Frank YangRocking out, of course, would have been wholly inappropriate. The New Year may have finally chosen to visit Toronto after years of passing us by, but to make any sort of production of it would have been completely out of character. Instead, the slow and steady languidness on which they’ve built their career (or careers, if you count Bedhead) demanded that the Texan quintet show up, do their quietly mesmerizing thing and depart. Which they did, while still blowing at least a few of the 50 or so minds gathered to welcome them.

I’d gotten a preview of what the live show might be like when the two principals – Matt and Bubba Kadane – played Sneaky Dee’s as a duo back in July but as anticipated, the addition of the third (and at one point fourth) guitar and rock-solid rhythm section featuring drummer extraordinaire Chris Brokaw put things into another dimension from that stripped-down performance. I covered some of what makes The New Year special in my review of their new eponymous album but to see the intricate guitar-chestrations executed live was fascinating – between the five of them, it was like watching musical engineers at work, systematically and methodically building something cool and crystalline and beautiful.

Neither Kadane seemingly interested in stepping up to the front of the stage unless they had to sing, so at more than a few points the entire band was pulled back to near the back of the stage, far more intent on the job at hand than working the crowd. Material was drawn from all three of their records though with the absence of a piano in the lineup, arrangements were rejigged to be even more guitar-intensive but such is the magic of their recipe that even with all that going on, nothing got overly busy or muddled – each part rung out clear as a bell and as delicately or intensely as necessary. With a set that lasted just an hour including encore, it seemed rather short considering how long I – and at least a few others I sure – had waited for the show, but that’s a small complaint. Satisfying in every other regard.

It was unclear who support was for this show – all listings I’d seen said Angela Desveaux, but a few instead said a fellow named Ryan Driver. As it happens, it was both. Driver was up first and didn’t seem at all perturbed to be playing to less than a dozen people. Seated in a chair and deftly fingerpicking his acoustic guitar, he offering up a short set of fairly standard but still well-executed coffeehouse folk. Desveaux, on the other hand, brought a full-sized band featuring not just three guitars but a pedal steel as well, all tasked with recreating the rich country pop of her latest record The Mighty Ship. I’ve always found Desveaux to be a solid, if not over spectacular, live performer – her strength is very much her voice and songwriting – so the extra musical muscle went a long way to making things engaging throughout. Throw in a couple of covers from Paul Simon and Richard & Linda Thompson and you had a set that was comfy like a warm sweater.

New City Chicago talks to Matt Kadane, Here chats with Angela Desveaux.

Photos: The New Year, Angela Desveaux, Ryan Driver @ Lee’s Palace – October 15, 2008
MP3: The New Year – “The Company I Can Get”
MP3: The New Year – “X Off Days”
MP3: The New Year – “The End’s Not Near”
MP3: The New Year – “Sinking Ship”
MP3: Angela Desveaux – “Sure Enough”
MP3: Angela Desveaux – “Heartbeat”
Video: The New Year – “The End’s Not Near”
Video: Angela Desveaux – “Wandering Eyes”
Video: The New Year – “Disease”
MySpace: The New Year
MySpace: Angela Desveaux

Boston Music Spotlight spotlights Frightened Rabbit, playing Lee’s Palace on Tuesday.

The Ithaca Journal interviews Billy Bragg.

Travis – remember them? – are back with a new album in Ode To J Smith, out now. And it sounds a little like this.

MP3: Travis – “J. Smith”

Murray Lightburn details the fall and rise of The Dears to The Globe & Mail.

Time Out Chicago gets some time with TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe.

The Denver Post chats with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Their new EP Satanic Messiah is available digitally, either via a pay what you can model or at a suggested price tag of the devil of $6.66.

Colin Meloy gives Paste some insight into the next Decemberists record Hazards Of Love, currently targeted for an April release.

Will Sheff of Okkervil River gives SPIN an explanation of the song that closes out The Stand Ins, “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979”.

Two Hours Traffic are coming back for their four millionth Toronto show this year for an all-ages gig at the Whippersnapper Gallery on November 28 as part of their “Sure Can Start” tour. Hey, that’s the same name as one of their songs. What a coincidence!

MP3: Two Hours Traffic – “Sure Can Start”

The Falls Church News Press and Minneapolis Star-Tribune talk to Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning. They’ve got two dates at the Sound Academy on November 27 and 28.

