Remember last month when I opened myself up to scorn and ridicule by fretting about how I should file the new EP and album from Dean & Britta (as in Wareham and Phillips and alphabetically filed under “D”), considering their last release came out credited to Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham (alphabetically filed under “P”)?

Well as it turns out, I’m not the only one losing sleep over it – Dean told Pitchfork that it was actually a conscious choice to change the band name and that henceforth, Dean & Britta it shall be. So I wasn’t crazy, it actually a thing. Sort of. Oh, and they talk about other stuff in the Pitchfork piece, like making the new record, what the rest of Luna are up to and what it would take to get a Galaxie 500 reunion to happen (cash, lots of cash).

Anyways, the recently-released EP Words You Used To Say has been happily spinning in my CD player for the last while and if it’s a sample of what to expect from the full-length Back Numbers next year, expect more lush and laid-back (though apparently string-less) strummy pop covers and originals in the vein of 2003’s L’Avventura. You can hear the title track from the EP on their MySpace and 30-second clips from all the songs on the album at Zoe Records, who will be releasing it on February 27 – a full month later than originally reported.

The Dears (who, incidentally, are filed right beside Dean & Britta in my CD racks) tell The Winnipeg Sun they’re really very happy. Really.

Also uncharacteristically happy these days – Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, who tells Pitchfork why. Though the accompanying photo is kind of creeping me out.

And how can we forget the poster girl for “feeling much better now”, miss Cat Power? She tells McGill Daily, “I never realized that [audiences] liked me before. I was so filled with self-hatred; I never realized that people were coming to see me play. I never knew that before. These people stuck with me”. Toronto will show Chan some love when she plays the Phoenix tonight. And her show from Washington DC this past Monday night is now streaming at NPR.

The first single from the new Shins record is now available to download from SubPop. Wincing The Night Away is out January 23.

MP3: The Shins – “Phantom Limb”

Billboard finds out what’s happening in Bob Mould land – a new album slated for a June release and a live DVD from the Body Of Song tour.

What’s that, you say, you got a hankering for some hot vibraphone action? Well have I got a contest for you – courtesy of the good people at Boompa, who continue to suffer from excess turbidity, I have prize goodness from Toronto’s own vibraphone orchestra – The Hylozoists – to give away.

They’re playing a show on December 1 at the lovely (or so I’m told, I’ve never been) Music Gallery and I have a pair of passes to give away, along with a copy of their lovely album La Fin Du Monde. And in addition, I have two additional copies of the CD to give away to contest runners-up.

To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to see The Hylozoists” in the subject line and your full name in the body. And if you’re not able to make the show you can still try to win one of the CDs – just tell me so in the email. This contest will close at midnight, November 26.

MP3: The Hylozoists – “Straight Is The Gate”
MySpace: The Hylozoists

So guess where I spent my Saturday night? That’s right, where all the cool kids hang out – the public library. No, I wasn’t microfiche cruising (everyone knows that Thursday is microfiche night), but was instead at one of the shows celebrating the library’s new Local Music Collection, a commendable move on the library system’s part to load up on CDs from all sorts of independent Toronto bands (with some assistance from the good folks at Soundscapes).

This was the second of two shows held at Toronto libraries, the first being a Blocks-loaded event at the North York Central Library earlier this month. The downtown lineup was considerably more laid back though on account of nursing a cold I only stuck around for Great Lake Swimmers, Elliott Brood and Lal – The Old Soul could very well have blown the roof off the Reference Library, I’ve no idea.

But what I did see was mostly very good. Well, Lal didn’t do much for me with their rather dated-sounding, world music trip-hop and hit-you-over-the-head, socially conscious lyrics. But it was nice to see laptop-jockey Nicholas Murray using a library book cart for his workstation. Elliott Brood was definitely more up my alley as they (not a he) tore things up with their rollicking, banjo-plucking, self-proclaimed “death country”. With a set liberally dosed with library humour (there is such a thing), they impressed and got me to reserve one of their CDs through the library. They’ll also be at Lee’s Palace on December 15. Probably not so much with the library humour at that show. It’s all about context.

I was glad that the set order didn’t correspond with what was listed in the advertising because it was Great Lake Swimmers that I most wanted to see and I don’t know that I’d have made it through a couple more acts to get to them. Since I finally got around to properly discovering the songs of Tony Dekker a few months ago, I’ve really been won over by both his songwriting and performances. Dekker’s voice is so understated but enveloping, it really is always a treat to see and hear him live, especially in an unconventional yet wholly fitting venue like the atrium of a closed, five-storey library. Marvelous. The library should do stuff like this more often.

The Toronto Star talked to people from both the bands and library at the North York show to find out how the new collection came together.

Photos: Great Lake Swimmers, Elliott Brood, Lal @ The Toronto Reference Library – November 18, 2006
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Various Stages”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Bodies And Minds”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Moving Pictures, Silent Films”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “I Will Never See The Sun”
MP3: Elliott Brood – “The Bridge”
MP3: Elliott Brood – “President 35”
MP3: Lal – “Shallow Water”
Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “To Leave It Behind” (YouTube)
Video: Elliott Brood – “The Bridge” (YouTube)
Video: Elliott Brood – “Second Son” (YouTube)
MySpace: Great Lake Swimmers
MySpace: Elliott Brood
MySpace: Lal

Dekker also contributed to the new Barzin record My Life In Rooms, from which a new video has just been released. I talked a bit about Barzin a few weeks ago.

Video: Barzin – “Leaving Time” (YouTube)

Pitchfork has a sit-down with Joanna Newsom about her new album Ys. Curiously, the one question they neglect to ask was, “hey – remember that time we leaked your new record to the internet three months before the release date? Wasn’t that great?” Unsurprisingly, Ys is ruling Metacritic something fierce right now.

