Search Results - "Duffy Mod Club Toronto March 18, 2008"
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
After much patient waiting, I was more than a bit overjoyed to find this MySpace blog post from Emmy The Great declaring that her debut full-length album was now in the final mixing stages and would be ready for release in September with the deceptively sweet title of First Love – deceptive because love isn’t as popular a lyrical theme for Ms Moss as the pointy bits of the wreckage that tends to follow.
Comparing the tentative track list with my own Emmy compilation that I’ve assembled from singles, compilation tracks and live recordings, I’m quite pleased to see that there’s only going to be three songs on the record that I’ve already heard. I’ve no idea how produced the record is going to be, but I kind of like the idea that some of those great older songs like “Canopies & Grapes” and “Two Steps Forward” (which I’ve attached a live version of below) will only live on in their simpler, scratchier forms as signposts of where the artist was at the time rather than held onto and buffed to a sheen.
Obviously when the non-album track Emmy has promised to post is available for download I’ll be relaying that on to you all, but in the meantime I recommend satiating your Emmy adorable-ness need with subscriptions to her mobile blog and MySpace blog. Hilariousness dost ensue.
MP3: Emmy The Great – “Two Steps Forward” (live)
Kate Nash gives XFM a notion of what to expect from her second album, namely more punk and Motown influences.
Duffy will follow up her show at the Mod Club in March at a venue more in proportion to her current successes – she’s at The Phoenix on August 2, tickets $27.50.
Pitchfork has full details on Okkervil River’s forthcoming The Stand Ins, which rather than an EP-length appendix such as Black Sheep Boy received, will be an album-length companion to The Stage Names. And, of course, the band will be hitting the road to promote the record bringing them back to town for the fourth local show in just over a year when they play the Phoenix on October 12.
The Harbourfront Centre free concert sched is a little clearer now – main points of interest are that Ohbijou will play a matinee set on June 28 at 3:30PM, the Canada Day evening bill will feature on the mainstage Basia Bulat at 8PM and Martha Wainwright at 9:30PM while Plants & Animals are in the Brigantine Room at 6PM. And the following weekend for Beats, Breaks & Culture will have Ladytron and Poni Hoax on the main stage on Friday night and Crystal Castles and Thunderheist for the Saturday night. Woodhands and Tortured Soul will be on the Saturday afternoon bill. Full details at NOW.
Spinner Interfaces with Bob Mould.
The Boston Globe looks back at the ’80s with M83’s Anthony Gonzalez.
The Wall Street Journal discusses @#%&! Smilers, out tomorrow, with Aimee Mann.
Music Snobbery interviews Jaymay, who has been added to the list of performers for Hillside in Guelph the weekend of July 25 through 27, which I hope doesn’t preclude the possibility of a Toronto show.
Amanda Palmer, frontwoman for the Dresden Dolls, will be coming to town August 9 as a solo act for a show at the teeny-tiny Rivoli. The sound you hear are her fans camping out in front of the club right now. Tickets will be $20.
Jenny Lewis collaborators The Watson Twins will release their debut full-length Fire Songs on June 14 and be at Lee’s Palace on July 15th. Tickets are $10 and support will come from Tim Fite.
MP3: Tim Fite – “No Good Here”
MP3: Tim Fite – “Big Mistake”
Wired talks to Film School about being tapped to open up for Swervederiver’s reunion tour. They’re not on the bill next Friday night in Toronto but will be here on their own for a show at Sneaky Dee’s on July 22.
Chart talks to Death Cab For Cutie, headlining the Olympic Island fest this Saturday.
Exclaim! discuses Evil Urges with My Morning Jacket-eer Jim James. It’s out June 10, they’re at the Kool Haus June 16.
And if anyone’s interested, the last of my photos from London are now up on Flickr.
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
I was a bit curious what attendance was going to be like for UK soul starlet Duffy’s Toronto debut on Tuesday night. I’ve often joked that even a C-list British artist could sell out a room in Toronto, but tickets for the holder of the #1 album and single in the UK seemed surprisingly easy to get, right up until the day of. But by the time the doors were open it was properly sold out so that was one potential restructuring of my reality avoided. With no opening act, there was a lot of standing around and waiting but when Ms Duffy finally strode out on stage around ten minutes past nine to great applause it was evident no one was holding the delay against her.
