Chromewaves

You In Color

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:27:04 -0500

It's very true that you can't judge a book by it's cover, except that sometimes you can. Consider the artwork that accompanies Directions To See A Ghost, the new album due next Tuesday from Austin, Texas' Black Angels. Rare is it that a record's visuals so accurately describe that which is contained within.

First there's the colours. Reds and greens that aren't quite fluorescent but are definitely intense. Combine that with the design, radial lines arranged in concentric circles that could be exploding outwards or sucking inwards, or perhaps both at the same time. It's more than enough to jump off a shelf or make you dizzy like the opening credits to Doctor Who and then when you pick it up, there's the kicker. It's EMBOSSED. Congratulations, your mind has just been blown and you haven't even left the store.

Moving from sight and touch to sound, Ghost proves that the band is worthy of their name, taken from the Velvet Underground song, as well as offering an argument that they could have just as easily named themselves after your choice of Spacemen 3 recordings. Ghost grafts squalls of abrasive guitar, swirling organ and ominous vocals onto a monolithic and droning bass and drum groove that's as heavy as it is unrelenting - I'm talking serial killer in a horror film unrelenting - all of it sounding like it was recorded in a wind tunnel decked out as a Hallowe'en funhouse.

This style of music is never intended to sound contemporary, but those who prefer to view their retro sounds through rose-coloured glasses are advised to look elsewhere. The Black Angels do their musical scavenging in the shadows on the seedy side of town, driven by paranoia and shrouded in a narcotic haze. Easy listening or pop music, this is not. It's designed to be played loud, but my personal recommendation is that you do so via a stereo or some sort of speakers - over headphones, injected directly into your brain, it's kind of freaky trip.

The Black Angels are on tour this Summer alongside their west coast drone-merchant brethren in The Warlocks and will be at Lee's Palace on June 26.

And oh, contesting. Courtesy of Light In The Attic, I've got five copies of Directions To See A Ghost along with the limited-edition four-song EP that accompanied pre-orders to give away. To enter, leave me a comment below with your choice for album art that best matches the music it accompanies. Include a link to a decent-size image if at all possible and your correct email address - spamproofed as you see fit - in the appropriate field when posting. The contest is open to everyone, everywhere and will close at midnight, May 17.

MP3: The Black Angels - "Doves"
MySpace: The Black Angels

Drowned In Sound talks to Clinic and The Daily Collegian to Shearwater, both of whom will be in town at Lee's Palace this Sunday, May 11. Shearwater will be back for a show at the Horseshoe on June 23 and release Rook on June 3.

Chart and The Calgary Herald talk to Tokyo Police Club.

Bassist Shonna Tucker of the Drive-By Truckers fields questions from Prefix.

The Lawrence Journal rings up John Stirratt of Wilco; chats.

PopMatters discusses April, the new album from Sun Kil Moon, with Mark Kozelek.

The Colorado Springs Independent talks to violinist Rebecca Zeller of Ra Ra Riot.

The Portland Mercury profiles Kate Nash.

There's a trailer/preview of sorts for Neil Young's Archives up on YouTube.

AOL Music Canada contemplates the return of Portishead and what it means for the recently moribund genre that was once called "trip-hop". Oh yeah, Tricky is back.

A couple new albums are available to stream - the just-released Momofuku from Elvis Costello & The Imposters and Sloan's Parallel Play, due June 10.

Stream: Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku
Stream: Sloan / Parallel Play

New additions to V Fest, going down September 6 and 7 on the Toronto Islands. The lineup now features The Fratellis on day one, Ladyhawk and Cadence Weapon on day two. There was supposed to be an announcement of some consequence this week about the lineup, and all respect the the above but I can't believe that it was them.

Speaking of V Fest performers, Bradley's Almanac is sharing the audio from a Bloc Party show in Boston last Spring. They're playing the first day of V Fest.

Coldplay have two dates scheduled for the Air Canada Centre on October 29 and 30.

PopMatters reports that a new online magazine will be rising from the ashes of Harp, which ceased publication this past March. The site - to be located at Blurt-online.com - will be run by the founder of Harp along with their managing and senior editors. While this won't replace the Harp-shaped hole in my real-world reading habits, I'm glad that there'll still be fresh content in the spirit of the print publication coming our way.

And along the same lines, Reveille engages veteran music journalists from the print world in a discussion about the rise of digital publications versus the traditional medium.

Entertainment Weekly has cast shots from the G.I. Joe film, out next Summer, and all I can say is Destro - you seem to have forgotten something. YOUR BIG METAL HEAD. No, I don't care how the special effects people do it, that's not my problem. But Scarlett, Baroness and Snake Eyes, you can stay. Oh, and not pictured but do you know who's playing Cobra Commander? This guy. No idea how they're going to sell THAT.

The Last Day Of Magic

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:36:16 -0500

Photo by Frank Yang

I went into Tuesday night's Kills show at the Opera House most interested in how the duo of Jaime Hince and Alison Mosshart - Hotel and VV to their friends - would pull it off live. Their latest album Midnight Boom, the only one of theirs I'm familiar with, is not the sound of two people playing live. It's a patchwork of buzzing guitars, jalopy drum machines and found sound effects - easily recreated with backing tapes, but my experience is that approach rarely makes for a compelling or organic live experience. How would this trans-Atlantic pair do it?

