Over The Top

If spring is still holding out on us, at least the Over The Top Fest announcement gives us something to look forward to. As previously announced, the local indie music festival takes place April 30-May 4, 2008. The official band line-up announcement was made over at Stille Post yesterday(and you can also check out Chartattack's story on it which is a little easier on the eyes) and there's a number of artists that should pique one's interest. Most interestingly to me, The Inbreds' Mike O'Neil has a new act The Beginners that I'd like to check out especially if it is anything along the lines of his solo material or The Inbreds. Legendary-in-some-circles like Hamilton's Simply Saucer or psychedelic electronic duo Silver Apples are bands I'd like to check out for sheer curiosity, Silver Apples in particular for having read their name in print numerous times in reference to modern acts(like Stereolab) they'd influenced.

UK/French combo The Teenagers return to Toronto for a show at Anti on May 1st. Coincidentally I caught their music video for their song "Starlett Johansson" on The Wedge the other night and was taken by the song's almost perfect blend of euro-cool and American indie slackerdom. The song has such a delicious melody, that I can almost forgive them for their band name.

Video: The Teenagers - "Starlett Johansson" (music video)
MySpace: The Teenagers

During the month of April, Tranzac brings back Wombat Wednesdays with a weekly lineup of local indie acts to check out. Perhaps saving best for last, Snailhouse with Sandro Perri and Dan Goldman close out April with a show at the venue on Wednesday April 30. The full schedule is over at Stille Post.

We Are Wolves headline the Shit La Merde party at Sneaky Dee's on March 28, tickets $7.[more info over at Stille Post]

Indie-folkie Jeffrey Lewis has been added to the British Sea Power/The Rosebuds bill taking place at Lee's Palace on May 16. [via Ground Control Touring] Aversion has an interview with singer/guitarist Yan of British Sea Power.

Local indie rockers The Diableros have found a new organist - Craig Gloster(of Fjord Rowboat) has joined the crew, and Pete promises some shows in the near future. [from the band's MySpace blog]

North By Southwest

I hope this year's NXNE is at least half as good as SXSW seemed to be. I was scrolling through some photos over at Pitchfork(specifically the Pitchfork/Windish Austin Bash) and was in awe of the bands that were there(a lot of bands who I hadn't necessarily heard but at least bands I'd heard/read about and would have liked to check out based on such curiosity). Beats my method of checking out bands at NXNE and CMW which is less about buzz bands and big names and usually involves putting time into researching bands by checking out their MySpaces and reading band descriptions during the local weeklies festival coverage.

But fortunately, a lot of the bands that pass through SXSW have passed or will pass through Toronto. And in the case of some, like Jens Lekman, hopefully will make it to Toronto this year. (Anyone in the Jens Lekman camp reading this?) So really all that I have to regret missing is the SXSW festival atmosphere, and maybe the BBQ, right?

A few of the bands that stopped in at SXSW will be making their way to Toronto in the near future. The Raveonettes will be in Toronto next week on March 21 for a show at The Opera House, but in addition to that will be playing an instore at Sonic Boom earlier that evening[via Stille Post]. Scotland's Sons and Daughters will be in Toronto for a show at Lee's Palace on March 26. Both bands performed at SXSW, part of which was recorded by MPR's The Current for posterity. Check it out:

Audio: Sons and Daughters @ SXSW 2008 (live on MPR's The Current - March 13, 2008)
Audio: The Raveonettes @ SXSW 2008 (live on MPR's The Current - March 13, 2008)
Video: Sons & Daughters - "Gilt Complex" (live on MPR's The Current @ SXSW - March 13, 2008)
Video: The Raveonettes - "Dead Sound" (live on MPR's The Current @ SXSW - March 13, 2008)
Video: The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk With Me" (live on MPR's The Current @ SXSW - March 13, 2008)

Still extolling the virtues of their most recent album 2007's "Under The Blacklight", Rilo Kiley return to Toronto for a show at the Phoenix on May 28. Full dates at Ground Control Touring. I'll vouch that their last show in Toronto(back in Sept 2007, also at the Phoenix) was a fun one.

My Old Kentucky Blog points out that Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis' friends and one time back-up singers The Watson Twins have signed to Vanguard Records and will release a new album on June 24th called "Fire Songs". [via Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands]

Halifax indie guitar-drums duo Museum Pieces return to Toronto for a show at Wavelength(ie a Sunday night) at Sneaky Dee's on April 27. More dates over at their MySpace.

Opening Tokyo Police Club's show at The Opera House on May 2 will be teen sister indiepop duo Smoosh and Montreal's Winter Gloves, well at least according to Pollstar.

Venerable Toronto Music Venue/Church The Music Gallery launched their new website yesterday.

Canadian Music Week - Day 3

This past Saturday was more or less the conclusion of this year's Canadian Music Week for most people and what better way to prove how hardcore a festival-goer you are than with a blizzard. Okay, so maybe it wasn't anything near what the Prairies or the Maritimes would get, but some of us Southern Ontarians are wimps. Not me though.

Flash Lightnin' (6:30 pm at Phoenix): In a way, I think the blizzard actually helped me. I was able to get into The Breeders show at the Phoenix with my media pass only 45 minutes before The Breeders show began. Maybe people didn't make it to the show(or showed up late) because of the weather but in any I strolled in with my media pass with no problem. I caught the tail-end of openers Toronto bluesy, heavy-rock trio Flash Lightnin'. Their music's chock full of riffs and guitar solos, melding the influences of old blues and more modern sensibilities like ZZ Top(listen to "Coming on Strong" and tell me if ZZ Top weren't the first thing that popped into your head). The lead guitarist in particular was doing his darndest with his solos to get the crowd excited, and maybe a few at the front were, but the majority seemed only slightly interested. Me included. We were an indie rock crowd for the most part and we came to see The Breeders. Speaking for myself, it's not that I could get into Flash Lightnin on a different occasion[I mean, I like Led Zepplin, at least in small doses], but that night it wasn't the blues I was after.

