Three years on from the release of their debut album Lovers, Perth, Australia’s Sleepy Jackson return on July 25 with their new record Personality (One Was A Spider One Was A Bird). Or if you live in Australia, you’ve been enjoying this album since its release on the first of the month.

If you thought Lovers was lush, you haven’t heard anything else. While the debut was undoubtedly indebted to the Beatles and Beach Boys in terms of sonic ambition, it also had a ragged, eccentric streak through it (an impression definitely reinforced by their chaotic, eardrum-bursting live shows of the era). Well in the interim, someone must have prescribed songwriter/svengali Luke Steele some Focusin because that manic energy has been channeled… into even more lush, orchestral sonic ambition. Personality is a giant, sparkling monument of pop grandeur – the cover art is not fooling around.

While there is much to like about Personality, not least of all the sheer audaciousness of Steele’s vision, I have to admit I miss the countryish tinges on Lovers that made songs like “Miniskirt” and “Old Dirt Farmer” such joys. Instead, they’ve traded the twang for a more soul/gospel influence – more grooves, falsetto vocals, smoother production. The spirituality is also reflected in the lyrical content – there’s a running theme of God, the Devil and the places they dwell. Perhaps what I find most interesting is that for a record that is so rich and melodic, the hooks on Personality seem quite subtle and overall it seems to be more of a grower than you’d expect it to be. I’d attribute this as much to the production as anything else – there’s simply so much going on aurally that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. But once you find stable footing in facing the onslaught of voices, strings and sound, it’s a treat.

The Times profiles Luke Steele, who talks to X-Press Online about the agonies of creating Personality, The West Australian about his inspirations. Drummer Malcom Clarke also handles som press duties in talking to Perth Music about the new record.

The Sleepy Jackson have a few live dates in America for the end of July, but with only three shows in New York and Los Angeles, it’s little more than a press junket. Hopefully they will return for a proper tour before too long and hopefully Steele leaves his medication at home – they were insane opening for My Morning Jacket way back in Septebmer 2003. And while their main website is under construction, go here for news and info.

Stream: The Sleepy Jackson – “God Lead Your Soul” (ASX)
Stream: The Sleepy Jackson – “Devil Was In My Yard” (ASX)
Video: The Sleepy Jackson – “God Lead Your Soul” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Sleepy Jackson

One of the bands The Sleepy Jackson get compared to are The Flaming Lips, though that’s not a comparison Steele particularly appreciates (Quoth Steele: “Don’t know about the new Flaming Lips record. There’s no good songs on there”). Guitar Player talks to Steve Drozd, the guy who used to be the Lips’ drummer and was one of the best in the biz, but also now handles the lion’s share of guitar duties on Lips records. It’s an interesting piece since most press talks to Wayne Coyne about the spectacle and overshadows the musicianship aspect of the Lips. The Big Takeover has also finished off their interview with the other Flaming Lip who is not Wayne Coyne, Michael Ivins. I linked part one a while back – here’s two and three.

The act just below the Lips on day one of the V Festival at Olympic Island on September 9, Gnarls Barkley, will be in town one month prior on August 9 for a gig at the Kool Haus. Tickets go on sale Friday for $31.25 so if value is of any issue to you, you might as well just shell out the extra $16 and see the other dozen-plus bands on the V Fest bill. Plus you get a ferry ride. Which is like a pony ride, but on a boat.

From The Rich Girls Are Weeping comes the perplexing news that Shearwater is no longer on the Misra roster? Like one of the commenters points out, I have no idea what being dropped from an indie label entails, but the timing seems strange since Shearwater have just released the best record of their career and certainly one of the best of the year. The New York Times profiled the band and gave their recent NYC show a glowing review – GoodHodgkins is also spreading the Shearwater love. Make sure you come out and see them open for Magnolia Electric Co at Lee’s Palace on September 12. Update: Rumours, innuendo, gotta love the internet. For the record, Shearwater are still at home on Misra records. Now go buy Palo Santo.

And the night before, swing by the Mod Club to see Oakley Hall open for M Ward. The band recently gave an interview to Daytrotter and performed an exclusive session that you can download.

np – Ladyhawk / Ladyhawk

Really, what sort of preamble is necessary when talking about Wilco? By numbers – Friday night was my seventh time seeing them live, the third with the Ghost lineup and the first in a year and a half. I suppose you could say this was a Kicking Television tour, but I’ve never really held with the idea that you can/should tour a live record. Anyway. Wilco needs no excuse or reason. If and when they want to visit, you just roll out the carpet.

Opening up was fellow Chicagoans The M’s, whose new record Future Women I reviewed last month and who had the rather unenviable task of playing to a nearly-empty Massey Hall. In addition to it surely being a much larger venue than they were accustomed to playing, the normally excellent acoustics were muddled and boomy, probably on account of the fact that it was designed to sound good with people in it. Regardless, The M’s plugged ahead with a 40-minute set of retro-esque garage-glam – I thought they were fine though they didn’t get me any more excited about their album.

