Grant CornettWho: Buke & Gass
What: Brooklyn duo whose unique angle is the use of homemade, hybrid instruments – specifically a modded baritone ukulele and a guitar-bass mash-up. The buke and the gass – get it?
Why: Though they visited a couple times in the Summer, their debut Riposte only came out in September and so it’s time for a proper promotional visit
When: Saturday, December 4, 2010
Where: Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Support comes from Brooklyn’s Talk Normal and Toronto’s Doldrums
How: Tickets for the show are $10 in advance but courtesy of Union Events, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want some Buke & Gass” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, November 30.

MP3: Buke & Gass – “Your Face”
Video: Buke & Gass – “Page Break”

Frank YangWho: Ra Ra Riot
What: The biggest orchestral indie rock band to ever come out of Syracuse, or anywhere in upstate New York for that matter.
Why: Their last visit was a sort-of-but-not-really-secret-and-free show just after the release of their second album The Orchard. Now they’re back – same room – but whereas the first time was free, this time you have to pay.
When: Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Where: The Mod Club in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Support comes from labelmates (in Canada, anyways) The Most Serene Republic and Winnipeggers Imaginary Cities
How: Tickets for the show are $16 in advance, but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got a grand prize consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of The Orchard on CD and a second prize of a pair of passes to the show to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Ra Ra Riot” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, November 28.
What else: The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix welcomes the band to the prairies for the first time by way of interview.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

MyspaceFor the better part of the year, I’ve been hearing about this Guelph duo Memoryhouse – another entrant in the increasingly fashionable he-she duo band configuration sweepstakes – and while I liked what I heard in passing of their hazy, languorous dream-pop, I figured I’d pay more attention around the next time they scheduled a local show. After all, they’re from Guelph. That’s like right over there.

And yet any time I saw tour dates posted throughout the year, they’d be touring and gathering accolades in far-flung places in Europe or around the US, never close to home. The closest they seemed to get was the Wolfe Island Music Festival in Kingston in August, and that wasn’t in the cards so I’ve waited. And waited. Not impatiently, mind you – I’m still in the curious stage more than anything else – but I’m still pleased to see that they’ve finally set a couple of live dates in and around Toronto before the year is out. There’s a December 2 engagement at E-Bar in Guelph, and more importantly a December 16 show at the Twist Gallery in Toronto.

Of course, that’s the same night that The Rural Alberta Advantage make their own long-awaited live homecoming at Lee’s Palace, so there’s no guarantee I’ll be availing myself of Memoryhouse’s show anyways. But their announcement did give me the incentive to go download their The Years EP – it’s free – and do up a little post. That’s really all anyone can ask for.

MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Troisieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Gian Lorenzo Bernini”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Bonfire”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
ZIP: Memoryhouse / The Years

Also originally hailing from Guelph are disco-pop ensemble The Magic, who will be playing a free show along with Maylee Todd at the North York Central Library tomorrow night, November 20, at 8PM. Get details on this and other goings-on at the Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise blog.

Director Spike Jonze has the director’s credit on Arcade Fire’s new video/short film for the title track from The Suburbs. Win Butler talks to Exclaim about potential retirement plans.

Video: Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

Soundproof talks to The Thermals.

Rhett Miller of Old 97’s talks to Spinner about getting permission from Bob Dylan to crib the melody from “Desolation Row” for one of his own songs.

Even though Retribution Gospel Choir’s latest 2 came out way back in January, SubPop has opted to release a second MP3 from it for giving away. Why ask why? The Minnesota Daily chats with bandleader Alan Sparhawk.

MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Workin’ Hard”

The Georgia Straight, Vancouver Sun and Oregon Music News talk to Blonde Redhead about their current tour and forays into electronica.

Spin declares Two Door Cinema Club to be breaking out. They’re at the Kool Haus on January 15 alongside Tokyo Police Club.

NPR is streaming a radio session performance from Elvis Costello while AOL Music has a video session with ol’ Declan.

Spin has got the video for the new collaborative single between Hot Chip and Bernard Sumner.

Video: Hot Chip & Bernard Sumner – “I Didn’t Know What Love Was”

A second MP3 from Blood Red Shoes’ second album Fire Like This is now up for grabs. The Prague Post has an interview.

MP3: Blood Red Shoes – “Heartsink”

White Lies have released a video for the first single from their second album Ritual, which is out January 18. They’ll be at The Mod Club on January 29.

Video: White Lies – “Bigger Than Us”

Sloucher interviews The Twilight Sad.

Creative Loafing checks in with Warren Ellis and The Wall Street Journal with Nick Cave of Grinderman.

Annie RaczI liked Gregory & The Hawk’s last record, 2008’s Moenie & Kitchi. Really, I did. The combination of New Yorker Meredith Godreau’s sweet, girlish voice and her gentle, mostly-acoustic, semi-orchestral folk-pop is like kryptonite to me and maybe that’s why I was able to resist it – it’s the sort of record I’ve bought a dozen times before and while it’s not a style that I’m necessarily tired of, it is one that requires some above and beyond to really impress me. Which is why, I guess, I hung onto the record but didn’t write it up or make the 10-minute walk – or 5-minute bike ride – to see them at the El Mocambo last May.