The Breeders (7:30 pm at Phoenix): Dayton, Ohio's The Breeders, on the other hand, were one of my initial forays into indie guitar-rock[if you want to call 4AD indie] back in the early 90's with their "Last Splash" album and are as relevant today regarding my current music tastes as they were back last decade. On Saturday night, it was not The Breeders of yore[of either the "Pod" or "Last Splash" eras]. It was the Deal sisters, Kim and Kelley, along with a new supporting crew in tow - Mando Lopez on bass guitar, Jose Medelez on drums and Carrie Bradley on guitar/background vox. I'd read about past Breeders forays through town which could have been more miss than hit depending on whose account you paid attention to but their set over the weekend was a capable performance over all. Either sobriety is the in thing now, or people finally growing up but in The Breeders case, it seems they finally got it right in Toronto. Several new songs were introduced none of which I can actually remember except for the impression that I liked them and that they were a rational extension of the slices of weird pop nuggets that The Breeders have always specialized in. Instrumentally, I think their biggest asset right now is Jose's succinct drumming but otherwise the Deal sisters and the rest of the band were competent. In between the new songs, the set unfolded like a greatest hits album spanning their career from "Pod"(Beatles cover "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Iris"), one of personal faves "Safari"(from the EP of the same name), and "Last Splash"("Cannonball", No Aloha", "Divine Hammer", "Saints"). They also did a wicked cover of Guided By Voices' "Shocker In Gloomtown" which they originally released on their "Head To Toe" 7-inch. With the Toronto date only being their second show on their current tour, the smiles on band member's faces, and on the Deal sister's faces in particular were quite genuine. I wish them luck this time around and am looking forward to hearing the new album "Mountain Battles" being released through 4AD on April 7. Of course, old habits die hard - when a fan yelled out for them to play at his house, I swear Kelly asked(with a chuckle) if there were any good drugs there.

Jenn Grant (10 pm @ Rivoli): With the snowy weather and all and great Breeders show, I should have just went home but I decided to head down to the Rivoli to check out one of my current faves Jenn Grant. The whole night was part of a Nova Scotia showcase. With her band the Night Painters(Kinley on violin, Sean on bass guitar, and Glen on drums), Jenn played some current songs, and also introduced some new material as well. She continues to hover that rootsy, folky, pop territory she does so well and is as down-home modest as she's ever been. A shame that the crowd, at least those at the back were so chatty when Jenn began the her set solo but as the material got louder and more uptempo at least it drowned out chatter or otherwise people were starting to pay attention. Prior to "Dreamer", Sean handed out to the audience homemade egg maracas for which Jenn insisted that everyone particpate during the song and really that was one of the most fun things I took part in, and was one of the more memorable things of what was otherwise an all-too-brief set.

Dog Day (11 pm @ Rivoli): Next up were Dog Day who I'd already seen two days prior at the Horseshoe. Not much more I could add except that the set gave me a second chance to soak in their music's infectious melodies. One thing that was better this time was that I could hear the keyboard much better. Oh, and also Dog Day covered The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Interesting. However, if they're going to cover that song in the future, they'll need to work on their stage presence. It's after all, a punk rock song.

I See Rowboats (12 am @ Rivoli): I'm glad I stuck around for the five-member strong I See Rowboats, more than half of which could have qualified as a string chamber trio if they lost the drummer and guitarist/vocalist. With two members on violins and one on cello, it's obvious how strong the strings component is to the band's sound. I'd liken I See Rowboat's sound less to the chamber-pop sounds of bands like Ohbijou or even Belle and Sebastian but more to a dramatic, edgier art-rock sound. At their most accessible, "In Cars", they displayed a melodic sensibility that I wished they extended to all their songs. In any case, even if other songs weren't as immediately melodic, they were still intriguing in terms of it's textures - song that could on one end of the spectrum sound like a lament and on the other end, celebratory. Half the time you'd think they were an instrumental band but some songs did feature vocals from one of its two leading men, guitarist William Robinson and violinst Luke Fisher. Of the two, I liked Williams' better which reminded me of less - baritoned - but - just - as - suave Stephen Merritt. The crowd seemed to be either family, friends, or fellow Nova Scotians with a few of us locals thrown in but whatever the mix, there was an enthusiastic response. Although, no amount of begging will get you an encore during CMW.

And that's it for this year's edition of CMW. With a little research and a little luck on my side, my batting avg(in terms of good bands I saw) this year was quite good. I'm glad I got a media pass this year. Too bad about the weather, but if anything it separates the hardcore from those who aren't. Ha.

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

MySpace: Flash Lightnin'
MySpace: The Breeders
MySpace: Jenn Grant
MySpace: Dog Day
MySpace: I See Rowboats

Canadian Music Week - Day 2

Last Friday night, day 2 of CMW, was a much less planned out affair than the previous. I'd already decided that I was going to check out Finnish beat-driven shoegazery pop band Pooma at Rancho Relaxo at midnight but having looked through Eye Weekly's CMW guide a few times, nothing piqued my interest.

Yellow Wood (9:30 pm @ Rancho Relaxo): A few last minute MySpace surfing prior to heading downtown on Friday night and I made up my mind to try to see Windsorites Yellow Wood at Rancho Relaxo at 9 pm. I ended up leaving the house later than expected but got downtown to Rancho quarter after 9 pm thinking I'd only catch half a set but luck was on my side andn Yellow Wood went on a little bit after 9:30 pm due to the cancellation of one of the bands on the bill(fortunately it wasn't Pooma). I'm really glad I got to check them out a long with the respectable number of patrons(though far from packed) also there. Creating music in a similar vein to Toronto's The Coast, Yellow Wood specialize in atmospheric, sometimes anthemic, guitar-driven pop music. Add some keyboards and some drum programming, and well, forgive my grammar, but it was really good. As tight as they were, if Yellow Wood and The Coast were to go head to head, I still would pick The Coast because I think their melodies are a tad better, and there's more punch in The Coast's rhythm section, but Yellow Wood aren't too far off the mark.

Restlesslist (10 pm @ Sneaky Dee's): During my subway ride downtown prior to Yellow Wood's set, I'd already made up my mind that I'd try and catch UK band Restlesslist at Sneaky Dee's at 10 pm. I never got to check out their MySpace but I found Eye Weekly's description of them interesting( "...will appeal to fans of The Brakes and The Electric Soft Parade, but with influences from a host of obscure and mainstream artists including The Books, Anticon Records, The Unicorns, Joe Meek, The Chap and Gorillaz.") so I thought why not. Of course with Yellow Wood's set ending a little after 10 pm, I made a hop, skip and a jump down the street to Sneaky Dee's to catch only about 15 minutes or so of Restlesslist's set. It's a shame though I didn't catch more of it because it seemed like a pretty fun show. The young trio of gents(although according to their Myspace, there's more people in the band) created a melange of dance beats, samples, keyboard squelches and guitar riffs that seemed a little punk, a little Beck, and a little IDM. Mentioning how being in Toronto for CMW was the furthest they'd ever been from home, you could see that they were practically bursting from all the excitement. What little I saw and heard was decent. They're not necessarily something I'd listen to all the time but within the festival atmosphere variety is the spice of life.

