The Rainbow Connection

Toronto's on the shortlist of cities for Radiohead's upcoming North American tour! Ok, no venues and or dates have been confirmed yet but those sneaky buggers have us salivating already. Vancouver's also on the list as well. [via Pitchfork] Speaking of Radiohead, they have a contest going on to celebrate their new album "In Rainbows". Full details are here - I suggest you read the full contest details(as they are important) but it basically requires one to submit a photo or image which will become part of a digital rainbow[I'm not sure what they mean by that exactly - a collage?] and you might win some free "In Rainbows" merch. Good luck. Contest closes February 5.

Chromewaves has already covered the following three items this week but just as a reminder, Caribou have a 2-night stand at Lee's Palace on March 20 and 21, tickets $15, Hot Chip are at the Phoenix with openers Free Blood on April 16, tickets $20, and Justice return to Toronto for a show at The Docks(or Sound Academy, whatever name the venue's going by these days) on March 17 with Fancy and Busy P in tow.

Hayden will performing on MTV Live(@ Masonic Temple in Toronto) on January 14 and you can be there - to be part of the audience, call 1-888-491-6888, or email liveaudience@mtv.ca.

The Weakerthans have there turn at MTV Live on January 31, the start of a busy weekend for them with them already scheduled for an instore at Sonic Boom Records on February 1(start 6:30 pm), then performing a free show at Nathan Phillips Square on February 2(start 8:45 pm) as part the WinterCity Festival.

Pollstar indicates that Crystal Castles and Health will be at Circa on March 28, and What Made Milwaukee Famous will be opening for Nada Surf at The Opera House on April 7.

That musical chameleon Joe Jackson will be at Danforth Music Hall on April 1. I wonder what sort of set list he's playing these days. He does have a new album entitled "Rain" being released through Ryko on January 29 - his MySpace is streaming several tracks. Tickets for the Danforth Music Hall show are on sale this Friday.

Congrats to Laura Barrett for her signing to Paper Bag Records! She will re-release her debut "Earth Sciences" EP on Paper Bag on Tuesday February 26, 2008.

It's funny/spooky that a few days ago, the day that I chose to listen to my Echo and The Bunnymen "Ocean Rain" CD for the first time in a long time, Pitchfork reports that same day that the band will be performing that album in its entirely with a full orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall on September 18. Pitchfork also report that Echo and The Bunnymen's only other upcoming gigs are a free gig in Spain[Pitchfork don't specify where and when] and an appearance at January 12's Liverpool 08 concert, where they'll perform "Nothing Last Forever" from 1997's "Evergreen" with the Liverpool Philharmonic. Frontman Ian McCulloch will also appear on CBS' "The Early Show" on CBS January 11(although apparently only an interview according to the Bunnymen website). Well, that last item's something we can ALL look forward to but damn would I love to see Echo perform "Ocean Rain" live with an orchestra.