I think you can tell a person’s age by how excited they are about the return of The Lemonheads, who will release a new, self-titled album on September 26. Of course, it’s not really a reunion at all and is just the resurrection of a brand name – the band always featured a heavily rotating cast of players and besides mainman Evan Dando, there’s no one in the current lineup who’s ever been a Lemonhead before.

Folks of my generation will be nostalgic for It’s A Shame About Ray and the days when he was a staple on the cover of SPIN making out with Adrienne Shelley or begging Juliana Hatfield in song to get it on with him. Others only know Dando as a drug abuse cautionary tale or as that guy who fucked up the MC5 reunion shows recently. And the younger generation probably have no idea who he is at all.

But the one thing that’s been consistent through all that time was that he had a knack for writing a killer pop song. And that he was a junkie. Okay, two things. Judging from the first MP3 from the new record, which is now available courtesy of AOL’s indie music blog (and that’s a bizarre contradiction in terms unto itself), he hasn’t lost his touch on the former. The song is pretty damn good and yeah, that’s J Mascis ripping the guitar solos over top, not Dando. Different stoner icon.

As for the drugs, Dando tells The Guardian that while he’s living a healthier lifestyle than he did in the ’90s, psychedelics are still a regular part of his diet. LiveDaily also has an interview but they just talk about making the new record. You know, boring stuff.

MP3: The Lemonheads – “No Backbone”
MySpace: The Lemonheads

Update: The Weekly Dig gets Juliana Hatfield to talk about that whole virginity thing. Via Stereogum via Leafblower.

Pitchfork recounts a conversation with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Get Lonely. Or maybe not everything as this piece Darnielle has written for The Los Angeles Times about the writing of the new album is essential reading. That the Metacritic rating for the album is anything less than 100% (or even in the 80s) says to me that more rock critics need to get dumped. Both Sixeyes and I have tracks from John Darnielle’s recent instore at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, but you can also grab the whole set at Archive.org. So much for exclusivity. Also note there’s a high-res version of the video for “Woke Up New” at the director’s website. I also just received my copies of Nothing For Juice and Protien Source Of The Future … Now! in the mail with All Hail West Texas en route. Thanks to everyone who helped guide me through the Goats’ back catalog.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Moon Over Goldsboro” (live at Amoeba)

Chart has more details on the forthcoming Mercury Rev compilation. It’s now called The Essential Mercury Rev — Stillness Breathes (1991-2006) and will be a double-disc set. The first comprising singles and album tracks, the second features live tracks, rarities, remixes and covers. It’s out October 3 on V2.

Also housecleaning, Billboard reports that Pinback will release Nautical Antiques, a stopgap collection of rarities and whatnot, on September 5. They continue to work on the follow-up to 2004’s Summer In Abadon.

Paste features The Long Winters, in town at Lee’s on October 4.

Metromix asks Headlights’ Erin Fein if the midwest really is the best. Apparently it is not. OH IRONY.

Sunset Rubdown have cancelled their October 7 show at Lee’s Palace, no reason given. No word on if it’s just the Toronto date or the whole tour.

The new blog-powered Pernice Brothers website is offering up pre-orders of the new album Live A Little that will come with a bonus, 17-track CD with demos of all the songs and a sleeve hand-printed by ol’ Joe himself. Nice. They’ve even provided a video of Joe autographing the sleeves. It’s riveting.

The Toronto Star has a piece on how the folks in charge of the Toronto edition of the Virgin Festival, happening September 9 and 10, were in the UK last weekend to see how the mothership operates. That bit about free kabobs for Virgin Mobile customers? RUN WITH IT.

np – The Mountain Goats / Nothing For Juice

It has been five long years since we got a new full-length from Sparklehorse. Now if you’re going to go away for a half decade, then It’s A Wonderful Life is certainly an album to do it with. Sublimely creaky, crackly and otherworldy (to say nothing of Nina Persson and PJ Harvey-enhanced), it was pretty much a masterpiece of the genre that can really only be called “Sparklehorse”.

But lo, Mark Linkhous has returned and will release Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain on September 26. I haven’t heard it yet but based on the two new tracks they’ve made available via stream, it sounds like, well, Sparklehorse. Which is to say it sounds great. Like the last record, this one features a host of guest stars including Danger Mouse, Flaming Lip Steve Drozd and Tom Waits in an outtake from Wonderful Life. Let’s hope it’s better than “Dog Door”. Regardless, I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while and do hope it’ll be one of the musical highlights of the year.

