Windish AgencyWho: Crystal Castles
What: Toronto electro duo who’ve gone from polarizing and polemic punks to legitimately musically interesting artists – perhaps despite themselves – over a couple records and may be poised to take that next leap forwards with their third album, the helpfully-titled (III).
Why: Despite their best attempts to synch up the release of (III) with their hometown finale of their current North American tour, they just can’t seem to get their ducks in a row. The show has already been moved up a day – it was originally scheduled for November 4 – and now the release of the record has been pushed back a week, now coming out November 13. Oh well.
When: Saturday, November 3, 2012
Where: The Kool Haus in Toronto (19+)
Who else: HEALTH, Kontravoid, and Tarantula X will help make things a party.
How: Tickets for the show are $41 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 Crystal Castles”> in the subject line and your full name in the body and have that in to me before midnight, October 30.
What else: The Village Voice attempts to conduct an email interview with the band. Note the use of the word, “attempts”.

MP3: Crystal Castles – “Wrath Of God”
MP3: Crystal Castles – “Plague”
Video: Crystal Castles – “Plague”

Zuzana HudackovaWho: The Wilderness Of Manitoba
What: Harmony-laden Toronto five-piece who’ve not become any more Manitoban since their first album, When You Left The Fire, but are arguably more wild on Island Of Echoes, letting some ’70s rock moves mingle with their ’60s folk sound.
Why: Having already brought the new record to Europe and currently introducing it around Ontario, they’re playing a hometown record release show that will be captured for posterity by the CBC before heading out west.
When: Friday, October 26, 2012
Where: Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Kite Hill and Thomas will open things up.
How: Tickets for the show are $18 in advance but courtesy of Killbeat, I’ve got five pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see The Wilderness Of Manitoba” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, October 24.
What else: The Queen’s Journal talks to frontman Will Whitwham about the band changes between records one and two.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”
Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”

Bryan SheffieldIf you thought you heard the sound of dense, nimble percussion, shimmering guitars, and intricate harmonies coming from the vicinity of New York on Wednesday night, you weren’t hearing things. That was the sound of Los Angeles’ Local Natives making their live return at The Bowery Ballroom as part of CMJ, a performance announced only a couple days prior. The show was their first this calendar year, and they used the opportunity to preview material from the follow-up to their 2009 breakout debut Gorilla Manor, video footage of which has been collected by Consequence Of Sound.

Of more interest to their fans who weren’t amongst the 500 or so in attendance, though, was the announcement yesterday of the release of their second album, which they discussed with Pitchfork early last month. Entitled Hummingbird, it will be out on January 29 of the new year and acknowledging that that’s still a little ways off, they also offered up a stream of one of the new songs from the record as well as a first batch of North American tour dates. There’s no Toronto date on the itinerary yet, but I use the word “yet” because as you can see, there’s three days off between Columbus and Boston at the end of March and what’s between point C and point B? Not a whole lot, unless you hang a left at Buffalo and cross the border. So, without actually knowing anything and assuming they’d rather play a show than go factory outlet shopping, I’d suggest keeping an eye on their calendar.

Stream: Local Natives – “Breakers”

Rolling Stone, MTV Hive, Spin, and Pitchfork all want to get down to Local Business with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus. They play Lee’s Palace on November 27.

The Ithaca Times talk to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, whose live performance has been captured in concert and session, respectively, by NYC Taper and Daytrotter. They play The Phoenix tomorrow night.

Also animal-themed and in town tomorrow is Cat Power; she’s at The Kool Haus and Chan Marshall gives an interview to Ocean Drive.

Everyone who thought that 2011 being the year of Bon Iver meant that we wouldn’t have to hear much from him in 2012… sorry. Austin City Limits is streaming the entirety of his episode of the show and they’ve squeezed another video out of last year’s self-title.

Video: Bon Iver – “Beth/Rest”

The Line Of Best Fit and Spin talk to Paul Banks about his new solo record Banks, out next Tuesday, and the tenth anniversary reissue of Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, out November 19.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Cincinnati CityBeat, and Detroit News check in with Greg Dulli and John Curley as the Afghan Whigs reunion continues.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Jason Lytle, in town opening for Band Of Horses at Massey Hall on December 5.

Clash gets a look inside the Beachwood Sparks library.

School Of Seven Bells have announced the release of a new EP entitled Put Your Sad Down, due out November 13.

Frank YangOne thing I’ve never understood about the festive season: all the pop cultural gestures we use to celebrate the Winter – the songs, the movies, what have you – are invariably pegged to Christmas or thereabouts, and that’s basically all over a week after the season formally begins. Which means we spend the next three months mired in dark, snowy, slushy despair with no sort of mental respite whatsoever.

Fucked Up apparently understand, and are trying to do something about it with what they’ve dubbed Long Winter. Not, as the name might imply, a John Roderick collaboration – though come on how awesome would that be – but a concert series that vaguely follows in the footsteps of last year’s holiday season charity two–night stand at The Great Hall.

