Sargent HouseFans of Fang Island residing in Toronto can be forgiven for finding the Brooklyn combo’s Fall touring itinerary a confusing bit of tease. Following some European dates at the tail end of Summer, they’re heading out west with Matt & Kim for September, and then with Coheed & Cambria through the midwest and across Canada in October, inching ever closer to the 416 but stopping juuuuust short, wrapping things in Kitchener on October 29 (Coheed & Cambria having brought their comic book metal act to town back in May).

Surely it wouldn’t have been too much difficulty to just hang around just one more day and bring the arena-sized guitar-tap-happy anthems of their self-titled debut to Toronto, considering they last time they were here was in July opening for The Flaming Lips and there were – generously – maybe 100 people on hand to see them. But as it turns out, we aren’t being neglected but just put off a little bit. The road warriors will be back at it in November and riffing furiously at audiences in the eastern half of North America alongside Delicate Steve and that will include a November 16 date at the El Mocambo; tickets $11.50 in advance.

MP3: Fang Island – “Daisy”
MP3: Fang Island – “Life Coach”
Video: Fang Island – “Careful Crossers”
Video: Fang Island – “Life Coach”
Video: Fang Island – “Daisy”

Hailing from the back woods of rural Michigan, Breathe Owl Breathe will be at Wrongbar on September 22 in advance of the September 28 release of their new record Magic Central. Kind of an odd venue for their pretty and pretty quiet folk-pop, but it is what it is.

MP3: Breathe Owl Breathe – “Own Stunts”
Video: Breathe Owl Breathe – “Own Stunts”

Alejandro Escovedo, just here opening up for Blue Rodeo, will return for his own show at the Opera House on September 29 – tickets $25 in advance

Chart talks to Peelander-Z, whose two-night stand in Toronto begins tonight at The Velvet Underground and wraps tomorrow at The Silver Dollar.

JAM and The Boston Phoenix talk to Kele, who brings his solo debut to the Mod Club on Friday night, September 3.

To mark the late Summer tour that brings them to the El Mocambo on Saturday night, September 3, Telekinesis have released a new EP called Parallel Seismic Conspiracies that is available digitally anywhere people have internets but in physical form only at their shows. And they’ve made a video for one of the songs.

Video: Telekinesis – “Dirty Thing”

Also doing the tour-exclusive release thing are Caribou, who have turned a recording of their incarnation as the Caribou Vibration Ensemble at last year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties in upstate New York into a live album. It will be released as a double-vinyl with accompanying DVD – presumably also of the ATP show and not the Toronto performance a few days earlier – and be sold only at shows. Like the one September 17 at the Phoenix. You can download a few of the tracks at the Free Music Archive but really, you’ll want the whole thing.

MP3: Caribou Vibration Ensemble – “Skunks”

Drowned In Sound meets Avi Buffalo. They’re at The Horseshoe on October 18.

The Fly solicits an acoustic session from The Vaselines. Their new record Sex With An X is out September 14 and they’ll play songs from it at The Horseshoe on October 30.

Spin find out where the name Grinderman came from, when “Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds” seemed perfectly accurate. Their Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they’re at The Phoenix on November 11.

Caleb ByersIt’s been a half-decade since Kathryn Calder joined The New Pornographers in 2005, and in that time she’s gone from handling the impossible task of pinch-hitting on tours for Neko Case to appearing on their last three albums and becoming an as integral part of the band – her parts may not have the force of personality as Case’s, but her more delicate approach offers an important contrast and gives Carl Newman another invaluable tool in assembling his power pop symphonies. But prior to joining the Pornographers, Calder had her own creative outlet in Immaculate Machine and while she retains a membership card for the Victoria-based band, she’s largely ceded that outfit to guitarist Brooke Gallupe. Which basically meant that a solo album was pretty much an inevitability, but that doesn’t make Are You My Mother? any less of a surprise.

My experience with Calder as a songwriter goes back as far as the first couple Immaculate Machine records and while they were decent enough pop records, they weren’t particularly exceptional within the realm of Canadian indie. The years of apprenticing to Carl Newman have clearly paid off, however, as Mother is a remarkably fully-realized solo debut, and while it features plentiful contributions from various Pornographers and other Vancouver-based musicians, Calder is clearly in the driver’s seat throughout. One might be forgiven for assuming that given her role as singer and keyboardist in the Pornographers, Calder solo might turn out a record of singer-songwriter-oriented girl-and-piano material. And while at its quieter moment Mother does strip things down to just that, numbers like album opener “Slip Away” and the barreling “Castor And Pollux” are as grandiose pop as anything the New Pornographers might create and just as instantly memorable. Mother is rangy and engaging, built around Calder’s crystalline, pitch-perfect yet expressive voice and perhaps more importantly, her impressive songwriting chops.

