Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Have you ever watched a video clip wherein the audio track is slightly out of sync with the visuals? Even if it’s so slight as to be almost imperceptible, your brain picks up on the discrepancy and for me, at least, it’s utterly maddening. I bring this up for the sake of context, as this is how I was feeling Monday night. No idea why. Reality was operating on slightly different frequency than I was but I headed down to the Drake anyway.
I was mainly interested in catching the Canadian debut of Brooklyn’s Muggabears, though with a full slate of acts on hand for the Elvis Mondays showcase, law of averages dictated would have something worth seeing. Happily for me the Muggabears were on first though a later slot might have allowed more people to catch them – I thought I was early and I had barely sat down before they took the stage.
The elevator pitch for The Muggabears is that they’re a trio that sounds more than a little like Sonic Youth, but in a less aggressive package with more pocket-sized songs. And that’s a fair descriptor but after seeing them live, it’s impossible to not acknowledge the sizable debt the band owes to Pavement. If you turned your head one way, singer/guitarist Travis Johnson’s vocals were channeling Thurston Moore. Turn it the other, it was pure Malkmus up there. The comparisons also held with regards to the songs, though not as sprawling or intense as the former or playful and hooky as the latter. Heading further in one direction or the other might serve the band well, though coming up with a perfect hybrid of the two might be a worthier goal. Maybe then they’d be able to get some roadies to deal with all the alternate guitar tunings and eliminate some of those awkward, extended between-song silences. But whichever way they go, for the time being, they’re still a little green but onto something pretty cool.
Under other circumstances I’d have stuck around to see at least a few more bands but as I mentioned, I was just feeling off and the prospect of an early night was too tempting to pass up. Two weeks into the new year and I’ve seen exactly two bands live. Damn, I’m getting old. Chart had a talk with the Muggabears about some untruths on their MySpace profile and The Village Voice ran an interview last month. Update: WOXY has now got a studio session with the band available to download.
Photos: The Muggabears @ The Drake Underground – January 14, 2008
MP3: The Muggabears – “The Goth Tarts”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Dead Kid Kicks”
MP3: The Muggabears – “I’m Coming True”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Married To The Moon”
MySpace: The Muggabears
Speaking of Stephen Malkmus – the man, not the influence – he’s releasing his third solo record (or second band record with The Jicks, whatever you prefer) Real Emotional Trash on March 18. It looks like this and sounds a little like this.
MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Baltimore”
The Independent profiles Steve Earle.
Bradley’s Almanac has got audio from the first of two shows last year reuniting Throwing Muses Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly each did a solo set and then a set together. Specialness abounds.
Matt Berininger talks to The Age about the role of internal band friction in The National’s creative process.
My Morning Jacket will return with their new studio album, as yet untitled, on June 10. Details on that and a special Radio City Music Hall gig shortly thereafter at Billboard.
Drowned In Sound talks to John Darnielle about the new Mountain Goats record Heretic Pride, out February 19.
Luna fans take note – Dean Wareham’s memoirs Black Postcards are complete and will be out in hardcover form March 13. He and Britta will be in town at the Mod Club February 9. Thanks to Gary for the info.
And now’s as good a time as any to mention that this Sunday night at 8PM (8:30PM in Newfoundland and Labrador), I’ll be part of a phalanx of bloggers taking part in the CBC quiz show programme Test The Nation. I actually have never seen the show, so I don’t know how it works but as I understand it, the Bloggers are going up against teams of chefs, flight crews, taxi drivers, backpackers and celebrity look-alikes in some sort of battle of wits on live television and will hopefully afford me the opportunity to yell “No whammies!” live on national television like a nitwit. I really don’t know. All I do know is that they’ve promised us catering (taxpayer-funded cold cuts!) and if nothing else, I can rest easy knowing that the worst possible photo ever taken of me will exist on the internet long after I’m dead. My hair usually doesn’t look like that. It’s usually terrible, yes, but not THAT terrible.
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Though not the big release of the day – I’ll get to that just below – as of today Dirty On Purpose’s new EP Like Bees is now out. As good as their debut Hallelujah Sirens was, Like Bees does a better job of crystallizing what’s great about the band, namely the way they balance their noisier inclinations with their innate pop sense. It’s something many attempt, some do well but few do really well.
Over the course of five tracks, DoP prove they’re one of the few leading off with the gentle squall of “Audience In The Room”, hearkening to their early days with the boy-girl duet of the title track, jogging a memory of a song long forgotten with their cover of ’80s Aussie outfit Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel” and closing with the unexpected post-rock instrumental sprawl of “Airshow Disaster” – the title may well be a nod to Explosions In The Sky because the song is certainly inspired by them. Dirty On Purpose may have gotten lost amongst the deluge of briefly buzzed-about new bands last year, but these 23 minutes prove they’re worthy of your long-term attention.
They’ve also made a video for “Audience In the Room”, which is all well and good but still doesn’t touch the trebuchet-powered goodness of their clip for “Car No Driver”, and you can stream the whole of the EP at Spinner this week. And as previously reported, they still have plans for another release this year – a download-only EP called Dead Volcanoes which they’re still offering a preview of at RCRDLBL. Paper Thin Walls talks to guitarist George Wilson about the choice to cover the song from BMX flick Rad.
Stream: Dirty On Purpose / Like Bees
Video: Dirty On Purpose – “Audience In The Room”
Video: Dirty On Purpose – “Car No Driver”
And if you’re the sort to play Brooklyn musician-spotting, you may have noticed Au Revoir Simone’s Annie Hart in the video – that’s on account of her being married to DoP drummer/vocalist Doug Marvin (happy birthday, Doug) and refusing to appear probably would have been awkward. SF Station has an interview with bandmate Heather D’Angelo and Au Revoir Simone are kicking off a brief bi-coastal tour tomorrow night here in Toronto at Lee’s Palace.
As for the week’s big release, that’d be The Magnetic Fields’ new one Distortion. It’s also streaming in its entirety at Spinner and there’s a feature piece on Stephin Merritt at the New York Times.
Stream: The Magnetic Fields / Distortion
For The Records points out that the skeletal schedule for this year’s Canadian Music Week is now up though there’s little there besides a list of presumably confirmed acts and venues (with showcase sponsors) but hardly any actual lineups around which to plan your evenings from March 6 through 8. One that does have some familiar names is the Indie Awards ceremony on the 8th, held this time at the Royal York rather than The Docks (thank goodness). The lineup there will feature The Cliks, The Lowest Of The Low, Tokyo Police Club and The New Pornographers. To anyone looking at the Low’s name in that list and thinking, “hey, you fuckers broke up – I was there” – namely, me – Steve Stanley clarifies by saying that this is an induction into the Canadian Indie Hall of Fame (really? We have one of those?) and that they will “show up, play a couple of songs and graciously and gratefully accept this honour”. Cruising the list of bands I see mostly the usual suspects that I’d expect to be playing though Mike’s singling out of Finns Pooma could be a good recommendation. I’ll investigate the acts more closely over the next few weeks, leading up to the fest, and report back on my findings as I do.
Spinner Interfaces with Earlimart.
Harp, Athens Exchange, Creative Loafing and Red & Black get lessons in freewheeling from Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan.
PopMatters talks to Magnolia Electrician Jason Molina.
Sad news if you’re a Weakerthans fan – their February 1 in-store at Sonic Boom is off. If you want to see them, you’ll have to freeze your buns off at Nathan Phillips Square on the 2nd. Just think of it like the complete Winnipeg experience.
Good news if you’re a Metric fan – they’re shifting back into live performance mode with a gig at the Sound Academy (nee The Docks) on February 7. Tickets are on sale now for $20 plus vague facility charges.
Austin ambient outfit Stars Of The Lid are heading out on tour this Spring and that includes a date at the Music Gallery on April 28.
DCist offers up an interview with Tom Smith of Editors. He also talks to XFM about their odds of winning a Brit Award (not good). They’re in town at the Kool Haus next Tuesday, January 22.
Monday, January 14th, 2008
As seems to be my habit with British rock bands lately (Bloc Party, Editors), I fell for British Sea Power not with their much-lauded debut albums, but their mildy-reviled sophomore efforts. The complaints about Open Season relative to their debut The Decline Of British Sea Power were that it was too smoothed over and lacked the jagged chaos that some loved about the first record and was certainly a defining character of their legendary live shows.
I’m not ashamed to admit that it was that directness, pop sense and athemicism that sold me on the band but after going back and spending some more time with Decline, I could appreciate where the detractors were coming from. There was an energy there that seemed muzzled on the second record, like they were making a deliberate effort to fit in with more refined company at the expense, perhaps, of being themselves.
And so we come to the critical third record, the promisingly titled Do You Like Rock Music?, scheduled for release on February 12. Though it was also recorded in part in the Czech Republic and Cornwall in the UK, much attention is being paid to the album’s debt to Montreal – in particular, the fact that it was recorded with the assistance of Howard Bilerman and Efrim Menuck, best known for their work with Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. And if you’re looking for their fingerprints, they’re not hard to see (or hear) – there expansiveness and dramaticism that the band has always striven for is better realized than ever before and the guitars have a churning quality that reminds me more than a little than some passages on Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.
