<caveat> – It’s late, I’m a little addled from Pop Montreal and the travel, this is not an especially coherent post. </caveat>

The Hold Steady’s latest Boys And Girls In America hit stores last week and with it has come a tsunami of critical acclaim. This in and of itself is no great surprise, as the first two albums also reviewed very well.

On first listen, it’s unmistakably a Hold Steady record – the FM radio riffs and Craig Finn’s relentless monologuing couldn’t come from anyone else – but there’s been some definite adjustments since Separation Sunday. The production is a little less ragged and Finn’s voice, while still an acquired taste, is higher in the mix and more sing-y than shout-y. But the greatest change I note, and probably most tellingly of the band’s ambitions, is Franz Nicolay’s piano. It’s everywhere, dancing on top of the Marshall stacked guitars below, and instantly elevates the music from bar band to the most classic of rock. Cynics might find the faint aroma of fromage, but while Finn’s wordplay has plenty of wit and humour, it’s not ironic. Anyone who’s seen the band in concert (sidebar – Horseshoe, October 28, must remember to get a ticket) knows the band means it, every word, every note. Even Nicolay’s moustache. ESPECIALLY Nicolay’s moustache.

I’m only a latecomer to the Hold Steady party but am already lightly addicted to immersing myself in Finn’s world of glorious burnouts, outcasts and castaways and the suburban teenage wastelands they inhabit. I mean, I don’t think I’d especially want to live there, but listening to his tremendously detailed, sympathetic and affectionate character studies, I do find myself wishing my own friends were just a little more interesting… and I want to play air guitar. Like it’s predecessors, expect Boys And Girls In America to show up on more than a few year-end lists. It’s interesting that one of the criticisms I hear about the record is how straight rock’n’roll it is. When did that become a bad thing? There’s a Finn quote in the new issue of Magnet that says, “Someone said, ‘you guys and the Drive-By Truckers are the only bands that smile onstage'”. If bands want to draw from classic rock and can turn out great records while doing it, why the hell not?

The Village Voice features the band and examines the obvious Springsteen reference. And did you notice that there’s two bonus tracks to Boys And Girls In America available in the iTunes store? So whatever you spent on the album, get ready to spent another couple bucks. Also check it out – there’s actually content at BoysAndGirlsInAmerica.com. Not a lot, but more than the one video there the last time I looked.

MP3: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!”
MySpace: The Hold Steady

Note that Pitchfork and Billboard have gotten onto the Wrens reissue news that I first reported last week – sure, they went out and got facts and quotes and other such fluff, but don’t forget who was asking “WTF?” and had no substantive information first. That’s right. Me.

The ‘Fork also does the weekly guest list thing with Yo La Tengo while Lazy-i interviews the Hobokenites.

Some new album news – Billboard learns from Lou Barlow that the original Dinosaur Jr lineup will release a new album sometime in the Spring and a live DVD from the reunion tour on May 8 of next year. Look for Idlewild’s Make Another World in Feburary (via Gigwise) and coming in March should be new albums from The National and Ted Leo (Pitchfork gets an update). On a slightly vaguer timetable is album #4 from The New Pornographers’, which Carl Newman tells Chart will be their Life’s Rich Pageant.

Tangentially, Marathonpacks, who has written up an exhaustive review of the REM DVD compilation When The Light Is Mine: Best of The I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 Video Collection complete with video links.

My Brightest Diamond will be at the Drake on November 9 with Pedestrian as support. A Sufjan Stevens collaborator on tour with a band that fit in fine at this year’s Edgefest – what a strange, strange bill.

Junkmedia tries to find out what made Milwaukee Famous – What Made Milwaukee Famous try to assist. Which reminds me, I need to select winners for my Barsuk contest. I’ll get right on that.

Zoilus has posted the complete transcript of his interview with Joanna Newsom, an abridged version of which appeared in last week’s Globe & Mail. And today’s Globe has a recap of Pop Montreal from Carl.

The Boston Herald interviews Jenny Lewis, who I hear put on an amazing show at Trinity-St Paul’s this past Saturday. Sorry I missed it.