10:30 pm or so rolled around when Restlesslist's set ended and I decided to go to the Drake to see if I could catch the tail end of Toronto's Laura Barrett's set and or Toronto electro-punkabilly outfit Slim Twig's set. Both acts were part of Toronto record label Paper Bag Records' showcase and since I had some time to kill before Pooma's midnight set at Rancho Relaxo I'd have been happy to just get into The Drake. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be because they weren't letting any more media passes in due to the club being near capacity. I decided not to push it, and I left - I figured the doorman would probably have to tell dozens more people they wouldn't get in either. Consider it my good deed for that day. I took the streetcar down Queen St to John St., grabbed a hot chocolate, and walked back to Spadina to take the streetcar back up to near Rancho Relaxo, making it about 10 minutes prior to Pooma's set.

Pooma (midnight @ Rancho Relaxo): I had high hopes for Pooma. I'd have to agree with Chromewaves(who was also at the show) who likens Pooma's music in part to those Danes Under Byen. Pooma give off a similar vibe, combining trip-hop beats, programming and guitars that alternately crash and reverberate, and Pooma tops it off with the sultry cooing vocals of female lead singer Tuire Lukka. In short, wasn't anything I hadn't already heard before but the studio versions of their songs that I'd heard on their MySpace were intriguing enough. Unfortunately, I found Pooma's set a little disappointing because confined to Rancho's tiny narrow stage and without the benefit of any real light effects, even though the music was decent, it was uninteresting visually[frontwoman Tuire is a cutie though]. Perhaps, this makes an argument that Pooma's music's meant for headphones or at least demands a better live visual element. Maybe they can take some cues from Under Byen's who's show at The Mod Club last year was both a musical and visual splendor.

Love Kills (1 am @ Rancho Relaxo):I decided to stick around for Toronto band Love Kill's set. Fronted by the honeyed voice of Heather Flood with her male counterparts taking control of the instrumentation, it's quite obvious they mine similar musical territory as Jesus and Mary Chain but actually they're more like The Raveonettes during their transition from the JAMC-influenced "Whip It On" to the 50's tinged "Pretty In Black". Love Kills performed a competent amalgam of both these influence but perhaps with a little more of garagey, sometimes bluesy, influence thrown in. Props to the lead guitarist for looking the part with the cool shades and I loved the JAMC-Bobby_Gillespie-influenced mallet drumming that formed part of their sound. Melodies on a song or two didn't really do it for me and the guitars seemed somewhat muted[I would have prefered louder, fuzzier guitars, or maybe even some feedback now and then] but otherwise it was a fun set that the crowd seem to like a lot.

Check out a few of my photos over at my Flickr.

MySpace: Yellow Wood
MySpace: Restlesslist
MySpace: Pooma
MySpace: Love Kills

Canadian Music Week - Day 1

The Canadian Music Week concert series came to and end yesterday and despite the snowy weather(especially Saturday night) I made it out to shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Let's break it down day-by-day starting Thursday. After attending the Immaculate Machine instore at Soundscapes I went to Royal York Hotel to pick up my media pass(!). With pass in hand, I'd already made up my mind up for that night. No club hopping for me on Thursday as I decided to park myself for most of the night at the Horseshoe Tavern for the Chart showcase as the lineup was arguably the best of the whole festival:

Immaculate Machine (8:30 pm): Victoria, BC trio Immaculate Machine opened the night up with their peppy pop-rock tunes, a delectable blend of guitar, keys and drums, infectious melodies and vocals that alternated between Brooke Gallup's suave singing and Kathyrn Calder's clear-toned pitch. Much of the set reminded me of their free set at Soundscapes earlier in the day, right down to bringing up the fact that they did a Mandarin version of "Dear Confessor" and then singing a bar of it for a laugh. One cool diversion for the Horseshoe set was that drummer Luke Kozlowski broke out into a deliriously excellent solo that I almost wouldn't have guessed he had in him.

Dog Day (9:20 pm): Halifax, NS' Dog Day were up next and I never realized how young they were until I saw them up their on stage. This was actually the first of two times I saw the band during the festival and the four-piece(two guys, two girls) won me over almost from the start with their arsenault of indie pop-rock nuggets. Electric guitar, bass and drums were the obvious starting point for the songs and keyboards were added to the mix although disappointedly buried too much in the background for my liking. I think their sound harkens back to melodic 90's indie rock like Superchunk and I think they do girl/boy vocals really well playing off bass guitarist Nancy Urich's sweet vocals against guitarist Seth Smith's casual singing style(IMO, similar to Weakerthan's John Samson). The band displayed an energetic and comfortable stage presence for the most part although they're quite modest when it comes to between-song banter. But hey, they're young and maybe they're best road stories are ahead.

Katie Stelmanis (10:10 pm): Chartattack recently pointed how critics described Toronto's Katie Stelmanis' music as a cross between Depeche Mode and Kate Bush and that's not too far off the mark as I found out during Katie's set. There was something very art-school punk about the music as Katie and her all-female backing band(on percussion, guitar and keyboards) performed a set of dramatic post-punk tunes that draped Katie's stark vocals and classically-influenced keyboard playing over metronomic percussion sounds and uncomplicated guitar and secondary keyboard arrangements. The minor-key melodies perhaps brought a little of gloom and drama to the Horseshoe's atmosphere, but you know, it was like watching theatre. It was an experience, and a good one . BTW, I loved how Katie billed her and the band as "WE are Katie Stelmanis".

Plants and Animals (11:10 pm): As Montreal trio Plants and Animals' star seems to rise with each passing day, I'm still ambivalent about them. They put on an energetic set for sure, but their music straddles an unhappy line(for me at least) between psychedelia(the good) and jam-rock hippiedom(the bad). The live set instrumentation was down to two guitars and drums so some of the lushness of the songs I'd heard from their studio recordings was obviously lost. Personal musical tastes aside, I enjoyed the set in doses, the energy was good and there were obviously many fans who really liked them, so more power to them.

The Acorn (12:10 am): As it turned out, I mustered up enough strength and I had to end my night with Ottawa band The Acorn's after midnight set, so apologies to Sun Parlour Players and Oh No Forest Fire for me not sticking arounding. I've seen The Acorn a few times live now and this set was their finest one yet, imo. The 6-piece specialize in intricate, sparkling melodic indie folk-rock, a less orch-flavored and more upbeat(at times) version of Ohbijou perhaps. To be honest, I haven't gotten around to listening to their most recent album "Glory Hope Mountain" very much, but apparently their set focussed mostly on it and definitely made a case for me to dig it out.

