According to the band’s website, all three Canadian dates on Serena Maneesh’s North American tour have been cancelled. They were due to be at Lee’s Palace on March 30, but it doesn’t appear that that’s happening anymore? A case of our crack(-smoking) immigration folks persecuting the Norwegians again? This affects me very little since a) I wasn’t going to be able to make it anyway and b) they’re everywhere at SxSW (I count four shows at least), so I’ll have no excuse not to catch them there. But for Canadians with a jones for Scandanavian psych-glam-shoegaze, here’s hoping they get whatever the problem is sorted out sooner or later.

But in better news, they’ve been picked up by the new label in the Beggars family, Playlouderecordings, and their self-titled sophomore album will get a release in North American on May 23. Originally released last year in Europe the record has gotten some rave reviews and ranked a respectable 29 on Pitchfork’s best of 2005 list. Whether this works for or against them is entirely up to you. What I’ve heard of them so far is definitely catching my ear. Give them a listen on MySpace and in addition to the MP3 below, Buddyhead has one on offer as well.

MP3: Serena Maneesh – “Un-Deux”

Another album scheduled to come out May 23 on a Beggars-affilitated label, this time 4AD, is the new full-length from Mojave 3. Originally supposed to be out tomorrow, Puzzles Of You was delayed by a couple months for various reasons but they are hoping to meet the new release date and maybe even have a video and single precede it.

Dirty On Purpose – whom you’ll all be coming out to see at Lee’s Palace tonight, right? – have added a couple of tracks from their forthcoming album Hallelujah Sirens to their MySpace page. “Light Pollution” is classic DoP but “No Radio” pleasantly suprises – horns!

Howling Bells’ self-titled debut album will be out on May 1 in the UK. No domestic release is in the cards as far as I can tell, so be prepared to pay import prices and for it to be worth it.

XpressMag says hi to Jens Lekman. Jens has confirmed his appearance at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, so hopefully that means some touring while he’s on the continent… and he’ll pop north of the border to visit his friends in The Hidden Cameras… and they’ll play some shows…

Nellie McKay and Eartha Kitt, together at last, courtesy of Harp.

Jenny Lewis interviews, new and old – Sign On San Diego has the new, Incendiary has the old, dating back to last Fall. Oh, and did you see the new contest I’ve got running? Free tickets! Enter enter enter.

Neil Gaiman discusses the now-commonplace trend of comics being turned into films for The Guardian. It’s true – there was a time when anything comic-related becoming a film, be it small-screen or big, was a rare event, which is how I ended up watching Trial Of The Incredible Hulk as a TV movie some 17 years ago (featuring Gimli as the Kingpin!). Now I have the luxury of being able to separate the good adaptations (Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men) from bad (Daredevil, Elektra, Punisher – both of them) and the world is a better place for it. But I admit that I still get tempted to see the dreck… old habits die hard. And ike Gaiman, I am cautiously optimistic about V For Vendetta, which opens March 17.

And whilst talking about movies… Crash? Best picture? Seriously?

np – Centro-Matic / Fort Recovery

Thunderegg / Open Book – The Collected Thunderegg, 1995-2004 (independent) This is easily the most ambitious and overwhelming submission I’ve gotten in ever. It’s a 108-page booklet and data CD-ROM (not an audio disc) containing eight of Thunderegg’s albums plus bonus tracks – all told, over 530 minutes of music. It’s like a pocket-sized box set. The liner notes are filled to the brim with lyrics for every song and charming little illustrations and a helpful table of contents for the whole package. Since there’s no real practical way to listen to 232 tracks (besides actually listening to them all), I went with a random sampling approach and was really surprised how consistent and good everything I heard was – some tracks are short instrumental pieces and nothing is really epic length, but there were no throwaways or blatant filler. The Egg is absurdly prolific but not at the expense of quality control. There’s a definite lo-fi, 4-track cassette aesthetic going on and that, plus the songwriting style, elicits some rather obvious Guided By Voices and Neutral Milk comparisons, but there’s far worse points of comparison. Will Georgantas, he who essentiall is Thunderegg, has true melodic gift and a wry, humourous (but not jokey) lyrical touch. I don’t know how long it’ll take me, but I intend of someday getting through everything here on the CD. We should all leave a legacy on this world so impressive. Want MP3s? The Egg is generous. Go here, close your eyes and click at random. That’s pretty much what I did. But if you want, I suggest starting here: MP3: Thunderegg – “What About (The Children)” MP3: Thunderegg – “The American Standard Is Slipping” Thunderegg @ MySpace And I swear my decision to write this record up this week had nothing to do with Stereogum doing the same a few days ago. Really.

