Untitled - Sled Island

Table of Contents sled island staff Jeanette Burman Colin Canning Melanie Kaye Shane Lynch Drew Marshall Josh McNorton Lindsay Shedden Paisley Sim EditOR Sebastian Buzzalino project manageR Todd Harkness Design Working Format Writing Caitlyn Browning Sebastian Buzzalino Ryan Ford Matthew Hagarty Clinton Hallahan Jason Harvey Sarah Kitteringham Joshua Kloke Paul K Lawton Christine Leonard Drew Marshall Tyler Morency Mike Payette Evan Van Reekum Paisley V. Sim Sara Elizabeth Taylor Jennifer Thompson Rebecca Zahn cover Illustration Konstantin Steshenko schedule layout Fiona de Monye sled island 2011 illustrators Brendan Kelly Edward Kwong Ellen Lee Konstantin Steshenko Brian Tong Connor Willumson Melissa Winkler Ad Sales Glenn Alderson Colin Canning Kristopher Cook Printed & Distributed by

www.beatroute.ca

curator’s notes art film comedy all ages/special events band bios schedule pullout sponsors thanks list

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Celebrating culture, and building community. From the very beginning, the roots of Sled Island have been firmly planted in the soil of this mandate. From the ground up, this giant beast has been nurtured and loved, growing bigger, stronger and louder than anyone could have foreseen. Calgary, you should be proud of what you have grown! For those of you experiencing the festival for the first time, here are a few points to maximize your enjoyment: • Bike! You will spend less time getting to venues and more time inside of them, but please wear your helmet! Don’t have a helmet? Pick one up for a small donation from the Prohab babes riding around the city, or at Olympic Plaza. • Show up early! Many shows reach capacity quickly, but you can always check back as shows often fluctuate from band to band. • Don’t know a band? Learn about them! They could be your new favourite! • Go to an art show. Lots to chose from and this city has ridiculously talented people creating incredible work. • See a film! Hand picked for you by Jeanette Burman, there is something in this program for everyone. • Buy a wristband! It truly is the best way to do this fest. This gives you the freedom to walk into any venue on an given night. Work weekdays? Weekends? We have lots of different wristband options available for you. • Make a plan for each night- the pullout or mobile app schedule is your bible- but don’t expect to stick to it! The beauty of Sled Island is the discovery that is always just around the corner. You never know where you’re going to end up. Calgary is full of awesome surprises, cool venues, and inspiring people. Keep an open mind and an open heart and the possibilities will be endless! None of this would have been possible without the support of the Province, the City, and you. Thank you so much. We promise you won’t regret it. Lindsay Shedden Sled Island Festival Director SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 

SLED ISLAND CURATOR’S notes grant lawrence

Zak Pashak

bogus tokus

The ver y first time my now long-retired band The Smugglers ever played Calgar y, it was on a snowy night in the winter of 1989, and not one single person in attendance at the Westward Hotel set foot on the dance floor. The Smugglers returned to our hometown of Vancouver, and I wrote an infamous song entitled “Calgarians Don’t Dance”. That didn’t make me, or my band, all that popular in Calgar y for many years after that. Let me now of ficially say this in print, 22 years later: I take it all back. Over the course of those two-plus decades since, I have gone Crowchild Trail-crazy for the music of many brilliant bands from Calgar y: Colour Me Psycho, the Mants, Forbidden Dimension, Huevos Rancheros, Tegan and Sara, Chixdiggit, Chad VanGaalen, WOMEN, Meisha and the Spanks, Braids, and many others (and Calgar y eventually did warm up to The Smugglers, too). Adding to the lengthy legacy of quality Calgar y music is the Sled Island Music Festival. I’ve followed this burgeoning, ambitious and creatively explosive festival closely – but alas from afar – since its inception in 2007. And now, after my auspicious first brush with the Calgar y scene all those years ago, it is my great pleasure and honour to actually lo and behold be a curator for the 5th anniversar y of the Sled Island Music Festival, a festival that I consider to be one the premier live music events on this continent. Let’s dance!

I am very proud to welcome you to Sled Island year 5. The festival has left my living room and moved into its own office, down on 4th Street—pop by anytime; it regularly features works by ACAD students and often has an extra Mill St or two in the fridge. Along with this transition we also now have a wonderful full staff (Festival Director Shedden!) and a new board of directors to help shepherd the organization. We’ve built some strong bridges in the community and I am confident that the festival is very solidly positioned to exist in this city in perpetuity. This is great news for Calgary. Even if you don’t like clubs or live music, the festival can still bring something to you. I used to play drums in a band. My favourite thing about it was the day of the show. I would meet my band members, my best friends, for some lunch somewhere and we would talk about the show. We loaded our gear into the venue and set it up- everything about the day was important and memorable. Talking to my girlfriend on a show day made me feel proud. I was part of a team building something. It was powerful. During Sled Island the streets of downtown are full of artists and music fans from out of town, as well as our local artists and fans of their creativity. There is an energy that floods the city and it spins off in various positive directions. As we go forward the goal of the festival is to infect as many people in this city as possible with that energy. Please invite your reluctant friends and family to come out to a show this year- we have lots of cheap and even free events. Get sweaty, spill a beer on someone, grin, ride your bike, explore the city, give someone a hug, meet someone from out of town, go to venue you’ve never been to and have a fantastic time.

Road wear y from a debauched show the previous night in a Kamloops punk house where Bogus Tokus brought two kegs of beer from their hometown, the boys headed over to Broken City for some breakfast where they rendezvoused with bar owner, and Sled Island founder Zak Pashak. During breakfast, Zak bought several rounds of beers... then several more until it was eight o’clock at night and time to play a gig with C’mon. Bogus Tokus later found out that the plan was to sabotage the gig that night by getting them hammered so the actual Sled Island gig the next night would be better. Success! “From what we can remember during all the food and Pilsner tall cans, there was talk about what would be cool for next year –e.g., the likes of Nir vana, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley. Zak seemed interested in our concepts and said that we should curate next year. We didn’t really believe it was actually going to happen until we ran into him the next day on the street and he said he was serious. So... here we are. The original ideas didn’t come to fruition mostly due to post-mor tem issues, but we’re pretty happy with the heavier stoner rock-based line-up for Sled Island 2011.” The band has since taken a permanent hiatus, but Tokus’ Mike Payette (formerly of S.T.R.E.E.T.S., Pride Tiger, and Children), and Joel Loewen (Haggatha, Adelaide) will be curating as planned.

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 

SLED ISLAND Art After many years of successful collaborations, Sled Island was very fortunate to formalize a partnership with the Alberta College of Art + Design for this year’s festival. The goal of the partnership is twofold; to intensify the visual art component of Sled Island and to showcase the breadth of incredible work coming out of ACAD from students, alumni, and faculty. As the Curator-in-Residence at ACAD – as well as a musician, theatre director and live event producer – I am not interested in putting paintings on easels at the back of venues. I want to present Art at Sled Island by incorporating new, interactive and mixed mediums into live music performances. The result is over 20 artists creating site-specific pieces at four venues throughout the festival. In some cases, the work is inspired by and interacts with the music. In other instances, the work exists in an independent creative (and sometimes physical) space that combines with the music to create a rich, multi-faceted sensory experience in the venue. The music at Sled Island is always cutting edge, evocative and diverse; and in the foundational year of our partnership with ACAD, so too is the art. The work is designed to engage and expose audiences to new forms, generate ideas and shift preconceptions of presenting visual art. Many thanks to Wayne Baerwaldt, Jennifer McVeigh and the incredible staff at ACAD, Paisley Sim, and all the artists involved. Enjoy! • Josh McNorton Curator-in-Residence: Josh McNorton Production Manager: Paisley Sim Publicist: Alex Middleton Videographer: Brendon Rathbone Photographer: Erin Lough The HiFi club: June 22-25 Curator: Karilynn Thompson In collaboration with Quickdraw Animation Society & Emmedia An animated trip for your optic nerve. Pumping visuals, mind-numbing loops and colour explosions synchronize to eclectic dance styling, as The Hi Fi Club becomes the host for an animated music video dance party. Animated projections inside and out feature some of the keenest minds to emerge from ACAD on the animation front. From drawings and paint, to looping computer gifs, video manipulation, and glitchy 8-bit, we celebrate animation at the fullest of its visual limits. Enjoy the glittering glitch and DANCE!

Artists: Ashley Ohman & Joleen Toner, Stuart Hughes, Kiarra Albina, Leslie Bell, Brandon Blommaert Republik: June 22 & 23 Curators: Jennie Vallis & Greg Debicki A dream-like environment filled with shimmering,  • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

colour-shifting starbursts, responsive electronic fireflies and interactive projections. A collaborative project by cross-discipline artists, the Republik nightclub transforms for Sled Island Festival into a milieu of psychedelic imagination, future fantasy dreaming, and technology exploration. Diverse festival programming and unbelievable stage design will make the Republik nightclub one of the most mesmerizing and interesting venues of Sled Island Festival 2011.

Artists: Jennie Vallis, Greg Debicki, Nicolas Gonzalez, Derek Damassi The Royal Canadian #1 Legion: June 22-25 Curator: Caitlind r.c. Brown

magic/CAVE is a retro-futuristic collection of work by local artists involving moving image mechanisms, transformative projections, dislocative installations and optical play. The show features new media and spacial works that manipulate light in unusual ways to partially transform the billiards room of the Legion into a magical, darkened space. All are welcome to enter and experience Mr + Mrs Keith Murray’s gender blending “Wheel of Fortune,” Sarah Malik’s glittering “Creature-feeling,” Ryan Von Hagen’s spinning “Visual Instrument,” Stephanie Murray’s bulging “Invitation for a Wandering Thought,” Lowell Smith’s timeless “Post Power-Outage” and Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett’s kaleidoscopic “crystalstorm.”

Artists: Caitlind r.c. Brown, Keith Murray, Lowell Smith, Ryan Von Hagen, Sarah Malik, Stephanie Murray, Wayne Garrett Emmedia: June 23 & 25 Curator: Leslie Bell In collaboration with Emmedia

Light and Sound come together to make art in the Emmedia Screening Room. On Thursday, June 23rd, the video and animation works of Leslie Bell and Teresa Tam accompany the haunting music of Julianna Barwick to form an introspective, immersive experience titled “Light Fantastic.” On Saturday, June 25th, the doors of perception open when Leslie Bell’s latest hand painted animations, “Aquarius” and “Pandora,” dance and flow along with the psychedelic experimental rock of Moon Duo.

Artists: Leslie Bell, Teresa Tam

Art at Sled Island Panel Discussion Sa June 25 12 pm: Glenbow Museum What happens when local visual artists collaborate with international music acts? Join us for a panel discussion with five intrepid young artists and curators who shaped the partnership between the 2011 Sled Island Festival and the Alberta College of Art + Design.

The C1RCA POSTER SHOW

TU June 21 5–9 PM: Sloth Records Sled Island is proud to present the 2011 C1RCA Poster Show! We are committed to featuring new talent in many forms, and this show is a unique opportunity to pair local designers and illustrators with international musicians. For fans this is your chance to own a limited edition, hand silk-screened poster from the festival. Join us to kick off Sled Island on Tuesday June 21st at Sloth Records from 5-9pm. Can I get a HELL YES? Artists: Andrew Benson, Mason Hastie, Heather Smith, Jane Trash, Leejay Dunphy, Nicole Bru-

nel, Erin Woodward, Euan Retallack, Chelsea Klukas, Tanya Lam, Jenn Kitagawa, Komboh (Michael W. Mateyko and Hans B. Thiessen), Sherwin Tsang

Resist the Urge to Drift

WED JUNE 22 5-9 PM: PITH GALLERY Resist the Urge to Drift is a solo exhibition of Heather Kai Smith’s recent drawings and sculptural work. Smith’s practice often begins with a reinterpretation of found imagery from historical sources to approach imaginary self description. A relationship is introduced between text vs. image, abstract vs. figurative and flat vs. formed, drawn in black and white. The drawings, often made methodically, emphasize the artist as dreamer, approaching nostalgia as a means of escape. On the upper level of Pith Gallery, artists Kiarra Albina and Heather Kai Smith will work collaboratively on a large papier-mâché and mixed media sculpture. The sculpture begins as a daydream landscape: a lounging, oversized female form shifts into discussions between artists and their environment.

Comes to Life

Opening Reception: June 24, 7–11 pm Tea Reception: June 25, 12–5 pm Haight Gallery Comes to Life witnesses the drawings, paintings, sculpture and video installations of four artists, Sarah Van Sloten, Ryan McClure Scott, Kelsey Fraser and Nicco Gonzales, whose works criss-cross each other’s paths at a nominal rate, bringing to life awkward moments, colecoVision, non-verbal communication, 70s aesthetics and Saturday morning cartoons, including cereal, pop culture and monsters.

Sled Island Photo Show #2

TH JUNE 23 6-10 PM: THE GALLERY The second annual Sled Island photo exhibition showcases different photographers depicting musicians in their truest form. Featured photographer Nick Helderman hails from Amsterdam and has shot photos at festivals around the world. Curated by Randy Gibson and The Gallery with surprise musical guests.

i-Robot

TU June 21 8 PM: Birds & Stone Theatre Your toaster is lovesick, your iPod refuses to play Nickleback and your garage door is secretly plotting against you. Welcome to i-ROBOT Theatre, where every machine has a personality and the streets swarm with androids, cyborgs, A.I.s and robots! Show your Sled wristband and receive a $10 ticket to the latest performance creation piece by Swallow-A-Bicycle Theatre on June 21st only.

Family Business III

sa June 25 2–6PM: Broken City (side wall) Jfry Craig, John Boletta and Conzo have created murals all over the world, most recently in Montreal and Mexico as part of KiCK. They are looking forward to creating a piece by Calgarians, for Calgarians, that will leave a lasting impression. People are welcome to come down and watch and learn about their techniques.

SLED ISLAND film Sled Island presents Sled Island Film! This year we have a compact selection of independent Canadian and Albertan music documentaries and features premiering at The Plaza Theatre, including Color Me Obsessed: A Documentary About The Replacements; a witty Canadian feature entitled Everything Louder Than Everything Else, featuring a live performance by Steve McBean and Ryan Beattie; the survival of the record industry in Firewall of Sound; and New Jerusalem, a beautiful narrative feature co-starring Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy). FYI: Sled Island Full Festival and VIP wristbands allow entry to all Sled Island Film events. Individual tickets available at the door: $9.00 adult, $7.00 student /senior. Full details available at sledisland.com xo Jeanette Burman Film Coordinator

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ROCKUMENTARY

Firewall of Sound

Presented by: Sloth Records mon June 20, 7 pM: the plaza theatre

An in-depth look at the independent music industry in a state of transition, with the Internet acting as both a blessing and a curse to musicians and label executives. Featured in the film are Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel, The Music Tapes), Mac McCaughan (Superchunk, Merge Records), Perry Wright (Prayers & Tears, The Mountain Goats), Roberto Lange (Helado Negro, Savath & Savalas), Nathan Rabin & Josh Modell (The A.V. Club), Ken Shipley (Numero), Ryan Catbird (The Catbirdseat) and many more. US 2011, 70 min Director: Devin DiMattia Canadian Premiere

NARRATIVE FEATURE

Everything Louder Than Everything Else

mon June 20, 9 pM: the plaza theatre

Rob Leickner’s first narrative film is a witty and frank account of a woman’s personal and professional challenges running an indie rock recording studio. Featuring music and acting performances by Steve McBean (Black Mountain, Pink Mountaintops) and Ryan Beattie (Frog Eyes), Everything Louder Than Everything Else is a long overdue visual companion to the burgeoning Canadian indie music scene. Canada 2010, 99 min Director: Rob Leickner Alberta Premiere

ROCKUMENTARY

New Jerusalem

Co-presented by: Calgary Folk Music Festival TUES june 21, 7 pM: the plaza theatre

Sean (Colm O’Leary), an Irish immigrant to America, returns from military service in Afghanistan to find his heart and mind in disarray. He is befriended by Ike (Will Oldham, a.k.a. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), a strong willed Evangelical Christian who endeavours to ensure his salvation. A meditation on frailty, mutual need and friendship, New Jerusalem explores the allure and limitations of modern utopian belief.

