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Thursday, March 14th, 2013
Veronica Falls and Cold Showers at The Garrison in Toronto
Frank YangSo this is the first time in nine years that I am NOT in Austin for SXSW; reasons for this are myriad, but the broad strokes can be inferred from this. So while this means rather than embarrassment of concert riches to choose from, my live music options amongst bands not deep in the heart of Texas were decidedly shallower, but still pretty great – after all, Veronica Falls were back in town.
It was at SXSW 2011 that I first made the acquaintance of the Anglo-Scottish quartet, proceeding to catch them at home and abroad, with their show at The Garrison last February the last show I caught in support of their self-titled debut, and just as well – as much as I loved the record, there was only so much mileage to be squeezed out of a single 36-minute collection.
That wasn’t an issue on Tuesday night when they returned to The Garrison with their second album Waiting For Something To Happen exactly one month old and still fresh and delightful. It strikes the perfect balance of keeping what made their debut a gem – the throwback ’80s-styled indie-pop exulting under moodily overcast skies – and improving it with catchier hooks, stronger vocals in all departments – melodies, harmonies, expressiveness – and just enough extra stylistic boundary-pushing. It was everything I would have wanted in a follow-up, and that it gave them excuse to come back to town was all the better.
Openers Cold Showers keep a pretty low online profile – it took more digging than it should have to establish they hail from Los Angeles – but putting a finger on their sound wasn’t nearly as difficult. Their dark, post-punk sound mines the territory of early Cure and Joy Division, but they manage to avoid sounding dismissively derivative. Built on a bed of muscular, mechanical drumming, prone to measured bursts of noise, and surprisingly melodic while maintaining a persistant broodiness. Not the most exciting, presentation-wise, but it sounded good.
It was funny to go back and re-read my writeup of last year’s Veronica Falls show at The Garrison because I noted the problems the band were having with their on-stage monitor mixes – funny because a year later, they still seemed to be having the same issues. But still, except for the drums sounding a bit overloud – more because of Patrick Doyle’s right foot than any sound reinforcement issues – the house mix sounded fine. Though hardly overly-polished on record, live they added an appealing extra layer of grit to the proceedings and were incrementally more energized than they were whilst supporting their debut; frontwoman Roxanne Clifford was bouncing around the stage, whipping her hair about, and even cracked smiles when not grimacing at the sound coming from their monitors. Having twice the material to draw from meant this show was nearly twice as long as their last visit, with the set list split almost evenly between the two records and for the encore, they acquiesced to a fan request for “Starry Eyes”, a b-side that pre-dated their debut. It would have been nicer to see more people on hand – I wouldn’t have put the attendance much more than who came out last year – but at least the fans were ardent.
Photos: Veronica Falls, Cold Showers @ The Garrison – March 12, 2013
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Teenage”
Video: Veronica Falls – “My Heart Beats”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Bad Feeling”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Beachy Head”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Video: Cold Showers – “BC”
Spinner talks to Billy Bragg about his new album Tooth And Nail, in stores next Tuesday. He plays the Danforth Music Hall on May 3.
NOW talks to CHVRCHES in advance of their Canadian Musicfest-opening show at The Mod Club on March 20.
For Folk’s Sake and The Chicago Tribune have interviews with Richard Thompson, in town next week at Massey Hall on March 22 opening for Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.
British Sea Power have gone with the title track as the first video from their new record Machineries Of Joy, out April 1.
Video: British Sea Power – “Machineries Of Joy”
The Alternate Side has posted a video session with Jessie Ware. She makes her local debut at The Opera House on April 6.
British soul singer Laura Mvula – fourth on this year’s BBC Sound of 2013 poll – will make her local debut on April 20 at The Drake Underground in support of the just-released debut album Sing To The Moon. DIY has a feature piece.
Video: Laura Mvula – “Green Garden”
Johnny Marr offers DIY some thoughts on the likelihood of a Smiths reunion, and they’re not encouraging if you’re someone holding out hope for a Smiths reunion. Best just head to his show at The Phoenix on April 27 if you want to see Marr live.
Rolling Stone has premiered the new video from Foals’ Holy Fire; the NSFW warning seems pretty much a given by this point. They play The Kool Haus on May 11.
