Saturday, January 14th, 2012
Paul HeartfieldWho: Fujiya & Miyagi
What: Brighton-based Krautrock/electro-pop devotees named for a Japanese audio equipment manufacturer and Ralph Macchio’s mentor in the Karate Kid films.
Why: They released their fourth album Ventriloquizzing last year. Why wouldn’t they want to take it on tour?
When: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Where: Wrongbar in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Toronto’s Volcano Playground open up.
How: Tickets for the show are $12.50 in advance but courtesy of Wrongbar, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Fujiya & Miyagi” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, January 22.
What else: Fujiya & Miyagi showed up on that recent Mojo cover CD tribute thing to New Order – hear their contribution over at Stereogum.
MP3: Fujiya & Miyagi – “Ecstatic Dancer”
MP3: Fujiya & Miyagi – “YoYo”
MP3: Fujiya & Miyagi – “Sixteen Shades Of Black & Blue”
Saturday, January 14th, 2012
FacebookWho: Los Campesinos!
What: Prolific and precocious Welsh pop collective for whom constant roster turnover is apparently no impediment
Why: Album number four Hello Sadness came out at the tail of of 2011, and the North American tour for it kicks off next week.
When: Sunday, January 22, 2012 (the second of the two-night stand)
Where: Lee’s Palace in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Portland’s Parenthetical Girls support both nights.
How: Tickets for the show are $20 in advance but courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show (the SUNDAY NIGHT ONE). To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Los Campesinos!” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, January 18.
What else: Pitchfork, American Songwriter and The Vancouver Sun have profiles on the band.
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Caveman, Hospitality, and Volcano Playground at The Horseshoe in Toronto
Frank YangIt’s quite possible that people headed out to the Horseshoe on Wednesday night because both halves of the touring bill consisted of New York-based bands with a good head of steam and impressive record label behind them – Caveman, having just signed to Fat Possum and Hospitality preparing to release their debut record very shortly on Merge. Either or both could reasonably emerge as one of the year’s rookie success stories, and who wouldn’t want the bragging rights to say they saw them early on at a little club show? Or it could have been that this was one of the first tours of the young year and folks wanted to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to take in a little live music. In any case, there were a surprising number of folks were out to see a couple of mostly-unknown acts.
Locals Volcano Playground opened things up and some may recall that I’ve felt the space-rock outfit had potential based on a couple live shows. I was pleased to see that their rate of growth as a band between those two shows had continued on – though it had apparently cost them a guitarist at some point along the line – and the style-hopping that marked my earlier impressions had settled into a rhythmically strong and ominously atmospheric aesthetic. Unfortunately, refining their strengths put their weaknesses into starker contrast and their distracted, mumbled vocals and general lack of any kind of stage presence felt more frustrating than they’d been in the past – especially when they prove they can do better, evidenced by the set highlight wherein guitarist/bassist Jackie Game managed to channel Rachel Goswell in a decidedly Souvlaki-esque number. A full-length debut is due out this Spring; fingers are still crossed that it’s a good one.
I went on a bit about Hospitality back in December and as one of the perks of doing what I do, have been enjoying the sprightly, ’80s-echoing but freshly-brewed guitar pop of their self-titled debut for a while even though it’s not out until January 31; had they not been playing, I’d have probably stayed home and slept. What with Amber Papini’s sweetly quirky vocals being such a key facet of their sound, it was a little dismaying that they were buried for the first bit of their set but on the bright side, it did allow one to appreciate the intricacies of their musical arrangements and the twisty guitar interplay between Papini and Nathan Michel as well as bassist Brian Betancourt’s Clean t-shirt – talk about wearing one’s influences. In any case, the mix was sorted out within a few songs, Papini’s voice was again front and centre and balance was restored to the universe and the rest of their spirited set.
My first impressions of Caveman in a live setting was that the complaints I’d had about their debut Coco Beware had been alleviated thanks to the judicious application of volume – it’s hard to fault something for being overly floaty when it’s pounding your eardrums. But while their combination of heavy percussion and echo-driven blooms of guitar were impressive at first, it quickly became formulaic and didn’t do as good a job of distracting from the largely mid-tempo monotony of their material and overall shallowness of their sonic stylings. As with on the record, a few of the songs managed to stand out from their peers, but many of the subtle touches were overpowered by the loud and all told it wasn’t enough to keep me interested. It should be noted that my opinion seemed to be in the minority – the band clearly already had a fanbase hereabouts – but by the time their hour-long set was done, I was mostly just patting myself on the back for having enough self-restraint to not jump onstage and turn off the guitarist’s delay pedal, if only for a moment.
BlogTO was also on hand and has some thoughts.
Photos: Caveman, Hospitality, Volcano Playground @ The Horseshoe – January 11, 2012
MP3: Caveman – “Thankful”
MP3: Caveman – “Easy Water”
MP3: Caveman – “Old Friend”
MP3: Caveman – “Decide”
MP3: Caveman – “My Room”
MP3: Hospitality – “Betty Wang”
MP3: Hospitality – “Friends Of Friends”
MP3: Volcano Playground – “Waiting”
MP3: Volcano Playground – “Anywhere”
Video: Caveman – “Easy Water”
It’s in support of Adam Cohen, sure, but it’s worth noting that Rachael Yamagata will be in town on February 11 for a show at the Mod Club. Her new record Chesapeake came out last Fall and Spinner had an interview in December.