US 2011, 92 min Director: Rick Alverson Alberta Premiere

Cyclepalooza and SUYS present:

Shorts on Bikes

WED june 22, 6:20 pM: the plaza theatre 70 MIN

Veronique à vélo Canada 2010, 12 min Director: Berny Hi and Chrystene Ells There Goes An Asshole USA 2010, 3:20 min Director: Daniel Saks Thoughts on My Bike Canada 2009, 4:39 min Director: Andrea Dorfman ‘Drunk Girls (Holy Ghost! Remix)’ LCD Soundsystem USA 2011, 4:20 min Director: Daniel Garcia Riding the Long White Cloud New Zealand / Canada 2010, 44 min Director: Alex Craig

FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORS NARRATIVE FEATURE

Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements TUES june 21, 9 pM: the plaza theatre

Combining over 140 interviews with rockers (Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, Tommy Ramone, Grant Hart and Greg Norton of Hüsker Dü, all three members of Goo Goo Dolls), journalists (Robert Christgau, Legs McNeil, Ira Robbins, Greg Kot, Jim DeRogatis) and fans both famous (Tom Arnold, Dave Foley, George Wendt) and not, Gorman Bechard delivers the obsessive tale of the most influential band you’ve never heard of – and, to many, the greatest rock band of all time – The Replacements. US 2011, 123 min Director: Gorman Bechard Alberta Premiere

beatroute.ca

ALBERTA’S MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT MONTHLY

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 

SLED ISLAND Comedy

BRODY STEVENS

Are you sick of shredding your eardrums with incredible music? ‘What’s that?’ you say. ‘I can’t hear you?’ Don’t worry because there are two chances to take out your hearing protection and laugh until you need to change your adult diapers. Sled Island’s first ever comedy showcase at the Auburn Saloon. Featuring America’s #1 funny man, Neil Hamburger, along with Tig Notaro, best known as ‘Officer Tig’ on The Sarah Silverman Show and Brody Stevens, the L.A. comedy scene stalwart and baseball enthusiast. Supported by Rapid Fire Theatre, Edmonton’s longest running improv theatre company and beloved local Ryan Kukec. It’ll be exactly like drinking Gatorade when you’re hungover, which is to say, good for you. Refreshing, even. The 2011 Sled Island Comedy Showcase starts early and ends early on Friday and Saturday so you can still go out and continue destroying whatever hearing you have left. Feel the rhythm!

with him, and once he figures out what that difference is, he’ll stop crying on stage and be funny at jokes.

RYAN KuKec (Calgary, AB)

FR / sa 7:15 pM: auburn saloon Jon Mick can be described as self-deprecating, sarcastic, and sardonic... but also strangely optimistic. It wasn’t until recently that he decided to start being funny professionally. And you know what? He’s doing allllllll right. Not only does he spend time telling jokes in front of an audience with a light pointed at him, but he also writes screenplays and sketch comedy (some have been on TV! Oooh!). Some may call

FR / sa 7 pM: auburn saloon Ryan Kukec is a bit of an oddball. He just doesn’t fit in. He’s the intellectual community’s Paulie Shore, he’s the special needs community’s Lewis Black and he’s the television show Community’s Chevy Chase. He tells jokes and he’s really funny. Ryan knows there is a difference between people laughing at him and people laughing

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Mike Robertson (EDMONTON, AB)

FR / sa 7:15 pM: auburn saloon Mike Robertson (1987 to 2017) is a comedian and filmmaker and has been performing live comedy for eight years. A filmmaker by trade, he doesn’t have any IMPRESSIVE comedic accolades, but will one day. Future career highlights include performing at Improvaganza, Just for Laughs, SF Sketchfest, and the Melbourne and Aspen Comedy Festivals. He will be seen in Kevin Smith’s inevitable Clerks 3, and National Lampoon’s Academia Nuts, playing the lovable stoner Maurice (Catchphrase: “Wanna get hiiiiiiiigh?”). Sadly he will die in 2017, of autoerotic asphyxiation (natch!). Until then, check him online at miketernet.com and highwirefilms.com.

jon mick (EDMONTON, AB)

NEIL HAMBURGER

him charming, others may call him an asshole, but the overwhelming majority will say, “Eh, he’s pretty funny... I guess. He should probably eat less onions though.”

Brody Stevens (Los Angeles, CA)

FR / sa 7:30 pM: auburn saloon A stand-up comic and former host of the Super Deluxe series Interview Challenge, Brody Stevens is currently working on a mockumentary project with Zach Galifianakis that chronicles a day in the life of a comedian. www.brodystevens.com

Tig Notaro (Los Angeles, CA)

FR / sa 8 pM: auburn saloon The Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian has been making her rounds in the year’s spring music festival circuit. The former music promoter is well known for her hilarious observational comedy and dry humour. tignation.com/home

Neil Hamburger (Darwin, Australia)

FR / sa 8:45 pM: auburn saloon Funny man Gregg Turkington is the curiously eccentric character known as Neil Hamburger. You can be sure his show will have audience participation, but be warned of possible ridicule, deprecating jokes and uncomfortable laughter. It is perhaps the kind of comedy that’s so wrong, it’s right. myspace.com/americasfunnyman

SLED ISLAND ALL AGES All ages in Calgary: it’s a bit like one of those hoagies you nab on a midnight convenience store run when you can’t ignore your hunger. Mystery meat, processed cheeses and sketchy iceberg lettuce – but oh, so satisfying. Sled Island expands all ages this year, squeezing and shrink wrapping 30+ acts into six venues conveniently located on a street corner near you. Wristbands that include all ages events (including Olympic Plaza!) are available at Sloth Records, Henry, or online for $50!

The Sled Island All Ages Smash-up Extravaganza returns to Cantos TH / FR: CANTOS

Based on the shrapnel left on the loading dock last year, it’s evident we aren’t dealing with Lebowski’s Little Urban Achievers. Piñatas gouged by hockey sticks, three-foot flyswatters and icing everywhere, lovely young men and women hyperventilating, elbows up, teeth gnashing, and breakneck music while everyone scrambles for rad loot. This is how we pass the time between bands. New throw downs include the mouse trap grenade course, second-impact dirigible dares (because the first shot is never enough), Twinkie bowling, the Siege of Troy water balloon shot-put and hammer throw and more. Thursday and Friday out on the loading dock between sets at Cantos. Let the smashing begin!

MUSH DIY 2011 Random Task Collective is stoked to be sharing the love again at MUSH 2011. Last year, this half-day ‘tell all’ provided emerging acts with the goods on digital marketing, great design, building community, and mad marketing – all designed for the DIY era. This year, we’ve partnered with Sled Island and Cantos to create some exciting new sprints. Yup, you’ve got 15 – 20 minute blocks to get up close and personal with our Sled

12 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Mushers. The rest of the afternoon, simply put, is a one-time extraordinary celebration: rare music, instruments, stories, sights and sounds created or inspired by the life and legacy of Canadian producer Jack Richardson. If you’re a fan of music or a local or visiting band or artist, MUSH 2011 is a must!

MUSH Sprints SA noon–5 pm: CANTOS Get your thinking caps on! These are the very best music mentors in our community! Lindsay Shedden Arcade Fire, Mars Volta, Bison b.c.: it all started out with fierce and hugely successful DIY tours. The Tank Girl of the road, where the odds of survival are 1000 to 1, Lindsay Shedden is still standing and is the one to tell the tales. Oh, and tales she will tell! Josh McNorton Play more. Period. Citizen Josh has got the goods on getting gigs. It’s a bit of an obstacle course but Josh is the guy to whip you into shape. A musician and tried-and-true music biz warrior, Josh’s experience extends from coordinating the 200+ acts for Sled to all things music at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Mike Schroeder For most acts, working on the web is like freakin’ moon exploration. Known online as Virtual Plaid, Schroeder is a proud astro-geek who has looked at hundreds of web tools, testdriven, railed against, advised, and distilled the essential three or so that actually seem to help artists grow, perform, and distribute their music. Simply put, he IS your oxygen supply. Sharon McIntyre @shazzmack is hear to help you get your band brand on. She is the Formula One, uncontested, high-octane, burn-rubber, mess-up-the-joint, leave-them-in-the-dust marketer for the modern musician. One page, one convo, one plan. Roll up, rip the tires off, get in the driver’s seat and get your music marketing into sixth gear.

Rare Tracks SA 2– 4 pm: CANTOS We said farewell to Canadian music icon, Jack Richardson, this May. A Juno Award-nominated Canadian record producer and Order of Canada recipient, Richardson produced some of the biggest selling records of the 70s, including the Guess

Who’s classic Wheatfield Soul album and Alice Cooper’s Love It to Death. Richardson also worked with artists as diverse as Rough Trade and Liza Minelli. Even Orson Welles visited his Nimbus 9 studios in Toronto. Nimbus Vancouver founder Kevin Williams curates this exceptional afternoon of music discovery. We open the vault on Richardson’s legacy – great musicianship and honest production in a true music lesson for new artists and producers. Very special guests. Limited seating. MUSH 2011: $20/artist-individual or $45/band. For more information or to register visit the Corner Store at: randomtaskrocks.com

sled island special Events Ian Svenonius Lecture

SA June 25 2 pm: glenbow museum Ian Svenonius, author of the Psychic Soviet (Drag City Books), host of Soft Focus (Vbs.tv), and leader of Chain & the Gang (K Records) was so inspired by his Sled Island concert experience last year that he has arranged to present a lecture on the topic “HOW TO START A GROUP,” so as to help others perform at the Sled Island festival in the future. The talk will be wide ranging, free associative, and touch on other themes as well such as “ARGUMENTS FOR A LEISURE STRIKE,” “WHAT IS A GROUP?” and “PAYOLA ON THE INTERNET.”

lee rAnaldo workshop FR June 24 Noon: cantos

Sonic Youth’s master noisemaker is in town for a rare visit to host a experimental guitar workshop. Musicians and fans of SY alike will not want to miss this!

MARKET COLLECTIVE

SA 10-6 / SU 11-5: Ant Hill Market Collective is an independent market, created to showcase the works of local artists, artisans and musicians and to strengthen the art community in Calgary. Drop by Market Collective in Kensington on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, pick up a burrito, vintage t-shirt, hand drawn card, and check out the bands playing throughout the day.

SLED ISLAND Music Adaline

Vancouver, BC TH 9:30 pM: republik FR 5:15 pM: palomino Vancouver’s Adaline uses music as a vehicle for transformation, a responsibility that she does not shoulder lightly. At times easily pop, at times softly intimate, Adaline, dubbed an ‘electronic Edith Piaf’, takes your hand and guides you gently through the rainy streets. myspace.com/adalinesmusic

Adebisi Shank

Wexford, Ireland FR 11 pM: vern’s SA 11 PM: dicken’s Loud, but not overbearing, this Irish act make the kind of noise that lacks any kind of pretense. Their experimental approach to noise rock is full of layers and contains the kind of textures that will enlighten as much as it will get you moving. myspace.com/adebisishank

Alberta Cross

Los Angeles, CA FR 12:30 aM: broken city SA 1:30 pm: olympic plaza Alberta Cross are a little blues, a little rock and a little soul that combine to create a whole lot of powerful noise. Alberta Cross are a group of new-fangled rockers quickly making a name for themselves amongst the best of the best. albertacross.net

Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys

San Antonio, TX TH 11 PM: IRONWOOD FR 11 pM: ironwood Fiercely emotional Mexican-American street rock. This vetted Texan guitar legend and his crew bring on the sweet chili heat mixed up with little bit of punk, a little

bit of alt-country and a whole lot of southern-fried soul. Leather vests and trophy buckles optional. alejandroescovedo.com

kicked out for being too cool for that particular school. myspace.com/thebarewires

An Horse

Montreal, QC WE 1 AM: SHIP AND ANCHOR TH 12 aM: Dicken’s Hailing from a town known to them as Bongtreal, Barn Burner make heavy metal the way heavy metal should be made: booze-soaked, riff-heavy and perfect for bars, garages and legions of long-haired air guitarists. myspace.com/theinfamousbarnburner

Brisbane, Australia TH 9 PM: CANTOS TH 11:30 pM: The Gateway Flip the genders of The White Stripes and add the pleasing sound of melodic hooks in the likes of Tegan and Sara and you get An Horse. This duo is indie-pop in its rawest form. anhorse.com

AU

Portland, OR WE 11 PM: DICKEN’S TH 10 PM: BAMBOO Swirling in psych-folkadelia, patient guitar plucks and virtuoso piano play mixed over spastic drums create a vibrant experiential pop soundscape. au-au-au.com

Auld Beak

Barn Burner

Battle Snakes

Vancouver, BC SA 11 Pm: palomino A trio of garage-rock purveying vipers from Vancouver, BC’s, radioactive East end. Voted ‘Most likely to break stuff’ by Transistor 66’s yearbook, these Pilsner quaffing trash-thrashers consider themselves the last bastion of the punk ‘n’ roll subgenre. And they might be right! myspace.com/wearebattlesnakes

Bayonets!!!

Saskatoon, SK FR 11:30 pM: local 522 Sometimes, even Saskatoon surprises: pop, hardcore and punk are thrown into the Auld Beak shit-can, dragged behind an eternal prairie road and pummeled with tortured vocals, for good measure. myspace.com/auldbeak

Edmonton, AB WE 10 PM: THE NEW BLACK FR 9:30 pM: local 522 Bayonets!!! lay out a brilliant attack plan one 45second punk song at a time. Brace your senses for an arsenal of shredding guitars and blazing hot drums. eaglefacecity.com

B-Lines

beekeeper

Bare Wires

THE Beladeans

Vancouver, BC WE 9 PM: THE NEW BLACK WE 10:30 PM: BROKEN CITY Vancouver’s B-Lines are an impressive and steadfast band that never let an audience down. Every time they take the stage, their energetic chaos can be heard for miles around. This band always delivers an extreme blend of pop punk, power-pop and hardcore that they execute perfectly every time. Go and watch the madness! myspace.com/vancouverblines Oakland, CA FR 3:15 pM: broken city SA 11 pm: Vern’s SU 7 pm: Republik Psych-influenced garage pop, but cooler than that description makes them sound. Do you remember Rock and Roll High School? Bare Wires went there and got

Vancouver, BC TH 8 pM: tubby dog West Coast power-popsters wear that title like a crown and do the impossible: make it entertaining in 2011. The vocal styling of Terri Upton and Devon Lougheed pack a dual punch, their interplay lending beekeeper an appealing fingerprint that’s just plain fun. Hooks aplenty and a live show to write your mother about, they almost make us forgive Vancouver for the Canucks. Almost. bkpr.ca Vancouver, BC SA 10 pm: palomino This Vancouver quartet is celebrating their tenth birthday this year, but by no means let their stuck-in-2003 website and quaint band photo fool you: their horndriven, motor city fury draws equally from the swing and swagger of early-’70s proto-punk as it does from NW

alberta cross Though not Albertan in any way (in fact, the band is Brooklyn-based via the UK), the authentically long-haired heartbreakers of Alberta Cross are all kinds of blues, rock, folk, country and soul that may have you thinking otherwise. The free-spirited mix of sounds Alberta Cross has developed is nothing less than modern day vintage, with voluminous guitar riffs, pulsating bass lines and lead vocals that are so distinctly intoxicating, there can be no other comparison than to that of the great Neil Young. The band’s most recent release on ATO Records, Broken Side of Time, is a rock album that touches on more senses than the obvious. You can feel the heart and soul and if you turn it up loud enough, you sure as hell can feel the bass. Outside of any Kings of Leon resemblance, Alberta Cross will not leave you feeling uneasy about filing their record next to the likes of Neil Young, The Band, and The Eagles. 14 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Bare Wires To the ever-growing list of ‘highly prolific’ artists who are able to constantly deliver the goods, add Matthew Melton. Melton has released a staggering amount of records in the last couple years under the monikers Snake Flower 2, Bare Wires and an amazing solo album under his own name. If Melton was looking for some action, he certainly found some on 2010’s Seeking Love LP (released on Brian Lee Hughes and John Dwyer’s [Thee Oh Sees] Castle Face imprint), a record that gave Bare Wires a clear trajectory towards the ever-elusive next level. Working with elements of 60s garage and psychedelia and adding healthy doses of Bolan-esque 70s arena rock, Seeking Love is one of the best examples of modern-garage done right, with any/all hype coming as a direct result of substance and style. garage bands like The Sonics. And any band that adds a trumpet player before they do a bassist is all right in my books. thebeladeans.com

THE BellRays

Riverside, CA SA 1 am: palomino SU 8 pm: Republik An all-out assault on the senses, true rock n’ soul soldiers who never say die. Dance and fight! Revolution? Get down! thebellrays.com

Biblical

Toronto, CA TH 9 PM: Dicken’s FR 11 pM: ship and anchor SA 11 PM: distillery Uniting members of The Illuminati, The Old Soul and The Bicycles, Biblical is the sound of mountains splitting and oceans parting. myspace.com/biblicalproportions

Bison b.c.

