I’d like to think I adequately previewed last night’s Rainer Maria/Ambulette show at the Horseshoe last month, so let’s just get into it.

Rainer Maria have been through town a few times since I saw them last here in July 2003, but usually with some really dubious emo-punk bill that I couldn’t bring myself to see. I still hadn’t gotten my copy of Catastrophe Keeps Us Together yet (damn you post office) so aside from the few preview tracks I’d heard and the SxSW showcase, I was going in a little blind. But what I did knew for certain was that RM are one of the most energetic live acts I’ve seen, especially guitarist Kyle Fischer who spends most of the show flailing around the stage somehow without missing a note. Caithlin De Marrais wasn’t as karate-kicking animated as last time, but still kept up her end of the energy level while handling lead vocals loudly, clearly and passionately. Fischer occasionally doubled vox on older material in a new hoarse scream. It’s not often that the drummer is the most restrained member of the band, but William Kuehn really was, at least relatively speaking.

Again, I haven’t heard the new record in its entirety but do know that it’s a more… mature affair? Polished? But either way, the new stuff works quite well live – there’s maybe a little more crackle to it in that context but put against the more frantic older material it also provides a good dynamic counterpoint. The set, short as it was at an hour including encore, had a really good tempo and pacing and the crowd, smallish as it was, was completely into it. The band didn’t have quite the defiant “something to prove” attitude that I picked up on in Austin, but still gave a fine performance.

Ambulette also seemed to have a different attitude than in Austin, but it was a positive change. They had a friendlier vibe than last time I saw them and were also playing and sounding a lot better. Maura Davis’ voice was in fine form, still huge and dramatic, but there seemed to be some more real emotion behind it rather than just mechanics. The band played much of the material from the The Lottery EP but the songs that really caught my ear were (presumably) the new ones not on the recording – some of it sounded really good. At a high level, it’s likely that Ambulette are simply operating in a genre a little outside of what I’m usually into, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep paying attention.

Gig photos hopefully tomorrow though maybe not till Wednesday. In the meantime, there’s a video available for the title track of the new Rainer Maria album and you can hear more from both RM and Ambulette at their MySpace pages. And City On A Hill Press has posted an piece on the band with some quotes from RM’s Kuehn. Update: Photos are done!

MP3: Rainer Maria – “Burn”
Video: Rainer Maria – “Catastrophe” (MP4)

Though their new one, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass isn’t out till September 12, there’s already new Yo La Tengo to hear! Why, it’s positively JAUNTY. Happy day.

MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Beanbag Chair”

The AV Club talks to Neko Case about geography. And if you haven’t seen it, there’s a video for “Maybe Sparrow”.

Video: Neko Case – “Maybe Sparrow” (Flash)

Toronto’s Diableros have put together a video for “Sugar Laced Soul” and have made another song available for download via MySpace. VUE Weekly talked to the band about playing larger venues thanks to the success of You Can’t Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts. They’ll be playing a loaded non-NxNE show at Sneaky Dee’s on June 9 with The Paper Cranes.

MP3: The Diableros – “Working Out Words”
Video: The Diableros – “Sugar Laced Soul” (MOV)

The powers that be have unearthed a slew of videos from Soul Asylum’s heyday. Take a stroll down memory lane and marvel at Dave Pirner’s hair here.

Harp has some behind the scenes video footage from the making of Drive-By Truckers’ A Blessing And A Curse, out in Canada next Tuesday.

The Boston Globe Q&A’s Stuart Brathwaite of Mogwai. They’re in town at the Phoenix tonight.

AOL continues to be a surprisingly cool resource for complete streaming albums – this week, have a listen to the new Doves live EP Some Cities Live and two new Dinosaur Jr reissues for Green Mind and Where You Been. The links may not go to the correct default album, so use the scrolly menu at the top.

I’m proud to have been asked to contribute to Goodhodgkins.com’s list of “Visceral Song Moments”. My pick? Okkervil River’s “For Real”.

Penultimate 24 commentary tomorrow or Wednesday or whenever. I’m busy these nights.

np – Sufjan Stevens / The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album

Time heals all. My two relatively minor regrets from my trip to Europe last Fall were missing shows by The National and Sigur Ros. Well lo and behold, eight months later both acts have returned to town – The National in March and Sigur Ros on Saturday night.

