I imagine you’d have to flip a coin.

How else to decide who headlines a double-bill the likes of which are teaming up for the “Rock And Roll Means Well” tour cutting across the continent this November? The Drive-By Truckers or The Hold Steady? Both their latest albums – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark and Stay Positive, respectively – are solid though not career-defining moments. By virtue of their storytelling abilities? The Truckers weave a pretty rich Southern gothic narrative, but the Hold Steady’s tales of parties gone right and wrong resonate with most anyone who’s ever been young and stupid. How about their guitar prowess? Sure, Tad Kubler slings a pretty mean axe, but the Truckers sling in triplicate. Facial hair? Patterson Hood certainly works that beard, but there’s naught that can measure up to the mighty ‘stache of Franz Nicolai.

Well as it happens they’re not keeping score and are instead just alternating headline slots from one night to the next, and when the rock cavalcade rolls into the Phoenix on November 11, it’ll be the Truckers rocking things out well past curfew. And courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away to someone(s) ready to hoist a beer with one hand and throw up the three-finger devil salute with the other. To enter, leave a comment in the post (with your correct email spamproofed as necessary) and tell me who you think should close out the show and why. Contest closes at midnight, November 4 so you’ve got some time to think about it.

Tiger Weekly talks to the Truckers bassist Shona Tucker while The Clarion-Ledger, The Corrie Tandem and Charleston City Paper get some time with Hood.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Zip City”
MySpace: Drive-By Truckers
MySpace: The Hold Steady

Photo by Patrick Marold

Eric Bachmann has worn many hats over the years. He started out as the hard-barking frontman of angular ’90s college rock heroes Archers Of Loaf. He then reinvented himself as the lonely troubadour on the first couple Crooked Fingers records, terrain he revisited on 2006’s gorgeous solo effort To The Races. And with the last couple Crooked Fingers records, in particular 2005’s sublime Dignity & Shame, he proved to be just as capable as a lush pop artisan and bandleader. And now on his latest effort Forfeit/Fortune, which once again finds him operating under the Crooked Fingers banner, he decides to be all of the above – simultaneously.

Perhaps as a reaction to the singular starkness of For The Races, Bachmann has crafted one of his most eclectic and fully-arranged records – one that manages to incorporate aspects of his entire career from gruff-voiced Archer-esque numbers to somber, solo-ish pieces, while still treading some completely new sonic territory. The heavy-handed production might be a point of contention for some, utilizing decidedly un-Bachmann-ish touches like drum machines and synths.

Those more left-field tangents give Forfeit/Fortune a certain, “WTF?” quality and in some cases probably distract and detract from the songs themselves but those instances are thankfully rare. It may be a bit dizzying, but the Forfeit/Fortune experience is a good one. The overall flavour isn’t too far from Dignity & Shame, maintaining that record’s Spanish accents if not its cohesiveness and adding some Balkan influence for good measure. It’s also a bit back-loaded with the best material, culminating in a stellar duet with Neko Case. Bachmann fans might find themselves a bit off-balance listening to this latest record, but there’s still plenty solid to hold on to.

Crooked Fingers are currently on tour with Okkervil River and will play the Phoenix this coming Sunday night, October 12 – to which I’m giving away passes. New City Chicago, The Hartford Advocate and Crawdaddy have interviews with Bachmann about Forfeit/Fortune, which was released yesterday. It’s streaming in its entirety as Spinner and comes in both standard and deluxe CD formats, the latter of which comes with a documentary DVD amongst other goodies. Check out the trailer.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Phony Revolutions”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)”
Stream: Crooked Fingers / Forfeit/Fortune
MySpace: Crooked Fingers

In addition to streaming Bob Dylan’s new Bootleg Series – Tell-Tale Signs, out yesterday – Spinner has got a couple of the tracks available to download.

