Midlake / The Trials Of Van Occupanther (Bella Union) There’s something unrelentingly 70s about Denton, Texas’ Midlake. I mean, I was born in 1975 so don’t remember much of the decade at all, let alone the music, and I don’t listen to a lot of music of that vintage but that notwithstanding, there’s something about this record that simply SCREAMS 70s. Maybe it’s the production, maybe it’s the instrumentation, maybe it’s the fact that it’s a prog-folk concept album or that the title is The Trials Of Van Occupanther. But all that notwithstanding, Trials, out out July 25, is lightly trippy and extremely mellow – even when it gets uptempo, it stays almost frustratingly laid back. Despite my general indifference, a lot of folks are quite enamored of this record. Maybe I’ll get it more after seeing them live when they’re at Lee’s Palace on July 31 supporting The Hold Steady. They may or may not take the stage wearing capes. MP3: Midlake – “Roscoe” Video: Midlake – “Young Bride” MySpace: Midlake

Fiel Garvie / Caught Laughing (Words On Music) Hailing from Norwich in the east of England, Fiel Garvie backs up her Anne Reekie’s shy, whispery (and maybe slightly creepy) smile of a voice with some exquisite chamber pop arrangements that give their sound a distinctive dreamy, timeless, fairy tale-ish quality that you don’t hear so much of these days. They actually remind a bit of The Concretes but more deliberately baroque and timeless than cribbing from a Motown fake book. The tempo rarely gets above a slow canter but there’s no need to rush through something this pretty. MP3: Fiel Garvie – “Estimate” MP3: Fiel Garvie – “The Palace Lights” MP3: Fiel Garvie – “Airsong” MySpace: Fiel Garvie

Low Skies / All The Love I Could Find (Flameshovel) Chris Salveter, frontman and singer for Chicago’s Low Skies, goes for that staggering, drunk at 3AM, howling at the moon vocal style which is a fine line to try and walk. When he hits, he’s soulful and intense and the result is everything that blend of beer and tears in your mug would want it to be. When it doesn’t, it’s grating and out of tune and you just wanna throw him in the back of the cab without getting puke on your shoes. His bandmates do a solid job of crafting a suitably slow and hazy backdrop for his barstool philosophizing, rich in atmosphere and a sepia, dusty twang. MP3: Low Skies – “Levelling” MP3: Low Skies – “You Can’t Help Those People” MP3: Low Skies – “To Fail You” MySpace: Low Skies

np – Hot Chip / The Warning

Billboard reports that TV On The Radio’s sophomore album Return To Cookie Mountain, which was released internationally last week to rave reviews, will be getting its North American release on September 12 via Interscope (they’re on 4AD elsewhere in the world). I’m still very much a newcomer to this band (first exposure just two weeks ago), but am quite keen to hear the record and news of North American touring in the Fall is also good news.

Almost every band member is taking their turns with press duties – vocalists Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone talk to New York Press, drummer Jaleel Bunton discusses their major label debut with The Japan Times and producer/guitarist David Sitek draws questions from down under, talking to New Zealand’s Stuff and The Sydney Morning Herald. Bassist Gerard Smith doesn’t talk to anyone. They’ve also gotten some extensive coverage in recent issues of Mass Appeal, Filter and Magnet.

The band is still tuning up their website but have got some entertaining little promo clips available for you viewing pleasure. In addition to the four currently on the site (number 2 has a special guest star at the end), there’s a fifth one at YouTube.

Cat Power has a new video. It’s quite astonishing to compare Chan 2006 with, say Chan 1998. Still has her own style of dancing, though.

Video: Cat Power – “Lived In Bars” (YouTube)
Video: Cat Power – “Cross Bones Style” (YouTube)

Pitchfork brings news of a new Portastatic release due on October 10. Be Still Please is the proper follow-up to Bright Ideas, at least far moreso than the Who Loves The Sun? soundtrack that was released under the ‘Static name earlier this year. From the MP3 the ‘Fork has on offer, it sounds like a good blend of the guitar rock of the last few Portastatic releases and the more orchestrated sound that Mac has been exploring on his soundtrack releases. Looking forward to this record. And also pleased that Mac continues to blog.

