Is It All In That Pretty Little Head Of Yours?

I caught the Canadian premiere of Veronica Mars yesterday evening and I was very impressed. It appears that the show's already well into its first season in the States and Canada's just acquired the rights to it. The main character Veronica Mars is a teenage girl who used to be amongst the popular crowd. Her best friend is murdered and Veronica's father(the sheriff of the community) ends up placing his investigation efforts towards the wrong suspect(some rich socialite) which eventually leads to his dismissal and the breaking up of his family(if I'm not mistaken his wife left him). It's interesting to see Veronica's transformation from a generally average middle class popular girl to a tough-as-nails, kick-ass, social outcast. Veronica's interest in photography eventually evolves into undercover surveilance as a private investigator as her father starts and operates a struggling private investigation business. I'll admit that the beginning of the episode seemed like any other angsty teen drama but quickly showed itself to be quite atypical. The show seemed to have the mysteriousness of Twin Peaks with the quirkiness(albeit a darker version) of Wonderfalls, and with a soundtrack which featured a mixture of musical score and hip alternative tracks(by artists like The Streets) it might just appeal to The OC crowd. Veronica[the character] has a sharp wit and biting tongue that shows she can take care of herself. Although, it'll be interesting to see her vulnerable side in the future because even one of the other characters in the show called her a "marshmallow". This show's definitely a keeper. [photo from upn.com]

With the new redesign of The Heavy Blinkers' website also comes news that the band's working on their fifth album, tentatively entitled "Health" and that their new music video for "Try tellin' that to my baby" is almost finished.

Damon Albarn joined The Kaiser Chiefs for their performance of "I Predict A Riot" this past Saturday at The Mod Club in Toronto. [from Rock Snob] Anyone happen to spot Damon out and about on the town over the weekend? On a related note, Damon's Gorillaz band members share some of their recommended music picks over at Amazon.com.[link from aekituesday.com]

Listen to a Coldplay special with the band interviewed about their new album, classic live tracks and a look back over their career, hosted by Steve Lamacq of BBC Radio. Coldplay also plays a selection of their current favourite album tracks including The Arcade Fire's "Power Out".

*Sixeyes spotlights Winnipeg, Manitoba's Novillero with a slew of mp3 links to sample the band's music. Novillero's actually been on my radar for a couple of weeks ever since I found out that Rod from Duotang is in Novillero. Funny thing is, I picked up Novillero's first CD in a cut-out bin at a used CD store a while ago and never gave it a listen. I'll have to remedy that soon. *Sixeyes compares Novillero to Style Council and that's always a good thing, at least in my books. As the Mint Records website indicates, the guys are out on tour and they'll be hitting these neck of the woods as follows:

-> Thursday June 9, The Casbah, Hamilton ON
-> Friday June 10, The Drake Hotel, Toronto ON (NXNE)

Here's another torrent of a live show[flac format] of The Decemberists on May 15, 2005 at Southgate House in Newport, KY.

Hectic City

concert review: Hangama!, part of the South Asian Heritage Festival, featuring State of Bengal(with Renu Hussain) plus Shiva Sound System, gadjet goes bollywood! w/ the Samba Squad (featuring bolly-dances by Tarana and Sankriti) @ Yonge-Dundas Square(Toronto, Ontario), May 28, 2005




What better prelude to an evening of South Asian musical entertainment than going to a Chinese buffet! Ok, so I went for some good eats with a friend at a Chinese buffet then headed down to see the festivities at Yonge-Dundas Square. It was an interesting night of cultural entertainment. To be honest, I was most interested in seeing the DJ influenced artists like State of Bengal who I'd read good things about.

I made it in time to catch part of gadjet goes bollywood! w/ the Samba Squad (featuring bolly-dances by Tarana and Sankriti). The performance featured some DJ-curated beats with additional instrumentation at times from a vocalist and some nice rhythmic drumming from a member of the Samba Squad. There were two dance troupes to perform during this set. The group that performed second was Sankriti who were an all-South Asian group of four females who performed a dance that was very Bollywood(at least what I understand to be Bollywood). Interesting although not necessarily what I'm into. The first group of four females was Tarana and they performed what was by my accounts a belly-dance routine. [Question: is belly dancing part of South Asian culture]. The girls looked more Arabic than South Asian. My confusion aside, they performed a great routine. And wow, the two girls(who looked like twin sisters) in the middle of the stage were gorgeous.

Before Shiva Sound System came on, co-host Jugular, The Human Beat Box, displayed some of his skills for the crowd including his ability to carry a tune while beatboxing. He was pretty good especially his interpretations of parts of songs by Usher and Michael Jackson. He could only perform so much since he was having a little trouble with losing his voice.

Shiva Sound System, from London, provided a DJ set of house and trance beats, with bits of big beat influences, augmented somewhat with a gent playing this special drum. The DJ-curated beats were good I guess, although I found the drummer's abilities to be somewhat lacking, compared to the guy from the Samba Squad. However, even the DJ's beats sort of grew tiresome and I was just hoping that State of Bengal would come on soon.

I was interested in seeing Stage of Bengal because I'd read that he'd mentor several people, some who went on to form such artists as Asian Dub Foundation who I admire very much. Also, reading comparisons of State of Bengal to Thievery Corporation also piqued my interest. State of Bengal(on turntables) was accompanied by a Ms. Renu Hussain who played drums and percussion. Renu was a much better drummer in my opinion than the gent playing with Shiva Sound System. I also thought that State of Bengal's beats, samples and mixing were much more accomplished as he weaved in various influences ranging from hip hop, house, and South Asian influences in a way that was very organic. It was too bad that as the evening had progressed less people were sticking around so that by the time State of Bengal hit the stage the crowd wasn't nearly as full as when the belly dancers were on stage. I'll admit that things started to sound same-y after a while, and the background screen projections, as cool as they were, only went so far to keep my attention. In fact, had State of Bengal not had Renu Hussain on drums, watching him may have been mindnumbingly boring. I guess DJ music either works better as headphone music or in a dance club.
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The band who'd walk a thousand miles and fall at our door, The Proclaimers, will return to Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on September 14th. Tickets $26.50. Ouch. [from Rotate This]

The Creeping Nobodies' MySpace site indicates they'll be playing a couple of shows in Toronto in July including the Rivoli on July 2nd(w/ Picastro, They Shoot Horses + others TBC) and Sneaky Dee's on July 9th(w/ Pony Da Look + Idiots).