Vancouver, BC TH 1 aM: Dicken’s FR 5 pM: olympic plaza The true heirs to the Vancouver metal crown, Bison b.c. will give you the chance to get your windmill on in a big way at Sled Island. The heaviest of metal, unchained by dogma and influentially open-minded, Bison b.c. kicks your ass in that really good way. Remember: don’t get too distracted by an all-star drummer and crushing riffs. Keep your arms ready, wear good shoes and if someone falls in the mosh, etiquette says pick them up, dammit. myspace.com/bisoneastvan

BJ Snowden

Billerica, MA WE 10PM: LEGION DOWNSTAIRS TH 10 pM: tubby dog BJ Snowden is beautiful lady who makes beautiful music for everybody. She has hundreds of songs about Canada, her profession as a substitute school teacher in the Boston area and the peaks and valleys of the human experience. She is full of light and joy to share with the world. bjsnowdenmusic.com

Black Dirt of the West

Calgary, AB TH 10 PM: CANTOS Whiskey, cigarettes and the doldrums of a rural upbringing have culminated in a filthy blend of countrified rock 16 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

and roll known as Black Dirt of the West. Their gutter punk sound and mentality features lyrics loaded with science fiction and comic book references alongside socio-political commentary, while their live show will result in the nursing of your hangover till the next sundown. myspace.com/blackdirtofthewest

Black Mastiff

Edmonton, AB FR 12 aM: palomino SA 10 PM: distillery A hard working Albertan jam band with a loose, shiny coat and a gentle temperament. Spiraling guitar towers and shimmering golden percussion underscored by translucent, yet urgent, vocals. This low-slung, highenergy ensemble is Edmonton’s neo-psychedelic answer to Dead Meadow. myspace.com/bigblackmastiff

Black Rabbit

Calgary, AB FR 6 pM: cantos Noisy, caustic, punkified blues is Black Rabbit’s specialty. The Calgary quintet has just unveiled their debut EP and is primed to make their major debut at Sled Island, where they’ll emulate the Stooges with their raw power and raucous feedback. Expect dancing, skanking and beer swigging! myspace.com/BlackRabbitOfficial

Blonde Redhead

New York, NY WE 12 AM: DISTILLERY TH 12:30 aM: republik Masters of mood and melody, this group of marquee dream pop stars followed cult classics 23 and Misery is a Butterfly with college radio juggernaut Penny Sparkle in late 2010. Combining ethereal guitar drones with tight drums and Mazu Makino’s emotion-packed vocal delivery, their cult credentials are legion. They’re a pop music rarity, honest and real in equal measure. blonde-redhead.com

Blue King Brown

Melbourne, Australia SA 10:30 pm: local 522 An eight-piece, Melbourne-based, powerhouse with African roots, Blue King Brown bring the funk and soul to every performance. Singer Natalie Pa’apa’a proves to be as pulchritudinous as she is talented, swaying audiences with her vibrant and socially-conscious urban poetry. Oh, and they’re Carlos Santana’s favourite band. ‘Nuff said? bluekingbrown.com

Book of Caverns

Edmonton, AB FR 8:30 pM: local 522 SA 3:30 pm: undermountain Genre-straddling nu-jazz emophites from das kapital. Cloistered away with austere yet fleshy tracks like ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Subsuburban’ to their credit, these shoegazing Edmontonian’s aptly describe themselves using the Monty Python-esque line: ‘A bloody knight shouting salty lyrics.’ myspace.com/bookofcaverns780

BRAIDS

Montreal, QC WE 9 PM: CENTRAL UNITED CHURCH FR 11:30 pM: marquee room Originally from Calgary, BRAIDS are four deviously beautiful friends with a sensual, avant-pop sound. Their Bjork-like tendencies and highly progressive music may be the reason they lost to a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band in high school. myspace.com/braidsmusic

Brain Fever

Calgary, AB SA 10:15 pm: undermountain Anchored by vocalist Vanessa Fever, Brain Fever recently propelled into the collective conscious with their noisy brand of post-hardcore. With their jazzy drums, shouted-rather-than-shrieked lyrics, angular riffs and mathy time signatures, Brain Fever is set to infect every venue they are unleashed upon. myspace.com/brainfevercalgary

Buzzcocks

Bolton, England FR 6 pM: olympic plaza When I was a kid, I had the music video for ‘What Do I Get?’ recorded on VHS tape. I used to put it on and watch it over and over again, wishing I was in front of that white screen with those well dressed guys. I’m much older now, but things haven’t really changed. buzzcocks.com

C’mon

Toronto, ON / New Orleans, LA FR 4 pM: olympic plaza FR 1 aM: ship and anchor SA 2 pm: palomino A rock ‘n’ roll cocktail with equal parts of fuzz guitar and dirty denim. Canadian rock ‘n’ roll has never been this loud and proud. Come taste the rock! thisiscmon.com

Camp Radio

Ottawa, ON sa 3 pM: Palomino SA 9 pm: Vern’s By the time Camp Radio coalesced in 2005 from the nuance of singer/guitarist Chris Page’s projects past, he had been across the country more times than he could remember. He thus settled in Ottawa, called up his friends, Dave Draves and Scott Terry, and immediately began writing catchy, poppy rock and roll that sounds like the entire world making sense. campradio.org

Chad VanGaalen

Calgary, AB SA 5:45 pm: olympic plaza From his studio in North Calgary, Chad VanGaalen is the creator of some madly eclectic music that never fails to make perfect sense. His newest album, Diaper Island, is a creative tour de force with a somewhat rock ‘n’ roll and somewhat psychedelic sound. flemisheye.com/chad-vangaalen

Chains of Love

Vancouver, BC FR 11 pM: bamboo Sick of hearing old sweaty old jerks at record stores reminisce about the 60s? Have a listen to Chains of Love and you might finally understand that those dudes really do have something to be sad about! Chains of Love provide a modern take on what was once (and still might be) the hippest sound in the world: fuzzy guitars, edgy melodies, sharp hooks and an incredible vocalist leading the way. It is clear that this band is all but stuck in the past and they are leaving us all behind. myspace.com/chainsofluv

Chali 2na

Los Angeles, CA WE 11 PM: LEGION DOWNSTAIRS Formerly of legendary hip-hop group, Jurassic 5, Chali 2na is still pushing the envelope and things seem to be growing stronger every day. Yeah, I’m sure most of us have spent summer days listening to Concrete Schoolyard on repeat partaking in some of life’s natural-butnot-so-legal pleasures. But don’t fret: J5 may be gone, but this deep-voiced hip-hop connoisseur never went anywhere. Not to be missed! chali2na.com

Cheeseburger

Brooklyn, NY FR 12 aM: Legion upstairs SA 12 am: Vern’s SU 6 pm: Republik Brooklyn’s Velveeta-smooth party-rockers will undoubt-

edly revisit their vaunted Adult Swim theme upon this year’s Sled goers. More fun than an evening of cocaine and Grand Theft Auto, these big beat bizarros will quarter-pound your ass into 100% beef patties. myspace.com/cheeseburger

Cold Craving

Calgary, AB SA 9:30 pm: Undermountain Atmospheric, frantic, howling hardcore is Calgary quintet Cold Craving’s specialty. Their fiercely DIY approach has resulted in a string of shiver-inducing, screeching, layered and mathematically inclined recordings on vocalist and guitarist Ryan Kennedy’s co-owned Eschaton Industries label. Their spastic performances will leave the sweat dripping from your brow. coldcraving.com

COUSINS

Halifax, NS SA 11 PM: Broken city Halifax heart throb make his triumphant return to Sled Island to share a sweet blend of snowed-in love songs, play time show tunes and truck stop rock ‘n’ roll. myspace.com/cousinscousins

Crocodiles

San Diego, CA WE 1 AM: PALOMINO TH 10:30 PM: LEGION DOWN FR 12 aM: dicken’s Their huge, pulsating, pounding indie pop sound celebrates the beautiful ugliness, weirdness and awkwardness in us all. Crocodiles cite Joey Ramone for helping them out of their 4th grade funk. There could also be an ‘alligator’ joke in there somewhere, but they’re too busy enjoying beer and wieners in Munich with Dum Dum Girls to care. myspace.com/crocodilescrocodilescrocodiles

Crow eater

Calgary, AB FR 12:45 pM: local 510 FR 10:30 pM: local 522 They may have risen from the ashes of Calgary bands, but shining phoenixes these five are not. Croweater are as twisted and apocalyptic as their name suggests. croweater.bandcamp.com

Cursive

Omaha, NE FR 1:30 aM: Legion downstairs SA 1 aM: dicken’s A Saddle Creek stalwart since the beginning of time and a on-again / off-again group of near geniuses, Cursive keeps you on your toes with a constant

cycle of endearing reinvention. Falling in no visible rut since breakout LP, The Ugly Organ, Cursive prod indie rock stereotypes quizzically before losing interest and doing whatever the hell they want. ‘What genre?’ they ask before blowing open your mind-hole. cursivearmy.com

Damages

Vancouver, BC FR 8 pM: undermountain FR 10 PM: dickens Aiming to bring the world emocore music that won’t be hated by anyone who isn’t emo, Damages combine passionate vocals with sharp guitar riffs and crashing drum beats. myspace.com/damagestothearchive

THE Dandy WarholS

Portland, OR SA 8:30 pm: olympic plaza The Bohemian-groove band that launched a thousand Would-Bes: Portland’s post-everything revivalists will galvanize your brain with their sophisticated surges and quirky alt-rock harmonies. Celebrating 15 years together in the music biz, the man so good they named him twice, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, and company might actually be the last grunge junkies on Earth. dandywarhols.com

Dave Nada

Washington DC TH 12:15 aM: HiFi Rock ‘n’ roller turned club DJ, turned miscreant, turned grandfather/father/uncle/cousin/brother/lover of moombahton. myspace.com/davenada

DBL Dragon

Vancouver, BC SA 10 PM: hifi Self-described as ‘the world’s first all cat buzz band,’ DBL Dragon are some bass, some drums, some synth and some vocals. Prepare your dancing shoes and your YouTube-worthy kittehs. myspace.com/dbldragonband

Dead Ghosts

Dallas, TX Sa 12 aM: Legion upstairs SA 3:45 pm: tubby dog Reverb-soaked garage rock with elements of 60s R&B and country, kind of like the music used to be played in the good ‘ol days. These cats have perfected the rock and roll hook, which is useful when it comes to catching fish, something they also excel at. myspace.com/thedeadghosts

BJ Snowden BJ Snowden is perhaps amongst the most unlikely performers at Sled Island 2011. When she’s not cooing her deceptively rich voice into a mic, backed by her own talent on piano, Canada’s most Canadian American substitutes at a high school in a small Massachusetts town. She counts Fred Schneider of the B-52s and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys as her fans, has played some of the most legendary and revered venues in New York City and has only released one album thus far, BJ Snowden: Life in the USA and Canada, in 1996. All of this could potentially play against her, but Snowden somehow manages to effortlessly captivate audiences across the world. Her music is not exactly pop, not exactly jazz, not exactly folk; it is, however, powerful with a desire for Canada and heartfelt in a simple and honest way. 18 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Los Angeles, CA FR 1:30 pM: local 510 There should be a warning sign that accompanies certain bands: Dead Meadow should never be spun during the witching hour. Their darkest moments sound like a shoegaze version of Black Sabbath, had they actually hung out with the devil. myspace.com/deadmeadow

Dead Voices

Vancouver, BC FR 10 pM: distillery The three horsemen, and one horselady, of the apocalypse. Sexy buzzsaw rock ‘n’ roll that’ll send you straight to hell where there will be much rocking and gnashing of teeth. myspace.com/deadvoicesmusic

DeadHorse

Calgary, AB SA 6 pm: palomino Sonic fields are crushed into wormholes of re-imagined psychedelia, Nuggets-inspired garage rock and mindwarping jams akin to Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. myspace.com/deadhorseband

Deer Tick

Providence, RI FR 1 aM: dicken’s Sa 12:30 aM: Legion downstairs The tour-crazy, cover-loving indie-folk rockers from Providence, RI, are known for their on-demand live show antics. The five-piece act is bound to turn a few Sled-

goers into raging Tickheads! deertickmusic.com

are all his own. myspace.com/dominiquefricot

Demon’s Claws

THE Donkeys

Montreal, QC FR 10 pM: vern’s Sa 1 aM: Legion upstairs SU 5 pm: Republik It’s bands like these that make In The Red the powerhouse label it is. Open up the door to the grimy and illegal after hours joint and you’d likely hear The Demon’s Claws devastating blend of snot-nosed punk and loose, jangly rock and roll. myspace.com/demonsclaws

Dinosaur Feathers

Brooklyn, NY WE 11 PM: PALOMINO TH 10 PM: LEGION UPSTAIRS FR 10 PM: undermountain Let Dinosaur Feathers tickle away all of your cares with their progressive tropical musical stylings. Revel in their perfect weave of vocals and instruments into a comforting blanket of sound. dinosaurfeathersmusic.blogspot.com

Dominique Fricot

Vancouver, BC TH 9 PM: IRONWOOD Dominique Fricot is breaking out from his role as frontman of the Painted Birds to explore music that’s more mellow and jazzy. Though his voice is often compared to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, his songs have a vulnerability and complexity that

San Diego, CA WE 10PM: DICKEN’S TH 11 PM: marquee room FR 5 pM: ship and anchor San Diego’s darling dears will lower the heavens and take you on a sonic sleepwalk through the clouds, a la Santos & Johnny. Prepare to be charmed and disarmed by the honeyed harmonies and red-eyed retro blues of these So Cal flower children. Cannabis is a flower, right? donkeysongs.com

Double Fuzz

Calgary, AB TH 11 PM: LEGION UPSTAIRS This fuzzy duo delivers a double hit of blues and garage rock. Groovy guitar riffs, rich back beats and alluring vocals round out Double Fuzz’s amazingly powerful Sound. myspace.com/doublefuzz

Dreamdate

Oakland, CA TH 9 pM: tubby dog FR 4 pM: ship and anchor This Oakland band’s wonderfully concise, minimal twee pop won’t shock and awe anyone, but it will gently reassure you that everything will be all right and true love will win in the end. Dreamdate are three girls here to make sure that we go to bed with smiles on our face. myspace.com/dreamdater

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 19

BAND BIOS

Dead Meadow

Drunk Horse

Oakland, CA TH 11 PM: Dicken’s FR 12 aM: ship and anchor A malevolent wizard meets a teenage hessian in a forest clearing. Taunts are exchanged, oaths are sworn; battle ensues. In the end, both are dead. As the dust settles, a merry imp dances a jig on their corpses. This is Drunk Horse. myspace.com/drunkhorse

Dum Dum Girls

Los Angeles, CA WE 11 PM: DISTILLERY TH 12:30 AM: LEGION DOWN The smirking novelty surrounding girl bands ignore the truth: women have always rocked out, not just often better than their male counterparts, but usually. Enter Dum Dum Girls, a pop punk quartet with no time to allocate to taking names – they just kick ass. Making some of the best noise punk today, their sound is a time capsule brought into a new millennium and retrofit with broadband. wearedumdumgirls.com

DUZHEKNEW

Halifax, NS FR 9 pM: vern’s DUZHEKNEW make quivering, intimate pop songs that are full of feeling and emotion. Their songs sound like quiet special moments, growing a beard and what one might presume it is like to grow up in Eastern Canada. myspace.com/duzheknew

Electric Six

Detroit, MI FR 1 aM: distillery SA 10:15 PM: the gateway Vaulted to prominence by a bull taxidermied with glowing prairie oysters, Electric Six scoff at your one-hit wonder with albums brimming with ass-shakers. Singlehandedly convincing the planet that gay bars are the best places ever, Electric Six segues easily from dance punk to disco funk and back again without breaking a sweat. They also don’t have naked pictures of your mom. They’re just kidding. Promise. electricsix.com

extra happy ghost !!!

