Some good news from Matador – firstly, they’ve signed New York country/folk chanteuse Laura Cantrell to a worldwide record deal (read the press release here). Cantrell has one of the most lovely, crystalline voices I’ve heard in a long time, and her songwriting and choice of material is top-notch – her albums to date have been a mix of originals and covers, somehow sounding completely traditional and utterly modern at the same time. The late John Peel called her debut record Not The Tremblin’ Kind, “my favorite record from the last ten years, and possibly my life” – high praise, indeed. Her first record for Matador will be out in late Spring, hopefully with touring to follow. In the meantime, the curious should check out her cover of Elvis Costello’s “Indoor Fireworks”, because what is this site about if not providing mp3s of cover songs?

Laura Cantrell – “Indoor Fireworks”

If you like, there’s bucketloads more material available to download here

At the other end of the Matador universe, curmudgeonly Scottish noiseniks Mogwai will finally release their Government Commissions (BBC Sessions 1996-2003), consisting of, well, 10 tracks culled from various BBC Sessions over the course of their career. It’ll be in stores on these shores on February 22.

And finally, longtime Matador flagship band Yo La Tengo will celebrate almost twenty years of wonderous music with Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintilliating Senescent Songs, 1984-2003, a super-sized career retrospective coming out March 22. The ‘best-of’ component will comprise two discs of tracks from all their albums, even the non-Matador ones, and there will be a limited-edition pressing which will include a third disc of rarities, natch. I actually won’t mind shelling out for this – a compact Yo La Tengo would actually be a welcome addition to the collection and there looks to be some good stuff on that bonus disc. Check out the tracklisting here.

New Order’s new album has an official release date of March 28 in the UK, and presumably March 29 in North America though that’s yet to be confirmed. Supposedly their most ‘up’ record since Technique, It is still untitled.

Bettie Serveert’s new album Attagirl will get a North American release (with two bonus tracks!) on February 1 thanks to the good people at Minty Fresh. The band should be touring over here to support soon thereafter, and they even make a point of saying there will be Canadian dates! YAY.

NME gets some info on the new Doves record Some Cities, which drops March 1. There are rumours of a quickie North American tour in late March to coincide with SXSW, but we’ll see about that. From ILB.

Achtung Baby has some audio samples from Texas’ Eisley… I like. Can anyone more familiar with their stuff comment on whether it’s got shelf life? My cynical “band I’ve never heard of debuts on a major label” spider-sense is tingling. It’s unclear to me if their debut long-player, Room Noises, is out or not… their website says it’s out February 8 of next year while Amazon says it was out on Feb 8 of this year (but don’t seem to have much info).

eye and NOW both talk to Stars’ front-fop Torquil Campbell about rock, revolution and Set Yourself On Fire in advance of their 2-night stand at the Mod Club this Saturday and Sunday.

Another member of the Broken Social Scene extended family, Emily Haines of Metric, plays two solo shows – one early, one late – at the Church of the Redeemer at Bloor and Avenue tomorrow night. She’ll be playing songs to accompany projections of films by director Guy Maddin – NOW has more details. Those looking for something a little more conventional from Ms Haines should know Metric plays the Mod Club January 21. Tickets for all shows, solo and band, are $17.50, on sale now.

Comic Book Galaxy takes a round-table look back at the year in comics.

np – Yo La Tengo / Painful

With just over two weeks left in Guided By Voices’ illustrious career, Hold My Life compiles some choice Bob Pollard trash-talking stage banter. Some favourites:

“I think Bob Dylan sucks. Bob Dylan never wrote a good song”.

“If the guy next to you ever bought a Counting Crows album, punch him in the face!”

“Yoshimi Versus the Pink Robots? My fourth graders could have come up with a better album title.”

Ah Bob, we’ll miss you. And so will Budweiser.

JAM! looks back at the year in Feist and reveals that her inevitable domination of America begins next March, when Let It Die gets a State-side release.

InSite Atlanta talks to Drive By Trucker Patterson Hood about Southern accents. From Golden Fiddle.

Productshop NYC assembles a very comprehensive year-end post.

Stereogum has another track from the new Mercury Rev album, The Secret Migration. I dunno, I’ve heard two tracks now and they’re not doing too much for me. Perhaps the album as a whole is more impressive.

You know all the hassle I went through trying to find a used widescreen copy of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind this Fall? Well they’re putting out a double-disc collector’s edition on January 4. I swear, sometimes I hate the world.

Stylus ranks the top indie labels of 2004 all scientific-like, based on the quality of their releases this year. Merge rules the school.

Of Montreal help kick off Over The Top Fest 2005 with a show at Rockit on April 23, tickets $10 in advance.

