Saturday, May 14th, 2011
Emily Dyan IbarraWho: Portugal. The Man
What: The second-most famous thing to come out of Wasalia, Alaska but certainly the more psychedelic and arguably the smarter of the two – even with their odd handle on the rules of grammar and punctuation.
Why: They’ll be previewing material from their seventh album In The Mountain, In The Cloud, due out July 19.
When: Friday, May 27, 2011
Where: Lee’s Palace in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Super-strong support on this bill comes from Telekinesis and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
How: Tickets for the show are $15 in advance but courtesy of Atlantic Records, 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 to see Portugal. The Man” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, May 19.
What else: The Coloradoan and OC Weekly have interviews with the band.
MP3: Portugal. The Man – “People Say”
MP3: Portugal. The Man – “AKA M80 The Wolf”
Friday, May 13th, 2011
The Elected elect to run again
Lauren DukoffOnly the most optimistic of souls think we’ll ever hear new material from Rilo Kiley; aside from rumours of a b-sides/rarities compilation, it would seem that 2007’s Under The Blacklight – on which they already sounded disinterested – will be the final word for the Los Angeles pop outfit. And while frontwoman Jenny Lewis has already established a pretty successful solo (and duo) career, former partner Blake Sennett is returning to active duty by turning his former side-project The Elected – last heard from on 2006’s aptly-titled Sun Sun Sun – into a full-time gig with Bury Me In My Rings, out next Tuesday.
The album is currently streaming in whole over at My Old Kentucky Blog and it sounds as though Sennett is still content to mine the rich tradition of classic and breezy Californian pop – with a foray into funk that’s as questionable as any attempts at funk that can be described as a “foray” – for his purposes. His tunes were never the highlights of Rilo Kiley’s records – Lewis’ ascent to stardom over their run was impossible to eclipse – but he was always a solid tunesmith with a good sense of melody. Perhaps now, without having to be constantly measured against his bandmate, he can establish his own merits properly.
He’s also taking his show on the road and that will bring him to Toronto’s Drake Underground on June 30. American Songwriter and Consequence Of Sound have conversations with Sennett about the new record and the latter gets a pretty colourful and definitive-sounding quote about the current (and final?) state of Rilo Kiley.
MP3: The Elected – “Babyface”
Stream: The Elected / Bury Me In My Rings
PopMatters and The News Chief have interviews with Jason Isbell, in town for a show at The Horseshoe on May 22.
And Maria Taylor, who opens up that show and the tour for Isbell, has announced an August 16 release date for her new record Overlook. Details and a streamable new song over at Under The Radar.
Rolling Stone talks to The Head & The Heart.
The Fruit Bats have a new record in the can entitled Tripper, and will be sharing it with the world come August 2. Exclaim has details and a widget from which to download a new, non-album, J Mascis-guesting MP3.
eMusic interviews Will Sheff of Okkervil River. They’re at The Phoenix on June 10.
NPR has a couple notable World Cafesessions up for your enjoyment – one with The Mountain Goats and another featuring The Kills.
Blurt profiles The Antlers, in town at The Mod Club on June 14.
Spin and NOW talk to Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla, respectively. Death Cab are at The Phoenix on May 18 and the Molson Amphitheatre on July 29 and their new record Codes & Keys is out May 31.
Daytrotter has posted a session with John Vanderslice.
Metromix and CityBeat welcome The National back to Cincinnati.
Captain’s Dead has unearthed an old 1988-vintage Uncle Tupelo demo tape and posted the contents online.
Interview does its thing with James Blake, playing a sold-out show at Lee’s Palace on Saturday night.
NPR is streaming a Lykke Li session from KCRW while Express Night Out has an interview. She’s at The Phoenix on May 22.
The Alternate Side has a video session and interview with The Raveonettes, The Columbian just an interview.
MSN talks to The Naked & Famous, back for a show at Lee’s Palace on August 9.
