More lists – Filter has been asking a variety of artists to compile a list of their favourite albums of 2005. So far they’ve got lists from the likes of Feist, Death Cab’s Nick Harmer and Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett, with many more to come. Greg Kot of The Chicago Tribune has his list up and Glide has also compiled their top 20 of 2005. The Arizona Daily Wildcat has a couple of neat lists up – the top 10 moments in indie rock, a device I wanted to use a couple years ago but found it difficult and thus gave up, and their top albums of 2005. Okay, that second list isn’t all that clever.

Meanwhile, Things I’d Rather Be Doing and Gorilla Vs Bear have lists and the folks in Trespassers William have their individual top 5 albums of the year blogged at MySpace. I’m hoping their forthcoming album, Having, makes my list for next year. Videos are also being listed – Marathonpacks has his top 20 vids of ’05 (I’ve only ever seen one of these, and that was two nights ago) and Pitchfork also has a roundup. And Antville is currently polling readers to vote on their best and worst videos of the year.

And speaking of videos, Sigur Ros has a new one for “Hoppipolla”, courtesy of Cliptip.

Some shows – England’s Hard-Fi will be at the Horseshoe January 20, tickets $11.70 on sale Saturday and Danielson, of Family fame, has not one but two Toronto shows scheduled for the moderately distant future. His booking agency has him in town on May 6 and again on August 2. The first date coincides with the ’06 edition of the Over The Top Fest, so I’m guessing there’s a connection there. The second date… well, maybe he just assumes he’s going to have such a good time in Toronto that he’s going to want to come back?

To make up for my Mogwai tease a few days ago, some real content – the official Mr Beast-era bio, featuring commentary from Stuart Brathwaite, and Blown By The Wind has the album art and a track from the new album, which has leaked and is apparently very good. Someone said “pedal steel”. I love pedal steel.

Wired stages a music format steel cage match, pitting vinyl against iPods. The piece, part of their larger piece on audiophiles, notes that vinyl sales doubled in percentage in 2004, contrary to the general trend of declining sales in music retailing. Related – Sacramento Ticket (BugMeNot) compares the vinyl, CD and iPod experience with some blind testing… the results of which may shock you.

Okay, because of various stars coming into alignment and whatnot, the SxSW 06 fence sitting has tilted again, and I’m now leaning towards going – but here’s a question. Any other blogger types ever gotten a press pass for the event? And if so, how? I made some vague inquiries to that effect last year and was shot down, but may try to be more persistant this time. Who do I talk to, how do I make my case? I want to go as a greasy industry type (or part thereof). And failing that, can any media types out there hook me up with a photo pass? Thanks.

np – The Mendoza Line / Full Of Light And Full Of Fire

Man, you think that after yesterday’s epic post, I’d be due some time off, wouldn’t you? Nope.

So in one of the poorest kept secrets in indie rock, it has finally been confirmed that The Decemberists have jumped on the major label merry-go-round and signed to Capitol. At first I thought this seemed logical – The Decemberists are currently one of the higher profile indie bands and certainly one of the more unique, yet accessible-sounding. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to wonder – is there really a larger market waiting for them? I can’t imagine there’s THAT much bigger a potential audience for Colin Meloy bleating out songs about chimney sweeps and nautical vengeance over accordian solos. This isn’t the pure pop of Death Cab or The Shins we’re talking about here. I can’t imagine who Capitol thinks they can reach that Kill Rock Stars couldn’t – maybe this is just a bit of overzealousness on the part of a major who wants the good PR of signing some indie darlings. I sorta can’t wait to see their faces when the Decemberists hand in their next album and the suits are all, “um, what? Gay matadors on an Antarctic expedition?” But I suppose that’s not The Decemberists’ problem – they’ve got their big bags with dollar signs on them to keep them occupied. The Pitchfork piece also covers a slew of other Decemberists-related news items, including the reissue of the complete works of Tarkio, Meloy’s pre-Decemberists band, as Omnibus on January 24, as well as Meloy’s solo Winter tour dates and plans for an EP of Shirley Collins songs.

Magnet and The AV Club’s blog division offer up interviews with Alan Sparhawk of Low, while WOXY has a radio session from January available to download. Support acts for Low’s Winter ’06 tour have been announced – His Name Is Alive, who were also supposed to open their cancelled Summer ’05 tour are still going on the road with them, as are Rhode Island’s Death Vessel. Once again, that tour comes to Toronto on January 31 at Lee’s Palace.

And because of a conflict with the MYLO show at the Phoenix that night, the February 14 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club date has been pulled and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be made up. Alas, it will be a glum Valentine’s Day for the city’s anglophiles.

