Would somebody, if they could, explain to me exactly what transpired between last July, when Camera Obscura played to a nicely full Horseshoe Tavern and this past Wednesday night, when they sold out the almost three-times larger Opera House? I had questioned the wisdom of moving the show from Lee’s Palace, where it was originally scheduled, but the fact that the extra tickets were gone in under a week proved why people who book shows do what they do and I don’t. But whatever the reason, their fanbase has apparently grown greatly in the past half year and that’s absolutely a good thing – Let’s Get Out Of This Country is a wonderful record – it just took me by surprise.

The addition of labelmates The Essex Green to the tour was an inspired choice, their retro folk-pop a perfect compliment to that of Camera Obscura. If I were to describe The Essex Green in a word, it’d be “classy” – even though their live sound was considerably more muscular than that found on their recordings, their winsome chamber pop origins were still evident. Keyboardist Sasha Bell and guitarist Chris Ziter’s vocals were note-perfect as they performed selections from last year’s The Cannibal Sea and 2003”s The Long Goodbye as well as a number from their other incarnation as well as a Flying Burrito Brothers cover for good measure. A superb set and I cant imagine that they didn’t win over a bunch of new fans by their set’s end.

Those new to the live Camera Obscura experience probably came away from the show with a deeper appreciation for the band’s wonderful songcraft but also perhaps a sense of disappointment in the band’s relatively low on-stage charisma quotient. And that’s fair – they’re hardly a rock-out band and on the large Opera House stage, it seemed as though they’d set up their equipment in such a way as to be as far away from each other as physically possible, thus nullifying the possibility of there being any accidental chemistry between players (save for the stand-in for multi-instrumentalist Nigel Baillie, who was obliged move around the stage depending on what instrument he was playing but I don’t that given the opportunity, he’d have just hung out at the back of the stage as well). And TracyAnne Campbell’s dour game face is pretty much legendary by this point though she seemed to be in good spirits, actually smiling or almost smiling at a few points during the show.

But back the aforementioned songcraft – there’s no denying the quality of their material and they delivered the goods, old and new. The first half of the set focused on the quieter, more pensive side of their repertoire but with the organ swells that signified the opening of “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”, they finally pulled out their upbeat, handclappy pop gems and rode those all the way to the set’s end – the back-to-back-to-back of “Lloyd”, “If Looks Could Kill” and “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” were simply irresistible. As always, the show was kept compact, clocking in at just over an hour, but combined with the longer-than-typical set from The Essex Green, my pop reservoirs were all full up and I was a happy camper.

The Pitch, St Louis Today, Denver Post, The Kalamazoo Gazette and The Age talk to various Camera Obscuras while I Heart Music has gone to the trouble of MP3-ifying recent radio sessions for both Camera Obscura and The Essex Green.

Photos: Camera Obscura, The Essex Green @ The Opera House – January 31, 2007
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill”
MP3: The Essex Green – “Don’t Know Why (You Stay)”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” (MOV)
Video: Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” (MOV)
Video: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill” (YouTube)
MySpace: Camera Obscura
MySpace: The Essex Green

The Toronto Star talks to T.O.’s Golden Dogs, who’re playing Lee’s Palace tonight. I’ve been told by numerous people on numerous occasions that I need to see this band so I am – check back Monday for a post-mortem.

The new TV On The Radio video I mentioned yesterday has stopped discriminating by nationality and is now available for all to see:

Video: TV On The Radio – “Province” (iFilm)

Pitchfork gets the lowdown on Voxtrot’s full-length debut, still untitled (but possibly self-titled) and due out on May 22.

And this Chart piece on Broken Social Scene mentions in passing that Feist’s new record, rumoured to be called The Reminder, might be out around May.

Pitchfork has the full tour dates for Dean & Britta, including the March 12 date at Toronto’s Mod Club I reported a couple days ago (tickets for that one will be $16.50). They also have an MP3 from Back Numbers available to grab. So go and grab.

Some shows – Julie Doiron brings her well-reviewed new album Woke Myself Up to the Drake Underground on February 20, tickets $15. The UK’s Razorlight make up for their canceled V Fest appearance with a show at the Mod Club on March 1 and Man Man are at the Horseshoe on March 18, tickets $13.50.

And on a bummer note, Elvis Perkins has canceled his April 9 show at the Mod Club. Don’t know why and I hope he makes it up soon – his new record Ash Wednesday is really growing on me. It’s in stores February 20.

As it turns out The Decemberists are liars, their green screen video challenge proving to be a giant Colbert-powered publicity stunt (shock! dismay!) while a real director set about making a proper video for “O Valencia!”. The finished product opts for a sorta funny, sorta tragic premise involving Colin Meloy trying to look tough (note the upturned collar) but instead ends up just looking like Ben Gibbard trying to look tough.

And also on the AV trip, the band’s first DVD, The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook, will be out on March 20. It won’t contain this video but will lovingly document their Kill Rock Stars years with videos, documentary features and a live show – Aversion has more info. Video link via Shots Ring Out, who also link to the new TV On The Radio at MTV which is not viewable outside of the US. Thanks for nothing.

Video: The Decemberists – “O Valencia” (iFilm)

Closer to home, Final Fantasy has a video for “This Lamb Sells Condos” that’s totally charming but probably won’t do anything to shed some light on the origins of the song for anyone who doesn’t live in Toronto. But if you need some background, check out the interview with the titular Lamb at Torontoist (via Zoilus). A reminder that Owen Pallett will be taking part in Inside The Musician’s Studio, a talk at Harbourfront Centre tonight with Steve Kado of the Blocks Recording Club, moderated by the aforementioned Mr Zoilus. eye has more specifics.

Video: Final Fantasy – “This Lamb Sells Condos” (YouTube)

Sessions abound! An Aquarium Drunkard has an acoustic session from The Broken West while Daytrotter welcome Dressy Bessy to their HQ (and force them to play some songs before they allow them to leave).

Rolling Stone and Exclaim have heart-to-hearts with James Mercer of The Shins, who will surely have to endure a second round of media interviews asking him what it’s like having the #2 record in both America and Canada. What strikes me the most is that it took 118,000 US sales to reach that chart position, whereas only 6000 Canucks had to buy the record to get them there in Canada. That’s a factor of almost 20, if you were wondering.

The Toronto Star talks to Rob Dickinson about the rerelease of Fresh Wine For The Horses and why Canada loved Catherine Wheel so much. Dickinson is at Lee’s Palace on Monday night.

PopMatters talks to Red Sparowes, in town at the El Mocambo on March 10. Bring earplugs for your earplugs.

The AV Club talks to John Stirratt about the differences in life on the road with Wilco and The Autumn Defense. Stirratt and Pat Sansone will be looking for a floor to sleep on in Toronto on March 24 after a gig at the Horseshoe.

NOW tries to prove that Carl Newman of The New Pornographers and Rod Stewart were separated at birth. Newman and les pornos play a free show at Nathan Philips Square on Saturday – forecast calls for a low of -14. Have fun with that.

The plot of Harold & Kumar 2 revealed!

np – Elvis Perkins / Ash Wednesday