MySpaceAll anyone’s ever wanted from James Mercer is Shins records. And with three years passed since Wincing The Night Away and the rest of the band dismissed, it seems that making a Shins record is the last thing James Mercer wants to do. But at least he’s doing something again, and at least that something sounds vaguely Shins-ish. I speak, of course, of Broken Bells – his collaboration with producer Danger Mouse, which has yielded an album of the same name.

It’s not a collaboration many had expected, but that goes for most of whom Danger Mouse has worked with so from that angle, perhaps it’s the most natural thing in the world. One of the Mouse’s greatest strengths as a producer is his prêt-à-porter collection of sounds and ideas, and on Broken Bells it sounds as though Mercer is working his way through his wardrobe like one of those change-room film montages. His voice is unmistakeable but the dressings – including but not limited to strings, electronic blips, synthetically-tinged drums and beats – are a fair ways away from the archetypal indie-pop of The Shins. None of it doesn’t work; the record is quite listenable and has its share of stand out moments, but that’s more thanks to the math than magic. Fine as a sidebar, but James? Get back to work.

Broken Bells are taking their show on the road this Summer, including a June 2 date at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto with The Morning Benders as support. Tickets are $37.50 in advance, but courtesy of AEG Live, I’ve got two pairs of tickets to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Broken Bells” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and get that in before midnight, May 23.

Video: Broken Bells – “The High Road”

Frank YangI can’t pretend I wasn’t a bit disappointed when Holly Miranda departed The Jealous Girlfriends to strike out on her own – that outfit had a lot of potential that their debut only touched on – but after hearing where she went with The Magician’s Private Library, it’s understandable why it didn’t work. As eclectic as her former band’s stylings were, they were still very much a rock band and it’s hard to imagine there’d have been a place for the hazy, Sitek-scapes that suffuse her debut.

Miranda’s voice is a marvelous instrument; rich and expressive in timbre, soaring and swooping in range, and alternately anxious, smouldering, questioning and knowing. In short, it’s a hell of a thing to hear and for all the sonic busyness that fills the Library, Miranda’s vocals remains front and centre, impossible to overwhelm. The Magician’s Private Library isn’t the most immediate record, relying less on hooks than caresses, but unquestionably a beautiful one and with repeated listens, as the songs sink in, only gets better from there.

After a number of choice supporting engagements, Miranda is finally in the midst of her own headlining tour and having seen her perform at SxSW, I can report that the live experience is many times louder and in your face than the record, yet just as pretty. Don’t ask how, just accept and enjoy. The Toronto show is May 20 at the El Mocambo – tickets are $12.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts and Beggars Canada, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show along with three copies of The Magician’s Private Library on vinyl in a fancy gatefold package. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Holly Miranda” if you want to go the show and “I want to check out the Magician’s Private Library” if you want the vinyl in the subject line and your full name (and mailing address for the LP) in the body, and get that in to me before midnight, May 17. Contest is open to residents of Canada and you can enter both if you like.

MP3: Holly Miranda – “Waves”
MP3: Holly Miranda – “Forest Green Oh Forest Green”
MySpace: Holly Miranda

Jamie AdamsonOne thing that Phoenix accomplished last year – besides become one of the biggest bands around, at least for the moment – was make the world safe for stadium-sized, unabashedly melodic and utterly danceable guitar pop with an electronic sheen. Whether the world was ever actually unsafe for such is up for debate, but there’s certainly an appetite for it and Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club are doing their damnedest to satisfy it.

Their debut Tourist History is filled with immediately catchy, uptempo tunes that are designed to get the indie kids dancing. No, it’s not the most lyrically profound material out there, but come on – have you actually listened to what Thomas Mars is singing on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix? What it is is fast, fun and well-timed for Summer. Two Door Cinema Club will do just fine, thanks.

They just launched their debut North American tour and will wrap it up on May 17 in Toronto at Wrongbar. Tickets are $10 in advance if you can find any – it may be sold out – but courtesy of Embrace, I have two pairs of tickets to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Two Door Cinema Club” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, May 13.

MP3: Two Door Cinema Club – “I Can Talk”
MP3: Two Door Cinema Club – “Something Good Can Work”
Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “I Can Talk”
Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Undercover Martyn”
Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Something Good Can Work”

Frank YangSo yeah, I see a lot of bands live. And as a result, the list of bands that I want to see and haven’t – at least amongst those artists currently on active duty – has gotten pretty small, made up mainly of smaller acts for whom North American touring is an economical improbability. I’d placed Welsh trio The Joy Formidable in this category since discovering them last February, and so was more than a little frustrated that the place I thought I might have a chance to see them – SxSW – just wouldn’t happen. They canceled their 2009 appearance and opted for a UK tour instead this year and while they’d made a few surgical strikes to New York, there never seemed to be a greater design for conquering America… until there was.

A modest plan, perhaps, but the North American release of their most excellent debut A Balloon Called Moaning – which was one of my favourites of last year and would have been noted as such in year-end lists had I not been so pedantic about albums versus EPs – in advance of the release of their first full-length later this year was certainly a good start. The short tour that brought them to the Horseshoe in Toronto on Tuesday for a free Nu Music Nite engagement was a fantastic next step.

