It seems appropriate that I’m writing this in Chicago’s O’Hare airport because it was here in Chi-town in November 0f 2004 that I saw Luna for the final time, having taken what was probably the closest thing I ever will to a rock’n’roll pilgrimage and following their farewell tour south of the border. The previous week, I watched them walk off the stage at Lee’s Palace, expecting that it would be the last time I’d ever seen Dean Wareham in our fair town again. Though it was known that the Dean & Britta project would be continuing post-Luna, I didn’t really expect that it’d turn into a full touring proposition – from the sounds of it, Dean was more than tired with life on the road. But I guess two and a half years is long enough to re-evaluate because last night Mr Wareham and Ms Phillips once again graced the 416 and boy howdy – it was nothing short of amazing.

Josh Reichmann, formerly of Tangiers but now fronting an outfit called The Jewish Legend opened things up and you certainly couldn’t say they were conventional. The trio seemed to be assembled from a singer/guitarist who wanted to play hyper-fast acoustic folk, a saxophonist/flautist/keyboardist who wanted to play free jazz and a drummer who just wanted to rock out – and all decided to meet halfway and form a punk band. Interesting stuff but on this evening, just time-filler before the much-anticipated main attraction.

The band strode onstage at 10:15 sharp, and then beat a hasty retreat back to the wings having realized they’d broken one of the codes of rock showmanship. The second time, their drummer and keyboardist (the wonderful Lara Meyerratken) came onstage first and took their places, followed by Ms Phillips and then finally, Dean Wareham. They began appropriately with a set of the Dean & Britta material, benefiting from a terrific sound mix, bathed in warm coloured lights and with Wareham and Phillips trading vocals on “Singer Sing”. “Night Nurse”. But after Britta dazzled on “You Turned My Head Around”, Dean began an unexpected and familiar guitar rhythm. “Moon Palace”. I’d known they were going to be playing Luna material on this tour but I expected a token song or two from the later albums. Not “Moon Palace”, and yet here it was – sounding slightly different, obviously, yet still amazing. Dean handled all the guitar solos himself and while I’d never say Sean Eden was unnecessary… on this night, his absence wasn’t felt.

After that unexpected visit from the past, they returned to the D&B repertoire with numbers like winesome “The Sun Is Still Sunny” and lush “Knives From Bavaria” and then, once again, bam. “Chinatown”. Then “Tiger Lily”, with Meyerratken handling rhyhtm guitar duties for what was probably the first time (she played fine but lookeed more than a bit nervous about the role). Then back into the Galaxie 500 songbook for “Strange” (so strange to hear Dean’s older, more refined voice wrapping itself a song recorded so long ago) and the finale, expected but totally welcome, of “Bonnie & Clyde”. A glorious, glorious set made more remarkable by the fact that they managed to time it for one hour exactly. The encore – there was no way this crowd of devotees was letting them go just yet – was Wareham’s career in condensed form. Starting with “Ginger Snaps” from L’Avventura, then the title track from my favourite Luna album Bewitched, and finally with maybe the seminal G500 song, “Tugboat”. And then a final wave and goodbye.

Though Dean & Britta, the band, is unequivocally a partnership between Phillips and Wareham, the live show is still very much about Dean. The set lists they’re choosing brings him up to the mic far more than he has been in their recent studio efforts, there’s so much more guitarwork (and he’s gotten himself some sharp new guitars, let me tell you) and the audience – well, let’s just say they weren’t johnny-come-latelies. It was so great to see and hear a band that’s obviously not Luna, but also doesn’t feel the need to prove it. Dean had a sense of pride in his body of work and appreciation for the fans that was obvious to everyone in attendance and while I don’t know what anyone else’s expectations were, I can say that mine were fairly high and were still exceeded many times over. It might well be the fanboy in me talking, but that was one of the absolute best nights of music I can remember for a long time. So. Best. Long live Luna.

Dean & Britta assessed other musical husband-and-wife duos for The Boston Globe.

