Frank YangI will be the first to admit I don’t do nearly as good a job of keeping track of worthy up and coming local and/or Canadian bands as I’d like, generally taking an “if they’re worth hearing I’ll hear them eventually” approach and deferring to great local and national sites with a homegrown focus like I Heart Music, The Take, Singing Lamb and Herohill to do the legwork and put worthy new Canuck talent on my radar. Showcasing said talent is the mandate of the Unsigned series which periodically puts on shows at the Steam Whistle brewery and checking out said talent was what I was doing there on Friday night along with a pretty packed roundhouse.

Leading things off were Freedom Or Death, who were marking the release of their debut mini-album Ego earlier in the week. The duo in the studio/quartet on stage craft what would best be described as a sort of synth-rock-soul amalgam, though not nearly as left field-sounding as that might imply. Most of their material is built around frontman Sway C in R&B croon mode overtop keyboard patches lifted from the ’80s and given a ’90s-ish production sheen, but its relative safeness is offset by the fact that a lot of their songs are instantly memorable and expertly crafted. It’s the sort of thing that if alt.rock radio or MuchMusic still held the cultural hegemony they once did, could become huge but as things stand today, would have to settle – for now at least – for impressing a roomful of punters in a brewhouse. Like their music, their performance was a bit slick and calculated but certainly effective; those watching might well have walked away thinking they’d seen one of the city’s next big things and who knows, they might be right.

Goodness knows that’s a title that’s been hanging around The Darcys for years now, and clearly no guarantee of anything. The circumstances around their delayed ascent to greatness were pretty well-documented back in March by The Toronto Star – but with the self-titled sophomore effort that’s really more of a debut hopefully finally ready to see the light of day after being stalled for more than a year, the band may finally be ready to move forwards. For the as yet unacquainted, my best description of The Darcys would a balance of prog and pop somewhere between the tension of mid-era Radiohead and the grand presentation of early Elbow, though I don’t think it’s any slight to add the caveat that they’re not as brilliant as either, at least not right now if ever, but it does give a sense of where they’re pointed creatively as well as their potential. And so while there’s still no definite timetable for when their recorded selves will finally be let loose, though it seems inconceivable that no label in the city will have the good sense to put it out before the year is out, The Darcys are making do venting their energies onstage.

As with the last couple times I’d seen them live, their show was an impressive exercise in musicianship and intensity though as I’ve mentioned in the past – and as also applies to their record – a couple of less-clenched songs would really help the dynamics of the experience. But considering they’ve been sitting on this record and these songs far longer than any band ever should, who knows where they’re actually at right now with respect to their songwriting. And that’s perhaps the biggest reason I hope they get the album out soon; not just so that the rest of the world can be let in on what Toronto’s known for so long, but so that the band can finally get on with it.

Though The Darcys were top billed on the show posters, they weren’t the closing act – that honour went to Wildlife, whose acquaintance I’d made only a day or two earlier via a copy of their debut album Strike Hard, Young Diamond which conveniently showed up in my mailbox. And the collection of uptempo rock, faintly Wolf Parade-ish without all the quirkiness and striking a good balance between heart-on-sleeve sensitivity and beer-in-hand boisterousness, made a good impression so though the option of heading home early was on the table, I opted to stick around. That the aforementioned balance wouldn’t be carried over to the stage was made clear pretty early on as frontman Dean Povinsky declared that the evening’s spirit animal would be Andrew WK and the theme would be partying. They did the party thing well, however, and while it didn’t really hold my attention for the duration, it did energize the crowd with the good time vibes. And props for the solid encore of The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly”.

NOW has a profile on Freedom Or Death and Toro a video session. Their next show is June 9 at The Drake while Wildlife’s next local performance will be May 26 at Sneaky Dee’s.

Photos: Wildlife, The Darcys, Freedom Or Death @ Steam Whistle Brewing – April 29, 2011
MP3: Wildlife – “Stand In The Water”
MP3: The Darcys – “The House Built Around Your Voice”
MP3: Freedom Or Death – “This Crowded Room”
Video: Freedom Or Death – “This Crowded Room”

Heartbeat Hotel, who are one of my personal picks for worthy unsigned bands in the city – as in worthy of being signed, not that they should remain without a label – have released a new video from last year’s free and excellent and free album Fetus Dreams.

