Friday, April 17th, 2009
Review of Bat For Lashes' Two Suns
Leonie PurchasWith her 2006 debut album Fur & Gold, Natasha Khan – she who is essentially Bat For Lashes – crafted a mysterious and fantastical world with a foundation made up of a lot of Kate Bush and a little Bjork but still felt distinct and fresh and most importantly, was wholly beguiling thanks to the richness of both her creative vision and her remarkable voice.
Three years hence, she’s returned with Two Suns. It’s a record with much to live up to considering its Mercury Prize-nominated predecessor, and whether she’s succeeded depends on which direction you were hoping Khan would tilt her creative balancing act of accessibility and eccentricity. Of course, even that answer isn’t entirely straightforward. Fur & Gold was eclectic in mood and texture, like a wander through Khan’s imagination, but also featured immediate pop gems in “What’s A Girl To Do” and “Prescilla”.
Two Suns is more focused and consistent in feel, but with the exception of Karate Kid-invoking lead single “Daniel”, is less overtly hooky. It is, however, more dramatically executed – the power behind her vocals on “Glass” is chilling – and feels much more personal. Whereas Fur carried with it a fictional darkness, this time out it comes across as hauntingly autobiographical. The imagery used still draws on mythical influences, but the emotions behind them feel much more intense and direct than before. The production is also richer and deeper, more beat-driven and with a faint but distinct synthetic sheen – it’s subtle, but effective, and gleams when necessary. It may take a bit more time and effort for it to permeate the consciousness, but Two Suns manages to be a marked improvement on a debut that didn’t really have anything wrong with it in the first place. Remarkable.
Drowned In Sound has a print interview with Khan, Nylon a video one and XFM an aural one. Bat For Lashes kick of their North American tour on April 25 at the Mod Club in Toronto.
MP3: Bat For Lashes – “Glass” (live)
Video: Bat For Lashes – “Daniel”
MySpace: Bat For Lashes
The Tripwire asks five questions of La Roux’s Elly Jackson. Their self-titled debut is out June 29.
White Lies talk to Spinner about their upcoming gig in a London cemetery.
Black Cab Sessions coaxes Doves into their backseat for a song, while The Yorkshire Post and The Daily Star have interviews. Doves are at the Kool Haus on June 1.
Kevin Shields messes with Texas, giving interviews to The Austin Chronicle and Dallas Observer about My Bloody Valentine’s hiatus, reunion and the state of their old old (reissues) and new old (unreleased) albums.
A winner has been selected for the contest to create a video for M83. Check out the winning visuals for “We Own The Sky”.
Video: M83 – “We Own The Sky”
School Of Seven Bells heads down under, with Claudia Dehaza talking to The Age and sister Alejandra to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Newsweek interviews The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and coaxes them to play a new song for them on video. The Pains are at Lee’s Palace on April 28.
Baltimore dream-pop duo Wye Oak will release their second album The Knot on July 21. The first song sounds a little – well, exactly – like this. Beautiful.
MP3: Wye Oak – “Take It In”
Time Out New York talks to Holly Miranda. Her solo record is still presumably forthcoming.
ABC News has a video interview with Bob Mould, Express Night Out sticks with text.
Superchunk’s Jim Wilbur talks to Spinner about the band’s slow return from hiatus-land.
Filter has a three–part interview with John Vanderslice, whose new album Romanian Names is out May 19.
Third time’s the charm? After two cancelled shows, it looks like Passion Pit are trying to play Toronto one more time. According to the Harlem Shakes, with whom they’re touring this Summer, they’re going to be in town on June 16 at a venue to be determined. Good luck to ya. Passion Pit’s debut Manners is out May 19 while Harlem Shakes’ debut Technicolor Health is out now.
MP3: Harlem Shakes – “Strictly Game”
Sunset Rubdown have a new album coming out on June 24 called Dragonslayer and they’ve already booked a tour (dates down the left side of their website) to promote. Toronto show goes down July 11 at Lee’s Palace. Pitchfork has the first taste of the album.
