Sled Island Day 3: Mainstage + Les Savy Fav

If you were to happen and look around at the lobby in which you are sitting here at WHYH, you might notice four other people in the room with you. One is a kid on a cellphone who can't stop telling his friend all about his personal life over the music playing, two are doing the cuddly couple thing and paying no mind to anything other than their grossly inappropriate PDA, and the third is a crazy homeless guy wearing a box hat who just happened to find his way in when he smelled the mini donuts.

If you've been to more than one outdoor/festival concert, you might find these figures familiar; after all, they're ALWAYS THERE. No matter how hard you try, how many cool people attend a show, these four will find a way in.

Did I mention the incredible police presence at the entrance and exit? No? Look again. Yes, it's not unusual that you didn't notice beforehand; they managed to quietly come in when you were distracted by the box hat hobo just to stand around, looking intimidating. They're sure you have drugs (you probably don't but they'll never believe you telling them that someone could go to an outdoor festival just to enjoy the music).

Yes, outdoor festivals have their drawbacks. But, to be honest, the minute Fucked Up started playing, all these manifold distractions were forgotten in a wave of blistering guitar and vocal awesome. Within five seconds, I'd forgotten everything except rocking out as hard as possible; within one song I'd added the performance to my list of "so awesome live that you can't exactly believe it just happened" bands; within three songs, lead singer Pink Eyes was climbing up on the framework of the stage; four songs in, and I forgot that I was wearing open-toed sandals and ran into the ensuing mosh-hug when he climbed out into the audience (that one I kind-of wish I HADN'T forgotten, but I guess there has to be disadvantages to completely losing your shite somewhere). The band played through most of their set with Pink Eyes moshing and singing with everyone in the audience, pouring free Dr. Pepper all over himself, slowly getting progressively more naked (until finishing the performance completely naked onstage whilst covering the inappropriate bits with the pair of shorts he was attempting to re-don), aind in general making it a performance not soon to be forgotten.

Oh, yeah, the music was pretty awesome too, I guess.

But in all seriousness, Sled Island Day 3 was a day of uniformly hard-rocking bands exceeding expectations musically and performance-wise; from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists' aggressive punk-edged performance, to The Thermals breaking the sky with their awesome and causing a sudden rain shower, to Built to Spill kicking it in the sun and ending said rain (also, playing multiple tracks from my all-time favourite "Perfect From Now On", as well as finishing up the set with the immortal "Carry The Zero"), Olympic Plaza Main Stage was uniformly and incredibly unbelievable.

Afterwards, I headed out to the Distillery to catch Turbo Fruits and Les Savy Fav; once again, the club sound guy was an unbelievable tool who seemed convinced that by playing crappy metal at full volume he might convert the oh-so-ignorant show-goers of the error of their ways. After this, I highly hope to never meet these people in person, lets I be tempted to do something terrible, but it says something that the minute Turbo Fruits, and then Les Savy Fav took the stage, my ears seemed to magically recover, my tiredness fled, and I was once again completely overcome by just how incredibly and unexpectedly godly a band can be live, even when you generally like their recorded material.

Now if tonight is HALF as incredible as the last three days have been, I can safely say that this year's Sled Island has been the best festival, and quite possibly the best musical, experience of my life.

~Ju

Sled Island Day 2: Mini Mansions, Women, The Posies

Day 2 of Sled Island saw us at The Republik, a local venue with a complicated history reading as a local, lamer version of the very movement its name implies, that has nevertheless re-emerged as one of the most likely to host touring indie bands. Larger than most other local pubs/bars/clubs, it's the natural choice for shows likely to attract big audiences (such as The Melvins on July 3rd, and Wolf Parade on July 22nd). The layout is relatively well-suited for accommodating a large audience while allowing more than half of them to actually see what's happening on stage (a feat not many venues can boast of). Now, if only their sound guys would rise to the occasion and not mix every instrument into a high-volume soup, I could wish for nothing more.

The combination of Deerhoof closing out the bill, and local hometown heroes Women playing earlier in the evening made for a large turnout, even for the first band to hit the stage, which is a personal relief. After Deerhoof's set the night before, the opening set came in second for biggest surprise of the festival so far.

Mini Mansions are a trio from Los Angeles, California, and one of the incredible number of high-level bands to hail from that state at this year's fest (such as the incredible Sleepy Sun, who we featured here on WHYH earlier this year). I had taken a cursory listen of their myspace and deemed them decent enough to be worth watching, at least.

