Saturday, October 29th, 2011
FacebookWho: Blind Pilot
What: Acoustic-strumming, bike-riding ambassadors of Portlandia who sometimes number two, sometimes number legion.
Why: They released their second album We Are The Tide in September and they’re hitting the road to support. A bit cold for bikes, though.
When: Thursday, November 10, 2011
Where: Lee’s Palace in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Gregory Alan Isakov opens. No not that Gregory Alan Isakov, the other one.
How: Tickets for the show are $15.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I have two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Blind Pilot” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, November 7.
What else: The Birmingham Times has an interview and Reverb a downloadable session.
MP3: Blind Pilot – “Keep You Right”
Saturday, October 29th, 2011
Frank YangWho: Crooked Fingers
What: Ongoing and constantly evolving project of Eric Bachmann, one of America’s finest songwriters of the past twenty years.
Why: Though largely occupied with the revival of Archers Of Loaf this year, Bachmann also found the time to make an excellent new album in Breaks In The Armor; he previewed it here in July but is coming back now that the record is out.
When: Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Where: The Drake Underground in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Highly-regarded Pennsylvanian singer-songwriter Timothy Showalter who trades as Strand Of Oaks supports the tour.
How: Tickets for the show are $15.50 in advance but courtesy of Merge Records, I’ve got two prize pack consisting of a pair of passes to the show and copies of Breaks In The Armor and the first Archers’ reissue Icky Mettle on CD as well as a Crooked Fingers sticker to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Crooked Fingers” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest closes at midnight, November 3.
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Typhoon”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “What Did You Expect”
Friday, October 28th, 2011
R.E.M. say goodbye with poet, actress proxies
REMHQYou can’t really call it a long goodbye – the announcement last month about the dissolution of R.E.M. was about as abrupt as they come, with no farewell tour or even a final show attached – but shortly thereafter they did announce a final release in the form of the Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 compilation which is set to come out November 15. And amongst its 40-song, career-spanning tracklist are the final three songs that R.E.M. will release, recorded after the Collapse Into Now sessions but before they knew that that album would end up being their last.
And from those three songs has come what is almost certainly R.E.M.’s last single – a gentle tune entitled “We All Go Back To Where We Belong” – but there’s no final video; there’s two. The clips, directed by Michael Stipe and Dominic DeJoseph, are about as simple as you get – single-take black-and-white screen test-style films of poet John Giorno and actress Kirsten Dunst as they listen to the song, presumably for the first time. It’s a nice, understated idea that Interview has a quick analysis of. Black Book also has some fun with the concept, trying to get in Dunst’s head during recording.
Also in the farewells and remembrances category, here’s a piece I’ve written for The Iceberg’s “A Song and A Memory” series about one of the most pivotal songs/albums/bands in my life. R.E.M. has also posted up some thoughts about it. Synchronicity!
Finally, JAM has recounted a chat Mojo had with Mike Mills in which he says to not expect a Michael Stipe solo project soon or ever.
Stream: R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong”
Video: R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong” (John Giorno version)
Video: R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong” (Kirsten Dunst version)
Spin gets Matthew Sweet to look back and reflect on the 20th anniversary of Girlfriend.
Exclaim has put Tom Waits on their cover this month.
The Decemberists appear to be ready to stream the whole of their new EP Long Live The King in piecemeal form before it comes out on November 1. Two more tracks from it have been made available to stream at Stereogum and Rolling Stone.
Stream: The Decemberists – “I 4 U & U 4 Me”
Stream: The Decemberists – “Burying Davy”
Memory Tapes have released a new video from Player Piano; The Daily Princetonian has a quick interview with Dayve Hawk.
Video: Memory Tapes – “Offers”
The National have released a new MP3 for their contribution to If a Lot of Bands Play in the Woods…, a covers/remix album of The Philistines Jr’s 2010 album If A Band Plays In The Woods. The connection between the two being the fact that Philistines Jr counts one Peter Katis among its number, and Katis has produced a crapload of great bands, many of whom also appear on the record. It’s out November 1 and there’s more details at Pitchfork. And yes it’s kind of a treat to hear Matt Berninger sing about cats. The National are at The Air Canada Centre on December 8.
MP3: The National – “Twenty Miles To NH (Part 2)”
Also on that bill are Wye Oak, whose Jenn Wasner offers a songwriting lesson and video performance to The AV Club’s “One Track Mind” feature.
Nola.com, The Dallas Observer, The Phoenix New Times, and Offbeat talk to Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole of Wild Flag.
Pitchfork has a video session with The Antlers, The Daily Tarheel and Daily Free Press have interviews.
GQ talks to Jim James of My Morning Jacket as part of their music issue.
