March 13th’s Wavelength looks to be a good one with Jens Lekman making what I think is his Toronto debut. Already a star in his native Sweden, Lekman trades in the sort of cleverly gorgeous pop melancholia that makes the indie kids swoon. Need proof?

There’s some audio clips here, No Love For Ned features an in-studio set in this week’s show, his North American label Secretly Canadian also has some rare mp3s available for your sampling as well as some full length mp3s and a video taken from his new album When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, which came out last year. I admit I’ve only heard a little bit of Lekman’s stuff, but it seems quite nice and will probably be enough to drag me out to Sneaky Dee’s on a Sunday night. And I’m feeling partial to Swedes lately.

MP3: Jens Lekman – “You Are The Light”

The other act that night will be The Dating Service, described as “critical synth-pop from members of The Hidden Cameras and Republic of Safety. Head Camera Joel Gibb also handles DJ duties. Admission as always is pay-what-you-can.

While the news hasn’t been good from Wheat-land, there’s at least a silver lining to their current state of hiatus. This site has a number of live and radio shows available for download and enjoyment, courtesy of the band. They’re also hoping to re-release Medeiros and Hope and Adams (I didn’t realize they were out of print) and maybe even the “naked” version of Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second that was originally supposed to come out on Nude Records. I would love for that to see the light of day as I thought the Aware version that eventually did come out was horribly overproduced and really didn’t do the songs justice. The Nude recordings were much more alive. As for what the Wheat boys are doing now, Ricky has a new band called Duresse and he says that a new project with Scott and Brendan will be turning up any day now.

And speaking of break-ups, The Jayhawks are done (bugmenot: thisisbull / thisisbull). Alas. That Tim O’Reagan solo record sounds mighty interesting, though, and a new Golden Smog record will always be welcome in my home. Silver linings, folks. Silver linings.

Billboard talks to Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo about assembling the Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs, 1985-2003 compilation (due out March 22) and what to expect from the band in the way of new music, namely a couple of soundtracks that may never get released, and a new album which the band is “slowly at work on”.

Stylus declares it’s always time for Laura Cantrell, and points to this interview with her at Drowned In Sound.

Further poking around the Drowned In Sound site reveals this interview with Ambulance LTD. I gotta bookmark that site.

Bradley’s Almanac has the second half of that Wedding Present live set available to download now. Go get it. I still don’t have Take Fountain. Will try again tonight.

Folks looking for something to do in town tonight may want to swing by the Horseshoe for Nu Nusic Night – The Empires are a local combo who play some pretty nice moody space rock. I’ve been meaning to check them out for a while now and if I can get off my ass to be down there for 9:30, I may well do so.

24: So we’re what – ten hours in now? We’re right on schedule for the mid-season ennui to set in. You know, that difficult middle period where the characters are given the equivalent of busy work before things really ramp up into the final few hours of over-the-top madness. This is when we get the subplots like characters getting amnesia, getting attacked by mountain lions, etc. I don’t fault the producers that much – twenty-four hours of solid story is a lot to ask – but it can be a bit of a trial. Anyway, surely they should know by now that anytime anyone leaves CTU, they get ambushed. Go to get the security footage of that party? Ambushed. Go to get that computer file from that place (wasn’t paying that much attention)? Ambushed. Go to the parking lot? Ambushed. Go out to get a coffee? Ambushed. I must admit, I’m a little shocked that no one assassinated Paul at the end of the episode there. But assuming that they’ve now unveiled this season’s real Big Bad, it has to be noted, as Curtis so astutely observed, that he’s American. So much for villainizing Muslims – they’re just pawns in all this. Five will get you six that Mr Height Complex is doing this to make money. Evil evil corporations. Doesn’t that make it white dudes who were the bad guys in all four seasons now?

np – The Futureheads / The Futureheads

I’d been looking forward to The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou for almost a year now, and yet still took a couple months since its release to get around to seeing it. What can I say. I like Wes Anderson’s films – I wouldn’t say I’m a devotee the way that some are, but I do appreciate his distinctive quirks and directorial style. It’s a simple thing, but the way that he likes to frame his shots with the main subjects in the dead centre of a symmetrical setting is enormously pleasing to me.

