FacebookOf all of the remarkable things that Feist has done in the past few years, one of the most impressive is managing to go from a state of almost complete ubiquity circa The Reminder to one of relative obscurity. Over the last two years, there’ve been the occasional guest appearance on others’ records and even rarer live appearances with Broken Social Scene, but by and large she’s done a fine job of keeping a low profile – presumably working on a new record but no one really knows.

That profile has risen again of late with the upcoming release of Look At What The Light Did Now, a documentary film culled from footage taken during The Reminder tour. Coming out on DVD on December 7 with an accompanying CD of recordings taken from and around the film, it received a hometown screening last night at the Royal Ontario Museum… which probably seemed like a good idea but proved to be an almost disastrous one thanks to the horrible acoustics in the main atrium. But if there was an upside to it, it was that you were forced to pay almost unnatural attention to the film to extract anything comprehensible from the echo- and reverb-drenched audio.

With regards to the film itself, some have questioned if there’s really a need for a Feist documentary when her career isn’t a decade old, and if Light was a biography of any sort, it’d be a valid question. But rather than focus on Leslie Feist the person, it spends most of its running time examining the art around The Reminder – not only the songs and the album itself, but everything surrounding it. The portion focusing on Clea Minaker’s shadow puppet/projections were particularly fascinating; I already regretted not seeing any of The Reminder shows – I last saw Feist perform way back in the Summer of 2005 – and now regret it even more now that I see what I missed.

Other segments recounted the recording of The Reminder in France, the filming of videos for “1, 2, 3, 4”, “I Feel It All” and “Mushaboom”, the last of which is not Reminder period-correct but offered some terrific anecdotes from director Patrick Daughters, and the assemblage of the artwork for The Reminder. Though there were some segments focusing on her early days and ascendancy to stardom, they were kept to a minimum, as were the behind the scenes tour footage that’re typically the bread and butter of musician docs (though the scenes of Feist and her band and crew playing ball hockey was pretty great). Instead, the topic of who she is and how she got where she is was left to be implied by her work, how she approaches her work and how and why she works with others. In focusing on the what and how rather than the who, Look At What The Light Did Now manages to be an engaging and entertaining document of one of Canada’s biggest and brightest musical stars while barely acknowledging that fact.

And in the Q&A with Feist following the screening, the inevitable question of “when is the next record coming” was raised and all that she’d offer in return was that she’d be recording over the Winter – based on that, I wouldn’t expect a new album before next Fall.

Video: Feist & Little Wings – “Look At What The Light Did Now”
Trailer: Look At What The Light Did Now

Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene talks about the KC Accidental days with Spinner. Broken plays the Sound Academy on December 9 and 10.

Planets profiles Dan Mangan.

The Guardian talks to Dan Snaith of Caribou.

Away from the city for far too long – she played here four times in eight months circa Neptune City – Nicole Atkins returns to Toronto for a show at the Horseshoe on February 26 with support coming from Cotton Jones; tickets $15 in advance. Her new record Mondo Amore arrives January 25.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”
MP3: Cotton Jones – “Gotta Cheer Up”

Keren Ann 101, the new record from, Keren Ann will be out February 21 – the rather divine first single “My Name Is Trouble” is currently streaming at her website.

John Vanderslice has set a Janury 25 release date for his next record, which will bear the title of White Wilderness, a record recorded over three days with the assistance of the Bay Area Magik*Magik Orchestra.

The Depreciation Guild have released a new video from their latest Spirit Youth.

Video: The Depreciation Guild – “Blue Lily”

Prefix and The Toledo Blade chat with Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.

MyspaceFor the better part of the year, I’ve been hearing about this Guelph duo Memoryhouse – another entrant in the increasingly fashionable he-she duo band configuration sweepstakes – and while I liked what I heard in passing of their hazy, languorous dream-pop, I figured I’d pay more attention around the next time they scheduled a local show. After all, they’re from Guelph. That’s like right over there.

And yet any time I saw tour dates posted throughout the year, they’d be touring and gathering accolades in far-flung places in Europe or around the US, never close to home. The closest they seemed to get was the Wolfe Island Music Festival in Kingston in August, and that wasn’t in the cards so I’ve waited. And waited. Not impatiently, mind you – I’m still in the curious stage more than anything else – but I’m still pleased to see that they’ve finally set a couple of live dates in and around Toronto before the year is out. There’s a December 2 engagement at E-Bar in Guelph, and more importantly a December 16 show at the Twist Gallery in Toronto.

Of course, that’s the same night that The Rural Alberta Advantage make their own long-awaited live homecoming at Lee’s Palace, so there’s no guarantee I’ll be availing myself of Memoryhouse’s show anyways. But their announcement did give me the incentive to go download their The Years EP – it’s free – and do up a little post. That’s really all anyone can ask for.

MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Troisieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Gian Lorenzo Bernini”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Bonfire”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
ZIP: Memoryhouse / The Years

Also originally hailing from Guelph are disco-pop ensemble The Magic, who will be playing a free show along with Maylee Todd at the North York Central Library tomorrow night, November 20, at 8PM. Get details on this and other goings-on at the Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise blog.

Director Spike Jonze has the director’s credit on Arcade Fire’s new video/short film for the title track from The Suburbs. Win Butler talks to Exclaim about potential retirement plans.

Video: Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

Soundproof talks to The Thermals.

Rhett Miller of Old 97’s talks to Spinner about getting permission from Bob Dylan to crib the melody from “Desolation Row” for one of his own songs.

Even though Retribution Gospel Choir’s latest 2 came out way back in January, SubPop has opted to release a second MP3 from it for giving away. Why ask why? The Minnesota Daily chats with bandleader Alan Sparhawk.

MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Workin’ Hard”

The Georgia Straight, Vancouver Sun and Oregon Music News talk to Blonde Redhead about their current tour and forays into electronica.

Spin declares Two Door Cinema Club to be breaking out. They’re at the Kool Haus on January 15 alongside Tokyo Police Club.

NPR is streaming a radio session performance from Elvis Costello while AOL Music has a video session with ol’ Declan.

Spin has got the video for the new collaborative single between Hot Chip and Bernard Sumner.

Video: Hot Chip & Bernard Sumner – “I Didn’t Know What Love Was”

A second MP3 from Blood Red Shoes’ second album Fire Like This is now up for grabs. The Prague Post has an interview.

MP3: Blood Red Shoes – “Heartsink”

White Lies have released a video for the first single from their second album Ritual, which is out January 18. They’ll be at The Mod Club on January 29.

Video: White Lies – “Bigger Than Us”

Sloucher interviews The Twilight Sad.

Creative Loafing checks in with Warren Ellis and The Wall Street Journal with Nick Cave of Grinderman.

Annie RaczI liked Gregory & The Hawk’s last record, 2008’s Moenie & Kitchi. Really, I did. The combination of New Yorker Meredith Godreau’s sweet, girlish voice and her gentle, mostly-acoustic, semi-orchestral folk-pop is like kryptonite to me and maybe that’s why I was able to resist it – it’s the sort of record I’ve bought a dozen times before and while it’s not a style that I’m necessarily tired of, it is one that requires some above and beyond to really impress me. Which is why, I guess, I hung onto the record but didn’t write it up or make the 10-minute walk – or 5-minute bike ride – to see them at the El Mocambo last May.

The just-released follow-up Leche won’t be so easily ignored, though. While Goudreau hasn’t changed appreciably changed her approach, the new record is an impressive step forward in pretty much all departments. The arrangements are broader this time out, adding more percussion and both electric and electronic textures in just the right amounts to enhance but not obscure the songs’ simple charms. Not that the songs are as simple this time out; they still have the child-like sense of whimsy and fantastical edge to them, but have more dynamic and emotional range and even offer a whiff of darkness or anger that wasn’t present on Moenie. Add to this more immediate and memorable melodies and an unexpected crib of Cutting Crew’s ’80s hit “(I Just) Died In Your Arms”, and you’ve got a record that demands your attention for its own merits, and not just because it sounds like stuff you already like.

Sloucher has an interview with Goudreau.

MP3: Gregory & The Hawk – “Landscapes”
Video: Gregory & The Hawk – “Soulgazing”
Video: Gregory & The Hawk – “For The Best”
Myspace: Gregory & The Hawk

Spinner talks to Nicole Atkins about her new album Mondo Amore, out January 25, and offers a first look at the album art. Stereogum, meanwhile, has the b-side of her recent “Vultures” single – a Can cover – available to download.

Under The Radar has an interview with Sharon Van Etten.

Pitchfork brings word of a Joanna Newsom tribute album with the terrific title of Versions Of Joanna and featuring contributions fromM Ward, Owen Pallett and Billy Bragg, though the first two are previously released recordings and Bragg’s contribution presumably comes from his contribution to the Voice Project. It will be released digitally in December.

BBC Radio 6 and Pitchfork talk to Lykke Li about her new album, due out on March 1 of next year, which will carry the title Wounded Rhymes. She’s at The Phoenix on May 22.

Prefix talks to The Concretes. They’re at The Horseshoe on January 18.

Love Is All have released a new video from their latest, Two Thousand And Ten Injuries.

Video: Love Is All – “Bigger Bolder”

NPR is streaming the whole of Josni’s recent show at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC.

Daytrotter has got a session up with Suuns; they play the Silver Dollar on November 26.

Exclaim talks to Fucked Up drummer Jonah Falco about how progress is coming on their new record.

The Globe & Mail talks to the director of the Feist documentary Look At What The Light Did Now, screening at the ROM this Sunday night and coming out on DVD/CD on December 7.

