Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
The Hold Steady, Frank Turner, Dawes, and more at TURF 2013
Frank YangWait, what happened to Toronto Urban Roots Fest day two? Exhaustion and a backlog of Hannibal happened, but I was mostly recharged and ready to go for the full-day programmes down at Fort York over this past weekend; Saturday, in particular, was not to be missed as it would be the day that the “R” in “TURF” would stop standing for “roots” and most definitely stand for “rock”.
Los Angeles’ Dawes straddled those two solitudes quite nicely, mind, with their sweet Laurel Canyon-inspired harmonies and songwriting and edge-of-jam-band – yet always totally tasteful – guitar solos courtesy of frontman Taylor Goldsmith; it was an ideal balance of crunchy and smooth, if you’re given to peanut butter analogies. But as solid a frontman as Taylor was, the band’s secret weapon was his brother Griffin, who contributed astonishing backing vocals from behind the kit along with some killer drummer face for good measure. They didn’t draw the biggest mid-afternoon crowd – possibly because they had another headlining show slated for Lee’s Palace later that night – but when those who were there were called on to sing along in “When My Time Comes”, they sounded legion. Very impressive.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an interview with Dawes.
Photos: Dawes @ Garrison Commons, West Stage – July 6, 2013
MP3: Dawes – “If I Wanted Someone”
Video: Dawes – “From A Window Seat”
Video: Dawes – “When My Time Comes”
Video: Dawes – “Time Spent In Los Angeles”
Video: Dawes – “Love Is All I Am”
You could arguably file Dartmouth’s Matt Mays alongside Dawes in record stores where “roots-rock” is a distinct thing, but he definitely dwells far more toward the rock end of that spectrum – those who found Dawes a bit sedate or polite was probably delighted by the balls-out approach favoured by Mays and his crew. Though undoubtedly still shaken by the sudden passing of guitarist Jay Smith barely a month earlier, from a performance point of view they were firing on all cylinders with a stock of tunes tailor-made for playing loud in the Summer sun. Theirs was a set of dueling guitars and whipping sweaty hair, and I think my favourite part of their set was after a a particularly energetic number, Mays mouthed “how long?” to the stagehand and incredulously repeated, “Twenty-five minutes?!?” – they were not pacing themselves, and the show was all the better for it.
Photos: Matt Mays @ Garrison Commons, East Stage – July 6, 2013
Video: Matt Mays – “Indio”
Video: Matt Mays – “Take It On Faith”
Video: Matt Mays – “City Of Lakes”
Video: Matt Mays – “Cocaine Cowgirl”
Video: Matt Mays & El Torpedo – “On The Hood”
Video: Matt Mays & El Torpedo – “Tall Trees”
Though as I understand it, he’s a pretty big star in the UK now, I’d somehow managed to never hear Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls before their set, and all I had to go on was that apparently he gets compared to Billy Bragg a lot. Which is cool, because I like Billy Bragg. As it turns out, that’s not the best reference point because Turner really doesn’t sound like Billy Bragg. Handsome and poshly-accented, his songs sound political but are far vaguer than anything Bragg has ever penned, favouring pub-friendly anthemicism to fiery activism and commentary; more Pogues than Clash. But while it’s unlikely to incite a revolution, that everyman approach makes for some rousing music and there’s no debating his ability to stir up a crowd. Energetic and charismatic, he was quick with the banter and expressing his appreciation for the city – he’s no stranger to Toronto stages – and curried some domestic favour with a sharp cover of The Weakerthans’ “A Plea From A Cat Named Virtue”; a canny move, as everyone loves a cat song.
RTE has an interview with Turner.
