So I’m off to Pop Montreal this Thursday and am getting quite excited about it, if for no other reason than it means that one way or another the deadlines at work have passed and I am out of this burg for a few days at least. And though it’s just five hours away, I haven’t been to Montreal in about… 30 years. So that’s also exciting.

Besides the festival, I’ll be participating in this panel at the Future Of Music policy summit, which should be interesting and terrifying at the same time. But back to the festival. There’s obviously lots of talent in attendance, but no really big draws for me personally – at least no one that I’d have otherwise travelled five hours to see (and anyways, most of the will have played in Toronto immediately before or after their Montreal gig).

But ask me who I’m most excited to see and I’d tell you Denmark’s Under Byen. whom I wrote up a little while back. In conjunction with the first North American release of one of their records – Samme Stof Som Stof, out October 10 – they’re conducting a short tour of Canada that includes two Pop Montreal shows, one in Ottawa and one in Toronto on October 9 at the Horseshoe. The first Pop Montreal date is opening for Joanna Newsom so you know they’re going to have the opportunity to impress a packed house. The second, and the one I’m planning to attend, is with sometime-collaborator Howe Gelb who will be performing with Giant Sand. That’s the same bill that’ll be in T.O. on Thanksgiving, and if they blow me away and if I can muster the energy, there’s good chance I’ll be at that show as well.

Samme Stof Som Stof continues to engross me and all accounts are that the band are astonishing live. Both Chart and Exclaim! have interviews with the band.

MP3: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof”
MP3: Under Byen – “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Fa Det Bedste Ud Af Det”
Video: Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof” (YouTube)
MySpace: Under Byen

As for the rest of the fest, because of how the Pop Montreal RSVP system worked for media folk I basically had to pick out my main shows for each night a week in advance. While there’s nothing that says I can’t change my mind and see something else, but percluding club-hopping these are the lineups that I’ve signed up for:

Thursday, October 5:
The Hot Springs, Tokyo Police Club, Portastatic and Snailhouse @ La Sala Rossa
Sloan, The Yoko Casionos and Flames! @ Theatre Nationale
Hexes & Ohs @ Preloved
The Diableros, Andre Ethier @ The Green Room
The Soft Disaster @ Casa Del Popolo
Dragonette @ L’Hemisphere Gauche
Basia Bulat @ L’Escogriffe
A Northern Chorus @ O Patro Vys.

– I’ll probably take the Hot Springs over Sloan. I haven’t seen Sloan in 12 years or so but also haven’t really cared about them in 4. The rest I will simply spin the bottle and see what comes up.

Friday, October 6:
Islands, The Big Sleep and Miracle Fortress @ Les Saints
Jessica Bailiff @ La Salla Rosa
The Dandybeards @ The Green Room
Henri Faberge & The Adorables @ L’Escogriffe.

– The Big Sleep is the big draw for me here. I will probably head out after them to give hometown kids Henri Faberge some long-delayed attention. But as you can see, I’ve got a pretty light sched for Friday so far. If you’re going to help me out with any night, make it this one.

Saturday, October 7:
Giant Sand, Under Byen and Mike O’Brien @ Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire
Laura Barrett @ The Green Room
Dirty On Purpose @ Quai Des Brumes
Charlamagne @ Missy Bar
The Besnard Lakes @ Club Lambi

– Sort of a shame I’m dead set on the Giant Sand/Under Byen since there’s a fair bit of other interesting stuff going on at the same time. Alas, sacrifices must be made.

Sunday, October 8:
The Constantines and Favourite Sons @ The Mile End Cultural Centre
Regina Spektor, The Only Son @ Le National
Carolyn Mark, The Acorn and Schooner @ Casa Del Popolo.

– I didn’t actually manage to get an RSVP in for the Constantines, but am hoping to be able to see both the Acorn and the Constantines regardless. But if all else fails, I do have an RSVP for the Regina Spektor gig… of course, I won’t find out I can’t get into the Constantines until after Regina Spektor starts… right, we’ll play this by ear. But for the record, Schooner sounds VERY promising.

And that’s what my weekend looks like. Seems like a lot, but compared to my schedules for SxSW, this is a cakewalk (or a promenade de gateau, as they say in Quebec). Of course, recommendations on who else I should see in addition to (if not in lieu of) what I’ve already picked out are welcome. There are free downloads from many Pop Montreal artists available over at Puretracks – do yourself (and possibly me) a favour and check them out.

Naturally, the local media is all agog with festival features – The Montreal Gazette talks to festival organizer Dan Seligman and also chats with FMC keynote speaker David Byrne, the Montreal Mirror previews some of the performers and hour.ca wonders where all the big names in this year’s lineup are.

And also, while a goodly amout of my time will be spent at the Future Of Music summit and Pop Montreal events, I will also (hopefully) have time to play tourist a bit. What should I make a point of seeing/doing? Remember – 30 years since I’ve been there.

Speaking of Howe Gelb, according to The Independent, he may be working with Isobel Campbell next. Okay, maybe this is a good time to mention I’ve never heard any of Howe Gelb’s music in any of his incarnations. Does this make me a bad person?

