Friday, July 8th, 2011

Hilltop Procession (Momentum Gaining)

Olivia Tremor Control reload grass cannons for tour

Photo via Cloud REcordingsCloud RecordingsI don’t think anyone really expected 2011 to be any sort of banner year for fans of the Elephant 6 American psychedelic pop movement of the 1990s, but that’s what it’s turned out to be. The Holiday Surprise tour back in March seemed like a late Christmas gift filled with members and songs from Elf Power, Music Tapes, Sunshine Fix and Circulatory System as well as much of their extended family. And though the Jeff Mangum sightings many hoped for didn’t happen, any ensuing disappointment was tossed out the window when the reclusive songwriter scheduled a series of North American live dates starting later this Summer, his first proper shows in many, many years.

And now, we’ve got scene founders Olivia Tremor Control back in action. Okay, they’ve technically been back in action since around 2005 or so, but only intermittently and in one-off fashion; certainly there hasn’t been anything in the way of a proper tour – until now. With a few festival dates on the calendar, Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss and company have decided to make the most of rehearsals and slate a proper tour this Fall, wherein they’ll play old favourites and preview material from a new album that is allegedly in the works. Toronto will get its first OTC show since, like, 1999 on September 16 at Lee’s Palace, so if you were trying to decide which Wilco show to go to and are an Elephant 6 fan, well your decision just got a bit easier.

MP3: Olivia Tremor Control – “Hideaway” (live in Athens, GA – April 15, 2005)

And speaking of those Wilco shows, presales for both the September 16 and 17 shows at Massey Hall are set for next Wednesday, July 13, at 10AM. The appropriate links will go up on their website in due course, I would imagine.

If for whatever reason you weren’t able to catch Eleanor Friedberger’s free show at the Horseshoe on the evening of July 19 – early morning meeting, who knows – you may be pleased to know that she’ll be doing an in-store at Soundscapes that afternoon at 5:30PM. Her solo album Last Summer is also up to stream in its entirety at NPR in advance of its release next week.

MP3: Eleanor Friedberger – “My Mistakes”
Stream: Eleanor Friedberger / Last Summer

If you missed their two Mod Club shows last month – like I did on account of the sick – then happy days, Sloan will be playing a free show at Ontario Place’s Echo Beach on August 5. That’s right – free. Sun, sand, Sloan. And if the weather doesn’t cooperate, rain, mud and Sloan. But still free. And if you missed it yesterday, they’ve released a new video from the excellent Double Cross.

Video: Sloan – “Unkind”

Pop scion and generally bearded and sweaty mess – though a wholly entertaining one – Liam Finn will be at Lee’s Palace on September 22 in support of his new album Fomo. Stuff and The Australian have interviews.

Video: Liam Finn – “Cold Feet”

Cults have been added as support for Foster The People’s show at The Sound Academy on October 1. It’s like the sound of 2011 – like it or not – on the waterfront. The headliners, meanwhile, are featured in an NPR World Cafe session.

MP3: Cults – “Most Wanted”

Ladytron are returning with their new record Gravity The Seducer on September 13 and are returning to North America shortly thereafter; look for them at The Phoenix on October 5.

MP3: Ladytron – “Playgirl”

Though it’s taken him a while to do so, Sam Beam brings Iron & Wine back to Toronto in support of Kiss Each Other Clean on October 15 at The Sound Academy.

MP3: Iron & Wine – “Belated Promise Ring”

Cold War Kids return for a date at The Phoenix on November 4, ticket $20.50 in advance.

Video: Cold War Kids – “Audience”

There’s no firm details on their new record – only that it’s coming – but French electronicists M83 have already put together a North American tour in support of it; look for them at Lee’s Palace on November 18.

Video: M83 – “Graveyard Girl”

Spin talks to Girls about their new record Father, Son, Holy Ghost, which has been announced with a September 13 release date.

NOW has word with My Morning Jacket, in town at The Kool Haus on Monday night, July 11.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have released a new video from Belong; they have an in-store at Sonic Boom on August 1 at 9PM and play the Opera House the following evening.

Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “The Body”

The clip for the new Strokes single is some cutting-edge ’90s video editing technology, yo.