MP3: Bob Dylan – “Mississippi”
MP3: Bob Dylan – “Dreamin’ Of You”
Stream: Bob Dylan / Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8

Neil Young could take a lesson or two from Dylan in archive-digging efficiency. No Depression reports that to no one’s surprise, the release of Archives has been delayed from this Fall until January or February of 2009… sure. Whatever. As a form of compensation, Bad News Beat reports that another Archives live set circa 1968 and entitled Sugar Mountain will be released on November 28. Neil is playing the Air Canada Centre on December 4 and 5.

Pitchfork and The Skinny chat with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.

Marc Perlman of The Jayhawks and Golden Smog talks to Prefix about the process of assembling the latter’s recent best-of comp Stay Golden.

Paste talks to M Ward about what’s next for both him (new record called Hold Time out in February) and She & Him (Volume Two is “in the works”).

Minneapolis City Pages converses with David Berman of Silver Jews.

Matador has massive plans to entice you to pre-order the next edition in the massive Pavement reissue series, Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed.. It’s out November 18.

Political Affairs talks to Billy Bragg about affairs of a political nature.

Much delight in these parts that Neil Halstead has a date at the Drake Underground on November 8. No, he’s not bringing his surfing BFF Jack Johnson with him but you can’t have everything.

MP3: Neil Halstead – “Paint A Face”
Video: Neil Halstead – “Queen Bee”

Noah & The Whale are coming back to town for a date at the El Mocambo on December 9. The band have been keeping a tour diary from their just-completed North American jaunt at LiveDaily and Seattlest interviews frontman Charlie Fink.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals have a date at the El Mocambo on December 10. The McGill Tribune has a chat.

Photo via MySpace

With Comets On Fire, Ethan Miller has proven a certain facility with recreating the sounds and textures of a bygone era, namely the sprawling space-rock jams and fuzz-laden psychedelia of the ’70s. With his other band, Howlin’ Rain, he’s demonstrated his stylistic versatility by recreating different sounds and textures of that same bygone era, namely the sprawing blues-rock boogies and organ-laden classic rock and funk of the ’70s. Hey, you can’t say the man doesn’t know what he likes.

The San Francisco outfit are on tour in support of their new album Magnificent Friend and will be at the Horseshoe next Monday night, October 13, with locals Quest For Fire as support. And, courtesy of rootmeansquare, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. If you’re looking for an excuse to break out your bell bottoms, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Howlin’ Rain” in the subject line and your full name in the body and get that in to me by midnight, October 9.

The Free Lance-Press and The Lumberjack have interviews with Miller.

MP3: Howlin’ Rain – “Dancers At The End Of Time”
MySpace: Howlin’ Rain

Photo by Frank Yang

I am willing to bet that most everyone who was packed into the tiny back room of The Rivoli on Saturday night was there to see Ms Laura Marling, she of the fine Mercury Prize-nominated debut Alas, I Cannot Swim if not of the top billing on this night. But, assuming they arrived early and stayed late and took in the entire show, I am also willing to bet that they weren’t just talking about Marling’s set afterwards, but every single act that performed.

It was the final night of the traveling musical caravan dubbed the “Fe Fi Fo Fum Tour” which had been traversing the continent for the past past three weeks, and in addition to Marling featured Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit and Mumford & Sons for an excellent sampling of the current crop of young, folk-based artists coming out of the UK right now. Though it was evident from the tour anecdotes and in-jokes that popped up in stage banter through the night that all involved had a terrific time discovering and conquering America, it was also obvious that they were tired but prepared to give their all for this one, last show.

And in addition to the three acts listed, there was a surprise opener in the form of Pete Roe, a member of Marling’s band who stepped up to play a quick and impressive two-song set of graceful, finger-picked folkistry that gave a taste of what was to come. And if that was the appetizer, Mumford & Sons was the first course. The four-piece, who would also comprise a large portion of Marling’s band, delivered a raucous yet mournful bluegrass-based sound that was steeped heavily in traditional forms but not at all restricted by them. There’s no overt genre envelope-pushing like introducing heavy electronic elements – banjos, mandolins and fiddles are very much the tools of the trade to say nothing of immaculate four-part harmonies – but there’s also no sense that they’re seeking to recreate the past, simply that they’ve chosen this particular style in which to write their songs. And in any style, their songs would have been strong and affecting.