It’s one of those table scrap days, and I wager there’ll be more of these than less before the year is out. I may very well have to start making shit up to fill out a post… news flash! Interpol’s Carlos D has herpes! What? You mean someone’s already done that one? Sheesh (the blog in mention, carlosdhasherpes.blogspot.com, is no longer in existance, but it was funny while it lasted). Note: Chromewaves in no way, shape or form condones the spreading of baseless rumours about nattily-dressed young musicians from New York City spreading venereal diseases amongst the general populace.

np – Matt Pond PA / Emblems

Alexander Payne’s Sideways is turning out to be one of the most highly-praised films of the year, picking up glowing reviews and awards nominations left right and centre. So, always a slave to critical adulation, I headed out in the bitter cold last night to see what the hubbub was about. That, and I had a movie pass that expired today.

Ostensibly a buddy movie about two guys out on a road trip the week before one’s wedding, Sideways is a really rare bird – an genuinely adult comedy. Not adult in the “ooh we get to see some naughty bits”, though there’s some of that (more male than female, actually), but adult in the “this is about grown-ups dealing with grown-up topics, like mid-life crises and drinking wine”. There’s a lot of wine in this film, seeing as how it’s set in California wine country. I only knew a little bit about wine going in, and now I know more. See? It’s educational too!

But seriously, it’s a remarkably good film. The four principal actors are all excellent, particularly Thomas Haden Church (Lowell!!!) and Paul Giamatti – neither is particularly playing against type, Church being the loudmouth womanizer and Giamatti the neurotic sad-sack, but they manage to invest their characters with a lot of depth and complexity. Virigina Madsen (what happened to her all these past few years?) is also good as Giamatti’s love interest but local girl Sandra Oh doesn’t get to do too much as Church’s last bachelor fling, besides beat his face in. Oh don’t cluck your tongue at me, if you saw the trailer you know it happens.

While there are a few laugh-out-loud moments, it’s more of a sit and smile film rather than a knee-slapper. Payne is more interested in letting the actors do their thing and have them carry the film, and it works quite well. Is it 92% on Metacritic good? Hell, I don’t know. All I can say is that I think it’s good – anything beyond that is strictly subjective. It may not be for everyone, but for those for whom it’s for (okay, that was a grammatical nightmare), it’s a treat. And oh yeah, not one, but TWO Luna songs appear in the soundtrack. Thumbs up.

And on a related note, Stylus picks their ten best films of the year.

Thanks to Eugene for pointing out these clips from The Wedding Present’s Take Fountain, out February 15. I must say, first single “Interstate 5” sounds much more RAWK than I’d expected. I wouldn’t have even recognized it as Weddoes… until Gedge shows up, of course. Interesting.

Billboard offers up some details of the next Ivy album, In The Clear, out March 1.

My Mean Magpie rattles off his top albums of nil-four.

I don’t know how I feel about the Jays signing Corey Koskie. I mean, yeah, nice to have a Canadian on the team again, but $17 million over three years is pretty steep – and his numbers aren’t THAT good. And what about poor ol’ Eric Hinske? No, he hasn’t had a year as good as his Rookie Of The Year season in 2002, but it’s far too early to give up on him. I like the guy, come on. I’m hoping they do move him to 1st rather than deal him. I used to buy into Ricciardi’s master plan, but the constant turnover in personnel (dealing Miguel Batista already?) seems more like panic than long-term planning to me now. Come on! How are we supposed to re-take third place in the AL East without a plan?!? Here’s an idea, how about instead of getting free agents, we throw buckets of money at the league until they move us to ANY division besides the one the Yankees and Red Sox play in?

np – Slowdive / Live Bootleg

So here we are at yet another year-end list. I think the results are pretty predictable – I mean come on, what am I going to do? Surprise you? Silly rabbits, tricks are for kids. These ten albums amount to pretty much my most-listened to and most-enjoyed records of 2004. There’s no ranking this time as doing so would be almost completely arbitrary and meaningless – on any given day, depending on my mood or frame of mind, any of these could be the greatest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. So we’ll just leave them alphabetical-like and be done with it, shall we?

As always, I’ve included a sample mp3 of maybe my favourite tracks on each album, eschewing the singles or whatnot that you’ve probably already heard. If you like, go buy. None of these artists are rich, not by a long shot. Well, Wilco and Steve Earle are probably doing okay, but that’s not really the point. I’ll leave the tracks up probably till the end of the month or so. So without further ado…

American Music Club Love Songs For Patriots Merge “Another Morning” It may have been one of the most low-profile of the indie rock reunions to take place this year, but I’ll wager almost none of the others was more focused on being artistically vital in the present rather than just cashing in on the past. Even after a decade-long break, Mark Eitzel and his compatriots managed to craft an album that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with their best work, and that’s saying something.

The Arcade Fire Funeral Merge “Rebellion (Lies)” In just a few short months, this Montreal collective went from well-kept local secret to kings (and queens) of the indie scene. Yes, the hype can be overwhelming but if you get past all that and just focus on the music, you’ll find that Funeral is a stunning record, bristling with energy and emotion. And it’s also true that as good as the recorded product is, the live show puts it to shame.

Drive By Truckers The Dirty South New West “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” Another slice of Southern gothic mythology served up by Alabama’s finest. With three top-notch songwriters and guitarists leading the assault, the Drive By Truckers manage to turn all stereotypes about Southern rock on their heads while being just as ass-kicking as you’d expect and want Southern rock to be.

