#festivalseason - What's new, what's hot, what's good - what's up Rifflandia?

What’s new, what’s hot, what’s good – what’s up Rifflandia?

To nobody’s surprise, September has returned for another session of messing with our heads and our hearts. September – with its warm, almost hot, days; the deceivingly cold nights; plus the inevitable burden of carrying a sweater with you at all times yet never really needing it for more than five minutes. Thankfully, here in Victoria we have a way of dealing with the month that nobody seems to want. In fact, there’s a little phrase around town that you may have heard before – September Forever.

Yes, September means something entirely different in Victoria. It means Rifflandia is upon us! I’m not going to go into detail about what it’s all about because if you’re from the island you already know, and for those that don’t…well, that’s why Al Gore invented the internet.

I will however get into what there is to look forward to this year! Rifflandia is forever evolving, and there are some exciting changes that take place every festival, so it can sometimes be a challenge to keep up. But don’t worry – I know a good time when I see it, and Riff is always good for that.

Obviously the music is usually the number one priority at a music festival, and although the general theme of Rifflandia shifts a bit every year (for example, hip – hop was heavily featured a couple years ago), there’s still a ton of listening pleasure for everyone, no matter what you enjoy. The eleventh edition of Rifflandia definitely boasts a large electronic presence, and with Electric Avenue becoming more and more popular with every passing year, there’s going to be a lot of action at the Ave this weekend.

While the harm reduction movement has broken ground in many festivals we attend around the country, there are still many non camping festivals that have yet to make the transition. Thankfully, Rifflandia isn’t one of them. Harm Reduction will be provided on site at both the Royal Athletic Park and Electric Ave by a well trained staff from WILD Collective Harm Reduction Services, BCCSU, and our good friends at Karmik – BC’s leading harm reduction team. Karmik will be setting up a drug testing booth at RAP during the day, while others will provide outreach and a harm reduction tent at Electric Ave. Locate them at either venue for info, supplies, education, support, or if you just need a safe spot to chill!

It should go without saying that everyone deserves to party in peace, but unfortunately there are still people out there that don’t understand that concept. Rifflandia is going above and beyond to provide a safe space throughout the entire festival and encourages anyone who witnesses any disruptive or inappropriate behavior to report it immediately, either by reporting it to staff or security or emailing incidents@atomiqueproductions.com. We all deserve the best, so let’s take it upon ourselves to provide the best.

Rifflandia always hits the mark with their selection of artists, and with more than 160 live acts performing over the course of 4 days, there are sure to be some names you know, some you don’t, and it’s inevitable you’ll discover a few new favourites. Take the time to listen to some unknown artists on the app, or check out the list below for my favourites over the weekend!

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#festivalseason - Motion Notion finds a new home and packs it full of funky homies.

I honestly don't know much about Motion Notion, which is odd considering it's a BC festival and I live in BC and it's in its 19th YEAR. (The fuck was I doing until about three years ago when I heard about it?) I've heard nothing but good things and the pictures make it look excellent. And this year the good people of MoNo are setting up shop in a new home, The Coldwater Fields in Merritt, BC – the home of the legendary Bass Coast Festival. More than almost any other festival lineup I've seen this years Motion Notion is filled with a ridiculous amount of Rags Music-certified Gs. In fact, this years lineup features no less than 10 past answerers of our own 5 Questions With Rags interview series. In honour of this HomieFest, this list is comprised almost entirely of artists I am super familiar with. I'm pretty confident when I write these lineup previews that I'm giving you all the goods, but this time I'm wholly confident in my picks. Motion Notion has put together an incredible lineup and this just the tip of the iceberg. And really, just the tip of the part of the iceberg I know at the time of this writing. Even if you fuck the rest of your weekend up, you'll have a proper good time if you just go see these cats.

Get tickets for Motion Notion 2018 (August 23-27) now!

Marten Horger

Sometimes you see someone time and time again and you wonder if you reeeeeeally need to see them again. Even though I've been thoroughly enchanted every time I've seen this wonderful human lay down his relentless bass stylings (Even arguing with friends the whole way home after a powerful night at Vancouver's near-legendary Red Room where they claimed he wasn't the most untouchable of the night...they were wrong), I almost didn't go catch him here in Victoria last weekend (July 28), because I am aging and going out, even on a Saturday, is at times a monumental task that defeats me on a regular basis. But I'm glad a friend helped me soldier through, because Horger was as on point as ever. He was going B2B with the homie Neon Steve – who you should definitely also see as I am just noticing his name here on the MoNo lineup – and was as in command as ever. When you feel and hear the devastating bass of a Horger track your heart beats a little harder and then you look up to see him behind the decks and you almost see the joy radiating off of him. Make sure that no matter what you do with your weekend, get after it and see this legit Hero of Breaks.

