Monday, December 22nd, 2008
Canadian Music Fest 2009 reveals initial lineup
MySpaceWhilst perusing the current issue of eye, I noticed something on the full-page announcement of the Bloc Party show at the Kool Haus on March 14 – an image and url for something called Canadian Music Fest. As it turns out, it wasn’t nearly as interesting as I’d initially hoped – just a rebrand of the venerable Canadian Music Week festivities, but with the live showcases now being presented under a slightly different banner than the conference/business-y side of things.
But what was more interesting was the fairly extensive list of artists already confirmed to play CMF/CMW/whatever the weekend of March 12 to 14, and I’m especially pleased to see that London’s 6 Day Riot are coming back to town. They beguiled this past June at NxNE and should do much the same on the return engagement, though I hope they’re prepared for a decidedly different climatological experience this time around. They’ll be spending the first bit of the new year in the studio recording album number two, so I look forward to hearing some new material.
And on the domestic side – it is a Canadian music fest, after all – expect appearances from Basia Bulat, Chad Van Gaalen, Angela Desveaux, Gentleman Reg, Human Highway, Malajube, The Acorn and The Rural Alberta Advantage, amongst many others.
Not playing this fest but hopefully coming to town sooner rather than later regardless are Woodpigeon – they’ll be releasing Treasury Library Canada on February 3 and have made available an MP3 both from it and the companion/bonus album Houndstooth Europa. They’ve also made a new video.
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Love In The Time Of Hopscotch”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Oberkampf”
Video: Woodpigeon – “A Moment’s Peace for Mary Christa O’Keefe”
Toronto-based label Out Of This Spark will celebrate its second anniversary with a show at the Tranzac on January 10 featuring their entire lineup, which is to say The D’Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers, Timber Timbre and Jenny Omnichord. Admission is $8 with a canned food item, $10 without. And the same bill will be at the Albion Hotel in Guelph on January 16.
NME, Paste and Pitchfork talk to Win Butler about the new Arcade Fire film Miroir Noir, available now digitally and by the end of March as a DVD.
To mark the peculiar happening of “Halleleujah” placing both #1 and #2 on the UK singles charts this week (the former a cover of Jeff Buckley’s version of the song by some pop poppet, the latter Jeff Buckley’s version of the song), The Scotsman has a feature on Leonard Cohen and The Telegraph a list of the 20 most interesting things about the song that will pretty much ensure that Lenny’s financial troubles are a thing of the past.
Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead will release The Century Of Self on February 17 and roll into Lee’s Palace on March 4, tickets $18.50.
That same day, February 17, Ben Folds is at the Kool Haus, $30.50 in advance.
Witch, who are notable largely for the fact that their drummer is one J Mascis, have a date at the Horseshoe on February 20. Tickets $10.50.
So Much Silence has graciously ripped an acoustic Hold Steady session at KEXP for your listening pleasure.
John Darnielle is offering up a handful of unreleased and really old Mountain Goats tracks for download in the spirit of the season in hopes you’ll “pay it forward”, as they say. If looking for a cause, may I suggest a donation to the Humane Society of Durham, which tragically burned down last week. Goodness knows they need the help right now.
Friday, December 19th, 2008
The Guardian talks to the people who inspired famous songs
BlurSo it seems the holidays are officially upon us. I know this because I skipped out of work early yesterday, and the streetcar was packed with people doing exactly the same thing. And as things everywhere wind down, so too will things around here. I’ll still post as long as there’s stuff to post about, but I intend to utilize the downtime to catch up on some reading, movie watching, shopping… real world stuff.
But I’ll wind out the week with this really interesting piece from The Guardian, wherein they talk to the people who served as inspiration for famous songs throughout the years. Like the guy who owned Blur’s “Country House”, the girl whom The Beatles said was “Leaving Home”, she whose name is “Geraldine” and is Glasvegas’ social worker and Patti Boyd, who both had something in the way she moved and also went by “Layla”. Worth a read, perhaps this afternoon between glances at the clock every few minutes, waiting for 5:00.
And if that’s not enough, there’s a variety of sessions that’ve gone online in the last couple days that are worth your while.
NPR gets Mercury Rev to record a session with legendary producer Steve Lillywhite. The Montreal Mirror and Chicago Reader have interviews.
Daytrotter has a Crooked Fingers set available to download.