Calgary, AB TH 12:00 aM: BROKEN CITY Ethereal whisperings set to the romantic twang of an acoustic guitar, the fuzz of dying tape, a random assortment of electronic blips, subdued percussion and insular musings. These elements characterize extra happy ghost !!!, the self-described experimental slacker psych pop quartet of Calgary whose quixotic tunes will have you yearning for home. myspace.com/extrahappyghost

Fabulous Dad

Calgary, AB SA 8:45 pm: undermountain When they’re not dutifully restoring classic cars in the driveway on a Sunday afternoon, Fabulous Dad like to crank out the hardcore nu-metal with animalistic fervor. Femme fatale vox, undomesticated metalcore guitars and a scrappy percussion section hump it up to father a dissonant mayhem that’ll put the wreck in your room. soundcloud.com/fabulous-dad 20 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Faux Fur

Calgary, AB WE 7 PM: CENTRAL UNITED CHURCH It is incredible that the two Faux Fur members are so young. They play indie pop that sounds so rickety and ramshackle that their own souls must be falling apart. myspace.com/fauxfurfakefur

Feel Alright

Pittsburgh, PA SA 9:30 pm: ship and anchor Out of a decidedly lukewarm sentiment designed to keep people at bay comes Feel Alright, blaring their lo-fi garage pop at levels that are anything but all right. feelalright.bandcamp.com

Feral Children

Saskatoon, SK FR 5:15 pM: tubby dog Fresh off their showing at Wyrd Fest, psychedelic Saskatoon act Feral Children will be unleashing their gloriously psychedelic musings on Sled Island, complete with a plethora of noisy samples, sounds and beats, groovy echoing guitars, throbbing bass and muted percussion. radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Feral-Children

Fist City

Lethbridge, AB FR 8:30 pM: twisted element Insanely distorted, straight up garage rock! Everything from the drums to the guitars to the female vocals is fuzzy and fast! myspace.com/fistcitycult

Float Like Stones

Calgary, AB TH 7 PM: CANTOS After a successful performance at Sled Island 2010, this Calgary band are bringing rock ‘n’ roll back to the good ol’ days despite their young age. myspace.com/floatlikestones

THE Foggy Notions

Saskatoon, SK FR 3:45 pM: tubby dog Sunshine and heartbreak dominate the dreamy pop of Saskatoon quartet, The Foggy Notions, whose jangly and precocious tunes will have your half-cut self swaying around the venue with your eyes closed and hands in the air. Featuring members of Blood Music, the Vicious Crystals and Slow Thrills, The Foggy Notions merge the spaceman sensibilities of yesteryear with a texture and feel entirely their own. myspace.com/thefoggynotions

Friendo

Calgary, AB WE 12  AM: PALOMINO Made up of three of Calgary’s most active musicians in Michael Wallace, Henry Hsiesh and Nicole Brunel (Women, Monkey, Azeda Booth, Beija Flor, Topless Mongos, Hunter-Gatherer, Puberty and Memory Screen), Friendo sees each musician swapping roles for their respective instruments to lovely results. The result is jangly and gorgeously subdued yet experimental and psychedelic postpunk that transforms from chilling to heart warming in moments. myspace.com/friendomusic

Saskatoon, SK FR 3 pM: tubby dog If I ever have to run back through Saskatoon, I hope to catch The Friends Electric. Utilizing a groovy, dance-y aesthetic, this collective still finds the time to drop the odd riff here and there and keep the synths in play. They definitely haven’t let the prairies get them down. radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/The-Friends-Electric

THE Get Down

Edmonton, AB SA 9:30 pM: dickens Smoke will pour from the heads of Calgarians city wide the moment these five heavy hitters take the stage. Loud as hell, MC5-influenced rock n’ roll from Deadmonton. This isn’t the UK, this is the F-U-C-K! myspace.com/thisisthegetdown

Gianna Lauren

Halifax, NS FR 2 pM: ship and anchor Gianna Lauren’s music is ambient and atmospheric, the kind that fills the whole room but still feels intimate. Though she experiments with different sounds and textures, her songs are always warm, melodic and welcoming. giannalauren.ca

Gobble Gobble

Edmonton, AB Cecil Frena’s madcap alchemical experiments pulsate and throb with sweaty dementia until all you can do is hope for salvation. Luckily, Gobble Gobble provides the antidote as well as the poison, bringing found-instrument electro pop to the unwashed masses. www.myspace.com/leatherjowels

THE Gooeys

Calgary, AB FR 1 pM: broken city The Gooeys employ choice song writing with actual, honest-to-god surprises, somehow breathing new life into the form in the process. When is the last time you were surprised by a rock and roll band? True believers, get on board now. myspace.com/thegooeys

the Greenhornes

Detroit, MI Sa 11:30 pM: Legion downstairs SA 2:30 pm: olympic plaza A throwback to better, simpler times when the riffs were juicy, the harmonies were full of life and there was just the right amount of grease to keep the garage rock motor running. Rock and roll doesn’t come with more swagger than this Detroit three-piece. greenhornes.com

Grey Kingdom

Welland, ON TH 10 PM: marquee room Sweet vocals and sweet beards rule the Grey Kingdom. A singer-songwriter that blends Ozark acoustic ballads with rousing anthems, mastermind Spencer Burton is an imposing craftsman of melody and lyrics. It’s the same currency as his main project, Attack in Black, but a different coin altogether. greykingdom.com

Grown-Ups

BAND BIOS

THE Friends Electric

Calgary, AB WE 11:30PM: BROKEN CITY Grown-Ups sound like a riot that would break out in Calgary if the Flames hoisted the cup. Their punk rock is affable enough, but does it ever have a fiery passion. It’s dirty and gritty, but you’ll definitely remember it the next morning. myspace.com/wearegrownups

The Heart beat

Calgary, AB fr 10 pm: hifi club Fordino, Wax Romeo and A Mac bring the ruckus.

Heart Failure Research Unit

Calgary, AB SA 2 pm: ship and anchor I’m not sure how cheery a heart failure research unit actually is. Are they research hearts that have already failed or are in the process of failing? If its the latter, I can imagine that it would be a pretty grim place to be. Maybe that’s why so many ghosts haunt this Calgary duo’s melancholic music. myspace.com/metalandrust

THE Hits

Vancouver, BC WE 9:30 PM: SHIP AND ANCHOR Three white t-shirts, and no bass guitar to be seen. The Hits are pure garage rock heavies from the Rain City. A furious assault of downstrokes at a thousand bpm. myspace.com/the_hits

HONHEEHONHEE

Montreal, QC FRI 9:30 pM: Hifi HONHEEHONHEE will be your new favourite discovery from Montreal. Seriously. The five piece bring infectious energy to their fun indie pop, and their live show is sure to be a must-see. honheehonhee.com

Hot Panda

Edmonton, AB SA 4:30 pM: tubby dog Indie-pop garage rockers who want nothing more than to make this city dance! Recently awarded as one of Edmonton’s favourites, this foursome is clearly nothing to sneeze at. hotpanda.ca

Hot Sweet Noise

Calgary, AB TH 8 PM: CANTOS Twangy rockabilly that will make you want to get up and move! Hot Sweet Noise’s clever drum beats, catchy guitar riffs and chanted vocals are sure to entice you out of your seat. myspace.com/hotsweetnoise

Howlin’ Rain

Oakland, CA FR 10 pM: ship and anchor SA 1  pm: local 510 Howlin’ Rain hail from Oakland, California. Blending elements of West Coast cosmic psychedelia, 70s rock and roll, pop, fuzzbox soul, jazz and a ragged sweat-and-beer drenched live show, they are currently coming to the end of a long, strange, three year journey to complete SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 21

their third album with producer Rick Rubin. howlinrain.com

Svenonius has a track record of more incidents of defiance than Cool Hand Luke.

Hunter-Gatherer

Igloos

Calgary, AB FR 8:45 pM: undermountain Their mind-bending psychedelic harmonies will leave you silent as they breathe the life of pop into music with ease and honesty. It’s like the Beach Boys if they had more edge and didn’t wear those dumb pants. HunterGatherer offers great summer-sounding music that has the power to guide you through the harshest of Alberta winters. myspace.com/huntergathererspace

Hunx and his Punx

San Francisco, CA FR 1 aM: Legion upstairs SA 3:15 PM: Broken city SA 10:30 pm: twisted element Hunx and his sometimes all-female backing band (the Punkettes) play timeless songs about romantic feelings that you can dance and also fall in love to, unless you don’t like rock and roll. One of their songs is briefly featured in a Lenscrafters commercial. hardlyart.com/hunxandhispunx.html

Ian Svenonius

Washington, DC FR 9:00 pM: Legion upstairs (dj set) SA 2:00 pM: glenbow (lecture) Snarling his was through a host of post-punk projects from the seminal National of Ulysses to the politically charged hooting and hollering of The Make Up, Ian F.

22 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Calgary, AB TH 4 PM: CANTOS How many indie rockers does it take to build an igloo? This local postpunk outfit channel Husker Du and The Wipers into their own lo-fi angular guitar goodness. Sloppy eskimo kisses all around! myspace.com/igloosband

In Medias Res

Vancouver, BC FR 9:30 pM: Legion downstairs SA 9:00 pM: Hillhurst United These west coast indie rockers have exploded out of the Vancouver scene and are ready to bring with them a steady supply of rich, diverse and original songs. Smartly crafted lyrics make this quartet a must-see of the festival! imr.ca

Indian Wars

Vancouver, BC Sa 11 pM: Legion upstairs The first time I played with this band, I was standing out front of a Vancouver venue when they pulled up in a tiny car that was packed full of gear. Except only one of them were actually in the car . . . the rest were being towed behind on their skateboards looking like something from a skate vid you would steal from your older brother in the early 90s. Indian Wars boast 50s style garage pop with a country twang that will not disappoint. myspace.com/strangehandsband

THE Intelligence

Seattle, WA TH 1 aM: ship and anchor FR 9:30 pM: twisted element SA 12 aM: Broken city I’m inevitably going to stalk Lars Finberg at Sled Island, because I have a huge man-crush on him, for obvious reasons: 1) The Intelligence rule; 2) Lars Finberg is my current favourite rock writer; (see The Intelligence tour diaries he writes for The Stranger); 3) I’m a creep. myspace.com/theworldisadrag

Invasives

Vancouver, BC FR 10 pM: Legion upstairs Three Rain City boys who have toured the world with Nomeansno, the Invasives are two brothers with a friend on drums, which is weird because I didn’t think drummers had any friends. It’s sped up Black Sabbath with a howl Geddy Lee only wishes he had. invasives.ca

isis graham

Calgary, AB SA 11 PM: Bamboo Isis Graham has been at the forefront of Calgary dance culture since 1997. Whether organizing warehouse raves in the nineties or headlining clubs across Canada in the millennium, she was there. Into the new decade, she’s here to stay and more excited about music than ever. You can always expect big bass, big funk and a whole lotta soul from her DJ sets. facebook.com/thefriendsofisisgraham

Hunx and his Punx If you have never heard about Hunx and his Punx, based out of Oakland, CA, the first exposure you will likely have to them will be the video for ‘You Don’t Like Rock N Roll.’ Unabashedly camp, the video features Hunx (nee Seth Bogart) laying in bed with his lover, who, when turned to to decide what kind of music they should listen to, offers up traditionally gay picks, like Lisa Minnelli. Hunx, however, has something else in mind and with a sly, knowing grin, offers up his own album cover, a take on the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers – though, in lieu of Andy Warhol’s lover’s leather-clad crotch, Bogart’s is featured clad in a fabulous zebra print. All SoCal jangle rock and corpulent band members (his Punkettes), Hunx and his Punx update 70s glitter/glam rock for a brave new world. Just don’t fall in love: you’re much too young to have your heart broken.

THE James T Kirks

Vancouver, BC / Edmonton, AB TH 9 PM: LEGION UPSTAIRS If the Kirks haven’t made their way into Canadian rock folklore yet, just give it a couple more years. Talent oozes off these three boys like sweat and they have been providing a perfect summer soundtrack for 15 years with their serious surf garage. myspace.com/thejamestkirks

Jasper Sloan Yip

Vancouver, BC WE 10 PM: REPUBLIK Vancouver’s Jasper Sloan Yip plays honest pop with soul influences and a lively upbeat feel. At the tender age of 24, he is already showing an ability to evolve and a true talent that makes him one to watch. jaspersloanyip.com

Jenn Grant

Halifax, NS WE 11 PM: REPUBLIK Happy-go-lucky songstress, Jenn Grant, is an indie pop princess with ear-catching tunes full of love and heartbreak, but mostly love. With songs like ‘Getcha Good’ and ‘Honeymoon Punch,’ you may find yourself still singing along days later. jenngrant.com

Jennifer Castle Toronto, ON

24 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

WE 11:30PM: MARQUEE ROOM Described by Calgary’s Flemish Eye label as one of Canada’s best-kept secrets, Jennifer Castle’s music is as much about the space around the sound as it is about her haunting vocals and stripped-down musical accompaniment. myspace.com/jennifercastlemusic

have been playing punk with a classic, 70s feel for over seven years now and show no signs of letting up anytime soon. reverbnation.com/thejolts

Jon McKiel

Calgary, AB WE 9:30PM: BROKEN CITY Frenetic punk rock is the name of the game for this relatively new Calgary band. Just be sure not to confuse fornication with war. myspace.com/dirtyjeremyclarkson

Halifax, NS FR 3 pM: ship and anchor SA 1 pm: palomino This year, Halifax’s Jon McKiel released Confidence Lodge, a five-song EP that showcases his textured indie pop that has drawn comparisons to Andrew Bird, Ryan Adams and Matt Pond PA. His live shows are intimate, engaging and definitely worth checking out. myspace.com/jonmckiel

Jim Ward

Julianna Barwick

Jeremy Clarkson

El Paso, TX SA 12:30 am: marquee room SA 5 pm: ship and anchor This talented singer/songwriter maintains a delicate ebb and flow between acoustic and electric. Good for all occasions and it’ll definitely gain some momentum quickly. tembloroso.com

THE Jolts

Vancouver, BC SA 2:30 PM: Broken city It’s no surprise this Vancouver four-piece moonlight as a Ramones cover band. With energy to spare, The Jolts

Brooklyn, NY th 11PM: emmedia FR 9:30 pM: marquee room SA 8 pm: hillhurst united From Brooklyn, Julianna Barwick’s music sounds like what would happen if they let angels release records from heaven: lots of beautiful, ethereal loops on top of each other, just chilling. juliannabarwick.com

Justin Townes Earle

New York, NY WE 12 AM: REPUBLIK TH 12 aM: marquee room

BAND BIOS

Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle’s sound is a hybrid of his own, but there is no doubt that the influences of his father and the Americana musicians of that era are embedded in every strum of his guitar. You need look no further than the songwriting on his newest album, Harlem River Blues, with songs like ‘Move Over Mama’ and ‘Ain’t Waitin’,’ to evidence JTE as a young man with roots deeply embedded in the folk-rock-blues of the southern states of America. With a heavy past involving drug addictions and quitting school at the age of 14, he has plenty of material to write about. In 2009, just a year after his musical debut, JTE was recognized for his musical talent as the recipient of the Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year. Justin Townes Earle’s folk/roots sound is best accompanied by an old-fashioned glass of whiskey, a denim jacket and a Woody Guthrie state of mind. Don’t let his young looks fool you: this 29-year-old is an old Southern soul with twangy melodies that effortlessly flow when a guitar is at hand. justintownesearle.com

Keep Tidy

Vancouver, BC TH 10 pM: palomino The sweaty, hyperactive lovechild of Ian MacKaye and Linda Perry, just try to catch a breath between these minute long songs. PMA? More like FTW! myspace.com/keeptidy

Ketamines

Lethbridge, AB WE 10 PM: PALOMINO FR 1:45 pM: broken city Imagine listening to garage rock in a rural Alberta city while on psychedelic drugs. Toss in the reverb found with Fist City and you’ve got the retro stylings of the Ketamines. myspace.com/ketamines

Keys N Krates

Toronto, ON FR 11:30 pM: Hifi Combining live instrumentation with turntable mash-ups for an overall rad sound, and featuring and reinventing songs from a vast array of genres, you’re sure to be impressed with Keys N Krates. keysnkrates.com

Kingdom Cloud

Victoria, BC SA 11 pm: tubby dog This dreamy pop-trio from BC will inspire serious foot tapping and finger snapping and toss you into a world of sunshine and palm trees. You haven’t seen color coordination this good since your triplet cousins were in town! myspace.com/kingdomcloud

krocodile Egg Tooth

Calgary, AB FR 5 pM: cantos This band is too fresh to even have a website yet. It’s okay to be intrigued.

Kuhrye-oo

Edmonton, AB th 9PM: emmedia You might recognize Calvin McElroy in a tutu, lights draped about him and covered in sweat as one of the dancing mystics of GOBBLE GOBBLE. His solo project Kuhrye-oo plays as some sort of dark soundtrack to your

night drives; smooth and collected. www.myspace.com/kuhryeoo

Kurt Vile & the Violators

Philadelphia, PA FR 12:30 aM: Legion downstairs SA 9 pM: hillhurst united Somewhere along the epic folk/rock spectrum, troubadour Kurt Vile, can be found channelling the likes of Tom Petty and Bob Seger. Vile and his Violators make classically lo-fi music that can be enjoyed by anyone who is an enthusiast of folk or rock – or music in general. kurtvile.com

Lab Coast

Calgary, AB Sa 9:30 pM: Legion downstairs Taking the Tobin Sprout GBV songs as the starting point for your band is possibly the greatest idea ever – one I plan on starting one day myself. Simple, evocative melodies combined with as many hooks as will fit into your old ratty backpack from high school. labcoast.tumblr.com

Lee Ranaldo

New York, NY TH 9 PM: Central United Church FR workshop: 12 pM: cantos Sonic Youth co-founder resurrects the Fender Jazzmaster only to destroy it in a fury of noise. sonicyouth.com

LEGS

Winnipeg, MB WE 9 PM: DISTILLERY More than just a sexy lady with an electric on heels: LEGS is a primal scream, a greasy t-shirt on a fine pair of stems. She eats the tender singer/songwriter scene for breakfast and pukes it up after her liquid lunch. myspace.com/summeroflegs

Library Voices

Regina, SK TH 10:15 pM: The Gateway FR 10:30 pM: Legion downstairs Prettily quiet. This multi-volume collection of bookworms will gladly show their Regina off to anyone who’ll check ‘em out. Poppish electro-wizardry that comes with its own hand-clappin’ chorus of girly cheerleaders, Library Voices is pure bubble-gum folk-synth from foreword to appendix. libraryvoices.ca

Louise Burns

Vancouver, BC FR 6:45 pM: palomino FR 10 pM: bamboo The Lillix chanteuse mines roots rock for all its worth and

finds some undiscovered elements. Decorating a strong, sultry voice with plunking acoustics one moment and big, bouncy arrangements the next, it’s a blast of mountain air with no cobwebs to be found. Burns smolders as a solo act. louiseburnsmusic.com

THE Lusitania

El Paso, TX FR 9 pM: ironwood SA 4 pm: ship and anchor Damn the torpedoes! Brothers Mike and Blake Duncan go full steam ahead and bust out the Americana strummers. New El Paso’s right-as-rain rolling rock connection runs the gambit from liquored-up brawlers to heartbroke ballads. These romping alt-country anthems and gritty come-ons will surely carve their initials in your bark. thelusitaniaband.com

THE Luyas

Montreal, QC WE 10 PM: DISTILLERY The Luyas are a group of Montreal-based experimental indie pop rockers. With the ingenious use of instruments like the French horn and the Moodswinger, a 12-string electric zither, The Luyas produce a sound like no other. theluyas.wordpress.com

THE Lytics

Winnipeg, MB SA 11:30 pm: local 522 This trio of brothers will have you singing along with their joyful, flowing, rap infused hip-hop melodies. The Lytics provide a dynamic twist to a typical hip hop sound. thelytics.com

Man Legs

Calgary, AB Sa 10 pM: Legion upstairs Calgary’s Man Legs emerge from their garage to play experimental surf pop that’s guaranteed to get your own man (or woman) legs moving. It’s lo-fi, it’s retro, it’s everything you need in a dance party. myspace.com/manlegscalgary

Man Man

Philadelphia, PA WE 12 AM: LEGION DOWNSTAIRS TH 12 AM: distillery It is universally understood that an incredible live show should be in want of some of the best songwriting in a decade. The melancholy and keyboard pounding of frontman Honus Honus anchor a pulse-pounding experimental pop, a heaping pile of Mike Patton and a dollop of Tim Burton on top of emphatic creativity and verve. Don’t forget your warpaint. manmanbandband.com SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 25

Maria in the Shower

BJ Snowden

Chali 2na

Man Man

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10:00

11:00

12:00

THURSDAY

Feathers

:30

1:00

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12:00 Rajas

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11:00 Double Fuzz

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10:00 Dinosaur

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9:00 The James T.

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Teengirl Dum Dum Girls Fantasy

The Soft Pack

Monokino

Hot Sweet Noise Zola Jesus

8:00

:30

Crocodiles

Float Like Stones

7:00

WEIRD GuEST!?

Extra Happy Ghost!!!

Role Mach

Lee Ranaldo An Horse WEIRD CANADA PRESENTS: Stressed Out Black Dirt of the West

Susie Forsyth

6:00

:30

Pirhana, Pirhana

LOCAL LIBRARY PRESENTS: Pierre Laporte

Old Bones

:30

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Dum Dum Girls Blonde Redhead STRFKR

Social Studies

The Luyas

5:00

The Nancees

The Soft Pack

No Gold

Au

The Donkeys

Pirhana, Pirhana

EXCLAIM! PRESENTS: Legs

Igloos

:30

Kirks

Pierced Arrows

Grown-ups

B-Lines

Jeremy Clarkson

Braids

Wild Nothing

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Jennifer Castle

Memory Screen

Teen Daze Bayonets!!!

B-Lines

Stalwart Sons

Sans AIDS

Social Studies Kuhrye-oo

Crocodiles

Friendo

Dinosaur Feathers

Ketamines

Rococode

CBC RADIO 3 PRESENTS: Slow Down, Molasses

Bison b.c.

Barn Burner

Drunk Horse

Man Man

GOBBLE GOBBLE

Julianna Barwick

An Horse

Justin Townes Earle

Jenn Grant

Smalltown DJs

Dave Nada

Barn Burner

Trigger Effect

Scarebro

Red Cedar

Pat Jordache

Sans AIDS

POP MONTREAL PRESENTS: Play Guitar

Timecopz

Slates

Trigger Effect

Alejandro Escovedo

Justin Townes Earle

The Donkeys

Samantha Grey Kingdom The SSRIs Savage Smith

Smalltown DJs Dominique Fricot

DJ Sabo

The Hits

Jasper Sloan Yip The Vicious Cycles

CALGARY FOLK FEST PRESENTS: No River

Trigger Effect Seizure Salad Two Bicycles Library Voices Yip Deceiver

Biblical

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NEEDLES//PINS

Keep Tidy

Blonde Redhead

Wild Nothing

Starfucker

Adaline

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OR CH Da N

LOCAL LIBRARY PRESENTS: Faux Fur

The Intelligence

Moon Duo

Michael Rault

Quivers

BJ Snowden

Dreamdate

Beekeeper

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2011 SCHEDULE

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1:00 :30

3:00

Bare Wires

4:00

Times New Viking

:30 :30

Krocodile Egg Tooth

6:00

Black Rabbit

:30 :30

Ryan Kukec Mike Robertson & John Mick Brody Stevens Tig Notaro

7:00 :30

8:00 :30

DJ Ian Svenonious ALL NIGHT LONG! In Medias Res

Neil Hamburger

The Sandwitches

Minto

Invasives

11:00

Shannon and the Clams Moon Duo

Chains Of Love

12:00

Cheeseburger

Sonny and the Sunsets

1:00

Hunx and His Punx

Louise Burns

Library Voices

Kurt Vile and the Violators

10 LO

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Random Task Collective

Young Liars

Raleigh

The Whitsundays

Slam Dunk

Sun Wizard Parts and Labor Alberta Cross:

Cursive

Teenanger

Dead Voices

Pujol

The SSRIs

Crocodiles

Royal Canoe

Deer Tick

Electric Six

24 HOuRS CALGARY SuN PRESENTS: PRESENTS: The Heart Beat The Lusitania Honheehonhee

STRFKR

Orgone

Piper Davis

Alejandro Escovedo

Minus The Bear Keys N Krates The Heart Beat

SATURDAY

E Y MONGREL/ ROSES PRESENTS: The Mandates

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1:00 :30

2:00

Shannon and the Clams The Jolts

3:00

Hunx and His Punx

:30 :30

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DIC

Mariya Soetart

10:00

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Dead Meadow

Robbie Aylesworth

5:00

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Crow Eater

Topless Mongos

:30

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The Spreads

Ketamines

2:00

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KE

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Lee Ranaldo MAMMOTH CAVE Workshop PRESENTS: The Gooeys

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12:00

Art at Sled Island Panel

MuSH DIY

Ian Svenonius Lecture

4:00 :30

5:00 :30

6:00 :30

Ryan Kukec Mike Robertson & John Mick Brody Stevens Tig Notaro

7:00 :30

8:00 :30

Neil Hamburger

9:00

Lab Coast

:30

10:00

Man Legs

11:00

Indian Wars

12:00

Dead Ghosts

:30 :30 :30

1:00 :30

ABSOLuTE uNDERGROuND & BOGuS TOKuS DISCORD PRESENT: PRESENTS:

Demon’s Claws

uncle Badtouch The Greenhornes Deer Tick Wild Flag

Teen Daze

VICE PRESENTS: The Shrapnelles

Isis Graham COuSINS Shuttle

The Get Down Damages

WAKE

nR

Black Mastiff

Pedro Electric Six Monkeyfinger

Adebisi Shank Biblical

Moon Duo

Julianna Barwick

Mode Moderne Orgone

The Ravonettes

AuX. TV PRESENTS: DBL Dragon SECRET GuEST!?

The Intelligence

Times New Viking

Red Fang

Shortwave Society

Thee Oh Sees

Cursive

The Sword

Twin Shadow

In Media Res Kurt Vile

NT

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1:00

SAPPYFEST PRESENTS: Gianna Lauren Jon McKiel

3:00 :30

Foggy Nations

4:00

Shooting Guns

:30

5:00

Feral Children

:30 :30

7:00 :30

Hunter Gatherer

Howlin’ Rain

Quest for Fire

Biblical

Adebisi Shank

11:00

Black Mastiff

Drunk Horse

The Soft Pack

12:00

Red Fang

C’Mon

Yip Deceiver

The Intelligence Monokino

GOBBLE GOBBLE

Wild Flag

Twin Shadow The Raveonettes

:30 :30

C’Mon Camp Radio Rae Spoon

aIN NT

IK ’S RN VE

:30

1:00 :30

MINT RECORDS PRESENTS: The Sandwitches Ramblin’ Ambassadors Dead Ghosts The Lusitania Hot Panda Jim Ward

2:00

On Lock

Heart Failure Research unit

:30

Scrapbooker

3:00

Book of Caverns

:30

Blue King Brown

Shuyler Jansen

The Lytics

Sonny and the Sunsets

Skratch Bastid Jim Ward

The BellRays

3:00 :30

6:00 Cheeseburger

7:00

7:00 Bare Wires

8:00

8:00 The BellRays

Camp Radio

9:00

9:00 Thee Oh Sees

Young Ones

10:00

10:00

Kingdom Cloud

Bare Wires

11:00

11:00

Shortwave Society

Cheeseburger

12:00

12:00

1:00

1:00

Feel Alright

:30

Damages Fabulous Dad

Miesha and the Cold Craving Spanks Hunx & His Punx Brain Fever

Teenanger

The Muffs

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6:00

Shannon and The Clams

Parts and Labor

2:00

5:00 Demon’s Claws

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Pujol

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5:00

Slam Dunk

:30

Battle Snakes

:30

1:00

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WAKE

Deadhorse

The Beladeans

12:00

4:00

The Dandy Warhols Of Montreal

VISIT SLEDISLaND.COM FOR UP TO DaTE LISTINGS aND MORE.

12:00

Minus The Bear

The Sandwitches

aLL aGES VENUES

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SAVED BY RADIO PRESENTS: Jon McKiel

Mark Davis Chad VanGaalen

ME

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:30

Dinosaur Feathers Demon’s Claws

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aZ PL PIC OL YM The Greenhornes

DuZHEKNEW

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Pujol

9:00

LIFETIME COLLECTIVE PRESENTS: On Lock

SUNDAY

BEATROuTE BREAKFAST PRESENTS: No Gold (12:00) Howlin’ Rain (1:00)

:30

RM

Braids

8:00

The Mandates

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We Are The City

Fist City

UN

Julianna Barwick

Teengirl Fantasy

BL

Sun Wizard Sleep

SATURDAY (GATES AT 12PM) 1:30 ALBERTA CROSS 2:30 THE GREENHORNES 3:30 TWIN SHADOW 4:45 THE RAVEONETTES 5:45 CHAD VANGAALEN 7:00 MINUS THE BEAR 8:30 THE DANDY WARHOLS 9:45 OF MONTREAL

6:00

The Sword

ED

Auld Beak

Mode Moderne

The Donkeys

CFCR PRESENTS: Friends Electric

NT

FFWD WEEKLY PRESENTS: Book of Caverns Rae Spoon

Crow Eater

Buzzcocks

Dreamdate

:30

Louise Burns

BART RECORDS PRESENTS: Slates

Bayonets!!!

Bison b.c.

LIGHT ORGAN RECORDS PRESENTS: Adaline

FRIDAY (GATES AT 3PM) 4:00 C’MON 5:00 BISON B.C. 6:00 BUZZCOCKS 7:30 THE SWORD 8:45 SLEEP

2:00

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OLYMPIC PLAZA MAIN SITE

12:00

SECRET GuEST!?

:30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30

:30

NuDIE JEANS PRESENTS:

:30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30

CENTRE STREET

14 ST NW

4 ST NW

> 19 ST NW

10 ST NW

SLED ISLAND VENUES

13

20 AVE NW

4

18+ VENUES APPEAR IN BLUE ALL AGES VENUES APPEAR IN RED

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Check sledisland.com for all up to date venue information.

