My first, and possibly only, NxNE show was catching Catlow, the new nom de plume of Natasha Thirsk, at the Cameron House on Thursday night. If the name is familiar, maybe it’s from her last band The Dirtmitts or if it’s just the surname that’s ringing bells, you may remember sister Kristy from mid-90s Vancouver outfit The Rose Chronicles.

Catlow played solo to a small but well-populated room, accompanying herself on electric guitar Billy Bragg-style. Her material was split up between quieter, delicate singer-songwriter-esque ballads and more aggressive rockers. The louder numbers were muted a bit sonically by the fact that she was playing clean and not especially loudly, but I liked the guitar tone – I thought it was more expressive than if she’d had a distortion pedal handy. With her sweet but edgy voice, Catlow is a bit of a throwback to the alternative 1990s when scrappy female-fronted rock bands were plentiful on the musical landscape – I hear shades of Juliana Hatfield and Veruca Salt in her sound and songwriting. There was probably a tip of the influence cap when she covered ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry” (which you can also hear on her MySpace page).

Ususally more of a full-band guy, I was a little surprised how much I liked the dynamic of her performing solo. I hope I get the chance to compare and contrast if she tours in support of the first Catlow album Kiss The World, which is out on Tuesday and which you can order from the good people at Boompa. Check out the track that’s been stuck in my head for the past day:

MP3: Catlow – “Number One”

Last Fall, Mates Of State initiated a contest wherein fans would create their own videos for “Goods (All In Your Head)” and the best one would be chosen as the official clip for the single. The winner and runner-up have finally been selected and posted. The winning one is alright and has better production values, but damn if G.J. Echternkamp’s dance video isn’t the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long long time. If this is what it means to teach the indie kids to dance, then sign me up. Thanks to Brendan for the tip-off.

This is something I hadn’t expected to see – Billboard reports that Stars will be getting the remix album treatment courtesy of their peers in the Canadian indie rock firmament. In an experience that Torq Campbell likens to letting your friends redecorate your apartment for you, Broken Social Scene, Metric and The Dears, among others, will be remixing tracks from Set Yourself On Fire for release in album form this Fall. I’m not a big fan of remixes (or paying for remixes, anyway), but this could be interesting.

13 & God, the bleepy-bloopy supergroup featuring members of The Notwist and Themselves, will be touring their eponymous album through North America this Fall, starting with a September 15 date at Lee’s Palace. Further tour dates here.

So I’m this week’s feature in The Toronto Star’s “Blog Roll” column. I’m flattered by the shout out (national newspaper, yo) but find it a little ironic considering that I’ve blown off most of NxNE this weekend…

So as I mentioned in the past I’m looking for a turntable. Some reserach indicates that my parents’ old deck would probably need more in repairs and refurbishment than it’s worth (it’s 35 years old), so I’m looking elsewhere. It’s good to see there’s actually a selection of decent entry-level players available from manufacturers like Music Hall, Pro-Ject, Goldring, etc, but they’re still a moderate amount of money, especially considering that I don’t actually own much vinyl (though I did get another 7″ sent to me in the mail yesterday and am mildly frustrated I can’t play it). I’m trying to decide between spending the cash on a new table or waiting until an older 80s-era turntable comes across my path for considerably less. I want something decent and sturdy and won’t necessarily be a dead-end if I feel like going further in vinyland upgrading something.

I am wary of spending too much on a turntable for the sole reason that it sets a precedent that I would probably rationalize into upgrading the rest of my stereo system (well if I spent X on a turntable and I don’t have any records, then it stands to reason that I should spend Y more on my CD player since I’ve got over a thousand of those… etc), most of which is barely a year old as is. Suggestions? Any recommendations from Torontonians as to where to go the turn up a deal? The fact that I’ve already begun leafing through the LP bins at record stores is not a good sign… Vinyl = ultimate musical fetish object. My demise is inevitable.

np – Elliott Smith / From A Basement On The Hill

To whoever described Austin’s Explosions In The Sky to me as a Mogwai clone: I have a bone to pick with you. Thanks to you, I didn’t bother discovering this band earlier and thus missed their show at the Horseshoe last Fall. I mean, I like Mogwai but the way you said it seemed so dismissive, like they were some cut-rate loud-quiet-loud-quiet, second-law-of-thermodynamics-inferior copy, that I didn’t think they’d be worth my time.

