Photo by Frank Yang

I’m kind of wondering if there’s any point in writing up a review of the second day of V Fest. After all, for the forseeable future the only thing anyone’s going to want to talk about is, well, this guy. And that’s a pity, and not just because Noel Gallagher got hurt or Toronto is quickly earning a lousy reputation for inciting onstage punch-ups, but because before that incident there was a day full of some pretty good music.

But hell, I was there and I took notes and pictures so even if no one cares, here we go.

For a while on Sunday morning, it looked as though Mother Nature was going to give the Summer one last groin kick of rain with a light but steady downpour making things rather miserable. This was one British import we could do without. Thankfully, it tapered off just as the ferry reached the Islands and by the time I’d settled in for my first act of the day, the sun had actually come out and the skies were a rather marvelous shade of blue. Rather than run back and forth between stages as I’d done on the Saturday, I planned to plant my ass at the main stage for most of the Sunday with just one visit to the satellite stage. You know, maybe actually listen to some of the bands for a change.

Leading things off was The Weakerthans, ably representing the great white north in a lineup heavy on the Brits. Introducing their first three songs as about Bigfoot, Antarctic exploration and bus drivers respectively, John K Samson and crew cranked out a set that reaffirmed the Winnipeggers as national treasures of a sort and one of the finest bands the country has to offer right now. It’s always entertaining to watch the band dynamic, with Samson playing the shy boy frontman while his bandmates rock out behind him and even though I found their last record Reunion Tour a bit overly precious, they’re always a joy to watch.

Photos: The Weakerthans @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 7, 2008
MP3: The Weakerthans – “Sun In An Empty Room”
MP3: The Weakerthans – “Night Windows”
Video: The Weakerthans – “Civil Twilight”
MySpace: The Weakerthans

In contrast to The Weakerthans’ more genial brand of rock, Californians Silversun Pickups showed up intent on putting on a clinic in rock’n’roll hair whipping. Truly, the rhythm section of Nikki Monninger and Christopher Guanlao had some magnificent coiffure action happening which you had to respect no matter what you thought of their grunge worshipping sound. Though I don’t especially care for their recorded works, I found them suitably entertaining in a live setting not least of all because of the aforementioned follicle factors and because they simply know how to put on a good show. Unfortunately those positives are mitigated by the fact their most of their stuff sounds very much the same and Brian Aubert’s more Corgan than Corgan vocal stylings can be a bit much to take.

Photos: Silversun Pickups @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 7, 2008
MP3: Silversun Pickups – “Kissing Families”
Video: Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
Video: Silversun Pickups – “Well Thought Out Twinkles”
MySpace: Silversun Pickups

And with the North American acts out of the way, it was time for the so-called British Invasion. Leading off were Welshmen Stereophonics, whose presence on the bill in the first place amazed me in that I didn’t even think they were still around, let alone popular enough to play a North American festival. I’d had a copy of their first album Word Gets Around way back when I was buying into anything remotely connected to Britpop and when that phase ended, it didn’t survive the first cull of my music collection. So to see them here – hale, hearty and apparently with still a devout fanbase – was quite a surprise. As it turns out, their new album Pull The Pin just got a North American release yesterday and they’ve got a best-of in Decade In The Sun set for a November 18 release, so there you go. Timing dictated that I could only stick around for a few songs but within them they played “A Thousand Trees”, which I still remembered from those salad days, so I didn’t think I would be missing much else of their earnest rasp-rock.

Photos: Stereophonics @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 7, 2008
MP3: Stereophonics – “My Friends”
Video: Stereophonics – “A Thousand Trees”
MySpace: Stereophonics

Scots Sons & Daughters – though it should have just been “daughter” in the singular as regular bassist Alidh Lennon was MIA – were just getting things going on the second stage when I got there. In comparison to the mainstage bands who were all varying degrees of slick – not a complaint, per se, just an observation – Sons & Daughters came across delightfully punkish and abrasive. Led by Adele Bethel, resplendent in garish neon pink stockings, they delivered material from the glorious This Gift and further back with the intensity of a sandblaster. They knew that the audience probably didn’t buy a ticket just to see them, but they were going to make them thankful they did.

