking out. They are some of the nicest, and probably strangest people I have had the pleasure of meeting, and their music reflects that. And it’d be hard to find a better way to close out the series than the bluesy, soulful tunes of Ottawa’s StillNative. They’re sure to take the festival out with a bang, or at least a twang.

“Inviting musicians to the Ottawa Fringe is just as much about bringing beats and parties to the Courtyard beer tent as it is a call to musicians unaware that Ottawa’s largest theatre festival is a setting for music and other art forms, too,” says Gregg Clark, Communications Manager. We can only hope that this means more music of this calibre will be featured at the fest in later years.

And that’s only a taste of what’s going on in the Arts Court courtyard this year. Every night of the festival, something wild is happening out there. And everything is free but the beer! The full listings feature such attractions as a karaoke night, a performance by the Rockalily Burleque Troupe, something called “Freaky Fringe-O-Ween” and a plethora of other strange and wonderful attractions. Check it out!

If you can’t wait until the 19th to get cracking on some Fringe fun, tonight the GCTC is playing host to a curry cook off, with proceeds going to the Fringe Festival. Tickets are 25 dollars, and give you access to curries crafted by many local restaurants and chefs.

Or maybe you’re more the adventurous sort. Maybe you want to see what happens when numerous Ottawa bands swap members, create team of local supergroups, and put on a show.

Well, that last fantasy will become a reality this weekend when the Ottawa Rock Lottery presents its eclectic take on music expression. This Saturday the 18th, Mavericks will play host to the Lottery’s fifth annual showcase. And what a showcase it promises to be. This year’s lineup sports local musicians from such bands as Fevers, Loon Choir, Goodluck Assembly and Kalle Mattson, whom you may remember from this video. There are also some murmurings about a yet-to-be-announced Juno winner. With so much local talent to choose from, it almost sounds like every ticket is a winner – and that’s not something you can say for most lotteries.

Okay, so this isn’t a lottery in the traditional sense. I’ll admit that when I first heard about the Rock Lottery, probably sometime around its inception in 2008, I thought it was some kind of gambling organization that simply used rock and roll music to further entice lottery ticket buyers. How wrong I was!

Alright, so there is a small bit of traditional lottery stuff going on here: there is a draw for door prizes in which guests can win prizes like clothing or tattoos (yep, you can win tattoos). But the real “lottery” part of the rock lottery actually happens one day earlier. 24 hours before the show, all of the participants gather to see their fate decided. Details of this sacred ceremony are shrouded in secrecy, but Apt613 has learned that bands are created by the sanctified ritual of drawing names out of a hat. And once the bands are formed, they have the length of one day to organize, get to know each other, and create a 30 minute set out of thin air to play the following evening.

Take it from someone who has “been in bands” – that’s no easy task. Typically, a thirty minute set is the culmination of around six months of trial and error, a labour of love and a showcase for the band’s unique talents. The thought of condensing it down to a day of prep time makes me feel empathy, anxiety and, most of all, excitement. The Rock Lottery is a chance to see and participate in the creation of a brand new musical identity, as messy or as wonderful as that is.

It’s also a moment in time, a unique type of event that will likely never be recreated. The bands that are formed for the Lottery generally part ways after the show, presumably making recordings of that concert all the more valuable. However, there are exceptions, and several bands and record labels have sprung up around the Rock Lottery over the years, owing their creation to organizer Samantha Everts’ efforts and determination.

So, if you see something you like at the Rock Lottery this Saturday, cheer for it. Maybe it’ll stick around.

In either case, Roberta Bondar is about to become a pioneer, not of outer space this time, but of a musical medium that some had said would never again be relevant. This medium, of course, is the cassette tape. Belonging to a bygone era, the cassette tape was once the standard for mass-produced music. These days, the cassette’s utility is confined to less respectable items, such as the oft-mythologised romantic mix-tape.

But, as Alex Maltby (a member of said Roberta Bondar) insists, there is still a place for this outdated compendium of wheels and magnetic tape that is the cassette. First off, it’s being produced by Bruised Tongue Records, and tapes are their main export. But for Maltby, there’s something special about the cassette. “There’s something about the analogue nature of it,” he says. “There’s almost a grimy quality to it.” And for a band like Roberta Bondar, experimental grimy, distorted, off-kilter – these are all things that fit well with the band’s image.

