Monday, December 3rd, 2007
Welsh happy noisemakers Los Campesinos! have had a pretty good 2007, riding their debut EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets to not inconsiderate North American buzz, including an appearance at this year’s Lollapalooza festival.
And as they prepare to release their first full-length, Hold On Now, Youngster… in or around February of next year, they’re making one last trek around North America to work the EP and that includes a stop at the Mod Club in Toronto this Wednesday night, December 5. They’re playing with Germans, with whom they shared a stage when they last came through town in August as well as Sweet Thing.
And, courtesy of Emerge, I’ve got three pairs of passes for the show to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Los Campesinos!” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at 5PM tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.
Thanks, and be careful out there.
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “Don’t Tell Me To Do The Maths”
MP3: Los Campesinos! – “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “The International Tweexcore Underground” (YouTube)
Video: Los Campesinos! – “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” (YouTube)
Video: Los Campesinos! – “You! Me! Dancing!” (YouTube)
MySpace: Los Campesinos!
Monday, December 3rd, 2007
I’d have been remiss if I didn’t follow up Thursday’s post, exhorting y’all to go see Dog Day at the Drake Underground on Saturday night, by showing up myself. So between other engagements I popped by the Drake to catch their compact set.
Considering the band had been on tour since mid-September with only a week off, I expected them to a) be really tight and b) be really tired. Two for two. Well, the former was obvious as the punched through material from Night Group quickly, efficiently and proficiently while evidencing some Pavement-y and early Built To Spill-y influences that weren’t as obvious from the record.
To the latter point, I can only speculate based on the fact that the band have been living out of a van and criss-crossing the continent for six weeks. But whatever the reason, Dog Day’s performance evidenced a good deal of concentration if not intensity, letting the strength of the songs carry the show rather than their stage presence. Of course, it could be that that’s how they are even after a week of bed rest and three squares a day – their deadpan demeanour is part of the charm of the album, I suppose it makes sense that it’d carry over to their live show. So this past paragraph? Never mind.
Either way, they crammed a lot into their barely-40 minute set and even if the opening of “Lydia” didn’t come off quite as apocalyptically heavy as I’d hoped, it mainly reminded me how good a record Night Group is (not that I necessarily needed reminding having listened to it incessantly last week). And they were done in time for me to make it to a friend’s party at exactly the stroke of fashionably late. That’s what we call a good night.
Photos: Dog Day @ The Drake Underground – December 1, 2007
MP3: Dog Day – “Oh Dead Life”
MP3: Dog Day – “Use Your Powers”
Video: Dog Day – “Oh Dead Life” (Blip)
Video: Dog Day – “Lydia” (YouTube)
MySpace: Dog Day
Kevin Drew discusses the state of Broken Social and his solo works with The Montreal Gazette. Drew and his crew are at the Kool Haus on Saturday night.
Reveille offers up video (and transcript) of an interview with Stars’ Torquill Campbell and Pat McGee as well as live footage of the band performing in Minneapolis last month. NPR has an interview and session available to stream.
Chart talks extensively with Rolf Klausener of The Acorn about the process of making Glory Hope Mountain.
Thom Yorke talks to The Sydney Morning Herald about Radiohead’s decision to release In Rainbows online, PWYC and in the process become a verb (and an annoying one). In Rainbows is out in shiny, plasticy physical form on January 1 though those of you who splurged for that fancy-pants box set version should be getting yours right about now. Which means, of course, another four billion blog posts from people reviewing and dissecting every bonus track contained therein. Whee.
The Toronto Star has a nice feature celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. The Toronto institution officially turns 60 next Sunday but the festivities start up this week beginning with a free show from the Lowest Of The Low tomorrow night and carrying on through the rest of December. This first week, in particular, is going to be more than a little nuts – if anyone’s looking for me, just check the ‘Shoe. And writeups of the events may be a little slower in coming than usual… An almost-complete list of the anniversary shows is up at the venue’s MySpace page and as for the remaining surprise guests, The Star accidentally let one of the names not officially announced slip – Blue Rodeo, most likely on either the 17th or 18th. How long do you think the line for THAT one is going to get?
