Here at Apt613, we’re not just content with establishing absolute dominance over the entire interwebs. No, our aspirations go well beyond that – and that’s why this summer we’ve taken to the radio airwaves as well! It’s true, dear readers: from 2-3 pm on Thursday afternoons, you can catch our mellifluous voices on CHUO 89.1 […]

Is it trite to say I can totally and utterly get lost in the alt-country sounds of the Deep Dark Woods? Perhaps, but then again, that idea of losing one’s self – both physically and metaphorically – is right there in their spookily arboreal name. So maybe it’s insightful, not trite? I’m not sure – […]

Is a person’s worth defined by their words or their actions? That oversimplified question lies at the heart of Gordon Winter, an accomplished new play based on the life of First Nations politician David Ahenakew being put on for Prairie Scene by Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre. The play opens with Winter (North of 60’s Gordon Tootoosis), […]

Another year, another birthday bash for Kelp Records. This week, the much-loved Ottawa indie label is turning 17, and a bunch of their best musical buds are throwing them a smashing three-day party (funny, my parents never would have let me stay out for three days straight when I was that age) that kicks off […]

Update: We’ve got a winner! Congrats to Rusty, who knew the answer was Flin Flon – it’s a major copper mining centre, was named after a character in a science fiction novel, and was the site of a medicinal marijuana production facility. (It’s also where the above picture was taken.) The first few days of […]

How do you get civil servants to stay out past midnight on a Thursday evening? Answer: keyboards, keyboards, and more keyboards. In fact, it’s probably a good thing that Royal Canoe and The Liptonians aren’t in Ottawa more often – hordes of hungover, bleary-eyed government folk, their eardrums still ringing with echoes of the previous […]

You may recall that last weekend we pretended it was Christmas, jumped on Bluesfest Santa’s lap, tugged on his Fleet Foxes-esque beard and told him who we wanted to hear this summer. Sure, we’d been good music lovers all year long, but really, we didn’t expect much – after all, everyone knows Bluesfest Santa has […]

Editor’s note: Throughout the week, Apartment613 will be giving away Prairie Scene tickets and other awesome stuff on the site, on Facebook, and on Twitter. The first giveaway is today – click through for more details! Every year, I lay down 800 bucks or so on a plane ticket and make my annual pilgrimage back […]

Earlier this week we announced the lineup for this year’s Jazz Festival – an impressive scattering of artists (like Elvis Costello, Shad, and Bela Fleck for starters) drawn from genres across the musical spectrum. Today, however, Apartment613 is turning its attention to the festival many Ottawans consider the crown jewel of the summer music scene. […]

Signs that spring has finally made its way to the nation’s capital: the many music festivals that annually dot the city begin to announce their lineups. And this year, one of the first out of the gate is the Ottawa Jazz Festival. The lineup for this year’s festival, revealed earlier today, boasts an impressive range […]

Since I spent this afternoon happily tapping away on my laptop at the Wellington Street West Bridgehead, it only makes sense that I’m now passing along some intriguing breaking news about the much-loved Ottawa coffee chain. According to a post on their blog from earlier today, Bridgehead is planning to open a coffee “microbrewery” on […]

UPDATE – We’ve got a winner! In case anyone’s curious, Andrew Vincent’s “Canadian Dream” was nominated in – big surprise coming up – the “Most Canadian Song” category at the 2009 Bucky Awards. Unfortunately, Vincent lost to Said the Whale. Andrew Vincent has long been a mainstay of Ottawa’s music scene, but did you also […]

Editor’s note: After that epic Neighbourhood Wars semifinal between Hintonburg and Centretown last week (we received 633 votes – a record – and the tie was still decided by one percentage point!)  we here at Apt613 needed a few days off to recuperate. So here’s the third-place clash, a few days late. The final – […]

Face it: is there an establishment in Ottawa better suited to the tunes of Johnny Cash than the Elmdale Tavern? It’s not hard to imagine the country-and-western outlaw saddling up to the bar, tossing back a whiskey or seven, and then maybe knocking a few heads together – especially in the days when the reputation […]

These days, Andy Swan’s Ottawa is a quirky, quirky place. The one-time Torontonian, who in 2007 penned a well-received musical paean to his adopted home, has come up with an off-the-wall idea for announcing the release of his new EP, Lou Reed. This Sunday at Raw Sugar, Swan will be hosting Canned Goods/Canned Music: an […]