Ben Folds will perform a live session for BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe, today(May 30th). Sessions start around the 20:40:00 mark(about 8:40 London, England time or about 2:40 Eastern Standard Time). Sessions are usually archived in the future.

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans will perform a live session featuring songs from his new solo project, on Morning Becomes Eclectic(11:15 PST/2:15 EST), tomorrow May 31st.

A glance at Rotate This' website shows that advance tickets are selling out for many upcoming Toronto shows. Soundscapes and other outlets(including, of course, Ticketmaster) probably have tickets for many of these shows but if Rotate This is already selling out of its advance tickets(like Dinosaur Jr which just went on sale a couple of days ago), I guess I shouldn't dawdle about buying tickets soon. I just have to make my mind up about which ones. Hmmm. Or maybe I should just take a break and start fresh in July.

Pernice Brothers tour

From the Pernice Brothers mailing list(and yes, news of a tentative Toronto tour date!):

Help wanted - Buffalo area.

There is going to be a Toronto show on July 18th, but it's not on the
list below because we haven't issued the paperwork (we're very
professional, as you know). We're looking for some help from anyone who lives
somewhere in the area of Buffalo or Toronto who has a car who wants to
attend both shows. Someone in the touring party is going to need a ride
from Toronto to Buffalo on July 19th. So, if you have a car, and a
valid drivers license and are willing to help, we're happy to give you
tickets plus a hotel room on the night that you're in the city that you
don't live in. Email joyce@ashmontrecords.com if you can help.

07/15/05 Northampton / MA Iron Horse Music Hall
07/17/05 Ottawa / ON Cisco Systems Bluesfest
07/19/05 Buffalo / NY Mohawk Place Mark Norris, Royal Gun
07/20/05 Cleveland / OH Beachland Ballroom Royal Gun
07/22/05 Chicago / IL The Empty Bottle Royal Gun
07/23/05 Minneapolis / MN 400 Bar Royal Gun, Dressy Bessy
07/28/05 Portland / OR Doug Fir Lounge Royal Gun
07/30/05 San Francisco / CA Great American Music Hall Jim White, Royal
Gun
07/31/05 Hollywood / CA Knitting Factory Royal Gun
08/01/05 San Diego / CA The Casbah Royal Gun

More to come....

Also, in the same e-mail from the mailing list, Joe says friend and collaborator Thom Monahan will be taking a leave of absence from the band and will not be playing bass on the summer tour.

Start Choppin'

PopMatters speaks to Lou Barlow on the Dinosaur Jr reunion. I still haven't made up my mind about going to their upcoming Toronto show at The Phoenix. Tickets go on sale at the usual Toronto outlets tomorrow morning. At one point in the mid-90's I had a number of their CD's(both the major label and indie ones) but ended selling 'em. The indie CD's I found had some moments of melodicism but I couldn't always come to terms with the amount of sonic sludge found on some of these early releases. The major label albums "Green Mind", "Where You Been?" and "Without A Sound" were more up my alley and had some sparkling melodies. Still I ended up selling them because over the course of an album I still found them inconsistent. I think I ended up re-purchasing "Without A Sound" for $3, although I'll be darned if I can find it right now amongst my piles of CD's. Maybe I should just invest in "Ear Bleeding Country" and be done with it.

Amazon.com has an mp3 of "Freak Scene" available for download and tonnes of multimedia are also available over at www.freesofree.net(registration required).

Check out Dinosaur Jr News for, well...it speaks for itself.

Aversion reports on the new Posies album entitled "Every Kind of Light" being released June 28th through Rykodisc. The 2005 version of The Posies have picked up a new rhythm section including bassist Matt Harris (Oranger) and drummer Darius Minwalla (Preston School of Industry).

Billboard reports that indie record label Secretly Canadian will be converting its DVD distribution division, Blank Stare, into a full-service DVD imprint. Blank Stare will be releasing a couple of documentaries in the future including "Why Should the Devil?", which is a 94-minute examination of the Christian rock subculture(featuring performances by the likes of Pedro the Lion,Cool Hand Luke and the Danielson Famile) and "The Shield Around the K: The K Records Story" a 1991 documentary about Olympia, Washington-based indie label.

The Shins speak to chartattack about their success and a new album that'll likely be released next year.

Pitchfork reports on Keren Ann's North American tour dates. Nice to see that Haligonians get a chance to see the lovely Ms. Ann on July 17th at The Commons Room. Of course, us Southern Ontario-ans are spoiled and get two opportunities to see her: July 25th at The Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Nathan Phillips Square[Toronto Star stage] and July 26th at Olympic Island opening the festivities for the co-headlining Broken Social Scene/Modest Mouse show. Pitchfork also mentions Keren will appear on CBS' Early Show on June 4th so mark those calendars.

Hamilton, ON's Junior Boys will be playing a live session for KEXP, tomorrow(May 28th @ 1pm PST).

By the way, saw Ms. Leslie Feist at Soundscapes today. That is all.

Blacklisted

Good Luck to Jack(of blog The Other Side of Country) in his efforts to infiltrate this years CMAA's with a good dose of deserved nominees like Neko Case, Robbie Fulks, and Drive-By Truckers. And while he's at it maybe we can start a petition for the Grand Ole Opry to lift the life-long ban on Neko Case ever appearing on their stage.

The River Cities' Reader Online talks with Neko Case and her double life as a singer and Pornographer.

And just a reminder again to Canadian fans, Neko plays Toronto @ Harbourfront on July 7 and in Ottawa at the Cisco Systems Bluesfest on July 8. [photo from [http://../]

Said The Gramophone's posted the mp3(and written a review) for The Arcade Fire's "Power Out(August Session)" which is one of the b-sides for the new "Power Out" single, released in the UK this week.

chartattack talks to Tony Dekker, frontman for Great Lake Swimmers.

Mr. David Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz will be making a live appearance at the downtown Toronto HMV store(333 Yonge St.) this Saturday May 28th between 3 pm and 4 pm, for an autograph session. Also appearing will be Danger Mouse, who produced the latest Gorillaz album. Prior to the 3 pm to 4 pm autograph session, the pair will be at radio station Edge 102.1 at 2:20 p.m. for a live in-studio interview. [from chartattack]

Hey, Beck's opening for The Rolling Stones when they play Toronto on September 26. [info from liveDaily via prefix magazine]

Tomorrow(May 27th), the following live sessions will be broadcast on KEXP(all times are PST; for US/Canada EST add 3 hours to times below):

The Dears: Friday May 27, 11:00am
Of Montreal: Friday May 27, 1:00pm
Camper Van Beethoven: Friday May 27, 3:00pm

M.I.A. will perform live on Late Night With Conan O'Brien tomorrow night. Pound For Pound has some links to some live M.I.A. downloads, including an mp3 of her performing the wicked "Bucky Done Gun" on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show.