Wilco has been working A Ghost Is Born for two years now, and as I mentioned this would be the third time I’d seen them in support of that particular record – which is why it was more than a little exciting to hear them start the show with an all-new song, played for the first time anywhere. “There’s A Light” was a beautiful acoustic-led number in a folky vein that Wilco hasn’t mined much in recent years. In addition to “Light”, there were two other new songs thrown into the set – “Walken”, a straightforward stomper that’s been kicking around for a while and “Impossible Germany”, which was simply dazzling and certainly bodes well for the forthcoming album. Of course, “Spiders” was also a live favourite before they got into the studio with it and turned it on its head (into a completely different live favourite).

The rest of the set was the usual suspects – heavy on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born, a couple cuts from Summerteeth and from the Mermaid Avenue records (I was perfectly happy to trade “California Stars” for “Airline To Heaven”), nothing from AM and “Misunderstood” representing Being There. A surprise addition to the set, however, was Being There‘s “Kingpin”, which closed the first encore. In the past seven years, Wilco has never played it’s not our fault that we didn’t know the audience participation drill – Jeff Tweedy, resplendent in bushy beard and leg brace (stress fractures from running) had to coach the crowd in yelling at the top of our lungs in response to the “How can I…” lyric. I don’t know when or where that started, but it was fun, I admit.

Which brings us to the most common post-game topic of discussion of this particular show. It was fully fifty minutes into the show before Jeff addressed the audience, who to that point had been seated politely but responding to each song enthusiastically. And before long, he was calling the audience “motherf*ckers” and basically demanding everyone get up and if not dance, at least demonstrate a little energy. Which we all did, happily, and I won’t say that the energy level of the show didn’t pick up at that point (well, shortly thereafter – getting everone to stand and then playing a mellow number like “Jesus, Etc” seemed a bit odd), but standing at seated venues is always tricky. Unless my dogs are barking, I don’t really care one way or the other but I never want to be the one blocking five rows behind me because I think because it’s a “rock show” that courtesy and consideration go out the window. But anyway, it was as good a time as any for everyone to stand and shake it a bit. Tweedy also offered suggestions to behaviour at future shows, which I’ve linked in video form below. Kinda funny. However to anyone who complains about seated venues like Massey Hall, let me say that a) it has far and away the best sound in the city, and b) if you don’t like it and want to stand, just consider these four words: “Wilco. At. The. Docks”. Now shut up.

But the show, overall, was spectacular though I expect nothing less. Enough time had passed that I was able to enjoy the show for what it was, and not be tempted to compare it to the unmatchable intimacy of the August 2004 Mod Club show, which I couldn’t say for the last Massey Hall show in October of the same year. In that time, even though I wouldn’t have believed it if you told me at the time, the band has gotten even tighter and more simpatico each time out. This time Nels Cline’s guitar leads, which in the past may have been ready to burst out of the seams of Wilco’s songs, finally seemed to fully mesh and pull bring the song along with it when it soared. The triple-guitar outro of “Handshake Drugs” was also stunning, thanks to utility man Pat Sansone. Even though I’d heard most of the set countless times either live or in live recordings, they still manage to entrance – a testament both to the songs and the band. That doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to hear that Wilco will be going off the road after this Canadian tour and working in earnest on a new record. Get to it, boys.

When I was in New York last week, I went out and bought a long, fast lens expressly for the purpose of getting some decent photos from the 6th row. While it’s also turned out to be superb for in-close club shots, it also did the job really well on Friday night – check out the pics. Even with heavy cropping, most still look pretty damn sharp if I do say so myself.

Further support materials – the MP3 of the Bill Fay cover, “Be Not So Fearful” comes from the October 2004 Massey Hall show. I had the Loose Fur version as one of my very first MP3s of the week back in 2002, but this version is much fuller and nicer. The track is one of my more frequent archive requests and seems to mean an uncommon amount to people, so everyone – enjoy. I’ve also posted an mp3 of “Impossible Germany” from their show in Milwaukee last week – you can torrent the whole of that show at Dime A Dozen. Apologies if posting the MP3 is a heinous breach of taper ettiquite – if posting the one track compressed is evil, let me know and I’ll take it down.

Also, thanks to Thom, who also has photos from the show, for the video of Jeff Tweedy thanking Toronto for their politeness but also imploring us to get up and get rude. The Toronto Sun has a review of the show, as does For The Records and Torontoist along with some nice centre-balcony photos. Chart also has a review.