Video: Foals – “Late Night”
GQ has an interview with Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who’ve just released a crowdsourced new video from Four. They’ll play Garrison Commons at Fort York as part of Field Trip on June 8.
Video: Bloc Party – “Truth”
The Fly has a feature piece on one of the possible saviours of British guitar rock, Peace; they’re in town on June 15 as part of NXNE.
The Line Of Best Fit reports that Pet Shop Boys have already completed a follow-up to last year’s Elysium; Electric will be out in June and of course there’s a trailer.
Trailer: Pet Shop Boys / Electric
The Vaccines have rolled out a new clip from their second album Come Of Age. They’re sort-of in town on August 24 in Simcoe taking part in the Mumford & Sons-led Gentlemen Of The Road Stopover fest. Mumford & Sons also have a new video from their own second record, Babel.
Video: The Vaccines – “Bad Mood”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Whispers In The Dark”
TOY have rolled out another new video from their debut, TOY.
Video: TOY – “My Heart Skips A Beat”
The Twilight Sad has made a new song from the No One Can Ever Know sessions available to stream.
Stream: The Twilight Sad – “Tell Me When We’re Having Fun”
PopMatters chats with Patrick Wolf.
Consequence Of Sound and Blurt talk to Robyn Hitchcock about his new record Love From London.
Over at Talkhouse, Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg has an excellent essay/review about David Bowie’s new record The Next Day and the evolution of Bowie’s voice through the decades.
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
Little Boots takes scenic route to second album
Jack Featherstone, Max ParsonsAt long last, Little Boots is finally ready to let the follow-up to 2009’s Hands out of the studio and into the world. I don’t think anyone – not even Victoria Hesketh – expected it to be almost four years between debut and follow-up, but according to Spin, it took her that long to find the sweet spot between being the “proper songs” she wanted to write and the disco dance floor bangers she was expected to.
Still, her fans have been able to accompany her on that journey of discovery as she’s been releasing new songs intermittently since late 2011 as sort of signposts of the journey; two of those three already-previewed tracks will appear on the new record – entitled Nocturnes – when it’s released on May 7. Details on the release can be had at Billboard and the first official single from it is available to hear via free download or watch via video.
Some might argue – and perhaps correctly – that Little Boots didn’t deliver on the massive hype that accompanied her BBC Sound of 2009 win, but there’s no arguing that Hands was a very solid album of catchy electro-pop and if Nocturnes offers more of the same, then we’re all better off.
MP3: Little Boots – “Motorway”
MP3: Little Boots – “Every Night I Say A Prayer”
Stream: Little Boots – “Superstitious Heart”
Stream: Little Boots – “Shake”
Video: Little Boots – “Motorway”
Drowned In Sound, Billboard, MTV Hive, Consequence Of Sound, and NPR talk to Johnny Marr about going solo; The Messenger came out this week and he brings The Healers to The Phoenix on April 27.
CBC Music has an interview and The Alternate Side a session with Palma Violets, whose debut 180 is out this week and streamable at NME. They play Lee’s Palace on May 3.
Stream: Palma Violets / 180
Spin is streaming the whole of Mogwai’s just-released soundtrack for French zombie television series Les Revenants, and keeping on topic, Stuart Braithwaite offers The Guardian his five favourite undead bits of cinema.
Stream: Mogwai / Les Revenants
The Guardian interviews Thom Yorke about Atoms For Peace, whose debut AMOK is out this week.
Spin and CBC Music talk to Kate Nash about her latest Girl Talk, which is also streaming in whole at the CBC and from which a new vide was just released. The album is out March 5 and she brings it to The Horseshoe on March 15.
Video: Kate Nash – “3AM”
Stream: Kate Nash / Girl Talk
The Line Of Best Fit, The Quietus, and Stereogum talk to Robyn Hitchcock about his new record Love From London, out March 5.
Today in David Bowie: The Guardian compiles a profile of the Thin White Duke based on the recollections of those who’ve known him from childhood through today, Mr. Porter offers a guide to Bowie style through the years, NME crows about getting an exclusive cover photo, and Rolling Stone learns more about the Next Day sessions from drummer Zack Alford and guitarist Gerry Leonard. The album arrives March 12 and oh yeah the video for the second single from it is out now.
