Note: dial613Factory will resume operation in time for the first week of shows in January.
Show listings will continue to update in the meantime (and a whole bunch of new ones have just been added, including the Winterlude lineup and-- wait for it-- Snoop Dogg!).

And, as if you don't know already, the contest below's deadline is Dec. 31, so if you'd still like to enter, read below and be sure to do it by then.

There are 4 localmusic-ish New Year's parties going on tomorrow night, check the sidebar on your right for details.

Until next year:
-->AfroFly
-->The Great Flying Mintini

Would you like free tickets to see Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton?

On Friday, January 5, Metric front and Broken Social Scene member Emily Haines will travel through Ottawa, playing the 2nd show of a 19-date North American tour in support of her recently released debut solo album Knives Don't Have Your Back.

Lucky for you, it just so happens that dial613 has a pair of tickets to give away ($45-$56 value), courtesy of her Toronto-based label Last Gang Records.

To enter: just e-mail dial613 (dial613[AT]gmail[DOT]com) with the hilarious subject line, "I'd like to get my Haines on Emily's tickets" (variations welcome).
Everyone who sends an e-mail will receive one entry into a random draw for 2 tickets to see Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton at The Bronson Centre on January 5, 2007, and will also be automatically added to Emily's e-mailing list to get updates on news/shows in the future.

The contest closes at 11:59 December 31, 2006, and the winner will be contacted through e-mail by January 1, 2007. Should the winner not respond in a reasonable amount of time, the tickets will be drawn for again.
Good luck!

To whet your appetite:
-->Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - The Lottery (website, myspace)
-->Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Our Hell (live video) (from cbcradio3's SeeVousPlay)

Maybe this year, Lure's stocking will be stuffed with a renewed sense of dignity.

Wednesday night, Giant Sand frontperson Howe Gelb plays at the library. Though born in Tucson, his Ottawa connections are extensive, as dial613 has discussed previously. You really should start paying attention.

Thursday, The Fully Down, the biggest Ottawa band in all of Japan, pop some punks at Maverick's in an all-local line-up, including the recently reannointed Travel By Owl (ex-The Architects). It's all ages, so make sure to have your condescending glares handy.

And the yuletide highlight of the week is brought to you courtesy of wetsuit-loving local band Lure, who will play all sorts of carols at a Barrymore's Xmas Xtravaganza (or Christmas Christravaganza, for all you purists out there). They'll have some friends from around town on hand to help party it up, like Ana Miura and Amanda Rheaume, but most importantly, Santa and his elves will be there (not to mention the grinch and some guy named Anti-Claus).
Best of all, you can be a good person at the same time, as donations of canned food (for the Ottawa Food Bank) and winter clothes (for The Snowsuit Fund) will be being taken in exchange for $2 off cover. So go for it; rumour has it you'll get to watch yourself some Charlie Brown too.

Where will you be this week?

12.20.06
Howe Gelb at The National Library
-->Howe Gelb - But I Did Not (website, myspace)
-->Howe Gelb - Nail In The Sky

12.21.06
The Fully Down* w/ Travel By Owl*, No Other Way*, Red October*, at Maverick's
-->Travel By Owl - I Am Listening So Close (myspace)

12.22.06
Lure* (Stuff Some Rockin' In Yer Stockin' Xmas Party) with special guests, at Barrymore's

12.23.06
The Watters Brothers* (CD release) with Jacquie In The Kitchen* and Dave Norris*, at Zaphod's

* denotes local act

Cheesy joke about NASCAR to tie in with Auto Racing.

Monday night, any fans of Primus should have a good time at Zaphod's no-cover-Monday with local headliners Auto Racing.
Or, you can see local band Relief Maps open for South Carolina rock band The Nein at the final End Hits basement show of 2005.

The rest of 'this week', as well as a dial613 special announcement, will be posted by Wednesday. This mysterious announcement, which is in your best interests, involves a 'lottery' of sorts. And that lame hint is the only one you'll be getting.

M - 12.18.06
Auto Racing* with Pelt, The Ether*, and Andrea Simms-Karp*, at Zaphod's
-->Auto Racing - (myspace)
The Nein with Relief Maps*, at End Hits

* denotes local act

Malajube will hopefully have more than a bicycle as means of transportation.

Text may or may not be filled in soon, enjoy the mp3s in the meantime.

What shows are you set on seeing this week?

M - 12.11.06
My Canvas* with Raein* and Susan File*, at Zaphod's

W - 12.13.06
The Krugger Brothers with Casey Comeau & The Centretown Wilderness Club*, at Maverick's
Malajube with Melissa Laveaux*, at Zaphod's
-->Malajube - Le Métronome (website, myspace)
Mr. Plow with Four-Stroke*, Valveenus, and This Girl Fights!, at Café Dekcuf

Th - 12.14.06
Jon-Rae & The River, at The Black Sheep Inn
-->Jon-Rae & The River - Just One More (website, myspace)
Patrick Watson with Stephen St.-Pierre*, at Zaphod's

F - 12.15.06
The Bush Pilots* with The Town Cryers* and The Semantics*, at Zaphod's
Gentleman Reg with Amos The Transparent*, at The Black Sheep Inn (CANCELLED, oops)
-->Gentleman Reg - The Boyfriend Song (website, myspace)
The Slip (CD release) with Land Of Talk and The Lovely Feathers, at Barrymore's
-->The Slip - Children Of December (website, myspace)

