Friday, April 4th, 2008

Wild Mountain Nation

Photo by Frank Yang

Heading in to Wednesday night’s show at the El Mocambo, I was wondering if maybe the buzz around Seattle’s Fleet Foxes, which seemed omnipresent in my online circles over the past month or so, had been held up at the border because while there was some local press covering Portland-based headliners Blitzen Trapper leading up to the show, I was hearing nary a peep about the support act.

I wasn’t in time to catch local openers Fox Jaws but was pleasantly surprised to see that the club was quite full and obviously waiting in patient anticipation for Fleet Foxes to start. And patience was the key word as they were having some technical difficulties with the monitors and were taking their time in sorting it out. It was worth it, though, as otherwise they might not have been able to hear correctly and their four-part harmonies might have suffered and that would have been an absolute crime.

There is much to recommend Fleet Foxes – their timeless blend of British and American folk music filtered through country, soul and chamber pop styles, for example – but what strikes you first and hardest is the stunning vocal interplay. Their voices, led by songwriter Robin Peckold, were simply mesmerizing to listen to. Some have compared the band to My Morning Jacket or Band Of Horses and, while fans of those bands will surely find a lot to like in the Seattle quintet, those similarities are based largely on Peckold’s high voice and the thick blanket of reverb that cloaks their new Sun Giant EP (the self-titled debut album is out June 3). Live, you appreciate how much more delicate and intricate Fleet Foxes’ craft is – there are far fewer rock moves in their arsenal, instead choosing more spiritual musical path.

Throughout their set, the band were openly astonished at how enthusiastic the crowd was, cheering loudly for even for songs that hadn’t been officially released yet. I may not have heard the buzz and anticipation for the show, but obviously it was there. This energy made for an atmosphere of real occasion, as though everyone acknowledged that they were witnessing something pretty special, as though realizing the band is not only as good as everyone says they are, but are quite probably even better.

With this sort of praise following the tour around the continent, you might be tempted to feel sorry for Blitzen Trapper with them having to follow this act every night. But such pity is unnecessary. Though perhaps not as critically acclaimed as their tourmates at the moment – the crowd was noticeably thinner when they came out – they still know how to put on a show and bring the house down. I wasn’t especially taken with their latest record Wild Mountain Nation but, as they did when I saw them in the Fall opening for John Vanderslice, they put on a thoroughly entertaining show.

Their amalgam of roots, classic, country and psychedelic rock influences – all stored in the garage, natch – sounds like it could and should collapse at any second yet the band is simply too tight and too together to ever let that happen. The ensuing musical tug-of-war is a delight to behold. And they were funny as hell, too, with guitarist Marty Marquis paying tribute to Canada by pointing out his faded Alpha Flight t-shirt. They closed out their show in gloriously chaotic fashion with all of Fleet Foxes out on stage with them along with some fans from the audience and drummer Brian Adrian Koch deciding that one of his cymbals had outlived its usefulness and trying to put it out of its – and his – misery.

If you’re anywhere near the remaining tour dates, I highly recommend hitting the show up. It’ll be beautiful, cacophonous and all points in between, guaranteed.

Tiny Mix Tapes has an interview with Blitzen Trapper and, while a few months old, this profile on Fleet Foxes by The Stranger is worth a read.

Photos: Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes @ The El Mocambo – April 2, 2008
MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Wild Mountain Nation”
MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Sci-Fi Kid” (Principal Participant Kingswood’ Remix)
MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Sci-Fi Kid” (40 Thieves Remix)
MP3: Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal”
Video: Blitzen Trapper – “Devil’s A-Go-Go”
Video: Blitzen Trapper – “Wild Mountain Nation”
Video: Blitzen Trapper – “Woof & Warp of the Quiet Giant’s Hem”
MySpace: Blitzen Trapper

A very welcome addition to the June concert calendar is Lightspeed Champion’s return to town on the 11th for a show at Lee’s Palace… this time accompanied by a full band. The two-piece configuration we saw at the Horseshoe in March worked quite well, considering, but it will be great to hear the rich arrangements of Falling Off The Lavender Bridge done proper justice in a live setting. Full tour dates are here and support will be Flowers Forever, the side project from Tilly & The Wall’s Derek Presnall.