1 ST NW

16 AVE NW / TRANS CANADA HWY

NORTH WEST 18

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MACLEOD TRAIL SE

31

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ANT HILL 148 10th Street NW THE AUBURN SALOON #163 - 115 9th Avenue SE BAMBOO 1205 1st Street SW BIRDS AND STONE THEATRE 207 16th Avenue NW BROKEN CITY 613 11th Avenue SW CANTOS MUSIC FOUNDATION 134 11th Avenue SE CENTRAL UNITED CHURCH 131 7th Avenue SW DICKEN’S 1000 9th Avenue SW THE DISTILLERY 615 7th Avenue SW EMMEDIA 203 11th Ave SW THE GALLERY #113 - 1013 17th Ave SW GATEWAY (SAIT) #1301 - 16th Avenue NW HAIGHT GALLERY 2018 24th Avenue NW HIFI CLUB 219 10th Avenue SW HILLHURST UNITED CHURCH 1227 Kensington Close NW IRONWOOD #1229 - 9th Avenue SE LOCAL 510 510 17th Avenue SW LOCAL 522 522 6th Avenue SW MARqUEE ROOM 612 8th Avenue SW NEW BLACK #200 - 919 9th Ave SE OLYMPIC PLAZA Main Site THE PALOMINO 109 7th Avenue SW PITH GALLERY 1018 9th Avenue SE REPUBLIK 219 17th Avenue SW ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION #1 116 7th Avenue SE THE SHIP AND ANCHOR 534 17th Avenue SW SLOTH RECORDS 736B 17th Avenue SW TUBBY DOG 1022 17th Avenue SW TWISTED ELEMENT 1006 11th Avenue SW UNDERMOUNTAIN 1112 4th Street SW VERN’S 622 8th Avenue SW

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SOUTHEAST

Lee Ranaldo You know how the debut Velvet Underground record was so seminal that everyone who owned it at the time went on to start a band? Lee Ranaldo’s guitar playing in Sonic Youth can be considered in similar terms. Alongside J. Mascis, Ranaldo is basically responsible for the return of guitar pyrotechnics in the 80s, after punk stripped down the pomp and circumstance of 70s dinosaur rock and returned it to the hands of the people. As a solo artist, Ranaldo tends towards more experimental art and remains heavily involved in the New York City art scene, tirelessly releasing books of poetry, his own journals, collaborating with similar-minded musicians, such as his ongoing project with jazz drummer William Hooker, and producing avant-garde bands. You’ll want to make sure to catch his set: you’ll never know how it’ll inspire you.

THE Mandates

Calgary, AB FR 8 pM: undermountain SA 1 PM: Broken city The Mandates is the latest project from Calgary’s Brady Kirchner, and considering he’s known around town for his roles in the Pants Situation, the Dudes and Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome, it’s safe to say that this new power-pop band will quickly become a local favourite. myspace.com/camerainmynecktie

Maria in the Shower

Vancouver, BC WE 9 PM: LEGION DOWNSTAIRS Don’t get any nasty ideas: Maria in the Shower is here to arouse your soul, not your naughty bits. Their assortment of swing, samba and folk jingles will undoubtedly put a smile on your face. mariaintheshower.com

32 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Mariya Soetaert

Stavely, AB FR 7 pM: cantos Mariya Soetaert is quite possibly the youngest performer at this year’s Sled Island. From Stavely, AB, her country guitar and dulcet vocals will provide a welcome haven from the festival madness outside. facebook.com/pages/Mariya/124450854254142

Mark Davis

Edmonton, AB SA 5 pm: palomino Driving rock. Raw folk. Effervescent pop. Bombastic explorations. www.myspace.com/markwdavis

Memory Screen

Calgary, AB WE 10:30 PM: MARQUEE ROOM

Memory Screen make soft dense songs that sound like a warm fog or a beautiful screen saver. Filled with dank vibes, shimmering guitars that weave in and out of reverb-drenched vocals. myspace.com/memoryscreen

Michael Rault

Edmonton, AB TH 11 pM: ship and anchor Though he’s played in a number of bands in the past— —including punk bands in his hometown of Edmonton and a family band with his father and uncle – Michael Rault is now striking out on his own. His minimalist retro pop will make you feel like you’re in the 50s in all the right ways. myspace.com/michaelrault

miesha & the spanks

Calgary, AB SA 9:30 pm: twisted element

Minto

Vancouver, BC FR 9:30 pM: broken city Hailing from all over Canada, these five friends starting making country-tinged folk music about five years ago and slowly progressed into a stomping good time of a band. mintomusic.com

Minus the Bear

Seattle, WA FR 11:30 PM: the Gateway SA 7 pm: olympic plaza These indie (sometimes prog) rockers have found a way to make idiosyncratic guitar playing and carnal,

sexual lyrics into decidedly radio friendly songs. Think My Morning Jacket meets Silversun Pickups. minusthebear.com

BAND BIOS

Combining sloppy garage rock with driving blues, a ‘wheezing Hammond organ’ and a howling set of powerful pipes, miesha & the spanks are amongst the hardest working bands in Calgary. Be sure to procure their just released full-length, Gods of Love, a sleazy, sexy, rollicking slab of rock that when delivered live will get your ass shaking up a storm. myspace.com/mandthespanks

Mode Moderne

Vancouver, BC FR 6 pM: palomino SA 8:15 PM: the gateway Mode Moderne’s deep vocals, 80s synths and permeating moodiness have drawn comparisons to Joy Division, the Smiths and the Cure. These guys are definitely worth keeping an eye on. myspace.com/modemoderne

Monokino

Amsterdam, Holland TH 11 PM: BAMBOO FR 9:30 pM: undermountain Dramatic, piano-based sounds that take on a religiouslike sense of drama. Combined with tender vocals, Monokino is sombre enough to tug at your heart strings but not too gloomy to make you want to turn away. monokino.com

Moon Duo

San Francisco, CA TH 12 aM: ship and anchor FR 11:30 pM: Legion downstairs SA 11 PM: emmedia San Francisco’s Moon Duo are two people who make dark jams that sound huge in spite of their minimal lineup. Sounds kind of like New Order meets Cave, meets Eternal Night. moonduo.org

THE Muffs

Man Man Somewhere between arriving and leaving a Man Man set, a thought: ‘This music exists, it is being played live and I am here to feel it. This is a good thing.’ It’s an innocuous reaction that fills the vacuum where your brain used to be. They move from stomp and bluster to pillow whispers and broken promises, through the ringer of a Mr. Bungle patois tinged with funhouse rhythms and attitude, a carnie oompah band after one too many blotters. They’re a musical island, baiting ‘prog’ because how the hell else do we label a hurricane in a cracked teacup. Sled Island 2011 is packed to the gills with must-sees, but only one combines a party with a one-of-a-kind musical experience. Honus Honus, Pow Pow, Jefferson, T. Moth and Chang Wang are going to waltz in and play Grand Marshal to fever dream parade. Facial hair and warpaint optional, but encouraged.

Los Angeles, CA SA 3 pm: local 510 SA 12:30 am: ship and anchor The Muffs are a group of seasoned punk rockers that are ready and willing to sonically annihilate your ears. With a Green Day-like sound and a female lead vocalist, The Muffs have found themselves a steady following of punk rock fans since the early 90s. the-muffs.com

The Nancees

Calgary, AB TH 9:30 PM: LEGION DOWN The Nancees have been causing nearby neighbourhood Bible pushers to drop their books and devote their lives to the eternal summer of doo-wop rock. myspace.com/theenancees

NEEDLES//PINS

Vancouver, BC TH 11 pM: Palomino Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono wrote the song ‘Needles and Pins,’ but I was only aware of the Ramones version for years. The band NEEDLES//PINS sound smart, like they knew the true origins of the song, but their music suggests that they probably prefer the Ramones version. myspace.com/needlesxpins

No Gold

Vancouver, BC WE 12 AM: DICKEN’S SA 12 pm: local 510 Escape to the islands with No Gold’s outside-the-box, SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 33

mostly-electronic music with clear tropical influences. nogold.net

No River

Calgary, AB WE 9 PM: REPUBLIK Five young country outlaws take on the world, leaving no beer or quarter in their wake. This is the kind of music that makes you want to put your arms around the strangers next to you and become their best friend, if even for the set. myspace.com/norivermusic

nR

Calgary, AB SA 9 PM: emmedia The ill-mannered offspring of Nancy Sinatra and Suicide, nR surfs the seas of synaesthesia on a synthesizer made of stars (or scars? or Cars memorabilia?) in search of the perfect sine-wave, leaving no fuzz-pedal un-fuzzed, no reverb un-verbed. Equal parts airborne beast with teeth and talons and the roaring wind that keeps it aloft, nR truly is an experience not to be missed. myspace.com/nrnoise

of Montreal

Athens, GA SA 9:45 pm: olympic plaza Sled Island veterans and pillars of the community for more than a decade, Of Montreal need no introduction. The prolific bus-filling group have yet to miss career beat, their output a solid story of ever-improving experimental pop. Their last Sled cornered the market on confetti and tiger-man stage fights, so who knows what their style of weird brinkmanship will bring this time around? ofmontreal.net

Old Bones

Calgary, AB TH 5 PM: CANTOS Aided by mandolin, bass, piano, drums and a variety of guitars, the thick blues duo Old Bones are a sexy and raw instrumental addition to Sled Island. Composed of two Calgary musicians, this act has just appeared on the scene thanks to a DIY 4-track cassette deck recorded EP – with each song recorded in a single take – and is writing their full-length, Of A Different Colour. myspace.com/oldbonesmusic

On Lock

Vancouver, BC FR 10 pM: palomino This Vancouver heavy metal and blues trio has come to party, broken arms and all! The title of their latest song, ‘Fast Hips and Loose Morals,’ should provide you with enough inside into the band’s idea of fun. myspace.com/onlockradjams

Orgone

Hollywood, CA FR 10 pM: ironwood SA 9:15 PM: the gateway Let’s get funky! This Hollywood troupe knows how to electrify a dance floor with elements of soul, glittery harmonies and rhythms that are insanely addictive. Let the boss know you won’t be in tomorrow; you’ll be too busy grooving! orgonespace.com 34 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Parts & Labor

Brooklyn, NY FR 11:30 pM: broken city Parts & Labor bury dense harmonies in dense electronic pop. Put on some clothes, feel excited and see the this band. partsandlabor.net

Pat Jordache

Montreal, QC WE 10 PM: TUBBY DOG Pat Jordache needs to be set free. His lush wall of reverb and blends of pattern create a wonderful clash. A headspace hero of experiment pop coming from outer worldly resources. myspace.com/mountainmanpatjordache

Pedro Monkeyfinger

Calgary, AB SA 10 PM: emmedia What happens when electricity is interpreted through misanthropy? What comes out of the wall sockets is an interpretation, relating electricity to your eardrums – unadulterated manipulations of electricity – until you forget what it means to be human and understand what it means to be an analog. Hate everything human, become a machine. myspace.com/pedromonkeyfinger

Pierced Arrows

Portland, OR WE 12:30AM: BROKEN CITY TH 1 aM: Palomino Fred Cole has created and fronted some of the most relevant and influential underground bands throughout the last 50 years (The Rats, The Lollipop Shoppe, Dead Moon). After spending time in the Yukon with his family while evading the draft, Fred and his wife Toody started Dead Moon upon returning to the US. They toured Europe and North America relentlessly in the 70s and 80s as the king and queen of American punk. Fred and Toody are finally back with a new band, Pierced Arrows, and are louder than ever with even more feedback and exciting, limit-pushing garage rock. piercedarrows.com

Pierre Laporte

Calgary, AB TH 7 PM: Central United Church Pierre Laporte was one of the unfortunate casualties of the October Crisis in 1970. Four decades later, Pierre Laporte are also four Calgarians that play what could very well be a retrospective soundtrack for the FLQ. pierrelaporte.bandcamp.com

Piper Davis

Vancouver, BC FR 10:30 pM: Hifi Tell her you like her moves. Seriously. The micro-sampled, free-styling, grooving, quirky, dark, electro beats speak for themselves and Piper Davis’ charisma drives it all home. imadancemachine.com

Piranha Piranha

Calgary, AB FR 9 PM & 1 aM: hifi Calgary’s own bass music warriors, from Modern Math to Northern Lights and beyond. myspace.com/2piranha

Minus the Bear is a five-person band of indie prog-pop-alt-(insert trendy word here) rockers. With four albums and four EPs to their name, Minus the Bear have well proven all the ‘Minus the Talent’ critics wrong. The band’s most recent album, Omni, is their first release on Dangerbird Records and was named after the newest addition to the band, a vintage Omnichord synthesizer. This instrument, along with band member Alex Rose, is responsible for the strange synthesized riffs that give Minus the Bear a quirky pop sound. Minus the Bear’s unexpected time changes, propulsive rhythms and often sexually provocative lyrics lust towards electro-pop, while their harmonious guitar work and straightforward melodies lean more towards classic/prog rock. However you choose to classify Minus the Bear with whatever adjective you may find suitable, you can be confident they are rockers through and through.

Moon Duo The moon may almost be too close to home: the San Francisco duo, formed in 2009 out of the gloomy, moody union of Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada, pulsates and grooves with alien pleasure, reveling in doom-goth, stoner jams that move along with uncanny awareness. And, through it all, relentlessly, restlessly, the motorik beat continues its disembodied march, oblivious of the madness swirling around it. It is the march of an undead army flattening the very ground below it, robbing it of life and virtue as the horizon sets a desaturated grey. Their dance-inducing songs, featuring smoother keys and more forgiving vocals, seem to employ a two-faced sinister nature and sound like the Pied Piper of Oblivion, drawing you closer, willingly, teasingly, to the brink of the abyss, where only they can find joy in the bottomless black. Excellently heady stuff to cap a night off!