A Northern Chorus, SIANspheric and Alive & Living will be at the Lula Lounge for a show on January 12, admission $10 at the door. That would be worth going to if for no other reason than to see SIANspheric obliterate the supper club crowd with LOUD.

Of Montreal will be back, once again, in Toronto on March 8 for a show at the Mod Club. I would make a, “they should call themselves Of Toronto for the amount they play here” joke, but I think I already used that one…

Spin is hosting Quicktime videos of The National’s performance in their offices back in September.

Zoilus has posted the piece he wrote for The Globe & Mail last week previewing the Iron & Wine and Calexico show last Friday. Carl also wrote up a profile of Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett for none other than The New York Times. There’s some interesting commentary on the piece and Final Fantasy in general on Carl’s site – note that the comments read from bottom to top, if you’re trying to follow along. Either way, congrats to both Carl and Owen on the exposure.

Are You Familiar has conducted his own blogger poll of the best acts in Canada right now, featuring a panel of himself, Goldkicks and eye‘s Stuart Berman. With just three lists to tally up, their results are considerably more eclectic than I Heart Music’s considerably more populist poll from last month. Pop (All Love) has also posted the results of his second annual Pop (All Love) Canadian Music Bloggers Year-End Poll Thingy. We were asked to submit something about something, and then Aaron did something with and and voila – another list. Sorry, I’m starting to get list burnout. I am so ready for 2006.

And speaking of things Canuck… I came in a distant third in voting for Best Culture Blog at the Canadian Blog Awards, though some cursory digging indicates I have many times more visitors than either the first or second place winners. Conclusion? YOU’RE ALL A BUNCH OF MP3-DOWNLOADING FREELOADERS. I mean, really, I ask for one simple favour… I don’t think I even count as a bridesmaid anymore. More like the guy who’s always inexplicably stuck at the kid’s table. Sigh. Someday… I’d like to win something. Anything. I won a dirt bike in a colouring contest once, when I was six. It had a fake plastic gas tank and the fenders were installed backwards so they pretty much got trashed by my brother, who got to ride it since I wasn’t big enough to. Jerk.

np – The Wedding Present / Take Fountain

No Sunday cleaning today – instead, consider this a warm-up to the proper year-end list, coming tomorrow (barring catastrophe). I’m revisiting my year-end list for 2004 and while I’m not going to revise it – I’m happy to report that every one of those records still holds up as a favourite a year later – I do want to make an addendum to account for the 2004 albums that I only discovered this past year. It’s inevitable that a lot of good stuff would be missed over the course of a year, and a goodly amount of ’05 time has been spent playing catch-up. So, in the interests of giving these excellent records their due respect, I’ve compiled an appendix of records released last year that have been keeping me company this year. And in proper clips episode fashion, I’ll just recap what I wrote about them earlier this year when I blogged about ’em. Be sure to come back tomorrow for my proper ’05 retrospective… assuming I get my shit together in time.

Explosions In The Sky
The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Temporary Residence

MP3: “The Only Moment We’re Alone” (Peel Session via With Tired Eyes)

“I was finally exposed to EITS a couple months ago when a friend lent me a copy of The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place and it’s still blowing my mind. I actually had to force myself to return the album as quickly as possible and buy my own so as to not wear it out. Yes, they’re an instrumental “post-rock” guitar band but while the aforementioned surly Scots prefer the more visceral, “kick you in the head and bludgeon you while you’re down” dynamic to get their musical point across, I find Explosions to be more compelling and involving, musically – it’s more orchestrated, refined and overall sophisticated. Different bands for different moods, see? They even got a thumbs up from Austin symphony composer Peter Bay for their modern classicist leanings. It boggles my mind that this music comes from just four individuals. It’s just beautiful.” (Original post)

January
Motion Sickness
Must Destroy Music

MP3: “Someone”

“It was last March I made a random query about whatever became of January… they recorded a follow-up in 2002, but the band imploded and the sophomore release, Motion Sickness, remained shelved until last year. Which is a damn shame because it’s as good as the first record, continuing to blend space rock-approved sonics with a healthy dollop of country twang. Both albums are even structured similarly, each featuring a massive-sounding centrepiece (“Falling In” on the debut, “Sandwood” on the second album) that more than quench my thirst for all things epic, surrounded by quieter, textured pieces of shoegazey-folk…They didn’t get loud very often, but when they did it was amazing.” (Original post)

The Oktober People
The Oktober People
independent

MP3: “Blue Collar Butterfly”

“Now let’s be honest – usually when someone hands you a free CD, the odds of it actually impressing are pretty slim. So when I finally popped it into my CD player at the airport on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself very impressed with what I was hearing. Musically, their serpentine, echoed guitar lines and loping bass melodies recall Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky, and while the loud-quiet dynamic is present, it’s not the punchline. There’s also some Verve-like atmospherics enevloping everything and many of the songs have vocals that keep them fairly grounded in more conventional song structures rather than multi-movement compositions (though some do approach epic-length). The quality of those vocals – somewhat frail and spidery, like Deserters Songs-era Mercury Rev – work perfectly with the music. There’s nothing blazingly original in the ingredients that The Oktober People work with, but the end result is quite stunning nonetheless. If you couldn’t tell, I’m quite taken with their work.” (Original post)

The Radio Dept.
Lesser Matters
Labrador

MP3: “Why Won’t You Talk About It?”