Now it’s not too often I see the same performer twice in the span of three days, but happened that I was in attendance after seeing her the previous Saturday in Austin at SxSW so a little compare and contrast was inevitable, and to that end, impossible. Because save for the venue and the banter – “Hello Toronto!” rather than “Hello Austin!” – the show was very similar. A bit longer but still barely an hour with encore and covering pretty much the whole of Rockferry (out in North America May 13) and a b-side. No fault there – she only has so much material, some of it superb. Chart-topper “Mercy” really is a standout and a half and the slow-burning “Stepping Stone” is also exceptional.
But as much concentrated live Duffy as I’ve had in the past few days, a few things stand out to me. First, her voice – while strong and soulful – is unmistakably of the blue-eyed variety and, for lack of a better word, rather chaste-sounding. Very proper. Similarly, her stage presence is a bit stiff – I got the sense that despite being all smiles and politeness, she wasn’t completely comfortable onstage. I’ve read a few things about earlier performances to that effect and while I don’t doubt she’s made great strides as a performer, her (few) stage moves seemed overly rehearsed and not especially spontaneous. None of this should be surprising when you consider the speed of her ascendancy from nowhere, however. Great performers are made, not born, and while charisma is to a large degree innate, it can be obscured by shyness. Time will tell if Duffy’s got it. Lord knows with the amount the girl is going to be working this year, she’ll have plenty of opportunity to find it and in the meantime, well, she’ll have to settle for selling tons of records and selling out shows everywhere she goes. Tough life.
And to the guy seeking an autograph in the middle of the show… dude – time and place.
KCRW has audio and video of a Morning Becomes Eclectic session Duffy recorded at SxSW and IC Wales has a profile of the singer.
Photos: Duffy @ The Mod Club – March 18, 2008
Video: Duffy – “Rockferry”
Video: Duffy – “Mercy”
MySpace: Duffy
The other single-named British soul singer whom Duffy can’t seem to escape sharing column-inches with, Adele, will make her own Toronto debut with an already sold-out show at the Rivoli next Wednesday night. JAM and NOW have interviews with her and Billboard reports her album 19 will get a North American release later this Summer.
According to Spinner, Matt Pond is preparing to reclaim his name by ditching his name. With the release of their next album, Matt Pond PA will be no longer, instead operating under the name of The Dark Leaves. But for now, they’re still Matt Pond PA and will be as such when they play Lee’s Palace on April 2 opening for Carbon/Silicon.
Band Of Horse-man Ben Bridwell gives Filter the two-dollar tour of South Carolina.
With his archives well and properly cleared out, Billy Bragg will release his first new record in six years with Mr Love & Justice, out April 8. The album minisite has got album info and some live performance videos and Billy will be in town to promote it on June 17 with a show at an unexpected but welcome venue – Harbourfront Centre. Digital Spy talks to Billy about the new record.
Elvis Costello has a new album – Momofuku – slated for release on April 22. This appears to be a set of all new material and not another sneaky attempt to get you to buy My Aim Is True for a twelfth time.
Aimee Mann talks to Billboard about her synth-tacular new record @#%&! Smilers, out June 3.
John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats talks to New York Press about drums, Philadelphia Weekly about Black Sabbath and Pitchfork about various things in list form.
eye and The Toronto Star spend a little quality time with The Raveonettes, in town tomorrow for an acoustic in-store at Sonic Boom at 6:30 and a fully fuzzed-out electric show at the Opera House later that evening.
The Boston Phoenix, Nashville Scene and New City Chicago talk to Stephen Malkmus.
Bob Mould speaks with Gay.com.
The Times profiles Josh Ritter.
Drowned In Sound wonders why 1997 is looming so largely over this year’s festival circuit. Anyone know what was Jack Johnson doing in 1997?
Because no one demanded it – not one, but two Cure tribute albums! Though I have to say, between the two of them those are some pretty good artists taking part. Which will be the Armageddon and which will be the Deep Impact of Cure tributes? Only time will tell.
New York Magazine speculates that playing Scott Pilgrim in the forthcoming film adaptation might be the best thing for Michael Cera’s career. Yes, that’s right. Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim. Maybe. I don’t know how I feel about this.
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
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
Friday, February 15th, 2008
With Amy Winehouse proving that there’s a British soul-revival diva market is a lucrative one (and also that utterly sabotaging one’s own career is no longer as simple as you might have thought), there’s no shortage of candidates for the “next big thing” in that particular style and at the moment, the two biggest names are the mono-monikered Duffy and Adele. Both come with the same set of adjectives – raspy, soulful, retro, Dusty – and their emergences onto the music scene are so synchronized that comparisons are unavoidable. Adele’s already won a Brit Award and her debut 19 hit #1 on the UK charts when it was released in January and it’s not much of a reach to expect Duffy’s Rockferry to do the same when it arrives on March 3.
The Guardian posited the question of “who’s better?” head-on last week and garnered no small amount of responses from their readership, and in typically British fashion, many of them electing to choose option c) – neither. For my part, I like them both better than Winehouse (whose music does nothing for me) but will have to give the edge to Duffy, if for no other reason than her record is produced by and features Bernard Butler. All things being equal, Bernard will always win.
And Torontonians get the chance to compare for themselves next month as both are coming to town. Duffy strikes first, with what’s likely to be a glitzy sort of show at the Mod Club on March 18 (hey, is Bernard in the touring band? Hmm…) while Adele rolls in a week later on March 26 with a gig at the Rivoli which easily has the edge on intimacy and “I saw her in a tiny room” bragging rights down the line. Incidentally, that’s the night that another UK act with a hot Butler-produced record, Sons & Daughters and This Gift, are in town and playing Lee’s Palace. The Butler is onmipresent.
Video: Duffy – “Rockferry”
Video: Duffy – “Mercy”
Video: Adele – “Chasing Pavements”
MySpace: Duffy
MySpace: Adele
Feist talks to the BBC about the unexpected attention that iPod commercial garnered her.
CMJ reports on former Rainer Maria vocalist Caithlin De Marrais’ forthcoming solo record My Magic City.
Rock Sellout interviews GlasVegas, an act it occurs to me I’m a bit disappointed will not be at SxSW. But on the plus side, the SxSW artists listing? Now with MP3 links. Can the torrent be far behind?
Black Kids undertake their first North American tour later this Spring and stop in at Lee’s Palace on May 9. Full dates at NME.
Chart talks to Kathleen Edwards about her new record Asking For Flowers, due out March 4. She plays The Phoenix on April 23.
Nicole Atkins tells The Boston Globe that success means being able to pay one’s dentist bills. Lee’s Palace this Sunday night. Yes.
Billboard and Reuters have features on the Drive-By Truckers
PopMatters ponders the meaning of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. As if “I am an American aquarium drinker” couldn’t be more self-explanatory.
Lucero, who have been recommended to me many times but whom I’ve never seen, have a date at the Horseshoe on April 19. The only catch? That’s the night of the Destroyer show at Lee’s. Decisions, decisions.
MP3: Lucero – “The Mountain”
And finally, check out the new Indiana Jones trailer if you haven’t already. So nice to see Harrison Ford in a non-catatonic role for a change.
Trailer: Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Saturday, February 9th, 2008
Seriously, I intended to take today off but in my meanderings around the internets, I found some concert announcements. And then some more concert announcements. And then some more. And so I took them, threw them in a pot, added some broth, a potato. Baby, I’ve got a stew going. So here we go, quick like bunny. ‘Cause I need to go get groceries.
Of all the announcements, the only one that I would have immediately decided to attend was The Long Blondes’ May 22 date at Lee’s Palace, and I say “would” rather than “will” because on that date, I will be in London. It figures – I go to the UK, they come to Canada, and that’s not the only UK band I like that’s coming to town while I’m away. As for the other, well, scan the last few days of posts and you should be able to figure it out (not officially announced yet so I can’t say). Anyway, they’re releasing their sophomore record Couples on April 8 and Pitchfork has full tour dates and album info.
MP3: The Long Blondes – “Once And Never Again”
Video: The Long Blondes – “Weekend Without Makeup”
Video: The Long Blondes – “Giddy Stratospheres”
Video: The Long Blondes – “Separated By Motorways”
Video: The Long Blondes – “Once And Never Again”
And now the rest of the shows, in chronological order. If you’ve ever wanted an excuse to spend a fortnight in April camped out at the ElMo, your ship has come in.
One of the biggest bands in Ireland, Bell X1 try to win over North Americans with a tour in support of their album Flock, which has a February 19 release on these shores. The tour starts in Toronto on March 12 at the El Mocambo.
MP3: Bell X1 – “Rocky Took A Lover”
Video: Bell X1 – “Flame”
One of the next big things out of the UK – Duffy – is at the Mod Club on March 18, tickets $15.50.
Video: Duffy – “Rockferry”
Video: Duffy – “Mercy”
Sunset Rubdown are at Lee’s Palace on March 30, tickets $12. They’re still touring in support of last year’s
Random Spirit Lover.
