TripleJGrizzly Bear specialize in complex, artful folk-rock built around virutostic musicianship and otherworldly harmonies. Hot Chip excel at cerebral yet danceable electro-pop that’s as catchy as it is clever. So naturally when the former covers the latter, the result would sound like… something you’d hear at a coffee house?

Recorded during a radio session in January 2010 for Australian radio station Triple J and seemingly with just Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen representing the Brooklyn band, it seems like kind of a straight strummy cover at first but when the organ comes in and Rossen lends his harmonies on the chorus, it turns downright haunting with still just a minimum of fuss. Okay, coffee houses should be so lucky to have their acts sound like this.

Grizzly Bear have released details of their follow up to 2009’s Veckatimest, targeting a September 18 release date for Shields with accompanying tour date at Massey Hall on September 26. Hot Chip are currently on tour in support of In Our Heads and are at The Sound Academy tonight.

MP3: Grizzly Bear – “Boy From School”
Video: Hot Chip – “Boy From School”

Cameron WittigWho: Andrew Bird
What: Chicagoan singer-songwriter-violinist-guitarist-whistling virtuoso who it has been scientifically and medically proven to have more talent in his little finger than most small villages and hamlets.
Why: His latest album Break It Yourself was released back in March and while fans were getting anxious that Toronto was left off of initial tour itineraries, it turns out he was just waiting for Summer to do it outside.
When: Thursday, July 19, 2012
Where: Echo Beach at Ontario Place, Toronto (all ages)
Who else: The inclusion of local singer-songwriter Basia Bulat as the undercard makes this an absurdly strong bill.
How: Tickets for the show are $37.50 in advance but courtesy of LiveNation, 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 Break It Myself” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in before midnight, July 16.
What else: Michigan Live has a feature piece on Andrew Bird.

MP3: Andrew Bird – “Give It Away”
MP3: Andrew Bird – “Eyeoneye”

Anton RothsteinWho: Iceage
What: Danish teen (or barely no longer) post-punk who proudly carry on their Viking tradition of visiting foreign lands and causing shit.
Why: Though not even a half-hour in length, the buzz around their debut New Brigade continues to sustain – this is their second North American tour in support of it.
When: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Where: The Horseshoe in Toronto (19+)
Who else: It looks to be a busy bill with some/all of Milk Music, Odonis Odonis, Urban Blight, and S.H.I.T. being listed as openers. Clearly you’d be getting your money’s worth if you weren’t here angling for free passes.
How: Tickets for the show are $12.50 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 Iceage” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that to me by midnight, July 16.

MP3: Iceage – “White Rune”
MP3: Iceage – “Broken Bone”
MP3: Iceage – “New Brigade”

Frank YangWho: Lower Dens
What: Baltimore-based psych-kraut-dream-rock outfit led by Jana Hunter
Why: Their murky and intriguing second album Nootropics was released in May and should translate interestingly to stage.
When: Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Where: Lee’s Palace in Toronto (19+)
Who else: No Joy and Alan Resnick are their tourmates for this jaunt.
How: Tickets for the show are $12 in advance but courtesy of Domino Records, I’ve got one pairs of passes to give away for the show as well as a copy of Nootropics on LP. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Lower Dens” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body; contest closes at midnight, July 15.
What else: Denver Westword, The Georgia Straight, OC Weekly, and Austinist have features on the band. There’s also a video session from the streets of Barcelona available to watch at They Shoot Music.

MP3: Lower Dens – “Brains”
MP3: Lower Dens – “Propagation”
MP3: Lower Dens – “Lamb”
MP3: Lower Dens – “Candy”

Sonic UnyonWere the magical little elves in charge of categorizing music – be it in record store bins or the meta tags on MP3s – would like to take Halifax trio Kestrels and file them under “shoegaze”, pointing to the heyday of Creation Records in describing their second album A Ghost History. And I’m not necessarily going to argue the point – it definitely owes more than a debt to the sounds of the early ’90s, what with its roaring guitars and liberally reverbed vocals, but those expecting some Maritime take on sonic cathedral construction or hazy dream-pop had best check their expectations.

