When I went on my Scandanavian theme week back in mid-May, I was a little confounded about how I came up empty for decent or interesting Danish bands. I mean, I didn’t look THAT hard, but certainly couldn’t think of any I wanted to write about off the top of my head.

First off, I have to confess that their famously awful album art kept me from listening to Mew’s And the Glass Handed Kites for… I don’t know how long. But it was a while. Not as long as it’s taken the album to get a North American release (it came out in Europe in 2004 2005), but still – a while. But when I did finally pop it in the CD player, my initial reaction was… what the hell. A lot of reviews have referenced Sigur Ros in trying to describe Mew’s sound, but I’ve found more often than not such parallels are lazy writing applied to any Scandanavian band that doesn’t sound like The Hives.

In Mew’s case, the comparisons are simultaneously dead-on yet way-off. Jonas Bjerre’s voice can indeed soar to the stratosphere like Jonsi Birgisson’s and with a similar wide-eyed, childlike quality and the band often reaches even further into space in their musical ambitions. But if Sigur Ros evokes the frozen beauty of a glacier plain, Mew dwell in the hyper-kinetic, ultra-urban neon wilderness of glass and stainless steel. The quartet spew out epic-length glammy post-prog-space rock with touches of Queen-approved arena-metal grandiosity. There’s even a couple J Mascis guest vocals – it’s an unusually demented sort of band that actually invites J to sing on a record, and for that they have my respect. I intially found it hard to believe what I was hearing was created unironically but I think that’s more a comment on my own musical cynicism than anything else. No, these Danes mean every soaring note and I think the world is a better place for it.

And if Mew wasn’t enough to cement Denmark’s place in the musical firmament, I was recently introduced to their countrymen Under Byen, whose name means “under the city”. They’re very aptly named because their slow, druggy aesthetic really does sound subterranean in a modern-day, steampunk sort of way… actually, it sounds like the lost soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s City Of Lost Children, by turns tinkling like a music box or clanging like pipes, hypnotic and beautifully creepy. Adding to the mysteriousness is the fact that all vocals are in Danish, though that’s probably less otherworldly if you speak Danish. One might be tempted to call them a hybrid of Sigur Ros (them again!) and Amina fronted by Bjork, but while that’s quantitatively quite accurate, it also sounds more than a little cliche and doesn’t do the band nearly enough justice for the uniqueness of their sound.

The band has just signed a North American deal with Toronto’s Paper Bag Records, who will release their latest album Samme Stof Som Stof (“Same Fabric As Fabric”) on September 26. They will be playing Pop Montreal on October 5 with Joanna Newsom, so that’s a “for sure” on my calendar – presumably/hopefully there will be a Toronto date to go along with that, perhaps with Newsom again on October 4 at the Mod Club? Pure speculation.

Since both bands are quite established back in their homeland (if wholly unknown on these shores), there’s a surplus of audio and video materials to get acquainted with. Mew, in high gear promoting the album in North America, recently did a session for AOL’s Interface and Pitchfork has an exclusive MP3 to audition. Spin also has some streams. As for Under Byen, this comprehensive fansite has plenty to get you started.

So yeah, Denmark. Way to go. No more Aqua jokes.

MP3: Mew – “Chinaberry Tree”
MP3: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof”
MP3: Under Byen – “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Fa Det Bedste Ud Af Det”
Video: Mew – “Special” (YouTube)
Video: Mew – “The Zookeper’s Boy” (YouTube)
Video: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof” (YouTube)
MySpace: Mew
MySpace: Under Byen

PopMatters talks to Bobby Gillespie about Primal Scream’s new one Riot City Blues, which is out tomorrow.

So Much Silence has MP3-ified Rob Dickinson’s recent radio session for WOXY.

Lily Allen, aka this year’s model (for overexposed internet sensations) has booked a Toronto date at the Mod Club Lee’s Palace on October 8. Via For The Records.

Yo La Tengo tell Scotsman.com they don’t like the term “indie”. I Am Not Afriad Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is out September 12.

Watched Kicking And Screaming last night. The Noah Baumbach film, not the Will Ferrell one. Enjoyed it. Realized it has been seven years since I graduated from university. Spent the rest of the night in severe depression.

