Born Ruffians, The Sadies top music picks in and around Ottawa
Jessa Runciman highlights the Neat In the Woods music festival in Burnstown

Born Ruffians @ Ritual, Friday
Born Ruffians have offered a couple of glimpses so far of their upcoming album, Ruff, and while the Toronto group's new singles possess the signature frenetic quirk that's defined them from the beginning, they're also taking that sound somewhere new. A listen to the latest track, "Don't Live Up," shows a clearer sophistication at work behind the dripping, jangling guitar lines and Luke Lalonde's elastic voice. In advance of Ruff's October 2nd release, Born Ruffians have posted a video art project online featuring 12 hours of VHS "behind-the-scenes" material. Each couple of seconds features a different frame from the tape, meaning to watch the entire thing from start to finish (over a million frames) would take you 30 days. Unless you've got that kind of spare time, it's likely better to just see the band live on Friday night. They're playing at Ritual along with fellow Torontonians Weaves. 9pm, $16.
Neat In the Woods festival @ Burnstown, Friday to Sunday

Poorfolk @ House of TARG, Saturday
It's a busy weekend in Ottawa, with a long list of possible ways to spend Saturday night. The Record Centre is celebrating a full year in its new location, and marking the occasion with a weekend-long party that features Les Petits Fours and The Heavy Medicine Band on Saturday. Over at Babylon, The Souljazz Orchestra kicks off a 30-day, 10-country tour to promote the group's new album Resistance. Then, there's a reunion show for followers of local music lore. Back in the days of listening to bands on Myspace, Poorfolk used to deliver 90s-style indie-rock guitar riffs, heartfelt lyrics and rousing choruses to crowds at local venues. The group released a couple of albums and toured with the likes of Of Montreal and The Dears before, as they put it, geographical constraints and "the push and pull of growing up" got in the way. While some members have continued to make music (Jon Pearce and Matt Godin are now behind Winchester Warm) Poorfolk went on an indefinite hiatus — until now. The band plays House of TARG on Saturday alongside another reunited local group, Acres, and instrumental outfit Species at Risk. (Expect to get a preview of material from an upcoming Poorfolk EP.) 9pm, $10.
Flowers & Fire @ Pressed, Sunday

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