Sa - 12.16.06
Books On Books* with Poorfolk* and Mit City, at Barrymore's
Fiftymen* with Brock Zeman* and Joel Williams, at The Black Sheep Inn
-->Fiftymen - Whiskey & Lulu (website)
The Reverb Syndicate* with The Solid Senders* and Havoc, at Irene's Pub
The Lovely Feathers with Jetplanes Of Abraham*, Baron & Lengthy, Bangkok*, Good Night Knights, at Maverick's
-->The Lovely Feathers - In The Valley (website, myspace)
-->Jetplanes Of Abraham - Not Tonight (website, myspace)

* denotes local act

The viewfinder is not even big enough to capture all of Jim Bryson's ego-bloated head.

This latter-half-of-the-week in Ottawa is highlighted by local Jim Bryson's two-night stand at the Black Sheep Inn.
He's just been voted in by the ever-knowledgeable readers of the Ottawa Xpress as this city's best folk-type person; and while dial613 was really hoping it wouldn't go to Mr. Bryson's head, it appears as though it already has.
So go see him on either Friday (with the nationally broadcasted for 30 seconds at a time Andrew Vincent) or Saturday (with Kelp honcho JD Bartlett), before he moves to Iceland and plays only private performances with instruments built by the native peoples of that land (...or something to that effect).
(note: there is a bus going up to Wakefield for the Saturday show, check here for details)

Also this week, Cornwall alt-rock vets Barstool Prophets stop by the city on their mini-reunion tour, playing their first shows since they broke up back last millenia. Ottawa's Joshua Morin Band takes care of warming up the crowd.
Other out-of-town highlights include allgirl alt-rockers Magneta Lane and the slightly freaky Les Georges Leningrad.

What shows are you looking forward to this week?

Th - 12.07.06
Idle Sons with Marianas Trench and Tweak*, at Maverick's
The Soirée* with Flotilla and Acres*, at Zaphod's
-->The Soireé - Clear And Colourblind (website, myspace)

F - 12.08.06
Dear Judah* with Male Nurse* and Stepehen J. Adamyk*, at The Manx
-->Dear Judah - With Skycraper Fists (myspace)
Jim Bryson* with Andrew Vincent*, at The Black Sheep Inn
-->Jim Bryson - The Wishes Pile Up (website, myspace)
-->Andrew Vincent - Snow Shake (website, myspace)
Magneta Lane with Die Mannequin, at Zaphod's
Sick Fits* with Sweet Janes* and Jet Five, at Babylon

Sa - 12.09.06
Barstool Prophets with The Joshua Morin Band*, at Barrymore's
Donkeypunch* with Rocketface*, at The Thirsty Toad
Dynasty with Dopamine*, at Zaphod's
Jim Bryson* with J.D. Bartlett* and John Higney*, at The Black Sheep Inn

Su - 12.10.06
Akpopli with Baobab Tree, at The Black Sheep Inn
For The Mathematics* with Money Money*, at Café Dekcuf
-->For The Mathematics - This Transient (website, myspace)
Les Georges Leningrad with Duchess Says, at Babylon

* denotes local act

That's a pretty sweet shirt Sarah Hallman's got there.

Monday night, think about taking in local chanteuse Sarah Hallman's CD release show, happening at The Black Tomato in the Byward Market (11 George Street).
The self-titled album, released on Kitchener label Busted Flat Records, has Hallman playing with a number of local namesyoumayknow, including Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire), Mike Feuerstack (Wooden Stars/Kepler/Snailhouse), and John Tielli (Clark).

If you haven't actually heard a song of hers, you may still already know Sarah Hallman as the sweet and kindofhaunting female voice in the Hilotrons track Oh My; if not, you can go have a looksee and listen over at YouTube to get an idea of what she's all about.
And, to get even more of an idea, you can grab a 30-second sample of every track on the record from Sarah Hallman's website, which dial613 thinks should be enough to convince you to go see the show.

There's also been a bit of Blogslob™: Largehearted Boy featured one of her songs back in September, so you can take that for what it's worth, which is probably at least a little in terms of having a beyond-local listener base. High-five!

This Monday:

M - 12.04.06
Sarah Hallman* (CD release) with Lessons* (aka Jeremy Gara), at The Black Tomato
-->Sarah Hallman - Grey Jubilee (from The Hollowings) (website, myspace)
The City Above* with Pointing At Airplanes*, Elephantoms*, and Smoke Judo*, at Zaphod's

* denotes local act

note: 'this week' will be up by Thursday morning.

As The Poets Affirm, they're pretty good. (photo credit: amfraser)

2 local album releases kick off the weekend:

• As The Poets Affirm release their new album, Awake, at Barrymore's, with dial613-approved openers SunParlour Players. Word on the street is that Josh Groban was a huge influence for the new APTA album. But that street is located right outside dial613Factory, so take that for what it's worth.

• En Garde!, a duo who've each had their hands in the Ottawa scene cookie jar as part of acts like Organized Rhyme and Ignition, put out their debut record at Zaphod's. dial613 strongly recommends you go on over to their myspace to have a listen to I'm Gonna Love You.