At SxSW 2005, one of the buzzier acts on the slate were Austin natives I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness who, if such a thing existed, would have taken the prize for best band name. They wouldn’t have gotten any blue ribbons for seizing the moment, however, as they promptly dropped off the musical radar shortly thereafter. Well mine, anyway. Well in the interim, it seems that though they were quiet, they weren’t unproductive. Now signed to Secretly Canadian, they’re going to be releasing their debut full-length Fear Is On Our Side on March 7. For whatever reason, I expected them to be awful when I saw them last March, but while I wasn’t blown away I was pleasantly surprised. Enough to remember them (the name helped) and to have my interest piqued when news of the album’s impending release came out.

Secretly Canadian has a track from the new album available to preview, and it’s interesting to compare that with a track from their debut 2003 eponymous EP. The newer track has a more interesting, atmospheric quality to it than one of the older ones (“When You Go Out”), which sounds very much of the jaggy indie-disco style that will hopefully be dead and buried soon. Interestingly, the older one was produced produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, who should really have known better. But the other EP track floating around online, “Your Worst Is The Best”, is a surprisingly pop number that shows the bands versitility (or potential for).

MP3: I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – “According To Plan”
MP3: I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – “When You Go Out”
MP3: I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – “Your Worst Is The Best”

ILYBICD will be at SxSW again this year, according to this expanded list of attending artists which Angryrobot has thankfully converted into a proper tabular form. God bless his angry, robotic heart. On a quick once-over, I’m a little disappointed that there’s no Radio Dept or Howling Bells on the list – bands I had no reason to expect would attend, but one always hopes – but the opportunity to see Gemma Hayes and Charlotte Hatherley (who will have a new solo album in the middle of this year!) for the first time as well as catch Dirty On Purpose and Shearwater again is awfully exciting. But while I’m keeping a preliminary “to see” list, things won’t really get into high gear until the official site posts all the band bios and sample tracks. Seeing the acts you already like is all well and good, but it’s the stuff you’ve no idea about that really makes fests like this worthwhile. That and the BBQ.

The Chronicle-Herald talks to Feist about her Nova Scotian roots.

Jenny Lewis talks about going solo with Rabbit Fur Coat to CMJ. I was lukewarm on the album at first, but am beginning to appreciate it’s rather subtle charms. I’ll have a full review soon. The album is out January 24.

Pitchfork really likes Belle & Sebastian’s live If You’re Feeling Sinister album. Shocker. Tickets for their February 25 show at the Docks are on sale now! I can’t imagine 3500 tickets will go THAT fast, but don’t dawdle too long. And if you’re still kvetching about the venue, get over it. It’ll be a great show. Just make sure you have transportation back into the city arranged beforehand – it’s a long, cold February walk back to civilization. Oh, and keep an eye out for the new issue of Under The Radar, in which the band graces the cover looking fairly bad-ass. It’s the anoraks. They make anyone look tough.

And a final plug for the Bluescreen show at the Horseshoe tonight. Four bands! $7! We’re on at 12:30. It would be lovely to see you. And hey – you can pick up your Belle & Sebastian tickets at the bar and save the service charges! You can’t turn that down.

np – New Order / Power, Corruption And Lies