MP3: Sunset Rubdown – “Idiot Heart”
The Rural Alberta Advantage’s session with WOXY has been broken up into downloadable MP3s, which means that I no longer have to procrastinate doing it myself.
eye‘s cover feature this week is on Neko Case, and her two sold-out shows at Trinity-St Paul’s tonight and tomorrow.
M Ward has rolled out a new video from Hold Time, this one for his cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”. The Press-Enterprise has an interview. Ward plays the Phoenix on April 27.
Video: M Ward – “Rave On”
NPR has an interview with Elvis Perkins In Dearland, who have a show at the Horseshoe on April 29.
There’s a track available from the forthcoming Steve Earle album Townes, due out May 12.
MP3: Steve Earle – “To Live Is To Fly”
Pitchfork reports that Patterson Hood’s second solo record Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) will be released on June 23. There’s a couple tracks streaming at his MySpace.
City Pages has an interview and NPR a session with Jason Isbell.
And finally, QTV has an extensive – 42 minutes extensive – interview with Leonard Cohen. It’ll take kinda forever to load, but worth it. Cohen plays Copps Coliseum in Hamilton on May 19. Also read a feature at Salon.
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Metric and Holy Fuck at The Mod Club in Toronto
Frank YangWhen Metric’s latest album Fantasies first became available to stream a month ago, the immediate reaction around the interwebs seemed to be largely along the lines of breathless, “their best album yet!”-type praise (tempered by the mandatory, “worst ever!” naysayers). I myself took to it far quicker than I did their last effort Live It Out, which I never really took to at all, and thought this would be the record to rekindle what had once been an intense interest in the band but which had waned significantly in recent years. Some more time spent with the album has tempered that opinion a bit – Fantasies boasts some of Metric’s very best choruses and some killer catchy tunes, but it’s not the game-changer they’d probably have to deliver to really turn me around completely. But that’s alright because it’s obvious that many, many people love them just the way they are and “just another Metric record” is probably synonymous with, “best thing in the world”.
And it was with these people that the Mod Club, a venue many times smaller than the band normally plays these days, was packed with on Tuesday night. The intimate hometown club show was one of the special events held to mark the new record’s release, following an even smaller secret show and in-store in the preceding weeks. For me, it’d been over five and a half years since I’d seen them play a full show (the exception being part of their V Fest 2007 set) – a fact I had to double-check to make sure was correct – so the experience was a bit odd, like running into someone you knew a long time ago and presumed to still know, but possibly/probably didn’t at all.
Opening things up were electro-instrumentalists Holy Fuck, a band who themselves are used to headlining much larger rooms. While I like their recorded output alright, I always enjoy seeing them live as they perform with more energy than a couple guys standing at makeshift tables decked out with keyboards and effects pedals have any right to, mutating their songs in real time. The privilege of seeing them do their thing in such close quarters seemed to be largely lost on the audience, however, who were there for one thing and one thing only.
And for that one thing – Metric, if you weren’t keeping up – they had to wait, as the band didn’t take the stage until over half an hour later than their scheduled set time (kind of like back in 2003 – nice to see some things don’t change). I don’t think anyone cared, though, based on the roars that greeted them when they finally strode onstage and into “Twilight Galaxy”, from Fantasies. Not the most high-energy opener, but an effective intro even with Emily Haines’ synth not firing on all cylinders. The roadies rectified it almost immediately after the song’s end, however, and the band played the song’s outro again to demonstrate how much better it’d have sounded if the synth had been working. Cute.
The last couple times I’d seen Haines live was in her solo/Soft Skeleton guise and banter or audience interaction was largely verboten, so I was a bit surprised at how chatty and engaging she was from the get-go. Of course, her banter was Billy Bob-esque in its randomness and incoherence, but it was nice to see her making the effort and the devout audience ate up every rambling word. There was no lack of focus in her performance, though – she and her Aladdin Sane makeup demonstrated the charisma that makes her arguably one of the most dynamic frontpersons in Canada, even if some of it felt more rehearsed than spontaneous.
