Everyone loved the first The New Pornographers record, Mass Romantic. Everyone who loved non-stop flume rides of power pop goodness, anyways. This is a statement of record. And even though the follow-up Electric Version was, for my money, just as good and just as monkey barrel-fun, some folks found reasons to say it was inferior to its predecessor. These people are wrong.

But with their third record, 2005’s Twin Cinema, they chose to mix up the recipe a little and schisms appeared in the Porno nation. While still bristling with hooks, Cinema mixed up the tempos far more than the first two records and was a relatively more downbeat affair. Some interpreted this as the band stalling and failed the appreciate the beauty in those moments of calm. These people probably hoped that Twin Cinema was an aberration and that with their fourth record, they’d return to their breakneck ways. Those people will be disappointed.

Challengers, out next Tuesday, not only finds the New Pornographers again hanging out on the calmer side of things but getting comfortable there. The production is less ’70’s electric guitars and synth-heavy, instead favouring textures and orchestration that far more ’60s in origin. Neko Case is again set to handling the more mid-tempo, melancholic tunes and while Dan Bejar’s contributions are still the perkiest and oddest on the record, even those are less madcap than his past offerings.

But where Challengers flags in the BPM department, it makes up for it in the melodies and the songwriting. It’s slow and stately and almost regal-sounding and while it could probably stand to have just one or two more upbeat numbers, it’s hard to criticize what did make the cut. There’s no immediate standout single, no “Letter From An Occupant”, no “Laws Have Changed” – maybe not even a “Bleeding Hearts Show” but as a complete album it’s a top effort that reinforces Carl Newman and company’s position as one of the finest pop bands around.

NPR has named “Adventures in Solitude” their song of the day and you can stream it there or listen to the whole album below, courtesy of MuchMusic. They kick off their Fall tour next month and stop in at the Phoenix in Toronto on October 21, and to confirm – this is the full band lineup, Dan and Neko included.

Finally, courtesy of Last Gang Records, I’ve got a slew of New Pornography to give away. There’s one grand prize consisting of a poster autographed by the whole band and a copy of Challengers on CD and four runner-up prizes of just the CD. That’s five chances to win! Six if you head over to the Last Gang website and enter their contest for a copy of the Challengers executive edition. To enter the contest over here, email me at contests AT chromewaves DOT net with “I want some new pornography” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body and if your entry makes it past my spam filters, you’re entered in the draw. This contest will close at midnight, August 20 and is only open to residents of the Dominion of Canada.

MP3: The New Pornographers – “My Rights Versus Yours”
MP3: The New Pornographers – “Myriad Harbour”
Stream: The New Pornographers / Challengers
MySpace: The New Pornographers

Pitchfork rounds up what’s going on with Mr Patrick Wolf, now on the record as being pro-nudity. In case we weren’t sure. But good news about planning a (North?) American tour for this November.

LAist talks to Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley. Their new one Under The Black Light is out next week and I’m sorry to have to report that it’s not very good. The lead off track, which you can stream below, is great but the rest of it…? Eh. More on that at a later date. They’re at the Phoenix on September 18.

Stream: Rilo Kiley – “Silver Lining” (QuickTime)

Some show announcements – Iron & Wine is at the Danforth Music Hall on September 25, the very day of The Shepherd’s Dog‘s release. Vancouver synth-poppers Bella have two dates coming up in Toronto – October 23 at the Horseshoe (that’s a New Music Tuesday which means free) and October 28 at the Drake Underground. Their new record No One Will Know is out September 18. Los Angeles’ Sea Wolf returns for a show at the El Mocambo on November 9 to promote their debut full-length Leaves In The River out September 25 and finally, Caribou have a date at the Opera House on November 10, which should console those who didn’t get tickets to their secret show at the Rivoli on September 30. Andorra is out August 21. And finally, The Acorn will be at The Horseshoe on November 24 – it stands to reason that there’ll be an earlier date with the Wood, Wires & Whiskey tour with Elliott Brood and Plants & Animals – there’s a five day gap in the schedule between Ottawa and London – but I guess nothing’s official there yet. Glory Hope Mountain is out September 25.

MP3: Iron & Wine – “Boy With A Coin”
MP3: Bella – “Give It A Night”
MP3: Caribou – “Melody Day”
Video: Caribou – “Melody Day” (YouTube)
MP3: The Acorn – “Flood Pt 1”

So what did you do this weekend? I spent Saturday afternoon basking/cooking in the sun and taking in the tunes on an island in the mouth of the St Lawrence River at the ninth annual Wolfe Island Musicfest. Set in the outfield of a baseball diamond in the tiny town of Marysville on the largest of the 1,000 Islands in Kingston, Ontario, it’s a small festival that’s grown larger in recent years as its reputation for hosting top independent Canadian talent in an exceedingly comfortable and casual setting has spread. This year there were more than a few comments about how big it had gotten but ou could have easily scooped up all the patrons and dropped them into a medium-large club and still had room to dance.

Better time than expected was made getting out of Toronto and up to Kingston but when we got to the festival site, things were inexplicably running almost an hour ahead of schedule and so Spiral Beach was finishing when they should have been starting and I barely caught one song. I had wanted to see them – it’d been well over a year since I saw them last and for a band as young as they, that’s an eternity, but this time it wasn’t t be. I did note they were much blonder than they were before, though.

Photos: Spiral Beach @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MP3: Spiral Beach – “New Clouds”
MP3: Spiral Beach – “Voodoo”

So things essentially got started with a familiar face, Ms Basia Bulat. Somehow, her band was even greater in number than at Hillside, boasting ten members at points – at this rate, she’ll soon not be referred to as orch-pop but as a straight-up orchestra. This was the fourth time I’d seen her play this year so I’m plum out of new ways to talk about her show so I’ll just say that I expected her and her band to be terrific and they were. Always a pleasure. Her album Oh My Darling is out on September 18 and she plays a double-header record release party at the Music Gallery on September 22.

Photos: Basia Bulat @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MP3: Basia Bulat – “Snakes & Ladders”
MySpace: Basia Bulat

Born Ruffians seem to occupy their own distinctive musical cosmos of hiccupping, yodeled vocals and odd rhythms that alternately lurch and tippy-toe along but the longer I spend there, the more natural it feels. Still immensely odd, but comfortable. Their generally amiable and goofy demeanor suited the vibe of the day really well and they gained the distinction of getting the audience on their feet far earlier in the day than I’d have expected. Their debut full-length album is due out early next year and a couple of the new tracks sounded pretty impressive.

Photos: Born Ruffians @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Hedonistic Me”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “I’m Not One Of Those Girls”
MySpace: Born Ruffians

Weeping Tile! For all the merits of the rest of the festival lineup, they were the main reason I made the trek up to Kingston (I detailed my love for the band here). Sarah Harmer, for all her success as a AOR folkie (not meant as a slight – I like her solo work), can still rock it out and looked perfectly natural with the beat up Telecaster or even behind the drum kit for their set-closing cover of Guided By Voices’ “Game Of Pricks”. All of the old gems sounded great and I was especially thrilled that “The Room With The Sir John A View” got aired – one of my all-time favourites. That the band makes a point of saying there are no plans for any sort of full-on reunion is both a shame and a relief – it makes events like this that much more special though I’d be happy if they happened just a little more frequently and maybe not just here in their hometown. But a suggestion to Ms Harmer, if I may? When you head back into the studio to record the follow-up to I’m A Mountain? Bring the Telecaster. Just in case.

Photos: Weeping Tile @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MP3: Weeping Tile – “Au Sud De Moi”

By this time, the organizers had shuffled and stretched the schedule to try and get back onto the originally posted set times so that people didn’t miss whomever they were arriving to see. It was a little too effective as by night’s end they were an hour behind, meaning that somewhere, somehow, they actually lost two hours, but really – having extra time to kill wasn’t going to be any kind of issue with Apostle Of Hustle coming up to bat. I suspect they’ve never seen a set time they couldn’t jam into oblivion. While their first full-length Folkloric Feel didn’t do much for me, the stuff I’ve heard from National Anthem Of Nowhere has been pretty good, particularly the title track. The first portion of their set was actually really impressive, serving as a reminder of how good a guitarist Andrew Whiteman is and how tight the band is. After a while, though, the jamminess of it all got a bit much to take and I went to lie down and watch the sun set.

Photos: Apostle Of Hustle @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
Video: Apostle Of Hustle – “National Anthem Of Nowhere” (YouTube)
MySpace: Apostle Of Hustle

As a general rule, electronic acts are either stupefyingly dull live or stupefyingly awesome. Holy Fuck are the latter. Playing with a live rhythm section, Holy Fuckers Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh dived right into their work, playing their arsenal of keyboards and effects pedals in real-time like DJs on decks. No pressing “play” on laptops and queuing up the Frecell here, thank you very much. Holy Fuck were about dancing – themselves, the crowd, even the other performers (Sarah Harmer and members of Basia Bulat’s band were onstage dancing up a storm by the set’s close). Having not really listened to their studio recordings, I’m curious to see if they can translate the energy and excitement of their live performance to record. Their new full-length will be released on October 23, I’ll find out then.

Photos: Holy Fuck @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MySpace: Holy Fuck

The delightful synchronicity of having Wolf Parade play Wolfe Island is self-evident, so I’ll skip that. Instead, I’ll say that I’ve never been into Wolf Parade but that’s based on one live show (which I actually rather enjoyed) and the impression that I couldn’t take the vocals in the band. Well it seems that’s no longer as much an issue as I thought it was because their headlining set to close out the fest was pretty damned impressive. Claiming it to be their first show in some ten months, they used the opportunity to air out a goodly number of new songs though I wouldn’t have been able to tell since I don’t know the old songs (though I assume the ones that got the biggest cheers were the old ones). All of it sounded urgent, rich and ragged and most importantly, so very rocking and the vocals? Didn’t really bother me at all. I think that maybe I’ve grown, just a little. The audience went nuts, the otherwise sleepy little town of Marysville apparently had no curfew (they wrapped up a good hour later than originally intended) and I left a bit early to catch the ferry back to the mainland, fully intending to pick up a copy of Apologies To The Queen Mary at the earliest opportunity. I would call that the perfect cap to great day of music.

Photos: Wolf Parade @ Wolfe Island Music Fest – August 11, 2007
MP3: Wolf Parade – “My Father’s Son”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “Shine A Light”
Video: Wolf Parade – “I’ll Believe In Anything” (MOV)
MySpace: Wolf Parade

As mentioned, the Wolfe Island experience was so casual and enjoyable, it was more like a day in the park (which technically it was) with bands playing rather than a music festival in the conventional sense. Though it would have been nice to have some of the amenities of the larger fests – free tap water or a better than 1-to-100 portapottie-to-patron ratio – it was a minor quibble (that’s why they have shrubbery, after all) and a fine second stop in my Summer of local-ish, laid back festivals (Hillside was stop one, Dog Day Afternoon next weekend will cap things off). Radio Free Canuckistan, whom I thank heartily for shuttling me to Kingston and back, has posted his review of the day.

A moment of silence, please, for Factory Records impresario and all-around, larger-than-life figure Tony Wilson who passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer. Obituaries and eulogies are plentiful and NME has rememberences from Creation Records founder Alan McGee, Factory Records graphic designer Peter Saville and Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order. Cheers, Tony.

Spinner interfaces with Spoon.

The Advocate talks to Jason Isbell.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats writes at the new Beggars Banquet blog about making a zombie-riffic video for the song he recorded with Aesop Rock for the rapper’s new album None Shall Pass, out August 28. Darnielle is heading back into the studio to work on the next Goats record but will also be hitting the road this Fall, stopping in at Lee’s Palace on September 25.

And speaking of videos, The Shins have a new one for “Turn On Me”.

MySpace: The Shins – “Turn On Me” (MySpace)

The Go! Team will release their second album Proof Of Youth on September 11 and will be in town on October 31 for a show at the Opera House, tickets for which will run $18.50. Check out the first single and the first two vids from the record – the MP3 is a big download, but when the label gives me 256 kbps, I give you 256 kbps.

MP3: The Go! Team – “Grip Like A Vice”
Video: The Go! Team – “Grip Like A Vice” (YouTube)
Video: The Go! Team – “Doing It Right” (YouTube)

Swedes Shout Out Louds are also releasing their sophomore effort Our Ill Wills on September 11. They’ve also just announced a Fall tour that brings them to the Mod Club on October 22. See and hear the first single from the new record below:

MP3: Shout Out Louds – “Tonight I Have To Leave It”
Video: Shout Out Louds – “Tonight I Have To Leave It” (MOV)

And some other shows just announced – We Are Scientists are at Lee’s on September 6 ($16), Miracle Fortress have a show at the Drake Underground on September 11 and Basia Bulat will play not one but two CD release shows for Oh My Darling, out September 18, at the Music Gallery on September 22, an early and a late. Tickets for each show are $10.50.

And I’ll be seeing Ms Bulat again today in Kingston at the Wolfe Island Music Fest not two weeks after seeing her in Guelph at Hillside. Stylus has finished their writeup of the fest and Radio Free Canuckistan has also posted his recollections, these from the point of view of emcee.

Hi and welcome to the final stop of John Vanderslice’s “Live From Tiny Telephone” online tour. As mentioned last week, The ‘Slice has been making the rounds around the Blogosphere with videos of him performing his new album Emerald City from his studios back in May, one song per site. You can find the first eight songs at the following splendid and exotic locales:

Stereogum – “Kookabura”
Gorilla Vs Bear – “White Dove”
BrooklynVegan – “The Tower”
You Ain’t No Picasso – “The Parade”
My Old Kentucky Blog – “Time To Go”
SixEyes – “Numbered Lithograph”
The Catbirdseat – “Central Booking”
An Aquarium Drunkard – “Tablespoon Of Codeine”

and here, the final song of the tour, “The Minaret”.

And a final, tour-ending message from Mr Vanderslice:

So this is the last stop on the Emerald City Online Tour.
I’m very happy we’re here with Chromewaves.
I want to give a huge thanks to all the blogs hosting
the videos. See you in a few weeks on the van tour!
JV

Also note that Catbirdseat and SixEyes have interviews with Vanderslice appended to their videos – the SixEyes one is in two parts, the second of which is here. An Aquarium Drunkard also has some videos of Vanderslice playing a show in the LA river basin. No, that’s not a venue, it’s a river basin. Synthesis also has an interview. He’s doing a proper in-the-flesh this Fall and will be at the Horseshoe in Toronto on October 1.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “White Dove”
Video: John Vanderslice – “Time To Go” (MOV)
Stream: John Vanderslice / Emerald City
MySpace: John Vanderslice

Idlewild will celebrate their tenth anniversary with the release of Scottish Fiction: Best Of 1997-2007 on October 1. It will collect material from their Captain mini-album through this year’s Make Another World and throw in a DVD with three hours of footage including a complete show in Aberdeen, all their videos and unseen documentary footage.

Goldenfiddle has the tracklisting for the soundtrack to Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There Dylan biopic and it’s as insanely indie-all-star-studded as promised. The film debuts next month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Gogol Bordello are at the Opera House on October 9. That is going to be fifteen kinds of crazy. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10AM, not sure how much.

Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers discusses “Gravity’s Gone” off of A Blessing And A Curse with Independent Weekly.

Filter rounds up all the upcoming Robyn Hitchcock retrospective action coming up, starting with the I Wanna Go Backwards box set, due out October 16.

CBC wonders if the concept of an album release date is still relevant.

Welsh ragamuffin collective Los Campesinos! have had a festival-filled Summer of 2007, what with playing Glastonbury in their native UK last month and Hillside and Lollapalooza more locally and recently, so a cozy, free show at the Horseshoe on Tuesday night almost certainly qualified as a change of scenery. Based on the profile of their recent shows and their signing to local powerhouse label Arts & Crafts in North America, the curious were out in full force to see what the hubub was about, but before that they had to get through the Germans.

Hailing not from the Rhineland but right here in Hogtown, Germans recall the glory days of college rock – that’d be the early ’90s – blending the angular pop of Pavement with the hollered punk of early Superchunk and the noise squalls of Sonic Youth. Striking a near-perfect balance between undeniable melodic hookiness and discordant, in your face abrasiveness, they’re like a frosted mini wheat of indie rock goodness. Constantly swapping instruments as well as passing around parts of a second drum kit (which wasn’t superfluous at all but added huge weight to their sound), the six Germans showcased a lot of material from last year’s Cape Fear full-length and just generally rocked the house in, dare I say, blitzkrieg style? Wholly impressive. Do not fear these Germans. They’re playing a double-header on Saturday, playing the ALL CAPS! outdoor party in Dufferin Park in the afternoon (eye has more info) and the Mod Club that evening opening up for The Wombats . And also check out the video for “I Am The Teacher” below – also the awesome.

It’s easy to have preconceptions about what a seven-piece, co-ed band of youngsters whose band name includes a mandatory exclamation mark and who, furthermore, have all taken on said exclamation as their surname sounds like. And in Los Camposinos!’ case, those broad strokes are fairly bang on but don’t tell the whole story. Yes, they’re ridiculously cute and energetic and their sound is awash in instrumentation, shoutalongs and hand claps, but beneath the surface it’s not at all random or chaotic – I was pretty impressed at how tight and meticulously arranged all the parts and vocals in their songs were. There is a real method and skill to their madness. Lead Campesino! Gareth’s voice and singing style is a little too frantic and histrionic for my tastes and reminds me more than a bit of Kevin Barnes but that’s me – those attributes might well sell him to someone else.

With only a six-song EP to their name, the band presumably interjected some new material amidst the songs from Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, a Pavement cover and profuse thanks to everyone in attendance for showing up. Regardless of how you feel about their style of sugar-buzz, kitchen sink pop – and I’m a little worn out on the style, nothing personal – it was hard to dislike these kids, so cute, bright-eyed and earnest they were. But I suspect they’re best enjoyed in EP-sized dose -a full-length might well be too hazardous to someone’s health.

NOW asks five questions of bassist Ellen Campesino! and Chart chats with guitarist Neil. eye also has a review of the show.

Photos: Los Campesinos!, Germans @ The Horseshoe – August 7, 2007
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “Don’t Tell Me To Do The Maths”
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives”
MP3: Germans – “I Am The Teacher”
MP3: Germans – “Tiger Vacuum Bottle”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” (YouTube)
Video: Los Campesinos! – “You! Me! Dancing!” (YouTube)
Video: Germans – “I Am The Teacher” (YouTube)
MySpace: Los Campesinos!
MySpace: Germans

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Great Lake Swimmers available to stream. Chart also reports that the band is soliciting travel video clips from fans for use in a video for the band’s “Passenger Song”, the next single from Ongiara. They’re back home for a show at the Phoenix on September 29 with Ohbijou as support. The Toronto Star has a profile of Ohbijou, who are playing a free show at Harbourfront Centre tomorrow night.

Denver Westword asks Jason Isbell about leaving Drive-By Truckers. Jason Isbell answers. NPR has got a World Cafe session with Isbell available too. They’re everywhere, those NPR folks.

The Winnipeg Sun talks to Nels Cline of Wilco. Cline will be in Guelph doing the solo thing at their jazz festival on September 8.

Pitchfork parses the press release for Jens Lekman’s forthcoming Night Falls Over Kortadela, out September 5 in Europe and October 9 in North America.

eye says “hey, whassup” to Au Revoir Simone, in town at Lee’s Palace on August 15.

Shows? Sure. Marissa Nadler’s September 7 show has been moved from the Tranzac to Sneaky Dee’s and will no longer be an early gig. Booking issues, dontcha know. Also, Carolyn Mark is at the Tranzac on September 28, Regina Spektor is in town for a show at the Kool Haus on October 11, electronic act UNKLE tries to translate to a live performance October 19 at Lee’s Palace, Enon at Sneaky Dee’s on October 22 and Portland’s Thermals are at the Horseshoe on October 27.

The AV Club talks to Buffy-meister Joss Whedon about making the shift from screenwriter to comics scribe and Buffy season eight.

Anyone need or got a lift to Kingston for Wolfe Island this weekend? Drop me a line.