Tag Archives: Ad·ver·sary

It’s true; vorschwebte has never perturbed me in the head.

A Bone Music review (in German) from Elektrauma, via Google Translate:

…thus begins as “Ancients” relatively quiet, but increases in the composition: first come blecherne bass drums, before then a merciless four-four beat the song pushes forward. “Waiting For Gira” characterized by an almost psychedelic rock sound, which is also minimal, but it is intense. “Friends Of Father” could sinistren with his mood also a Massive Attack or Protishead song. Quite different turn, “No Exit”, an Industrial track before the Lord: Distorted beats, subtle Synthieparts, a lot of energy. Ad.ver.sary seems to be in all areas of electronic music to feel at home and so he works unperturbed anything to him in the head as vorschwebte…

Recovering Goths Inc

Gothtronic reviews Bone Music:

The still relatively unknown Ad.ver.sary project of the Canadian Jairus Khan surprises with a debut album which combines the best of spherical ambient IDM and technoid rhythmic industrial. Here the worlds of Asche and Converter on the one hand and acts like Displacer and Tonikom, merge into a perfect one. But beware, Bone Music is an album with tracks that aim for the dancefloor with a focus on the rhythms. Constantly changing patterns and sound textures in the various tracks go well together with technoid atmospheres and in a song such as ‘Waiting for Gira’ also a rocking guitar and bass lick is included, later joined by heavy drums. At other moments a track is build up with piano loops and violins to create a more majestic atmosphere together with slowed-down breakbeats.

Next up are atmospheres which are more claustrophobic and threatening, with fast distorted beats and glitch sounds. What is striking is that the compositions have been carefully arranged, with layer upon layer resulting in a complex microcosm of sampled sounds, synth textures and rhythms. ‘Ancient’ perfectly illustrates this. Also the aggressive ‘Number Nine’ is an impressive sonic spectacle, which in the remix by Synapscape gets a more compact treatment. Bone Music is a refreshing album in this genre and it furthermore combines a wide array of electronic influences into a complex yet terrifying cold sound. The album furthermore contains remixes from Tonikom and Antigen Shift and a bonustrack, in which Ad.ver.sary has remixed fellow Canadians Urusai. Recommended and also another splendid release from the young Tympanik Audio label. (8.5)

AVS BM in SL

A new Bone Music review (in hilarious english) from Side-Line:

Jairus Khan aka Ad-ver-sary is a Canadian artist we discover through some remixes he made for Converter and Iszoloscope. It took more or less 3 years to this musician to write and achieve his debut release. It’s for sure a good thing to remain patient when composing your first release. Ad-ver-sary seemed to have taken the time to meticulously elaborate and create an own sound. The result is a fascinating mix between astonishing rhythms and well-crafted ambient atmospheres. The rhythmic is an essential element in the music. The complexity and power of the rhythms is simply great. It moves in between ritual and tribal styles while it sounds industrial as well. The percussion for sure makes the sound identity of this project!

Behind this overwhelming rhythmic side comes a sonic puzzle of cold ambient soundsculptures. Here again Ad-ver-sary surprises in maturity and especially in knowledge for creating such arrangements. The main mood of this ambient part sounds definitely cold and a bit industrial like as well while some cool samplings have been added on top. It’s not that easy to define the style of this project, but once again Tympanik Audio has signed a progressive ambient project covering a wider layer of influences.

Once again it’s quite difficult to give you some favorite tracks as the entire album is worthy of examination. The tracks “Number Nine” and “Just (Spooks)” are probably both belonging to the best part of this album. As a bonus we also get remixes by Tonikom, Antigen Shift and Synapscape. Tonikom did a cool job on the remix of “Friends Of Father” sounding less dark while the remix of “Number nine” by Synapscape is also quite well-done. One more great release on the promising Tympanik Audio!