Video: The Strokes – “Taken For A Fool”

Sufjan Stevens is giving away the MP3 and premiering the video for the new and probably last single from The Age Of Adz.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Get Real Get Right”
Video: Sufjan Stevens – “Get Real Get Right”

Warpaint have premiered a new video from The Fool; NPR talks to the director of the super-underwater clip. The Birmingham Post talks to frontwoman Emily Kokal.

Video: Warpaint – “Warpaint”

By : Frank Yang at 8:28 am 1 Comment facebook
Thursday, July 7th, 2011

High For This

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 Polaris Music Prize short list

Photo via FacebookFacebookWhen the Polaris Prize long list was announced three weeks back, the general response was positive. After all, forty albums is pretty inclusive and many genres and regions were represented; pretty good cause for back-patting. But when you whittle it down to the final ten, things inevitably get contentious – so with the announcement of the 2011 short list yesterday, there were the inevitable complaints that so-and-so was robbed, such-and-such is underrepresented, etc etc. Six years in, it’s all pretty predictable if you think about it.

And as such, I personally wasn’t especially surprised with the results – after all, I did tie for first in an impromptu prediction pool amongst jurors and Polaris-spotters with eight out of ten right, and I would have gotten nine if I’d stuck with my initial instincts about the Maritime bloc. As for the two I got wrong, I’m disappointed but not wholly surprised that Sloan didn’t make the cut – continuing their career trajectory of being simultaneously adored yet taken for granted. I was, however, genuinely surprised that The Rural Alberta Advantage got passed over – though they barely missed my ballot, I thought that there’d have been enough goodwill banked from Hometowns being ineligible in the year it got wide release to carry over to Departing, but I guess not. They’ll have to settle for being generally adored. Tough life. But my picks didn’t necessarily reflect what I thought were the most deserving – note only two of my ballot entries appear on the short list – but based on pretty reliable patterns observed over the course of Polaris’ existence. We’re all just algorithms in a giant cosmic computer, maaaaaan.

As for the albums that made the cut?

Arcade Fire / The Suburbs
Well this one was a gimme; the question really is will the Suburbs-sized elephant in the jury room end up costing the band and give proof to the accusation that the Polaris punishes success? Not a lock, but if the winner comes back as anything else, people are going to want some explanations as to how and album pretty much universally feted would be deemed inadequate (relatively speaking) at home. By being heavily favoured, they are probably the biggest underdogs on the list. Oh, Canada.

Video: Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

Austra / Feel It Break
I figured this, Diamond Rings, Young Galaxy and Miracle Fortress would split the synth-pop vote – no way would more than one of them make the short list – and was certain that when the votes were counted, Austra would have come out on top. It strikes the right balance of weird and accessible and you can dance to it. It give it long, long odds to win but its presence here is an achievement.

MP3: Austra – “Lose It”

Braids / Native Speaker
I’ve tried, but I just can’t get into this record. But I can’t stand Animal Collective either, so I’m just not predisposed to appreciate what Braids do, and that’s fine. I’ll probably try again before all is said and done, but don’t expect any Damascene moments. I don’t think it will win, but I didn’t think that people would lose their minds for it as much as they have so I won’t say it couldn’t upset.

MP3: Braids – “Lemonade”

Destroyer / Kaputt
For an album as smooth and laid back as it appears to be, Kaputt has turned out to be remarkably polarizing, but that said it was also pretty much a lock – criticize what it is if you will, but there’s really no denying the degree of vision and craftsmanship that has gone into this record. I think if any record could win without instigating an Arcade Fire backlash debate, it’s this one. If I were on the grand jury, which I’m thankful I won’t be, I’d be championing this one.

MP3: Destroyer – “Chinatown”

Galaxie / Tigre et diesel
The question was which of this or Malajube would take the Francophone vote – I didn’t see both making it – and rather than let Malajube three-peat as shortlisters, they went with the fresh(ish) faces. And I’ll be honest, I hold a grudge against this band because they went by Galaxie 500 for far longer than is acceptable. That’s just wrong.

