Frank YangFestival schedules fall behind, it’s inevitable, but to do so with the very first act of the very first night is not a good sign. Austin trio Ume were set to take the stage at Maggie Mae’s at 7:30PM, a fact crucial to my attempts to cram as much as possible into the night, but when show time rolled around everyone was still standing outside on the sidewalk in line as the staff tried to figure out how to direct traffic to the venue’s three stages. Something that had apparently not occurred to them in the previous 360 days between the last time they did this and yesterday. Not impressive. By the time we got in to the room and Ume took the stage, they were about 20 minutes behind – not a huge amount, but enough to force me to bail on Crocodile, who were going on at 8.

All notion of disappointment evaporated the moment they started playing, however, as Ume simply killed it and set the bar for the rest of the night – hell, the rest of the festival – appropriately high. Singer-guitarist Lauren Larson looked like a wee slip of a girl, but was a ferocious frontwoman. She wasn’t all aggro and in your face – she was actually quite sweet and friendly between songs – but during the songs, her mission was to melt your face with her guitarwork. Equal parts stoner-heavy, grunge-sloppy and pop-melodic, watching her play while whipping around the stage like a dervish was awe-inspiring. And the fact that this was done in the context of excellent and compact songs. Absolutely superb stuff that sent me down 6th St abuzz.

As mentioned, I had to miss Crocodile’s set but I did hear them from the Wave Rooftop down on the street. Sounded good. But I had to get to Stubb’s, where Ladyhawke was set to play one of her only shows at the fest – whereas most acts play enough that you can pick and choose performances to fit your schedule, she managed to make hers one you planned your day around. This doesn’t mean I expected a spectacular performance, I just wanted to see her play and hear the songs which have been embedded in my skull for the past few weeks and that’s pretty much what she delivered. Fronting a four-piece band, she delivered a shortish set of the best tunes from her debut, played mostly verbatim from the record, and I was content. The thousand-plus people gathered to see here seemed content too.

It was then way back to the other end of 6th St to see Venice Is Sinking at Ace’s Lounge, a venue that takes the prize for oddest room I’ve ever seen a show in. The stage setup had the band on a 10-foot high stage situated in a corner of the room with the bar surrounding it on two sides like a moat. And there was a balcony around the upstairs. In a word, bizarre, and probably not the best place if you’re a band that likes to get up close and personal with your fans. For Venice Is Sinking, however, it almost seemed appropriate given their beautiful and delicate orchestrally-inclined pop – you almost want to put it on a pedestal, out of reach, lest someone accidentally brush against it and break it. Seeing them live was somewhat revelatory in that the long instrumental and ambient passages that envelop their records were done away with, leaving just the gleaming pop centres for all to see and even though I knew the songs and knew they were great, having them knocked off one after another (with a couple covers thrown in for good measure) was an eye-opener.

Latitude 30 around the corner was again the de facto British Music Embassy and I got there in time to see Laura Marling perform. The 2008 Mercury Prize-nominee was appropriately playing to a packed house but was doing so solo, quite a different dynamic from the full-band configuration that I’d seen her with last year. She actually said that Marcus Mumford from Mumford & Sons was supposed to be accompanying her but travel snafus had nixed that. So instead it was just Laura, charming and nervous, playing a brief set of songs old and new. She definitely sounds better with the band – both from the richer arrangements and the confidence they obviously provide her with – but her sheer talent was more than enough to make it a worthy performance.

And again, it was from one end of 6th St to the other to see Sky Larkin make their Austin debut at the rather dark and grungy Red 7 patio. I actually don’t know when the last time I’d seen a band have so much sheer fun playing, blasting through one fuzzy pop nugget after another and drummer Nestor Matthews, in particular, very much earning his Incredible Hulk t-shirt with the way he destroyed his drum kit and the faces made while doing it. And don’t let Katie Harkin’s casual guitar style deceive, she’s a tremendously good player – in fact, many of the accolades laid on Ume earlier in the post can apply to Sky Larkin, if adjusted somewhat for the pop and brit-rock idioms. A rollicking good set.

And though I didn’t know it at the time, the last one for the night. I hoofed it back to Buffalo Billiards intending to see Ida Maria, but when the host of the evening came out to announce the next act, it wasn’t her – no word of explanation – so I joined the slightly confused but certainly exhausted masses out the door. I hope she’s still playing her scheduled shows later in the week, but I can’t say I wasn’t somewhat thankful for the early end of day. It had been a long one, yes it had. One down, three to go.