Video: Heartbeat Hotel – “Windowsill #1”

Nashville’s Tristen will be in Toronto on July 16 for a show at the Drake in support of her debut album Charlatans At The Gate; a 7″ worth of MP3s is available at their website in exchange for an email.

Video: Tristen – “Baby Drugs”

Liz Phair defends the artistic merits of lat year’s Funstyle to Spinner.

Having just announced that they’ll be reissuing their 2004 EP Cherry Tree in limited edition on June 28, The National are giving away an MP3 of “About Today” from said release at their Bandcamp in exchange for an email. Also available to grab is the song they contributed to the soundtrack of Portal 2, which I’m led to understand is a video game of some kind.

MP3: The National – “Exile Vilify”

The Dallas Observer and Exclaim talk to Will Sheff of Okkervil River, whose new record I Am Very Far comes out next Tuesday, May 10 but is streaming in whole right now at Exclaim. They play The Phoenix on June 10.

Stream: Okkervil River / I Am Very Far

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Low’s set at the Bowery Ballroom in New York last week. They’re at The Mod Club tonight.

DCist talks to Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom.

The New York Times profiles the people behind the up-and-coming live music resource Songkick.

Frank YangRelative to most of the people seeing any part of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s three-day, four-show residency at Lee’s Palace this past weekend, for which I hit up the Saturday night performance, I didn’t want to be there at all. I did, of course, but that was nothing compared to the anticipation so many had for the Montreal post-rock forebears’ first shows here in eight years, part of their surprise return to active duty – touring, at least – announced last Spring.

I just missed out on Godspeed the first time around – either being aware of them but not getting around to listening or listening but not getting around to getting, I’m not sure – but have spent the better part of the past decade getting acquainted both with their works and their ideological and musical mythology. Much of the latter, at least locally, centered around their legendary shows at the Palais Royale in the Fall of 2001 and the Spring of 2003 so the opportunity to witness them for myself – even if not on the edge of Lake Ontario – wasn’t to be missed and would hopefully be at least a fraction as unforgettable as those performances were purported to be. Dispatches from Friday night’s show certainly implied they would be.

One thing that was certain was that I picked the right show with regards to opening acts, at least. I didn’t know who either of the other two support acts were but I was pretty certain that The Sadies were better. And that’s because The Sadies are pretty much the best, be it headlining, opening, ordering tacos, whatever. And while it could be argued that their psych-country was a bit of an odd fit for Godspeed’s widescreen sonic apocalypses, doing so would be to ignore the dark and dusty gothic undercurrent that inhabits much of their work and also the fact that The Sadies are simply awesome. Given 45 minutes and a tiny portion of the stage with which to work, they powered through a set that was basically a Sadies 101, showcasing their songwriting and musical virtuosity and on-stage tricks, like the Good brother guitar neck-swapping of “Tiger Tiger”, which Dallas still managed even though he spent the rest of the set on a stool, still hobbled by the leg broken back in February. And all except for the guy standing beside me who couldn’t have looked more unimpressed – he had his Godspeed goggles on – I’d like to think they went over well.

I’d been tipped in advance of a few things with regards to the Godspeed live experience: That it would run two and a half hours, that photographically speaking house left was the better side to camp out on, that there would be no interaction between the band and the audience, with the band set up in a semi-circle and more intent on communicating with each other than those there to see them. And oh yeah, it would be incredible. I’ll be honest – as much as I wanted it to be a great show, I also hoped to somehow dispel some of the hyperbole that had enveloped the band in their time away by seeing and hearing it with my own earballs. And instead, I fear I may only be contributing to it.

The show-opening “Hope Drone” ceremony, wherein each band member entered the stage one at a time and began contributing to the din, wasn’t nearly as formal as I’d expected. It actually emerged out of sound check, perhaps at the expense of some of the drama, and the audience didn’t stop chattering until about halfway through when they finally turned on the film projectors. With the band arranged around the perimeter of the stage and three guitarists seated and hunched over, it was these projections of birds, glyphs, maps and a scrawled word “hope” which provided most of the evening’s illumination and visual interest – at least if you kept your eyes open. Eyes closed, you would be faced with whatever terrifying and beautiful imagery their music made your mind create.

