Honestly, I was tempted to not report this one… at least not until I’d secured tickets for myself. But I’m just too damn nice to do that, so here you go. Neko Case will be previewing her new album, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, with a super-intimate show at the Rivoli on January 4. That’s right, the Rivoli. That little place that holds maybe 150 people. For serious. Tickets are $20 and go on sale today at 10AM – I’m biting the bullet and going Ticketmaster to make sure I snag one, but will probably swing by Rotate after work to get at least another, so I may have one to sell if anyone misses out.

Update: Okay, the $7.50 service charge has dissuaded me… I will be making a bee-line for Rotate This after work and crossing my fingers.

Though Fox Confessor isn’t out till March 7, there’s already been a tase of the new material via a radio session she did for WNYC back in November. It’s from this broadcast that these two mp3s come, courtesy of Home In Your Radio. The new official bio is also up at Anti and Starpulse got to talk to Neko about the new record at the end of November.

MP3: Neko Case – “The Fox Confessor Brings The Flood” (live @ WNYC)
MP3: Neko Case – “At Last” (live @ WNYC)

Oh, and I have no idea why Ticketmaster lists the January 4 show as being Matt Pond PA – the event description is all Neko… But Matt Pond PA are coming to town with Dios Malos on February 11 at the Mod Club (how’s that for a segue?). Also, Texan family act Eisley return to Toronto for a show at The Mod Club on April 3 ($13.50). They’re even more genetically pure now – bassist/best friend Jon left the band this Summer and has been replaced by a cousin, so every surname in the band is now DuPree. That’s almost sinister. And there is speculation that the March 25 Magnolia Electric Co show will also feature Destroyer, supporting Destroyer’s Rubies. No confirmation on this or venue, but I’ll keep you posted. And speaking of shows, JAM! says I wasn’t at a single one of the best club shows in Toronto this year. Boo.

Release news – Sweden’s Concretes will release In Colour, the follow-up to their 2004 self-titled debut on March 21. It was produced by Saddle Creek’s resident wunder-producer Mike Mogis. And thanks to Anthony for confirming in the comments that Wheat are indeed working on a fourth record entitled Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy And Made A One Inch Square, which should be out in late 2006. Apparently this announcement came via MySpace but I can’t find it – maybe it came as a bulletin to friends? Anyway, Anthony asked if I could make the Nude version of Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second available to the general populace and I would but don’t really know how to. FLAC? Torrents? What? And scratch Nellie McKay’s Pretty Little Head from your release calendar – originally scheduled to come out January 3, it is now in hiatus-land as Nellie has left Columbia Records over the dispute about the album length. Full details at the LA Times (Bugmenot). Via Achtung Baby!.

Wondering why you couldn’t get tickets for any of the Stars shows this past weekend? It’s because The Toronto Star took em all… but at least they had the courtesy to write up a review – for all six of the shows.

Glide presents more artists’ best-of lists for 2005 and Filter, whose artists lists series is still ongoing, lets their own writers put their picks in the spotlight. Art-rock rules Tiny Mix Tapes’ albums of the year list (and be sure to check out all the extra year-end features along the side) and Zoilus has his 2005 retrospective up.

np – The Hold Steady / Separation Sunday

It’s been over four months since Scotland’s Delgados decided to split after bassist Stewart Henderson announced he was leaving the band. Both principal songwriters Alun Woodward and Emma Pollock decided to carry on with solo projects, but it’s Pollock who is the first back in the public eye. She signed with legendary label 4AD not three weeks after the Delgados called it a day, and has recently begun gigging material from her forthcoming solo debut (due in 2006, still untitled). She muses on her solo career and the legacy of The Delgados to The Scotsman and you can hear some of her new material performed on a BBC radio session here. Her website is up but is still pretty vacant.

As for the rest of the band, they may not be making music together but they continue to run Chemikal Underground records, which was the subject of a BBC radio documentary last week. No archives that I can find, though. The label also has its own MySpace page.

I missed it but Thrasher’s Wheat has a very nice recap of Neil Young’s appearance on Saturday Night Live this past Saturday.

It’s probably far too much to hope that that open date on February 15th is earmarked for a Toronto show, but the “Undertow Orchestra” tour, featuring Mark Eitzel, Will Johnson, Vic Chesnutt and Dave Bazan looks pretty damn impressive. Don’t miss it if your burg is on this schedule.

Death Cab have commissioned videos for each of the twelve tracks on Plans and will debut the results on their website in the near future. Billboard has more info on the project and SPIN talks to Aaron Stewart-Ahn, the director who is heading up the project.

Prefix is stretching their best of 2005 list out over the entire week while radio station WOXY has also compiled a list. And the one everyone has been waiting for (but won’t admit it), Pitchfork’s top albums of 2005. Most of my picks ended up ranked fairly low, and somewhat surprisingly, The National didn’t make the cut at all…

And speaking of Pitchfork, The Toronto Star examines the tastemaking power of The ‘Fork. A lot of people loathe their reviews (and lists – just wait for the fallout from this one), but don’t seem to be able to stop reading them. I’m a daily reader but don’t put that much stock in their (or anyone else’s) reviews, preferring to read aggregate review sites like Metacritic. I mean, one reviewer can be wrong, but ten or twenty? They’re probably on to something, like it or not.

