Teenage Fanclub are musical comfort food. More than 15 years into their career, they will never surprise you but you don’t want them to surprise you. As long as they continue to turn out beautiful pop music and glorious three-part harmonies, you will know that there is something still right with the world. Coming five years after Howdy!, this year’s Man-Made continued the Fannies’ streak of excellent albums of classically-styled power pop. Someone looking for a new angle might latch onto the somewhat fuzzier production courtesy of Tortoise’s John McIntire, but that’s trainspotting. All that matters is that it’s another fine record from the godfathers of Scottish pop.

But as much of a joy as a new record is, the fact that they chose to stage their first North American tour since 2001 was real cause for celebration. I’d seen them twice live before – once opening for Radiohead in the horribly unfriendly confines of Arrow Hall for a thoroughly unmemorable show (blame the venue, not the band) and four years ago to the week at the Opera House for a sublime show that made up for all past disappointments. It was hard to imagine they could top that performance but by God, they gave it their best. The vocal mix was the biggest and really, only flaw in the night – Gerry, Raymond and Norman tended to be mixed a little low and their harmonies weren’t reproduced as cleanly as one would have hoped. But this shortcoming aside, they put on a stellar show.

Drawing from almost their entire discography, they proved that they’ve been unbelievably consistent in the quality of their songcraft from almost day one. A naturally higher percentage of songs from Man-Made sat quite comfortably alongside tracks from Grand Prix and Thirteen – the older numbers were maybe a little less fuzzed up and the newer ones a little moreso, but they blended perfectly. Surprisingly, there was only “Star Sign” from Bandwagonesque (in the main set, anyway) – it garnered the most cheers but I certainly hope no one was there just to hear “Hang On” (not that I’d have judged – I love that song). This is another dividend of the aforementioned career consistency – it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that every song in the set was someone’s favourite, one of the perks of never really having a big hit to skew the audience.

“Sparky’s Dream” concluded the main set and the encore closed with “The Concept”, a bit of a surprise considering that the usual finale on set lists I’ve seen from this tour was “Everything Flows”. I think they actually intended to come back out for a second encore and no doubt wrap up with the Catholic Education centrepiece, but the venue nixed that, making Mr Roadie stop tuning guitars. Fascists. It’s a shame, too, because the band looked to be having a marvelous time performing and soaking up the love and would have surely kept playing into the wee-er hours of the night (I think they did three encores at the Opera House show?). Curfew notwithstanding, it was great to see them in a small club this time around, and I only hope it’s not another four years before they return.

North Carolina’s Rosebuds opened things up and were a fine fit. Also trading in confectionary-grade pop music, they were touring behind their Unwind EP, released in April of this year, as well as previewing material from their second full-length album due out this Fall. Their set consisted of uptempo numbers and a couple of moodier ballads blending power pop, garage and surf for some all-around retro stylings. Hand claps, egg shakers and buoyant melodies all helped set the stage for a great night.

Pics tomorrow – it’s been a while since I’d been to the Mod Club. Oh the lights, the lights. The Fannies started a little late and played a solid hour and a half plus, so it was a late bedtime for me. And man, check out that concert calendar – next show? SEPTEMBER. Geez. Looks like I’ve got a little time off. Update: Pics are up.

Continuing with the pop-pop, Matador has posted a second track from The New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema for those six or seven of us who haven’t downloaded a leaked copy in advance of the August 23 release date. I’m not sure what the official first single from the album will be, but the video will star one Mr David Cross…

MP3: The New Pornographers – “Use It”

Look who’s coming back to town – Interpol are back at the Kool Haus on September 28. Tickets $30, on sale this Saturday.

Your daily Sufjan Stevens link – this one from Radar. Via Largehearted Boy

PopMatters has a great long interview with Bob Mould about his new album, Body Of Song which is in stores today. He’s also at the Mod Club on October 2 – tickets are a not-cheap $25, but I have to believe it will be worth it.

np – Okkervil River / Black Sheep Boy

Sixeyes has been running with a John Vanderslice theme for the last little while, centred around a four-part interview with the producer/artist. Well, it was supposed to be – the first two parts ran on Sixeyes, but the whole thing is now available to grok at Better Propaganda.

Vanderslice releases his new album, the wonderfully-titled Pixel Revolt on August 23. You can see track notes from the recording sessions here, and I do believe have been corrected that “Farewell Transmission” is indeed NOT a Songs: Ohia cover – nice. The ‘Slice will be touring this Fall in support or the album – no Toronto dates as yet, though. I’ve seen him twice, opening for Spoon and Beulah (photos/review), and though I missed his last appearance in town last Summer opening for Pedro The Lion, I can testify that he’s always a good show.