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Still Corners, Mausoleum and Foxes In Fiction at The Drake Underground in Toronto
Frank YangI spent an inordinate amount of time at this year’s SXSW chasing around London’s Still Corners, my attempts to catch one of their many sets foiled by things like not noting the difference between AM and PM on set times, showcases falling three hours behind despite having only been running for two hours and the like. I eventually caught them at a day show in an Austin Convention Centre meeting room where the room setup didn’t even allow them to perform underneath their projected lightshow, instead playing in the dark while the movies ran on another wall, and even though it was about as un-vibey a setting as you could imagine, I was still totally smitten by their retro-cinematic dreampop, making their debut Creatures Of An Hour one of my more anticipated releases of the Fall.
With that past history, and even though I didn’t have any rational reason to be worried, I still half-expected some sort of calamity to befall their Toronto debut at The Drake Underground on Tuesday night. As it turned out there was a hiccup in the evening but it affected their tourmates Ganglians, who were apparently refused entry to the country and necessitated a couple of pinch-hitters to sub in. Personally, I’d have been happy if they just dispensed with the openers and let Still Corners play – and let me get home early – but no. I was actually fine with Foxes In Fiction opening things up; I’d seen Warren Hildebrand do his thing – which is fiddling with a table covered with samplers and keys while singing and playing guitar – at the Wintergaze show in December and while the presentation options of a one-man band are limited at best, his songs were solid enough to allow it. I guess I was feeling a little less generous this evening because while the music sounded fine – even the opening ambient sample-driven piece which he described as a “pretentious experiment composed today, won’t do anything like it again” – the slow-motion electro-pop failed to come across as any more than just pleasant, largely because of the static presentation. I appreciate that to change the live formula is to change all that is Foxes In Fiction and it certainly seems to be working for him, but… yeah. Could have used a little more engagement.
But I’d have rather had another half-hour of Foxes In Fiction than have to hear Mausoleum. The trio came across as amateurish Joy Division acolytes but any cues they took from that band were made to sound awful, mostly thanks to the singer’s barked, tuneless vocals. The only upside to their set was that it was short.
Thankfully there was enough time for the air and ears to clear before Still Corners took the stage, this time with the projections directed not only squarely at the stage but the two side walls as well, creating an extra-enveloping effect. Interestingly, the band started playing with frontwoman Tessa Murry standing out on the floor, facing the stage, for an extended moment before stepping onstage – an unexpected little bit of showiness from an outfit who otherwise seemed to prefer to stay in the shadows. And though Murray’s presence was largely as demure and ghostly as her atmospheric vocals would imply, they were also stronger live than you’d expect live and her heretofore unknown crooner side was given the spotlight on a couple of stripped down numbers including a cover of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. It’s as though they’ve realized they have a bona fide frontwoman in her rather than just another instrument and are beginning to utilize that strength, even though she’s already so much the centre of the band’s sound. It’s hard to imagine that they already existed before she joined, seeing how much of their identity her vocals comprise.
Also more pronounced live were the band’s facility with the drone and the pulse, built around whirring organ, twangy guitar and dubby bass, coming across more Stereolabby than I’d have expected and giving the sound more muscle than Creatures necessarily implied. But what I found most exciting about the show – not that the intended response for their gorgeously hazy set was necessarily excitement in any conventional sense – was how much more there was to Still Corners than I’d necessarily expected. If they simply continued making more records in their clearly-defined Morricone-meets-Slowdive aesthetic, there’d be a built-in audience for that style and sound for it and everyone would be happy – but more than that was the sense that there were still many more places they could take it, be they more seductive, romantic, mysterious or even rocking. I am more than happy to have Still Corners for what they are, but hadn’t necessarily expected more from them on future outings. That is no longer the case.
Paste has a video session with Still Corners and also declares them “Best Of What’s Next”.
Photos: Still Corners, Mausoleum, Foxes In Fiction @ The Drake Underground – October 25, 2011
MP3: Still Corners – “Into The Trees”
MP3: Still Corners – “Cuckoo”
MP3: Still Corners – “Don’t Fall In Love”
MP3: Still Corners – “Endless Summer”
MP3: Foxes In Fiction – “School Night”
MP3: Foxes In Fiction – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
MP3: Foxes In Fiction – “Flashing Lights Have Ended Now”
MP3: Foxes In Fiction – “15 Ativan (Song For Erika)”
Video: Still Corners – “Cuckoo”
Video: Still Corners – “Wish”
Video: Still Corners – “Don’t Fall In Love”
Stream: Still Corners / Creatures Of An Hour
Spinner talks to The Horrors.
Belle & Sebastian’s Stevie Jackson is streaming his debut solo record (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson for one week only. Starting earlier this week.
MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Man Of God”
Stream: Stevie Jackson / (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson
The Guardian and MTV discuss Ceremonials with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. It’s out November 1.
What’s better than a new video from the new Summer Camp record Welcome To Condale? How about a stream of the whole thing courtesy of The Guardian? Yeah. The record is out November 1.