Photos: Sons & Daughters @ TD Canada Trust Stage – September 7, 2008
MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Gilt Complex” (acoustic, live on Vic Galloway)
MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Chains” (acoustic, live on Vic Galloway)
Video: Sons & Daughters – “Gilt Complex”
Video: Sons & Daughters – “Darling”
MySpace: Sons & Daughters

And back to the main stage. I’d be lying if I said my education in the works of Paul Weller extended past The Jam, so you’re damn right I was excited that the Modfather played not one but two of those classics in his set – “Town Called Malice” and “Eton Rifles”. But despite not knowing the rest of the material, it sounded instantly familiar and comfortable – after all, this is the man who laid the blueprint for so much of the music I listen to today. Backed by a crack band who delivered the only drum solo of the festival (at least as far as I’d heard), Weller put on a show that’d have put to shame acts have his age, which would have been most of them on the bill. And even drenched in sweat, as he was by show’s end, he still looked effortlessly dapper – in a henley shirt. Respect.

Photos: Paul Weller @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 7, 2008
Video: The Jam – “Town Called Malice”
MySpace: Paul Weller

Finally, Oasis. Let’s ignore, for now, the most unfortunate attack on Los Bros Gallagher and pay even less mind to those who are taking a sick schadenfreude in it all. I was one of those who’d never really been interested in the band in their heyday and was put off by the media circuses surrounding the pair, but in recent years have learned to appreciate their stuff. In fact, I’ll hold up their best songs – and over the course of their career they’ve had a lot, albeit frontloaded onto the first two records – as genuine classics that’ll stand the test of time. In fact, they already have and still sound timeless some 15 years on. Not for nothing were there 20,000-plus hollering fans, standing in the mud, waiting for possibly the most appropriate band to close out such an Anglophilic festival.

Oasis live have a peculiar charisma – even though they don’t actually do anything besides stand there and play, it’s hard to take your eyes off them, maybe just because you don’t want to miss if perchance they DO move. I noticed it the first time I saw them open for Neil Young in 1996 and more than a decade later, they’ve still got it. Their set was stacked with hits – it was like someone put my copy of best-of comp Stop The Clocks on shuffle – and even the new stuff from the forthcoming Dig Out Your Soul sounded great. So despite being disappointed that I (again) wasn’t accredited to shoot the headliners – print outlets only – I was having a great time and was extra-pleased when they started playing one of my favourite numbers, “Morning Glory”. I think I was watching the video screen or the crowd when all of a sudden there was a “thunk” over the PA and the music stopped… and you all know what happened then.

Like many, I fully expected the gig to be over right then and there – certainly the Gallaghers of ten years ago wouldn’t have come back to finish the set, albeit an abbreviated one. That they did so and despite the obvious loss of momentum, still sound good, is a real testament to the band. It’s definitely a shame that the Weller guest spot on “Champagne Supernova” didn’t happen but understandable. There’s way too much media coverage of all this to try and round up. Instead, if you want exhaustive updates, check out live4ever.us who specialises in exactly that.

Photos: Oasis @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 7, 2008
Video: Oasis – “The Shock Of The Lightning”
MySpace: Oasis

So though the gig was salvaged and certainly a memorable one, it was an unfortunate way to finish off what had been another pretty good V Fest. As with past years, the nature of any complaints remain about the same – the sharp drop-off in name acts after the top two or three billings and the logistical issues with just the one small footbridge offering convenient access from one stage to the other – but seemed particularly amplified this time around. But I’ve pretty much accepted that this is just how it’s going to be given the scale and ambitions of the event. I seem to recall being told once that the initial contract for V Fest in Toronto was for three years, so another go-around for next year may not be a sure thing – did anyone notice that Osheaga was “presented by Virgin Mobile” this year? – I certainly hope to be back on the Islands next September, with the exact same complaints but still having a great time. And maybe I’ll get to shoot the headliners. Maybe.

Pitchfork and The Boston Globe have interviews with Paul Weller, Billboard with Stereophonics and eye and Chart have reviews of day two.

Photo by Frank Yang

Third time’s the charm? That’d have been a tough order for this year’s edition of V Fest Toronto, particularly after last year’s (IMO) outstanding experience, and considering the mild battering the lineup took in the weeks leading up to this year’s event.

But stuff like that becomes irrelevant when the event actually arrives – never mind who’s not there, it’s about who is there. Mind you, there weren’t a whole lot of artists in that latter catergory that I’d call myself a terrific fan of, but whatever. There was enough that I acknowledge as being quite popular and that I was at least curious enough to check out to see what all the hubbub’s about.