Photos: Dean & Britta, The Jewish Legend @ The Mod Club – March 12, 2007
MP3: Dean & Britta – “Words You Used To Say”
MP3: Dean & Britta – “Singer Sing”
Video: Dean & Britta – “Words You Used To Say” (YouTube)
MySpace: Dean & Britta

The AV Club lists off 14 cover songs that are better than the original. Yay for The Mountain Goats though I wonder how many indie kids these days even remember the original? I barely do.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “The Sign” (Ace Of Base cover)

Stream Neil Young’s Live At Massey Hall, out today. Go on, stream it.

Stream: Neil Young / Live At Massey Hall

Trespassers William are taking pre-orders for their new EP The Noble House, with an eye towards shipping them out around the first week of April. You can stream one of the new tracks on their MySpace and also check out Anna-Lynn Williams’ own MySpace as she’s got a cover of Interpol’s “Leif Erikson” posted.

AOL’s Interface has posted their session with Ted Leo as well as some video footage of the interview at Spinner.com. If nothing else, Ted’s a good sport. Living With The Living is out next Tuesday.

Some show announcements – Arctic Monkeys and Be Your Own Pet will be at the Kool Haus on May 11 and Kings Of Leon are there June 12. And Interpol have announced a Canadian tour, bypassing Toronto but playing Kitchener. The Mennonites must be thrilled.

The Boston Globe chats with James Mercer, whose Shins play a sold-out show at the Kool Haus on Saturday.

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse tells PopMatters he doesn’t like being interviewed. Awkward silence ensues.

Hi from the departure lounge at O’Hare, by the way. Hooray for 3 hour layovers, and by “hooray” I mean “boo”.

Last time I ran a contest for passes to see Maria Taylor play here in Toronto, the show was canceled at the last minute because they were stuck in traffic and couldn’t make it. Hopefully her show next Wednesday at the Horseshoe goes off a little better, hmm? She’ll be here promoting her new album Lynn Teeter Flower which is really quite a good record, maintaining the forlorn atmosphere of her work with Azure Ray but rendered with more forthright, organic and even upbeat instrumentation. And I hear that live, she plays with a full band and actually rocks out some. As a bonus, opening will be Basia Bulat who’d be entirely worth seeing on her own and pretty much guarantees this’ll be a terrific show.

Anyway, to the contest bit – courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away to this show and this one’s straightforward – just email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with your full name in the body and “I want to see Maria Taylor” in the subject line. The contest will close at midnight, March 18. Thanks, and drive careful.

MP3: Maria Taylor – “A Good Start”
MP3: Maria Taylor – “Lost Time”

The last couple years, Canadian Music Week has been sort of like a speed bump on my way to SxSW – under other circumstances, I’d have spent more time taking in the music on offer but given the tight timelines, I usually had to either take it in in passing or not at all. This year, however, I ended up going three nights straight, starting with the Under Byen show on Thursday. Friday night I spent what was, for me at least, a record six and a half hours at the Horseshoe taking in the Chart showcase. Quite a grab bag of acts on the bill, half of which looked an awful lot like this showcase from NxNE last year. Hmm.

The first act I caught was Peter Elkas, whom I apparently saw some 12 years ago with his old act The Local Rabbits. These days he’s sporting the shaggy hair and beard that’s a uniform of sorts for Canadian roots rockers but looks can be deceiving. His bag is smooth, soul music now, and he’s pretty dang good at it. He and his band (affectionately named “Elkoholics”) found their groove early and worked it for the duration, previewing tracks from their new album Wall Of Fire, out March 20. Chart previewed the show via a Q&A with Elkas.

MP3: Peter Elkas – “Wall Of Fire”
MySpace: Peter Elkas

BC’s You Say Party! We Say Die! trade in the sort of hepped up dance-punk that whether you particularly enjoy the style or not, is always a blast to watch live… assuming the band is good at it. And YSP!WSD! are good at it. Frontwoman Becky Ninkovic was a grinning whirlwind of energy, pogoing around the stage while her band impressively managed to keep up. Sound-wise, it could have been a dozen songs or just one song played for forty minutes – it was loud, fast and all kind of blended together for me – but was a good time either way. Their new record Lose All Time is out March 20 and they’re back in town April 4 as part of the Spring Fling tour put on by Exclaim!, who also put the band on the cover of their west coast editions this month. Chart had a pre-game chat with the band.