Metric is suppose to perform a live session on XFM tomorrow. Anyone know what time?

I thought that this post was interesting and reflected some of the same sentiments I have towards concert-going in Toronto nowadays. Really, why do shows never start on time, especially on work nights?

Visual Audio

NOW spotlights Sam Zaman, aka State of Bengal, who'll be doing a show this Saturday May 28th in Toronto at Yonge-Dundas Square as part of the South Asian Heritage Festival. The Hangama! party as it's been dubbed will also feature DJ DK with Dave Sharma, JoSH, and Shiva Sound System with Vineet Vyas. Hey, it's free and it'll be an opportunity to broaden your musical horizons. [photo from http://../]

Brooklynvegan ponders whether there's any more bands left to book for this year's Siren Music Festival. The Siren website has yet to confirm a lineup and Chicago's Pitchfork-procured Intonation Festival(which has already snagged and confirmed it's own tasty lineup) is scheduled for July 16th the same day as the Siren Music Festival.

Yo la Tengo have redesigned their website. Well, sort of.

Scotland's Sons and Daughters will perform a live session for BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe, tomorrow May 26th. Sessions start around the 20:40:00 mark(about 8:40 London, England time or about 2:40 Eastern Standard Time). Sessions usually are archived in the future.

Billboard reports that Royksopp should be hitting North American shores this fall for a tour. The band'll release their new album "The Understanding" on July 12th through Astralwerks.

Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again, Largehearted Boy and chromewaves get mentioned in this week's edition of eye's Totally Wired. Note to staff(or at least the web programmers) over at eye: how about hyperlinking to the blogs next time, hmmm?

Hoarding It For Home

So far I like the trajectory that the Mates of State tour[check out Kork] is taking. Any chance this duo'll hit Toronto any time soon? I've been reading about them for a while, and have been enjoying lately some mp3's of their organ/drums driven pop music. There's buoyant male/female vocals and the music's (thankfully) less twee than I thought it might be. For more info on the band check out Polyvinyl Record Co. and www.matesofstate.com. The band even has a DVD. [photo from http://../]

Stephen Malkmus' new album "Face The Truth" was released today. To honour the occasion, he did a live session for KEXP today(Tuesday May 24 @ 12:00pm). Check out the session through the streaming archive which you can search by date and time.

Finally, a torrent of The Arcade Fire's show from April 27, 2005 at Danforth Music Hall(the one which I went to!) in Toronto has turned up on purelivegigs.com! Woo-hoo! [link from Largehearted Boy]

The internet presale for the Rufus Wainwright/Ben Folds/Ben Lee show at the Kool Haus in Toronto(scheduled for August 9th), will occur tomorrow through House of Blues at 10 am. Tickets $34.50. Public onsale starts Friday May 27th at 10 am.

To raise awareness of the Niagara Escarpment, Sarah Harmer will undertake a short tour of cities along the Escarpment, the closest date to Toronto being in Burlington, ON at The Great Hall on June 26th. The tour, dubbed the "I Love the Escarpment" tour, will feature Sarah playing acoustic sets and each show'll involve a little hiking. Tickets are $25.00 and more info can be found at Sarah Harmer's website. [info from Soul Shine Magazine]

Aversion talks to Sleater Kinney as they discuss their attempts with their new album "The Woods" to "rebuild the Sleater Kinney sound". If you're reading this post early enough, there will be a profile of the band on CBC Radio Two's Brave New Waves around 12:45 am tonight.

To appease one of my friends(who's not nearly as indie as you or I am, although he did go to The Decemberists show with me over the weekend), I'm sure he'll appreciate Silence Is A Rhythm Too's post offering an mp3 of Amerie's "1 Thing"(Remix featuring Jay-Z). As the kids would say, it's 'dope'. Or maybe that's suppose to be 'sick'? Hmmm.

Listen (Listen, Listen)

I'm really digging Halifax band Wintersleep's song and video for "Danse Macabre". (if you have trouble playing the video through the above link go here[scroll down to 'W']). It's currently a featured music video on the Muchmusic website. Hey, why aren't these guys playing NXNE? I've been checking out their songs samples at New Music Canada, and for a band that's mining indie rock territory, there's some nice subtle nuances to their sound. The vocals remind me of a rough-hewn Lou Barlow. The band's website says the band'll be on a cross Canada tour(actually from Victoria to Montreal) in July and they'll be in these neck of the woods again in Toronto on July 21 at a venue TBA and Hamilton at The Undeground on July 23rd. ...oh, and btw they have some of the most gorgeous CD artwork ever.[photo from http://../]

From dimeadozen.org and purelivegigs.com, check out the following torrents(links courtesy of Largehearted Boy):

The Arcade Fire: 2005-05-20, Berlin [flac]
The Arcade Fire: 2005-05-21, Vienna [flac]
Stars: 2005-04-02, KEXP [flac]

The Siren Music Festival website has a new design which probably means a lineup'll be introduced soon. I've been hoping to go for the last couple of years. Maybe this year perhaps. It'd also give me a chance to visit New York City.(Is it possible to be in love with a city you've never been to?) [thanks to daily refill dot com for the reminder]

The NXNE site's been updated. Under 'Music - Bands', you can now check out weblinks to artists' and bands' websites and under 'Music - Venues' you can check out some posted set times. I've been checking out some of the bands' and artists' websites, sampling some of their music. I think I'll be able to scrape together a list of artists I'd like to check out. I'm still debating whether to stick to relatively unfamiliar artists or whether to just see tried and true artists like The Dears at The Phoenix on June 10th.

No it's not a live recording of Saturday's Decemberists concert at The Phoenix in Toronto which I went to, but here is a live recording of their show in Toronto at Lee's Palace on June 6, 2004. [I came across this link through a bit of web surfing; thanks to We Saw A Chicken for providing the mp3's]

We Both Go Down Together

concert review: The Decemberists w/ Rebecca Gates @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre(Toronto, Ontario), May 21, 2005

My friend and I ran a little late getting to The Phoenix and unfortunately missed opener, Rebecca Gates. Anyone know how long she played? With doors open at 6 pm, I estimated she started at 6:30 pm. By the time, my friend and I got there it was just before 7 pm and her set was already over. Boo-hoo.