Their recorded material barely prepared me to see them live; on record, they could pass for a dreamy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamons"-era Beatles, with a slight turn in the vein of recent successes such as Fleet Foxes. Live, they are a force to be reckoned with; energetic, aggressive, melodic and dissonant by turns in the methodical manner that only the best bands seem to understand: noise takes composition the same way melodies do. They played their hearts out, even when doing an incredible cover of Blondie's "Heart of Glass". Bless them for having the cheapest merch at the show, too.

Nest came Women; one of the best bands Calgary has to offer, their playing was tight and energetic, melodies coming in and out of the ensuing wall of noise as well as ever. The only complaint I had (which was not their fault at all) comes back to the sound mixing I mentioned earlier: the vocals were even more difficult to hear than they should have been due to the sound guy mixing everything loud enough to distort beyond what was required. Sure, Women are known for their lo-fi/noise rock aesthetic, and for playing a loud and rocking show, but in this one instance it actually affected the songs, which was a bit disappointing.

This trend continued with The Posies as well; a legendary Seattle band reunited, with a long and well-respected history. We ended up having to leave our great spots near the stage and go to the back of the club just to be able to enjoy their music, because it seems that after Women's set, the sound guy had adjusted everything by turning it all UP; I'm amazed that the vocalists Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer managed to make their singing heard over the mix; to be honest, the blistering volume made it difficult for us to enjoy what would have otherwise been a wonderful set. Mind you, I could just be getting old and senile, but I'll admit, I'm all for loud music, just as long as you can still hear and enjoy everything that's going on.


~Ju


Mini Mansions
On Myspace Music

Women
On Myspace Music

The Posies
On Myspace Music

Sled Island Day 1: Lorrie Matheson, Wild Choir, Deerhoof

It's that time of year again; the week or so at the end of June that every semi-cultured person in Calgary prays for all year, and the memory of which they then hold onto with both hands during the ensuing horrors of Stampede.

This is the fourth annual Sled Island Music, Film, and Art Festival in Calgary, and possibly its most mature incarnation yet, will well-rounded and incredible lineups in all three areas of interest. The festival has always been great from its very first year, but it seems to finally be settling into its most fully developed and finalized form this year.

And if the kick-off show is any indication, we're in for an absolutely incredible four days.

As anyone who's read WHYH's Sled Island coverage before would know, our favourite venue of the fest is probably Central United Church. Sure, the usual Christian accommodations leave much to be desired in the form of physical (or spinal) comfort; at least there were cushions this year.

No, Central United shines because it has that natural advantage that a sandstone/wood church will have over many a modern club/pub/venue: considered (and excellent) acoustics. Also, the strange combination of independent/avant-garde/rock music and an atmosphere designed to give a feeling of "sacredness" result in a feeling that whatever you witness there will be special.

Last night is no exception; in fact, it currently vies for one of the top spots on my list of all-time greatest shows I've ever had the good fortune of witnessing.

Lorrie Matheson opened the evening, starting strong and not letting up. For those unfamiliar with him, he's a local singing/songwriting institution, with a great lyrics, and excellent rock/bluesy/psych-at-times sound...he describes himself as Western Swing, Shoegazer, and New Wave all rolled into one. As this plethora of genre comparisons might indicate, trying to pin down an exact description of his music is perhaps a futile quest.

Nest came Wild Choir (formerly known as Georgiana Starlington), a Brooklyn group with an interesting 50's-vibe garage rock/surf rhythm vibe and an excellent drummer; I found myself looking at him most of the time, truthfully, which was probably an excellent set-up for what was to come.

See, we were all having a decent time, and then Deerhoof appeared and blasted all previous comparisons, bands, experiences, and expectations out of the water and into the oblivion of outer space.

There are very few bands of which I can say their live show has fully taken all my expectation and thoroughly surpassed every single one with cute Japanese vocals, jaw-dropping start-stop-on-a-dime instrumental proficiency, and possibly the most demonically possessed drummer I have ever seen play (and you may remember, I have some experience with possessed drummers). Recorded material does them no justice, can never describe just how absolutely unbelievable Deerhoof is live. They were bigger than the room, bigger than the audience, bigger than the festival itself.