Photos: Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls @ Garrison Commons, West Stage – July 6, 2013
MP3: Frank Turner – “The Roads”
Stream: Frank Turner – “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue”
Video: Frank Turner – “The Way I Tend To Be”
Video: Frank Turner – “Recovery”
Video: Frank Turner – “Four Simple Words”
Video: Frank Turner – “Sailor’s Boots”
Video: Frank Turner – “Wessex Boy”
Video: Frank Turner – “If I Ever Stray”
Video: Frank Turner – “Peggy Sang The Blues”
Video: Frank Turner – “I Still Believe”
Video: Frank Turner – “Try This At Home”
Video: Frank Turner – “Isabel”
Video: Frank Turner – “Poetry Of The Deed”
Video: Frank Turner – “The Road”
Video: Frank Turner – “Long Live The Queen”
Video: Frank Turner – “I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous”
Video: Frank Turner – “Reasons Not To Be An Idiot”
Video: Frank Turner – “Photosynthesis”
Video: Frank Turner – “The Real Damage”
Video: Frank Turner – “Vital Signs”
Video: Frank Turner – “Casanova Lament”
My relationship with Toronto’s own Lowest of The Low is a long one. Anyone who knew me in my late teens/early twenties – or read this post from 2007 knew that they were easily my favourite band going and hugely important to me, and so when they announced that after their 2000 reunion turned into a going concern, they were again hanging it up for good with a final hometown show that December, it stirred all kinds of memories and nostalgia and whatever, and I bid them farewell. Well, of course they didn’t actually split up, as some 2010 one-off shows turned into tours and more shows and though I probably wouldn’t have gone to them anyways, I felt that I needed to boycott them on principle. Happily, I’ve gotten over myself and allowed that the band is allowed to do whatever the hell they want, and thankfully was able to actually enjoy their TURF set rather than grumble about it.
Interestingly, they were back down to a four-piece – founding bassist David Alexander remained absent, but utility player Lawrence Nichols was no longer in the fold – and while they did roll out some new songs, noting that they were going back into the studio to record a fourth album, it was the old tunes that made the day. I still know all the words to “Eternal Fatalist”, “Bleed A Little While Tonight”, and “Rosy & Grey” and probably will until the day I die – and even though Stephen Stanley’s guitar was nearly inaudible in the mix for the first half of the set, I was able to hum every solo as well. They weren’t that tight up there, certainly not compared to the full-time touring outfits sharing the bill with them, but were good enough for rock’n’roll and Hawkins is still a sharp and funny frontman. Not sure about that hair, though, Ron.
Photos: The Lowest Of The Low @ Garrison Commons, East Stage – July 6, 2013
MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “Gamble”
MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “The Dogs Of February”
MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “Bleed A Little While Tonight”
MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “Subversives”
MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “The Unbearable Lightness Of Jean” (live)
Video: The Lowest Of The Low – “Rosy & Grey” (live)
Video: The Lowest Of The Low – “The Last Recidivist”
Video: The Lowest Of The Low – “Eternal Fatalist”
And then The Hold Steady. Because I’d seen them so so so many times in a three-year span, I didn’t realize that it had actually been over four years since I saw Craig Finn and the boys do their thing. The upside of this is that it made our reunion at TURF all that more joyous, though anything Hold Steady is bound to be joyous regardless.
After a series of introductions – festival organizer intro-ed sportscaster Dave Hodge who intro-ed superfan Frank Turner who finally intro-ed the band before running down into the pit to rock out to the show – The Hold Steady took the stage to the biggest cheers of the day and put on a clinic about the power and celebratory spirit of rock’n’roll. Powering through a seventeen-song set that gave about equal time to all their records including the new one they’d be going into the studio to record this week, the band were in excellent form with Finn in extra-good spirits from seeing his Minnesota Twins shut out the hometown Blue Jays down the street earlier in the afternoon. Having missed the Heaven Is Whenever tour entirely, it was my first time seeing them without keyboardist Franz Nicolay, and while his keyboard flourishes and sartorial flair were missed, new guitarist Steve Selvidge endeared himself with some Thin Lizzy-esque lead lines with Tad Kubler. And even after it was done, it wasn’t as the roaring audience demanded that rarest of beasts – an encore from anyone but the last act of the night, they rip-roared through “Stay Positive”; Frank Turner leapt onstage to add vocals, but we all knew the “whoa-oh-oh”s. Exhausting and exhilarating.
Photos: The Hold Steady @ Garrison Commons, West Stage – July 6, 2013
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Hurricane J”
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Sequestered In Memphis”
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!”
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Stuck Between Stations”
Video: The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
Video: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!”
Video: The Hold Steady – “Stuck Between Stations”
Video: The Hold Steady – “Your Little Hoodrat Friend”
Video: The Hold Steady – “The Swish”
Speaking of rock… Drive-By Truckers haven’t been through town in a while – not since November 2011 behind their last full-length Go-Go Boots, what with both Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley working on solo projects and the departures of bassist Shona Tucker and guitarist John Neff, but the Truckers are back on the road and will be at The Phoenix on November 2 with Old 97’s, who themselves haven’t been to town since Spring 2011, along as support. Not sure if this means there’s new records on the way from either of them, but I get the feeling folks will be perfectly happy to hear the old stuff. NYC Taper has posted a recording of an Old 97s show in Brooklyn last week, if you want to hear what Rhett and the boys are sounding like these days.