Their tourmates for their first expedition through the wilds of the northeast of the continent were Brooklyn’s The Dig, who were themselves readying their debut in Electric Toys, slated for a June 8 release. My advance copy of the record hadn’t made a huge impression, coming across mainly as decent if not especially distinctive college rock, but live the differences between their strengths and weaknesses were clearer. At their best, they combined the pop sense and garage-y attitude of The Strokes with a musical approach built on insistent bass riffs and dreamy, atmospheric touches. At their worst, they turned in unremarkable and plodding rote bar/blues-rock. Sadly, these seemed to be the songs that were best-received. Here’s hoping that in the long run, The Dig don’t give the people what they want and instead, make interesting music.

Though I hadn’t noticed much chatter about this show going into the evening and most of the city’s Brit-rock fans were at the Opera House selling out the Frightened Rabbit show, there was a good-sized crowd in place to welcome The Joy Formidable to Toronto. And it’s a good thing, because their brand of big guitar rock really demands an audience for full effect. To my ears, A Balloon Called Moaning is a pretty much perfect blend of sugary pop hook, spiky attitude and aesthetics that are little too effervescent to count as shoegazey (though that influence is quite evident) and live, The Joy Formidable were somehow able to make it all sound even better. There were initially some technical problems – a broken strap here, a split drum skin there – but the band made up for those early lulls with extra intensity when they were able to get everything working and when there were no more equipment glitches, that energy just snowballed. Ritzy Bryan was a tiny but magnetic frontwoman, handling both vocal and Stratocaster sonic attack duties with aplomb, and while it was hard to take your eyes off her, much credit must also go to her bandmates Rhydian Dafydd on bass and backing vocals and Matt Thomas on drums for both laying the foundation for their monolithic wall of sound and lifting her up on top of it. Though their set was just 45 minutes or so, that was more than enough time to run through the Balloon material along with some new material, cement existing fans and completely win over new ones. So completely worth the wait and, with promises to return within months – presumably when the new album arrives later this Summer – the next wait won’t be quite so long.

Photos: The Joy Formidable, The Dig @ The Horseshoe – May 4, 2010
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”
MP3: The Dig – “You’re Already Gone”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Popinjay”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Cradle”
MySpace: The Joy Formidable

Clash talks to Editors guitarist Chris Urbanowicz about some of the most important events in his life.

The Riverfront Times and Chicago Tribune interview Frightened Rabbit.

Jez Williams of Doves looks back on the band’s career for Under The Radar.

eye interviews Massive Attack’s 3D in advance of their two shows at the Sound Academy, tonight and Sunday.

Kele has released a video for that first single from The Boxer, due out June 21. He plays the Mod Club on July 29.

Video: Kele – “Tenderoni”

Jon Wurster gives Stereogum an update on the new Superchunk record, which has been given the title of Majesty Shredding and will be out this Fall.

BBC6 talks to The National’s Matt Berninger about High Violet, out Tuesday, while Vanity Fair has a rather pointless piece wondering if The National are America’s Radiohead… yeah. Nice photos, though. The National are at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

Drowned In Sound meets Band Of Horses, whose Infinite Arms arrive May 18 and who play the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Spinner welcomes The Hold Steady to their studios for an Interface session, while Paste and The Herald have interviews. They play the Kool Haus on July 18.

Daytrotter is offering a session with Lambchop.

Grab “Babelonia”, the first MP3 from the new School Of Seven Bells record Disconnect From Desire, by signing up for their mailing list. The record is out July 13.

Karen Elson – who may well be known as a singer-songwriter first and foremost but for now will have to settle for being a top model and Mrs Jack White – has a date at the El Mocambo on June 16 as part of a tour in support of her solo debut The Ghost Who Walks, out May 25 in the UK and later this year in North America. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance. Black Book has an interview.

Video: Karen Elson – “The Ghost Who Walks”

The Fiery Furnaces, who seem to have played every room – big and small – in the city, will be doing the small when they return on June 21 for a show at the Drake Underground. Their last release was 2009’s I’m Going Away.

MP3: The Fiery Furnaces – “The End Is Near”

Maps & Atlases – just here on Tuesday opening for Frightened Rabbit – return for a show at the Horseshoe on August 7 in support of their new record Perch Patchwork, out June 29.

MP3: Maps & Atlases – “Solid Ground”

Spin talks to Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons about their just-announced new record Swanlights, which will be out October 5.

Douglas WilkinsonOkay, so I spent (too) much of yesterday in planes and airports and places, in general, not conducive to blogging so I am essentially taking today (or took last night) off to get my head together a bit, and am going to just toss this up for now.

As announced last week, I’m proudly co-presenting the Toronto stop of the Kelp 16 anniversary tour, marking the fact that the Ottawa-based label is now old enough to drive. To help celebrate, we’re having Cleveland cult hero singer-songwriter Bill Fox, as well as Andrew Vincent, Chris Page and Leif Vollebekk play the Horseshoe on the evening of May 12.

Tickets are $10 in advance and on sale at Soundscapes right now, but since it’s not a birthday party without loot bags – at least not in my estimation – I’ve got a couple of Kelp prize packs to give away. These consist of a pair of passes to the show – natch – a label compilation CD and a Kelp Records t-shirt. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to wish Kelp a happy birthday” in the subject line and your full name and address in the body and get that in to me before midnight, May 10.

Proper bloggage re-commences tomorrow.