The day kicked off with a fellow billed on the schedule as Mark Robertson, who introduced himself simply as Robertson and who on several occasions exhorted the meager audience of early birds to visit him online at robertsonmark.com. But whatever you addressed him as, most I consulted were in agreement as that he wasn’t especially good. Put politely, his sort of easy-listening, jazz-soul get-sexy tunes were just out of place at this sort of festival, especially that early in the day.

Photos: Robertson @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: Robertson – “Favourite People”
MySpace: Robertson

Much better received were the next band up on the mainstage, Los Angelenos Airborne Toxic Event. Dapperly dressed in black and boasting a decent-sized bag of rock-star moves, they offered up slick, resolutely radio-friendly alt.rock for a world where radio-friendly alt.rock isn’t a bad thing (in other words, not this world). Heavy enough for the rockers, hooky enough for the pop fiends and distinctive enough to stand out from the pack (the violinist is enough to mark them as different), they had a genuine and friendly demeanor and brought some welcome energy and wake-up to the day.

Photos: The Airborne Toxic Event @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 6, 2008
MP3: The Airborne Toxic Event – “Sometime Around Midnight”
MP3: The Airborne Toxic Event – “Wishing Well”
Video: The Airborne Toxic Event – “Sometime Around Midnight”
MySpace: Airborne Toxic Event

Over at the second stage was probably the oddest addition to the lineup – recently reunited DC glam-punkers Shudder To Think. Odd because their audience, those who’d probably have loved to have the veterans return to Toronto, weren’t the ones who were likely to shell out to come to the festival. But here they were with a small but enthusiastic audience and they delivered a set that could really only have come from a band that had been at this as long as they have. With singer Craig Wedren declaring, “we bring the sun!” – and yes, the day’s persistent cloud cover did finally break as they got started – they definitely hearkened back to they college rock heyday of the ’90s when they were tagged as one of the next big things, but still sounded absolutely vital. Definitely an addition to my list of bands to check out in more detail, even if they haven’t released an album in over a decade.

Photos: Shudder To Think @ TD Canada Trust Music Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: Shudder To Think – “Red House”
Video: Shudder To Think – “Nine Fingers”
MySpace: Shudder To Think

Festival sets frequently run late and rarely do they start early – so when I was walking back to the main stage and heard the sound of distant thunder without there being a storm cloud in sight, I knew that Constantines had taken the stage. And I ran. I had my first live Cons experience at a tiny little club back in May and while I was told by long-time fans that that show was good but not nearly their best, I was still wholly impressed by their sheer intensity. This time around, I discovered that they were capable of delivering infinitely scaleable rock – the bigger the stage, the bigger their delivery. While fests like this tend to focus more on the import acts, the Cons served as a reminder that sometimes the homegrown acts can bring the goods just as well. Respect.

Photos: Constantines @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 6, 2008
MP3: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
Video: Constantines – “Our Age”
Video: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
MySpace: Constantines

After taking in some of the Constantines set, it was another mad dash across the island to the second stage for Spiritualized’s set. It turned out that dashing wasn’t necessary – hell, a crawl would have gotten me there in time. Anyone who chose 4:15 in their pool for when the schedule was come off the rails was a winner. It took some time to get Jason Pierce and company set up so by the time they started, they were some 20 minutes behind. But for myself, it was a welcome opportunity to catch my breath and soak in some glorious space-rock. In contrast to the Acoustic Mainline show I saw last November, the Spaceman was once again plugged in and fully loud, but some of the lessons in nuance learned on that tour and in making Songs In A & E were not lost. While there was still plenty of stretching out, songs old and new were delivered in more focused form and it may be that the current Spiritualized aesthetic is their best one yet.

Photos: Spiritualized @ TD Canada Trust Music Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: Spiritualized – “Soul On Fire”
Video: Spiritualized – “You Lie You Cheat”
MySpace: Spiritualized

One thing about the V lineup across the whole weekend was that it was a seriously testosterone-skewed roster. Yes, some of the bands had a female presence but by and large, it was a real dude-fest. One exception that I slipped away from Spiritualized to see was a local girl who performs as Lights and who moved from writing songs in her bedroom to performing at fests like this thanks to one of her songs appearing in an Old Navy commercial. Beyond her more obvious appeal – there’ll never cease being a market for cute girls with keytars – she delivered some genuinely sweet and PG-wholesome synth pop, the sort that there’ll also never cease being a market for. After a few minutes and with my blood sugar levels suitably elevated, it was back to Spiritualized and the drone.