MP3: You Say Party! We Say Die! – “Monster”
MP3: You Say Party! We Say Die! – “Opportunity”
MySpace: You Say Party! We Say Die!

Like dance-punk, hip-hop isn’t something I listen to but do enjoy seeing in person, again providing it’s done well. And Edmonton’s Cadence Weapon, probably the biggest draw on the bill this night, also delivered. With DJ Weasel manning the turntables, Cadence Weapon came out amped up and sustained the energy level through his whole intense and unpretentious set and brought the crowd’s up to match (though grabbing the people in the front row and physically shaking them helps there). There was a definite electricity in the room from his performance that lingered after much of the audience up-front cleared out with its conclusion. His Breaking Kayfabe album, nominated for a Polaris last year in Canada, is out March 13 in the US, just in time for his arrival at SxSW this week. Chart also talked to him before the festival.

MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Sharks”
MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Black Hand”
MySpace: Cadence Weapon

Personal faves Land Of Talk from Montreal drew the midnight slot and sadly got off to a bit of a rough start, thanks in no small part to an extremely drunk and pushy patron who decided then and there would be the best time to try and pick up frontwoman Liz Powell. Loudly and persistently. They (and we up front) did our best to ignore him – not an easy task – and the band eventually did find their footing about midway through the set and finished strongly. Overall not their best performance (their set opening for The Dears back in October was fierce and set the standard from my POV) but still enjoyable and it was great to hear new material that will appear on their next record, hopefully out by the Fall. Their current EP/mini-album, Applause Cheer Boo Hiss will be out on March 20 in the US. Canadians have no excuse to not already own it.

MP3: Land Of Talk – “Speak To Me Bones”
MySpace: Land Of Talk

Unintentionally, I missed the whole of Kill The Lights’ set on account of, well, talking to other people. But I can say that they were very loud. Their debut album Buffalo Of Love is out tomorrow and they’ll be on MTV Canada to celebrate.

MySpace: Kill The Lights

By this point, it was way past my bedtime and while I was doing alright, wakefulness-wise, all things considered, I needed a pick-me-up to make it through the night and The Adam Brown (definite article mandatory) provided just the rock injection necessary. They may come from Montreal but they live in a world where the language spoken is Marshall Stack and “yeah yeah yeah” is as profound a lyric as anything Dylan could have written. No frills, no fuss, no muss, just arrow-straight old school rock’n’roll and loads of fun. They didn’t care that there was but a fraction of the audience left over from earlier in the night – it just meant there was more room for dancing. My second wind lasted about exactly as long as their set… and then I went home and collapsed. Chart chatted with the band before the show.

Video: The Adam Brown – “Big Roker” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Adam Brown

ACT TWO. Or three. Anyways, I was undecided on what, if anything, I was going to do for Saturday night. Sleep was an option, as was playing Guitar Hero 2 at Graig’s (probably as close as I’m going to get to fulfilling my dream of covering “Tonight I’m Going To Rock You Tonight”). I thought about trying to catch The Pipettes but decided (correctly) that that would be folly. And so it happened that I ended up at the Whipper Snapper Gallery for Paper Bag’s showcase.

I arrived a bit late for The Hot Springs’ set, but still in time to be impressed. I arrived a bit late for The Hot Springs’ set, but still in time to be impressed. Fronted by the intense, entertaining and probably a little unhinged Giselle Webber and her distinctive warble, the Montrealers take equal parts of ’70s punk and classic rock (and metal) and mash them together into something unnatural, unholy and bilingual. I had intended to catch them last October at Pop Montreal but was sidetracked. But hey – better late than never.