But while those are interesting talking points, the fact remains that this is still a British Sea Power record through and through, and maybe I’m still on a buzz from the newness of the album, but I’m prepared to call it their best. It strikes an almost-perfect blend of the best parts of the first two albums, with the idiosyncrasy and energy of the first balanced with the scope and grandeur of the second. Start to finish the whole thing hangs together wonderfully, ebbing and tiding as necessary and crackling with electricity throughout and when it reaches for the high points, look out. “Waving Flags”, the download of which comes from Spin, is the sort of song that could incite a revolution. With Rock Music, British Sea Power have crafted a record of anthems meant to be sung not from arenas, but the forests, the fields, the beaches, the cliffs. Yes, we like rock music. Especially like this.
Do You Like Rock Music? is one of the first big releases of the year, particularly in the UK where the album is being released today. This is evidenced by the sheer amount of press and interviews that have been cropping up in their media over the last little while… of course, this is helped by the fact that the BSP boys are odd fellows to say the least, which always makes for interesting conversation. Check out pieces at The Times, The Independent, The Irish News, Drowned In Sound, The Guardian, MusicOHM and The Belfast Telegraph.
The first slew of North American tour dates was announced last week and while the absence of a Toronto stop is obviously disappointing (especially after their abruptly cancelled show a couple of Autumns ago), it should be noted that the entire east coast has yet to be serviced so I think we can expect an announcement of further dates before too long.
MP3: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
MP3: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Atom” (edit)
Video: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
MySpace: British Sea Power
The Sydney Morning Herald combines an interview with Arcade Fire with a review of a live show in New York City (in advance of one in Sydney next week).
The Tripwire reports that Rob Dickinson is working on both “new music” and “new ‘old’ music” in 2008. Could the Catherine Wheel be turning in some capacity…? Let’s watch.
Some shows of note – Amos The Transparent, who frankly killed last time they were here, are back for a show at the Drake this Friday, January 18.
In the “ask and thou shalt receive” department, Headlights – whom I was hoping would come through town on Friday – were revealed that very afternoon to have a show booked for the El Mocambo on March 2 with Okies Evangelicals. I probably won’t be able to make it, but that’s besides the point. Headlights’ Some Racing, Some Stopping is out February 19 and Evangelicals’ second album The Evening Descends is out next week on January 22. Sample a bit and stream the whole thing below.
MP3: Evangelicals – “Skeleton Man”
Stream: Evangelicals / The Evening Descends
The Breeders, whose new one Mountain Battles is out April 7, have confirmed their Toronto show for CMW which was mentioned last December. They’ll be at the Phoenix on March 8, tickets for that are $28.50 and probably a limited number of CMW wristbands.
Clinic are gearing up for the release of their new record Do It! on April 8 by releasing the first single “Free Not Free” as a free download from their website starting on February 1. They’ve also booked a North American tour that will stop at Lee’s Palace on May 11. Single details and full dates at Strange Glue.
The Times evaluates various musician blogs. The best? Belle & Sebastian and Courtney Love. The worst? David Gilmour.
Friday, January 11th, 2008
My internet crapped out on me last night before I had time to get anything put together, so only the briefest of updates for today.
Champaign, Illinois’ Headlights are back with their sophomore album Some Racing, Some Stopping on February 19 and the first sample of it is now available. “Cherry Tulips” is still sugar-sweet pop built on Erin Fein and Tristan Wraight’s harmonies but it backs away from the gleeful noisiness present on Kill Them With Kindness and The Enemies that garnered them a “next-gen shoegazer” tag and takes a more classic, retro-sounding approach that happily suits them just as well.
Of course, this is just one song – the rest of the record could be 9-minute drones. But based on this and what they’ve already shown themselves capable of, those of us who abandoned the USS Rilo Kiley after their last record may have found a new ship. And as this quick video promo shows, we’re all welcome aboard.
Even though they were touring machines for the first record, they never made it up this way – here’s hoping that 2008 gets Canada some Headlight-y love. Update: Thanks to Mike for pointing out in the comments that Headlights have confirmed a show in Toronto on March 2 at the El Mocambo along with Evangelicals. Nice.
MP3: Headlights – “Cherry Tulips”
Almost guaranteed to have nothing but 9-minute drones is Smalltown Supersound, a rerelease of older material from Norwegian noisemakers Serena Maneesh. Details on the double-disc, May 5 release can be had at Pitchfork.
Vancouver’s Ladyhawk are also back with their second album Shots set for a March 4 release. The Fader has the first MP3 from the record and they’re doing a cross-Canada tour in March with a stop at the Horseshoe on March 22 with Immaculate Machine.
MP3: Ladyhawk – “I Don’t Always Know What You’re Saying”
The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Matt Berninger of The National.
Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo chats with Creative Loafing.
Bradley’s Almanac is sharing a vinyl-to-MP3 rip of Bedhead’s final-ever release. Their new incarnation as The New Year should have a new album out this year sometime.
Spinner talks to Steve Earle (in town at Massey Hall March 4) about his contributions, both musical and thespian, to The Wire and The New York Times watches the season five premiere with some real-life gangsters and dealers to get their take on the show. Verdict? Bad times coming for The Bunk.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t so brief.
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
I have to say I thought it was pretty funny that Nada Surf played an in-store last night at a used CD shop where they probably had hundreds of copies of the band’s debut High/Low in the cutout bins directly above their heads (the show was in the basement).
The band – or at least two-thirds of them, bassist Daniel Lorca was not present – were in town on a promotional jaunt to talk up their forthcoming record Lucky, due out February 5, and they were opting to do these little, intimate performances in advance of their proper tour starting in March which brings them to the Opera House on April 7 with What Made Milwaukee Famous.
I’ve seen them live a couple times and have never been especially impressed with their show. The songs are good, but they’ve never been the most riveting of performers so this setting, which put more of a premium on a casual, friendly demeanor than raw charisma, turned out to be an ideal place to see them. Matthew Caws was funny and engaging as they previewed songs from the new record and a couple of choice older cuts from their fine 2003 record Let Go. Even without the bass, the songs came across really well with Caws on vocals and guitar Ira Elliot keeping time on tambourine and percussive box/stool while adding some terrific harmonies. The new material didn’t seem to stray far from the tested and true Nada Surf formula – sensitive, heart-on-sleeve indie pop – but what they do, they do well and the basement packed with fans responded enthusiastically.
Since there wasn’t a “proper” show to get to that night, they ended up playing a longer-than-usual set for an in-store, probably pushing 40 minutes by the time I had to leave. Caws actually pointed out that they were going to be playing longer than some might have expected and if anyone had made plans for after, they shouldn’t feel bad about taking off before the show was over. And since I did, I did. Hey, the man said it was okay.
Update: Caws gave eye a self-review of the in-store. Second item in the page, after the long bit about Fucked Up’s lawsuit.
Photos: Nada Surf @ Sonic Boom – January 9, 2008
MP3: Nada Surf – “See These Bones”
MP3: Nada Surf – “Do It Again”
MP3: Nada Surf – “Blankest Year”
MP3: Nada Surf – “Blonde On Blonde”
MySpace: Nada Surf
And for more in-store goodness, circle February 1 as The Weakerthans will be doing an acoustic set at Sonic Boom in advance of their free show at Nathan Phillips Square the night of the 2nd.
Pitchfork reports that the next in the “Broken Social Scene Presents…” series, aka Brendan Canning’s solo record, will be out on May 27.
If you’re looking for something to do this coming Monday night, perhaps swing by the Drake Underground for Elvis Mondays, this week featuring The Muggabears. They’re from New York City and sound very New York City, not unlike Sonic Youth in their poppier moments, with less sprawl but still plenty of skronk. Their Night Choreography EP, released last year, got a four-star review in this week’s eye, for what that’s worth. Me, I’m curious enough to make the trek and hey – free is free is free. Gothamist has an interview.
MP3: The Muggabears – “The Goth Tarts”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Dead Kid Kicks”
MP3: The Muggabears – “I’m Coming True”
MP3: The Muggabears – “Married To The Moon”
MySpace: The Muggabears
Xiu Xiu have scheduled a Spring tour which will bring them through town on March 17 to a venue still to be determined Sneaky Dee’s. Their labelmates on Kill Rock Stars and tourmates on this jaunt are Thao with The Get Down Stay Down and both acts have new records coming out on January 29 – Xiu Xiu with Women As Lovers and Thao with her debut We Brave Bee Stings And All. You can stream the Xiu Xiu at their MySpace and/or grab some MP3s below.
MP3: Xiu Xiu – “I Do What I Want When I Want”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Beat (Health, Life and Fire)”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Bag Of Hammers”
Dengue Fever have a date with Sneaky Dee’s on March 8, full dates here. Their new one Venus On Earth is out January 22.
MP3: Dengue Fever – “Sober Driver”
Drowned In Sound really takes this “upcoming year prognostication” thing seriously. They’ve assembled their acts to watch in 2008 into three tiers – “Early Doors”, aka the acts that have little to no profile right now but theoretically have the goods to rectify that, “Next-Steppers”, aka the acts that have already made waves but are ready to move to the next level, and “Certifiable Successes”, which as the name implies are their blue-chip picks to bust out all over it ’08. The BBC is far less complicated in their predictions, offering up a simple list of ten acts who they expect to have a good year.
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