MP3: Portastatic – “Sour Shores”

According to Harp, the collaboration between Belle & Sebastian and the Los Angeles Philharmonic was a smashing success. OCRegister concurs. Anyone know if there’ll be a recording from this circulating at any point? I’m too lazy to look but would very much like to hear it.

Tuscon Weekly talks to Camera Obscura’s Nigel Baillie.

ZWire profiles Rainer Maria. Via Largehearted Boy.

Paste declares Voxtrot their band of the week.

Today’s funniest man on the internet – Mr. Aaron Wherry.

np – Fiel Garvie / Caught Laughing

So Paste has finally posted online the whole of their “100 Best Living Songwriters” feature, complete with supporting essays for each listee. Topping the list, to on one’s surprise, is Bob Dylan – only the most devoted contrarian would try to take issue with his selection. Neil Young’s #2 placing might ruffle a few more feathers, but only amongst crazy people so we’ll disregard their complaints. Things potentially get a little more contentious in the middle of the pack (Sufjan Stevens over Richard Thompson? Hrmmm) but I’m not the sort to get all riled up over lists. That’s what Stereogum comments are for.

Anyway, if you’ve got an hour or two to kill, cruise the essays – they’re generally written by people with book-learnin’ or other smarts and it’s always good to entertain the rationale behind picks you may not agree with (Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood defends #10 pick Prince). The list is broken up into 10 sections (1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, 91-100) as well as a readers poll.

And to backtrack to Bobby Dylan a bit, Billboard has some more info and the tracklisting for his new album Modern Times, out August 29 and E! reports on the forthcoming Broadway musical based on his songs. Even with his endorsement, I can’t help but think it’s going to be a travesty and a half.

Golden Smog will release their latest Another Fine Day next Tuesday and in addition to being able to grab a full MP3 below, you can hear clips from the whole record here. The Pioneer Press talks to Dan Murphy about the logistics of the Smog and why you won’t see Jeff Tweedy (24) out with them as they try to support the new record.

MP3: Golden Smog – “5-22-02”

Being There conducts an intensive interview with Sufjan Stevens (47) about The Avalanche, which came out this past Tuesday while Salon makes do with three questions. Nextbook also has a brief interview. Allmusic, meanwhile, takes the wheel on the Sufjan backlash wagon and goes to town.

Billboard talks to Spoon-man Britt Daniel (-) about the follow-up to Gimme Fiction, which they’re in the midst of recording. The reissue package combining their first album Telephono with their early EP Soft Effects will be out July 25. It sounds almost nothing like current Spoon, but is still worthy in its own right. Check some out, the first track is from Telephono, the second from Soft Effects.

MP3: Spoon – “Idiot Driver”
MP3: Spoon – “Mountain To Sound”

eye talks to Land Of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell about Pootie Tang, a film I think I’ve actually seen at least some of. LoT open up the Dog Day Afternoon at Fort York tomorrow.

Some concert news – Finnish electro-pop outfit Husky Rescue will be at the El Mocambo on August 5 with Chicago’s Elanors, tickets $10. Husky Rescue were on my SxSW shortlist back in March so I’m pleased to get the chance to see them without, you know, having to go to Texas.

Also noteworthy – the Indie Unlimited festival happening at Harbourfront over the last weekend in August just got a lot more interesting. Great Lake Swimmers are still playing at 2PM, but the original headliner for the evening – Amy Millan – has now been moved to the 3:30PM slot, opening up the headlining slot (for around 9PM, I would estimate) for… The Hidden Cameras. Terrific news for those wanting to see them celebrate their new album Awoo, out August 15, but didn’t want to have to do the Virgin Festival to do so. After all – this show is also on the water and is decidedly FREE.