Bandstand Busking gets Asobi Seksu to play a few songs, busker-style. Their new album Hush is out February 17. And digging through the archives also reveals similar sessions with The Acorn (session) and Frightened Rabbit (session). Nice.
MPR has Longwave over to play a few. They’ve got a new vid from new album Secrets Are Sinister and The Columbian has an interview with frontman Steve Schlitz.
Video: Longwave – “Shining Hours”
Stereogum’s Decomposed puts on The Uglysuit.
NPR talks to School Of Seven Bells.
The Age profiles Fleet Foxes.
I’d mentioned in my favourites of 2008 post that the Woodpigeon record which made the list was a limited release and currently unavailable, but that it’d re-released soon – as Exclaim reports, “soon” means February 3. On that day, Treasury Library Canada will be available again in regular retail outlets and come with a ten-track bonus disc entitled Houndstooth Europa. And if that’s not enough Woodpigeon for you, their next album Die Stadt Muzikanten will be released in the Fall.
Von Bondies have a date at the Horseshoe on February 13, full tour dates at Plug In Music. Their new album Love, Hate And Then There’s You is out February 3.
Part of Drowned In Sound’s year-end coverage has involved soliciting “best of year” picks from various artists including Sky Larkin, Shearwater, Frightened Rabbit and School Of Seven Bells, the results of which are available in three parts. Filter has also been collecting Top 10 lists from a slew of acts and compiling them at eRockstar.
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Glasvegas celebrate Christmas, gear up for America
Steve GullickWhen I first wrote up Scotland’s Glasvegas, I went so far as to declare “there’s definitely something there” – a summation that would prove to be a bit of an understatement. Their debut self-title would turn out to be a massive hit in the UK, charting as high as #2 and going gold, making them easily one of the breakthrough acts of 2008 on that side of the pond.
Having acquired a copy of the album on import, it’s not hard to see why. They’ve learned their lessons from the Phil Spector school of pop but unlike many of their cohort, who’ve chosen to take things in a primitivist direction, they’ve taken that wall of sound and built a stadium out of it. Glasvegas is an utterly massive-sounding record, with sky-high sheets of guitar and cavernously echoing drums, but most of all singer James Allan’s huge and mournful bellow. Truly, this is stuff tailor-made to be sung-along with by tens of thousands.
And as they sing along, one would hope they’re too caught up in the moment to realize just how awful the words they’re singing are. Actually that’s overly harsh. Only some of the lyrics on Glasvegas are truly awful. In an effort to make the songs as broad and earnest as possible, Allan has eschewed any sort of lyrical finesse and instead relates things in the simplest, most literal and direct means available. Now sometimes this works – his delivery, all anguish and brogue, is a blunt instrument and when it hits, it’s a gut-wrenching body blow. But when it doesn’t – and I don’t think there’s any good way to present a line like “You don’t want to stab me/You don’t know my family/Or our capabilities” (taken from the Beethoven-backed song about someone about to be stabbed entitled, creatively, “Stabbed”) – it just sits there in all its awkward glory.
So it’s saying something when an avowed fan of clever and wordy songsmithery such as myself is still able to be won over by something as decidedly not as Glasvegas. Despite all its flaws, it’s undeniably rousing in the way that the very best anthems are, and Allan sings it with such earnestness and conviction that it’s hard to remain that critical. Some of the words may be graceless, but when it’s turned up loud and you’re singing them at the top of your lungs with everyone else, you don’t notice so much.
Even so, Glasvegas’ appeal has a distinctly British accent – I can envision them playing soccer stadiums, but not football, and the streets of America are littered with the bodies of acts who tried to recreate UK successes on this side of the pond. But they’re still going to try. Glasvegas will release their debut Stateside on January 6, bolstered with two bonus tracks, and coincide it with a short North American tour and some choice late-night television appearances. Their first US release, however, will technically be the A Snowflake Fell Christmas EP which is being made available via certain US independent retailers to anyone who pre-orders the album – full details and a live download of “Daddy’s Gone” available here. No idea if this deal is available in Canada, however.
The Belfast Telegraph, The Independent and The Telegraph have features on the band and their rise to stardom, The Daily Star talks to the band about their Christmas EP and Deadline Scotland gets a timeline for album number two.
