Photo by Frank Yang

Even when I left the house of Friday night, I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going. I wanted to be in the neighbourhood of College and Spadina for midnight so I kind of decided en route to get off at Bathurst and hit up Sneaky Dee’s. As good a place as any to get started.

This evening the club was hosting the Soundproof showcase and taking the stage as I arrived was Restlesslist, who’d come all the way from Brighton in the UK to play our little festival. Though apparently usually greater in number when they perform, they were here as a three-piece but with a lot of equipment with which to craft their genre-hopping, cinematic, instrumental party soundtracks. Their set was upbeat and enjoyable throughout, thanks to a great melodic sense and entertaining and engaging banter from the band – for an instrumental band, they certainly liked to talk a lot. And tune. But the talking made the tuning go by faster.

Photos: Restlesslist @ Sneaky Dee’s- March 7, 2008
MP3: Restlesslist – “Butlin Breaks”

Also a bit of a spontaneous pick was Peterborough’s Burning Hell, playing the Weewerk show at the Silver Dollar. I’d listened to their new record Happy Birthday a little while back and despite appreciating the droll, erudite lyrics mated with grandiose country-folk arrangements – think Magnetic Fields in a good mood – it felt a little too nudge nudge deliberate for my tastes. But on the stage, with Mathias Kom wielding his ukelele and considerable charisma and leading his nine-piece orchestra through the paces, it all made much more sense and even proved that sometimes, one accordion simply won’t do the job and a second is required. Goofy songs like the zombie tale “Grave Situation” are much more entertaining when bellowed at the top of one’s lungs rather than played through the stereo. A raucous good time with the album title particularly fitting as Kom was celebrating his 30th that night.

Photos: The Burning Hell @ The Silver Dollar – March 7, 2008
MP3: The Burning Hell – “The Things That People Make”
MP3: The Burning Hell – “Different Things”
MySpace: The Burning Hell

I had scheduled the evening around seeing Finnish space-rock outfit Pooma’s midnight set at Rancho Relaxo and, ironically, it was that show that ended up being the let down. From the recorded samples, they seemed to fit somewhere between Under Byen’s drama and Mum’s tinkertoy etherealness but as it turned out, they were too wispy to fill that niche. Songs seemed to drift aimlessly, built around singer Tuire Lukka’s languid, echo-treated vocals rather than any strongly considered structure or melody and even on an atmospheric level, they failed to be enveloping. To be fair, they alluded to some technical difficulties and even mentioned that when they played their next CMW showcase on Saturday night, they’d have all their instruments with them so they may well have been performing at a disadvantage. But this was the only performance I was going to be able to make and it was a disappointment.

Photos: Pooma @ Rancho Relaxo – March 7, 2008
Video: Pooma – “Snow”
MySpace: Pooma

Photo by Frank Yang

In past years, my Canadian Music Week excursions have been mainly stationary affairs – that is, pick a showcase, head out, catch a few acts, go home. I eschewed the club-hopping aspect of things mainly because with a few exceptions, Toronto is a bit too spread out to do that efficiently – particularly in Winter when you’re at the mercy of the TTC. But this year, there was enough of interest at different venues around town that I elected to bounce from club to club, hour to hour, at least for the first couple nights.

Thursday started off at Lee’s Palace where things were filling up early for Jason Collett’s headlining performance but I was there to see the first act on the bill – Halifax’s Rebekah Higgs. The atmosphere was considerably different from the industry showcase-type deal I saw her at last November and considering that performance didn’t really deliver on the promise of her self-titled debut, that could only be taken as a good thing. Leading a band of Torontonian hired guns (all Newfoundland expats, apparently), she played with considerably more confidence and energy than last time and demonstrated how effective her blend of folk, rock and electronic elements could be. Consider the disappointment of that November show completely erased.

Photos: Rebekah Higgs @ Lee’s Palace – March 6, 2007
MP3: Rebekah Higgs – “Parables”
Video: Rebekah Higgs – “Parables” (YouTube)
MySpace: Rebekah Higgs

Next on the agenda was The Details, in town from Winnipeg en route to Austin, and the scouting report on them is that they sound like The Weakerthans. This has been stated in the context of both praise and complaint but either way, there’s far worse things than being compared to a great band, particularly one that casts such a long shadow on one’s hometown. And the influence is definitely detectable on their debut full-length Draw A Distance Draw A Border, particularly in the marriage of Jon Plett’s wordy lyricism and the energetic rock accompaniment, but the delivery – particularly live – drifts into a emo-esque whinge that doesn’t do much for me. Points for energy, however. Two-Way Monologues had an interview with the band in advance of their show.

Photos: The Details @ Rancho Relaxo – March 6, 2008
MP3: The Details – “The Height Of The Land”

Jane Vain & The Dark Matter are a band I’ve encouraged others to go see in the past, but have never myself made it out to see for myriad reasons, so it was nice to be able to pop around the corner from Rancho Relaxo to The Silver Dollar to catch their set. Midway through their set, frontwoman Jamie Fooks told the crowd that they had copies of their debut CD Love Is Where The Smoke Is available for sale and that it was different from the live show, and while a seemingly obvious statement, it was also very correct. The record has a very studio-y feel to it, as well as a prevailingly dark and rather anxious mood, while the touring band – an unexpectedly large six-piece outfit – had a great, tight chemistry and did a fine job of translating the songs live while injecting a dose of… well, not happiness – the material is still too dark for that – but non-depression. I’ll go with that.

Photos: Jane Vain & The Dark Matter @ The Silver Dollar – March 6, 2007
MP3: Jane Vain & The Dark Matter – “C’mon Baby Say Bang Bang”

Despite a Thursday night lineup that, if I didn’t have to be up for work in the morning, could have kept me out till the wee hours of the night, I closed things off with the CBC Radio 3/Bande A Part showcase of Montreal artists, in particular The Besnard Lakes. Having seen them a few times and moderately crushed on The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse last year, they were the most known quantity on the night – and probably the whole weekend – but still managed to impress. With the more compacted festival timeslot they had to rein in their more sprawling tendencies – and leave the smoke machines at home – but still effectively conveyed the epic scope of their musical vision. Grand stuff.

Photos: The Besnard Lakes @ The El Mocambo – March 6, 2007
MP3: The Besnard Lakes – “And You Lied To Me”
MP3: The Besnard Lakes – “For Agent 13”
Video: The Besnard Lakes – “For Agent 13”
MySpace: The Besnard Lakes

Photo via iamduffy.com

The fact that Welsh songstress Duffy has a UK chart-topping single in “Mercy” and a platinum record in Rockferry pleases me, because it means that producer Bernard Butler is doing alright for himself.

So with all that under her belt, it’s a bit of a wonder that her March 18 show at the Mod Club in Toronto isn’t yet sold out – all signs certainly point to success on a Winehouse-ian scale, and tickets for her Mod Club shows last year were in pretty outrageous demand. Perhaps that sort of buzz will come after Rockferry gets a North American release on May 13 and those who were lucky enough to see her in a small club will be able to say they saw her when.

And if you want to be one of those lucky ones… well, go buy a ticket. Or enter this contest. Courtesy of Emerge, I’ve got two prize packs to give away, each consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of the “Mercy” single on CD. To enter, send me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to be able to say I saw Duffy in a small club” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. I’ll let this run until midnight, March 12. And until then, check out the first two official singles and this interview at Barking & Dagenham Recorder. What a great name for a paper.

Video: Duffy – “Rockferry”
Video: Duffy – “Mercy”
MySpace: Duffy

Photo via rivermountainstrail.org

This will likely be my last non-festival related post for a while – at least a couple weeks – so I’m just going to clear out everything I’ve got in the hopper.

They may be skipping Toronto on their upcoming tour, but there’s still plenty of reason for DeVotchKa fans to get excited – namely the release of their first full-length album of new material in four years, A Mad And Faithful Telling, on March 18. Reuters talks a bit to frontman Nick Urata about their distinctive sound and Pitchfork is offering an MP3 from the record. There’s also an electronic press kit to watch if you’re so inclined.

MP3: DeVotchKa – “Along The Way”
EPK: DeVotchKa / A Mad And Faithful Telling

Staying in the southeast US, Chart brings details of Provisions, the new record from Giant Sand due in May and featuring a slew of familiar guest stars including Neko Case, M Ward and Isobel Campbell, amongst others.

Jeff Tweedy blogs about the joys of migraines for The New York Times.

Colin Meloy’s talks to Chart about the joys of doing the solo thinkg for a change. Check out a track from his forthcoming Colin Meloy Sings Live!, out April 8. Colin Meloy will sing live at the Phoenix on April 19.

MP3: Colin Meloy – “We Both Go Down Together”

Steve Earle talks to bot The Chicago Sun-Times and Vue Weekly.

Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields proves to Harp that his reputation as a difficult interview is well-earned.

Houstonist has an interview with Nicole Atkins, who opens up The Hot Freaks shows at SxSW next Thursday at noon at the Mohawk.

Bob Mould discusses rediscovering the guitar with Cleveland Scene. Mould is at the Mod Club on Monday night and congratulations to Thomas and Chris for winning my Mould-y contest.

American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel tells Harp about the record that changed his life – Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. AMC are at Lee’s Palace on April 17.

Spin talks to The Gutter Twins. They’re at the Mod Club on March 14.

Stereogum has the premiere of the new video from Dean & Britta, featuring dapper Dean and Britta on a bike. Dean Wareham’s memoirs, Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance, is out next week.

Video: Dean & Britta – “You Turned My Head Around”

Josh Ritter reveals his secret Canadian celebrity crush to The Globe & Mail

Drowned In Sound talks to Nina Persson of The Cardigans about their new best-of compilation, The Best Of The Cardigans.

Sigur Ros is screening their full-length documentary Heima on YouTube today. Or, if you’re inclined to see it on the big screen, it’s showing at the Cumberland in Toronto next Thursday (March 13) at 8:15 – advance tickets here.

Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood talks to The Toronto Sun

Ray Davies tells The Globe & Mail that getting shot revived his creative juices. He’s playing the Danforth Music Hall April 3.

The Breeders are offering an advance taste of their new record Mountain Battles, out April 8. They’re playing the Phoenix tomorrow night and eye has an interview.

MP3: The Breeders – “Bang On”

Everyone’s been all abuzz about the vague reunion rumours involving Pavement but Take-Away Shows have something a little more tangible – namely performances from Stephen Malkmus including a swing at a bunch of R.E.M. covers. Glide and Spin also have in-depth interviews.

One reunion that has been confirmed but quiet since said confirmation is that of Swervedriver, but there’s finally some stirrings – BrooklynVegan has a couple NYC dates confirmed for June 11 abd 12 and in the comments, a Los Angeles show on May 31. The official forum also confirms a Toronto date is being finalized, probably around early/mid-June.

The Riverfront Times talks to A Place To Bury Strangers.

The final episode of The Wire – ever – airs this Sunday. Harp talks to writer and producer George Pelecanos about the series as well as the role of music within the show. Pelecanos and other Wire writers have also contributed a piece to Time about the folly of America’s war on drugs.

The AV Club offers a primer to the works of Alan Moore.

Photo by Joe Fuda

Not everything noteworthy in Canadian music is happening this week. Indeed, fans of Cancon-qualifying music should have next week circled on their calendar as it marks a week full of Forest City Lovers-ing. Tuesday marks the release of their sophomore album Haunting Moon Sinking though it’s also a debut, in a sense, as it’s the first to feature the Forest City Lovers as a full band rather than a project led by singer/songwriter Kat Burns and friends as was found on 2006’s The Sun And The Wind and the dividends of that, and loads of touring, are immediately evident.

Whereas The Sun And The Wind was marked by a wintry and boreal sort of beauty, lovely from a distance but a touch foreboding up close, Haunting Moon Sinking is the sound of that landscape thawed by Spring and bursting forth into bloom, most notably on bookends “Don’t Go” and “Orphans” which are far too ebullient to have fit comfortably on the debut. Much of this shift comes thanks to the contributions of Mika Posen whose contributions on strings and keys offer a buoyant counterpoint to Burns’ reserved vocal delivery and effectively minimal electric guitar. But even this, together with a solid rhythm section in Kyle Donnelly and Paul Weadick (now departed and replaced on the drum stool by Steven Lappano) giving things a healthy kick in the pants where needed, hasn’t turned Forest City Lovers into a pure pop band. There’s more sunshine to be sure, but the woods – dark and mysterious – are always within sight and their minor key shadows still make themselves felt, giving the record new depths to explore with each listen.

To mark the release of the new record, Forest City Lovers are playing an in-store at Soundscapes this Sunday, March 9, at 4PM and will play a CD release show along with labelmates The D’Urbervilles – who themselves have just released an excellent record in We Are The Hunters – at the Tranzac on March 14 and it’s this bill that will head out on an east coast tour at the end of the month. But it’s to this Tranzac show next weekend that I have stuff to give away for. Namely, a pair of passes and a copy of the new CD, courtesy of the band. To enter, send me an email at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I love both forests and cities” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest will close at midnight, March 9.

Check out a track from the first record below, watch a video for a song that originally appeared on the Friends In Bellwoods compilation and appears in re-recorded form on the new record and stream some of the new one at their MySpace.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Scared Of Time”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Don’t Go, Please”
MySpace: Forest City Lovers

Also with a long-awaited record out this Spring is The Coast. I’ve had a listen to Expatriate, out April 1, and it’s made me realize how little I knew the band. Their self-titled debut EP excelled at maintaining a consistent, Anglophilic and melancholic vibe but the full-length displays a much broader gamut of emotion and styles. I had been looking forward to this record but wasn’t expecting it – take that in a positive sense. And I’m pleased to be able to follow Exclaim! in sharing a track from the record below. The Coast are touring all over but have a couple local dates on the calendar – an April 18 CD release show at the Horseshoe and a July 12 side-stage appearance at this year’s Edgefest up at Downsview Park. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest the ‘Shoe gig is your better bet.

MP3: The Coast – “Nueva York”

Radio K from the University Of Minnesota have a studio session with Basia Bulat available to download, including one new song that must be really new, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard it and I saw Basia play a rather silly number of times last year. Perhaps she’ll air it out when she plays Lee’s Palace on March 29. The session sounds terrific though it is a bit strange to hear Basia playing solo since I’m so used to hearing her with the full band.

MP3: Basia Bulat – “The Pilgriming Vine” (life at Radio K)

AOL Music Canada has an interview with Kathleen Edwards about her new album Asking For Flowers – The Ottawa Citizen checks but Harp sees and raises them one set of tourmate anecdotes. You can stream some of the new record at her MySpace, watch an EPK about the making of the record at and grab some older tracks below. Edwards plays The Phoenix on April 23.

MP3: Kathleen Edwards – “In State”
MP3: Kathleen Edwards – “Six O’Clock News”
EPK: Kathleen Edwards / Asking For Flowers

So looking to Canadian Music Week, kicking off in earnest tonight, we have festival previews and picks and whatnot from The Toronto Sun, NOW, eye, The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and Two Way Monologues. The National Post has been doing an impressive job dedicating their blog to introducing various artists performing at the fest to their readers via capsule interviews and Chart is doing the same for the artists playing their showcases at the ‘Shoe.

And to close with a complete non sequtier… the Watchmen movie has completed shooting and will be released in exactly one year. And to mark the occasion… photos of the characters in costume. I am NOT going to refer back to the book, but at first glance Rorschach’s coat looks a little short. Other than that… wow. Via Goldenfiddle.