A Los Angeles punk legend and an Ottawan country-rocker might seem an odd pair, but X frontman John Doe and Kathleen Edwards appear to be kindred spirits, with the pair duetting on “The Golden State”, from Doe’s latest solo record A Year In The Wilderness, and the two setting out on a co-headline tour dubbed the “Hurtin’ & Flurtin'” tour.

And while that tour begins officially November 5 in Virginia, the pair are doing a special, intimate warm-up show in Toronto at the Dakota Tavern on Monday night (November 3), and courtesy of Eggplant Entertainment, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I am both hurtin’ and flurtin'” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, October 30.

And if you don’t win, tickets are only available at the door. Those open at 8 and the show is at 9:30 so if you HAVE to go, get there early and cross your fingers. I haven’t been to the place yet but I hear it’s pretty tiny.

MP3: John Doe – “The Golden State”
Video: Kathleen Edwards – “The Cheapest Key”
Video: Kathleen Edwards – “I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory”
MySpace: Kathleen Edwards

Timothy SaccentiSo how exactly do you, as a band, know when you’ve arrived? Is it when you quit your day job? When your parents accept that you’re not just wasting your life? In the case of Toronto’s Born Ruffians, is it when your debut album Red, Yellow & Blue proves popular enough that you’re able to headline a venue the size of the Opera House, as they are this Saturday night? When you’re the subject of a documentary program by Bruce McDonald following you around SxSW?

No, I think it’s when you can justify having tote bags as merch. How loyal do your fans have to be to want a tote bag? I mean, how many tote bags can an individual need? How much does one person have to tote at any given time? I do not know. It confounds me. But indeed, the Born Ruffians have their very own tote bags for sale and courtesy of Stage Fright Publicity, I’ve got one to give away – along with a remix 12″ of their latest single “Little Garcon” and a t-shirt. If you want, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Born Ruffians swag” in the subject line and your full mailing address and t-shirt size (and gender) and get that in to me before midnight, October 31.

Video: Born Ruffians – “Hummingbird”
Video: Born Ruffians – “I Need A Life”
Trailer: The Rawside Of… Born Ruffians
MySpace: Born Ruffians

O’DeathIf you were under the impression that Appalachian folk music was all about banjos and fiddles and hoe-downs… well, that’s not unreasonable. But if you thought that this recipe precluded the possibility of all-out rock… well get thee to the El Mocambo on November 4.

That’s the night that local self-proclaimed purveyors of “death country”, Elliott Brood, bring their tour in support of new album Mountain Meadows through town and with them, they’re bringing an outfit who could very well make them look and sound reserved, New York’s O’Death. They’re releasing their new record Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin tomorrow and to call it ragged or rollicking doesn’t really do it justice. Though there are points where the band pauses to take a breath, most of it is a non-stop moonshine-powered bender that doesn’t intend to leave anything standing.

Courtesy of Sneak Attack, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away to next Tuesday’s show at the ElMo so if you want, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see O’Death in the subject line and your full name in the body and get that to me before midnight, October 30.

You can currently stream the whole record at Spinner and there’s an interview with the band at Drowned In Sound.

MP3: O’Death – “Lowtide”
Stream: O’Death / Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin
MySpace: O’Death

MySpaceSo it’s for reasons entirely unclear to me that the promo copy of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ 2007 record 100 Days, 100 Nights sat on my shelf for… well, it’s probably coming up on a year since it was released, so probably that long. I mean, I’d seen the glowing reviews and read more than a few magazine features about Jones and her long road to fame, so it’s not like I’d never heard of her. And though you may not be able to tell from a lot of my listening habits, I do like old-school soul – and Jones is soul of the oldest school.

But better late than never, right? I’m finally spinning it and am digging it, but don’t have a review to offer up right now – besides the fact that I’ve not been living with it that long, I don’t have the depth of knowledge about soul and rhythm & blues to offer anything of substance, besides, well, I like it. But what I do have to offer, courtesy of rootmeansquare, is a couple pairs of passes to their upcoming show at the Guvernment (moved from the Kool Haus) next Wednesday night, October 29. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Sharon Jones” in the subject line and your full name in the body and do so before midnight, October 26. And by all accounts they put on an amazing live show, so if you’re not already going… hit this up.

MP3: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – “100 Days 100 Nights”
Video: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – “100 Days 100 Nights”
Video: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – “Tell Me”

Hey Feist has a new video. It has marionettes. She visits Massey Hall on November 1 and the Air Canada Centre on November 3.

Video: Feist – “Honey, Honey”

Also with a new video is Neil Halstead – he’s got a show at the Drake Underground on November 8 and note that it’s an early show – doors at 8, performance at 9:30.

Video: Neil Halstead – “Paint A Face”

Laundromatinee – a new site featuring downloadable sessions along with videos, interviews and photos, has all of the above with Bon Iver and unfortunately, his just-announced December tour does not include a Toronto stop.

Event Guide talks to Aimee Mann.

Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong tells Billboard how the physical edition of Intimacy will differ from the one offered for download back in August.

Austin instrumental band The Octopus Project will be at the Drake Underground on October 28. Update: I’ve just been informed this show isn’t at The Drake. And no one knows where it is. So… yeah.

MP3: The Octopus Project – “I Saw The Bright Shinies”

My Macbook Pro screen has died. Everything else works, but the screen won’t turn on. I am on a plane tomorrow morning. This is very bad. Quite possibly no updating for the next few days… FUCK.

Illustration by Jason MunnOnline retailer Insound is running a little campaign called Insound 20 wherein they’ve commissioned artist Jason Munn of The Small Stakes to create designs for 20 different bands for use on a range of super limited-edition merch including hoodies, t-shirts and posters.

To help mark the series I’ve got one of the 200 silkscreened prints available to give away – the lovely wheat-themed one for Okkervil River. If you’d like to win it – and really, who wouldn’t? – head over to Insound and do so. The contest will be open for one week starting from today, meaning that it closes as of next Monday, October 27. I’ll announce the winner here the next day.

And if you’re looking to score or even just check out the other posters in the series, head over these other fine sites:

Paste Magazine
You Ain’t No Picasso
Design Milk
Gorilla Vs Bear
Josh Spear
Pretty Much Amazing
I Guess I’m Floating
Stories In High Fidelity
Said The Gramophone
I Am Fuel, You Are Friends
The Music Slut
OMG! Posters
Le Blogotheque
The Yellow Stereo
Stickers And Donuts
Grain Edit
Music Is art
Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
…and Insound will have the last one.