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
Review of Jonny’s Jonny and giveaway
Mei LewisIn case it wasn’t obvious from the name, Jonny is the musical marriage of Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and former Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci Euros Childs. It’s perhaps not a pairing that people have been clamouring for – it never even occurred to me that the two might work together before it was announced that they were – but it’s not out of left field either. In fact, the more I think about it, the more logical it gets – Blake led the Fannies through two decades of power pop perfection while Childs’ now-defunct Mynci made their name with a unique blend of psychedelia and folk that proudly wore their Welsh heritage on their sleeves; there’s really no reason that the meeting of these minds shouldn’t produce something worthy.
And their self-titled debut, released earlier this Spring, is very much worthy. It’s not a record that necessarily aspires to greatness – the vibe is much more casual and off-the-cuff with a healthy dose of goofiness added in for good measure – but the combination of Childs’ distinctively fantastical songwriting and Blake’s immaculate songcraft can’t help but be a winning combination. Jonny offers both the spot-on harmonies and indelible melodies you’d expect from a Fanclub record but also some of the musical unpredictability that Gorky’s were known for. Not everything hits – opener “Wich is Wich” is pretty much a throwaway and there’s no reason “Cave Dance” needed to run over ten minutes, but songs like “Circling The Sun” and “Candyfloss” are the sort of gems that might represent the career highwater marks of lesser artists. Their name might be nigh-on meaningless but their music makes an impression.
The record is currently available to stream in whole at Merge, and their introductory EP – consisting of non-album material – is still available to download for free. They will be kicking off a North American tour with two nights at the Drake Underground in Toronto – fun fact, Blake now resides in Kitchener, Ontario – on June 3 and 4. Tickets for each show are $21.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts and Merge, I’ve got a couple of prize packs to give away. There’s one for each night and they consist of a pair of passes to the show, a copy of Jonny on CD and a pink balloon that was given away to those who pre-ordered the album. Why? Why not? To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to meet Jonny” in the subject line and your full name in the body along with your mailing address and a note as to which night you’d prefer or if you’ve no preference, say you have no preference. Contest closes at midnight, May 19.
MP3: Jonny – “Candyfloss”
Video: Jonny – “You Was Me”
Video: Jonny – “Candyfloss”
Stream: Jonny / Jonny
ZIP: Jonny / Free
Keeping with both the “streaming new records from Merge” and “bands made up of people from other bands” memes, we have Amor de Días – aka Alisdair from The Clientele and Lupe of Pipas – and their debut full-length Street Of The Love Of Days, which is out next week. The record is streaming at Merge, a new video from said record has just been released, the band is on the road and at The Horseshoe on May 25 and Design Sponge has an interview with Lupe Núñez-Fernández.
Video: Amor de Dias – “Late Morning”
Stream: Amor de Dias / Amor de Dias
Also out next week is Nursing Home, the second album from London’s Let’s Wrestle. Paste has the whole thing available to listen in advance of its release next Tuesday, May 17.
Stream: Let’s Wrestle / Nursing Home
Not out on Merge but definitely out soon – May 24 to be precise – and up and streaming at Hype Machine is Pala, the second effort from Friendly Fires. You can also download an MP3 over there and see them at The Phoenix on May 30.
Stream: Friendly Fires / Pala
The Fly and The Phoenix checks in with Arctic Monkeys about their forthcoming album Suck It And See, out June 7. Spin has also got a new track from the record available to stream. They play The Kool Haus on May 21.
Opening up that show are The Vaccines, who have got a Daytrotter session up, are interviewed by Buzznet and whose debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines is out May 31. And oh yeah, they’re giving away a live track.
MP3: The Vaccines – “Norgaard” (live)
Black Book gets Paul Banks of Interpol to interview Anna Calvi while Mojo just sends some guy to do the same. She is at The El Mocambo on May 27.
Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit talks about the importance of music blogs at The Pop Cop. They’re at The Molson Amphitheatre on July 29, opening for Death Cab For Cutie.
DIY, The Guardian, The Skinny, The Australian, Clash, Paste and The Quietus all get some time with Wild Beasts about their new record Smother.
