Photo by Catherine Wygal

It’s understandable if you lumped the return of The Wedding Present a few years ago as part of the ongoing series of ’80s band reunions, though as I pointed out they never really went away, just changed their name for a bit. Regardless, that was the angle with which most approached 2005’s Take Fountain, a fine record to be sure though I’d maintain that the two preceding Cinerama records were just as strong. Which all sets the bar fairly high for their latest effort, El Rey.

Though they emerged with the original wave of C86 bands, The Wedding Present (and Cinerama) has always seemed to exist apart from musical trends with little in common with their contemporaries in British guitar rock – listening to them there’s no hint that they existed through the years of Baggy, shoegaze or Britpop. The musical world of David Lewis Gedge was always solely occupied by the romantically wronged or inept, and the women (or men) who did it to them, and defined by Gedge’s razor-sharp wit delivered with his distinctive bark and churning guitarwork punctuated by janglesome pauses. Though the production aesthetic has varied from orchestrally lush to almost uncomfortably arid, Gedge’s muse has been remarkably consistent over his twenty-ear career.

And El Rey does nothing to break that streak. Benefiting from some more distance from Gedge’s breakup with longtime girlfriend Sally Murrell, it has a more playful, third-person vibe than its predecessor though that’s a very relative thing – even at his most pained, Gedge never lost his sense of humour and even when writing from a strictly fictional POV, he’s able to inject his protagonists with a most believable pathos. With production duties courtesy of Steve Albini, who helmed the Wedding Present’s arguably finest hour in Seamonsters, and despite the departure after the last record of longtime guitarist Simon Cleave, El Rey does a fine job of balancing all the various facets of the band’s personality – the playful and the pained coexist in the lyrics and the sonics rage or ruminate as needed.

While it’s true that El Rey brings little new to the table, as long as men and women continue to screw each other and screw each other over, there will be grist for Gedge’s mill and audiences with whom his songs will resonate. So whenever he delivers a new album of incisive observations, especially recorded by someone as sympathetic to his aesthetic as Albini, it’s cause for celebration and earns a rightful place alongside his many, many other albums of incisive observations.

As promised when I caught he and bassist Terry De Castro play a short set at SxSW, Gedge and the full band will be coming to North America this Fall for a full tour including an October 3 stop at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. I caught the Wedding Present twice on the Take Fountain tour and both shows were excellent – I expect no less from this one.

The Skinny talks to David Gedge about the new record, living in California and affection, or lack thereof, for The Cure. Indieoma also has an interview but be sure to stop the ultra-annoying autoplaying video on the left before reading.

MP3: The Wedding Present – “The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girl Friend”
MySpace: The Wedding Present

Blurt spends some time with Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom.

The Quietus discusses the joys of campervans with Portishead.

Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers talks to Billboard about the decision to go wholly independent with regards to the release of Fortune/Forfeit, out October 7. They’re at the Phoenix with Okkervil River on October 12.

John Convertino of Calexico tells JAM that their next album, out September 7, will not only be Return To Dust but a return to form. Music to my ears.

The Tennessean talks to Nels Cline about juggling existence as a guitar god in Wilco and as a guitar god in Nels Cline Singers.

You Ain’t No Picasso interview Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Their next one Skeletal Lamping is out October 7 and they play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 28.

The first video from She & Him’s Volume One hit the interwebs at the end of last week but only exclusively in the US – it’s now up on YouTube for all to see. They’re at the Opera House next Wednesday, July 23, with Freakwater as support.

Video: She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here”

If next week’s King Khan & The Shrines two-night stand at the Horseshoe on July 23 and 24 wasn’t enough for you, note that they’re doing an in-store at Sonic Boom on the Thursday night at 7PM.

And a gentle but firm reminder that there’s no better place to be tonight than Sneaky Dee’s where you’ve got The Kadane Brothers (ex-Bedhead, current of The New Year) and Bottomless Pit (from the ashes of Silkworm) for just $10. There can be nothing better than this – it’s a mathematical fact.

The Tranzac – Toronto Australia New Zealand Club – is a little gem of a Toronto institution, nestled just of Bloor on Brunswick in the Annex. The non-profit, volunteer-run community centre plays host to a wide variety of under the radar cultural events ranging from the musical through the theatrical, comedic, literary or what have you, and on Saturday July 19th they’re holding their annual open house event to celebrate the year past, the one upcoming and raise funds to keep it all going.