Steve Earle The Revolution Starts… Now E2/Artemis “The Seeker” Written largely off the cuff and in the studio to meet an election day deadline, this record could have turned out to be a half-baked rhetoric pastiche – instead, it’s as passionate and incisive a piece of social commentary as you were going to find in 2005. It also rocks, hard. The world has provided Earle with lots of reasons to be pissed and he tackles them all head-on with humour, hope and his razor-sharp pen. Defiance never sounded so good.

Feist Let It Die Arts & Crafts “Let It Die” Americans reeling from the ongoing invasion of excellent Canadian music be warned – the best may still be to come. Leslie Feist radiates star power and this record, with its lush, European feel and jazzy, sexy vocals only begins to scratch the surface of what this girl could do. Expect big things from this Calgarian ex-pat. Hell, even The OC has caught on.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Shake The Sheets Lookout! “Walking To Do” If I had decided to rank albums this year, this one would have been damn near the top. Impassioned, literate, stripped-down, urgent, fun and balls-out rocking, Ted Leo is rock personified.

Luna Rendezvous Jetset “Malibu Love Nest” Bidding the indie rock merry-go-round a farewell, Luna’s swansong is their finest in years. Recorded very much live off the floor, Rendezvous is warmer, more cohesive and more intimate-sounding than their last few records, and it suits them well. Plus there’s more guitar solos! Ah, Luna. We will miss you.

Rilo Kiley More Adventurous Beaute/Brute “Does He Love You?” A textbook definition of a breakout record, Rilo Kiley’s third album and sorta-major label debut brims with sass and confidence while jumping from style to style, anchored by Jenny Lewis’ marvelous voice. Addictive from the first listen and it only gets better from there.

Saturday Looks Good To Me Every Night Polyvinyl “Lift Me Up” This probably qualifies as the dark horse of the list, but what can I say – this record just makes me happy. For whatever reason, it took seeing the live show to really make it click for me, but when it did I couldn’t get it out of my CD player. These Spector/Motown-worshipping pop tunes make me wanna dance, and that’s no mean feat.

Wilco A Ghost Is Born Nonesuch “Muzzle Of Bees” Possibly the very definition of “a grower”, it’s hard to separate the record from everything that made up the year in Wilco. It may be a bit of a cop-out to say that it makes more sense if you’ve read the press about Jeff Tweedy’s rehab, seen the live show or read The Wilco Book, and I’ve obviously done all of the above, but it’s true. It may take a while, but when A Ghost Is Born finally reveals itself, it’s worth the effort.

You know, this list was a hell of a lot harder to write than I’d expected. Now I remember why I didn’t bother with writeups last year. I also forgot what a pain in the ass HTML in Nucleus is… but I’m done today’s post before 8AM, and that’s a good thing (and rare thing). Aaah.

There’s just something about puppets that’s inherently funny (and creepy). Things that you would give a second thought to if a human was doing it, like cursing a blue streak or getting cut in half by a samurai sword, are exponentially funnier when its done by puppets. It’s just true. Team America: World Police being a perfect example of this phenomenon.

Considering it’s from the creators of South Park and the amount of controversy that surrounded its release, one might have expected Team America to be far more scathing than it actually is. Right-wingers expecting to be attacked by Hollywood may have been surprised to find that it’s actually the Hollywood activist liberal types that get satirized the most here – that is of course, if they could have bothered to see it before setting up picket lines outside the theatres. No, instead of ripping social commentary, you get a pretty damned funny gross-out film. With puppets.

And the puppetry is quite remarkable, only looking clumsy when it suits the filmmaker’s purpose. The puppets themselves are pretty creepily lifelike, at least as much as a marionette can look lifelike. It’s mostly the use of soft latex of some sort for the skin that conveys this impression, making it just that much more creepy when the puppet is blown up, disemboweled or otherwise terminated. Oh, and the puppet sex. Oh the puppet sex. Certainly not deserving of the X-rating they were threatened with, but pretty damn graphic.

Another day, another year-end list. This time, the NME’s. Note that their “Acts to build up in 2004” list is interchangable with their “Acts to tear down in 2005” list.

Feist fans should check out this electronic press kit video for the European market. It’s artfully done and contains clips of live perfomances and interviews with Leslie Feist and Chili Gonzales about the making of Let It Die. Very nice.

I picked up a shiny new LCD monitor for myself yesterday. Not so much an early Christmas present to myself as a necessity – I’ve been having mild to splitting headaches on an almost daily basis for about a month or so, mostly from (or so it seemed) eye strain due to my old CRT monitor. Whether it was a glare thing or a refresh rate thing or what, I dunno, but it certainly seemed to be aggravating whatever was going on. The LCD certainly seems to help (though I had to crank the contrast and brightness way down to keep it from buring a hole through my skull – these things are bright!) though I think the root of the problems now is some sort of sinus thing. Maybe an infection, maybe a family of voles has taken up lodging in there, I don’t know.

np – Yo La Tengo / Summer Sun