For just under an hour and a half including(their 3-song encore), The Decemberists took us on a journey through their literary, sometimes dramatic, pop music. I'm pretty new to the band, having only listened to what I could find and what I could read about them from the 'net and they turned out to be an absolutley thrilling live band. I think I like their more straightforward pop music better than their more dramatic material. Highlights for me included the Morrissey-esque "We Both Go Down Together", the swooning "The Engine Driver", and the bouncy "Sixteen Military Wives". The inclusion of accordion and xylophone on some tracks were really nice, as was Petra Haden's wonderful violin playing and Jenny Conlee's spectacular keyboard arrangements. Proving also that this may be Kate Bush's year(what with a new album planned for this year and The Futureheads' cover of "Hounds of Love"), The Decemberists, with Petra Haden on vocals, ran through an absolutely stunning version of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". Petra was a little shaky at the beginning of the song with the high octave that the vocals demanded, but she soon pulled it together beautifully.

I'll say it now. Colin Meloy is the Jim Jones of indie rock. He had a command of our attention which was quite astounding. Whether it be his quips of our Canadian "liberal" politics, his pandering to the audience about him and his band wearing Canada-themed bandages, or his inclusion of the audience as part of the show, he was both convincing and charming. The set closer "The Chimbley Sweep"(morphing at one point into "Hava Nagila") had Colin at one point ordering the audience to crouch down quietly onto the floor which we gladly obeyed. Mr. Meloy ending up gently strumming his guitar and lying down on the floor of the stage as a hush fell over the crowd and his band members escaped into the darkenss. Then with a sudden fell swoop, the band members returned and the band ended the song in thrilling fashion. Thankfully, there were no half-assed efforts on the audience's part to encourage the band back for an encore, because as my friend said, it was one of the loudest bouts of applause and jubilation he's ever heard.

Colin came back initially to the stage himself playing the opening strains of what I knew was Morrissey's "Everyday is Like Sunday", and yes it turned out to be just that. I was quite surprised how much of the audience's attention was devoted to just listeningly intently and quietly. I really noticed how pristine the sound was in the venue and how full and rich Colin's voice and guitar sounded. The next song during the encore was one he introduced as a country/western song, and it turned out to be "Red Right Ankle". It was mostly Colin playing solo but at one point keyboardist Jenny Conlee stepped out to add a sublime melodica solo. The band ended the encore with "Mariner's Revenge Song", complete with audience participation, even pointing to the balcony that they had to participate as well. With that song Colin instructed us that when we were given the signal(demonstrated by the guitarist with a chomping arm motion), we were to scream at the top of our lungs like we were being eaten by a whale. We took a few run-throughs with our screaming attempts before Colin was satisfied and then the band began the song. The band really brought the house down and with our screams at a point during the song, it was nice to be a part of it. Even if my friend and I missed Rebecca Gates, this show will rank as one of my favourites of the year!

Other reviews of the show at chromewaves, Little Girl Lost: Now What?, and feminine wiles & urban survival 101.
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The season finale of Cold Case is on tonight on CBS. I thought this was one of the best new series last season. Stylishly shot, a believable cast, good dialogue, interesting scenarios. For one reason or another I haven't had a chance to keep up with it on a weekly basis this season. I watched last week's episode(entitled "Mind Hunters") which involved the discovery of nine human skulls which leads the Cold Case unit back to a serial killer who'd slipped through their fingers in the past. If you're a fan of the show, you'd know that each episode concludes with a resolution to a once previously unsolved case. Each episode conclusion usually involves a musical montage with a culprit being led away in handcuffs and family and or friends of victims displaying gestures of quiet relief. It's all very sentimental and formulaic, but also quite satisfying in it's own right. Unbeknownst to me, last week's episode was only part 1 of 2 episodes. It was strange to watch the episode last week and not see a resolution at the conclusion of the show. I later found out that the episode was a rerun and had originally been broadcast earlier in the season. Smartly, CBS rebroadcast the episode as a prelude to tonight's season finale(entitled "The Woods") which'll finally tie up the story line in a hopefully satisfying conclusion.

ps. Music plays a large role in the show(especially during an episode's concluding montage), and whether you're a fan of the actual songs used in the episodes, the ones used always seem to be surprisingly appropriate. Check out the songs used for Season One and Season Two.

We Don't Go Breaking Down

concert review: Snow Patrol w/ Athlete @ Kool Haus(Toronto, Ontario), May 18, 2005

You may have noticed that I'd chose to comment yesterday on the Rilo Kiley show(which occurred this past Thursday) and was mysteriously quiet about the Snow Patrol/Athlete show which occurred on the Wednesday. Well, that was no mere oversight. The fact that the Snow Patrol/Athlete show was at the Kool Haus didn't help but that wasn't really a major factor in my disatisfaction with the show. I was only a casual fan of Snow Patrol's recent singles("Run" and "Chocolate") and I was a fan of Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody's sideproject The Reindeer Section. I had no previous knowledge of Athlete's music other than the prerequisite comparisons to Coldplay which I'd read. I thought I'd take a chance then and check out this show. Musically, it turned out to be an underwhelming show.

Had Snow Patrol's set consisted more of tender ballads like "Run" or that older indie-pop tune(off one of their Jeepster albums) which they performed, I'd have been more satisfied. Rather, the band chose more often than not to concentrate their efforts on songs that tended towards a modern rock sound. "Chocolate" had an urgency to it but nothing else really connected with me. When a band chooses to perform their most successful single to date(in this case, "Run") as their set closer, I wonder if the band questions the strength of the rest of their catalogue. As much as I like "Run" however, I only realized during the show, that it sounds like a rewrite of Coldplay's "Yellow".

If openers Athlete were complete unknowns to me before the show, I think they fared a little bit better with regards to my musical tastes. The Coldplay comparisons ring true with their mostly keyboard-driven atmospheric tunes but Athlete aren't afraid to throw in unconventional instrumentation such as theremin into the fold. My favourite song of their set was the jazzy guitar-driven "Tourist" which reminded of Phoenix. They performed their new single "Wires" as their set closer to the satisfaction of many fans, who had been verbally requesting the song(quite annoyingly) earlier in the performance. Even the lead singer had to tell 'em to calm down, politely of course. My first impressions of their music are good. If "Wires" takes off in Canada, I'm quite sure they'll be headling their own shows next time.
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Listen to the archived performance of Kings of Convenience's live session they did for Morning Becomes Eclectic on May 18, 2005.

Sleater Kinney did a live session for KEXP yesterday(May 20, 2005 @ 1:00 pm). The session's not yet archived but you can access the live session by accessing the streaming archive by date and time.

