My favourite part of Spoon’s new Gimme Fiction is in the outro of “Sister Jack”. In what has been a pretty straight 4/4 stomping rocker, they suddenly add an extra beat in the descending riff – the first time I heard it, I did a double take because I thought my CD was skipping or something. No, it was just one of the brilliant little touches that Spoon throws into their song arrangements that make their records such a joy. I’ve only experienced their live show once before, way back in September of 2002, and to be honest, I don’t remember much. Just that from my vantage point in the Horseshoe, I couldn’t see anyone in the band except Britt Daniel – for he is so very tall and his bandmates are so very not. It’s kinda funny to see. But yeah, back then I was still very new to Spoon so last night’s sold-out show at the Opera House was the first time I’d seen them as a fan and with a full knowledge of their catalog.

Opening things up was The Clientele, from London, England. They had been recommended to me in the past as the sort of thing I might like, yet none of the handful of tracks I sampled ever seemed to make any sort of impression. Still, I was willing to give them a shot to impress in a live setting. Being right up front, however, I was actually located behind the PA stacks and given that they are quite a quiet band and Alasdair MacLean’s Vox AC30 was pointed directly at me, I didn’t really hear much of anything but guitar. It was pretty guitar, sure – MacLean has an interesting spidery sort of fingerpicking style that I rather liked – but over the course of the set it was all very same-y. This certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that he left his tremolo pedal on for the duration, making it seem like they played one song for 40 minutes (or 10 four-minute songs that all sounded the same, I couldn’t tell). So yeah, a bit of a pity, that. And it wasn’t just where I was – reports from the balcony were that it all sounded the same up there as well. I won’t discount checking out one of their albums in the future, but they didn’t make a sale last night.

Curious thing about the headliners – for the first half of Spoon’s set, they were good but seemed to be holding something back. They were like a prizefighter circling the ring, sizing up the opposition but not thowing a punch. They obviously had the potential to do some serious rock’n’roll damage, like a coiled-up spring waiting to go off, but either by design or not, it apparently wasn’t go time. Then at exactly the halfway point of the set, they let loose a feedback-drenched “Paper Tiger” followed by a revved up “Small Stakes” and then it was on. From then on, they were tight, sinewy and grooving with just enough of a ragged edge to keep it dangerous – sometimes I forget just how unique Spoon’s sound is. There was no real knockout moment where they reached transcendence, but they came close with the extended jam-out on set closer “My Mathematical Mind”. While they may not have left the audience out cold on the mat, but they landed enough blows to get the decision. And in case you couldn’t tell, I know shit about boxing. But I’m sticking with the analogy anyway.

For my money, Spoon will always be a superb studio band first and foremost, but they’re no slouches onstage, either. I wonder how much of a difference it would make if the rest of the band were able to offer up some more stage presence rather than leaving it all to Britt Daniel and his dancing feet. Obviously he’s the focal point (did I mention how tall he is?) but that’s not to say he couldn’t use some support every now and again. But these are minor points – after almost two years away wherein they’ve dropped the “next” from their “next big thing” status, it was good to have them back in Toronto with a fine show. Photos tomorrow, I am ninety kinds of tired as is – staying up to play photomat was simply not on. But I was right up front so I got some decent shots of one sweaty Britt Daniel. Whoo! Update: Photos up!

Largehearted links – A brief look at the history of My Morning Jacket, courtesy of Flagpole and Stephen Malkmus talks to Boston.com about his new album Face The Truth and fatherhood.

Feist tells The New York Times (Bugmenot) what music has been keeping her company lately. Via Pop (All Love).

np – Catherine Wheel / Ferment

What is it with show conflicts on Sundays? It’s strange enough that there’s been as many shows scheduled for Sunday nights in the past few months as there have been, but I can think of at least three or four recent incidences of having to miss something great to see something else great – all on the the day of rest, no less.

Like tonight – going to see Spoon, but if I wasn’t I’d totally be at Wavelength to catch The Airfields. They’re a relatively new local outfit – I only recall seeing their names popping up in show listings in the past few months or so – but what I’ve heard has been utterly beguiling. In fact, the more I listen to them, the more I like them. And I’ve been listening to them lots.

Very much at odds with the post-punk/disco/noise aesthetic that seems to be in fashion in the 416 these days (or screaming metal, based on the sound of the other tenants in my rehearsal space), the five-piece sound blend the right amount of lo-fi jangle, whirring keyboards and delicate vocal harmonies and wrap it all up reverbs that make it sound like the ghost of some of the sweetest, most forlorn pop music you ever did hear. Fans of Sarah Records and The Field Mice would be highly advised to give a listen.