Before that question could be answered, we first had to suffer through a set from Brooklyn outfit Telepathe. Now it's possible there's something interesting or redeeming in their amalgam of ambient rock, electronica and, um, hip-hop? But it wasn't on display here - their aimless set garnered an audience response that would have made a golf clap sound like a football riot. What was most galling was how self-conscious and half-hearted their delivery was - with some awkward and indifferent dancing and half-mumbled/whispered vocals, it was like they didn't think they should have been up there either. One of the more painful half hours I've had in recent memory.

But hopefully they're taking notes on stage presence over the course of this tour because The Kills absolutely drip chemistry and charisma. So much so that you would have expected someone to come out between songs and mop up the floor between Hince and Mosshart. In front of a backdrop with projections of performances from their punk and garage rock forebears, the pair threw down a ferocious set that was loud, filthy and unbelievably sexy. Though he looks more than a little like Rowan Atkinson, Hince on guitar had the sort of presence that could help a guy who looks like Rowan Atkinson land a supermodel girlfriend and Mosshart... well damn - think Karen O's younger sister who got sent to reform school instead of art school. Whether prowling the stage, molesting the mic stand or pounding the guitar, she was as alluring as she was terrifying. But impossible to take your eyes off of.

Oh, and as for my initial questions about the live setup going into the show? The answer - who gives a damn. Yeah, they used pre-recorded backing tracks but there was nothing remotely stiff or inorganic about the show and anyway, it probably wouldn't be safe onstage for any additional players, lest they get caught in the electricity between the two principals and spontaneously combust. It affects a dozen people a year but is not widely reported.

The Montreal Gazette, The Daily Page and The Washington Post talk to Alison Mosshart about the making of the new record and not about Kate Moss. Metro chats with Hince.

Photos: The Kills, Telepathe @ The Opera House - May 6, 2008
MP3: The Kills - "Cheap & Cheerful"
MP3: Telepathe - "The March"
Video: The Kills - "Cheap & Cheerful"
Video: The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
MySpace: The Kills

Billboard talks to Mate Of State Jason Hammell about their new album Re-Arrange Us, due May 20. Check out the first video from said record.

Video: Mates Of State - "Get Better"

Daytrotter welcomes Holy Fuck to their studios for a session. They're at Sonic Academy with MIA on June 2.

New City Chicago, MetroMix, The Seattle Times, Mother Jones, Muzzle Of Bees and The Georgia Straight converse with DeVotchKa.

Drowned In Sound, The Times and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel all profile Bon Iver.

Chart talks to Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields about their latest, Distortion.

An Aquarium Drunkard talks politics with Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Superchunk's Mac McCaughan.

Jason Pierce of Spiritualized talks to Spinner about how nearly dying informed the writing of Songs In A & E, out May 27. Spiritualized play day one of V Fest at the Toronto Islands, September 6.

Guitar Player considers the six-string virtues of Radiohead's catalogue, including a rather harsh dismissal of Pablo Honey - the same album that The Riverfront Times feels is deserving of some advocacy. Though my angsty teenage self loved the album back in 1993, I have to admit it hasn't aged all that well even if you don't consider the huge leaps in creativity that began with The Bends. But "Anyone Can Play Guitar" will always rule. Back in the present, Pitchfork rounds up the best of the "Nude" remixes while Wired reports on some disgruntlement about how the contest end of it was handled, and a little into the future, Radiohead are at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15.

Rolling Stone talks to Liz Phair about the remaster and reclamation project of Exile In Guyville, due June 24. You can check out a sample of the freshly-polished audio job below.

MP3: Liz Phair - "Fuck And Run"

Also buffing up a debut to mark an anniversary are former Phair labelmates Mogwai, who are re-releasing Young Team ten years after it was first inflicted on the eardrums of the world. It's out May 27, and the band been doing the "play the whole record in its entirety" thing of late - maybe that's what they'll have in store when they roll into the Phoenix on June 30?

MP3: Mogwai - "Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home"

And most exciting and probably the only one of these nostalgia trips I'll actually be picking up are remasters of the only two My Bloody Valentine albums that matter - Isn't Anything and Loveless. Pitchfork reports that the former will be re-released in a single disc form and the latter as a double set, one disc remastered from DAT, the other from analogue tape. Obviously an incredibly audio-geek, I'm quite intrigued as to what the differences will be but I'm sure they'll both be far superior to the current CD pressing - it frankly sounds pretty awful and doesn't do the record sonic justice. I envision many hours of listening to the same album over and over again when they're released in the UK on June 16 (and will certainly show up in North American shops immediately after). And I probably won't get tired of mentioning this anytime soon, but My Bloody Valentine will be in town on September 25 at the Ricoh Coliseum. Ooh, goosebumps.

Kensington Heights

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:27:53 -0500

Photo by Frank Yang

How about that - shortly after mentioning last week that I'd never seen the Constantines' live, I got an invite from Arts & Crafts to see them play a CFNY-presented show at the dinky Supermarket in Kensington Market, the same Kensington from which their latest album Kensington Heights takes its name. I wonder if that'd work for anything else... Hey internet - I'd like a pony.

And now we wait.

