Rapz
If you only see one Edmonton hip-hop or rap show this month, make it tonight at Wunderbar.
The Old Ugly Recording Co.’s The Joe, Mikey Maybe, Mitchmatic, and Teddy Holtby are going to play the same bill. All of them! I predict a busier than usual Wednesday night at Edmonton’s premiere beer location.
Old Ugly rap has been one of my gateways to the hip-hop world. I wasn’t a fan of the genre a couple of years ago (mostly through a lack of listening), but through this website I’ve been exposed to a lot (A LOT) of new music and Old Ugly rappers like The Joe have been blowing my mind grapes since.
I’m not kidding. Get there. Be there.
Are you there yet?
Thursday Night Looks Alright
First of all, I have to mention Twestival. That’s tonight’s big Twitter meetup and fundraiser. It’s a chance to have a drink, enjoy the coolness of the Red Star Pub and meet some people you’ve only known in 140 character bursts. Edmonton Twestival 2011: The greatest night of your life. (I hear there will be mini-cupcakes and a fantastic assortment of door prizes and silent auction items too.)
(If you can’t make it, but would like help us raise money for the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation – think of the children! – you can do that on the Internet.)
Now, if you don’t want to come to Twestival, or maybe you just want to swing by for a drink and bid on an item in the silent auction before jetting off, there’s plenty for you to do tonight. (more…)
Tuesday Night Music Club
It’s a Tuesday night in Edmonton, and there’s plenty of great, live music to keep you from the cold.
You can always head over to Brixx for Troubadour Tuesdays, tonight with Ashley Sacha.
Upstairs from Brixx, you’ve got Yann Tiersen and Breathe Owl Breathe at The Starlite Room. (Update: Winter has claimed the tour bus, canceling Tiersen’s appearance. Check with the Starlite about the rest of the show.)
Wunderbar’s got some Old Ugly for you on this frigid Tuesday. Tyler Butler, Two Bicycles, and Andy Shauf will keep you warm.
Oh, and the Myer Horowitz has a show with some guys you’ve probably never heard of; Jim Bryson and The Weakerthans.
What’s that?
You have heard of them? And they’re really good? I had no idea.
Wait. I had an idea.
Frozen Events
Yeah, it’s stay-in-the-house-under-three-blankets-with-the-heat-cranked-cold. But there’s plenty of Edmonton to explore, even in the cold. You just have to bundle up and try not to spend too long outside when it’s dangerously cold.
Ice on Whyte began this week. While wind chills in the -30s aren’t the best atmosphere for checking out the ice sculptures, it won’t be this cold forever.
The Joe is releasing Float or Flail, an album five years in the making, at The Haven Social Club (now home to Pharos Pizza), with fellow Old Uglians Bike Month, Mitchmatic, and Racoon Suit along for the ride. The Haven is going to be nice and warm.
In other musical notes…Ingrid Gatin is playing at The Carrot, with Michael Reinhart, before hopping on a train to Winnipeg. Playing her all the way across the prairies…The Wheat Pool, Michael James Band, and audio/rocketry are at the Crown & Anchor Pub…Bluebird North is at the TransAlta Arts Barns…and The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is playing for the kids on Saturday. They’ll be playing behind a performance of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood.
I’m hearing good things about the Spiral Dive trilogy at La Cite Francophone Theatre (all three run in a marathon on Sunday, January 23).
In movies…Charlie Chaplin is at Metro Cinema. His films anyway. The short film High Level Bridge is headed to Sundance. Help the film’s makers have a good time by throwing them a few bones. While having a heck of an evening at The ARTery. (They will be screening the short as well.) And there’s always regular movies too.
Meet the Edmonton Public Library’s Writer in Residence for 2011. To get in you need only bring a book for the swap. It all goes down Saturday afternoon at the Whitemud Crossing branch of the EPL.
Latitude 53 has two new shows this weekend.
And the Edmonton Motorcycle Show is this weekend up at Northlands’ Expo Centre. If you actually ride a motorcycle to the show in this weather you are indeed a brave soul.
Oh, and if you plan on using the LRT Sunday, it’s likely not your best option.
Did I miss something? If I did I’m blaming winter.
Floating for Five Years
Five years ago, when you and I were just young whippersnappers staring at the big, bright world, Joe Gurba was throwing down award-winning rhymes and becoming a name in the local hip-hop scene. The name he was putting out there was The Joe, and we still know it today. He not only continues to rap, he runs the Old Ugly Recording Co. label here in Edmonton.
Gurba began working on an album called Float or Flail in 2006 and we’re finally getting to hear it. Between then and now we’ve heard another album (Ut Oh) and mixtapes (like the fantastic Playfight) but not that earlier album.
