Photo by Frank Yang

The New Pornographers and Okkervil River. Not a bill I’d have ever thought to put together – they don’t share a label, management, booking agency or even, really, a particular musical style. But they do both have mounds of positive press clippings and large swathes of real estate in my CD collection so despite my general preference to not be out at shows three nights in a row, it was off the The Phoenix on Wednesday night for the opening night of their joint North American tour.

Now this being Canada and with the Pornographers as headliners, I assumed that the Okkervil boys would be in the position of having to win over a sold-out house of power pop fans, twice the size of any room they’ve played in Toronto. In other words, perhaps in a bit tough. So imagine my surprise when the band came out on stage and the room went nuts. Okay, probably not the whole room but from my spot a few rows back of the stage, it certainly sounded like everyone around me was seeing the band they came to see and quite pleased about it. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong.

When I saw Okkervil play not even a month ago at SXSW, they were in the throes of some lineup changes that couldn’t help but change the sound. Keyboardist and vocalist Jonathan Meiburg, needing to concentrate on Shearwater commitments, had already been replaced and this show marked just the fourth show for new guitarist Charles Bissell from The Wrens as replacement for new father Brian Cassidy. Meiburg’s vocals are definitely missed though the rest of the band does their best to make it up, but I was really surprised by Bissell’s contributions. Rather than simply cover Cassidy’s parts, Bissell brings to the table his distinctive guitarwork, complete with loops, delays and other electronic touches that you wouldn’t have associated with Okkervil in the past. By letting Bissell be Bissell and diverting the river of golden dreams through the Meadowlands, the song arrangements have taken on an interesting new dimension that I wholeheartedly approve of.

But even with the lineup changes, Okkervil remained very much the same band that demolished Lee’s Palace last Fall. Will Sheff bounded about the stage, quite evidently happy to be back on stage and on the road, and was in fine voice as they tore through a set that was almost exclusively from The Stage Names and Black Sheep Boy, though the inclusion of “It Ends With A Fall”, circa Down The River Of Golden Dreams, was a pleasant surprise. Though their allotted hour was pretty long for an opening slot, it still felt too short and left me anxious to see them come back yet again, but with the top billing.

And so it was left to the headliners to prove they weren’t going to be blown away by their tourmates, either on this night or any of the subsequent thirteen shows they had scheduled. I personally didn’t know if they had it in them, considering that the Pornographer have never been the most dynamic live band and when they were here last October, they seemed especially disengaged and/or indifferent. If that attitude carried over to this show, then it was going to be a long tour for the Vancouver collective. Luckily for everyone both on the stage and the audience, that wasn’t the case. Now there was no way that the Pornographers were going to match Okkervil for pure stage presence, but that’s not their game. Instead, they did the best anyone could ask and delivered their intricately crafted and insidiously hooky pop gems with gusto and elan.

Energized and cracking jokes between themselves and the crowd, it was like they’d done a 180-turn from that October show. Everything that was missing that night was present on this one, except Dan Bejar who was absent from this tour though Neko Case was again along for the ride. I don’t know what it was – maybe it was a good idea leaving the giant marquee at home or maybe it was just easier to get the game face on at the very start of the tour, but they put on a pretty cracking show for the sold-out house, which in itself was remarkable considering this was the band’s third Toronto show (including the Indie Awards during CMW) in less than six months in support of Challengers. I didn’t stick around for the encore – I was mildly amazed I’d lasted that long and didn’t want to push my luck – but it was glad to go home with the understanding that a live bill doesn’t necessarily have to make sense, it just has to be good.

Apparently Pittsburgh is really stoked for this tour – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talks to Okkervil River while The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interviews head Pornographer Carl Newman, as does Columbus Alive. Chart has also got a review of the Toronto show.

Photos: The New Pornographers, Okkervil River @ The Phoenix – April 9, 2008
MP3: The New Pornographers – “My Rights Versus Yours”
MP3: The New Pornographers – “Myriad Harbour”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe”
Video: The New Pornographers – “Challengers”
Video: The New Pornographers – “Myriad Harbour”
Video: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe”
Video: Okkervil River – “Girl In Port”
MySpace: The New Pornographers
MySpace: Okkervil River

The Duke Chronicle talks to Jim Eno of Spoon, gets news on a new Okkervil River release. And head over to the band’s website to the “Bonus” section for a free MP3 of a demo version of “Cherry Bomb”. And t-shirt iron-on. For serious.

Mark Eitzel tells Reveille that he’s not nearly as dour and depressive as he’s made out to be, revisits his college days with Columbus Alive and debates the meaning of “happy” and “sad” with Artvoice. We’ll see what kind of mood he’s in when American Music Club play their first Toronto show in a decade and a half next Thursday night at Lee’s Palace.

The Post & Courier, Cleveland Scene Weekly and Pulse Niagara interview Explosions In The Sky.

PJ Harvey discusses White Chalk with Filter.

Drummer Eric Edman of Shout Out Louds shuffles his iPod for The AV Club, declares Feist a “very appealing woman”.

The Dallas Observer chats with Ra Ra Riot.

And a correction to a previously reported date – The Ting Tings show at the Mod Club is actually slated for June 16, not June 13. I don’t know where I got that but the important thing is that you can now go to this show AND Swervedriver… you know, if you want to.

Photo by Frank Yang

To suggest that anticipation was high for Jens Lekman’s first show in Toronto in some three years would be a bit of an understatement, and the fact that the originally scheduled two-night stand at the Music Gallery was condensed into a single night at the larger but still not especially large Great Hall gave the show a greater sense of occasion.

The merging of bills also meant that the support acts were combined into a triple-header, so the evening was started off with Katie Stelmanis, whom I’d seen just over a week ago opening up for Basia Bulat. I admitted freely then that I didn’t really understand her craft and I probably still don’t, but this time I found her set to be considerably more engrossing. Still confounding, but more engrossing. There was a strong medieval vibe that I found interesting, and her percussionist Maya Postepski was fascinating to watch. Who knows, a few more shows and I might even find myself on the “yea” side of the fence. But let’s not place bets just yet.

Certainly more immediate was the set from Final Fantasy. Though currently in a writing/recording/non-performing phase, Owen Pallet also shrugged off a sinus infection of some sort to play with old friend Lekman. Accompanied as always with visuals from Stephanie Comilang, his set was a mix of older material from He Poos Clouds and some newer stuff from his forthcoming (this Fall?) Heartland, a record he described as being about “a fictional world in which I am supreme deity”. He was careful to point out that he was still working out the live performance logistics of the new stuff, but even taking that into account, it came across very strongly. Unfortunately the venue’s sound wasn’t nearly as laudable and he (and we) had to suffer from a mix that was both too loud and too muddy. It didn’t quite ruin things, but it certainly made it a struggle at times.

The sound was better somewhat but not ideal when Jens finally took the stage a half-hour late, but all he ever really needs to dazzle is a guitar and his voice… which is good because that’s essentially all he had. It would have been great to hear him with the full band he’d been touring with in the States, but they didn’t accompany him to Toronto so it was just him and a single maiden bongo player and Pallet on violin for a couple songs. But, as I said, that was plenty. He did introduce some pre-recorded backing tracks for the final couple songs of the main set which were a bit jarring, given the sparseness of the set to that point, but there probably wasn’t any other way to do “The Opposite Of Hallelujah” – with inaudible backing vocals from Pallet, Hidden Camera Maggie MacDonald and Comilang – any sort of justice.

That exception notwithstanding, Lekman didn’t try to recreate the orchestrations of his recordings and took a conversational, jazzy approach to things. Of course, he could have just shown up with a DJ and rapped the whole show and the crowd would have swooned – Lekman is one of those rare performers who manages to be enthralling no matter what he does. It didn’t matter that his “A Postcard To Nina” routine was almost word for word what I’d heard from him at SxSW, it was still hilarious and a highlight of the night. One thing I noticed was that when you listen to him on record, his preference for simple, home recording audio fidelity can obscure how strong his voice is but live, the richness of it is impossible to overlook. The man is really an amazing singer and combined with his wonderfully droll and deadpan, yet warm and romantic songwriting, is simply irresistible. Things ran late enough that I wasn’t able to stick around for the second encore, performed in the park outside the CAMH building down the street but I hear it was pretty special.

It should be obvious that I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but I can’t say that it was entirely worth the wait. For starters, we’d been waiting for a local show for so long I don’t think it’d have been possible to be not be some sort of let down though having the full band would have gone a long way to fulfilling expectations. The technical issues were also a downer, though moreso for Final Fantasy’s set. The artists should be commended for fighting through it and still putting on a good show, but it could have been so much better… Oh well. Maybe they’ll get it all right when Lekman returns in 2011 or thereabouts. I should also mention the terrific job Comilang did on projections for Jens’ set. Though some of it was a little too literal to the lyrics, it was never less than charming and in the case of the haircutting piece for set closer “Shirin”, brilliant.

And Jens, your man in Chicago is doing a poor job because your Wikipedia entry looks disappointingly factual. Chart and eye also have reviews of the show.

Photos: Jens Lekman, Final Fantasy, Katie Stelmanis @ The Great Hall – April 8, 2008
MP3: Jens Lekman – “The Opposite Of Hallelujah”
MP3: Jens Lekman – “Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo”
MP3: Final Fantasy – “If I Were A Carp”
MP3: Final Fantasy – “Many Lives 49 MP”
MP3: Katie Stelmanis – “In My Favour”
Video: Jens Lekman – “Sipping On The Sweet Nectar”
Video: Final Fantasy – “He Poos Clouds”
Video: Final Fantasy – “This Lamb Sells Condos”
MySpace: Final Fantasy
MySpace: Katie Stelmanis

Sorry if anyone showed up for The Dodos’ in-store at Soundscapes yesterday as it was cancelled due to transportation and timing issues. But maybe the announcement of an in-store from Peter Moren on April 24 at 4PM will make things up a little bit.

Yesterday, I neglected to mention the full album stream for Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, the new album from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. There’s also a couple sample MP3s kicking around. I’ve only spun it a few times but it definitely sounds like they’ve brought a few things back to the day job from the Grinderman vacation, and that’s a good thing. The Village Voice has a feature and according to Metacritic, Lazarus could well be one of the records of they year. I can say that because they use science.

MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Bring It On”
MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!”
Stream: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Pitchfork talks to The Gutter Twins.

Thanks to Michael from Radio Free Canuckistan for pointing out this Huffington Post piece that tracks the recent history of Rolling Stone‘s R.E.M. reviews. MusicOHM has an interview with Michael Stipe. R.E.M. are at the Molson Amphitheatre on June 8.

CMJ reports that this Summer will bring Sunshine Lies, a new studio album from Matthew Sweet. It’s out July 22 and odds are, it will sound like Matthew Sweet.

Pitchfork has details about the double-disc anniversary reissue of Mogwai’s Young Team, out May 27. They also have a working title for their next studio effort, due out sometime this year – The Hawk Is Howling.

Sam Fogarino catches Billboard up on happenings in Interpol-land.

Photo via MySpace

Good news – Centro-Matic are coming back to town in support of their double album Dual Hawks, out June 3. Bad news – it’s on June 11 at the Horseshoe, the same night Lightspeed Champion is at Lee’s Palace. I think I’m fated to not see Centro-Matic in my hometown. Last time they were here, which was their first time, I was somewhere on the other side of the world. This time, I’ll only be up the street and over a bit, but still. Frustrating.

The tour, which will have Chicagoans The M’s along for the ride, is in support of their new sort-of double album Dual Hawks, which will see release on June 3 over here (it’s out next Monday in Europe). The “sort-of” is in reference to the fact that one album is coming out under the Centro-Matic name, the other is coming out under Will Johnson’s other branded South San Gabriel, which is essentially the same band but with a slightly different, more sprawling creative mandate.

You can sample a handful of tracks from each record at their respective MySpaces and also download one of the CM tracks for your very own. The Dallas Morning News talks to Johnson about the state of Centro-Matic and the impetus behind the unusual release plan for the new record.

MP3: Centro-Matic – “I, The Kite”
MySpace: Centro-Matic
MySpace: South San Gabriel

The Ting Tings were one of those buzzy bands at SxSW this year, playing something like a dozen shows, and depending on who you talked to, were either awesome or awful. Decide for yourself when they play the Mod Club on June 13 16… and let me know how it goes because I’ll be at Lee’s seeing Swervedriver. The Irish Times has an interview. Update: The show is actually on the 16th at the Mod Club. Disregard my Swervedriver comment.

Video: The Ting Tings – “Great DJ”
Video: The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”

Also just announced – Lymbyc System are at the Silver Dollar on May 15 ($7 in advance), Two Hours Traffic graduate from their Horseshoe digs for a gig at Lee’s Palace on May 17 ($8.50 in advance) and Dark Meat are at Lee’s a week later on May 24 ($10.50 in advance).

MP3: Lymbyc Systym – “Truth Skull”
MP3: Lymbyc Systym – “Fall Bicycle” (Album Leaf remix)
MP3: Dark Meat – “Freedom Ritual”

And some annotations to shows already announced:

Man Man, with whom Chart has a chat, are at Lee’s on April 14 and their new one Rabbit Habits, out yesterday. A fews days later on April 18, Someone STill Loves You Boris Yeltsin are at the El Mocambo to play you songs from Pershing. Then on April 24, Peter Moren, shed of that Bjorn and John dead weight, will work his solo record The Last Tycoon at the Mod Club. Stream them all below, courtesy of Spinner.

MP3: Man Man – “Top Drawer”
MP3: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – “Think I Wanna Die”
Stream: Man Man / Rabbit Habits
Stream: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin / Pershing
Stream: Peter Moren / The Last Tycoon

There’s a track from The Kills’ new record Midnight Boom available to download. They’re at the Opera House on May 6.

MP3: The Kills – “Cheap & Cheerful”

There’s some audio available for 2/3 of the Swedish ladies bill playing the Mod Club on May 11. Both El Perro Del Mar’s From The Valley To The Stars and Anna Ternheim’s Halfway To Fivepoints are out April 22. Lykke Li’s Little Bit EP will be out in North America May 6 with a release date for the full-length, Youth Novels, still to be determined (it’s out June 2 in the UK). That same day – my birthday! Mark it down! – Clinic are at Lee’s Palace. Stream their new record Do It!. Exclamatory is mandatory.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
MP3: Anna Ternheim – “To Be Gone”
Stream: Clinic / Do It!

Also streamable is the sophomore effort from The Long Blondes, or maybe that should now be “The Long Blondie“, considering the slick, synth-disco sounds that Couples trades in. They’re at Lee’s Palace on May 22.

Stream: The Long Blondes / Couples

Thalia Zedek will be supporting the Retribution Gospel Choir at the Rivoli on June 21.

Basia Bulat’s Canada Day show at Harbourfront Centre will actually be on Canada Day. So will her Ottawa show. How? Through the magic of aeroplanes! Oooooh.

And via The Tripwire, a video about the making of the video for Spiritualized’s “Soul On Fire”, the first single from Songs In A & E, out June 3. They play day one of V Fest, happening September 6 at the Toronto Islands.

Video: On the set of the video for Spiritualized’s “Soul On Fire”

Photo by Frank Yang

How strange is it that of the three shows I’ve got lined up this week, all feature double-bills with acts that could each easily headline on their own. Of course, last night’s show featuring Yo La Tengo and British Sea Power at the Berkeley Church doesn’t technically count as a double bill since they were being recorded for separate episodes of Beautiful Noise but from the POV of the audience, it was a pretty terrific few hours of music without having to move an inch.

British Sea Power got the nod to go on first and led with a solid block of selections from Do You Like Rock Music?, executed in grand – and loud – fashion. After their mildly disappointing set at our Hot Freaks party at SxSW, it was exciting to see them come out with a set that did the new material justice. It’s hard to define what was present now that was lacking then, but everything seemed to come across with more authority, more forcefulness. Better sound, better atmosphere. Whatever it was, it started out strong and gained more intensity (and seemingly volume) as the show progressed and when they stepped away from the Rock Music material via “True Adventures” from Open Season and culminating in an exhilarating “Spirit Of St Louis” and a finale that I couldn’t identify. Some of the on-stage antics like the shoulder-climbing, handstand walking and whatnot may have seemed a bit perfunctory but they were still entertaining and got a great response from the audience. And will look great on TV, I bet. Consider me not so disappointed that I’m missing them at Lee’s on May 16 when they return to town for a more conventional show.

After all that, I had to wonder how Yo La Tengo was going to follow up that spectacle. Though their last album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass was a welcome step back from the rather narcoleptic stylings of their previous couple records, they’re still not necessarily your first pick when you need some hot rock injection. As it turns out, they went the other way completely, bringing their “Freewheeling Yo La Tengo” tour format to Toronto and opting to play seated, mostly acoustic and with as much talk as tunes. They invited the audience to ask questions of the band, leading to entertaining discourses on the quality of television, the Juno soundtrack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the New York Knicks and Rush, among other topics. Considering that Ira Kaplan’s stage demeanor has usually been on the prickly side whenever the band has played Toronto, hearing him as chatty and charming as he was was a treat.

As was the musical component of the show. Not knowing that they’d be doing things mostly unplugged, I’d been a bit worried before the show about how jammy the band was going to be feeling – I’ve found Yo La live to be a bit of a crapshoot as the breadth and depth of their repertoire is such that they could play whatever they felt like, and if they were feeling noodly… But no, within the context of the show they stuck to their poppier numbers – often recast and rearranged in revelatory fashion – and with the quiet atmosphere, the beauty in their collective vocal work really shone through. And lest things get too sedate, Kaplan had his acoustic run through a distortion pedal that still let him unload the skronk for the likes of “Sugarcube” and via a frenzied solo in “Little Honda”, coax sounds out of an acoustic guitar that it was never meant to make. They played (and talked) for over an hour and a half – far longer than I’d expected them – and by the end of it had turned in the best show I think I’ve seen them play. I do wonder if the fact that it was recorded for television kept them from delving too far into the dustier corners of their closet for material – gotta play the “hits” after all – but all the impromptu requests and covers (which can’t be broadcast) made it pretty clear they weren’t sticking to any sort of script.

Both this show and the MMJ one last week were really special experiences, thanks to the environs of the church and the amazing performances. I’m eager to see the finished broadcast shows for these and the ones I missed, whenever/wherever they air, though it’s a shame that so much of it will have been edited down for time. My thanks to the producers for letting me run the contests for guest list spots and I hope everyone who went to tapings this week had a great time. Bring on season four!

NPR has a radio session with the band available to stream. The photo above is taken from Yo La Tengo’s last proper Toronto show, back in October 2006. You know it’s not from this show because Ira a) has an electric guitar and b) is standing up.

MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind”
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Beanbag Chair”
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “The Summer” (live on KEXP)
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “I Feel Like Going Home” (live on KCMP)
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Little Eyes”
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Don’t Have To Be So Sad”
MP3: Yo La Tengo – “From A Motel 6”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
MP3: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Atom” (edit)
MP3: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
Video: Yo La Tengo – “Sugarcube”
Video: Yo La Tengo – “Tom Courtenay”
Video: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
Video: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
Video: British Sea Power – “It Ended On An Oily Stage”
Video: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
MySpace: Yo La Tengo
MySpace: British Sea Power

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James gives Rolling Stone a video sneak preview of Evil Urges, out June 10. Via ILB.

Chart and BlogTO talk to The Jealous Girlfriends who, if you missed them opening for Nada Surf at the Opera House last night, will be back in town on June 3 at the El Mocambo opening for Sea Wolf. They also did a show for MTV Live yesterday evening but that information really doesn’t do anyone any good at this point. Their new self-titled album is out on April 22 and a copy of it will be winding its way to my ten lucky contest winners very soon… as soon as I pick them. Been busy, sorry.

Pitchfork interviews Portishead about their third album Third, due April 29.

Ms Queen-of-the-Junos Leslie Feist hasn’t even played her sold-out May 13 show at the Sony Centre and she already has another date lined up for November 3 at the Air Canada Centre. Hey, remember when she played those three NXNE shows at the Reverb, the Mod Club and Sneaky Dee’s? Those were the days.

Photo by Dave Gourley

I have a hunch that UK label Fat Cat Records has a secret lab, somewhere in the Scottish highlands, where they have a team of scientists concocting bands specifically engineered to be addicting to my ears. Last year, they got me hooked on The Twilight Sad and this year, the aural drug of choice is The Midnight Organ Fight, the second album from Frightened Rabbit due out next Tuesday.

The parallels are more circumstantial than quantitative, however, related more to the timing of the discoveries – I got the Twilight Sad record in early April of last year and discovered Frightened Rabbit just before SxSW this year – and the sheer gobsmacking effect both records have had on me. Musically, there are some comparisons to be drawn – thick Scottish accents delivering declarations of angst, in particular – but there’s more differences than similarities. Whereas The Twilight Sad deal with with abstracted, existential concerns bellowed overtop a churning wall of sound, Frightened Rabbit are focused more on the personal and mundane and are less an aural wall than a wire fence in a meadow, albeit a fence that’s electrified and barbed.