Toronto is going to Montreal… and a little bit of Montreal is coming to Toronto. Malajube will be at Lee’s Palace on November 25. Tickets $10.

Saturday night was the first-ever, Nuit Blanche city-wide art installation in Toronto, and while I didn’t do the all-night thing like some – I had to go in to work Sunday morning – I did hit a number of art installations in “Zone A”, aka the University of Toronto campus and Yorkville. I saw some really cool stuff (Fujiko Nakaya’s fog sculpture across Philosopher’s Walk – though really seemingly not more than some smoke machines – was amazing to experience) and some awful stuff (author Russell Smith, clad in leather pants, reading from his second-person, female-protagonist, pseudonym-published book of erotica? Not as bad as you might think – it’s worse) but the rain held off, the crowds were out and it was a very cool and un-Toronto vibe all around. Some photos at my Flickr and in the Flickr group. The Toronto Star reports back on the event.

np – My Morning Jacket / Okonokos

Adem / Love And Other Planets (Domino) Adem is the musical alter-ego of Brit Adem Ilhan (no surnames, please, we’re artists). His second album was performed almost entirely by himself (save some backing vocals, violin and drums) and recorded at home, and it sounds it – it’s warm and cozy and laid back with a cup of tea on the side table. Fundamentally a folk record but dressed up in contemporary production values, it’s a wonderfully laid-back contemplation of love, space and other matters of cosmic import. It’s a bit of a shame I’m only getting to this album so late in the year – it’s the sonic equivalent of lying in an open field somewhere in the wilds of England on a Summer’s night, watching the stars. Adem plays Supermarket on October 12 with Juana Molina. MP3: Adem – “Launch Yourself” Video: Adem – “Launch Yourself” (YouTube) MySpace: Adem

Cale Parks / Illuminated Manuscript (Polyvinyl) Cale Parks has a name that sounds like it should make rugged, plaid-clad Appalachian mountain music, but instead the drummer/multi-instrumentalist from Aloha uses his own name to craft sparkling bits of laptop pop. Successfully grafting synthetic tones with organic/acoustic ones, Illuminated Manuscript is ambient, droning, skittering and almost always melodic. At points, it recalls everyone and anyone who has made electronic music for the indie set but on the whole, it’s pretty sounds like pretty and delicate and not unlike opening a 21st century music box, less the little plastic ballerina. MP3: Cale Parks – “Wet Paint”

The Guggenheim Grotto / …Waltzing Alone (United For Opportunity) It’s probably true you can’t judge a book by its cover, but what about a CD that comes in a book? The packaging for the new record from Dublin’s Guggenheim Grotto is a small and gorgeous hardcover book with foil printed graphics. The band acknowledges the importance of packaging as well – fully one quarter of the pages within are taken up with a transcript of an online discussion about that very topic. So yay, score one for physical media. But what of the software? Unfortunately, the music contained therein is considerably less remarkable, consisting mainly of grandly romantic, acoustic folk anthems the likes of which seem to be the specialty of the Irish. It’s all well played and performed but lacks that certain ineffable quality that can cause weary, jaded ears to perk up and pay extra attention. But still – great packaging. MP3: The Guggenheim Grotto – “Portmarnock Beach Boy Blue” MP3: The Guggenheim Grotto – “A Lifetime In Heat” MP3: The Guggenheim Grotto – “Cold Truth” Video: The Guggenheim Grotto – “Cold Truth” Video: The Guggenheim Grotto – “Wonderful Wizard” MySpace: The Guggenheim Grotto

np – Pernice Brothers / Live A Little

Finally – a contest that’s NOT giving away concert tickets. But it is related to a local show… this Wednesday, a Barsuk Records roadshow will roll into Lee’s Palace with a bill featuring The Long Winters, What Made Milwaukee Famous and Menomena. This will be preceded by Harvey Danger at Lee’s Tuesday night and Viva Voce there on October 17.

But to the point – courtesy of Outside Music, I’ve got three Barsuk prize packs to give away. They’ll consist of the latest CDs from The Long Winters (Putting The Days To Bed), What Made Milwaukee Famous (Trying To Never Catch Up) and Viva Voce (Get Yr Blood Sucked Out), as well as a Barsuk sampler. All three albums are very solid and I bet that sampler is no slouch, either.

To enter, leave a post in the comments detailing your close, personal relationship with a Barsuk record. Doesn’t have to be true, just entertaining – tell me about the time a copy of We Have The Facts And Are Voting Yes saved you from a pack of wolves in the Canadian tundra. Whatever. I will choose the best three as winners unless they’re all equally (un)inspired – then I’ll just choose randomly. But be sure to use your proper email address because that’s how I’ll be contacting the winners. CONTEST NOW CLOSED.

Have fun. Contest closes midnight, October 7th. That’s this Saturday. Go to it.

MP3: The Long Winters – “Pushover”
MP3: What Made Milwaukee Famous – “iDecide”
MP3: Viva Voce – “We Do Not Fuck Around”

Five years is a long time to be away. After 2001’s It’s A Wonderful Life, Sparklehorse mastermind Mark Linkous essentially disappeared off the map. But now that he’s back with Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain, it’s only natural that folks want to know what happened to him.

