Richard DumasHow long have people been telling me to listen to Tindersticks? At least a couple years, probably longer – at one point a label rep was so sure the Nottingham-based band and I were kismet that they sent me copies of their last two studio albums – Can Our Love… and Waiting For The Moon – not out of any PR duty but because they simply felt I needed to hear them.

And I have listened, periodically spinning either of the two records and seeing the appeal more and more each time but never quite needing to hear them. Part of the problem, as I see it now, is that their sweeping, jazz- and r&b-accented, orchestrally-appointed world of desperate romance and melancholy isn’t the sort of place you can visit casually, you have to inhabit it. And I have more than enough downer music in my collection as is – something I realized when trying to put together a playlist for running a little while back. But I digress.

The arrival last Spring of their latest album and first in five years, The Hungry Saw, proved to be the kick in the ass I needed to revisit my unintentional but now not inconsiderable Tindersticks CD collection. I don’t know if it’s accurate to say that Saw is a more accessible entry point to their sound or if I’d already been conditioned enough by the other records, but things are now falling into place quite nicely for me with this band. It’s still unmistakeably Tindersticks – nothing with Stuart Staples’ distinctive croon could really be otherwise – but there’s a bit more sprightliness to the sound. Only a bit, the beautiful booziness and bleakness persists, but there’s enough to give the record a slightly brighter feel and to endow Staples’ delivery with a bit of coyness to temper its innate moroseness.

There’s still nothing here that might make it onto the exercise playlist, but if I need a soundtrack for moping, The Hungry Saw – and its compatriots – will be top of the stack. And considering how reverentially the band’s earliest works are spoken of, it’s possible that stack will be getting larger.

The band is embarking on a rare North American tour starting this week and will be at the Opera House in Toronto next Tuesday, March 10. And courtesy of Against The Grain, 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 Tindersticks” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest will close at midnight, March 6.

MP3:Tindersticks – “The Hungry Saw”
MySpace: Tindersticks

QRO, Music Snobbery and Metro talk to White Lies, whose debut To Lose My Life gets a North American release on March 10 and who play Lee’s Palace on March 31.

Virgin Music interviews Glasvegas. They have a sold-out show at the Mod Club on April 3.

Spin has excerpted a portion of their feature interview with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, who are playing the Kool Haus on May 4.

Clash gets a studio update from Twilight Sad frontman James Graham about how progress is coming on album number two. The band will be hitting the road with Mogwai this Spring and be at the Phoenix on May 4.

Scottish quintet My Latest Novel, who made an impression back in 2006 with their debut Wolves will return with a follow-up on May 18 in the form of Death And Entrances. Details at The Line Of Best Fit, sample via SxSW.

MP3: My Latest Novel – “Dragonhide”

NME reports that Manic Street Preachers have completed work on their new album – at last check entitled Journal For Plague Lovers – and are aiming for a mid-May release.

Also due out in May, the new album from Maximo Park – NME has the just-announced title of the record, and that name is Quicken The Heart.

Chart rounds up some recent quotes from Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, wherein he reveals he’s almost ready to hit the studio to record the follow-up to last year’s Dig Out Your Soul and that he does all his blogging via text message.

Caleb BuyersMost people look forward to their time off, but Carl Newman seems averse to not working even for a moment. Immediately after touring The New Pornographers’ last album Challengers into the ground, he hopped back in the studio in his solo guise of AC Newman and turned out the rather fine Get Guilty.

And now, of course, he’s heading back on tour. With a touring band that’s maybe not quite as “super-” as the Pornographers but still pretty damn good – Jon Wurster, Shane Nelken, Miranda Brown, Shaun Brodie and Tara Szczygielski – Newman will be cruising the highways and byways of North America throughout March, including a March 11 stop at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. Update: Just confirmed – Nicole Atkins, who contributes vocals to the record, will be joining the band for a few east coast dates including the Toronto show!

And, courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got a couple pairs of passes to the show to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to get guilty” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, March 7.

There’s interviews with Newman at The Santa Barbara Independent and Crawdaddy.

MP3: AC Newman – “There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve”
MP3: AC Newman – “Submarines Of Stockholm”
MySpace: AC Newman

Autumn de WildeAsk yourself, “what is the smoothest record I’ve heard this year?” Now if the answer is anything except The Bird & The Bee’s new record Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, then you simply haven’t heard Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future. The sophomore effort from the duo of Inara George and Greg Kurstin is effortlessly stylish and slick, in the very best sense of the word, blending lounge, jazz, tropicalia and, most importantly, Bacharachian pop into a blend that’s unabashedly retro in spirit but still very contemporary. After all – true cool doesn’t go out of fashion.

The Bird – that’d be George – has the sort of gorgeous coo that was made to go with berets and huge sunglasses but most importantly, perfectly suited to the sort of divine melodies that you’ll find in tracks such as “My Love” and “Birthday”. The Bee – Kurstin, of course – surrounds that voice with the perfect musical shimmer and shine and vintage beats of the sort you might have gotten had modern computers existed in the ’60s. And together, they create the sort of tunes that’d perfectly soundtrack the act of driving a convertible down from the Hollywood Hills and straight into a downtown penthouse lounge. Don’t question the physics of such an act – if you’re cool enough, it’s no problem. Sure, it’s all decidedly saccharine and breezy, but when you look and sound this good, who needs depth? Just sit back and go with it.

Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future is the sort of record that, by rights, should probably only ever be played on a proper vintage turntable, and so to that end, courtesy of Toolshed Marketing, I’ve got two copies of Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future to give away in lovely double-LP form. If you’d like one of them, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to hear about The Bird & The Bee” in the subject line and your full mailing address in the body. The contest open to residents of North America and will close at midnight, March 6.

Culture Bully and The Seattle Times have interviews with The Bird & The Bee.

Video: The Bird & The Bee – “Love Letter To Japan”
Video: The Bird & The Bee – “Polite Dance Song”
MySpace: The Bird & The Bee

The Walker Art Center and Artinfo.com ask some questions of Dean & Britta in advance of their performances with screenings of Warhol’s 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests. The DVD of the film will be out March 24.

Pitchfork talks to Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio. They play the Sound Academy on June 2.

Brendan Canning discusses revenue streams with Blurt.

Filter has a feature on Andrew Bird. He plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 3.

Exclaim talks to M Ward.

PitchforkTV has a video session with Alela Diane.

The release date for the new album from Wilco has narrowed from “Spring” to “June”.

Zach Condon talks to The AV Club about bringing Beirut to Mexico for the recording of March Of The Zapotec.

eye talks to Asobi Seksu about their decision to tone it down and go it as a duo on Hush. They play the El Mocambo next Tuesday, March 3. Bell supports.

Pitchfork gets a list of their favourite things from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

PitchforkTV goes into the studio with Dinosaur Jr, who have just signed with Jagjaguwar and will release their new album this Summer.

The Daily Swarm talks to Bob Mould about his forthcoming autobiography and new album The Life & Times, due out April 7.

Tommy Stinson tells Billboard that the recent round of reissues may well close the book for good on The Replacements – a reunion does not appear to be in the cards. Magnet, in the meantime, lists of the Mats’ top five overrated and underrated songs.

NPR has a session and interview with Robyn Hitchcock. He’s at the Mod Club on April 16 with the Venus 3.

AEG LiveI’ve given away a lot of stuff over the years, some big, some small, but most or all, I like to think, pretty cool and of genuine interest to those who visit. But I think I can say with no small degree of certainty that this is the coolest contest I’ve ever been able to run.

Leonard Cohen is a figure for whom the term “living legend” was created. He’s not just a Canadian icon, but a global one. He’s… well come on. He’s Leonard Cohen. And though he’s kept a low profile in recent years, he returned to full-on active duty last year with a rapturously-received Canadian and European tour and has carried that forward into 2009, first being revealed as one of the top-billed performers at Coachella, then playing his first American show in over 15 years in New York City last week and almost before that show was over, announcing a massive North American tour. Having played a four-night stand in Toronto last year, he’s not coming to the 416 this time around but will be just down the QEW on May 19 for a date at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.

And this is where it gets exciting. Courtesy of AEG Live, I have two pairs of tickets to give away for the show. That’s right. Leonard Cohen tickets. For you. The public on-sale for the show is at 10AM on Monday morning, but rather than feverishly hitting refresh on your browser when you should be working and worrying about getting shunted to TicketsNow, two lucky readers will be able to sit back and relax in the knowledge that two golden ducats will be waiting for them at the Copps will call on the 19th of May. Are you excited? Hell, I’m excited and I don’t even know if I’m going to get to go to the show.

And it’s going to work like this. To enter, you need to select your favourite Leonard Cohen lyric, be it a line, a couplet, a verse, and tell me why you love it. Make it 100-150 words, give or take, and leave it in the comments. The submission is just the price of admission – winners will still be chosen at random from submissions. Make sure to include your email in the submission so I can contact the winners. Closing time for this one will be Sunday night, March 1, at midnight. Hop to it.

And to send you on your way and get you in the spirit, Leonard just contributed a new poem to The New Yorker. His Live In London album, taken from last year’s tour, is out on March 31 – details at Billboard.

Update: The New York Times has an interview.
Update 2: NPR is streaming his show at the Beacon Theatre in NYC from last week.
Update 3: The Globe & Mail has an interview.

Contest is closed – congratulations to Matthew and Dimitri, who won the tickets. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Video: Leonard Cohen – “Democracy”
Video: Leonard Cohen – “Closing Time”
Video: Leonard Cohen – “Dance Me To The End Of Love”
Video: Leonard Cohen – “In My Secret Life”
Video: Leonard Cohen – “First We Take Manhattan”
MySpace: Leonard Cohen

Maple MusicI remember when Ben Kweller’s debut record first came out in 2002, all the press was keen to point out that he had formerly been in pubescent-punk-pop band Radish, which may have meant something to someone who had known who Radish were. Which I did not.

But now, with four albums to his name and still not 30 years old, Kweller doesn’t need the “wunderkind” angle to get attention – he’s certainly crafted a respectable career as a singer-songwriter and will bring his latest record, the country-fried Changing Horses, to town for an in-store at Soundscapes on February 22 at 3PM and then a full and proper show at the Mod Club that evening.

And courtesy of Maple Music, I’ve got a pair of tickets to said show to give away as well as a copy of Changing Horses on CD and two more copies of the album for a couple runners-up. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Ben Kweller” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Since these are physical tickets that need to wind their way to you, this contest will close a little early – say midnight, February 16.

Video: Ben Kweller – “Fight”
MySpace: Ben Kweller