Video: David Bowie – “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”
eMusic solicits a list of favourite sophomore albums from Veronica Falls, who are too modest to include their own Waiting For Something To Happen on the list. They play The Garrison on March 12.
Crack has a feature piece on Daughter, whose debut If You Leave is out March 18 in the UK and April 30 in North America. They play The Great Hall on May 7.
The Telegraph has not one but two interviews and NPR a World Cafe session with Richard Thompson, who opens for Emmylou Harris at Massey Hall on March 22.
eMusic and The Scottish Sun interview Frightened Rabbit, who’ve a new video from Pedestrian Verse to show off. They play The Phoenix on March 31.
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Backyard Skulls”
Spinner and The Independent have features and Yours Truly a video session with Jessie Ware, whose Devotion gets a North American release on April 2 and plays The Opera House on April 6.
DIY has the details of Charli XCX’s long-overdue debut album; True Romance is due out on April 15. MTV Hive also has an interview with the artist, who will be in town at the Sound Academy on May 23 opening for Marina & The Diamonds.
Art Brut will sum up their career thus far with the release of a double-disc best-of/rarities compilation entitled – of course – Top Of The Pops. It’s out April 16.
Still Corners have announced details of their second album, entitled Strange Pleasures, out May 7, and based on the second sample – “Fireflies” was released as a single last Fall – it will not be Creatures On An Hour part two. At all.
MP3: Still Corners – “Berlin Lovers”
Spin has an interview and The Line Of Best Fit an acoustic session with Foals. They are at The Kool Haus on May 11.
The Wedding Present might be getting attention mostly for their Hit Parade recital tour, but they’ve also just put out a new video from last year’s Valentina. There’s also an interview at The New Zealand Herald.
Video: The Wedding Present – “Mystery Date”
Pitchfork has premiered the new video from Bat For Lashes, taken from The Haunted Man.
Video: Bat For Lashes – “Lillies”
The Line Of Best Fit reports that The Big Pink is now officially a solo project for Robbie Furze, with Milo Cordell opting to leave the band. If you’re not sure which was which, if you’ve ever seen The Big Pink live then Cordell was the one you never noticed.
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Review of We Were Promised Jetpacks’ In The Pit Of The Stomach
Nic ShonfeldAlongside labelmates and countrymen The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit, Glasgow-via-Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks should have formed a 21st century dream team of new Scottish acts, dispensing their peoples’ distinctive brand of angst through their respective brands of rock. And yet while those other two won and maintain places in my heart, Jetpacks’ 2009 debut These Four Walls did’t quite win me over.
The specifics of why aren’t entirely clear, but I suspect that it was just a little too shouty, too unrelenting. Granted, those are the band’s key strengths – guitarist/vocalist Adam Thompson’s bellows overtop the breakneck musical churn – but I found Walls a bit exhausting to get through. That hardly warranted writing the band off, however, so I was more than happy to give their sophomore effort In The Pit Of The Stomach, released last month, a few spins and it’s almost as though the band heard about my complaints and decided to meet me partway. Which is awful gracious of them.
To either casual followers or die-hard fans of the band, Stomach probably sounds perfectly familiar and satisfying. It’s still loud and punishing – album closer “Pear Tree” is a six-and-a-half minute flurry of face punches – but those crescendos are now better tempered with quieter passages and a greater emphasis on melody, both vocally and instrumentally. By reining things in a bit and singing rather than shouting while the drums and guitars steadily build, “Act On Impulse” comes across far more dynamically and interesting than anything I can recall on Walls. Similarly, the instrumental front half of “Sore Thumb” is evocative of Mogwai in their gentler moods before bringing the hammer down like Mogwai in their angrier moods; which is to say it’s kind of Mogwai-ish, in a good way.
In The Pit Of The Stomach evidences the sort of artistic growth and sophistication you’d hope a young band who’re probably not given to turning their sound upside down would develop. It certainly won’t lose them any fans but it may well sway some who had been on the fence onto their side. Trust me on this.
The Dallas Observer talks to the band about guitarist Michael Palmer’s cancer scare between albums one and two.
MP3: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Act On Impulse”
Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Human Error”
I now have a Valentine and her/their name is Veronica Falls. The London quartet will be back in town for a show at The Garrison on February 14, tickets $10.50 in advance. DIY has an A-to-Z with/of the band.