And yes, I was down all morning. Believe me, I know.

np – Great Lake Swimmers / Bodies And Minds

Oppenheimer / Oppenheimer (Bar/None) The self-titled debut from Irish duo Oppenheimer is indie-pop by the numbers – soft vocals, bleeping and whirring synths, jangle-fuzz guitars and upbeat hooks galore. There’s nothing here that will change anyone’s life but by god it will get those skinny, indie kid non-asses on the dance floor who will ask, “who is this?” and then forget they even cared the moment the song is over. Required milk crate fodder for everyone who fancies themselves an indie rock DJ, which means they should sell about a zillion copies. They play Sneaky Dee’s on August 24 with Lifestyle and Bad Flirt. Video: Oppenheimer – “Breakfast In NYC” (YouTube) MySpace: Oppenheimer

My Brightest Diamond / Bring Me The Workhorse (Asthmatic Kitty) My Brightest Diamond may not be a familiar name, but Shara Worden – she who is MBD – played Toronto a couple years ago opening for Sufjan Stevens under the name AwRY (and was/is also a member of Steven’s Michigan Militia/Illinoisemakers/etc). Though the Stevens gig probably gets all the attention, Worden is a formidable talent on her own. Bring Me The Workhorse is a dark, dramatic record that makes full use of her rich voice. Her cabaret and operatic influences are obvious but she neatly sidesteps any genre cliches and instead blends it all together to craft something quite new and different, yet still timeless. Lovely stuff. MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Disappear” MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Something Of An End” Video: My Brightest Diamond – “Dragonfly” (MOV) MySpace: My Brightest Diamond

Darker My Love / Darker My Love (Dangerbird) Those who were disappointed with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s decision to trade in their fuzzboxes for acoustic guitars and head for the Delta can take solace in the fact that they still have Los Angeles’ Darker My Love to fulfill their slow, druggy drone rock needs. Actually, to my ears, Darker My Love might actually be superior to the BRMC at their craft, having more than one speed in their transmission , more interesting production and a stronger melodic sense. But considering I was never a big Black Rebel fan, that may not be saying much. But for those who are/were, break out the leather jackets and shades – your new favourite record is out Tuesday. MP3: Darker My Love – “Summer Is Here” MP3: Darker My Love – “What’s A Man’s Paris” MP3: Darker My Love – “Helium Heels” Video: Darker My Love – “Cold And Sinus” (MySpace) MySpace: Darker My Love

np – Eric Bachmann / To The Races

It’s a shame The Mendoza Line released Full Of Light And Full Of Fire so late in 2005 because had it made it out earlier, like before critics around the country had battened down the hatches and closed the book on the record release year, it may well have made its share of best-of lists. Filled with sharp songwriting, barbed, sardonic wit, pointed political commentary and pop hooks with a sweet Southern tang (the band originally hails from Georgia though they now call Brooklyn home), in a just world it would have gotten the attention it deserved and I wouldn’t have to resort to all these silly “hook” adjectives.

Full Of Light was the first album written after co-founder Peter Hoffman’s departure from the band following the release of Fortune and while Hoffman’s contributions to the band were undeniably superb, the album does benefit from the greater focus of having just the two primary songwriters. The record has a delicious swagger and confidence that wasn’t always evident in the earlier records – Shannon McCardle’s honeyed twang has never sounded better and Tim Bracy’s nasal delivery sounds less like a poor Dylan impersonation and more like his own voice. It’s really a superb record that deserves to be revisited if you overlooked it the first time around. And if you’re in the UK, you’re in luck – it’s being released there in September so you can make up for the colonies’ mistakes and put it on your best of 2006 lists.

McCardle and Bracy also have a second band in Slow Dazzle that in their own words, is an “urbanization of their previous band’s pastoral tendencies”. While there’s definitely less down-home, front-porch grinning and picking on their only release so far, The View From The Floor, and more programmed beats and loops, the distinctiveness of the couple’s voices – both singing and writing – makes it sound very much like another Mendoza Line record, which, for the record, is a good thing. And they know it, happily performing Slow Dazzle material in Mendoza Line live shows.

I caught them live at SxSW after having to bail on their Toronto show last December, but have to admit was a bit disappointed in their performance. It was their fourth or fifth performance of the festival, though, so they were allowed to be a little lethargic. This live set available for download at Southern Shelter from last month sounds better, though. While the band is now off the road, they’re working on new material for an EP release either this Fall or next Winter. There’s a sample from each of their last three albums below, with more MP3s to be had here.

MP3: The Mendoza Line – “Catch A Collapsing Star”
MP3: The Mendoza Line – “Let’s Not Talk About It”
MP3: The Mendoza Line – “What Ever Happened To You?”
MP3: Slow Dazzle – “Fleur De Lis”
MySpace: The Mendoza Line
MySpace: Slow Dazzle

The Stranger gets to know The Mountain Goats. Get Lonely! is out Tuesday and there’s another MP3 available courtesy of AmpCamp.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Wild Sage”

The Riverfront Times talks to Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria. Via Largehearted Boy.