Video: Glasvegas – “Please Come Back Home”
Video: Glasvegas – “Daddy’s Gone”
Video: Glasvegas – “Geraldine”
MySpace: Glasvegas
Drowned In Sound checks in with some other Scots who’ve had a big year – Frightened Rabbit. And even though they just released a live acoustic album in Liver! Lung! FR!, DiS also report that another one will be coming next year on March 30 in the form of Quietly Now! – Midnight Organ Fight Live and Acoustic at the Captain’s Rest, which comprises a live and acoustic reading of The Midnight Organ Fight.
Having just released her first post-Pipettes single in “Another Version Of Pop Song”, Rose Elinor Dougall is offering a sample of her forthcoming solo album, which is set to finish recording in January and hopefully come out come Summer. I daresay that the solo material sounds quite classy – there is indeed life after polka dots.
MP3: Rose Elinor Dougall – “May Holiday”
BBC gets a new album update from Noah & The Whale. BrooklynVegan notes that the band have a late February date in New York City, which may mean that a make-up for their cancelled December jaunt to North America is being rescheduled. Or they just want to visit New York.
I’ve just made a new year’s resolution – to take the time to properly investigate Tindersticks. They’ve been recommended to me from more than a few quarters and it’s not like I have any excuse – I have a number of their albums on hand, including their latest The Hungry Saw, as well as a solo Stuart Staples album, and hey – they’re coming to town for a March 10 show at the Opera House. It’d be a crying shame if I finally got into them AFTER that, wouldn’t it? Full North American dates at BrooklynVegan, interviews at Prague Post and The Irish Independent.
MP3: Tindersticks – “The Hungry Saw”
The Quietus talks to Warren Ellis about goings-on with The Bad Seeds and Grinderman.
Billboard talks to Aaron Dessner of The National about the follow-up to Boxer and the Dark Was the Night AIDS benefit album due out February 17.
Heroes, the War Child benefit album originally slated to come out in November, has now been given a release dae of February 16. Details at NME.
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
Matt & Kim, The Lemurs, The Canvas Waiting at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas
Frank YangAs those of you who have nothing better to do than monitor my Facebook status or Twitter feed know, I was far from home this past weekend. Texas far, to be precise. Thanks to Philips and their UnDiscovered Austin program, I was whisked away to the Tejas capitol along with a handful of other blog folk for an evening at no cost to me, save the physical toll of being flying halfway across the continent and back in a 30-hour period. And that there is my corporate whore disclaimer. Moving on.
The purpose of the trip was essentially to attend a “secret” show at the Mohawk featuring Matt & Kim. This was fortuitous as I’d actually wanted to see them when they came through Toronto last month, but I opted to go see Neil Halstead that night instead. I had absolutely no regrets about that on my part, but was glad for the opportunity to make that up. Getting out of town for a weekend while picking up around 30 degrees centigrade in ambient temperature was just gravy.
Opening the show up were winners of a contest sponsored by the aforementioned UnDiscovered Austin initiative, ostensibly dedicated to discovering the best unsigned acts in Austin. For a city that’s turned out as many sublime acts as ATX has, however, I have to think they could have done better than The Canvas Waiting. Their earnest and rote pop-rock was almost offensively inoffensive and sounded not unlike the Goo Goo Dolls, which you can interpret as either praise or damnation depending on your affection for the Goo Goo Dolls. In the battle for my attention, they quickly lost to an open bar.
Faring decidedly better were middle act The Lemurs and their taut, Anglo-friendly new wave stylings. Though I’d be hard-pressed to pick out a standout song, they put on a good show – equally danceable and rocking – and definitely elevated the energy level for the night and got those in attendance engaged. Or at least me. Their latest release is the Million Little Bits EP.
I can’t say as that I’m that familiar with Matt & Kim’s recorded output, but the one time I saw them last year made me a definite fan of their live show. I can’t think of any other band that seem to be having quite as much pure, unadulterated fun when they play, and this show did nothing to change that impression of the band. At one point, singer/keyboardist Matt Johnson said that they hated being called “cute”, so I’ll go with “adorable”, and there’s naught they can do about it. He’s like a hyperactive kid overdosed on happy pills on stage and drummer Kim Schifino sports a perma-grin as if the last drum hit was the greatest thing in the world, at least until the next one. Their joy is so real and pure, it’s contagious. And the songs are pretty damn catchy too.