This track comes from their only recorded output to date, the 3-track City-State EP that is available to download in its entirety off their website:

MP3: The Airfields – “Leaps & Bounds”

I couldn’t find a copy at Soundscapes the other day, but will keep checking back for re-stock as I obviously want to encourage them to keep making music and it’s got some really nice packaging and artwork. Wavelength has a little interview with the band to preview their show tonight at Sneaky Dee’s. Cover is pay-what-you-can and The Airfields are on at midnight. You know, Spoon would be over by then and I could concievably make it to that show as well, 8AM work time tomorrow be damned. And if not, then I’ll surely catch them the next time they play.

Back to Spoon for a moment – they tell Chart that they love to tour. Really.

The Japan Times welcomes Yo La Tengo to Japan with a good long feature article/interview. From Largehearted Boy.

Paste talks to director Bradley Beesley about the making of Fearless Freaks, the documentary on the life and times of The Flaming Lips.

There may be some site downtime in the next couple days as I’m moving hosting providers. Hopefully it won’t be for long – it’s just a DNS thing, the actual site transfer is done and working – but if I go AWOL for you at some point in the near future, fret not. I’ll keep writing, you just may not be able to access it until your DNS updates.

np – M Ward / Transfiguration Of Vincent

Sigur Ros continue to cement their reputation as the prefered epic space rock indie band of ballet companies. The Icelandic combo composed a new piece of music for the Royal Danish Ballet’s performance of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl”. The six-minute song isn’t scheduled for release but you can watch the televised performance of the piece from their website: (10 MB Lo-Res WMV / 20 MB Low-Res WMV).

And if you’ve never been through the audio and video archives, you’re missing out. There’s a treasure trove of great stuff there. In non-ballet band news, they are currently booking tour dates around Europe and Australia through the Summer and still have a release target of September for their fourth album.

The New York Times considers the motivation behind the ad nauseum reissuing of Elvis Costello’s back catalog (via Stereogum) while PopMatters has a decidedly lukewarm review of the final volume in the Rhino reissue series, King Of America.

NOW lists their picks for next week’s NXNE festival, but neglects to put the schedule grids from the print edition online. You can, however, finally get them from the NXNE website in grid format. The Globe & Mail also lists their best bets for the fest. I still have to sit down and figure out what, if anything, I’m going to try and see. Naturally, the few things that have my interest are conflicts with one another. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Some Depression has been posting downloads of some excellent Steve Earle and Rilo Kiley live material.

A whole bunch of covers of “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. Via LHB.

Pitchfork gets a little info from Joey Burns about Lay In The Reigns, the Calexico/Iron & Wine collaborative EP due out this Fall.

Flagpole asks The Brunettes what it’s like opening up for two of the hottest indie tours of the past Spring, The Shins and Rilo Kiley. Via LHB.

Last night I went to see my brother’s fiancee’s sister (is there a more succinct genealogical term for that relationship?) perform in a comedy show called Reservoir Bitches, which as the name implies, is a gender-reversal satire of the Tarantino film. I’ve tried write up a little review for Torontoist… Remember, comedy/theatre/etc is not my department – I kept trying to work in a line about how the show was derivative of early New Order, but managed to restrain myself.

np – M83 / Before The Dawn Heals Us

Brooklyn’s Longwave have given their website a much much much overdue makeover in anticipation of the release of There’s A Fire on June 28. Filter has a piece (actually the official band bio) with Steve Schiltz and Shanon Ferguson talking about the making of the new record, which was produced by indie god John Leckie. People I know who’ve heard leaked copies of the album say it’s excellent, so I’m pretty excited about this one. There’s not too much I can say about the band that I didn’t when I wrote about them back in March, so I’ll just point you to that post and carry on. An acoustic version of the album’s title track appeared on their 2004 Life Of The Party EP but it makes a fully-arranged reappearance on the new album, compelte with the soaring vocals and sonic tomfoolery that have become the band’s trademark. Grab the album version here:

MP3: Longwave – “There’s A Fire”

I hope the band doesn’t think that the pre-release mini tour that brought them through town back in March counts as a proper Toronto stop. I haven’t seen them live in well over two years, and that’s far too long.

Check out this compilation coming out in September from Club AC30, one of the premier shoegaze-centric music nights in the UK. Never Lose That Feeling #1 is the first in a series of three compilations that feature new shoegaze and dream-pop artists covering classic tracks by their stylistic forebears. It’s like it was conceived with me in mind! AmAnSet’s Andrew Kenney covering Spiritualized? Yes please. Douglas Heart taking on Slowdive’s “Alison” will be worth the price of admission alone – I’m all a-tingle just thinking about it. It’s due out on September 12 in the UK, and will get distribution in North America courtesy of Clairecords.