Neil Young on The Colbert Report.

Nina Persson of The Cardigans explains to Pitchfork why the band’s North American tour was cancelled and why it’s taken a year for Super Extra Gravity to find a domestic release in the US. It comes out there September 19 courtesy of Nettwerk, no bonuses for the latecomers to the party, and they may make up the cancelled tour next Summer. Here’s hoping. And The Times offers a top-ten list why The Cardigans are awesome.

Shows – The Killers are at the Kool Haus on October 20 and White Whale will be at Sneaky Dee’s on October 31.

Pitchfork has got the first MP3 from the new Hold Steady album, Boys And Girls In America, out October 3. They’re at the Horseshoe on October 28 with Sean Na Na.

np – The National / Alligator

What Made Milwaukee Famous were smart in picking their name – besides being instantly memorable and music relevant (it’s taken from a Jerry Lee Lewis song title), it’s an obvious conversation starter. So for the record, they are not from Milwaukee, they are from Austin, Texas.

I’m probably a little late on the wagon with these guys – they originally released their debut Trying To Never Catch Up in 2004 but I didn’t hear them until I received a promo of the reissue forthcoming on their new label Barsuk (with a new/different tracklisting) next Tuesday. Add in an impressive appearance at Lollapalooza and I’m now happily quite immersed in this disc.

And it’s definitely an eclectic listen, as much angsty new wave as anthemic classic pop – sometimes in the same song – but still remarkably consistent and cohesive thanks to Michael Kingcaid’s deceptively elastic and versitile pipes. That’s pipes as in voice, not, like Zamfir pipes. All the lines of influence you can draw will surely lead back to the late ’70s and early ’80s, but What Made Milwaukee Famous’ record collection is a lot deeper than many of their compatriots who you could say the same thing about. Highly recommended and growing more so with every listen. The San Francisco Bay Guardian has a profile of the band. Update: Thanks to Mike for pointing out that WWMF have just been added as support for The Long Winters’ upcoming tour which includes an October 4 show at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous – “iDecide”
MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous – “Sweet Lady”
Video: What Made Milwaukee Famous – “Selling Yourself Short” (MOV)
eCard: What Made Milwaukee Famous
MySpace: What Made Milwaukee Famous

Aaron Dessner of The National gives Billboard an update on the band’s progress in recording their follow-up to Alligator.

Some show announcements – the Exclaim-sponsored New Pornographers/Novillero/Immaculate Machine tour will stop in at the Kool Haus on October 11. Sonic Boom is at the El Mocambo on September 30.

Andd the following are all at the Mod Club: Holy Fuck, Shout Out Out Out and Land Of Talk on September 22, Joanna Newsom finally comes to town on October 4 – her new one Ys is out November 14 – and Badly Drawn Boy is there on October 14 previewing material from his new album Born In The UK, which is out October 17. The first video from said album just came out – check it out.

Video: Badly Drawn Boy – “Born In The UK” (YouTube)

And again with the YouTube – check out this elaborate fan-made (Jason Sievers, to be precise), animated video for The Wrens’ “She Sends Kisses”. File under: wow.

Video: The Wrens – “She Sends Kisses” (YouTube)

NME reports that we can expect a flurry of Peel Session collections to start coming our way later this year for bands such as Pulp, Gene and House Of Love. It’s unclear whether it’ll be a collection per band or just compilations featuring many artists, but look for the on or around October 18. I’m a little surprised, though pleasantly so, that HoL is going to be included since they’ve already released a Peel Sessions disc. I imagine that this next one will cover the post-Bickers era stuff which usually gets unfairly dismissed. Babe Rainbow was a good record, dammit. Audience With The Mind… okay, not so much. And while I won’t say definitively that the reunion which yielded the alright but could have been better Days Run Away is over, no news from a famously volatile band in almost a year isn’t usually good news. Pity. Via For The Records.

The Ottawa Sun talks to bassist Sean Dean about The Sadies’ in concert and In Concert. They will be in concert at the Horseshoe on September 8 and 9.

And just a note to all the Toronto alternative/indie comedy fans (aka those in attendance at last night’s Eugene Mirman gig at the Horseshoe) – it doesn’t matter how funny you, or your boyfriend/girlfriend or your mom thinks you are , you’re almost certainly not. And trying to outwit, outfunny or otherwise go toe-to-toe with the touring professional comics is just going to end badly for you… so please don’t try. Otherwise the show was hilarious punctuated with moments of utter awkwardness thanks to certain people. You know who you are. James.

np – The Concretes / In Colour

The joke about drummers suggesting, “hey – let’s do one of MY songs!” is about as old as they come, despite the fact that the track record of drummers gone frontmen isn’t really all that bad. But luckily for Tim O’Reagan, he’d proved his songwriting ability long ago with his contributions to the Jayhawks catalog, which were usually album highlights for me. So with that band on permanent hiatus, there were no raised eyebrows when he released his self-titled solo debut last month which he was in town to promote.