And for those who aren’t still clinging desperately to their Walkmans, the album, appropriately called “Hiss EP” comes with a download code. The tape, it would seem, is much more a physical artifact of the album – something to be placed on a mantle, or framed.

Maltby says that this new album, which the band plans to sell for 5 dollars, represents something of a new tone for the band. “This new album is pretty vicious. The songs are shorter, everything is a lot louder,” he says. Where their previous efforts had more of an ambient flavour, Hiss EP is a little more intense. “We’ve tightened things up,” Maltby says.

Roberta Bondar, a band which consists of no few than four people—Lidija Rozitis, Alex Maltby, Tyler Ivan Goodman, and Gary Franks – is planning to debut the new album at probably the most appropriate venue possible for a band like this. Café Alt, once only a very, very hip place for very, very hip students has begun opening up its student federation funded arms to the community at large. Its first main push into venue-being has been the Café Alt Concert Series, of which this concert is the last show – and it’s happening tomorrow night! Among the bands which appeared on the bills of the several nights of the series were Scattered Clouds, John McKiel, Yuri Bakker, the Elwins, James and Blackburn, and many, many more. Some of the acts were well known in Ottawa; others were not. In either case, the musical buffet consistently provided exceptional entertainment.

As it happens, Maltby manages Café Alt, and was very much involved in the erecting and maintaining of this ambitious concert series. It was an undertaking: “We put a lot of energy into the aesthetics of the events,” says Maltby—each event was adorned by a unique art instillation. And it seems that they did it for the right reasons—it was about the music: “It’s nice to do well financially, but if we don’t have a full room, I’m not worrying about the ticket sales, I want to make sure that the musicians that are here to have a great time.”

Whether or not you make it out to the Roberta Bondar show tomorrow night, you can at least look forward to seeing more excellent shows are this new and compelling venue. Café Alt is, if nothing else, relaxed and friendly. And, for me, that makes for a good atmosphere in which to enjoy music.

Roberta Bondar debuts their new album at Café Alt tomorrow night. They are joined by WTCHS and Couples. Doors at 8pm. $5 Cover. Kitchesippi beer is $3.50.

Funnily enough, if one of those names is unfamiliar to you, it’s likely the last one. Stranger still, Homebased has been active and forceful in Ottawa since at least 2009. The trio chalks up their absence from the central discourse on rap in Ottawa to their own camera-shyness. “These days 90 percent of it is shows and putting yourself out there,” says Liam ‘Betavel’ Kendall, one of the two emcees fronting Homebased. But he, along with his bandmates Tom ‘Textstyle’ Bent and the very appropriately named Kane ‘Kane B’ Beard, are about to change all that.

The trio have just released their new album titled Get Busy. And they’re doing just that. While the digital version hit iTunes (note: the price is being adjusted here), Bandcamp, CD Baby and my iPod today, the group is planning a launch party to coincide with their physical release. It’ll take place the day before St. Patty’s – March 16^th – an excuse for some early drink at Ritual Nightclub, a venue that is certainly not associated with sobriety.

And the album is good. Really good. Homebased’s intelligent lyrics and beats (courtesy of the Beard himself, Kane B) make for a compelling combination. “We like to keep a sense of realness to our content,” says Kendall. “A sense of depth.” The band is, in a word, real.

“We rap about stuff we’ve actually experienced,” says Beard from behind his beard. “We just don’t embellish much,” adds Kendall, simply.

Overall, these guys are just really friendly, sincere, kind people. Which has occasionally gotten them into trouble. Like when they allowed their friend the first crack at mastering their new album.

“We had people to go to to get it done properly,” says Beard, “but our friend was like, ‘I’ll do it!’” They obliged him, hoping to save some money. The result was a bit of a disaster.

Kendall tells a tragic story in which he boards a 95 bus, headed Eastward, and puts his headphones in to listen to the new album. “It was a pretty sad story,” he says, while Beard chuckles violently. “At the time, our album party was booked, and we had to have an album to support our album party…”

And so the show went on. They played the album party with an unfinished, washed out album. “We only sold eleven copies. Thank God,” says Kendall, adding that the band promised to provide those who bought the original mix copies of the better, later edition. But there’s good news: those eleven fans now have a rare, unmastered edition of a Homebased album which may indeed be worth something someday.

And the other good news is that the album is finally out. Grab it from their homepage. It’s 7 bucks, which seems like a steal to me, but then I didn’t pay for it. The perks of being a journalist.

