The NationalI am tempted to set up some kind of automated script that, every couple weeks, posts “Crooked Fingers‘ Dignity & Shame is one of my favourite albums ever” to my Twitter, because a) it’s true and b) every time I listen to it I feel like I need people to know this and understand it. Eric Bachmann has sang with many female foils over the run of Crooked Fingers but none was more perfect that Lara Meyerratken and nowhere is that better demonstrated than their gorgeously intertwined duet “Sleep All Summer”, arguably the album’s centrepiece and a song capable of breaking my heart pretty much every time I hear it.

So when no less than The National opted to cover it with Annie Clark of St. Vincent playing the role of Meyerratken to Matt Berninger’s Bachmann for the Merge Records 20th anniversary tribute album Score!, it was both exciting and worrisome. Exciting because here were two of my favourite artists covering one of my favourite songs and worrisome because, well, there’s no such thing as loving two different things equally – one version was going to come in second. And it’s sort of a photo finish, but as much as I like the Berninger-Clark reinterpretation, the original is still tops. But damn it was good listening and re-listening to each to decide.

Crooked Fingers – who are now the two-piece of Bachmann and Liz Durrett – will release a new album in Breaks In The Armour on October 11 and play The Drake Underground on November 8. St. Vincent’s new album Strange Mercy comes out on Tuesday. The National are awesome. Summer is just about over. Update: Now with extra relevance – just announced, The National are going to be at The Air Canada Centre on December 8 with Neko Case and Wye Oak.

MP3: The National and St. Vincent – “Sleep All Summer”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “Sleep All Summer” (live, 2010)
Stream: Crooked Fingers – “Sleep All Summer”

FacebookWho: Peter Hook & The Light
What: Peter Hook. Hooky. One of the most distinctive bassists of the past few decades and an integral part of two of the most influential rock bands of the past thirty-plus years, Joy Division and New Order, as well as less memorable projects such as Revenge, Freebass and Monaco. This is none of those bands.
Why: Though he’s got himself an all-new band, Hooky is revisiting the works of his first band and performing Unknown Pleasures live. Whether or not this is actually a good idea is purely subjective. It’s happening, either way.
When: Saturday, September 24, 2011
Where: The Phoenix Concert Theater in Toronto (19+)
Who else: The show has solid if oddly-paired support from Dirty Beaches and Frankie Rose & The Outs
How: Tickets for the show are $16.50 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I have two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Peter Hook” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, September 18.
What else: I’m sure Hook would love to only talk about The Light and his Joy Division tribute, as per this Slicing Up Eyeballs Q&A and Gibson Guitars interview, but the timing of the announcement of a Hook-less New Order reunion has him having to instead. Or, as in this Rolling Stone interview, covering both bases. Or basses. Ahem.

Video: Peter Hook & The Light featuring Rowetta – “Atmosphere”
Video: Peter Hook & The Light featuring Rowetta – “Pictures In My Mind”

Frank YangWho: No Joy
What: Montreal outfit fronted by dual, guitar-wielding walls of hair who bridge the worlds of garage rock and shoegaze in a pop-friendly middle ground.
Why: Though their debut Ghost Blonde came out last Summer, their ascent has been a slow and steady one, which is to say they’re still touring it and the masses are glad for it.
When: Friday, September 23, 2011
Where: Wrongbar in Toronto (19+)
Who else: This show is part of a co-headline tour with guitar goddess Marnie Stern, so if women demolishing their guitars is your thing, you know where you should be.
How: Tickets for the show are $14 in advance, but courtesy of Embrace, I have two pairs of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want No Joy” in the subject line and your full name in the body and have that in to me before midnight, September 18.

MP3: No Joy – “Hawaii”
Video: No Joy – “Maggie Says I Love You”
Video: No Joy – “Hawaii”

FacebookRoving gang of musical Welsh nogoodniks Los Campesinos! announced the existence of their fourth album Hello Sadness just last week, but they’ve already followed up that news with both the first downloadable MP3 from the record and video, both for the record’s leadoff track – a song which despite the band’s supposed claims to welcoming despair into their lives, sound pretty damn peppy. Or shouty, at least.

