So to recap: Rogue Wave’s first album? Not so impressed. Their second album? Very impressed. The first time I saw their live show? Apparently I thought it was alright, though all that’s really stuck with me in the year since is that they were really loud. So how about seeing them live the second time? I’ll get to that, but first – the openers.

Hailing from Montreal via Brooklyn, JF Robitaille opened things up with a very brief but enjoyable set of acoustic pop, accompained by Ainsley Mcwha on backing vocals. What struck me the most about his set, and it’ll probably sound a little odd, was that he had excellent diction. And that’s important. Good songs too, but I really liked how well he was able to articulate his words while singing. Umm, yeah. Robitaille is playing a full set at The Drake tonight, and is worth checking out.

For my thoughts on The Ghost Is Dancing, I refer you back to my review of their show a few months ago at the Distillery. Pretty much everything I said still holds, though I did enjoy that show more than this one. Nothing to do with the performance of the band themselves they’re still jubilant, fun and silly onstage but they were more fun running around the floor of the Gibsone Jessop Gallery amidst the audience than confined to the stage of the ‘Shoe. But despite this, they put on a good set and get bonus points for the balloon hats. They’re easily my top pick for local band I’d get to play a loft party or Bar Mitzvah.

Early on in their set, Zach Rogue confessed that he’d been in a really bad mood but was feeling much better now – thanks, no doubt, to a very healthy Sunday night crowd to see him and his band. Most of the set list drew from Descended Like Vultures and their performance was solid, if not overwhelming. Relative to last Summer’s show they definitely got their volume issues under control, though I was still thankful for my earplugs. They were also definitely tighter as a band, thanks no doubt to the constant touring and recording the new album together. It was unfortunate that towards the end of the set, “10:1” was marred by Gram Lebron’s breaking of his A-string on, like, the second chord of the song. That seemed to throw the band off, and what should have been the centrepiece of the set instead left them stumbling through not only that one, but “Temporary” as well. They managed to get it together, though, and finished strongly with “Endless Shovel”. The encore ensured things ended on an up note and included their cover of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday”, though I’d have preferred to hear their take on R.E.M.’s “Catapult”, which has also been appearing on set lists on this tour. Overall a perfectly satisfying show, just the right length for a weary boy on a Sunday night, but I think I prefer the album. Photo here. Rogue Wave will be back again on March 11 with Nada Surf at Lee’s Palace.

Nothing like an American long weekend to ensure dead quiet across blog-land. This is all I’ve got for today.

np – Metric / Live It Out

This week’s edition covers a bundle of stuff I recently got from the good people at Boompa out in sunny Vancouver.

The Ladies & Gentlemen / Small Sins (Boompa) On this record, The Ladies & Gentlemen are actually just one gentleman, Mr Thom D’Arcy, formerly of Toronto’s Carnations. After the dissolution of his former outfit, D’arcy holed up in his basement and recorded these ten songs all by his lonesome. The warm, burbling keyboards and hushed, intimate vocals create a mellow, late-night vibe, but that laid back-ness is a bit of a rope-a-dope because when the chorus’ swell in “Stay” and “Threw It All Away”, it’s pure pop joy. Since recording the album, D’Arcy has assembled a proper band to bring his bedroom symphonies to the stage as well as kicked off an apparent trend of bands donning all-white stage garb (hello, Dragonette and Islands). Assuming the band enters the studio to record the follow-up as a band, it will be interesting to see how it sounds having more than one cook in the kitchen. The Ladies & Gentlemen are currently on a good old fashioned cross-country tour with Sylvie and Wintersleep. MP3: The Ladies & Gentlemen – “Stay” The Ladies & Gentlemen @ MySpace

Catlow / Kiss The World (Boompa) Natasha Thirsk used to lead Vancouver’s Dirtmitts but has since struck out on her own under the nom the plume of Catlow. Her debut album will sound pretty familar to anyone who lived through the alterna-girl rock heyday of the early- to mid-nineties, as the combination of Thirsk’s sweet vocals and fuzzed guitars wouldn’t have been out of place alongside Juliana Hatfield, Veruca Salt or Letters To Cleo. There’s snarling rockers, gentle ballads and some electronic-y bits thrown in for good measure. Some of the numbers feel a overly synthetic in the production and the gamut of styles are maybe a little too eclectic for the album’s own good, but Thirsk’s voice is fantastic and a treat to listen to, even if it does make me feel old to realize that it’s been over twelve years since I bought Become What You Are on cassette. MP3: Catlow – “Number One” MP3: Catlow – “Don’t Think” Catlow @ MySpace

