One of alt rock’s most mysterious bands just got significantly more mysterious. In the years since 2009’s Daisy, Brand New’s future has been blanketed in unknowns and unease. Whispers of writing and recording sessions were just as common as ones about an inevitable breakup. Performances were rare and sporadic, new material even more so.

Sled Island is renowned for bringing bands from afar that typically wouldn’t otherwise tour or play in Calgary. This year is no exception, with guest curators Deer Hoof and a full slate of amazing bands from New York to Los Angeles. But, Sled Island is also a time for local bands to trot their stuff.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jessica Wittman for Sled Island Photo / Ashley Orzel. Weirdness has descended on Calgary’s downtown core for Sled Island, the city’s multi-venue celebration of music and counterculture. This year’s installment features a segment of the lineup hand selected by guest curator Peaches, whose Saturday night set will most likely set a never-to-be-broken record for largest amount of phallic stage props.

Sled Island saw its tenth anniversary pass this weekend, and to celebrate here are five standout performances from 2016’s edition that encapsulated the variety and breadth of the festival’s lineup year after year. Betrayers – Royal Canadian Legion Branch 1When the Betrayers took over the stage, it was basically the Sled Island British Invasion.

Another edition of the Winnipeg Folk Festival has come and gone, which brought 75 bands and artists from 11 different countries to Manitoba’s Bird’s Hill Provincial Park. But the greatest thing about going to festivals is discovering unfamiliar music and seeing artists perform that you never would otherwise.

The eve of WayHome 2016 is upon us, and with headliners like Arcade Fire, The Killers, and a reunited LCD Soundsystem, it promises to be a doozy. If you’re unfamiliar with WayHome, it may be the best Canadian music festival you’ve never heard of. Wait, what is WayHome? The WayHome Music & Arts Festival is a multi-day music and arts festival held in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds.Where the hell is that?

It would be easy to forgive DJ Colette if, playing Calgary’s Habitat Living Sound, she gave off the been-there-done-that sort of vibe that DJs sometimes do. After all, she really has been there and she really has done that. Emerging from the early 90s Chicago club scene, a scene that birthed House music itself a few years earlier, Colette has been zig-zagging the globe as a touring DJ for 20 years.

Calgary Folk Music Festival wrapped up on Sunday, complete with an obligatory Nenshi sighting and everything. Last year’s awards were called inaugural, and traditions have to start somewhere, right? So, for the 39th annual Calgary Folk Fest, here are the 2nd annual B&K Calgary Folk Fest awards.Best Cover – Spencer BurtonBurton took the audience’s breath away with a stinging version of “Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning”.

Who doesn’t love a good ole fashion “Best of” countdown? It’s a great way to reflect on what an awesome year 2016 was despite all the celebrity deaths and impending world doom a la Donald Trump. 2016 was again another top-notch year for the adventures of Betty & Kora and our incredible team of contributors and friends aka The Babe Brigade.

Every year during the most luminous days of summer, the ever-popular Calgary Folk Music Festival hosts a diverse collection of musicians from every stripe on its many stages. Of these, perhaps none are, in a strictly traditional sense, folk music artists. Armed with a professional grade folk meter and a preschooler sidekick, I entered this year’s folk fest on a venture into the heart of folkness.

Looking back, it’s not always the what, but the where. Here are Calgary’s 10 best music venues for 2015, along with a signature show for each. In the vein of hipster dive bars, Broken City is a classic, and remains a staple of the city’s rock scene. No matter how long it’s been since your last visit, things haven’t changed a bit.

The Farm doesn’t let you down. Everyone ventures to Manchester for different reasons: a surreal rat race escape, an inspiring community experience, a neon freakout, an adrenaline-fueled brodown. When the (pixie) dust settled after Bonnaroo 2015, what was left behind was a kaleidoscope of individual experiences that combined into a wild and whimsical whole.

It’s the end of June, and that means it’s time for that great annual summer festival held in Calgary, AB. No, not that one. If pancake breakfasts and chuckwagons just sprang to your mind, it’s time for an informal introduction to the innovative, the incomparable, the indomitable, Sled Island. From a certain point of view, Sled Island is like the bizarro world Stampede.

Set on a 700-acre plot in Tennessee known as The Farm, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival features over 125 musical performances, along with comedy, cinema, sustainability workshops and more, converting the grounds into a kingdom of music, art, and celebration for 4 days in June. Bonnaroo is a premiere concert destination, but it’s also a cultural touchstone.

Turning the cobblestoned corner onto Stephen Ave, it was lined with bicycle racks. Not only that, the racks were full. It could only mean one thing: Sled Island was here. Yes, all the ghouls and goblins from Calgary’s music scene were out in full force for five days of booze, bikes, and oh so many bands.