MP3: Rachael Yamagata – “Starlight”
Sleigh Bells may have pushed back the release of Reign Of Terror a week to February 21, but they’re still going ahead with the tour in support of it, and that now includes a February 18 date at The Phoenix, tickets $25 in advance.
MP3: Sleigh Bells – “Infinity Guitars”
YACHT have set course for a North American tour that brings them and last year’s Shangri-La to Wrongbar on February 23.
MP3: YACHT – “Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)”
Another new song from Craig Finn’s solo debut Clear Heart Full Eyes is available to stream at Stereogum; the record is out January 24. He also talks food with eater.com.
Stream: Craig Finn – “New Friend Jesus”
A second song from School Of Seven Bells’ third record Ghoststory is available to hear ahead of the record’s February 28 release date.
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Lafaye”
The first taste of The Magnetic Fields’ return to synthesizers – Love At The Bottom Of The Sea, out March 6 – is now available to stream. They’re at The Sound Academy on March 30.
Stream: The Magnetic Fields – “Andrew In Drag”
Black Cab Sessions takes Chairlift for a ride while Pitchfork sits them down for a chat. Their Something is out January 24 and they’re at The Horseshoe on March 28.
I-D has a video session with Sharon Van Etten. Her new record Tramp is in stores February 7 and she’s at Lee’s Palace on February 14.
Exclaim reports that The Kills will release a new EP led with Blood Pressures track “Last Goodbye” – for which they’ve just released a video – and b-sided with a trio of covers. The EP is out February 14 and the band is at The Kool Haus on February 7.
Video: The Kills – “Last Goodbye”
LCD Soundsystem hasn’t been in the past tense for very long now, but long enough for there to be a documentary film on the band that will be premiering at Sundance in a couple weeks. It’s called Shut Up And Play The Hits and there’s a trailer.
Trailer: Shut Up And Play The Hits
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Wavelength announces lineup for 12th anniversary festivities
FacebookNestled amidst some concert announcements in a post last week were a couple of odd one-offs for No Joy and PS I Love You which were not part of any announced tour or timely promotional cycle. It didn’t occur to me to ask why, but just a little bit of thought would have made the answer obvious – Wavelength. The dates of their shows corresponded to the four-day weekend of the Toronto music series’ twelfth anniversary festival, and though neither of those acts is properly local – they hail from Montreal and Kingston, respectively – it makes perfect sense that they’d be invited to perform.
The rest of the lineup was announced earlier this week and as with every year it’s a doozie, occupying a different venue around the city each night and boasting a loaded and eclectic bill of bands. Tickets are available for each show or you can get a festival pass for $36, which is a bargain any way you look at it. They go on sale January 17 and the schedule shakes out as follows – for the “who they are / where they’re from / what they do”, head over to the Wavelength website.
Thursday, February 16 @ Parts & Labour: Metz, Odonis Odonis, Slim Twig, Man Made Hill, Eucalyptus ($10 advance)
Friday, February 17 @ Steam Whistle Brewing: Fucked Up, Bonjay, Catl, Silver Dapple, Hut ($17 advance)
Saturday, February 18 @ The Great Hall: No Joy , Sandro Perri, Nat Baldwin, Off The International Radar, The Weather Station ($12 advance)
Sunday, February 19 @ The Garrison: PS I Love You, Burning Love, Army Girls, Mötem, Most People ($10 advance)
MP3: Nat Baldwin – “Weights”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”
MP3: No Joy – “Hawaii”
MP3: Sandro Perri – “Love And Light”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Get Over”
MP3: The Weather Station – “Everything I Saw”
Video: Bonjay – “Stumble”
Video: Odonis Odonis – “Blood Feast”
Video: Off The International Radar – “Sans Olo”
Video: Silver Dapple – “(Pauses)”
Islands are going small for their tour in support of A Sleep & A Forgetting, due out February 14 – the Toronto date is February 28 at the tiny Music Gallery, tickets for that are $22.50 in advance.
MP3: Islands – “This Is Not A Song”
Hot on the heels of the release of their self-titled debut, The Darcys have announced the release of their next album, a redo of Steely Dan’s Aja. The record will be available on January 24 and Rolling Stone has got the first MP3 from it available to download, while NOW asks drummer Wes Marskell, “why Aja?”. They play The Phoenix on March 1 in support of Bombay Bicycle Club and are also on the bill for Edgefest at Downsview Park on July 12.
MP3: The Darcys – “Josie”
The video surfaced at the end of last year, but the title track from Woodpigeon’s new For Paolo EP is now available to download.
MP3: Woodpigeon – “For Paolo”
Spinner spends some quality time chatting with The Wilderness Of Manitoba.