ReView

ReGen reviews Bone Music:

Bone Music is a rather impressive outing for Jairus Khan, proving that he has the chops to become a hero in the industrial music scene. With a hearty helping of melody and thoughtful arrangement coupled with a command of experimental noise and sound manipulation, Ad·ver·sary finds a balance between the brutal and the beautiful, sometimes unsettling and sometimes soothing, while still maintaining its own personality in the wake of a number of similar artists.

Ad·ver·sary News

1: An interview with Side-Line:

SL. The music on your site is released under a Creative Commons license. Any particular reason?

A. I download a lot of music. A lot. I’ll go through gigs and gigs of it, and buy the albums I like – and it really frustrates me when I open the cd and there’s some snarky message in the liner notes saying “thank you for not downloading this like those other scumbags”. Well, I did download it, and that’s why I bought it.

2: A review from ChainDLK:

Bone Music offers a very well thought out and developed blend of instrumental industrial, EBM, ambient, and noise. The key to this album is Khan’s ability to blend organic soundscapes and harsh industrialized rhythms and noise in a way that strikes a balance between what many would consider to be two mutually exclusive musical forms. Indeed, throughout the album, neither approach dominates the other. Some of the stand out cuts from Bone Music include the album’s lead off track “Ancients” which utilizes very simple samples and effects that gradually build up into a very powerful and driving industrial tour de force that is harsh and mechanical while maintaining a sense of musicality, and “Waiting for Gira” which features a very ominous militaristic beat that is backed by subtle soundscapes and a very evocative guitar part that is interestingly reminiscent of U2. For those of you who like harder hitting noise driven pieces “No Exit” and “Number Nine” are aggressive and cacophonous workouts straight from the factory. Overall, Bone Music is a great album that provides a glimmer of hope that industrial music is not dead.

Bone Music – Available Now

Bone Music is out now. Rather than write pretentiously about my own album, I’m going to let my label’s press release do it for me:

Hailing from the Canadian electronic music underground after a decade of Techno and Industrial DJ and promotional work, Jairus Khan, aka Ad·ver·sary, now presents his debut album three years in the making. While providing North American tour support for such acts as Terrorfakt, Antigen Shift, Cyanotic, Adam X, Iszoloscope and others, his many remixes of such Industrial Noise icons as Converter and Iszoloscope have enjoyed heavy club and airplay around the world. Now, Ad·ver·sary is ready to conquer minds and destroy dancefloors with his debut album ‘Bone Music’ out May 13th on Tympanik Audio. Hard Industrial rhythms meet enormous organic soundscapes to create what Re:Gen Magazine calls “…a balance between the brutal and the beautiful.” Featuring remixes by Antigen Shift, Tonikom, and Synapscape. Mastered by Yann Faussurier of Iszoloscope. Get ready to rock.

…as promised, I’m also making the entire album available for download under a CC license, free of charge, with all album art and liner notes included.(If so inclined, you could even print out the art, burn the CD, and use an old jewel case to make a DIY copy of the album.)

Tracklisting:
1) Ancients (7:41)
2) Waiting For Gira (3:04)
3) Friends Of Father (6:40)
4) Bone Music (7:12)
5) International Dark Skies (7:06)
6) No Exit (5:15)
7) Number Nine (9:48)
8) Just (Spooks) (6:41)
9) Epilogue (0:59)
10) Friends Of Father (Tonikom Remix) (6:01)
11) Bone Music (Antigen Shift Remix) (4:44)
12) Number Nine (Synapscape Remix) (4:01)
13) Urusai - Learned Helplessness (Destroy And Contaminate Mix By Ad·ver·sary) (Bonus Track - 7:56)

I do have copies in Ottawa that I’m going to see about selling at End Hits (or somewhere) before the Tympanik release party in July, but I’d prefer that if you’re going to buy the album now, you buy it directly from the label online (or at the Kinetik festival in Montreal). Tympanik Audio has supported my idea to distro the album for free online as an experiment, even though they think it’s a terrible idea — and I’d like them to see that it will help early sales, rather than hurt them.