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Arena-sized in the UK, club-sized in North America, Kasabian will bring their latest album Velociraptor to The Phoenix on March 29, tickets $24.50 in advance. Perhaps they’ll be able to commiserate with Toronto about the (lack of) wisdom in naming things after dinosaurs that were briefly in fashion 20 years ago.
Video: Kasabian – “Switchblade Smiles”
Drowned In Sound gets their turn in the Los Campesinos! media-go-round.
Clash checks in with Milo Cordell of The Big Pink as they put the finishing touches on their new record Future This, out January 17.
Slow Club have a new video from Paradise.
Video: Slow Club – “If We’re Still Alive”
Similarly, Noah & The Whale have released a new clip from Last Night On Earth
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Give It All Back”
Two videos – or animations, as they’re being called – from the new Kate Bush album 50 Words For Snow have been released. It’s reasonable to expect more.
Video: Kate Bush – “Misty”
Video: Kate Bush – “Wild Man”
The New York Times Q&A’s Noel Gallagher, who has just released a short film that uses three of the songs from his solo debut as accompaniment.
Video: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “Ride The Tiger”
NME reports that Liam Gallagher has declared Oasis material may be on the table for future Beady Eye live performances.
The Guardian proxies questions from readers to Jarvis Cocker. The Jarv answers.
The Alternate Side has posted an Elbow studio session to watch and interview to read while Under The Radar reports that the band has been tapped to record the soundtrack to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
Adele is capping off what’s been a pretty good year for her (except for all those canceled shows and throat surgery) with the release of the Live At The Royal Albert Hall DVD/BR today – Spin is streaming the audio from the document while you can watch 25 minutes of the thing at Vevo.
Stream: Adele / Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Video: Adele / Live At The Royal Albert Hall (excerpt)
Kate Jackson talks to NME about her post-Long Blondes solo ambitions.
State chats with Clock Opera, whose debut album should be out in the new year.
NME follows Wild Beasts around on tour for a while.
The Stool Pigeon chats with Robyn Hitchcock.
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
First Aid Kit and Samantha Crain at The Rivoli in Toronto
Frank YangThis past Saturday night was one of those evenings with absolutely no shortage of options for Toronto concert-goers – and that’s even before Arcade Fire showed up to siphon off another 1000 people or so to the east end – so I wasn’t sure how well the Toronto debut for both Sweden’s First Aid Kit and Oklahoma’s Samantha Crain at The Rivoli would do, particularly since I heard that First Aid Kit’s free in-store at Criminal Records earlier that afternoon – which I had to miss – was only lightly attended. Any concerns about possibly being the only one there, however, evaporated when I got to the Rivoli’s back room and literally had to squeeze my way through throngs of attendees to get near the front. Yeah, people were there.
I was there to see the headliners but the addition of Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers to the bill – which required them to drive for 14 hours straight following their set at Bonnaroo the night before – actually had me more excited. I’d been hearing great things about Crain for over a year – before last year’s SxSW, I think – but had managed to not get around to hearing any of her music beyond a few drive-by MySpace visits, so her set promised to combine the joy of a new discovery with the assurance that it’d be good. And it was. Classifying Crain as a folk-pop singer-songwriter type is technically accurate, but really doesn’t do the scope of her talents justice. As her set ably demonstrated, in addition to writing songs that are both melodic and affecting, she delivers them in a voice rich with soul and a touch of twang and on top of all that, she’s a fierce guitarist – acoustic and electric, thanks. And she’s funny. Needless to say, everyone who’s been telling me that she’s great over the last however long – you were right. And to everyone who hasn’t heard her yet… you should. Her latest album is the just-released You (Understood). Seek it out.