In the meantime, I'll recount my first Cons show. The Supermarket is a fraction the size of the Phoenix, where they played on Thursday night, there was no doubt this would be a rare and intimate show. I didn't expect an opener but Jennifer Castle, aka Castlemusic, was tapped to warm things up as she did at the Phoenix. Though the smaller room was surely a more sympathetic setting for her tender and trembly folk songs, they were unable to quell the chatty audience who'd shown up for a rock show. Luckily, that's exactly what the Constantines had in mind.

Though five more unassuming looking guys you're not likely to find, they're like a force of nature onstage. A steamroller of sound, powered by sweat and riffs. I don't need to know that lightning is created by the buildup and discharge of electrical energy between positively and negatively charged areas (ref) to respect and fear it, and similarly I didn't need to be familiar with the Constantines' back catalog to be well and properly rocked. That said, it was the older, unfamiliar material that had the most live impact - some of the old school fans have been talking about Kensington Heights as a (relative) disappointment as an album and while I think it's pretty solid taken on its own merits, I do now understand where they're coming from. Some of those songs - which I obviously couldn't identify - were monolithic. In a sense, it was nice to be at a show without expectations of what might or might not be played - I could just take it all in and be impressed. And yes, I get it now. I don't know that I'd be the first to stand in support of a formal "The Constantines are the best live band in Canada" declaration just yet, but I certainly wouldn't oppose it.

CBC Radio 3 gets some facts from guitarist Steve Lambke.

Photos: Constantines, Castlemusic @ The Supermarket - May 5, 2008
MP3: Constantines - "Hard Feelings"
MP3: Constantines - "Nighttime Anytime It's Alright"
MP3: Constantines - "On To You"
MP3: Constantines - "Love In Fear"
MP3: Constantines - "Soon Enough"
MP3: Constantines - "Arizona"
MP3: Castlemusic - "Heaven"
Video: Constantines - "Hard Feelings"
Video: Constantines - "Working Full-Time"
MySpace: Constantines
MySpace: Castlemusic

Pitchfork brings us a taste from the next installment in the "Broken Social Scene Presents" series, also known as the solo but not really solo record from Brendan Canning. Maintaining the tradition of ellipsis abuse started by bandmate Kevin Drew on last year's Spirit If..., Canning will release Something for All of Us... on July 22 - details here.

MP3: Brendan Canning - "Hit The Wall"

And sometime Broken Social Scenester, all-time ex-Treble Charger Bill Priddle is back with his new outfit The Priddle Concern. Chart, The Sault Star and JAM talk to Priddle about his new self-titled record. He'll play an in-store at Soundscapes on Saturday, May 10 at 5PM and yes, I think requesting "Red" would be bad form.

MP3: The Priddle Concern - "Back Around"

A couple to file in the "I was wrong" box - I had speculated that Fleet Foxes would be returning to town whilst on tour with A Hawk & A Hacksaw and thus be at the El Mocambo on July16. As it happens, they will be here that day but be playing the much larger Phoenix as support for Stephen Malkmus. PitchforkTV has a video feature on the band recorded at SxSW.

I also figured that the All Tomorrow's Parties show in upstate New York would be as close to Toronto as My Bloody Valentine's North American tour would get, especially since early announcements explicitly called it a US tour... well we must have been annexed when I wasn't looking because the tour dates are up and lo and behold - September 25 at Ricoh Coliseum... My Bloody Valentine. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon and will run $47.50 plus fees, gougings, etc. Not cheap, but certainly more reasonable than the $1200 that the ATP tickets would have run me, though that came with a 5-bed hotel room... Yeah, I'll take the local show.

The Denver Post talks to Dan Bejar of Destroyer while The Washington Post has a back-and-forth debate about the merits of Streethawk versus This night (via Catbirdseat).

CNET has coverage from Neil Young's press conference at Sun Microsystems yesterday where he officially announced that the Archives series would be released on Blu-Ray discs - finally, an excuse to get a PlayStation3. They're still supposed to be released starting this year, so keep an eye open and a grain of salt handy.

The Saturday night (June 14) lineup at the Horseshoe for NxNE has been announced - staying from 8PM till the wee hours of Sunday morning will net you performances from Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Hey Rosetta, Ladyhawk, The D'Urbervilles, Spiral Beach and Rebekah Higgs. A partial list, but not schedule, of NXNE acts is also now up.

As if the The Go! Team/CSS show at the Kool Haus on August 5 wasn't going to be fun enough, Matt & Kim have now been added to the bill. Ridiculous good times guaranteed.

Aversion talks to Alan Sparhawk about the differences between Low and the Retribution Gospel Choir, whom he leads into the Rivoli on June 21.

New American Music Club video from The Golden Age! Woot. And interviews with Mark Eitzel at The Kansas City Pitch and Arizona Central. Double woot. Or should that be triple woot?

Video: American Music Club - "All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco"

Former Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky's return just got a lot more real - he has a MySpace and is streaming a new song from his forthcoming, as-yet-untitled solo record.

Find A Way

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:30:53 -0500

Photo by Frank Yang

Two words you hate to use when talking about Smoosh are "novelty" and "adorable". But it can't be helped, and it shouldn't always be interpreted as a negative. And if it's taken as such, then the fact that when all is said and done, they're a pretty terrific pop band no matter how novel their set-up or how old they are is all the more impressive.

They were in town at the end of last week wrapping up a tour in support of Tokyo Police Club and found the time to squeeze in an in-store performance at Sonic Boom to a smallish crowd. I'd been impressed when I first saw them in 2006 opening for Eels and now, a couple years later and decidedly more road-tested, they played with a good deal more confidence though I'm sure the store's rec room vibe also helped put them at ease. Drummer Chloe is even more of an accomplished drummer now, and she was no slouch before, and keyboardist/singer Asya's vocals are reaping the benefits of the adult lung capacity I mentioned last time I say them. And if there was a risk of them outgrowing the "pre-teen sister act" angle, they've addressed that with the addition of youngest sister Maia, all of ten years old, on bass. When was the last time you saw a band member skip on stage? Too adorable.

The performance encouraged me to revisit their last record, 2006's Free To Stay. It's a terrific little pop gem that's youthfully exuberanct without being childish, yet casts an unexpectedly wistful and minor-key shadow and has a musical and melodic sophistication that'd be impressive for an artist of any age. They're due to release their third record sometime this year and while it's always interesting to see how artists mature from record to record, that's even more so the case for them.

Photos: Smoosh @ Sonic Boom - May 2, 2008
MP3: Smoosh - "Find A Way"
Video: Smoosh - "Find A Way"
MySpace: Smoosh

Wireless Bollinger, JAM and MTV talk to Death Cab For Cuties Nick Harmer, Chris Walla and Ben Gibbard, respectively, about Narrow Stairs, set for release next Tuesday. No one wants to talk to Jason McGerr. Poor drummers. They're at Olympic Island on June 7.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of a new Radio Dept EP in Freddie & The Trojan Horse, due June 4, comes the official word on album number three, from which the single is taken - Clinging To A Scheme will be released on September 10. So very excited.

Also good news in the new release department - thanks to A Good Day For Airplay for tipping me that Gemma Hayes will release her third album The Hollow Of Morning in Ireland and the UK next week. I don't expect there'll be any sort of North American release for this one, so it's just as well I'll be in Dublin in a couple weeks and can pick up a copy that way. Where The Lions Weep has an interview with Ms Hayes about where she's at these days.

Spinner gets some info on the next album from Antony & The Johnsons, The Crying Light, slated for a late 2008 release.

Female First and The Age meet Nicole Atkins.

The Independent profiles the boys of Nada Surf.

Honeysuckle Weeks, the new album from The Submarines isn't out till next week but you can stream it in its entirety now. They're at the Drake on May 24.

Stream: The Submarines / Honeysuckle Weeks

A few more show announcements of note - though just here in February, Nina Nastasia returns for a show at the Drake on June 20, this time accompanied by her collaborator on You Follow Me, Jim White of The Dirty Three. Tickets are $15.

MP3: Nina Nastasia with Jim White - "Jim's Room"

Calexico are back on July 6 for a show at the much-smaller-than-their-usual-digs Mod Club, tickets $22.50, full Summer tour dates here. Presumably there's a new record in the works - Garden Ruin was two years ago.

The Swell Season, riding their Oscar win, will return to town for a show at Massey Hall on September 20 accompanied by Bill Callahan. Full tour dates at Pitchfork, tickets for the Toronto show will run from $25.50 to $39.50 plus attendant fees.

And if you happen by the El Mocambo Friday night and see a massive lineup of people, those are the people who got Queens Of The Stone Age tickets. And if this is the first you're hearing about it, you're too late.

This Is Music

Mon, 05 May 2008 08:26:11 -0500

Photo by Frank Yang

The story of The Verve has always been a tumultuous one. In the late '90s while the likes of Oasis, Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Pulp were all enjoying their greatest successes, they technically didn't even exist. And when they finally achieved that level of worldwide success with "Bittersweet Symphony", effectively a coda for the Britpop era, they didn't end up seeing a penny of the royalties from the song and the band disintegrated again on the North American tour in support of Urban Hymns. If ever there was a band that had unfinished business to attend to, that needed and deserved a victory lap, it was The Verve.

And so it is they've returned, almost a decade on from their last dissolution and on Thursday night capped a brief North American tour with a date at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum. High ticket prices and a large venue kept it from being a sell-out, but there was a definite air of anticipation amongst the audience (mostly guys in their mid-30s - shock!) leading up to showtime, an atmosphere aided by the absence of an opening act. People were here to see The Verve and Verve only. And perhaps the Toronto FC. The local soccer team were playing right next to the arena and judging from the number of jerseys in the crowd, more than a few were making the evening a double-header - perhaps the band as well, considering that when they finally bounded onstage both bassist Simon Jones and guitarist Nick McCabe were sporting Toronto FC scarves.

But with the crashing opening chords of "A New Decade", there was no doubt that the band was back and they were making up for lost time. Sounding loud and as glorious as the boomy arena acoustics would allow, they tore through a set that hit on most all the essential points of Urban Hymns and A Northern Soul, well balancing the ballads with the cosmic jams, and reaching back to A Storm In Heaven for "Already There". They also interjected a couple of new songs that leaned markedly into the jammier, groovier reaches of their repertoire - the first, "Sit And Wonder", was a bit of a stunner and probably should have been swapped in the set list with the encore closer "Love Is Noise" which, following "Bittersweet Symphony", came off feeling decidedly slight. The absence of "On Your Own" from the set was felt but otherwise, most everything you'd want to hear was in the cards - after all, this is a band with only one more album than they've had break-ups. There's not really a huge repertoire to draw from.