My sincere thanks to everyone for all of your support over the last three years — I hope you enjoy the music.

ad-ver-sary.com

AVS

Three years later, Bone Music is finally done. 13 tracks, just under 77 minutes.

Ancients
Waiting For Gira
Friends of Father
Bone Music
International Dark Skies
No Exit
Number Nine
Just
Epilogue
Friends of Father (Tonikom Remix)
Bone Music (Antigen Shift Remix)
Number Nine (Synapscape Remix)

Bonus Track: Urusai - Learned Helplessness (Destroy and Contaminate Mix by Ad·ver·sary)

Yann came into town for the weekend so that we could mix it down and get the master ready, and he worked some kind of audio voodoo — it sounds so much better than the old International Dark Skies demo. I have to finish some final level adjustments to the mastering, and then the album is ready to press — I’ve decided to mix the album to an average RMS level of about -14 dBFS, rather than the much louder -8 to -5 dBFS that’s currently standard for most electronic albums. (For reference, My Bloody Valentine averages at about -17 dBFS, Cyanotic at -9dBFS , and DJ? Acucrack at -6dBFS.) This means that you’ll probably have to turn up the volume when you listen to it, but it’ll sound much better for it.

The art will be done in the next few days, and then everything gets sent to the CD replication house early next week, in time to release at the Kinetik festival in May. There’s also a remix EP coming in the fall (which I’m very excited about), with Cyanotic, Imminent, Stendeck, Asche, Iszoloscope, Synkro, JF Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop, Phylr), Mo (Zykotik K9), Totakeke, Shane (Fiveways) and more.

When Bone Music is released I’ll be making the tracks and artwork available for download on my site– payment optional — and I’ll post here with details on how to buy or download the album. I’ve redesigned the Ad·ver·sary website in preparation, and I’ve put together a new look-and-feel for the Tympanik site, which I’ll be handing over to them next week sometime. Then to design some new merch: stickers, buttons, and maybe hoodies, hats, or new shirts. (Any preferences?)

And maybe, if things work out, a tour in the fall.

My life still sucks

Dear Diary,

So one of my favourite artists (that I met at Maschinenfest and gave my demo to) just released a new album. This album is on one of my favourite labels (one of the labels that was supposed to release my album, in fact), and is a fairly high-profile release.

This would usually be a good thing. Unfortunately, the first 45 seconds or so of one of the tracks on this album are exactly the same as the first 45 seconds of one of my songs (my best song, in fact).

I emailed the act and the label, and according to the people who wrote the album, we just happened to sample the same sounds from the same place and arrange them in the same order. An “unhappy coincidence”, as one of them put it.

I dug up the extremely-early-and-rough version of my song to see exactly where each of the sounds came from (this song in particular is a collage built almost entirely out of samples), and it would seem that it’s theoretically possible that they went through the same creative process as I did in selecting/assembling the sounds.

Honestly, at this point I don’t even care if they ripped it off on purpose, if it was cosmic synchronicity at work, or if they heard the track and then subconsciously rebuilt it. The most frustrating thing about this is that there’s no way I can release it now. Everyone knows I’m a fan of the artists involved, and everyone knows I listen to everything the label releases. If I put out the track on an album tomorrow, everyone who buys it will think that I’m ripping them off.

I’m so tired of music bullshit already, and I don’t even have a fucking album out.

AVS

Thank you, everyone who came out on Tuesday. I always manage to work myself into a big freaky stressball before playing Zaphods, but I was totally blown away by how many people came out to support the show. Even though there were technical problems, everyone was still on the dancefloor and cheering 10 minutes later after we got everything working again. And 15 minutes after that when we got it working again, again.

A megathanks to Nick, for asking Synkro and I to join him on stage for his final performance in a very long, long time. I don’t remember the last time I had that much fun.

