There must’ve been entire suburbs erected in the southern sunny states when they first discovered the formula for vanilla American pop-punk. Those rumbling, hardcore-inflected fast parts with bright, smooth, nasally vocals sugar rush their way to the slow bits, themselves a neutered, Tide-scented version of beefy breakdowns. Take a page from the theatre of singalongs and mosh parts, but scrub it clean of any legitimate anger. American pop-punk is incredible.

Before my good friend Carl and I could enjoy New Found Glory, performing their 2002 classic Sticks and Stones in its entirety on May 29 at MacEwan Ballroom, we had to endure the sounds of Georgia pop rock band Cartel (we missed Living With Lions because we were trying … Read More

At the end of every week, I reward myself for slogging through a million hype bands and flashes in the pan with "pop-punk Friday" (or, if I'm tweeting about it, #poppunkfriday). Secretly, in my headphones, while everyone thinks I'm listening to Dirty Beaches or whatever, I'm plowing through the entire Gob discography, arguing with myself about which Punk-o-rama comp is the best, or updating my '90s pop-punk blog. Pop-punk Fridays rule.

In the late summer of this year, however, I'll be treated to a pop-punk weekend, as the organizers behind X-Fest have landed dick-joke-loving, low guitar hanging gods of the octave chord Blink-182 to headline their fest. As if that weren't enough to appease each of our inner '90s teens, they've also nabbed  … Read More

Unfun, the Vancouver-based pop-punk band that also includes two Calgarians, were involved in a fatal accident on May 9. While all members of the band escaped with their lives, the driver of the car who hit them passed away.

Currently on tour through the United States (a trip that brought them to Calgary’s Wonder Emporium on May 1), their van was hit and totaled in Indiana. One member was on a respirator for seven hours, while two others were hospitalized for upwards of 30 hours.

Frontman Leonardo Bones shared the following statement as to what happened:

We played in Hammond that nite and after the show 4 people jumped Declan and Bee in the bar and beat them up pretty badly. When we confronted them, we realized they had more friends … Read More

You probably don't need any more festival announcements to clutter your schedule, but this one's too big to pass up. On Friday, July 19, Diplo's Mad Decent label will throw a Mad Decent Block Party in conjunction with the Hifi Club and Union Electronic. We're still waiting on confirmation as to where they're holding it, but the lineup has just been announced and its quite a doozy.

In addition to Diplo's own Major Lazer sound system, festival participants include Zeds Dead, Dillon Francis, Flosstradamus, Big Gigantic, Paul Devro and Smalltown DJs.

Tickets for the party are available for presale tomorrow, with a general sale taking place on Saturday, May 4. More information on the fest is available here.

This year, from June 19 to 22, Sled Island will once again send you on a wild ride through Calgary as you try to cram in as many performances as possible before you pass out on a bench somewhere.

Now, you can start stressing about what acts to see as the organizers have let loose the (more or less) full lineup for this year's festivities.

Below, you can check out just how many bands are cramming into Calgary's venues this June. To pick up your Sled passes, head here.

100 Mile House
The Abramson Singers
Adolyne
Alanadale
The Allovers
The Almighty Rhombus
AM Static
Anchoress
Andy Haynes
Arrowz
Astral Swans
Axis of Conversation
B-Lines
The Backhomes
BadBadNotGood
The Basement Demons
Bear Mountain
The Beets
Ben Caplan
Ben Disaster
The … Read More

This year, from July 25 to 28, the Calgary Folk Music Festival will once again fill Prince's Island Park with casual music fans and aggressive tarpies of all ages. Now, the organizers have unveiled the entire lineup for this year's weekend.

Here's the full slate of acts scheduled to play:

Alabama Shakes  
Renee Amber and Stephen Kent of Mixtape Improv  
Amylie  
Aziz Sahmaoui & University Of Gnawa  
Bahamas  
Shelley Bean  
Dan Bern  
Blind Boy Paxton  
Don Brownrigg  
Caravan Palace  
Hayes Carll  
The Cat Empire  
Lucas Chaisson  
Coal Creek Boys  
Cousin Harley  
Creedence Clearwater Revisited  
Amelia Curran  
Dala  
The Dunwells  
Steve Earle and the Dukes  
Elliott BROOD  
Evening Hymns  
Fanfare Ciocarlia  
Fish Tank Ensemble  
John Fullbright  
Lori Gibbs  
 … Read More

While the music remains a main attraction at Sled Island, the festival’s other forms of entertainment are building in quality and scope each year. Along with film and art, Sled Island’s comedy program has become a major talking point, and this year looks no different.

The just-announced performers include headliner Eric Andre, of Adult Swim’s impossibly violent The Eric Andre Show (peep a clip below), Parks and Rec/Kroll Show writer and performer Joe Mande and Eagleheart actor Brett Gelman, who previously appeared at Sled with the Upright Citizens Brigade touring company.

Rounding out the lineup are upcoming standup Andy Haynes, Calgary-bred Loose Moose alumnus and CBC Radio goofball Pat Kelly, MuchMusic Video on Trial … Read More

There are so many festivals in Calgary that we may as well add another one, right? That’s what the people behind the newly minted Badlands Stampede Music Festival must’ve been thinking, adding a heavy dose of EDM to the chaos that is the Calgary Stampede. Shove a glowstick in your cowboy hat and fist-pump the night away.

Over that weekend (July 5 to 7), Canada Olympic Park will be transformed into a bass-heavy dance party, with headliners Afrojack, Kaskade, Pretty Lights and Steve Aoki topping a bill that also includes Adventure Club, Excision, Gareth Emery, Morgan Page, Adam K, Getter, GTA, M Machine, Mord Fustang, Nadastorm, Sultan & Ned Sheppard, The Proxxy and X Kore.

Inexplicably, grinning Brooklyn synth-punk duo Matt & Kim will also be … Read More

Last year, Calgary duo Sanctums turned heads with their ambient-leaning electronic masterpiece Truth Lifting Up Its Head Against Scandals (an excellent release which, if you haven’t heard, can be streamed or purchased here).

Today, they’ve followed it up with the release of a new EP called Tongue, Teeth, Lips. The release features three brand new songs, all of which beef up the beats and cut-up vocals while retaining the project’s penchant for thick layers of ambient sound.

These guys are onto something special — check out the new release below.

Also worth noting is that this is the second release in the second season of digital releases from former Fast Forward Weekly cover stars Close to Modern. Check out their first release, a … Read More

File this under the softest, wussiest beef that hip-hop has ever seen. In one corner, it’s fast-talking former Fast Forward Weekly music and film editor Mark Teo. In the other, it’s local rapper and Jann Arden collaborator Transit.

If this was on MediaTakeOut.com, it’d come with a headline like “NUUUH UUUUHHH… Transit Serves Marky T… WITH A POSTCARD.” If it was on World Star, well… it wouldn’t be on World Star because there’s no twerking, and virtually nothing else entertaining about this clip.

It all started in November, when Mark Teo wrote an opinion piece about the trouble with prideful city anthems. Using Transit’s overly earnest “Calgary” as his main example, he pointed out that the video was “maddeningly stereotypical,” adding, “There’s … Read More