The show focused heavily on Fantasies, with nine of the ten tracks getting aired, which suited me fine. Contrasted with the new material’s undeniable melodic and anthemic qualities, Live It Out‘s aggressive guitar-led tunes sounded even more abrasive (in a bad way) than I remembered. Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? was represented only by “Dead Disco”, and I’d thought that would be the end of the main set but had forgotten that they now had “Stadium Love”, a glorious anthem that will rightly close their shows from now until the end of time.
The encore consisted of “Monster Hospital” and a greatly stripped-down “Live It Out”, but by then I’d inched almost out the door and barely heard Haines thanking everyone and declaring her love for everyone. And possibly selling anti-depressants, it wasn’t entirely clear. Putting aside some garbage that left me in a somewhat sour mood most of the night, including but not limited to a heinously drunk guy threatening to smash a bottle on my head for asking him to stop shoving before the show had even started, Metric put on an impressive show that’s well-suited for the large-scale stages that they’ve grown accustomed to playing and will no doubt continue to do, buoyed by the mass appeal of Fantasies. It also made it clear that I’ll likely never be as into the band as I once was – we’ll always have 2003 – but they’ll go far, these ones.
eye, Chart, The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and The National Post all have reviews of the show. RCRDLBL has a remix of “Help, I’m Alive” available to download and Ear Farm, Canada.com and The National Post have interviews with the band. Their spending the next few months touring the world and will return home for a June 20 show as part of Edgefest at Downsview Park. Holy Fuck are touring Europe and the US this Spring and do a hometown show at Harbourfront Centre on July 10.
Photos: Metric @ The Mod Club – April 14, 2009
MP3: Holy Fuck – “Lovely Allen”
MP3: Holy Fuck – “Jungles”
Video: Metric – “Gimme Sympathy”
Video: Metric – “Monster Hospital”
Video: Metric – “Poster Of A Girl”
Video: Metric – “Empty”
Video: Metric – “Dead Disco”
Video: Metric – “Combat Baby”
Video: Metric – “Succexy”
Video: Holy Fuck – “Lovely Allen”
Video: Holy Fuck – “Milkshake”
MySpace: Metric
MySpace: Holy Fuck
The Dears have released a new video from last year’s Missiles and are hitting the road soon, starting on April 30 with a show at the Mod Club.
Video: The Dears – “Disclaimer”
CBC Radio 3, CityNews and AOL Music Canada interview Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers, who have a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 25.
The Montreal Gazette talks to Arcade Fire’s Win Butler about making the Miroir Noir film.
Jeremy Jay will be at the Poor Alex Theatre on May 6 in support of his new album Slow Dance. Tickets are $10.
MP3: Jeremy Jay – “Beautiful Rebel”
Phoenix, not seen in these parts since V Fest 2006, will return on June 15 for a show at, wait for it, The Phoenix. Did that just blow your mind a little? Yeah. Full tour dates at Stereogum. Their new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is out May 29. Here’s a video. You can grab an MP3 from their website.
Video: Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
For The Records reports that Friendly Fires, who stole the show from White Lies back in March, will return for a headlining show of their own at Lee’s Palace on August 10.
NOW reports that some of the acts coming to town for NxNE will include Black Lips, No Age and Matt & Kim. This year’s fest takes place June 18 to 20.
This Saturday is Record Store Day. Go out and hug your local record store. eye has a round-up of what’s going on at stores around Toronto while Pitchfork has rounded up some of the limited edition goodies that’ll be available at some outlets courtesy of various record labels.
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Review of The Hold Steady's A Positive Rage
FacebookIf you’re looking for anything revelatory or even revealing about The Hold Steady in the video portion of their new live document A Positive Rage, you’ll likely be disappointed. Over the course of just under an hour, the doc follows the band on tour in the Fall of 2006, in support of Boys & Girls In America, as they marvel at the size of the venues they’re selling out and dispensing their no frills, rock & roll gospel.
There’s no dirt to be found because, unless they saved their goat sacrifices for after the camera stopped, there is none. They’re exactly as they appear to be onstage and on record – five normal guys who just want to play rock and have a good time. And if that’s what you want to kick back and watch for 60 minutes, then this is just the ticket. The performances do a good job of capturing the spirit of The Hold Steady live, their energy, Craig Finn’s onstage antics, the enthusiasm and chaos of the audience. The sound isn’t always terrific, but again – that’s part of it. And if you’re curious, the Toronto stop on that tour – October 28, 2006 at the Horseshoe – is represented by a couple of split-second shots. Whoo!
