Monday, November 24th, 2008
M83 and School Of Seven Bells at the Opera House in Toronto
Frank YangIt’s amazing what a little tracklist editing can do. Though it goes against much of what I believe (album is sacred, blah blah), I’ve found that simply hitting the skip button on M83’s last album Before The Dawn Heals Us when a certain spoken word track starts improves the overall experience immeasurably. This revelation, combined with the fact that their latest effort Saturday=Youth has been growing on me much more since I reviewed it in brief, should have been enough to get me to the Opera House last Thursday night to see them live for the first time in some three and a half years. But it took the addition of School Of Seven Bells, whose debut Alpinisms has proven to be a real delight, to get me to commit.
I had been curious as to how School Of Seven Bells would recreate the decidedly studio-esque sounds of Alpinisms live, especially considering the fact that the three principals didn’t equate to a full conventional live band. In other words, I was wondering if they’d have a drummer. Answer – no. The band was guitarist Ben Curtis flanked by the Deheza sisters, Claudia on keyboards and Alley on guitar and samples handling rhythm duties. And while I’m of the school of thought that live drummers are always better than samples, their live performance didn’t suffer much for it. Though their set was briefer than I’d have liked – just seven songs in 35 minutes – they still covered all the high points of Alpinisms, though they opted for straight reproduction of the record rather than reinterpretation. The Dehezas’ harmonies were tight and note-perfect, though a bit low in the mix, and Curtis’ non-stop guitar-riffing kept things from feeling too mechanical. And if 17-year old me may step in for just a moment and say to Curtis – dude, standing on stage and soloing whilst surrounded by beautiful girls? You are living the dream. And adult me is hoping that School Of Seven Bells strike out on their own tour in the new year, play a longer set and maybe mess around with the structure of things a bit.
M83 had just come through town in May so I’d expected that might have affected the turnout, and while the crowd was pretty thin early on it had filled up substantially by show time. I’d seen them back in 2005 at their Toronto debut at Lee’s Palace, and when anyone asks me about it the best word I could come up with the describe it is “ridiculous”. Read my review from that show for specifics. This time out, I was expecting equal levels of sonic grandeur and while I don’t think that those heights were reached, I think the show was actually better than that first one. Like that show, the M83 live experience was again a four-piece but this time the bassist had been traded for a second keyboardist/vocalist in Morgan Kibby, who is such an essential presence on Saturday=Youth. Anthony Gonzalez also spent more time on keys than guitar this time, lessening the need for taped backing tracks (of which there were still plenty, just less) and also mitigating the amount of fromage-ish rock star posing he could engage in.
Essentially, it seemed that they’d opted to sacrifice some spectacle for the benefit of the sound, and it was a wise trade-off. The band seemed much more engaged in the performance, and the extended square-wave instrumental explorations of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts stood alongside the more pop-friendly confections of the last couple records. Not that those albums are short of instrumental excursions either, and proved that M83 has assembled a broad enough repertoire to shake off the “new My Bloody Valentine” tag that got applied when they first began making waves. Now you could just as accurately/inaccurately call them the “new New Order” or “new Cocteau Twins”. Or you could give up on that approach to lazy descriptors and simply accept that while they may wear their influences on their sleeve, M83 are now creating something that’s distinctly theirs.
Chart and Panic Manual have reviews of the show while The Chicago Tribune offers up an interview with Anthony Gonzalez.
Photos: M83, School Of Seven Bells @ The Opera House – November 20, 2008
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Chain”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal” (Robin Guthrie mix)
Video: M83 – “Graveyard Girl”
Video: M83 – “Kim And Jessie”
Video: M83 – “Teen Agnst”
Video: M83 – “Run Into Flowers”
Video: M83 – “Don’t Save Us From The Flames”
Video: M83 – “America”
MySpace: M83
MySpace: School Of Seven Bells
Nick Cave is in the UK – how can you tell? The trail of interviews he leaves in his wake. The Sheffield Telegraph, The Scotsman and The Independent all have features.
The Telegraph reports that thirteen years after he disappeared, Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers has finally been officially declared, “presumed dead”. Edwards’ left-behind lyrics are being used as the basis of the next Manics record, due out some time in the Spring.
The Guardian sits down for an extended chat with Jarvis Cocker and his new beard. Great reading.
And if you don’t want to read, you can listen instead – there’s an audio interview with Chris Geddes and Stevie Jackson about the just-releaed BBC Sessions at BelleAndSebastian.com.
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Lists abound at this time of year – hit up Largehearted Boy for the running tally – but Pitchfok has opted to cast a wider net than “best of the year” for their first foray into the world of physical media. They recently released The Pitchfork 500, a 208-page book dedicated to enumerating, as they put it, “the greatest songs from punk to the present”. Which, to them, is 1976 to 2006. Though to make it that much less contentious (how very un-‘Fork), the selections are not ranked or rated.
I’ve only taken a cursory skim through the volume and it looks like a daunting read. I will guarantee you that I’ve not heard the majority of selections here and would be surprised if I’d even heard of many of the acts. Probably the proper way to tackle an endeavour like this would be to sit down with it, one of those encyclopedic streaming/download sites (Pitchfork is using lala.com to assemble a playlist of their selections) and just read and listen. Someday I will sit down and do that. Of course, I also say that someday I will sit down and watch all the commentary tracks in my DVD collection.
But perhaps you’re more interested or industrious than I. Or you’ve got some music geek on your holiday shopping list that you’d prefer to spend $0 on, given the choice. Or you just like free stuff. Whichever, I have one – maybe two, if I decide I’ll never get to reading my copy myself – copies of The Pitchfork 500 to give away, courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada. But since this is some good stuff and I’ve been giving y’all a free ride of late, I’m going to make you work a bit. To enter, I want you to leave a comment down below (spamproof your email as needed, I need to be able to contact the winner) listing your own 500 50 5 greatest songs from 1976 to 2006. Commentary is not mandatory but obviously encouraged and they don’t have to be the definitive five greatest… just five songs you can heartily endorse. Come on, it’ll be fun! Contest is open to anyone, anywhere, and will close at midnight on December 7.
Friday, November 21st, 2008
A Camp sets release date for Colonia
MySpaceJust yesterday morning I was listening to The Cardigans’ wonderful and underappreciated Long Gone Before Daylight, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard any news about the new record from A Camp, Nina Persson’s solo project, in a while. Cue NME, who yesterday reported that said record – Colonia – will see the light of day on February 2 in the UK and Europe. Not sure if there’s a North American schedule on the books yet, though.
Don’t know if the background music at their website is any indication of the direction of the record, but there’s also a photo gallery of the band in the studio to whet one’s appetite. I had heard that they wouldn’t necessarily be continuing the alt.country vibe that made the now eight-year old (!) A Camp debut so delicious – Mark Linkous isn’t driving things this time – and while that’s sort of a shame, the fact that there’s a new record coming from Persson, Cardies or otherwise, is good news any way you look at it. Core collaborators on the record are Niclas Frisk and Persson’s husband/Shudder To Think guitarist Nathan Larson and there are guest spots from James Iha and Joan Wasser, amongst others. And the album cover looks like this. That’s all I got right now. So until there’s more, here’s a live Neil Young cover I posted a while back and the vids from the first album.
MP3: A Camp – “On The Beach” (live)
Video: A Camp – “I Can Buy You”
Video: A Camp – “Song For The Leftovers”
MySpace: A Camp
State interviews Lykke Li, set for a date at the Phoenix on February 6.
Following up on last year’s Guilt By Association covers compilation featuring the likes of Superchunk, Luna and The Concretes covering songs they deemed to be guilty pleasures, Pitchfork has details on the sequel. Volume two doesn’t have quite the star power of the first and its mandate is shifted slightly to encompass Top 40 pop from the ’80s through today (guilty pleasure or not), and as such you’ve got the likes of Frightened Rabbit, My Brightest Diamond and Matt Pond PA amongst the coverers and Toto, Billy Joel and Katy Perry amongst the coverees. Though the CD isn’t out until February 17 of next year, you can stream it below and it’s already available digitally from the likes of eMusic. A third volume is also already in the works. Check out the My Brightest Diamond contribution to the new comp, as well as the Journey cover by Petra Haden that opened volume one.
MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Tainted Love”
MP3: Petra Haden – “Don’t Stop Believin'”
Stream: Guilt By Association 2
MySpace: Guilt By Association
Clash Q&As Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison and Pitchfork reveals that the band has contributed a track to a compilation that accompanies Australian zine The Lifted Brow. And since said zine is far from cheap ($40!), don’t feel bad about downloading said track, also from the ‘Fork.
MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Last Tango In Brooklyn”
Chart discusses Intimacy and mythology with Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke.
Drowned In Sound has posted part two of their interview with Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff.
Beach House have rolled out a new video. Just in time for Winter.
Video: Beach House – “Used To Be”
Prefix interviews The Rosebuds.
Blurt offers a short feature on Wolf Parade.
Creative Loafing talks to Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene. They’re playing two nights at the Sound Academy on November 27 and 28.
Also now doing a two-fer at the former Docks is the Jingle Bell Rock tour featuring Metric, Tokyo Police Club, The Dears and Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains. There’s now a December 12 show to go along with the originally announced December 13 date.
Caribou has revealed what he did with his $20,000 in Polaris Prize winnings – part went to finance the next album and the rest went to charity. Next year, I think the money needs to go to someone seriously decadent. Artistic merit be damned, that money should be spent on hookers and blow.
Matthew Sweet talks pottery with Blurt.
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
Review of Pale Young Gentlemen's Black Forest (Tra La La)
Christina HensleyWhen I was writing up the self-titled debut from Madison, Wisconsin’s Pale Young Gentlemen last year, I took the easy way out in name-checking some of the more obvious stylistic reference points (DeVotchKa, Decemberists, Beirut) but the band has to take equal responsibility in that – they made it easy. And to be fair, I still gave the record a thumbs up – just because it was a bit obvious, it didn’t make it any less of an accomplished and enjoyable debut.
But they’re not letting me get away with any such shortcuts with the follow-up, Black Forest (Tra La La), released last month. Though the same elements are at work, or even moreso in the case of their expanded string section, Black Forest has a much greater sense of purpose and determination about it. The debut seemed quite content to spend the evening at the cabaret getting debauched in grand fashion, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but while the sophomore effort starts off in that same setting with the grandiose “Coal/Ivory”, it then opts to step outside and go for a walk, exploring the dark nooks and crannies of existence.
As such, it’s a less immediate and raucous affair. On the first few listens, I was asking myself, “didn’t this band used to be fun?”, but repeated listens served the record well. Michael Reisenauer’s croon is as dramatic as ever and the orchestrated backdrops even richer than before, but the overall delivery is much more nuanced and less reliant on the big, sweeping gestures. That may not play as well to those in the cheap seats, but for those up front and paying attention, it’s much more rewarding.
Fingertips, The Bat Segundo Show and Culture Bully all have interviews with Reisenauer about the new record.
MP3: Pale Young Gentlemen – “Coal/Ivory”
MP3: Pale Young Gentlemen – “The Crook Of My Good Arm”
MySpace: Pale Young Gentlemen
Drowned In Sound solicits a mix tape from Emmy The Great. She also gives Clash a list of the meats currently comprising up her cultural stew. Her debut First Love is out in the UK on February 2.
Laura Marling is the subject of interviews at Clash and For Folk’s Sake. I feel compelled to mention that the LP versions of Alas, I Cannot Swim are worth seeking out, not only because it’s a nice heavy pressing but because it also comes with a bonus live CD that features the backing band that played with her on the recent “Fe Fie Fo Fum” North American tour, and as such, sounds absolutely splendid. I don’t know if there’s any other (legal) way to get Verses From The Union Chapel, but it’s worth having. And the players that largely comprised said band, Mumford & Sons, are also interviewed at For Folk’s Sake.
Colin Meloy describes the new Decemberists record, Hazards Of Love, to Rolling Stone. Key takeaways? Musical theatre, rock opera, more of the same.
Jonathan Meiburg annotates Rook, track by track, for Drowned In Sound.
The Broken West stop in for a session at Daytrotter. Stereogum asks frontman Ross Flournoy about his day job.
eye features M83 while Limewire, The Georgia Straight and NOW interview School Of Seven Bells. Both are in town tonight for a show at the Opera House.
Laundromatinee welcomes Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s to their studios for a video session.
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
CONTEST – Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan CD giveaway
MySpaceThough it’s Isobel Campbell who gets top billing on Sunday At Devil Dirt, just released in North America after coming out in the UK this Spring, it’s her co-conspirator who permeates and defines the second album from herself and Mark Lanegan.
Lanegan’s presence is inescapable throughout. His gravelly voice takes lead on the majority of the songs with Campbell sticking mainly to harmonies or duet duties, and even when he’s not audible, he’s definitely felt, like a shadow falling over the land. It’s a bit cliche to talk about Lanegan in terms of his dark and brooding persona, but it’s really true. The man does what he does, and does it utterly convincingly, no surprises there. What is something of a surprise is that the vehicles Lanegan is given to drive, in all their raw folk-noir glory, were written and orchestrated entirely by Campbell.
Though she also claimed the bulk of the songwriting credits on their first collaboration Ballad Of The Broken Seas, that record still kept one foot in the more wispy folkish styles to which Campbell was accustomed. This time out, she’s more confidently embraced the possibilities offered by the talents at hand and has produced a more varied and convincing record. Guided by Campbell’s ghostly voice and hand, Lanegan’s desolate soul wanders through simple pastorals, country-blues and orchestrated ’60s spy-soundtracks, eternally seeking something – perhaps salvation, or perhaps just a stiff drink.
You can currently stream Sunday At Devil Dirt at Spinner, or you can win it on CD along with Ballad Of the Broken Seas. Courtesy of Vagrant Records, I’ve got a copy of both albums to give away to one lucky winner. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan CDs” in the subject line and your full mailing address in the body. Contest is open to residents of North America and will close in a week at midnight, November 26.
NOTE – the Spinner streams, both this one and the B&S one below, appear to currently be busted. Try hitting them back later. Sorry. Blame AOL. And the economic downturn. Update: Stream links fixed.
MP3: Isobel Campbell & Mark Langean – “Trouble”
Stream: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / Sunday At Devil Dirt
NME reports that Lanegan’s other ongoing gig – The Gutter Twins – will be hanging it up after their European tour in January. He’ll then go to work on a new Soulsavers album and a new solo record.
Belle & Sebastian released their BBC Sessions collection this week, and it’s presently streaming at Spinner. A clarification should be made about the bonus disc that comes in the deluxe edition – many, including myself, assumed that since this is a BBC Sessions collection and the live disc was recorded at Christmas, that the extra CD is of the BBC Christmas show that has been bootlegged ad nauseum every year since it was recorded in 2002. It is not. It is a regular gig, recorded in Belfast in 2001. As for the main disc, I don’t know that I’d call it essential. The live versions of most songs don’t vary too much from the album cuts and the one that does the most, “Lazy Line Painter Jane” (which is tellingly retitled “Lazy Jane” here), differs larger for the worse for the absence of vocalist Monica Queen and the dialing down of its northern soul though the final minute does rescue it in grand fashion. None of the four unreleased songs is particularly exceptional though they do provide a fitting coda to Isobel Cambpell’s tenure in the band. But as a reminder of how wonderful this band was, particularly in their early years (the later years were wonderful in a completely different way), it’s a triumph. And most of their fans are so obsessive that they’ve already gone out and bought it already, anyways though if you’re on the fence, Paste has compiled a list of 15 reasons you need to own this.
Stream: Belle & Sebastian / The BBC Sessions
Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb discusses their new record proVisions (on which Isobel Campbell guests) with The Sun.
Pitchfork interviews Fleet Foxes.
altsounds chats with Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison. They’ve got a US tour coming together for January, but no Toronto date yet nor is there an obvious gap in the itinerary where I’d guess one would go. Still, fingers crossed.
Daytrotter sessions up with Film School.
Opting not to wait for Black Friday, Hard To Find A Friend has declared the holiday season as begun and has released a lovely charity Christmas compilation. Featuring artists such as American Analog Set, Oxford Collapse and Jason Collett, whose contribution can be sampled below. The mix costs $7.50 USD and all proceeds go to support The Children Of Uganda Foundation. Check it out – it’s the right thing to do and the easy way to do it.
MP3: Jason Collett – “A Beguiled Christmas in Sales”
Seattlest has an interview with Kathleen Edwards, The Oregon Daily Emerald talks to her and tourmate John Doe.
The Skinny gets some face time with Mick Harvey and Jim Sclavunos of Nick Cave & Bad Seeds.
Drowned In Sound engages Okkervil River’s Will Sheff in the first of a two-part feature.
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