Frank YangSome have been lumping Portishead’s return to recording and touring, starting with the release of 2007’s Third, in with the spate of ’90s band reunions and reconciliations which the more cynical would assume be intended to cash in on the nostalgia of today’s 30-somethings. This is basically wrong. Yes, the band were last properly active in the late ’90s, their second self-titled album coming out in Fall 1997, but what separates Portishead from the pack are that Third was written and recorded if not released before their return to the stage and rather than rest on past laurels as the progenitors of what would become datedly known as “trip-hop”, they opted to evolve far beyond what they were known for and leave the genre behind. There was no trip-hop on Third, only dark and fascinating Portishead. The band didn’t go away, they were just taking their time, and in the interim no one was able to replicate what they did.

And while it took them a good while to get around to touring North America for the new record – three and a half years or so – they finally got around to it this Fall and brought their show to Toronto’s Sound Academy for two nights over Thanksgiving weekend, of which I was at the first evening. Portishead may not immediately seem like they’d be an incredible live band, what with being very much studio creations and not “rocking” in the conventional sense, but the PNYC live set proved they were fully capable of recreating the same sense of desolate and desperate wonder of their records on stage. There was no reason not to expect greatness. And while there was no orchestra accompanying them this time, playing in front of a riveting lightshow made up of recorded projections and live camerawork, the six-piece band was more than equipped to create every tone and texture needed to do their material justice. Be it seamlessly combining live and electronic drums, inserting a brilliant turntable break or just jazzing the tempos the right amount to keep the dirgier songs moving, they were delicate when needed but heavy as hell on demand.

And at the centre of them all, of it all, either draped over the mic or with back to the audience, was Beth Gibbons – the enigmatic voice and face of the band. Her sorrowful, emotive vocals were reflected in the pained expressions on her face as she sang, and with her refusal to do interviews you couldn’t help but wonder if she was in character up there or if she was actually laying herself bare; in either case, whatever emotions Portishead were channelling were coming directly through her. At points her vocals seemed undermixed, not an unusual occurrence at the Sound Academy, but you couldn’t help thinking it was also deliberate to a degree, to allow for even more dramatic effect when she rose above the din. And despite the limits of her stage moves – she didn’t stay at the mic, face the crowd any longer than was necessary or say a word – she was a mesmerizing figure to watch, to try and figure out. It was only at the very end of the final song, “We Carry On”, that the mask broke and Gibbons leapt into the photo pit, all grins, and shook hands with as many fans in the front row as she could. It was a stunning and surprising dropping of what was now clearly a performance, and what a performance.

Some fans might have found room to complain that the set list leaned too heavily on Third, overlooking the fact that it’s a brilliant record for the fact that it’s not their favourite, and yeah – a couple more songs off Portishead would have been welcome – but the there’s no ground to be had in arguing that the show was anything less than brilliant for it. Perfectly paced, presented and performed. Perfectly Portishead.

The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Sun, The New Zealand Herald, and Beatroute have interviews with the band. Examiner.com and NOW were on hand for Sunday night, Exclaim on Monday and it’s unclear when Torontoist was there.

Photos: Portishead @ The Sound Academy – October 9, 2011
Video: Portishead – “Chase The Tear”
Video: Portishead – “Magic Doors”
Video: Portishead – “The Rip”
Video: Portishead – “Machine Gun”
Video: Portishead – “Glory Box”
Video: Portishead – “All Mine”
Video: Portishead – “Humming”

Spinner talks to Friendly Fires frontman Ed Macfarlane. They play The Phoenix on October 23.

Clash talks to Still Corners about their new record Creatures Of An Hour. They’re at The Drake Underground on October 25.

Clash reports that Patrick Wolf will report a new 6-song EP entitled Brumalia on November 28.

With the October 31 release of National Treasures impending, NME talks to James Dean Bradfield.

New Horrors video!

Video: The Horrors – “I Can See Through You”

The Fly has an acoustic courtyard session with Veronica Falls.

Interview talks to Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt.

Clash talks books with Slow Club.