Metacritic has also tallied up their best books of 2005 – fiction AND non-fiction! And Salon is also running off their best books of ’05. I need to read more.

Yesterday I linked the trailer for V For Vendetta – today, there’s news from Alan Moore’s other landmark work which he is disgusted to be associated with (the film version, anyway). Comic Book Resources reports that the film adaptation Watchmen, which has already died (at least) twice, will be given another shot by Warner Bros. Neither principals associated with the last attempt at Paramount, writer David Hayer or director Paul Greengrass, will follow the property to the new studio, though. Greengrass talked to CHUD about what happened to his project – basically, the studio decided they didn’t want to make the film anymore. Fin.

So I’m in the market for new portable headphones. My beloved Sonys have developed a nasty buzz in one ‘phone, and that model has been discontinued so I’m looking at other options. Currently considering the Koss Porta Pros and the Sennheiser PX100s – both kinda dorky over-the-head jobbies, but I can do kinda dorky. I’m also thinking about waiting till Grado releases their promised street-style headphones… Any suggestions? I am not crazy about the idea of the ear canal-phones, blocking out the outside world seems like a good recipe for missing a streetcar stop or getting hit by a streetcar.

np – My Morning Jacket / At Dawn

Earlier this year I was all about NYC outfit Asobi Seksu’s self-titled debut, and their blend of J-Pop and shoegaze stylings. The record hasn’t gotten nearly as many spins in the second half of the year, but it’s still with a fair amount of interest that I note their follow-up, Citrus, is complete and should be out in the Spring of 2006. And in keeping with the holiday spirit, they’ve released a split 7″ with Detroit’s PAS/CAL, their contribution being a cover of The Ramones’ own Christmas carol, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight)”, which they’re generously allowing to be downloaded off their website. Like many bands, they’re using their MySpace page for keeping fans abreast of news, but I have Indie MP3 to thank for reminding to even check it out.

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight)”

Awful Bliss talks to Will Johnson of Centro-Matic, South San Gabriel and Will Johnson about songwriting and hats. Centro-Matic’s new one Fort Recovery is out March 7.

The Toronto Sun previews Stars’ now completed four-night, six-show stand at Lee’s Palace this weekend.

The Tennessean talks very briefly to Sam Beam about the In The Reins tour and the Associated Press, via The Asbury Park Press, talks to Beam and Joey Burns of Calexico about the fine art of collaboration.

Billboard solicits year-end lists from a wide range of artists. Their critics have also posted their lists, but really – who cares what critics think? They’re not celebrities. Also- lists from Questionable Content, Cokemachineglow and More Cowbell. And the big guns are finally out – Popmatters has their year-end retrospective up, Stylus has begun their week-long countdown and Pitchfork has tallied up their top 50 singles of the year. I find it really interesting that while most lists have a lot of overlap in terms of who shows up, the rankings have been wildly divergent.

Magnetic Fields fans will be pleased to know that a collection of Stephin Merritt’s recent theatrical compositions for Chen Shi-Zheng will be collected and released as Showtunes on February 14. He is currently working on a musical adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. I just finished Gaiman’s latest Anansi Boys this weekend, and am happy to see that he’s finally come into his own as a novelist. His earlier efforts read very much like comic book scripts in prose form, but with this one and the last one, American Gods, he’s showing a knack for the whole book thing. Anansi Boys was fun and funny and happily did not have a precocious young girl as a protagonist.

The new trailer for V For Vendetta is now up here. Despite some glowing sneak previews like this one at Ain’t It Cool News, The Beat reports that Alan Moore has successfully petitioned to have his name removed from the film’s credits entirely. It now cites only illustrator David Lloyd as creator.

I’m immensely saddened by the passing of The West Wing‘s John Spencer this past Saturday. Rest easy, sir.

np – The Delgados / Universal Audio

Two EPs today. That is all. And that’ll pretty much round out the year.

Isobel Campbell / Ramblin’ Man (V2) Isobel Campbell’s first solo efforts, concurrent with and following her tenure in Belle & Sebastian, were pretty much what everyone expected – ultra twee, whispy folk pop. Pleasant, unsubstantial and generally forgettable. But since then, she seems to have actually developed some musical personality, and interestingly so. Now working with Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age fame, she’s investigating western styles, playing Nancy Sinatra to Lanegan’s Lee Hazlewood. The title track of this EP, a teaser for their full-length Ballad Of The Broken Seas, due January 30, is a cover of a Hank Williams tune with Lanegan taking lead vocals and Campbell offering whispery backing vocals. Two more originals and a traditional tune round out this single, and overall it’s quite an odd blend of voices and styles, certainly not without its charm but maybe not enough depth to really impress. Campbell’s songwriting still hasn’t quite grown into the sound she’s aspiring to, but it’s getting there. Stream the EP here.