I have a relatively small gallery of my own photos from the showcase over at my Flickr.

Rachel Verbin has some great photos from the night over at Chart.

MySpace: Immaculate Machine
MySpace: Dog Day
MySpace: Katie Stelmanis
MySpace: Plants and Animals
MySpace: The Acorn

Midnight Surprise

concert review: Lightspeed Champion @ Horseshoe Tavern (Toronto, Ontario), March 4, 2008



I had a bit of a dicey drive in to Toronto from the 'burbs during a few evenings ago's evenings snowy conditions but in the end it was well worth it to see UK's Lightspeed Champion's Toronto live debut at the Horseshoe Tavern during Dave Bookman's no-cover Nu Music Nite.

Yes it was icy and snowy outside and Lightspeed Champion's Dev Hynes was dressed for the weather in a ski sweater and fur hat, but he was so comfortable on stage he hardly seemed to break a sweat(at least on his forehead - well except towards the end when he finally wiped his brow).

Nary a lap-steel in sight(as I'd heard on a song or two from his debut album "Falling Off The Lavender Bridge", Dev brought his songs to life(playing a set without a set list) with his solid but respectable guitar work, the complimentary violin arrangements of violinist Mike Siddell(played with the similar casual sonics of say Final Fantasy) and Dev's melodic vocals. Stripped down to the duo, the music was less pastoral/folk-rock from what I'd heard from the album and had a much more raw feel to it. The whole set musically was sublime.

Banter-wise, Dev sounded as seasoned as any music veteran, throwing out quips and comments with a rambolic charm. The obligatory comment about how much he liked Toronto was counterbalanced more specifically with how much he liked "this street"(Queen St) at least[you knew that that was the only part of Toronto that he probably he'd actually seen]. In introducing a new song, he went into a rambolic explanation of how 'new' the song was but in the end just admitted that most of the songs he was playing that night were new to us. Oh, and the refrigeration of beef story was priceless, but you had to be there.

Check out a few of my photos over at my Flickr.

More reviews/photos from the show over at Chromewaves, lyncanthropy, and The Panic Manual

MySpace: Lightspeed Champion
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I just noticed that Toronto indie record label Unfamiliar Records has just relaunched a brand spanking new website, in no small part to celebrate their showcase with Musebox tonight at Wrongbar in Toronto. Unfamiliar will bringing tonight The Airfields and The Paper Cranes and filling out the rest of the line up are Toronto's Lioness, plus Norway's Syme and some other band called Boys In A Band. Full details here. And as the same Stille Post thread says here, look out for some upcoming Unfamiliar Records releases from The Paper Cranes, The Airfields(!), The Two Koreas, Snailhouse(!), The Clips and Chad Blue.

New Sub Pop signees(for US distribution) Foals make their Toronto debut on May 2 with a show at Lee's Palace. The band's album "Antidotes" is out in the US on April 8. As Pitchfork put is, the band perform "...fun, feisty, post-punk tunes..." if that's your thing.

Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour returns to Toronto for a show at Molson Ampitheatre on June 4. The official website hasn't been updated yet but Pollstar is listing it.

Good news, I got my CMW media accreditation. It's just a matter of going down to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and registering onsite. Thanks to those who suggested I e-mail them about it.

Happiness

In case you hadn't already caught the info over at Chromewaves, and since I was going to post it anyway, Criminal Records isn't about to let Soundscapes have all the in-store fun this week. Criminal Records will be hosting some instores of their own including The Burning Hell and Jenny Omnichord on March 6, Plants and Animals and Winter Gloves on March 7 and then March 8 which will feature Calm Down It's Monday (feat Julie Doiron & Fred Squire), Julie Doiron (solo), The Superfantastics and Dog Day. Check out the set times for all three days over at Stille Post.

And just when you thought Soundscapes didn't have any more instore left in them they announce that Bon Iver will be there for an intimate performance on March 5 at 4 pm.

If gawking is your thing several CMW attendees will be dropping into the Edge 102.1 FM studios(228 Yonge St.) - Sloan drop in March 4 at 4:20 pm, Danko Jones are there March 6 at 3:20 pm, and Jason Collett drops by March 6 at 6:15 pm. Sloan headline the Murderecords re-launch showcase at Supermarket on March 6 at 12:20 am(good luck in getting in to this one; I wouldn't hold my breath). Jason Collett is at Lee's Palace on March 6 at 11 pm. Danko Jones are at the Horseshoe Tavern on March 7 at 12:10 am.

The first mp3 from the upcoming Tokyo Police Club debut full length, "Elephant Shell"(out on Saddle Creek on April 22nd) is out there now. The band are at the Fairmont Royal York on March 8 as part of Canadian Music Week's The Indies awards show:

MP3: Tokyo Police Club - "In A Cave"

Stereogum has the new Immaculate Machine music video for their song "Dear Confessor". Immaculate Machine open the Chart CMW showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern on March 6 at 8:30 pm.

Apostle of Hustle aren't at this year's CMW, but they do have a new remix of one of their songs. Jim Eno of Spoon remixed "Chances Are" which you can download here.

Shelby Lynne brings her Dusty Springfield tribute to The Mod Club on March 31, tickets $20.00. Her Dustry Springfield tribute album "Just A Little Lovin'" is in stores now, some of which you can hear over at her MySpace.

Buck 65, Cadence Weapon, and Skratch Bastid are at Danforth Music Hall on April 25. Cadence Weapon's new album "Afterparty Babies" is out on ANTI- right now.

Texans' Eisley at at Lee's Palace on April 29 promoting their newest disc "Combinations".

According to Bookie, look out for Rilo Kiley to return to Toronto in late May.

Danish singer-songwriter and sometime Zero 7 vocalist Tina Dico will be back in Toronto at The Courthouse on May 12 promoting her most recent album "Count To Ten". Joining her will be UK singer songwriter Teitur his newest album "The Singer" which was released in Scandinavia last month and hits the rest of the world in March/April(well that's what the artist's website says).