Clocking in at two hours, The Life Aquatic is his most ambitious film yet, or at least the biggest budget. It follows a team of marine documentarians as they set out to hunt down the jaguar shark that killed one of their number while making a film about it. Anderson favourite Bill Murray is the titular team leader and the rest of the cast is filled with faces familiar from Anderson’s past films (Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston). While I thoroughly enjoyed the film as a whole, I can’t call it a complete success. There are some tremendously funny scenes and the quirks and eccentricites are terrific, ie – the Bowie songs sung in Portugese, the stop-animation marine life, the cutaway dolls-house set for the interior of the Belafonte.

It was also nice to see Bill Murray emote a little in a performance for a change – he’s become a little too adept at that stoic, emotionally defeated, deadpan thing of late. While he’s hardly scenery-chewing, he is a little more animated and it looks good on him. The beard works, too. I was a little disappointed in the story, however. I didn’t think it managed to hit the right notes to provide enough emotional heft to the story of Murray and Wilson as his presumed long-lost son, Ned Plimpton. Overall, the narrative seemed maybe a little too obtuse and didn’t build to the climax(es) that effectively, but it was still a fun film. And I’m not sure if the action sequences, which Anderson has never really tried before, were meant to come off like they were coreographed by the Max Fischer Players. Probably, but you never know.

Unfinished reports that The Life Aquatic will get the Criterion DVD treatment and be released on May 10. Details here.

Arcade Fire, April 27th, Danforth Music Hall. Tickets $20, on sale February 24. It’s a seated show, but I’m not sure if that means reserved seating or a free-for-all. Any bets on how fast this sells out? Not surprisingly, there is some griping from folks who’d prefer the band continues to play little loft shows for pay-what-you-can. Win responds. I don’t know if I can do this one, I’ve got a show the night before and I have to move that weekend. Anyway, there’s also an interview with the band at the Arcade Fire Web Community message board.

Stereolab fans should take note that Monade, Laetitia Sadier’s side project, will be in town at Lee’s Palace on May 16 to promote their second album A Few Steps More, out March 8. Tickets are $15.

Whilst assembling my SxSW wish list for next month, I jotted down March 19 at Stubb’s in Austin – that’ll be the first Son Volt concert in something like nine years. I’ve never seen Son Volt or Jay solo, so I’d like to get into that one though it’s sure to be a hot ticket. And for those who insist this new lineup ain’t Son Volt, you can take comfort in the release of their Austin City Limits performance on DVD April 19th or the Anthology compilation, out May 24 on Rhino.

np – Cinerama / Torino

I was going to see the Rwanda genocide documentary Shake Hands With The Devil last night at the Bloor, but was just too exhausted and didn’t think I could handle something quite that heavy. So I stayed home and watched one of my favourite movies of last year (and one of the greatest films ever, for my money), Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle instead. I’d seen it before off of a bootleg VCD but this was my first opportunity to see it in all of its full digital widescreen glory. Still awesomely funny. I had not realized that Freakshow was played by the guy who plays Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. That just blows my mind. They really need to make a sequel to this.

As a primer to his show with the Dukes at Palais Royale on March 4, Steve Earle will be a keynote speaker for Canadian Music Week that afternoon at the Royal York. I’d like to go, but the $20 admission is a little dear and it’s at 12:30, so I’d end up having to miss work.

Five Seventeen has finally “released” the Teenbeat tribute record he was overseeing, just in time for their twentieth anniversary festivities in DC next week. I actually make an appearance on one track, adding guitar to a cover of In Camera’s “Fragments Of Fear”, which is otherwise performed entirely by Five under the name of Nora Drenaline. You can hear it and all the other tribute tracks here. I was originally going to cover Luna’s “Bobby Peru” all on my own, but I just didn’t have the time to get it all together (Teenbeat put out the vinyl edition of Pup Tent back in 1997, hence their eligibility). The Washington Post has a piece on the label’s birthday (bugmenot: biasedmedia@yahoo.com / rathered).

It occurs to me that I have to do my taxes this week.

np – various SxSW preview tracks

One of the acts I’m most looking forward to seeing at SxSW is New York’s Asobi Seksu. I won’t be in town in time to catch their evening showcase, but I will be at their daytime show at Emo’s on the 18th. I only got their debut self-titled album this week, but it’s already burned its way into my consciousness. Curiously, it sort of sounds like three different bands on the album, depending on who’s taking vocals and what language they’re singing in.

When Yuki Chikudate is singing in Japanese, it sounds like a giddy combination of Puffy Ami Yumi J-pop vocals over top of a huge wall of My Bloody Valentine-ish barbed wire guitars, but when she’s singing in English the music takes on a darker, more edgy quality not unlike Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria. But when guitarist James Hanna steps up to the mic, things get rather drab and plodding by comparison, sorry.

Asobi Seksu is a fairly strong debut with a few fantastic high points, a number of good songs and only a couple that don’t quite inspire. It’s somewhat front-end loaded but is very addictive and enjoyable all the way through and definitely augers well for the future.

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “I’m Happy But You Don’t Like Me”

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Sooner”

There’s a few more downloadable goodies available on their website, and Earlash has this interview with the band from last Summer.

Womenfolk profiles Feist, whose Let It Die will finally be coming out in the US in April. They’ve also got a couple mp3s from Feist’s first record, Monarch, which used to be pretty easy to turn up in the used bins around town but now? Not so much.

The CBC addresses complaints that Muslims are portrayed badly in 24 by pointing out the good guys don’t come off much better.

Snow Patrol are coming back to town on May 18 at the Kool Haus and they’re bringing some of their Britpop buddies with them. Support for the show will be Embrace and Athlete. I’m amazed that Embrace is still around. I got a copy of their debut The Good Will Out from my college paper to review back in, like, 97 or 98 and I remember it being unremarkable and actually one of the records that signalled to me that perhaps my Britpop days were over. I thought they split up. As for Athlete, well Stylus is not impressed.

Bradley’s Almanac has the new video for Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” for your viewing pleasure. It’s a big file, download that puppy.

Microsoft offers some helpful tips on understanding what the kids are trying to say on the internet these days. Sadly, I actually found the information helpful. Thanks to More Cowbell for the link.

Was out last night to celebrate yet another 30th birthday for one of my friends (Sudeep is now an old man) and ended up at another of my frequent mid-20s haunts, Ye Olde Dance Cave, for old time’s sake. They’ve done some minor renovations to the place since I was last there probably a couple years ago, but it’s still got that same hole-in-the-wall vibe. We even scored our old table way back on the left of the stage. Good times, even though I didn’t really recognize a lot of the music they were playing (as opposed to when I was a regular and I knew the playlist top to bottom). But one of the things about going out and feeling young in the evening is feeling old in the morning. Ow.

np – Elliott Smith / From A Basement On The Hill

So one of the things causing a bit of an uproar in the indie rock eddys of Lake Blogosphere is this from the ladies of Sleater-Kinney asking folks to not download their new album, The Woods, before it’s officially released on May 24 (the full text of the letter is no longer on their website. Intrepid interneters can no doubt find it, though). Of course, this is like asking a dog not to lick its nuts – simply not going to happen. But still, it raises some interesting questions.

Opinions are like blogs – everyone’s got one, and they’re usually poorly spelled and not updated frequently enough. My personal take on it is that if the artist asks you not to download it, then that should be the final word on the matter. No one is going to die from having to wait a couple months to hear a record. I don’t care how big a fan you are, you are not going to die. Your organs will not be harvested without your consent in the middle of the night. Nothing bad will happen to you. You can wait till it comes out and buy it – because you were intending to pay for it, right? – and there you go. And if you’re eager to get it for “be the first kid on your block” bragging rights… come on. No one cares. Anyway, it seems pretty simple to me, but then I’m one of those folks who still likes the tactile experience of physical media and believes in the album as an artistic entity greater than just the sum of the tracklisting. You know, a freak.

Naturally, there’s been a lot of debate on this – I’ll link to the discussion on the Donewaiting message board which I think is a pretty good micorcosm of the debate. Some think the fanbase should respect the band’s wishes, others are of the mind that once its out of their hands, even unofficially via advance promos, then nature (such as it is) will take its course and the band should appreciate the fact that their fans are so rabid. And then, of course, there are those who have the whole “Music should be free!” angle and are not only about downloading the record, but in distributing it as widely as possible. Don’t ge me started on those people. I want to punch those people in the kidneys.

And from here, I segue into leaks in general. I don’t do leaks. Not because of any particular high moral ground, though that is a consideration, but because I’m too lazy to go looking for them (yes I know how easy it is – I’m THAT lazy) and because I never listen to them. I have a copy of the new Decemberists album on my desktop. Total plays? Zero. Generally speaking I don’t listen to music on my computer – an mp3 or two here and there if I’m too lazy (that again!) to get up and change the CD in my stereo, but the occasions on which I’m willing to listen to a full record on my computer? Very few. My stereo sounds better and I’ve usually got craploads of stuff I’ve actually bought to get through, to say nothing of the promo stuff that’s been showing up in my mailbox with increasing regularity. Usually, stuff that I haven’t made the effort of actually going out and buying, I forget I even have it. This isn’t to say that if I come across a leaked track or two I won’t grab those to whet my appetite, but entire albums? Nah. I like going to the record store on new release days, buying the record, tearing off the cellophane and listening to it proper-like, not piecemeal. Which brings me full circle to the “I’m a freak” observation from earlier.

It’s like they say – you don’t value that which costs you nothing. And if I were to start listening to records that aren’t due out till, say, May (hello Sleater-Kinney, Spoon), when would I find the time to listen to stuff that’s come out in January and February? There’s a never-ending backlog as is, last thing I need is to jump the queue. That would disrupt the natural order of things and I truly believe that if that happened, reality as we know it would cease to exist. I don’t download leaks because it safeguards the universe.

The preceding was probably more meandering than I’d intended. It was profound in my head, really. But then, my grocery lists are profound in my head as well. I thought I had another topic I was going to explore tangential to this one, which is the whole matter of distributing leaked materials over, oh let’s say blogs, but this post is long enough as is. Maybe I’ll get to that another day.

Update: Here’s Colin Meloy of the Decemberists’ letter to folks who had leaked copies of Picaresque last month, courtesy of Brooklynvegan. And this thread on Last Plane To Jakarta is also a very good read on the topic, thanks to Largehearted Boy for the pointer.

On a related note, Prefuse 73 is a little less diplomatic about people downloading his work.

Will Johnson of Centro-Matic keeps a tour diary of their recent stop in Athens for for Flagpole. This would be the same tour that once again, doesn’t cross the 49th parallel (well, technically Toronto is well south of the 49th, but you know what I mean), only coming as close as Buffalo on March 3. Even after I went to Chicago to plead our case… But that’s okay, if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, then Mohammed will come to the mountain. Centro-Matic is on my must-see list for SxSW.

Lacunae lists off 100 things he loves about comics. Cheers for #9, the “wuffa wuffa wuffa” issue of Cerebus.

A little late, but still cute – Rachael Yamagata offers up some advice on how to survive Valentine’s Day. She forgot #11 – “wuffa wuffa wuffa”. Hmm, okay, that probably came out wrong. From Achtung Baby.

Behold – my photos from Wednesday’s Comas show. Please, no comments on how Andy Herrod’s skin is the same colour as his coat. Blame the lights.

So my streetcar hits a car on the way to work this morning, making me 30 minutes late. Newsflash lady – the streetcar couldn’t turn even if it wanted to.

np – Doves / The Last Broadcast