Junkmedia has a nice interview with Linkous that asks where he’s been for the past five years (“really depressed”), why he creates music (“so I can pay the rent again”) and why he’s historically had more success in the UK and Europe than at home (“it seems like in the past as a rule you had to knock American audiences over the head”). As evidence, GigWise reports on the three limited edition 7″s that will be released in the UK in advance of Belly Of A Mountain‘s release over there. And also celebrating Sparklehorse’s return, this fansite has given itself a facelift and is now overflowing with audio snippets and video goodies. I had no idea that there were so many Sparklehorse videos out there.

The ‘Horse will embark on a brief US tour next month to be followed by a European jaunt that will take them through October. They were last in Toronto back in 2003 opening for R.E.M. at the Air Canada Centre – not really my ideal venue for seeing them. It sounds like Linkous is down with going the whole promo nine yards for this record, so I would expect there’ll be a local date sooner or later.

Stream: Sparklehorse – “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” (ASX)
Stream: Sparklehorse – “Shade And Honey” (ASX)
MySpace: Sparklehorse

The Hold Steady have made some rare old tracks available to download via MySpace. Boys And Girls In America is out October 3 and they’re at the Horseshoe October 28.

MP3: The Hold Steady – “Milkcrate Mosh”
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Hot Fries”

Bob Dylan’s tour in support of Modern Times, out Tuesday, will hit Toronto on November 7 with a show at the Air Canada Centre, unplugged Foo Fighters will support. I very much want to see Dylan live but don’t much fancy the idea of an arena show. I still kick myself for missing his intimate show at the Phoenix a few years back. LiveDaily has full tour dates.

Bloc Party and Panic! At The Disco are teaming up for a Fall tour that will hit the Ricoh Coliseum on November 16. Full tour dates at The Tripwire.

Good news – Mew are coming to town! Bad news – they’re doing so with Kasabian. That show is at the Phoenix on September 27.

The local press covers this weekend’s Indie Unlimited festival at Harbourfront. eye, NOW and The National Post chat with The Hidden Cameras, on Saturday at 9:30PM, while The Toronto Star and eye profile The Hylozoists, on Sunday at 2:30PM.

Exclaim! talks to TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone. Those of you who waited for the domestic release of Return To Cookie Mountain were wise to do so – the domestic edition will have three extra tracks not available on the UK edition. And Pitchfork has an audio clip of Tunde Adebimpe explaining those funny/weird little promo clips they’ve been runnin on their website to promote the record (in lieu of having a proper website). Their tour brings them to the Opera House on October 12.

Rather than finish recording their new album, Billboard reports that Wilco will instead be heading out on tour this October. But as a holdover, Nonesuch will release a Jeff Tweedy solo tour DVD, Sunken Treasure, on October 24 and as a bonus, all the songs performed will be made available to download as MP3s to those who purchase the DVD. Very nice. Now finish that damned record.

Also well-versed in the art of album procrastination, The Shins tell Billboard that their new album Wincing the Night Away will totally be worth the delays.

Harmonium interviews Bryce Dessner of The National and asks him what the lyrics at the end of “Secret Meeting” are. Bryce ain’t talking.

np – The Grates / Gravity Won’t Get You High

So last night was the Shoegaze Cover Show I’ve been babbling on about all week. This wasn’t the first time I’d been to a show dedicated to paying tribute to the dreampop bands of yore – there was a Creation Records tribute night at the El Mocambo way back in the Spring of 2001 that was heavy on the shoegaze and even featured some full frontal nudity courtesy of White Cowbell Oklahoma.

Last night’s show was a more compact and penis-free affair, with the participating bands contributing a few covers and an original for good measure. Fjord Rowboat offered up the most faithful renditions on the night and I guess I’m a traditionalist because their set was my favourite. Their cover of Chapterhouse’s “Mesmerise” was a particular treat and right up their alley. After them The Assistants, whose pedigree is more C86 than shoegaze, tackled some Galaxie 500 and one-man looping drone factory Wyrd Visions… well I’m not entirely sure what he was doing. No Dynamics blew up an amp and while their set didn’t do much for me, their sound was intriguing enough that I’m going to check out their original material.