Crain might have set the bar high, and First Aid Kit were well-set to clear it, thanks in no small part to being frighteningly tall. Both Klara and Johanna Söderberg measure in at close to six feet tall (the former just shorter, the latter a good deal taller) and considering they’re just 20 and 17 years old respectively, they might have a spurt or two left in them. But even so, their statures aren’t the most remarkable things about them – that’d be their voices. I’ve talked about how their respective quirks complimented each other perfectly on record, but it’s live that you really can’t help but be impressed by how perfect their pitch was – hearing them sing was like a master class in harmony. Accompanying themselves simply but effectively on acoustic guitar and keyboard (and occasionally accordion and autoharp), the duo and touring drummer showcased material from their debut Drunken Trees EP and the full-length follow-up The Big Black & The Blue, punctuated by sharp and sassy between-song banter (“we’d like to do a cover by a band called Fleet…. wood Mac”). The set highlight came about midway through when they stepped away from the mics to sing the beautifully sad “Ghost Town” unamplified to the full house. A close second was their encore, for which they brought out Samantha Crain and performed her “Dam Song”, complete with absurdly great three-part harmonies. There may have been plenty of other higher-profile entertainment options in town on Saturday, but I don’t think any of the hundred or so people who chose to hit the Rivoli had any regrets.
First Aid Kit have added another installment to their Filter tour blog (though the Toronto show only gets a passing mention – apparently we have nice architecture). Samantha Crain is profiled by The San Francisco Examiner, Oklahoma Gazette and The Oklahoman and also recently recorded a session for Daytrotter.
Photos: First Aid Kit, Samantha Crain @ The Rivoli – June 12, 2010
MP3: First Aid Kit – “I Met Up With The King”
MP3: First Aid Kit – “You’re Not Coming Home Tonight”
MP3: Samantha Crain – “Traipsing Through The Aisles”
Video: First Aid Kit – “Hard Believer”
Video: First Aid Kit – “I Met Up With The King”
Video: Samantha Crain – “Santa Fe”
Video: Samantha Crain – “Traipsing Through The Aisles”
MySpace: Samantha Crain
The St. Louis Tribune, Uptown and AV Club talk to John Darnielle and Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats.
Spinner talks to Joe Pernice about the new Pernice Brothers record, Goodbye, Killer. It’s out today and available to stream for the next week at Spinner.
Stream: Pernice Brothers / Goodbye, Killer
The Flaming Lips have a new video from Embryonic available to gawk at. You can gawk at the band in real life at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 8 and get a preview of what to expect via this NPR stream of this past weekend’s Bonnaroo set, though you really need to get all your senses in play when experiencing a Flaming Lips show.
Video: The Flaming Lips – “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine”
The Books will be on tour this Fall in support of their new record The Way Out, out July 20, and will be at the Mod Club on October 25.
MP3: The Books – “Beautiful People”
PitchforkTV solicits a live performance of “The Sweet Part Of The City” from The Hold Steady. They have a July 17 date at the Kool Haus.
Spinner is hosting a series of web videos from Fanfarlo entitled Under The Reservoir.
Magnet talks to Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake as the Fannies prepare to take over the editor’s desk of their website this week. Blake also talks to The AV Club about their new record Shadows and to Metro about moving to Canada (he now resides in Kitchener-Waterloo).
Spinner talks to The Joy Formidable about making their debut EP A Balloon Called Moaning.
Kele gives an interview to The Quietus and eye about his solo debut The Boxer, due out next week. He’s at the Mod Club on July 29.
Chart sics Narduwar on Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.
That The xx are coming back to town isn’t remarkable in and of itself – they’ve already been here thrice since last December. What is remarkable is that for their Fall tour, they’ve booked their September 29 date… for Massey Hall. Tickets will be $25 to $45 with presale starting tomorrow, regular onsale come Friday. Presumably there’ll be a new record released between now and then, and say what you will about their suitability for such a not-so-basic space, but there’s no question that their show will sound great. Their Bonnaroo set is also up to stream at NPR.
MP3: The xx – “Basic Space”
Islands have set a date at the Mod Club for July 14 – tickets $13.50 in advance.
MP3: Islands – “Vapours”
July 21 brings Jason Collett out for a show at the Mod Club supported by Daniel, Fred & Julie; tickets $16.50 in advance.
MP3: Jason Collett – “Love Is A Dirty Word”
MP3: Daniel, Fred & Julie – “The Gambler & His Bride”
With his own show at the Opera House last Saturday in the books, Shad has been announced as support for K’Naan’s October 1 show at the Kool Haus. Best of Canadian hip-hop, anyone?
Miike Snow have a date at the Kool Haus on October 9, tickets $25.
