Monday, July 4th, 2011
No you can’t have more Wolf Parade, but you can have some Moonface
JagjaguwarYou’ll excuse the brevity of today’s post as I try to pretend I’m still on some kind of holiday schedule. Hope everyone in Canada had a lovely long weekend and everyone in America is still enjoying theirs; today is a sort of belated Canada Day-ish post. Note the “ish”.
Many were disappointed when Wolf Parade made good on their promise to call it a day – at least for the foreseeable future after a couple of final shows at the end of may, but if anything that means fans will have even more opportunity to hear their two principal songwriters’ distinctive voices. For starters, while Spencer Krug kept a ridiculous number of side project going concurrently with Wolf Parade over the years – Sunset Rubdown and Swan Lake chief amongst them – his “proper” solo project has him operating under the name of Moonface, and following an 12″ EP in Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit Drums last year, he’s readying his debut album Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped for an August 2 release. One album track and one non-album track are available to preview, and for those looking for a more up close and personal experience with the songs, Krug kicks off a month-long tour leading up the album’s release next Wednesday night, July 13, at The Horseshoe in Toronto.
MP3: Moonface – “Fast Peter”
MP3: Moonface – “The Way You Wish You Could Live in the Storm”
Meanwhile, Dan Boeckner’s Handsome Furs talk to The Vine and are profiled by Billboard in the capacity of taking the dubious honour of having the fastest album announcement to leak in recent history with their latest release, Sound Kapital. They’re at The Horseshoe on August 1 and 2 – if you were one of those who downloaded the leak, make good by buying a Handsome Furs t-shirt or tea cozy.
Herohill marked Canada Day in style by posting the Gordon Lightfoot tribute album Turning Back The Pages Of My Sweet Shattered Dreams, featuring reinterpretations of Lightfoot’s songs but the likes of Olenka Krakus, Slow Down Molasses and Shotgun Jimmie, amongst many others.
The latest instalment in Bruce Peninsula’s “Fire Sale” series is out, and it’s a video for new song “Leaves”. They play Summerworks at the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 11.
Video: Bruce Peninsula – “Leaves”
Miracle Fortress has released a couple of tunes from the mostly-abandoned Hoop Dreams sessions as a free digital single. Some of the songs made it onto Was I The Wave?, others are just laying around and Graham Van Pelt still wants them to be heard. They’re playing Summerworks at the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 12.
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Gestures”
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Possession”
Origin: Orphan might be a couple years old at this point but that doesn’t mean The Hidden Cameras can’t continue to mine it for singles or videos. Which they’ve done.
Video: The Hidden Cameras – “Do I Belong”
The Galway Advertiser chats with Katie Stelmanis of Austra.
JAM profiles The Dears.
And some show announcements – this one slipped a bit under the radar, but could be of interest – UK electro-producer SBTRKT brings his self-titled debut to Wrongbar this Friday, July 8 – tickets $12.50 in advance. He’s interviewed by Clash and was recently The Guardian‘s new artist of the day.
MP3: SBTRKT – “Wildfire”
Video: SBTRKT – “Wildfire”
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will be in town a day before their August 2 show at The Opera House and they’ll spend it playing an in-store at Sonic Boom on August 1 at 9PM; not sure if Sonic Boom will have moved to its new digs around the corner by this date or if this will be one of the final hurrahs for the best in-store space in the city, but either way it will be a good time. Admission free, canned good donations highly appreciated.
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Heart In Your Heartache”
If you missed the update to Thursday’s post, Wilco has announced all kinds of things – like a September 27 release date for their new album The Whole Love, album art for said record and a first leg of North American touring that includes September 16 and 17 dates at Massey Hall in Toronto and will feature pop legend Nick Lowe as support. On-sale dates will be announced this week, so expect pre-sales to go next week. Details at Exclaim, and if you need a fix now, there’s three live shows available to stream at Wilco’s Roadcase.
Though they were both just here a couple weeks ago for NXNE, the first couple of Cali-garage rock – Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles – are teaming up for a Fall tour that brings the double-bill to Lee’s Palace on October 16; the occasion being the September 27 release of the Dum Dum Girls’ second record Only In Dreams.
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “He Gets Me High”
MP3: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”
Okay, that wasn’t as brief as I thought it’d be.
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
The Wooden Birds’ Andrew Kenny covers Death Cab For Cutie
dcfc-tour.netThough if I’m being period-correct, the title of this post should probably read “American Analog Set’s Andrew Kenny”, seeing as how when the Home: Volume V EP was released in 2003, he was still fronting his beloved Austin-based atmospheric-pop outfit. Only since putting it in mothballs a half-decade ago has he had The Wooden Birds at the top of his resume. But semantics.