…

I think I’ve managed to come down with a throat infection since the show. I’ve taken today and yesterday away from work, and I’m cancelling my tattoo appointment for today. If this keeps getting worse before it gets better, I’ll have to postpone Deck[ard] The Halls. Right now I’m in that cough/sinus medication limbo where you’re not sure if you’re exhausted or not, and you’re not sure how much pain you’re in, and anything more complex than making toast is an absurd impossibility.

…

Time for some toast.

crazy? don’t mind if i do!

I don’t know why I keep agreeing to play Ad·ver·sary shows at Zaphods. They don’t do anything but stress me out. I spend a week sleeping too much and at the wrong times, biting my nails bloody, and going over and over every note or loop or sample I might possibly play until I’ve overexamined it so much that it doesn’t sound like anything at all.

It’s not fun. It’s not something I secretly enjoy as part of the suffering of art, or anything. I just hate it. I don’t get this way when I play anywhere else, either. Not Montreal, not Europe, not The Batcave, nowhere. Just Zaphods.

Fuck.

LE SIGH

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate this time of the year? Every year, you say?

Well, I still do.

…

I don’t know what’s happening with this Cyanotic/Chemlab tour. Which is bad, considering that I should be booking my time off now, if it’s happening. The problem with being involved in Cyanotic is that you can never really count on anything; the ground is always shifting whenever you look the other way.

…which is fine, given that I’ve been neglecting Ad·ver·sary as of late, due to post-cyanotic-fatigue and pre-label-frustration. I’ve got a handful of releases in various states of completion that I need to deal with:

International Dark Skies: My 2005 demo that labels keep saying they want to release and then not releasing. Current label: Fich-Art, run by the Ars Moriendi crew (Asche, etc). This thing is years old, and I’m tired of it just sitting here.

Bone Music: Full-length album containing some tracks from IDS, some newer reworkings of IDS tracks, plus remixes of IDS from other artists. International Dark Skies 2.0, really. Mostly done — just need to collect remixes and finish one or two tracks.

Channel Zero: This is what I’m working on now. All new material, concept album. Maybe 1/3 done. I’m probably biting off more than I can chew with how I’ve planned it, but we’ll see how it turns out.

The Raven Prince: This won’t be an AVS release — it’ll either come out as a self-titled (if there’s not already a band called The Raven Prince), or I’ll release it under Jairus Khan. 3-track EP soundtrack to a children’s origin-myth-slash-fairy-tale I’m writing.

It would be nice if any of these ended up the way I see them in my head.

…

Ryan’s a good friend, and I hope his new night is a smash success (and selfishly it would be awesome to have a place where Leslie or I could play an all-goth industrial-free guest DJ set), but I really wish that someone would do a weekly that wasn’t marketed as a statement about Industrial Strength Tuesdays (or “the scene” or whatever). It’s always “re-vamp” and “making the scene a threat” and “the REAL underground” and etcetera. It would be nice if someone did an event that was just marketed as “You like good music? Come to our night! We play good music!”

(Here’s the part where I sound like an arrogant jackass) Aside from Victor (RIP Le Bistro), I’m the only person in town who’s run a successful goth-oriented night in the last ten years (if I’m missing someone, let me know), and I did it twice. The reason they were successful is because they weren’t a reaction to Leslie’s night; if we picked them up and dropped them in a club in Montreal or Boston, we wouldn’t change anything about them. All of the nights/events that have started as an ‘alternative’ to Tuesdays have crashed and burned, because a) the music they play will always be defined by the music played on Tuesdays, and b) there just aren’t enough people who wear black to support two competing events — and let’s be frank — Industrial Strength Tuesday has over ten years of inertia, and any of the events that have openly and directly positioned themselves as competition are punching far above their weight.

The only events that have done well here in the last fifteen years (and this includes Zaphods, Le Bistro, Thunderdome, Dark Crystal, Absinthe, or any other) are the ones that worked to compliment the nightlife, rather than compete with it.