But despite the rootsiness inherent in their songs, there’s little on Midnight Organ Fight that you’d call pastoral. Head Rabbit Scott Hutchison’s anxious ponderings and perplexions on matters of the heart are delivered with a healthy dose of downcast desperation – consider lines like “Twist and whisper the wrong name/I don’t care and nor do my ears… I need company/I need human heat” from “The Twist” and “You’re the shit and I’m knee deep in it” from “My Backwards Walk” – but thanks to producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), they still manage to be grand, anthemic and uplifting without losing their essential dourness.

The Twilight Sad’s Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters proved to have the legs to remain a favourite through 2007 to today, and while it’s obviously early on, I’m not seeing any reason that The Midnight Organ Fight can’t do the same – it’s held up quite well to heavy rotation thus far. I can only hope that there is an intention to work this record hard on this side of the Atlantic, and a tour is forthcoming sometime soon. The half hour or so I saw them play at SxSW wasn’t nearly enough, especially when it was obvious they were just as potent live as on record. And if they are putting together a tour, I have a suggestion for tourmates…

WOXY features a downloadable Lounge Act session with the band recorded at SxSW, The Scotsman talks to Scott Hutchinson about the differences between the new record and their debut Sing The Greys while FatCat is offering downloads of the demos from that record that attracted the label’s interest in the first place.

MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Head Rolls Off”
MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “The Grey”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Heads Roll Off”
MySpace: Frightened Rabbit

Pitchfork has details on a new release from The National. Almost a year to the day after the release of Boxer, the Vincent Moon-helmed film detailing the creation of said masterpiece – A Skin, A Night – will be getting a release on DVD come May 20. It will be accompanied by a 12-song companion disc entitled The Virginia EP (EP?) comprised of live tracks, demos and whatnot. The National are in town June 8 at the Molson Amphitheatre with R.E.M. and Modest Mouse. Speaking of which, I love how my $30 lawn seat managed to pick up 66% worth of service charges en route to the checkout. Oh Ticketmaster, I hope you get gout.

Trailer: A Skin, A Night

Spinner interfaces with Eric Bachmann, who covers all stages of his career including Archers Of Loaf and Crooked Fingers.

Chart talks to Billy Bragg about politics, activism and a possible return to Mermaid Avenue. And also his new album, Mr Love & Justice, out tomorrow. Bragg also recaps some music currently catching his ear for The New York Times. He’s playing Harbourfront Centre on June 17.

Support for the upcoming Rilo Kiley tour, which stops in at the Phoenix on May 28, has been announced as Thao, who is working her solid new record We Brave Bee Stings And All. I missed her show at Sneaky Dee’s last month thanks to a post-SxSW hangover and will have just returned from Europe a couple days before this one. Figures. QRO and Washingtonian.com have Q&As with Ms Nguyen.

MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Beat (Health, Life and Fire)”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Bag Of Hammers”

Chart talks to Dean Wareham about Dean & Britta while The New York Times gets Liz Phair to review his memoirs, Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance. Which I still haven’t read. Don’t tell me how it ends.

A couple new additions to the V Fest lineup via their Facebook group. On Saturday you’ve now got The Midway State and Sunday will now feature The Cribs.

And speaking of festival lineups, how is it that the Lollapalooza 2008 roster can feature some of my favourite bands ever, past and present, and yet I’m feeling almost no compulsion to attend? Maybe it’s the fact that I already checked and there are, like, no hotels whatsoever to be found anywhere near Grant Park. Oh bitter irony that last year, I had a hotel booked across the street as far back as January and then cancelled it when I saw the lineup…

Pitchfork TV is now live and they’re kicking things off with a pretty sweet Radiohead performance vid. Thom Yorke drums? Who knew. Update: Pre-sale for Radiohead’s August 15 show at the Molson Amphitheatre – Grizzly Bear is opening – will have a presale on Wednesday, April 9, with general on-sale this Saturday, April 12. And if you’re getting lawns, Thierry’s point in the comments about maybe going down to the Amphitheatre box office and dodging service charges is a good one. Assuming it doesn’t sell out in two minutes. Which it will.

Video: Radiohead – “Bangers & Mash” (live)

The Catbirdseat pays tribute to the late Chuck Heston.