Frank YangFor brevity’s sake, I’m busting up the days and nights of SxSW into separate posts. Of course, a greater volume of posts doesn’t exactly equal brevity, does it. Anyways. As with last year, photos, multimedia and assorted sundry links for all acts covered will come in the following week.

I started Wednesday with a plan. It took exactly no time for said plan to go off course. I’d meant to start with Henry Clay People at Paradise but a promise of free food and beverages at the Austinist party from Donewaiting had me starting things off at the Mohawk with a cup of absinthe. It was… kinda nasty, actually. There was music but nothing I paid particular attention to, and with my head just a bit fuzzy, it was to the Radio Room to see Amanda Palmer. I’m not especially a Dresden Dolls fan but I did see them at Lollapalooza a few years back and enjoyed them quite a bit, and Palmer solo didn’t disappoint. Just off a plane from Australia or New Zealand, she was a bit loopy but still in fine form, playing material from her recent solo record and closing with a ukulele-led, audience sing-along cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”.

Then it was across the street to Maggie Mae’s for new Scottish outfit We Were Promised Jetpacks. I’d been hoping they’d impress the way Frightened Rabbit did last year, but while they weren’t bad by any means, they didn’t make much of an impression with their mildly angsty and anxious indie rock. There were a few moments in a few of their songs that stood out, but not nearly enough.

I was headed out the door of Maggie Mae’s when I ran into a friend who said that French electro-pop act Yelle was about to start just upstairs. Sure, why not – I’d made half-hearted efforts to see her a couple times in the past (which is to say I thought about it), so now was as good a time as any. As it turned out, they were running quite a bit late but when Yelle finally took the stage, it was absolutely worth the wait. Backed by a live drummer and keyboardist and even with a truncated set, frontwoman Julie Budet was an electrifying presence, bounding about the stage and working the packed house into a frenzy. So much sweaty fun.

Gears could not have shifted more with the next act, as I moved from Parisian dancefloors to the Pacific northwest for J Tillman. Though best known as the drummer for Fleet Foxes, Tillman is also a notable singer-songwriter in his own right and was set to demonstrate his skills at Emo’s Annex. Unfortunately, persistent feedback prompted him to abandon the stage after a song and play unamplified in the audience. It was a terrific gesture and the crowd pulled in close around him, but with the racket of all the other day shows bleeding into the open-air venue, it was nigh impossible to hear him play or sing. But still, a noble effort.

Sound problems were also prevalent back at Paradise where I hopped over to see Justin Townes Earle, where there was much feedback coming through the monitors as music. And while Earle took it more graciously than his increasingly grumpy sideman, he was still obviously perturbed though not so much as to take it out on the audience. He may have gotten initial attention because of his famous father, but Earle is his own man and draws little from Steve Earle’s country-rock template, favouring a more traditionally-styled sort of country music. an impressive songwriter and performer.

It was then across the street to Peckerhead’s to wrap up the afternoon portion of the day. I got there in time to see Brooklyn’s Phenomenal Handclap Band. I’ve heard them called “Brooklyn’s Broken Social Scene”, which might be accurate if Broken Social Scene traded in ’70s funk-soul pastiches. There were a lot of members, though, maybe that was the angle. Mildly interesting, but I soon hopped over to the other side of the venue.

And that was where Reading, UK’s Pete & The Pirates were setting up. I’d heard a bit of buzz around the five-piece and had given their debut Little Death a few spins – it didn’t send me over the moon but I was curious enough to give them some time. Live, they weren’t any sort of revelation, one part Noah & The Whale and one part Arctic Monkeys, but adequately catchy and energetic – just kind of anonymous. I didn’t leave thinking that these guys were underrated, just properly-rated.

And then it was time for dinner.

Frank YangSo yes, I sort of wimped out on the first couple days of Canadian Musicfest, but like to think I made up for it with Saturday, hitting up something from the evening’s start to the very end although I did skip out on a couple of very attractive pre- and post-showcase events. But anyways.