Illustration by ImeemThat Diplo would headline the tour that bears his label’s name is a bit of a no-brainer. That he’d fill out the lineup with Los Angeles dance-punks Abe Vigoda, the Brooklyn-based embodiment of the “if you can’t say anything nice…” adage Telepathe and UK electro act Boy 8-Bit is rather more surprising (okay, not so much that last one) but genre shmengre, right?

The tour is now underway and hits Circa in Toronto next Tuesday night, and courtesy of tour sponsors Incase, I’ve got a prize pack to give away consisting of a pair of passes to said show – that’s October 21 for the calendar-challenged – and a 15″ hardshell Macbook Pro case featuring custom tour artwork by artist Jacob Chabot. Don’t have a Macbook Pro? Planning on getting one of the new ones? Not my problem.

To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Diplo” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Since this is coming right up, it’ll just run this weekend – get entries in to me by midnight, October 19.

NOW is all over this tour with features on Diplo as well as Abe Vigoda. JAM also has an interview with the former and eye with the latter.

Autumn De WildeSo obviously I’m on record as having thought that Rilo Kiley’s last record (and according to some, their last record) Under The Black Light was a massive disappointment. It sounded like both principals were disinterested and just phoning it in, and made me think that maybe frontwoman Jenny Lewis’ solo career – at that point consisting only of the rather lovely and understated country-soul gem Rabbit Fur Coat – was going to be the actual way forward.

Which put her second solo effort, Acid Tongue, under that much more scrutiny. Was the weak and indifferent songwriting on Black Light an aberration or had the wellspring of inspiration that had served so well up to that point actually dried up? Well, it’s definitely a better record than Blacklight, but coming from me that’s not necessarily saying much. It thankfully eschews the genre-hopping of that last Rilo Kiley record and returns again to the rootsier trappings that suits Lewis’ voice best, though not in as quiet a manner as Rabbit Fur Coat. Acid Tongue is a bolder, brassier record with its share of rollicking moments, but what it gains in energy over the first solo record, it loses in vulnerability.

As her success has grown, it seems Lewis’ willingness to expose herself in her songwriting has diminished or what does make it through is thoroughly encrypted. And that’s fine, emotionally naked, heart on sleeve songwriting isn’t for everyone but Lewis has indulged before and the results have been stirring. So instead of a confessional, she’s enlisted a slew of guest stars – Elvis Costello, M Ward and Zooey Deschanel among them – and hosted a party instead. A party where the theme is loose but impeccably played, ’70s-style country-rock. And parties are great, everyone likes parties, but I’ve always been the sort who preferred the quiet 3AM conversations that follow when things have died down.

The AV Club, The Guardian, The List, Blurt, The Independent and The Skinny talk to Lewis about her new record.

MP3: Jenny Lewis – “Acid Tongue”
MySpace: Jenny Lewis

Feist talks to The Winnipeg Sun about visiting the Arctic. She visits Massey Hall on November 1 and the Air Canada Centre on November 3.

Paste talks to Lucinda Williams.

The Denver Post and Colorado Daily Q&A Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields.

Chart talks to Matthew Sweet.

The McGill Tribune interviews Travis Nelson of Okkervil River.

Gotham Acme talks to Joey Burns of Calexico. They’re at the Phoenix on November 18 and with original support act Bowerbirds having cancelled on account of exhaustion, the opener will now be Cuff The Duke.

In response to my “nothing to write about” comment yesterday, Radio Free Canuckistan gently reminded me that The Awkward Stage, who released the wholly underappreciated Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights earlier this year, are at the Horseshoe tonight as part of a west coast-acular bill with Said The Whale, Vancougar and Sylvie. Pulse Niagara has an interview with Awkward frontman Shane Nelken, The Toronto Star features Sylvie.

MP3: The Awkward Stage – “Anime Eyes”
MP3: Vancougar – “Obvious”
MP3: Sylvie – “Please Make It Home”

Libi PedderSo – I’m currently in a weird sort of position where after a fairly hectic few weeks of wholly bloggable stuff, I’ve finally gotten a chance to take a breath and have realized that I have nothing to blog about. Which is not to say that there’s nothing worthwhile happening in music, just that I’ve not had the chance to listen to anything in the last while sufficiently that I feel compelled to write about it nor is anything especially newsworthy happening that I can run with (besides Chinese Democracy! November 23!).

