Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot made the news last Summer for the very worst of reasons – the accidental death of drummer John Pike. That tragedy derailed what had been a bright upward trajectory for the band thanks to the strength of their debut self-titled EP but after taking some time to regroup and recover, Ra Ra Riot is back in gear and rolls into the El Mocambo this Saturday night for their Toronto debut.

The presence of a string section in any band’s lineup usually automatically calls for the use of the adjectives “chamber-” or “orch-” in describing their sound, perhaps with a “stately” or “elegant” chaser. And while there’s aspects of Ra Ra Riot that could be accurately described as thus, it’s the band’s kinetic, New Wave heart that propels this party, all choppy guitars and anxious vocals from singer Wesley Miles overtop song arrangements that are pure pop with maybe a hint of proggish ambition. It’s this blend of crunchy and smooth that makes them immediately appealing while still providing enough substance to remaining engaging over the long term.

Ra Ra Riot spent the latter part of 2007 working on their debut full-length with an eye towards a mid-Spring (April/May) release.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Each Year”
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “St Peter’s Day Festival” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Each Year” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Suspended In Gaffa” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Dying Is Fine” (Daytrotter Session)
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Dying Is Fine”
MySpace: Ra Ra Riot

Also on the bill Saturday are locals The Coast, who have been tapped as a potential breakout band for 2008 by both eye and Exclaim! (online citations elude me, take my word for it). They’ve competed work on their debut full-length, to be titled Expatriate, and will be releasing it in early April to coincide with a cross-Canada tour in support. Been waiting a long time for this one and looking forward to hearing some of the new stuff aired out on Saturday night.

MP3: The Coast – “Circles”
MP3: The Coast – “The Lines Are Cut”
MySpace: The Coast

The final band on the bill is The Virgins, from New York City. Don’t know anything about them.

But if you’re interested in one of, perhaps two or even all three of these acts, then rejoice. Courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away to the show at the ElMo this Saturday night. To enter, shoot me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Ra Ra Riot” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight January 24.

So last night was the “Trivia” episode of CBC’s Test The Nation on which yours truly was participating and, as any sensible person would expect, Team Blogger took the triple crown winning the overall team game as well as boasting the highest individual scorer Rick Spence of Canadian Entrepreneur and top celebrity team captain, Samantha Bee of The Daily Show. By my count, I scored 56 out of 60, good for a respectable 93.3% and just one question short of the overall lead (which was good for a $5000 vacation travel voucher – second place was good for nothing at all). And the ones I got wrong weren’t necessarily ones I didn’t know but just overthought or otherwise brain cramped on. I was also surprised that the actual quiz questions were easier than the sample ones on the website – there, I only scored around 80%.

Being on the show was certainly not a typical experience for me but a lot of fun. In the holding area where we hung out for some four hours before the show began, it was a mish-mash of all the over 200 contestants from the six different teams – bloggers, backpackers, cab drivers, flight crew, chefs and celebrity lookalikes. Naturally, the celebrity impersonators were the most popular for photo ops and gawking, though the quality varied greatly. Some, like KISS and a few of the half-dozen Elvii were great (though mostly costume), others were just “who are you? Really? No, really?”. And a few were genuinely frightening. Everyone was really nice, though, and took the trash talking (mostly coming from the bloggers) in stride. And, unsurprisingly, the bloggers were the most rowdy (read: obnoxious) team when the show began. It was aired live to the Maritimes and on tape delay to the rest of Canada so even after we were done and headed out to a local pub, we were able to watch the end of the show (and our triumph) on the television.

Woot, bloggers. A handful of photos from the goings-on over at my Flickr, better ones and individual portraits of the victors at Photojunkie.

The title of Tift Merritt’s new album Another Country can be taken literally as its source of inspiration, as it was written while the North Carolinan moved to France to recharge and find new inspiration and generally take a break from the music industry following the successes of her first two albums, 2002’s country strummer Bramble Rose and 2004’s more rock and soul-inflected follow-up Tambourine. While neither record was the sort you’d file under “groundbreaking”, they were full of solid songwriting made especially potent when delivered in Merritt’s pure honey twang and another album of such will always be welcome.

Another Country is out on February 26 and in addition to the downloadable track below, there’s additional samples of her new material at her MySpace and. North American touring commences in mid-March. She’ll be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on April 1, tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: Tift Merritt – “Keep You Happy”
MySpace: Tift Merritt

Basia Bulat, currently on tour across Canada and next month across America (where Oh My Darling will be released on February 5.), will be back in Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on March 29, tickets $10. Tourmate (and label boss) Hayden talks to The Montreal Gazette about the current tour and why he signed her to his label.

And look for an official show announcement involving Okkervil River before too long – a few dates are trickling out and given those dates and my rough knowledge of American geography, we can expect to see Will and the crew back in town sometime in mid-April… with a tourmate you probably wouldn’t expect. I’ll have that all good and formal soon, but in the meantime check out this Black Cab Session with Will Sheff performing Big Star’s “Big Black Car”. Literal much?