The Harbourfront Centre website is now updated with some details for most of its Summer Festivals.

On The Brink reflects on the history of Britpop and whether current bands like Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian are the beginning of a new phase in Britpop. And it's only his second post!

Did anyone happen to catch The Dears, performing "Lost In The Plot" live on Jimmy Kimmel Live yesterday. Fortunately, I caught the performance just in time. They sounded really, really good. And I think the guitarist was wearing a Stars t-shirt.

Tonight, The Decemberists and Rebecca Gates at The Phoenix! BTW, Largehearted Boy points towards a torrent of a DVD of The Decemberists performance in Cleveland from May 18, 2005. (Gotta make some room on the hard drive, if I'm gonna download that.)

It's A Hit

concert review: Rilo Kiley w/ Nada Surf, The Brunettes @ The Opera House(Toronto, Ontario), May 19, 2005

I underestimated the under-19 years-of-age Rilo Kiley fandom that invaded The Opera House yesterday. Damn, are they that popular with the kids these days? I made it to The Opera House after 9pm as The Brunettes(playing as a 5 piece) were performing their set closer and the venue was already filling up quickly. The Brunettes donned the Olsen Twins masks as I assume they usually do for their set closer and they seemed to go over quite well with the crowd. Sorry I missed them this time, but at least I still have my fond memories of them when they opened for The Shins last month.

From the where-are-they-now files, Nada Surf were on next. After their 90-'s MTV alternative hit "Popular" brought them quick mainstream attention, they'd pretty much been pegged one-hit-wonders. That probably isn't a fair tag since I'd read that the band continued along the indie route. The band set up their own gear, unbeknownst to me at the time that that was actually the band. The trio launched into their set of power-pop tunes that saw things go from sort of mediocre to quite enjoyable pop music. The last 3/4's of the set was increasingly tuneful and I really enjoyed the lead vocalist's vocals which reminded me a bit of Ben Gibbard(maybe not surprising since the band did release their last CD "Let Go" on Barsuk Records, which I purchased at the show). Their music sounded like the perfect bridge between the power pop of the 90's(Weezer) and the emo-pop of current(Death Cab For Cutie). The live set wasn't really a visual feast but the songs more than made up for that. Someone give 'em back their major label contract.

After a pretty lengthy intermission, the members of Rilo Kiley sauntered out onto the stage to an enthusiastic reception. I missed them when they had visited Toronto last year and played the much smaller Horseshoe Tavern. The blog-gerati said it was plagued with sound problems and the band seemed less enthusiastic anyway. This night's performance was a total 180 degree turnaround, I guess. Maybe the major label support behind their current album "More Adventurous" has made them happier people. Whatever the reason, the band was really in top form. Vocalist Jenny Lewis' delicate voice was goosebump-inducing over the melodic swing of "It's A Hit", the first song of the set. Nice start to the evening. Over the course of an hour or so, they played cuts from "More Adventurous" and apparently from "The Execution of Things"(which I bought at the merch table). I was surprised that they pulled out their current single "Portions For Foxes" early in the set, but even then, there was so much good tunes to follow. The 60's doo-wop of "I Never" was beautiful. The countryish ballad "More Adventurous" was spine-tingling. Jenny alternated between guitar and keyboard duties showing herself to be a decent musician as well as a talented vocalist. On top of guitarist Blake Sennett's melodic guitar arrangements, he also made quite an impression with his solo vocals and acoustic guitar performance of "Ripchord". I'm disappointed in myself for not discovering them before "More Adventurous" but better late than never. Rilo Kiley are quite old school actually: hints of country, pop, rock, doo-wop, and so on. And it's those old-soul qualities which I think I appreciate the most. Rilo Kiley, thanks for bringing back the craft of writing good songs.

I'll weed out my photos in the next day or two and post a link to the decent ones. Be warned, there probably won't be many good ones since I wasn't really close enough to the front of the stage for most of the performance, although I did manage to snap a decent one of Jenny Lewis which I've posted above.

And an addendum to yesterday's post...I ended up being late for Rilo Kiley's interview at the Edge studio in Toronto. When I passed by the street front studio, the band were already in and there was a group of fans taking turns getting their pictures taken with them. As I remember, it was only Jenny and Blake and some other dude who's maybe their friend or publicist. I dashed into the Eaton Centre to do something then came back about five minutes later. I was about to go into the Edge studio, pulling open the door half way, when Jenny and Blake were making their way out. The whole thing was over and Jenny, Blake and their friend walked north on Yonge St. I was heading that way anyway since I needed to get to the subway station but I never did have a chance to casually bump into Jenny especially when they crossed the street. Oh well.
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Kiddies, be sure to check out Interpol on The Tonight Show, tonight.

Sloan don't take no shit from The Seattle Weekly. Read the details over at Glorious Noise.

My hometown of Mississauga sucks sometimes. The musical guests for this year's Mississauga Waterfront Festival include David Usher, David Wilcox, Loverboy and Colin James. Ugh. This festival seriously needs an injection of youthful inspiration. Punk n' Stuff, are you listening?

Can anyone tell me why tickets for the controller.controller gig on June 3rd at The 360 in Toronto costs $20.00. [ticket info from Rotate This] Otherwise controller.controller(with ARI-UP (The Slits) & The True Warriors, Grasshopper Soundclash, DJ Will Munro) will be at Sneaky Dee's on July 2nd, tickets $12.50 at Rotate This,Sneaky Dee's or $15 at the door. [ticket info from eye]

NXNE lineups are slowly trickling in. The Gladstone Hotel lineup for June 10 is as follows(according to a post over at stillepost.ca): 10:00 ­ Uncut, 11:00 ­ FemBots, 12:00 ­ Magneta Lane(website isn't working for some reason), 12:45 ­ The Deadly Snakes. Oh yeah.

Had a day off work today and with the nice weather decided to drive my bike down to the beach, then bike ride into Toronto. I stopped over at Soundscapes and picked up a ticket for my friend for The Decemberists show tomorrow at The Phoenix then stopped by a Chinese bakery near Beverly and Baldwin for some good eats. But back to that bike ride. Man, I need to get back into shape. Don't let my slim physique fool you.