“I owe Mystery & Misery a big heapum thanks for introducing me to The Radio Dept (XL Recordings artist page). I was hankering for something new and his post on these Swedes was just what the doctor ordered. To my ears, they’re the perfect mix of Belle & Sebastian folksy tweeness, eclectic Boo Radleys-ish pop, the gentle electronic flourishes of Trembling Blue Stars and a healthy dollop of Jesus & Mary Chain-approved fuzztones – a perfect mix of grit and delicacy. It’s like being wrapped in a warm, static-y blanket with soft boy-girl vocals… Despite being wonderfully poppy, it took a little time for it to properly sink into my consciousness but now it’s definitely in heavy rotation – highly recommended.” (Original post)

Shearwater
Winged Life
Misra

MP3: “The World In 1984”

“All I knew about Austin’s Shearwater was that they share some members with Okkervil River, an act about whom I know about as much as I do about Shearwater… I was, however, immediately taken in by their hauntingly fragile country-pop. Some random reference points would be Misra label-mates Centro-Matic and Sparklehorse with a dash of recent Wilco thrown in for good measure – not much surprise then, that I liked them a lot. The sonic cacaphony that closed out their set sounded very Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and while it sounded a little out of place with the delicacy of the rest of their set, I applaud the effort to bring a little more to the table. I picked up a copy of their latest full-length, Winged Life, and hope it measures up to the live show.” (Original post and follow-up)

np – Billy Bragg / Reaching To The Converted

I had been looking forward to last night’s Iron & Wine and Calexico show with equal parts anticipation and dread – the former because the musical talents involved almost guaranteed an amazing show, and the latter because that promise was pretty much overshadowed by the venue they were scheduled to play, the dreaded Docks. Any and all conversations with anyone in town about the show seemed to skip right over the artists and go straight into, “oh god I hate the Docks”. A lot of people were willing to boycott the show for that reason alone, and I was one of those at first. However promises that the hall would be halved in size to create a more intimate setting and my unwillingness to miss the show eventually persuaded me to buy a ticket. I was hopeful and/or confident that the music and performance would far outshine any problems with the venue itself. I like it when I’m right.

I was a little surprised to hear folks in the audience asking, “so who’s opening?”, since I was there as much to see Calexico as Iron & Wine, maybe more. I appreciate that this was I&W’s first time back in Toronto since the whole Garden State thing opened up his fanbase enormously, but I would have thought that even his fans would have an understanding of the context of the In The Reins tour. Oh well. Calexico, for my money, are one of the best live bands out there right now and they certainly backed that reputation up last night. Their set contained a fair bit of unknown material, presumably from next year’s Garden Ruin, but even if you’re not familiar with the songs there’s plenty to enjoy in the musicianship and performance. They were joined in the later part of their set by Salvador Duran, who contributed the operatic vocals in the title track of In The Reins, and after Calexcio finished he remained to do a short set of Flamenco (actually, Joey Burns informed the crowd that his music technically wasn’t Flamenco, but originated from another part of Mexico… I forget what he called it, though). It wouldn’t be untoward to say that Duran’s presence was maybe the highlight of the show – the man brought an intensity and dignity in his music that was probably unfamiliar to the indie-rocking audience. I didn’t understand a word of it, but it was riveting nonetheless.

After Duran finished, there was a short break before Sam Beam and his cohorts shuffled out onstage. It’s funny that a guy so associated with acoustic folk music would actually be sporting such a large band – at one point, he had three drummers and percussionists behind him and he himself was playing electric guitar. Blasphemy! The extra instrumentation was mainly concentrated in the rhythm section – melodically, it was still very much just his wonderfully soft voice and guitar (as well as sister Sarah’s harmonies and violin). The weightier sound helped bring the material from the Woman King EP to life, and when it came time to do the sparser, Endless Numbered Days material, they dropped back leaving just Sam and Sarah to beguile the audience. It was also marvelous to hear “The Trapeze Swinger” live, far and away my favourite Iron & Wine song ever. As his set wound down, Beam called out the members of Calexico (who had actually been playing with him through his set) to come out for the final, In The Reins portion of the show.