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Used To Be A Cop”
MP3: Old 97’s – “Brown-Haired Daughter”
Exclaim has specifics on the new double-album from Quasi, who are marking their twentieth anniversary as a band with Mole City, out October 1. There’s a trailer and advance MP3 to inspect.
MP3: Quasi – “You Can Stay But You Got To Go”
Trailer: Quasi / Mole City
Cincinnati CityBeat welcomes home native sons The National with a feature interview.
NPR has a World Cafe session with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who also just rolled out a new video from Specter At The Feast.
Video: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Hate The Taste”
Daytrotter has posted a session with Saturday Looks Good To Me.
Future Bible Heroes have released a new video from their latest album Partygoing, which will surely make up for the sting of knowing that their show at Lee’s Palace, originally set for later this month, has been canceled. But that happened ages ago, so you already knew that, right? Right.
Video: Future Bible Heroes – “Living, Loving, Partygoing”
Titus Andronicus have rolled out a new album from last year’s Local Business and are already taking preorders for their fourth album, due for release next year.
Video: Titus Andronicus – “Still Life With Hot Deuce And Silver Platter”
Under The Radar interviews Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.
Consequence Of Sound has compiled and impressive oral history of Big Star.
Monday, July 8th, 2013
Pier Nicola D’AmicoWho: Blonde Redhead
What: New York-based, Italo-Japanese art rock trio who’ve evolved from dissonant noise to ethereal beauty over eight albums and 18 years.
Why: Last here in Fall 2010 behind Penny Sparkle, the band won’t have a new full-length out until next Spring but that’s no reason they can’t get out of the studio and stretch their legs a bit.
When: Monday, July 15, 2013
Where: The Adelaide Music Hall in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Toronto’s Darcys have been named as support.
How: Tickets for the show are $22.50 in advance but courtesy of Young Lions Music Club and MRG Concerts, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. There’s two ways to enter – if you’re an Rdio user, you can add your favourite BR tune to the YLMC-assembled playlist to enter, and if you’re not, you can email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Blonde Redhead” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Enter both, if you like; the contest closes at midnight, July 13.
MP3: Blonde Redhead – “Here Sometimes”
MP3: Blonde Redhead – “Misery Is A Butterfly”
Monday, July 8th, 2013
She & Him, Camera Obscura, Joel Plaskett, and more at TURF 2013
Frank YangI don’t know if the troops who manned Fort York in the 18th and 19th centuries necessarily knew that they were potentially laying their lives on the line so that future generations could wander the grounds, tall boy in hand and Ray-Bans on head whilst listening to live music, but if they did, they’d be proud. After serving intermittent duty as an outdoor venue over the past few years, Fort York and Garrison Commons has become the go-to site for music festivals in downtown Toronto, effectively replacing the picturesque but logistically problematic Olympic Island. And while it’s not large enough to host something on the scale of Lollapalooza or Osheaga, or even necessarily our own late and qualifiedly-lamented V Fest, it’s a convenient, scenic, and effective space for events like the inaugural Toronto Urban Roots Fest this past weekend.
Unlike the Arts & Crafts anniversary Field Trip in June, the Lolla-Osheagea-drafting Grove Fest in early August, or the Replacements-reuniting Riot Fest later that month, TURF comes out of the gate homegrown – put on by local promoters Collective Concerts – and extra-ambitious, stretching over four nights and two full days plus club shows at The Horseshoe and Lee’s Palace, and with a definite eye towards becoming an annual Summer tradition in the city, filling a glaring need in a town that’s otherwise pretty generous for its live music-going patrons (for more background on the festival, check out interviews with founder Jeff Cohen at The Toronto Standard, The Grid, The National Post, The Toronto Star, and The Toronto Sun).
And it all got underway last Thursday evening, under sunny and sweltering skies, with Barr Brothers, the multi-instrumentalised, harp-enhanced quartet from Montreal ably represented the “roots” end of things. Being largely unfamiliar with the band, their musical personality felt somewhat broad, but as the set progressed, settled into an enjoyable range, dwelling largely in the intricate and lovely folk end of things but with confident forays into rougher, bluesy territory, all of it elegantly and impeccably executed.