And all my Pop Montreal photos are now up.

np – The Decemberists / The Crane Wife

Though there was still Pop Montreal programming on the Sunday night – albeit a limited schedule – it seemed most other punters I knew headed home after Saturday night. My initial plans had involved The Constantines’ free show at Main Hall but I ended up staying at Casa Del Popolo the whole night, even though headliner Carolyn Mark had to cancel for reasons unknown. What ended up transpiring was as follows:

Relief Maps @ Casa Del Popolo – Hearing of the cancellation, Matthew from I Heart Music seized the opportunity and got this band from Ottawa on the bill and in a car en route to Montreal and arrived just in time to open up the evening. Though the odds were somewhat against them – the 11th hour notice, the fact that they were loaded down with Thanksgiving turducken and fighting off the effects of tryptophan and that their new bassist had rehearsed with them for the grand total of two hours, they still pulled off a respectable, compact set. Their sound is raw but promising, and if they figure out how to best balance out their singer’s smooth vocals with the band’s spiky post-punkish attack they could well be onto something. But in the meantime, an act to keep an eye on and more evidence (along with the evening’s defacto headliners) that something’s brewing in the nation’s capital.

Photos: Relief Maps @ Casa Del Popolo – October 8, 2006
MP3: Relief Maps – “Stamp Out Fatigue”
MP3: Relief Maps – “Pattersicle”

Schooner @ Casa Del Popolo – In town all the way from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Schooner piqued my interest last week as I did a casual cruise of the unknown acts playing Pop Montreal. Blending sweet boy-girl vocals, some ’50s doo-wop and ’60s baroque pop influences (not heavy, but there) with the college rock skronk of their hometown in the ’90s and some timeless power-pop hookery, the five-piece didn’t disappoint on the promise of the brief samples I listened to while hastily filling out my schedule. Which is to say that they were quite good and I was pleased to see that by the time they took the stage, a decent crowd had filled out the club – it would have been a shame if they came all this way and played to just myself and the bar staff.

Photos: Schooner @ Casa Del Popolo – October 8, 2006
MP3: Schooner – “Carrboro”
MP3: Schooner – “Ominous Bird”
MySpace: Schooner

The Acorn @ Casa Del Popolo – People have been telling me for a while now I should listen to The Acorn. Well I finally got a chance to hear The Acorn and damnation, they ARE good. Combining some killer songs with an engaging (if awfully-lit) live show, The Acorn impressed and proved that I should listen to other people more often. Like The Soft Disaster, who I saw on the same stage on Thursday and with whom they share a member, there’s something about The Acron that just sounds like Ottawa. Though more extroverted than their colleagues in The Soft Disaster, they spun out pop songs that were similarly plaintive, open-hearted and epic-sounding under down comforters. It seems somehow fitting that this sound is emanating from our nation’s capital because there’s something quintissentially Canadian-sounding about it all, but without being cliched, Take that, Tragically Hip.

Photos: The Acorn @ Casa Del Popolo – October 8, 2006
MP3: The Acorn – “Blankets”
MP3: The Acorn – “Plates & Saucers”
MySpace: The Acorn

Prefix and BlogTO wrap up their Pop Montreal coverage with a fine Saturday night in Beirut (though I will maintain that I still saw the better show that night). And that was my Pop Montreal. You may note that I didn’t take in and ungodly amount of shows – fact is, I needed to take this trip to decompress from a breakneck past five weeks and simply didn’t have the energy or motivation to club hop. The fact that the venues were more spread out (at least from where I was) than I’d originally expected also helped put the kabosh on heavy-duty showgoing. But what I did see was generally quite good and I’ve enjoyed reading the reports on stuff that I missed from other attendees. While it wasn’t a patch on the insanity of SxSW, my only other real frame of reference for festivals, it still offered a very good batting average for quality acts – not something that bigger and more scattershot fests like NxNE and CMW can necessarily say. The Future Of Music summit was also quite enjoyable and educational, both as an audience member and participant.

I didn’t do much sightseeing either – a little trekking around the Plateau on Saturday and down to Old Montreal and Downtown on an unseasonably warm and sunny Sunday afternoon were about the extent of it. I’m sure this city has far more to offer and I certainly hope it won’t be another 30 years before I come back. But I’m pretty happy with how the past week has gone and am also happy to be heading home.