MP3: Flowers Forever – “Black Rosary”

Matmos will be at the Music Gallery on July 21.

NPR is streaming a session from Jens Lekman recorded at SxSW last month. Jens is at The Great Hall on April 8.

NOW and Commercial Appeal talk to Will Sheff of Okkervil River, who kick off their tour with The New Pornographers starts in Toronto next Wednesday night, April 9.

Chart reports that The Coast’s cross-country tour got off to a lousy start when the band’s van was burgled in Victoria and many personal effects – and frontman Ben Spurr’s clothes – were stolen. The band will be back home, hopefully fully clothed, for a record release show at the Horseshoe on April 18. Expatriate was released this week.

PopMatters asks questions of American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel, gets pithy responses. The Georgia Straight and The Province also offer up interviews. AMC are at Lee’s Palace on April 19.

Beatroute profiles The D’Urbervilles, playing the UKULA store on May 1 as part of the Over The Top Fest.

The Calgary Sun bears witness as Feist is reunited with her old Fender Mustang bass. Awwwww. Feist plays a sold out show at the Sony Centre on May 13 and will also appear on Sesame Street in the near future.

JamBase profiles British Sea Power, in town on Monday for a Beautiful Noise taping and again on May 16 for a gig at Lee’s Palace.

Matt Berninger of The National talks to Spinner about how R.E.M. soundtracked his high school days. Non-$90 tickets for their show at the Molson Amphitheatre on June 8 go on sale tomorrow at 10AM.

InsideVandy, The River City Reader and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talk to Jim Eno and Britt Daniel of Spoon, who have a new video and a new EP, Don’t You Evah, out April 8. Watch and stream below, respectively.

Video: Spoon – “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”
Stream: Spoon / Don’t You Evah

And speaking of new videos, Elbow has one from The Seldom Seen Kid, out April 22.

Video: Elbow – “One Day Like This”

Minnesota Public Radio has Headlights in their studio for a session.

Sons & Daughters kept a tour diary for Billboard during their recent North American jaunt.

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

While You Were Out

Photo via MySpace

Unbelievably, the world kept going while I was away. It’ll be impossible to get completely caught up (though if I just ignore everyone’s Sx coverage, maybe not so difficult) but here’s some stuff that I squirreled away over the past few days.

The lineup and schedule for this year’s Over The Top Fest, running April 30 through May 4, has just been announced – highlights will surely include The D’Urbervilles and Oh No Forest Fires at the UKULA Store on May 1, Wye Oak at Sneaky Dee’s on May 2, An Albatross at Sneaky Dee’s on May 3, and capping things off, a solo performance from Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes and Peter & The Wolf at the Mod Club on May 4. There’s also a film festival component that will surely feature all kinds of stuff I’ve never heard of. Which is probably the point.

The D’Urbervilles were half of one the shows I would have dearly loved to been in attendance for this past week (Forest City Lovers being the other half). eye ran features on both bands last week in advance of Friday’s show and Radio Free Canuckistan has the director’s cut of that D’Urbervilles interview. They’re also the feature band of the week at I Heart Music, complete with CD giveaways.

The other show I wish I’d been at was The Gutter Twins at Mod, though that was the same night as the D’Urbervilles/Forest City show so even if I was in town, I’d have still missed out. Hmm. Anyways, NOW and eye both had features on the Dulli/Lanegan project while The Village Voice also has a feature and interview transcript.

Leonard Cohen, possibly still feeling the financial pinch from getting fleeced by his manager, is hitting the road for the first time in a decade and a half starting here in Toronto with a two-night stand, June 6 and 7, at the Sony Centre.