My Project: Blue / My Project: Blue (Boompa) It’s kind of fortunate for Vancouver trio My Project: Blue that I’ve been going through a Bowie phase, because it gives me a positive frame of reference for listening to their debut EP. Their mix of glammy/new-wave sounds is built on a bed of acoustic and electric guitars and fat analog synth lines and reminds me a little of a Coles Notes version of Changesbowie. Chad Blue’s warble sounds not unlike Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, though his melodic sense isn’t nearly as twisted. I’m tempted to suggest Jill Southern’s vocals be used to greater effect to offset the eccentricity of Blue’s delivery, but MP:B is probably more interesting if you don’t smooth out the edges. I think it’d be even more interesting if they headed further into left field, creatively, and introduce some more sonic chaos into their sound. The production on the EP is pretty clean and could use a healthier dose of weird… But that’s just me. MP3: My Project: Blue – “Control Of Me” My Project: Blue @ MySpace

np – Wheat / Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate one of my very favourite publications, The Big Takeover, on (finally) giving their website the overhaul it so richly deserved and desperately needed. What had been little more than a holding page and pointer to their online subscription form is now an impressive blog hub, with journals from almost a dozen magazine contributors. They’ve only been online for a week or so, but it looks like there’ll be a steady stream of reviews, editorials and features as well as, hopefully, content from the magazine. There’s also a weekly top 10 feature that should provide no shortage of worthy listening reccomendations.

Since I first picked up BTO about five years ago and was immediately struck by how different it was from most everything else on the newsstand. First, it was about five times the thickness and secondly, their coverage seemed immune to trend-following – they covered what they liked, fashion be damned, using their tagline (and this post’s title) as a manifesto. The enthusiasm and passion of the writers is evident on every page and it also translates in the interviews – the artists usually respond to to the sincere interest of their interviewers, resulting in insightful and candid conversations that can be light years away from the usual talking points you find in many music publications. It was inspiring to read journalism that didn’t feel influenced by PR or advertiser pressures, and I daresay that it’s been an inspiration to me as a music hack. All respect to EIC and founder Jack Rabid, who has been fighting the good fight for a quarter century now.

Their new issue should be out any week now, and features Death Cab For Cutie on the cover. Okay, that goes a little against what I was saying about them being immune to trends, but come on – any magazine that’d put a big ugly closeup of Bob Pollard on their cover deserves some credit for not pandering. And vote for The Big Takeover in the Plug Awards – they’re nominated in the “Zine Of The Year”.

Billboard talks to Jeff Tweedy about the latest incarnation of Wilco, Kicking Television and gives a progress report on the new album. Recordonline.com also has a brief interview (Bugmenot).

Thanks go to Torr for directing me to this BBC broadcast, which features an interview with Rachel Goswell of Mojave 3 about 4AD’s 25th anniversary and a couple of more tracks from the forthcoming new album, due out next March (the M3 segment starts around 20:40). I will echo Torr’s sentiments that the new Mojave 3 record is at the very top of my most eagerly anticipated records for ’06.

And related – My Mean Magpie brings attention to Sarah Hepburn, formerly of Glorybox. Sarah’s Stars & Haze, which was produced by Neil Halstead and features performances from several Mojave 3-ers. He has a link to a video from the record – it’s interesting, not at all Mojave-like.

The story of Rogue Wave, as told to Chart. Rogue Wave are at the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

Rolling Stone enumerates the best DVD releases of the year.

Sony follows up their rootkit fiasco by invading San Francisco with bouncy balls. IS THERE NO DEPTH TO WHICH THESE PEOPLE WON’T SINK?!? Make sure to check out the making of clip as well.

np – David Bowie / Low

As I mentioned a couple days ago in the comments, The Hidden Cameras live are one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen (yes, my hyperbole engine is enabled), but the albums don’t reach the same heights for me for a variety of reasons, including how they simply don’t capture the magic of the live performance, and with their “In The Boneyard” collaboration with the Toronto Dance Theatre, the bar is set even higher.

Zoilus and Geekent have much better reviews than I (in addition to the The Toronto Star and The Globe & Mail ones I linked yesterday), but I, however, have pictures. Only a handful, taken very quickly during the last two numbers when the audience was up and clapping and generally carrying on. It wasn’t really the sort of atmosphere that I wanted to have the camera out in, and I really didn’t want to miss anything happening onstage whilst fiddling with the settings. And anyway, still photos don’t really do the show justice – it was so kinetic, you’d need video and even then, it couldn’t capture the live experience (though if any one of the pieces was recorded, it would easily be one of the best music videos ever). The Cameras were set up on a high set of scaffolding while the dancers frolicked on the stage in front of them (and invaded the audience a couple times). Over the course of the show, the dancers and musicians would change places and try their hands at the others’ craft (and usually acquitting themselves decently).