Also happening at Harbourfront but not till October 3 – newly-rediscovered British folk icon Vashti Bunyan will be at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre with Great Lake Swimmers supporting, tickets $24 to $27.

While Eugene Mirman isn’t a musician per se (though the Marvelous Crooning Child on his website is awesomeness), he IS signed to SubPop and I’m pretty sure he KNOWS a lot of musicians… and he’s one funny mofo. He turns the Horseshoe into a comedy club on August 17. Maybe they’ll put up one of those brick walls along the back.

np – The Cardigans / Long Gone Before Daylight

This Saturday night offers an opportunity for the Toronto club-hopper to put together their own Korn-free Family Values tour. First up is an early show at the Drake Underground featuring Brooklyn’s Say Hi To Your Mom and later that night Ottawa’s My Dad Vs Yours are at Lee’s Palace followed by a new local outfit I’ve never heard called Kids, but who claim some choice influences (Mojave 3, Belle & Sebastian). Since I can’t offer up any thoughts on them without having any any way to hear their stuff (not even a MySpace) and since I wrote up MDvsY not long ago, lets talk about Say Hi To Your Mom.

The trio plays a downbeat yet hooky form of indie rock, equal parts dry, snaky guitar and whirring keyboard textures, DIY-recording aesthethic and effective atmosphere, topped off with a wry lyrical touch. Sufficed to say their fourth and latest album Impeccable Blahs, out July 25, is a low-key laid back treat. I want to namecheck Spoon and Luna, though I couldn’t necessarily back that up. The Postal Service gets held up as a reference point pretty frequently but I don’t really hear it. Yeah, it’s pop songs with electronic touches but its much more organic and less programmed than anything that act puts out. And you can’t really dance to Say Hi To Your Mom. Shuffle, maybe, but dance? Not so much.

But who wants to dance on a Saturday night? Say Hi To Your Mom will go on around 9-ish, leaving plenty of time to hoof it up to Lee’s for My Dad Vs Yours’ 11:30 set. Kids will get to stay up late on this eve, going on at 12:30. Cover for the former show is $7 advance, $10 at the door and Lee’s will be $5 at the door.

MP3: Say Hi To Your Mom – “Angels And Darlas”
MP3: Say Hi To Your Mom – “Sad, But Endearingly So”
MySpace: Say Hi To Your Mom

The Edmonton Sun welcomes Son Volt to town for the first time ever while The Ottawa Citizen takes the clever journalistic tact of comparing Jay Farrar’s career trajectory with Jeff Tweedy’s. And I Heart Music chats with Wilco’s Glenn Kotche about his solo record, Mobile, which you can hear a piece of below. Sure to appeal to fans of other men who’ve stepped out from behind the kit on their own, you know like Don Henley or Phil Collins.

MP3: Glenn Kotche – “Projections of (What) Might. . .”

The National go alligator hunting. Calamity ensues.

Pitchfork has details of My Morning Jacket’s upcoming double-live album Okonokos, out September 26.

The Rich Girls Are Weeping offers some clarification to their statements earlier this week about Shearwater’s future with Misra Records. As I posted in an update to my post a couple days ago, they are still very much working together to promote Palo Santo and you should go buy a copy now. I kinda think the band and label should have milked this for some PR though – nothing gets press better than good old fashioned knock down, drag out indie rock street fight. Pitchfork gave their recent live show in Chicago a solid thumbs-up.

Also worth noting – the MySpace for the Okkervil River Navigational Auxiliary Guild – a registration-required fansite – has a couple of unreleased Okkervil River songs streaming, one a radically different and dreamy version of “No Key, No Plan” and the other a demo from last year of uncertain fate. They also report that some of the tracks recorded at their marathon recording sessions from this past January will be seeing release in the form of vinyl-only singles, starting with a tune called “The President’s Dead” b-sided by “The Room I’m Hiding In”. No details on when to expect that yet.