And while you’re getting down to that, they’ve also announced a handful of – well, four – American tour dates to preview the record. Note that doesn’t the crew won’t be crossing the border north of the US this time, but seeing as how they’ve never been averse to visiting Toronto and Canada repeatedly, expect a date when broader touring plans are announced.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”

Noah & The Whale – who proved their ability to get super-sad with second album First Days Of Spring – return to town to party like it’s the Last Night On Earth at The Phoenix on November 8, part of a full North American tour; admission is $20 in advance. Interview has a chat with violinist Tom Hobden.

MP3: Noah & The Whale – “The First Days Of Spring”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Tonight’s The Kind Of Night”

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment interview and session with Laura Marling. A Creature I Don’t Know is out Tuesday and she plays The Great Hall on September 23.

Beatroute, The Edmonton Journal, OC Weekly and The Calgary Herald have feature pieces on The Joy Formidable.

Even though there’s really no need to reissue an album that was just released in February, Yuck will get a deluxe edition of their self-titled debut on October 11 that includes a 6-track bonus CD – you can stream one of the new offerings at Pitchfork. They play The Horseshoe on September 27.

Stream: Yuck – “Cousin Corona”

The Guardian is streaming Mogwai’s new EP Earth Division, out next Tuesday, as well as notes from Stuart Braithwaite. So go and stream it and read. Go.

Stream: Mogwai / Earth Division

Also streaming and out next week is Acrobat, the second album from Peggy Sue.

MP3: Peggy Sue – “Cut My Teeth”
Stream: Peggy Sue / Acrobats

Music Broke My Bones and The Whiteboard Project have interviews with Slow Club, the latter of which is hilariously conducted via whiteboard. Paradise is out next week.

Grantland sends Chuck Klosterman to interview Noel Gallagher. A pretty great read regardless of your opinions of either character ensues. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds release their debut album on November 7 and play Massey Hall on November 7 and 8.

Wears The Trousers chat with Esben & The Witch.

DIY has a feature interview with Patrick Wolf and the singer-songwriter fesses up to Clash about his love of waterslides.

Though he’s supposed to be gearing up for the Horrors tour which brings him to Lee’s Palace on September 27, Faris Badwan tells Exclaim that his side-project Cat’s Eyes plans to release two more records in 2012. Which is good news because Cat’s Eyes was great. And Badwan talks Horrors with The Illinois Entertainer.

Beatroute has an interview with Arctic Monkeys.

Artrocker has the new video from Sons & Daughters, taken from their latest Mirror Mirror.

Video: Sons & Daughters – “Rose Red”

Goth godfather Peter Murphy brings his new solo record Ninth to town for a show at Lee’s Palace on November 23, tickets $29.50.

MP3: Peter Murphy – “I Spit Roses”

Though the media cycle on New Order of late has mainly been about irrevocably rent asunder they are with the acrimonious departure of bassist Peter Hook, Spinner reports that it’s a bit of a zero-sum game as original keyboardist Gillian Gilbert is back in the fold for a couple of charity gigs in October. Unsurprisingly, Hooky is unimpressed. Which makes me wish that Ian Curtis was capable of issuing press releases so we could find out what he thinks about what Peter Hook is up to.

Fanfarlo have completed their second album and while it’s still untitled and has no release date, it does have a video for the leadoff track.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Replicate”

The Line Of Best Fit goes on an in-depth expedition into The Radio Dept.’s discography with founders Johan Duncanson and Martin Larson as sherpas. The Radio Dept are at The Mod Club on November 17.

Exclaim has some details of Swedish sister act First Aid Kit’s second album; The Lion’s Roar will be out on January 24 of the new year and you can see them supporting Lykke Li at The Sound Academy on November 15.

Little Dragon have released a new video from Ritual Union; they’re at The Hoxton on October 12.

Video: Little Dragon – “Brush The Heat”

Pitchfork has a new video from Sigur Ros taken from their Inni live film and album, due out November.

Video: Sigur Ros – “Klippa”

If you like Howling Bells and are willing to admit as much via Facebook, you’ll be able to stream their new record The Loudest Engine. It’s out Monday.