The New Pornographers are frequently called a “super-group”, implying that each of their members are as equally accomplished on their own as they are in the band – with Are You My Mother?, Kathryn Calder steps up and makes that even more true.

MP3: Kathryn Calder – “Arrow”
MP3: Kathryn Calder – “Slip Away”
Video: Kathryn Calder – “Slip Away”
MySpace: Kathryn Calder

If you missed North Carolina’s Lost In The Trees when they played a free show here back in June (which I previewed but did not manage to attend), they’re back on September 27 at the Drake Underground in support of Mercury shortlisted Irish act Villagers. They’ve also got a new Daytrotter session up for grabs.

MP3: Lost In The Trees – “Fireplace”
MP3: Lost In The Trees – “All Alone In An Empty House”

Winter Gloves will mark the September 7 release of their second album All Red with an acoustic in-store performance at Kops Records that same night at 5:30PM.

MP3: Winter Gloves – “Plastic Slides”

Toronto power-pop aficionados The Golden Dogs will follow up their September 17 show at the Drake Underground with a September 23 in-store performance at Soundscapes at 7PM. Their new record Coat Of Arms came out last month.

MP3: The Golden Dogs – “Permanent Record”

The Great Hall will certainly be the scene of mayhem on October 12 when the tour teaming Lightning Bolt and Dan Deacon hits Toronto. Those wanting to be out of the line of fire can take refuge on the stage because neither performer will be setting up there.

MP3: Lightning Bolt – “Colossus”
MP3: Dan Deacon – “Get Older”

LA duo No Age will be releasing their second album Everything In Between on September 28 and have announced an extensive Fall tour to support – the Toronto date comes November 18 at the Polish Combatants Hall.

MP3: No Age – “Glitter”

The Toronto Star talks to Peelander Yellow of Peelander-Z, in town to make things silly at the Velvet Underground on September 1 and The Silver Dollar on September 2.

Spinner talks to Lissie about the attention her penchant for covers has gotten her and her debut album Catching A Tiger; The Independent also has a feature. She’s at the El Mocambo on October 19.

Spinner talks to Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino and Black Book solicits a list of the band’s favourite NYC hang outs. The band’s self-titled effort will be out September 7 and they’ve just released a second video from it.

Video: Interpol – “Barricade”

Ted Leo talks to Billboard about the making of the off-off-off-off-Broadway video for “Bottled In Cork”.

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with LCD Soundsystem.

The Guardian salutes 4AD on the occasion of the legendary label’s 30th anniversary.

And a note to folks in Toronto that if you’re looking for something to do of the cinematic variety this week, you could do much worse than to check out No Heart Feelings at the Royal, where it’s screening through Thursday of this week. It’s a romantic comedy (but not really a rom-com) set in an eminently familiar Toronto from three local first-time directors and though imperfect – it suffers from the atmosphere-and-dialogue-in-lieu-of-plot vagueness that’s all too common in independent film – it’s still a winner thanks to its charm and authenticity (though I don’t do as much in and around the city nearly as much as their characters do, I have no problem believing that people actually DO these things and that I’m really just a shut-in). Don’t take my word for it, check out positive reviews in The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and The National Post.

Trailer: No Heart Feelings

Jon BergmanNot much stops Los Campesinos!. The Welsh troupe shook off the departure of two founding members – keyboardist Aleksandra last Summer and drummer Ollie almost exactly a year later – and have ploughed ahead, continuing to release new music at a ridiculous pace, including their third album Romance Is Boring earlier this year and just this week, following up with a new EP entitled All’s Well That Ends. And just last week, frontman Gareth took a header whilst stage-diving and despite suffering “a sprained wrist, ripped ear, mild concussion and a ‘lump on the head'”, finished the song and the gig.

One thing that they couldn’t plough through, however, was a volcano – namely Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull. Said geological entity’s disquiet this past Spring forced the band to scotch a number of North American dates as they sat in a Heathrow departure lounge instead of pogoing around east coast stages, but they’re aiming to make some of those up and more. They just announced a Fall tour which kicks off in one of the cities who lost a show – Toronto – but instead of the spacious Phoenix, where they were slated to play in April, they’ll instead be at the decidedly clubbier Wrongbar on October 8. Considering the new joint is less than half the size of the old joint, expect the $20 tickets to be gone fast when they go on sale at 10AM on Friday.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “There Are Listed Buildings”
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future”

Paste reports that Noah & The Whale have targeted a March 2011 release for their third album.