The show drew heavily from the band’s masterwork, 2000’s Life Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, adding unreleased live staple “Albania” and one composition from F#A#∞ before closing with both sides of their Slow Riot For A New Zerø Kanada EP, but the specifics of what were played were really less important than the epic whole they created. And here’s where the hyperbole comes in. There was something unbelievably primal and elemental about what Godspeed You! Black Emperor create; like a force of nature if nature were sentient and pissed off. They moved slowly and inexorably, with massive weight and delicate grace and meant to be simultaneously marvelled at, feared and celebrated. The sound was deafening while perfectly clear, brutally beautiful and hitting with the impact of unchecked emotion made sound. I don’t doubt that the marathon-length shows are intended to add a dimension of actual physical exhaustion to the experience – are your knees buckling because you’re tired or because the existential momentousness of it all is too much to bear? Probably the former, but you can’t be sure.

But for those who endured and persevered through the entire show, who watched each member depart as they entered as “BBF3” was deconstructed, there was a very real sense of catharsis and transcendence – words far overused in music writing but wholly appropriate here – from the experience. Maybe it was because witnessing the performance had subtly changed everyone. Maybe it was just relief that they could finally get away from the pile of throw-up that someone left near the front of the stage during the second song. But either way, it was one to remember.

The National Post has a review of Friday night’s show; most notes are applicable to Saturday’s.

Photos: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Sadies @ Lee’s Palace – April 23, 2011
MP3: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven”
MP3: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “The Buildings They Are Sleeping Now”
MP3: The Sadies – “Another Year Again”
MP3: The Sadies – “Anna Leigh”
Video: The Sadies – “Another Day Again”
Video: The Sadies – “Cut Corners”
Video: The Sadies – “Postcards”
Video: The Sadies – “The Horseshoe”
Video: The Sadies – “Flash”

Billboard profiles Explosions In The Sky, whose new record Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is out tomorrow.

Shearwater performed the whole of their last three albums – those dubbed The Island Arc – in a special hometown show in Austin earlier this year, and now a live album has been assembled, available to stream or digitally purchase at the band’s Bandcamp. The trilogy of Palo Santo, Rook and The Golden Archipelago is also notable as it represents the band’s entire tenure on Matador; they just announced that they’ve signed to Sub Pop for their next record, due out in 2012.

Drowned In Sound and The Line Of Best Fit and Billboard have features on Okkervil River, whose new record I Am Very Far will arrive on May 10. They play The Phoenix on June 10.

Also out May 10 is The Antlers’ new record Burst Apart, which is streaming in whole at NPR. They are at The Mod Club on June 14.

Stream: The Antlers / Burst Apart

Arriving in town a day before their sold-out show at The Mod Club, Battles will play an in-store at Sonic Boom on April 28 at 7PM, admission free with suggested donation of a canned food good. Their new record Gloss Drop is out June 7 and Drowned In Sound has an interview with the band.

Video: Battles – “Tonto”

Both Junior Boys and Miracle Fortress have new albums at the ready – the former with It’s All True due June 14 and the latter with tomorrow’s Was I The Wave? – so it makes perfect sense that they’d team up for a Summer tour that kicks off at The Phoenix on June 9. North America, dancing shoes at the ready.

MP3: Junior Boys – “In The Morning”
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Raw Spectacle”

Alela Diane released her second album Alela Diane and Wild Divine at the start of the month and has now released her touring itinerary for the Summer; look for her on June 11 at The Rivoli on Toronto.

MP3: Alela Diane – “To Begin”

Frank YangWhen you’ve been through town as an opener as many times as Sharon Van Etten has – four times in just over a year with Rain Machine, Great Lake Swimmers, Megafaun and Junip – I think the hope is that you’ll have garnered enough of your own fans that when you make your headlining debut, as she did at The Drake Underground on Tuesday night, some people come out.

I ended up running a bit late and thus missed Picastro’s opening set but arrived to the sight of the room moderately full, but with a Toronto-typical big open space at the front of the space. Or so I thought, until I got closer and saw that no, it was indeed full, and half the room was sitting on the floor, waiting patiently and politely. That, essentially, was the tone for the evening. Whereas for her previous visits put her in the role of largely having to win over another artist’s fans, this time everyone was here for her and gave her the silence and rapt attention she deserved.