Open Season

concert review: British Sea Power w/ The Most Serene Republic @ Lee's Palace(Toronto, Ontario), May 17, 2005

Honestly, my initial motivation for going to this show was based on the information that Feist would open the show. After all, she was the opener for British Sea Power's US tour dates and all the websites(Tag Team Media, Interscope, even Feist's website at one point) said that she was scheduled to be at Lee's Palace on May 17th. Apparently, there was misinformation somewhere down the line. In other words, all hogwash. The openers ended up being The Most Serene Republic. I saw them open up for Monade(also at Lee's Palace) the day before and where the first show was sparsely attended during their opening set, this night's show was bristling with energy with friends and well-wishers. The extra enthusiasm level amongst the crowd made out for a more enjoyable set than the previous night. I believe they closed their set with the same song that they closed the previous night. That was actually the only song I DIDN'T like; not quite melodic as their other tunes and it generally dragged on longer than I wanted it to. Otherwise, they played pretty much the same set from what I recognized. That white-boy human beatbox intro on one number was actually quite interesting in the way the song built up. At the moment, I think they're more a sum of their influences than innovative artists in their own right, but hey they're young. And they're probably the coolest thing to come out of Milton, ON since, well, ever.

After having seeing British Sea Power live, I regret having not discovered them sooner. What a total blast they are live, not to mention the heartfelt music. I actually bought their recent cd "Open Season" several weeks ago and haven't even had a chance to unwrap it. Basically I went into their live show as an unbiased music fan. There was alot of nifty melodies, punchy rock instrumentation, hints of Echo and The Bunnymen, and to put it simply it was Brit-pop with an edge. The band alternated between pretty pop tunes and more dramatic, almost prog-rock numbers. All the while, the stage and mic stands were decorated with bits of tree branches, this bringing of nature indoors having a somewhat calming effect, in my opinion. Oh and it just looked cool. Things towards the end of their set got a little frenzied, what with their guitarist getting a little crazy jumping up on speakers, hanging off electrical cords in the ceiling and then, blindly I might add(with a coat wrapped around his head), stage diving into the audience. The lead singer followed suit soonafter stage diving into the audience, and as his body was traversed from the front to the back of the floor area then back to the stage, he pretended to be swimming. It was just a totally wonderful set. I look forward to seeing them live again.

I still have to go through my photos, but I hope to update this post with a link to the photos by tomorrow or this weekend.
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Anyone wanna bet that sensitive boy River goes totally gaga for Tegan and Sara when the duo opens for Weezer on their upcoming UK/Irish tour?

That's all folks. Gotta go. My hour at this web cafe internet terminal's almost up and I'm going to check out Rilo Kiley at the Edge studios down the street(I'm also going to their show at The Opera House tonight). Later.

Show Me

I can't even copy and paste links from this damn Internet access which I'm using at a Toronto public library. I'm just about to head down to the Snow Patrol/Athlete show at the Kool Haus. So link's below will be updated this evening. Gotta make like a baby and head out. Update: links updated.

Sloan's live session for KEXP from May 5, 2005 can be downloaded via dimeadozen.org. [link from Largehearted Boy]

The English Beat, who I believe is really now just co-founder Dave Wakeling and his group of hired hands, will be coming back to Toronto for a couple of shows in the Fall of this year at the Horseshoe Tavern, October 21st and 22nd. [from Pollstar]

Brazilian Girls who are already scheduled for a gig at the El Mocambo in Toronto on June 3rd are now scheduled to play down the road in Hamilton at Pepper Jacks on July 1st. Bad timing may force me to miss both of these shows; If I'm not mistaken, I think there's a show or two in Toronto that I'm considering seeing around June 3rd and I'm already planning to go see Feist at Harbourfront on July 1st. Maybe next time Brazilian Girls. [Hamilton date info from Pollstar]

Tag Team Media posted tourdate info for Sparrow last week. Pitchfork's reporting the info again. And well, now I'm just telling you to check out those sites. Sparrow, if you don't already know, is the new-ish band formed by Jason Zumpano who used to be the drummer for Vancouver pop band Zumpano. I think I have a live session by Sparrow which I taped off CBC radio which I should check out again. Sparrow'll be hitting the road in June and July starting on the US west coast and will be making their way towards the east coast as far as Minneapolis. Of course Toronto's just around the corner, although nothing's been confirmed yet. In the meantime, listen to an mp3 of their song "Show Me" at the band's page over at Absolutely Kosher Records.[photo above from Tag Team Media]

Update[@ midnight]: Just came back from the Snow Patrol/Athlete show at the Kool Haus. Dollar for dollar, the British Sea Power show yesterday was so much better. Expect some sort of reviews(and photos) of both in the coming days.

A Few Steps More

concert review: Monade w/ The Most Serene Republic @ Lee's Palace(Toronto, Ontario), May 16, 2005

Maybe everyone was at the Doves/Mercury Rev show at the Kool Haus because the Monade/The Most Serene Republic show was initially sparsely attended especially during the opening band. Previously scheduled openers The Zincs weren't there, so last minute addition The Most Serene Republic started off the evening. The Most Serene Republic were already scheduled as openers for the British Sea Power Show the next day(again at Lee's Palace) which I'll be going to. It'll be interesting to see how consistent they are over their two night stint. This was my first real exposure to The Most Serene Republic. Looking like they were barely out of highschool, they made a musical impression upon me, the lead singer's goofy body movements notwithstanding. The Broken Social Scene-influence was undeniable: the shuffling drum rhthyms, the full-on bass lines, the delicate guitar licks, the modest keyboard arrangements, and the alternating boy/girl vocals. Lead vocal duties lay mostly with the band's enthusiatic male frontman. His body gestures and attempts at dancing...well, let's just say...no comment. ;-) In the hands of a less talented band, the BSS-by-numbers approach might have seemed formulaic, but The Most Serene Republic displayed a solid set of tunes full of invirgorating melodies and dynamics that showed them to be quite capable musicians and songwriters. And at their tender ages, that's quite impressive. They didn't seem to have any merch available yesterday, but I'll be tracking down their debut CD "Underwater Cinematographer" when it's released through Arts & Crafts at the end of June.