Mojo talks to Johnny Marr about his soundtrack work.

Spinner talks to Glen Hansard of The Swell Season about their upcoming projects, which include a Frames reunion and tour for him and a solo record from Marketa Irglova.

Spin talks to Klara S&omul;derberg of First Aid Kit, who will be in town at the El Mocambo on October 15.

Boston post-punk legends Mission Of Burma have booked a date at The Garrison on October 22. So far it looks like a one-off and not part of a tour, but considering they didn’t come up here for last year’s The Sound The Speed The Light and are making it up to us. Either way, if my records are correct, they haven’t been here since Fall of 2006 and while the reunion has been ongoing for some time, do not take them for granted and if you haven’t seen them, do so. End PSA.

MP3: Mission Of Burma – “1, 2, 3 Partyy”
MP3: Mission Of Burma – “Max Ernst”

Exclaim reports that Matt & Kim have given their next record a name and release date. Expect to hear a lot of Sidewalks when they play the Phoenix on October 29, as it will be in stores the following Tuesday, November 2.

Daytrotter has a session with The Depreciation Guild; they’re at the El Mocambo on October 4.

NPR is streaming a studio session with Stars. They will be at Massey Hall on October 23.

JJ LevineRae Spoon’s last album, 2008’s Superioryouareinferior, may have served as the point of entry for me into the Calgary native’s works, but his fifth album was more of an exit for him in that it represented a push out of the country-folk scene with which he’d been associated and into the (relatively) broader realm of Canadian indie-pop. Maybe not the promised land, but without that bit of crossover, the record probably wouldn’t have otherwise caught my ear certainly wouldn’t have last year’s Polaris ballot.

For the follow-up record Love Is A Hunter, Spoon’s muse took him a little farther afield – Berlin, to be precise. The influence of the time spent abroad was more overt on last year’s free-to-download Alexandre Decoupigny collaboration What Are You Waiting For? (Worauf Wartest Du?), but the time spent in and around the European dance scene is still echoes quite clearly on Hunter.

But rather than try to craft a record of club bangers or electro-clash anthems, Spoon makes those influences lyrical concerns than sonic ones, opting to contemplate the experiences and interactions, diary-style, and thus sticks to his strengths. This isn’t to say that it’s all more of the same, though. Spoon’s sound is still more folk than anything else – you can take the boy out of the country and all that – but Hunter comes fairly suffused with electronic beats and textures that dance in and around the compositions, offering an interesting counterpoint to Spoon’s crystalline voice and otherwise spare arrangements. They don’t necessarily elevate them, but they do add some extra aural interest. And while the meeting of influences on Hunter doesn’t create the same stop-in-your tracks, emotional impact of Superioryouareinferior, it does further the case as Rae Spoon as one of the country’s up-and-coming songsmiths and certainly a talent to continue watching.

Exclaim has a short piece on Spoon, who kicks off a cross-Canada tour next week and plays the Gladstone in Toronto on October 22.

MP3: Rae Spoon – “Death By Elektro”
MP3: Rae Spoon – “You Can Dance”
Video: Rae Spoon – “Love Is A Hunter”

Details have emerged about the forthcoming Neil Young album produced by Daniel Lanois. It will be entitled Le Noise and be available on September 28 in pretty much every format imaginable (LP, CD, MP3, Blu-Ray, iPhone…). I’m not the biggest fan of Lanois’ own work, but as a producer he’s helmed some amazing records and triggered creative renaissances from some legendary artists. Really anxious to hear what he’s done with Neil.

Exclaim has put Land Of Talk’s Liz Powell on the cover of their September issue with accompanying feature piece. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 16.

MP3: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”

MOG talks to Matt Camirand of Black Mountain. Their new record Wilderness Heart is out September 14 and they play the Phoenix on October 31.

Arcade Fire’s first video from The Suburbs is a live clip of “Ready To Start” recorded in July in London.

Video: Arcade Fire – “Ready To Start”

Two Hours Traffic have a new clip from this year’s Territory.

Video: Two Hours Traffic – “Happiness Burns”

There’s also a new video from Tokyo Police Club’s new record Champ. They’ll be showcasing it when they open up for Phoenix at the Ricoh Coliseum on October 22. Still find it weird that they haven’t done or scheduled a headlining hometown show for the new record yet.

Video: Tokyo Police Club – “Bambi”

Hot Hot Heat and Hey Rosetta will pair up for a show at the Mod Club on October 8, tickets $29.25.

