Photo by Frank Yang

Actually, I have no idea what R.E.M. had against Rockville, though I don’t know whether the song was actually about the Maryland one. I just spent a rather relaxing long weekend there, visiting family and generally being offline – my Aunt doesn’t have an internet connection though I did check my mail Friday night from an Apple Store. But I think this was the longest I’ve been without an internet fix in something like five or six years, and it was actually quite nice. But not something I’m going to be making a habit of.

One thing that Rockville has going for it is that it’s right on the Metro line, so I was able to disengage from the relations on Sunday and head into the District proper for a little sightseeing and hanging out with Information Leafblower. We hit up the new Spy Museum, which started off kinda cheesy but got really interesting as it went along. Other than that, took a leisurely stroll along the Mall from Capitol Hill to the World War II Memorial, with a quick stop in the Air & Space Museum along the way, somewhere I hadn’t been in probably decades. Still looks about the same.

I got back into town a few hours later than intended last night. I spent most of Monday sitting in Dulles airport watching my flight get delayed over and over again in 10-15 minute increments. At one point, United Airlines had five flights slated to depart from my gate within a span of 45 minutes. Obviously this wasn’t going to end well. And after we finally got on our plane, we sat on the tarmac for another hour waiting for who knows what. On the plus side, they managed to shave what was scheduled to be an hour-forty flight down to a tidy hour.

The net result of all this is that after sifting through all my emails and all my RSS feeds, I see nothing that requires immediate blogging attention so I’m going to defer doing anything of consequence till tomorrow, though this whole week will probably be a big of a mess thanks to stuff going on at work and whatnot.

In other words, holiday extended one more day. Back tomorrow.

And sorry about the malfunctioning MP3 of the week the last couple days. Typo. Fixed now.

Photo via MySpace

It’s a shame I used up all my Margot & The Nuclear So And Sos material over the last little while – most notably the link to their recent Daytrotter session – ’cause I got passes to their upcoming show at the ‘Shoe to give away and nothing content-wise to piggyback alongside. But alas, all I can do is remind that their new albums Animal! and Not Animal will be out on October 7, and perhaps point to this archive of old demos and live tracks.

Anyway. Giveaways. Courtesy of Against The Grain, I have two pairs of passes to the aforementioned show – their Toronto debut – on August 6 at the Horseshoe. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Margot and the whatever” in the subject line and your full name in the body and have that in to me by midnight, Monday August 4. That is all. Have a good weekend.

MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Skeleton Key”
MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Barfight Revolution, Power Violence”
Video: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Quiet As A Mouse”
MySpace: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s

Photo via MySpace

…But before I go, some giveaways.

Next weekend marks the kick-off of the annual SummerWorks Theatre Festival as well as the inaugural edition of the SummerWorks Music Series, which endeavours to bring the worlds of independent music and independent theatre together in one celebration of, um, independence.

The music fest features a terrific lineup of talent from both Toronto and outlying regions, including Gentleman Reg (pictured), The Diableros, Rock Plaza Central, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Laura Barrett and The Bicycles, amongst many many others. They’re playing two a night from August 8 to 16 (excepting the 11th) at the Theatre Centre – aka the space underneath The Great Hall – at Queen West and Dovercourt.

And courtesy of the festival, I’ve got three sets of vouchers to give away, good for two tickets to any one of the shows. If you want some, email musicseries@summerworks.ca with “Summerworks Music Festival Contest” in the subject line and your name, email address and best way to contact you in the body. Do so by Tuesday, August 6th – winners will be selected on the 7th.

And in the meantime, hit up the festival blog for news and interviews from both the theatre and music sides of the festival.

Photo by David Waldman

You couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to be introduced to the gothic gospel spirituals of Toronto’s Bruce Peninsula than under an open sky as the sun began to set across a farmer’s field, as I did last August at the Dog Day Afternoon festival. Sounding both fresh and unmeasurably old, the eleven-piece choir/blues band hybrid made an indelible first impression in that unique setting I figured would be nearly impossible to match. And yet they did a few months later in the more conventional environs of Lee’s Palace and once again in a couple weeks at The Horseshoe. Obviously, as special as that Dog Day performance was, Bruce Peninsula were not dependent on their environs to work their magic.

But what of the studio? It’s hard enough to capture the chemistry of live performance on tape for a conventional band – how about one that’s as much an old-time revival show or gospel choir as a band? Amazingly, it sounds like they’ve done it. Listening to some still-rough/unmastered versions of their debut album, A Mountain Is A Mouth, I’m immediately reminded not only of the energy and intensity of their live shows, but also the mystery and sense of distance – spatial and chronal – that I didn’t think could be experienced indoors, let alone from speakers. And the clarity of all the voices and instruments, not necessarily something you get live, is also astonishing. Whoever recorded this thing did a hell of a job.

The record is still being polished up (but hopefully not too much) for a release sometime this Fall on a home still to be named/determined, but in the meantime the band have released a 7″ of two traditional folk recordings (from the Alan Lomax archives) that also capture the sound of the band, if not their songwriting. Both sides are streaming at the band’s MySpace (along with a track from the album) but I suspect it doesn’t sound quite the same over the internet as it would on record, with the added dimension of crackles, or live, with the added dimension of crickets.