Amor de Dias have released a new video from their debut Street Of The Love Of Days

Video: Amor de Dias – “Season Of Light”

Stereogum has premiered a new Fanfarlo video from their forthcoming second album, out sometime under some name.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Deconstruction”

Urban Outfitters have an interview with Anthony Gonzalez of M83 and are also streaming their new album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming ahead of its release on October 18. Black Book also has an interview. They play Lee’s Palace on November 18.

Stream: M83 / Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Sweden’s Niki & The Dove have released a video for the title track of their debut EP The Drummer, due out on Tuesday.

Video: Niki & The Dove – “The Drummer”

The Line Of Best Fit has posted a video session with Loney Dear. He plays the Drake Underground on November 4.

NPR interviews Bjork.

Frank YangJust as a point of reference, when someone IMs you late on a Friday afternoon and asks, “do you want to go see Feist at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio tomorrow night?”, the only appropriate answer is yes. And so it was that after assuming that it’d be too much trouble to finagle one of the hottest tickets in a long weekend with no shortage of hot tickets, one was handed to me. No I’m not bragging. Okay I’m bragging a little. But the point being that I didn’t expect to be at this show, with all its advertised guest stars, and assumed that my run of not seeing Feist live would hit six-and-a-half years before her show at Massey Hall later this year, the last time I saw her properly being Canada Day 2005 and the last technical time being when I paused by her set at Lollapalooza 2006 for a few minutes before moving on to who knows what else, thinking “oh I see her all the time”. Or not.

But one consequence of the short notice was that I still hadn’t had a chance to listen to her new record Metals – what, I’ve been busy – and so as much as it was going to be a nice chance to get reacquainted with Feist, I was expecting it to be a bit unfamiliar. It’s safe to say that the unfamiliarity would be felt from the stage as well as from the audience, though. Feist retired from performing for an extended spell following The Reminder, and while there had been a few warm-up shows prior to this one, that it would be a hometown show and recorded for nationwide radio broadcast next month surely added an extra dimension of nervousness for the singer-songwriter.

Not that she was facing it alone. Her backing band was legion, including a keyboardist, drummer, Charles Spearin of Broken Social Scene on multi-instrumentalist duties, a three-piece string section and American folk trio Mountain Man as chorus and percussion section. And that’s not even mentioning the steady stream of guest players who came out to perform with her throughout the night, whether on her material, theirs or someone else’s. Certainly all the parts were in place for an intimate and memorable evening, including invitations from Feist for the audience to leave their seats to gather up front, of which only a few took up. Too Canadian, too polite, I would guess.

And that it was – even being unfamiliar with the new material, Feist’s voice and songwriting style haven’t changed and if anything, have grown more sophisticated. Much of the show was driven by complex and unorthodox percussion with one of Spearin’s tasks was to treat a couple of violins clamped to a table as percussion instruments and Mountain Man doubled as a kalimba orchestra and a few nods to Feist’s rock instincts, often played down on record in favour of more subtle timbres. If you wanted to make a metallurgical analogy, it’s like Feist is soft in the studio but annealed and tempered for the stage. And that, folks, is the most that I’ve used my mechanical engineering degree in the past decade.

Even if the set had been made up of all old material, I don’t take for granted that I’d have recognized them all. Reinvention is nothing new to Feist and songs like “Mushaboom” were recast almost completely, given eastern overtones and going from light and fun to exotic and weighty – a risky move with fan favourites but the end result was thrilling to hear as it allowed the listener to rediscover the song anew. As for the special guests, each of ex-Constantine Bry Webb, Doug Paisley, head Hidden Camera Joel Gibb, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy all came out to share the spotlight with Feist: Tweedy leading off the encore with “You & I” from his band’s Wilco (The Album) and Webb playing Kenny Rogers in a duet of “Islands In The Stream” with Feist as Dolly.

It wasn’t perfection, as playing in front of friends and family probably adds as much stress as comfort when finding one’s feet and Feist took mulligans on not one but three songs, but if any crowd was going to be forgiving it was this one. And while most would have called the performance a triumph in any case, just happy to have Feist back on a Toronto stage and be reminded of her talent, in this case it was praise fully earned. I can’t wait to see how good and together she is when she returns, road-tested, to Massey Hall on December 1.