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5 Questions with Rags #41 - Stickybuds

A master of all things funky and groovy, Stickybuds has that thing that I value most in a great DJ - the ability to do all of the things well. Straight-ahead funky breaks, drum ‘n’ bass, glitch-hop, big reggae vibes – Sticky’s got you covered. And it’s all delivered with such blatant skill and love for the craft that it’s pretty impossible to ignore. The legendary Shambhala Music Festival is a good barometer for where your talents are as a DJ. It’s a festival of incredibly discerning ears and Stickybuds has been front and centre for 12 years and counting. Rarely does my crew plan to be at Stickybuds annual destruction of Fractal Forest, but every year, there we are, getting our ears dominated by the mighty dude. If you started your electronic listening diet anywhere around the Canadian west coast, you probably have had Stickybuds as part of your listening diet, and your musical taste is probably healthier for it.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the homey live, Hallowe’en weekend is a good time to get your funky spook on. I can attest to the absolute delightfulness that was last year’s "Breaks-O-Ween" in Vancouver.

As always, keep up with all the good sounds over at ye olde Soundcloud and all other things Stickybuds at the Facebook.

My mix from this years Shambhala Music Festival. Huge thanks to the couple thousand of you who came out for this live, Rich-E-Rich and to all my producer homeys who send me their gems and stems! Big love to the whole Fractal Forest and Shambhala family! www.Stickybuds.com www.Shambhalamusicfestival.com Tracklist Stickybuds + K+Lab ft. Junior Owusu + Dimention - Clap yo' Hands Intro Skope + Stickybuds - Change Your Mind Ali B & Jungle Brothers - Gimme That (A-Skillz Remix Acapella) Beat Fatigue - Curly Wurly Dj Vadim - Hey Hey Hey Ft Grazilla Affinita (Acapella) Maha Quest - ID Opiuo + Shapeshifter - Slug A Bug (Instro) Dj Vadim - Originator Ft Dynamite MC + Daddy Cookiz (Acapella) Jibbs Itation ft. Talawa Reggae Army - Love is the Key (Badweed & Kursiva Remix) Opiuo + Shapeshifter - Slug A Bug (Acapella) Fabolous ft Nate Dogg-You Can't Deny it (Acapella) IQulah Rastafari - It Is I (Ed Solo Remix) Lethal B ft. Shakka - Playground (Acapella) Dub Phizix - Doberman (Instro Edit) Dj Vadim - Originator Ft Dynamite MC + Daddy Cookiz (Acapella) Supremes - My Favorite Things (Acapella) Lethal B ft Shakka - Playground (Cyantific Instro / Full) Mooncat & Karlixx - We Want No More IQulah Rastafari - It Is I (Acapella) Aries Gold Dubs & Jinx ft Eva Lazarus - Fall In Love (Acapella) Habstrakt - Echoes Flux Pavilion ft. Turin Brakes - Mountains & Molehills (sample) Dj Alias - San Fransisco Bay (Leo Remix) Stickybuds + K+Lab ft. Junior Owusu - Clap yo’ Hands (Acapella) Ali B & Jungle Brothers - Gimme That (A-Skillz Remix Instro) WBBL - Irie Ali B & Jungle Brothers - Gimme That (Acapella) Dj Vadim - Originator Ft Dynamite MC + Daddy Cookiz (Acapella) Featurecast - Take it Down Low Stickybuds vs Mista Savona ft Burro Banton - Clean Air (Acapella) Stickybuds + Skope ft. Caleb Hart - Twice to the Right Mat tha Hat - The Charlston Whomp Big L - Put it On (Acapella) Smov - Big Love K+Lab Ft Skahna SK - Erupt Numa Crew ft Robert Dallas & Petah Sunday - Impossible (Samy Nicks Remix) Ed Solo - Lemme Go Ras Demo - Sekkle Up The Score (Turntable Dubers Remix) 2Nice - Uprising (Serial Killaz Remix Acapella) Dr Kucho! & Gregor Salto ft Ane Brun - Can't Stop Playing (Cyantific Remix) Ed Solo & Deekline ft. Gala Orsborn - Hit The Road Jack (Acapella) Empresarios - Morena (Acapella) Empresarios - Morena (Lack Jemmon Rmx) Baauer & RL Grime - Infinite Daps (Featurecast Edit) A. Skillz - 7 Day Weekend Stevie Wonder - Superstition (Neighbour + U-Tern Remix) Alozade - Under Mi Sensi (Acapella) Edwin Starr - War (Acapella) Clipse - When Was The Last Time (Acapella) Stevie Wonder - Do I Do (U-Tern Edit) Stevie Wonder - Superstition (Acapella) Sean Paul Ft. Chi Ching Ching + Banx & Ranx - Crick Neck Mooqee & HerbGrinder - Sound Around Town (Funkanomics Remix) Malente - Open Secret (Acapella) Krafty Kuts + Dynamite MC - Real Big Deal MIghty Mocambos - It’s The Music (Sticky + A.Skillz Inst. Stems) Jimi Hendrix - Freedom (Fernan Dust Funky Remix) MIghty Mocambos ft. Afrika Bambaataa + DJ Snoop - It’s The Music (Acapella) Tom Booze - How We Do This Noisia & The Upbeats - Dead Limit Tom Booze - How We Do This (Acapella) ID - ID Cyantific - Hollywood TC ft. Stylo G - Storm Brew (Acapella) Coppa & Disphonia – Paranoize (AKOV Remix) Krafty Kuts + Dynamite MC - Al Pacino (Instro) Coppa & Disphonia – Paranoize (Acapella) Skope - ID Dj Vadim - They Don't Love (Acapella) Ruffhouse & Clarity - Aphasia (Redders & Sam Binga Remix Instro) Calyx & Teebee - Sawn Off Maksim, Culprate + Retrospect - Time To Waste (Acapella) Skope - ID Dj Vadim ft Courtney Melody + Taiwan MC - Ruling Sound (Acapella) Swindle - Global Dance Falcons - Flame feat. Stush Maksim, Culprate + Retrospect - Time To Waste Maksim, Culprate + Retrospect - Time To Waste (Teddy Killerz Remix) Lemaitre ft. Jennie A. - Closer (Acapella) Dj Vadim ft Courtney Melody + Taiwan MC - Ruling Sound (Instro) Stickybuds + Blackout JA - Shambhala Dub (Acapella)

