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]

Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?

Watch a live performance(from May 1, 2005) of The Thrills on Irish television show Other Voices. They play favourites like "Big Sur"(vocally kinda off actually, but alright I guess) and the string-filled "What Ever Happened To Corey Haim"! According to The Thrills' website, they've just finished a string of US west coast tour dates(as well one Canadian date in Vancouver) although no word yet when the guys'll be hitting the east coast. [photo from http://../]

Mark E. Smith obsessee's, Toronto's The Two Koreas will be playing their CD release for their album "Main Plates & Classic Pies" on June 3 @ The Boat, 158 Augusta in Toronto, 9:30pm, $5 / $12 with CD. Opening the show will be The Diableros. [info from stillepost.ca]

The Arcade Fire will performing live at The Paradiso in Amsterdam today and the performance video broadcast will be live on Fabchannel.com. You can also check out their archives for some other fantastic performances including another Arcade Fire show from this past March 2005. A recent Dears performance from May 7, 2005 will be archived in the near future.

Pitchfork reports on the upcoming US tour for Architecture in Helsinki who'll, actually be making one Canadian appearance in Vancouver on May 31st at a venue TBA. If southern Ontario-ans are really interested they can make the trek to the band's appearance in Buffalo,NY(at a venue TBA) on June 10th. Pitchfork does report that more dates and venues will be announced soon!

Eels will make an appearance at The Phoenix in Toronto on June 25th. [from More Cowbell]...In the meantime, listen/watch to an Eels recent live session(from May 9, 2005) for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Of Montreal are in the process of confirming venues for tourdates in August and Septemeber. They'll be back in these neck of the woods on August 29th and 30th, Toronto and Hamilton respectively, venues TBA. [from Kork]

I suggest bookmarking this page for hours(no make that weeks and months) of mp3 downloading goodness. [link from The Tofu Hut via The Big Ticket]

Music That We Hear

I've been oblivious to the fact that Morcheeba have quietly continued their existence. Their last album "Charango" was released in mid-2002 and quickly went nowhere, at least in North America. I've always held them in high regards but unfortunately have always missed seeing them live in Toronto. "Big Calm" still remains a stupendous record full of enticing melodies, warm sounds, cool grooves, and sultry vocals. While their old website's been frozen in time(circa 1993), I recently found their new website through a bit of web surfing. Apparently, their new LP "The Antidote" was released yesterday May 9th(I'm assuming only in the UK; HMV.com is listing the release date for Canada as May 31, 2005). Also, the new record will be the first to NOT feature vocalist Skye Edwards. The band's new vocalist is Daisy Martey, formerly vocalist for the band Noonday Underground. An excerpt from the band's site describes "The Antidote":

"THE ANTIDOTE is the sound of a band challenging and reinventing themselves without losing touch with the history and sound that they innovated. It sees MORCHEEBA broaden their horizons beyond the downtempo sound with which they are associated and embraces a whole raft of different influences as diverse as Aphex Twin and Bonnie Prince Billy, cult leftfield guitar heroes like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, and further back to the likes of Fairport Convention, David Axelrod and Jimi Hendrix. It’s a more upbeat record that raises the tempo to match the rougher, edgier vocals that Daisy brings to the mix. It’s still Morcheeba, no doubt about it but coloured now by a more brazen acknowledgement of the band’s personal listening tastes."

So there you go. The new albums seems like a bold step forward and I hope it pans out for them in getting new fans while maintaining the old fanbase.

In other news, The Constantines have some new Canadian tour dates in August as follows:

-> Aug 06 - Wolfe Island, ON MUSICFEST
-> Aug 18 - Hamilton, ON THE UNDERGROUND
-> Aug 19 - Brantford, ON FORD PLANT
-> Aug 20 - Toronto, ON LEE'S PALACE

Soul Shine Magazine reports on Caribou, Junior Boys and The Russian Futurists tour that's taking them across Canada starting May 29th in Victoria. There's a show in Toronto at The Opera House on June 11th that I wasn't aware of that Caribou, Junior Boys and The Russian Futurists(along with Four Tet, Sunburned Hand of the Man, and Expensive Shit DJ) will be playing. It's a 19+ gig and tickets are $17.50.

chartattack reports on the new solo album by Tom Green. Yes, Tom Green. The guy that french kisses dead cow carcasses. The guy that dry humps people. So he used to be in short-lived early 90's rap outfit Organized Rhyme. "Check The O.R." was actually a pretty good song come to think of it. A short tour of southern Ontario is coming up in June with dates in London, Hamilton, Barrie, Kingston and Ottawa.