MP3: Wilco – “Be Not So Fearful” (live in Toronto 2004-10-04)
MP3: Wilco – “Impossible Germany” (live in Milwaukee 2006-07-05)
MP3: The M’s – “Plan Of The Man”
Video: Wilco loves Toronto (AVI) – 10MB
Video: The M’s – “Mansion In The Valley” (MOV)
MySpace: Wilco
MySpace: The M’s

np – TV On The Radio / Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

Run Chico Run / Slow Action (Boompa) British Columbians Run Chico Run became a duo by circumstance when the third leg of their trio bailed right before a tour and the unconventional arrangement has served them well. The sound on their latest album Slow Action is quite a contrast to what I witnessed when I saw them at SxSW in 2004 – while that was a storm of drums, huge fuzzy walls of keyboards and questionable facial hair, their studio effort is a bright slice of classic, clean-shaven and nerdy new-wave pop. The songwriting is quirky but accessible and (thankfully), they do not restrict themselves to two-piece instrumentation on record. The end result is hooky enough to be ear candy but odd and eccentric enough to challenge/confound the grey matter. Recommended, and try to catch them as they cross Canada this August, including a date at the Silver Dollar in Toronto on August 12. Full dates on their MySpace page. MP3: Run Chico Run – “Clockwork Crows” MySpace: Run Chico Run

Cansei De Ser Sexy / Cansei De Ser Sexy (SubPop) An (almost) all-girl Brazilian disco act signed to SubPop – it’s like a music marketer’s dream come true. A sonic pastiche with one foot in the rock and one in electronica, both meeting at one ass that’s shake-shake-shaking. It’s loud, insistent, sexy and catchy as hell. Boasting songs titles like “Meeting Paris Hilton” and “Musik Is My Hot Hot Sex”, there’s no questioning this outfit is about irreverent fun, first and foremost. The album is out on Tuesday and there’s much touring to support – they’re at the Mod Club this Friday, July 14 for a show with Diplo and are back on October 2 at the Docks with Ladytron. People complain that Torontonians don’t dance but I don’t think it’d be physcially possible NOT to if CSS live is nearly as infectious as it is on disc. MP3: Cansei De Ser Sexy – “Lets Make Love And Listen To Death From Above” Video: Cansei De Ser Sexy – “Lets Make Love And Listen To Death From Above” (MOV) MySpace: Cansei De Ser Sexy

Mellowdrone / Box (Red Ink) On paper, Los Angeles’ Mellowdrone seemed like a band that I should like. The brainchild of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Bates, they offer up a space/glam rock hybrid that’s as much strutting as shuffling, but Box is so overly synthetic that I just can’t get behind it at all. So over-produced and passionless, it could be a demo for ProTools. It’s like a faked moon landing. I blame LA. Mellowdrone are at the Horseshoe July 14 for a show with A Northern Chorus – here’s hoping their live show has a little more life to it. MP3: Mellowdrone – “Fashionably Uninvited” MySpace: Mellowdrone

np – Say Hi To Your Mom / Impeccable Blahs

Three months after its release, it’s probably safe to say that reaction to Calexico’s latest Garden Ruin has been somewhat muted compared to their usualy lofty standards. I, for the record, am not severly disappointed nor especially overwhelmed by it. But considering that in the past, part of the magic of their legendarily excellent live shows has been how effectively the band recreates the sun-bleached desert vistas of their recorded works, I did wonder how their more pop/singer-songwriter studio turn would translate on stage.

In short, same but different. If you were to draw a line down the stylistic halfway point between Garden Ruin and Feast Of Wire, you’d have an idea of what Calexico live, 2006 is like. The older material seemed leaner and more compact while the newer material got an infusion of the mariachi soul via horns and slide guitar that was kept on the back burner on Garden Ruin. I wonder, if the recorded arrangements had been more like the live ones, if the critical response to the album would have been more positive? But that’s neither here nor there – Calexico on this night were tight and taut with their typically excellent musicianship and striking a perfect balance between fire and restraint. They used the encore to cut extra-loose, inviting openers Oakley Hall as well as local talent Dallas Good of The Sadies and Jason Collett, who had originally been slated to open, to come out and join them for a couple numbers including a rousing cover of Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody”.

It’s lucky that Calexico were so good on this night, because Oakley Hall set the bar pretty damn high with their opening set. I wrote them up earlier this week but wasn’t prepared for the sheer ass-kickingness of their set. Merging old-time country raucousness with mind-bending psychedelia and somehow coming out of it sounding timeless, Oakley Hall impressed not just me, but a goodly portion of the audience as well. If you’re going to see M Ward at the Mod Club on September 11, do yourself a favour and show up early enough to catch Oakley Hall – you won’t regret it.

Calexico favoured a very dark, projection-heavy stage show so good photos were a bit tougher to get. But hey, all in the name of ambience, right? Also, The Montreal Mirror talks to native son Joey Burns about Garden Ruin and some audio/video that I’ve linked many times before. Complain to someone else.