The audio portion of the package actually doesn’t quite synch up with the video as it captures a show at the Metro in Chicago from October 2007, a full year after the tour in the film, but fortunately (?) their show never seems to change much. It does manage to capture a lot of what makes a live Hold Steady show great, less the visuals, but with much better sound. I can’t necessarily say that they chose an exceptional show to document, but that’s because the standard for Hold Steady shows is so high that it’s rare that they exceed it – though hell yes it happens – what’s important is that they never fail to meet it. And though one Hold Steady show is very much like the last and the next – I’ve seen them about a half-dozen times, I think I can say that – they’re always great.
What I got most out of watching and listening to A Positive Rage was the confirmation that the magic of a Hold Steady show really only occurs in person, in the room, and it’s the alchemy of beer, sweat, spit and, to use the band’s favourite word, the joy that makes their shows so very special and enjoyable. I realize that even as much as the band are touring machines, not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to see them live so for them, the live set is a worthy substitute. But for those who’ve experienced the glory in person, it’ll just makes you anxious for them to come to town again.
Craig Finn describes a tour encounter of the Kiefer Sutherland kind to Spinner, gives an interview to The Tahoe Daily Tribune and talks baseball with The Sporting News.
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy” (live)
Trailer: The Hold Steady: A Positive Rage
MySpace: The Hold Steady
Singing Lamb interviews Steve Lambke of Constantines. They play Harbourfront Centre on Canada Day.
Radio Exile has an interview with The Rural Alberta Advantage, who twittered a couple days ago about “big big raa news” to be announced soon, but have yet to follow up. One can only speculate that it’s along the lines of people no longer being able to say, “how are they still unsigned?!?” incredulously, but who knows. Maybe they just thought this downloadable and watchable session at Hear Ya went really well. Or maybe they just had a really great cheeseburger.
The Toronto Star talks to Neko Case, in town for two sold-out shows at Trinity-St Paul’s on Friday and Saturday.
Each Note Secure has an interview with Death Cab For Cutie drummer Jason McGerr. They just released a new EP in The Open Door.
QRO has the first part of an interview with Ra Ra Riot.
NPR has an interview with and is streaming Camera Obscura’s new album My Maudlin Career a week before its April 21 release. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 27 with Anni Rossi as support. Scotland On Sunday has an interview with Tracyanne Campbell.
Stream: Camera Obscura / My Maudlin Career
I had thought that Sky Larkin’s excellent The Golden Spike was supposed to be available in North America this week, but can’t seem to find any online vendors who have it domestically. Regardless, it’s coming soon and you can stream it at Last.FM. There’s also a new video to grok.
Video: Sky Larkin – “Antibodies”
Stream: Sky Larkin / The Golden Spike
Innocent Words talks to Lauren Larson of Ume.
Magnet Q&As PJ Harvey.
Blast talks to Ida Maria, whose Fortress Round My Heart was released this week.
The Tripwire interviews TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. They’re at the Sound Academy on June 2.
Chart talks to Robyn Hitchcock, whose show at the Mod Club tomorrow night has sadly been postponed due to illness. Refunds available at point of purchase or you can use them at the rescheduled date, which should be announced soon. I’ll contact contest winners after a new date has been announced and see if they can still make the new date.
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Festival announcements big and small from Over The Top, Olympic Island and Pitter Patter
Autumn de WildeThere might be question marks around whether or not we’ll see 2009 editions of big Toronto events like V Fest, but for the eighth year running, the city will host Over The Top Fest in May and showcase an eclectic range of acts in clubs around the city for a weekend in May, this year the 21st through the 24th. The official website is still having the finishing touches put on it but the lineup was announced last week at Stille Post and, as expected, there’s a whole lot of acts I’ve never heard of. But considering the festival has, in years past, welcomed the likes of Of Montreal, Grizzly Bear and Matt & Kim amongst many, many others – all before they became the international superstars they are today – you ignore the unfamiliar names at your indie cred peril.