Breakup Breakdown / She Went Black (Cordless) And at the other end of the spectrum was a package from Cordless Recordings, who despite ostebsibly being an e-label (and a subsidiary of Warner Bros), opted to send out this release in both CD and 7″ formats. I’d said some time ago that the easiest way to get me to listen to something was to send it on vinyl, and good to my word, I quickly popped this record (which was not only coloured, but the THICKEST piece of vinyl I’ve ever laid hands on) onto the turntable and give it a spin. Breakup Breakdown hail from New York City, and even if it didn’t say so in the bio, that’d have been my first guess. They trade in the sort of glam-garage party rock that people who don’t live in New York assume New Yorkers are making. Stompy, sleazy and slightly formulaic, but taken in small doses it doesn’t wear out its welcome. MP3: Breakup Breakdown – “She Went Black” Breakup Breakdown @ MySpace And I swear my decision to write this record up this week had nothing to do with Coolfer doing the same a few days ago. Really.

Men Women & Children / Men Women & Children (Nettwerk) And if you think New York City party music isn’t about the garage-glam but about the disco revival, then Men Women & Children is the band for you. They have all the requisite components of a band in service to the mirror ball, but with one extra crucial ingredient a lot of the others seem to have missed out on – the violins! I don’t know if they’re real or synthesized, but they’re there, they work and they’re guaranteed to make your platforms that much higher and your afro that much fuller. Their (terribly) self-titled album is out March 21 and they were just in town for Canadian Music Week – Chart was on the scene and wasn’t overwhelmed. They’ll be back on March 27 for a show at The Phoenix with Motion City Soundtrack. Men Women & Children @ MySpace

np – I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness / Fear Is On Our Side

People hereabouts are getting excited about the April 13 Voxtrot show at Sneaky Dee’s, but it would be an injustice to ignore the other band on that tour, Los Angeles’ Irving. Boasting five singer/songwriters and some uncanny pop sense, the band have expanded their sonic palette on their third platter and the results are, frankly, a lot more interesting. I mean, I like Beatle-y/Beach Boy-y power-pop as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s like eating a case of pixie sticks. Not all that substantial and can leave you a little queasy. But Irving are like rock sugar – sweet but not overprocessed. And they might make your teeth hurt, but not from decay. Just from… breaking them. I don’t know, this analogy is going nowhere. I’m getting off the bus here.

But don’t take it out on Irving. Their new album, Death In The Garden, Blood On The Flowers, is out April 4 and like most bands on the planet, they’ve got music available to sample on their MySpace page or via eCard – or you can just grab/watch these. Like many bands, they’re going to be ALL over SxSW – dates and times on their MySpace page – and if you’re heading to their Toronto show to catch Voxtrot, be sure to get there early enough to see Irving. Tickets for that one just went on sale, $6 is all it’ll cost ya.

MP3: Irving – “Situation”
MP3: Irving – “Jen, Nothing Matters To Me”
Video: Irving – “Situation” (MOV)

Exclaim! wants to introduce you to the works of Mr Elvis Costello. What’s that? You’ve heard of him? The devil you say! EC’s new album is a jazz record – Live With the Metropole Orkest: My Flame Burns Blue came out this past Tuesday.

Harp presents ten things you didn’t know about Grandaddy to add to two things you did know – Just Like The Fambly Cat is out April 4 and it will be their final album.