Scottish septet We See Lights were making the most of their visit to Canada, playing three shows in the week – this one at Bread & Circus in Kensington being the last – though from what I’d heard from others, they weren’t what you’d call the best-attended performances. And that’s a shame because they have a lot to recommend and really, an overabundance of talent. Boasting four more than capable lead singers, they crafted lush and beautifully open-hearted alt.country-pop whose sentimentality and earnestness was extra endearing given the youthfulness of the band – like a teenager absolutely convinced that they’re the first ones to have ever had their heart broken. They’re like the melancholic, mirror universe version of Los Campesinos! and by god they deserved to have people hear them. Dear We See Lights, please don’t hold our city’s indifference against us – please visit again.

Photos: We See Lights @ Bread & Circus – March 14, 2009
MySpace: We See Lights

After the Scots cleared out all their gear, Swedish singer-songwriter Sofia Talvik took the stage with her decidedly more stripped-down band, made up of one cellist, one percussionist and one fellow tapping out synth notes on an iPhone. The spare but thoughtful accouterments worked well at accenting Talvik’s fairly straightforward singer-songwriter fare, which was a bit disappointing in that it didn’t seem to exhibit the sort of sunny exterior/dark subtext that a lot of Swedish acts seem to imbue their work with. I thought I got whiffs of that on her latest album Jonestown, but she also didn’t play some of my favourite tracks from that record so perhaps she was just smoothing out the set list for the audience. Either way, a lovely voice and a lovely girl – hard to complain too much about that.

Photos: Sofia Talvik @ Bread & Circus – March 14, 2009
MP3: Sofia Talvik – “My James Dean”
Video: Sofia Talvik – “It’s Just Love” (with Bernard Butler)
MySpace: Sofia Talvik

At this point the plan was to again hoof it up to the Tranzac for The Morning After Girls but after seeing two streetcars zip by while walking to the stop, the transit line seemed to dry up and there was nothing else in sight. At this point it was obvious that I’d be 10-15 minutes late for their set at best and I bailed – just as well, too, as I’ve heard that their set was cut short due to technical difficulties.

Instead, plan B became the El Mocambo and Regina’s Library Voices and goodness, all consolation prizes should be so satisfying. I should say that at this point, I’m utterly skeptical about bands whose rosters could also be fielded as a baseball team, but Library Voices – nine members strong – won me over. Yes they indulged in the same sort of antics other big bands do – instrument swapping, raucous on-stage behaviour, general shenanigans – but they did it so well and so infectiously, that my cynicism was melted away within a couple songs. And in more quantitative terms, they may be a big-ass band but their sound is surprisingly focused and the songs are grand and hooky. I’m not sure I could subsist on a diet of what they’re serving, but for one musical meal, at least, it was tasty.

Photos: Library Voices @ The El Mocambo – March 14, 2009
MP3: Library Voices – “Step Off The Map And Float”
MySpace: Library Voices

This was only halfway through the night? Egads. When discussing my CMF schedule with someone, don’t remember who, mention of The Assistants reminded said unknown person that he’d seen them at a Jesus & Mary Chain tribute night once upon a time, whereas my only live experience with them was a few years ago at a shoegaze tribute night. The point of this being that The Assistants really don’t sound anything like shoegaze, so their presence at these shows and ensuing mental associations is erroneous to say the least. What they do sound like, as their set at Neutral confirmed, is good to great ’80s-inflected jangle-pop. A little Go-Betweens and New Order for the hip influences, a dash of Tom Petty and Dire Straits for the not-so-hip though, for the record, I like Tom Petty and Dire Straits and make these comparisons flatteringly. They play next April 11 at the Mod Club.

Photos: The Assistants @ Neutral – March 14, 2009
MP3: The Assistants – “Fiction”
MySpace: The Assistants

I’d originally planned to wrap the night at this point, but I still hadn’t seen the band I had circled before this whole week began, and since they were on at 1 it I had some time to kill – back to Bread & Circus. On stage were Abbey, hailing from Pembrooke, outside Ottawa, and notable for being the new project of Jordan Zadarozny, ex of Blinker The Star, who were almost the next big thing for a moment in the ’90s. And that brief shining moment definitely comes across in the music, which is big, downstroke-heavy guitar rock with just enough pop in it to not be rawk. Not offensive, but the most memorable thing about their set was the band blowing a fuse a couple songs in.

