Someone was complaining to me earlier this week that I hadn’t been running any contests lately. You now be silent.

Cat Power’s last album, The Greatest, was a watershed moment in both her life and career. Her long-running battle with alcohol came to a very public but also very triumphant conclusion (hopefully) that saw her shed her frail folksinger persona and reinvent herself as a full-on, soul-singing diva. Her live shows, which had previously run the risk of being as much spectacle as show went from “afraid-to-watch” to “must-sees”. In short, 2006 and 2007 saw her become a star.

And how does she follow all that up? Well, last reports were that her next album of all-original material already had a title – The Sun – and a targeted release date of Spring 2008 but that’s obviously not going to happen what with the attention being lavished on her new record, Jukebox. On paper, it’s a sequel to her last such collection of interpretations, 2000’s The Covers Record but in reality it comes from a much different place. The Covers Record had the same fragile intimacy of her original material from that era, sounding like a woman taking shelter in the songs that she loved, hiding in the words of others.

Jukebox, on the other hand, evidences none of this vulnerability. It struts and sasses from the get-go, focused on Marshall’s marvelous voice and bolstered by the Dirty Delta Blues band coming off slicker than anyone might have imagined, even post-Greatest. Song arrangements and melodies are still turned on their heads but they’re done with a sense of conscious playfulness that I never picked up on with The Covers Record. It is worth noting, however, that the best track is one of two originals and the only new one, the Dylan tribute “Song To Bobby”. Even with her new strength and confidence, it shows that she’s still at her best when she lets the Cat Power drop a bit and reveals the Chan Marshall. Jukebox is a good sidebar but I’m still waiting for The Sun.

Cat Power and the Dirty Delta Blues are doing a shortish North American tour that stops in at the Kool Haus on February 9 and courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got one pair of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I wish to attend the Cat Power concert” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, February 5.

MP3: Cat Power – “Metal Heart”
MP3: Cat Power – “Song To Bobby”
MySpace: Cat Power

Love Is Where The Smoke Is, the debut from Calgary’s Jane Vain & The Dark Matter, was discussed at some length last month, so I won’t go back over that ground again except to say that just as when I wrote that bit, it remains a very good record and worthy of your attention.

Instead, I will point you to some interviews from The Calgary Herald, The Gauntlet and The Thunder Bay Source with frontwoman Jamie Fooks and remind that cross-country tour is now well into Ontario and they’re in Toronto this Thursday night for a show at the Drake Underground and then again on Sunday night at Sneaky Dee’s as part of Wavelength.

As to the Drake show, courtesy of Killbeat Music, I’ve got a pair of passes and a copy of Love Is Where The Smoke Is to give away to one lucky duck. To enter, shoot me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Jane Vain” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body (the winner will be mailed a CD). Contest closes at midnight, February 4.

MP3: Jane Vain & The Dark Matter – “C’mon Baby Say Bang Bang”

The most surprising thing to me about MGMT’s debut album wasn’t that it was created by two guys from Brooklyn who didn’t sport big-ass porn star moustaches, nor that it was produced by Dave Fridmann, better known for his speaker-shredding, widescreen space-rock excursions with The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. No, I was most surprised the fact that Oracular Spectacular was not, in fact, the new album from Australia’s Sleepy Jackson. Andrew VanWyngarden’s falsetto isn’t far off from Luke Steele’s and both outfits share a fetish for over the top paeans to the decadence of the ’70s. If Steele was to trade his Electric Light Orchestra records for some New York City disco, it would probably sound a lot like this.

But it’s not The Sleepy Jackson, it’s MGMT (not pronounced “management”) and it’s these two former art school students who can take credit for the record’s disco moves, sly funk and big pop. It could have been a recipe for ridiculousness, but they’re a bit too goofy to be too cool, a bit too earnest to be too ironic and the Oracular settles into a comfortable balance that’s fun and eminently danceable.

They’re bringing all of the above to Toronto next Saturday night, February 9, for a sold-out show with Yeasayer at the El Mocambo but courtesy of Against The Grain I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away to the show. But wait! There’s more! Courtesy of Sony/BMG Canada, I’ve got two copies of Oracular Spectacular on vinyl to give away. To spread the love (and accommodate those who want to go to the show and don’t have turntables or vice-versa), I’m offering these up as four prizes. If you want to enter the draw for the show, send me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I can has MGMT show?” in the subject line and your full name in the body. IF you want to enter the draw for the LP, send me an email to the same address with “I can has MGMT LP?” in the subject line and your full mailing address in the body. Choose one or the other, not both. Entrants for the show are obviously limited to Toronto-area folks. Entrants for the LP are limited to residents of Canada. Contest closes at midnight, February 5.

Video: MGMT – “Time To Pretend”
MySpace: MGMT

A slew of tour dates to cover – most excitingly from my perspective is the return of American Music Club to Toronto for the first time in maybe 14 years (based on this tour history). As part of their tour in support of The Golden Age, out this Monday in the UK but not till the 19th in North America, the band will be hitting Lee’s Palace on April 17.

If I’m not mistaken, this’ll be the first time Mark Eitzel has paid Hogtown a visit since opening for Low back in October 2002. I did see AMC back in 2003 in support of Love Songs For Patirots – a record that was one of favourites of the year – but had to go to Chicago to do so. So I’m obviously very pleased they’re making it easier for me this time, though I’ll miss the frequent flyer miles. It’s true that Eitzel can be a mercurial frontman, to say the least, but if he’s on, they’re awesome.

And thanks to John in the comments a few days back for pointing to this, a download of an American Music Club promo album from 15 years ago that combines the band’s best songs to that date, interview clips and a handful of rarities. Essential if you’re a fan and a great primer if you’ve simply not heard them before. There is no in-between.

MP3: American Music Club – “All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco”

I made a note that Deerhoof were going to be at the Phoenix on March 5 as part of a CMW-associated show, but cannot find anything to back that up right now. So file that under “maybe”, and if you can confirm it let me know. Update: Confirmed! See the comments for details.

Also in the “somewhat ambiguous” file, the UK’s Duke Spirit. They made some noise in 2005 with their debut Cuts Across The Land and then promptly went silent until now. They’ve finished their sophomore record, Neptune, and will be releasing it on April 8 but before that, they’ll be in town for not one but two shows on March 7 and 8 at a venue to be determined and may or may not be a CMW-affiliated events (if not, good luck finding a venue). I remember seeing them back in November 2005 as part of the Ukula Bright Lights Festival. They were alright.

Video: The Duke Spirit – “The Step & The Walk”
Video: The Duke Spirit – “Lassoo”
Stream: The Duke Spirit / Neptune

The band that headlined that mini fest, Elbow, are also back soon with a new record in The Seldom Seen Kid. It’s out March 17 in the UK and frontman Guy Garvey talked to the BBC about the sanctity of the album form. He also mentions that the band will have a b-sides collection out sometime this year entitled Dead In The Boot. Until then, there’s a video from the new record.

Video: Elbow – “Grounds For Divorce”

Gary Louris drops his first solo album Vagabonds on February 19 and drops by the Mod Club to play songs from it on March 30. Tickets $20 in advance.

Also on March 30, Morcheeba – still kicking, apparently, are at the Opera House. Via For The Records.

Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors are at Sneaky Dee’s on April 1.

Eels are in a retrospective mood with the release of both a best-of compilation in Meet The Eels and a rarities collection in Useless Trinkets – the former a single CD and DVD, the latter a double-disc set plus DVD. They’ll be here to trip down memory lane on April 4 at the Mod Club. – full tour dates at NME.

The Kills return with a new record in Midnight Boom, out March 18, and a tour that includes a stop at the Opera House on May 6.

Just yesterday I was wondering what the date for this would be… well here it is. The New Pornographers and Okkervil River tour will kick off in Toronto on April 9 at the Phoenix. Full dates at Pitchfork.

Billboard reports that Whiskeytown’s classic Strangers’ Almanac will get the deluxe reissue treatment on March 4, with one disc containing the original album and a second disc of live tracks, rarities and whatnot. Ryan Adams will be in town on February 23 at Massey Hall not on his own, but as a part of the Cowboy Junkies – along with other special guest Vic Chesnutt and Natalie Merchant – as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Trinity Sessions by playing it live just down the street (or through the mall) from where it was originally recorded. Also marking the occasion is Trinity Revisited, a new recording of that seminal album made in the same church two decades later. Details here.

Graham Coxon explains to both Drowned In Sound and NME that Blur weren’t reuniting – just having dinner. Damon Albarn thinks it’s because the others hate him and bassist Alex James tells The Guardian that cocaine is bad. Very bad.

The Dean in Dean & Britta admits to Chart that the duo prefer Toronto to Montreal. Oooh, burn! They’re at the Mod Club next Saturday night.

Minnesota Public Radio has an acoustic studio session from Editors.

M Ward talks to Billboard about both the new She & Him record Volume 1, out March 18, and his own next record due out later this year.

Megan Hickey of The Last Town Chorus talks to The Boston Globe.

Daytrotter got a taste of the next Early Day Miners record, due out this year, when the band stopped by for a session.

Elf Power return with a new record in Head In A Cave, due out March 25. Details at Pitchfork.

CMJ has information on April, the new record from Sun Kil Moon. It’s out April 1. Of course.

The ‘Fork talks to Anthony Gonzalez about Saturdays = Youth, the new album from M83 currently slated for an April 15 release.

Last week’s post about Sweden’s Sambassadeur not convince you? Maybe another sample will help make up your mind. And move your butt.

MP3: Sambassadeur – “Final Say”

BeatRoute and Exclaim! find A Place To Bury Strangers. They talk. And are no longer strangers.

Since discovering The Airfields way back in Summer of 2005, it’s been a treat watching them evolve. The trip may have been slow and occasionally difficult but each signpost along the way, from the whispery 4-track under the bedcovers charm of their debut City-State through the unexpected confidence of 2006’s Laneways EP and then last year’s limited edition teaser Yr So Wonderful, pointed to great things just down the road. And now, with the release of their debut full-length Up All Night, that promise has been delivered on.

The sounds of shyness that hid behind tape hiss on the debut has grown into a healthy musical extrovert, happy to embrace the awkward charm of its youth as well as revel in the more visceral joys of plugging in and turning up loud. The record pays homage to the classic British jangle-and-drone pop that the band so obviously holds dear, but applies an aesthetic that’s very much of the modern. The production is remarkable with sonics that are as much a part of the personality of the record as the songs – it’s not overbearing, but definitely jumped out at me at first listen (and all subsequent ones). The reverbs, in particular, should have liner note credits. And on the songwriting end, David Lush again proves his gift for memorable melodies and guitarist Ian Jackson’s two turns in the writer’s seat may come off more hesitantly and less polished, but evidence much of the latent potential that was present in the band’s first recordings.

Up All Night is officially out on February 5 but the band will have copies available at their CD release show this Saturday night, February 2, at Sneaky Dee’s with Love Kills and Terror Lake. Cover is $6 but you can get a copy of the album for just an extra $4. That’s $10 total, if your math skills aren’t working right now – which is okay. Yesterday I completely forgot how to do long division. And if you can’t make it out this weekend, circle March 6 on your calendar as they play a Canadian Music Week showcase at the Wrong Bar (the shiny new club out Parkdale way). Also stop by Skatterbrain for a nice interview with the whole band wherein they cover the origins of the band, the recording of the album and their plans for 2008 and both eye and NOW gave the record shiny four-star reviews.

MP3: The Airfields – “Never See You Smile”
MP3: The Airfields – “Yr So Wonderful”
MySpace: The Airfields

Fans of Canadian power pop (or power pop from anywhere) will also be happy to learn that Vancouver’s Salteens, last heard from on 2003’s Let Go Of Your Bad Days, are back in action after a five-year absence not with a new album, per se, but a whack of singles. For 2008, the band will be posting two tracks – an a-side and a b-side – on their website on or around the end of each month as a sort of digital 45 and they’re free to do what you will with them. The first a-side is below, the b-side should be available on their website sometime today and I’ve also posted a couple choice tracks from the last full-length. Clap along at your leisure.

MP3: The Salteens – “Hallowed Ways” (link fixed – sorry)
MP3: The Salteens – “Let Go Of Your Bad Days”
MP3: The Salteens – “Thoughts From Sound”

Staying out on the left coast, BrooklynVegan has Destroyer tour dates following the release of Trouble In Dreams on March 18. Bejar and crew will be in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on April 19, a fact which is cause for celebration but also confirms that he won’t be with The New Pornographers on their Spring tour which will be ongoing at the same time. Neko Case, however, will still be along for the ride and the openers for that jaunt are Okkervil River, which is certainly one of the odder pairings I’ve ever seen. But if we’re lucky, having Okkervil kick ass and take names every night before they take the stage will force the Pornos to raise their game a notch – last time around, they were phoning it in a bit. Look for a local date in early April but before then, they’re performing at the Indie Awards at the Royal York on March 8 as part of Canadian Music Week. You can also enjoy this World Cafe session at NPR.

Everyone’s talking about Black Mountain and their new album In The Future. There’s features and interviews with the band at The Globe & Mail, Exclaim!, Wireless Bollinger, SF Weekly, The Times Online and Harp. They’re at Lee’s Palace on March 5.

Spin recently named Basia Bulat their artist of the day and in their latest issue, they apparently give big love props to Toronto. I haven’t seen the piece yet. Basia plays Lee’s Palace on March 29.

ClickMusic talks to Land Of Talk’s Liz Powell. They’re still working the European release of Applause Cheer Boo Hiss but I would hope the new record will be along sooner rather than later this year.

Kevin Drew talks to Prefix about Kevin Drew.

Chart chats with Laura Barrett, who is also working an older EP in Earth Sciences, slated for re-release on February 26, but also has a full-length in the can and is looking at a late Spring/early Summer release for that. But in the meantime, she’s got a new Pravda-powered video. In Soviet Russia, pony robots you!

Video: Laura Barrett – “Robot Ponies”

Junkmedia talks to Rolf Klausener of The Acorn.

Born Ruffians’ tour finale/release party for their debut full-length Red, Yellow & Blue at Lee’s Palace on April 26 now also features Miracle Fortress on the bill.