Their set was breakneck fast and fun, drawing on their debut self-title and presumably the forthcoming follow-up Grand, due out January 20 of next year. I can’t say for sure as I don’t know the old material well enough to distinguish it from the new, and let’s be fair – a two-piece like them is only capable of so much sonic variety. But what they lack in range, they more than make up for in pop savvy and glee.
And that was the trip. Probably not the most efficient way to see Matt & Kim – they’re setting out on tour this Spring with Cut Copy including a Toronto date at Circa on March 20 – but certainly a fun, if exhausting, one. And I got to have breakfast tacos. I love me some breakfast tacos.
You can download an MP3 of the first single from Grand at Green Label Sound.
Photos: Matt & Kim, The Lemurs, The Canvas Waiting @ The Mohawk, Austin TX – December 13, 2008
MP3: Matt & Kim – “No More Long Years”
MP3: Matt & Kim – “Yea Yeah”
MP3: The Lemurs – “Yours, Mine, Ours”
MP3: The Lemurs – “They Do What They Want”
Video: Matt & Kim – “Daylight”
Video: Matt & Kim – “Yea Yeah”
Video: Matt & Kim – “5K”
MySpace: Matt & Kim
MySpace: The Lemurs
MySpace: The Canvas Waiting
The Globe & Mail has just run an interview conducted with Oasis’ Noel Gallagher pre-assault, while Detroit News got a word with him more recently, prior to their current North American tour. And apparently the dude who used Noel as a tackling dummy at V Fest skipped out on a court appearance yesterday and there’s now an arrest warrant out for him. What a sparkling example of humanity. Oasis fans, I believe you’re now allowed to go all vigilante on his ass.
Stereogum kicks off their new Decomposed video sessions series with School Of Seven Bells.
ANTI-blog has a video interview with Neko Case about the making of her new album Middle Cyclone, out March 3.
Also with the video preview – there may not be a release date for Neil Young’s Archives, Volume 1 but there is now a video trailer… and if you had any doubts before as to whether or not this set would be worth the wait and/or money, put those to rest. This thing looks unbelievable.
Trailer: Neil Young / Archives, Volume 1
Further to yesterday’s announcement of the Blitzen Trapper show at the Horseshoe on February 21, it’s been announced that support for the tour will be folksinger Alela Diane, who was recommended to me a number of times from independent sources in the last couple weeks. I’ll call that a sign. She’s releasing a new album in To Be Still on February 17th, from which you can check an MP3 and there’s also a session she recorded earlier this year for Songs By Toad and going way back to last year, a Daytrotter session.
MP3: Alela Diane – “White As Diamonds”
The lineup for this year’s What’s In The Box? music series taking place at the Drake Hotel the final week of December (five nights, five acts, five bucks) has been announced… and I don’t know who any of these acts are. The first two years had at least one or two performers whom I was excited to see – Mahogany in 2006 and A Place To Bury Strangers last year – but the five acts with top billing this time around leave me scratching my head. Skratch Bastid? Willy Joy? Kap Bambino? Slim Twig? Nosaj Thing? Okay, Slim Twig I know, but anyone care to testify on behalf of any of the others?
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Rachael Yamagata, The Low Anthem at The Mod Club in Toronto
Frank YangGoing to as many shows as I do, I’ve come to expect a certain demographic in the audience with me. Which is to say largely male and frequently bearded. The audience at Friday night’s Rachael Yamagata show at the Mod Club, on the other hand, was most definitely predominantly female and for the most part, beardless. No, this was not one of my usual indie rock shows.
The audience was also impressively well-behaved, polite and attentive to support act The Low Anthem from Rhode Island. And they were easy to like, a trio with obvious and impressive musical ability – there was lots of instrument swapping on display – but able to check any muso inclinations in crafting a warm and gentle brand of country-rock, heavily indebted to Neil Young’s softer side but also able to turn it up a bit when the need arose. They may have been a bit too gentle to immediately spur me into seeking out their stuff, but a definite positive impression was made.
Rachael Yamagata has been through town a number of times in the past few years, supporting artists as disparate as Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore, but to my recollection this was her first headlining show in Toronto since her October 2004 show at the El Mocambo – that’s a long time. She even acknowledged as much early in the show, leading one to think she might make up for lost time and draw as much from her debut Happenstance as the just-released follow-up Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart, but the set list still leaned heavily on the new material.