The Go-Betweens appeared live in session yesterday(May 6, 2005) on BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe program. They played "Finding You" and "The Mountains Near Delray". Listen here. ...Upcoming Hub Sessions I'm looking forward to are Ben Folds on May 30th and St. Etienne on June 12th. Mark those calendars.

Ivy will appear on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic tomorrow May 11th. That is 11:15 am PST or 2:15 pm EST.

PopMatters staff reminisce about Coachella 2005. Soul Shine Magazine also gets in on the act.

Rolling Stone reports that Interpol and Arcade Fire have recorded new tracks for the upcoming Six Feet Under soundtrack entitled "Everything Ends" . The soundtrack will also include tracks by Coldplay, Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie and Jem. [link from Kingblind]

Closest

concert review: Matt Pond PA w/ Head of Femur, Winter Equinox @ The Casbah(Hamilton, ON), May 7, 2005

Hamilton, ON is becoming a veritable live music goldmine. Or maybe it always has been and I'm just only finding out. Matt Pond PA(as well as Head of Femur) played Sneaky Dees in Toronto last Thursday May 5th as part of the Over The Top Fest but I didn't end up going. With that eating away at me inside and having remembered how much I liked Matt Pond PA when they opened up for Ted Leo at The Mod Club in Toronto in December 2004, I decided to check out Matt Pond PA(again playing with Head of Femur) at The Casbah in Hamilton, ON.

I missed Winter Equinox but made it in time for Chicagoans, Head of Femur. So apparently a member(members?) of the band has also played with Bright Eyes, but I had no idea who. Head of Femur is a 7-piece whose musical style varied over the course of their set. There was a little bit of Flaming Lips-inspired psych pop, a bit of alt-country(especially on the cover of The Band's "The Night They Drive Old Dixie Down"), and some good 'ole rock n' roll. Their guitar/bass guitar/drums foundation was rounded out quite nicely with generous amounts of keyboards, violin, and trumpet. One song featured some cool bongo playing, and the same gentleman playing the bongos later in the song got up, ran towards the entrance of the club, ducked down behind a wooden bannister, and would periodically pop up like a demented cuckoo bird, shouting out a vocal effect. It was sort of funny but also quite creative. Things were kept even more interesting with the changeup in instruments between the keyboardist and drummer. While I thought the keyboardist did an admirable job on keyboards, he really tore up the drumkit at times. All in all a good set.

I took off after Head of Femur to grab a breather and then came back just as Matt Pond PA had started their set. What can I say. They are such a tight band and their songs are so melodically rich. Their guitar/bass guitar/drums foundation is really improved upon greatly with the addition of cello and background female vocals of Matt Pond PA's Eve Miller. Their music's been described at various times as chamber pop or baroque pop and such descriptions only further emphasize the importance of Eve's string sound. At one point it was just her and Matt in a moment of vocal harmonic bliss. If I could have had only one wish for the already beautiful pop music of Matt Pond PA, it would to have had more instances of Eve Miller's beautiful vocals. The rest of the band did an admirable job as well, even taking a brief dub reggae instrumental excursion while, Matt got prepared for their next song. Matt Pond showed great technique on the guitar playing some nice guitar-picked melodic arrangements while his vocals were strong yet vulnerable. With the cello and all, the show wasn't necessarily a recital. I think they played "Closest(Look Out)" and "Grave's Disease" both off of "Emblems". On such upbeat-sounding pop songs the band displayed a real sense of urgency, that feeling of running as fast as you can not wanting to stop. I'm looking forward to the next O.C. mix soundtrack 'cause maybe the next mix will feature an original Matt Pond PA composition(rather than their cover of "Champagen Supernova" which graces the current O.C. mix). Yes, these guys are the next Death Cab. [photos from the show]
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Largehearted Boy points to a torrent of Matt Pond PA's live session for KEXP on 2005-04-07.