Play Guitar

Halifax, NS / Montreal, QC WE 8 PM: TUBBY DOG These dudes are all about creating a transcendent and catchy rock song. A falsetto-like voice reminds us life isn’t so hard and neither is playing the guitar – well, unless you’re this good at it. myspace.com/playguitarplayguitar

Pujol

Nashville, TN FR 11 pM: dicken’s SA 2 pm: local 510 SA 11:30 pm: ship and anchor Pujol is a beautiful blur of optimistic, Wezoteric, Danalytic, manalog, American rock and roll. While Pujol’s music cuts to the core of the twenty-something condition, his imagery skims the surface of popular culture. myspace.com/danielluccapujol

Quest for Fire

Toronto, ON FR 11 pM: palomino Toronto’s stoner rock supergroup promises to illuminate the way to paradise via dashboard light. The Promethean talents behind Cursed, No No Zero and The Deadly Snakes converge to twist up some of the best psychedelic hardcore around. Sparse on words but huge on gut-grabbing hooks, this quartet calmly exudes their own primitive cool. myspace.com/questforfireband

Quivers

Halifax, NS TH 10 pM: ship and anchor I heard that Quivers were driving from Halifax to Calgary to play their Sled Island set and then immediately turn around and go home, because, ‘That’s

what Iggy Pop would have done.’ I have no possible way to verify this information, but there is a definite 70s punk influence here and it does sound like something Iggy would have done. That, kids, is how rock mythology is born! quivers.bandcamp.com

Rae Spoon

Calgary, AB FR 8:30 pM: marquee room SA 4 pm: palomino Polaris nominee and home-grown Calgarian Rae Spoon brings his brand of eclectic melody-making to the festival. Equal parts dance-floor commander and crooner, he blends a swagger and substance with aplomb. Transgressive and impressive, Rae Spoon is not one to miss. raespoon.com

Rajas

Los Angeles, CA TH 12 AM: LEGION UPSTAIRS Rajas are a progressive metal band well-known for their recent accompaniment of Tool on a tour across North America. Their hypnotic rhythms and musical dissonance is an oddly calming force in the feral world of heavy metal. rajasband.com

Raleigh

Calgary, AB FR 9 pM: cantos Raleigh are a quirky folk-pop trio from Calgary that sound far bigger and more layered than their lineup might suggest. Brock Geiger (guitar/vocals), Clea Anaïs (cello/piano/vocals) and Matt Doherty (drums) combine traditional folk with modern Grizzly Bear aesthetics with poignant accuracy. myspace.com/raleighsound

Ramblin’ Ambassadors

Calgary, AB SAT 3 pm: tubby dog Calgary’s favourite surf rockers dare to dream beyond their frozen confines to bring us tales of southern clines. The Ramblin’ Ambassadors pick up where the Ramones left off after listening to Danny. myspace.com/ramblinambassadors

Random Task Collective

Calgary, AB FR 8 pM: cantos This group of youngster’s have been evolving their indie pop sound in the all-ages scene for year’s now. Champions of the underground, no more clowning around. randomtaskrocks.com

The Raveonettes

Copenhagen, Denmark SA 11:30 PM: the gateway SA 4:30 pm: olympic plaza The Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, who make up the Raveonettes, have earned international acclaim for their gorgeously lush and utterly hypnotic tunes. With dashes of layered dreamscapes, driving beats, two-part vocal harmonies waxing poetic on murder, lust, drugs and suicide and a structural simplicity that conjures The Jesus and Mary Chain, the Raveonettes are sure to be a highlight of Sled Island 2011. theraveonettes.com

Red Cedar

Vancouver, BC TH 9 PM: marquee room Red Cedar clearly makes music from instinct and experience. Their eerie, mellow tunes are delivered to your ears with ease and reassurance. Strong vocals, beautiful SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 37

BAND BIOS

Minus the Bear

guitar lines and a true sense of mastery make this band an alt-country tour de force. myspace.com/redcedarmusic

Red Fang

Portland, OR FR 1 aM: palomino SA 12 aM: distillery The video for their belligerent, aluminum-core epic, ‘Prehistoric Dog,’ features the band binge drinking enough PBR and Tecate to build full suits of armour, only to be soundly defeated in combat by a gang of LARP nerds. Classic! Portland’s metal scene has an impressive sense of humour! redfang.net

Robbie Aylesworth

Cochrane, AB FR 4 pM - cantos Recently repatriated from the west coast, Robbie is an emerging Canadiana acoustic roots tru-bad-ass...you’d swear he just walked over from the CPR yards. www.myspace.com/robbieaylesworth1

Rococode

Vancouver, BC TH 9:15 pM: The Gateway Electronically-charged indie pop for the cool kids, the charming vocals of Laura Smith gives these guys a distinctly Tegan and Sara vibe. There’s a lot of harmonies going on here, which means it’s only a matter of time before we’re all humming along. rococode.com

38 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Role Mach

Samantha Savage Smith

Royal Canoe

THE Sandwitches

Vancouver, BC TH 11 PM: BROKEN CITY Role Mach are easily one of Vancouver’s most intriguing bands. Frontman Patrick Geraghty boasts charisma that goes unrivaled these days, commanding the attention of his audience at a whim. Backed by some of their hometown’s most talented musicians, this band has created a true garage-pop explosion. Imagine the Rolling Stones if they were more intelligent and much better looking. Hard right? Go see ’em. myspace.com/rolemach Winnipeg, MB FR 12 aM: distillery Exciting sounds from Winnipeg, MB! Royal Canoe have all that it takes to make intelligent, well crafted music, ranging from tight and impressive to intentionally loose and psychedelic. After their creation in 2009, Royal Canoe wasted no time in releasing their first record to glowing reviews country-wide. They have since been in a state of flux, letting the music shape what they are. myspace.com/royalcanoe

Sabo

New York, NY TH 11:30 pM: HiFi Owner of the Sol Selectas label. This guy embodies tropical music. If you’ve ever been by a beach or pool, chances are you’ve heard Sabo. He is also the esteemed uncle of moombahton. myspace.com/djsabo

Calgary, AB TH 10 PM: IRONWOOD This lady is taking our city by storm! Describing herself as melodramatic indie-folk, Smith is visibly exploding with talent. Her voice is frail yet enormous and her presence is serene – all the while screaming with authority and flair. Her music seems to reach back to days long-passed, when people would spend their time in front of a radio excited by the power of music. myspace.com/samanthasavage San Francisco, CA FR 9 pM: bamboo SA 3 pm: ship and anchor SA 9:30 pm: marquee room Why are these guys so often labelled as spooky? Their light-hearted but palpable acoustic shuffle provides the perfect soundtrack to a lazy Sunday. myspace.com/thesandwitches

Sans AIDS

Edmonton, AB WE 7PM: THE NEW BLACK WE 9 PM: TUBBY DOG Caught in a world of melodic and deconstructive pop where each chord strikes a near collision. Sway to these contagious garage rock rhythms as each beat surfaces to the core. myspace.com/sansaids

Vancouver, BC WE 11PM: BAMBOO Think dark: the darkest of the dank underbelly of the squeaky clean bullshit which thrives in the land of milk and honey. Amongst the glass towers hiding scared cowards these three men meet in secret to write the songs of love and destruction, gloom and celebration. Together they are Scarebro. myspace.com/stokekiller

Scrapbooker

Edmonton, AB SA 2:45 pm: undermountain Hailing from the depths of Edmonton, Scrapbooker provides us with an intense dose of angular, haunted punk rock. If the energy of their recordings is any indication of their live show, it is something that I will definitely not be missing. It is great to see bands like this pushing the boundaries of punk, forcing it into something new and unexplored. scrapbooker.tumblr.com

Seizure Salad

Calgary, AB TH 10 pM: distillery Calgary’s own blend of garage, thrash and experimental psychedelia is going to make you shake, sweat and jive. Weird men and real men eat salad. myspace.com/iloveyoudontyouwantme

Shannon and the Clams Oakland, CA FR 11 pM: Legion upstairs

SA 1:45 PM: Broken city SA 8:30 pm: twisted element Haling from Oakland and sharing members with Hunx and his Punx, this doo-wop trio has no trouble adding a jolt of lightning to any flaming 50s dance party. shannonandtheclams.com

underground label overlords, HoZac Records, and they fit the bill perfectly. While on stage, their blaring guitars and aggressive harmonies will render you feeling insecure and dumb, crying for your mummy. Have fun! myspace.com/theshrapnelles

Shooting Guns

Boston, MA SA 12 aM: Bamboo From Massachusetts, Shuttle’s music is dictated not by generic convention but by feeling. Sketching out electronic musical landscapes, his bass excursions were dreamed up in his bedroom until they were forceful enough to catch the ear of Ninja Tune. myspace.com/shuttle

Saskatoon, SK FR 4:30 pM: tubby dog Shooting Guns provide the perfect soundtrack for the morning after the apocalypse, when you are sitting in the rubble of your home in a bathrobe and think, ‘What should I do now?’ and end up zoning out for hours in a psychedelic trance instead of making a survival plan. Bad move on your part, because you are probably going to die. teargasrecordingtree.com/artists/shootingguns

Shuttle

Shuyler Jansen

Knoxville, TN SA 12 AM: tubby dog Tennessee isn’t just for country music anymore. Fusing elements of chamber folk and jazz into their eclectic pop compositions, they create a vast sonic language that is felt as much as it’s heard. shortwavesociety.com

Saskatoon, SK SA 10:30 pm: marquee room That Shuyler Jansen has struck up a formidable relationship with Steve Dawson says a lot. That his latest solo album, Voice From The Lake, successfully represents both a natural progression from his past alt-country work and a break from the confines of the same tag says even more. This is a must-see performance for any progressively-minded roots fans. myspace.com/shuylerjansen

THE Shrapnelles

Skratch Bastid

Shortwave Society

Calgary, AB SA 10 PM: Broken city This scrappy gang of gals play some of the catchiest rock that I have ever heard come out of Calgary. The Shrapnelles barely existed before being snapped up by

Toronto, ON SA 12:30 am: local 522 Old school hip-hop of the finest regard. Canadian MCs (and MCs everywhere for that matter) owe a lot to his literate and well-timed lyrics. Still, he manages to keep

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 39

BAND BIOS

Scarebro

the party going without getting too serious on us. A definite pro. skratchbastid.com

Slam Dunk

Victoria, BC FR 10 pM: cantos SA 5:15 pm: tubby dog Slam Dunk make loud sounding rock and roll style music, sometimes about basketball but not always. They would sound really good playing in someone’s parents’ basement or backyard bash. myspace.com/slamdunkband

SLATES

Edmonton, AB TH 8 pM: the new black FR 7:30 pM: local 522 Remember when bands spent less time trying to be cool and more time on being good? Edmonton’s SLATES play sincere, unapologetic music that is constantly hinting towards catharsis. Stop reminiscing about how good The Constantines used to be and check out SLATES! myspace.com/slates780

Sleep

San Jose, CA FR 8:45 pM: olympic plaza Hugely influential stoner metal stalwarts Sleep disbanded in 1997 after their label rejected perhaps the most extreme album ever to be recorded for a major, the hour-long opus to sludgy din, Dopesmoker. After trimming the one-track album to 52 minutes and retitling it Jerusalem, the record was again rejected and the trio went tits up in ounces of smoke. Now, over a decade since their disbandment, band creators Matt Pike and Al Cisneros are back on board, while Neurosis skins man Jason Roeder will round out THE event that will define Sled Island 2011. weedian.com/index.html

Social Studies

San Francisco, CA WE 10 PM: HIFI TH 9 pM: distillery Mischievously intricate and angular indie rock oozes from San Fransico’s Social Studies, a quartet whose combination of keyboards, Casio hooks, thumping percussion, eerily sweet and utterly radiant vocals and jangling tambourine makes for a foot-stomping good time. This is indie rock at its purest, with a zesty addition of twee-pop, operatic showmanship and fun. socialstudiesband.com

THE Soft Pack

San Diego, CA WE 1 AM: DICKEN’S TH 11:30 PM: LEGION DOWN FR 12 aM: vern’s Bringing California’s carefree surf-pop straight to your ears. Welcome summer lovin’ with The Soft Pack’s chilled out vocals and Link Wray-inspired jangles. myspace.com/thesoftpack

Sonny & the Sunsets

San Francisco, CA FR 12 aM: bamboo SA 11:30 pm: marquee room Sonny prefers to jump right into the swing of things with his laid-back guitar rhythms and catchy hooks. It’s easy

Sleepy Panther

Calgary, AB WE 8PM LEGION: DOWNSTAIRS It would seem that Sleepy Panther are about four years too late to the band name game, but this local pop band will prove that if you’re good enough, people will wait.

Slow Down, Molasses

Saskatoon, SK TH 8:15 pM: The Gateway This group, seven strong, isn’t afraid of combining a large repertoire of sounds. With strings, horns, guitars, and lullaby-style vocals (among much, much more), Slow Down, Molasses are a multi-dimensional group of prairie rockers. slowdownmolasses.blogspot.com

Smalltown DJs

Calgary, AB TH 9 pM: HiFi TH 10:45 pM: HiFi Owners of the Hifi Club and one of Canada’s biggest exports after maple syrup, these guys know how to set ‘em up and knock ‘em down. smalltowndjs.com 40 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

the Soft Pack The Soft Pack, originally from San Diego, now based out of Los Angeles, bring you care-free Californian surf-pop that is infused with loose, but well executed Bob Dylan-esqe, vocals, Link Wray-inspired guitar jangles and swift back beats, performed with just the right amount of fuzz to instill a bonfire-party-onVenice-beach sort of feeling. This quartet, formerly called The Muslims (you decide whether a flaccid penis reference is better or not), create anything from mellow ballads to fast-paced garage rock without losing that 60s vintage feel that defines their music. Founding members, vocalist Matt Lamkin and guitarist Matt McGlouhlin, have just recently finalized the Soft Pack’s line up after working through a rotation of drummers and bassists and these twenty somethings are here to play honest, powerful, post-punk alternative music that will not disappoint.

to fall for someone with so much melody engrained in their bones. sonnysmith.com

The Spreads

Vancouver, BC FR 12 pM: local 510 The sound of fucking space and time between the walls of ‘Uncle’ Derek’s garage- a place that as a child, you were told never to go to. www.myspace.com/thespreads

THE SSRIs

Vancouver, BC TH 10 pM: the new black FR 11 pM: distillery Experimental psych-punk at it’s finest, regional darlings SSRIs bring a little noise to the proceedings. Endlessly inventive and impossible to predict, their live show has a deserved following. They’re huge in Vancouver, which is shorthand (longhand?) for ‘badass.’ myspace.com/thessris

Stalwart Sons

Calgary, AB WE 8PM: THE NEW BLACK New sincerity, or the return of old sincerity lost – either way, Stalwart Sons are the answer to the question that most didn’t know needed asking. Nothing about Stalwart Sons rings false, from their tireless work ethic to their tasteful set of influences (Fugazi, North of America, Constantines). myspace.com/wearestalwartsons

42 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

STRFKR

Susie Forsyth

Stressed Out

Austin, TX FR 7:30 pM: olympic plaza SA 1 aM: distillery If you’ve been watching George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones on HBO then this is your mental soundtrack. Otherwise think of them as the new Metallica, if Metallica was from Austin, TX, and knew what an aurochs was. swordofdoom.com

Portland, OR WE 12 AM: HIFI TH 10:30 pM: republik FR 10:15 pM: the Gateway STRFKR transmit a dance-y brand of electro-pop on a glowing platter of synthesizers and drum machines. Quality vocal hooks accompanied by an obviously intuitive sense of style and sound – there is no doubt that this band will have you dancing and singing for weeks to come. myspace.com/strfkrmusic Lethbridge, AB TH 10 PM: BROKEN CITY Five miscreants from Lethbridge playing Black Flag styled early-’80s hardcore, with songs like ‘Nuke Shambala,’ ‘Shit Safari’ and ‘School Shooter.’ Stressed Out singer Connor Crash dislocated a shoulder diving into a crowd once and they kept playing, although they had me at ‘Shit Safari.’ myspace.com/stressedoutab

Sun Wizard

Vancouver, BC FR 8 pM: palomino FR 10:30 pM: broken city Sun Wizard is a band full of men playing guitars together in beautiful unison. Not too slow, not too fast – just perfect for you and your Dad to get down. myspace.com/thesunwizard

Calgary, AB TH 6 PM: CANTOS A talented young Canadian singer-songwriter with an irresistible smile and charming voice. Her western roots show with a twangy guitar and prairie-inspired sound. susieforsyth.com

THE Sword

Teen Daze

Vancouver, BC WE 9:30 PM: MARQUEE ROOM SA 10 PM: baMboo You know when you’re an adult and you see groups of teenagers hanging out and think “You have no idea how beautiful you are right now and how many possibilities are open to you”? This band sounds kind of like that. teendaze.tumblr.com

Teenanger

Toronto, ON FR 10 pM: dicken’s SA 10:30 pm: ship and anchor Vicious punk rock cuts across your veins with feedback. myspace.com/teenangerrr

BAND BIOS

The Sword Hailing from Austin, Texas, three-piece powerhouse The Sword is one of the most compelling interests in the world of modern metal. Formed in 2003, the band’s concept-driven works are as compellingly masterful as they are infectiously catchy. Ritualistic in its adherence to offering up larger-than-life themes, The Sword excels at constructing brave new worlds of steel and stone. Whether hurtling through space on the science fiction inspired album Warp Riders or battling it out with the Viking raiders as on the epic full-length release Age of Winters, The Sword stands apart as a band with a sound grand enough to satisfy the magnificence of its fantastical imagination. Nothing short of a top-notch thrash outfit, The Sword is capable of tearing through densest of metal armour. No manmade blade can with stand the intensity of the blows the hardcore knight of the realm reign down in the name of righteous rocking.