Video: Galaxie – “Piste 01”

Hey Rosetta! / Seeds
This is a band whom I get what they do, get how it inspires such adoration from so many, but doesn’t really do much for me. But their upwards trajectory is undeniable – they’ll be doing the theatre circuit very soon, just watch – and being past shortlisters and the most probable consensus pick amongst jurors from out east, I really should have known better than to take them off my list of predictions. Another record that I will revisit to see what I missed the first time around.

Video: Hey Rosetta! – “Young Glass”

Ron Sexsmith / Long Player Late Bloomer
No doubt there’s a whiff of lifetime achievement about Sexsmith’s inclusion, but his profile hasn’t been higher than it is now in years thanks to the documentary film and the Luminato tribute and thanks to his remarkably consistent songwriting, you couldn’t argue that this record is any less deserving than his others. And maybe people just want to see what it’d take to make the man smile.

Video: Ron Sexsmith – “Late Bloomer” (live)

Colin Stetson / New History Warfare Vol. 2 – Judges
Easily the most left-field shortlisted album in the prize’s history, I don’t get New History Warfare at all. But then I don’t get hardly anything about where it comes from and what it’s about, so that’s okay. I do know that Stetson has an incredible pair of lungs and the record is an astonishing physical feat, but on the topic of its musicality, I defer to those more qualified to pass judgement. And it’d be kind of awesome if it won if just for the coast-to-coast head scratching that would surely ensue.

MP3: Colin Stetson – “Fear of the Unknown and the Blazing Sun [ft. Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden]”

Timber Timbre / Creep On Creepin’ On
I know a lot of people who think Timber Timbre should have won in 2009, even though they didn’t even make the short list, so with a – in my judgement – better album in hand and a much stronger national profile, I’m not at all surprised it made the cut this time. I think it’s still a little genre/weird to garner the necessary broad grand jury support to really make a run, but Polaris tends to be predictably unpredictable so maybe they should have the inside track.

MP3: Timber Timbre – “Black Water”

The Weeknd / House Of Balloons
Another record that comes from a separate musical world from the one I usually inhabit, but one that got my attention from the first listen. A little hip-hop, a little r&b, a little indie rock and a lot sexy and moody – though not necessarily sexy moody – it’s definitely noteworthy and probably deserves its placement. And it’s got that whole mysterious identity and album-for-free (click above) thing going for it.

MP3: The Weeknd – “The Party & The After Party”

So my overall prediction for the night of September 19? I think the jury will for maybe the first time do the obvious thing let Arcade Fire take it. Failing that, Destroyer. And if not one of those two, then all bets are off.

Colin Stetson will get to see if a Polaris appearance translates into concert attendance when he plays The Drake on August 26, tickets $12 in advance. The Georgia Straight and Montreal Gazette have interviews.

Austra are releasing a new remix album entitled Sparkle on August 23 on vinyl, later this month digitally.

MP3: Austra – “Spellwork” (MNDR Nighttime remix)

NYC Taper has posted recordings of a recent visit to the Big Apple from Sloan. And oh, new video and interview with Andrew Scott at Thick Specs.

Video: Sloan – “Unkind”

PS I Love You have announced the release of an odds-and-sods compilation entitled, descriptively enough, Figure It Out: A Collection of Singles and EPs by PS I Love You and it’ll be out August 30. It will be followed by an extensive North American tour that includes a date at Toronto’s Great Hall on October 1. Full dates and track listing at aux.tv and yes, it’s that “Subdivisions”.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”

Le Blogotheque has posted a Les Soirees des poches video session with Plants & Animals.

Dan Mangan has announced a September 27 release date for his new album Oh Fortune and is giving away the title track from said record below. And if you need more, Herohill has posted videos of a living room show Mangan performed in Halifax a couple months ago.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune”

Spinner has words with Chad VanGaalen.

Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff gets political for a moment with aux.tv.

Fucked Up demonstrate to Pitchfork how to make a bong in 60 seconds and also fess up to the obvious parallels between David Comes To Life and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.

aux.tv chats with Dan Boeckner of Handsome Furs, in town at The Horseshoe on August 1 and 2.

Interview has premiered the first song from Ohbijou’s forthcoming third album Metal Meets, due out September 27.

