The Stage Names

concert review: The New Pornographers, Okkervil River @ Phoenix Concert Theatre (Toronto, Ontario), April 8, 2008



An odd pairing of sorts, Vancouver power poppers The New Pornographers and the literate, emotive Americana of Okkervil River took over the Phoenix last Tuesday. As still a relative newcomer to the band, jumping on the bandwagon so to speak with their last album "Black Sheep Boy" and seeing them for the first time live back in September 2007 at Lee's Palace, Okkervil River's opening set last Tuesday was a chance for me to reacquaint myself with their live set. Do my eyes and ears deceive me but were lead vocalist Will Sheff's vocals and mannerism's more affected this time around? They put on a damn fine set still in my opinion, but it seemed that Will was putting more effort into his vocals to emote rather than letting it come across naturally. New guitarist Charles Bissell from The Wrens was a joy to watch in his sort of jerky guitar playing style, at times locking his elbow as he whipped out some mini windmill guitar strums.

One thing's for sure, but Toronto never gets tired of The New Pornographers, especially if Neko Case and Dan Bejar are in tow. No Dan this time around(in any case, I'll get to see his baby Destroyer at Lee's this coming Saturday), but Neko Case was in the house, and her presence and vocals were a definite asset, especially on brooding numbers like "Bones Of An Idol" and "The Bleeding Heart Show". Of course, The Porns' are best during their uptempo numbers(only because they distract one from the fact that they have little stage presence), by now which you all know which they are, but highlights of course included "Mass Romantic", "The Laws Have Change", "Sing Me Spanish Techno", and "Use It". Thanks, to Neko for pointing out the new art work adorning the Phoenix's walls - somewhat disturbing art of psychotic looking clowns - I"m sure Neko pointed out the art out in jest but really they are kind of creepy, don't you think? I liked how Carl cheekily said he almost didn't notice them. That humorous banter aside, The Porns' stuck to what they do best, which is the music. Musically, they never disappoint at least in my books, but sometimes I wish they'd dress up in bunny suits or do something else visually to make their live set a better live experience. The cover of ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" was a welcome diversion although why during the last few times they come through Toronto haven't they thought of performing their cover of Toronto 80's rock band Toronto's "Daddy Don't Know"? Just a thought. (If they could perform in full cheesy 80's dress-up, that would be a bonus.)

Check out my photos from the show over at my Flickr.

More reviews of the show over at Chromewaves, chartattack and Burnside Writer's Blog.

MySpace: Okkervil River
MySpace: The New Pornographers

Locate The Pieces

Touring their most recent album "Last Light"[which I still haven't picked up yet], Matt Pond PA have announced more dates which include a stop in Toronto on April 2 at Lee's Palace which will be an opening slot for Carbon/Silicon (The Clash's/Big Audio Dynamite's Mick Jones & Generation X's/Sigue Sigue Sputnik's Tony James, plus Leo Williams of Big Audio Dynamite and Domonic Greensmith of Reef). Matt Pond PA has a new music video below(and Matt's penchant for popsmith-ery continues to be a wonder):

Video: Matt Pond PA - "Locate The Pieces" (music video)

The New Pornographers(including Neko Case) performed a live session of four tunes off of their most recent album "Challengers" at AOL's The Interface. They're at the Phoenix with Okkervil River on April 9.

At least according to Pollstar, Montreal's Plants and Animals will be part of the Chartattack CMW showcase taking place at the Horseshoe on March 6.

Pollstar also points out that White Denim are set to open for Tapes N' Tapes at The Opera House on April 14.

Kathleen Edwards, in celebration of her new album "Asking For Flowers" out March 4, will have a show at the Phoenix on April 23, tickets $22.50.

Torchy crooner k.d. Lang has annouced a whole bunch of tour dates which will include a stop at Massey Hall on May 31. Tickets on sale February 23 at 10 am.

