In addition to joining Women at a post-hangover sushi breakfast on June 14 at The Marquee Room, The Neighbourhood Council will release their new EP at Olympic Plaza on June 21
If you’ve been hanging around downtown recently, you may have witnessed an excitable and bubbly young man causing general mayhem on the streets. He may or may not have been shouting things like “Aw yeah, June is gonna rule” and “May is for babies, all the real bad-asses party in June!” There’s no telling who this mysterious harbinger of real and awesome facts is, but one thing is clear: June is here, and it’s time to party.
Kicking off a long series of CD releases by local bands this month, Bil Hetherington and the Asian Tigers will be crooning in your general direction Friday, June 6 at Broken City. To help uncork the wellspring of cool that is Hetherington’s debut solo CD (he pulls vocal duties for The Neckers), Ghostkeeper will be there.
Next up on the CD release trail is the mind-altering pop of Women, who will be making their self-titled debut available on June 13, also at Broken City. Your old pal Dane snuck a forbidden listen of the album, and the news is good. Dissonant yet curiously catchy noise jams interspersed with reverbed-out lo-fi pop gems, you say? Chad VanGaalen side project Black Mold and recent Women tour buddies Mt. Royal, awesome local acts the both of them, will also take part.
In order to encourage fans to drink heavily and sleep with them on the night of the CD release, Women have also organized a morning-after sushi breakfast and show on June 14 at The Marquee Room, where they will be joined by The Neighborhood Council. There is also an all-ages version of the release party taking place June 15 at Emmedia with Azeda Booth, Mt. Royal and Endangered Ape.
Just in case you’re unreasonably impatient to see more local music after Women pump you full of sushi, Clinton St. John, lead singer of the beloved Cape May, will release his debut solo album the evening of June 14 at the HiFi Club. The Consonant C and soundscape manipulators No More Shapes will get in on that action. For those on the more fist-pumping side of things, dramatic prog-rockers Ahnabith Gish will be playing with Lint and Lesssound that same evening at The Marquee Room to drum some cash for their upcoming album.
Finally, The Neighborhood Council will release an official EP (to follow up their CJSW live CD-R) called Set Pieces on June 21, with an exciting outdoor performance at Olympic Plaza with Azeda Booth and The Consonant C. “I got a day pass and we went and recorded it in eight hours at CJSW with Myke Atkinson (of Azeda Booth),” Council member Raphaelle Standelle-Preston told Fast Forward. “I smoked a lot. So did Mike. It’s not a studio album, it doesn’t have a lot of fluff. However, we’ve fallen in love with our foot pedals, so it still has some ambient shit in there.”
It appears that old Dane’s predictions were right on the mark, again, and June will indeed be exclusively for badasses in the mood for partying. Still, I feel like I’m forgetting something… some mind-blowing extravaganza, perhaps? Yes! The second annual Sled Island Festival will tear Calgary to utter shreds at the end of this month. It’s four magical days (June 25-28) will include tons of local talent.
In addition to every band already mentioned in this article, Sled Island will feature: Sub-Linguals, Kris Ellestad, Woodpigeon, Snake Mountain, Morgan Greenwood, The Pine Tarts, The Fun Funs, Raccoon, SIDS, Braden Funchner, Womb Baby, The Summerlad, The Neckers, The Fast Romantics, The Dirty Dirty North, Dragon Fli Empire, Axis of Conversation, Knots, Jane Vain and the Dark Matter, The Ostrich, Francis Cheer, the Cryptomaniacs and more! Phew! Virgin Music Festival, a large two-day music event for babies will happen the weekend before Sled Island, June 21 and 22, and will feature a limited cast of Calgary musicians, such as the X92.9 Exposure contest winners Kilbourne, Secret Broadcast, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, The Fast Romantics, and The Summerlad.