A little more in the here and now, The Raveonettes have got an in-store scheduled at Sonic Boom on March 21 at 6:30PM, before their proper show at the Opera House that same night. Sonic Boom has hosted some crazy in-stores, but I bet this one’s going to be beyond packed. The Chicago Tribune talks to Sune Rose Wagner.

MGMT – pronounced “Em-gee-em-tee” – will be back in town for the third time in four months for a show at the Mod Club on April 15. NPR – pronounced “En-Pee-Ahr” – has a World Cafe session to stream and BBC – pronounced “Bee-bee-see” – an interview to read.

Scout Niblett will be at The Horseshoe on April 23.

As promised, Rilo Kiley are also back for a show at the Phoenix on May 28. Full dates at BrooklynVegan.

If you were hoping to see Neil Halstead solo or Rogue Wave in the area sometime soon, your prayers have been answered… in the form of a nightmare. They’ll be at Burl’s Park in Barrie on August 3 opening for Jack Johnson. I realize y’all like surfing and all, but come on.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talks to Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, in town tonight for a show at the Opera House.

Pitchfork has an interview with Beach House, who have a gig at the El Mocambo next Friday night (March 28).

And the following night, after our Nelly Furtado-led Earth Hour, Basia Bulat will be playing Lee’s Palace. On her recent US jaunt, she stopped in for a Daytrotter session, recorded a World Cafe session for NPR and gave an interview to Who Killed The Mix Tape.

She’ll be returning to the tender embrace of the American highway system in April as support for DeVotchKa who will be promoting their grand new album A Mad And Faithful Telling, which was released yesterday and you can stream the whole thing below. The Denver Post and The Scotsman talk to frontman Nick Urata about the new record.

Stream: DeVotchKa / A Mad & Faithful Telling

Sentimentalist and The Times Online talk to Hotel and VV of The Kills, a band I’ve never paid any attention to but whose new one, Midnight Boom, is really doing it for me. Looking forward to catching them at the Opera House on May 6.

Video: The Kills – “Cheap & Cheerful”
Video: The Kills – “U.R.A. Fever”

Incendiary has a two-part interview with The Long Blondes about Couples, out April 8. The Scotsman and Click Music get theirs done in a single shot. They will be at Lee’s Palace on May 22

This Is Fake DIY and Contact Music have conversations with Elbow’s Guy Garvey, who apparently hates iTunes. The Seldom Seen Kid is out April 22.

The Guardian talks to Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce about his near-death encounter and Songs in A & E, slated for a June 3 release. Deaf Indie Elephants has a radio rip of the first single, “Soul On Fire”.

Drowned In Sound tries to decipher a recent blog posting from Patrick Wolf about the direction of his new record.

Cat Power appears to be in a session-y sort of mood – AOL Music has video of a five-song session she did for them, NPR a World Cafe show and An Aquarium Drunkard the audio of a recent Black Session available to grab.

Stars’ Torq Campbell talks to Billboard about possibly pushing the creative envelope on their next album… or possibly creating another record of hooky, boy-girl synth pop. They’re aiming for a 2009 release but may have a stopgap EP out later this year.

NME reports that the new record from Tilly & The Wall has a release date – June 17 – but no title and will remain untitled.

Monday, February 11th, 2008

Back Numbers

The co-headline tour must be a tricky proposition. The “co-” implies that the acts are of an equal stature and that one should take no higher billing than the other, but pragmatically when it comes to showtime, someone opens and someone closes. When the Keren Ann/Dean and Britta tour was initially announced, it was Ms Zeidel who appeared to be getting the nod as far as getting to pick songs for an encore but as Saturday night’s date at the Mod Club drew near, listings appeared to flip the order and give Mr and Mrs Luna the top billing, possibly causing issues for people planning out their evening. For me, it was academic. Though I thought it a bit of an odd pairing, it worked for me and I was there well early enough to catch the whole show, whatever the order.