Good news: in advance of their show at the Sound Academy that night opening up for Broken Social Scene, Superchunk will be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom on the afternoon of December 9. Bad news: it will be happening at 3PM, making it difficult or impossible to attend if you have a 9-5 job… unless you cut out early like some kind of slack motherfucker.

MP3: Superchunk – “Digging For Something”

Baths, Braids and Star Slinger are teaming up for a show at the El Mocambo on February 19, tickets $12. Baths’ debut Cerulean was released this past Summer, Braids’ debut Native Speaker is out January 18.

MP3: Baths – “Maximalist”
MP3: Braids – “Lemonade”

Dan DennisonBritish Sea Power have yet to top the UK charts – their last record, 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music? came closest at #10 – but their next album Valhalla Dancehall certainly had #1 on its mind. It was announced yesterday that it’d have a release date of January 1, 2011 – 1/1/11 for the numerologically-inclined – and as such has the distinction of being the first major new release of next year, at least in my cosmos.

It’s interesting to note that this album finds the lineup officially expanded to a six-piece, bringing their touring viola and keyboard players into the fold (and press photos). One might suppose that the extra personnel would make for a bigger, broader-sounding album, but BSP have never gone small or been blessed with an inordinate amount of focus, even when they numbered just four, so it’s hard to imagine them being even more out there with album number four than they’ve been in the past. Zeus, the taster EP for the new record, is certainly as eclectic over its seven tracks as anything they’ve done before.

Skiddle.com has an interview with the band and in addition to assembling a little teaser video for the new record, they’ve released a new MP3 from the album to get y’all excited.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”

Robyn has rescheduled her show from last Friday, which was cancelled at the 11th hour (or more like 3PM) the day of due to illness. It’ll now take place on January 26, still at the Sound Academy.

Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

Dum Dum Girls will be making up for their cancelled Fall tour with a Winter jaunt that includes a stop at the El Mocambo on February 26.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “D.A.L.”
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

Eric Elbogen, aka Say Hi – he stopped directing that at your mom a little while ago – has a new record coming out on January 25 entitled Um, Uh Oh and will be staging a huge tour to promote. Check out the first track courtesy of Spin and see him when he plays the El Mocambo on March 4.

MP3: Say Hi – “Devils”

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, while Pique, The Calgary Sun and The Gauntlet have interviews. The band are at the Mod Club on December 1.

Drowned In Sound talks to Scott Devendorf of The National. The deluxe edition of High Violet comes out November 23.

Spin declares Warpaint to be “breaking out” while The Riverfront Times talks to drummer Stella Mozgawa.

Spoon have put out a new video from Transference.

Video: Spoon – “Nobody Gets Me But You”

Band Of Horses have opted to premiere their latest cinematically-styled video from Infinite Arms at IMBD.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Dilly”

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart talk to Spinner about “Heart In Your Heartbreak”, the lead single from their new record Belong, due out in March.

Kyle JohnsonHaving pepped up the Summer of 2009 with his self-titled debut album, Seattle power-pop prodigy Michael Benjamin Lerner – aka Telekinesis – aims to make the Winter of 2011 a little more bearable with his/their sophomore effort 12 Desperate Straight Lines. Due out on February 15, the first sample is available at download courtesy of Spin and yeah, it’s as punchy and instantly hummable as anything on the debut.

And not to be content with just delivering musical sunshine via your speakers and/or headphones, Lerner and touring band will be hitting the road almost immediately after the record’s release to deliver it directly to your ears. Their North American tour takes them from west to east and back west again and includes a March 6 stop at The Horseshoe in Toronto.

MP3: Telekinsis – “Car Crash”

Spin talks to Colin Meloy of The Decemberists about their new record The King Is Dead, out January 18. No further details on the rumoured February 1 Toronto show but it occurred to me that if they’re looking to move up – capacity-wise – from their usual Kool Haus digs and Massey isn’t available… there’s the Sound Academy. Shudder.

MBV Music is streaming a new single from Sharon Van Etten, consisting of two tracks not found on her latest Epic. The 7″ is out November 16.

Spinner talks to The Radio Dept.’s Martin Larsson about some of the band’s less obvious musical influences. Their double-disc singles set Passive Aggressive is out January 25 and they play Lee’s Palace on February 7.

QRO, The Daily Tribune, The Quad and The Columbus Dispatch have interviews with Kate Nash, currently winding her way across North America and in town at the Phoenix tomorrow night, November 13.

Two Door Cinema Club talk to aux.tv. They’re back for their third local show in eight months on January 15 at the Kool Haus with Tokyo Police Club.

Modern Superstitions, who impressed when I saw them at the Halifax Pop Explosion, have released a new video and will have a release party/show for their debut EP All The Things We’ve Been Told at The Silver Dollar on November 19.

MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”
Video: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”

The Journal has words with Dan Snaith of Caribou.

The Line Of Best Fit, Calgary Herald and See chat with Dan Mangan, who’s gone and gotten himself a shiny new website.

aux.tv asks five music and movie-related questions of Forest City Lovers’ Kat Burns.