The final act, like that Creation night five years ago, went to a “supergroup” of sorts – this one called The Black Rabbit and featuring members of Uncut, The Two Koreas, Nassau and The Diableros. Boasting many guitars and dedicated to maximum volume, they played a ragged and too-short set including My Bloody Valentine’s “You Made Me Realise” and Spacemen 3’s “Take Me To The Other Side”. The venue’s curfew prevented them from really taking flight though, and they failed to take the title of “Toronto’s best shoegaze tribute supergroup who play deafening Isn’t Anything covers to close out the night” from the Voltron force comprised of Mean Red Spiders/Sloan/I-forget-who-else-but-if-you-remember-please-tell-me and their PA-destroying “Feed Me With Your Kiss”. Man, that was something. And the only point of heresy on the night – no Ride. W. T. F.

But this night was pretty good too – a little too short overall and maybe not enough of the straight covers to satisfy me but still a lot of fun and it was certainly heartening to see the interest in the genre (the turnout was quite good). If you’re curious, I’ve posted the tracklists of the three mix CDs I prepared for DJ duties last night after the jump – I didn’t get to play everything, unfortunately, but was generally pleased with how it sounded over the PA. Pretty good ebb and tide if I do say so myself. And I do. And bumping the CD player causing it to skip randomly? That’s the new scratching.

There are photos – certainly dark and blurry but there’s some decent ones. They’ll be up tomorrow-ish. In the meantime, here is some audio from the night’s performers’ day jobs.

Photos: Shoegaze Cover Night @ The Tranzac – August 23, 2006
MP3: Fjord Rowboat – “Paragon”
MP3: Wyrd Visions – “Bog Lord”
MP3: No Dynamis – “Josephine Baker”
MP3: The Assistants – “Taste It”
MySpace: Fjord Rowboat
MySpace: Wyrd Visions
MySpace: No Dynamics
MySpace: The Assistants

Club AC30 will release the second volume of shoegaze covers compilation Never Lose That Feeling, volume one of which I quite enjoyed, this October. To whet your appetite, they’ve updated their MySpace with more streaming tracks including tracks from Britta Phillips and Sing Sing.

Dirty On Purpose have got a new video from Hallelujah Sirens for “No Radio”. Jazzercise! And further evidence why indie rockers should never, ever, EVER wear shorts. Thanks to Clicky Click for the link.

Video: Dirty On Purpose – “No Radio”

Exclaim! talks to Asobi Seksu about their shoegazing ways. They’re at the Horseshoe September 20.

PopMatters profiles Mew.

np – The Coast / The Coast
(more…)

While I will freely admit that I probably don’t give enough ink to worthy Toronto acts, the only one I actually feel guilty about not having written up before now is Mr Tony Dekker – he who is Great Lake Swimmers. I’d seen GLS a few times live – always opening for someone else, never on purpose – but always walked away very impressed and thinking, “I need to get some of that boy’s records”. And never got around to it until recently, when I picked up a copy of their latest release Bodies And Minds.

It’s a gorgeous record, with Dekker’s plaintive voice skipping overtop the gently fingerpicked guitar and ghostly backing band of pedal steel, organ and banjo like a pebble on a perfectly still lake. Recorded in a church, the vibe is intimate and spacious at the same time – like being curled up in a little ball on a wide open plain. And, as you can tell, it has a way of eliciting nature metaphors from those trying to describe it. Though primarly composed of slow, sad songs, tracks like “When It Flows” prove that Dekker can write more upbeat, poppier material if he chooses to. But considering the sad-eyed, sepia-toned melancholy that’s innate to Dekker’s voice and pen, there wouldn’t be a word of complaint if he stuck only to the downbeat, slowcore-ish material – he’s just so good at it.

It’s also interesting that whether playing solo or with his band, the songs always feel perfectly accompanied – truly a testament to the sensitivity the players have for the material. I expect the full band will be out this Saturday afternoon when Great Lake Swimmers performing on a Great Lake at 2:00PM as part of Indie Unlimited at Harbourfront Centre. Anyone asking the band if they’re going to go for a swim will be summarily removed. Amy Millan, whose Honey From The Tombs was just released in the US to lukewarm reviews, is on at 3:30.

MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Various Stages”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Bodies And Minds”
Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “To Leave It Behind”
MySpace: Great Lake Swimmers

Chart talks to Joel Gibb about what lays ahead for The Hidden Cameras, both with respect to new album AWOO and beyond as well as his love of Toronto. The Hidden Cameras will headline the aforementioned Indie Unlimited festival at Harbourfront on Saturday. They’re on at 9:30 PM.