The just-released follow-up Leche won’t be so easily ignored, though. While Goudreau hasn’t changed appreciably changed her approach, the new record is an impressive step forward in pretty much all departments. The arrangements are broader this time out, adding more percussion and both electric and electronic textures in just the right amounts to enhance but not obscure the songs’ simple charms. Not that the songs are as simple this time out; they still have the child-like sense of whimsy and fantastical edge to them, but have more dynamic and emotional range and even offer a whiff of darkness or anger that wasn’t present on Moenie. Add to this more immediate and memorable melodies and an unexpected crib of Cutting Crew’s ’80s hit “(I Just) Died In Your Arms”, and you’ve got a record that demands your attention for its own merits, and not just because it sounds like stuff you already like.

Sloucher has an interview with Goudreau.

MP3: Gregory & The Hawk – “Landscapes”
Video: Gregory & The Hawk – “Soulgazing”
Video: Gregory & The Hawk – “For The Best”
Myspace: Gregory & The Hawk

Spinner talks to Nicole Atkins about her new album Mondo Amore, out January 25, and offers a first look at the album art. Stereogum, meanwhile, has the b-side of her recent “Vultures” single – a Can cover – available to download.

Under The Radar has an interview with Sharon Van Etten.

Pitchfork brings word of a Joanna Newsom tribute album with the terrific title of Versions Of Joanna and featuring contributions fromM Ward, Owen Pallett and Billy Bragg, though the first two are previously released recordings and Bragg’s contribution presumably comes from his contribution to the Voice Project. It will be released digitally in December.

BBC Radio 6 and Pitchfork talk to Lykke Li about her new album, due out on March 1 of next year, which will carry the title Wounded Rhymes. She’s at The Phoenix on May 22.

Prefix talks to The Concretes. They’re at The Horseshoe on January 18.

Love Is All have released a new video from their latest, Two Thousand And Ten Injuries.

Video: Love Is All – “Bigger Bolder”

NPR is streaming the whole of Josni’s recent show at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC.

Daytrotter has got a session up with Suuns; they play the Silver Dollar on November 26.

Exclaim talks to Fucked Up drummer Jonah Falco about how progress is coming on their new record.

The Globe & Mail talks to the director of the Feist documentary Look At What The Light Did Now, screening at the ROM this Sunday night and coming out on DVD/CD on December 7.

Good news: in advance of their show at the Sound Academy that night opening up for Broken Social Scene, Superchunk will be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom on the afternoon of December 9. Bad news: it will be happening at 3PM, making it difficult or impossible to attend if you have a 9-5 job… unless you cut out early like some kind of slack motherfucker.

MP3: Superchunk – “Digging For Something”

Baths, Braids and Star Slinger are teaming up for a show at the El Mocambo on February 19, tickets $12. Baths’ debut Cerulean was released this past Summer, Braids’ debut Native Speaker is out January 18.

MP3: Baths – “Maximalist”
MP3: Braids – “Lemonade”

Dan DennisonBritish Sea Power have yet to top the UK charts – their last record, 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music? came closest at #10 – but their next album Valhalla Dancehall certainly had #1 on its mind. It was announced yesterday that it’d have a release date of January 1, 2011 – 1/1/11 for the numerologically-inclined – and as such has the distinction of being the first major new release of next year, at least in my cosmos.

It’s interesting to note that this album finds the lineup officially expanded to a six-piece, bringing their touring viola and keyboard players into the fold (and press photos). One might suppose that the extra personnel would make for a bigger, broader-sounding album, but BSP have never gone small or been blessed with an inordinate amount of focus, even when they numbered just four, so it’s hard to imagine them being even more out there with album number four than they’ve been in the past. Zeus, the taster EP for the new record, is certainly as eclectic over its seven tracks as anything they’ve done before.

Skiddle.com has an interview with the band and in addition to assembling a little teaser video for the new record, they’ve released a new MP3 from the album to get y’all excited.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”

Robyn has rescheduled her show from last Friday, which was cancelled at the 11th hour (or more like 3PM) the day of due to illness. It’ll now take place on January 26, still at the Sound Academy.

Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

Dum Dum Girls will be making up for their cancelled Fall tour with a Winter jaunt that includes a stop at the El Mocambo on February 26.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “D.A.L.”
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

Eric Elbogen, aka Say Hi – he stopped directing that at your mom a little while ago – has a new record coming out on January 25 entitled Um, Uh Oh and will be staging a huge tour to promote. Check out the first track courtesy of Spin and see him when he plays the El Mocambo on March 4.

MP3: Say Hi – “Devils”

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, while Pique, The Calgary Sun and The Gauntlet have interviews. The band are at the Mod Club on December 1.

Drowned In Sound talks to Scott Devendorf of The National. The deluxe edition of High Violet comes out November 23.

Spin declares Warpaint to be “breaking out” while The Riverfront Times talks to drummer Stella Mozgawa.

Spoon have put out a new video from Transference.

Video: Spoon – “Nobody Gets Me But You”

Band Of Horses have opted to premiere their latest cinematically-styled video from Infinite Arms at IMBD.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Dilly”

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart talk to Spinner about “Heart In Your Heartbreak”, the lead single from their new record Belong, due out in March.