Norman WongEven though he coined it himself, I often wonder if Joel Gibb regrets encouraging the use of “gay church folk music” as a description for the music of The Hidden Cameras. Certainly they got a lot of mileage out of it in the band’s earlier days, as it was both attention grabbing and accurate, but now, four albums in, it probably deserves to be retired.

It’s not that it’s no longer descriptive – Gibb is still gay (one assumes), it’s still music and it’s still built on foundations of folk and church traditions – but it doesn’t give them due credit for evolving from record to record and shedding some of the Cameras’ more titillating/explicit facets in exchange for more musical and lyrical sophistication. Case in point, their latest album Origin: Orphan. It remains unmistakeably a Hidden Cameras record – Joel Gibb’s muse is simply too distinctive for it to be anything else – but there’s a clear effort to broaden the definition of exactly what a Hidden Cameras record is. I’ve always found past albums to feel a bit static, so the ranginess Origin: Orphan is a real eye-opener.

There’s also a heaviness to the record that’s new, and maybe it’s just the excitement of being surprised by a Hidden Cameras album, but I think they wear it well. While the signature whimsy remains, it’s accented by sounds and textures that give them a real weight – the shrieking outro of “Do I Belong?”, the insistent descending riff of the title track, and the glorious foreboding of orchestral centerpiece “Walk On” – and end up the most memorable moments. And it’s the contrast of those dark pieces that give the brighter pop numbers even more jump, like the giddy almost-closing pairing of “Underage” and “The Little Bit” which sound as buoyant as anything they’ve ever recorded. Having reached a point in their existence where they seemed to be faced with the choice of sticking to the tried and true and becoming predictable or trying something new and risking not playing to their strengths, The Hidden Cameras have somehow managed to not only do both, but turn in maybe their best record yet in the process.

The Hidden Cameras are currently in the midst of an extensive North American tour with Gentleman Reg that will wrap with a homecoming show at the Opera House in Toronto on December 5. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance but courtesy of Rootmeansquare, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see The Hidden Cameras” in the subject line and your full name in the body and get that in to me before midnight, November 25.

Gibb talks to Spinner about how a trip to Berlin inspired the direction of the new album.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “Walk On”
Video: The Hidden Cameras – “In The NA”
MySpace: The Hidden Cameras

The Magnetic Fields will take the theme of their next album Realism to heart by playing songs from it in the flesh on a North American tour that kicks off shortly after the album’s January 26, 2010 release date. That includes a February 8 date at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in Toronto, their first visit since a two-night stand at Trinity-St. Paul’s in July 2004. Tickets are $30.50 plus fees, onsale this Saturday though a presale started yesterday – I got second row centre tickets, so they had good ones blocked off.

Beach House have released the first MP3 from their third album Teen Dream, due out January 26. I kinda think I like this song better than anything they’ve done yet.

MP3: Beach House – “Norway”

Ever wish you could make your birthday last forever? Constantines do – their tenth anniversary celebrations have extended from a two-night stand at Lee’s Palace to a three night engagement, the third night taking place a full week after the second. So that’s December 11, 12 and 19 and with different support each night. The 11th will feature Attack In Black and Weakerthan John K Samson doing a solo set, the 12th has Oneida and Metz warming things up and the 19th has Julie Doiron and Ladyhawk on the bill.

Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija talks to Spinner, The Canmore Leader and See.

A slew of in-stores have been announced by Sonic Boom. You’ve got Koushik on November 19 at 7:30PM, Lullabye Arkestra on November 21 at 7PM, Malajube on November 25 at 7PM, The Schomberg Fair on November 28 at 4PM and Everything All The Time on December 2 at 7PM. All shows are free, though a donation of canned food is encouraged and appreciated.

MP3: Lullabye Arkestra – “We Fuck The Night”
MP3: Malajube – “Porte Disparu”
MP3: Everything All The Time – “Lazy Days”

The Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise series continues through this month, with a number of performances and discussions of interest to, well, probably anyone reading this site. Katie Stelmanis will give a performance at the Bloor/Gladstone branch this Friday, November 20, at 8PM, Colin Medley of Morning Noon Night will discuss the finer points of videography and “Documenting the Local Music Scene” at the Kennedy/Eglinton branch on November 24 at 7PM and Steve Jordan, grand poo-bah of the Polaris Music Prize, will get into the nitty-gritty of just how much of a bribe it takes to make the long list, short list and win the whole she-bang, respectively. Kidding – he’ll be talking about the Prize and Canadian music industry in general at the Northern District branch on December 1 at 7PM.

Paper Bag Records is celebrating seven years of not going under with a special covers compilation featuring their artists entitled 7 Year Itch and available to grab for free.

WikipediaYes, they will be wearing the Energy Domes. And the jumpsuits. And yes, they’ll fill them out a little more snugly than they did when they last visited a quarter-century ago, but New Wave pioneers DEVO are coming back to Toronto. They’ve got two dates set for The Phoenix on November 23 and 24, where they’ll perform one of their classic albums each night in their entirety – their 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are DEVO! and their (relatively) hit-laden third record Freedom Of Choice for the Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Some might think it odd that an outfit so forward-looking and with a new album in Fresh due out next year would indulge in such overt nostalgia, but what you hear there is the sound of legions of DEVO fans not caring at all. They’re gonna hear “Whip It”.

