Luciana Val & Franco MussoI’ve never seen them live so I can’t say for certain, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying that the upcoming North American tour from French duo Air in support of last year’s Love 2 is going to one smooth affair.

I imagine that on the evening of March 23, 2010, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel will stride out onstage at a fashionably late hour, through a cloud of smoke that provides just the right balance of obfuscation and ambience – perhaps combined with a tasteful laser light show – and proceed to bathe The Phoenix in effortlessly elegant electronic pop, eliciting gentle nodding in time with the rhythm from the impossibly stylish audience, obviously all dressed to the nines without looking like they’re trying at all. Which is perhaps the reason that I’ve never seen Air live – they wouldn’t let me past the velvet rope.

You, however, might well be someone who meets those high standards of taste and class – after all, you’re on this site, aren’t you? Clearly someone who appreciates the finer things in life. Tickets to the show are $32.50 in advance but courtesy of LiveNation, I have three pairs of passes to give away to the show and really, isn’t it just SO much better to be able to say, “I’m on the list”? To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I need some Air” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, March 14.

Video: Air – “So Light Is Her Footfall”
Video: Air – “Sing Sang Sung”
MySpace: Air

djchampion.netCanadian Musicfest is almost upon us and, while I’d intended to hold off on preview-y things till next week, some of this just won’t keep. Actually, it probably would, but I needed something to post today and this needed to go out… so.

I’ll start, actually, with some giveaways. The typical way of doing CMF/CMW is via the wristband, which grants access to many of the clubs throughout the week, so long as it’s not at capacity, and in recent years the whole “limited wristbands” policy – which had been laughably token in the past – has gotten much better so that if you’re up for some late Winter club hopping, it’s a good value. Of course, for some the too-ing and fro-ing isn’t their idea of a fun time, so picking a spot and camping out is the way to go. For them, and courtesy of LiveNation and The Musebox, I offer the following giveaways for a pretty wide cross-section of acts coming to town next week for the festival.

Who: Champion & His G-Strings
What: Montreal dance/rock multi-threat showcases his latest album, Resistance
When: March 11, 2010
Where: The Guvernmnet
How: Three pairs of passes to give away – email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want be a Champion” in the subject line and your full name in the body before midnight, March 8
Video: Champion & His G-Strings – “Alive Again”

Who: Postdata
What: Soul-baring, stripped-down solo project from Wintersleep frontman released self-titled debut in January
When: March 12, 2010
Where: The Music Gallery
How: Three pairs of passes to give away – email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want be see Postdata” in the subject line and your full name in the body before midnight, March 8
MP3: Postdata – “Tobias Grey”

Who: Boats
What: Winnipeg quirky-pop quartet will release Cannonballs, Cannonballs on May 1
When: March 12, 2010
Where: Rancho Relaxo
How: One pair of passes and a copy of the CD to give away – email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want be ride Boats” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body before midnight, March 8
MP3: Boats – “Chrome Eyelids”

Who: Milow
What: Belgian singer-songwriter does the sexy-sensitive thing on acoustic guitar.
When: March 13, 2010
Where: The Drake Underground
How: Three pairs of passes to give away – email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want be see Milow” in the subject line and your full name in the body before midnight, March 8
MP3: Milow – “You Don’t Know”

Not giveaways but still CMF-relevant:

Spinner, Subba-Cultcha, The Line Of Best Fit, The Brooklyn Rail and The Quietus interview The Besnard Lakes, whose new record The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is out on Tuesday and currently streaming at Spinner. They play an in-store at Criminal Records on March 10 at 6:30PM and the Horseshoe on March 11 at 12:10AM.

Stream: The Besnard Lakes / The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night

Chart tries to get The Wooden Sky excited about playing Canadian Musicfest by asking them stock questions. They play the Horseshoe at 11PM on Saturday, March 13.

Spinner talks to Fucked Up about their plans for SxSW and make a guest list for Pitchfork. They’re at the El Mocambo on March 10 to kick off CMF and have also made some very early demos from CIUT, the University Of Toronto radio station, available to download for free.

The Brock Press has an interview with The Acorn wherein frontman Rolf Klausener discusses their new record No Ghosts, set for release in June. They are at Lee’s Palace on March 12.

Plants & Animals have released a first video from La La Land, due out April 20. They play Lee’s Palace on March 12 and the Indie Awards on March 13.