The AV Club talks to Stuart Staples of Tindersticks about the art of scoring. Movies. Scoring movies.
Clash welcomes the British festival season with a conversation with Elbow.
Drowned In Sound meets Graham Coxon.
Dev Hynes’ Blood Orange has released a new video for the A-side from his debut 7″ and put the b-side up on Soundcloud to stream.
Video: Blood Orange – “Dinner”
The Twilight Sad are giving away an acoustic EP to anyone who hands over their email address; the sign-up form is up on their website, as is a set of videos from the recording session.
Pitchfork reports that Upside Down, the documentary about Creation Records, has gotten a DVD release as of this week and comes packaged with a two-CD soundtrack/sampler of Creation artists. Which would be great if not for the the fact that it’s only PAL and region-2. Would someone please bring this film to North America in some watchable form?
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
Review of Austra’s Feel It Break
Norman Wong I never really liked Katie Stelmanis. I am not referring to the person – I don’t know her but I’m sure she’s lovely – but her musical project which, circa 2008 at least, was named simply for herself. In Spring of that year, I saw her twice in the span of a week and a bit and while I acknowledged that she was up to something interesting with her distinctive, operatic voice and skeletal synth-and-percussion backing, but it wasn’t doing it for me and as such, I didn’t pay much heed to her debut album Join Us. I did note, however, that her musical identity continued to publicly morph – for a while she was going just by her surname, and then adopted the guise of Private Life before changing once again to Austra. And while there’d always been a degree of local chatter about what she was up to, that’s when I heard people really begin to talk.
And putting aside past prejudices to give Feel It Break, her debut as Austra, a listen I could understand why. Stelmanis’ most distinctive characteristic has always been her voice but it needed the proper context. Obviously I didn’t think the classical/medieval/gothic atmosphere of her eponymous project worked, unless unsettling was what she was going for, but in giving Austra a sleek, synth-heavy, New Wave/80s-industrial personality, she’s found a winning formula that balances mystery and experimentalism with melody and accessibility.
It’s interesting how so much of what makes Austra was already there three years ago, including percussionist Maya Postepski, but now with the addition of ex-Spiral Beach bassist Dorian Wolf and a greater focus on making the songs danceable and memorable, it all sounds completely fresh and new. Okay, perhaps that’s not the most accurate way of putting it since what Stelmanis’ was doing in her self-titled days was technically far more original, but giving Austra its more familiar-sounding reference points has inarguably made her better. Enough so that you can consider me convinced, which is honestly not something I ever thought I’d be saying. Back in 2008, when people around town were talking about how great Katie Stelmanis was, all I could say was, “really?”. Now, when people everywhere are talking about how great Austra is, all I can say is, “really”.
Feel It Break is out next Tuesday, May 17, and Austra plays a hometown record release show a couple nights later on May 19 at Lee’s Palace.
MP3: Austra – “Lose It”
MP3: Austra – “The Beat And The Pulse”
Video: Austra – “Lose It”
Video: Austra – “The Beat And The Pulse”
Stream: Austra / Feel It Break
Bruce Peninsula have released installment three in their Fire Sale series; a Pentangle cover that you can both listen to and watch. Open Flames is out in the Fall.
MP3: Bruce Peninsula – “Light Flight”
Video: Bruce Peninsula – “Light Flight”
Southern Souls serves up a video session with Woodpigeon, who in turn have made MP3s of a recent show in Turin, Italy available to download.
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Knock Knock” (live in Turin)
Spinner has an interview with The Rural Alberta Advantage’s Nils Edenloff and has also premiered another Southern Souls-produced live video, this one for “Tornado 87”.
Beatroute and The Vancouver Sun talk to Taylor Kirk of Timber Timbre.
Wood & Wires has posted a couple of basement session videos from The Darcys.
Beatroute, The Winnipeg Free Press, Uptown and The Leader-Post talk to Graham Van Pelt of Miracle Fortress, while aux.tv gets him to unplug for a Camera Music performance. He may be similarly unamplified (or not) when he plays an in-store at Soundscapes this Friday, May 13, at 4PM. He’s at The Phoenix with Junior Boys on June 9.