“The significance of the title Float or Flail hinges on my inability to swim,” Gurba writes in an e-mail. But the title also relates to what he felt his circumstances were in 2006.
“It came to me that my life had been a desperate dichotomy between flailing and floating,” he says “Float or Flail became this phrase that invaded my thoughts very often, particularly when I was seeing myself as if from outside myself, schmoozing and remembering names, and wanting respect for something or other…All the while the true desire of my heart was to be alone with God and pursue deeper more elusive truths.”
The struggle to reconcile these parts of his personality left Joe depressed.
“I was at a major turning point… I was wondering if I was going to continue rapping at all,” he explains. (more…)
Caity Fisher At the Artery
A few months ago, I was at Wunderbar (which has rapidly become my favorite haunt; how can you not respect the audacity of a venue that dares to bring in live entertainment seven nights a week?) with Jeff and our buddy Gregg Beever. We were just there to hang out but, as we sat there, a lovely young lady with an acoustic guitar and a haunting voice played a remarkable set. Before I left, I asked her to give me a call next time she was playing, and we’d try to mention it on the edmontonian.
Unbeknownst to me, the girl with the guitar was Caity Fisher, from the Old Ugly Recording Company‘s roster of artists (and if you read the edmontonian with an regularity, you know that we are big, big fans of the crew at Old Ugly).
I figured this out about a week ago, when Caity emailed me to let me know about her upcoming CD release.
So basically, I’m a straight genius.
But enough about my inability to draw simple connections between logical events. Let’s talk about Caity Fisher. (more…)
10 things to do that are not eating turkey
Worst Thanksgiving present ever.
Enjoy the long weekend, Edmonton. We’ll see you back here when we wake up from turkey comas.
- Hit the market – It’s the last weekend for the City Market Downtown.
- Watch hockey – The Oil Kings play at Rexall Saturday, the Oilers on Sunday.
- Vote – You can vote in an advance poll, in your ward, Saturday.
- Enjoy the weather – 20+ degrees for Saturday and Sunday? Yes, please.
- Rock ‘n’ Fundraise – A bunch of Edmonton bands and artists are playing Wunderbar all day Saturday, to help get band N.N. to Japan Music Week.
- Holy Fuck – The band with the controversial name plays twice at the Pawn Shop.
- Hydeaway – Doug Hoyer is playing the Hydeaway. You need more Old Ugly in your life.
- Free cookies – There’s still time to get over to Luzarra, on Whyte, for Free Cookie Friday. Well, depending on where you are in the city. I don’t want you to crash your car for a cookie.
- Dance – The Brian Webb Dance Company kicks off a new season with les Ballets Jazz de Montreal.
- Eat turkey – You know it’s going to happen anyway.
I think what I'm trying to say is that I want you to have fun this weekend.
Set your phasers to Festival
(As always, this isn’t a definitive list of what’s going on in Edmonton. Just stuff I know about or want to check out. ShareEdmonton and YEGLive are way more definitive.)
This is where your mettle for festival season begins to be tested, Edmonton.
We’ve had great festivals this summer, like the Jazz Fest, SOS Fest, Doors Open Edmonton and the Street Performers Festival. But now, now, is when you need to hydrate and find sleep when you can.
Now is when Edmonton becomes an endless string of carnival rides, mini donuts, race cars, deep-fried food, arts, music, theatre and parties.
This weekend we’ve got the Honda Indy Edmonton. That’s three days of race action at the City Centre Airport. There will be spin-off parties, including the tent on Jasper and the Race Week Music Festival at the Sutton Place hotel. (Side note: Drake is playing the Edmonton Event Centre, Saturday, with an after-party at the tent.)
Capital Ex kicks off its ten day run today. The only way you’ll be slowed down here is if you eat that giant hamburger they’re calling The Monster.
The Freewill Shakespeare Festival is into its final days of Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing.
Churchill Square is full of food. That’s because Taste of Edmonton is back to fill your stomach with a selection of tasty treats from city restaurants.
You can draw at Draw. The annual arts event that includes, umm, drawing, DJs, food, dancing, and who knows what other kinds of fun. It’s at more than one location this year. Find yourself some space to express yourself visually at Latitude 53, Harcourt House, and SNAP. Things finish off at FAVA.
And that’s just the festivals.
We’ve got live music all over the place, including some Old Ugly action at Axis Cafe, featuring Kumon Plaza, Jessica Jalbert, and Jaded Hipster Choir. Wolf Parade is at the Starlite Room. A guy you’ve probably heard of, Neil Young, is at the Jubilee tonight.