MP3: Sunset Rubdown – “Winged Wicked Things”
MP3: Sunset Rubdown – ” Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of Your Feral Days”
Wolf Eyes hit Lee’s on April 1, no foolin’ (that was so bad). $12 in advance. Full dates here.
MP3: Wolf Eyes – “Stabbed In The Face”
MP3: Wolf Eyes – “The Driller”
Mick Jones’ new outfit Carbon/Silicon tour their debut Last Post to Lee’s Palace on April 2. Matt Pond PA support. Their new record Last Light was released last year.
MP3: Carbon/Silicon – “What The Fuck”
Video: Carbon/Silicon – “The News”
Video: Matt Pond PA – “Locate The Pieces”
VHS Or Beta are at the El Mocambo on April 3 in support of 2007’s Bring On The Comets. Admission is $10.
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Can’t Believe A Single Word”
Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue, coming off last year’s About To Walk EP and set to release their full-length Moonbeams at on February 19, are at the El Mocambo April 4. Tickets are $10. Other tour dates here.
MP3: Throw Me The Statue – “About To Walk”
The Dodos, all the way from San Francisco, will be at the El Mocambo on April 9 in support of their new record Visiter, out March 18. Full tour dates here.
MP3: The Dodos – “Jody”
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”
Video: The Dodos – “Fools”
Minneapolis’ Cloud Cult have a new album in the can – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) – set for an April 8 release and will tour in support, stopping at the El Mocambo on April 14. That show will cost you $10.
Video: Cloud Cult – “Chemicals Collide”
Saul Williams and Dragons Of Zynth have a date at the Mod Club on April 14. This is a musical show for Williams, not just spoken word. Though he’s likely to speak at some point during the show as well.
MP3: Saul Williams – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Video: Saul Williams – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
From the ashes of Pretty Girls Make Graves come The Cave Singers, who released their debut Invitation Songs last year. They’re at the Horseshoe on April 30, tickets $10.
MP3: The Cave Singers – “Seeds Of Night”
Video: The Cave Singers – “Dancing On Our Graves”
Laura Veirs, still working last year’s Saltbreakers, returns to town for a show at the El Mocambo on May 24 with Liam Finn. His debut is Call Me Lightning and yes, from his surname, you can surmise he grew up in a somewhat crowded house. Admission is $10 in advance.
MP3: Laura Veirs – “Galaxies”
MP3: Liam Finn – “Second Chance”
Video: Laura Veirs – “Cast A Hook In Me”
Video: Liam Finn – “Second Chance”
And finally, this Pitchfork piece indicates that on July 4, Harbourfront Centre will play host to both Ladytron and Datarock, almost certainly as part of their annual Beats, Breaks & Culture festival… which would mean this show is free. Yay for free. Ladytron’s new record Velocifero is out June 3.
MP3: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch”
MP3: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch” (Hot Chip remix)
MP3: Datarock – “Fa-Fa-Fa”
Video: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch”
Video: Datarock – “Fa-Fa-Fa”
Video: Datarock – “Bulldozer”
Reveille welcomes Basia Bulat back to Minneapolis. She plays Lee’s Palace on March 29.
Spinner features The New Pornographers in an Interface session. They play the Phoenix with Okkervil River on April 9.
With the Grammy Awards set for tomorrow night, the media has finally found a reason to give multiple nominee Feist some attention. Witness pieces in The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Sun, The Vancouver Sun, The Belfast Telegraph and The Los Angeles Times. Feist plays the Sony Centre on May 13.
Efrim Menuck tells Drowned In Sound why Godspeed You! Black Emperor had to stop, and how you can essentially change their status from “hiatus” to “defunct”. His current project, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band will release 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons on March 25 and play two nights at Lee’s Palace on June 7 and 8.
Apparently Arcade Fire aren’t the only Canadian band whose music was used by Fox in last week’s Super Bowl broadcast without permission. Chart reports that Ottawa’s My Dad Vs Yours had about 90 seconds of their song “Habla Paisano” used as background music in an interview segment without permission and, more crucially, without compensation. They are currently investigating the legalities of their situation.
Best news ever – according to this Globe & Mail travel piece on Austin, Texas, Air Canada will begin offering direct flights from Toronto starting May. NO MORE LAYOVERS IN O’HARE, BITCHES. I just did a quick test reservation for mid-May… $474 return. Hot diggity dog. If that holds for March as well, SxSW just got $200 cheaper and four hours faster. Of course, one flight a day means I have to book next year, oh, right now to get a seat but I’m willing to do that. I am.
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