Accompanying him on this tour was Greg Laswell, whose Through Toledo I reviewed and enjoyed last month. One of the great strengths of the album was the rich production but I’d heard that Laswell was doing this tour on his own so I had expected an opportunity to see how well the songs stood up in solo performance. As it turns out, he was actually touring with a band but had to leave them behind at the border to babysit merch that wasn’t going to be coming into Canada.

So for this show, he enlisted a couple members of O’Reagan’s band to back him – Jim Boquist (formerly of Son Volt) on bass and O’Reagan himself on drums. If you need pinch hitters, you could certainly do a hell of a lot worse. Anyway, Laswell sounded really good in working the melancholic piano ballad vibe, particularly on his cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” which was turned into a lounge-y lament, with only a touch of irony. Can’t help wondering what he’d have sounded like in full band form, though.

Not surprisingly, O’Reagan’s new stuff sounds very much in the vein of the later Jayhawks material – laid back pop tunes with a distinct twang to it. Thoroughly pleasant listening though I didn’t find any of the newer material was as strong as his Jayhawks material. Happily, both “Tampa To Tulsa” and “Bottomless Cup” were performed – the latter is one of my all-time favourite ‘Hawks tunes. But as a set, mixed in with a few Can-Con-approved covers and a couple of Boquist-sung tunes (O’Reagan’s tunes or his own? I don’t know), it was a thoroughly solid and enjoyable night of heartfelt countrified singer-songwriter-ness. Just the thing to ease me out of my (brief) post-Lollapalooza live music moratorium.

O’Reagan and band will be back in town on October 16 opening for Mojave 3 at the Mod Club. Pittsburgh Live has an interview with Laswell.

Photos: Tim O’Reagan and Greg Laswell @ The Horseshoe, Toronto – August 15, 2006
Stream: Tim O’Reagan – “These Things” (ASX)
MP3: Greg Laswell – “Sing, Theresa Says”
Video: Greg Laswell – “Sing, Theresa Says” (MOV)
MySpace: Tim O’Reagan
MySpace: Greg Laswell

And O’Reagan’s former bandleader, Gary Louris, just gave jayhawksfanpage.com an update of all his current musical activities – the man is certainly keeping busy, that’s for sure. There’s an audio interview with some of Golden Smog about making Another Fine Day, which they will be touring for but not up here, alas.

M Ward’s Post-War may have been pushed back a week till August 29, but you can hear it now via the modern marvel of streaming technology. Ward is at the Mod Club on September 11.

Stream: M Ward / Post-War

Prefix talks to a former member of Grandaddy who isn’t Jason Lytle – drummer Aaron Burtch.

An addendum to Tuesday’s Hidden Cameras post – they’re holding a CD release party at The Beaver (1192 Queen St W) next Tuesday, the day of release for AWOO. No performance but the band will be playing DJ and auditioning go-go dancers for their triumphant August 26 show at Harbourfront. Could that be you in the balaclava? Only one way to find out. AND, there’s a couple promo MP3s now available. Dig it, yo.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “AWOO”
MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “Death Of A Tune”

Paste declares Shearwater their band of the week. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 12.

Chart and eye talk comedy with Eugene Mirman. He’s doing stand-up at the Horseshoe tonight. Should be funny. It BETTER be funny because otherwise it’s just, you know, awkward. HEY LOOK, A VIDEO CLIP:

Video: Eugene Mirman – “Sexpert” (MOV)

Matador responds to the Interpol signing to Capitol Records reports. Sort of. Not really.

Did anyone get an Insound newsletter yesterday? The one week I actually want to order something and it doesn’t show up. Figures.

And BrooklynVegan has the first salvo of confirmed bands for this year’s Pop Montreal, taking place October 4-8. Certainly some interesting names on the list – Joanna Newsom, Under Byen, Portastatic and Land Of Talk to name a few. I will actually be attending this year – not just because I haven’t been to nearly enough music festivals this year, but because I will be a panelist at the Future Of Music Policy Summit taking place at McGill University, taking place in conjunction with Pop Montreal. My panel will be called “The New Deciders: Metafilters, Blogs, Podcasts” and I’m glad it’s not happening for another two months because I’m going to need that time to come up with some informed opinions. “The internet is not a dump truck!”

np – The Mendoza Line / Fortune