If you’re looking for something to do over the August long weekend, you may not need to look further than The Great Hall and Toronto Underground Cinema; that’s when those venues will host over three nights the inaugural Out Of The Box Festival, featuring a slew of the city/province’s up-and-coming acts including personal faves and bands to watch Olenka & The Autumn Lovers, Ruby Spirit, Heartbeat Hotel and Foxes In Fiction to name but a very few. Admission is $10 at the door, $15 for a weekend pass and the schedule will be forthcoming soon.

Hamilton dreampop veterans A Northern Chorus called it a day back in Summer 2008, but have regrouped for a couple of shows next month, one in Hamilton at The Casbah on August 12 and one at The Garrison in Toronto on August 13.

Video: A Northern Chorus – “Winterize”

And speaking of good things that come from The Hammer, Supercrawl has announced the first wave of their muscial lineup for September 10, and it includes the likes of Broken Social Scene, J Mascis and The Megaphonic Thrift, amongst many others. And oh yeah, it’s all free.

By : Frank Yang at 8:34 am No Comments facebook
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Paper Forest

Review of Emmy The Great’s Virtue

Photo By Alex LakeAlex LakeOne of my most anticipated records of the last few years was First Love, the debut from London’s Emma-Lee Moss, aka Emmy The Great. I’d spent well over a year with my own custom compilation of her various singles, EPs and random releases on repeat before the album proper came out and perhaps inevitably felt a bit let down, though for reasons entirely my own and even so, it still made my 2009 year-end list.

There was no such weight of expectation surrounding her second album, which isn’t to say that I wasn’t anxious to hear it – I most certainly was – but even not having heard any of the new material, I figured I had a pretty good idea what to expect: acoustically-built pop songs with wonderfully clever lyrics delivered in Moss’ distinctively precise diction; more of First Love would have been just fine with me. So of course, it goes without saying that Virtue pretty much floored me. The backstory of the record isn’t essential to appreciating it, but understanding what the last couple of years have been like for Moss provides some invaluable context for the record. Read the unabridged feature from The Guardian for the full story but in brief, Moss was engaged until her formerly atheist fiancee found God and left her for the life of a missionary.

Life-altering stuff, to say the least, and so it’s no surprise that whereas the songwriting on First Love felt like a collection of tales told through characters, Virtue feels considerably more personal, even filtered through the allegories – many religious and/or mythical – that suffuse the songs. Though it’d be justified if it was, Virtue is anything but a pity party – the songs constantly struggle for some critical distance from their inspiration, adding a certain tension to the proceedings, but on “Trellick Tower” that struggle ends, the tension evaporates and the album closes on its most emotionally unguarded and affecting moment.

Virtue is a darker and weightier record than the debut, both lyrically and musically. The latter point comes thanks to the addition of more electric and electronic textures to go with the more conventional acoustic instrumentation, courtesy of producer Gareth Jones and long-time collaborator Euan Hinshelwood. Moss was never comfortable being associated with the “anti-folk” tag that tied her to some of her peers and former bandmates, but only the most stubborn would call Virtue a folk record; it’s diverse and rangy enough that anything more specific than “pop” would be debatable. If you needed more adjectives, however, I would submit any or all of “contemplative”, “elegant”, “wistful”, “gorgeous” and “essential”.

The Westmoreland Gazette has an interview with Moss about the new record. Being independently released in the UK, there’s not much chance of a North American release but Virtue is available digitally at both eMusic and iTunes. Similarly, touring over here seems unlikely but Emmy is doing two US dates in Philadelphia and New York next month, and yes, I may well have moved my flight to New York up a day so as to be able to make the show at The Studio At Webster Hall. What of it?

MP3: Emmy The Great – “A Woman, A Woman, A Century Of Sleep”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Iris”

The Guardian has an extended feature on Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons.

The Vaccines are back in town for the third time this year, this time headlining a show at The Phoenix on September 27. It’ll be all-ages, tickets $15 in advance and Tennis and Young Buffalo support.

MP3: The Vaccines – “Norgaard” (live)
MP3: Tennis – “Take Me Somewhere”

Gearing up for the release of Skying next week – everywhere but North America at least, we have to wait until August 9 – The Horrors have made the whole album available to stream and have also released a first video from the new record. They play Lee’s Palace on September 27.