And that was perfectly fine – Elephants is a solid record, showcasing Yamagata’s ability to draw endless inspiration from the subject of hurt and heartbreak and spin them into either bruised balladry or pointed rockers. I don’t necessarily agree with the choice to split the two sides into separate discs – Happenstance blended them and offered a stronger impression of her range – but it’s a minor quibble. Her live show mixed up the fast and the slow, with Yamagata moving from keyboard to electric guitar as need be to lead her three-piece band. Though it seemed at a few points she was favouring her lower register, her voice was rich, raspy and appropriately torchy, and capable of heart-rending emotion.
Though Yamagata’s songs tend to dwell largely on sadness, she’s an engagingly chipper performer, chatting and joking with the audience at length. It was quite nice seeing a dynamic between artist and audience based on such genuine affection, where the former doesn’t have to try and win over the latter, but because of that fact gives it their all. The crowd – attentive and dead silent while she played – obviously loved her, and the feeling was mutual. Elephants should lift Yamagata to the stature of one capable of headlining her own shows, no longer the perennial support act. In Toronto, at least, she’s already there.
Metro, NOW and A’N’E Vibe have interviews with Yamagata, the latter also adding a live review of the Mod Club show. The Toronto Sun was also there. Paste profiles The Low Anthem.
Photos: Rachael Yamagata, The Low Anthem @ The Mod Club – December 12, 2008
MP3: The Low Anthem – “To Ohio”
Video: Rachael Yamagata – “Faster”
Video: Rachael Yamagata – “Sunday Afternoon”
Video: Rachael Yamagata – “Elephants”
Video: Rachael Yamagata – “Sidedish Friend”
MySpace: Rachael Yamagata
MySpace: The Low Anthem
The long-discussed Will Sheff/Charles Bissell split-7″ – Will Sheff Covers Charles Bissell, Charles Bissell Covers Will Sheff – was released last week, and features Sheff covering The Wrens’ “Ex-Girl Collection” and Bissell doing Okkervil River’s “It Ends With A Fall”. Essential? Yes. Italian site Maps, the morning show for Italian radio station Citta Del Capo Radio Metropolitana, is also featuring a video/audio interview/session with Sheff. The site is in Italian but the interview is in English. Mostly.
MP3: Okkervil River – “Calling And Not Calling My Ex” (live on Maps)
MP3: Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines” (live on Maps)
Maps also had The New Year in for the same deal. Thanks to Jonathan from A Classic Education (and also a host on the show) for the tip.
MP3: The New Year – “Wages Of Sleep” (live on Maps)
MP3: The New Year – “Seven Days And Seven Nights” (live on Maps)
The good news is A Camp’s Colonia will be getting a North American release. The bad news is it will happen on April 28. The good news is the European label is still listing their street date as February 2.
Though I had Bruce Peninsula’s debut A Mountain Is A Mouth as one of the “next big thing”-ey releases for 2009, it’s actually available digitally as of today – but the CD proper isn’t out until February 3. The band has lined up a number of dates in the new year to promote it – they’re at the Horseshoe on January 31 supporting The Tom Fun Orchestra, will do an in-store at Soundscapes on release day February 3 and play a proper release show of their own on February 22 at the Polish Combatants Hall. If you can only make one, I’d say that’s the one to circle.
And while the 2008 concert year is pretty much done with, 2009 is already stacking up quite nicely. Jayhawks by any other name, Gary Louris & Mark Olson will hit the road in support of Ready For The Flood, out January 27, including a February 4 date at the Mod Club in Toronto. Tickets are $22.50 for this seated show. Seats! At the Mod Club! Zounds!
Blitzen Trapper are at The Horseshoe on February 21, tickets $10.50. They’re offering up a second MP3 from Furr and are the subject of interviews at Chart and The Georgia Straight.
MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Gold For Bread”
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit will take their new eponymous album on the road following its release on February 17 and play the Horseshoe on March 4, tickets $12. There’s full dates at Paste and a new song streaming at their MySpace
Bloc Party continue their habit of coming to town only when it’s entirely inconvenient for me to attend (excepting festivals). Case in point, their just-announced March 14 date at the Kool Haus, tickets $35. Inconvenient because that’s the final night of CMW and I would hope that there’s worthwhile stuff going on at the festival, far from the foot of Jarvis St. Bloc Party also just rolled out a new video.
Video: Bloc Party – “One Month Off”
Australia’s Presets have a date at the Mod Club on April 6. Full dates at The Music Slut.
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