AWAKE CHAOS; WE HAVE NAPPED.

That's all folks...

2008-05-01T07:51:00.010-05:00

We'd like to thank absolutely everyone for all the love and support over these past years. It was a lot of fun.

If you're still interested in finding our albums, most of them are available on Zunior.com and possibly in stores, if you look hard enough. The last one, Pierre Richardson Album, is for the time being available here:

http://asthepoetsaffirm.muxtape.com/

It was recorded by Dave Draves at Little Bullhorn in Ottawa, and was written in honor of our good friend, the great Pierre Richardson. We hope you enjoy.

Take care everyone,
ATPA.

ERROR, ABORT

2007-08-16T09:55:00.000-05:00

We are NOT playing at the Rainbow Bistro tonight. This listing was a mistake!

We'll have all future shows listed here! Trust us.

atpa

Free All-Ages Outdoor Band Shell Show

2007-07-31T11:20:00.000-05:00

We'll be playing a free show at Andrew Haydon Park on August 5th between 2pm-4pm.

Directions!

History of the park!

picture of stage.

Bluesfest

2007-07-05T08:39:00.000-05:00

We're at the Ottawa Bluesfest tonight with City and Colour, Fairfield, Radio Birdman, Jimmie Vaughn, and Bob Dylan. We're on at 6pm sharp so make sure you're there early.

Here's an interview we did with PlugInMusic.com for the festival.

Internaughts!

2007-06-08T22:47:00.000-05:00

As the Poets Affirm is looking for an experienced flash-based web-designer. Please feel free to drop us a line at asthepoetsaffirm@gmail.com.

2007-05-14T00:37:00.000-05:00

Time of the Season for Loving

2007-04-25T21:25:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

Thursday, April 19th

@ Zaphod Beeblebrox
8pm/$6

As the Poets Affirm
w/ Mahogany Frog & Kyrie Kristmanson

Mahogany Frog - Winnipeg
-------------------------------------------

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
------------------------------------------

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

2007-04-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

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...

2007-04-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

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.

Cut it while it's hot!

2007-03-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

New recording sessions with Dave Draves at Little Bullhorn. (Kepler, Snailhouse, Wooden Stars, Jim Bryson, Julie Doiron, etc...)

some photos from today:

Recording to tape.

Happy Birthday

2007-03-17T18:26:00.000-05:00

Nathan Gara

The R3-30

2007-03-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

It seems as though we've moved up a bit in CBC Radio 3's Top 30. Filling in the Apostle of Hustle & Feist sandwich.

This saturday will mark the end of CBC Radio 3 on terrestrial radio, but podcasts will continue.

First Brave New Waves, and now Radio 3. Hmm.

Workin' it out

2007-03-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

Getting songs ready for tracking upcoming recording sessions.

Also, you should probably leave some comments to let Nate know how nice his new shoes look. He's very excited about them (he's the one on the floor).

Mark Ham(ill)

2007-03-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came to the show and those who helped with Pitter Patter. Sunday was rough but we promise the wheels are still turning. churning. sweet butter.

people: "Let me know if you need help with driving........"
ryan: "i will"

zzzzzzzzzz

markham + show warmup

Pitter Patter

2007-03-09T11:02:00.000-05:00

We'll be in Toronto tonight for the Pitter Patter Festival.

HAL’S BALLROOM
244 Adelaide St. W.

Mar 9th
12am DANIELLE DUVAL
11pm NOAH’S ARKWELD
10pm AS THE POETS AFFIRM

All Ages Basement Show

2007-02-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

Saturday, March 3rd, at 80 Spruce (off of Preston and between between Somerset and Albert; directly behind Caribbean Flavours).

Doors at 7:30pm with a fee of $5, but we promise City of One Hundred Spires, For the Mathematics, and As the Poets Affirm are going to do their darnedest to entertain and dazzle.

EDIT: RIP Carribean Flavours - apparently everyone was ok.

iTone

2007-02-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

Adam wanted to post this message in regards to a comment received here yesterday (see previous post):

"Hello,

I have to say I'm a little confused. If you were so offended by my performance on Saturday night, why did you not talk to me after the show and express your dislike instead of posting it on a blogspot.