By the time, Laetitia Sadier and her band of merry Monade members came onto the stage, Lee's Palace was thankfully filling in, although by no means at capacity. There was elbow room to spare, but at least Lee's Palace was full enough that I felt comfortable standing near the front. I felt quite lucky to grab a spot off towards the left side of the stage right where Laetitia's mic stand was situated! Laetitia's other band Stereolab has been one of those constants in my life over the last 10 years. I alternate between being really into Stereolab then being bored with them. In the end, I always have appreciated them for continuing onward. Having only seen Stereolab once live(in April 2004), I was glad to get another opportunity to see Laetitia perform. I'd only sampled some of Monade's music yesterday, actually a live session which Monade had done for MPR's 89.3 The Current on May 13th. It was only Laetita performing solo but the tunes, while pleasant, didn't really grab me. Thankfully, the full band setting which Monade took on for the Lee's Palace show was much more impressive. I think Laetitia could sing just about anything and I'd still think of Stereolab. Yes, Monade can sound like Stereolab as a result of Laetitia's vocals. However, what set Monade apart from Stereolab is the directness of their songs. The songs were quite to the point and never dwelled in that drone-y territory that Stereolab have been known for. While keyboards were still apparent in Monade's music, guitars and drums were much more to the forefront. I also thought the background vocals of the other female member of the band were slightly more coo-ish and more substantial than the late Mary Hansen's(of Stereolab) metronomic background vocals. I liked the dare-I-say-funky instrumental excursions the band took during a couple of their songs. A member of the audience yelled out a request for their song "Le Swim"(which the band later played and dedicated to the fan) and Laetitia got into a ramble about having not swimmed in a while which prompted another member of the audience to offer to let her into the pool at the community centre where he worked. I'm a sucker for such stage banter. :-)I wonder if the next Stereolab album'll feature a stronger musical(rather than just lyrical) influence from Laetitia because she's definitely proved herself with Monade. And brownie points for the low merch pricing. I picked up Monade's "A Few Steps More" and "Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings" for $12 CDN each. Photos to be posted in the near future.
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According to Soul Shine Magazine, Cuff The Duke's new album is set for release on August 30th through Hardwood Records. The first single is entitled "No Sleep, No Heat". The band plan's to stream their new album on their official website starting August 1st and they also have plans to post different tracks from the new album for downloading. The band'll be in Toronto at the Horseshoe on June 11th, but will mostly be doing the summer festival circuit.

We can all agree Ivy's a great band, right? Although, apparently their tour manager's a douche bag. Anyone planning to snap any photos at Ivy's upcoming Toronto show at Lee's Palace, beware. [from copacetic zine]

And according to Dissolve Into Molecules, The Organ are NOT scheduled to play at Lee's Palace on June 9th, as part of NXNE. :-(

[note: It's actually 1:10 am[May 18th], and I just came back from the wonderful British Sea Power show at the Lee's Palace. I would've posted this post earlier(around 9 pm), but damn Blogger was down. Therefore, I've backdated this post...I hate to have ruined my 8-day blogging streak.]

Can She Play Guitar

Bella's album "Pretty Mess" is spotlighted over at Soul Shine Magazine. Reading the review prompted me to search the 'net for some info, bringing me to the band's MySpace site. Actually, I remember reading about the band months ago on the Exclaim! message board. After listening to some of the samples on their MySpace site, I'm hooked. Soul Shine Magazine describes their album as "Indie Dance". I heard bits of New Order(listen to "Crystal Tears"), Ladytron, and straight-ahead indiepop. You can stream some songs over at their official site. The band'll be playing a couple of live dates soon in Canada including May 22nd in Vancouver, then June 9th in Toronto at The Drake(as part of NXNE). The band's MySpace site indicates that they call San Francisco and Vancouver home. A little bit of Technorati searching also came up with this blog. Really nice to see that a member of the band's parents are really proud of her! [photo from http://www.bellamusic.org]

I'm still thinking of going to the Monade(side project of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier) show tonight at Lee's Palace. I've just been listening to a live session Monade did on May 13, 2005 for MPR's 89.3 The Current. It's like Stereolab but with guitars at the forefront.

Speaking of live sessions at MPR's 89.3 The Current, there were recent sessions with Mercury Rev(May 12/05) and The Raveonettes(May 10/05). Rilo Kiley and Thievery Corporation are the guests today and upcoming sessions include Ida(June 2nd), The Dears(June 3rd) and Ted Leo/Pharmacists(June 14th).

Caught the info on Muchmusic yesterday that they'll be broadcasting on June 5th, highlights from the recent Coldplay show at the Kool Haus in Toronto. Y'know the show which sold out in one minute.(damn scalpers and industry people) They showed some clips on MuchNews yesterday and damn, if that wasn't the fullest Kool Haus I've seen ever.

Download[mp3] Rilo Kiley's Coachella 2005 performance. [link from Largehearted Boy]. I'll be seeing 'em this this Thursday May 19th in Toronto at The Opera House. The band will also be at the Edge studios at 6:30pm that same night for an interview(and we can only hope a live session). I might go to that as well.

Frank Black will be the guest tomorrow on BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe Program. Sessions start around the 20:40:00 mark(about 8:40 London, England time or about 2:40 Eastern Standard Time). Sessions usually archived in the future.

I realized yesterday that last week was the first time I think I've ever posted consecutively for 7 days straight. I make no promises for this week especially considering all the shows I'll be going to...Monade tonight(possibly), British Sea Power(tomorrow), Snow Patrol/Athlete(Wednesday), Rilo Kiley/Nada Surf/The Brunettes(Thursday), Decemberists(Saturday)...Hey, Friday's still empty. I'm not working that day so I'll definitely be catching on some valuable sleep. If I fill Friday with a show(maybe Kasabian?), 6 concerts in 6 nights will definitely be a record for me. Let's just hope my weary bones can take it.

Your Name Is The Only Word That I Can Say

If you missed it last week, or if you're like me and don't subscribe to BBC television, here's a torrent of video for The Arcade Fire's performance on Later. . . With Jools Holland from May 13, 2005. The band played "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)", good choices for making an impression on the British audience. Just finished downloading and viewing this and the video quality is amazing. I was a little disappointed that it was a bit more subtle performance than I was expecting, but it was good nonetheless. Thanks to davechapman for such an amazing post at dimeadozen.org. [photo credit: Hilary Leftick]

Don't you wish people with digital cameras would take longer videos? Yes, storage capacity is always an issue, but on the other hand 10 second clips are such a tease. shesbitter has some brief video clips of Feist at a recent show in at The Black Cat in Washington, DC while A Clearing has some brief video clips of The Arcade Fire at this year's Coachella festival.

3hive spotlights His Name Is Alive. Thanks also to 3hive for pointing to a free limited time download of His Name Is Alive's "Summer Bird" EP over at the artist's official site. The "Summer Bird" EP is a special sneak preview of the forthcoming His Name Is Alive album, containing two album tracks and two non-lp B-sides.

If you missed the Weezer show at the Kool Haus on May 6, 2005 then check out the torrent[flac format] of the show.

