It’s often been said (well, mostly by me) that logistics are right up there with “creative differences” for being a band’s undoing. Someone has to work when rehearsals are scheduled, someone moves away, that sort of thing. Unavoidable, right? Not for The Earlies. Half their members reside in west Texas, the others in Northern England and they had recorded and released several singles worth of material before even meeting for the first time in 2004. Their first five releases are compiled on the critically well-received These Are The Earlies, and to their credit, it’s a surprisingly cohesive collection.

It sounds like the dreamy psychedelia you’d expect from Mercury Rev or The Flaming Lips blended with wispy Beach Boys-ish harmonies and Morr-approved electronic flourishes. The ingredients are all quite agreeable but the hooks of the final product are a little too ephemeral to really catch my ear. I’ll be very curious to see what they come up with when they start thinking in terms of a proper album rather than singles and EPs. The band are currently on tour in North America and will stop in Toronto at the El Mocambo on December 12, towards the end of the schedule. And, if this review is any indication, that’s probably for the best – sounds like they’ll need a little time to figure out this whole playing together on the same continent thing.

MP3: The Earlies – “Morning Wonder”
MP3: The Earlies – “Secret Broadcast #!”
Video: The Earlies – “Bring It Back Again” (.mov)

Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras tells Chart how excited he is about “In The Boneyard”, this year’s collaboration with The Toronto Dance Theatre. The five-night stand begins tonight at the Premier Dance Theatre down at Harbourfront. My old school rag (which I used to write for many moons ago), Imprint, also has an interview with Gibb and last week’s eye also got a couple quotes.

Idlewild have left their label. Probably a wise move since EMI never seemed to have the slightest idea how to promote them, but I don’t suppose this bodes well for any sort of North American tour next year.

It seems like everyone wants to recognize the artists they consider under-recognized these days. There was the now-defunct Shortlist of Music, the from-the-ashes-of-Shortlist New Pantheon prize and what is now the old boy on the block, The Plug Awards (which debuted last year). It boasts a pretty impressive advisory panel as well as a pleasantly proletarian attitude – winners will be voted on by the hoi polloi right here. Nice, though I can’t help but notice they misspelled “chromewaves.net” no less than twelve separate times in their “best music website” category. Tsk tsk.

Spacejunk has links to a bunch of recently released, indie kid-friendly music videos – and there’s even Canadian content! I can’t be bothered to itemize them all, so just click on over and see for yourself.

np – The Cardigans / Super Extra Gravity