I'm still waiting for Goldfrapp's return to these shores but in the meantime I recommend picking up their latest CD "Seventh Tree" out on Mute. The deluxe edition is one the most beautiful packages I've seen in a while and I'm enjoying it a lot these days. It has elements of the lush pop-tronica of "Felt Mountain" but it's not necessarily a return to that sound. In many ways it's a lot more direct and pop-oriented. Not to say it's simplistic, but the album's combination of acoustic and electronic elements feels a lot more organic and it has some of the prettiest melodies. "A&E", the album's lead off single is the most radio-friendly of their's I've heard so far and it's bound to annoy some Goldfrapp fans but I'm not one of them. Goldfrapp performed "Happiness"(my favourite song off the new album!) for BBC's Jonathan Ross over the weekend(via The Music Slut):

Video: Goldfrapp - "Happiness" (live on BBC Jonathan Ross program - March 2008)

Nicole Atkins performed three songs live("Maybe Tonight," "The Way It Is," and "Together We're Alone") for MPR The Current on February 26, 2008.

BlogTo readers voted for their favourite Toronto live music venues. Definitely can't complain with #'s 1(Horsehoe) and 2(Lee's Palace), although if it were me it should be the other way around.

No Kinda Man

Phew! Back in business. My computer was on the fritz(I hate viruses!) for a few days but I got it working again.

Canadian Music Week's coming up next week. I put in a request for media accreditation to see if I could get a free media pass/wristband but I haven't heard anything back from them(yet). Regardless, I still plan to attend a few CMW events next week. In affilliation with CMW, Soundscapes is hosting some free instores featuring Immaculate Machine on March 6 at 5 pm, Laura Barrett on March 8 at 4 pm, and the already previously announced Forest City Lovers on March 9 at 4 pm.

The Pop Montreal and Unfamiliar Records/Musebox CMW showcases look interesting. Check out the posters here and here respectively.

Nathan Lawr and The Minotaurs bring their rootsy rock n' roll to The Boat on March 30.

The east coast's Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon play the Horseshoe Tavern on May 27. A to-be-released new song, a playful pop romp entitled "Sleeping And Dreaming" streams over at her MySpace.

Junior Boys will be performing a DJ set at Pia Bouman Ballet School on March 15 according to their MySpace. It's a night-time gig according to the time specified on their MySpace. The gig's related to the release of their first ever DJ compilation "Body Language Volume 6" from which new song "No Kinda Man" appears on and can currently be heard over at their MySpace.

I'm assuming taking time out from recording the new Metric album, frontwoman Emily Haines and her band The Soft Skeleton will be playing a show of their own at the Phoenix on March 30, tickets $26.50.

Female rap trio Northern State play what I believe is their first headlining show in Toronto at The Mod Club on April 27, tickets $16.

Erin recently saw Jens Lekman live in Denmark who admitted to her afterwards that the only reason he hadn't been to Toronto in a long time was that "... he could only play in churches and that he needed a work permit or something, to be there...I don't know. He said it was ridiculously expensive or something, but he is playing in the USA soon. He was such a sweet heart." It comes as no surprise that with the announcement of more tour dates, there's still no Toronto date. Sweet heart, my ass.

In A Moment

Ray Davies @ HMV(333 Yonge St., Toronto), February 22, 2008

I could throw around statements like 'The Kinks made an indelible mark on pop music' and 'Ray Davies is one of the greatest songwriters of our generation' but honestly and ashamedly I'm not that familiar with Ray and The Kinks aside from some of their singles and via covers of their songs by other artists. I would assume more that a few Kinks albums would be found in any good record collection(I could only imagine the entire Kinks discography might be found in that music collection that sold on eBay for 3 million dollars recently). My sole Kinks album is a budget CD compilation I picked up at Walmart a few years back - actually, at 20 songs and a good selection of tunes at that, it's a great compilation. With that sort of casual familiarity I still know a good thing when I hear it. Isn't "Waterloo Sunset" one of the most heart-achingly beautiful songs you've ever heard?

Even with the lack of publicity for Ray Davies' instore at HMV in downtown Toronto last week it was a surprisingly crowded audience, with a good contingent of his older fans there mixed in with younger fans. The performace took place at the top of the stairs that led up to the second floor of the store. And it was on those stairs that finally Ray and a guitarist made their way to the second floor as they were introduced to a throng of applause. Jokingly, Ray said maybe he should have made an entrance with some smoke and effects but it wasn't in the budget.

Unfortunately no photo evidence of the instore from myself as at the time I was forced to accept my defeat for not showing up early enough to get a better spot. As brief as the set was, it turned out to be as uplifting as any other show I've seen in a while. I'm just happy that I got to hear Mr. Davies live and in person in such an intimate setting. Rolling out tunes from his most recent solo effort "Workman's Cafe" he performed "Vietnam Cowboys", the title track and a third song which were as effective as anything I've heard from him. He ended off with The Kinks' "Lola"(complete with chorus singalong and handclaps from the dedicated) although I'm pretty sure I recalled he said he'd play a COUPLE of Kinks tunes but whatever.

For more reviews/photos from the instore check out Thick Specs, Chromewaves, and It's Not The Band I Hate...

Video: Ray Davies - "Lola" (clip - live at HMV 333 Yonge St. Toronto - Feb 22, 2008)
Video: Ray Davies - "In A Moment" (live on Letterman show - Feb 19, 2008)
Video: Ray Davies - "Working Man's Cafe" (live on Regis and Kelly show - Feb 20, 2008)
MySpace: Ray Davies
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Congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for winning yesterday an Academy Award for Best Original Song In A Movie for their song "Falling Slowly" which appeared in the film "Once" . By this time, I must be the last person to have not seen the film yet but I hope to get around to it sooner or later. The song is lovely. Interesting observation from The Rich Girls Are Weeping about yesterday's Academy Awards - to quote the Girls, "It was kind of the weirdest, most "indie" Oscars ever, what with Tilda Swinton's win (woo!) and the Coen brothers cleaning up and Diablo Cody (née Brooke Busey-Hunt, which is a name with infinitely more caché) not wearing hosiery in front of millions of people." Yeah, it was that kind of Oscars - it's a shame I haven't seen most of the films nominated other than "I'm Not There" for which Cate Blanchett didn't win the Best Supporting Actress award for. But back to Glen and Marketa - wasn't it nice of host Jon Stewart to give some time to Marketa to say her thank-you's. Relive their moments below:

Video: Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly (OSCARS 2008)
Video: Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Oscar acceptance speeches

Jam Showbiz reviews The Cowboy Junkies' 20th Anniversary Trinity Sessions' show at Massey Hall that took place over the weekend. Ben Rayner of The Toronto Star also reviews the show. The show was taped by CBC Radio 2 and will be aired on May 11/08.