MP3: Calexico – “Cruel”
MP3: Oakley Hall – “Lazy Susan”
Video: Calexico – “Cruel” (MOV)
MySpace: Calexico
MySpace: Oakley Hall

Billboard reports that after more touring through the Summer and Fall, Broken Social Scene will be going away for a while.

Punknews reports that Ted Leo is calling out Elton John as a racist – check out the July 5 entry. Soccer really brings out the worst in everyone, doesn’t it? Via Clicky Click.

Will Sheff of Okkervil River posted a terrific essay to his band’s message board about his deep ambievalence about file-sharing and why you won’t hear much new material during their Fall tour. I thought it was a wonderful piece, especially the parts about the internet being like the library of Babel. There are many (many) days when I long for the time when every new album purchase was treated like a sacred event. That said, you’ll have to pry my iPod out of my cold, dead hands.

My Morning Jacket’s Patrick Hallahan talks to Billboard about covering The Band at Levon Helm’s studio.

Prefix reports that the debut full-length from Chicago power-soul trio Catfish Haven, Tell Me, will be out September 12.

PopMatters offers some tips on how to educate those people who say they love every kind of music except country. You know, savages.

np – Early Day Miners / Offshore

I will admit, right off, that I teared up during the opening of Tell Me Do You Miss Me, the documentary film of Luna’s farewell tour over the end of 2004 and early part of 2005. In the sequence in question, the band has just finished playing “Fuzzy Wuzzy” to finish the main set of their last-ever show on February 28, 2005 at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom (at least according to the setlist) and are bidding farewell to the audience and to themselves.

Tell Me Do You Miss Me is full of these wistful, bittersweet moments – watching the band going about the shows knowing full well that the end was nigh is a strange perspective. The interviews with each of the band members are also quite revealing, particularly when it addresses the dynamic between Dean Wareham and Sean Eden, which is logical since they’re the longest-serving remaining band members. It’s not hostile or Some Kind Of Monster dyfunctional, but is interesting to watch. I haven’t listened to the commentary track with all the band members yet, but I can’t wait to hear what, if anything, Wareham and Eden have to say about the scenes where they talk about one another. I am actually holding off on watching it a second time through with the commentary because, well, this DVD is probably the last new Luna release of any kind there’ll ever be and I’m loathe to finish it for good. Stupid? Yes. It’s also worth mentioning that the film itself is beautifully shot and assembled, perfectly balancing the live, backstage and interview footage.

But mainly, watching this film really brought home just how much I loved this band. Certainly enough to get me, who is loathe to hoof it to a venue more than 20 minutes away, to fly to Chicago not one week after seeing their farewell Toronto show to say goodbye one more time. Though I arrived a little late to the party (I only discovered them after taking a complete flyer on Bewitched in Summer 1999, note unheard) they’re easily one of my top two or three favourite bands ever. Cryptic, playful, laid back and musically perfect, there will probably never be another band that will be for me what Luna was. Read over some of the rememberances in the farewell tour fan blog and you’ll see I’m not alone.

Obviously, the DVD is a must-have for any Luna fan, if only to see this photo in the booklet and to see me get a liner note credit. There are some murmurs that the soundtrack to the film, which was comprised of instrumental pieces contributed by all members of the band, may be released at some point. Now’s a good time to repoint you to the interviews Head Full of Wishes, who has been on a tear posting old Luna audio and video, did with all the principals of the film – Britta, Lee, Sean and Dean as well as director Matthew Buzzell.

Rhino, who released the DVD as well as the Best Of Luna and Lunafied comps, has got the trailer of the film online as well as a complete performance of “Bewitched” that doesn’t appear in the film. There’s also some live downloads available from Luna’s own website.

Trailer: Tell Me Do You Miss Me
Video: Luna – “Bewitched” (MOV)
MP3: Luna – “Friendly Advice” (live)
MP3: Luna – “The Slow Song” (live in Toronto)

And where are they now? Dean and Britta carry on as Dean & Britta and will release their second album early next year. Sean is working on solo material and also occasionally plays in Elk City – you can hear his distinctive guitar touches in the MP3 below. And according to the film, Lee is riding a bike around Los Angeles while also providing music for the television show South Of Nowhere.

MP3: Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham – “Ginger Snaps”
MP3: Elk City – “Silver Lawyers”

ArtVoice talks to Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan about the forthcoming I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, out September 12. Via LHB.

Losing Today talks to Asobi Seksu’s Yuki about sophomore album Citrus.

And to finish off with the New York theme, here are my New York City photos as well as sets from The Met and MoMA.

Finally, completely un-NYC-related, The Toronto Sun and London Free Press talk to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy while Halifax’s The Coast chat with John Stirratt. Massey Hall tonight! My extra ticket was snatched up quickly, thankfully.

np – Oakley Hall / Gypsum Strings