Sled Island and connectFirst present: Helado Negro, No Frills and more

Helado Negro

If you’re not familiar with the man Lido Pimienta called “the most prolific artist ever,” we are pleased to introduce you to Roberto Carlos Lange, a.k.a. Helado Negro. The folk-pop-electronic experimentalist has indeed released a lot of music in even more styles but there’s a sublime, psychedelic sensibility holding the vast puzzle of music together.

Beginning with Awe Owe, Lange released five albums on Asthmatic Kitty from 2009 to 2016. Each blended folk, electronic music and his distinct approach to experimentalism. Though his core is gentle vocals in both Spanish and English, acoustic guitar, synth and drums, Lange’s arsenal includes strings, woodwinds, brass, steel drum and more.

It was in 2019, though, that Lange released what Pitchfork called a “masterpiece:” This Is How You Smile on Rvng. Intl. The 12-track, autobiographical album explores themes of contemporary Latinx life with a focus on familial relationships. It follows Lange’s inward-looking narrative carried by acoustic guitar while a Pet Sounds-level menagerie of accompaniment encircles each song.

And on most recent album Far In (4AD), Helado takes a victory lap. Full of elongated, vibe-soaked meditations that drift between buzzing dance tracks and tidal slow-jams. It is particularly synth-forward and is bolstered by an eclectic drum presence that matches each shift in mood.

Along the way, Lange has earned prestigious recognition. Beyond the music press’s adoration, he’s scored a Joyce Foundation Award and a United States Artists Fellowship in Music. Of the eclectic lineup of Bartees Strange’s curator picks, Helado is perhaps the further into his artistic career of the batch, an act at his peak that arrives just in time for this year’s festival.

 

No Frills

Springing from the imagination of Daniel Busheikin, No Frills delivers intimate ballads and subtle desperation with lo-fi charm and jangly delivery. Featuring members of Born Ruffians, Rapport and Ducks LTD., the band crafts melodies that are as playful as they are bittersweet. Check out their 2022 LP Downward Dog for dance floor ready bedroom pop.

 

Empanadas Illegales

Percussive and rhythmic, Empanadas Ilegales combines conventional Latin sounds and instruments with steady undertones of surf rock and psych. They’re experimental and groovy, with upbeat, guitar-forward riffs that keep parties rockin’ and dancefloors full. To summarize, this is not “traditional” Latin music, but much more layered, colourful and interplanetary.

 

Puberty Well

Prue Gendron, the “Jill of all trades” behind irreverent bedroom-recording act Puberty Well, says she’s influenced by the“femmiest rock boys & toughest girls” of music history. Her cheekiness is on full display with this year’s nine-track debut The Boys Are Homophobic Sweethearts, a truly DIY affair brimming with both grit and melody as rendered through ‘70s rock and psych-pop.

 

Burs

Folk-rock quartet Burs wash over each moment with absolute warmth and homestyle harmony. Tenderness is maintained as gentle strings trade places with perfectly deployed moments of untamed, cathartic release. Above it all, vocals sway with striking vulnerability through themes of love, grief and “the search for peace in modern condition.”

 

Pony Girl

Self-describing as “artpop,” Ottawa five-piece Pony Girl makes debonair indie pop defined by its stuttered percussion, atmospheric electronic elements and lush accompaniment. As well, the vocals from Pascal Huot and Yolande Laroche bring a further smooth elegance that will lull you into Pony Girl’s dream-like world. Start with the band’s LP Enny One Wil Love You, released on Paper Bag Records.

 

36?

The Mad Hatter of Calgary’s music scene, Taylor Cochrane, and his band 36? have taken listeners on a sonic-psilocybin teacup ride for the past decade with their weird, wonderful, familiar, almost undefinable pop sound. And their live shows are an always-mind-bending wild ride that you should be this high to ride. 

 

 

About Sled Island

The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is a five-day, multi-venue festival taking place June 21 - 25, 2023. For more information, visit SledIsland.com. 

Everyone has the right to feel safe and included at Sled Island. All festival attendees agree to abide by Sled Island's safer spaces and inclusion policy, which can be found at SledIsland.com/SaferSpaces.

Sled Island acknowledges Calgary as the traditional territory of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Ĩyãħé Nakoda First Nations, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley First Nations. Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.

Please note: This is an 18+ event.