Since pretentious seems to be the new hipster word of the 21st century in regards to deconstructive criticism of art, lets be clear on this. I did not make a single claim of importance. If I was looking for attention I would have done something else. The only thing I did that would have fell into the category of pretentious would have been if you thought my performance was vulgar (a subjective thought) and in this case you did.

What has Radiohead ever done to me? Showed me music is one big evolutionary process. Saturday night was a jazz show. When I was asked to open for Trevor Dunn I had decided I wanted to do something new, but still jazz. This meaning I could have performed an improvised set (which I have done in the past with the horn player from parade) or done something more traditional. If you are aware of the history of jazz, the music was developed on playing popular tunes of the time, taking a new approach to the music in a more emotional way. I have found in the past years that very few people play jazz off of popular tunes of our time, instead they still play standard tunes from the 30's. that is why I chose Radiohead.

I decided to strip the music down to its essential elements of percussion,bass and melody. This is very similar to a jazz trio. I decided to use the clarinet because it was one of the original instruments of jazz, hoping people would make the connection of what I was doing. The clarinet was the response to my vocals, as jazz is made up of call and response. For my vocals, that was my first time singing on stage and I wanted to do it without reverb and delay, so I thank you for supporting local artists.

As far as my moog goes, if you were hoping to see a fireworks show from my moog, well then I'm sorry to disappoint. I will never prostitute my instruments like that. the moog was my double bass, and I tried as much as possible to keep it simple and non distractive.

To close this response, I have decided to add a quote from Thom Yorke:

A new Dead Air Space post was posted today by Thom. At the end, Thom refrences one of Noel Gallagher's classy quotes:

"I never went to f****** university. I don’t know what a paint brush is, I never went to art school."

Thom responds, "i did. it taught me to respect other artists."

I think your post was rather un-Radiohead like.

thank you.

Adam"

I think in the future we'll keep this all atpa. Thanks!

Inbox

2007-02-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

Someone sent this kind clarification to the Ottawa XPress. MiClo, please get in touch so we can get you into a future show of your choice.

Also, check out Chartattack for a piece on our own Adam Saikaley.

Grizzly Photos

2007-02-12T08:21:00.000-05:00

See some photos below (and here). Thanks to Matt and Lauren for helping with merch.

Free Show This Friday

2007-02-06T12:07:00.000-05:00

This Friday the 9th of February, the doors open at 6:30, it's at Club SAW (67 Nicholas Street), and there's no cover.

On the bill will also be Culture Shock Canada, Michelle Dagnino, and I believe our own Adam Saikaley will be starting the night right for us all with his turntables, mixer, and records. We hope to see you there.

Izzle Grizzle

2007-02-06T03:51:00.000-05:00

We just played an enthusiastic set and show along with Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Crush Buildings. It was a good time.

Many, many thanks to everyone who came out and if anyone has video footage of our set we'd love to trade you some cash for a copy.

Drop us a line at info@asthepoetsaffirm.com.

Grizzle Izzle

2007-02-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

Show reminder: We'll be opening for Grizzly Bear and The Dirty Projectors tonight at Barrymore's - Crush Buildings are also on the bill. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. We'll have our album for sale so visit Lauren at the merch table to pick it up.

Touches

2007-01-30T09:12:00.000-05:00

Polishing up some new songs.

Can't Tell Them Apart At All

2007-01-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

This David Bowie cover of Andy Warhol was recorded at Kina's cottage just north of Montreal. We were writing Awake at the time and luckily had a few mics around to capture it. It was only played live a handful of times but it seemed to always get a good response.

As The Poets Affirm - AndyWarhol.mp3

We'll probably post more demos from that weekend.

The Bait and Switch

2007-01-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

We'd like to apologize to everyone who came out to see us play at the Mocking Music showcase on Saturday expecting the door to be $6, as it had been advertised on the flyer, but ended up paying $10.

It was completely out of our control, but we promise not to let that happen ever again.

However, we hope everyone enjoyed themselves regardless and would like to thank My Dad vs. Yours and Rock Plaza Central for a great time.

Gang of Seven

2007-01-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos Alex took at soundcheck last night. Thanks to everyone for coming. We'll be announcing a few more shows in the near future (including stops in/around Toronto).

Remember

2007-01-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

Just a show reminder for tonight (January 13th (thanks for pointing out our mistake, anonymous)):

Zaphod Beeblebrox w/ Rock Plaza Central and My Dad vs. Yours
8pm/$6

Videotape

2007-01-10T17:49:00.000-05:00

This was probably recorded late 2002. We had almost finished writing for the first album and this jam would eventually turn into Help! Help! (click here for a sample).