As it happened, Keren Ann took the stage first. I’d lost track of her since seeing her in 2006 2005 in support of her English-language debut (and third album overall) Not Going Anywhere, a beguilingly low-key blend of folk and jazz with some dashes of rock thrown in for flavour that I don’t listen to nearly as much as it deserves. In the interim, she’s released two more albums – 2004’s Nolita and last year’s self-title – and, based on Saturday’s set, discovered her inner rocker. Fear not – her inner rocker looks and awful lot like her inner folkie, just wielding a big, hollowbody electric guitar for a few numbers that rather suited her. Also very complimentary was her band, consisting of an electric guitarist/bassist and drummer that was a far cry from the two-piece acoustic/keyboard configuration I saw her with last time. That extra musical oomph, coupled with her beautifully breathy voice, turned what I had expected to be a pleasant performance into a rather stunning one. If this is the direction she’s taken her recordings in, then I have some catching up to do.

The last time Dean & Britta came to Toronto in March 2007 was also the first time and for myself and presumably other Toronto Luna fans, a real occasion. For part of the reason for Luna’s dissolution was Dean Wareham’s weariness of life on the road so I never really expected any proper touring to occur, let alone make it up here. There was also the question of how much of Wareham’s musical legacy would be acknowledged and if it was, how would it sound without Sean Eden and Lee Wall? The answer to these questions was “lots” and “just fine” and with that show, the spectre of Luna (and to a lesser extent Galaxie 500) was essentially exorcised (lovingly so) and Dean and Britta were free to be Dean & Britta.

My thoughts previously about it being an odd pairing with Keren Ann proved completely off base as D&B’s languorous, Euro-flavoured retro pop exists very much in the same dimension as Keren Ann’s in a way that Luna’s guitar-centric rock never did. Welcome to the present, I guess. So while the show opened with a shot of G500’s “Snowstorm” and Luna’s “Moon Palace” made an appearance three songs in, the bulk of the set didn’t make the same efforts to straddle all of Wareham’s career and the delivery was pure Dean & Britta. Appropriately, there were far fewer guitar solos than last time and the songs and set were much more compact, though that may have been due more to the looming curfew than any aesthetic choice. Wareham also took more lead vocals than last time and handled the bulk of the banter, picking out familiar faces in the crowd, commenting on films (he didn’t like Juno). plugging his forthcoming book (Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance – out March 13!) and generally seeming more at ease than I can recall ever seeing him. A fine show and if the vibe eleven months ago was that of the return of the long-lost prodigal son, this show felt more like an old friend stopping by for a visit. Can’t wait for next time.

The Westender talks to Wareham about his band, his book and film scores while The Weekly Dig features Keren Ann. And while Zoilus was a bit of a victim of the shifting lineup/set-times, he came for the Keren Ann but stayed for the D&B.

Photos: Dean & Britta, Keren Ann @ The Mod Club – February 9, 2008
MP3: Dean & Britta – “Words You Used To Say”
MP3: Dean & Britta – “Singer Sing”
MP3: Keren Ann – “Not Going Anywhere”
Video: Dean & Britta – “Words You Used To Say”
Video: Dean & Britta – “Night Nurse”
Video: Dean & Britta – “Knives From Bavaria”
Video: Keren Ann – “Lay Your Head Down”
Video: Keren Ann – “Chelsea Burns”
Video: Keren Ann – “Not Going Anywhere”
MySpace: Dean & Britta
MySpace: Keren Ann

Cutesiness abounds as Uberdrivel interviews Los Campesinos! (Hold On Now, Youngster… out April 1) and Music Snobbery chats with Tilly & The Wall (untitled third album due June 3).

Stephin Merritt talks to The Boston Globe about The Magnetic Fields’ Distortion.

The Age discusses White Chalk with PJ Harvey.

PopMatters asks Robyn Hitchcock 20 questions. Robyn Hitchcock gives PopMatters 20 answers.