Just a reminder that The Arcade Fire will be performing a live session for BBC 6 music's Gideon Coe tomorrow May 10th. [The live sessions usually begin around the 20:40:00 mark(about 8:40 London, England time or about 2:40 Eastern Standard Time) and complete shows are usually archived for one week. Or else catch the archived performance some time in the future.]

One of my favourite discoveries of 2004, Scotland's Sons and Daughters will be playing some UK instores soon before heading out for a UK tour in June. All this precedes their upcoming new single "Dance Me In" which will be released on May 23rd in the UK. You can view the e-card for the single. The Stereo Effect reports that the new album "The Repulsion Box" will be released on June 6th. I saw the band twice last year, opening up for Franz Ferdinand as well as opening up for Clinic, and I'm looking forward for them to come back to Toronto.

Yeah!

concert review: From Fiction, The Golden Dogs, Thunderbirds Are Now!, The Inflation Kills @ Sneaky Dees(Toronto, Ontario), May 6, 2005

Sneaky Dees was a flurry of spastic energy yesterday as they were hosting a showcase of bands as part of the Over The Top Fest. Actually, this was my first time EVER being there(I can't believe I've never gone to one Wavelength show in my life!) and I found it to be a quaint little venue. It's on the second floor and overlooks the intersection of Bathurst St. and College St. I sort of wish that they hadn't curtained off the view overlooking College St. however. And damn, $3.50 for a Keats beer. Awesome.

I missed the first opener The Inflation KIlls, but I made it in time to catch the "Super Secret Guest Band That You Must See". I was anticipating some sort of big-name band/artist showing up to peform. How cool it would have been had say, Sloan or Feist shown up. (I'm not sure of their availability, but it would be cool, wouldn't you say?) It turns out the secret guest was Detroit's Thunderbirds Are Now! They were pretty energetic, with echoes of Pixies, new wave(via the cool keyboards), and maybe just a bit of the Detroit garage rock aesthetic. One thing I realized about Sneaky Dees during the Thunderbirds Are Now! set was how spring-y the floor is in the venue. It was so spring-y and bouncy that it felt we'd go right through the floor. (And the spring-iness doesn't nessarily help when I'm trying to take photos.) At one point in the set, the keyboardist's face was dripping blood due to him popping a zit. He seemed kinda aggravated at first, yelling out into the audience for a bandage(a few people offered paper towels for him to clean up), but he took it all in stride, cleaned up and they continued their set. They'll be playing Sneaky Dees again tonight.

The next two bands were bands I've seen before, The Golden Dogs and From Fiction. The Golden Dogs have energy to spare, them some, especially the husband/wife team of Dave Azzolini(Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals) and Jessica Grassia(Keyboards, Vocals, Percussion). The pair started off the set taking center stage amongst the chatter of the place, Dave with a mini acoustic guitar and Jessica standing on top of chair with a paper bag in the hand. They performed a playful acoustic tune with an enticing melody and Jessica using the paper bag as a sort of makeshift percussion instrument. The pinnacle of the song was when she blew the paper bag up and then popped it at just the right point in the song. Great start to their set. From there, the rest of band joined them on stage and they played a selection of tunes from their album "Everything in 3 Parts" including melodic rockers like "Birdsong" and "Don't Make A Sound". They maintained a fairly consistent level of energy throughout their set. I think they have some musical similarities to By Divine Right who also played during the Over The Top Fest this past Thursday. It was fun to watch Dave reach up to the low ceiling, grab the exposed electrical wire and pretend to get shocked. Rock theater at it's best.