Photos: Abbey @ Bread & Circus – March 14, 2009

And then, finally, it was around the block to the El Mocambo for The Week That Was – an appropriately-named act to finish things off, I think. I’ll tell myself that everyone who wanted to see them had done so Thursday night at the Gladstone because the turnout for this show, hastily scheduled last week after they were removed from the Ting Tings bill, was pretty meagre. The Week That Was, however, are pros and didn’t let something like that dissuade them from putting on a performance that was worth the wait, somehow managing to recreate the breadth and impact of their densely prog-pop self-titled debut with only four players, even though the record was recorded with upwards of ten members. Though not exactly overflowing with stage presence – frontman Peter Brewis spent kept his eyes shut most of the time – the playing was tight and impactful. With Brewis returning to concentrate on Field Music after this North American tour is done, it was possibly the last time these songs would be aired so it’s good that they were done justice.

Photos: The Week That Was @ The El Mocambo – March 14, 2009
MP3: The Week That Was – “Scratch The Surface”
MP3: The Week That Was – “Learn To Learn”
Video: The Week That Was – “Scratch The Surface”
Video: The Week That Was – “Learn To Learn”

And yeah, that’s another CMW/CMF in the can. There’s a crapload of CMF coverage at eye, Chart, The Toronto Star… oh hell, just google the rest.

And here’s a smattering of non-CMF/SxSW stuff to hopefully appease those who have no interest in either.

Billboard profiles Bob Mould, whose The Life & Times is out April 7.

Bob Dylan’s next album will be entitled Together Through Life and be released on April 28. Billboard has more details.

Spin has details on the forthcoming Bloc Party remix album Intimacy Remixed, due out May 11. There’s also a downright disturbing video for for one of the mixes. Egads.

Video: Bloc Party – “Signs” (Armand Van Helden remix)

Swedish rockers The Sounds have a date at the Mod Club on April 28. Their new album is Crossing The Rubicon and due out May 26.

And one to file under “didn’t see that coming” – Charlotte Hatherley has joined Bat For Lashes. She will be guitarist in Natasha Khan’s touring band through the Fall while they promote Two Suns, out April 6. So the good news is that Ms Hatherley will finally be coming to North America on tour, the bad news is she’s not doing any of her own songs. The more good news is she’s still going to be playing some great songs. The more bad news is this means the release of her next solo record Cinnabar City has been pushed back from the Spring to September. The even more good news is that it looks like the record will get a North American release and that proper touring of her own will follow. Oh hell, just read her MySpace blog for details. And be at the Mod Club on April 25 to welcome Charlotte – and Bat For Lashes – to Toronto.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I have a plane to catch.

Frank YangYou know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well I should have known after assembling my complete itinerary for Canadian Musicfest last week (I’ve opted to not be difficult and just accept the new branding), it would get – if not thrown out the window then at least shaken up significantly.

Thursday night started as intended, at the Silver Dollar to see Ketch Harbour Wolves, but I’m sad to report that their live show failed to impress the way their recorded output has. Whereas on tape they manage to channel their dramatic impulses in a way that made for compelling songs, on stage it manifests itself in rather dubious stage moves and general melodramatic hamminess. I’m sorry but there’s no place for dramatic arm motions, air grabs or pointing at the audience. There’s just not. Their actual musical performance was quite good, but I couldn’t get past the presentation.

Photos: Ketch Harbour Wolves @ The Silver Dollar – March 12, 2009
MP3: Ketch Harbour Wolves – “Words”
MP3: Ketch Harbour Wolves – “Leaves”
MySpace: Ketch Harbour Wolves

There was no disappointment, thankfully, for the return to these shores of London’s 6 Day Riot, who did dazzle at NxNE last year. With a new album in the can and set for a June release, the band mixed in a batch of new songs with the familiar. For the unfamiliar, imagine a heady brew of folk and pop made with tom-heavy rhythms, klezmer horn lines and Tamara Schlesinger’s strong and sweet vocals. It was heartening to see that a healthy audience had gathered to see them and though they stayed a typically Torontonian distance back from the stage, they seemed to be won over. And to me, even without the thrill of discovery that came with their show last year, it was still just loveliness.

