Sunday, October 9th, 2011
Radiohead cover Portishead
radiohead.comThe key to being a brilliant British band circa 1997 was, clearly, to have “head” in your name somewhere. What other explanation could there be for Radiohead and Portishead to each release career highwater albums OK Computer and Portishead within four months of each other? Probably about as good odds of both band choosing to follow said successes up in decidedly unconventional fashion – Radiohead by basically abandoning their sound by going experimentally electronic in time for the new millenium and Portishead by basically abandoning music for a decade.
A decade later, though, both had largely come full circle – Radiohead with their most guitar-based and pop-oriented effort in years with In Rainbows and Portishead putting the finishing touches on the harrowing Third, one of the highlights of the record was the stark “The Rip”. Radiohead took to playing the song in soundchecks while touring In Rainbows and in response to fan demand to hear what such a thing might sound like, they released a video of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood playing it acoustically in someone’s living room. Or hotel room. In any case, the coming together of the two British musical icons broke the internet, just a little.
Portishead are currently on tour in North America – ostensibly in support of Third but really just because they haven’t been in forever; they have two nights at The Sound Academy in Toronto starting tonight. Spinner and The National Post have feature interviews with the band. Radiohead released The King Of Limbs earlier this year and follow it up with the TKOL RMX 1234567 remix album this Tuesday. NPR grabbed a chat with Thom Yorke and Ed O’Brien while they took up residence in New York over the last couple weeks, playing theatre shows, late night television shows and not playing Wall Street protests. And oh, it was Thom Yorke’s birthday on Friday. Happy birthday, Thom!
MP3: Radiohead – “The Rip”
Video: Radiohead – “The Rip” (live, acoustic)
Video: Portishead – “The Rip”
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Nicole NodlandWho: Lana del Rey
What: New York singer-songwriter who has, on the back of two torchy throwback songs and corresponding videos, become the flashpoint for debates about artistic – and cosmetic – authenticity in the world of indie-dom.
Why: The aforementioned two songs will be released as a single next week. Presumably by the time this show rolls around, she will have more songs released and the buzz will have either blown up or blown over. But the show will be completely sold out either way. Probably already is.
When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Where: The Mod Club in Toronto (all-ages)
Who else: The show is almost two months away. Even the opener doesn’t know who’s opening.
How: Tickets for the show are $13.50 in advance but all Ticketweb ducats are already gone, the allotment for retail probably not far behind. But courtesy of LiveNation, 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 Lana del Rey” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, November 9.
What else: There’s been plenty of media around Ms del Rey/Grant, but I already linked most of it earlier this week before I knew I had these passes to give away. This Complex interview is new, though. Read that.
Video: Lana del Rey – “Video Games”
Video: Lana del Rey – “Blue Jeans”
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
giversband.comWho: Givers
What: Supremely peppy Louisiana quintet responsible for one of the most infectious songs of the Summer in their single “Up Up Up” from their debut In Light.
Why: Their last time through in June, the buzz was just starting to grow – now a few months on they’re looking to satisfy those who were shut out of that show with another go-around
When: Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Where: Wrongbar in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Los Angeles’ Lord Huron – no strangers to the art of buzz themselves – will support
How: Tickets for the show are $13 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Givers” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, October 23.
MP3: Givers – “Up Up Up”
Video: Givers – “Up Up Up”
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Frank YangWho: X Avant VI
What: Sixth annual celebration of new and experimental music, with “new” being in the sense of genuinely doing something original, previously unheard and usually pretty outside.
Why: This year’s lineup includes, amongst others, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Tim Hecker and Buke & Gass; the theme is “Tales of Two Cities”.
When: October 15 through 23, 2011
Where: The Music Gallery and Polish Combatants Hall in Toronto (All-ages)
How: All-access festival passes are $85, with individual show admission ranging from free to $30, but courtesy of Webster Media Consulting, I have one festival pass to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to X Avant” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in before noon, October 10.
Video: Lee Ranaldo & Leah Singer – “Drift” (clip)
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Ladytron and VHS Or Beta at The Phoenix in Toronto
Frank YangIn discussing Ladytron’s latest effort Gravity The Seducer, I mentioned how the Liverpool band had managed to pull off the difficult move of shifting creative course sufficiently to earn a fresh listen from those who figured they knew what to expect without abandoning their signature sound and alienating those who were perfectly happy to get what they were expecting from a new Ladytron record. Whether they’d manage to do the same with regards to their live show would be seen this past Wednesday night, when they came back to Toronto for the first time since either the release of Gravity or their decade-marking Best Of.
This isn’t to suggest their live reputation required any reputation. Granted, the idea that live, they just stand stock still and play keyboards has followed them around since their inception – I’m as guilty of perpetuating the perception as anyone despite knowing better from having seen them on their last two visits in 2008 and 2009 – but the truth is they actually put on very good live shows, offering impressive lightshows and great sound in lieu of on-stage antics. And of course they stand there. They play keyboards. Do you really want to see them strap on keytars? No you do not.
Warming up for them on this leg of the tour was New York dance veterans VHS OR Beta, who themselves have been at it long enough that once upon a time their name had some retro cleverness rather than just being meaningless to today’s youth (maybe they should consider switching to BluRay or HDDVD. Or not). In any case, their bass-heavy, straightforward synth-rock didn’t make a lot of arguments that you’d want to be remembering their name for long after the show. It wasn’t that they were bad by any means, just unremarkable. But perhaps it’s unfair to criticize them for being lyrically vague or bland when their mandate isn’t to offer deep insights into the human condition but simply to get people moving. And that they did.
