Welcome to the placeholder post. A late final night at Pop Montreal and an early morning flight means there’s no time for a post-mortems today. Instead, I shall clear out some various links that have been accumulating over the past few days, starting with some of The National’s recent press clippings. Frontman Matt Berninger took the time to talk to The Montreal Gazette and The McGill Daily in advance of their show at Le Theatre National tonight. The Vancouver Province and The Somerville Journal also have conversations. The National are in Toronto at the Phoenix tomorrow night.

And if you’re looking for more Thanksgiving weekend rock options, consider Ted Leo & The Pharmacists at the Mod Club tonight. The Times-Union has an interview with the man they call the “everyman of punk”

You’ve almost certainly heard by now, but the Arcade Fire’s big fancy October 6 surprise was an interactive video for “Neon Bible”. If you’ve always wanted to play pattycake with Win Butler, you ship has come in.

Video: Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible”

Neil Young talks to The Guardian about how Carole King killed the original Chrome Dreams album some 30 years ago. The sequel to that record, Chrome Dreams II, will be released on October 23.

The Telegraph and Inside Bay Area talk to Steve Earle.

The List interviews The Decemberists.

Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino gives Filter a list of some of his favourite things.

Okkervil River’s Will Sheff compares and contrasts Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart for The Houston Chronicle.

Spoon stickman Jim Eno tells On Milwaukee that he loves Milwaukee. Spoon are at the Kool Haus next Monday night, October 15.

Dallas News talks to Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett about the value of time apart.

Josh Ritter tells The Washington Post that he likes Dylan, but doesn’t like like Dylan.

This week on The Interface – Jose Gonzalez. NPR has an interview and is also streaming his recent show in DC. Gonzalez is at the Mod Club on December 7.

If there was ever a day I needed to take it easy, it was this one. A bit tough to do when you’re in the middle of a big music festival, but it can be done. I opted to head downtown along Rue Ste-Catherine, Montreal’s main shopping drag, to maybe do a little shopping but primarily to catch Elk City play an in-store at Urban Outfitters.

As discussed back in April, the initial appeal of Elk City was as the new band for ex-Luna axeman Sean Eden. Considering the last time I saw him play was in Chicago some three years ago, I was pretty excited to get to see him again – even if it was on a landing in a giant clothing store. And while the environment was a bit odd to say the least, the band sounded great. Like really great – even better than expected. Hearing Eden toss off his brilliant and distinctive guitar solos whilst surrounded by pants was of course a treat, but singer Renee LoBue also sounded terrific and I think I’m going to have to give New Believers another spin when I get home. It definitely put me in a better mood, even with shoppers constantly passing in front of the band between floors. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they were almost all preternaturally attractive girls. What they say about Montreal? C’est vrai. I also got a chance to talk to Sean after the set about what’s going on with his Weeds Of Eden project (coming along slowly) and to top it off, I got 80% off a couple of shirts. That’s a good afternoon.

Photos: Elk City @ Urban Outfitters – October 5, 2007
MP3: Elk City – “Cherries In The Snow”
MP3: Elk City – “Los Cruzados”
Video: Elk City – “Cherries In The Snow” (YouTube)
MySpace: Elk City

As the day went on, my plans for the evening got more and more compacted – it was obvious the old bones were not going to be up for another night of roaming the Plateau so instead, it was going to be a single-stop night at the beautiful Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – the perfect setting for Patrick Wolf and – bonus – barely a 10 minute walk from my hotel.

First up was Bishi, a Wolf collaborator and tourmate for this Autumn jaunt. To call her style unique would be an understatement. Backed by an iPod and wielding a sitar, Bishi melded old English folk songcraft with South Asian sounds and textures, her powerful voice and towards the end of her set, discofied dance rhythms. It sounds like a strange blend but in her hands, it really works.

Photos: Bishi @ Le Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – October 5, 2007
MySpace: Bishi

And then it was time for Mr Wolf. I went into his show in Toronto back in May a curious outsider and came out a huge fan. His live show was so giddily over the top with glitter and glam and (almost) nudity you couldn’t not love it – The Magic Position is a pretty terrific record as well. His band was dressed up for the occasion in formal wear and Wolf himself bounded onstage in a natty blue tunic and, of course, his little boy shorts and knee socks. Relative to the El Mocambo show, this time Wolf seemed a bit more… serious, for lack of a better word. He was still a one-man carnival but the set list and delivery was heavier, more intense and rockish – “Accident & Emergency”, in particular, was delivered with an aggressiveness I’d never have expected. And while the clothing still came off as the show progressed, he didn’t even approach nudity by the time the main set ended after a surprisingly short fifty minutes or so. I was even more surprised when he returned for the encore without any costume change for a reading of “Magpie” with Bishi standing in for Marianne Faithfull. But all fears that Wolf had gotten too serious in the last few months were gone when the band returned for a second encore and as the intro to “The Magic Position” swelled, out came Wolf, shirtless, boa-ed and covered in glitter body paint. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Sparkles and streamers flew, Wolf dazzled and I called it a night.