Photos: The Barr Brothers @ Garrison Commons, West Stage – July 4, 2013
MP3: The Barr Brothers – “Beggar In The Morning”
Video: The Barr Brothers – “Old Mythologies”
Video: The Barr Brothers – “Beggar In The Morning”
No such stylistic figuring out was needed for Scotland’s Camera Obscura, up next at the other end of the park. I’d seen them what seems like a million times – most recently their second-last visit in June 2009 behind My Maudlin Career (they circled back for another show that November) – but it had still been far too long. But now they were back with a charming new record in Desire Lines and back on the road. And, had there been any doubt, they confirmed that in addition to being top-class purveyors of indie-pop tunes, they could still look unsmiling and dour even on a beautiful Summer’s evening. That’s just them, though, and with a couple touring players utility filling things out on percussion, horns, and steel guitar, they were able to string together all the bright and jaunty pop numbers in their catalog – with a few of the slow burners dropped in for variety – for an ideal smile-inducing, hand-clapping festival show.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe have features on the band.
Photos: Camera Obscura @ Garrison Commons, East Stage – July 4, 2013
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Fifth In Line To The Throne”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “My Maudlin Career”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Suspended From Class”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Come Back Margaret”
Video: Camera Obscura – “The Sweetest Thing”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Honey In The Sun”
Video: Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”
Video: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Tears For Affairs”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Teenager”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Keep It Clean”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Eighties Fan”
It stands to reason that if you open up something of local importance, like say a shopping mall, you’d have the mayor on hand to cut the ribbon (maybe not Toronto’s mayor, but I digress). So if you’re inaugurating a new music festival in Canada, you bring out the de facto mayor of Canadian music, which is to say Joel Plaskett. Following an introduction from fellow sort-of Canuck icon, sportscaster Dave Hodge, Plaskett and the Emergency got to work with a set not too different from the one I saw at The Horseshoe in December, with a solo acoustic set sandwiched between classic rock-outs, but angled more for broad crowd-pleasing than just the die-hards. It’s pretty safe to say there’s no size stage that Plaskett doesn’t feel right at home at, whether playing the rocker or troubadour. And it seemed fitting that having largely missed Canada Day earlier this week because I was in the US, I was now marking Independence Day with as concentrated a dose of Canadiana as you could hope to find.
The Gate has an interview with Plaskett.
Photos: Joel Plaskett Emergency @ Garrison Commons, East Stage – July 4, 2013
MP3: Joel Plaskett – “When I Go”
MP3: Joel Plaskett – “Deny Deny Deny”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Somewhere Else”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “Through & Through & Through”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “You Let Me Down”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Fashionable People”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “Happen Now”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “Natural Disaster”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “Paralyzed”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Work Out Fine”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Come On Teacher”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “True Patriot Love”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Maybe We Should Just Go Home”
Video: Joel Plaskett Emergency – “Clueless Wonder”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “She Made A Wreck Outta Me”
Video: Joel Plaskett – “News Of Your Son”
On an evening of TURF firsts, She & Him had the distinction of not only being the first headliner, but the first ones to reveal the very existence of the festival to the world when it was listed in their tour itinerary in support of Volume 3 back in January. It was a personal first for me, as well, seeing them for the first time outside of SXSW where I caught one of their earliest shows in 2008 and again in more seasoned form in 2010. It looked to be Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel’s same six-piece backing band in place as at that second show – nice to see they’ve kept the unit together over the years – and also in place was their strict “no photos” policy, applied to the entire audience and most of the media. This was a source of some grousing from those hoping to leverage the star power on display into more Instagram likes, but for those who accepted it and watched the show with their eyeballs, it was a pretty enjoyable show.
It may be an overstatement to say that had She & Him been exactly what they are musically but without the principals being who they are, they wouldn’t be where they are now – okay, any outfit with someone of Matt Ward’s guitar and arrangement skills would demand to be heard – but you can’t argue that having someone of Deschanel’s profile fronting them offered a pretty big leg up. She’s not an astonishing talent as a singer or a songwriter, but she’s certainly good enough to pull off the uncomplex but endearing retro-pop songs that she writes, particularly when surrounded with the players that she is. And considering that between the release of their first record in 2008 and now, she’s gone from an indie film darling to legit network sitcom star, the her commitment to She & Him remains as strong as it is actually pretty impressive.