It was especially impressive how in almost no time at all, frontman Richard Ashcroft was able to wipe away the bitter taste of a wholly lamentable solo career. Looking as healthily cadaverous as ever, Ashcroft has lost none of his immense charisma - the man was born to be a rock star and this is the band he was meant to front. But he knows, as everyone knows, that that band is nothing without Nick McCabe. The famously volatile guitarist had been essentially MIA since abruptly leaving the band during that last North American tour was astonishing to see and hear. Though few would dispute he's one of the best British guitarists of the last 20 years, his influence and profile is limited by the fact that his style is simply uncopyable. In his hands the guitar is less an instrument than a conduit to sounds not of this world and on this night, that antennae was pointed straight skyward and receiving at full strength.

Perhaps the most significant thing to take away from the show and the reunion as a whole, thus far, is that the band has managed to recover the chemistry that made them so formidable a decade ago and they seem absolutely determined to once again be a vital creative force. And though we'll have to wait until their fourth album - already recorded and waiting to be mixed - arrives in late Summer to see just how creative they are, they definitely have the vital part down.

Reunions can be notoriously dodgy - I only have to think back to the Pixies show in 2004 to remember what it is to see a technically perfect but utterly soulless affair they can be - but for the Verve, there was none of that. They were everything you would have wanted them to be and more. Welcome back.

More reviews of the show from The Toronto Sun, eye, BlogTO and The National Post.

Photos: The Verve @ Ricoh Coliseum - May 1, 2008
MP3: The Verve - "Lucky Man"
MP3: The Verve - "The Thaw Sessions"
Video: The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony"
Video: The Verve - "The Drugs Don't Work"
Video: The Verve - "Lucky Man"
Video: The Verve - "Sonnet"
Video: The Verve - "History"
Video: The Verve - "All In The Mind"
MySpace: The Verve

I should mention that when I walked into the arena, the first song I heard being played by the DJ was... Spacemen 3 (thanks for the correction, Greg). Thought that was kind of funny considering the history between Richard Ashcroft and Jason Pierce over Pitchfork piece last week that the UK and North American release dates for Spiritualized's Songs In A & E, originally set a fortnight apart, have met halfway and the record will now be released the same week in both territories - over here, it will now be out on May 27.

That's the same day as This Is Not The World, the new record from The Futureheads from which they've just released a new video (via This Is Fake DIY). There's also a remix of their previous single, "The Beginning Of The Twist", available for grabs at RCRDLBL.

Video: The Futureheads - "Radio Heart"

The Independent has a five-minute interview with the once and future king monkey, Ian Brown.

Head over to the band's MySpace to hear a couple of tracks from The Wedding Present's next album El Rey, out May 20. Wired ran an interview with Dave Gedge a couple weeks ago covering topics like concept records and Steve Albini.

Incoming - TV On The Radio will be at the Kool Haus on July 2, tickets $25, while Joan Of Arc play Lee's Palace on July 17, tickets $10. Their new album Boo Human will be out May 20.

MP3: Joan Of Arc - "A Tell-Tale Penis"

If you were waiting for the V Fest Vancouver lineup... keep waiting. For a year. They've canceled the event for this year on account of not being able to find any acts. Another casualty of the busiest festival season on record (see also: Vineland, Vegoose - V apparently does not necessarily stand for "victory").

Saw Iron Man this weekend... my objective, non-fanboy opinion? IT KICKED ASS. Seriously, immensely satisfying, like a good steak dinner. Or if you're vegetarian, a fine falafel. The only thing I found wanting was the fact that I'll have to wait at least two years for another one. Batman, the ball is in your court.

CONTEST - Yelle "Je Veux Te Voir" 12"

Sun, 04 May 2008 17:27:44 -0500

I don't speak French, so I have no idea what Yelle is singing on her debut record Pop-Up but I don't need a French-English dictionary to translate the squelchy '80s-approved synths that form its musical foundation. In any language, they mean fun, and if there's any lingering doubt as to the interpretation then then technicolour costumes and visuals that accompany Ms Julie Budet wherever she goes should dispel those. Big European electro-pop beats are the universal language.

And so is "free stuff". Courtesy of Fusion3, I've got two copies of the new Yelle single "Je Veux Te Voir" on 12" vinyl, featuring the original track, two remixes and another album track, to give away. If ye wants, send me an email at contests AT chromewaves.net with the English translation of "Je veux te voir" in the subject line and your full mailing address in the body before midnight, May 7. And this contest is open to residents of Canada only, please and thank you.

Video: Yelle - "Je Veux Te Voir"
MySpace: Yelle

Sunday Cleaning - Volume 89

Sun, 04 May 2008 10:59:26 -0500

Various Artists / Two Way Monlogues: Mixtape Volume 1 (independent)

Toronto has had a long history of nurturing its independent artists through name-branded showcase series, long-running events such as Wavelength, Elvis Mondays, Pitter Patter Nights and Nu Music Nites becoming trustworthy seals of approval that meant that even if you didn't know the performers on the bill, you could trust that someone with some reliable taste thought they were worthwhile. The tradition continues with the relatively new Two Way Monologues series, based out of Rancho Relaxo and celebrating its one-year anniversary this coming weekend. To mark the occasion, they've assembled a compilation CD of bands who've played their showcases and almost all of whom will be playing more over the anniversary weekend.