MP3: Hot Hot Heat – “21 @ 12” (alternate version)
Video: Hey Rosetta – “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

The lineup for this year’s Supercrawl, the annual arts and music free street thing in Hamilton, has been announced and offers a compelling argument for making the trek to Steeltown – on September 25, they’ll be presenting performances from Elliott Brood, Cadence Weapon and Bruce Peninsula, amongst many others. And did I mention it’s free?

And finally, if you’re all nostalgic for this past June when NXNE descended on the city like so much a plague of locusts, then check out this feature at Le Blogotheque where the duly commissioned Take-Away Show videographers captured performances from a number of artists in the streets of Toronto. Part one features The Soft Pack, Avi Buffalo, Library Voices and DM Stith and there’s more to come.

Doron GildIt’s understandable if Toronto fans of Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot waiting for them to come back to town turned their frowns upside down and then right back again when their local appearance this coming Saturday was announced – rather than a proper club show to showcase the material from their just-released-today second album The Orchard, they were booked in at the Molson Amphitheatre opening up for City & Colour and Tegan & Sara. Which isn’t to say that some of their fanbase ven diagrams don’t overlap, but most were probably hoping for something a little more intimate and inexpensive.

So for those folks, it’s time to get happy again as it was announced yesterday that the band would be sticking around in town a few more days (or maybe just driving back from Syracuse, it’s not far) to play a special show at the Mod Club next Monday night with no advance tickets; admission is limited to those who either buy a copy of The Orchard at one of the city’s independent record stores (Soundscapes, Criminal Records, Rotate This and Sonic Boom), online via Arts & Crafts or who enter a contest by emailing contest@arts-crafts.ca. Obviously total capacity is limited and nothing is guaranteed, but it’s a pretty cool chance to see a terrific live band in a more amenable setting than, say, the Amphitheatre. And am I the only one who appreciates the clockwork nature of Ra Ra Riot’s visits? This will be the third year in a row they’ve come through within the two week span around the start of September. Okay, maybe it’s just me.

Soundproof talks to violinist Rebecca Zeller while Exclaim has a combination interview/review. Intereview!

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

Prior to taking the stage at the Horseshoe later that night in full-band mode backed by Mike Watt and The Missingmen, Lou Barlow will be showcasing his solo and acoustic (presumably) side via an in-store at Criminal Records this Saturday, August 28, at 7PM. Express Night Out and Isthmus Daily Paper talk to Barlow.

MP3: Lou Barlow – “Losercore”

Seattle’s Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band will bring their shiny new record Where the Messengers Meet to the Drake Underground on September 18.

MP3: Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – “Leaving Trails”
MP3: Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – “Hurrah”

The resuscitated, presumably still very loud and almost certainly still pissed off Atari Teenage Riot will be at the Phoenix on October 4.

Video: Atari Teenage Riot – “Revolution Action”

Illinois girl Lissie, whose debut Catching A Tiger is probably a lot more pop and less country than most would have expected but still a good showcase for her talents, will make her Toronto debut at the El Mocambo on October 19, tickets $12.50. If the buzz around her continues as it has, expect this one to sell out quickly, even if it’s just to people who want to hear her cover Lady Gaga. MTV has an interview.

MP3: Lissie – “Little Lovin'”
MP3: Lissie – “In Sleep” (live)
Video: Lissie – “Cuckoo”

Ted Leo has released a glorious new video which is the culmination of all his retirement talk since way back in July… well played, sir.

Video: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Bottled In Cork”

The Montreal Mirror have a short interview with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus (who appears in the aforementioned Ted Leo video – did you see him and his mighty beard?). They’ve made available for download the opening track from The Monitor, edited down to radio length, and while it’s logical in that it’s pretty long in its original form, know that the proper way to experience the song is as it appears on the record – followed by the rest of the record.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union” (radio edit)

There’s a new Antony & The Johnsons for a song from both the Thank You For Your Love EP, out today, and the Swanlights full-length, out October 12.

Video: Antony & The Johnsons – “Thank You For Your Love”

Sufjan Stevens has put out an epic-length EP entitled All Delighted People which is available to stream for free and to download from his Bandcamp for $5 and sets the stage for what we might expect when he plays Massey Hall on October 13.

QRO talks to Scott Devendorf of The National.

The National Post talks to Greg Edwards of Autolux, in town tonight at Lee’s Palace.

Pitchfork has details on the next A Sunny Day In Glasgow, which will be called Autumn, Again and be available to download completely for free as of October 19. Until then, you can have one track. But just one.

MP3: A Sunny Day In Glasgow – “Drink Drank Drunk”

Spinner and Exclaim talk to The Drums, who’re at The Mod Club on October 21.