Saturday, April 10th, 2010
MySpaceTheir billing isn’t anything more than their names – Daniel, Fred & Julie being Daniel Romano of Attack In Black, Fred Squire of Shotgun & Jaybird and Calm Down It’s Monday and Julie Doiron, all-around Canadian indie-rock heroine. Their album of the same name is just as simple and unpretentious, captured to tape in monophonic sound at Squire’s Sackville, New Brunswick garage and featuring three talents strumming and singing old standards and a couple of original compositions.
It’s a simple and lovely recording that documents a specific week last Summer but the trio are seeking to recreate the intimacy and vibe on tour, and reports from the early shows imply that they’re either doing just that or creating a whole new kind of special. Toronto will see if they can do that at the Horseshoe on Thursday, April 15 – tickets are $12 in advance, but courtesy of Collective Concerts and Pigeon Row, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Daniel, Fred, Julie & Me” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me by midnight, April 13.
The Coast and SoundProof have features on the project, and now’s as good a time as any to note that Julie Doiron will be opening up for Basia Bulat at the Phoenix on June 4.
MP3: Daniel, Fred & Julie – “The Gambler & His Bride”
MP3: Daniel Fred & Julie – “Runner”
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
Frank YangThe Wedding Present play Bizarro – seems like it should be a pretty straightforward thing, right? Just as they did for their debut George Best in 2007, the Leeds UK legends are marking the 20th anniversary of their sophomore effort with a tour wherein they’ll play the entirety of the record live, but unlike the George Best tour, they’re bringing this one over to North America.
But which Bizarro? The original Bizarro, clocking in at 10 tracks and 47 minutes? The extended US edition which inserted the Brassneck EP between tracks 9 and 10, resulting in a, er, bizarre listening experience that gave the American listener “Brassneck” twice – albeit two different versions (the one on the single was recorded by Steve Albini) – or the 2001 “Camden Deluxe” reissue, which had the good sense to add the “Brassneck” tracklisting after the original running order and three more period-correct songs. Clearly the last of these would offer the best value, though any show dedicated to reproducing the Bizarro experience really should end with “Be Honest”.
We’ll have to wait and see come Wednesday night, April 14, when the Gedge and company arrive at the Horseshoe. Tickets for the show are $17.50 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for this show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want a bizarro Wedding Present” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and get that in to me before midnight, April 12.
New York Press talks to David Gedge about the anniversary tour, and before you ask, word is there will be more songs performed before they begin the Bizarro run-through and no, there will not be an encore.
Video: The Wedding Present – “Brassneck”
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
Last.fmThe latest in the string of lo-fidelity heroes is Bethany Cosentino, who plies her languid, fuzz-laden trade under the guise of Best Coast. Along with her partner in crime Bobb Bruno, she sings simple, catchy throwback tunes about boys that are more suited to buzzing out of a transistor radio – perhaps resting on a beach blanket – than computer speakers though given the internet buzz surrounding the project the last few months, that’s probably where the songs are mostly being heard. Good thing those generally sound pretty crap as well.
Their official output currently consists only of a couple of 7″s but an album is being prepped for a late Summer/early Fall release and the band are testing out the new material on the road, including a date at The Garrison in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13. Tickets are $10 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts 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 live on the Best Coast” in the subject line and your full name in the body – contest closes at midnight, April 11th.
There’s a couple interviews with Cosentino at Spinner, and also pieces at The Breeze and eye.
MySpace: Best Coast
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Drive-By Truckers and Langhorne Slim at Lee’s Palace in Toronto
Frank YangThe word around The Big To-Do – the latest album from Drive-By Truckers – is that it’s the band’s best since their generally-acknowledged high-water mark, Southern Rock Opera. I have trouble subscribing to this because in my mind, that double-album opus is head, shoulders and torso above anything else the band has done not just because it kicks ass, but because of the ambition, concept and scope behind it, and the Truckers have had the good sense to not even try to top it on its terms. It simply stands alone.
But it is true that The Big To-Do deserves to be celebrated as the Truckers’ most solid effort in a while. It achieves that distinction largely by being the most up and consistently rocking of their records in recent memory, but particularly when compared to 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. That record was the sound of the band finding its feet after the departure of one third of their songwriters in Jason Isbell, and having found steady footing (and another guitarist in John Neff and a capable singer/songwriter in bassist Shonna Tucker), The Big To-Do has them again moving forward, pedal to the metal.