Video: The Horrors – “Still Life”
Stream: The Horrors / Skying

DIY and AOL Music UK have chats with the lads of Two Door Cinema Club; they have a date at The Phoenix on September 17.

Everyone expecting a new Spiritualized record this Fall, get ready to wait a little longer – State reports that a series of UK dates have been postponed until next year, wit said new album now targeted for a February 2012 release.

Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye tells The Sun that he’s gone clean and sober. His band has also put out a new video from Different Gear, Still Speeding.

Video: Beady Eye – “The Beat Goes On”

And Gallagher the elder – that’s Noel – has just announced details of his first post-Oasis projects. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will release their self-titled debut on October 17 and next year, look for a collaborative record with psychedelic-electronia outfit Amorphous Androgynous. Or don’t. Fuller details at The Quietus.

The Quietus reports that Jarvis Cocker will be publishing a collection of his lyrics in book form Mother, Brother, Lover: Selected Lyrics will be out in October.

The Independent checks in on some of the one-time heroes of Britpop, including Louise Wener of Sleeper; she’s now an author and I just realized that the two volumes of her Britpop memoirs – Different For Girls and Just For One Day are actually the same book under different titles. I wish I’d realized that before I bought them both.

Slicing Up Eyeballs reports that The Jesus & Mary Chain will be embarking on an extensive catalog reissue campaign this Fall; it begins on September 19 with double-CD/single-DVD sets for Psychocandy and Darklands, followed by Automatic and Honey’s Dead the following week and final two albums Stoned & Dethroned and Munki on October 3.

Post-punk forebears The Raincoats will be remastering and reissuing their 1981 album Odyshape on September 13 and follow that up with some North American touring that includes a September 23 date at Wrongbar in Toronto.

Video: The Raincoats – “Don’t Be Mean”

By : Frank Yang at 8:31 am 3 Comments facebook
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

CONTEST – My Morning Jacket @ The Kool Haus – July 11, 2011

Photo By Danny ClinchDanny ClinchWho: My Morning Jacket
What: Hirsute gentlemen from the south given to epically-scaled, reverb-enhanced rock with sometimes more than a touch of soul and funk
Why: Album number six, Circuital, was released at the end of May and happily for most, it shifts the above formula to more reverb, less funk. And of course they’re touring.
When: Monday, July 11, 2011
Where: The Kool Haus in Toronto (all-ages)
Who else: Openers are still TBA
How: Tickets for the show are $42 in advance but courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to wear My Morning Jacket” in the subject line and your full name in the body; contest closes at midnight, July 7.
What else: The Georgia Straight and Santa Barbara Independent have features on the band.

MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Circuital”

By : Frank Yang at 6:17 pm No Comments facebook
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Reservoir Songs

Crooked Fingers and Megan Bonnell at The Horseshoe in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangSunday night’s Crooked Fingers show had a number of things going against it. For starters, it was a Sunday night. The Sunday night of a long weekend. The Sunday night of a long weekend during Pride. But what it had going for it was that it was a Crooked Fingers show.

But even for the Eric Bachmann faithful, the show had the stacked against it somewhat for what it wasn’t, and that’s an Archers Of Loaf show. Indeed, only the need to transport gear for the indie rock heroes’ reunion tour from New York to Chicago and the 4th of July long weekend created the opportunity for Bachmann to slip into his post-Archers guise and decompress for a few northeastern dates. And though the existence of a new Crooked Fingers record had been confirmed, October is still ages away and their last proper album Forfeit/Fortune was already three years old. So really, rather than pout that the Archers roadshow wasn’t yet finding its way north of the border, we should have felt fortunate that we were getting a visit at all – particularly since Crooked Fingers’ last two shows were supporting slots for Neko Case and Okkervil River; there was an Eric Bachmann-villed show in 2006 but the last time the words “Crooked Fingers” graced a Toronto sandwich board was over six years ago. Which is to say, far too long.