Via Kat at Muchmusic, Radiohead is apparently coming to Toronto on August 15 for a show at Molson Ampitheatre. I have no reason not to believe her but I guess we'll have to wait and see. A mid-August outdoor show would be perfect though; I'd even be happy with lawn seating.

Till The End Of The Day

Ray Davies will be at HMV(33 Yonge St.) in Toronto TODAY at 6 pm for an instore promoting his newest album "Working Man's Cafe" released late last year.[info via Bookie] And yes, even he has a MySpace. Ray's been making the talk show rounds. He appeared on Letterman on February 19/08 and the following day on Regis and Kelly. The Regis and Kelly clips on YouTube(which you can view below) and hopefully the Letterman clip will pop up on YouTube or the Late Show site in the near future:

Video: Ray Davies - "Lola" (live on Regis and Kelly - Feb 20, 2008)

Swedish artist El Perro Del Mar returns to Toronto for a show at The Mod Club on May 11 with fellow Swede Lykke Li opening. Tickets $15, onsale now at Soundscapes. El Perro Del Mar's upcoming new album "From The Valley To The Stars" is streaming at her MySpace for a week[starting February 20] and will be released officially in the US on April 22. Lykke Li's debut album "Youth Novels" was recently released and can be purchased here.

News via Brookly Vegan, Minus The Bear with The Big Sleep and Portugal The Man are touring together and will stop in Toronto for a show at The Opera House on April 1.

The triple DJ bill of A-Trak, Sinden, and Steve Aoki are at The Mod Club on April 11. Via The Windish Agency

Pollstar is listing Junior Boys at Pia Bouman Ballet School in Toronto on March 15. Anyone know if this is a confirmed date or just one of many examples of Pollstar's inaccuracies?

Speaking of unconfirmed, what's the deal with The Verve at Ricoh Coliseum on May 1st? The date showed up on a Ticketmaster.ca e-mail update recently but the show's not listed on Ticketmaster.ca anymore.

Listen to Tegan and Sara's live acoustic session for BBC 6 Music's George Lamb show they did on February 20, 2008. The session is about 1 hour and 40 minutes into the program and I think the program's only archived for a week. Their most recent album "The Con" was JUST released in the UK(as opposed to 7 months ago when the album was released in North America). So maybe now the Brits know how North Americans feel having to wait so long for those precious Brit releases to be release domestically over here. Hah.

Soundscapes

Of no doubt interest to some of you regarding the upcoming Canadian Music Week festival, the Paquin Entertainment showcase at the Rivoli on March 6 will feature Julie Doiron at 9 pm and Jenn Grant and The Night Painters at 10 pm. If you don't catch Jenn that day you can catch her at the same venue on March 8 at 10 pm as part of the Music Nova Scotia showcase. Also, the venerable Murderecords label will relaunch with a showcase of it's own during CMW at Supermarket with Will Currie And The Country French at 9:20 PM, Pony Da Look at 10:20 PM, Meligrove Band at 11:20 PM, and of course label founders Sloan at 12:20 pm - tickets $12 in advance and $15 at the door(although I would not hold my breath for tickets at the door).

As Mike Feuerstack aka Snailhouse gets ready to release the newest Snailhouse album "Lies On The Prize" (which if I interpret correctly the current news item at his website that he's found a label to release the new album) he's lined up some select east coast gigs for March and April which will culminate in Toronto for a show(with Toronto's Sandro Perri) at the Tranzac on April 30. I'm assuming that some of the songs streaming at his MySpace listed as 'unreleased' will be included on the new album.

BlogTO interviews Soundscapes founder Greg Davis about the store's popularity with discriminating music lovers.

NME reports that several artists have been lined up for a series of gigs organised by iTunes live. The gigs will take place from February 21 to March 2 at AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London and will feature artists playing acoustic collaborations with selected guests. Check NME for the full lineup info but more excitingly look forward for the recordings to be available for purchase from iTunes in the future. (via Pitchfork)

To fill out the rest of this post, I thought I'd link to some choice musical YouTube finds as of late:

Basia Bulat performs a live cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End" in Chicago at Schubas on February 7, 2008. You can watch the video below. Just a reminder that she returns for a local show at Lee's Palace, along with Amos The Transparent, and Katie Stelmanis on March 29:

Video: Basia Bulat - "True Love Will Find You In The End" (live Daniel Johston cover at Schubas in Chicago - Feb 7, 2008)

Goldfrapp performs "A&E" live on UK television on Feb 16, 2008. Watch the video below:

Video: Goldfrapp - "A&E" (live on UK TV - Feb 16, 2008)

I was watching The Hour this evening. Host George Stromboloupolous is hosting The Hour from London, England all this week and reminded viewers that the Brit Awards will be broadcast on CBC television in Canada this Thursday and he offers his personal choice for British Single of the year which British residents can vote for. Strombo's pick for British single of the year(of the top five listed) is Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse and their cover of The Zutons' "Valerie". Sure, it's the only single of the five listed I'm actually familiar with(although I'm pretty sure I've heard that Mika song) but it's a damn fine choice nonetheless and it was one of my favourite songs of 2007. Gives me an excuse to link to the music video below which I hadn't seen until today:

Video: Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse - "Valerie"(Zutons cover - music video)

ps. Seriously, I'm becoming addicted to The Hour. Arguably the best thing on Canadian television at the moment.

Family Day

Ontarians(like myself) celebrate our inaugural new statutory holiday today entitled Family Day. Read - a day off from work(with pay!).

Pitchfork brings further updates on the upcoming long-time-coming 3rd full-length from Portishead including the tracklisting, cover art and new release dates. Follow the link for the first two items, but to save you the trouble, the UK release date is April 28 while the US date is the following day.

Other than some UK touring and an appearance at this year's SXSW, Montreal's Land of Talk continues to keep us in the dark about it's debut full-length(although here's a vague update from Liz). Hey, but that do have a new song streaming at their MySpace - ok, it's a cover, but it's a nifty cover of Wintersleep's "Weighty Ghost".

Toronto dance-electro-pop group Woodhands are Paper Bag Records newest signees. The duo's debut album "Heart Attack" is due out on April 1 in Canada.

And now on to the concert info:

If you were perusing the Canadian Music Week schedule(which btw, is shaping up interestingly) over the last few days and realized the absence of UK's The Duke Spirit on the sched(who I recall were to play Lee's Palace on March 8), it's unfortunately not a mistake. According to Filter, they've cancelled their Toronto shows and added a few more dates on the West Coast(which I guess makes more sense since they'll be in Los Angeles on March 5). Hey, maybe on the way back from SXSW on March 13 they'll swing through Toronto? Their newest album "Neptune" has it's US release on April 5 through Shangri-La Music.