Anyway, the good people at Barsuk have made a track from Pixel Revolt available for your downloading pleasure:

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Trance Manual”

Also courtesy of Barsuk – some clips from the Death Cab tour documentary, Drive Well, Sleep Carefully, out tomorrow. I got a copy of this last week but haven’t had a chance to get to it yet – I will report back when I do.

Instead, I’ve been watching season 3 of Sealab 2021. Man, what a mixed bag. The first half contains some stone-cold classics (“I Robot, Really”!!) but the episodes made after the unfortunate death of Harry Goz (AKA Captain Murphy), quite frankly, suck major ass. I was listening to the commentary track from Karl Olson of Toon Zone for the first post-Murphy episode, “Tornado Shanks”, and at first thought he was being ironic in his hate for the ep, but as it went on I realized that his vitriol was genuine and more disturbingly, justified. It was bad. Really bad. And didn’t get better as the season went on (Yes, I know there is a pop culture term for this very event, but I hate it and refuse to use it…) There were still occasional funny scenes but they were the exception, not the norm. Even more disturbing is that even though the producers HAD to have known that the heart and soul of the show was gutted, there was a season four. It won’t be out on DVD for a while, but I gotta know – is there ANYTHING redeeming about it?

Ahem.

Oh look, a Sufjan piece, this one from CMJ as they ask about the inspiration behind the cover art, but no mention of Supes. Hmm.

Word is the big bad in Spider-Man 3 will be Thomas Hayden Church as… The Chameleon? Well that’s a character who lends himself to a special effects extravaganza. Using him as a relative scale of menace, perhaps we can look forward to seeing Topher Grace as a guy who cuts ahead of Peter Parker in line. Update: Comic Book Resources has another theory on what Toper Grace’s role will be… and it’s even more terrifying than you could imagine.

Teenage Fanclub tonight!

np – The National / Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers

Honestly, I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. I know I’ve seen parts of it as an adult – and found it pretty damn creepy, for the record – but if I ever saw it as a kid, it’s either lost in the distant mists of memory or buried under some manner of juvenile trauma. The only reason I bring this up is to point out that I have/had no benchmark by which to compare Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation of the Roal Dahl classic (which I do remember reading dozens of times as a wee bairn).

I’m a fan of Tim Burton as a director as far as his ability to bring fantastical ideas to the big screen goes, but am somewhat less enthusiastic about his storytelling abilities go. I find that he can often get so caught up in making his films look spectacular that the narrative component doesn’t get the attention it deserves, leaving the final product somehwat less than it could have been. So after seeing Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, I think maybe Burton has found the (golden) ticket – adapting well-loved works with so rigid a story that he can’t really stray from it, but leaves him plenty of room to interpret visually. Essentially, coulouring within the lines but using whatever whacked-out crayons he wants to.

Not surprisingly, Charlie looks magnificent. Dahl’s Wonka-fied world is tailor-made for someone like Burton to bring to the screen, and he does it with great aplomb. Everything from the Chocolate Factory and the Oompa Loompas to the creepy contest winner kids have the right balance of whimsy and weird, either delightful or disturbing depending on how you look at them. The make-up, in particular, does a fine job of giving the characters a disturbing pallor. Deep Roy deserves some sort of award for his performance as an infinite number of Oompa Loompas with their various “hits of the 70s”-inspired song and dance numbers.

After seeing the trailers, I’d had some concerns about Johnny Depp’s performance as Willy Wonka – I had no doubt about his suitability for the part, I just wasn’t sure if I agreed with HOW he was going to portray the eccentric chocolateer. Thankfully, the mildly autistic man-child portrayed in the previews wasn’t accurate. While there is a bit of Rain Man present (as well as Michael Jackson), Depp plays Wonka more as the mischevious eccentric that one would hope for. My one complaint about the film, and I don’t doubt that it’s a common one, is Burton’s decision to stray from canon to add in a subplot about Wonka’s relationship with his estranged father, Count Dooku. It’s wholly unnecessary – in worlds as inherently bent as Dahl’s, there’s no need to ask “how’d this guy get this way”? No one cares, it simply is. The sequences add nothing but superfluous treacle-content and end things on a weaker note than it should have. But despite this, it doesn’t negate the fun and whimsy of the rest of the film which I enjoyed considerably more than I’d really expected. But for some reason, I have no appetite for chocolate.

Well the organizers at Ear To The Ground were not kidding when they promised more to come for their music schedule the weekend of September 16 to 18… Now closing out the festival on the Sunday night? Sleater-Kinney. In fact, seeing the whole lineup in one place, I’m a little awestruck. And, as I repeat for the umpteenth time, I am missing it all. Goddamn, Europe better kick my ass to make up for all the music I’m missing those two weeks…

Lou Barlow just can’t stay away. He’s back in town for a show at the Horseshoe on October 2.