Catch Homebased at Ritual Saturday the 16th in support of Get Busy.

Atherton, Circa Beatz and So Nice will be there, kicking it nineties style with backwards caps pretty much everywhere. The thing is called Party & Bullshit (which is either a reference I don’t get, or they just couldn’t think of a name).

It’s at Ritual, which is, in my opinion, one of the best places for DJ and hip hop fare in this city. The dank atmosphere and the coloured lights give it something of a New York vibe, but without all the stupid crap that comes with New York. Plus the sound system is great: those lows and highs will… well, you know the drill.

Anyway, Biggie died on March 9, 1997, and this event is about that. It’s about the 90s, too (I know how many of you were raised on this stuff), so expect some slap bracelet jokes, and probably some Kool Aid. Because there isn’t enough 90s stuff going on in this city! Why do we have to go to Sirius Satellite Radio to hear some Blackstreet or Backstreet and some of the Boys therefrom? I guess there’s Barrymore’s, but that’s not live music. [Tell us about your favourite 90s haunts in the comments below!]

So Nice and Circa Beatz, the hosts of Cypher on CHUO 89.1 on Friday from 9 to 11, will be hitting the tables like it’s their jobs (they have day jobs, too), and it’s going to be so irregular and so very 90s.

Atherton will be emceeing, dropping 90s jokes like it’s his birthday, and I imagine the crew from Hip Hop Karaoke (featuring Atherton and So Nice) will be in full force. Atherton is one of the best emcees in the city, with a sense of humour to rival Groucho Marx in his prime, and a face that tame a team of wild oxen.

And the tickets are five dollars. Which is a SANDWICH. 5 dollars gets you a cheap sandwich, with terrible lettuce and worse meat, or it gets you into Party & Bullshit. You decide. Actually, scratch that – I’ll give you a sandwich.

Party and Bullshit takes place on Saturday March 9th at 10pm at Ritual Nightclub.

Fantastic music, great beer, delicious food, all local. Cheap, too! Just 30 bucks for the whole thing, and that gets you access to 40+ artists across several venues, all in the same, very cool, strip on Wellington near Irving.

Tonight’s lineup features NDMA, No Kinds of Love, Kenny Voita and The Glorious Moon Rockets.

Find more info here.

Oh, and here’s some music that’ll be playing during the festival. Just in case that wasn’t enough reason for you.

No Kinds of Love – Foggy Notion

NDMA – She Wants to Dance

Ladies of the Canyon – Every Minute

A couple weeks back, Cafe Alt hosted the second edition of the aptly named Cafe Alt Concert Series. It was a resounding success, in no little part due to the gentlemen you are about to meet.

James and Blackburn is a band named after two streets. And while you should listen to their music, you should also listen to this interview. It’s zany, everybody. Zany.

The next edition of the Cafe Alt Concert Series takes place on March 15th and features John Mckiel and Scattered Clouds.

#cafealtseries

From his show on Saturday Feb 16th. The house was packed, and Greilsammer delivered some haunting violin playing, singing in French, Hebrew and English alongside his wife Shimrit.

These guys can sing. They’re leaving Ottawa on the 28th, but for now we have their talent to enjoy.

Also, this video begins with an impromptu cover of Money, by Pink Floyd. Which is cool if you like music, I guess.

@mgreilsammer
michaelgreilsammer.com

Update: Michael will be playing his final Ottawa show (at least for now) at a Purim Party at the Glebe Shul on Saturday night. Purim is kind of like a crazier, more Jewish version of Halloween. Here’s the poster.

Mr. Yuri Bakker, the man from Rotterdam and Uncle Sam, lays down his signature electro sound in this video from Valentines Day. He is releasing two free EPs by the end of the month, both of which sound heavenly. We’ll keep you up to date on that front.

Yuri can be found at yuribakker.com, or @YuriBakker.

The Cafe Alt Concert Series runs until March 22, and its next show is March 15th featuring John McKiel and Scattered Clouds.

#cafealtseries

Video courtesy of Joelle Guédon.

In this video, me and the Elwins tour one of the underground parking garages at the university of Ottawa. Things get pretty serious, and I end up getting some real heartfelt sentiments out of them. But I guess Valentines Day does that to you, right?

This is all part of the Cafe Alt Concert Series. The next show is on March 15th, and it features Scattered Clouds! Scattered Clouds?!  WOOO!

@theelwins

#cafealtseries