The assembled list of talent ranges from familiar and favoured - the melancholy anthemicism of Amos The Transparent, the electrifying power pop of Oh No Forest Fires and the rock'n'soul of Fox Jaws - to new discoveries like the haunting country rock of Key Witness and the Attractions-y, New Wave stomp of Beth In Battle Mode, this is a top-to-bottom solid collection of songs from the Toronto/southern Ontario neighbourhood of guitar pop city. Congratulations on the first birthday, and here's to many more.

The schedule of anniversary shows is as follows, all shows at Rancho Relaxo, and the tracks below aren't strictly from the compilation but do offer a good sample of what's on offer.

Thursday, May 8 - Key Witness, Five Blank Pages, Numbers & Figures and The Eatons
Friday, May 9 - Beth In Battle Mode, Fox Jaws, Amos the Transparent and The Coast Guard
Saturday, May 10 - Tin Bangs, The Schomberg Fair, Mark Berube and The Cheap Speakers

MP3: Oh No Forest Fires - "We Fit Our Charm"
MP3: Amos The Transparent - "Title Track"
MP3: Fox Jaws - "Quarantine Girl"
MP3: Tin Bangs - "Shake!"
MP3: Mark Berube - "Cloudy Day"
MySpace: Two Way Monologues

The Heavy / Great Vengeance And Furious Fire (Counter)

Listening to The Heavy, there's a temptation to call into question their sincerity - after all, the quintet do hail from the UK, land of empire and irony, and their efforts to recreate the sounds of '70s classic rock, soul and funk right down to the scratchy vinyl sonics are so determined that you'd expect that when they perform, they take the stage in platform shoes, leather Superfly jackets and feather boas. So to discover that they're actually a rather normal and "indie" looking outfit is both a relief and a disappointment. It's a relief because if there was that camp aspect to them, it'd undermine just how solid and deep a groove they're able to create on tracks like "Colleen" and "That Kind Of Man" and a disappointment because you get the sense that if they tried it... they'd pull it off.

The Heavy are at Lee's Palace on Saturday, May 10.

MP3: The Heavy - "Colleen"
Video: The Heavy - "That Kind Of Man"
MySpace: The Heavy

Galaxy Of The Lost

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:36:10 -0500

Illustration by Johnnie Cluney

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day - the happiest day of the year where comic shops give free comic books to good boys and girls all around the world. To mark the occasion - or perhaps it's just coincidence - Daytrotter has posted a three-song session with Lightspeed Champion, whose secret identity Dev Hynes is an avowed comic book nut. He's also currently running a contest in which fans are invited to remix "Everyone I Know Is Listening to Crunk" or shoot a video for it with a prize of �2000. Speaking as someone who has to get to the currency exchange in the next couple weeks, that's not nothing. Lightspeed Champion is coming to town with a full band on June 11 for a show at at Lee's Palace.

And other comic-related happenings... Iron Man, which is getting absurdly good reviews - especially for a Hollywood Summer blockbuster - opens today. Of course, going to see comic book movies on opening night is too geek for words - that's why I'm going tomorrow. And I fully expect to see this new trailer for The Incredible Hulk before it. I actually watched them film a couple of the scenes in the trailer at the University of Toronto campus. It still boggles my mind how little they dressed up Yonge St in trying to pass it off as Harlem. Because no one would notice The Apollo Theatre isn't actually beside Sam The Record Man.

Trailer: The Incredible Hulk

And some bits and pieces to crawl into the weekend.

NPR is streaming a Word Cafe interview and session with Drive-By Truckers.

The Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor talk to She & Him.

The Independent profiles Tift Merritt.

There's now a preview MP3 from the South San Gabriel half of the Dual Hawks double-album with Centro-Matic, out June 3. The latter outfit will roll into the Horseshoe on June 11.

MP3: South San Gabriel - "Trust To Lose"
MP3: Centro-Matic - "I, The Kite"

Featured on the cover of Exclaim this month, Kathleen Edwards.

Muzzle Of Bees asks five questions of Megan Hickey of The Last Town Chorus.

The Dallas News and The Pitch ask Steve Earle pretty much the same questions.

Prefix and LAist interview Aimee Mann, in town for an in-store at Sonic Boom on May 9 and then a proper gig at the Kool Haus on August 28. She releases @#%&! Smilers on June 3. Here's a video.

Video: Aimee Mann - "31 Today"

Filter has a rather remarkable feature on Husker Du, interviewing all three members (separately, of course) about the band's rise and fall. And more in the present, Drowned In Sound interviews Bob Mould.

WOXY has posted the video of a session Okkervil River recorded for them recently.

The National Post talks to Stephen Malkmus, who will be in town at the Phoenix on July 16.

Check out the video for Spiritualized's "Soul On Fire", the first single from Songs In A & E. Pitchfork has details on all the myriad formats that you can pick the record up in when it's released on June 3. You may recall that Spiritualized albums have always come in elaborate packaging, though I don't think they'll ever top the medication blister-pack of Ladies & Gentlemen. That was brilliant. Wired has an interview with J Spaceman about his fixation with fire and they will be at day one of V Fest, September 6 at the Toronto Islands.