After about three songs, Greg Saunier stood up from the drum kit he had been pounding into oblivion and proceeded to tell us that we were an incredible audience, in an endearingly awkward and hilarious/rambling manner, ending with "I just realized the number of people I was addressing, and suddenly got stage fright; you'll notice that when I get stage fright, I tend to express myself in a condensed way." Satomi Matsuzaki, not to be outdone, proceeded to be as adorable and endearing as an incredibly small, charming, and energetic female bassist/singer executing the occasional Para-Para routine can possibly be.

And just when we all believed the band couldn't possibly amaze us any more, they all switched instruments and proceeded to further amaze us with their versatility and talent.

Other bands are lucky to have one member with the effortless charisma that every single member of Deerhoof seems to have in spades. Not many bands could get away with playing not only one, but TWO cover songs in their set, let alone classic songs like "Pinhead" by The Ramones and "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat, let alone with such aplomb. Or pulling out the grand piano in the church for the encore...

In the end, we just went to eat something and grab a drink at the Unicorn, because we felt it just wouldn't be fair to whichever band we saw next to hold them to that kind of comparison.

All in all, an excellent night; I can only hope that more surprises like this are to come.

~Ju


Lorrie Matheson
On Myspace Music
On The Web

Wild Choir
On Myspace Music

Deerhoof
On Myspace Music
On Kill Rock Stars

Feature: Sleepy Sun

The usual apologies aside, I figured I'd just jump right into this one by explaining a little bit how things happen behind the scenes here at WHYH. It goes a little something like this:

I get a torrential flood of e-mail in my inbox. Some of it is music-related. Most are mass newsletter-type deals from various indie record labels, half of which I never signed up for (and, oddly, a lot of them are from the UK). And, I'll be honest, these press release-type e-mails probably only get read about 50% of the time.

Why?

Because I do this on my free time, and as such I don't think it should feel like work to check out a band rec. And because personally, newsletters feel like someone typed up a generic thing and hit the "send" button, then clocked out, went home, and didn't think about it until Monday. Like any other job.

Thus, the fastest way for a band to get my attention is a personal recommendation/suggestion. One specifically addressed to me. Even something as simple as "possible feature?" will get me interested, because I know the person writing the e-mail has actually taken the time to promote said band in a way that demonstrates that they actually give a crap.

Wouldn't you rather listen to a band that someone lovingly cares about enough to write personalized e-mails to even the smallest music blogs?

I thought so.

Such is the case with Sleepy Sun. Oddly, they don't seem like the type of band that would need such personal devotion on the part of their reps to sell them; a Californian band (already a head-start) with an album coming out on ATP June 1st (yes, that ATP), and their tour schedule reads like a map of locations off the North American continent I would go to if I didn't owe the government way too much money for deigning to educate myself. They've got a massive early Sonic Youth-type guitar sound that alone should be enough to convert even the most jaded listeners. I would even venture to state that Sleepy Sun is my favourite new (to me) band of 2010, music that I legitimately like without justification by comparison.

Yes, this seems like the premier example of a band where your average rep would just think a batch promo to half the music blogs on the internet would be enough.

Even so, there it was: a personal request that I check out their upcoming gig at this year's Sled Island and hopefully dig them enough to maybe mention them in the wrap-up. How could I NOT go out of my way to take a listen, even when the added download link didn't work?

I'm glad I did; songs like "White Dove" and "Red/Black" are right up my alley; grungy edged things with enough knowledge of composition to keep their dissonance/raunchy guitar from falling into chaos, and enough hidden melodic hooks to keep the balance interesting. If their upcoming album, Fever, is anything like this, I'll definitely be picking it up.

For those in the Calgary area (or, you know, anywhere in Alberta, you really have no excuse), these guys are playing Sled Island July 1st @ The Telus World of Science...a venue which I personally wish would host bands more often.



Sleepy Sun

On the Web: http://www.sleepysun.net

On Myspace Music: http://www.myspace.com/sleepysun


~J

[Live] Okkervil River

Walking into Central United Church last Thursday, I couldn’t help but be overcome with a sense of pride. For a city that, three years ago didn’t even have one half-decent indie music festival, Calgary has matured quite a bit musically. As we shuffled into a pew near the back of the church, I paused to reflect on how lucky I felt. Okkervil River (THE Okkervil River) was playing this tiny little venue in my almost culturally devoid city. For a moment I considered kneeling and saying a prayer (God bless you Zak Pashak. God bless your children. God bless your children’s children.) but instead I decided to take advantage of my situation and watch The Consonant C play the end of their set. After a couple more opening bands, (all of which Ju has already covered, so I won’t bore you with my impressions) Okkervil took the stage.