To help celebrate, they’ve assembled a suitably eclectic range of programming for the night, featuring Fembots, Castlemusic, Burning Hell, The Mantler Band, Tusks, Josh Thorpe’s “You Do” (featuring Jason Benoit, Allison Cameron, Jennifer Castle, Eric Chenaux, and Marcus Quin), Great Aunt Ida, Jenny Omnichord, Griffin & The True Believers and DJ duties from Glissandro 70.

Courtesy of the club, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the festivities – to enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to party with the Tranzac” in the subject line and your full name in the body. The winner will be drawn at the stroke of midnight (or thereabouts) on July 15. Tickets for the event are $10 in advance at Soundscapes and Rotate This and will also be available at the door.

MP3: Fembots – “Count Down Our Days”
MP3: The Burning Hell – “The Things That People Make”
MP3: Castlemusic – “Heaven”

Photo via MySpace

Some might have been surprised to see Dallas-via-NYC psych/space-rock outfit The Secret Machines lineup up for a date at Lee’s Palace tomorrow night. Some might be surprised that the band is even still together – after all, when one third of a band quits, as guitarist Ben Curtis did last Spring, questions about their future are logical.

But as it happens they’re not only still carrying on as a duo with support players, they’ve got a new album in the can, their third and first since 2006’s Ten Silver Drops. Billboard reports that the band’s third album will be a self-titled affair and be released independently this Fall, most likely in October.

There’s been no hint as to what the reconfigured band sounds like, though Spin visited them in the studio earlier this year and talked to Josh Garza, so in the meantime make do with some older stuff.

MP3: The Secret Machines – “Nowhere Again”
Video: The Secret Machines – “Nowhere Again”
Video: The Secret Machines – “Lightning Blue Eyes”
Video: The Secret Machines – “All At Once (It’s Not Important)”
MySpace: The Secret Machines

BeatRoute talks to Steve Earle. They also offer up a concise history of alt.country. Or tries to, at least.

Filter talks to Stephen Malkmus and director Todd Haynes about Bob Dylan while eye, JamBase and hour.ca feature Fleet Foxes. Both are at the Phoenix on Wednesday night, July 16.

A reason to stop catching up on Nick Cave’s back catalog for the immediate future – Uncut reports that his entire catalog will be getting remastered and expanded starting with his first four records by year’s end. Of course, it’s going to take them some time to get to the next ones I was planning on picking up so maybe I can splurge that $8 right now. Cave is at the Kool Haus on October 1.

Sloan have released the first video from their new album Parallel Play. Here welcomes the band to New Brunswick.

Video: Sloan – “Believe In Me”

Also with a new video clip are Death Cab For Cutie, the second from Narrow Stairs.

Video: Death Cab For Cutie – “Cath…”

NOW features local boys The Coast, who will do their damnedest to fit in at Edgefest up at Downsview Park tomorrow.

Wolf Parade talks to The Seattle Times and The Georgia Straight. They’re at the Kool Haus August 9.

Muzzle Of Bees chats with Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson.

Matt Berninger of The National talks to An Aquarium Drunkard.

Drowned In Sound and The Quietus feature Primal Scream, who release Beautiful Future on July 21.

Neil Halstead tells Exclaim to not hold their breath for a Slowdive reunion. His next solo record Oh! Mighty Engine is out July 29.

Wayne Coyne gives Billboard some vague notions about what the next Flaming Lips record might sound like, whenever it’s finished.

The Quietus visits Iceland, Bjork and Sigur Ros.

Steve Albini’s Shellac will make their Toronto debut at the Horseshoe on September 16. Tickets $18.

MP3: Shellac – “Watch Song”

Though they ended up bailing on their NxNE appearance, The French Kicks will be coming to town for a show at the Horseshoe on September 17 with The Whigs in tow, tickets for that are $11.50. Their new album Swimming is out now and the band was featured on Daytrotter last month.

The September 24 Mogwai show will not be at the Kool Haus, as originally announced, but once again at the Phoenix. The Hawk Is Howling is still coming out September 23.