You can refuse to believe the rumors, but SkeptiCamp Alberta is happening Saturday, at the U of A.
For the family, Sesame Street Live is at Rexall for shows throughout the weekend.
The Edmonton Prospects are home to Medicine Hat at John Fry Park.
Don’t forget you can seek air-conditioned refuge in a movie theatre.
Remember to pace yourself. Right after Capital Ex and Taste of Edmonton we’ve got the Heritage Festival, Folk Fest, the Fringe (and the edmontonian and Unknown Studio birthday party). It’s going to be September before we know it. (And once it is September we’ve got Symphony Under the Sky.)
p.s. If you’re by a computer Saturday night, at 9pm, why not come right back here and catch our attempt at a TV talk show: “Saturday with Samsonow.” It’ll be something. It might even be good.
We heard your SOS
(Update: I’ve added a video story, and slightly altered the wording of this post from it’s first version Monday.)
We’re glad we did hear that SOS.
SOS Fest rocked Whyte Avenue this weekend. 150+ bands and musicians…20+ venues…wow.
We were talking about it for three days at a special “on assignment” blog.
I really enjoyed Dead Ghosts, out of Vancouver. They were probably my favourite band of the festival. The Joe tried to tear Wunderbar apart with his set, as part of an Old Ugly showcase. Cadence Weapon blew the roof off the Pawn Shop. And The Sherry-Lee Wisor trio kicked things off for me, setting the bar quite high.
I also uploaded a lot of my photos to my Flickr account, and added them to the edmontonian Flickr pool.
Plus, a few of my interviews from the weekend are now playing at our YouTube channel. (The story on the festival – embedded above – is also at our YouTube now.)
There are more photos, videos, links, reviews, and thoughts at our SOS Fest blog.
We’ll always take your own stories, experiences, photos and videos.
Check Twitter for more comments and updates from people who went to the shows, and played, this weekend.
That's Gregg Beever buying a CD from SOS performer Carrie Hryniw. At Funky Pickle, of all places.
Welcome to the Beat Laboratory: Old Ugly Recording Company
[Remember a few weeks ago, when I told you guys about local band plainclothes? Well, I have some more excellent Edmonton music to tell you about. Samsonow and I have decided that any time I want to try to convince you guys to love something as much as I do, we're going to call it "Welcome to the Beat Laboratory." Thanks for the idea, B-rad!)
If you missed this caveat last time, the difference between this format and other music items we run is that you cannot solicit your way into the Beat Laboratory. I just pick things I think are really cool and tell you about them. As if I know what's cool. IDIOT! So stupid! Who the hell do I think I am anyway?!]
Old Ugly Recording Co.'s The Joe (Photo by Rico Moran)
So, you guys know that we know The Joe. Because we talk about him all the time.
He is, as you have likely gathered by now, a very nice fellow who has helped us out repeatedly over the first half of 2010; first, by tearing up the Artery as the headliner at the League of Extraordinary Media’s #YEG Swap in March, and then later on, by penning several great items about Edmonton’s music scene for us to run on these here INTERNETS.
But! Did you guys know that The Joe (known in his day-to-day life as 23 year old Joe Gurba) is a bit of a mogul? He’s the man behind Edmonton’s Old Ugly Recording Company – home to many of the best musical acts in the city.
The mild-mannered Gurba explains that the concept for Old Ugly was based in part on Olympia, Washington record label K Records.
“They don’t play the game,” he explains. “They just put out really good music. And then people find it.”
“Old Ugly is just me giving form to something that was already there. Old Ugly was already all of our friends who hung out all the time, who weren’t signed.”
And boy oh boy, you guys. Does Old Ugly ever have some great artists. Give these a listen:
The Idols They Will Make: The Joe from Joe’s upcoming release Playfight)
O Death: Caity Fisher from Caity’s upcoming release Only the Wind)
On and on: Mitchmatic from Mitchmatic’s upcoming release Two Weeks Off)
The modest little label, now freshly minted as one year old, is home to 19 musical acts, comprised of about 13 people (Joe’s estimate). Pretty impressive, and something Joe attributes to his interest in community.
“I wanted to combine all these people. Most of the people on the label are people I’ve lived with at some point, too… people that get together and have campfires and house parties and are just really good friends.”
“I know my friends are better musicians than I am, and they deserve more attention,” Joe laughs. “I just know how to get attention!”
If you dig what you hear, then, I HIGHLY suggest you head to the Hydeaway this Saturday for an Old Ugly release party, celebrating new tapes from Mitchmatic and The Joe, and featuring Mikey Maybe and Thesis Sahib.
OR! Visit the Old Ugly store to get your mitts on more of their music.