NPR is streaming the whole of Kathleen Edwards’ new record Voyageur ahead of its release date next Tuesday. She plays The Phoenix on February 11.
Stream: Kathleen Edwards / Voyageur
Austra has released a new video from the breakout Feel It Break, and if that’s not enough there’s also an interview and session at The Alternate Side to read and watch.
Video: Austra – “Spellwork”
Yours Truly has a video session with Grimes to share. Visions is out February 21 and she plays The Horseshoe on March 19.
NPR welcomes Kathryn Calder for a World Cafe session while The Province has posted an interview.
NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a recent Suuns show in New York.
The second single from Leonard Cohen’s new album Old Ideas is available to stream. It’s out January 31.
Stream: Leonard Cohen – “Darkness”
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
The Joy Formidable and A Place To Bury Strangers team for tour; loudness ensues
Big HassleBoth Wales’ The Joy Formidable and New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers know a thing or two about the merits of turning one’s amplifiers up as far as they’ll go, destroying their instruments, and making their audience wish that it were possible to wear more than one pair of earplugs at a time. So with the announcement yesterday that the two acts were teaming up for a trans-Atlantic summit on (inflicting) hearing loss, those who like it loud responded with excitement. And fear.
A Place To Bury Strangers have a legitimate reason to be hitting the road – they’re releasing the Onwards To The Wall EP on February 7, and have just put out an MP3 and video from said release to build anticipation. The Joy Formidable are still working last year’s debut The Big Roar, and though they’ve said they’re working on the follow-up and want to have it out this year, it’s hard to imagine how they’ll find the time as it seems they’ve been touring non-stop for years now – they were here thrice in the span of a year and the April 2 stop at Lee’s Palace will make it four times in under two years. Tickets for that are $16.50.
And rounding out the bill will be New York’s Exitmusic, who aren’t all that loud – their 2011 EP was called From Silence, after all – but whose frontwoman Aleksa Palladino might be familiar if you watch Boardwalk Empire (and if you do, you know she’s got a lot of time to devote to her music now).
The Vinyl District has an interview with The Joy Formidable and, as a bonus, over the holidays the band shared a cover of their tune “I Don’t Want To See You Like This” as done by long-time Elvis Costello keyboardist Steve Nieve. Random, but nice. And not loud.
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
MP3: Exitmusic – “The Sea”
MP3: Steve Nieve – “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
Video: Exitmusic – “The Hours”
The Twilight Sad – themselves no strangers to the joys of noise – have made a second MP3 from their forthcoming No One Can Ever Know – out February 7 – available via Spin. They’re at Lee’s Palace on February 29 and there’s interviews with the band at The Skinny and Delusions Of Adequacy.
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Another Bed”
The Big Pink give Spin a track-by-track tour of their new record Future This, and you can follow along at NME as they’re streaming the whole thing ahead of its release next Tuesday, January 17. Drowned In Sound also has an interview with the band.
Stream: The Big Pink / Future This
The Stool Pigeon talks to David Lewis Gedge of The Wedding Present; they’re at The Horseshoe on March 25.
Laundromatinee has got a video session with Yuck for the sharing.
While I’m beyond disappointed that Allo Darlin’s Spring American tour isn’t a NORTH American tour – which is to say there’s no Canadian dates – that sting is lessened just a bit by the fact that the first proper single from Europe is now available to stream. The record is due out sometime in May.
Stream: Allo Darlin’ – “Capricornia”
Fanfarlo have premiered a new video from Rooms Filled With Light over at NPR. The record is out February 28 and they play The Mod Club as part of Canadian Musicfest on March 24.
Video: Fanfarlo – “Shiny Things”
Arctic Monkeys have put out another new video from Suck It And See; they’re at The Air Canada Centre on March 14 supporting The Black Keys.
Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Black Treacle”
BBC6 talks to Richard Hawley about his next record, which will be much more “guitar-centric”. Can. Not. Wait.
New Jersey Underground reports that British Sea Power’s New Year’s resolution appears to have been to release a shit-tonne of new music. Starting now – BSP EP1 is already available – the band will release an EP every month for the next six months, each featuring in-progress new material that may surface in different forms in future albums.
Loud & Quiet talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners.
Australian dance-rock outfit The Temper Trap have made a March 25 date at The Phoenix. They’ve still yet to follow up 2009’s Conditions, but planning shows on the other side of the world could be a sign that that’s going to change. Or maybe they just want to do some shopping.
Video: The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”
Snow Patrol will be at Massey Hall on April 17. Their latest album Fallen Empires came out in Europe last year but only just came out in North America yesterday – Billboard has a track-by-track tour of the record from frontman Gary Lightbody.
Video: Snow Patrol – “This Is Everything You Are”
Spin talks family bands with First Aid Kit. They’ve released a new video from their forthcoming The Lion’s Roar, out January 24, and will play The Great Hall on April 4.
Video: First Aid Kit – “Emmylou”
Swedish singer-songwriter Amanda Mair has set a February 15 release date for her self-titled debut.
MP3: Amanda Mair – “Doubt”
The AV Club interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83. They play The Sound Academy on May 6.
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