And yet another torrent[flac format] of a live show from The Arcade Fire, this time a gig from last year in Phoenix on 2004-12-06. [last two links from Largehearted Boy]

Here's a torrent of a live show by Kathleen Edwards on 7.19.03 playing as part of 88.5 XPN Singer/Songwriter Festival @ The Great Plaza on Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, PA.

Canadian artist K-os will be appearing on BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe program tomorrow. Sessions start around the 20:40:00 mark(about 8:40 London, England time or about 2:40 Eastern Standard Time). Or else the shows are usually archived for a week. Down the line, live sessions are archived, so don't fret.

What Are You Waiting For

Check out Suzanna's great Kathleen Edwards fansite at kathleenedwards.org! She's used some concert photos of mine(from Kathleen's recent Hamilton, Casbah[review] and Toronto, Mod Club[review] shows) for the photos section. ...Speaking of Kathleen, I didn't know she had a blog.

Rilo Kiley will stopping by the Edge studios in Toronto @ 6:30 pm on May 19th before their show that night at The Opera House. I think I might head to this after work in hopes that they play something live...or at least to see Jenny. ;-)

The Organ will be playing as part of NXNE at Lee's Palace on June 9th.

Maximo Park returns to Toronto at Lee's Palace on June 14th. (smog) will be at Lee's Palace on August 8th. Ticket prices for both shows still TBA. [info from Lee's Palace]

Hey, I was using Yahoo!'s handy-dandy video search function and came upon this high-quality video for The Arcade Fire's "Rebellion(Lies)"(if you notice is incorrectly labelled as "Neighbourhood #3(power out)")! Maybe you're sick of it by now, but the video quality is amazing.

On a related Arcade Fire note, Largehearted Boy points towards a torrent of their live session[flac format] they did for XFM on 2005-03-07.

Lovely Head

Cherry Coloured's posted that Goldfrapp's soundtrack for the UK movie, "My Summer of Love" will be released June 21st. Actually, Aeki Tuesday(via Arjan Writes) posted about this a couple of days ago, but Cherry Coloured's also posted a link to some tasty Goldfrapp mp3 remixes. Boo-yah!

In the meantime, the Goldfrapp web site reports that the new album "Ooh La La" will be released on August 22nd.

The Goldfrapp concert in Toronto at The Opera House several years ago still ranks as one of my top concert disappointments ever, what with Goldfrapp vocalist Alison Goldfrapp storming off stage like a cry-baby(not before throwing her beverage on the ground; or was that in the audience?), apparently because she wasn't satisfied with the sound or something. And as I remembered, the band had only played 7 songs or so. What a total ripoff. Ok maybe, not a total ripoff; those 7 songs sounded totally amazing. Still, I'm waiting for a return Toronto performance. I sort of lost track of Goldfrapp after the release of their slinky, electro-clash influenced 2nd album "Black Cherry". In actuality, I think I'd only heard the first single "Train" and just wasn't interested. The first album "Felt Mountain" was such a lush, trip-hop, masterpiece and I'm hoping the new album'll be a return to that. [photo credit: Polly Borland]
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Joe Pernice takes reign of the latest news update at The Pernice Brothers official website. So Mr. Pernice is on a diet, all the more difficult since he mentions living beside a Portuguese bakery. Hmmm, bread. Hey, has anyone spotted him and or Laura in downtown Toronto? Joe and Laura have designed a new Pernice Brothers t-shirt and the Pernice Brothers will be out on tour in North America this summer. As I mentioned before, Pernice Brothers have been confirmed for the Ottawa Bluesfest in July.

Pretty Girls Make Graves will be at The Mod Club in Toronto on August 25th. [from stillepost.ca]

I've been checking the NXNE site everyday for the past couple of weeks for the artist lineup and lo' and behold, chartattack beats me to the punch with the announcement. Actually, the NXNE site doesn't list an artist lineup as of yet. Grrrrr, insider info.

Yonge/Dundas Square'll be hosting some prime concert fare(all free btw!) including Quartertones(featuring the awesome turntablist skills of Toronto's DJ Serious) June 17 and LAL August 12. [from Pollstar]

Final Fantasy will be going on a short tour in Ontario(with one date in Montreal). He'll be at The Casbah in Hamilton, ON on July 22, 2005 according to Pollstar. eye says that Final Fantasy will be in Toronto at The Music Gallery on June 25th, tickets $8 advance at Penguin, Rotate This, Soundscapes or $10 at the door.

Believer Magazine will be releasing a compilation CD with its June 2005 issue. The bands involved were asked the question, "what are you currently listening to?" and whatever their answer was, is the song they are probably covering. Check out the tracklisting over at Suicide Girls featuring such Can-Con fare as Jim Guthrie covering The Constantines' "Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)" and The Constantines covering Elevator's "Why I Didn't Like August '93". [link found via Technorati]

Few Steps More

NOW talks to Monade's Laetitia Sadier in advance of their show in Toronto at Lee's Palace on May 16th. [photo from http://../]

The Pernice Brothers' website has gone through a redesign!

Portastatic have completed the recording of their new album entitled "Bright Ideas", out in August. They'll be hitting the road, supporting Rilo Kiley for some live dates in the US at the end of May and beginning of June. Check Merge Records for album tracklisting and tour date info.

Pitchfork reports that Death From Above 1979 plan to release three new 'albums' within the coming 12 months.

The Arcade Fire will appear on Later with Jools Holland tomorrow(May 13th). [info from arcadefire.net]

Spoon will perform a live session for Morning Becomes Eclectic tomorrow(May 13th).

BBC Radio 3 program Mixing It will be talking to Wilco's Jeff Tweedy tomorrow(May 13th).

Sloan will be performing at this year's Burlington Sound of Music Festival. They'll be performing Saturday June 18th at 9:30 pm at the Bell Canada Stage. And it's free!!!!(I am so there.)

New Julie Doiron tourdates are posted over at Endearing Records. She'll be touring Ontario in June and will hit Hamilton at The Casbah on June 23rd and Toronto as part of Wavelength at Sneaky Dees on June 26th. Julie Doiron/Snailhouse tour dates are posted over at both Julie Doiron's and Snailhouse's website. They'll both be in Toronto at Sneaky Dees w/ Glissandro 76 on June 27th.

Billy Corgan will be playing The Carlu in Toronto on July 2nd. [from Pollstar]

Brazilian Girls are coming to El Mocambo in Toronto on June 3rd, tickets $16.50 (Check out the band's MySpace site.) Digable Planets will be at The Phoenix on June 8th, tickets $18.00. Caesars with Shout Out Louds will be at The Mod Club on June 13th, tickets $12.50. [from Rotate This]