And so could you. Tickets for these shows are a not-cheap $48.25 in advance, but courtesy Against The Grain, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the Freedom Of Choice show. No, you don’t get the freedom to choose which night you go. No, the irony is not lost on me. Move on. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to whip it! Into Shape!” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, November 19.

There’s interviews with DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh at Chicago Tribune, Wired and The Stranger.

Video: DEVO – “Whip It!”
MySpace: DEVO

Sarah CassThere’s not much question that Bitte Orca, the latest record from Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, is one of the most feted records of the year – the critical math says so and so do a goodly number of people whose tastes I respect and frequently align with my own. And as such, I’ve put more time than I might normally into the record, seeking a point of ingress to understanding and appreciating what everyone else seems to get but which I don’t. And I think I’m about ready to throw in the towel.

To its merits, Bitte Orca is meticulously crafted and a fine showcase for the talents and abilities of all involved. Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian’s vocals swoop birdlike in, out and around the dense musical arrangements of Dirty Projector mastermind Dave Longstreth and while his own voice isn’t nearly as lovely as theirs, it’s also an impressively distinctive and agile instrument. The record draws deep from modern R&B for inspiration and does a fine job of keeping many of those reference points intact while rendering them with different sounds and textures but that, I think is where they lose me.

The thing that bugs me most about most of what’s classed as R&B these days is the relentless showiness of the vocals. The acrobatics, the over-emoting, the pure ostentatiousness of it all. So that the Dirty Projectors emulate this aesthetic so well and extend it to the instrumentation is pretty much a recipe for not doing it for me. There’s no shortage of moments that come close, but they’re almost inevitably undone by a flurry of vocal trills or an epically meandering guitar line that serve no musical purpose that I can discern except to prove that they could do it. And it’s the fact that they come so close to catching my ear but fail to do so that’s most frustrating – I thought their contribution with David Byrne for the Dark Was The Night charity compilation was terrific, and if Bitte Orca had some of the focus that track did, I’d probably be toeing the party line in celebrating the record’s genius. Instead, despite my best efforts, I have to align myself with one fictionalized Emperor Joseph II, even if it means ultimately being on the wrong side of history… “there are simply too many notes”.

So that’s me, but I know lots of you love you some Dirty Projectors and are excited that the band are coming back this coming Saturday, November 14, for a show at the Opera House. Tickets are $16 in advance but courtesy of REMG, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to be a Dirty Projection” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Also feel free to tell me why I’m an idiot for not loving the band. Contest closes at midnight, November 12.

Dirty Projectors are declared the epitome of Brooklyn awesomeness in a New York Magazine about how awesome Brooklyn is. Tiny Mix Tapes dissects – including charts and sheet music – a Dirty Projectors song.

MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”
MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Useful Chamber”
MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Temecula Sunrise”
MP3: Dirty Projectors & David Byrne – “Knotty Pine”
Video: Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”

Grizzly Bear, another critical darling whose altar I can’t quite bring myself to genuflect before, have released a new video from Veckatimest.

Video: Grizzly Bear – “Ready, Able”

Paste talks to Beach House, who are preparing to release their third record in Teen Dream on January 26 of the new year.

Clash interviews Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo.

Monsters Of Folk have a new video.

Video: Monsters of Folk – “Temazcal”

Yours Truly has a living room video session with Thao with The Get Down Stay Down.

Pixies are offering a free live EP of Doolittle performances to mark the start of their Doolittle 20th Anniversary tour. Grab it from their website.

Beatroute and JAM interview Ohbijou, who were the victims of a violin theft in Montreal a couple days back. See said violin in happier times in a video performance at Southern Souls.

Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham tells New York Magazine what the band are doing with their Polaris Music Prize winnings – a star-studded remake of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid.

Frank YangIt’s been over two months since The Wooden Sky released their fine new album If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone, and in that time they’ve toured across this country and the one below, made a documentary and gathered accolades wherever they’ve gone, but they’ve yet to play a proper hometown show in support of the new record. They’ve done little gigs in basements and on rooftops but nothing in what you’d call a conventional space – a situation they’ll be rectifying next Friday evening when they put down stakes for an evening at Lee’s Palace.

Tickets for the show, which also feature Hooded Fang and Brian Borcherdt on the bill, are $12.50 in advance but courtesy of The Musebox, I have two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to live under a Wooden Sky” in the subject line and your full name in the body and get that in before midnight, November 11.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Bit Part”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”

Junior BoysLee’s Palace is the place to be next Friday night, at least for those who think the square wave is the sexiest sound out there. First you’ve got Toronto’s Woodhands, who favour the extroverted, in-your-face approach, their mating dance consisting of flailing limbs, showers of sweat and thrusting keytars. And at the other side of the spectrum, the smooth electro-soul sounds of Hamilton’s Junior Boys, the aural equivalent of the chilled champagne, the casual-but-deliberate brush against the arm and eyebrow arched just so. Two paths; one destination – “where are my pants?”.

Tickets to this seminar on seduction are $20 in advance but courtesy of REMG, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show – to enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to get sexy with The Junior Boys” in the subject line and your full name in the body – get those in to me before midnight, November 4. Awwww yeah.

MP3: Junior Boys – “In The Morning”
MP3: Woodhands – “Dancer”