Yahoo has a streaming video session with Feist, The Stool Pigeon an interview and CBC, The Globe & Mail, and Spinner have writeups of the show. It will be broadcast on CBC Radio 2 on November 2.

Photos: Feist @ The Glenn Gould Studio – October 8, 2011
Video: Feist – “I Feel It All”
Video: Feist – “Honey Honey”
Video: Feist – “My Moon My Man”
Video: Feist – “Mushaboom”
Video: Feist – “1, 2, 3, 4”
Video: Feist – “One Evening”

Exclaim is streaming both sides of a new Suuns 12″ entitled “Bambi”, due out on November 15.

Timber Timbre have released a new video from Creep On, Creepin’ On. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26.

Video: Timber Timbre – “Do I Have Power”

Rolling Stone is streaming a new song from Kathleen Edwards, whose next album will be entitled Voyageur and be out January 17. I tend to be kind of “whatever” about Ms Edwards of late, but this tune is great. If it’s a sign of what to expect from the new record, I shall most definitely be paying attention again. Exclaim has more details on the new record.

Stream: Kathleen Edwards – “Change The Sheets”

Already slated as opener for Matthew Barber at the Music Gallery on November 18, Louise Burns will be sticking around town to provide support for the second of Cuff The Duke’s two shows at The Horseshoe on November 26.

MP3: Louise Burns – “Drop Names Not Bombs”

Spinner talks to Ohbijou about their just-debuted new video.

Video: Ohbijou – “Niagara”

NPR investigates the secrets of Sloan’s longevity.

Allmusic gets Kathryn Calder to list off some favourite books. Her new album Bright And Vivid is out October 25.

Interview talks to Stars.

Billboard talks covers projects and originals with Tokyo Police Club.

Frank YangI’m sure they didn’t intend to be away for so long – it wasn’t their fault that the 2009 edition of the Toronto Islands show for which they were the undercard was cancelled – but as of Friday night’s long-awaited show at the Sound Academy., it had been over four years since Explosions In The Sky last played Toronto and you could round up closer to five if you’re talking headlining shows. A long time for any active, touring band but an eternity for an act whose fanbase grew markedly in the years between 2007’s All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone and this year’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care through key soundtrack placements and old fashioned word of mouth about how astonishing their cinematic, instrumental post-rock was.

Baltimore duo Wye Oak have been no such strangers hereabouts, their supporting slot marking their third show in Town this calendar year with one still to come. This was less a case of market oversaturation than simply keeping up with demand, though; specifically the demand of larger acts who wanted them to open up for them. And when the likes of The Decemberists, Explosions and The National ask you to come along on tour with them, you say yes. Since playing this same stage in February opening up for The Decemberists, Wye Oak had released their second album Civilian and toured it heavily, so even just eight months later there were noticeable differences in the band’s live show. The moodier Civilian must call for a leaner approach to things, as Jenn Wasner took fewer guitar excursions and Andy Stack seemed to be called on less to handle keyboard duties simultaneously with drums. It was as though the two were feeling more confident in their ability render the songs with just the guitars, drums and vocals, and when the keys were brought in, such as for some gut-punch bass, their contributions were extra-effective. In any case, it was mope-rock on a grand scale.

One of the most magical things about Explosions In The Sky, either live or on record, is how from the moment they begin to play you’re instantly transported to a world writ on 70mm film but left wide open. There is a universality to their music that allows it to be the soundtrack to the movie of each listener’s life, for them to write their own script and direct their own scenes, using the emotions and dynamics created by the band as cues. So I suspect that the people sitting, eyes closed, out of line of sight of the band were getting just as much out of the performance as the people jammed up front watching them actually play – or at least I’d like to think so; it’s possible they were just asleep.