Another point in my review of Gravity The Seducer was how it seemed that Helen Marnie was assuming more the de facto frontwoman role, with fewer lead contributions than Mira Aroyo; I don’t necessarily have quantitative proof that that was the case but it also certainly seemed that the live dynamic had shifted that way, if not moreso. While her bandmates were dressed in trademark black (and Reuben Wu in a Ladytron t-shirt though I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it was laundry day), Marnie stood out in a shiny white top and giant bow in her hair – it would be hard not to be the centre of attention looking like that, never mind her dancing and swaying throughout the show. And while Aroyo’s lead contributions were fewer – she only took lead on two songs, the first almost halfway into the set – they seemed extra effective in accenting the darker side of their sound, compared to Marnie’s more wide-eyed vocal stylings.
Though the pyramid-referencing stage dressing implied this was the Gravity The Seducer tour, the setlist felt more appropriate to the singles collection with the new material not receiving any greater focus than the old with Witching Hour being drawn from the most. And while I quite like Gravity, I readily admit that its gentler textures wouldn’t have made for nearly as impactful a live set as their back catalog. Thankfully free of the sound issues that marred their last show, Ladytron sounded heavier and more determined than I’ve seen them. I don’t know that you could say their fanbase has necessarily grown over their long run – they’ve been playing The Phoenix as long as I can recall – they’ve remained steady and devoted and based on the sample group in my immediate vicinity, are still energized enough by the band to be able to jump up and down for over an hour straight. Any band at it for over a decade should be so lucky.
The Toronto Star and BlogTO also have reviews of the show while Spinner and The Boston Herald have interviews with the band.
Photos: Ladytron, VHS Or Beta @ The Phoenix – October 5, 2011
MP3: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
MP3: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
MP3: Ladytron – “Black Cat”
MP3: Ladytron – “Open Your Heart”
MP3: Ladytron – “Play Girl”
MP3: Ladytron – “Seventeen”
MP3: VHS Or Beta – “I Found A Reason”
MP3: VHS Or Beta – “I Found A Reason”
Video: Ladytron – “White Elephant”
Video: Ladytron – “Ace Of Hz”
Video: Ladytron – “Runaway”
Video: Ladytron – “Ghosts”
Video: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch”
Video: Ladytron – “Sugar”
Video: Ladytron – “Evil”
Video: Ladytron – “Blue Jeans”
Video: Ladytron – “Seventeen”
Video: Ladytron – “Play Girl”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Breaking Bones”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “You Got Me”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Night On Fire”
Video: VHS Or Beta – “Can’t Believe A Single Word”
JAM talks to Portishead in advance of their two-night stand at The Sound Academy this coming Sunday and Monday while Stereogum finds out how advance work on album number four is coming. They also just announced they’ll be releasing 2009’s “Chase The Tear” as a 12″ single with proceeds going to Amnesty International on November 14.
Paste s streaming Still Corners’ debut Creatures Of An Hour ahead of its release next Tuesday. They play The Drake Underground on October 25 and The Stool Pigeon has an interview.
MP3: Still Corners – “Into The Trees”
MP3: Still Corners – “Cuckoo”
Stream: Still Corners / Creatures Of An Hour
Billboard talks fashion with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. Ceremonials is out November 1.
The 405 are streaming The Joy Formidable’s new EP The Big More, out October 17 in limited quantities.
Stream: The Joy Formidable / The Big More
The Vaccines have released a new video from What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, powered by the Instagram iPhone app.
Video: The Vaccines – “Wetsuit”
NPR is streaming Laura Marling’s recent show in Washington, DC.
The Line Of Best Fit has an acoustic video session – well, one song – Veronica Falls.
Also in session at The Line Of Best Fit – Lanterns On The Lake, captured out in the wilderness at End Of The Road in September.
Noel Gallagher takes Spin for a guided tour of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, out November 8, and talks to The Quietus about going solo. He has two nights slated at Massey Hall, November 7 and 8. And oh new video.
Video: Noel Gallagher – “AKA… What A Life”
Both Rolling Stone and Paste have premiered tracks from The Hours, who will be opening up those shows for Noel Gallagher.
MP3: The Hours – “I Want More”
Stream: The Hours – “I Just Wanna Be Happy”
The Twilight Sad are offering the first official single from album number three, No One Can Ever Know, well before it’s released in February.
Stream: The Twilight Sad – “Sick”
PopMatters talks to Joshua Third and Philly Burbs to Tom Cowan of The Horrors while NPR is streaming their set from last week’s All Tomorrow’s Parties.
Brett Anderson lists off his favourite albums for The Quietus and tells BBC that while they’re working on a new Suede record, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s going to be a new Suede record.
Peter Hook bitches to Spinner about New Order getting back together without him.
Pitchfork interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is out October 18 and they’ve already sold out Lee’s Palace for their November 18 visit.
Though originally targeted for a domestic release in 2012, The Jezabels have announced a November 8 Canadian release for their debut Prisoner, which only makes sense – they’re opening up for Hey Rosetta! across the country this Fall including November 23 and 24 at The Phoenix. Really ought to have something to sell.
MP3: The Jezabels – “Endless Summer”
NOW has put Bjork on this week’s cover on the occasion of Biophilia‘s release next week, but Drowned in Sound has topped them with a week-long, five-part feature on the Icelandic icon. And NPR wins because they’re streaming the whole album.
MP3: Bjork – “Cosmogony”
Stream: Bjork / Biophilia
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