Also impressive is how much she’s grown as a frontperson and performer. She’s not Juliette Lewis, by any measure, but considering how deer-in-the-headlights terrified she was at that first SXSW show, the assuredness she’s got on stage now if nice to see. Ward, also, was more engaged with being the titular Him in the band, stepping out of the shadows for some showy guitar moves and to elicit swoons with his gravelly vocals on the duets. Together, Ward and Deschanel have a charming if decidedly PG sort of chemistry, perfectly suited to the chaste, sock hop-esque concepts of romance that they specialize in. High points were the Chapin Sisters-harmonized rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” against a backdrop of stars, a sweet version of Ward’s own “Magic Trick”, and a fiery guitar duel between Ward and Mike Coykendall to close out “In The Sun” and the main set. And also that the first day of the first TURF ever went off beautifully.
Photos: She & Him @ Garrison Commons, East Stage – July 4, 2013
MP3: She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
Video: She & Him – “I Could’ve Been Your Girl”
Video: She & Him – “Don’t Look Back”
Video: She & Him – “Thieves”
Video: She & Him – “In The Sun”
Video: She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
Exclaim has a conversation with Louise Burns about her new album The Midnight Mass as well as an advance stream of said record ahead of its July 9 release date.
Stream: Louise Burns / Midnight Mass
Exclaim gets Diamond Rings to play an acoustic video session. He’ll be fully plugged-in when opening up for OMD at the Danforth Music Hall on July 11 and 19.
Exclaim talk changes in direction with Lightning Dust, in town at The Drake on September 10.
The Grid checks in with Dallas Good of The Sadies, whose new album Internal Sounds will be made external on September 17.
Exclaim has the first batch of live dates from Rae Spoon in support of his new record My Prairie Home, coming August 13, and they include a September 18 date at The Gladstone in Toronto.
MP3: Rae Spoon – “Crash Landing”
The Montreal Gazette and Spin have feature pieces on Austra, who play a hometown show at The Phoenix on September 27.
The Grid talks to Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras about their new 7″ “Gay Goth Scene” and the new album, Age, that it precedes. That is due out sometime this Fall.
Evening Hymns have released a new video from their Polaris-longlisted album Spectral Dusk.
Video: Evening Hymns – “Song To Sleep To”
Stars have premiered the newest video from The North at The Huffington Post.
Video: Stars – “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It”
Huffington Post talks to Al Spx of Cold Specks about collaborating with Moby on his new record and where she’s going with her own next album.
The Guardian has a video session with Rachel Zeffira, wherein she performs her version of The Beatles’ “Because”; she plays one of her own songs in session for Chart.
aux.tv has an interview with Odonis Odonis.
Friday, July 5th, 2013
Icona Pop continue to love it, encourage others to love it
Fredrik EtoallIf nothing else, Swedish electro-pop duo Icona Pop deserve some sort of prize for getting as far as they have without having to release their debut album. Okay, not technically true, since their self-titled debut came out in Sweden last Fall, but it remains resolutely unavailable outside of their native country and probably will remain so – in a new interview with EQ Music, Aino Jawo makes it sound as that their first international release will be an all-new record, leaving the disc that spawned their first mega-hit “I Love It” unheard by many of their fans.
Not that that seems to be eliciting many complaints from said followers. Their ubiquitous Charli XCX-penned single “I Love It” just topped the UK charts, despite hardly being a new track; it was already out there when the duo first landed on my radar last May, but thanks to placements in ads, video games, and Girls, has remained in the public consciousness and has now proven itself a pretty great Summer soundtrack as well, at least for those who do, indeed, love it – to wit, it just topped the UK singles charts and is certified gold or platinum all over the place. Not bad for a song that’s basically a slice of mindless fun.
Their appearance at The Grove Fest at Garrison Common on August 3 won’t be their Toronto debut – they opened for Marina & The Diamonds at the Kool Haus in December – but will be their first visit since they became some degree of international stars, so that will be interesting. And one can’t help look at their Fall North American tour and note the three days off between Cleveland and Boston, and figure that their first headlining date won’t be announced shortly after The Grove wraps up.
Noisey gets lessons in being poor from the duo, BBC has an introductory interview, NME talks to Charli XCX about having no regrets about giving them the song rather than keeping it for herself and The Daily Star gets Icona Pop’s angle on the collaboration, and using their success as a jumping-off point, The Line Of Best Fit has compiled a list of the next wave of female Scandinavian artists they expect to make a wide impact.
Video: Icona Pop – “I Love It” (featuring Charli XCX)
The Skinny talks to Thomas Mars of Phoenix, who have released a second video from their latest, Bankrupt!. You can also stream the whole of their Glastonbury 2013 set, which offers a taste of what they’ll do when they headline The Grove Fest at Garrison Common on August 3.