MP3: The Hot Springs – “Bacteria”
MP3: The Hot Springs – “Caco Disco”
MySpace: The Hot Springs

And what better way to wrap up Canadian Music Week (for me) than with a band I’ve called “quintessentially Canadian”, Ottawa’s The Acorn. They seemed to be feeding off the cozy, informal environment of the Gallery and were extra loose and jovial, shrugging off technical difficulties and malfunctioning amps to still turn in a sweet and upbeat set of shimmering pop. My love for any band that not only utilizes the ukulele – but swaps it between band members – continues unabated. If you’ve not discovered the joys of the Acorn yet, keep April 12 open as they play the Drake Underground that night.

MP3: The Acorn – “Blankets”
MP3: The Acorn – “Plates & Saucers”
MySpace: The Acorn

And that was my weekend. Like the recipe promised, a healthy dollop of Canadian talent from across the country covering a range of sounds and styles. The Toronto Star has their best picks from the fest and Chart is still compiling all their showcase report cards. And, as usual, here’s the photographic evidence that I’m not just making this all up.

Photos: The Adam Brown, Land Of Talk, Cadence Weapon, You Say Party! We Say Die! Peter Elkas @ The Horseshoe – March 9, 2007
Photos: The Acorn, The Hot Springs @ The Whipper Snapper Gallery – March 10, 2007

Dean & Britta tonight! I’ll be putting the review together en route to Austin so with luck I’ll have it up by late afternoon/early evening. Before SxSW devours everything, anyway.

Update: Almost two days before someone told me I forgot to put up the link to the Of Montreal cover of The Who. Geez people, you have to help me to help you. Anyway, it’s there now.

Flurry of concert announcements yesterday – I myself am most/only exited about Maximo Park’s gig at the Mod Club on July 14 in support of their new album Our Earthly Pleasures. Maximo’s Paul Smith tells GigWise the new album is better than the first one, but of course he’d say that, wouldn’t he? We’ll found out when it’s released on April 3 in the UK and May 8 in North America. I think they played here a number of times in 2005 in support of A Certain Trigger but I was not, as the kids say, in the know at that time. But now I am hip to their jive. Billboard has full North American tour dates.

We’re also having something of an invasion of French electronic duos this Summer. Think about that. Being invaded by the French. Air bring their Pocket Symphony to the Kool Haus on May 5 while Daft Punk roll into Arrow Hall three months later on August 5 with The Rapture in tow. Pitchfork has full dates for both Air and Daft Punk.

If you like your indie-dance hybrids a little more pointy, !!! (Chk Chk Chk) are at Lee’s Palace on May 19 for the final date of their North American tour.

And finally, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club celebrate the release of their new album Baby 81 with a gig at the Kool Haus on May 26, full dates at Pollstar.

And some other stuff to clear out before things get SxSW wacky for the next week…

Glorious Noise has an interview with producer Larry Crane, who’s overseeing the release of New Moon on May 8, a double-disc collection of Elliott Smith rarities.

USA Today talks to Michael Stipe on the occasion of REM’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame on Monday. You can watch the induction ceremonies live online at Spinner.com, if you’re so inclined – they also have a Q&A with ol’ Stipey. And Billboard reports that the band is set to enter the studio to recored their 14th album with the guy who produced U2’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and Snow Patrol’s Final Straw, but also Bloc Party’s latest. Interesting…?

Billboard has details on The Shepherd’s Dog, the new album from Iron & Wine due out in September.

Jay Farrar chats briefly with Harp about Son Volt’s new one The Search. They’re at the Mod Club on April 12.

Jeff Tweedy tells Billboard he’s not concerned about Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky having leaked to the internet months before its official May 15 release date thanks to last weekend’s full-album preview… and to prove it, they’re streaming the whole thing again tomorrow from 10AM to 10PM EST.

The Broward-Palm Beach New Times talks to The Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay while The New York Times goes out for a night on the town with the band.

Harp and CMJ sing the praises of Daytrotter. Daytrotter blushes.

I didn’t get to bed till almost 4 last night. I need a coffee. Talk amongst yourselves.