This would be my third time seeing Sigur Ros at Massey Hall, though the first in three and a half years. I missed their legendary show at the Palais Royale in April 2001 but can still hold their show from September of that year, for which I was in the front row, as one of the most amazing musical experiences I’ve ever beheld. The second time in October 2002 was less impactful, but as I commented at the time – “how many times can a band change your life?” Well while Saturday night’s show wasn’t life-changing, it was very much life-affirming – and I mean that in a completely non-schlocky sense.

My night got off to a bit of a rocky start as I realized after settling into my seat that my camera battery was still happily charging at home. Thankfully I only live one subway stop from the venue so I made a mad dash home to retrieve it – unfortunately, this meant missing most of Amina’s set. I only caught about two songs total but what I did hear was pretty and tinkly like a fairy tale jewelery box. This wouldn’t be my only opportunity to see them perform though, as they were an integral part of Sigur Ros’ band as well.

I’m no good with song names on the best of days so I won’t even bother with Sigur Ros’ foreign and cryptic titles (witness the set list – thanks, Erik). Sufficed to say that the richly orchestrated, Amina-enchanced tracks from Takk somehow made the () material sound almost raw and stripped down – certainly not adjectives one would normally use to describe Sigur Ros. The contrast in emotional content between the material Agaetis Byrjun, () and Takk is far more evident in the live setting – it’s remarkable that albums as laboured over, meticulously recorded and arranged as theirs are, still pale in comparison to the power of the live performance. Not meant as a slight against the albums, but as a point of reference in trying to describe how amazing they are on stage.

The wonder isn’t just aural, either. The show opened and closed with the performers hidden by a sheer white curtain and backlit to create eerie silhouettes the height of the stage, but for the rest of the almost two hours, it was just eight slight young Icelanders against a massive backdrop of projections and lighting effects. The coreography of the visuals with music, though subtle, was amazingly precise – especially during “Smaskifa” off of the Sigur 1/Sigur 9-era single where the silhouettes of birds on a wire, seemingly coming and going at random, all flew away the instant the last note was struck. And if the projections weren’t your style, you could always just close your eyes and let your imagination do what it would with the soundtrack. The closing number, as I believe it was four years ago, was “The Pop Song” from (), and it was as epic, terrifying and tremendous as I could have hoped.

Yeah, using this sort of language to describe the show might seem a little over the top, but the band doesn’t take any half-measures in what they do, it’s only fair to do likewise. I can’t think of another act today that is capable of channeling such pure, universal emotionalism through music. Whether singing in Icelandic or Hopelandish, I’m actually thankful I don’t understand any of it – that way it means exactly whatever I want it to. And the whole show, top to bottom, sound, sight, everything – was just beautiful. And the only thing better than second row seats? Second row seats with no one sitting in the first row directly in front of you. Hence the absence of heads in les photos. I’m glad I made the dash home for the battery, the lighting made for some dramatic shots. To whomever paid for those seats but couldn’t be bothered to show up, I thank you and you missed a hell of a night.

Here’s the closing song of () and of the night – long, but if you haven’t heard it before you really should.

MP3: Sigur Ros – “Untitled #8 (a.k.a. popplagio / the pop song)”

New records coming our way this Summer – a long time coming, The Hidden Cameras’ new one Awoo will be in stores August 15. A couple of veteran UK frontmen will be releasing their first solo efforts – Manic Street Preacher James Dean Bradfield will release The Great Western on July 24 in the UK and head Radiohead Thom Yorke has an album called The Eraser also due out July 11 – Billboard has details about that. And Luna’s The Very Best Of will be in stores on June 20, the same day as the Tell Me Do Miss Me documentary DVD. And as a footnote, congratulations to Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips who have a) completed work on their second album and b) gotten married.

Popmatters pays tribute to the late Grant McLennan.

The Cleveland Plains Dealer discusses the “emo” tag with Rainer Maria, in town at the Horseshoe tonight with Ambulette.