I ducked out of the club to get some fresh air and then came back just as From Fiction were setting up their gear. Their music, a combination of math rock influences, emo, and touch of hard-core influences, isn't something I'd necessarily listen to all the time, but they do what they do well. "Car Thief"[mp3] was the only song I knew beforehand and is a perfect example of their sound. The distinct guitar arrangements, rhythmic drumming and soft-loud dynamics of their tunes were pretty cool and subtles melodies had a way of wafting in and out which made the music more interesting for me at least. The best thing by far was watching the band; the drummer and bass guitarist especially exhibited body movements that looked like electrical voltage going through their bodies. Their set seemed short and the drummer preceded their last song saying that it'd be their last song because they don't have anymore. The band currently only as an indepedently released 4-song EP out. They apparently are recording(recorded?) an album with Steve Albini so look out for that in the future. [photos from the show]
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Largehearted Boy points to a torrent of a live show by The Arcade Fire in Paris on 2005-03-09.

Check out some live video downloads of some Canadian indie bands including From Fiction, Republic Of Safety, Picastro, Purple Hill, Lenin I Shumov, No Dynamics, and Everybody Get Sick. [link from stillepost.ca]

Brooklynvegan's got some photos of a recent Junior Boys performance in New York City at Bowery Ballroom on May 5, 2005. The guys were opening for Caribou. Junior Boys(with Caribou and The Russian Futurists) will becoming back to Canada on the west coast at the end of May and will make their way east, ending their tour in Hamilton, ON for a show at The Casbah on June 10th.

Just thought I'd pass this on to anyone in Toronto: pass by the Urban Outfitters at 235 Yonge St.(across from the Eaton Centre) and pick up their exclusive Tsunami Relief CD. It's $18 CDN and features 2 discs of songs from some great artists. They seemed to have a bunch left, so pick it up while you can.

Sometimes I Remember

concert review: Joe Pernice w/ Afie @ Horseshoe Tavern(Toronto, Ontario), May 4, 2005

It was a quiet night at the Horseshoe Tavern yesterday. Both, opener and headliner delivered solo sets of low-key pop songs that depending on your mood and or energy level could either be entrancing or sleep-inducing. I started out the latter because I've been tired lately but as the evening progressed I found myself quite alert especially for Joe Pernice's terrific set. I thought Alfie was opening the show but it turned out that the opener was Toronto's own Afie. I'd never heard of him but was quite impressed on first listen. Afie sang accompanying himself on electric guitar. Afie had a great articulate singing style and his guitar work was smooth, confident and full-sounding. He reminded me alot of Pete Elkas actually. Without benefit of a backing band, things started to sound a little same-y after a while but overall I admired his unpretentious set of songs. The audience was pretty quiet, something that Afie had commented on several times, but the enthusiatic applause at the end of each song was more than a good indication of our appreciation.

Not long after, Mr. Pernice took the stage. Of course, a lot of time wasn't really required to set up Joe's acoustic guitar. I'd seen Joe play as part of The Pernice Brothers back in 2003 when they played Lee's Palace when he had a short clean-cut hairstyle. This time around, he was in full out hoser-mode, with his long, scruffy hair. Joe mentioned that he's been a resident of the fair city of Toronto for the last couple of month's as his wife Laura is Canadian. I'd acutually though he'd been here longer but well, maybe with touring and all, he's probably not actually BEEN here. Now that he's here and there doesn't seem to be any immediate plans for touring, if we're lucky, maybe he'll take up a residency at one of the local live venues. Well, let's hope anyway.