You can run an event that’s founded on aesthetics, or the community, or what-that-guy-across-the-street-is-doing, but they’re not sustainable. The only events that have any staying power are the ones founded on the music.

…

I’m done now.

Maybe I just need to get really high, fuck and play Tetris Attack until dawn.

I haven’t been writing much lately, life has been too chaotic. Home is crazy, work is crazy, all is crazy. Crazy and frustrating. Not all frustrating, but frustrating enough. My computer isn’t working right, I’m not done moving yet, I owe more money today than I ever have, I’m not doing the things I enjoy nearly as much as I want or need to be, blah blah blah.

(Also, there’s cat hair everywhere, and it’s making me lose my fucking mind.)

I’m waiting on tour news from Cyanotic, looks like I might be joining them for November thing supporting one of the coldwave greats. With that said, I’ve planned on at least three tours this year that didn’t happen, so I’m not holding my breath. I was hoping there would be some European dates that would let me work around Maschinenfest, but all the overseas dates seem to be exceptionally flakey.

I’m finishing up the Ad·ver·sary album now, so we’ll see what happens after I send it off to Stefan. If he still wants to publish it on Ant-Zen, that would be fantastic. Otherwise, I’ll send it off to Ad Noiseam (even though I doubt they’d be interested) and Hands, and/or just publish it myself. I should also start calling in the remixes promised to me relatively soon.

There’s so much tension under my skin, and I don’t know where it’s from, or where to channel it.

…

I’ve been realizing this week just how much I miss being involved in the front lines of computer security, in the way only a disaffected teenager with no social life can be. I’m still involved in security, but I’m not discovering exploits, I’m not participating in anything global, or working with anything dangerous. I’m not doing anything that hasn’t been done and documented a thousand times before by a thousand other people.

What I miss, I think, is being involved in something that matters.

…

Housewarming soon.

Techno event showcases original music

By ALLAN WIGNEY — Sun Media

“This,” Techno Ontario’s organizers T.C.P. and Nonstop Promotions helpfully declare in capital letters in their description of tomorrow’s ambitious electronic-music presentation, is “NOT A RAVE.”

Given the event’s Club SAW setting and scheduled 7 p.m. ’til midnight running time, that might go without saying. Yet, there is a more significant element to Techno Ontario that promises to set the night apart from a typical evening of dancing to DJs.

“The idea,” says one of the evening’s performers, Nikolaus Sands, “is that rather than going to a club to hear someone spinning other people’s music, you can go to something that showcases people creating their own music.”

Sands, aka Comrad, will be one of seven local electronic artists presenting original music under a particularly broad ‘electronic’ banner. From trance to metal, there will be an impressive array of sounds on offer.

In addition to Sands, the evening will feature DJ Lushys — both solo and with his band I Awake — as well as Indian-born percussionist Zarnoosh, producer Twiin, dark-trance specialist Blake Sutherland (making his public-performance debut) and producer Chris Girard. Each will bring a different style to the table, and will introduce original music often built upon organic instrumental roots.

“It’s all built from scratch,” Sands says of his productions. “It might start with a guitar line or a bass line, or something on sitar. I develop it from there, using a sampler, drum machines and an analogue synth. And at the show there will be visuals, though I’m no visual artist.”

Fortunately, visuals will be provided tomorrow by Patrick “Brainwerx” Brown, and by old-school video games to be projected onto the big screen. Cool.

And cozy, given the intimate confines of Club SAW. Only 100 tickets are being sold for the event, in fact, with proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund.

“It’s not very often that we get to do this kind of stuff,” Sands enthuses of the original-music showcase. “The only chance someone would normally get to do it is if they put on their own event.

“This is a chance for us to not only get some exposure, but also to hear what each of us is doing. It’s not like people doing live electronic music get invited to play clubs very often.”

Sands did have a semi-regular gig performing his music live at the University of Ottawa’s Cafe Nostalgica. And, in the interest of maximizing his musical pursuits while he prepares for his final year in Carleton University’s environmental studies program, Sands has hedged his performing bets by playing bass with a local “pop-punk band … that hasn’t played any gigs yet.”