MP3: Summer Camp – “Ghost Train”
Video: Summer Camp – “Down”
Stream: Summer Camp / Welcome To Condale
Stereogum has premiered a new video from We Were Promised Jetpacks’ second album In The Pit Of The Stomach.
Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Human Error”
Also with a new video – Clock Opera. Their debut album is due out in March.
Video: Clock Opera – “Lesson No. 7”
The Line Of Best Fit has a two-part interview with Slow Club.
BBC discusses the art of pop songwriting with Jarvis Cocker, who just released a book of lyrics in Mother, Brother, Lover: Selected Lyrics.
BBC reports that despite Liam Gallagher’s olive branch of wanting to have an Oasis reunion in 2015, Noel is having none of it. Oh, those two.
Manic Street Preachers have put together a video archive to accompany the release of their National Treasures comp next week.
Rolling Stone solicits some thoughts on the legacy of R.E.M. from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
The Quietus talks protest with Billy Bragg.
I Break Horses have released a new video from Hearts, which got a North American release a couple weeks ago should you have had any problem finding copies at non-import prices hereabouts.
Video: I Break Horses – “Wired”
The Fader has a video session with Niki & The Dove
Paste is streaming the new Loney Dear album Hall Music, even though it came out some weeks ago. But it’s well-timed to remind you that they play The Drake Underground on November 5. And check out this interview with Emil Svanängen at Prospectus News.
MP3: Loney Dear – “My Heart”
Stream: Loney Dear / Hall Music
The Line Of Best Fit, Express Night Out, Exclaim, eMusic, 17 Dots and Spinner have interviews with Anthony Gonzalez of M83, in town at Lee’s Palace on November 18.
Prefix talks to Luke Steele of Empire Of The Sun.
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Scud Mountain Boys route reunion tour to drop Joe Pernice off at home
Sub PopWhile far from the most earth-shattering reunion announcement by any popular measure, it was most pleasant and unexpected when word came last month that Scud Mountain Boys were getting back together for some shows in 2012. The Scud Mountain Boys, for those not in the know, were Joe Pernice’s first band of note, an alt-country foursome that evolved from the rockier Scuds and preceded the more pop-oriented and only slightly less sad-sack Pernice Brothers. Their tenure ran from 1991 to 1997 and three albums, the first two of which – Pine Box and Dance The Night Away – were collected as The Early Year and rounded out by the more fleshed-out production of Massachusetts, which pointed at the direction Pernice would follow in future endeavors.
Those records are set to be reissued by Pernice’s own Ashmont Records sometime around December, along with a new disc of Scud-era rarities. And though the initial run of reunion dates were limited to the American northeast, a February 25 date at Lee’s Palace in Toronto was just added – presumably to allow Joe a quick cab ride home as the Boston native has been a Hogtown resident for over half a decade now. Tickets for the show will be $16.50, on sale this Friday. The Hollywood Reporter checks in with Joe Pernice to find out how the reunion, which started with a 3-out-of-4 member performance in Connecticut in August, came to be.
And for those who prefer their Pernice in Brothers form, a new album is also in the works and should be out in 2012.
MP3: Scud Mountain Boys – “Grudge Fuck”
The Decemberists are previewing a few tracks from their new Long Live The King EP, out November 1, by streaming a couple songs at New York Magazine and Paste. Colin Meloy has also reflected on his love of R.E.M. for Mojo and finally, congratulations to keyboardist Jenny Conlee whose breast cancer is in remission.
Stream: The Decemberists – “Foregone”
Stream: The Decemberists – “E Watson”
Titus Andronicus have released a video for the Nirvana cover they released for Spin‘s Nevermind tribute album.
Video: Titus Andronicus – “Breed”
Pitchfork is streaming the b-side to the Mazzy Star comeback single “Common Burn” while pointing out the a-side is listenable over at Amazon.
Stream: Mazzy Star – “Common Burn”
Stream: Mazzy Star – “Lay Myself Down”
If anyone wasn’t sure what Wilco’s position on the whole Occupy Wall Street movement was, this stream of a Woody Guthrie song they’ve posted on their website should clarify matters.
Stream: Wilco – “The Jolly Banker”
Meanwhile, NPR goes digging through their World Cafe vaults for recordings of the Uncle Tupelo family tree.
Californian psych-pop outfit Woods have made a date at The Horseshoe for December 8. Why on earth Californians would decide to visit Canada in December is beyond me, but they are. Tickets are $13.50 in advance.
MP3: Woods – “To Clean”
MP3: Woods – “Rain On”
Video: Woods – “To Clean”
A first sample of the reunited Guided By Voices is now available to download courtesy of Matablog – and it’s kinda great. Let’s Go Eat The Factory arrives January 1.
MP3: Guided By Voices – “The Unsinkable Fats Domino”
NYC Taper is streaming Savoir Adore’s show at Cake Shop as part of CMJ from last week.
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