The mini-album was a split release that paired a set of Kenny compositions with a set by Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, done bedroom studio-style, and a bonus of each covering one of the others’ songs. This here is Kenny’s take on the closing track from Death Cab’s emo-tacular debut Something About Airplanes, condensing the original’s drawn-out atmospheric jam to something simpler and more wistful, though Kenny could do a Motorhead cover and it’d feel wistful. For his part, Gibbard covered AmAnSet’s “Choir Vandals” from Know By Heart.
Kenny’s new outfit The Wooden Birds are in town at The Drake next Sunday night, July 11, for their first-ever Toronto show in support of album number two, Two Matchsticks. Death Cab For Cutie bring their latest Codes And Keys to The Molson Amphitheatre on July 29.
MP3: Andrew Kenny – “Line Of Best Fit”
Stream: Death Cab For Cutie – “Line Of Best Fit”
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
Frank YangWho: Real Estate
What: New Jersey-based dreamy/jangle-poppers who’ve leveraged the charms of their 2009 self-titled debut into a deal with the revered Domino Records.
Why: Album number two is just about done but not due out until October, so between now and then they’ll be out playing some shows and cleaning the keyword spam off their Facebook wall.
When: Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Where: The Garrison in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Dent May – and his ukulele – provide support both musical and moral for much of the tour.
How: Tickets for the show are $18.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, 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 some Real Estate” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, July 14.
MP3: Real Estate – “Beach Comber”
MP3: Real Estate – “Green River”
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Bjork is doing stuff. No one is quite sure what, but there’s a lot of it.
Inez van Lambsweerde & Vinoodh MatadinRelatively quiet since 2007’s Volta, Bjork is finally back with a new album… I think. To be honest, the press releases around her new project Biophilia haven’t exactly been designed for quick parsing, and that’s because the album component of Biophilia is just that – a component.
There will be a conventional album, presumably available in CD and LP formats, that is due out this Fall – September 27 is the unofficial release date being bandied about. There will also be ten apps corresponding to the tracks fo the record to add interactive elements to the compositions – there’s no specifics on device or platform, but presumably Mac OSX and iOS and Windows will be supported, possibly/probably more. Touring will be done unconventionally, consisting of six-week residencies in eight different cities worldwide over a course of three years and taking place in intimate, in-the-round performance spaces and utilizing a range of custom-built instruments intended to recreate the sound and atmosphere of the apps. A feature-length documentary about the creative process behind the whole Biophilia experience will be released. The www.bjork.com website has been redone and is now all trippy, though to be honest I’m not sure what to do with it.
Blurt has helpfully reprinted the full text of the press release, which should offer some more insight into what’s what. Pitchfork and Sterogum also have interviews with the artist which shed some light on what she’s doing and why. The first of the aforementioned residencies is already underway in Manchester, England – not sure where the other seven will be but I’m not putting money on Toronto, or even anywhere in Canada necessarily. But while we may miss out on that aspect of the Biophilia experience, we can still hear the songs – the first single is available to stream right now, and a Michel Gondry-directed video is forthcoming.
Oh Bjork, you so crazy.
Stream: Bjork – “Crystalline”
The Concretes have put out a new video from WYWH.
Video: The Concretes – “My Ways”
It’s funny – while Wild Beasts’ last record Two Dancers took me a while to warm to – though I did – their new one Smother I warmed to right away, despite it seeming to garner a more tepid critical response. Either way, looking forward to seeing them live for the first time on September 29 when they return to the Mod Club as part of a North American tour. Oxford Student has an interview with the band.
MP3: Wild Beasts – “Albatross”
MP3: Wild Beasts – “Loop The Loop”
Video: Wild Beasts – “Albatross”
Though The Horrors machine is ramping up in anticipation of the release of Skying, Faris Badwan’s underappreciatedCat’s Eyes side-project has found the time to release a new video for a non-album cover of “The Crying Game”.
Video: Cat’s Eyes – “The Crying Game”
Following up the release of the first MP3 from their forthcoming debut album Gracious Tide, Take Me Home, Lanterns On The Lake have put out a video for the same song. The record is out September 19.
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “You’re Almost There”
Video: Lanterns On The Lake – “You’re Almost There”
GQ solicits a list of ten style essentials from Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye.
Drowned In Sound and DIY have features on Nick McCabe and Simon Jones’ post-Verve band The Black Ships. They’re giving away their first EP Kurofone in exchange for your email though forewarned – it’s a single 25-minute, 273MB WAV file. I’ve compressed it into something a bit more manageable for you because if you dig on early Verve, it’s worth a listen.