Artvoice finds out what he was doing in that time (“For three years, I’d just come to my studio and stare at my equipment”), The Guardian finds out what motivated him to get off his ass (he couldn’t pay his rent) and Exclaim! finds out where he hopes his working with Danger Mouse will lead (“I hope to meld even further and bring my pop thing into more of a hip-hop world.”). He also talks to the The Houston Chronicle about his mixing board (“a wicked piece of gear”) and STV.tv about why sad songs say so much (“I think a lot of people prefer sad songs because it makes them feel like they’re not so alone and maybe it can be a comfort, to say that being sad isn’t such a bad thing, that sometimes it’s okay to be sad”). For a guy who’s been so reclusive over the last half-decade, he’s certainly got a lot to say. And if you were reading the print edition of Harp and were wondering why the Mark Linkous interview didn’t actually continue on the page they said it did – or any other, for that matter – at least the whole thing is available online.

And what of the album itself? The first few times I listened, it was on my smaller bedroom stereo or iPod and put simply, it sounded like a Sparklehorse record. The blend of slow, warped vinyl folk songs with transistorized, white fuzz rockers, all anchored by Linkous’ sad and ghostly voice is unmistakable and while it was unquestionably great to have new material from him, I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed that I’d already heard it all before. But then last night, finally having the opportunity to take the time and listen to it on my proper stereo, I was reminded of just why a Sparklehorse record that sounds like a Sparklehorse record is cause for rejoicing and not disappointment. Though his work is often described as “lo-fi”, Linkous’ productions are wonderously detailed and endlessly revealing when listened to properly – every whir, click, creak and ache is meticulously placed and the end result is a sonic adventure into the fractured world of Linkous’ head – truly a sad and beautiful world. I’d recommend taking Light Years or It’s A Wonderful Life as testing material the next time you go shopping for audio equipment – if you don’t mind the salesman thinking you’re a complete and total nutter, that is.

Junkmedia reviewes a recent live show in New York City and declares it a triumph. The ‘Horse is in Europe through November and will apparently be spending the early part of ’07 down under where it’ll be warm.

MP3: Sparklehorse – “Shade And Honey”
Stream: Sparklehorse – “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” (ASX)
EPK: Sparklehorse and the North Carolina Bureau Of Tourism (YouTube)
MySpace: Sparklehorse

Remember when I said that I’d be very wary of seeing Cat Power again because I couldn’t imagine her topping her solo show at Lee’s Palace earlier this month? Well that’s apparently going to be put to the test as she returns on November 22 – The Memphis Rhythm Band in tow – for a show at the Phoenix. Hmm, says I. Hmm. Full November tour dates here and a reminder that an exclusive EP will be available on eMusic starting October 4. Full details at Pitchfork.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Paul Westerberg’s move into movie soundtracks – he provided the music for the new animated feature Open Season for which there’s actually Oscar buzz. Westerberg at the Academy Awards? Stranger things have happened. Via claudepate.com.

New York Press talks to Mountain Goats. The band, not the animal. Because even if the animal could talk, I doubt it’d have much interesting to say.

Jenny Lewis discusses her upcoming tour (which stops at Trinity-St Paul’s in Toronto on October 7) with Pitchfork while the The Cleveland Plains Dealer also has a brief conversation. And if you didn’t notice, I’m running a contest for passes to the aforementioned Toronto show over here.

David Sitek of TV On The Radio discusses the band’s “pay it forward” philosophy with Seattle Weekly. They play a sold-out show at the Opera House next Thursday.

Interface with Spoon at AOL.

A couple albums due out on Tuesday are already streaming online for you weekend listening pleasure – check out The Hold Steady’s Boys And Girls In America at Vagrant and The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife at MTVu. The Hold Steady are at the Horseshoe October 28 and the Decemberists are at the Kool Haus November 6.

And get this – apparently the role of Iron Man has been cast (cast Iron Man?), and it’s going to Robert Downey Jr. You know, I like this move. A lot. As always, Goldenfiddle has the best zinger.

np – Adem / Love And Other Planets

It seems that Jenny Lewis only comes to Toronto when I’m leaving town – back in March I missed her show at the Opera House for SxSW and this time, I am missing her Trinity-St Paul’s show for Pop Montreal. It’s a conspiracy, I tell ya. But that’s neither here (as she will be) or there (as I will be). Courtesy of Against The Grain, I have three pairs of passes to the aforementioned Trinity-St Paul’s gig on October 7 to give away.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the church acoustics will make for a stunning show, so those who do go, consider yourselves lucky. The rest of you, well, hopefully you’re doing something equally entertaining that evening. To enter, shoot me an email at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to see the girl from The Wizard” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, October 2. CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

And did you notice The Wizard is out on DVD now? That means it’s time to break out the ol’ Jenny Lewis soundboard!

MP3: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins – “Rise Up With Fists!”
MP3: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins – “Melt Your Heart”
Video: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins – “Rise Up With Fists” (YouTube)
MySpace: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins