Someone ask me how the Ambulance Ltd show in Toronto was last night. Go on, ask me. “Hey Frank, how was the Ambulance show last night?” “SHORT!” I’m talking George Lucas movie central casting short. It’s a shame that that should be the thing that sticks out in my mind the most from this show, but when the headliner plays for under an hour including encore…

Anyway – let’s start at the beginning. The two local openers for this show were acts I’d seen before some time ago and who didn’t make much of an impression the first time around. I was curious to see how they compared now. First was Nassau, who I saw with The Wrens last February, and I think I had the exact same reaction as I did then. Brit-influenced rock dragged down by an excessively lumbering rhythm section. The drummer hit em hard but lacked any of the finesse that might have given the tunes some sort of jump. This is especially ironic considering the band is fronted by ex-GBV drummer Jon McCann, who is probably exponentially better behind the kit than the guy they have. There were a couple tunes that had a bit of energy to them, but they were sadly outnumbered by the plodding ones. Next.

I saw Boy about a year and a half ago opening for Metric at the Horseshoe. Back then, they were a coffee house-ish singer-songwriter folk/pop outfit. Well I guess someone attended some focus group meetings since then, because Boy is now a full-out retro rock machine that sounds suspiciously fashionable. Bouncing around the stage with all the energy that Nassau lacked, they churned out some decent if rote rock’n’roll that was equal parts classic hand-on-hip Stones swagger and 90s “Mad for it” Britpop. Not the sort of thing that really got my engine revving, but good warmup nonetheless.

I’ve already complained about the brevity of the headliner set, so I’ll just let that go and comment on the performance itself, for as long as it lasted. Opening with “Yoga Means Union”, they followed with the next two songs off of LP and I wondered for a moment if they were just going to play the album start to finish (though if they had, it would have probably been a longer show… whoops, there I go again). They filled the middle portion of the set with some new material and wrapped up with the singles from the album, before returning for a one-song encore that was a cover I can’t place (if anyone knows, let me know). They may not have been up there long, but singer/guitarist Marcus Congleton was working up a good sweat anyway, much to the delight of the sizable female portion of the audience.

Since I saw them at SxSW last month, I had a fair idea of what to expect from the show, and again, they were quite polished in their presentation if not particularly animated. They certainly managed to exude an air of aloofness that actually worked with their New York cool mystique, but they said they were really happy to be here so we could probably just take their word for it. Musically, they’ve stripped away much of the atmospherics that make the recorded versions of the songs so interesting, instead favouring a drier, punchier presentation. Luckily, the songs are, for the most part, strong enough to impress in whichever context.

So yeah, I guess I have to say I was somewhat disappointed by the show. Neither opener really did much for me and the headliners called it a day just as things were really getting going. It seems gauche to try and break it down to an entertainment-for-dollar equation, but… I’m glad it wasn’t an expensive ticket. Oh well. Photos here. Man those Mod Club lights are crazy.

Chart has the scoop on the new Broken Social Scene records. That’s, right, records. Plural. They’ve got three albums worth of material and will be staggering releases starting the Fall.

It finally has a name! Fountains Of Wayne’s oft-delayed b-sides comp will come out June 28 bearing the monicker of Out-Of-State Plates and to make up for the delay, it’ll be a double-disc set. Billboard has full details, including the fact that it in addition to boasting a couple of new tracks, it will mark the first official release of their “…Baby, One More Time” cover. They originally recorded it way back in 1999, but refused to release it as the label wanted to make it a single and they were wary of being labelled as a novelty act or a one-hit wonder. Nope, they held their ground and it eventually paid off as they’re now recognized as being the purveyors of that artistic monument known as “Stacy’s Mom”.

The Go! Team will be at Lee’s Palace July 13. I know some people who are going to be very happy about this one.

His Name Is Alive has been added as support for Low’s June 4 show at the Opera House. I just got The Great Destroyer yesterday, and like it quite a bit. This will be a good show.

np – Low / The Great Destroyer

And here we go. Version 6.0. Looks an awful lot like 5.0, doesn’t it? Yeah, shut up. Sorry if you were expecting something more grandiose, but the reason I stuck with the old layout so long was that I liked it. Really. It takes me forever and a day to come up with decent designs, so when I find something that works, you bet your sweet bippy that I’m going to stick with it for a while. I call it a fresh coat of paint, and it is – it just happens to be the same colour. I realize it’s a little odd rolling something new out on the day of the week I have the least traffic, but this is the only day I’ve got the time to get it set up and debug anything that comes up.

Revisions this time around are of the more pragmatic sort – the layout is wider, obviously, so there’s less scrolling and more overall real estate. In fact, I’ve got so much more space that I don’t know what to do with all of it – case in point, the little Loveless abstraction up in the top right. That’s just… there. If I have banners or announcements or something, I’ll post them there, but for now, it is what it is. I’ve eliminated pop-ups for reviews and photos (thank God) and made some marked improvements in the concert photo albums. My MP3 of the week will now update itself automatically, instead of me having to do it manually, so I can load up tracks months in advance and at the stroke of midnight on Saturdays, bam – new selection. The links section has been updated and expanded, things are hopefully easier to use and navigate, and I think the overall look and feel is less cluttered, more usable.

The site’s not done by any stretch of the imagination. What I have done is gone in and thoroughly cleaned up all the backend code – I’ve reduced the amount of code in the backend by maybe 30%. Dear God, I’m a much better programmer now than I was two years ago. It’s much much faster, leaner, and cleaner now, and more scaleable – meaning I can add to the site more easily than before, if I so desire. And I do, really. I’ve got some ideas that I will try to put into action in the near future, either here or elsewhere, barring any extreme bouts of sloth on my part. I’ve got a couple of annex-like servers that I’m spreading my hosting and bandwidth usage across, so running out of space or tranfer quotas shouldn’t be an issue. You probably wouldn’t have noticed it being an issue in the past, but it was always a concern. Now, hopefully less so.

You’ve probably also noticed the big ol’ empty column down the right-hand side… well, that’s was going to be ad space – nothing horribly sinister, just those Google AdWords and BlogAds things that are becoming ubiquitous, but I’m having second thoughts. What do you think? Are they horribly annoying? Would I be “selling out”? I’m truly on the fence. If I do try them out, I’ll more than likely pull them if they don’t actually net any sort of revenue. If it can’t pay for, say, a concert or a CD a month, then nuts to it. Nuts, I say. I’ll fill up the space with corn bread recipes or something.

I had a moderate-length discourse about why I would feel compelled to seek advertising money or solicit donations, but have decided not to bother with it. The reasons and rationale should be self-evident and I can’t be bothered to write it up. There will be no hard sell, no cajoling, none of that. Yes, this blog takes a helluva lot of my time and a modest amount of capital on my part, but I’m not doing this for the money. I certainly won’t turn it down if offered, but I do this because it’s fun for me. Exhausting at (most) times, but fun.

But to take this to a slightly higher level view, I have been giving much thought to the future of this site in recent months. Not IF the site will have a future (though I admit that wasn’t necessarily a given), but what that future will entail. This site has been a success beyone my wildest imagining since I started it two and a half years ago, not that I actually had any sort of yardstick for what constituted “success”. I’m quite proud of it and don’t want to tamper, but am wary of treading water as well. Grow or die, right? I’m still not sure where this train of thought will lead me, or even what I’m trying to say. There was supposed to be some sort of profundity here, but I seem to be unable to string together more than a couple coherent thoughts in a row, here. It’s been a long week and I’m tired.

So… that’s it for now. Regular programming will resume tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

np – Douglas Heart / Douglas Heart

Billboard has all the details on the new Son Volt album. The bizarrely-titled Okemah And The Melody Of Riot will be coming out on July 12 in DualDisc format. This will be my first DualDisc! How very exciting. The band will be in Europe for most of the Summer but are planning a proper North American tour for the Fall.

And for those who refuse to acknowledge the new lineup as Son Volt, there’s the previously reported release of Son Volt’s A Retrospective: 1995-2000 (See the artwork) on May 24 courtesy of Rhino. The 20 tracks are split right down the middle, half of them previously released album tracks and the other half b-sides/unreleased goodies. Which means that even if I ignore the 10 tracks I already own on the albums, there’s still about an album’s worth of material that I don’t have. Very canny. And finally, May 10 sees the release of the band’s 1997 appearance on Austin City Limits on DVD.

For The Records points out that the calendar for this Summer’s Harbourfront Festivals is up, and something called “T.O. Twang: All Things Alt Country” will be happening August 12 through 14… Now why does that weekend sound familiar? Oh yeah, my brother’s getting married that weekend. I don’t really need to be there for that, do I?

I’m a little disappointed in The Onion AV Club for deeming The Decemberists as a “fresh face eager for stardom”. Which is not to say that Colin Meloy & co don’t have fresh faces nor that they aren’t eager for stardom, but come on – they just released their third album and are hardly a “new” band on the scene. This is the sort of thing I expect from, say, the Grammies, but I expect The Onion to be a little more on top of things than this. Still, nice interview.

Royal City will release a b-sides/rarities compilation later this year entitled I Will Always Sing These Songs. 411 from Catbirdseat. Update: Five Seventeen has some more info on what you might be expecting to find on this comp – speculative tracklists, etc.

SubPop has made available for your viewing pleasure the new Shins video for “Pink Bullets”. Shins blah blah Sunday blah blah Kool Haus blah blah. From You Ain’t No Picasso.

More Cowbell has the first of the Dinosaur Jr reunion tour dates for North America. Well, America, anyway. No Canadian dates but I can’t help but notice a conspicuous 4-day gap between the Boston and Cleveland shows. That’s just enough time to zip north of the border, no? Also, Dino Jr are on the Late Late Show tonight. Either TIVO that shiznit or just stay in on a Friday night (there’s nothing wrong with that!) and watch it live.