Some of you who’ve been around a while may remember my old band Lake Holiday – well while I’m no longer playing with them, they soldier onwards and are embarking on their first tour of the American midwest. It’s a brief tour but does hit some key market cities, so if you’re around do try to stop in and check them out. Dates, bills and info are available on their MySpace. Their/our first album This Is How We Say Goodbye should be out next Tuesday. I say “our” because I play on it. I think. It’s been a while.

np – M Ward / Post-War

Okay, full disclosure time: I was originally approached by Warner Bros last week about doing a giveaway for tickets to see The Secret Machines at the Dog Day Afternoon festival at Fort York this Saturday in exchange for some writeup in ye olde blog. Now those of you who’ve been kicking around music blogopolis for a few years may remember this incident from a couple years ago when Warners sent out Secret Machines MP3s to a bunch of music blogs in hopes of drumming up some hype, though only one bit, albeit reluctantly.

That didn’t have anything specifically to do with me, but I was still concerned a bit about the optics of it – after all, this was a band I’d never heard or written about and who I’d first heard of in the context of a clumsy early PR attempt between major labels and blogs. I was perfectly happy to give away the tickets, but the quid pro quo was a bit unsettling. But an arrangement was reached where it was agreed that I would give the band some ink on the contests page which, in my mind anyway, carries less implicit approval about the acts involved in the giveaways. Not that I really expect you all care so much – free stuff is free stuff, right?

But anyway, a funny thing happened as I was preparing to put the contest up – I went to the Secret Machines webpage to look for some basic info and started listening to the album stream of their new one, Ten Silver Drops, and what do you know – it was pretty damn good. For whatever reason, I’d had it in my head that the band were some overwrought glam-rawk outfit with more style than substance and more chops than sense, but from what I was hearing, they were actually a very tuneful and engrossing space-rock trio with a good balance of subtlety and bombast and a definite ear for an anthem. Certainly the sort of thing I could see myself getting into. Which made me quite comfortable with the idea of writing them up here instead of the contests page – and anyway, my Futureheads contest is still running and I wasn’t really looking forward to reprogramming things to run two simultaneous contests…

So speaking of the contest – I have two pairs of tickets to the aforementioned Dog Day Afternoon fest at Fort York on Saturday. In addition to the Secret Machines, you’ve got a very solid lineup of acts including Land Of Talk, The Fiery Furnaces and festival curators Metric. To enter, just email me with “You sell-out! Give me the tickets!” in the subject line. Since the show is this weekend, this will be a limited-time affair – the contest will close at midnight tonight. And since I have the tickets physically in my possession, some arrangement will have to be made to get them from me to you – please be local or be able to meet up in downtown Toronto (Eaton Centre-ish) on Friday or early Saturday. Update: Winners have been selected. Thanks for playing. Even if you didn’t win passes, you’re still winners in life.

A postscript – I only heard about the MP3 debacle after the fact since I never recieved the mailing from Warner Bros asking me to post the track… until about a week after it all blew over. The email was dated about a month prior but had gotten lost in the internet ether until well after I would have had to decide whether to play along or not. Funny, no? Also ironically, there is no free-and-legal MP3 from the new album for me to link, so I can only offer you a video, a MySpace and this Rolling Stone live session.

Video: The Secret Machines – “All At Once” (MOV)
MySpace: The Secret Machines

The Chronicle Herald profiles The Futureheads.

I Like Music discusses the new Sigur Ros single for Saeglopur, out as a CD+DVD package on August 8.

The Guardian reports on the passing of Syd Barrett this past weekend at the age of 60.

Mates Of State’s September 16 show has been confirmed for Lee’s Palace. Also, Harvey Danger will be there on October 3, tickets $9.

CokeMachineGlow argues in favour of the indie artist selling out.

np – DeVotchKa / How It Ends