When Van Etten was here last Spring, it was a mostly solo affair but did give a taste of what she would sound like in a band setting when Megafaun backed her for the finale of her set. When her second album epic was released last Fall, it showed the full band configuration had followed her into the studio with stunning results. Unfortunately when she returned fronting a three-piece in November, it was still in the learning curve period for her touring band and issues of mix, arrangement and general familiarity kept the performance from being as good as it could have been.

No such qualifiers were needed on this evening, however, as the months of touring between then and now had worked out any kinks and their performance was a pretty much perfect balance of Van Etten as a solo artist and bandleader, with the bass and drums coming in when needed to push things forward – as they did on the practically rocking “Tornado” – and falling back when not. And as an extra bonus, they were joined for a number of songs by local singer-songwriter Julie Fader – nine months less a day pregnant – who added some gorgeous harmonies to the mix.

But at the core of it all was Van Etten, with a voice that could cut through hearts like a hot knife through butter and songs like maps of precisely where to aim. Opening with a new song – album number three is due out before the end of the year – she laid the first devastating blow a few songs in with “Consolation Prize” from 2009’s Because I Was In Love and through the musical portions of the next hour and some, didn’t let up, alternating between the wounded soul that inhabits Love and the more fiery spirit that informs epic and holding the audience enraptured throughout. In between songs, however, it was Van Etten’s charmingly self-deprecating and often hilarious personality that shone through, bantering with the audience (and mixing up Kenny Rogers and Kenny Loggins) or just talking to herself. She seems somewhat at odds with the soul-bared protagonist of her songs, but the the lightness offers a welcome balance to the darker hues of her work and given the more leisurely pace of a headlining set, allowed her to showcase both sides. And by the time the house called her out for her encore – a cover of Blaze Foley’s “Oooh Love” and an almost too-perfect for words “Much More Than That” – I understood why everyone had been sitting; it was so they could give her a standing ovation.

The Globe & Mail and Panic Manual were also in attendance. The Link, The Daily Cardinal, Interview and Boston Herald have interviews with Van Etten.

Photos: Sharon Van Etten @ The Drake Underground – April 12, 2011
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Don’t Do It”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “I Couldn’t Save You”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Consolation Prize”
Video: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”

eMusic talks to Laurel Sprengelmeyer of Little Scream about her new record The Golden Record, which has just yielded a new video is available to stream in its entirety at Spinner. She was supposed to open up for Van Etten but instead jetted off to Europe to do the same for Junip. She’ll make it up at The Mod Club on June 14 with The Antlers.

Stream: Little Scream / The Golden Record
Video: Little Scream – “The Lamb”

And speaking of The Antlers, Spinner talks to the band about their new record Burst Apart, due out May 10.

Writers On Process talk to Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg about his writing process.

NPR has a World Cafe session and JamBase a questionnaire with Nicole Atkins.

Spin, eye and Clash have feature pieces on TV On The Radio on the occasion of the release of Nine Types Of Light this week. The hour-long film made alongside the record is available to watch at YouTube and the band will be available to watch at the Sound Academy on April 18.

Video: Nine Types Of Light

The Dumbing Of America interviews A Place To Bury Strangers.

Want to watch that Death Cab For Cutie video that they recorded live while webcasting? Why not. CNN and MTV talk to the band about the experiment. Their new record Codes & Keys is out May 31 and they play The Phoenix on May 18.

Video: Death Cab For Cutie – “You Are A Tourist”

NPR has a World Cafe session and Spin a feature piece on Telekinesis, in town at Lee’s Palace on May 27 with Portugal. The Man.

Sloan will mark the May 10 release of their new record The Double Cross with an in-store at Sonic Boom on May 14 at 4PM, admission free with donation of a canned good. Have you noticed that Sloan pretty much never plays regular hometown shows anymore? It’s always a festival or a special event or something – never a regular show in a regular venue. Not complaining about free, intimate shows – just observing.

MP3: Sloan – “Follow The Leader”

Spinner, The Islington Tribune, DIY and The Skinny have features on Glasvegas, who’ve announced a North American tour in support of album number two, Euphoric Heartbreak, which is out stateside on May 17. I think the May 29 show at Lee’s Palace, for which tickets will be $20 on sale Saturday at 10, will be their first visit since they were here at the peak of their hype in April 2009.