A month ago, if you’d asked me whether or not I thought a church was an ideal local for a band like Okkervil River to play, I probably would have said something along the lines of “I’d rather watch them play in a bar.” However, if at any point in my life I’d actually said that, then I would now be forced to devote the next forty years of my life to discovering a way to travel back in time so that I could kick myself in the nads.

Okkervil’s set began with their latest single, “The President’s Dead” and from there on in they played every damn one of their songs that I wanted to hear live. From the epically soaring song “The Latest Toughs” to the introspective suicide tune “John Allyn Smith Sails” and finally finishing with the spaghetti western themed “Westfall”. Will Sheff’s voice rang out across the chapel and perhaps it was just the setting but the band’s performance seemed to take on a hallowed air.

I’ve heard Okkervil River described as a great many things in my time. People have affixed them with the labels of Indie, Folk, Country, Alternative Country, and straight up Rock. At one point I would probably have affixed them with a label myself, but after seeing them play live, I can honestly say that none of the above labels can even begin to describe their sound. Not to mention the fact that Will Sheff’s lyrics are beyond poetic. Their weight live transcends anything that you could hear in a recording, making these Austen, Texas darlings a must-see.

Check them out this fall on their tour for their new album, The Stand-Ins, available September 9th in the USA and Canada and on October 13th in the UK and Europe.
09-12 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
09-13 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
09-14 Madison, WI - Barrymore Theater
09-15 Fargo, ND - Aquarium
09-17 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
09-18 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards
09-19 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09-21 San Francisco, CA - Treasure Island Festival
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
09-24 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
09-26 El Paso, TX - The Blue Iguana
09-26-28 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
09-30 New Orleans, LA - The Republic
10-1 Birmingham, AL - Matthew's Bar & Grill
10-2 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10-4 Richmond, VA - The National
10-6 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-7 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10-8 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub
10-9 Millvale, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
10-10 Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall
10-11 Montreal, QC - Les Saints
10-12 Toronto, ON - Phoenix

~Phil

[Live] Sled Island: Consonant C, Mother Mother, Chad Vangaalen

How to describe it the atmosphere inside Central United Church, a sandstone building right on the C-train line, where the Consonant C are in the middle of their opening set. The church is smaller, but beautiful, in no way diminished by the sketchier area that the surrounding buildings have become. There is thrumming, a sense of anticipation; coupled with the sound coming from the church itself, it's almost tangible.

We slip into a pew; late, but glad to have made it to the sounds of beautiful harmonies and an intriguing assembly of instruments. The Consonant C only play four more songs before dashing off, but their set is endearing and bright-eyed in the best sense of the words. Their music also makes it clear as to why the venue was chosen: the acoustics are wonderful. We could probably have heard the bands without any amplification at all.

Next is another local band Racoon; containing Dillon Whitfield, of Jane Vain fame (at least locally, anyway ^^;), they are definitely noisier and more rock-oriented than the Consonant C; after a solid set, they call on several friends from the wings (a few of which the savvy Calgarian music fan might recognize from several other excellent local bands) to do an endlessly enjoyable finale that leaves the audience in a state of excitement even after the last hand-claps and percussive beats have faded.

After some delay, the stage is then graced by the wonderful Mother Mother; the band jumps right into things, working up enthusiasm and energy with songs "Dirty Town" and "Touch Up" from their debut album of the same name. Something of a surprise is the number of new songs played; when coupled with their announcement of the forthcoming sophomore album O My Heart, however, the move makes sense. Overall, while some fans might be disappointed at not getting to hear specific favourites played live, the set is energetic, at times funny ("We've never played in a church before," guitarist Ryan Guldemond states matter-of-factly, "we thought it would be more...spiritual somehow. Not that that wasn't criticism...*after the audience chuckle at the sharp comment* Sorry, it was meant positively. Oh well...we're going to hell."), and incredibly enjoyable on the whole.

It was at this point that we faced a terrible decision: Okkervil River were to follow Mother Mother. Yes, the excellent Okkervil River, playing in a small and intimate venue like Central United Church. However, at the same time, Chad Vangaalen, local artist-musician superhero and champion of the home-made drum machine, was slated to play a set at the Telus World of Science, in the big domed theatre on the top floor. For those unfamiliar with the structure of this building, let me describe it as such: the enormous dome is a screen, and Chad would be projecting his animations during his performance.

