SLED ISLAND STAFF PICKS!


CRAIG'S PICKS: Blitzen Trapper, The Mae Shi, Qui, Still Flyin'
DEREK'S PICKS: Broken West, No Age, The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo, Locals!
DREW'S PICKS:
Chad VanGaalen, The Dodos, Grizzly Bear
RICHARD'S PICKS: Beans, Crookers, RZA
SHAWN'S PICKS: BBQ, Drive-By Truckers, The Royal Canadian Legion #1 Shows!, The Cripple Creek Fairies, The Ostrich
TWYLA'S PICKS: Chixdiggit, The Paperbacks, Bike Riding From Venue to Venue (With Soundtrack Suggestions!)
ZAK'S PICKS: Curtis Santiago, The Pat & Pete Show, Tegan and Sara


CRAIG'S PICKS 

BLITZEN TRAPPER
MP3: Wild Mountain Nation 
MP3: Country Caravan 
Blitzen Trapper
For this song alone:  



THE MAE SHI
MP3: Lamb and Lion 
MP3: Boys in the Attic 
The Mae Shi
The first in a series of bands that kicked my ass at sxsw - bought the record and it's solid all the way through - except for song 8, it sucked, but that was on purpose.



QUI
MP3: Freeze 
MP3: Apartment
Qui
Dave Yow of the Jesus Lizard is in a new band?  c'mon!



STILL FLYIN'
MP3: Sticking My Head in Ice Water
MP3: The Art of Jamming 
Still Flyin'
I loves me a 'fun at all costs' kinda band, and Still Flyin' is definitely one on those bands.

 
DEREK'S PICKS

BROKEN WEST
MP3: Down in the Valley
MP3: Perfect Games (from their forthcoming album)

Broken West
One of my favourite bands of the past decade and they only have one album (so far) was a soundtrack to one of my favourite road trips ever. Raleigh-Durham, NC, Athens, Ga and Washington DC in late summer, their debut "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" was in constant rotation. And now, a few years later, I still play it once a week, and it effortlessly evokes lazy afternoons among magnolia trees, the smell of rosemary in the evening air and the great people that make a trip more than just a vacation. Sentimental? Sure - but isn't that one of the marks of brilliant pop?  

And then, just to make sure there's no questioning their brilliance they go and cover Tegan and Sara and almost - almost - transcend the original.


NO AGE
MP3: Eraser    
MP3: Teen Creeps
No Age
A two piece that can make noise like this just can't be overlooked, and despite their youth, it isn't all just crash and bang, sturm and drang. There's stuff coming in from everywhere, with roots planted seemingly at will - punk, experimental, electronic and pop, all filtered through the duos increasingly skewed vision. Their live performances - along with fellow Sled Island performers Deerhunter - topped best of lists last year and for good reason, as they seem to transport you back to the no wave New York scene - one that likely ceased to exist before they were born. Richard Hell, eat your heart out.
  

YO LA TENGO
MP3: Cherry Chapstick
Yo La Tengo
I can't help myself - I love this band beyond words. One of my greatest triumphs in life was not turning into a blubbering idiot the fist time Ira Kaplan walked into my office at an all too brief job in New York. I felt like I was having an out of body experience, that kind of thing. And trust me - that doesn't happen very often. A few of the reasons I love Yo La Tengo: they can record the same song as bookends on the same record in two different ways (one loud, one quiet) and both versions are note perfect; they get on a radio station called WFMU every year for their annual funding drive and play covers in exchange for donations to the station with no idea going of what they're going to play, as the songs are picked by the callers and yet, somehow, they pull it off (including the infamous call in by fellow sled Island performer Jonathan Richman where they played Speeding Motorcycle with Richman providing vocals over the phone); they do things like the Freewheelin' Acoustic Career Retrospective with a Q&A and are charming as hell in doing so (see the YouTube clip below); they can play 20 minutes of subtle quiet throbbing pop or 20 minutes of noisy, free jazz inspired genius or cover Afrikka Bambaata and never lose your interest once; they named a song after an obscure Simpsons reference AND they occasionally choreograph dance routines for their songs. An absolute, cannot miss, must see at this year's festival. 