Video: Glasvegas – “Euphoria, Take My Hand”

Ty Segall must really dig Canadian festivals – he was just here last month for CMW and will be back in June for NXNE. He’s currently got two shows on the sched, Thursday June 16 at The Garrison and then the next night at Wrongbar.

MP3: Ty Segall – “Girlfriend”

Frank YangKingston duo PS I Love You has done a pretty good job for themselves of building a buzz around both themselves and their debut album Meet Me At The Muster Station, with their guitar orgiastic-sound resonating strongly with those who lived through and miss the days when guitar orgies were regular occurrences. But they’ve also gotten help with the company they keep, in particular one John O’Reagan, aka Diamond Rings, whose debut single was a split 7″ with PS I Love You and with whom they were tourmates for no small portion of the Rings ascension, including much of this Spring on the way down to SXSW and back.

A few nights ago the billing order switched, however, with PS I Love You taking on headlining duties while Diamond Rings packed away the glitter and costumes and busted out his old band – which was also his new band – to support. The existence of Matters, risen from the ashes of The D’Urbervilles, was only announced a week earlier but the new outfit probably already garnered more and higher profile attention outside of the Toronto area than The D’Urbs ever did in their tenure, with Matters being framed as Diamond Rings’ rock band rather than Diamond Rings as the electro-glam offshoot of The D’Urbs.

In any case, it added an extra degree of narrative to their show at The Garrison on Thursday night, it being Matters’ second official show following their debut in Ottawa the night before. Though my own history with The D’Urbervilles is a long one, dating back almost half a decade, a good portion of the sizable audience were clearly unfamiliar with Matters’ former incarnation and were there to see one of the city’s big musical success stories of the past couple years in a completely different context. And as it would turn out, even those of us familiar with O’Reagan in rock mode were treated to something decidedly new. The D’Urbervilles were always a good to very good post-punk/new wave kind of band, solid live and their 2008 debut We Are The Hunters certainly bursting with potential if not completely delivering on it. And while the name change certainly seemed to be cosmetic – the personnel remained the same and many unreleased songs carried over – there was no denying that Matters came with a new lease on life and manifesto that consisted of kicking some serious ass. Fronted by an O’Reagan that hadn’t been seen in these parts in some time; sporting t-shirt, jeans and ball cap and not a bit of make-up, he led his bandmates through a punishing set of rock that seemed to decide that the “post-” part of their previous incarnation’s “post-punk” descriptors were no longer necessary and released the tension that the D’Urbs specialized in in big, loud and sloppy – as in not caring who got hit, not in lack of tightness – measures. In line with that transformation was O’Reagan as a frontman; though his towering, somewhat gangly presence always made him the focal point of D’Urbs shows, the charisma and magnetism honed through the Diamond Rings experience was just as present without the costuming. Their debut album is in the can and should be out this year; it’ll be a non-issue that Matters isn’t especially Google-able – you won’t have to search to hear about them.

Not to suggest there was any sort of competitiveness between Matters and PS I Love You, but the headliners had some work to do if they were going to be what people were talking about the next morning. I had seen and enjoyed them back in September, they weren’t exactly the sorts of performers who’d leave jaws on the floor with their showmanship. Frontman Paul Saulnier occupies himself with singing/yelping, Telecaster shredding and Moog bass pedal stomping which drummer Benjamin Nelson lays down a deceptively complex backbeat – neither is much for on-stage shenanigans but verily, do they make a massively loud sound. But just that can still get you a long way and the show, which ran through most or even all of their album, was far more engaging than you might well have expected it to be. It also affirmed that I’m much more a fan of Saulnier’s vocals live, when they’re buried unders many decibels of guitars, as opposed to on record where they’re audible – but even that I’m coming around on, finding Muster Station more listenable now than when it first came out last Fall.

Any question of which act would end up stealing the show was put to rest with PS’ encore, however, as O’Reagan came out to join them for “Leftovers”, the single released back in February which featured guest vocals from Diamond Ring. But in keeping with the apparent theme of the evening, it was played with the rock turned up to 100 and though the ensuing din basically left O’Reagan inaudible, his dance moves and drumstick ninjutsu was basically a physical manifestation of the aural energy. Who, of Matters and PS I Love You, turned in the best performance of the evening? Both of them.