Photos: 6 Day Riot @ Rancho Relaxo – March 12, 2009
Video: 6 Day Riot – “Go Canada” (live on Muzu.tv)

It was at this point I was supposed to dash out and hop in a cab to the Gladstone to catch The Week That Was, but the fact that they’d had a 1AM Saturday show added to the sched and I was just feeling lazy kept me at Rancho a bit longer. And it was also an opportunity to see Megan Hamilton & The Volunteer Canola, whom I’d been meaning to see since first catching her open for My Morning Jacket way back in 2005. What can I say, I’m slow about stuff sometimes. And in the interim, her sound has evolved from a plaintive, high lonesome country-folkiness to a more electrified sound that almost borders on bar-rock boogie at points but manages to stay distinctive thanks to Hamilton’s just slightly off-kilter vocals. Her new album See Your Midnight Breath in the Shipyard is out April 7 and has a slew of shows in the city and surrounding regions in the next few months – check out her MySpace for specifics.

Photos: Megan Hamilton & The Volunteer Canola @ Rancho Relaxo – March 12, 2009
MP3: Megan Hamilton – “Cat Tail Legs”
MP3: Megan Hamilton – “Detroit”
MySpace: Megan Hamilton & The Volunteer Canola

And that was it for day one. Anything else that had my interest was simply too out of the way for someone who had to work the next morning so I called it at three and headed home. And that brevity is why I’m also diving right into Friday night with this post. A night which, once again, began at the Silver Dollar.

The draw was Montreal’s Little Scream, whom I saw in January supporting Land Of Talk. And while she still has no internet presence to speak of – Google led me back to my own review – she hasn’t been idle in the intervening months, having traded in her acoustic guitar for an electric. And though she had already been amplifying and distorting the acoustic, the shift to a solidbody instrument did seem to give her a more visceral sonic presence – maybe it was the knowledge that she could beat on it and not worry about damage. And still, I can’t figure out what I find so compelling about this performer – she seems simultaneously distracted and focused, folkish and pure rock. Maybe once she gets some samples online someone can tell me what I’m hearing. Until then, I guess I’ll just keep seeing her live and trying to figure it out for myself.

Photos: Little Scream @ The Silver Dollar – March 13, 2009

From there, it was time for what would be my only foray from the Spadina-College corridor the entire weekend, to see An Horse at the Tranzac. The Australian duo had just appeared on Letterman a few nights earlier and it was tough to say if that had translated into extra interest in their showcase – I think it’s safe to say that the wide-eyed front row, decked out in An Horse t-shirts and clutching items for autographs, had had this date circled on their calendars for a while regardless. Playing songs from their debut Rearrange Beds, getting a North American release tomorrow, the duo were nothing short of impressive. Though their formula is as simple as it gets – guitar and drums and not even any soloing – and executed just as simply with dry, barre chord guitar work and straight-ahead, driving beats. But the songs are terrific – compact and hook-laden, occupying that space at the edge of anxiety yet not becoming angst and delivered in Cooper’s charmingly thick accent, a winning combination. And full props to the pair for not losing momentum when Cooper’s mic attempted to electrocute her early on in the show. An Horse will be back in town April 21 for a show at the Horseshoe with The Appleseed Cast. Attendance recommended.

Photos: An Horse @ The Tranzac – March 13, 2009
MP3: An Horse – “Postcards”
Video: An Horse – “Camp Out” (live on Letterman)
MySpace: An Horse

And here, again, is where I went off-schedule. I had intended to hop on the streetcar back to the Silver Dollar for The Darling DeMaes but Mike from For The Records convinced me to accompany him down the street to Central for French act Angil & Hiddentracks, about whom I knew nothing but hey – isn’t that part of the point of festivals like this? And if nothing else, they take the prize for most confounding act of the festival (from my limited sampling). Their ethos seems to be as willfully eclectic and lyrically absurd as possible, mashing together rock, jazz, classical, hip-hop, whatever, with a distinct Mark E Smith-ish style into something that, if nothing else, was certainly distinct. A few of their songs appealed but unsurprisingly, they were the more conventional compositions and made me suspect I was missing the point.

Photos: Angil & Hiddentracks @ Central – March 13, 2009
MP3: Angil & Hiddentracks – “Trying To Fit”
MP3: Angil & Hiddentracks – “Narrow Minds”
MySpace: Angil & Hiddentracks

At that point, I called it a night. That’s right, two days, six acts. Hardly a marathon, I know. I did better on Saturday by a fair margin, but I’ll get into that tomorrow.

Frank YangEven before setting foot in the Opera House on Tuesday night, you knew it wasn’t going to be a typical evening – security wasn’t bothering to check anyone’s ID, as the odds of someone underage wanting to sneak into a Tindersticks were pretty much slim to none. The audience for the veteran Brits, on their first North American tour in half a decade in support of their first album in just as long – last year’s The Hungry Saw – skewed older to say the least.