It’s being described as, “a monthly night of immersive and interactive music, installations, visual art, readings, food, and dance to help Toronto get through our long and cold Winter” and the first edition goes November 9 at The Great Hall – circle December 14, January 11, and February 8 for subsequent editions – and will feature live performances from Fucked Up – natch – as well as Diana, the disco-pop intersection of Army Girls’ Carmen Elle and Destroyer’s Joseph Shabason, and pre-teen rockers Unfinished Business. Admission is pay what you can.

BlogTO talked to Fucked Up’s Mike Haliechuk about what they hope to do with the series. He also talked about it with Exclaim back in September when the broad strokes of the series was first announced.

MP3: Fucked Up – “I Hate Summer”
MP3: DIANA – “Born Again”

The release of Diamond Rings’ second album Free Dimensional is almost upon us, and Hype Machine has the record streaming in its entirety before it’s out next Tuesday. The hometown release show for the record goes November 29 at The Mod Club and there’s interviews at The Columbia Tribune, Idolator, Exclaim, and Death & Taxes.

MP3: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”
Stream: Diamond Rings / Free Dimensional

Toronto’s blues-punk outfit July Talk are have just released their self-titled debut and are streaming the whole thing over at Exclaim. They’re at The Horseshoe tomorrow night, October 19.

Stream: July Talk / July Talk

Vancouver’s Pink Mountaintops are heading out on a Fall tour that hits The Garrison on December 11, tickets $15.

MP3: Pink Mountaintops – “Rock’N’Roll Fantasy”
MP3: Pink Mountaintops – “New Drug Queens”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Patrick Watson.

Clash has a feature piece on Cold Specks, who has been added as support for Adam Cohen at Trinity-St. Paul’s on October 25.

The Halifax Chronicle Herald talks to Purity Ring, whose song featuring Danny Brown which was made available to stream a little while ago is now available to download, if carrying it around is your speed. Also, their February 1 show at The Phoenix has just been mad an all-ages affair – celebrate/despair as you see fit.

MP3: Purity Ring w Danny Brown – “Belispeak II”

Neil Young has popped another video out of Psychedelic Pill, which is October 30. He rides Crazy Horse into The Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Video: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Twisted Road”

Nina MouritzenAs a confirmed musical Scandiphile – I don’t know if that’s a real world but I like it regardless – I like to think each nordic country has a particular strength and style to them: Swedes excel at mating melody to melancholy, the best Icelandic music is evocative of the mystery and otherworldliness of the environment from which it springs, and Norway has given us black metal and a-ha. But Denmark… for a long while, they gave us Aqua. And also Mew and The Raveonettes, sure, but only recently have I began to detect a particular musical thread running through their emerging artists.

Artists like Efterklang and Indians trade in a sort of dense, meticulously crafted, and occasionally proggish pop that prefers measured movements to grand gestures and can prefer to render emotions in infinte greyscale rather than technicolor. And while three acts don’t really constitute a national aesthetic, the aforementioned also applies to Copenhagen’s Choir Of Young Believers, the miniature orchestra led by singer-guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. Their second full-length Rhine Gold is a sumptuous collection of songs that are stoic and weighty, but still move with grace whether Makrigiannis is working with an elegant croon or lonesome yodel and benefit from arrangements that flirt equally with baroque orchestrations and electronic processing. Certainly, there are points where you wish that the band would crack a smile or let some light in, but it’s hard to argue when the stoicism sounds this good and anyways – it wouldn’t be very Danish, would it?

Choir Of Young Believers are at The Drake Underground on Monday, October 22 in support of Daughter, and courtesy of Big Hassle, I have a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to join the Choir Of Young Believers” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that to me by midnight, October 20.

MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Sedated”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Patricia’s Thirst”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Nye Nummber Et”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Paint New Horrors”

Speaking of Indians, 4AD have offered details on their forthcoming debut: Somewhere Else is out January 29, and a preview MP3 has been provided for your listening pleasure. They’re at The Horseshoe on November 23, and for anyone in New York right now, they’re also at Brooklyn Bowl tonight for my co-presented Hype Machine showcase.

MP3: Indians – “Cakelakers”

PopMatters and Washington City Paper interview Jens Lekman.

PopMatters asks twenty questions of Victoria Bergsman of Taken By Trees.

Death & Taxes interview Icona Pop, whose new EP Iconic is available to stream. They open up for Marina & The Diamonds at The Phoenix on December 2.

Stream: Icona Pop / Iconic

Interview and The Toronto Star talk to Ellie Goulding.

The xx have released a new video from Coexist. They’re at Massey Hall on October 23.

Video: The xx – “Chained”

The Quietus has premiered a video from Sylver Tongue’s new Something Big EP and you know, watching her take that guitar solo, I don’t think anyone would have complained if she had simply released it as Charlotte Hatherley…

Video: Sylver Tongue – “Something Big”

Daytrotter welcomes Still Corners to their studios for a session.

Drowned In Sound has an interview with former Supergrass leader Gaz Coombes.

MusicOmh talks to Beth Orton.

Maxïmo Park visits Daytrotter for a session.

Chart solicits a list of favourite albums from Matt Taylor of Dry The River, who will be releasing an acoustic version of their debut Shallow Bed digitally on December 17; details on that at Live4Ever.

The Fly profiles Tame Impala.