Archive for April, 2011

Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

Breakfast with Tiffany again. This time we decided to check out The BottleHouse on the corner of Memorial Dr and 10 Ave NW, otherwise known as the “doomed corner” for the short lives of the previous eating establishments. The BottleHouse is still going strong, and its weekend brunch – particularly their Hollandaise sauce – gets rave reviews.

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The good concerts just keep rolling into our beautiful city and we would love to see you at them!  Email your name/number and the hidden secret to honey comb to justin@calgaryisawesome.com for a chance at 2x tickets for Destroyer live at the Legion this Saturday!

Dan Bejar started Destroyer as a solo home-recording project in the early to mid-nineties. In 1996, he released his debut full length of stripped-down, lo-fi electric folk, We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge. It was with 1998’s Daughters that Bejar began to develop his own unique lyrical voice, a voice that continued to evolve and refine itself over the course of his next two records, Thief and Streethawk: A Seduction. Upon joining Merge, Destroyer released This Night, Your Blues, Destroyer’s Rubies, and Trouble in Dreams. His is a body of work that consistently flouts convention in favor of musical leaps of faith, statements of purpose cloaked in subterfuge, and the joyous refrain of an optimist’s heart cloaked in cynicism.

Bejar most recently released two limited-edition 12-inches, “Bay of Pigs” and “Archer on the Beach.” Both hinted at yet another new direction for Destroyer, and the critics are ready! Upon hearing “Bay of Pigs,” Pitchfork declared Bejar “a songwriter of the highest order,” and The AV Club was one of many outlets to declare the song, “a real epic—a meditation on life and love in times of crisis.” Kaputt will be released on January 25, 2011, and an 8-piece Destroyer orchestra will tour the US and Canada with the band. (Press Release 2011)

Church, myStyle is preaching a new kind of gospel, of the fashionable variety. The event is a spring fashion show mixed with inspirational speeches and a few mimosas on the side too.  Motivational speaker and style maven Danielle LaPorte will start the day off with her white hot truths, followed by a high-energy runway show with the hottest looks for spring from Chichi Couture, APT 22, SHE Apparel, Shoe Muse, debut and Bonita Runway just to name a few.

The entire affair will be held at the swanky Hotel Arts on Sunday, April 17th. Tickets are $125 and can be purchased online at http://church.zoobis.com/.

“Oh my, what a fine tour,” is an awesome title for a tour, what’s even more awesome, is this band will be playing in Calgary!  Come on down April 7 to Dickens pub (9th ave) and check out the Vancouver Indie-pop outfit, Behind Sapphire!  Wanna go?? It’s pretty simple, just email justin@calgaryisawesome.com with name/# and the answer to ‘Why do they call him Donkey Kong, if he’s not a donkey?’

Six years ago, the then-four-piece Behind Sapphire squeezed into a dusty crawl space in Vancouver, British Columbia with nothing but wide-eyed ambition and embarked upon their first flirtations with writing music. Inspired by Billie Holiday’ s ‘ Strange Fruit,’ they wrote and recorded their first song within weeks of their voices dropping.  In early 2010, Behind Sapphire recorded and released a self-titled CD, with drummer Steven Ward coming aboard to fill the group’s rhythm section. Built upon hundreds of home recordings, they reached out to Tom Dobranzski (The Zolas, Said the Whale, Hey Ocean) with the best of them. One by one, friends and family jumped into the fold with their own musical talents and tastes, adding layers of surgary harmonies, brother and sisterly spirit and a sense of improvisation and collaboration that marks the record in a truly positive way. (themusebox.net)

Focused primarily on their child-at-heart agenda, Behind Sapphire’s ambition to capture your imagination will surprise you with every new step into their world. With an upbeat, quirky and fun-loving nature, Behind Sapphire is certain to find a home within your heart. (themusebox.net)

Great calgary rock band, I digs their sound.

Film by Jock Pie

This is fashion at its best – PARK and The Gerry Thomas Gallery have teamed up to create a fashion fundraiser to support Japan relief efforts. The evening will be an arts trifecta with an art exhibition, silent auction featuring several local designers & artists and an exclusive preview of Caitlin Power’s fall/winter collection.

All profits from the event, all proceeds from the silent auction, and 10% of gallery art work sold will be donated to the Red Cross to aid victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Tickets $30 (Available at the door or online at www.tickettrunk.com/buy/850)

PARK4JAPAN Presented by The Gerry Thomas Gallery
Thursday, April 7th 2011 from 6:00pm-9:00pm
At the Gerry Thomas Gallery
602 11 Avenue SW

Russell Brand is a pretty funny dude.  It’s a combination of the hair and the zaniness and his accent that combines into such a droll, comical presence. The humor and ludicrousness takes center stage in the updated remake of Arthur, a story about a childlike billionaire who is given an ultimatum to grow up or lose his entire fortune.

We have admit-two passes to the advanced screening coming up this Wednesday at the Scotiabank Chinook theatre. For your chance to win, tell us what you would do with your spare time if you were a billionaire. All answers can be submitted to irene.calgaryisawesome@gmail.com or at www.twitter.com/ciawesome.  Good luck!

There backkkkkkkkkkkkk.  The amazing Canadian trio will be heading down to the Republik for April 5th!  CGYisawesome wants you and a lucky friend to join in on the fun.  Email justin@calgaryisawesome.com w/ name and number for your chance to win tickets to this show!  However, you do have to answer this tough question in your email, “Why doesn’t Macdonald’s sell hotdogs?”

As much as the sophomore album from The Rural Alberta Advantage, Departing, was originally conceived as a companion to their acclaimed debut Hometowns (which earned an 8.0 from Pitchfork), the band has allowed itself to stretch out. “It’s ok to be bombastic at times,” says Nils Edenloff with a smile.  One of the most striking aspects of The RAA is the propulsive drumming by Paul  Banwatt. Songwriter and singer Edenloff outlines the songwriting process as he brings a song or an idea to the band, and “we’ll all tear it apart and build it back up,” he says. (Press Release 2011)

Banwatt echoes, “Once we have a song, we work out the rhythmic aspect and build the song from that. The vocals are the core so I try to keep my drum parts related to the vocal melody.” His meticulous approach to the drums  helps to give Departing its dynamic ebb and flow, from the big floor toms  that kick off the record (“Two Lovers”) to the linear drumming on “North  Star,” (a beat created by only hitting one drum at a time). Paul also had a few revelations, like opening his hi-hat on “Muscle Relaxants,” which filled out the space of the intense, driving track.  Another trick that the band uses to keep the songs fresh is to write a song  on guitar and then switch the main instrument to keyboard during the  rebuilding process: “The Breakup,” “Under The Knife” and “Tornado ’87” each  came about this way,” says Edenloff. Amy Cole then adds another element, be it percussion, vocals, or keyboard, filling out the arrangements.  After a breakthrough past couple of years that saw them earn comparisons to The Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel, capture SXSW buzz playing on a bill with Grizzly Bear, sell out tours around the world, sign to Saddle Creek and Paper Bag Records, and score a “Breaking Out” feature in SPIN Magazine, The Rural Alberta Advantage are poised to explode in 2011 with Departing, out March 1st.  (Press Release 2011)