And the Sunday schedule at Harbourfront ain’t too shabby either… unless you like singers. The mainstage acts will be vibraphone love-fest The Hylozoists, with whom Tandem has a brief chat, and Arcade Fire alumnus Belle Orchestre. The former are on at 3PM, the latter at 4:30.

Cokemachineglow talks to Sadies bassist Sean Dean about live album In Concert, Volume One and playing live in general, The Montreal Mirror chats up Travis Good and The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle talks to Dallas about pretty much the same. No one wanted to talk to Mike Belitsky, I guess. Pitchfork gave In Concert a 7.5.

Today’s post is kind of slight – I spent much of last night prepping for tonight’s Shoegaze cover show at the Tranzac, which I shall be DJ-ing in incredibly lazy fashion. Which is to say, I’ve burned a few mix CDs and will just be letting those spin through the night. Don’t give me that look. No one’s coming out to see me play Rob Gordon – they’re going to be there to see Fjord Rowboat, Wyrd Visions, No Dynamics, The Assistants and T.O. supergroup The Black Rabbit pay homage to the best music of the early 90s at probably excruciating volumes. Oh baby. But yeah, things get under way at 9PM so come on out. I dare you.

np – Dirty On Purpose / Hallelujah Sirens

As far as the music industry goes, this Tuesday effectively marks the end of Summer and the start of the Fall album season, as the record stores are going to be deluged with great new releases from now till at least October (at which point the new releases trickle off and are replaced by compilations and box sets for the holiday season). Here’s a Hollywood Squares of stuff that’ll be in stores today that’s worth your time and money – some of it I’ve talked about, others I will probably get to in the future, but most I’ve heard and can certainly recommend.

On topic, BrooklynVegan linked to this Yahoo News piece wondering if backloading the big-name releases in the fourth quarter is really the best strategy for the industry. Not surprisingly, none of the albums I’m excited about are referenced in the piece – after all, it despairs me to no end to know that all of these records, combined, will be outsold by Paris Hilton’s debut CD. Probably exponentially.

But enough sad thoughts. Time to plan your trip to the record store – most of these artists are on tour as well.

Eric Bachmann / To The Races
MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior”
On tour – in Toronto @ The Horseshoe, September 16

Early Day Miners / Offshore
MP3: Early Day Miners – “Return Of The Native”
On tour – in Toronto @ The Tranzac, September 13

Headlights / Kill Them With Kindness
MP3: Headlights – “Put Us Back Together Right”
On tour

The Hidden Cameras – AWOO
MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “Death Of A Tune”
On tour – in Toronto @ Harbourfront Centre, August 26 and @ Olympic Island, September 9

Lambchop / Damaged
MP3: Lambchop – “Crackers”
On tour – in Toronto @ The Mod Club, September 24

Jason Molina / Let Me Go Let Me Go Let Me Go
MP3: Jason Molina – “Get Out Get Out Get Out”
On tour – in Toronto @ Lee’s Palace, September 12

The Mountain Goats / Get Lonely!
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Woke Up New”
On tour – in Toronto @ Lee’s Palace, September 19

Chad Van Gaalen / Skelliconnection
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Flower Gardens”
On tour

What Made Milwaukee Famous / Trying To Never Catch Up
MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous – “Sweet Lady”
On tour – in Toronto @ Lee’s Palace, October 4

And speaking of WWMF, Stereogum has an quickie interview with the band and AOL is streaming the whole of their album right now. Also, Punknews reports that the vinyl version of Bachmann’s To The Races will have a different version of the title track – with vocals – and Pitchfork has a faint praise review of the Headlights record.

The Grates give PopMatters a guide to touring on the cheap. Gravity Won’t Get You High is out next Tuesday and they’re at Lee’s Palace with Rogue Wave on September 9.

Figurines, who are Danish by the way, are at the Horseshoe on October 22, tickets $10. And Jet are at the Guvernment October 1.

If you were wondering why Grizzly Bear cancelled their Fall tour including the Sept 23 date at the El Mocambo, it’s because they’re now supporting TV On The Radio on their tour, including the October 12 date at the Opera House. Pitchfork has details and full dates.

And Pulse Of The Twin Cities has a piece on digital music and includes a nice shout-out to yours truly. Nice enough that I will refrain from commenting on the minefield of bad HTML special characters throughout the piece.

np – Catfish Haven / Tell Me