I didn't make it out to the Brampton Indie Arts Festival last week, part of my disappointment being that I haven't yet seen Toronto act Forest City Lovers live. However, according to their MySpace they have a few local dates line up - they'll be at Soundscapes record store on March 9 at 2 pm for a free in-store then on March 14 they'll be at the Tranzac for a CD release show in celebration of their new disc entitled "Haunting Moon Sinking" out on March 11 in Canada on Toronto based label Out of This Spark. Several songs from the new album are streaming over at their MySpace.

Also at the Tranzac on March 14 will be Guelphites The D'Urbervilles who'll be celebrating their own CD release for their debut full-length "We Are The Hunters"(released tomorrow) also out through Out of This Spark. They have a whack of Canadian tour dates lined up through till the end of April - check out their MySpace for full dates and several songs streaming from the new album.

The Decemberists' Colin Meloy will be at the Phoenix on April 19th in support of his solo album entitled "Colin Meloy Sings Live". Fellow Portland, Oregon-ite Laura Gibson will open. (via Blacking Out The Friction)

Heavy psych-rockers Dead Meadow are at Lee's Palace on April 24. (via Beggars Group)

First word I've come across about this year's Over The Top Fest is that recent Merge Records signees Wye Oak will be playing this year's festival on May 2 according to their MySpace.

Pitchfork reports that Elvis Costello will tour with The Police in North America starting in May. There's a lone Canadian date, in fact kicking off in Ottawa, Ontario at Scotiabank Place on May 1 but the bill will reach Buffalo, NY for a show at HSBC Arena on May 3.

According to The Windish Agency, Shearwater will be on the bill with Clinic at Lee's Palace on May 11.

The Coast Is Clear

In celebration of their debut album "Expatriate" set to be released through Aporia Records on April 1, Toronto's The Coast are lining up tour dates as we speak - a lot dates are up at their MySpace right now. A Toronto date has been confirmed for April 18 when the band will play a CD release show at Horseshoe Tavern with The Wooden Sky, The Ghost Is Dancing and NYC's Mixel Pixel. The preceding day(April 17), they'll be performing a few songs live for MTV Live - to be part of the studio audience call 1-888-491-6888, or email liveaudience@mtv.ca. From a press release I've read, the band's new album's a bit of departure from their atmospheric, shimmering pop-rock sound, a few songs of which I got a taste of when they played NXNE in 2007 - I remember the songs not being as immediate as their self-titled debut EP's material but I hope in the least the new songs are growers.

Chartattack speaks to New Jersey native Nicole Atkins about her hometown-named debut album "Neptune City". She and her band The Sea perform their Toronto debut headlining gig at Lee's Palace this Sunday.

Prior to their show at Kool Haus this coming Monday February 18, Celtic-punkers Flogging Molly will be at Sonic Boom Records earlier that day for a free instore performance and autograph session - autographs at 3 pm and the performance at 4 pm. Via Stille Post.

I thought it strange when I didn't see a Toronto date for Kanye West's upcoming "Glow In The Dark " tour reported by Pitchfork a few days ago, but as Pitchfork subsequently reports more dates have been added putting to the rest all the "WTF, where's the 'insert city name here' date?" questions. Kanye's "Glow In The Dark Tour" featuring himself as well as N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Lupe Fiasco will hit Toronto on May 21 for a show at Molson Ampitheatre.

Some more quick show news: The Roots are back in Toronto for a show at Kool Haus on March 30 - tickets on sale February 18. As already reported by others, British Sea Power(in celebration of their recently released new album "Do You Like Rock Music?") with openers The Rosebuds hit Lee's Palace on May 16. Funk soul brother Jamie Lidell is at The Mod Club on June 5.

You Turned My Head Around

concert review: Dean & Britta, Keren Ann @ The Mod Club (Toronto, Ontario), February 9, 2008



I've been quite lax with reviewing concerts lately and it's not because I haven't enjoyed the odd show I've gone to. That's the case with the Dean and Britta/Keren Ann show I caught over the weekend at The Mod Club and enjoyed a lot. Most of what could have been said about the show's already been said by Chromewaves, It's Not The Band I Hate..., and Zoilus but I could throw in my 2 cents also. I'd caught Keren Ann live twice before but this time rather than performing solely acoustic and or solo, she performed with a band(drummer and guitarist/bassist). Balancing the folkiness of her acoustic work with the fleshed out band sound of her more uptempo numbers made for an engaging set overall. It seems that with each return to Toronto the vibe of her set keeps on improving - I couldn't speak for her show at the Rivoli last year which I didn't make it to but I will acknowledge that the cautious approach and awkward banter of her show at The Drake in December 2004 was replaced with an improved confidence for her solo acoustic set at the Horseshoe in March 2005(opening for A Girl Called Eddy) and then this most recent set was the best one yet. The trio configuration was a big help perhaps, keeping things intimate but with the extra band members at hand to add a little oomph when needed. Her guitarist in particular provided most of that added oomph with his textured guitar arrangements and background vocals.

When Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard put to rest the GBV moniker, but continued to record under his own name, it wasn't so much an ending as a new beginning. In all manner of speaking, Robert Pollard was GBV and vice versa. In a similar sense, Luna's disbanding was a short-lived mourning as Dean Wareham(who sonically as well as lyrically was the most identifiable with Luna) continued to record with his girlfriend Britta Phillips under the moniker Dean & Britta. Two albums in to their career as Dean & Britta, first with 2003's "L'Aventura", then last year's "Back Numbers", they sonically resemble Luna's Velvet-y pop songs but add more sophisticated musical influences to the mix like Lee Hazelwood(a touch that's most obvious with male/female vocals, resembling the Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra collaborations of the 60's). I'd seen Luna live only once - in fact it was their farewell show at Lee's Palace in 2004. At the time Britta was performing with them. I'd never noticed it back then and maybe it was more identifiable during Dean & Britta's set this past Saturday but Britta is hardly sonic wallpaper. Audible fully realized bass guitar arrangements combined with her sweet vocals displayed a versality I never realized before. Further, while Britta's vocals were mostly expressed in sweet, tender tones she could also make her vocals soar like on "You Turned My Head Around". The most enjoyable element of Dean this time was how much more engaging(relatively) he was with the audience, even if it meant expressing that he didn't like the film "Juno". Such a diss was meant as light-hearted banter at best, and it did get a chuckle out of more than a few people. Musically, Dean, Britta and the rest of the band(keyboardist & drummer) ran it pretty tight letting the melodies speak for themselves. While they didn't fulfill the shout-out request for "Anesthesia" they did turn in an intoxicating performance of "Tiger Lily" during the encore, and I'm sure that one Francophone audience member who kept on complimenting them en francais was delighted when they ended off the night/encore with their cover of Gainsbourg/Bardot classic "Bonnie and Clyde".