I liked In The Reins, but was a little disappointed that the recordings didn’t seem as transcendent as I thought the collaboration could have been. Happily, the live show more than compensated. The huge band arrangements, numbering up to eleven players at points, really made the songs sound massive and stately, and again, Duran’s vocals during “He Lays In The Reins” got the audience roaring with approval. For some reason, the set seemed to run a little bit shorter than others on the tour meaning that numbers like “History Of Lovers” and their cover of “Wild Horses” were omitted, but those are minor complaints in light of how amazing the whole of the show was. And as the icing on the cake, it was Joey Burns’ birthday, an occasion celebrated in the encore with a bottle of champagne.

So as hoped, the show was beautiful and amazing, and the venue? Seriously? Not that bad at all. The sound was fantastic, as were the lighting and projections, and the sightlines from where I was were just fine. Mind you, I was in the second row… the stage was low enough that I could imagine seeing would be a problem if you were at the back, but what can you do. And my pictures turned out quite well. The only real problem with the Docks, which I got to experience fully, was the logistics of getting there and back. The vehicularly enabled could pay $15 parking and walking types were stuck cabbing it, at least $20 there and back from anywhere in downtown. But even that wasn’t such a big deal if you could even GET a cab – after the show, I had walked about 2 km and 20 minutes to the Distillery District before I could find a vacant cab. Not such a big deal if it were Summer, but brutally cold and windy in December. Not fun. If I ever end up going back there for anything, you’re damn skippy that I’m calling a cab in ahead of time.

The Associated Press queries Jeff Tweedy about the writing process and file-sharing.

Neil Gaiman is taking a hint from Disney’s focus groups and will henceforth be blogging as Skippy, “a fictional six-year-old tomboy and computer genius, with a small number of endearing catchphrases”. Oh, bitchcakes.

eye eulogizes Arrested Development. So, is it OFFICIALLY cancelled, or is everyone just reading the 40-foot tall writing on the wall? Not even Save Our Bluths seems to be maintaining the death watch anymore.

BEST NEWS EVER. Via Prefix.

np – Bright Eyes / I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

I’d been getting email bulletins from Toronto’s Diableros for a little while now, but foolishly had never paid too close attention (in my defense – I get a lot of emails about a lot of things, and don’t pay too close attention to most of them). Thankfully head Diablero Pete Carmichael sent me a copy of their just-released debut album, You Can’t Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts, to show me the error of my ways.

On first listen, it all sounds a bit familiar. From the distorted, yelpy vocals through the Honey’s Dead buzz and drone (fitting since the band initially formed for a JAMC tribute show) built on psychedelic 12-string guitars and Farfisa organs to the distinctly post-punk/new wave revivalist song stylings, you’ve heard most of the pieces before, but The Diableros special blend makes it all sound fresh and unique. The fact that they graft on some killer pop hooks doesn’t hurt, either – those and the frantic energy that they infuse the album with really do make you want to move (jump around, dance, break stuff, whatever), a fact that’s touched on their cover feature in this week’s NOW. I was a little surprised to read that they share a family tree with other local faves The Airfields, though it sort of makes sense, somehow. The notion that there’s two camps in this city – the Wavelength arties and the Silver Dollar greasy rockers… it’s like the Mods of College vs the Rockers of Spadina. I’d buy tickets to that rumble. Anyway, it’s a shame that I didn’t get to The Diableros them before that 33 Hottest Bands In Canada got compiled, because I surely would have included them on my list.

Check out some tracks from Olympic Hearts, presented with the kind permission of the band:

MP3: The Diableros – “Push It To Monday”
MP3: The Diableros – “No Weight”

And there’s some more stuff at their MySpace page. The Diableros have a few shows around the GTA over the next little while including a show at the Speakeasy (formerly Rockit) on Tuesday and an opening slot for We Are Scientists and Oxford Collapse at the Horseshoe on January 14.

In Joe Pernice’s latest email dispatch, he bitches about the Toronto cold (suck it up, Joe – it’s only going to get worse) and reveals that he will away to the sunny climes of Connecticuit in January to record the next Pernice Brothers record.

The Shins’ James Mercer talks album #3 with Pitchfork.

Aimee Mann will again be on the road early next year, presumably to support The Forgotten Arm, and as such will be in Toronto on February 6 at the smaller-than-her-usual-digs Mod Club. So while more intimate is nice, it’ll probably translate to damned expensive tickets. FYI.

Pulse Of The Twin Cities talks to Low’s Alan Sparhawk about The Great Destroyer and the departure of bassist Zak Sally. I like how they conveniently cropped Sally out of all the promo pics in the article… Low are at Lee’s Palace on January 31.

np – The Mountain Goats / The Coroner’s Gambit