It’s this intangible that allows them to transcend their formula and continue to connect and be remarkable. Their sound hasn’t really changed much since 2000’s How Strange, Innocence – they’re more adept at the push and pull of evoking emotional responses but any stylistic shifts over their career have been relative to the EITS aesthetic – they’ve never redefined, only refined. So even though Friday’s show pulled from their entire decade-plus repertoire, with a little extra emphasis on Take Care, it felt like a single, unified feature-length piece with gentle lulls and soaring crescendos in all the right places. One major difference from their last time through was for touring, they’d expanded to a five-piece with a full-time bassist which allowed for an even bigger sound with either a three guitar-attack or double-guitar, double-bass, all the sounding even more massive without losing any of the intricacies of their arrangements. As the final notes of “The Moon Is Down” rang out and the band bid farewell, hopefully without as long a wait between visits, I wanted to tell those gathered at the front pleading for an encore that the band doesn’t do encores, and if they wanted more they’d have to wait for the sequel.

The Toronto Star alos has a review of the show while aux.tv and The Detroit News have interviews with Explosions.

Photos: Explosions In The Sky, Wye Oak @ The Sound Academy – October 7, 2011
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Trembling Hands”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Welcome, Ghosts”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Memorial”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “A Poor Man’s Memory”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Greet Death”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Look Into The Air”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Holy, Holy”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Civilian”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Take It In”
MP3: Wye Oak – “Warning”
Video: Explosions In The Sky – “Last Known Surroundings”
Video: Explosions In The Sky – “Be Comfortable, Creature”
Video: Wye Oak – “Holy, Holy”
Video: Wye Oak – “Fish”

Chicago post-rock instrumentalist Russian Circles will be at Lee’s Palace on November 12 in support of their new record Empros, due out October 25.

MP3: Russian Circles – “Mladek”

Nicole Atkins is giving away a free live EP entitled …Til Dawn over at her Bandcamp in exchange for an email address.

The Georgia Straight talks to Kristen Gundred – aka Dee Dee – of Dum Dum Girls. They’re at Lee’s Palace next Sunday night, October 16.

NPR is streaming the new My Brightest Diamond record All Things Will Unwind in advance of its release next week. There’s also a new video at Stereogum and some live video performances posted at Le Blogotheque.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Reaching Through To The Other Side”
Video: My Brightest Diamond – “Be Brave”
Stream: My Brightest Diamond / All Things Will Unwind

Beatroute talks to Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

DIY interviews Wild Flag, in town to melt your faces at Lee’s Palace tonight.

NPR is streaming Days, the new album from Real Estate, out next week.

MP3: Real Estate – “It’s Real”
Stream: Real Estate / Days

Clash, The National Post, DIY, Drowned In Sound and The Los Angeles Times all have interviews with Ryan Adams about his new record Ashes & Fire and Exclaim has a list of RyRy trivia, but only LA Weekly manages to piss him off. Bravo. He plays The Winter Garden Theatre on December 10 and has released a live studio video and proper “if MTV still played videos” video from the new album.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”
Video: Ryan Adams – “Invisible Riverside”

The Vancouver Sun and The Republic interview Stephen Malkmus.

Blurt interviews Matthew Sweet.

DIY talks to Girls.

The New York Daily News chats with Mates Of State.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with EMA.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of The Antlers’ show in New York last week.

Frank YangIn discussing Ladytron’s latest effort Gravity The Seducer, I mentioned how the Liverpool band had managed to pull off the difficult move of shifting creative course sufficiently to earn a fresh listen from those who figured they knew what to expect without abandoning their signature sound and alienating those who were perfectly happy to get what they were expecting from a new Ladytron record. Whether they’d manage to do the same with regards to their live show would be seen this past Wednesday night, when they came back to Toronto for the first time since either the release of Gravity or their decade-marking Best Of.

This isn’t to suggest their live reputation required any reputation. Granted, the idea that live, they just stand stock still and play keyboards has followed them around since their inception – I’m as guilty of perpetuating the perception as anyone despite knowing better from having seen them on their last two visits in 2008 and 2009 – but the truth is they actually put on very good live shows, offering impressive lightshows and great sound in lieu of on-stage antics. And of course they stand there. They play keyboards. Do you really want to see them strap on keytars? No you do not.

Warming up for them on this leg of the tour was New York dance veterans VHS OR Beta, who themselves have been at it long enough that once upon a time their name had some retro cleverness rather than just being meaningless to today’s youth (maybe they should consider switching to BluRay or HDDVD. Or not). In any case, their bass-heavy, straightforward synth-rock didn’t make a lot of arguments that you’d want to be remembering their name for long after the show. It wasn’t that they were bad by any means, just unremarkable. But perhaps it’s unfair to criticize them for being lyrically vague or bland when their mandate isn’t to offer deep insights into the human condition but simply to get people moving. And that they did.

Another point in my review of Gravity The Seducer was how it seemed that Helen Marnie was assuming more the de facto frontwoman role, with fewer lead contributions than Mira Aroyo; I don’t necessarily have quantitative proof that that was the case but it also certainly seemed that the live dynamic had shifted that way, if not moreso. While her bandmates were dressed in trademark black (and Reuben Wu in a Ladytron t-shirt though I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it was laundry day), Marnie stood out in a shiny white top and giant bow in her hair – it would be hard not to be the centre of attention looking like that, never mind her dancing and swaying throughout the show. And while Aroyo’s lead contributions were fewer – she only took lead on two songs, the first almost halfway into the set – they seemed extra effective in accenting the darker side of their sound, compared to Marnie’s more wide-eyed vocal stylings.

Though the pyramid-referencing stage dressing implied this was the Gravity The Seducer tour, the setlist felt more appropriate to the singles collection with the new material not receiving any greater focus than the old with Witching Hour being drawn from the most. And while I quite like Gravity, I readily admit that its gentler textures wouldn’t have made for nearly as impactful a live set as their back catalog. Thankfully free of the sound issues that marred their last show, Ladytron sounded heavier and more determined than I’ve seen them. I don’t know that you could say their fanbase has necessarily grown over their long run – they’ve been playing The Phoenix as long as I can recall – they’ve remained steady and devoted and based on the sample group in my immediate vicinity, are still energized enough by the band to be able to jump up and down for over an hour straight. Any band at it for over a decade should be so lucky.

The Toronto Star and BlogTO also have reviews of the show while Spinner and The Boston Herald have interviews with the band.

Photos: Ladytron, VHS Or Beta @ The Phoenix – October 5, 2011
MP3: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
MP3: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
MP3: Ladytron – “Black Cat”
MP3: Ladytron – “Open Your Heart”
MP3: Ladytron – “Play Girl”
MP3: Ladytron – “Seventeen”
MP3: VHS Or Beta – “I Found A Reason”
MP3: VHS Or Beta – “I Found A Reason”
Video: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
Video: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
Video: Ladytron – “Runaway”
Video: Ladytron – “Ghosts”
Video: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch”
Video: Ladytron – “Sugar”
Video: Ladytron – “Evil”
Video: Ladytron – “Blue Jeans”
Video: Ladytron – “Seventeen”
Video: Ladytron – “Play Girl”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Breaking Bones”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “You Got Me”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Night On Fire”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Can’t Believe A Single Word”

JAM talks to Portishead in advance of their two-night stand at The Sound Academy this coming Sunday and Monday while Stereogum finds out how advance work on album number four is coming. They also just announced they’ll be releasing 2009’s “Chase The Tear” as a 12″ single with proceeds going to Amnesty International on November 14.

Paste s streaming Still Corners’ debut Creatures Of An Hour ahead of its release next Tuesday. They play The Drake Underground on October 25 and The Stool Pigeon has an interview.

MP3: Still Corners – “Into The Trees”
MP3: Still Corners – “Cuckoo”
Stream: Still Corners / Creatures Of An Hour

Billboard talks fashion with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. Ceremonials is out November 1.

The 405 are streaming The Joy Formidable’s new EP The Big More, out October 17 in limited quantities.

Stream: The Joy Formidable / The Big More

The Vaccines have released a new video from What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, powered by the Instagram iPhone app.

Video: The Vaccines – “Wetsuit”

NPR is streaming Laura Marling’s recent show in Washington, DC.

The Line Of Best Fit has an acoustic video session – well, one song – Veronica Falls.

Also in session at The Line Of Best Fit – Lanterns On The Lake, captured out in the wilderness at End Of The Road in September.

Noel Gallagher takes Spin for a guided tour of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, out November 8, and talks to The Quietus about going solo. He has two nights slated at Massey Hall, November 7 and 8. And oh new video.