In the end, two of us opted to see Chad and catch Okkervil at Lollapalooza, while the rest stayed on to watch them. So we hopped on the C-train and made it to the Science Centre in time to catch the tail end of Portico's set, while getting decent seats for Chad's performance.

And what a performance it was. As always, Chad is incredibly funny and charming to watch, infusing his performance with an air of unstudied humanism that is lost to many more staid artists. His offbeat personality is just as much a part of the show as his excellent songs; the instruments and setup are incredibly homemade and precarious, containing a perticular delight that I can only compare with looking at the impossible physics and angles of structures in a Tim Burton film. Chad taks odds and ends- a sound sample taken from under train tracks at a downtown bridge, a strangely uneven beat on his home-constructed, prototype drum machine ("I haven't had time to work on it, so the prototype has sort of become...well, it is what it is, I guess," he apologizes in his easygoing way), a scrap of melody, the pick of a banjo or strum of a mini-guitar - and weaves them into what could almost be described as faery gold. A child-like magic that can't be described or communicated with words or even recording, because it has everything to do with being there, with the moment as it happens.

As to the animations, they seem at first strange and above all, random. Chad even plays it off, saying with some degree of surprise, "I'm really happy that you guys made it out to the show tonight, especially with so many other good bands playing. Instead, you get to watch me and this stoner video..." With a little bit of his usual self-depreciating humour, he even turns minor sound problems into a part of the performance ("Sorry about this...damn, I totally had this all planned out in my basement, and here it's all falling apart. Apparently, I'm half the man I am in my basement onstage.")

When the music's playing, however, the bizarre animations seem to fall into place, fitting into the greater performance as flawlessly as the other odds and ends that find a home under the greater mantle of Chad's musical and artistic genius. The fact that several of the songs that he plays can't be found on either of his recorded albums speaks to his endless and awe-inspiring creativity, without question making him one of Calgary's brightest artistic and musical talents.

~Ju


The Consonant C
On Myspace Music
On New Music Canada

Racoon
On Myspace Music

Mother Mother
On Myspace Music
On the Web

Chad Vangaalen
On Myspace Music
On Flemish Eye Records

[Local Feature] Intro: Sled Island

For those who have been following the map thus far, Sled Island isn't news, exactly.

However, we here at WHYH are fully aware of how large the internet is. What is obvious and well-known in one area can be totally unheard of in another; local heroes who get tons of coverage and credit in one city might be virtually unknown or less appreciated in places where people can download a few tracks, but not necessarily witness the magic of said bands live.

So, with this fact in mind, I believe a quick rundown of what, exactly, the Sled Island festival is, is in order. An introduction to the festival (now in it's second year, and growing), before we dive into the thing head-first.

First things first: there is, in fact, no place called Sled Island here in Calgary. The real Sled Island is a small island in Northern Alberta where the Cree used to get the birch trees to create toboggans; no one has actually HEARD of it unless you count Zak Pashak (the Sled Island festival founder)...and even he only heard of it when googling interesting names of places in Alberta.

Despite this, the name does serve its intended purpose: it implies an air of fun and youthful energy, which is exactly what Sled Island has by the bucketful. While other older, more established music festivals may strive for a specific ambience, or follow a similar successful template (see Virginfest and Lollapalooza, to name a few), Sled Island's festival identity is something of a breath of fresh air. Modeled after Austin's SXSW, it borrows the showcase structure, but never feels like it's imitating or trying to be anything but a distinctively "Calgary" event.

Very much, Sled Island is about communicating exactly what that means to a community that often sees the city as a once-a-year rodeo and home of the white cowboy hat. While bringing in international-grade talent (not measured in record sales, but honest-to-god musical ability), the festival also seeks to give exposure to some of our most exciting and vibrant local artists, both visual and musical. Overall, Sled Island is about building a Calgarian identity that is more accurate and less stifling than the outdated one that often leads international sources to patronize or underestimate the city as a whole (witness, for example, the Virginfest lineup sent to town >.>).

With this in mind, I hope I can communicate at least to some extent the indescribable feeling in the air at the performances this weekend. A humming excitement that gets inside your bones.