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Bring The Noise

Last week, I made a vague, arm-waving attempt to round up the various outdoor festivals taking place around North America this year (and since it went up, a few dates have been updated and one fest has been cancelled) and consciously avoided including their mutli-day, club-hopping, running water-friendly brethren.

That’s because aside from the obvious big ones – SxSW and CMJ – they tend to be smaller or more regional events and thus largely off the radar of anyone who doesn’t live in the vicinity. On top of that, they’re also more likely to be industry hack-scummy rather than corporate sponsorship-scummy (though certainly not exclusively so) though there are happy exceptions. Pop Montreal has been a fine example of an in-city festival that can be very fan- and artist-friendly and one that I’ve had the pleasure to both attend and by putting on a show last year, participate in.

And next month, as part of The Hot Freaks music blogger collective, I’m excited to be a sponsor/partner/friend to the Noise Pop festival running from February 26 to March 2 in San Francisco. Celebrating its 16th year, Noise Pop has generally marked the start of the festival season with many bands kicking off tours of the west/southwestern US there en route to SxSW a couple of weeks later. Though they may not boast the same overall quantity of acts as some fests, the level of quality is always high and this year’s no different with the centrepieces being a two-night stand from The Magnetic Fields and three shows from The Mountain Goats, as well as the first live show from She & Him and appearances from such acts British Sea Power, The Walkmen, The Gutter Twins and A Place To Bury Strangers (who ably represent the “noise” part of the equation) and Minipop, Tilly & The Wall and The Rosebuds to handle the “pop”.

On top of this, there are film and art components which will include a screening of director Vincent Moon’s film about The National (from whence these performances come), A Skin, A Night, an art installation from Yoko Ono and an exhibition of rare Elliott Smith photographs from Autumn de Wilde’s book on the late singer. Sadly, I’m only going to be able to attend a couple days of the affair – stupid real life getting in the way of my fun – but am really looking forward not only to seeing as many of the performances as I can, but to visit San Francisco again – I haven’t been there in some sixteen years, which is really far too long.

And in perfect timing with this, we have the new video from The Mountain Goats’ forthcoming Heretic Pride, out February 19. As you can see in the wonderful clip, which allows you to sing along without having to follow the bouncing ball, the Goats are now officially a three-piece with Superchunk stickman Jon Wurster in the fold. But those fearing that this will upset the delicate Goats balance need not worry – Heretic Pride is no rock monolith, though relative to Get Lonely it’s decidedly more lively and the drums are part of that. No, to my ears the arrangements are bigger in exactly the right places and right amounts and the record marks the next logical step in the evolution of the Mountain Goats sound, since Tallahassee, at least.

Video: The Mountain Goats – “Sax Rohmer #1”

Exclaim! discusses Distortion with The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt.

From the dormant Field Music comes School Of Language and from School Of Language comes a new record entitled Sea From Shore, out February 5, and a show at Sneaky Dee’s on March 12.

MP3: School Of Language – “Rockist, Part 1”
Stream: School Of Language / Sea From Shore

And from their Sunderland, England cohorts in The Futureheads comes a new video and a third album due out in May. And an interview with Ross Millard by The Chorley Citizen.

Video: The Futureheads – “The Beginning Of The Twist”

The Von Pip Musical Express lands an interview with Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush, and is told (again) to not hold one’s breath for a reunion. They also talk to a few of her recent and rare collaborators.

Patrick Wolf has updated all his MySpace friends on going-ons in Patrick Wolf-land, namely prepping a new live DVD and working on his next album.

Decemberist Colin Meloy chats with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

PopMatters has a long inteview with The Drive-By Truckers, Exclaim! a short one. The Truckers are at the Opera House on March 19.

Bradley’s Almanac is offering up live recordings of the all-star benefit concert for Callum Robbins, son of Jawbox’s J. Robbins. Head over for the recordings and full details on the reasons for the benefit and ways to donate.