The Globe & Mail and The Wig have features on PS I Love You while The National Post and Exclaim were also at the show and have thoughts.

Photos: PS I Love You, Matters @ The Garrison – April 7, 2011
MP3: PS I Love You (with Diamond Rings) – “Leftovers”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Get Over”
MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”
Video: PS I Love You – “Get Over”
Video: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
Video: PS I Love You – “Facelove”
Video: Matters – “Get In Or Get Out”

The National Post, Spinner, NOW and Chart have features on Timber Timbre.

Sloan are offering video interview/annotations of all the songs on their forthcoming record The Double Cross, rolling out one every few days leading up the record’s May 10 release. I daresay this is their best record in some time – check the previews out on their YouTube channel.

Exclaim has details on the next release in Neil Young’s Archives series; A Treasure is a live document dating back to the country-styled Old Ways-era period of his tumultuous ’80s output and features recordings from various shows backed by the International Harvesters. It will be out on vinyl May 24 and on CD June 14.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips talks to Billboard and Spinner about the joys of having the creative freedom to do whatever the hell they want, which they’re taking full advantage of this year. Aside from the wacky-ass releases, they’re working on a Yoshimi musical stage production. Of course they are.

This interview from last month with Guided By Voices’ Bob Pollard at The Buddha Den certainly seems to hint that GBV will be coming back to Toronto for the first time in pretty much forever in June, but that NXNE rumour was pretty thoroughly debunked by one who’d know so… yeah. But at least there’s a five-part interview to pass the time and if you really need a GBV fix, they’re at Brooklyn’s Northside Festival that same weekend playing McCarren Park (which is another reason why I thought they might be making the trip up here).

Pixies meet the press in advance of their Canadian Doolittle tour; Joey Santiago talks to JAM, Metro and The Chronicle Herald score some time with Dave Lovering and The Chronicle Herald also gets Kim Deal on the phone. They’ve got two nights at Massey Hall next week, April 18 and 19.

Spinner chats with J Mascis for unplugging to go solo.

The Huffington Post and The Boston Globe have interviews with the members of Buffalo Tom.

Frank YangI’ve wondered a number of times in the past few years if John Darnielle even knew he was neglecting Toronto again. It took him more than a decade of operating as principal of The Mountain Goats to come to Toronto – his appearance at Lee’s Palace in May 2005 was his first visit ever – and after a few years of regular shows, neither his itinerary for 2008’s Heretic Pride nor 2009’s The Life Of The World To Come or last year’s Extra Lens side project saw fit to make their way up here. They did make it through twice in support of Get Lonely, but that was still three and a half years ago – four if, like me, you only went to the the first one.

A little ways into Sunday’s night’s show at The Opera House, he did indeed admit that he didn’t realize that it had been so long and while I don’t recall if he apologized outright, if his intention was to make it up to us in song… well, mission accomplished. The goodness started with the opening act, fellow North Carolinians Megafaun whom I’d been fortunate enough to see last year. The trio took their “warm up” duties seriously, doing their very best to get the audience roused and excited for the show to come with their spirited country-gospel-blues brew and genial down-home charm. Not many bands would offer their spare room to fans who come visit them in Raleigh and even fewer would actually mean it – but I’m pretty sure Brad Cook did. Want to see an immensely talented trio of musicians who just love what they do? Go see Megafaun.

The cult of Mountain Goats fans – who were out in force on this evening – have let me down as I’ve as yet been unable to track down a set list for the show. I’ve been a Goats fan since Tallahassee but don’t have nearly the encyclopaedic knowledge of John Darnielle’s body of work to try and compile a list of everything that was aired on Sunday night. But sufficed to say that their epic-length – we’re talking ninety minutes plus over a full set, six-song second set and single-song encore – set drew from all points of The Mountain Goats repertoire, from the just-released All Eternals Deck and back as far as 1995’s Sweden. Hell, maybe they went back as far as Darnielle’s 1994 debut Zopilote Machine; I don’t know, there was a good number of songs I didn’t recognize.