This year’s edition is somewhat smaller than past years – there’s a recession going on, dontcha know – but still pretty packed. I’ll leave you to peruse the artists yourself, but names that jump out – even if not up my particular alley – include Japanese noise experimentalist Merzbow at the Polish Combatants Hall on May 21, Arcade Fire/Unicorns alumnus Clues, whose self-titled debut is out May 19, at Sneaky Dees on May 21 and Montreal dance-punk maniacs Think About Life at the Polish Combatants Hall on the 22nd. The most interesting one to me – and probably the only show I’ll make it out to – is New York pre-teen sibling duo Tiny Masters Of Today. You might expect an act with a set up like that playing punk rock music might be pure novelty, but their sophomore album Skeletons, out June 16, is surprisingly sophisticated and really sounds good, whatever their age. They’re playing the Whippersnapper Gallery on May 23.
And in addition, there’s film and theatre components to the festival and promises of a “concert on a transit bus, BBQ and Acoustic Concert” for closing festivities on the Sunday, May 24. Tickets for many of the shows are already available on Ticketweb (see Stille Post link for links), will be available in stores this week and a limited number of festival passes will also be made available.
MP3: Tiny Masters Of Today – “K.I.D.S.”
MP3: Tiny Masters Of Today – “La La Land”
MP3: Clues – “Perfect Fit”
MP3: Clues – “Remember Severed Head”
MP3: Think About Life – “Paul Cries”
Video: Tiny Masters Of Today – “Skeletons”
Also announced yesterday was the 2009 edition of the Olympic Island show, which is an almost-annual tradition but you can never be absolutely sure when it’s going to be, who’s going to play or if it’s even going to happen. The answers to all those questions, however, are July 11, Broken Social Scene, who are playing for the fifth time out of the six the party has been held, Explosions In The Sky, Thunderheist, Beach House, Apostle Of Hustle and Rattlesnake Choir, and yes it is (obviously). With V still being a big old question mark, this could be the city’s one opportunity to rock out and piss off the islanders, and having had almost three years elapse since I last saw the Scene, I think I’m getting eager to catch them live again. Tickets are $57.50 including ferry to and from the islands, though CFNY (that’s “Edge 102” to those of you under the age of 30) has a limited number available for $39.50 – 1021 tickets, according to Chart.
The Book Is Broken, a book documenting the story of Broken Social scene, will be out May 16. Thunderheist are the cover feature on this month’s Exclaim and their self-titled debut came out at the end of March and they play The Phoenix on April 30. Apostle Of Hustle’s new album Eats Darkness is out May 19 and he plays the Music Gallery on May 29.
MP3: Broken Social Scene presents Brendan Canning – “Hit The Wall”
MP3: Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew – “TBTF”
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Welcome, Ghosts”
MP3: Thunderheist – “Jerk It”
MP3: Beach House – “Gila”
And also recently announced was this year’s edition of Pitter Patter Fest which, if not as big in profile or stature as either of the aforementioned events, is certainly the largest in geographical terms. Though centered in Toronto, Pitter Patter events will be happening all over southern Ontario, from London to Guelph to Peterborough to Belleville – 150 bands, 10 cities and four nights from May 28 to 31 – and feature the likes of Dog Day, The Craft Economy, The Diableros, Great Bloomers, Fjord Rowboat, Megan Hamilton and Spiral Beach to name but a very few who’ve been covered on this site in the past. All shows are pay-what-you-can and the schedule, which will probably see many of the bands playing numerous dates and cities, is still forthcoming.
Sonic Boom Records up in the Annex will celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday, April 18, with a in-store mini-fest featuring Little Girls, Steamboat, Green Go, Gentleman Reg, Sunparlour Players, Lullabye Arkestra and Slim Twig. No idea of specific set times but it starts at 4PM and the store closes at midnight. You do the math. Admission is free but donations of non-perishable food items is strongly encouraged.
As for Gentleman Reg, he’s spending his Spring on tour in support of Jet Black, first with The Stills and then A Camp, including their June 1 date at the Mod Club.