And on today's date in 1964, The Beatles made their US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, with an estimated viewership of 73 million people[if I recall correctly when I was listening to the radio this morning]:

Video: The Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (live on The Ed Sullivan Show - Feb 9, 1964)

ps. Oh, congrats to Anne and Craig for winning the Nicole Atkins CD contest I ran a little while back. They'll be going out in the mail soon[Craig, I still need your address].

Dive Deep

I had no idea that Morcheeba were releasing a new album until I read the news over at Speed of Dark, but apparently the band's new album "Dive Deep" was released in the UK today. I haven't heard it yet...actually I'd lost interest in them for a while, mostly because I don't think they'd come to Toronto for a full band tour since maybe circa "Big Calm"(I think a few of them came over for a mini acoustic set a few years ago but that's it). According to their MySpace, they'll be in Toronto for a show at The Opera House on March 30. Songs from the new album are streaming at their MySpace.

Cat Power was in the BBC 6 Music Studio's for a live performance on the George Lamb show. Listen here and also check out some photos from the session. Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues are at Kool Haus on February 9.

The Raveonettes performed an acoustic session for LiveDaily recently - they performed stripped-down versions of "Dead Sound", "Aly Walk With Me", and "Lust", three new tunes off their latest record, "Lust Lust Lust". They come to The Opera House in Toronto on March 21. [via Skatterbrain]

Via Pitchfork comes confirmation of an upcoming New Pornographers/Okervill River tour. Both bands will be at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on April 9. Also confirmed lately, sometime-New Pornographer(although not for the upcoming April 9 show at the Phoenix), Dan Bejar aka Destroyer has his own show booked for Lee's Palace on April 19[via Chromewaves].

Eels return to Toronto for a show at The Mod Club on April 4 to promote its latest discs(yes, plural), hits and rarities collections ("Meet the Eels" and "Useless Trinkets", respectively). Via Pitchfork.

NME reports that Billy Bragg and The Blokes newest album 'Mr Love And Justice', is slated to be released in the US on April 22. The UK release date is March 3. NME has the tracklisting.

Just a reminder, that blog-faves Vampire Weekend make what I believe is their network television debut tomorrow night on Late Show With David Letterman. Their debut self-titled full-length was just released in North America recently.

Who'd have thought that perky television chef/cutie Rachael Ray was an indie rock fan. She invited Battles and Holy Fuck to perform at her SXSW party. I bet she makes some mean barbeque.

Cheer It On

Tokyo Police Club @ Nathan Phillips Square(Toronto, Ontario), January 26, 2008


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.

Nature Of The Experiment

I've never been particularly compelled to really listen to Tokyo Police Club. It's not like their indie-hit "Nature Of The Experiment" didn't have it's moments. But with their almost exponential rise to indie-stardom[ok, I realize that's an oxymoron], I've been less and less inclined to buy into the hype. However, it's hard to deny the critical and blogger buzz surrounding the band especially with regards to the band's live set. So, it's that buzz around their live set that has me committed[well, at least 99%] to standing out in sub-zero temperatures to catch their free live set at Nathan Phillips Square(as part of the WinterCity festival) this Saturday night. Pitchfork has their full tour itinerary plus details of the band's debut full-length "Elephant Shell" coming out through Saddle Creek in April.

Coming in February from the 14th to the 18th is the Wavelength 8th Anniversary Festival, and the lineups been announced over at Stille Post. The artist lineup is a lot less familiar(to me at least) this year than in past years but should be interesting nonetheless.

In other news, the iconic Leonard Cohen is reported to tour the US and Canada in May and Europe in the summer, Wolves, Hawks, and Kites points out the tracklisting for the new Constantines album "Kensington Heights" coming out April 15th through the band's new home Arts & Crafts, and Billboard reports that Portishead's long-overdue third album coming out internationally on April 14(with the North American release date still pending) will simply be titled "Third".