I’ve never watched modern dance before, so I was really awestruck watching the dancers move – they were so graceful and nimble, I felt horribly clumsy and awkward just sitting in my seat. The production felt like a Broadway show, but without all the unnecessary story and dialogue – it was just a solid hour of enormously entertaining and joyous music and dance. The Cameras’ new Awoo material, which soundtracked the show, sounded good, though very much the same as the older stuff. It will be interesting to try and enjoy the album on its own when it comes out next year – I’m sure I will, but it really worked so well with the dance, it’s really a shame they couldn’t somehow capture that energy and spirit for all to experience. But until they do, I guess I’ll just have to say “you had to be there”, and if they do this again next year, which I hope they do, then you really should try.

Apparently five sold-out shows just ain’t enough. Stars have achieved maximum rock’n’roll density with an all-ages matinee show at Lee’s Palace on Sunday, December 18. So for those keeping track, that’s shows on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday night. Whoo.

Jeff Tweedy talks to Paste about Kicking Television, “Kicking Television” and what lays ahead for Wilco.

Billboard has details on RT – The Life and Music of Richard Thompson, the Richard Thompson box set due on February 7 of next year.

Glide celebrates the resurrected Posies.

Chart talks to M83 in an old interview that they’re running for no real good reason.

Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois came out on double vinyl this week, and features a bonus track (“The Avalanche”) and third iteration of the cover art featuring some brightly-colour balloons in that infamous central piece of real estate (because nothing says “Illinois” more than balloons). But! The first 500 5000 copies (though probably all snatched up via pre-order) have those balloons on a “Peel slowly and see”-approved sticker… and guess what’s underneath? Up up and away. Cheeky monkeys.

I’ve been nominated for “Best Culture Blog” in the Canadian Blog Awards. Well, me and about 4000 other blogs. Democracy in action and all that.

np – The National / The National

Goldenfiddle reports that Dean & Britta (that’s Wareham & Phillips, ex-Luna), have been tapped to provide the soundtrack to the forthcoming film Just Like The Son, which will be directed by Morgan Freeman. They also currently have a couple songs on the soundtrack for The Squid & The Whale, which they also scored. I tried to see a couple weeks ago but was foiled by my inability to correctly read the show time. Curses. The AV Club has an interview with director Noah Baumbach, who has a history of being a Luna fan – the band contributed to the soundtrack for his last film, Mr Jealousy.

Dean and Britta are also working on their follow-up album to 2003’s lovely, languid L’Avventura and hope for a Spring ’06 release. Their freshly redesigned website also has a forum that Britta is hanging out in and will be nice compliment to the Full Of Wishes G500/Luna/D&B HQ as well as the G500 mailing list. If you’ve never heard any of the D&B stuff, it’s really nice. Certainly not light-years away from Luna, but still quite a distinct entity. Check out some tunes, and there’s videos on the media page of their website:

MP3: Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham – “Moonshot” (Buffy Sainte-Marie cover)
MP3: Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham – “Your Baby (Can’t Stand The Rain)” (Sonic Boom remix)

Tangentially – Poptones poses Questions of Doom to D&B collaborator and houseguest Sonic Boom.

December 14 will see the 2nd annual Holiday Jam benefit for the Hospital For Sick Kids take place at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. It’ll be a smorgasborg of rootsy singer-songwriters, with a bill featuring Sam Roberts, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Danny Michel and Matt Mays. Anyone want to lay odds on a big, everyone-on-stage love-in finale? Tickets are $35 and go on sale Friday.

Also on December 14 – The Mendoza Line, whose Full Of Light And Full Of Fire just got a glowing review from Popmatters (and are doing pretty well overall) will be at the Rivoli with Great Lake Swimmers and Picastro. What a great bill. I thought my 2005 concert year was done, but not quite yet. And coincidentally, The AC Club has a combo review of the Mendoza and GLS albums (okay, not so coincidentally, they’re labelmates).

The Nada Surf show at Lee’s Palace on March 11 just got an extra boost in the bill – also along for the tour will be Rogue Wave, so if you don’t get to see them at the Horseshoe this Sunday (or if you’re so blown away you have to see them again), you’ll get another shot in three months or so. The Toronto show will be last one of the monht-long tour, so they’ll either have a little extra to give or nothing at all. Rogue Wave are also featured in the Torontoist week in ever-decreasing number of shows and are interviewed in NOW, Pulse Of The Twin Cities and The Georgia Straight.

I will have my review of the Hidden Cameras/Toronto Dance Theatre show up tomorrow. Sneak preview? AWESOME. In the meantime, you can read The Toronto Star‘s and The Globe & Mail‘s take on the opening night show.

It’s a freaking nationlism epidemic. Take Your Medicine presents the 47 hottest bands in the UK. I wait with bated breath for the inevitable “hottest bands in Uganda” post.

Catbirdseat is the first on my blogroll to make with the best-of 2005 list, My Old Kentucky Blog and Gorilla Vs Bear a close second. and third. And since I’m not burned out on peoples’ lists yest, I will make with the linkage.

Dear America: Happy Thanksgiving.

np – The Mendoza Line / Fortune