Teengirl Fantasy

Oberlin, OH TH 12 AM: BAMBOO FR 8 pM: tubby dog The band Teengirl Fantasy does this thing that sound kind of like taking all the good parts of every good song and then putting them all together into one hot dream mix. They sound kind of like if you put a bunch of great music into a computer and then told it, ‘Make these songs about 10% better.’ myspace.com/teengirlfantasy

Thee Oh Sees

San Francisco, CA SA 1 aM: Broken city SU 9 pm: Republik Hailing from San Francisco, Thee Oh Sees embody every thing that is cool about California. One of

our generations best songwriters, band leader John Dwyer, and his fashionable counterparts will forcibly teach you what music is all about. From mellow experimental folk music to their more recent insanity-driven, echo-laden rock ‘n’ roll, Thee Oh Sees will leave you drenched in sweat wondering if you will ever feel as good as you just did for the rest of your life. myspace.com/ohsees

TIMECOPZ

Vancouver, BC TH 9 pM: the new black If Vancouver truly is a no fun city, then Timecopz aren’t going quietly into the night. Balls to the wall punk rock that holds nothing back and doesn’t take long to work its trashy magic. There’s a fire in their bellies and they’re letting it out. myspace.com/timecopz

Times New Viking

Columbus, OH FR 4 pM: broken city SA 12 aM: dicken’s Known for making some of the skuzziest lo-fi records that somehow remain listenable, Columbus, Ohio’s, Times New Viking were at the forefront of a movement. When I heard them live (opening for Guided by Voices, fittingly), they sounded a lot like The Clean and I didn’t like them – I loved them. timesnewviking.net

Topless Mongos

Calgary, AB FR 2:30 pM: broken city Topless Mongos are the three nicest people in Calgary. They play tame, safe, non-offensive, generic music that does not rock. OPPOSITE DAY! myspace.com/toplessmongos

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 45

Twin Shadow Twin Shadow just got back from an incredibly successful stint on Jimmy Fallon, where they were crowned one of the best TV performances by a buzz band yet. Their featured song, ‘Castles in the Snow,’ won America over with its ridiculously slick, cool stylings that seem both effortless and totally unachievable by the rest of the living, breathing, population. Dominican-born George Lewis Jr. borrows liberally and obviously from 1980s new wave, with a pining, yearning voice like Morrissey. But he still manages to make it his own, half fashion performance, half indie darling, half new wave revival brilliance. Regardless of the winning formula, it is hard not to earnestly agree with every word that drips from Lewis’ lips, who shape-shifts behind the mic from a less hyperactive Prince to a grimacing and twisting Hendrix playing a Rickenbacker. Twin Shadow proves that you can have it all, style and substance. All the cool kids will want to be at this show to take notes.

Trigger Effect

Two Bicycles

Twin Shadow

un

Montreal, QC WE 12 AM: SHIP AND ANCHOR TH 10 PM: Dicken’s TH 7 pM: the new black Explosive, no bullshit, hardcore punk. Coarse vocals on a diverse back drop of speedy guitar riffs and heavy back beats. myspace.com/triggereffectmtl Brooklyn, NY SA 3:30 pm: olympic plaza SA 1 aM: hifi Twin Shadow is George Lewis Jr. He makes intricate dark pop songs that have a wet, hot soul. Lewis Jr. is unknowable, untouchable, like a shadow in the night. twinshadow.net

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Abbotsford, BC TH 10 PM: emmedia Two Bicycles is the side project of bedroom electronic artist Teen Daze. Focusing more on the subtle, quiet ambiences that the Teen Daze project creates, Two Bicycles creates atmospheres and moods that tell stories of quiet oceans and singing forests. myspace.com/twobicycles Montreal, QC WE 11 PM: HIFI Get your boots on. un will take you to the swamp with their tragically beautiful acoustic stomp. It’s murky stuff that owes a lot to its predecessors. The Rolling Stones would approve. myspace.com/unmusicband

Uncle Badtouch

Montreal, QC Sa 10:30 pM: Legion downstairs Don’t worry kids, you can tell your mom about this band! One of Montreal’s biggest secrets is out and ready to touch your heart with their catchy, soulful, garage, folkrock sound. myspace.com/unclebadtouchband

THE Vicious Cycles

Vancouver, BC WE 11 PM: SHIP AND ANCHOR TH 12 aM: Palomino Upbeat, poppy garage rock. Hop on your bike and enjoy the shit out of your summer to the soundtrack of the Vicious Cycles’ good time, party-inspiring anthems. theviciouscycles.bandcamp.com

We Are The City

Kelowna, BC FR 10:30 pM: marquee room This group of BC boys are some wonderfully infectious, full-of-beans entertainers. Their indie pop/rock sounds and young enthusiasm perfectly accompany their latest release, the aptly titled High School. wearethecity.ca

the Whitsundays

Edmonton, BC FR 9:15 pM: the Gateway Enter Whitsundays’ time machine to enjoy a fantastic execution of modernized 60s psychedelic rock. There are no rules in this time machine – Whitsundays offer an unconventional, pleasing collection of passionate tunes. myspace.com/thewhitsundays

Wild Flag

Portland, OR FR 10:30 pM: twisted element Sa 1:30 aM: Legion downstairs Coming from Portland, OR, Wild Flag are a supergroup of ladies who make strong, powerful, earthy music. The foursome was originally known by their previous projects, which included stints in SleaterKinney, Helium and The Minders, but have since comfortably come into their own. myspace.com/wildflag

Wild Nothing

Blacksburg, VA WE 8PM: CENTRAL UNITED CHURCH TH 11:30 pM: republik What if we had indie rock fantasy teams? I would start with the classic Cure rhythm section (Simon Gallup on bass and Lol Tolhurst on drums), get

Johnny Marr to shred on guitar and Stuart Murdoch to write the lyrics (intelligent but sinister). This is the stuff that I think about when I listen to Wild Nothing. One of the ‘Can’t Miss’ bands at Sled Island 2011. myspace.com/wildnothing

Which pass is right for you?

Yip Deceiver

VIP Pass: For the festival-goer who enjoys the finer things in life. No line-ups and access to the Artist Lounge. All events subject to capacity.

Athens, GA TH 10 pM: HiFi FR 9 pM: tubby dog This dance party will, in all likelihood, be completely bonkers. Multi-instrumentalist Davey Pierce jams as many influences as instruments into his sets, making sure you sweat and groove through irreverent takes on new wave, ’80s R&B, disco and electro. yipdeceiver.com

Young Liars

Vancouver, BC FR 8:15 pM: the Gateway A band that practically dares you not to dance, lest you look silly in the middle of a pulsing crowd. Defying dance with some depth, it’s no lie that Young Liars brings the right kind of sex appeal to the stage. By sex appeal, I mean the beard on the bass player. I just want to get lost in it. myspace.com/weareyoungliars

Young Ones

Calgary, AB SA 10 pm: Vern’s Young Ones return to Sled Island after a successful stint last year. Listening to Young Ones is like running into that friend from way back when that you totally forgot about and still having the time of your life. myspace.com/weareyoungones

Full Festival Pass: Allows entry into any Sled Island event during the whole festival. To experience Sled Island to the fullest, this is the wristband for you. All Events subject to capacity.

Wednesday through Saturday Single Day Passes: Only have one or two days off to enjoy Sled Island? These wristbands get you into any event for the day(s) you chose. All events subject to capacity. All Ages Wristband: Under 18? This wristband is for you. Tons of venues and shows to chose from. The AA wristband also gets you into our Olympic Plaza Main Site! And it’s so cheap!! Proof of age required. Main Site Tickets: Options: Friday, Saturday or Weekend- Allows you entry to the Olympic Plaza Main Site on either Friday, Saturday or both. Choose wisely though, after a full day at Main Site, you won’t want the party to end! For an extra $15, you can get the day wristband and head to one of our 25+ venues to keep the party going all night!

Passes, prices and details available at www.sledisland.com Tickets also available in Calgary at Sloth Records and HENRY, and in Edmonton at Blackbird Myoozik and Permanent Records.

Zola Jesus

Phoenix, AZ WE 12:30AM: MARQUEE ROOM TH 8 PM: Central United Church Bodies will justifiably flail all around when Zola Jesus hits the stage: vocalist and songstress Nika Roza Danilova’s voice dominates the dark music for which they’ve become renowned. With swirling, haunting atmospherics, clacking percussion, and the powerfully soaring than croaking vocals, Zola Jesus will resonate with fans of goth rock, indie and electronica alike. zolajesus.com

Wild Flag Sometimes, it’s best to let bands describe themselves: Wild Flag is ‘the sound of an avalanche taking out a dolphin’ or the cross between a hamburger and a hot dog. If that doesn’t make enough sense, Wild Flag is a Portland, OR, supergroup of four ferocious women who have enough collective experience to be the next biggest band in the world twice over. Carrie Brownstein first revealed Wild Flag’s existence on the NPR blog All Songs Considered. After Sleater-Kinney went on hiatus in 2006, she said, she had little desire to play music. Thus, it was a long three years until she felt the spark of inspiration flash her and she called up her three friends, who, over a period of several months, started coming together as a group. Now, they greatly enjoy their seemingly innate chemistry, playing off each other with seasoned confidence and the world rejoices at the wild, flaggy music they create. SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 47

BAND BIOS

WAKE

Calgary, AB SA 4:15 pm / 10:15 pm: undermountain One of Calgary’s best metal acts is WAKE, the sludgy grindcore quintet that could. The act has been carving their way across North America with their fiercely DIY touring regimen on the strength of the critically acclaimed Surrounded by Human Filth 7 and are prime to release their debut fulllength in the fall. Expect crusty powerviolence, malevolent screams and violent head-banging to abound. myspace.com/ourwake

SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 49

Welcome to Green Island! during Sled Island: 1. Offsets the carbon emissions created by artist travel and energy usage! 2. Recycles or composts all ‘waste’ created at Olympic Plaza! 3. Ride our bikes!

You can help by planning ahead: 1. Ride your bike! 2. Walk, carpool or take the bus! 3. Re-use then recycle your cup in the beer gardens! 4. Minimize the amount of packaging you bring and leave behind! 5. Re-use, share and then recycle this program guide!!! 6. Download our free schedule map at sledisland.com!

50 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE

SLED ISLAND sponsors Premier Level

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SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE • 53

SLED ISLAND THANKS First and foremost, Mr. Zak Pashak for creating the awesomeness that is Sled Island - because without him, none of us would be here. Steve, Jeff, Justin and everyone at Mill Street, The City of Calgary, the Province of Alberta, Calgary Arts Development, Greg Curtis, Justin Hucalak, Josh McNorton, Drew Marshall, Paisley Sim, Shayne Lynch, Colin Canning, Will Schatz, Lindsay Shedden, Brian Milne, Peter “Iron” Maitland, Chad Saunders, Dan Northfield, Scott Wenger, Christina Colenutt, Craig Stenhouse, Jeremy Black, Tyler Shandro, Todd Harkness, Sebastian Buzzalino, Kris Nicholas, Glenn Alderson, Brad Simm and all the radness that is BeatRoute, Jackie Flanagan and Alberta Views, Vanessa Fever, Patti Derbyshire, Kevin Stebner, Shawn Petsche, Evan Woolie, Jim Wright, Dave Muir, Reid, Jason and everyone at HENRY, everyone at CJSW, Sloth Records, The Ship and Anchor, Fred at FFWD, Councillor Brian Pincott, Jeanette Sullivan, Brett at The Source, David Low and the Victoria Park BRZ, Jim Button, John Hiebert, Motown Philly, Melanie Kaye, Dave Lyons and ABM Audio, KLM Backline, Long and McQuade, Mark Mills, Amos Bradley, Dylan Goodhue, Tyler Scallen, Nero Productions, All of our soundtechs!, Craig Evans, Tyler Morency, Alex Eakins, Myke Atkinson, Jerrod Bittango, Eric Moschopedis, Tyler Los-Jones and Justin Waddell at Local Library, Susan, Wayne and Rick at the No. 1 Royal Canadian Legion, Wayne Baerwaldt, Jennifer McVeigh,
Shawn Dicey, Caitlind Brown, Kris Weinmann, Elizabeth Hay, Alex Middleton, Amy Horne, Richard Freeman, Jennifer Sim, Cam Much, Tourism Calgary, Travel Alberta, Karolina Gajewska, Zev and Elliot at C1RCA, Ryan at VICE, The Dabrowski School of Design, Candace and Cantos Music Foundation, Evan Van Reekum, CBC Radio3, Lisa and Vanessa at The Calgary Sun, Emily Picano and Mary Kapusta at WordFest, Angel Guerra and Angela Dione at Market Collective, Jeanette Burman and her tiny team who bring Sled Film, Ross and Grace at Working Format, Derek McEwen, Aubrey MacInnis, Mark Hamilton, Mike Payette, Joel Loewen, Ian Svenonius, Grant Lawrence, Rob Zifarelli, Rob Wright, Adam Sylvester, Adam Countryman, Adam Kreeft, Mike Bell, Ian Russell, Colin Newman, David Kenney and all our volunteer photographers, Megan and James at Tubby Dog, Macleod Dixon LLP, Michael Brown and Mattews Southwest, Angela Seto, Andy at SEE, Josh White and Jonny Stevens from Halifax Pop Explosion, Cameron Reed and Music Waste, Melissa Winkler, Brendan Kelly, Edward Kwong, Ellen Lee, Brian Tong, Ryan Penner, Konstantin Steshenko, Conner Willumson, Michelle Cable, Eric Dimenstein, Kristi Woo and everyone at Cyclepalooza, Dom at EQ3, Anil Patel, Craig Comstock, Twyla Dawn, Megan Paterson, Kathy Paterson at Tier One Travel, Gamelle FitzGibbon, Jared Leon, Victor Choy, Kerry, Sara and all the good people at Calgary Folk Fest, Josiah Hughes, Brenda and Luke at CiTR, Jay at CFCR, Dawn Loucks at Saved by Radio, Malissa, Rob and Darren at X 92.9, Mike, Reid and Nick at Lifetime, Renee and Mel at Sitka, Zac at Nudie, Tim at Swizzlesticks, the Shedden-Forans, Sam Villanueva, Allana Farnell, Sarah Neufeld and Colin Stetson, Stephanie Coughlan, Gavin Carscallen, Robyn Condon, Mark Hopkins and Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, Cecil Frena, Shane Rempel, The Winnick Family, Paul Lawton, Aaron Levin, and Jesse Locke from Weird Canada, Megan and Robyn at the Fairmont Palliser, Deborah Starr at The International Hotel, Larkin and Ryan at Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts, Mike at Exclaim!, Scott and Jason at Dose.ca, Jose Bautista, Jarome Iginla, Christina at Research and Insight Consulting, Anna and the Glenbow, Patrick Boyle, Bil Hetherington, Kimberly and Damian at ATB Financial, Elisa Cutting, Captain Aaron Weiss, Chris dela Torre, Eva at Alberta Motor Association, Renee, Dustin, and all the babes at Prohab Helmet Society, Jett Thunders, Stan Peloski, Adam Kamis, the whole crew at Broken City, COFFEE, Ben Leon and Roses Music Press, Jeanette at Mongrel, Vanessa Conelly, David Winkler, Kids Up Front Calgary, Marc Thususka, Sarah Hughes, Lorrie and Robey at The Marquee, Chris and Stacey at the Grindprc.com, Rob Taylor, Drew Anderson, Michael Wallace, Ryan, Sarmad, Mandeep and Pete at the HiFi, Spencer and Fred at The Palomino, Isaac at Dicken’s, Clint at Vern’s, Patrick and the Ironwood, Keon and Twisted Element, The Distillery, Reid Henry, Pete Harris and Peter Worthington at the Plaza Theatre, Josh Fraser and Discord, Beth Gignac, Teresa Byrne, Trish Neufeld, Terry Rock, Karen Ball and everyone at CADA, Patricia Bouchel, Marc Rimmer, and the Pop Montreal crew, Jeffrey Storey, Kallen Law, Trevor at Saturday Morning Poke, Jeff and Avery at Ticketbreak, Sonicbids, Fiona DeMonye, all of the amazing bands, artists, comedians and filmmakers involved in 2011....and THANK YOU to all our incredible volunteers!! 54 • SLED ISLAND 2011 FESTIVAL GUIDE