A most promising show will be going down at the El Mocambo on June 27 with DeVotchKa and Norfolk & Western. Both have just released new EPs – Curse Your Little Heart for the former, A Gilded Age for the latter. Also, The M’s have been tapped as support for the second half of Wilco’s Summer tour, including the July 7 Massey Hall show.

Billboard talks to Amy Millan about making Honey From The Tombs, out May 30. She reveals there’ll be touring to support in the Fall before heading back into the studio to work on the new Stars record, hopefully for a Spring ’07 release. She’s playing a special album release show June 10 at the Mod Club, Fembots supporting.

Last night was the final episode of The West Wing, and I am sad. I’ve watched the show faithfully since its inception seven seasons ago, and is – I believe – the longest relationship I’ve ever had with a television program. Despite a shaky fifth season in the wake of creator Aaron Sorkin’s departure, the series finished incredibly strongly and actually left me wanting them to carry on with the Santos administration but am probably glad they’re not. Always leave them wanting more, right? The final episode had many nice touches, not least of which was Martin Sheen’s brief scene with real-life daughter Renee (“Tell your mother I’ll see her soon”) – that was sweet. But man, especially after watching the repeat of the pilot before the final episode? I miss John Spencer. Read some farewells to the series from The San Jose Mercury News, The Chicago Sun-Times, the BBC and The Washington Post. Yeah, it may have been just a make-believe White House, but compared to what we’ve got today… What was that about Karl Rove?

np – The M’s / Future Women

Just for kicks, I’m keeping the Scandanavian theme running.

The Sounds / Dying to Say This to You (New Line) This Swedish outfit turns out mall-friendly rock with massive debts owed to the likes of Blondie and, well, Blondie. Singer Maja Ivarsson is brassy and sassy and just a little angsty but never remotely dangerous, likewise for the rest of the band who turn out a slick, PG-13 version of punk, glam and new wave. There’s nothing really hooky enough here to become a runaway Summer hit, but it’s all pleasantly anthemic and edgy enough to soundtrack suburban teenage rebellion or the prom. Whichever. MP3: The Sounds – “Painted By Numbers” The Sounds @ MySpace

Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet / Duper Sessions (Astralwerks) I’m not too proud to admit that I’ve always avoided Norway’s Sondre Lerche if for no other reason than he’s far too pretty to be trustworthy – that and the fact that another sensitive singer-songwriter type isn’t really the sort of thing I really need in my musical diet. On his latest album, he stakes out a slightly different turf in the adult contemporary landscape – jazz. Backed by a rather swinging quartet, Lerche turns out a surprisingly accomplished and convincing set of jazz-pop, comprised mostly of originals save for some covers with nods to the roots of jazz (Cole Porter’s “Night & Day”) as well as his own indie influences (Elvis Costello’s “Human Hands” and Prefab Sprout’s “Nightengales”). Smooth, pleasant and rather innocuous, it’s the perfect soundtrack to your next grup dinner party. Video: Sondre Lerche – “Minor Detail” (ASF) Sondre Lerche @ MySpace

Murmansk Hailing from Helsinki, Murmansk are a relatively new outfit who trade in dark, tense and grainy alt.rock. Singer Elisabeth’s voice is distinctive in a good way and ranges from a petulant growl to a more plaintive, melodic timbre when necessary. But she and the band seem more content to hang out in the shadows and make grittier, more sinister sounds. They just released their Teeth EP and show a whole lot of personality and promise – especially as their songwriting ability grows. MP3: Murmansk – “Shallow End” MP3: Murmansk – “2nd Floor Thrash” Video: Murmansk – “Dead Toys” (MOV) Murmansk @ MySpace

Kind Of Girl Copenhagen’s Kind Of Girl are also built very much on the strength of singer Sissel’s voice, though hers are a prettier and more conventional set of pipes. Similarly, their music is fairly straight melodic indie pop-rock of the sort there’s never really a shortage of but never wears out its welcome either. There’s no formal recorded output yet but they are presently working on their debut record. MP3: Kind Of Girl – “Poetry Boy” MP3: Kind Of Girl – “Slave To Your Charms” MP3: Kind Of Girl – “Watch In Wonder”

np – Sigur Ros / ()

Whenever I do a Radio Dept post (see yesterday), I’ve gotten in the habit of asking where their countrymen Douglas Heart have gone? It’s been some time since their I Could See The Smallest Things EP and aside from a cover of Slowdive’s “Alison” for the Never Lose That Feeling shoegaze tribute album, there’s been nary a peep from them. Well thanks to the wonder of MySpace I’ve found that not only are they working on a new album (though not for Labrador), but they’ve even made a couple of rough mixes of new songs available to stream. Happy day!