Not that one should jump to categorized conclusions, as the breadth of styles slated for Techno Ontario strives to remind us.

“I’m just into music in general,” Sands notes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s punk, hardcore or electronic. I just want to make music.”

Visit Sunny Ontario

I’m playing a benefit show (as Ad·ver·sary) for the World Wildlife Fund, Thursday at SAW.

The show is being put together by some of the XVI crowd, and the idea behind it is to bring together local producers of different styles of electronic music in a sit-down event:

This July 5th, Neil_nonstop and Phil Beta of T.C.P. will host a truly original electronic music show at none other than Club Saw. For one night, you will see and hear 7 of Ontario’s best new original musicians spanning different realms of the electronica spectrum.

This is a NOT A RAVE, this a night of 100% original music. So grab a seat with some friends, sit back, and prepare for a journey through sound.

The Styles will range from trance, to retro, to hard techno, to metal and beyond. The purpose of this show is to bring together different genres of electronica that seldom are played at the same event. This unique mix-up of amazing original music is just what you would expect from this beautiful province of ours. Not only will you hear some of the best new artists around, you’ll also be transported to another astral plane with visualizations by Brainwerx; the master behind the visuals at Illuminatrix.

Most importantly, we’re not doing this event any money. All profits from ticket sales and internal sales will be Donated directly to the World Wildlife Fund to assist their efforts Worldwide.

So if you want a night of amazing new music, the finest visuals, and support wildlife and the local music scene at the same time, you’ll want to be at Techno Ontario this July 5th at Club Saw.

It’s $10, and it’s an early show (I’m on at 8:20, and it ends at midnight). One of the projects is fronted by S4, who was a guest DJ at one of the Dark Carnivals, and also performed as Lou Cypher Project.


Featuring All-Original Electronic Music sets By

– Comrad [Link]
A rising name in the Ottawa Techno scene, Comrad is heavy into writing new tracks, all of which are unbelievably better than the last. The band is work of Nikolaus Sands, a classically trained musician from Ottawa. Using created and found resources, Comrad successfully incorporates organic instrumentation with thick analog bass and drum sounds. His style is constantly evolving and his latest releases clearly reflect it, pushing glitchy-atmospheric melodies to the limit on a wide arsenal of Analog Korg Synthesizers and Drum Machines. Comrad is a name to watch in the near future and you might just witness his burst into scene. This July 5th, Comrad will bring you a live set of his latest and best tracks along with the synths that made them!

– DJ Lushys
Djing and producing since 2000, 2001, and having played along side names such as Luna C, Dominik, SOS, S4, Ruffage and Deacon to name a few, his sound is forged from his love for all forms of dance music. Expect to hear a mash up of his own productions and collection which will take you from breaks, to old skool hardcore and jungle, to trance and back and everythign in between.

– Blake Sutherland [Link]
Although he’s a new name in Ottawa’s electronic music scene, Blake Sutherland has been quickly making a name for himself with his many amazing releases of dark, hard driving, trance fused with a generous helping of melody. When we first found this guy, we thought he was from out of town and were offering to bring him in Ottawa to play the show, he was that good. As luck would
have it, he’s from our own little city of Ottawa and would be more than happy to bring his original productions to you for a night you’ll never forget. Check out his tracks and then come for his first performance, live, at Techno Ontario.

– I Awake [Link]
Since forming in 2006 I Awake was the full on new project by djs S4, Lushys and Agent 1475, together with Phill Christy and Jon Sheriff their sound was awoken. Hard driving melodic music driven by an eclectic list of influences ranging from metal, post-punk and extensive experiences in EDM and Live Music performance, you do not want to miss this band!