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Kind of a messy day yesterday for those watching the V Fest lineup leaderboard yesterday, which is to say – me. Once again, no official announcement was forthcoming about who was playing, let alone when, but there were some updates to the official Facebook group and then updates to those updates as the day went on. Final boxscore as of now for day one? Paulo Nutini still on, k-os added then removed, The Coral removed, Hayley Sales and The Most Serene Republic added. So by any measure a net subtraction and certainly no replacement for Amy Winehouse.

The act I was expecting to be added and and broadly hinted as such – pure speculation, understand, and though it could still happen I’m far less certain than I was 24 hours ago – is The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Why them? Well, they played the Baltimore one a few weeks back, they’re not at Osheaga and oh yeah – they’ll already be here. The night before V Fest kicks off – Friday, September 7 – the band will be in town playing a show at the Berkeley Church as part of a party being put on by Vice, Rimmel (the cosmetics people) and CK (the fragrance people), an event that is almost certain to be equally strange and excellent Admission is by guest list only which is to say you need to RSVP to festivalball@viceland.com and even then, I suspect that it guarantees you nothing. It’ll most likely be first-come, first-serve and you’ll still need to show up muy early to get in. But everyone loves a good wait-in-line, right? You can bring s’mores, make friends. I’m trying to get more info on exactly how the doors at the Festival Ball will work and still have my fingers crossed that they’ll hang around town one more day to give the first day of V Fest a much needed dose of awesome.

Update: Well, the V Fest press release finally arrived and k-os is it for bigger names added. No Yeah Yeah Yeahs, no one you could consider a replacement for Amy Winehouse at all. Bummer. Schedule forthcoming on September 4.
Update 2: First-come, first-serve for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is exactly how it’s going to work (from Vice). Get there early, kids.

Nick Zinner talked to MTV about their new EP Is Is. You can watch live videos of every track from the EP at YouTube.

MySpace: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

New Editors vid. They’re playing day two of V Fest.

Video: Editors – “An End Has A Start” (YouTube)

Congratulations to Okkervil River, whose The Stage Names debuted at #66 with a bullet on the Billboard Top 200. Consequently, Will Sheff is a wanted man for interviews – The AV Club, Exclaim!, Pitchfork and Chart all talked to him about the new record. The River flows through Lee’s Palace on September 21 and carries on to Hamilton at the Pepper Jack Cafe on September 22.

NOW asks Camera Obscura keyboardist Carey Lander about her experiences in Toronto – experiences that she’ll be adding to come Sunday night when they’re in town for a show at the Phoenix. eye settles for asking her about regular stuff. AM New York doesn’t ask Tracyanne Campbell about Toronto at all. Don’t forget my contest for passes to see this show ends tonight!

Cleveland Scene tracks the meteoric success of Band Of Horses. Their sophomore record Cease To Begin will hit stores on October 9 and this is what it’ll look like.

Matt Pond PA discusses Last Light, out September 25, with Spin. You can hear a couple of tracks from the new record at their MySpace. Update: BrooklynVegan points us to this downloadable track from the new record featuring Ms Neko Case.

MP3: Matt Pond PA w Neko Case – “Taught To Look Away”

FilterTV has a video interview with the boys of Dirty On Purpose, in town on October 3 at Lee’s with Fujiya & Miyagi.

Wireless Bollinger gets sunshiney with Tilly & The Wall.

Queens Of the Stone Age, who just Tuesday night played a secret Molson-sponsored gig at the Guvernment, will be back in town on October 15 for a proper, everyone’s invited show at the Hummingbird Centre.

Many are intrigued by Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There (whose website exists only in Spanish), but when it opens on November 21, only a few will get to see it – it will initially open on only four screens in the US (and expand to over 100 later on). It will get it’s premiere right here in Toronto, however, as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. Yay us. Check out the trailer for the film below:

Trailer: I’m Not There (YouTube)