The Onion AV Club steps into the ring with Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Browntstein while SF Weekly takes on both Brownstein AND Janet Weiss. Badass.

Prefix talks to Pinback about video games and comics.

Billboard reports that last year’s model Franz Ferdinand are in the process of mixing the follow-up to their super smash debut eponymous album and hope to have it in stores by September. They also bring tidings that Nada Surf will release their fourth album, The Weight Is A Gift, on September 20 in North America via the good people at Barsuk.

The Boston Phoenix gets down to a little Q&A with Aimee Mann about her new album, The Forgotten Arm. Via Largehearted Boy.

Being There offers up a beginner’s guide to the works of Neil Young.

Comic Book Resources compiles a pretty thorough list of comic book-related blogs.

And anyone in T.O. who needs an extra ticket for The Raveonettes show at Lee’s Palace tomorrow night, get in touch with Mishie at The Tear That Hangs…. She dost have an extra.

Miasma tonight at SpaHa. I do not recommend the draft beer, go with bottles. Trust me on this.

np – Douglas Heart / Douglas Heart

Sequels are tricky things, prequels even moreso. You have to try and craft a compelling story that a) lives up to the presumably high standard of the original film, and b) manages to keep the audience engaged despite them knowing how it all ultimately turns out – no easy task, just ask George Lucas. Infernal Affairs 2 more than succeeds on both fronts. For those who haven’t seen it, the first film (my review here) follows the inevitable collision of a police officer undercover in the Triads and a Triad member operating as a mole in the police department – I can’t tell any more for fear of spoiling it, but let me say that if you haven’t seen it, you really should. Preferably before Martin Scorcese’s remake The Departed comes out next year just so you can honestly say how much better the original was (for the record, I am looking forward to the remake – there is no earthly reason that it can’t be made into an excellent American film. Not saying that it necessarily will be, but it can happen. End aside).

Infernal Affairs 2 is set approximately a decade before the first film, in between the times that the moles were placed and before the events of IA1. Rather than the tense cops-and-robbers mood of the original, this one plays out much more like a traditional mobster movie. The mob war plot is considerably more intricate – it takes a little while to get wrap my head around who was who and what was what, never mind the whole double agent angle. The film actually focuses far less on Ming and Yan, the main characters of the original, and more on Sam and Wong, their respective bosses in the Triads and Hong Kong police department. Whereas in the first film Sam and Wong were fairly typical bad mobster/good cop archetypes, here they’re given far more back story and depth of character – it makes me want to see the first film again just to see if it alters my perception of them.

The cast utilizes Edison Chen and Shawn Yue, the actors who portrayed the acadamy-aged Ming and Yan in the first film. While they don’t have the star power of Andy Lau and Tony Leung, they’re both excellent in their roles, as are Anthony Wong (as Wong) and Eric Tsang (as Sam). Hell, everyone in this film does a fine job – even if it wasn’t a se/prequel, it’d be an excellent standalone gangster movie. It doesn’t necessarily have the twists or tension of the IA, but is more dramatic and character-intensive. The best point of comparison I can make is if The Godfather were a prequel to Heat. I, of course, am going to have to get the third film now (which is a proper sequel to the first).

More movies: Matthew Vaughan has stepped down as director of X-Men 3. He cites personal reasons, explaining that he didn’t want to be separated from his family for upwards of a year nor uproot them. Before you call him unreasonable, consider that his wife is Claudia Schiffer. I don’t think anyone can fault a guy for not wanting to be away from that for very long. The Beat, however, has its own interpretation of the factors leading to his exit. So where does that leave the third X-Men film? Nine weeks from principal shooting and without a director. THAT’S not a good thing.

Popmatters talks to Bruce Campbell about his new “novel”, How To Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way. He also hints that a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep could be in the works. Bruuuuuuce!

NOW and The Toronto Star (Bugmenot) preview Spoon’s Sunday night engagement at the Opera House. And here’s another Spoon article courtesy of The News & Observer.

I’m stealing a page from BrooklynVegan’s work at Gothamist and starting to do weekly live music previews for Torontoist. I wasn’t anywhere near regular with reviews and really, the last thing the world needs is more online CD reviews. I think this is a little more Toronto-relevant and I can write it over a longer period of time rather than cram the night before.

np – Longwave / The Strangest Things