Also! We're on the charts again (see here).

Experi-Pop-Smart Joy-Jams

2007-01-06T01:53:00.000-05:00

Some kind words about our latest release Awake from ChartAttack:

"As The Poets Affirm — Awake: For striking the perfect balance among experimentation, pop smarts and joyful jams."

Don't forget to check Awake out on Zunior.

UPCOMING SHOWS

2007-01-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

A couple Ottawa shows to mention:

Saturday, January 13th @ Zaphods: We'll be playing with Rock Plaza Central and My Dad vs. Yours. (little typo in the flyer).

Monday, February 5th @ Barrymore's: with Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Crush Buildings.

We're seven members strong again! Click on the the flyers below for more information.

(im) Press Sieve

2007-01-02T15:17:00.000-05:00

Pan(demonium), track ten on our new album, made the Ottawa Sun's music highlight list of 2006! Right up there with Orphans - the three sides of Tom Waits, The video for The Hilotrons' Oh My, The Million Dollar Marxists, and Return to Cookie Mountain by TV on the Radio. Thanks!

The Year Changed Again

2006-12-30T17:41:00.000-05:00

Here's a little piece from the Ottawa Citizen. The Sky Changed Again was listed amongst the best tracks of 2006:

"The Sky Changed Again by As the Poets Affirm, from Awake: Musical gang does improvisational maneuvers making their case for instrumental angst without a single utterance. Available at Zunior.com"

Here's the video:

Chart in Your Ear

2006-12-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

In only a few weeks on the charts Awake has broken into the top ten nationally at #6 on !earshot for the week ending December 19th.

A big thank you to all the listeners and DJs across the country.

Bronson

2006-12-21T13:04:00.000-05:00

The Bronson Centre has a lovely theatre.

Photo: Ben Welland

Les Charts

2006-12-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

Make a friend, tell your local DJ to "please play the new As the Poets Affirm".

CFBU (St. Catherines, ON) #10
CIUT (Toronto, ON) #27
CJSW (Calgary, AB) #24
CKXU (Letbridge, AB) #29
CJAM (Windsor, ON) #4
CHUO (Ottawa, ON) #6

"Studio?" "Studio?" "Yeah, studio."

2006-12-18T17:25:00.000-05:00

Awake was recorded and mixed at Toronto's Chemical Sound by Rudy Rempel. They've created some pretty fine records there in the past (see Death From Above's You're a Woman, I'm a Machine and Godspeed's Lift Your Skinny Fists...). The process took the better part of a year - midway through the recording sessions, the building that housed the studio was sold.

We ended up mixing the record at the new location - seen below.

So when all was said and done we were the first and last clients of Chemical Sound.

Chart Splash

2006-12-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

With the release of Awake we're starting to pop up on the charts once again.

As of December 8th we charted #28 on CKXU (Lethbridge, AB), #27 on CFBU (St. Catherines, ON), #26 on CHUO (Ottawa, ON), and #4 on CJAM (Windsor, ON).

Many thanks to all the listeners and DJs helping us out there, and you yourself can feel free to call in a request to your university radio station if you're feeling up to it.

Also, just a reminder that through Zunior and Outside Music Awake is now available at most record shops across this fine country, so if you don't see us on the shelf you should be able to order us in.

CD Release

2006-12-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

There are loads of people to thank for the album release shows over the past two weeks. Mostly to the great bands that were involved in the shows - Rock Plaza Central, Flotilla, Sunparlour Players, Roll Gypsy Roll, Acres, Coming Home to Traffic Patterns, and Timber Timbre.

Here are some photos shot at the Ottawa release (thanks Ben):

An Introduction

2006-12-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

I think we’ll do our best at keeping this up to date (so bookmark this page). You can probably expect a bit of the past five years to pop up now and then - there’s so much hiding. Of course we’ll have some new stuff too. Alex is on photo duties (see above).

The new album is a GO! We released Awake on the Zunior label with help from Outside Music - thanks to everyone there for helping with it. Check your local record store or have them order it in.

You can also visit Zunior.com to pick up the digital version of the album which features Adam’s remixes of Carved Face and The Suburbs of a Secret. Visit our website for more info.