I caught Tokyo Police Club over the weekend at their free show at Nathan Phillips Square. I'd avoided listening to them for so long, except for the occasional "Nature Of The Experiment" which would pop on 102.1 The Edge every now and then. As the buzz around the band has temporarily subsided(at least until their debut full-length "Elephant Shell" is released in April), I went into their set on Saturday night with a relatively open mind and honestly I found them to be impressive. Not impressive in terms of musicianship necessarily, but they do have a certain rough-hewn brand of melodic, spunky indie-rock that's enjoyable and hasn't passed it's expiry date, at least in my books. One thing comes to mind and that's how come I couldn't be that cool when I was their age? Aside from the tunes from their EP's and upcoming full-length I assumed they played, they also did a guitar-y version of The Rentals' "Friends of P" that really hit the spot. Part of me avoided listening to them for so long because they had to cancel their appearance at last year's Beating Heart Festival concert series in Mississauga(my neck of the woods). I guess I'll forgive them now.
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In other news:
Pitchfork interviews Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo.
Junkmedia has an interview with Ottawa's The Acorn.
Popjustice has a brief interview with Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell. I wish they'd come back to Toronto already. I'm still waiting for my "Boxette" to arrive in the mail.
Listen to a live session that UK's The Duke Spirit did for BBC 6 Music's George Lamb program last week. See some photos from the session here. The band's new album "Neptune" will be released as an import on February 12 with the band setting out on a mostly UK tour(with a couple of North American dates, but no Toronto one yet) starting at the end of this week. They're in New York City on February 13 & 14 then in Austin(for SXSW) on March 12 so my guess(duh) would be that a Toronto date could be inbetween.
Laura Barrett has some Ontario/Quebec tour dates coming up in February and March. According to her new label Paper Bag Records, she'll be in Toronto at the Gladstone on February 4(@ 9pm) for a live webcast courtesy of Eyes On Toronto. I don't have info about attending it live but I guess you can catch it online. Her "Earth Sciences" EP will be out through Paper Bag Records on February 26. Laura has a nice artistic new music video for her song "Robot Ponies" which you can view below(thanks to John Sakamoto's The Anti-Hit List for the tip):
Video: Laura Barrett - "Robot Ponies" (music video)
Not big news anymore, but I'm 99 % sure I'm going to pick up a ticket for the R.E.M./The National/Modest Mouse show at Molson Ampitheatre coming to the venue on June 8. The last big-venue show I went to(not counting outdoor festivals) was coincidentally the same venue several years ago for Oasis and Sloan. [news via Brooklyn Vegan]
Also via Brooklyn Vegan, Hugh Masekela's Chissa All-Stars will be in Toronto on February 15 as part of the Small World Music Series. The show's at the Phoenix Concert Theatre and tickets are $30 in advance.
Listen to the live session that The New Pornographers did for World Cafe on January 25, 2008.
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