Video: Phoenix – “Trying To Be Cool”
Video: Phoenix @ Glastonbury 2013
Swedish post-punk outfit Holograms have made a track from their forthcoming album Forever, out September 3, available to stream.
Stream: Holograms – “Meditations”
Idolator talks with Swedish electro-pop artist Elliphant.
Despite having just gotten back on peoples’ radars with a new video, Robyn tells The Guardian that her new record is far from being finished.
The 405 is streaming a new track from Efterklang.
Stream: Efterklang – “Look Up”
Ólafur Arnalds has released a new video from his latest effort, For Now I Am Winter.
Video: Ólafur Arnalds – “This Place Was A Shelter”
Sigur Rós have made their recent 360° concert webstream from Dresden, Germany available to watch on demand.
The Knife have turned to their reportedly batshit live show for the newest video from Shaking The Habitual.
Video: The Knife – “Raging Lung” (live)
Thursday, July 4th, 2013
Belle & Sebastian pack up recent rarities for The Third Eye Centre
Belle & SebastianMy Belle & Sebastian record collection is pretty thorough, but one omission from their official discography is the 2005 compilation Push Barman To Open Old Wounds, on account of the fact that I zealously collected the seven Jeepster EPs whose tracks make up the set when they were initially released between 1997 and 2001. Indeed, if you’re at all a fan of the Scottish popsters and haven’t heard some or – gasp – all of these songs, none of which appeared on their proper studio albums – then attend to that posthaste. Some of the very best songs the band has ever recorded can be found in these grooves.
I can’t claim the same sort of thoroughness with the singles that accompanied their last three albums, though, since the economics of being so comprehensive took a real hit after they started coming with just one or two new songs as b-sides instead of four. And so it’s excellent news that ostensibly to coincide with their upcoming North American tour dates, which include a TURF-closing show at Garrison Common this coming Sunday night, they’re putting out another double-sized b-sides compilation in The Third Eye Centre on August 27. Matablog has details and the tracklisting, which happily includes a number of songs I know I haven’t heard, as well as some remixes that I’m pretty sure I’d be just as happy never hearing but what can you do. One of those remixes has been made available as the first advance sample of the record.
Stream: Belle & Sebastian – “Your Cover’s Blown” (Miaoux Miaoux remix)
The 405 and DIY talk to Editors about their new album The Weight Of Your Love, which came out this week.
Magnet interviews Camera Obscura ahead of making them guest editors of their website this week, while NPR welcomes them to the Morning Becomes Eclectic studios for a session and Chicago Magazine also has a chat. They play the Toronto Urban Roots Fest at Garrison Common tonight, July 4.
New Order’s new live album Live At Bestival 2012 is now available to stream ahead of its release next week on July 8, courtesy of The Guardian
Stream: New Order / Live At Bestival 2012
A couple worthwhile complete sets from this past weekend’s Glastobury fest are available to watch online; there’s Savages, who’re at The Mod Club on July 16, and Daughter, who play The Phoenix on September 29.
Video: Savages @ Glastonbury 2013
Video: Daughter @ Glastonbury 2013
White Lies have released a video for that last new song from their forthcoming Big TV, out August 21. They play The Opera House on October 1.
Video: White Lies – “There Goes Our Love”
Franz Ferdinand have made a couple tracks from their new album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action available to stream. It’s out August 27 and they play The Kool Haus October 24.
Stream: Franz Ferdinand – “Right Action”
Stream: Franz Ferdinand – “Love Illumination”
The previously announced but not yet booked Tricky date now has a venue; he’s at The Mod Club on October 6, tickets $29.50 in advance. He’s touring behind his latest album False Idols. The Guardian recently hosted and posted a video session with the artist.
MP3: Tricky – “Anti-Matter”
Tindersticks turn 20 as a band this year, and they’re marking the occasion with the release of a new album of old songs. Across Six Leap Years, the band’s tenth album, will feature ten re-recorded songs from the breadth of the catalogue; it’s out October 14 and there’s a short film/trailer on the recording sessions available now.
Trailer: Tindersticks / Across Six Leap Years
The Guardian grabbed an interview with Jessie Ware whilst at Glastonbury; she plays The Sound Academy on November 6.
Noah & The Whale have released a new video from their latest, Heart Of Nowhere.
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Lifetime”
Le Blogotheque has a video session with Slow Club.
Johnny Marr gives The Guardian a musical tour of the key points of his life; he’s also interviewed by The Telegraph.
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