Video: Plants & Animals – “The Mama Papa””

NOW puts Zeus on this week’s cover. They’re playing an instore at Soundscapes tomorrow at 6PM and will be at Lee’s Palace on March 10.

Ca Va Cool interviews The Balconies while Toro has a studio session. They’ve got an in-store at Criminal Records on March 12 at 6PM and play the Horseshoe at 9:20PM on March 13.

eye and The Brock Press have features on Born Ruffians, who will release Say It on June 1. They’re at the Opera House on March 14.

And not participating in Canadian Musicfest but still Canadian music:

Owen Pallett has released the first official video from Heartland and has made available for sale the complete orchestral score of the album – perfect for aspiring Owen Pallett cover orchestras. The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with Pallett, who plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 8.

Video: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”

Chart has details on the sophomore effort from Tokyo Police Club, entitled Champ and still awaiting a release date.

Danny ClinchSnotty Southern-fried garage-punk isn’t normally the sort of thing that I’d be into, but when it’s done as well and as energetically as youthful Kentucky outfit Cage The Elephant do it, it’s hard not to appreciate. I caught them a few years ago during NxNE 2007 and while they were honestly the band on the bill I wanted to see the least, they definitely impressed.

At that time, they were blowing up huge over in Europe but weren’t making much noise on their home continent – well now I guess their self-titled debut has caught on over here, because they’re back in Toronto for one of our festivals but rather than being sandwiched in a club-level showcase bill, they’re headlining one of the city’s big rooms. Their March 10 headlining show at The Phoenix is one of the kick-off shows for Canadian Musicfest, and will also feature As Tall As Lions and Morning Teleportation.

Admission for the all-ages show is $16.50 in advance or via CMF wristband, but courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Cage The Elephant” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, March 5.

OurStage has an interview with Cage The Elephant frontman Matt Shultz and Spinner and Daytrotter have sessions with the band from last year for you to watch and download, respectively.

Video: Cage The Elephant – “Back Against The Wall”
Video: Cage The Elephant – “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”
MySpace: Cage The Elephant

MySpaceWe’d gotten off pretty clean so far here in Toronto with respect to Winter weather, but while it’s hardly a snowpocalypse out there the last couple of days, it seems our run of clean sidewalks and dry feet is finally done – with less than a month left, formally, of Winter. Help, however, is on the way. Not in the form of a renegade chinook somehow making it across the entire continent, but in the a pair of bands whose brand of upbeat, good times guitar pop could be just the thing to chase away the winter blahs – at least for an evening.

I’m talking about the double-bill of Los Angeles’ Foreign Born and Philadelphia’s Free Energy, who are traversing the continent on tour and will be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on March 9. Free Energy’s debut Stuck On Nothing will be available digitally as of that date with a physical release coming May 4. Foreign Born’s Person To Person hit the streets last year.

Tickets for the show are $12.50 in advance but courtesy of Live Nation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to be Foreign Born” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, March 5.

For more Free Energy, head over to Daytrotter for a downloadable session and RCRDLBL for another album track.

MP3: Foreign Born – “Vacationing People”
MP3: Foreign Born – “Early Warnings”
MP3: Free Energy – “Free Energy”
MP3: Free Energy – “Hope Child”
Video: Foreign Born – “Early Warnings”
Video: Foreign Born – “Winter Games”
Video: Free Energy – “Free Energy”
MySpace: Foreign Born
MySpace: Free Energy

Nikolaj Holm MollerWord is that earlier works from Denmark’s Efterklang tilted much more towards the experimental than their just-released third effort and 4AD debut Magic Chairs. And though Magic Chairs is hardly a collection of 3-minute, radio-friendly pop songs – it’s filled with typically Scandinavian twists and turns – it’s suffused with enough rich melodies and sweeping orchestrations to make keep it rooted firmly in heart rather than head. If they were more cerebral on past works, they’re certainly looking to dial that down this time out.

Efterklang will bring their Magic Chairs to North America on tour next week and that includes a date at the El Mocambo in Toronto on March 6. Tickets are $10 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I have one pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Efterklang” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, March 3.

Drowned In Sound solicited a track-by-track annotation of the new album from the band and there’s a live performance available to watch at 4AD Sessions.

MP3: Efterklang – “Modern Drift”
Video: Efterklang – “Modern Drift”
MySpace: Efterklang