Video: Spiritualized - "Soul On Fire"

Check out the first MP3 from Sloan's new album Parallel Play, out June 10. Via Prefix.

MP3: Sloan - "I'm Not A Kid Anymore"

Beatroute meets MIA. She's at the Sonic Academy on June 2.

eye and Chart talk to Wye Oak, who are playing Sneaky Dee's tonight as part of Over The Top.

Eef Barzalay, formerly of Clem Snide, will be in town for a show at the El Mocambo on June 27. His new record Lose Big is out June 15.

Beth Orton will be at the Danforth Music Hall on July 8.

JAM chats with Wilco bassist John Stirratt about the band's recent and very welcome decision to expand their live repertoire to cover the band's entire career.

Click Music interviews Lykke Li and Pitchfork talks to El Perro Del Mar, both of whom are playing the Mod Club on May 11.

Metric talk to Spinner about the state of their new record, slated for a Fall release. Update: The band also played a couple new songs for Spin, who are streaming the video of the performance.

Cheap & Cheerful

Thu, 01 May 2008 08:30:06 -0500

Photo via thekills.tv

The Kills are cooler than you. Check that, The Kills are cooler than everyone. That, at least, is the impression you get both looking at them and listening to their latest record Midnight Boom. The duo of Alison "VV" Mosshart and Jamie "Hotel" Hince are fashionably disheveled and insouciantly sexy (well, her anyways - he's kind of not but is engaged to Kate Moss so obviously has something going on), like those kids in high school who were always in the smokers pit, looking like they didn't give a damn. And Midnight Boom sounds like what they had on their Walkmans.

Boom has a rough and clattering feel to it, both as an album and in each individual track, feeling like a very well-assembled mixtape. It's filled with pawnshop-fidelity sounds, simple guitar parts, keyboard lines and drum patterns backing Mosshart and Hince's sneering and seductive vocals. But the grime and grease on the surface are very deliberately placed and hide a sleek and meticulous songcraft - every offhand note, every seemingly nonsensical rhyme, every breathy inflection - is exactly where it is for a reason. And while it's all well and good to appreciate the craftsmanship here, to spend too much time doing so would be missing the point. This is a lean, sleazy and fun rock and roll party disc. The sort of party that you would never have been invited to in high school. So turn up any song on the record - I suggest "Last Day Of Magic" as it's quite probably one of the best songs of the year so far - and pretend you're cooler than you are.

The Kills are currently on tour and stop in at the Opera House in Toronto next Tuesday, May 6. Courtesy of Against The Grain, I've got two pairs of passes to give away to the show so if you want to go, shoot me an email at contests AT chromewaves.net with "I'm cool enough to hang out with The Kills. Really, I am." in the subject line and your full name in the body before midnight tonight. The Telegraph, Harp, The Detroit Free Press and Express all have features on the band and the new record.

MP3: The Kills - "Cheap & Cheerful"
Video: The Kills - "Cheap & Cheerful"
Video: The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
MySpace: The Kills

So this is it - the return of The Verve to Canada. The show at the Ricoh Coliseum starts at 9 tonight, no opener, so if you're going, go early. Reviews of the New York shows have been overwhelmingly positive, so that certainly augers well for tonight. It's the final night of the short North American tour and then it's back to the UK to play every festival there is and also finish up their new album, which is targeted for an August release. eye, The Globe & Mail and The Toronto Star talk with bassist Simon Jones while The National Post has assembled a retrospective of the band's career in quotes from the band and Keith Richards.

Billboard reports that anyone hoping to pay-what-they-will for future Radiohead albums is out of luck - Thom Yorke says that it was a one-off tactic. The band are also now on the record as being against human trafficking, and even made a video to articulate their disdain for the sale of humans. Good for them. Radiohead are at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15.

Video: Radiohead - "All I Need"

Exclaim charts the career of Billy Bragg in convenient timeline form. He'll be in town in support of his latest milestone, Mr Love & Justice, on June 17 for a show at the Harbourfront Centre. There's now an MP3 available of the album's lead-off track.

MP3: Billy Bragg - "I Keep Faith"

The Telegraph profiles Adele, in town at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on July 10.

Kyle from Information Leafblower interviews Guy Garvey of Elbow for DCist. He (Garvey, not ILB) also talks to The New York Daily News and Sentimentalist. MPR has got a downloadable session with the band.

Vague new release info that's probably inaccurate - The Hold Steady's Stay Positive has a rumoured July street date and Neil Halstead's second solo record Oh Mighty Engine may show up in August. Update: Pitchfork has it - Stay Positive hits July 15.

Beatroute and The Colorado Springs Independent talk to Destroyer.

The Toronto Sun, JAM and Chart talk to the Constantines, in town at the Phoenix tonight.

Periscope Studios has taken on the task of illustrating characters and scenes from The Wire in the style of The Simpsons... why? Why not? Via The AV Club.

Blessing In Disguise

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:34:03 -0500

Photo via Gary Isaacs

I have mixed feelings about soundtracks. More specifically, about the phenomenon when a perfectly good and respectable band is taken from their organic, upward trajectory on which they were fueled by simply making good records, and launched into a whole new orbit thanks to having a song featured in some film at the cost of being henceforth known as "the band with that song from that movie".