That trajectory brought the band to Toronto for the better part of this week for two nights at Lee’s Palace (as well as an in-store performance). My general philosophy towards multi-night stands is that given the choices, the closing show is the one to hit and so it was that I piled into the hot and sweaty room with hundreds of other rowdy Truckers fans – is there any other kind? – this past Wednesday night. Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Slim was tapped to open both nights and was exceptional in the warm-up role, leading his band through a set of energetic country-blues that offered both solid tunes and exceptional showmanship and striking the right balance between acting out and staying cool.
Just to get it out of the way, there is no such thing as a bad Drive-By Trucker show. Road warriors and rock monsters both, I think it’s physically impossible for them to not give their all every time they set foot on a stage. That said, not all evenings are equal and as good as this show was, it didn’t quite measure up to the last couple times I’d seen them – their Rock’N’Roll Means Well tour with The Hold Steady in November 2008 made for a uniquely epic double bill, but it was their October 2006 show at the Phoenix that set the standard for what a Truckers show should be, clocking in at two and a half hours of reckless abandon and with Isbell still in the band.
This time out they leaned even heavier on the new material than I’d expected with 11 of The Big To-Do‘s 14 tracks showcased and the Isbell era – which includes most of my favourite Truckers tunes – completely ignored save for two numbers from Decoration Day. I’d also go so far as to say that they didn’t quite get up to the same musical velocity that I’d seen them achieve before, instead settling into a slightly lower cruising altitude than expected for the two-plus hours.
Even so, as I said earlier, there’s no such thing as a bad Truckers show and this wasn’t anything like a bad Truckers show. I’d never expected to see them in such cozy quarters again, and that extra degree of intimacy ensured that regardless of anything else, it would be a memorable show. The two-night engagement allowed the band to make themselves at home a little bit more than they normally would, with the stage decked out in their signature Wes Freed artwork including a giant marching band bass drum with “Drive-By Truckers” emblazoned across it behind Brad Morgan’s drum kit. There was plenty of sweat and guitar solos, and both Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley were in fine voice throughout, though only half of Tucker’s leads sounded great; “Home Field Advantage” didn’t work out too well thanks to either forgotten lyrics, a poor mix or some combination thereof. They capped things off with a raging cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World”, being maybe the only band today who can still play that song and elicit fist pumps rather than eye rolls. No, it wasn’t the longest or most intense Truckers show I’d ever seen, but it was still a hell of a thing. Let there be rock.
Photos: Drive-By Truckers, Langhorne Slim @ Lee’s Palace – April 7, 2010
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Birthday Boy”
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Zip City”
MP3: Langhorne Slim – “I Love You But Goodbye”
Video: Drive-By Truckers – “Never Gonna Change”
Video: Langhorne Slim – “Be Set Free”
Video: Langhorne Slim – “Restless”
Video: Langhorne Slim – “In The Midnight”
Video: Langhorne Slim – “Rebel Side Of Heaven”
MySpace: Drive-By Truckers
MySpace: Langhorne Slim
Seattle Weekly talks to Britt Daniel of Spoon.
Aversion and eye have interviews and MPR a session with Titus Andronicus, in town to do some damage to Sneaky Dee’s tonight.
Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan talks to Spinner about the band’s first new album in almost a decade, due out sometime this year.
Philadelphia Weekly interviews Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, in town on Sunday for a 4PM 3PM in-store at Sunrise records and a show at the Phoenix later that evening. Note that there are no openers so BRMC go on at 8PM sharp.
PopMatters has a feature on The Antlers, in town opening up for The National at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.
MPR is streaming a session with Beach House, while The San Jose Mercury News has an interview; they play the Toronto Island Concert on June 19.
Pitchfork has details on the forthcoming Mates Of State covers record Crushes (The Covers Mixtape), due out this Summer – head over to their website to download their version of Girls’ “Laura”.
Spinner gets a look at Phantogram’s secret subterranean headquarters.
Aquarium Drunkard is sharing the audio of a session with Miles Kurosky.
Under The Radar gets to know John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.
MOG chats with Broken Bells’ James Mercer. They’ll be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 2.
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Megafaun and Sharon Van Etten at The Horseshoe in Toronto
Frank YangAnd to think, I almost stayed home to watch The Pacific. What can I say? Some nights I’m just lazy. But thankfully, I managed to haul my ass out of the apartment on Monday night to head down to the Horseshoe for what would turn out to be a pretty special show from Megafaun and Sharon Van Etten.
It was Van Etten who was the main draw for me – her 2009 debut Because I Was In Love is more beguiling with every listen and my first attempt to see her live at SxSW wasn’t satisfactory thanks to an overly chatty crowd and uncooperative guitar amp. Background chatter wasn’t an issue on this night, though, as the crowd at the ‘Shoe was decidedly sparse when Van Etten took the stage armed only with her Gibson ES-135, her songs and her voice.