But while searching for Douglas Heart news, I found this post at One Louder which pointed to We Are Soldiers We Have Guns, another project of Douglas Heart singer Malin Dahlberg with the laudable manifesto of “We Are Soldiers We Have Guns will never be cool or cute, and it will never be ironic”. Much simpler sonically than the Douglas Heart material, it’s nonetheless just as beguiling thanks to Dahlberg’s winsome voice. They have one self-titled EP out already and will be releasing a second this Summer. Download below or stream via MySpace.

MP3: We Are Soldiers We Have Guns – “Damn Those TV Shows, Damn Them Straight To Hell”
MP3: We Are Soldiers We Have Guns – “Tourists In Our Hometown”

And from the We Are Soldiers links page, I came across Audrey, their labelmates on Stereo Test Kit. They’re another Swedish combo that was brought to my attention a little while back by Everything’s Swirling and whom I’d not gotten around to writing about till now. Having just released their debut full-length Visible Forms on May 9, they produce beautifully slow and stately music that has as much Icelandic flavour as it does Swedish with Bjork-ish vocals over Sigur Ros-ish arrangements. Check out the first single from the album below and also visit their MySpace. Coincidentally (and wholly independently of my post) Swedes Please is also featuring Audrey.

MP3: Audrey – “Mecklenburg”
MP3: Audrey – “Box, And Fights”

And hopping across the sea, we find Georg Holm of Sigur Ros telling The Milwuakee Journal-Sentinel that Icelandic bands can be as boring as anywhere else. And apparently the band are now label-less in the US? A travesty. They are at Massey Hall tonight.

Pitchfork brings news of another Bjork box set – this one is called Surrounded and will feature all nine of her albums remastered and done up in DualDisc format with all the videos for each record accompanying the audio side. Look for it June 27.

And some bad news and good news from The Concretes. The bad – their van was broken into this past Tuesday after their show at the Bowery in NYC on and a number of guitars and basses stolen. The good – they’ve made an adorable video for “On The Radio” which you can see here.

Man – that’s a lot of great Scandanavian music in two posts, and I wasn’t even really looking for any. With such a fertile musical scene, it’s not really surprising that there’s no shortage of websites dedicated solely to the promotion of bands from that part of the world. Swedes Please and Hello Surprise, both focus specifically on Sweden and and Take Your Medicine recently posted an MP3 love letter to Swedish uber-label Labrador.

It’s A Trap!, however, covers the whole of Scandanavia and wonderfully so. They’ve just released a compilation of Scandanavian artists called It’s A Trap! Readers Companion Volume 2 and it’s a great mix of styles ranging from the sweetest indie pop to electronica and country twang. You can stream the whole thing off their website and it’s a mere pittance to buy – like the same price as an extra value meal. Man those things are expensive now. Anyway, early listening standouts include Hello Saferide, Paris… Expect to see coverage of more than a few of the artists on this disc in the future in what seems to be becoming a periodic “Hello Scandanavia” feature on this site.

And I think I’m going to keep this Scandanavia thing running a little longer. I was there last Fall, y’know. Amazing places. If you’re in a Nordic mood, check out my pics from Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo and Copenhagen. Beautiful cities, all.

np – Danielson / Ships

Expectations in music are a tricky thing. As a fan, do you have the right to be disappointed if an artist produces a work that wasn’t what you were hoping for? Are they beholden to their public or to their muse? Consider Sweden’s Radio Dept. Their debut, Lesser Matters, was a glorious blend of Belle & Sebastian twee and Jesus & Mary Chain fuzz and is easily one of my favourite albums of the last few years. So it’s natural that I expected great things from their follow-up Pet Grief. Sure, last year’s This Past Week EP was mostly devoid of distortion and didn’t suffer for it, but I admit I hoped that was a detour more than a direction. As it turns out, not so much.