My expectation for Laura Marling’s set was that it’d be a quiet, almost solemn affair in keeping with the downbeat tone of the album. And while it was far from a dance party, by playing with a full band and focusing on the more fully-arranged pieces from Alas, she far exceeded what you might expect from a conventional singer-songwriter performance. Initially, she evidenced some of the stage fright that she’s been contending with since being thrust into the spotlight, stony-faced and staring off into space whilst singing her songs, as though having an out of body experience. But the sheer love emanating from the audience – the constant singalongs were as endearing as they were annoying – and the joviality of her bandmates eventually pulled her out of her shell and by the end, she was smiling and joking along with them. For me, her performance was less a revelation as a reinforcement of the fact that Alas really is a strong record and Marling is a rare talent worthy of all the accolades she’s gathered in her short career. And though it’s usually the strength of her songwriting that’s praised, she also has a much stronger and versatile voice than you might expect – though she tends to favour the lower register that keeps with the confessional mood of her writing, there were a few points at the show when she went high or falsetto and sounded remarkable.

So with Marling having delivered what most in attendance were there to get, there was probably a bit of pressure on the final act – Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit – to prove they were worthy of the top billing and could close things out on just as high a note. And while they didn’t necessarily manage to exceed the bar set by the first acts, they were able to meet it handily and avoid any sort of let down. Drawing on their debut album A Larum, Flynn and company made the Rivoli feel like an olde English pub to which they were the house band. Like the other acts, they demonstrated really remarkable musicianship with Flynn trading off from guitar to trumpet to fiddle while singing his richly detailed folk songs overtop a musical backdrop that was simultaneously delicate and muscular.

Though I’ve used the term ad nauseum out of convenience, I’m not a fan of the “anti-folk” label that’s been attached to a lot of the young, roots-oriented bands coming out of the UK at the moment – all the artists on this night included. It sounds small and reactionary and doesn’t do the undeniable talent of those caught under the label justice. So instead, let’s try a different descriptor – how about “simply wonderful”? Okay, maybe not. But still.

Photos: Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Pete Roe @ The Rivoli – October 4, 2008
MP3: Laura Marling – “Ghosts”
MP3: Pete Roe – “Let It Go”
MP3: Pete Roe – “I’ll Only Be Dreaming Of You”
Video: Johnny Flynn – “Tickle Me Pink”
Video: Johnny Flynn – “Leftovers”
Video: Johnny Flynn – “Brown Trout Blues”
Video: Laura Marling – “Night Terror”
Video: Laura Marling – “New Romantic”
Video: Laura Marling – “Ghosts”
Video: Laura Marling – “My Manic & I”
Video: Laura Marling – “Cross Your Fingers”
MySpace: Johnny Flynn
MySpace: Laura Marling
MySpace: Pete Roe

Stay Thirsty interviews Los Campesinos!, whose We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is out November 11. Pitchfork has details on the bonus goodies that’ll come with the CD.

Thanks to Thierry for pointing out this odd but enjoyable video of Lightspeed Champion and SNL‘s Fred Armisen someone named Fred covering The Strokes. I have no context for this clip, and honestly, I don’t want any.

Video: Lightpeed Champion and Fred – “Someday”

NPR talks to Basia Bulat about the appeal of the autoharp.

PopMatters interviews Nellie McKay.

Daytrotter welcomes Aimee Mann to their studios for a session.

The Boston Herald features Fleet Foxes.

Broken Social Scene have added a second date at the Sound Academy for the end of November, playing on the 28th as well as the 27th. Support for the second date – and perhaps the first? – will be Land Of Talk, which does raise the question of whether or not their cancelled headlining date at Lee’s from the end of September will be made up anytime soon.

Photo by Frank Yang

There is an upside to having never been especially fashionable, and that’s you never go out of fashion. Case in point, The Wedding Present, whom over the course of their twenty-plus year career (including the Cinerama years), have never really enjoyed the heights of critical or popular acclaim but have never suffered the sting of backlash, either. Instead, they’ve simply plugged along, touring relentlessly and ne’er releasing a dud of an album and thereby accumulating a large and loyal following – bands could do far worse than to emulate their career path. A path that brought them to Toronto on Friday night in support of their new record El Rey, their first visit in two and a half years.