Photo by Andy Willsher

The whole blogging thing usually necessitates looking straight ahead, musically speaking, for whatever’s coming up next be it a new artist, a new album, a new tour, whatever. New new new. But sometimes that’s at the expense of a record that’s either not gotten to or doesn’t click until after the so-called “press cycle” for the album has already elapsed, and commentary on it seems dated.

Case in point, The Clientele and their 2007 album God Save The Clientele though the aforementioned scenario doesn’t exactly apply. While I was completely nonplussed by them the first time I saw them opening for Spoon in 2005, I was won over by God Save early enough to thoroughly enjoy their set at last year’s V Fest. But in the past month or so, I’ve found myself craving the album more than I ever did last year for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, and it’s been living in fairly heavy rotation. Sufficed to say, I am completely turned around on this band.

Perhaps it’s partly some nostalgia for my recent visit to the UK. The Clientele are so very distinctly and classically English, evoking a London that I didn’t actually experience and quite possibly/probably doesn’t exist – of long walks along the Thames in the fog, warm pints by a fire or watching sunsets on Hampstead Heath – but the romantic in me still very much yearns for. Less metaphorically, it’s a lovely and cozy blanket of a record, all low-rise structures of classic pop built around Alasdair Maclean’s warm vocals and shimmering guitar work. There are enough string and key embellishments to earn it the appellation of chamber pop, but the record is extroverted enough that that doesn’t quite fit – it’s like it got tired of hanging out in the chamber and went to the local for a smoke and a beer.

Of course, since I’m well past the press and touring cycle for this album, there’s not a whole lot to report but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing. The band has made a habit of releasing between-album EPs and will do so again with That Night A Forest Grew, due out on the Spanish Acuarela label on July 21 or thereabouts. No idea when the next full-length is due out, but lucky for me in the meantime I’ve got their entire back catalog to explore and it’s entirely possible I’ll be spending all of this month’s eMusic subscription on it.

MP3: The Clientele – “Bookshop Casanova”
Video: The Clientele – “Bookshop Casanova”
MySpace: The Clientele

Though NME has no one but themselves to blame for building hype (and the ensuing disappointment) around Bloc Party’s recent countdown stunt, a new single and video is nothing to be upset about. Billboard has some details about the new song, “Mercury”, and indicate that the band’s third album should be due out before year’s end. Hopefully the new song is being released on its own because it doesn’t fit in with the new album on account of the fact that it’s not very good and the album material is… hopefully. They’ll be playing day one of V Fest at the Toronto Islands on September 6.

Video: Bloc Party – “Mercury”

Tiny Mix Tapes and The Daily Yomiuri talk to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized, also gracing the stage on the first day of V Fest. And over at www.spiritualizedharmonies.com, they’re running a contest to give away a pretty comprehensive Songs In A & E prize pack, consisting of two CD versions and the LP along with an autographed poster.

The Verve, continuing with a pretty steady stream of newsworthy activity leading up to the release of Forth on August 19, have released a video for the the first single from the aforementioned album, “Love Is Noise”.

Video: The Verve – “Love Is Noise”

Drowned In Sound reports that Portishead have elected to quit touring for the foreseeable future in favour of working on their fourth album.

If Amazon.co.uk is to be believed, the My Bloody Valentine reissues will now be out September 1. Still plenty of time to get acquainted with the material before their show at Ricoh Coliseum on September 25… Oh wait, that’s what we’ve been doing for the past 20 years. Right.

CMJ chats up The Futureheads.

Glasgow’s Glasvegas – who piqued my interest way back in December – have finally completed their debut full-length and will release the self-titled album in the UK on September 9. NME has details and I, for one, am curious to see if I still care. They’ve just released a new vid, as well.

Video: Glasvegas – “Geraldine”

Deaf Indie Elephants has got a bunch of live recordings of new Mogwai songs available to download, to hold you over until the release of the Batcat EP on September 9, which will hold you over until the release of The Hawk Is Howling on September 23, which will hold you over until they play the Kool Haus on September 24.

This week’s Spinner album previews include both a David Bowie live album and tribute album.

Stream: David Bowie / Live Santa Monica ’72
Stream: various artists / Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered

The National Post examines the Summer of music festival saturation from the point of view of some of the Canadian events, namely Hillside in Guelph (July 25 to 27), Rogers Picnic in Toronto (July 20) and Osheaga in Montreal (August 4 and 5).