Okay, in the case of Denver's DeVotchKa that's not wholly the case - they didn't just have a song in the indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine, they scored the film. And while I wouldn't have thought that their fusion of Gypsy, mariachi and western stylings would have been the most obvious musical accompaniment for a film about a dysfunctional family taking a road trip to a children's beauty pageant, they definitely gave it a distinctive flavour. So when the film became a breakout hit and Oscar nominee, DeVotchKa's profile was increased accordingly.

At the time this all started to go down, they were two years removed from their excellent How It Ends and just releasing their Curse Your Little Heart covers EP, so it's difficult to say how far along they were in writing their next record or what sort of effect that the Sunshine success (and pressure) had on their creative process but after carefully considering A Mad And Faithful Telling, the answer is evidently "not much at all".

Mind you, it's probably impossible for DeVotchKa to sound like anything but DeVotchKa. Not without ditching the sousaphone, accordion, horns and strings, pouring copious amounts of red wine down the drain and flattening Nick Urata's pompadour (the source of his powers). And really, why would you want to? Like its predecessor, Telling is a drunk, dizzying and romantic romp through the music of the world without ever sounding like world music. It's a touch less grandiose in scope, less over the top but what it loses in spectacle it gains in focus and songwriting. Where Ends was all about the cinematic sweep from start to finish, the compositions that make up Telling are better able to stand on their own. Episodic, rather than epic.

It's a record that's strong enough that I'd like to think that, had Little Miss Sunshine not happened, would still have managed to find the audience it deserves but that probably presumes a little too much justice in the world. So, instead, I will accept that people will come to DeVotchKa thinking that they're "the band with that song from that movie" but am confident they'll walk away thinking of them as, "the band that just made me fall in love and broke my heart in the span of three minutes".

DeVotchKa has just kicked off their North American tour which, sadly, bypasses Toronto this go-around. But they've got some local flavour with them in the form of opener Basia Bulat and with an appearance set for August 3 in Montreal at the Osheaga festival, I can only hope a local date is in the offing for around then.

MP3: DeVotchKa - "Transliterator"
MP3: DeVotchKa - "Along The Way"
MySpace: DeVotchKa

And it's fitting that I mentioned DeVotchKa, justice and festivals in the preceding couple paragraphs because DeVotchKa have just been announced as headliners of the Monolith Festival, taking place September 13 and 14 at Red Rocks in Denver, alongside Justice. DeVotchKa will close the Saturday, Justice the Sunday, and they'll be joined by acts such as TV On The Radio, Neko Case, Band Of Horses, Vampire Weekend and scads of others across five stages in a ridiculously beautiful setting. And the reason I'm singling out this festival announcement amongst the dozens of others littering my RSS reader is that Monolith helped sponsor this year's Hot Freaks party at SxSW and in return, we helped out with their lineup, offering suggestions, critiques and the occasional "ZOMG THEY'RE THE BEST BAND EVER". I think it all turned out alright.

And a little closer to home, Exclaim has assembled their annual festival guide, your definitive resource to standing in a field all across Canada.

Super-exciting news - not only will there be a new Radio Dept release this Summer in the form of the Freddie & The Trojan Horse EP, set for released on June 4, but Pitchfork already has the title track from the single available to download and swoon over. While I was initially disappointed in Pet Grief, I've since grown to appreciate its glacial beauty. That said, this new song has some more of the kick that made Lesser Matters such a joy. The full-length is due in September. I am stoked.

MP3: The Radio Dept - "Freddie & The Trojan Horse"

The Jealous Girlfriends' new self-titled record is currently streaming at Spinner. Catch them June 3 at the El Mocambo. And the "Class of 2007" feature in The L Magazine wherein I first discovered the band has been followed up with "The Class of 2008", their picks for the NYC bands set to break out this year.

Stream: The Jealous Girlfriends / The Jealous Girlfriends

The New York Post talks to Feist and Pitchfork has the video from her appearance and performance the other night on The Colbert Report. Feist plays the Sony Centre on May 13 and the Air Canada Centre on November 3.

Thick Specs gets guest columnist Jay Ferguson of Sloan to talk about the resurrection of murderecords, the label on which they will release Parallel Play on June 10.

Speaking of labels, Drowned In Sound reports that the Beggars Group has gotten a little more compacted, with the Beggars Banquet and Too Pure imprints being rolled into the 4AD which makes labelmates of the likes of The National, The Mountain Goats and Stereolab, who will release their new album Chemical Chords on August 19 (bearing the 4AD logo). Pitchfork talked to Tim Gane about the new record and there's already a preview MP3 available to download.

MP3: Stereolab - "Three Women"

Also in the Beggars family but in the Rough Trade division are The Long Blondes. They've got a new video from Couples and will be at Lee's Palace on May 22.

Video: The Long Blondes - "Guilt"

This past weekend I caught one of my most-looked forward to movies of the year this weekend in Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - and it was as smart, dumb, crude, outrageous and offensive as I could have hoped. And it featured a song by another artist appearing at the Monolith Festival - Mickey Avalon - that I was obsessed with for, well, about the duration that it was playing in the film. And yeah, it gets less funny with each listen but that first time? Whoo.

Trailer: Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Video: Mickey Avalon - "My Dick"