But to debunk one of the more popular assertions made by Montrealers who move to Toronto… St Hubert’s is, in no way shape or form, better than Swiss Chalet. QED.

To my fellow Pop Montreal-ers: I don’t know where you were on Saturday night, but if you weren’t at the Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire, then I guarantee you I saw a better show than you. For serious. Like the previous night, there was no club hopping this eve – everything I wanted to see was in one spot and it was way too far from the rest of the main drag to even try to get around… and anyway, it was right next to my hotel. I could see the entrance from my window.

Mike O’Brien @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – I didn’t expect too much from Montrealer Mike O’Brien and his band the Ideal Lovers – judging from the samples on his website, I assumed it’d be fairly rote singer-songwriter stuff. Well-played, but not especially inspiring. Happily, I was making an ass of not so much you, just me, as O’Brien and company kicked things off with a very entertaining (and well-played) set that you could also have filed under country, jazz, folk, roots or pop. O’Brien was a personable frontman, offering anecdotes behind many of his songs (“this one’s also about a girl”) and generally making me glad I didn’t decide to stay in my hotel and watch the first half of the Battlestar Galactica season premiere. Shut up.

Photos: Mike O’Brien @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – October 7, 2006
MP3: Mike O’Brien – “Movie Star”
MP3: Mike O’Brien – “Dirt Road Blue”

Under Byen @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – As I mentioned last week, this was the set that I was most looking forward at Pop Montreal and I was not disappointed. While most every other act I’ve seen fell pretty well within the jurisdiction defined by the festival name (some sort of pop performed in Montreal), this Danish outfit were the proverbial “and now for something completely different”. Boasting an elaborate and expansive stage setup, Under Byen dazzled with a show that was both angelic and gutteral, delicate and hulking. By performing the dense and complex arrangements on Af Samme Stof Som Stof completely live and with mostly acoustic albeit amplified and heavily processed instruments (the distorted kalimba sounded amazing), the band was able to bring the occasional haziness of the album into sharp, stark and totally affecting focus. Shrouded either in shadows or silhouetted by a a lightshow and even hiding their supermodel-looking singer further back on the stage, often crouched down by the floor, the band didn’t say a word to the audience, preferring to let the music do the talking – and that it did, in mysterious booming tones. I am actually glad I can’t understand Danish because I think that being able to process the lyrics on anything but a strictly non-phonetic level would take away some of the overall effect. It’s always nice when something manages to meet high expectations, but to have them blown away – as I and many others in the audience were – is even better.

Photos: Under Byen @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – October 7, 2006
MP3: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof”
MP3: Under Byen – “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Fa Det Bedste Ud Af Det”
Video: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof” (YouTube)
MySpace: Under Byen

Giant Sand @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – And yet somehow, with as good a show as Under Byen put on, a very strong case could be made for Giant Sand stealing the show back. I’d never heard any of Howe Gelb’s prodigious output – not any of his many projects – but after last night that’s certainly going to change. Gelb’s work is lazily described as desert rock, along the same lines as Calexico and such, but that doesn’t nearly do the breadth of his talent and vision justice. Over the course of his set and moving between guitar and piano, he turned out cosmic country, cabaret jazz torch songs and gloriously ragged rockers – often all within the same song. There was even a short operetta duet with Henrietta Sennenvaldt of Under Byen, with whom Gelb has worked in the past – hence the otherwise incongruous bill. Gelb himself was also incredibly personable onstage, coming across like the visiting, vagabond uncle with a twinkle in his eye. Judging from his casual manner and the way his band watched him intently for cues, I’d say that Gelb had no set list and even no set plan before heading on stage, but even so, they didn’t miss a beat and put on a superb, superb show start to finish.

Photos: Giant Sand @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – October 7, 2006
MP3: Giant Sand – “Occupy (live 1995)”
MySpace: Giant Sand

I know I said that if Giant Sand and Under Byen blew me away, I’d catch them again Monday night at the Horseshoe back home… while the necessary condition is obviously true, I expect to be way too tired/burnt out to keep my promise. But then, stranger things have happened. Like seeing the best show of the festival (for me) in a comedy club. Actually it was a fantastic venue with great sound, lights and sightlines, but still – comedy club.