Video: Miike Snow – “Black & Blue”
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Review of The New Pornographers’ Together and giveaway
Jason CrepsThe first thing you notice about The New Pornographers’ latest album Together is the unison electric guitar and cello line that opens the first track, “Moves”. The second thing you notice is that you probably didn’t notice it at all. The band who first burst onto the scene at the turn of the century with the giddily live wire Mass Romantic transformed themselves from power-pop to orch-pop over the course of their five albums in the past decade that the strings and orchestral flourishes that permeate Together don’t seem at all out of place whereas they’d have had trouble finding the space to be heard amidst the cranked electric guitars and keyboards of their debut.
But sophisticated sonic accouterments aside, Together is still arguably their liveliest record since Electric Version, successfully recovering from the rather staid Challengers. Taken in the context of their career arc, that last record can now be regarded as more of a transitional record which tried to move away from the hepped-up pop of their earlier records and pulled a little too far in the other direction. Together strikes a much more comfortable balance, balancing the likes of “Your Hands (Together)”‘s amplified rock with the more stately pace of “Valkyrie In The Roller Disco”. Having noted those differences, it’s also important to note that which remains the same as on all other New Pornographer records – Carl Newman’s unerring ear for melody, Neko Case’s wonderful vocals and Dan Bejar’s requisite two wildcard songs though his contributions this time around are possibly his most straightforward compositions ever – still the highlights, but also a solid reminder that the world needs a new Destroyer record sooner rather than later.
Carl Newman has been quoted as saying that he knew that Challengers was going to be the band’s “backlash record”, even before it was out – maybe that’s why he made a record so worthy of backlash, so those of us disappointed wouldn’t have to work so hard to find reasons to feel that way. The good news is that the backlash has passed and with Together, The New Pornographers have made their rebound record.
The New Pornographers are currently on a cross-Canada tour – with the full band – and will be at the Sound Academy in Toronto for an all-ages show on June 15 with The Dodos and The Dutchess & The Duke. Tickets are $28 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I have two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want some New Pornography” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, June 11. And yes, I will check through my spam filter for entries, just in case.
There’s interviews with Carl Newman at The Star Phoenix, The Edmonton Journal, The Gateway and Canada.com as well as a list of songs that influenced Together at The Calgary Herald.
MP3: The New Pornographers – “Your Hands (Together)”
Video: The New Pornographers – “The Crash Years”
Video: The New Pornographers – “Your Hands (Together)”
MySpace: The New Pornographers
Forest City Lovers have announced a full mostly Canadian tour (there’s one Chicago date) for the month of July to mark the June 29 release of their third album Carriage. After they return from out west, they’ll play a homecoming release show on August 12 at The Great Hall accompanied by Gentleman Reg and Carmen Elle, preceded by an August 10 in-store at Soundscapes. They’re also playing the LEAF celebrations at Wychwood Barns on June 11.
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
The Toronto Star examines the low-key appeal of Shad, who is also featured by The Gauntlet, The Leader-Post and The Times-Colonist. He plays the Opera House on June 12; passes to the show are up for grabs.
The Fly has another video session with Born Ruffians; those guys will unplug for anyone with a video camera! There’s also interviews at The Seattle Times and Metro.
In town for two intimate nights at The Drake Underground this coming Friday and Saturday, Robyn Hitchcock has added an in-store at Sonic Boom on June 12 at 4PM to his itinerary. It goes without saying that this is going to be worth seeing.
Spinner has an Interface session with Two Door Cinema Club, who will follow up last month’s sold out gig at Wrongbar with a show at The Phoenix on October 25.
MP3: Two Door Cinema Club – “Something Good Can Work”
Paste catches up with Laura Marling.
Pitchfork talks to Aaron Dessner and Matt Berninger of The National. They open a two-night stand at Massey Hall tomorrow evening.
Though Bono’s bad back has forced Interpol to cancel their dates opening up for U2, they’ve still given their fans something to get excited about by announcing that their fourth album would be self-titled and out in mid-September and the replacement for departed bassist Carlos Dengler would be former Slint guitarist (and hired gun for too many acts to name) David Pajo.
Spinner, The Boot, Charlotte Observer and The Huffington Post talk to Tift Merritt about her new record See You On The Moon, an MP3 from which you can download over here.
Video: Tift Merritt – “Mixtape”
Pitchfork has details on the new Thermals record Personal Life, due out September 7.
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