Filter makes their recent Death Cab feature article available online.

The intimate Snow Patrol gig scheduled for March 30 at the Mod Club just got a little less intimate as it’s been moved to the Opera House. End Of Fashion support.

Sarah Harmer talks to The Philadelphia Inquirer about I’m A Mountain.

The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Lou Barlow and Murph about Dinosaur Jr’s wholly improbable reunion. Via Largehearted Boy.

Drowned In Sound reconsiders Low.

Tiny Mix Tapes gets all Charlie Kaufmann with Chuck Klosterman, who Gawker reports is no longer writing columns about nothing for Spin.

np – Elvis Costello / Extreme Honey

So I’ve been cruising the SxSW bit torrents and am over 1/3 of the way through the first one (around 770 artists/songs) and it’s been an interesting experience. It’s a wildly eclectic mix of stuff, and while I do my best to give everything a fair shake, my hand does stray to the skip button on occasion. But in the process, I’ve listened to more hip-hop, metal and experimental noise in the past couple days than I have in, like, ever. Which isn’t to say that I’ve liked it, but I’ve listened to it and it’s been interesting. I can’t say that I’ll make it through all 1000 or so songs in the two torrents, but it’s an educational exercise and is a reasonable sampler and substitute for not hitting every showcase going down in Austin later this month.

But every once in a while, something jumps out at you that really makes you sit up and take notice – I’ve had a few of those moments so far, and one came yesterday courtesy of Australia’s Decoder Ring. Their SxSW profile denotes them as “electronic”, but I don’t think that’s wholly accurate. There’s definitely programmed beats and sequencing at work here, particularly in some of the songs posted on their MySpace page, but there’s plenty of organic instrumentation to be found here including singer Lenka’s gorgeous voice. Some of the material is strictly instrumental fare and some of it is classic pop songsmithery, but all of it is pretty damned impressive.

Their latest album, released late last year, is Fractions and it’s the title track from it that utterly beguiled me from the first note. Starting with a shy, breathy opening and building to a joyous crescendo, it pushes all the right buttons. Reminds me of Bjork’s “Hyper-Ballad”, in that sense – not a bad thing at all. The video is a little hokey, but the song feels like Spring and it makes me happy. Check them both out:

MP3: Decoder Ring – “Fractions”
Video: Decoder Ring – “Fractions” (MOV)

The band will be at SxSW this year, playing both the Aussie Showcase & BBQ at Brush Square Park on March 17 and a proper showcase at 8PM at Red 7 on Saturday, March 18.

And fellow Aussies (and Bella Union affiliates) Howling Bells are offering “The Wild”, the b-side to their Wishing Stone single, as a free download to anyone signed up to the Bella Union mailing list.

Garrick Van Buren has likewise been going through the SxSW torrents, and has listed off some faves from the pack. Via Largehearted Boy.

Belle & Sebastian are the subject of a feature article in the new Harp, Chris Geddes gives good interview to The Swarthmore Phoenix, Steve Jackson to Dailyrecord.com and this interview by Incendiary with Bobby Kildea has been up for a while, but I only just found it now. And finally, an audio interview with Boston NPR. The next single from The Life Pursuit will be for “The Blues Are Still Blue”, all proceeds from which will go directly to Marc Bolan’s estate. Like the “Funny Little Frog” single before it, it will come out in CD/7″/DVD on April 3 and you can pre-order all three from Recordstore.co.uk for 5 quid. The “Funny Little Frog” set cost me around $17 CDN all said in done, if you were wondering.

And since I can’t seem to post any B&S stuff without an Isobel Campbell footnote, here’s today’s – pieces from The Chicago Sun-Times and Chart, and courtesy of V2, I’ve got an autographed Isobel Campbell poster and two copies of Ballad Of The Broken Seas, out Tuesday, to give away. To enter, just send me an email with “Isobel Campbell contest” in the subject. This is a quick contest – it’ll close tomorrow night at midnight. And locals, don’t forget she’s doing an instore at Soundscapes tomorrow at 3PM and playing a full show at Revival tomorrow night. Update: Shit, meant to edit this before posting – I’ve been informed the instore for tomorrow is cancelled. Sorry. Update 2: Just got word from the label that the evening show is cancelled as well. Verify this with the venue, CMW, etc, but that’s what I’ve been told. If Isobel isn’t going to be in town at all, this will obviously affect my ability to give away an autographed poster. I mean, *I* could autograph it, but that wouldn’t look nearly as nice on your wall. Anyway, we will figure something out in regards to the contest.