– Ad·ver·sary
Ad·ver·sary is a project from local techno-industrial promoter Twiin, who brings over a decade of DJing and production experience to his music. Combining distorted and tribal beats with melodic arrangements and experimental sound design, Ad·ver·sary has been turning heads at shows throughout Canada and the United States. Fresh from a US tour with industrial-metal powerhouse Cyanotic, AVS is preparing for a two-week UK tour in the fall, and finishing his first album for Germany’s Ant-Zen records.

– Chris Girard
Chris was born in the city of Ottawa, Canada. His father’s strong love for music influenced him into the sounds of rock and alternative, and as he grew older, it became an even bigger part of his life. After playing in a band for over 4 years, and taking professional drum lessons, Chris became a very skillful percussionist. Studying the theory of music, Chris also became a mastermind of his own passion, and put it to work when he began to create his own music. After only three years of composing his own music, he has reached a level which is now being recognized by many top DJs and producers alike (ex. Paul Van Dyk, DJ Tarkan, V-Sag, Snake Sedrick, Nikola Gala, Perry O’Neil, Hernan Cattaneo, Jon Sinclair, and Ariel Cybana). He strives to create the perfect sound, and feels blessed to be given this opportunity to share his music with as many people as possible.(labels: www.tilthmusic.com, www.nosmokingrecordings.com)

– Zarnoosh
Born December 20th 1987 in Mumbai, India, Zarnoosh started producing at the young age of 14, when he sequenced drums for his first band. Now residing in Ottawa, Canada where he has had experience playing drums and percussion with numerous bands and other projects he is well-versed in the music scene. Having recently signed up his first couple of releases with more projects on the way things are fresh talent! (labels: www.moonrising-records.com, www.realmusicrecordings.com)

The fine print:

+ The Video Game Hermit will be bringing his games to play free on the big screen.
7pm-9:30pm – The Best of Dos Games (email philbeta.tcp@gmail.com for game suggestions)
9:30pm-11:30pm – Nintendo Wii!

+ HUGE visual effects budget. Entertain your eyes as well as your ears with nonstop Visualizations by BRAINWERX!!

Techno Ontario
July 5, 2007
7pm-Midnight
CLUB SAW
67 Nicholas St.
Ottawa, Ontario

Club Saw is not a large venue, to ensure optimal comfort and seating, this event will be limited to 100 tickets.

Tickets are 10$ and are on sale now at:
– Norml Clothing, in the Byward Market.

** Limited Tickets available at door, msg Phil Beta on XVI to reserve (15$)**

one more time for the masses

Thanks to everyone who came out last night — musically, that was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended, let alone had the opportunity to play at, or promote. Everyone who played put on an incredible performance.

Acumen played the best cover of Bela Lugosi’s Dead that I’ve ever heard — DJ? Acucrack did live remixes of Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb and The Prodigy — and Ahnüsse made a surprise appearance to perform Aut Haus, which has been a hit at the club for a few months. Matt brought some Grandmaster Flash to the show, and DJ Hip-Hop rocked the fuck out with some of the dirtiest darkest drum-n-bass I’ve heard in a very, very long time. So to the people there, thank you all very much. Acumen have been trying to come to Ottawa for years, and you did not disappoint them.

With that said, the crowd was much, much smaller in number than we were hoping (or fearing) it would be, and financially the show was a complete disaster of size to rival the FLA cancellation.

After this, we’re almost certainly going to be taking a step back in how we’re doing shows. I don’t want to do them as often as we’re doing them, and I don’t want to do bands as big as we’ve been doing. (I don’t see us continuing to pursue the Skinny Puppy date for their next tour.) I think instead, we’re going to take some time to focus on Tuesdays, get some of the music we’re playing into local record stores, try and build the crowd earlier in the evening (which is something we’re having trouble planning given how many house acts Zaphods has been booking lately).

It was an incredible show, but I’m physically, mentally and financially drained from last night (as is Leslie), and I do not have the emotional or fiscal stamina to invest so heavily when we’ve been asked for years to bring bands to town, and they end up playing to a crowd of 30 people.