Jerk.

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.

There won’t be a new full-length anytime soon, at least not before 2006, but they have recorded an EP for the Travels In Constants subscription CD series that should be out sometime this Summer. In the meantime, I have to get my hands on a copy of their first proper album, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever, as well as the soundtrack to the 2004 smalltown football flick, Friday Night Lights, for which they composed the score. I don’t care much for football films in general, but I hear this one is good and I’d see it just to see how this sort of music is incorporated into the film.

Here’s a track from their latest album. It’s a six-and-a-half minute edit (the album version clocks in at just under nine), but it gives an idea of what they’re about.

MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Memorial” (Edit)

For your further EITS media needs, check out this fansite which is actually easier to navigate than the official one and has more content, including videos of live shows and a link to the band’s section at The Live Music Archive, where you can download more than a dozen live recordings, all guilt-free. There’s also scads of content at these German and French fansites – check out the Peel Sessions tracks at the latter site. Amazing. Finally, check out this radio session they did for KVRX.

The Pitch interviews another of Austin’s fine musical exports, Britt Daniel of Spoon. Link from Largehearted Boy.

Thanks to 2Fives for pointing out that even though they’ve disbanded, Sea Ray are still updating their website, this time with an update on all members’ post-Sea Ray activities. Man, they were so good.

NME has the entirety of The Tears’ Here Come The Tears available to stream, but if you don’t feel like giving them your personal information and probably signing up for a lifetime of Babyshambles spam, Torr has the tracks directly linked.

I did make it out to see Catlow at the Cameron House last night. It was good. It was also late. I will write it up tomorrow.

np – Mogwai / Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003

Though The Watchmen movie appears to be on life support, comics fans who like seeing things brought to the screen can get excited/chagrined about this bit of news – Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s We3, a tale of cybernetic housepets-turned-killing-machines trying to find their way home, is being optioned by New Line Cinemas. The trade paperback of this, which sports some gorgeous cover art, came out last week – 9th Art has a review of the collection. Morrison can be pretty hit or miss, but this series is far and away some of his best work ever. A film adaptation for this could work, providing the producers realize that it the violence – and boy, is it violent – isn’t the point of it all. The glib one-line description of Incredible Journey meets The Terminator, while accurate, doesn’t nearly do the story justice. It’s actually a very sad (albeit bloody) tale. I hope they get that.

I’m very disappointed there isn’t a poster of bats swarming the CN Tower. Comic Book Resources interviews much of the cast of Batman Begins, opening next Wednesday. Early reviews are very good! Excited!

Brett Ratner talks to Brett Ratner about the pressures he faces as the director of the third X-Men film.

Sufjan Stevens brings a little taste of Illinois to Toronto on September 10 for a show at Trinity-St Paul’s church (the album is out July 5). Another show I will have to miss this on account of being out of the country, and I don’t doubt this one would be lovely – Sufjan and band in a church? Glorious. Laura Viers supports. Tickets go on sale next week.

One Louder has constructed what he called “A Gigocracy”, sort of like the nine circles of Hell as applied to concertgoers. It’s written specifically about the New York scene, but looks pretty universal to me.

eye previews Ivy’s Sunday night show at Lee’s Palace.

Sleater-Kinney tells The Guardian about making The Woods.

Tickets for the Teenage Fanclub show at the Mod Club July 25 are on sale today and will run you $20 (according to the ad in NOW or $22.50 (according to TicketBastard). I will get mine at either the Horseshoe, Rotate This or Soundscapes tomorrow and tell you what the actual price is.