Prefix and BlogTO report back on their Friday night (much of it spent next to me at Les Saints).

Friday night’s Pop Montreal sched ended up being lighter than I’d intended because an afternoon power nap turned into a full-on hibernation, thus screwing up my intention to see either Jessica Bailiff or The Dandybeards. Unfortunate, but believe me – I needed that sleep. So instead of club-hopping, I spent the whole of the evening at the Insound showcase at Les Saints.

Miracle Fortress @ Les Saints – The side project from Think About Life-er is a solo act in the very literal sense, with Graham Van Pelt the only member and live performer. Not that that stops him from making a racket – handling guitar and drums simultaneously and bolstered by a variety of samplers and loopers, he turns out plaintive pop tunes dressed up in cacaphony which I found to be far more interesting than the output of his day job.

Photos: Miracle Fortress @ Les Saints – October 6, 2006
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Eschatology”

The Big Sleep @ Les Saints – The Brooklyn trio was the main draw for me on this bill, having rather impressed with their debut album Son Of the Tiger. If nothing else, I imagined that they’d turn out one ear-splitter of a live show and they didn’t disappoint on any count. They traded in some of the dynamics and melodicism of the record for an extra dollop of brute force on stage and were nothing short of fearsome. Mix one serving of amphetamine with one serving of quaalude, bury vocals, turn up to 11. Serve loud. Remind me to send a thank-you box of chocolates to the company that made my earplugs.

Photos: The Big Sleep @ Les Saints – October 6, 2006
MP3: The Big Sleep – “Murder”
MP3: The Big Sleep – “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable”
MySpace: The Big Sleep

Islands @ Les Saints – I stuck around to see the headliners simply because there was nowhere else to go that late at night. And lucky thing, because Islands really impressed. I’ve not paid much attention to them since seeing one of their earlier shows last November but whereas that show had a somewhat charming shambolicness about it, this time they were all business. With the departure of J’aime Tambeur in May, Nick Diamonds is now the sole frontman of the band and he seemed perfectly happy to fill up the space left in the spotlight by his fellow ex-Unicorn and he led the six-piece band through an impressively tight and focused show, much to the delight of their hometown fans. They’ve become quite a good classic pop band in the past year, maintaining a goodly amount of their eclectic, goofball charm while also honing some killer hookism. A good show with an enthusiastic crowd though the mosh pit was a bit silly.

Photos: Islands @ Les Saints – October 6, 2006
Video: Islands – “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby” (MOV)
MySpace: Islands

So earlier in the day was my big panel at the Future Of Music summit, which is turning out to be an excellent way to spend the days before the club-hopping at night. I was more than a little nervous going into it, as much because I remembered that I really don’t like public speaking as for being in the company of the founders of Merge Records and Pitchfork Media. And, of course, I was the one asked to start things off… But overall I quite enjoyed the experience and there was some interesting (and some not-so interesting) discussion about the role that sites like blogs and web-zines like Pitchfork play in navigating and making sense of the sheer amount of music that’s out there right now. Most of the discussion centred around the current landscape and what everyone’s perceived and actual influence on things is (relative to Pitchfork, mine would be approximately none). I had hoped that more discussion would be had on what the roles of internet media might be in the future and where this is all going because, well, I have no idea where I’m going with this site and a little guidance or advice would have been appreciated. But in the time available, I thought it was a pretty good discussion.

More Pop Montreal updates from here, there and everywhere – Chart recaps Wednesday and Thursday while Prefix reports in on their Thursday night goings-on and Zoilus’s day three wrapup is more FMC than Pop Montreal (he missed my panel!).

Greeting from lovely Montreal. Or so I’ve been told – haven’t actually seen much of the city as of yet, just the train station, back of a cab, my hotel, the music building at McGill and a handful of clubs on St-Laurent. Almost immediately after arriving yesterday, I headed to the Future Of Music Summit at the aforementioned McGill building to check out (though not participate in) a panel on blogging featuring Matthew Fluxblog and Carl Wilson. Interesting discussion and gave me a bit of an idea of how my panel this morning might go. I expect it will mostly be people asking Ryan from Pitchfork lots of questions and ignoring me, which suits me fine.