Here’s a blast from the past – whilst housecleaning, Five Seventeen unearthed some soundboard recordings of a Sufjan Stevens show in Toronto waaaay back in December of 2001. He’s graciously mp3-ified the batch and put them online – head on over and start devouring my bandwidth like so many ravenous guppies.

The Star-Tribune lays odds against further 80s/90s rock band reunions. 55% for The Smiths seems pretty damn generous, if you ask me. But even if it does happen, The Boston Globe will be having none of it.

Elvis Costello talks to The New Haven Advocate about touring The Delivery Man and working with Emmylou Harris. This link (and the last ones) courtesy of Largehearted Boy.

np – Portastatic / Bright Ideas

I begin to understand how The Wrens managed to get so old while only releasing three albums in ten years. Yeah, their label problems are well-documented, but I think that’s a smokescreen – fact is, they’re just SLOW. Pitchfork talked to Charles Bissell, who revealed that the plans to re-release the Abbott 1135 EP continue slowly and steadily, but may be put on the back burner in favour of recording a new album – which they haven’t started writing yet. Egads. Meanwhile, work continues on the Wrens documentary from Kathryn Yu and company. They released a trailer for the film a little while back and their media page has a bunch of MP3s, including live tracks and rarities.

SubPop is streaming Spelled In Bones, the new album from The Fruit Bats in its entirety. You can also download an mp3 of one of the tracks, “Lives Of Crime”. Go listen. They’re also looking for a new drummer. Isn’t everyone?

Billboard reports that my #1 musician crush Gemma Hayes has completed work on her sophomore album and will be releasing it this Fall.

The Stranger, Sufjan Stevens. Sufjan Stevens, The Stranger. Via LHB.

Grandaddy’s Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla EP will be in stores September 27.

M.I.A. returns to Toronto for a show at the Phoenix on September 26. And while unconfirmed, it looks like Ireland’s Frames will be in town on October 20. Update: The Frames will be playing at the Phoenix with Josh Ritter. Tickets $15.

Attempts to make it to the Maria Taylor show at the ElMo last night were foiled as the concert was cancelled on account of bad traffic. Apparently traffic between Boston and Toronto was severely fouled up somewhere and they couldn’t make it into town. Alas. The show will be rescheduled.

The first trailer for V For Vendetta is now up. It’s been so long since I read the original graphic novel that I am completely incapable of judging it – all I can say is I didn’t expect it to look quite so contemporary… Comic Book Resources has a brief interview with star Natalie Portman about the film.

Also now up – Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line.

np – Spiritualized / The Complete Works Volume 1

I had no idea when I made my quickie Spiritualized post back on Sunday that a) Jason Pierce was critically ill at the Royal London Hospital or b) I’d be making a second Spaceman post just five days later. According to the news update on Spiritualized.com, Pierce contracted advanced periorbital cellulitis with bilateral pnuemonia with rapid deterioration and required intensive care and c-pap for type 1 respiratory failure. I don’t know what any of that means, but it sounds like an awful time.

Billboard reports that Pierce’s partner, Juliette, posted on the Spiritualized.com message board saying that after “nearly dying twice in the last 2 and half weeks jason has now and fantastically made an alarming and brilliant recovery” and while he is “still fragile and really weak weighing in at maybe 8 stone (112 lbs)” and is now recovering at home. Needless to say, I’m enormously glad to hear that Pierce will be alright and best wishes for his quick return to good health. And I promise not to gripe for a new album for a while (even though it’s already written…). But in the meantime, the website has been updated with all sorts of goodies (for registered members).

One more Maria Taylor piece, this one from Chart. Still spots available on the guest list for tonight’s show at the ElMo! Email me if you want on – hell, never mind the skill-testing question. The answer was Little Red Rocket, for the record.

Somewhere Cold takes a few minutes with Explosions In The Sky to find out what they’ve been up to in 2005 so far and what’s to come. They’re re-releasing their debut How Strange, Innocence on October 11.

Paste talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats about… stuff.

PopMatters talks to Laura Cantrell, whom they call “one of indie’s premiere country singers”. Note to self – buy Humming By The Flowered Vine ASAP.

The Onion AV Club has an expansive interview with Dinosaur Jr gets some dirt about the breakup many moons ago and the reunion. I love how J’s responses are maybe two lines long while Lou and Murph go on for paragraphs. Lou Barlow has always struck me as the kind of guy who doesn’t shut up.

It’s nice to see Neil Young still knows how to taunt his fans. Check out the scrolling message from the man at the bottom of his webpage – first he says the new album, Prairie Wind, will be a CD/DVD set out September 20. That’s not the taunt. THEN he says Archives, Volume 1 to follow. Actually, there have been enough signs of the Apocalypse lately that could mean that hell is indeed freezing over – the Archives could well be on thier way. It’s the end days, folks. Kali Yuga. Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

np – Bloc Party / Silent Alarm