And so, instead, I’ll tread water for a day and look ahead to next week, when I jet off to New York City for CMJ though not for CMJ. As previously mentioned, I am going to witness the North American debut of Lucky Soul, which just happens to be part of the CMJ Music Marathon. You may recall that their retro-pop-tacular debut The Great Unwanted was one of my top albums of last year and even a year and a half later, it remains an absolute delight. And considering how difficult it is for them to cross the pond, this is an opportunity not to be missed. They’re actually playing two shows – the official showcase on the 23rd at what is apparently a brand new venue called The Studio At Webster Hall and then a headlining show of their own the following evening at Joe’s Pub as presented by Music Snobbery. And, around these two must-see shows I’m hoping to squeeze in a few more – currently on the calendar I’ve got The Brother Kite at Lit on the 23rd (immediately following Lucky Soul’s show a few blocks away) and then Emmy The Great is apparently doing a day show of some sort at The Delancey on the Saturday.

If I can fit all that in, I will declare the weekend to be a triumph. Anything on top of that is gravy. I’m also hoping to squeeze in a bit of touristing whilst I’m there – the last time I was in New York a couple years back, I managed to hit most areas in Manhattan except for Soho and the Lower East Side. This time, excepting a midtown pilgrimage to B&H, I don’t expect to leave that area. Anything particularly noteworthy to see around there? This is probably the last trip of any sort I’m taking for a good long while, probably till SxSW in March, so I’d like to make the most of it.

MP3: Lucky Soul – “The Great Unwanted”
Video: Lucky Soul – “Lips Are Unhappy”
Video: Lucky Soul – “My Brittle Heart”
Video: Lucky Soul – “Add Your Light To Mine, Baby”
MySpace: Lucky Soul

Ex-Pipette Rosay – now just Rose Elinor Dougall – has made her first single as a solo artist available for grabsies. It’ll be released as an ultra-limited 7″ single on December 8. The Von Pip Musical Express has an interview with Dougall about going solo. Oh, and the new lineup of the Pipettes look a little like this.

MP3: Rose Elinor Dougall – “Another Version Of Pop Song”

Paste talks reunion with Simon Jones of The Verve. I finally picked up a copy of Forth this weekend – used, natch – and to my surprise it’s not nearly as weak as I’d been led to believe. Not a classic by any stretch and it definitely has a potent case of the meanders, but still pretty listenable if in a wallpaper-y way. It doesn’t hurt my ears, though if I never ever hear the phrase “A latte, double shot” used in a song lyric again, it’ll be too soon.

The Quietus considers a recent Jarvis Cocker lecture on the importance of songwriting and comes up with a list of the 20 worst lyrics ever committed to, um, voice? And not even Dylan or Morrissey escape unscathed.

Billy Bragg sings Woody Guthrie to a lobster puppet for the CBC at the ANTI blog. Why ask why?

NME reports that Franz Ferdinand will release their third album Tonight on January 27.

The Killers are at Massey Hall on November 18.

Drowned In Sound talks to Murray Lightburn of The Dears about the difficult birth of Missiles, out next Tuesday. And I should clarify something that was pointed out to me after I talked about the record a few weeks back – though the previous lineup of the band is obviously now dissolved, some of them did play on the new record. From the sounds of the interview, probably Patrick Krief, now plying his trade as Black Diamond Bay and, incidentally, playing a gig at the Annex Wreck Room tonight.

MP3: Patrick Krief – “Worries Are Over”

Centro-Matic have released a new video from the Dual Hawks double-record. Will Johnson is in town tonight at Lee’s Palace as a pinch-hitter guitarist in The New Year.

Video: Centro-Matic – “Rat Patrol & DJs”

As they’ve done the past few years, the Toronto Public Library is injecting some hot rock into the stacks with their Make Some Noise program, basically an invitation to turn a library – in this case the North York Central branch – into a rock venue. On November 15, they’ll host a free show featuring Slim Twig, Masia One, Winter Gloves and Gentleman Reg and according to Soundscapes, there’ll be some workshops the following week covering topics such as breaking into the music business and DIY show booking. Tickets for the show are available now, first-come first-serve at Soundscapes and certain Toronto Public Library branches. Details here.