Opening things up was local singer-songwriter Megan Bonnell, showing off her brand new EP Maps. Performing on keyboard and backed only by a drummer, Bonnell was notable for her ability to invoke cabaret-like dramatics without slipping into easy melodrama and slightly unconventional voice and phrasing. Her set was different enough from what you might expect from a girl-and-piano setup to force you to suspend preconceptions and pay attention and for first impressions, that’s really all you can ask for.

Every time I’ve seen either Crooked Fingers or Eric Bachmann live, it’s been a different configuration of players and instruments from solo to six-piece; this time out, it was just as a duo – Eric Bachmann and Liz Durrett. Accordingly, the show had a stripped-down and intimate vibe, helped along by the fact that there weren’t but even a hundred people in attendance. But instead of being disappointed with the turnout, Bachmann seemed rather cheered by the attentiveness of the audience as he fully explored his extensive songbook. Unsurprisingly, the sparser sounds of the self-titled debut, Bring On The Snakes and Bachmann’s 2006 solo effort To The Races made up the bulk of the set, but the representatives from the more fully-arranged Crooked Fingers records served as set highlights. Though possessed of a softer voice than either Lara Meyerratken or Neko Case, her turns as duet partner to Bachmann’s big, gruff voice on Dignity & Shame‘s “Sleep All Summer” and Forfeit/Fortune‘s “Your Control” – the latter performed unamplified into the club – were stunning.

There was also some new material previewed, though not as much as I might have expected. Considering that the new record was recorded with just Bachmann and Durrett as the principals, what was heard probably wasn’t far off from what we can expect from Breaks In The Armor when it’s released on October 11 and as such, fans of the aesthetic of the early records will probably be pleased. One of the new songs, “Bad Blood”, was introduced as the breakthrough hit and when it brings in the big bank, Bachmann promised to buy everyone in attendance big dogs; I suspect that he was being sarcastic but I do hope it reaches the top of the charts – I want my Great Dane. Other promises made – and more likely to be fulfilled – were to return after the album was released and, most excitingly, to bring Archers Of Loaf to town in the new year sometime around March. As a teaser and as he’s done on past visits, he gave us a stripped-down version of “Web In Front” but if you need something to look forward to for next Spring – well there you go. And in the meantime, there’ll be the memory of this gorgeous and special show to hold us over.

Exclaim also took in the show and has some thoughts. Fairfield Weekly has a talk with Bachmann about how close he came to calling it quits, what he’s been up to the last few years and what the new record will bring and New York Magazine and Spinner talk to him about the return of Archers Of Loaf.

Photos: Crooked Fingers, Megan Bonnell @ The Horseshoe – July 3, 2011
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Phony Revolutions”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Angelina”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Big Darkness”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Devil’s Train”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “When You Were Mine”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “New Drink For The Old Drunk”
MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Carrboro Woman”
MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior”
MP3: Megan Bonnell – “South Korea”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “New Drink For The Old Drunk”
Video: Eric Bachmann – “Man ‘O War”
Video: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior”
Video: Megan Bonnell – “South Korea”

SCPR talks to The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle about growing up in Los Angeles’ suburban sprawl.

Crawdaddy interviews Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller. Their new album The Grand Theatre, Vol. 2 is out today.

MP3: Old 97s – “Brown Haired Daughter”

NPR welcomes Steve Earle for a World Cafe session, while American Songwriter, Houston Press and The Vancouver Sun have feature pieces on the singer-songwriter. The Molson Amphitheatre welcomes Steve Earle as opener for Blue Rodeo on August 20.

Laundromatinee has posted a video session with Nicole Atkins, including downloadable MP3. The Courier-Journal has an interview.

Billboard has posted their cover story on The Head & The Heart.

Under The Radar and The Fly have feature pieces on Death Cab For Cutie, in town at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 29.

Of Montreal have released a video from their new EP thecontrollersphere.

Video: Of Montreal – “L’age d’or”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Low.

Dirty Laundry has a video session with EMA, in town at The Garrison on July 23.

Interview interviews Memory Tapes mastermind Dayve Hawk. Player Piano is out now and he/they play Wrongbar on August 13.

State interviews Explosions In The Sky; they’re at the Sound Academy on October 7.

By : Frank Yang at 8:16 am No Comments facebook