1. What was the first album you remember buying with your own money?

The first albums I bought with my own money were through Colombia House CD mail service out of some magazine, I believe I was in grade 6... (1996/1997-ish) The ones I remember that stuck out were, Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers, Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire, Collective Soul - Self Titled and Offspring - Smash.

I still actually love all these albums to this day, and I think I still have them all in a CD pile in storage somewhere. They are all great songwriters and musicians in their own right. I think I connect the most with RATM's album now. When I was 14 or whatever when I bought them I liked the anger in their music, and I'd sing the words, but I didn't understand what the songs were about. Now that I'm 32, and have been around the world a few times and pay attention to the global atmosphere, police brutality and decay of our rights and freedoms through corrupt governments and those who control them, I get and connect with their songs much more.  

2. Have you ever seen or felt a ghost or ghost-like presence?

Nope.

3. Can you think of a book or movie that had a genuine effect on the way you saw the world?

I read George Orwell's "1984" when I was in High school. It kind of stuck with me, and it's a real shame that it was a fictional book that turned out to be non-fiction.

4. When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Having trouble remembering things I've done for the first time, but I went Scuba Diving for the first time on one of my Australia tours 2 years ago in Cairns, it was awesome. 

5. Immortality…Ever think about it? Do you think you’d enjoy it? What’s the one completely ridiculous project you’d complete if you had unlimited time?

I don't think I'd like to live forever, but It would be cool if I could live for a few hundred years, maybe we'll even get there the way things are going. I would try and learn how to play every instrument I could imagine. 

6. The Guest Question comes from Victoria producer/performer BOUSADA… You just found out that you have 24 hours to live starting right now. How do you spend your last day on planet earth?

I'd spend the whole day with the people I love the most, and hopefully they wouldn't know I was about to die so it wouldn't be sad.