Video: Noel Gallagher – “AKA… What A Life”

Both Rolling Stone and Paste have premiered tracks from The Hours, who will be opening up those shows for Noel Gallagher.

MP3: The Hours – “I Want More”
Stream: The Hours – “I Just Wanna Be Happy”

The Twilight Sad are offering the first official single from album number three, No One Can Ever Know, well before it’s released in February.

Stream: The Twilight Sad – “Sick”

PopMatters talks to Joshua Third and Philly Burbs to Tom Cowan of The Horrors while NPR is streaming their set from last week’s All Tomorrow’s Parties.

Brett Anderson lists off his favourite albums for The Quietus and tells BBC that while they’re working on a new Suede record, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s going to be a new Suede record.

Peter Hook bitches to Spinner about New Order getting back together without him.

Pitchfork interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is out October 18 and they’ve already sold out Lee’s Palace for their November 18 visit.

Though originally targeted for a domestic release in 2012, The Jezabels have announced a November 8 Canadian release for their debut Prisoner, which only makes sense – they’re opening up for Hey Rosetta! across the country this Fall including November 23 and 24 at The Phoenix. Really ought to have something to sell.

MP3: The Jezabels – “Endless Summer”

NOW has put Bjork on this week’s cover on the occasion of Biophilia‘s release next week, but Drowned in Sound has topped them with a week-long, five-part feature on the Icelandic icon. And NPR wins because they’re streaming the whole album.

MP3: Bjork – “Cosmogony”
Stream: Bjork / Biophilia

Frank YangIf you have a look over the last couple weeks of posts, you may notice that I’ve been to a number of shows lately; certainly the busiest stretch in some months. So when I say that to get me out of the house for a late Sunday night show on the other side of town would require something pretty dang special, I mean it. Fortunately or unfortunately, I’m not sure which, The Shop at Parts & Labour was hosting just that.

I’d have probably gone if it was just Veronica Falls on the bill. Their debut album, also called Veronica Falls, has been in very heavy rotation hereabouts since its release a couple of weeks ago. Now I knew from seeing them at SXSW that I would like the record – by blending the lyrical and musical darkness of The Velvet Underground with the irresistible melodicism of ’60s girl-group pop and C86 charm, how could I not? – but the sheer addictiveness of the record still took me by surprise. The songwriting is top-notch, the performances scrappy in all the right places but still boast note-perfect harmonies from Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare and runs the exact right length to want to hit repeat on as soon as it ends. If you’re in a certain mood, it’s just about a perfect record. So yeah, when I heard they had added their own show to an off-day whilst on tour in support of The Drums, I pretty much had to be there, school nights be damned.

So yes, the headliners were the draw but the local support was more than gravy. Okay, I didn’t know who Persian Rugs were at first, but when they got up to play and were revealed to be three-fifths of The Airfields – whom I can only assume are either defunct or deeply in mothballs right now – then I figured I knew what I should expect. And yes, the songs led by guitarist Ian Jackson didn’t fall far from the jangly indie-pop sound that made The Airfields a treat, even though he wasn’t the principal songwriter, but it was keyboardist Kaye Hamilton’s songs that really made you take notice. More classically-styled pop and certainly less specific in influence, her songs had sophistication and verve and while the band is clearly still finding its voice, it could well be one worth hearing in the near future.

That’s approximately what I’ve been saying about Carmen Elle over the last few years based on shows in 2006 and last year, and if that sounds like a long time for an artist to develop, note that at that first show she was just 17 and already clearly prodigiously talented. Now, at 22 and fronting the two-piece Army Girls, she’s arrived. On both their debut EP Close To The Bone and live, Army Girls impressed with a lean and incisive guitar-and-drum attack that showcased Elle’s balance of attitude and tunefulness. What I’m most reminded of is the earliest incarnations of Land Of Talk and their urgent, aching rawness and folks, that’s a great thing. Already so assured in what they’re doing, I’m sure the day will come wherein their recipe calls for more – more production, more players, more whatever – and what ensues will probably be wonderful. But for now, just getting started, let us enjoy the moment of being on the cusp of great things and hope they don’t grow up too too fast.