Stream: Howling Bells / The Loudest Engine

NME talks to Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele about their plans for album number two. But before that, they will play The Sound Academy on Tuesday evening, September 13.

Sebastian SlayterI’ve read a few things about Pacific Northwest by way of New York trio Widowspeak that reference the darkness of their music; the haunting tones, yearning vocals and occasional forays into guitar squalls. Perfectly fair. And most everything written about them mentions the smoky vocals of Molly Hamilton and its immediate reference points of Hope Sandoval and Cat Power. Also totally valid.

And yet listening to their self-titled debut, despite the truth of those points and the fact that I like amounts of all of these things in my music, what stands out the most to me is how much more they have to offer beyond those talking points. Though her voice has that alluring eyes-half-closed quality, she sounds far more awake and engaged with the song and melodies than Sandoval ever has (save, perhaps, her turn on “Sometimes Always”) and evokes neither the suicide-watch despair of early Chan Marshall nor the soul-diva stylings of her now. And musically, though perfectly capable of evoking sadness, they’re much more familiar with the major keys than some would have you believe. There’s a distinct ’50s doo-wop winsomeness running throughout, the guitars are as likely to throw off a twangy spaghetti western lick as drone menacingly and tunes like “Puritan” and “Fir Coat” are downright bouncy. All of which is to say that the critical praise they’ve garnered based on those aforementioned qualities are wholly deserved – they’ve just got much more to offer than you might expect.

Widowspeak are currently touring with Vivian Girls and will be at Parts & Labour in Toronto on September 16. Tickets for the show are $15.00 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, 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 to see Widowspeak” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, September 13.

MP3: Widowspeak – “Harsh Realm”
Stream: Widowspeak – “Nightcrawlers”

The deluge of streams for September 13 releases mentioned earlier this week continues; Girls are offering a sneak preview of their sophomore effort Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Billboard talks to bandleader Christopher Owens, who leads his band into The Mod Club on September 27.

MP3: Girls – “Vomit”
Stream: Girls / Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Over at Rolling Stone, you’ve got a stream of Mountaintops, the latest from Mates Of State, a week before its release. They’ll be at The Phoenix on September 28 and Ology has an interview with band he-half Jason Hammell.

MP3: Mates Of State – “Maracas”
Stream: Mates Of State / Mountaintops

Wild Flag jumped the gun and put up a stream of their self-titled debut last week, but held a little something back for this week – their first video. Wild Flag are at Lee’s Palace on October 12.

Video: Wild Flag – “Romance”

Wilco offered up a stream of The Whole Love, out September 27, for a 24-hour period this past weekend and are prepping for next week’s kick-off of their tour with a fan video project wherein you can help them decorate their stage setup by submitting videos of the town in which they’re playing. And perhaps as a bit of inspiration, they’ve released a video from the new record and if that’s still not getting your juices flowing, dose has those video clips of Jeff Tweedy covering Black Eyed Peas last weekend that have been circulating. In any case, I’ll be interested to see what Toronto sends in for their September 16 and 17 shows at Massey Hall. And if you missed the stream, it’ll be back up on September 19.

Video: Wilco – “Born Alone”

Stephen Malkmus has put out a new video from Mirror Traffic and there’s an interview at The West Australian. He and The Jicks are at The Phoenix on September 21.

Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”

Wye Oak have a new video from their latest album Civilian. They’re at the Sound Academy on October 7 opening up for Explosions In The Sky, with whom Beatroute has an interview.

Video: Wye Oak – “Holy Holy”

Writers On Process gets into the creative space of Crooked Fingers mastermind Eric Bachmann. Their new record Breaks In The Armor is out October 11 and they play The Drake Underground on November 8.

The AV Club talks Archers Of Loaf reunion with bassist Matt Gentling.

The Baltimore Sun talks to National bassist Scott Devendorff.

Clash, Glide and Beatroute talk to Peter Silberman of The Antlers while The Georgia Straight chats with Darcy Cicci.

Salon and American Songwriter get some phone time with Zach Condon of Beirut.

NPR has a World Cafe session and CityPages an interview with Bon Iver.

Blurt documents two decades of the ups and downs of Superchunk.

The Big Takeover has posted the first part of an interview with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev about their masterpiece Deserter’s Songs.