And I should mention that Wolf is one of my favourite artists to photograph and the Caberet easily one of the best venues I’ve ever shot in so I’m pretty happy with my photos from the show. Do check them out. And read these interviews with Chart, The Montreal Mirror, The Columbia Spectator and The Ottawa Citizen. Wolf is playing tonight at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. You should be there. Really.

Photos: Patrick Wolf @ Le Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire – October 5, 2007
MP3: Patrick Wolf – “The Magic Position”
Video: Patrick Wolf – “Accident And Emergency” (YouTube)
Video: Patrick Wolf – “The Magic Position” (YouTube)
Video: Patrick Wolf – “Bluebells” (YouTube)
MySpace: Patrick Wolf

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Pop Montreal coverage to bring you this special offer from the good people at Voxtrot. Assuming they have better luck at the border than they did last week when they got turned away trying to get to their Vancouver gig opening for Arctic Monkeys, the Austin indie-poppers are coming to Canada next week for a string of headlining shows along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence (with a short detour up the Ottawa River) in Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. And they not only want you to be there, they want you to take home some swag.

Courtesy of the band, I’ve got a fancy Voxtrot prize pack to give away for each of the following shows:

October 8 @ Club Absinthe – Hamilton, ON (congratulations Matt)
October 9 @ The Mod Club – Toronto, ON (congratulations different Matt)
October 10 @ Zaphod Beeblebrox – Ottawa, ON
October 11 @ La Salla Rosa – Montreal, QC

UPDATE: Toronto and Hamilton shows are cancelled, Ottawa and Montreal questionable – Ramesh had to undergo surgery this morning (no further info) and can’t perform. Will update as I get info.

And that prize pack consists of:

2 passes to the show
1 limited edition “Firecracker” UK 7″ single
1 limited edition (only 50) metallic-ink silk-screened NYC gig poster from Feb ’07 (check it!)
1 Voxtrot t-shirt (new design, featuring Heather of Au Revoir Simone)

To enter, shoot me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Voxtrot in (name of city you want to go see them in)” and your full name in the body. If you have a second choice – as in, you live in Hamilton and are willing to go to Toronto, vice versa or live in Oakville and it’s pretty much the same either way, mention that in the email body as well. Increase your odds! Since there’s four shows, the deadline for this show will roll with the tour – Hamilton winners will be drawn tonight at midnight, Toronto on Sunday, Ottawa on Monday and Montreal on Tuesday. Make sense?

UPDATE 2: Okay, bad news – all Canadian dates are cancelled. Good news – Ramesh will be fine, just needs to rest up a bit. Better news – I’m still giving away the goods. Hamilton and Toronto stuff is already awarded, but if you live in the Ottawa or Montreal areas, I still have a prize pack allotted to you good folks. I’m extending the deadline for both till midnight this Friday – September 12 – and I just need your mailing addresses in the emails as noted above and your t-shirt size. Gender too, as appropriate. Thanks!

So get your entries in and while you wait on pins and needles, read this interview with The Daily Emerald and also check out their new video for “Firecracker” below.

MP3: Voxtrot – “Kid Gloves”
Video: Voxtrot – “Firecracker” (Virb)
Video: Voxtrot – “Steven” (YouTube)
MySpace: Voxtrot

I think there’s some sort of rule that you can’t review your own show, so I’m not going to. Instead, I’m going to start by reviewing someone elses.

Norway’s Harmonica’s evening showcase has been a moving target on the Pop Montreal schedule, changing both venues (the Green Room/Le Gymnase fiasco I’ll get into further on) and set times (7PM! 8PM! 8:30PM! 12:30AM!) over the past week that made it look increasingly like I was going to be able to make it. Happily, they had a second show scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Le Divan Orange. Unhappily, it ran half an hour late as keyboardist Ingeborg Selnes was caught in traffic but when they took the stage, all was forgiven. Harmonica make pop music about boys and girls and kissing and dancing and with their glittery New Wave aesthetic it’d be tempting to dismiss them as simple and silly if not for the fact that their songs are unbelievably and irresistibly hooky. With killer melodies and three-part girl group harmonies, Harmonica made Thursday afternoon feel like Friday night and delivered on their threat threat to be your new favourite band.