On Pet Grief, the band have not only traded in their their fuzz pedals, but the settings on their drum machines higher than 100bpm in exchange for keyboards keyboards and more keyboards. It’s a very gentle record start to finish, and while Lesser Matters didn’t exactly burn the house down, it had its share of more upbeat mope. It recalls a more melancholic Pet Shop Boys or perhaps an indie pop Depeche Mode – there’s still a light brushing of gauze over the whole affair, but nothing like the shortwave static beauty of the debut. Another point of reference might be Belle & Sebastian’s “Electronic Renaissance”, though not as buoyant or caught up in the novelty of trying something completely outside the box. It’s not all synths and pads though – “Every Time” reintroduces guitars into the mix but even those are mixed down and politely. Drums, however, remain almost resolutely of the electronic variety and this time it sounds more like an conscious aesthetic decision than necessity. The melodies and songwriting is still ace, but it’s such a sedate affair that I can’t help but be a little frustrated with it.

And this is where my initial question about expectations comes in – my initial reaction to Pet Grief was disappointment, bordering on great. But the more I listen, I realize that it has its charms and these become more evident the more I listen to it and what it actually is supplants what I wanted it to be in my mind. But if my opinion plateaus at it being okay but no Lesser Matters, am I being fair to it by only considering it in contrast to its predecessor? Would someone who’s never heard the first record have a much more positive opinion of it and would their perspective, being unskewed and impartial, be more correct? Of course the correct answer is that there is no correct answer. Opinions, everyone’s got one, blah blah. But it’s still an interesting point to consider. But as it is, Pet Grief has not earned the heavy rotation that I’d hoped it would – I think that’s at least a fair, objective statement of fact.

But something that either camp will agree on is that the band is criminally underrecognized, but that may be on the verge of changing. Oh No They Didn’t’s LiveJournal has an interview with Sofia Coppola (by her mom) about her next film Marie Antoinette, which will feature three Radio Dept songs on the soundtrack. Everyone’s already seen the New Order-soundtracked trailer, but here’s a new talkie one. Could this exposure be the band’s big break? Hey – look what Lost In Translation did for Kevin Shields! Oh yeah – nothing. The movie is out October 13.

Import prices for the record from Labrador aren’t bad at all, and still might even be cheaper than the domestic prices you’ll find it for on May 30 when it gets released over here (via The Big Ticket). Hey, your call. Here’s a couple tracks from Pet Grief including the first single – very smooth and refined – and a couple of Lesser Matters-era tracks including a live one from earlier on in the band’s career – very rough and fuzzy. Compare and contrast. And as a bonus, there’s a lovely track I posted a while back that’s taken from some rare Swedish comp – one of their best. Also hit up YouTube for a few videos if you require visual aids. There’s loads more media at Labrador and there’s an officially unofficial MySpace page.

MP3: The Radio Dept – “The Worst Taste In Music”
MP3: The Radio Dept – “A Window”
MP3: The Radio Dept – “Pulling Our Weight”
MP3: The Radio Dept – “Where Damage Isn’t Already Done” (live at UImea Open, Molma 2003)
MP3: The Radio Dept – “The Hide Away”

Magnus Svensson of The Cardigans talks to Ireland’s Event Guide about Super Extra Gravity.

BrooklynVegan has been hard at work playing connect the dots with Jens Lekman, The Concretes, Frida Hyvonen and non-Swede New Buffalo. The St Paul Pioneer Press talked to the Concretes’ Victoria Bergstrom about their ongoing North American tour.

Lekman is doing a North American tour this July but sadly, has no plans at present to visit us up here. But Prefix helpfully points out a couple of live Jens videos via Le Blogotheque, recorded by Matieu Saura, aka Vincent Moon:

Video: Jens Lekman – “Happy Birthday, Sweet Lisa” (MOV)
Video: Jens Lekman – “F Word” (MOV)

This was going to be an epic-length Scandanavian post, but it was getting way too long so I’ve cut it into two. Check back tomorrow for more.

np – The Mountain Goats / Babylon Springs