The Movie Network offers a helpful guide to drug culture lingo to help you get into the right mindset for season five of The Wire, premiering in just over a month on January 6. Season four comes out on DVD tomorrow.
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007
Argentinan-born, Swedish-bred nylon-string enthusiast Jose Gonzalez is about as good an argument for allowing your music to be used in commercials as there is. While it’s not to say that he wouldn’t have made made waves exclusively on his own impressive talents, there’s no denying that allowing his cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” to soundtrack a Sony Bravia commercial gave him the sort of exposure that you can’t put a price on. I’m not ashamed to admit that was the first place I heard his music.
And so now, a couple years on, he’s followed up his breakthrough debut Veneer with In Our Nature and, like its predecessor, it’s a skeletal, acoustic record built on hypnotic guitar figures and Gonzalez’s emotionally ambiguous vocals. The music is pretty, but curiously distant and guarded. Even though it draws you in with its sonic intimacy, it still keeps you at arms length. It’s a paradox that intrigues and frustrates me, but thankfully more of the former than the latter.
Gonzalez is currently on tour in support of In Our Nature and arrives for a trio of Canadian dates this week, including a stop at the Mod Club in Toronto on Friday, December 7. That same evening, he’s playing an in-store at Sonic Boom at Bloor and Bathurst, starting at 6:30PM.
And, since this is a contest, after all, I’ve got stuff to give away. Courtesy of Mute, I’ve got a grand prize consisting of copies of In Our Nature on both LP and CD, a signed poster and a bookmark. For marking books. And I’ve also got four runner-up prizes of autographed posters. For hanging on walls. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Jose Gonzalez stuff” in the subject line and your mailing address in the body. Contest will close at midnight, December 5.
Check out a live version of his cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”, rearranged and properly recorded on the new record, as well as a track from Veneer and some videos from the new album. Retread has a video session and you can read an interview with Jose at Washington Square News.
MP3: Jose Gonzalez – “Teardrop” (live)
MP3: Jose Gonzalez – “Crosses”
Video: Jose Gonzalez – “Teardrop” (YouTube)
Video: Jose Gonzalez – “Down The Line” (YouTube)
Video: Jose Gonzalez – “Killing For Love” (YouTube)
Video: Jose Gonzalez EPK (YouTube)
MySpace: Jose Gonzalez
Saturday, December 1st, 2007
When I think of Ottawa, I think of tulips, cold and snowy winters, driving through Tweed and the Parliament Hill cat sanctuary. Andy Swan, on the other hand, thinks of cowboys.
Swan’s new album, the descriptively-titled Andy Swan’s Ottawa, pays homage to our nation’s capitol not in a literal sense but in a personal sense, and in a manner that’s more Burrito Brothers than beaver tails. It’s a leisurely and good-natured bit of folk-pop with a friendly vibe and some sharp lyrical wit nestled in its comfy folds.
Swan is bringing a little bit of his Bytown back home to Toronto this Thursday night with a show at the Dakota Tavern and courtesy of Kelp Records, I’ve got a prize pack consisting of a pair of tickets to the show, a show poster by Jack Dylan and a copy of Andy Swan’s Ottawa on CD. To enter, fire me off an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to go to Andy Swan’s Ottawa” in the subject line and your full name in the body and get that in to me by midnight, December 4.
Also check out some interviews with Swan at Soundscapes and Exclaim! and you can grab the entirety of his last release, The Sunshine EP, for frees over at Zunior.
Bonus fact – Swan fronts the The Michael Parks, whom I didn’t realize I’d seen live at the end of last year until I noticed the pull quote at the end of the band’s online bio: “I suspect singer Andy Swan was more than a little drunk.” – Frank Yang, Chromewaves.net
Heh.
MP3: Andy Swan – “Can I Pay You With Sunshine?”
MP3: Andy Swan – “The Sound Of Snowflakes Falling”
MySpace: Andy Swan
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