At this point, maybe I should just get to the point: the music. It was just Joe singing along with his acoustic guitar and he played a wonderful set of songs that spanned his career, from early songs like "Silo" and the Olivia Newton John cover "Please Mr. Please" off of The Scud Mountain Boys' "Pine Box", "Penthouse In The Woods" off of The Scud's "Massachusetts", "Bum Leg" off of Joe Pernice's "Big Tobacco", and Pernice Brothers' tracks such as "Baby In Two", "Overcome By Happiness", and "Cronulla Breakdown". Midway through the set he played a cover of The Zombies' "The Butcher's Tale". Interspersed through the set were several new tracks(by my count, I remember 4 new songs) three whose titles were "My So-Called Celibate Life", "There Goes The Sun", and "Pisshole In The Snow". I was hoping for some uptempo Pernice Brothers' tracks such as "Weakest Shade Of Blue", "Working Girls", and "Sometimes I Remember" but unfortunately he didn't play them. This was primarily a sit down performance for Joe and I guess the song selection leaned towards the low-key ones. It would have been interesting to see Joe standing up performing in full Billy Bragg, troubadour-ish style, but well maybe next time. The slight imperfections of Joe's voice balanced quite nicely with his subtle guitar work, and melodically the songs just ached with emotion. I really cannot wait till The Pernice Brothers come back to Toronto...and I'm tempted to drive to Ottawa this July to catch 'em as part of this year's Ottawa Bluesfest. [photos]
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Just thought I'd comment on the Roots Manuva instore at Soundscapes in Toronto this afternoon. After killing some time at the downtown HMV, I jumped onto the TTC, first the subway, then the streetcar, and arrived around the vicinity of Soundscapes at about a quarter to 6pm. There was a lineup to get in and the instore was scheduled for 6pm but unfortunately it didn't start on time. It was probably at least a quarter after 6pm before the lineup started to move in. I wasn't necessarily interested in trying to get a good view of for the performance; I was just happy to have made it into the store. I ended up towards the back of the store. I'd only read some articles about Roots Manuva including an article in last month's Exclaim!. For the instore Roots Manuva aka Rodney Hylton Smith performed with a DJ as well as background vocalist. He has a definite Britishness in his speech and rap sound. The DJ offered up a selection of sultry samples, beats and mixing technique while the background vocalist contributed some modest vocal arrangements(later on on the last song, also providing a totally wicked human beatbox all the while humming a bass line). There was a nice loose vibe to the brief set, with Roots Manuva stopping songs if he messed up, only to try it again and at other times he was pretty humourous, if only for that time he gazed over the audience during the introductory beats of one song and then remarked, "Shit, I missed my cue". Oh, and man, Roots Manuva is one tall dude.[photo from http://../]

Me Plus One

Soul Shine Magazine reports that Annie's "Anniemal" will be given a domestic release on Vice Records, home of Death From Above 1979 and The Stills. The release date is June 7th and according to Soul Shine Magazine will be available at a more reasonable price than the import prices that the album's been selling for. If I remember correctly, it was selling for a ridiculous $29.99 at the downtown Toronto HMV. Fuck import prices. Soul Shine Magazine says you can stream the album over at Vice Records. [photo from http://../]

newpolluter has posted over at stillepost.ca a tentative list of Canadian bands for this year's NXNE. There's several familiar names but nothing exactly hype-worthy yet.

There's a great Coachella photoset over at Flickr. Looking at those photos only reminds me of how sucky the weather's been in the Toronto area. C'mon, it's May already and there's been at least three instances of hail in the last 48 hours. [link via Travelers Diagram via Waxy.org]

Mystery and Mystery has compiled an mp3 mix of songs by Swedish artists including Sambassadeur, Douglas Heart and The Radio Dept. for your download pleasure.

Not entirely necessary, but a group of remixers have remixed Primal Scream's "Screamadelica". I'm downloading it right now. This should be interesting. Download the remix version, entitled "Screamixadelica". [download link courtesy of Indie MP3 - Keeping C86 Alive!]

Catch a live session with Lou Barlow on World Cafe, tomorrow Wednesday May 4th. Ryan Adams will be the guest this Friday May 6th. You can listen online. World Cafe airs at 2pm EST, Monday to Friday.

The new issue of Being There(May 2005) is online featuring an interview with Canadian artist Matt Mays.

Filter has an interview with The Undertones.

Expecting to see a scruffy-looking Joe Pernice tomorrow night at the Horseshoe Tavern. Maybe his wife Laura'll be there and I can get all super-fan and ask her about a possible Jale/The Vees reunion. Ok, maybe I won't.