Support on the Canadian dates were Montreal’s Elfin Saddle, a duo expanded to trio for live performance and whose principals set up seated behind small fortresses of unusual musical instruments. They sounded like what you might expect to hear if you were traversing the hills of medieval England and just happened to stumble across a Japanese temple built into a Gregorian monastery – a strange and fascinating combination of Eastern and Western sounds from long ago, not so much blended as tied together with wire and string. Definitely unique.

I’ve fully admitted to being a Tindersticks neophyte, but after their show I can also declare myself a total convert. They began with each player taking the stage one by one as they built up “Introduction”, the instrumental opener from The Hungry Saw, from nothing to perfection and thus set the tone for the night and that tone was one of effortless elegance. The seven-piece band of guitar, bass, drums, keys, horns and of course Stuart Staples’ inimitable croon were the very definition of class up there, grand yet understated, in creating an atmosphere like a suspended breath or the very last dance of the evening – like one of those fleeting moments you want to last forever.

And while not forever, their 90-minute set still felt like a gift, one which the enraptured crowd didn’t take for granted if their almost utter silence throughout the show was any indication (enthusiastic applause aside). Though Staples’ interaction with the audience was minimal – we got a “hello” and an “I already said hello” – it was obvious from the looks on he and founding guitarist Neil Fraser that they were fully enjoying this return to action after so long away. The setlist – punctuated with lovely instrumental interludes throughout – drew heavily on The Hungry Saw, so even though my knowledge of their catalog was limited the show still felt warm and enveloping. And as for the songs I didn’t know, while their words and melodies may have been unfamiliar, their language of sumptuous melancholy was one I’m quite fluent in and nothing was lost in translation. Simply a stunning show, top to bottom.

eye also has a review of the performance. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview with Stuart Staples, hour.ca talks to Elfin Saddle.

Photos: Tindersticks, Elfin Saddle @ The Opera House – March 10, 2009
MP3: Tindersticks – “The Hungry Saw”
MP3: Elfin Saddle – “Temple Daughter”
Video: Tindersticks – “Can Our Love…”
Video: Tindersticks – “Traveling Light”
Video: Tindersticks – “The Art Of Lovemaking”
Video: Tindersticks – “Rented Rooms”
Video: Tindersticks – “Dying Slowly”
Video: Tindersticks – “Can We Start Again?”
Video: Tindersticks – “No More Affairs”
Video: Tindersticks – “City Sickness”
MySpace: Tindersticks

Beirut have made a date for the Phoenix on July 9 with The Dodos as support. Tickets are on sale Saturday at 10AM, and will cost $25.

Matador continues to build the mythology of Yo La Tengo the Condo Fucks with a short documentary film entitled Straight Outta Connecticut. The Fuckbook album is out March 24.

MP3: Condo Fucks – “Whathca Gonna Do About It?”

The Tripwire and Newsweek have conversations with Bob Mould about his new album The Life & Times, out April 7. You can stream the first single over at Anti-blog.

NPR has an acoustic session with School Of Seven Bells.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are releasing a new 7″ on March 31, the a-side of which you can download below, perhaps as an excuse to continue touring – they’re at Lee’s Palace on April 28. They’re also playing every show and showcase at SxSW next week. I was going to play a little game called “Try not to see POBPAH in Austin” but that would pretty much require me to not leave my hotel, and even then I don’t think I’d be safe.

MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”

Filter has posted online their recent cover story featuring a meeting of the minds between Elvis Costello and Jenny Lewis.

Clash talks to Colin Meloy of The Decemberists about their new album The Hazards Of Love, out March 24.

The Boston Herald and The Varsity interview AC Newman while Philadelphia Weekly gets him to review some of his reviews.

Forest City Lovers say hello with both a new download, a live acoustic track from a few years back, and a lovely new video. Kat Burns is playing a solo show at Rolly’s Garage on April 4 before the band heads out on a European tour (!). Their next local show is June 27 at the Tranzac for the Zunior anniversary. Burns gives Anika In London her guide to Toronto.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Oh Humility” (live)
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Song For Morrie”

NOW talks to Handsome Furs’ Dan Boeckner. They’re at the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

eye interviews Malajube, who play the El Mocambo tonight.

The Playlist rounds up some of the musical developments in the Scott Pilgrim film.