Kestrels’ record collections may have their shares of of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive records – “There All the Time Without You” is pretty damn Shields-y in a great way – but those records clearly share shelf space with plenty of college rock from this side of the Atlantic. And from those records, they learned valuable lessons – Superchunk taught them how to channel their energy into pogo-ready punk-pop anthems, Dinosaur Jr taught them how to rip a guitar solo like a mofo, and Sloan… well it might be a bit cliche to cite the proto-Halifax rock band, but there’s more than a little Smeared – both in its fuzzy textures and indelible hooks – in Kestrels’ DNA.

For those of us who grew up with these influences will find Ghost History familiar yet invigorating and those who didn’t, who are perhaps of the same generation as Kestrels themselves, well maybe we should consider this a gateway drug.

The Chronicle Herald and The Telegram have feature pieces on Kestrels, whose North American tour hits Rancho Relaxo in Toronto on July 20.

Stream: Kestrels – “Dumb Angel”
Video: Kestrels – “The Past Rests”
Video: Kestrels – “There All The Time Without You”

Spinner talks to Grimes ahead of her show at Historic Fort York tonight as part of the Full Flex train tour thing.

Radio Free Canuckistan continues to get excited for the Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet reunion show at Lee’s Palace on Saturday night by interviewing drummer Don Pyle as well as band patron/friend Bruce McCulloch of Kids In The Hall fame. NOW and The AV Club also have feature pieces and Exclaim also has another video session of the 2012 incarnation of the band playing a tune for St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club in Toronto.

It was a sad day when Forest City Lovers called it a day back in April, but frontwoman Kat Burns did promise that she’d still have a new record out soon – and indeed she does. Now recording as Kashka and exploring the electro-pop side of things, she’ll release her debut album Vichada on July 17 – stream a track below – and has already begun playing some shows but nothing of the hometown persuasion just yet.

Stream: Kashka – “This Machine”

Spin, Dazed, and The Line Of Best Fit talk to Purity Ring about their debut album Shrines, which is due out July 24 and from which they’ve just released a new video.

Video: Purity Ring – “Fineshrine”

CBC Music sends author Grace O’Connell to ask some questions of Great Lake Swimmers main man Tony Dekker. They’re at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 18 opening for Blue Rodeo.

Like bikes? Like music? Maybe you’ll like the Toronto Bicycle Music Fest which happens at Trinity Bellwoods on September 15. The music side of things will feature performances from Snowblink, Gentleman Reg, and Rae Spoon and the bicycle side of things… well I guess you’re encouraged to bring your bike? Snowblink will be presumably be playing material from their new album Inner Classics which comes out September 11, Reg will showcase his Leisure Life material which is being released incrementally through the Summer and collected into album form in the Fall and Spoon’s I Can’t Keep All Of Our Secrets came out at the start of 2012.

MP3: Snowblink – “Black & White Mountains”
MP3: Gentleman Reg – “We’re In A Thunderstorm”
MP3: Rae Spoon – “Crash Landing”

The Wilderness Of Manitoba have announced a September 18 release date for their second album, Island Of Echoes. Hear – and see – a new song that doesn’t actually appear on the new record in this video session filmed by Southern Souls.

Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Forest City Love” (live)

METZ has released the first taste of their self-titled debut, due out October 9.

MP3: METZ – “Headache”

DIY and Rolling Stone interview Emily Haines and James Shaw of Metric, playing a show at The Air Canada Centre on November 14.

PopMatters, The Vancouver Sun, and The Georgia Straight profile Patrick Watson, doing his thing at Massey Hall on December 6.

Spin has the new video from PS I Love You, taken from Death Dreams and named for Hogtown!

Video: PS I Love You – “Toronto”

Artrocker has a short interview with and Pitchfork a short documentary film featuring Japandroids.