But to the shows (as in Pop Montreal, which is why I’m here – that and the poutine):

The Soft Disaster @ Casa Del Popolo – This Ottawa four-piece got the festival off to a very good start for me. I found their songs compact and intense, while simultaneously expansive and delicate. There was something inherently wintery about their brand of indie rock, spare and glistening like the newfallen snow. It’s a little hard to explain what captured my attention about their set, but it definitely did. I picked up a copy of their album Roughs/Stalls and am hoping that when I get a chance to listen to it, it will remind me of what it was.

Photos: The Soft Disaster @ Casa Del Popolo – October 5, 2006
MP3: The Soft Disaster – “Nothing Returns”
MP3: The Soft Disaster – “Caught in midday rainstorm (your breathing)”
MySpace:

Snailhouse @ La Sala Rossa – This Montreal two-piece is the long-running project of Michael Feuerstack and play meditative, introspective singer-songwriter-ish pop with lots of words but not a lot of choruses. Feuerstack played guitar and sang while his compatriot moved between bass and keyboards, adding bits of ambience and rhythm to the proceedings. Overall a bit slowish for my tastes at the time but certainly with merit. And as I’d find out shortly, capable of rocking out as well.

Photos: Snailhouse @ La Salla Rosa – October 5, 2006
MP3: Snailhouse – “Birds And Bees”
MP3: Snailhouse – “God Created Monsters”
MySpace: Snailhouse

Portastatic @ La Sala Rossa – Mac McCaughan could easily rest on his laurels, his legacy with Superchunk and Merge having guaranteed his place in whatever hall of fame there is for indie rock, but he’s still cranking out great records as Portastatic. Starting out playing solo and acoustic, his set covered the last three Portastatic records including the Hot Chip cover off his recent digital-only EP. He then brought out Snailhouse as his rhythm section and went electric and ripped it up, reminding that as much as festivals like these are generally about the up-and-coming kids, sometimes the veterans can still teach a thing or two. Great stuff. Mac reviewed his own show on the Portastatic blog.

Photos: Portastatic @ La Salla Rosa – October 5, 2006
MP3: Portastatic – “Sour Shores”
MySpace: Portastatic

Tokyo Police Club @ La Sala Rossa – Wasn’t especially enthused about seeing these guys again, but I was there and the crowd seemed to be buzzing with some excitement for their set so why not? Turns out that was a wise move, as they put on a very tight and solid performance, easily the best of theirs I’ve seen yet. It’s remarkable how much better they’ve gotten as a live act just over the past few months, now striking a good balance between putting on a good and entertaning show without compromising the actual performance aspect. They still do that screamy/shouty vocal thing a little more than I’d like, but the songcraft is definitely improving. They’re growing into the hype and that’s commendable.

Photos: Tokyo Police Club @ La Salla Rosa, October 5, 2006
MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Nature Of The Experiment”
MySpace: Tokyo Police Club

Basia Bulat @ L’Escogriffe – Matthew from I Heart Music convinced me to check out Basia Balut instead of sticking around La Salla Rosa for The Hot Springs and I’m glad he did. Not because The Hot Springs would have been bad – I’ve no idea – but Bulat was quite good. Playing in a cozy (read: tiny) little club, Bulat impressed with her fundamentally folky songs but dressed up with soul, jazz and country influences and accented terrifically with strings and percussion and her own delicious vibrato. Though hailing from London, Ontario, Bulat spent the Summer in Montreal recording her debut full length and the judging from the warm response she got from the audience, she won them over quite handily. Mark me down as quite interested to hear how her recorded output turns out, whenever it’s ready.

Photos: Basia Bulat @ L’Escogriffe – October 5, 2006
MP3: Basia Bulat – “Someday” (Strokes cover)
MySpace: Basia Bulat

Photos will be forthcoming whenever I get a chance to take a minute and process them.

Other bits – Zoilus reports back on his first two days at Pop Montreal, including his first Joanna Newsom show. BlogTO also recaps nights one and two and finally Prefix is in town checking things out and has a report on Wednesday’s festivities.