Zeds Dead and Keys N Krates impresses at Ottawa's Bluesfest

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Zeds Dead at Ottawa's Bluesfest 2013

Saturday Night, perfect evening weather, Zeds Dead and Keys N Krates - what more could one ask for? Ottawa's Bluesfest got a whole lot more intense on its first Saturday of the 2 week long festival as the Toronto duo known as Zeds Dead descended upon Ottawa for a show that left many within the crowd sweaty and happy.

Keys N Krates, the live electronic trio from Toronto, did a fantastic job warming things up just before Zeds Dead took the stage. Watching these guys play live showed the  diversity within EDM as they incorporated live instruments into their set.

Keys N Krates at Ottawa's Bluesfest 2013

It became clear during the performance that Keys N Krates wanted the audience to focus on them rather than the background LED screen. During this EDM boom, it would seem that the bigger and flashier the light show you put on, the bigger edge you have on your fellow DJs. So it's refreshing to witness an act like Keys N Krates who bring it back to basics and focus on only the music. I enjoyed their main stage set and even their more intimate afterparty show that brought out some fun mashups with tracks like "Water Verve" and Jay-Z's "On To The Next One". The key highlight was hearing their recent hit "Treat Me Right" two separate time. 

Zeds Dead took the night to a whole new level as they busted out a relentless set filled with their best tracks. One of the most notable first tracks played was Zeds Dead "Oh No" which led to the heart pumping Gemini remix of Ellie Goulding's "Explosions" that set the tone. The set itself mimicked what Zeds Dead had already played a few days before at EDC Las Vegas, but since the vast majority in attendance and myself hadn't heard it live, it was a fresh experience. They have a special gift of picking the right vocals to coincide with their accompanying style of primarily dubstep beats which makes them special. Tracks like "White Satin", or their remixes of "Eye On Fire" and "Lies" are exactly what makes Zeds Dead style so powerful and memorable. Lucky for us, encore's are the norm at Ottawa's Bluesfest and Zeds Dead managed to finish off their performance with their remix of Massive Attack's - "Paradise Circus", a personal favourite.

Baauer B2B RL Grime, and Thugli at Ottawa's Bluesfest (Photos)

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Monday night was wild as RL Grime and Baauer kicked off their "Infinite Daps Tour" at Ottawa's Bluesfest yesterday night. With warm up support from Thugli, Baauer and RL Grime played a special B2B set that will not soon be forgotten. Check out EDM Canada's photos below to give you a sense of what went down:

(Click on any photo for full size version) 

Baauer B2B RL Grime

Baauer B2B RL Grime "Infinite Daps Tour" 

Thugli

Thugli at Ottawa's Bluesfest

Watch this: A Tribe Called Red performing "The Road" live in CBC's Studio Q

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Check out this special performance by A Tribe Called Red performing "The Road" from their latest album "Nation II Nation" live on Jian Ghomeshi's Q:

If you live in Ottawa then make sure to check out A Tribe Called Red live at Bluesfest tomorrow night where they will be joined by Grandtheft on the Blacksheep Stage.  

Listen to 2 hours of Markus Schulz' epic 9 hour solo set from Toronto

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Last Thursday Markus Schulz played a 2 hour snippet of his epic 9 hour solo set from the Guvernment in Toronto on his Global DJ Broadcast radio show. If you want to get a sense of the energy, enthusiasm, and love the crowd had for Markus and vice versa, listen to it now:

If you live in the Edmonton area, Markus Schulz will be playing this Friday at Encore. Click here for full ticket details.  

Flux Pavilion quits social media over a vine

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UK producer Flux Pavilion has recently declared over Facebook that he's quitting social media over a vine that wasn't well received:

"...I was showing a friend a vine that i had created and out of the corner of my eye I saw the top comment 'Your Vines Suck' . . . and i thought "yeah, i guess it does . . . but i never intended for it to not suck" it was just a funny thing that i thought of bored in a backstage cabin in the middle of Finland. It made me think about what makes me who i am, and that has always been my music. My music is what defines me and that's all I want 'Flux Pavilion' to be. I was once told 'you are only ever as good as your last song', which in itself is quite a damning statement, but i think there is a truth in the fact that my output as a musician is how i choose to present myself, i want to dedicate my mental space to making sure that my music is the best that it can be. 'You are only as good as your last vine' is an echo'ing thought of a world that i dont want to live in..."

Click here to read the whole post.  

I like the reasoning given and I wish Flux Pavilion all the best. As a fan, I hope this drives him to create even more music for all of us to enjoy.