I was asked to contribute some thoughts to Salon.com’s piece on the Live 8 concerts, which I tossed off without a whole lot of thought. if I knew they were going to be printed as a direct quote, maybe I would have taken a little more time… Nah.

I’ve got another upcoming-week-in-live-music post up over at Torontoist, including a little preview of NxNE. I don’t know how many of these shows I will actually make it to… probably Catlow at the Cameron House tonight (check out her Myspace page), but besides that? I do not know. Perhaps nothing.

np – Sea Ray / Stars At Noon

I saw Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith this past weekend but didn’t feel the need to rush a review out – this is easily the most over-discussed and over-reviewed film of the the year. No one is waiting to hear what I think before they decide to go see it or anything…

To establish my position, you can count me in the camp of those who grew up a huge fan of the original films and was sorely disappointed with the first two prequels. I won’t bother getting into the specifics of why – everyone’s heard the arguments countless times over the last few years from the haters and the apologists and it’s just played out and unimportant. What’s a fact is this – barring a huge change of heart from George Lucas, Star Wars is over. Maybe one of the most anticipated films ever (I’ve been waiting to see Obi-Wan and Anikan duke it out on the lava planet since I was 8), Revenge Of The Sith has closed off the prequels and bridged the gap to the original films. But was it any good?

I say yes. And not even a qualified yes. Best of the six? I don’t know about that – technically, yes, but that’s just technology for you. Sure, there were still moments of cringeworthy dialogue, but within the context of the melodrama/tragedy unfolding onscreen, it fit. It certainly helped that his was by far the most violent and action-packed of all the films, allowing Lucas to play to his strengths and create maginificent visuals. Someone at ILM must have figured it out between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith because the effects no longer looked excessively CGI-ed or cut-and-pasted. The opening space battle was exhilerating and the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anikan was everything I had hoped for. Actually, it was considerably more gross than my 5-year old mind had conceived of. I’d say that the violence and darkness of Sith puts lie to the excuse that these were children’s films. I counted 11 severed limbs and countless more gruesome deaths – this was not a kid’s film. But it fit and it was necessary, and I give Lucas credit for not pulling his punches.

Even the acting was better. Maybe it was because the cast knew that this was the end and afterwards they could begin rebuilding their reputations as capable actors, but they seemed much more comfortable with their roles and characters. Ewan McGregor, in particular, does a fine job in his portrayal of a young Alec Guinness (though I can’t quite accept how much he ages in the twenty years between episode three and four – desert living, it’s tough). And that opening credit sequence with the logo and the music? Still goddamned exciting. And to all the nitpickers who are determined to let minor things ruin the film for them – lighten up, Francis.

Some assorted sundry Star Wars links – Play twenty questions with Darth – yeah, it’s a thinly-veiled Burger King promotion but it’s still fun. Check out some Episode III Easter eggs and last but not least, the Star Wars special edition gangsta rap.

And I didn’t really want to use that as a post title, but damned if I couldn’t think of anything better.

Some show announcements – A Northern Chorus are at Lee’s Palace on June 25, tickets $7 at the door. UK folkers Turin Brakes is at the Mod Club July 21 (tickets $12.50, on sale tomorrow) and Ray Lamontagne is also at the Mod Club a week later on July 28, admission $16.50.

It seems NXNE has just lost a venue, mere days before the fest is scheduled to begin. The venerable 360 on Queen West has closed, just in time to leave three showcases homeless. Apparently the Legionnaires (the 360 is technically a Legion hall) got tired of all those damn kids and their music? It was never my favourite room in the city, but I’ve seen some good stuff there and it’s never positive to lose a live music room.

And Lee’s Palace is also closing – but only temporarily. They’ll be doing bar renovations for approximately two weeks around the end of June, but will re-open by the 13th of July when they host The Go! Team.