Even some of the songs I did know, I didn’t instantly recognize. For while The Mountain Goats have essentially been a full band since Jon Wurster joined Darnielle and bassist Peter Hughes for Heretic Pride in 2008, I had never seen them live as anything but an acoustic guitar-and-bass duo. And here they were as a quartet – keyboardist/guitarist Yuval Semo rounded out the live lineup – with a wealth of sounds and tempos and textures at their disposal; so very unlike the Mountain Goats I remember and so very very wonderful. Only the most steadfast purist would argue they sounded better as a duo or solo, and probably also wish that Darnielle would ditch the studio and go back to recording on a boom box. So when I say “steadfast purist”, I really mean “batshit looney”.

High fidelity Mountain Goats sound amazing and while Darnielle has always been an entertaining performer, seeing him really cut loose as a – dare I say – rock frontman is a revelation. And though (bare) feet did go up on the stage monitors at the show’s end, he’s hardly become a collection of cliched stage moves. As much a crucial part of the magic of the evening as the music was his between-song banter, delivered in his distinctive clipped cadence and covering topics such as why he wore no shoes on stage (inspired by Amy Grant), why he almost put rocks in his ears and his inability at age 15 to break up with his girlfriend honourably, amongst many others. Really, trying to summarize everything that made this show memorable would require pretty much a minute-by-minute accounting of the evening, and that’d be ridiculous. All I can say is that if you want to know what a live Mountain Goats show is like, see them the next time they come to town. And hope it’s not another three and a half years before that happens.

The Baltimore Sun has an interview with John Darnielle, NYC Taper is sharing recordings of two of the Mountain Goats shows in New York last week and Spin welcomed the band for an acoustic video session.

Photos: The Mountain Goats, Megafaun @ The Opera House – April 3, 2011
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “The Age Of Kings”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Damn Those Vampires”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Tyler Lambert’s Grave”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Genesis 3:23”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Sax Rohmer #1”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “New Monster Avenue”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Woke Up New”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Lion’s Teeth”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Palmcorder Yanja”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “No Children”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Baboon”
MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Family Happiness”
MP3: Megafaun – “Volunteers”
MP3: Megafaun – “The Fade”
MP3: Megafaun – “Kaufman’s Ballad”
MP3: Megafaun – “The Process”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “Ezekiel 7 and The Permanent Efficacy of Grace”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “Sax Rohmer #1”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “Woke Up New”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “This Year”
Video: Megafaun – “Carolina Days”
Video: Megafaun – “Impressions Of The Past”

Prefix, Square, The Lincoln Journal-Star and On Milwaukee have interviews with Sharon Van Etten, in town at the Drake Underground on April 12.

Prefix, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Gateway meet The Dodos, in town at The Phoenix on June 16.

Fleet Foxes have released a video from their forthcoming Helplessness Blues, due out May 3.

Video: Fleet Foxes – “Grown Ocean”

The Dumbing Of America has an interview with The Head & The Heart, whose self-titled debut should be in everyone’s shopping baskets when it comes out on Record Store Day next Saturday, April 16.

DIY and aux.tv have conversations with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes.

All five Terminal 5 recordings that My Morning Jacket are releasing leading up to the premiere of a new song from Circuital are up for grabs. A new song from Circuital will be revealed on April 12 and the album will be released on May 31. The band will be at The Kool Haus to play these songs for you and more on July 11.

MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Butch Cassidy” (live at Terminal 5)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “The Way That He Sings” (live at Terminal 5)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday” (live at Terminal 5)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “It Beats 4 U” (live at Terminal 5)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Smokin’ From Shootin'” (live at Terminal 5)

Will Johnson, following a stint as drummer for Monsters Of Folk, returns to his own works with the release of a new Centro-Matic record – Candidate Waltz will be out on June 21 and if you’re not familiar with Centro-Matic, Will Johnson has taken measures to address that via Twitter – namely a sampler compilation of tracks from every Centro-Matic album.

Paste catches up with Eisley, whose new album The Valley is out now. Check out two new songs – one live, one studio – below.

MP3: Eisley – “Ambulance” (live)
MP3: Eisley – “Smarter”

The Rosebuds have wrapped a new album and will release Loud Planes Fly Low on June 7 – check out the first MP3 from the record.

MP3: The Rosebuds – “Second Bird Of Paradise”

The Green Bay Press Gazette meets Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak while Magnet gives the kids the keys to the website for a week, starting with a Q&A. They play The El Mocambo on April 9.

The Von Pip Musical Express chats with Nicole Atkins.