Check out some of my photos from the show.

MySpace: Dean & Britta
MySpace: Keren Ann

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].

Free Not Free

Another hodge podge of links and tour reminders today:

The final schedule for the upcoming Pitter Patter Festival(taking place March 27-30 in venues mostly in Toronto but also in London, Oshawa, Lindsay, Peterborough, and Belleville) has been confirmed.

Masked Brits Clinic are offering a free download of their single "Free Not Free". Registration is required(always a catch). They're at Lee's Palace on May 11 - btw they're taking requests for songs you'd like to hear them play at their upcoming shows(I assume they mean requests for their own songs, although I'd be interested in also hearing them do a cover. Hmmm.)

Get an audio/video sample of what to expect at UK's Lightspeed Champion's upcoming show at Horseshoe Tavern on March 4. (The video btw is of Dev performing 4 tracks solo and acoustic for CNET Networks.) [link via Domino Records]

East Coast buzz-band Dog Day have a few upcoming CMW shows, first March 6 at Horseshoe Tavern then March 8(with Jenn Grant and The Night Painters also on the bill) at the Rivoli. Chartattack confirms more of that March 6 lineup at the Horseshow which will also include The Acorn, Immaculate Machine, Kate Stelmanis, plus several more to be announced. Speaking of Jenn Grant above, Hero Hill has a review and video clip of Jenn's appearance at Halifax's recent In The Dead Of Winter festival.

Watch Will Sheff of Okkervil River covering Loudon Wainwright's "Motel Blues", sitting, singing and playing guitar on a motel bed (ME Backstage Session). (Via Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands). Okervill River as well as The New Pornographers are at the Phoenix on April 9 and tickets are $26.50.

In promotion for their sophomore album "Walk It Off"(out April 8), Tapes N' Tapes will be hitting the road and'll stop in Toronto for a show at The Opera House on April 14.

Pitchfork points to video of Feist's recent appearance on Later With Jools Holland. She's at the Sony Centre For Performing Arts with openers Great Lake Swimmers on May 13.

The following tour dates, I'll shoot off quickly: The Duke Spirt, and UK blog buzz band The Pigeon Detectives are at Lee's Palace on March 8(as part of CMW). Louis XIV with What Made Milwaukee Famous and Carolina Liar are at The Mod Club on March 19. Dragonette with Fritz Helder & The Phantoms and Sweet Thing are at the Phoenix on April 3. Chromeo is at The Opera House on March 22. Gary Louris, with openers Vetiver are at the Mod Club on March 30, tickets $20.

And now some other random music news: Stereogum points out that UK's Guillemots have a new song(not the new single) "Kriss Kross" available for download here and you can also hear the band's new single "Get Over It" over at their MySpace. The band's new album "Red" comes out in March.

NME reports that Brian Jonestown Massacre 's new album "My Bloody Underground" will be released March 31.

If you're crossing the pond, BBC News confirms that Jay Z has been confirmed to headline Glastonbury. Interesting choice - I'm not a big fan, but he's not bad.

Pitchfork has an interview with Alison of Goldfrapp. The new record "Seventh Tree" is out in stores on February 25 in the UK and the following day in the US. Only a few select UK dates on the horizon - I don't think they've been in Toronto since circa "Felt Mountain"(and if you were at their show at The Opera House at that time like I was, you know that didn't go well).

Radiohead on Strombo

While some of you might be watching the New England Patriots attempt to achieve a perfect record this season with a win in tonight's Super Bowl, instead I think I'm going to catch Radiohead being interviewed on the Strombo Show. It's a Canadian radio exclusive and the interview comes on around 8 pm EST, now(7 pm). Sorry for the late post, but better late than never and hopefully the news gets to a few more people. You can listen to the show on the Corus Radio Network(102.1 FM if you're in the Greater Toronto Area) or online at http://www.edge.ca.

ps. Actually the interview is not with the whole band nor with Thom Yorke but rather guitarist Ed O'Brien. I'll still be listening in.

photo from Wired

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.

Contest - Win A Copy of Nicole Atkins' "Neptune City" - CLOSED

New Jersey's Nicole Atkins describes her music as pop-noir, as apropos a term I could have come up on my own, a mix of melancholic pop with a dramatic, almost cinematic tone. It's not surprising she's caught my ear given my weakkneedness for similiar artists over the last few years like Richard Hawley, A Girl Called Eddy, and to some extent Neko Case. Since posting about her back in August 2007, she's released her debut full-length "Neptune City"(on the heels of her indie ep "Bleeding Diamonds") a collection of songs that's upped the production factor but not to the detriment of it's songs, which run the gamut from girl-group pop melodies("Maybe Tonight"), to the lush and solemn("The Way It Is"), to spright pop-rock("Party's Over"), and the longing melancholic homage to her hometown "Neptune City". By my count, her and her band The Sea have swung through Toronto three times as an opening act, two of which I caught and have only the fondest of memories of. I met her briefly at the merch table once and she was one of the nicest artists I've ever met.

Courtesy of Sony BMG Canada, I have two copies of her debut full-length "Neptune City" up for grabs. Send an e-mail to mligon@yahoo.com with the subject heading "I want the Nicole Atkins CD" and I'll pick two winners randomly. Contest closes January 31, 2008 at midnight.

In the meantime, check out some Nicole Atkins multimedia links below:

Video: Nicole Atkins and The Sea - "Maybe tonight" (live on Late Night With Conan O'Brien)
Video: Nicole Atkins and The Sea - "The Way It Is" (live on Late Show With David Letterman)
Video: Nicole Atkins - "Neptune City" (music video)
Video: Nicole Atkins - "The Way It Is" (music video)
Video: Nicole Atkins - "War Torn" (live at SPIN.com studios)
Video: Nicole Atkins - Journey Through Neptune City Vol. 1
Video: Nicole Atkins - Journey Through Neptune City Vol. 2
Video: Nicole Atkins - Journey Through Neptune City Vol. 3
MySpace: Nicole Atkins

photo from here

Update: Congrats to Anne and Craig - your CD's will be going out in the mail soon[Craig, I still need your address].

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.