[Live] Sled Island Kickoff: No Age + guests

So, much like everything in life, personal music politics (yes, even those! Wait, it might just be me that has those, but anyways, I digress) are subject to slight hypocrisy every now and again.

"What does this have to do with No Age?" you might wonder.

See also: "What's this I hear about you guys doing endorsement deals?"

See also: "Is this going to be another long anti-Pitchfork rant? Because then I'm leaving."

The answer to all those points, and more, lies beyond this magical gateway of wonder you see just to your left. The one edged with delicious feedback and vocal layers and sprinkled with a touch of avant-noise dust. No...you missed it. Your other left. A bit more...closer...too far! THERE!

Once the distracting faeries and candy-coloured fog has cleared (magical gateways always seem to have this, though at least this one has no annoying rhyming jingle accompaniment), you see a crowded, dimly-lit rock pub with a small stage set across from the booths. There is a sign reading "No Beatniks" above the bar. You might recognize this place...after all, you've been here before, if only in that Sunset Rubdown live review that WHYH did way back.

The place is Broken City; the DJ sucks, except when someone temporarily distracted him from his 70's/80's songs long enough to throw on Mudhoney's "Suck You Dry" for an all-too-brief reprieve from generic radio rock (this probably didn't happen, but I rather like the idea of some mysterious caped crusader sweeping in to knock out the guy that thinks that the crowd at a No Age show are quite obviously fans of Heart-ripoff bands >.>).

You are there, very much because of the force in indie music who you have sworn to revile and loathe for all eternity (especially after that shameful and pathetically shallow-minded review of the new Wolf Parade album...more on that later >.>).

Yes, I owe Pitchfork for my own personal discovery of No Age; I'll give credit where credit is due. This is where the hypocrisy comes in: though I think their outlook towards music, their elitist posturing, and the crippling nature of said outlook on the state of indie music today is somewhat as ridiculous as the gargantuan influence of dinosaur Rolling Stone was back in the day, I generally don't disagree with them when they say something is pretty good. The exception to this is when they gave Justin Timberlake's Futuresex album an 8+ score, whereupon I decided that the blog's fancy touring budget was obviously funded by nefarious means. Apparently, they do endorsement deals too (once again, more on that later >.>).

Anyways, this is ruining the mood, so ignore it as a long, Shakespearean Aside.

The opening acts are perfect warm-ups; excellent local band The Dirty Dirty North (ex. Pants Situation, with the same hooks, more percussion, and more moxie) bring the rock like only they know how, getting the crowd energized and pumped, while Toronto-based progressive no-wavers dd/mm/yyyy (pronounced Day Month Year) clearly remind everyone that anyone expecting traditional verse/chorus/verse song structures devoid of layered effects had better go home. The pummeling of soundscapes immersing an at-capacity bar in sonic texture until you feel it like a solid presence in the air around you is also a good lead-in to the sensory attack of No Age.

Between the arresting energy and passion of the two men onstage, the fever-dream of montage images projected over the scene with lo-fi pixelation and fragmentation, and the kick-to-the-chest of tightly interwoven effects, feedback, vocals, thrashing guitar, percussion, and sheer volume , one doesn't know where to focus, where to look, or listen...it's let go and be taken over by the experience, or perish trying to fight it.

And truthfully, it's a hell of a lot more fun to give in and, to borrow drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt's expression, "lose your shit".

An hour and a half later, partially deaf, disheveled, and feeling almost as if you've been hit with a wave of sound before nearly drowning in it, you leave the tiny bar, a big stupid grin slapped across your face. There's no way you could regret it.

And this is only day one of a four-day multivenue sprawling festival curated by none other than Pavement's Scott Kannberg (i.e. Spiral Stairs) featuring some of the brightest local and not-so-local talents around (Chad Vangaalen to Mother Mother to Wire to Mogwai).

I can safely say I've never been quite so happy that I live in Calgary.


~Ju

P.S: the endorsement deals aren't true. Not a word. Well...unless you count being offered a free Zune in order to market-test the thing. However, in my defense, I state that any and all opinion stated on here in relation to the product will be completely honest. I'm quite neutral when it comes to mp3 players, being a vinyl-junkie and all. XD

Dirty Dirty North
http://myspace.com/thedirtydirtynorth

dd/mm/yyyy
http://myspace.com/ddmmyyyy

No Age
http://www.myspace.com/nonoage