Not that emerging fully-formed on your debut is a bad thing; see my earlier notes on Veronica Falls’ debut album. That degree of polish extended to their live show and even though the basement of Parts & Labour is decidedly less fancy than the stages they’d been playing with The Drums, they still sounded great, taking the opportunity to stretch out beyond their standard opening set and throwing in some new songs and a cover of Roky Erickson’s “Starry Eyes”. It took a few songs to get the mix right but they performed with the perfect balance of cool aloofness and earnest appreciation for the few dozen people who’d come out. It certainly wasn’t enough to fill the place, but was still enough to justify the show and many in attendance had copies of the LP in hand, so there was also that. One hopes that the response on this tour is strong enough to encourage a return, headlining tour because if it doesn’t, well the issue is clearly with us because it’s certainly not with them. They’re simply grand.

DIY has a video session with Veronica Falls and OTM a feature interview with Army Girls.

Photos: Veronica Falls, Army Girls @ The Shop at Parts & Labour – October 2, 2011
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
MP3: Persian Rugs – “Always All”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Bad Feeling”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Beachy Head”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Stream: Army Girls / Close To The Bone

Esben & The Witch will be releasing a new EP entitled Hexagons come November 7, which you can read about at Matablog and download a track from below.

MP3: Esben & The Witch – “Hexagons II (The Flight)”

Filter and Wales Online interview The Joy Formidable.

The first video from Florence & The Machine’s forthcoming Ceremonials is now out. The album will be released on November 1.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Shake It Out”

The Line Of Best Fit, The Phoenix, The Vancouver Sun, and The Georgia Straight interview members of Ladytron, in town at The Phoenix tomorrow night.

It’s release day for Feist’s new record Metals! Hence the full slate of features at The Toronto Star, National Post, Vancouver Sun, Winnipeg Free Press, Toronto Sun, and The Wall Street Journal. She’s at Massey Hall on December 1.

aux.tv has an interview with Tasseomancy, who play The Great Hall on October 20 and then The Phoenix on December 1 opening for Austra.

When is a new Fucked Up video not a new Fucked Up video? When it’s for a song from their fake Record Store Day compilation David’s Town. Fucked Up (as Fucked Up) play The Mod Club on October 11.

MP3: Fucked Up (as Animal Man) – “Do You Feed?”
Video: Fucked Up (as Animal Man) – “Do You Feed?”

It looks like the complete, first video from Coeur de Pirate’s forthcoming Blonde is out. The record itself comes out November 8 and she plays The Mod Club on November 11.

Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Adieu”

Forest City Lovers have released a new video from last year’s wonderful Carriage.

Video: Forest City Lovers – “Keep The Kids Inside”

Adam & The Amethysts’ new record Flickering Flashlight has a new download and video to mark its official release today. They play a record release show at The Piston tomorrow night.

MP3: Adam & The Amethysts – “Dreaming”
Video: Adam & The Amethysts – “Dreaming”

Their album release show for Metal Meets in the books as a success, Ohbijou have announced they’ll be playing an in-store at Soundscapes on Friday, October 7, starting at 7PM.

MP3: Ohbijou – “Niagara”

Emily Haines gives Spin an update on how progress is coming on the new Metric album.

Kevin Drew tells The Huffington Post that this time the Broken Social Scene breakup/extended hiatus rumours are quite possibly true this time. Really. He means it.

The Line Of Best Fit has posted their eighteenth “Oh! Canada” download compilation for you to download, share and enjoy. So go download, share and enjoy.

And finally, all the whining about the Bon Iver show at The Sound Academy in August – even though it was completely and utterly sold out – appears to have paid off because everyone’s favourite sensitive autotuned falsetto has scheduled a return engagement for December 6 in the infinitely more appropriate environs of Massey Hall. Tickets are $44.50 to $49.50 plus fees and the presale begins on Wednesday at 10AM; hit up collectiveconcerts.com at 10PM tonight for the link and password, and if you strike out on getting seats, the public onsale is Saturday morning.

MP3: Bon Iver – “Calgary”
MP3: Bon Iver – “Holocene”