When was the last time I did a morning-after concert review? Been a while, so thank the early start time at the Mod Club last night (and the fact that I had nothing else ready for today).

As previewed yesterday, last night was the start of the Scandinavian invasion of Canadian Music Week, with Denmark’s Under Byen and Sweden’s Frida Hyvonen in town and sharing a bill with Toronto’s Ohbijou. The locals opened things up and as with each other time I’ve seen them, they were wonderful. Though the difference between calling them “chamber pop” and “orch-pop” seems academic, the distinction is evident when you compare their record Swift Feet For Troubling Times (the former) with their live show (the latter), the respective differences enough to make both required listening/seeing. Onstage, even when saddled with an overly muddy mix as they were last night, they were nothing less than beguiling – a swirl of strings, horns, guitars, keys and creative percussion topped with sweet vocals. No cover of “Heartbeat” this time but as always, a delight.

Though the stage was a veritable sea of musical equipment at the start of the night – both Ohbijou and Under Byen come heavily equipped and must be a roadie’s nightmare – most of it was cleared off, save for a single keyboard, for Frida Hyvonen. And even alone onstage and at an angle with her back facing much of the audience, she was mesmerizing. Dressed in a light coloured dress (with pockets) which combined with her beyond-fair complexion and platinum hair made her look like an apparition, her personality veered from loopy to almost maniacal in chatting with the audience in between performing songs from Until Death Comes (which is also equal parts loopy and manic), yet always entertainingly so. And just when you were convinced this woman was completely off her nut, she’d pull out a ballad of such remarkable beauty that your head would spin and your heart would break. As much as I enjoy the record, I certainly didn’t expect her set to be so much fun. But she was. And it was good.

As much as I enjoy the recording of Samme Stof Som Stof, it was seeing Under Byen at last Fall in Montreal that really drove home how good and unique this eight-piece is and sealed the deal for me as a fan. The lineup seems to have changed a bit since that show in October, but they were every bit as sonically devastating last night, probably even more so. Achieving volume by means of layers and layers of instrumentation and not by simply turning amps up (though having two drummers going full tilt certainly helps raise the noise floor), Under Byen offered a fresh and exciting take on what one might reductively call post-rock though that really doesn’t do their art justice. Their set comprised Samme Stof material and a fair bit that I didn’t recognize, but they’re not exactly a band that needs to air out the hit singles to satisfy – just by sheer force of performance they could win over a total newcomer and I wager they did just that last night. So, so good.

Photos: Under Byen, Frida Hyvonen, Ohbijou @ The Mod Club – March 8, 2007
MP3: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof”
MP3: Under Byen – “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Fa Det Bedste Ud Af Det”
MP3: Frida Hyvonen – “You Never Got Me Right”
MP3: Ohbijou – “Misty Eyes”
MP3: Ohbijou – “Steep”
Video: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof” (YouTube)
Video: Frida Hyvonen – “I Drive My Friend” (MOV)
Video: Frida Hyvonen – “The Modern” (MOV)
Video: Ohbijou – “The Woods” (MOV)
MySpace: Under Byen
MySpace: Frida Hyvonen
MySpace: Ohbijou

Billboard talks to Feist about her new album The Reminder, out May 1. She plays Massey Hall on May 26.

From Blown Speakers is reporting that Metric’s long-lost (yet not hard to find if you know where to look) first album Grow Up And Blow Away will be getting re-released this Summer, though I don’t know if that’s the right term since it wasn’t really released the first time around. What I’ve heard sounds almost a world away from their current synth-rock sound so it’ll be interesting to see how it’s received. Also, Uberdrivel has a live Metric set from 2005 available to download.

Looking forward to seeing Land Of Talk at the ‘Shoe tonight. Filter just posted the schedule for all of their shows at SxSW next week, and they’re managing to squeeze a remarkable seven performances into their four days in Austin. The one to see, of course, will be at Hot Freaks on Saturday, 1:30PM at the Mohawk. The preceding five shows are just warm-ups. Yeah.