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Raw Spectacle”
Chart talks to Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham about the inadvertent bloodletting that occurred at a recent show, which you can watch for yourself thanks to the magic of YouTube. Exclaim also reports that the band have put up a mixed tape – as in an actual cassette – of Fucked Up rarities, tracks from friends and side-projects and whatnot – for sale in their webstore. Their new album David Comes To Life is out June 7.
The Balconies are finally back with some new material; while a release date for their second album is still forthcoming, a new 7″ a-sided by “Kill Count” will be released on June 14, just ahead of their June 18 NXNE showcase at Sneaky Dee’s.
The Fly invites The Dears into their courtyard for an acoustic session. The notoriously self-serious band also paid Funny Or Die a visit.
With the release this week of The Double Cross, the twentieth anniversary of Sloan is well underway. Blurt has a feature interview with the band, Chart has unearthed a bunch of interviews with the band over their long career and the first of ten tribute videos wherein actors, musicians and general celebrities reminisce about what Sloan has meant to them has been released – so far, there’s “First Heard Sloan” and “Favourite Sloan Song”. They play an in-store this Saturday at Sonic Boom at 4PM and the Mod Club on June 22.
Chad Van Gaalen’s new record Diaper Island is streaming in whole at MuchMusic in advance of its official release next week. He plays The Great Hall on June 18 as part of NXNE.
Stream: Chad Van Gaalen / Diaper Island
Pitchfork has more details on the forthcoming Scenes From The Suburbs CD/DVD set from Arcade Fire. It will be out on August 2.
Exclaim talks to Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Efrim Manuel Manuck about his various ongoing projects, including the Godspeed reunion and his forthcoming solo record High Gospel, out May 24.
Ticket info for the Weeping Tile/King Cobb Steelie/Have Not Been The Same book release I mentioned a couple weeks back has been revealed – advance tickets will be $18, on sale tomorrow, with proceeds going to the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health.
And some Can-con love across the pond; Drowned In Sound takes a look at what’s happening musically in Toronto right now and The Line Of Best Fit have released their sixteenth (16th) Oh! Canada compilation of downloadable goodness.
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
Review of Okkervil River’s I Am Very Far
Alexandra ValentiIf Will Sheff has ever felt too predictable in what people expect from Okkervil River, he’s really got no one to blame but himself. Since their breakout 2005 record Black Sheep Boy, the band in which he’s been the only real constant has made a habit (okay, twice) of releasing literarily-inclined multi-volume sets with a very specific narrative and musical themes; Black Sheep Boy being a mythically-tinged folk-rock study of the Tim Hardin song and the 2007-08 season’s production of The Stage Names/The Stand Ins was his ruminations on fame and the rock’n’roll life set to a soundtrack appropriately indebted to classic sounds of the ’60s and ’70s.
It’s an approach that has worked, clearly; each of Okkervil’s releases has brought the band more and more acclaim and all have been favourites around these parts. But based on their new record I Am Very Far, it’s one that required a little shaking up. Or a lot. While time will tell if there’ll be a companion record released in the near future, those looking for an easy angle on what Very Far is about, thematically, will be disappointed – having essentially put novels and memoirs to song, Sheff has now assembled his short story collection with each of the record’s eleven songs standing self-contained, both lyrically and musically. And it’s on the latter point that I Am Very Far really stands apart from its predecessors.
With a markedly different lineup from their last recordings, it’s inevitable that Okkervil would sound at least a little different. But rather than simply accept those variances, Sheff has opted to exploit them and give the band a new sonic identity. His own perfectly imperfect vocals remain the most identifying trait, but everything around it is bigger and broader-sounding than ever before. This is easily Okkervil’s most produced record ever, but rather than the extra gloss that that usually implies, here it means density. Overdubs and extra players, musical styles heretofore unexplored – dig the almost disco-ish groove of “Piratess” – and crazy echos and reverbs pervade the record as does an almost manic (or maniacal) sense of relentless restlessness; its bloodshot energy is almost as uncomfortable to listen to as it is invigorating. Some might suggest that I Am Very Far is the band’s bid to break into the mainstream but I think that if that was their intention, they’d sound like they’d have gotten a little more sleep before pressing “record”.
But for all the tumult that has obviously gone into making I Am Very Far, after a few acclimatizing listens, something quite beautiful emerges. The freedom gained from putting everything that defined Okkervil on the table with this record combined with Sheff’s already formidable skills as a songwriter, lyricist and arranger have produced the sort of album that I imagine most bands of a certain tenure long for; one that the more you thought you knew what the band were about, the more you’d be surprised by and which is like discovering one of your favourite bands again for the first time.
Spinner talks to Will Sheff and Pat Pestorius about making the new album. They play The Phoenix on June 10.
MP3: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine”
Video: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine”
Stream: Okkervil River / I Am Very Far
San Diego’s Crocodiles, whom I’d begun to think had some personal issue with Toronto for their never touring up this way, will make up for their absence in a big way for NXNE as they will play a three-night residency at The Silver Dollar over the course of the festival, June 17, 18 and 19, with a different undercard each night.
MP3: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”
Chicago emo/math-rock veterans Joan Of Arc have a date at The Garrison for August 5, ticket $12.50. Their new record Life Like is out today.
MP3: Joan Of Arc – “Love Life”
The best of news, the worst of news. With their self-titled album due out on June 21, Bon Iver have announced a Summer tour that brings Justin Vernon and company back to Toronto on August 8… to The Sound Academy. Well at least it’ll be warm. Tickets are $35 general admission, $45 VIP and go on sale Friday. Support will come from Vernon’s old bandmates The Rosebuds, who themselves have a new record out in Loud Planes Fly Low, out June 7.
MP3: Bon Iver – “Blood Bank”
MP3: The Rosebuds – “Second Bird Of Paradise”
New York singer-songwriter Lia Ices has announced a date at The Rivoli for August 9, tickets $12, and has also released a video for the title track of her debut album Grown Unknown. The Georgia Straight has a profile.
MP3: Lia Ices – “Daphne”
Video: Lia Ices – “Grown Unknown”
The National have taken their two recent non-album releases – songs from the Win/Win film and Portal 2 video game soundtracks – and put them on a 7″ single for those who like physical things made of vinyl.
Sufjan Stevens talks to The Guardian about the nervous breakdown that informed The Age Of Adz.
NYC Taper is sharing a recording of an Antlers show in New York from earlier this week. Their new record Burst Apart is out today and Pitchfork has an in-studio video performance of one the new songs with an assist from Neon indian. There’s interviews with the band at The Huffington Post, eMusic and Village Voice. They play The Mod Club on June 14.
The AV Club chats with Bon Iver drummer S Carey about his solo work.
Pitchfork talks to Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. They’re at Massey Hall on July 14 and tonight’s show in Austin is going to be webcast live on NPR.
Richard Buckner fields questions from Aquarium Drunkard about his new record Our Blood, due out August 2.
PopMatters interviews Lissie, in town for a show at The Phoenix on May 28.
Death Cab For Cutie have released a second video from Codes & Keys, out May 31. They’ve got two local dates coming up – May 18 at The Phoenix and July 29 at The Molson Amphitheatre. Tickets for the latter will range from $29.50 to $49.50 and go on sale Friday at 1PM. Black Book talks food with Ben Gibbard.
Video: Death Cab For Cutie – “Home Is A Fire”
NYC Taper has posted a recording of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s show at New York’s Webster Hall last week. The band are at The Opera House on August 2.
Beatroute interviews Explosions In The Sky.
Low steps into The AV Club’s Undercover studio and records a cover of Toto’s “Africa”, and damn if they don’t sound amazing.
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips discusses the viability of gummy skulls as the next medium of music delivery with Billboard.
No Comments
facebook
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}