The Walkup / The Walls Have Ears (independent) The bio was not promising. A band hailing from Williamsburg, Brooklyn citing influences like Gang Of Four, The Clash and The Cure? Is it not time for a backlash yet? Please? Thankfully, I’m happy to report that the Walkup’s debut EP did not make me want to smash my stereo or fight Andy Gill. Yeah, there are some stuttery disco-fied drum patterns, Anglo vocal affectations and requisite stabby guitars, but the five tracks here retain a solid melodic sense and a decent hook and are never overwhelmed by their declared influences. It doesn’t manage to sound especially original, but that’s better than sounding stale. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but there most certainly is an audience out there for The Walkup to find. MP3: The Walkup – “Run And Hide” Video: The Walkup – “Apathy” (WMV) The Walkup @ MySpace

np – Archers Of Loaf / Vee Vee

It’s been a good 17 or 18 years since I last read the Narnia books, and while they hold a fond spot in memory, it’s a pretty dim spot. As a child, I didn’t pick up on any of the Christian symbolism or messagery in the books – I only found out about that later – to me, it was just a good old fashioned fantasy yarn. Either way, I’m not in a position at all to compare the film adaptaion, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, with the books because I barely remember them. I remember the cartoon, though…

My natural reaction was to compare The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe to The Lord Of The Rings, but this was really rather unfair – beyond the superficial, they’re really not very similar. Tolkien’s tale was a gritty, realistic and (relatively) mature fantasy epic, while Lewis’ Narnia books are more standalone, metaphorical and geared towards children. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t translate to film quite as well as the former, so to certain senisibilities, like mine I guess, Narnia seemed antiseptic and bloodless. For example, I had some problem with the fact that Peter managed to get through the entire final battle without so much as getting a drop of blood on his sword doesn’t help make the experience convincing. I don’t necessarily think that having him wear his enemies’ heads around his waist as trophies would have been better, but man. Tidiest war ever. But if you manage to get it in your head that realistic battlefield gore and intricate plot threads don’t really fit with the younger target audience, it’s reasonably enjoyable.

The CGI was decent, if not entirely convincing at points, and Tilda Swinton’s genuinely creepy Jayis notwithstanding, none of the evil creatures was especially threatening. Her secret police wolves still looked cuddly. And maybe it was a consequence of the pacing (leisurely at first, then breakneck as they got to the war), but the country of Narnia seemed very compact – like the size of Prince Edward Island or something. So very cozy. And even as a kid, I couldn’t wrap my head around the logistics of the time lapse thing between Narnia and the real world. So no matter how long they spend in Narnia, as soon as they cross back to Earth, not a moment has passed? And their bodies revert back? Wow, that must suck. How much did you like puberty the first time? Want to do it again? Yikes.

Unlike some reviewers, I didn’t feel hit over the head with the Christian-ness of the story. In fact, I barely noticed it. Yeah, there’s an obvious Christ allegory with Aslan’s death and rebirth, but I saw it more from the point of view of it being a standard fantasy device rather a religious one (hello Gandalf and Obi-Wan?). If anything, I thought that the film shyed away from any really overt religious themes, and therein lies my main beef with the adaptation – it felt hollow. I can’t put it any better than that – as I mentioned before, maybe this is just a consequence of trying to adapt an allegory to film, but I felt that it should have had more substance. Or maybe I just need to re-read the books again, it has been a while…

Bradley’s Almanac incites great jeaously in me for having been able to attend one of the Explosions In The Sky gigs in New York City last week… but at least he recorded it. He has MP3s of their performance at the Bowery Ballroom on Monday night, including what appears to be a new song.

The Montreal Mirror quizzes Stars’ Evan Cranley about the latent Christianity of their music, which he didn’t realize existed. Via For The Records.

Pitchfork sadly reports that Jens Lekman will be retiring from music for the forseeable future. Well, they didn’t exactly break the story since Jens posted as much on his website over a month ago, but it’s news to me. In his journal entries, he sounds tired and frustrated about a number of different things but they all seem to add up to him going on hiatus and shelving his follow-up to When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog. Sad news, but hopefully the time away will allow him to recharge and return in the near future.

Also – Nellie McKay tells Pitchfork about (again) staring down her record label about the length of her new album, Pretty Little Head, due January 3. Why that’s not even three weeks away!

A couple shows – The Juan Maclean are at the Horseshoe on February 6 and The Books are at Lee’s Palace on May 2.

Had my first iPod scare yesterday – after chugging along just fine since I got it, it decided to a) stop playing music and then b) stop responding entirely. The final crash came as I was trying to see if the video functions still worked. Appropriately, all my screen would display for the three hours that I was out was Stephen Colbert kind of shrugging at me (I had an episode of The Colbert Report uploaded). After reading Catherine’s horror story about iPods giving up the ghost, I was expecting the worst but thankfully, a reset of the doo-dad was all it took to get it working again. It would have been a glum Christmas otherwise, let me tell you.

np – Portastatic / Bright Ideas