Photos: Harmonica @ Le Divan Orange – October 4, 2007
MP3: Harmonica – “Boys And Girls (They Kiss At Night)”
MP3: Harmonica – “Friday Night”
MP3: Harmonica – “Rocking Girl”
MySpace: Harmonica

And then it was time for my show, or at least time to meet the bands at the venue for load-in and soundcheck and I was immensely relieved that everyone got there safe and sound if exhausted. Before getting into the evening itself, I have to say that for my first foray into show promotion, I probably could have chosen a better scenario than to do it in another city where I don’t really know anyone, during a festival where there’s so much going on (read: competition) and with a lineup of artists that I think are terrific but who may not register a whole lot in the greater consciousness. And on top of that, the 11th hour venue change was a curveball that we certainly didn’t need.

To accommodate those who hadn’t heard about the change – and there were a good number – we delayed the start time for 45 minutes to allow them to get to Le Gymnase. While this did pay off in terms of having an audience when the show began, it did throw us off the scheduled set times and potentially causing problems for club hoppers and so if anyone was inconvenienced – and this includes the guy in the white shirt who showed up on time and then sat bored out of his mind at the bar for 45 minutes – I apologize.

Danielle Duval started off, playing to friends and family in her hometown. Some folks had expressed some surprise that I’d included her in my lineup given how stylistically different she was from the other acts and sure, I was far less familiar with her than the others but after hearing her play, I’m really glad I invited her. Her voice is even more impressive in person, like a smooth blend of whiskey and gravel (that’s a good thing), and with some great songs and a crack band, she’s going to do great things and I’ll be able to say she played my show way back when.

Photos: Danielle Duval @ Le Gymnase – October 4, 2007
MP3: Danielle Duval – “Bright Galactic”

Ottawa’s My Dad Vs Yours had the shortest drive to the fest and as such, were the peppiest on the bill. Not necessarily musically, but they were at least awake. They were using the show to debut their new keyboardist/violinist and air out material from their excellent 2006 album After Winter Must Come Spring. As always, I was impressed with how well they made instrumental music engaging without falling back on the whole “quiet loud quiet” dynamic shifts to maintain interest – the get by fine with just terrific melodicism and musicianship. I can’t comment on their newest member’s violin skills because I don’t think she was coming through the PA at all but in theory, at least, strings should add a lot to their sound.

Photos: My Dad Vs Yours @ Le Gymnase – October 4, 2007
MP3: My Dad Vs Yours – “Bellicose”
Video: My Dad Vs Yours – “No Farm No Food No Future” (YouTube)
MySpace: My Dad Vs Yours

By this point in the night, the deficiencies in the room’s sound – either the fault of the PA or the soundman – were becoming evident and by The Airfields’ set, they were basically the whole story. The Airfields, trying to showcase songs from their brand new Yr So Wonderful EP as well as their first full-length, due out later this Fall, had to deal with feedback in both the house and stage monitors, vocals cutting in and out or horribly unbalanced and myriad other problems that were causing obvious frustration. The songs – what I could hear of them, anyways – sounded good but the vibe of the night was turning sour.

Photos: The Airfields @ Le Gymnase – October 4, 2007
MP3: The Airfields – “Lonely Halls”
MP3: The Airfields – “Nowhere Left To Go”
Video: The Airfields – “Red Fox” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Airfields

I was so psyched to see The Brother Kite – their Waiting For The Time To Be Right remains one of my favourite records of the last few years – but with the tone of the evening what it was (sound problems, running late, out of beer, sparse crowds), I was a bit too anxious to really enjoy them. Sadly, the sound problems The Airfieds were having didn’t go away even though the Brother Kite had sounded terrific in soundcheck and again, there were issues with the vocals, guitars… yeah. But despite this, what I did hear, whatever the mix was at that moment, sounded sublime. That they pull off the guitar and vocal arrangements of the record live is really something. I was sad they played a shorter than expected set but given the troubles they were having onstage, I understood. If for some reason you’re in Toronto and reading this as I post it at almost 8PM (why?), do consider going to check them out at Tiger Bar tonight with Fjord Rowboat. They’re on at 10 and have copies both of Waiting For The time To Be Right and the brand-new Moonlit RaceEP for sale. Both worth your time and money.

Photos: The Brother Kite @ Le Gymnase – October 4, 2007
MP3: The Brother Kite – “Get On Me”
Video: The Brother Kite – “I’m Not The Only One” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Brother Kite

And that was the night. The one that I’ve been stressed out about and going grey(er) over for the past three months plus. On the plus side, I was able to put together a lineup that sounded like a merry romp through my CD collection and that I’m quite proud of. On the down side, attendance wasn’t what I’d have liked if not for the sake of my pocketbook than for the sake of people not hearing these terrific bands. But with the sheer number of big names performing the same night of the fest – even right upstairs from us at the Arts & Crafts showcase – I probably shouldn’t be terribly surprised. But I will chalk it up as an invaluable learning experience (like how I’ve learned that I don’t really have the temperament to be a booking agent) and I’d like to thank all the bands, their managers and labels, and everyone who offered advice and encouragement and came out to the show. Those of you who didn’t come out, you’re dead to me now. No, I kid, but I do love you a little less now. Seriously.

And now I head out to see Patrick Wolf, though he’ll probably be it for me tonight. My body is a symphony of aches and pains right now and staying out later than that probably isn’t going to happen.

But before I sign off, a few concert announcements to note for those of you back in Toronto. Sondre Lerche is at Lee’s Palace on November 22, Ben Lee is at the Mod Club on November 24, Los Campensios! return to town for a December 5 show at Mod and reigning Polaris winner Patrick Watson will be there on December 14. At Mod Club, I mean.

How is it that Boulevard St-Laurent, one of the main drags in the Plateau area that’s hosting most of Pop Montreal, is an even bigger mess of construction than it was last year?

I managed to avoid having that be an issue for the first night of the festival by skirting St-Laurent entirely – I started off quite a ways east of there at La Tulipe, a beautiful old converted theatre that was hosting Caribou, though I didn’t stick around for the headliner. I was there mainly to see Miracle Fortress in their hometown. I’d seen Miracle Fortress as the solo act at last year’s Pop and as the band a times this year, though neither performance particularly dazzled or measured up to the wonderfulness of Five Roses. The third time, however, was the charm. The band appeared infinitely more comfortable with each other and the material this time around and Graham Van Pelt has really grown into the frontman role. Songs were stretched out and reinvented beyond their recorded structures and though their set was far shorter than anyone on this side of the stage wanted, it was still very satisfying to see the band coming into its own.

Photos: Miracle Fortress @ La Tulipe – October 3, 2007
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Have You Seen In Your Dreams”

With La Tulipe being as far removed from the rest of the clubs as it was and no one I absolutely had to see in that time slot, I opted to let inertia do its thing and stuck around to catch Born Ruffians. I was commenting earlier in the evening that I think I like Born Ruffians as much as I’m going to – the likes and dislikes balance each other out so that my overall opinion is positive, though tepidly so. On this night, however, everything I did like about them – their musical tightness, creativity and general goofiness – was out front and I really enjoyed myself.

Photos: Born Ruffians @ La Tulipe – October 3, 2007
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Hedonistic Me”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “I’m Not One Of Those Girls”
MySpace: Born Ruffians

I had an ulterior motive in catching The Cape May next – namely I wanted to check out the room that would be hosting my show tonight. Thankfully, the Calgarians would have been worth seeing even if I wasn’t casing out the joint. Their dark, slowburning dustbowl rock was haunting and hypnotic and deserved a far larger audience than the dozen or so of us in attendance.

Photos: The Cape May @ Le Gymnase – October 3, 2007
MP3: The Cape May – “Spring Flight To The Land Of Fire”
MP3: The Cape May – “Copper Tied”
MySpace: The Cape May

I finished the night off with the closing act of the opening Bleating Heart Show, assembled by Said The Gramophone, as Brookyln’s Ola Podrida were making their Canadian debut in the upstairs of Le Gymnase (very similar to the downstairs though slightly better appointed). Though they let their inner rockers out for a couple of numbers, they mostly kept their set on simmer while evoking sunsets in western skies and the days after bad days.

Photos: Ola Podrida @ Le Gymnase – October 3, 2007
MP3: Ola Podrida – “Instead”
MP3: Ola Podrida – “Jordanna”

So obviously I’m a bit preoccupied with tonight – god willing everything will go well and a wonderful time will be had by all. Fingers crossed. And those of you back in Hogtown, don’t forget that The Brother Kite – headlining tonight’s soiree – will be at the Tiger Bar in Toronto tomorrow night with Fjord Rowboat. How good is it going to be? eye named it their best bet for Friday night, that’s how good. Be there or be somewhere else, but be there. And if you’re in Montreal, be at Le Gymnase (first floor).