After four albums, Sammy Kohn split from the group to work as Canadian promo rep for the Toronto offices of Boston-based roots label, Rounder Records. Musically, he hooked up with John Hornak and Michael Owen from reaulaudiowavetransfer. The new partnership took off instantly and resulted in a new band, the experimental trio Avenue One. The loss of their drummer and original member would alter the band's songwriting and sound. With Kohn gone, the various Watchmen hooked up their Macintosh computers with Pro Tools software and began experimenting with samples, backbeats and tape loops to create a collection of electronic tracks shot through with the band's trademark melodies. This change in direction divided fans and critics. At this time, EMI Music Canada wanted to release a greatest hits package with one or two new songs. The band fought to include all 8 of the new songs they had completed. As a compromise, the new album became a 2-CD set but was priced as a single CD. Disc One, dubbed Fast Forward, is a set of 8 new songs produced by Rhys Fulber and DJ Iain, and also includes a remix of their song "Stereo" from Silent Radar. The songs feature programmed beats, and synthesizer sounds, a first for the band. Disc Two, dubbed Rewind, includes 9 of the band's best songs, culled from their previous four studio records. In keeping with the band's embrace of multimedia and the internet which began with Silent Radar, both discs contained multimedia components, including photos, video clips, and technology allowing fans to remix the song “Slomotion”. Both CDs also provided a link to a private website which could only be accessible to those who bought the CD.
Reception
The album's lead single, "Absolutely Anytime", was released on August 20, 2001 and was moderately successful. The album was released in the first week of October 2001 and the bargain-priced double-CD set sold 7,908 copies in its first week of release. This placed it at No. 6 on the Canadian Albums Charts. This was an improvement over the first week sales of the band's previous album Silent Radar in April 1998 which sold 4,985 copies in its first week. The album was certified Gold in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association on October 16, 2001. The band made videos for "Slomotion" and "Holiday " in 2002, both of which saw good rotation on MuchMusic.
Tour
The band went on an extensive tour to support the new album. Band members Joey Serlin, Daniel Greaves, and Ken Tizzard were joined by Winnipegger Ryan Ahoff on Drums. In addition to playing bass, Tizzard also acted as the group's DJ by working a turntable and other “digital doodads”. He took up the name OBScene to commemorate his new DJ skills. Throughout the tour, the band continued to use the internet to promote their efforts. For example, the December 20, 2001 concert at the Congress Centre in Ottawa was webcast over the internet. Following the promotion and tour for Slomotion, the band members went off to separate projects. However, as 2002 became 2003, the band members decided the band had run its course. The decision to fold the band came about not because of musical differences or nasty infighting, but because of a bad case of creative stagnation. Following the tour in support of Slomotion, the band members felt that their enthusiasm was more on the other projects and it was forced for The Watchmen, and it wasn't fair for the band or the fans.