And oh, what a voice. So powerful and yet so fragile, overtop her fingerpicked guitarwork and wrapped around her sad songs, it pulled everyone in the house – hell, it probably pulled bystanders in off the street – closer and closer, until most were seated on the floor around the stage, enraptured. They’d have had to be under the influence of something to be willing to sit on the Horseshoe floor – have you ever seen that thing under house lights? But kidding aside, Van Etten’s set – her last of this short tour and for the next while as she works on her second album – was a stunner, including both songs from Love and new material, capped off with a finale of “Tornado”, backed up be Megafaun. And as perfectly suited as her material is to solo performance – sadness is a solitary thing, after all – it sounded as good if not better with a band behind it.
Said band also sounded pretty good on their own, as it turned out. I wasn’t especially familiar with Megafaun coming into the night – I think I’d spun their latest album Gather, Form & Fly once or twice – but went in with an open mind and proceeded to have it blown, just a little. As befit their North Carolina roots, the impressively-bearded trio – two brothers and their drummer – crafted folk-rock with a distinctively southern drawl, but beneath that genial, harmony-laden surface there was so much more going on. There was jazz virtuosity in their musicianship, proggish ambitions in the frequently twisty song structures and a jam band’s delight in simply playing. That delight was shared in full by the small but devoted audience, and that gave the show less the feel of a concert than an intimate get-together of friends. Nowhere was this more evident than the encore, which Megafaun seemed almost embarrassed to be taking – climbing down off the stage and playing three more songs amongst their fans. All throughout the night, the band emphasized how much they were enjoying the evening and how exceptionally special this show was. For some acts, this is boilerplate stage banter but it was obvious from the looks on their faces and the hugs exchanged with fans afterwards, that they meant every word and every note. Just marvelous.
The Concordian talks to Megafaun’s Phil Cook and Daytrotter has posted a session with the band. Their North American tour continues through the end of April – do see them if you can. They’re also releasing a new mini-album entitled Heretofore later this Summer – info at Pitchfork.
Photos: Megafaun, Sharon Van Etten @ The Horseshoe – April 5, 2010
MP3: Megafaun – “Volunteers”
MP3: Megafaun – “The Fade”
MP3: Megafaun – “Kaufman’s Ballad”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Consolation Prize”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
Video: Megafaun – “Impressions Of The Past”
Video: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MySpace: Megafaun
MySpace: Sharon Van Etten
The Boston Globe, Nashville Scene, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Interview sits down with Midlake, who will be a the Mod Club on May 21.
Delusions Of Adequacy talk to Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg.
NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Wilco’s epic three-hour set in Montclair, New Jersey from last weekend. The band just announced they will curate their own festival – the Solid Sound Festival – from August 13 to 15 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams Massachusetts, which if you were wondering is at the border of Mass and New York, about 7 hours from Toronto. The bill will feature Wilco, natch, and most/all of their spin-off acts and other artists to be announced later.
Rawkblog, SF Weekly and CMJ have interviews with Miles Kurosky while The Bay Bridged gets Kurosky back together with some of his Beulah bandmates to play songs from his solo record The Desert Of Shallow Effects, which are available to download.
MP3: Miles Kurosky – “The World Won’t Last The Night” (live at The Bay Bridged)
MP3: Miles Kurosky – “Dead Language Blues” (live at The Bay Bridged)
NOW talks to Liz Powell of Land Of Talk about losing and finding her voice. They’re at Lee’s Palace tonight and their new record is targeted for an August release.
Filter gets to know Mumford & Sons.
For Folks Sake and The New York Times talk to Laura Marling, while La Blogotheque is offering a live track for download. Her new album I Speak Because I Can gets a North American release as of this week.
Hurricane Bells – the new project from Longwave frontman Steve Schlitz – will be at the El Mocambo on May 19. Their debut album, Tonight Is The Ghost, is due out next week.
Video: Hurricane Bells – “This Year”
Video: Hurricane Bells – “Monsters”
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel, who impressed whilst opening for Laura Marling back in February, has a date scheduled for the Drake Underground on May 30. His new record In Memory Of Loss is out April 27.
MP3: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel – “Early Spring Till”
Delta Spirit and Ezra Furman & The Harpoons will be at the Mod Club on June 26. Paste has details on Delta Spirit’s new record, History From Below, due out June 8.
MP3: Delta Spirit – “People C’Mon”
MP3: Ezra Furman & The Harpoons – “Take Off Your Sunglasses”
Fresh off their sold-out gig opening for Miike Snow at The Phoenix, Delorean will be back in town at Wrongbar on July 14.
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