Playing the final date of their support stint, openers Dirty On Purpose joked about this being their annual visit to Lee’s Palace, though I suspect they really meant their annual visit to a near-empty Lee’s Palace. Though their profile has grown considerably since their first visit in March 2006, this time they were victims of an early start time that I suspect not a lot of people knew about. It’s been a couple years since the release of their debut album Hallelujah Sirens but the Brooklyn quartet has not been idle, releasing the Like Bees EP at the start of this year and following that closely with the Dead Volcanoes EP, available for free download at RCRD LBL. Both recordings implied a creative shift towards giving their pop sides a more equal footing with their noisier inclinations, and that was also evidenced in their live show which was a touch more polite-sounding than I’ve heard them before. At least until the set-closing instrumental “Monument”, which culminated in a minor stage trashing but considering that only consisted of one tossed guitar and a knocked over cymbal stand, even that was kind of polite.

You want to talk about consistency with The Wedding Present? On this night, Dave Gedge was wearing pretty much the same outfit he was in March 2006 and in April 2005. And with the exception of the addition of a healthy dose of El Rey material and considerably less from 2005’s Take Fountain, the set list could also have been from that show if not in exact song, then in song selection methodology. An even-handed sampling of the entire back catalog with an emphasis on masterpiece Seamonsters and a single nod to the Cinerama years. Truly it’s a testament to the solidity and reliability of Gedge’s muse that the new material stands up so well alongside the old, though when one’s creative well is built on the foibles of faithless men and women, there’s always plenty to draw on.

And, just like every gig, there were shout outs for requests which, as he’s done their entire career Gedge deflected (this time by claiming he’d love to oblige but said bassist Terry De Castro worked very hard on the set list and would be upset if they deviated). But for every favourite not aired, another gem was played instead and it’s hard to imagine anyone being disappointed overall by the song selection. And, of course, the performance was again excellent. After seeing just Gedge and De Castro play a set during SxSW, I appreciate how much second guitarist Chris McConville and drummer Graeme Ramsay, who joined post-Take Fountain and recorded and helped write El Rey, bring to the band. Though it’s still Gedge’s words and delivery that seal the deal, they come across so much better with the massive-sounding rhythm section driving home the point.

And, of course, there was no encore.

Redwood City Daily News has an interview with the Gedge.

Photos: The Wedding Present, Dirty On Purpose @ Lee’s Palace – October 3, 2008
MP3: The Wedding Present – “The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girl Friend”
MP3: Dirty On Purpose – “Mind Blindness”
MP3: Dirty On Purpose – “No Radio”
Video: Dirty On Purpose – “Audience In The Room”
Video: Dirty On Purpose – “Car No Driver”
MySpace: The Wedding Present
MySpace: Dirty On Purpose

JAM has an interview with Noel Gallagher of Oasis, conducted last month in happier times when all his ribs were still intact. Dig Out Your Soul is out tomorrow.

Filter talks to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized.

Metro asks British Sea Power five questions.

The Quietus and Drowned In Sound discuss Snowflake Midnight with Mercury Rev. The companion album Strange Attractor is also now available for free download by signing up to their mailing list from their website. The Rev are at the Opera House on December 9 with Dean & Britta.

Billboard examines the success of My Bloody Valentine’s just-completed North American tour. And now, with no more live dates on the horizon, it’s time to get back in the studio.

Wired discusses the influence of the shoegazing movement on a young Oliver Ackerman, who would go on to form A Place To Bury Strangers. Tuscon Weekly also has a feature.

The Black Cab Sessions welcome Joey Burns of Calexico while Prefix has an interview.. They’re at the Phoenix on November 18, though probably arriving by bus rather than cab.

Chart talks pottery with Matthew Sweet. Exclaim asks him about his music.