John Stirratt gives Billboard an update in all things Wilco (new album almost done, looking at late Spring release), The Autumn Defense (new album January 9, touring to follow) and procreation (new baby fully gestated, due today). And head over to RBally who is posting a recent Jeff Tweedy solo set over the course of this week.

Pernice Brothers recently stopped by the WOXY Lounge and their set is now available to download.

Explosions In The Sky’s new record All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone isn’t out for another three months but one of the songs is already available to download – check it out. And no, that’s not a typo – the file is an MP4.

MP4: Explosions In The Sky – “Welcome, Ghosts”

Reax talks to Craig Finn about The Hold Steady as musical comfort food.

Guster will be in town at the Phoenix on February 26.

More contests! This one is for Vancouver power popsters The Yoko Casionos, whose debut album These Are The New Old Times I reviewed last month. Then I called it “loud, brash and hooky with the right balance of sweet and snotty” and I’m willing to wager it’s still true. Wanna find out?

Courtesy of Boompa, I’ve got a grand prize to give away of a copy of These Are The New Old Times and a pair of passes to their November 30 show at the Kool Haus in support of some band you might have heard of called Sloan. Two runner-up winners will win copies of the CD.

To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to see the Yoko Casionos” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Also tell me if you are not able to attend the show and only want to win one of the CDs, that’s cool too. This contest will close at midnight, November 23.

MP3: The Yoko Casionos – “Loose Cannon”
MP3: The Yoko Casionos – “Cameras On”
MySpace: The Yoko Casionos

For a period back around 2001 or so, it seemed I couldn’t get away from The Dears. Okay, that’s probably overstating it but seeing them three times in seven months, and never deliberately (they were either on a larger bill or opening for someone or whatever), it certainly seemed like they were following me and they didn’t manage to particularly impress me at any of the shows. I think at that point they were were still promoting their 2000 debut End Of A Hollywood Bedtime Story and while I appreciated that they were doing something different and ambitious, their songs and melodramatic delivery simply didn’t connect and so I basically ignored them for the next five years or so.

Fast-forward to this past September at the V-Fest gig they either loved or hated and whatever their take was, I was certainly impressed. The new material from Gang Of Losers was tight, focused and considerably more pop and accessible. While I can appreciate this probably turned off some of their old fanbase who liked them to sprawl, it got me more interested enough to pick up the record as well as come out for this, the first of a three-night stand at Lee’s Palace.

Also helping to sell the show was the fact that fellow Montrealers Land Of Talk were support for the first two nights. For a myriad of reasons, I hadn’t seen them live since that first time at The Boat back in June though my love for Applause Cheer Boo Hiss has only grown in the interim. So I was more than pleased to see them again and also to find that they were even better this time around. Fierce and tense yet oh-so-tuneful, they interspersed the material from the EP with some new, slower numbers which offered a nice dynamic balance in their set. These guys seriously have to make a full-length album and soon. So good.

The Dears may have been off my musical radar the past few years, but judging from the size and enthusiasm of the crowd on Thursday night, I was in the minority. Dears fans are rabid. The set list began and ended with Gang Of Losers material, but the heart of it was devoted to the more epic No Cities Left material it was at this point that it began to feel less like being in an audience and more like being in a congregation with Murray Lightburn as the impassioned, charismatic minister. Some criticize The Dears for being overly (melo)dramatic and while I can see that point of view, particularly on record, but when you’re in the middle of the live experience and surrounded by believers, it all feels very real and powerful. Anthemic, emotional and intense from start to finish.

Adding to the experience was the fact that band had clearly taken advantage of their multi-night engagement to make themselves at home, bringing an assortment of smoke machines and special lighting effects for the occasion and making Lee’s Palace a far more visually dramatic venue than it normally is and however long they had to soundcheck paid off as the sound was excellent. I definitely enjoyed the show and while I don’t know that I’m ready to be called a fan nearly on par with some of the others in attendance that night, I definitely have a greater appreciation for the band and the new record, which I was only moderately impressed with before. I may even investigate No Cities Left if the mood strikes.

Taxi! talked to Natalia Yanchak about making the new album and B(oot)log has the whole of The Dears’ set from the night before this in Kingston available to download.

Photos: The Dears, Land Of Talk @ Lee’s Palace – November 16, 2006
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Speak To Me Bones”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Breaxxbaxx”
Video: The Dears – “Ticket To Immortality” (MOV)
Video: The Dears – “Whites Only Party” (MOV)
eCard: The Dears / Gang Of Losers
MySpace: The Dears
MySpace: Land Of Talk

Kevin Drew tells Chart what 2007 means for Broken Social Scene – solo records. For everyone.

AOL continues to try and prove they’re the indie-friendly multinational media conglomerate – TV On The Radio is the latest band to record a session for The Interface while The Mountain Goats stopped in at The DL, their newish web tv show thing, like Montel. The Cardigans were on a recent episode as well.

Drowned In Sound asks Shins frontman James Mercer how he feels about their new album, Wincing The Night Away, having already leaked to the internet well in advance of its January 23 release date. What’s that? You didn’t know it leaked? Well you didn’t hear it here. But hey – you can hear one of the new songs with conscience clear at their MySpace.

Christmas has come early for Mercury Rev fans as they’ve got not one but two new releases in stores now. There’s the Stillness Breathes: 1991 – 2006 retrospective as well as Hello Blackbird, the soundtrack for the 2005 film Bye Bye Blackbird.

Do you like to plan ahead? Then jot down that Clinic are at Lee’s Palace March 12 and Of Montreal will be at the Opera House on March 13, barring something unexpected happening between now and then. Like a meteor strike.

np – Howe Gelb / Sno Angel Like You