Photos: Lights @ Oh Henry! Stage – September 6, 2008

Apparently quite massive back in the UK but rather unknown to me, Scottish ragamuffins The Fratellis had gathered a pretty sizeable audience who, because they were punctual and the band were not, got a faceful of sonic Spiritualized squall rather than scrappy pop-rock. This pleased me. Moreso than the actual band, to be truthful. While their sound was certainly familiar it wasn’t especially distinctive and I was struck far more by their complete lack of pigment more than their tunes. Even for Scots, these boys were PALE. And for a band that trades in high-energy hookism, they were disappointingly sedate onstage. But that didn’t seem to put off their screaming fans, who ate up every mildly catchy but mostly unremarkable note.

Photos: The Fratellis @ TD Canada Trust Music Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: The Fratellis – “Look Out Sunshine”
MySpace: The Fratellis

There was no hurrying back to the mainstage for Against Me! and dinner because the footbridge which served as the main point of ingress/egress between stages as a solid wall of humanity. So from that distance, I was hearing the Floridian punkers’ for the first time and in comparison to the Brit-heavy lineup, they sort of stood out like a sore thumb – like their bus got lost en route to the Warped Tour and latched onto this one instead. I was able to get a better listen when I finally made it to the stage a couple songs into their set and enumerated their qualities. On the plus side, they were impeccably tight, had ferocious stage presence and used a Rickenbacker for a degree of rock that it was never intended for. On the negative side, their socially conscious lyrics were delivered with all the subtlety of a large concrete mallet at a whack-a-mole game. They may as well have been screaming, “STAY IN SCHOOL!”. But on the other hand, I’m not their audience. And another for the pro column – they had a pretty nifty tiger backdrop.

Photos: Against Me! @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: Against Me! – “Thrash Unreal”
Video: Against Me! – “New Wave”
MySpace: Against Me!

By this point I knew, as I’d expected, that I hadn’t been approved to shoot Foo Fighters so the main stage’s penultimate act – Bloc Party – were my de facto headliners for the day. And I was fine with that. Every time I’ve seen Bloc Party live has been a festival setting and it’s one they really excel at – Kele Okerke’s banter and gregariousness might come off overly cheesy in a smaller setting but when addressing thousands in a field interspersed with big cascading guitar lines and earnest rock anthems, it works. Somewhat surprisingly, though they’ve a new album to promote in Intimacy, they stuck to A Weekend In The City and Silent Alarm for at least the first portion of the set, or as long as I stuck around. And that’s fine – while parts of the new record are growing on me, I still find it to not measure up to either of the previous efforts for quality. Things were slowed a bit by some technical difficulties but when they did get to playing, numbers like “Hunting For Witches”, “So Here We Are” and “This Modern Love” had me giddy and realizing that I liked these guys more than I’d thought I did. Foo whatever, for me these guys were where it was at.

Photos: Bloc Party @ Virgin Mobile Stage – September 6, 2008
Video: Bloc Party – “Mercury”
Video: Bloc Party – “Flux”
MySpace: Bloc Party

So while I could have happily (and exhaustedly) ended my day there, the fact that the second stage had fallen exponentially further behind schedule with each set meant that I could still catch the closing set from another popular British act whose appeal eluded me, The Kooks. The absolutely packed house (as much as you can pack an outdoor stage with no physical boundaries) was getting antsy about the late start but seemed mostly at peace that they wouldn’t be seeing much of the Foo Fighters, if at all. Kooks fans absolutely love The Kooks, if the roar that arose when the band finally trotted onstage is any measure. And like The Fratellis, with whom they share a penchant for the definite article and curly haired frontmen, after spending some time giving them a listen, I don’t get the appeal. Certainly they weren’t bad, but I didn’t find anything remarkable in what they were doing. Maybe it’s an age thing. They did, however, know how to work a crowd – singer Luke Pritchard is no kind of introvert – and when you’ve got thousands of people jumping up and down, singing along, you just have to accept that at that moment at least, it’s not them it’s you. So I hopped the ferry and headed back to the mainland.

Photos: The Kooks @ TD Canada Trust Music Stage – September 6, 2008
MP3: The Kooks – “No Longer”
MP3: The Kooks – “Always Where I Need To Be” (live)
Video: The Kooks – “Always Where I Need To Be”
Video: The Kooks – “Sway”
MySpace: The Kooks

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Detroit News and The Skinny have conversations with Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce. eye has a review of day one. And photographically, I’ve also got crowd shots and whatnot up on my Flickr.

So that was the Saturday. Anything interesting happen on the Sunday? Nah.

Photo via MySpace

Just once, it’d be nice to have a V Fest go off without a hitch. Or at least have people talking more about who’s on the lineup than who’s not. The first year, there was the whole thing with the day two headliner Massive Attack having to cancel on account of visa issues, so Broken Social Scene was hastily called in to cover and while they put on a memorable show – how often do you get all three ladies on stage together – it wasn’t what was advertised. Then last year, it was Amy Winehouse who had to pull out in order to concentrate fully on her self-destruction, and while there were attempts to get the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in her stead, that didn’t work out and Kid Koala got the thankless task of entertaining the disgruntled masses for an hour (actually less, since his records started melting in the sun).

And now this year. After a strong start with the likes of Oasis, Paul Weller, Foo Fighters, Bloc Party and Spiritualized, the Toronto edition of V not only failed to add any more especially big names, they were actually losing them. Well, moderately big names. Swedish dance-pop queen Robyn disappeared from the lineup almost as quickly as she was announced on account of being tapped to open up for Madonna. Perfectly reasonable. Then UK brothers in arms The Cribs bailed – no reason given, but considering they’ve probably cancelled more Toronto shows than they’ve played, not a surprise. But when the official schedule was released last week and The Wombats were nowhere to be seen, that was a let-down. And inexplicable – their North American tour is continuing on as planned, and their routing still takes them near Toronto on Sunday (from Chicago to Providence) but they’re not crossing the border. And while it’s unlikely anyone bought a ticket explicitly to see these acts – that’s just bad budgeting – they were certainly draws and their absences cause for grumbling.

But on that, there’s naught to be done and at least the big guns are still coming to town today and tomorrow and if the weather holds out – looks iffy right now – it should still be a good weekend. The Toronto Star is obviously excited, devoting an entire section to the fest – previewing acts, talking to Bloc Party and Shudder To Think and generally getting all worked up. The Globe & Mail profiles a band that I’m more interested in seeing every time I listen – The Airborne Toxic Event, eye catches up with Constantines, AOL Music Canada talks to Paul Weller and NOW discusses the joys of ALL CAPS with MGMT.

Oh, and for a little audio content, one V Fest act covering another. The Kooks on MGMT.

MP3: The Kooks – “Kids”

And finally, apparently Noel Gallagher has whilst on this North American tour, but you need to be a registered member on their website to read em. I don’t think I’m quite ready to trade my personal info for access to such insights like the fact that The Beatles are his favourite band of all-time… though Details and Canada.com have more substantive pieces on the band. Either way, I’m still really forward to seeing them on Sunday night. Yessir.

Photo via www.pwelverumandsun.com

Those who like their music extra-fragile, rejoice. This Fall, Phil Elverum – he who is sometimes The Microphones and other times Mount Eerie – will be hitting the road this Fall in support of his new record Lost Wisdom and for a good chunk of the dates, he’s bringing along as tourmate one of his collaborators on the record, Julie Dorion.

In addition to the new record, which Pitchfork talks to Elverum about, both artists have also re-released old records this year. In April, The Microphones’ 2001 release The Glow, Pt 2 was put back into print with a bonus disc and in July, Doiron’s second solo record Loneliest In The Morning was also reissued along with three bonus tracks.

The tour stops in Toronto on October 14 at the Church Of The Redeemer along with Calm Down It’s Monday on the bill.

MP3: Mt Eerie – “Woolly Mammoth’s Absence”
MP3: Mt Eerie – “2 Blonde Braids”
MP3: Julie Doiron – “So Fast”
Video: Microphones – “The Glow, Pt 2”

Paste reports that Great Lake Swimmers, who themselves played the Church Of The Redeemer in Spring 2007, will be theatrically releasing a concert film shot at the Phoenix in HD last Fall on November 5 and intend to have album number four out next Spring. They’re at Lee’s Palace on October 25.

And she who accompanied Great Lake Swimmers at that April show – Basia Bulat – has an incendiary new video out. Yes, incendiary. Wait for it.

Video: Basia Bulat – “The Pilgriming Vine”

Blurt interviews Neil Young. He’s at the Air Canada Centre on December 9.

Radio Free Canuckistan has posted the full transcript of his interview with Angela Desveaux which yielded the previously-linked Exclaim piece. There’s also interviews with her at The Montreal Gazette, Montreal Mirror and hour.ca. If you missed her show at the Boat last night, you can still see her October 15 opening up for The New Year at Lee’s Palace. The Mighty Ship is out on Tuesday.

Drowned In Sound follows The Hidden Cameras on tour around Europe.

David Berman of The Silver Jews talks to The Weekly Dig, Valley Advocate, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Metro Boston.

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing audio of The National’s show in Boston this Summer whilst opening up for R.E.M..

If you missed The Secret Machines when they hit Lee’s in July, take heart – they’re coming back. With their self-titled album due out on October 14, they’re hitting the road and will be back at the Palace of Lee on October 22.

New Hampshire Public Radio has an audio interview with Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. The penultimate installment in the Stand-Ins cover project is now up, featuring Ola Podrida. One to go before the album is out on Tuesday. Okkervil are at the Phoenix on October 12.

Video: Ola Podrida – “Calling and Not Calling My Ex”

The Sea & Cake have a new album in Car Alarm, out October 21, and will be at Lee’s Palace on November 14.

I appreciate that posts have been a little on the brief side lately – this one only reached a respectable size at the last minute this morning. Call it a combination of trying to work ahead to minimize the amount of work that V Fest is going to be and some utter madness at work. So if you were hoping for more verbiage… blame the Harper government. No, I’m serious.

Photo by Lucia Holm

Just yesterday, I mentioned both The Church and Nicole Atkins in separate newsy items, and now today the two come together. And the context is this – Nicole is releasing an EP of covers cheekily entitled Nicole Atkins Digs Other People’s Songs and contained therein will be Nicole’s takes on The Doors’ “Crystal Ship”, Mama Cass Elliot’s “Dream A Little Dream”, Nada Surf’s “Inside Of Love” and The Church’s “Under The Milky Way”.

The Doors song has long been a staple of her live shows, so that makes sense, and the Mama Cass song suits her style perfectly. The Nada Surf song… sure, why not, but The Church cover is a pleasant surprise though as she tells Stereogum, who have a stream of said cover, it was her “favorite song in high school”. Who’d have thunk it? It’s a bit of a shame that there’s no definitive version of her take on Patti Smith’s “Pissing In A River”, though – I mean, just watch the vid below. Far as I know the only decent recording is from Austin City Limits last year and that’s only available via iTunes.

Anyway, the EP will be out on Tuesday in digital form for sure and in physical form maybe? I have yet to find any evidence that there’ll be a CD, but nowhere do they say “digital only” either, and the luddite in me still likes to thing that the CD is the default format for releasing music. Either way, it’s coming.

Nicole talks a bit about the EP in a recent MySpace blog post and also mentions that after this upcoming leg of touring, she and The Sea will be hunkering down to work on album number two, which she anticipates taking a heavier, rockier direction. There’s more Nicole blog action at her Tumblr and there’s a two-part video interview at MOG.com from earlier this Summer.

Video: Nicole Atkins & The Sea – “Pissing In A River” (live)

An Aquarium Drunkard has an interview with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, whose OH (ohio) is out October 7 and who will be playing the Drake Underground solo on October 6.

PopMatters talks to Alan Sparhawk whilst wearing his Retribution Gospel Choir hat.

Shannon McCardle, formerly of the Mendoza Line, discusses her solo debut Summer Of The Whore with Blurt.

Filter has posted the entirety of their recent cover story on Flight Of The Conchords. This article, along with their cover feature in Under The Radar (along with hilarious photo spread) was key to getting me to watch the show. Season two is supposed to start up sometime around January of next year.

Sonic Boom will be hosting another in-store on September 13 at 7PM, this one featuring $100 and Castlemusic.