Video: Okkervil River – “Big Black Car” (Black Cab Session)

Dose talks to Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields about the quality of Distortion.

Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan talks to Commercial Appeal.

Daytrotter offers up a session with The Brunettes.

Shots Ring Out rounds up their top 79 music videos of 2007.

So if you ever wondered what this blog would look like if I stopped going to so many shows and wasn’t actively digging around for new music… well this is approximately it. But I’m starting to get back into new stuff and, hopefully, will have something remotely insightful to offer on some of it before long and the concert calendar will no doubt start filling up as well. So in the meantime, let me keep it in low gear. It won’t last.

And with that, we begin the mighty beard portion of the post.

After a season of upheaval, the Drive-By Truckers return next Tuesday with Brighter Than Creation’s Dark which proves by clocking in at 19 tracks and 75 minutes that, if nothing else, the departure of Jason Isbell hasn’t left the band wanting for material. You can currently stream the album in its whole at CMT.com (yes, that stands for what you think it does), sample just a handful of songs at the band’s MySpace or save one of them to your hard drive to what you will with. AllMusic talked to head Trucker Patterson Hood about the new record, their signature artwork and how it feels having a band now into its second decade of life while An Aquarium Drunkard gets Hood to list off his eleven favourite things about Athens, Georgia. The Truckers are in town at the Opera House on March 19.

Stream: Drive-By Truckers / Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Zip City”
MySpace: Drive-By Truckers

The Post & Courier offers up an interview with Band Of Horse-man Ben Bridwell containing reminiscences of Charleston and liberal use of the #$%@*-bomb. The Boston Globe also talks to Bridwell. Don’t think I’ve linked the first video from Cease To Begin, so I’ll do that. The new record is pretty and all but has thus far left me curiously indifferent. Perhaps that’ll change with further listens, though I’ll have to remind myself to do so.

MP3: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”
Video: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”

Also (relatively) new in the SubPop media vaults – some new AV from Iron & Wine and The Shepherd’s Dog. And The Age has an interview with Sam Beam about, well, basically the entire history of Iron & Wine.

MP3: Iron & Wine – “Innocent Bones”
Video: Iron & Wine – “Boy With A Coin”

If you lived through the grunge boom and bust of the ’90s – and even if you didn’t – the pedigree of The Gutter Twins should make you sit up and take notice. It’s the new project featuring Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age) so if you like your rock dark, intense and whiskey-soaked, their debut album Saturnalia (out March 4) should be the answer to your prayers. You can sample a bit of the record at their MySpace and the duo are embarking on a fairly extensive tour in a couple months that includes a stop at the Mod Club in Toronto on March 14th.

Paste reports that Great Lake Swimmer Tony Dekker contributed the score to Song Sung Blue. a documentary film premiering at Sundance next week that follows a husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute act. Dekker has also recorded a cover of the titular song that will play over the closing credits.

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy will release a live solo record – accurately entitled Colin Meloy Sings Live – on April 8. Filter has the complete tracklist, culled from his solo tour in 2006.

Prince Edward Island power poppers Two Hours Traffic are embarking on a cross-country tour next month and stop in at the Horseshoe on February 26.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band has two dates scheduled on June 7 and 8 at Lee’s Palace in support of their new album 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, out March 25.

And finally, congratulations to The Mohawk – unofficial Hot Freaks HQ in Austin, Texas – for being named “Best Bar In America” by Esquire. And speaking of things both Hot and Freaky, we be cooking up some good (musical) eats for 2008. Just wait.

Test Icicles. The name alone was all I needed to decide to completely ignore the short-lived UK trio who broke up in early 2006, just as their popularity was set to either bust out or simply burst. So with that complete indifference in mind, it’s a bit surprising how much I’m enjoying guitarist Dev Hynes’ new incarnation as Lightspeed Champion.

His debut is Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, out next week in the UK and the following week over here, and it’s not at all what I would have expected given his CV. It’s a remarkably polished bit of pop with some serious country influence and orchestral accents, courtesy of producer Mike Mogis, better known as the sven gali of Saddle Creek. Lyrically, things are still a bit on the crude/filthy side but the songwriting sentiments are solid and when delivered with earnest vocals and terrific melodicism and adorned by backing vocals from Emmy The Great, who can resist? Fans of his more anarchic old outfit might be disappointed in Hynes’ new direction but he’s now got my attention.

Lightspeed Champion is coming to North America in March for SxSW but to make the most of the jaunt, he’s doing some additional shows around the continent including one in Toronto on March 4 at the Horseshoe. That’s a Tuesday and Tuesdays are Nu Music Nite so odds are that’s a free show and as good a way as any to get primed for Canadian Music Week. Gigwise has an interview with Hynes about the new record, his old band and his new project. Update: And Pitchfork has the first sanctioned MP3 from the record. Check it out. Update 2: BrookylnVegan just posted an interview with Hynes and pointed to another MP3. Looks like I posted a day too early to link up the good stuff… Update 3: And full North American tour dates at NME. It shall be an acoustic tour.

MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”
MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Waiting Game”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Galaxy Of The Lost”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Tell Me What It’s Worth”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Midnight Surprise”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Midnight Surprise” (short film)
MySpace: Lightspeed Champion

Also coming to town is Ingrid Michaelson with a show at the El Mocambo on February 19, tickets $13.50. Harp talks to the songstress, star of countless television soundtracks and recent Billboard cover girl about her record and the awkwardness of receiving online marriage proposals. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also has a little chat.

Video: Ingrid Michaelson – “The Way I Am”
MySpace: Ingrid Michaelson

Thanks to Karl for pointing out in yesterday’s comments that MuchMusic is now streaming Cat Power’s Jukebox in its entirety in advance of its release on Tuesday. She’s playing the Kool Haus on February 9. Update: And stream go bye bye. Oh well.

Stream: Cat Power / Jukebox

MSNBC talks to Bob Mould about wrestling, politics, blogging and band reunions (though not his own). His new album District Line is out February 5 and he plays the Mod Club March 10.

eye has published the results of their 2007 music critics poll, to which my submission was essentially this list put in a mostly arbitrary ranking. And in case you don’t feel like clicking, I’ll just confirm what you suspect – Feist uber alles.

Have you ever watched a video clip wherein the audio track is slightly out of sync with the visuals? Even if it’s so slight as to be almost imperceptible, your brain picks up on the discrepancy and for me, at least, it’s utterly maddening. I bring this up for the sake of context, as this is how I was feeling Monday night. No idea why. Reality was operating on slightly different frequency than I was but I headed down to the Drake anyway.

I was mainly interested in catching the Canadian debut of Brooklyn’s Muggabears, though with a full slate of acts on hand for the Elvis Mondays showcase, law of averages dictated would have something worth seeing. Happily for me the Muggabears were on first though a later slot might have allowed more people to catch them – I thought I was early and I had barely sat down before they took the stage.

The elevator pitch for The Muggabears is that they’re a trio that sounds more than a little like Sonic Youth, but in a less aggressive package with more pocket-sized songs. And that’s a fair descriptor but after seeing them live, it’s impossible to not acknowledge the sizable debt the band owes to Pavement. If you turned your head one way, singer/guitarist Travis Johnson’s vocals were channeling Thurston Moore. Turn it the other, it was pure Malkmus up there. The comparisons also held with regards to the songs, though not as sprawling or intense as the former or playful and hooky as the latter. Heading further in one direction or the other might serve the band well, though coming up with a perfect hybrid of the two might be a worthier goal. Maybe then they’d be able to get some roadies to deal with all the alternate guitar tunings and eliminate some of those awkward, extended between-song silences. But whichever way they go, for the time being, they’re still a little green but onto something pretty cool.

Under other circumstances I’d have stuck around to see at least a few more bands but as I mentioned, I was just feeling off and the prospect of an early night was too tempting to pass up. Two weeks into the new year and I’ve seen exactly two bands live. Damn, I’m getting old. Chart had a talk with the Muggabears about some untruths on their MySpace profile and The Village Voice ran an interview last month. Update: WOXY has now got a studio session with the band available to download.

Photos: The Muggabears @ The Drake Underground – January 14, 2008
MP3: The Muggabears – “The Goth Tarts”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Dead Kid Kicks”
MP3: The Muggabears – “I’m Coming True”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Married To The Moon”
MySpace: The Muggabears

Speaking of Stephen Malkmus – the man, not the influence – he’s releasing his third solo record (or second band record with The Jicks, whatever you prefer) Real Emotional Trash on March 18. It looks like this and sounds a little like this.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Baltimore”

The Independent profiles Steve Earle.

Bradley’s Almanac has got audio from the first of two shows last year reuniting Throwing Muses Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly each did a solo set and then a set together. Specialness abounds.

Matt Berininger talks to The Age about the role of internal band friction in The National’s creative process.

My Morning Jacket will return with their new studio album, as yet untitled, on June 10. Details on that and a special Radio City Music Hall gig shortly thereafter at Billboard.

Drowned In Sound talks to John Darnielle about the new Mountain Goats record Heretic Pride, out February 19.

Luna fans take note – Dean Wareham’s memoirs Black Postcards are complete and will be out in hardcover form March 13. He and Britta will be in town at the Mod Club February 9. Thanks to Gary for the info.

And now’s as good a time as any to mention that this Sunday night at 8PM (8:30PM in Newfoundland and Labrador), I’ll be part of a phalanx of bloggers taking part in the CBC quiz show programme Test The Nation. I actually have never seen the show, so I don’t know how it works but as I understand it, the Bloggers are going up against teams of chefs, flight crews, taxi drivers, backpackers and celebrity look-alikes in some sort of battle of wits on live television and will hopefully afford me the opportunity to yell “No whammies!” live on national television like a nitwit. I really don’t know. All I do know is that they’ve promised us catering (taxpayer-funded cold cuts!) and if nothing else, I can rest easy knowing that the worst possible photo ever taken of me will exist on the internet long after I’m dead. My hair usually doesn’t look like that. It’s usually terrible, yes, but not THAT terrible.