Time of the Season for Loving

Summer is upon us now and we are all anticipating some very good things to arise along with it.

We have a new record in the works, a few more live dates here at home (including Bluesfest in July), maybe a new website, some merch, a few balloons, tobacco... some of us are already sporting new haircuts.

We encourage you to keep checking back, and if you want us to come to your town, let us know. We've been talking about doing that too.

Time of the Season

Thursday, April 19th

@ Zaphod Beeblebrox
8pm/$6

As the Poets Affirm
w/ Mahogany Frog & Kyrie Kristmanson

Mahogany Frog - Winnipeg
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Mahogany Frog is a recording/touring band. The music draws influence from an array of genres: electronica, progressive rock, jazz, late 50's "ultra" lounge, ambient/experimentalism. With the use of a plethora of keyboards (both analogue & digital), feedback-ridden guitars, fuzz-bass and walls of electronic samples, the group creates a tube-saturated, highly overdriven jazz-rock, usually performed at extremely high decibels and with an enormous amount of energy. The music itself can be both challenging and soothing to the listener: stabbing riffs using unusual notes and time signatures often dissolve into lush electro-soundscapes, and straightforward, rhythmic interludes can merely lay the foundation for syncopated counter-melodies or sound effects. The orchestration of the instruments are unorthodox at times: using complex modal progressions or phrases as a basis for experimentations in arrangement, the rhythm and lead sections trade roles quickly and often. Musically speaking, the four members of Mahogany Frog have the tendency to spread themselves thin, as they attempt to tackle slicing leads and warm backdrops simuntaneously. Live, the songs all flow together, creating a steady bombardment of highly progressive, exciting music that explores countless moods and ideas.

http://www.myspace.com/mahoganyfrog

Kyrie Kristmanson - Ottawa
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Kyrie Kristmanson is a fresh voice on Canada's independent music scene. Her unique musical style evokes the various Canadian maritime, prairie and urban landscapes she has grown up in. She has already captivated audiences in various parts of the country with her fusion of folk, jazz and alternative rock influences. She writes powerful, exciting and thoughtful songs in English and French. She incorporates her third language, Spanish, from time to time.

Kyrie plays a nylon-string guitar that her father gave her for her ninth birthday, the beginning of her musical life. As she grew up in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and London, England, she studied voice, guitar and trumpet with a series of wonderful teachers and mentors. She collaborates regularly with other musicians both on guitar and trumpet, including the indie band Rah Rah.

Her career as a singer/songwriter began to blossom at fifteen when she was selected to play at the Winnipeg Folk Festival youth stage. Since then she has appeared at various venues in Saskatchewan and Ontario culminating in several appearances at the 2006 Regina Folk Festival where she hosted workshops with Utah Phillips, Tons Of Fun University (TOFU), Clay George, and Leroy Young. She hosted the main stage where she performed with her jazz-folk trio on the bill with Feist and the Alex Cuba Band, among others. In October 2006 she performed with Rah Rah at the Pop Montreal Festival.

http://www.myspace.com/kyriekristmanson

More Reviews

From Chart Magazine:

AS THE POETS AFFIRM AWAKE (ZUNIOR/OUTSIDE)
Perhaps the result of an ever-expanding lineup, the third disc from As the Poets Affirm suffers from a split personality. Songs that begin with meandering blips and bleeps are quickly joined not only by acoustic guitars, but by clarinet and cello, and they often descend into jazz-fuelled, chaotic endings. Most of Awake's tracks are instrumental, but it's on the album's few lyric-laden songs that the seven-piece show what they're really capable of. When singing is involved, the frenetic noise coalesces into gentler backing force for spacey voices and handily demonstrates that these Ottawa-based post-rockers are more than just a jam band. With a little more focus, ATPA should be capable of producing something truly unforgettable. - SB

From the pages of Exclaim Magazine...

As the Poets Affirm

Awake
By Vish Khanna

Having already earned a reputation as one of Canada’s most intriguing post-rock outfits, As the Poets Affirm bolster such proclamations with the wholly inventive Awake. Ottawa’s proclivity for breeding stunningly precise hardcore bands has rubbed off on this six-member group, whose jazz-infused mathematical song structures are angst-ridden and innovative. “Awake Chaos” sheds its deceptively poppy skin for an ominous breakdown and “The Suburbs of a Secret” leaves a Steady Diet of Nothing-era Fugazi groove behind for an explosive time signature transition and horns gone wild meltdown. Vocally and musically, June of 44 is conjured up for the gritty, off-centre “From Drenched and Dripping Apple Trees,” while the band’s confrontational nature shines through on the opening stomps of “We Represent Melpomene,” which ultimately melds into a glitch-y, yet pleasant, piano- and horn-led excursion. Such instrumentation is seldom employed in any subtle manner — every layer of sound hits the listener with full-bodied vigour and intent. As dynamic songs like the brooding “Carved Face” demonstrate, the results can be dizzying and electrifying. Front to back, Awake is a stunning achievement by As the Poets Affirm, great contributors to this country’s eclectic prog punk network.(Zunior)

Click here for the original Exclaim posting.

Also if you read Italian, here is another review that seems positive.