MP3: Gentleman Reg – “We’re In A Thunderstorm”
Video: Gentleman Reg – “We’re In A Thunderstorm”
Immaculate Machine will release their new record High On Jackson Hill on April 28, right in the midst of an Ontario tour that includes a stop at the Drake Underground on April 30.
MP3: Immaculate Machine – “Sound The Alarm”
Pink Mountaintops have a date at the Horseshoe on June 14 in support of their new album Outside Love, out May 5. Tickets for that are $11.50.
MP3: Pink Mountaintops – “Vampire”
Full details are still forthcoming, but Holy Fuck are one of the acts playing this year’s Beats, Breaks and Culture fest at Harbourfront Centre – they’re playing July 10, and as always, this show is free to all.
MP3: Holy Fuck – “Lovely Allen”
The Decemberists have announced the second leg of their North American tour in support of Hazards Of Love, and it includes an August 3 date at the Kool Haus with The Heartless Bastards as support. Tickets are $30.50 and go on sale Thursday.
MP3: Heartless Bastards – “Searching For the Ghost” (acoustic)
MP3: Heartless Bastards – “The Mountain”
Monday, April 13th, 2009
Review of Robyn Hitchcock's Goodnight Oslo and giveaway
George WrightWith most of his recent releases being of the archival sort – two box sets in the last two years in the form of I Wanna Go Backwards and Luminous Groove and with more to come – you might be forgiven for thinking that Robyn Hitchcock had his hands full reflecting on an enormous and impressive career. You would also, of course, be wrong. Even while supervising the extensive retrospective project, Hitchcock found the time to regroup with the Venus 3 – the 3/5 of R.E.M., Peter Buck, Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey, with whom he recorded 2006’s wonderful Ole Tarantula – and recorded yet another new album, the just-released Goodnight Oslo.
Unlike the bright and sprightly Tarantula, Oslo feels darker in mood and more expansive in tone, favouring more meditative, droning song structures and incorporating the likes of strings, horns and backing singers into the brew. But more importantly, like its predecessor, Oslo is full of classic-sounding, jangly pop songs turned on their heads by Hitchcock’s clever and curious wordplay and distinctive delivery. Having been at it for thirty-odd years, the man has a signature. And more importantly, he’s still working at an impressively high level. While he may have spent the last little while looking backwards, there’s no question he’s still moving ever-forwards.
Hitchcock and his crew are touring North America and will be at the Mod Club in Toronto this Thursday night, April 16. I saw them there in 2006 and even for someone only casually familiar with Hitchcock’s oeuvre, it was a tremendously enjoyable show. This should be no different. Courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for this show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I wanna go backwards” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and get that in to me by midnight tomorrow evening – April 14.
There’s interviews with Hitchcock at Wired, JamBase, Philadelphia Daily News and Nashville Scene. And while there’s no album MP3 from Goodnight Oslo available, Hitchcock’s live shows are freely available at archive.org and that includes shows from the current tour, like this one from Carrboro, North Carolina where he naturally played some of the new material.
MP3: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 – “What You Is” (live)
MP3: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 – “Goodnight Oslo” (live)
MySpace: Robyn Hitchcock
Thanks go to Anika In London for pointing the way to this video session with Emmy The Great at Channel M. There’s also an interview with Emmy at The Is Nottingham.
And digging through those Channel M archives unearthed this session with Fanfarlo. Have I mentioned how great their Reservoir album is? I have? Good. Because it is.
Gomez have a date at the Phoenix on May 29 in support of their new album A New Tide.
Beatroute, The Georgia Straight and Decider have interviews with Friendly Fires.
Incendiary and The Skinny interview Micachu & The Shapes.
St Vincent has a new video from her new album Actor, due out on May 5.
Video: St Vincent – “Actor Out Of Work”
At long last, Los Angeles-based music mag Under The Radar has a proper website with actual content. Like this interview with Bob Mould. Under The Radar remains one of the best (and last) indie-centric music magazines out there in the physical world, I look forward to seeing the same high level of quality from them online.
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