I missed the release show for the 7″ a few weeks back in the perfect setting of the Toronto Islands as I was at a rained-out picnic but while they’re currently on tour in Eastern Canada, the band have a couple of local shows coming up. First, on August 9, they’ll be at the Whippersnapper Gallery with The Got To Get Got and One Heart Many Hands and then on August 22 they’re at The Horseshoe with Cuff The Duke and The D’Urbervilles. Both are absolutely worth your notice, but if you’re leaning towards the much-smaller (and hotter – I don’t think they have AC) Whippersnapper show, then pay attention. Courtesy of No Shame, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to visit the Bruce Peninsula” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, August 4 and if you don’t win, I highly recommended ponying up the $8 in advance for a ticket.

MySpace: Bruce Peninsula

Ottawa’s Angela Desveaux will release her second album The Mighty Ship on September 9 and play the nifty Boat on September 4. Update: Now MP3-enhanced!

MP3: Angela Desveaux – “Sure Enough”

There’s a track from Giant Sand’s new record proVisions available to grab. It’s out September 2.

MP3: Giant Sand – “Increments Of Love”

Exclaim! reviews and chats with Fleet Foxes.

Drowned In Sound and Velocity Weekly go hunting for Grizzly Bear, come away with interviews. Grizzly Bear are opening up for Radiohead at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15.

Exclaim featurettes The Hold Steady.

Liz Phair gives Billboard a notion of where she’s going with her next album. Well, certainly can’t be worse than anywhere she’s already been.

Daytrotter sessions up with Sons & Daughters, who will play day two of V Fest on September 7.

Pitchfork interviews Jarvis Cocker, video camera in hand.

So I’m out of town for the long weekend starting tomorrow – going to the greater Washington DC area to visit family – so I’ll be pretty much offline the whole time. Play safe, see you in August.

Photo from Office Space

Apologies for the mid-week housecleaning post, but real life is winning the battle for my brain right now and I can’t really think at the moment.

Billboard has details on the eighth volume of Bob Dylan’s consistently wonderful Bootleg Series – Tell Tale Signs, which covers has rarities and live recordings from his recent works will be out October 7 in a standard two CD or four LP set or in a fancy pants, super-pricey three disc set that comes with a hardcover book. Details at the pre-order site. Dylan is at Copps in Hamilton on August 20.

Daytrotter is featuring the tracks from a session with Margot & The Nuclear So And Sos that aren’t going to appear on their just-released The Daytrotter Sessions EP, which is available for sale (!) at the usual online outlets as well as at Think Indie-affiliated retail outlets. Call this set the Not Daytrotter Sessions, and between the two of them, they’re your best opportunity get acquainted with their new material before they roll into the Horseshoe on August 6. The new album(s) Animal! and Not Animal will be released on October 7. The Cleveland Free Times talks about the strange arrangement about the release of the album(s) with frontman Richard Edwards.

The Phoenix talks to Wolf Parade, in town at the Kool Haus on August 9.

Pitchfork interviews Constantines, set to play day one of V Fest, September 6 on the Toronto Islands.

Two Hours Traffic are back – again – for a show at Lee’s Palace on September 26, tickets $8.50. Those boys certainly do come through town a lot, though this time there’s a bit of an ulterior motive for being here… perhaps hoping to drive back to PEI with a giant cheque in the trunk?

Exclaim!, AOL Music Canada and Dose.ca profile Broken Social soloist Brendan Canning. He also gives Pitchfork a guest list of stuffs. And there’s another track from Something For All Of Us… available for grabsies.

MP3: Brendan Canning – “Churches Under the Stairs”

The Awkward Stage, whose Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights I reviewed last month, have created a video for every song on the album viewable at YouTube. Chart also has an interview.

The Long Blondes talk to Chart about how, circa Couples, none of them are couples any longer. The band is currently in drydock as guitarist Dorian Cox is still recovering from a stroke earlier this Summer.

Thanks to Antville for pointing the way to the winner of the contest to make a video for Lightspeed Champion’s “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”. Super-cute.

Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”

The Montreal Gazette talks to Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood. Radiohead are at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15.

The Charlatans show at the Mod Club on October 10 has been cancelled. That listing lasted just long enough to get me sort of excited about the show. Thanks a lot.

NME, via YouTube, has a rather frank post-gig analysis with My Bloody Valentine in Benicassim. They’re at the Ricoh Coliseum on September 25.

Using the MBV reunion as a launching point, Exclaim! attempts to chart the history and legacy of shoegazing.

M83 have a new video. They’re at the Opera House on November 20.

Video: M83 – “Kim & Jessie”

I’m thinking about getting an iPhone. Is that stupid? I need a cellphone plan that’s more flexible than my current by-the-minute one since I’ve ditched my landline. I also need a new phone. I would like to not have to carry around a cellphone, PDA and iPod as I currently do. I would like to have it sync tidily with my Mac. I would not like to be locked into a 3-year contract with a company as on-the-record evil as Rogers (I’d go with Fido – minor/negligible diff but their evenings start earlier) but my objections to them are more in principle than anything. I could handle the contract term and cost without much difficulty. And it’s so shiny. Thoughts?