MP3: The Black Ships – “The Kurofone EP”
Donewaiting grapples with Let’s Wrestle, interview-style.
Octopus Windmill interviews Amor de Dias.
Australia’s Howling Bells have given their third album a title of The Loudest Engine and a release date of September 12. Details at Wears The Trousers.
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Mates Of State proclaim cuteness from Mountaintops
FacebookSometimes I wonder if Mates Of State get tired of being described with various synonyms for “adorable”, but if so they’ve no one to blame but themselves. Rather than release the black metal opus we all know they have in them, the husband-and-wife duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel continue releasing records of irresistibly sweet and catchy drum-and-organ power pop, a trend that seems set to continue with the September 13 release of Mountaintops, their first album of original material since 2008’s Re-Arrange Us; last year’s Crushes was a more than satisfying stopgap of cover versions.
The band have just released a video for the first single from Mountaintops and surprise surprise, both the tune and the clip are totes adorbs, and they’ve also announced a North American tour that rather ably covers the eastern half of the continent. The Toronto date, their first visit since kicking off the final V Fest in 2009, comes September 28 at The Phoenix with Suckers and Yawn as support – tickets $15 in advance.
Video: Mates Of State – “Maracas”
Ra Ra Riot will make their pretty much annual Fall visit to Toronto on October 6 with a show at Lee’s Palace, tickets $17.50 in advance. They’re also featured in a Bandstand Busking session doing their thing on London’s South Bank.
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”
The Wooden Birds have released a new video for the title track of their second album Two Matchsticks. Revue and College Times talk to frontman Andrew Kenny, who leads the band into the Drake Underground on July 10.
Video: The Wooden Birds – “Two Matchsticks”
Also with a new video is Justin Townes Earle, taken from Harlem River Blues. Interview, The Calgary Herald and Reno Gazette-Journal have interviews with Earle, who will be at The Horseshoe on August 26.
Video: Justin Townes Earle – “Slippin’ & Slidin'”
The Kills have a new clip from Blood Pressures.
Video: The Kills – “Future Starts Slow”
NPR has premiered the new video taken from DeVotchKa’s latest 100 Lovers.
Video: DeVotchKa – “The Man From San Sebastian”
Explosions In The Sky have released their first-ever video, taken from this year’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. They play the Sound Academy on October 7.
Video: Explosions In The Sky – “Last Known Surroundings”
Wye Oak, who are opening up that EITS show, are featured in an acoustic video session at The Fly. There’s also interviews over at Glasswerk and Spoonfed.
The Santa Barbara Independent talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.
NPR, Exclaim and JAM have feature pieces on Bon Iver, in town at The Sound Academy on August 8.
In the wake of their second Solid Sound Festival, Wilco have given their next album a name – The Whole Love – and both sides of their new 7″ comprising a new tune and a Nick Lowe cover are streaming around the internet, like at Exclaim. No release date more specific than this Fall has been announced yet. Update: And now it has – album out September 27, North American tour starts a couple weeks earlier with two nights at Massey Hall September 16 and 17. Details and album art at Exclaim.
Amy Klein of Titus Andronicus interviews tourmate Lauren Gurgiolo of Okkervil River for her own blog. The Georgia Straight and San Jose Mercury News chat with Okkervil frontman Will Sheff.
Examiner.com catches up with Lauren Larseon of Ume, who release their new album Phantoms, due out August 30.
Blurt and NPR have interviews with Will Johnson of Centro-Matic about their new record Candidate Waltz. You can hear one of the new songs below and head over to IFC for an interview and the premiere of their new video.
MP3: Centro-Matic – “Only In My Double Mind”
Video: Centro-Matic – “Iso-Residue”
The Quietus has a stream and track-by-track annotation of Memory Tapes’ new record Player Piano, due out July 5. They play Wrongbar on August 13.
Writers On Process gets into the songwriting head of Interpol frontman Paul Banks.
Wayne Coyne discusses the many ongoing projects in Flaming Lips-land with The Quietus.
The Phoenix and Spinner talk Bug with J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. PhillyBurbs gets a word with Lou Barlow.
The AV Club and New York Magazine interview Bob Mould. Which makes this as good a time to mention that Sugar’s Copper Blue was just reissued on 180g vinyl. This record is essential, people.
NYC Taper is getting their old-school indie rock on, offering recordings of recent New York shows from Guided By Voices and Archers Of Loaf.
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