I’m writing this post on my fancy-pants new laptop. I bought the thing so as to be work/blog mobilely, though that pretty much means in the living room in front of the TV… I’m sure I’ll be able to adjust my lifestyle to make full use of my no longer being tethered by an ethernet cable or desktop PC, even if it means having to go out and scrub the balcony clean (it’s muy filthy right now) so I can have an inspiring view of the car dealership across the street. For the moment, I’m installing software and trying to figure out how to get my two machines networked together. The desktop (which I’ve named Compy 386) is on XP Home, the laptop (which I’ve named Lappy 486) on XP Pro, and while they’re both online via my router, they don’t seem to be able to see each other. Also, if anyone can tell me why IE on the laptop is trying to resize webpages to around 125% of what they’re supposed to be – and how to get it to stop – I’d appreciate it. I’m mainly using Firefox but still have to use IE sometimes and images all look really ass in it from being very crudely upsampled.

Oh, and I transferred the domain name to the new server yesterday – everyone should now be pointed at the new site. Looks a helluva lot like the old one, eh? Yeah, shut up.

Update: Yes, all you RSS-reader people, I know that my RSS feed is now ultra-truncated. Blame Nucleus. I am going to get that fixed ASAP, but you’ll have to give me a few days. In the meantime, come on in the old-fashioned way. Sit a spell. Take a load off.

np – Teenage Fanclub / Man-Made

Nottingham’s Six By Seven, on the eve of releasing Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves, have announced that after weathering eight years and five albums of lineup changes, label hassles and commercial neglect, they’re calling it quits. I’m not surprised, to be honest, but I am disappointed. They had just signed a North American distribution deal for their last two albums and there was even talk of a North American tour this Fall – not to be. In fact, I don’t know what this means for the domestic release of last year’s :04 or Artists, but I’m not going to hold off on getting an import copy of the latter on the miniscule chance that it’s still coming out. But if there’s to be a silver lining in all this, the band is offering their fans some lovely parting gifts. They will release a live best-of compilation before the year’s out and are talking with former home Mantra about digging through the vaults for some more posthumous rarities releases.

If you’ve never heard the band before, here’s a sample of what you were missing out on. The first track comes from their second album The Closer I Get, the second from its follow-up The Way I Feel Today.

MP3: Six By Seven – “Eat Junk Become Junk”

MP3: Six By Seven – “I.O.U. Love”

Sorry to see you go, guys. So long and thanks for all the rage.

But on to happier news – Teenage Fanclub have confirmed the dates of their North American tour, including a July 25 show at the Mod Club in Toronto! I’m surprised they’re playing a venue that size – last time through, they sold out the considerably larger Opera House. I’m not complaining, though. Smaller venue = better, though it also means this will sell out super fast. No ticket information yet, and I’m not telling anyone anyway, at least not until I’ve got mine. The new album Man-Made is out today and Insound has an mp3 from the album if you need some convincing.

MP3: Teenage Fanclub – “It’s All In My Mind”

It seems a certainty that Sigur Ros’ new album will be out by September because they’re already booking a North American tour to promote it. The Toronto show will again be at Massey Hall on September 19, coincidentally the exact same day they were here in 2001. Great timing, I will be out of the country at this time. I wonder how many shows I’ll miss over those two weeks in September?

Salon.com’s Audiofile is currently running a contest wherein you send in a Summer-themed mix comprised of free, legally downloadable mp3s of between 10 and 15 tracks. The best mixes, as selected by a panel of agitated rhesus monkeys, will win a shiny new 20GB iPod. I would enter, except it sounds suspiciously like work.

Stylus plays god with Belly’s Star. I don’t know if removing the hit single and adding two covers (among other revisions) necessarily makes it a stronger album, but I love this record (and the b-sides) so I’m not really able to comment objectively. Don’t mess with perfection!

My Morning Jacket have a new album scheduled for release on September 20, their first to feature the post-It Still Moves lineup.

My photos from Sunday night’s Spoon show are now up. I turn my camera on indeed.

Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) has been confirmed as the new director of X-Men 3. Outrage ensues.

np – The Chameleons / What Does Anything Mean? Basically