MTV gets an update in the state of Feist, though she neglects to mention her appearance in the new Broken Social Scene video for “7/4 (Shorelines)”.

Exclaim! looks at the annoying yet understandable reasoning behind staggering international release dates for albums.

np – Sigur Ros / Takk

The new issue of Harp is out (or will be soon) and they’ve made their cover story on Neko Case available online. I’d recap what it covers, but to be honest, I don’t know. I like to pick up the magazine and read it old fashioned-like, so I’ll just point out that it’s there and send you on your way. She also talks about making the new record with Exclaim!. I haven’t picked up that issue yet either, but I did read the article, mainly because it was a lot shorter.

Fox Confessor Brings The Flood is finally out this Tuesday, and if you haven’t seen the gorgeous cover art yet, well you should. It was done by Vancouver artist Julie Morstad, and you can see some more of her stuff here. Neko begins her tour in support of Fox Confessor at the end of this month and stops in at the Danforth Music Hall on April 2 with The High Dials. Her website is still being renovated, but another official MP3 has been released:

MP3: Neko Case – “Hold On Hold On”

And Neko’s fellow part-time New Pornographer Dan Bejar, aka Destroyer, graces the cover of the new Exclaim!. Destroyer’s Rubies is out now and he’s at Lee’s Palace March 25.

Other bits from the new Harp – the most unbecoming photo ever of Sarah Harmer and Will Johnson of Centro-Matic reels off his five favourite cities. Maybe Toronto will make the cut after they visit the Horseshoe on April 5. You guys should totally go and make them feel welcome.

Broken Social Scene tells MTV they’re as tired of the logistics of being a 15-piece band as everyone else is of hearing them complain about it. Via Prefix. Tangentially – Popmatters has an interview with Andrew Whiteman, erstwhile BSS axeman and Apostle Of Hustle.

Some of you have been asking me about the alleged (by me) Stills/Morningwood/DJ Carlos D show that was supposed to happen on March 8 at the Berkeley Church but is now apparently set for The Drake (scroll down to the DJ Carlos D entry here), though the Drake website has nothing about it, nor does Morningwood’s website and while The Stills’ tour schedule shows them as in the neighbourhood with a day off, I am in no way, shape or form standing by my earlier information. Not one bit. Maybe it’s a private party for only the beautiful people, I do not know. But if you’re set on seeing The Stills, circle May 11 on your calendars. It’s my birthday. Buy me something nice. Oh, and The Stills will be at the Phoenix on that date, but that’s secondary to my birthday. Their new album Without Feathers is out May 9 and you can hear the first single on their MySpace page. Update: It’s been confirmed – the March 8 show is indeed a private party for beautiful people only. The May 11 show is open to Morlocks.

And oh yeah, The Flaming Lips are at The Phoenix on April 4 with Wolfmother. Tickets $39.50, on sale Saturday. Glad I don’t have to decide whether or not I want to shell out that kind of cash to be walked on by a man in giant plastic bubble – I’m out of the country (again).

University of Toronto university newspaper The Varsity (Bugmenot) has a feature on local arts and culture blogs, including yours truly (along with Pop (All Love), Zoilus, Sally McKay and Booklust. A nice little piece but that image they photoshopped from my site is downright creepy.

Popmatters eulogizes Arrested Development, which I finally saw the conclusion of last week. While I certainly mourn the demise of one of the best television comedys, oh, ever, I am surprisingly satisifed with the finale. I still like saying “Bob Loblaw” for no particular reason.

np – Cat Power / The Greatest