 
GIVE IT UP FOR THE LOCALS!
MP3: Jane Vain - These Ghosts
MP3: Smalltown DJs - Strike a Badman
MP3: Women - Black Rice  
Jane Vain
While it might appear like tokenism, it really isn't - Calgary boasts some of the best bands in the country, albeit quietly. Women, Dirty Dirty North, Hot Little Rocket, Smalltown DJs, Matt Masters, The Neighborhood Council, Mantrakid, Jane Vain + the Dark Matter - never before has Calgary seen such breadth and depth in it's scene (and I've been in it for a long time, folks) while consistently remaining inventive, collaborative and interesting. And, perhaps surprisingly, our scene is celebrated perhaps even more outside our city limits than elsewhere: look at Chad Vangaalen's signing to Sub Pop and successful european tours; the Smalltown DJs weekly residency at Mandalay Bay in Vegas; and Woodpigeon's success in the UK and France. They're following in the footsteps of artists who often followed the same path - see Leslie Feist, Chixdiggit and extending to the Visual Arts, peoplelike Sled Island's Wil Murray, Calgary product Geoff McFettridge and well, the list goes on and on. Support your hometown heroes, kids.
 


DREW'S PICKS

CHAD VANGAALEN @ THE SCIENCE CENTRE
MP3: The Gun
MP3: Graveyard
Chad VanGaalen
Chad is simply put rad, he creates music that will bend the shapes in your mind and alter your conscience state. This year's Sled Island performance at the Planetarium is sure to warp the galaxies around us and may even cause a Black Hole opening for a rare Black Mold set. Don't miss this incredibly creative artist perform a variety of staff favorites and unheard of gems, all the while projecting his latest animations onto the dark sky above.

 

THE DODOS
MP3: Jodi

MP3: Walking
The Dodos
I just met the Dodos, but I love them already. Their songs are full of energy and life that will resonate across your brain. In a time where modern pop songs are all so temporary, these guys do an incredible job of creating new music with a lasting appeal. You can't deny a wonderful song, and you shouldn't miss this here band at Sled Island.

 

GRIZZLY BEAR
MP3: While You Wait For The Others
MP3: On a Neck, On a Spit
Grizzly Bear
Wow, where to begin with this here band, they fucking rule in my world, thats for sure. With an all-encompassing blend of folk-electro-ambience, there's no doubt these guys are from a different planet, some might call Brooklyn. Last I heard these guys has just finished up some big whig tribute to Paul Simon, and are about to open up for the next major world-wide 'it' band.  




RICHARD'S PICKS

BEANS
MP3: Thundermouth 
MP3: Freestyle 
Beans
Don't be a mutescreamer! Dig the Abstract raps, bouncing electro beats and mad lyrical wit of this innovative artist.



RZA 
MP3: U Can't Stop Me Now 
MP3: Drama 
RZA
It's not everyday or even every year that Calgary is blessed with a genuine WU TANG KILLAH!



CROOKERS 
Crookers
Seriously, don't miss this. Prepare to be torn apart by heaving rolling bass. Dance in puddles of your own sweat and witness a current dance phenomenon.

 

SHAWN'S PICKS

BBQ
MP3: Waddlin Around (King Khan & BBQ Show)
MP3: Justify
BBQ 

Montreal's Mark Sultan (Les Sexareenos, The Spaceshits, King Khan & BBQ Show, Mind Controls, etc.) has the best rock 'n' roll voice you've never heard.  With an in-the-red howl that'd make Roky Erickson and Gerry Roslie take notice, he's proof that they do indeed make 'em like they used to.  With his voice soaring over the top of ass-shakin' and hip twistin' doowop garage punk (!!), his one-man-guitar and bass drum band has recorded some honest-to-goodness perfect songs ("Waddlin Around," "Shake Real Low," "Beautiful Girl," "Justify" to name a few).  The best part, though, is that he's even better live, often changing tempos mid-song, not so much to fuck with front-row dancers, but to have them be at the mercy of his every strum and bass drum kick in sonic intercourse as if to remind them that the rock 'n' roll singer, not some ipod, is the leader of a party.  That said, BBQ should be on every ipod in the world. Don't believe me?  I dare you to listen to the MP3s above and not rush off to wherever people buy music these days... 