And as a teaser, it looks like Toronto can look forward to shows(courtesy of Against The Grain) from The New Pornographers(w/ Neko Case), Okkervil River and Sally Shapiro - that's what it says in black and white at the Horseshoe Tavern website. Dates/venue info to be confirmed.

The Spirit of Giving

concert review: The New Pornographers, Emma Pollock @ Phoenix Concert Theatre (Toronto, Ontario), October 20, 2007



To play a little catch-up, The New Pornographers show at the Phoenix last Sunday October 20 was the last show I'd been to. I'll spare you the formal review but having seen them live three times now, I'll say not much has changed - musically they have many great moments, but onstage they can sort of be a dead horse. It's not to say I didn't enjoy the show - I liked(well actually loved) much of what I heard but when the most interesting thing onstage is the neon 'The New Pornographers' sign emblazoned at the back of the stage, you know there's something wrong. It was great to see and hear Neko and Dan with them, and Kathyrn Calder is looking more adorable everytime I see her. I didn't realize that was Kathyrn(playing accordion) onstage with Scotland's Emma Pollock(second opening act of the night) when I walked into the tail-end of Emma's set. What little of Emma's pop-rock songs I'd heard that night(quite a bit more polished than her work with The Delgados), was enough for me to decide to purchase her CD "Watch The Fireworks" at the end of the night, which Emma was nice enough to autograph. Oh, and I totally dig that Scottish accent.

Some photos from the show over at Flickr.

Chromewaves, Eye Weekly and chartattack reviewed the show.

MySpace: The New Pornographers
MySpace: Emma Pollock
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So lately 'real life' has been taking priority and I've not had much time nor the motivation to do much blogging. Heck, I've hardly been listening to music over the past week. I'd been browsing my hard drive today checking out some mp3's and videos and then came across Feist's song "It's Cool To Love Your Family" - I have to say that that song has to be the most apropos song in my life at this moment.

YouTube: Feist - "It's Cool To Love Your Family" (music video)

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, Fire In The Street

concert review: The New Pornographers (part of WinterCity) @ Nathan Phillips Square(Toronto, Ontario), February 3, 2007



I'm so hardcore. It may have been -14 degrees Celsius weather[colder with a wind chill] this past Saturday night, but it didn't stop me from checking out The New Pornographers who were playing a free show down at Nathan Phillips Square as part of WinterCity. Poor Carl Newman that his propane heater onstage kept on going out on him. Continually mentioning how cold it was, in jest Carl said he thought he was going to die, even directing a quip to keyboardist Kathyrn Calder to not let him fall asleep. Ha ha. In another moment, Carl and Blair were speaking about how Toronto was so cold and that it was going through a reverse global warming. At one point between songs, Carl had to tune his guitar and blurted out "Fuck" only to jokingly explain that he said "Funk", which prompted the band into an impromptu instrumental version of Parliament's "Give Up The Funk". Kathyrn Calder looked so cute in her mouse-ears toque as she grabbed a tambourine and started to dance to the groove. Such were the moments that kept the crowd going through an hour plus set in the bitter cold, though I must say the body heat from the crowd and a little bit of dancing/moving kept things somewhat comfortable. They performed most of the tunes that I could have hoped for including "Use It", "Sing Me Spanish Techno", "Mass Romantic", "Miss Teen Wordpower", "The Bleeding Heart Show", "From Blown Speakers"(during the encore), and what for me was the highlight of the show, a stirring rendition of "Streets of Fire"(complete with singalong from the crowd). Kudos to the band for braving the cold and performing a great set.

Here are my photos from the show.

I found some live video clips from the show on YouTube. Check 'em out:

YouTube: The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno (4:11)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - The Bleeding Heart Show (1:59)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Give Up The Funk (0:31)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Streets of Fire (1:17)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - Testament To Youth In Verse (2:37)
YouTube: The New Pornographers - From Blown Speakers (2:39)

MySpace: The New Pornographers