We Built Another World

NXNE is beginning to shape up. So far they only have a venue listing, but the official site says they'll be posting band showcase schedules over the coming weeks. Dan Burke's already lined up Wolf Parade, and as I previously reported they'll be at The Comfort Zone in Toronto. (although, Dan Burke's post at stillepost.ca is saying the Wolf Parade date is June 9th while the Sub Pop site says June 10th...I guess we'll find out sooner or later).[photo from http://../]

Download audio of Final Fantasy's set from April 29th(opening for The Arcade Fire) at Danforth Music Hall. Yes, it includes his version of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy". [link via stillepost.ca via SHZine]

Pollstar is listing some cool new Toronto shows including Rebecca Gates(!!!!!!!!!) at Lee's Palace on May 21st, Digable Planets at The Phoenix on June 8th, and Emiliana Torrini at the El Mocambo on June 17th. Update: According to a comment at chromewaves, Rebecca Gates will be opening for The Decemberists at The Phoenix on May 21st, and therefore the info at Pollstar is wrong(don't you hate when reputable sites post the fucking wrong info?). I was leaning towards seeing Rebecca Gates if I had to choose between her and The Decemberists, but now this fixes everything! I guess I shouldn't dawdle about buying tickets now.

Thanks to Bradleys Almanac for pointing to this torrent of The Wedding Present's recent show at Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge MA on 2005/4/28. Or else just download mp3's of the same show over at Bradleys Alamanac.

Check out the May 1/2005 live session(RealAudio, 128k mp3) from Of Montreal(performing "So Begins Our Alabee", "The Party's Crashing Us", and "Repudiated Immortals") over at Minnesota Public Radio.

Damn Montrealers get Wilco on June 28th at Metropolis. Road trip!? Ok maybe not, but you never know. [from Soul Shine Magazine]

The Ottawa Bluesfest, happening from July 8th to the 17th, looks like a keeper. Over the course of the week they'll host such names as Neko Case, Pernice Brothers, K-os, Bebel Gilberto, Martha Wainwright, Gentleman Reg, Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle, Stars, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Juana Molina, The Sadies, Keren Ann, The Dears, Holly Golightly and so. Ok, there's also a whole slew of artists I don't recognize but, shit, this festival just might be worth the drive to catch the ones I mentioned above. Any word of whether the Toronto Bluesfest'll ever resurface?

Exciting New Direction

So after the thrilling The Wedding Present and Arcade Fire shows I went to last week, I ended the week going to see The Trashcan Sinatras @ Lee's Palace on Thursday(April 28th, 2005) and The New Deal @ The Casbah in Hamilton, ON on Friday(April 29, 2005).

After The Trashcan Sinatras came back to Toronto last September 2004 after an 11 year absence, I was happy that the band was returning for another gig so soon. Maybe all the cool kids were hanging out at the last-of-3-nights Arcade Fire gig, but I'd estimate that The Trashcan Sinatras show was even less attended than their show back in September(which wasn't sold out by the way). C'mon Toronto, show some respect. Anyways, it's hard to put my finger on it, but the gig was kinda average. The band didn't play 'hits' like "Obscurity Knocks" or "Bloodrush" mind you. I was happy that they played upbeat-sounding numbers like "All The Dark Horses" and "It's A Miracle" as well as the lush-sounding "Weightlifting". As usual, vocalist Francis Reader's singing was smooth as ever. Unfortunately, the band didn't have merch available as they apparently had some problems at Customs. Dagnabit. Good show but I guess anything after Wednesday's Arcade Fire show'll pale in comparison. [photos]

I made a last minute decision to check out The New Deal show at The Casbah in Hamilton, ON this past Friday. The band'll be playing in Toronto at The Mod Club on June 3rd but I just couldn't wait. I've seen The New Deal live twice, once at Nathan Phillips Square during the Toronto Jazz Festival and once at The Opera House, and this time it was interesting to catch the band in a small venue. I was right up at the front of the stage for the first of their two sets. The first set was sort of a warmup for the night consisting of playful keyboard melodies, and beat-driven sound exercises, and a little less house-influenced than I was hoping for. The band took an intermission then came back for a second set for which they really cut loose. One song flowed into another for a good hour or so of intense, live, hip-hop/house jams. The crowd and I really(and I mean really) got into it. Shit, I dare you to try to not dance; you will fail miserably. At one point, the band segued into a version of New Order's "Blue Monday" and the crowd went wild. So, so, good. You can always count on The New Deal to put on a great show. [photos]