  

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
MP3: Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife
MP3: Puttin' People on the Moon
  
The Drive-By Truckers are, bar none, my favourite band in the world right now -- and a jaw dropping live one at that.  Though often praised for their intelligent and passionate take on the duality of Southern living using historical and fictional character sketches, emotionally devastating snapshots and laugh-out-loud funny turns of phrases (see: "Self Destructive Zones"), for me, it's their ability to sings songs about rock 'n' roll that simultaneously convey the vital importance of the form while entering themselves favourably into the same canon that they draw from that wows me consistently.  Case in point, they have written probably the best rock 'n' roll song of the last twenty years with "Let There Be Rock," a song that namedrops Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, .38 Special, Ozzy Osbourne and Molly Hatchet before climaxing with the repeated line "...with Bon Scott singin', Let There Be Rock tour," and a Thin Lizzy-style harmonized (three-)guitar attack.  And for me, that's just heaven.  Catch a taste of the singalong goodness below...

   

SECRET SHOWS @ THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION #1, THE PUMPHOUSE THEATRES
MP3: ??
Human Milk!
So we've only announced one of our special secret guests thus far (keep checking sledisland.com for the other announcments!), but it's a biggie: Human Milk, a special Sled Island collaboration between Broken Social Scene & Spiral Stairs (Pavement, Preston School of Industry).  And yes, that is an indication of the quality of our other secret acts (I'm especially excited for Friday @ The Royal Canadian Legion #1!).  Let's just say that, if you take a chance on these shows, you'll be seeing some of the world's best current indie acts and most influential rockers playing some pretty darn intimate venues.  If you haven't made it down to the Legion, do yourself a favour and check it out.  There's no room in Canada with even close to as much charm.  All of your nights should end at the Legion!
VIDEO: ??

...and finally, I like to take festival time to reinforce my opinion that Calgary's finest easily rise to the challenge of standing up to the world's finest.  More specifically, I'll be making sure to check out sets by THE OSTRICH and THE CRIPPLE CREEK FAIRIES, two of my absolute favourite live bands! 


TWYLA'S PICKS

CHIXDIGGIT
Chixdiggit

In my opinion, the only thing better than a Chixdiggit show is a plate of my baba's perogies and a shot of her homebrew.

(Wow - Sub Pop is malicious about keeping these mp3s off the web)

 
THE PAPERBACKS
The Paperbacks
They're so perfect.

 

BIKE RIDING FROM VENUE TO VENUE! 
Bike

Leave the car keys on the hall table and just ride and ride and ride.  Important tip - riding your bike while under the influence of a great rock show is sometimes not such a good idea.  When in doubt, walk it home.
List of Calgary Bike Paths!  

I recommend listening to these songs while riding around!

MP3: Yo La Tengo - Speeding Motorcycle  
 
Jose Gonzalez - Heatbeats  

Portastatic - Song For a Clock 
 
The Gutter Twins: God's Children

 


ZAK'S PICKS 

CURTIS SANTIAGO
MP3s: Please visit Curtis' Myspace

Curtis Santiago

I think Curtis came from space to make everyone funky.  He's the greatest human being I know. 

 

PAT AND PETE SHOW
Pat and Pete Show

Good Morning World is one of my favorite TV shows and I'm looking forward to seeing these two thespians ply their trade.  

 

TEGAN AND SARA
MP3: Back In Your Head
MP3: Nineteen

Tegan and Sara

I'm pretty sure Sara is my favorite, but then- no, I think it's Tegan.  It's almost stressful how much I love them both. 

 

    

 

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