And finally, something near and dear to everyone’s hearts – boobs. Apparently for every click through on www.thebreastcancersite.com, you’re helping fund free mammograms for underprivileged women. Hoax-Slayer.com says it’s legit. Certainly can’t hurt either way, right? Thanks to Gary for the tip.

np – Luna / Bewitched

This is my first and probably only Bloc Party post. There is absolutely nothing of substance I can add to the hype maelstrom that currently swirls around this band. I just got Silent Alarm this week – the one or two songs I’d really listened to were alright and it was cheap, so why not? Here’s a play-by-play.

First listen – not impressed. Kind of annoyed, actually. “So Here We Are”, one of the tracks that convinced me to buy it, is still the standout.

Second listen – a couple more of the songs begin to sink in. Annoyance levels decreasing. I hear a flash of some Chameleons influence, which pleases me.

Third listen – Okay, this isn’t bad. Still a little too frantic/yelpy for me to love and the guy sounds more like Damon Albarn than Robert Smith, but whatever. I guess 90s reference points aren’t hip yet, so we’ll stay in the 80s.

Fourth listen – I think we’ve hit a leveling off point. It’s alright, I don’t mind it at all, I’ll probably keep it. I think I prefer it to last year’s Bloc Pary, Franz Ferdinand (or are Bloc Party this year’s Franz Ferdinand? I get so confused). Overall, it seems to have more depth, shelf life. I like the guitarwork.

And that’s all. If you want more Bloc Party pics/reviews/interviews/hype, step outside, swing a stick. However, they do get mad props from me for wearing a Six By Seven t-shirt in their promo photo. Respect. For that, I will post an mp3 – this one appeared as a b-side on a few releases was put out as a proper single pre-Silent Alarm. I like it.

MP3: Bloc Party – “Tulips”

NOW asks The Shins how Garden State changed their lives, namely allowing them to sell out almost every date on their North American tour, including Sunday’s show at the Kool Haus.

eye previews M83’s show at Lee’s Palace on Tuesday.

Check out the cover art (small, I know Thanks to Catbirdseat for the high-res goodness) for the new Pernice Brothers record, Discover A Lovelier You, out June 14. Also noteworthy is Joe’s pirate-riffic beard. See it in person when he plays a solo show at the Horseshoe on May 4.

Looking to add a little twang to your life? Neko Case is back in town July 7 at Harbourfront Centre and The Sadies are playing a show somewhere in the city on August 12. If you can’t wait that long, see them with Robyn Hitchcock at Lee’s Palace on May 28.

I was in Penguin Music yesterday after work and saw MuchMusic doing an interview segment with two of the guys from The Bravery. Whilst counting up the number of times the interviewer called them, their music and their videos “awesome”, I thought about yelling, “Bravery suck! Killers rule!” but decided against it as the singer guy probably would have caught up with me and poked out an eye with his silly little mohawk.

np – Neil Young & Crazy Horse / Zuma

Aimee Mann is releasing her fifth solo album, The Forgotten Arm, on May 3 and the media machine is getting warmed up for her. The Guardian talks to her about boxing and Southern rock, while Salon (via The Toronto Star (bugmenot: danshack49@yahoo.ca / 123456)) talked to Mann at SxSW about the new album. The Star seems to have some problems with line breaks…

The Forgotten Arm, a 70s-themed concept album about love and pugilism, is Mann’s first since 2002’s somewhat disappointing Lost In Space (not counting last year’s live album set). Previously, each of her albums involved some sort of radical reinvention – Whatever‘s pop classicism gave way to I’m With Stupid‘s harder alt-rock edge, which in turn was traded in for the adult sophistication of the breakthrough Magnolia soundtrack and its proper companion album, Bachelor No 2. Space offered up more of the same, but the songwriting seemed to be treading water. While cynicism and emotional detachment had become Mann’s stock-in-trade, she just sounded bored now. It was as if now that her much-documented battles with the major label system were over and she’d found her artistic independence, the fight had left her. I was pleased that the material from Live At St. Ann’s Warehouse seemed to recapture some of that energy, at least in the more muscular band arrangements. Hopefully The Forgotten Arm continues that trend.

Of course, it’s easy enough to find out – the whole of the new record is now available to stream off her website. Or if you don’t want to spoil the new album experience but still want a taste, but you can download an mp3 of one of the tracks here:

MP3: Aimee Mann – “Dear John”

PopTones recently posed their Questions Of Doom to Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. He talks about the making of Man-Made, Alan McGee and how the Fannies will always be inexorably linked with Nirvana. I think this piece dates back to last Fall, but it’s still a good read. Man-Made gets a North American release on June 7.

New City Chicago talks to James Mercer of The Shins, who play a sold-out show at the Kool Haus this Sunday. Link via Largehearted Boy.

Keren Ann is back in Toronto on June 25 at an indeterminate venue… her website says she’s playing “The Toronto Star Stage”, which either means a festival of some kind, or the cafeteria at the newspaper’s offices. More details as they become known. Update: Looks like she’ll be performing at the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival.

New York’s Enon and Detroit’s Thunderbirds Are Now! are in Toronto at a venue to be determined June 11. Thunderbirds are also here May 7 at Sneaky Dee’s as part of the Over The Top festival.

np – M83 / Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts