Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Those who prefer their singers with perfect pitch – or even pretty good pitch – would be well advised to avoid the Music Gallery this Saturday night. But those who are more interested in songcraft than technical perfection and want to see a couple of performers who are arguably indie rock royalty despite this may want to get in line as Julie Doiron and Calvin Johnson will be holding court there that evening.
Both are currently supporting releases that look back at their pasts while simultaneously looking forwarrd. For Doiron, her new album Woke Myself Up reunites her with her former Eric’s Trip bandmates for one of the best collections of her career. Johnson, on the other hand, has just released Calvin Johnson & The Sons Of The Soil which eschews his usual musical primitivism aesthetic and enlists “a band of real music-making people” (their words) to re-record songs from his Dub Narcotic Sound System and Halo Benders repertoires. The net result is one of the most listenable records he’s ever put out, at least for someone who’s never really been into his work.
But to business – courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to this show to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with your full name in the body and “I want to see Julie and Calvin” in the subject line. Contest closes at midnight, June 27.
And they’ll be playing songs together as well – head over to Gorilla Vs Bear to check out a Halo Benders song that Johnson and Doiron recorded special for them in Denton, TX a few weeks ago.
MP3: Julie Doiron – “No More”
MP3: Calvin Johnson – “I’m Down”
Video: Julie Doiron – “Me And My Friend” (MOV)
Video: Julie Doiron – “No More” (youTube)
Video: Julie Doiron – “Swan Pond” (MOV)
MySpace: Julie Doiron
MySpace: K Records/Calvin Johnson
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Well that was just a shame, pure and simple. Brooklyn’s Chris Garneau made his Canadian debut at Sneaky Dee’s on Wednesday night, the first date of a mini Canadian tour, and… well, I guess in every musician’s career there’s going to be some shows that are just bound to be disasters. This was one of them.
For starters, Garneau was given the middle slot between a couple of bands so anonymous that I couldn’t even find a MySpace for them. The lead-in were just wrapping up their set of remarkably unremarkable rock when I arrived and when they were done, they took their sweet time clearing off stage, making sure to converse loudly with all their friends who drove in from the suburbs for the occasion. These conversations continued (loudly) as Garneau and his bandmates set up onstage and vainly tried to soundcheck and when they began their set.
If you haven’t heard Garneau’s material, he trades in very quiet, very delicate piano pieces accompanied by his unearthly soft and fragile voice. Beautiful stuff, but also the sort of stuff that’s easily drowned out by loud talkers or the howling, persistent feedback that was coming from both the stage monitors and the house PA. Now the sound at Sneaky Dee’s is usually pretty good and I know they’ve dealt with trickier setups than vocals, electric piano, cello and drums but for whatever reason they were incapable of getting anything resembling a decent mix.
Obviously frustrated, Garneau tried to play through it by discarding the quieter bits of his set (which is to say most of it) and what he did perform from his album Music For Tourists was so lovely but he gave up after barely half an hour, looking like he was either going to apologize to everyone or curse us all out. Graciously, he opted for the former. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such sympathy for a performer… hopefully he won’t hold it against us and returns to play for a quieter, more respectful audience. But if you’re going to see him on any of the other tour dates, please – keep it down.
Photos: Chris Garneau @ Sneaky Dee’s – June 20, 2007
MP3: Chris Garneau – “Not Nice”
Video: Chris Garneau – “Relief” (YouTube)
MySpace: Chris Garneau
The Phoenix tries to figure out at exactly what point M Ward became such a big deal. His first record, Duet For Guitars #2, is being reissued by Merge on July 10.
Also out that day from Merge – Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I’m comfortable saying this is one of their best records yet, and they put out some consistently good records. Stream it below and see them at the Phoenix on October 15.
Stream: Spoon / Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
The Daytrotter machine doesn’t stop – up this week are sessions with The Long Winters (interview/session) and Sparrow House, the solo project of Voxtrot keyboardist Jared Van Fleet (interview/session). If you like what you hear of Sparrow House, he’s got and EP out (Falls), another on the way (Television Snow) and some tracks from the first one available to download:
MP3: Sparrow House – “When I Am Gone”
MP3: Sparrow House – “You Sang Along”
Filter makes available their feature story on Feist from their latest issue.
PennLive.com talks to Richard Thompson.
Nels Cline discusses his many hats with The Boston Globe.
Some interviews with The National courtesy of The Georgia Straight, The Boston Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe and Filter. The band’s DC show from Wednesday night, which The Washington Post calls “a snoring success”, is available to stream at NPR along with an interview. Looks like they picked the wrong show to broadcast? Hey Leafblower – maybe The National DO hate DC after all? Happy birthday, btw.
Some pretty big concert announcements coming down the pipe this week. Instead of running through them chronologically, I’ll go by order of excitement.
First – Okkervil River at Lee’s Palace on September 21. Tickets $13.50, on sale next Wednesday. This is in support of their new album The Stage Names, out August 21. The Catbirdseat says that the album will be available in a deluxe edition limited to 5000 copies that will come with a second disc of Will Sheff’s solo demos of each track on the album. Obviously I want this, but saw no option for this edition when I pre-ordered. This is mildly concerning to me. I should probably also mention I AM INCREDIBLY EXCITED FOR THIS SHOW. In case you couldn’t tell. I’m just trying to be all cool about it and stuff.
As they did last year, Beirut will be in town on October 2, right before Pop Montreal. Unlike last year, however, they’re going in the other direction (west) and not playing the festival. Also unlike last year, they’re not going to be at the Horseshoe – this show is at the far larger Danforth Music Hall. Pitchfork has full details about the tour and the new record, still untitled, and out October 9. I really enjoyed seeing the band at SxSW in March but would be very surprised if I managed to squeeze this one in before heading to Montreal. I’ve done the show-the-night-before-a-trip thing, it’s kind of brutal.
Band Of Horses will be at Lee’s Palace on August 11. Sadly, that day is already earmarked for the Wolfe Island Musicfest up in Kingston. Wolves > Horses.
And a note that the Bill Callahan show at the Music Gallery on September 11 is actually the first of two nights – he’s also there on the 12th, both shows with a full band. Tickets $20.50, on sale next Wednesday.
FHM Australia has declared me the 89th greatest website, nine spots greater than Rotten Tomatoes. FHM WTF?
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
I know lots of you still love Ryan Adams. That’s cool. My thoughts on the man haven’t changed too much since this post a couple years ago, even though afterwards, on the recommendations of many, I picked up what was generally regarded as the strongest of his three 2005 releases, Jacksonville City Nights. And while it was decent enough, like most of the rest of his post-Heartbreaker releases, it failed to engage me for any significant length of time. I really can’t put my finger on why, but I can probably say with some certainty that Ry-ry and my CD collection have parted ways for good.
But he remains a fascinating individual, as this weekend’s New York Times feature proved – as restlessly creative as he is (was?) self-destructive, even if you’re not into the music he’s great tabloid fodder. And with the release of his new record Easy Tiger
next Tuesday, the media spotlight will once again be on Mr David Ryan Adams to see what he does next… at the moment that’s doing a small club tour that includes a stop at the Enwave Theatre in Toronto tomorrow night and also playing radio sessions. You can stream his World Cafe show in Philadelphia from last Friday at NPR or you can head over to I Am Fuel, You Are Friends to download the MP3-ified version. Minnesota Public Radio is also offering up the audio from his recent interview. And if you want the studio versions of the new songs, you can stream the new record below.
But wait – there’s a contest component to this post. Courtesy of Universal Music Canada, I’ve got a pretty sweet prize pack to give away to some lucky Canuck (this contest is only open to Canadians, sorry). The winner of this one will get to stare at a poster of Ryan Adams whilst listening to Easy Tiger in either analog or digital form because they’ll have a copy of the new record on LP and CD. That’s Easy Tiger on LP, Easy Tiger on CD and a Ryan Adams poster, just to be clear (don’t know what the poster looks like, sorry). To enter, leave me a comment with your pick for the best song Adams has written. You can pick from either his solo work or his Whiskeytown oeuvre – I’m curious what era of his career gets the most votes. Now though the contest is only open to Canadians, if someone from elsewhere wants to chime in, feel free. Just mention you’re not eligible for the contest (and don’t try to sneak one by me – you’ll have to provide your mailing address if you win). I’ll let this one run for a week – contest closes at midnight, June 28. Update: Congrats to Braden on winning the prize pack. The rest of y’all are still in the running for the autographed litho, though.
Stream: Ryan Adams / Easy Tiger
NPR also has Wilco at the World Cafe with a four-song session and interview while Filter has posted their cover story on the band from their latest issue. Wilco are in town at Massey Hall next Saturday with Low, and Bradley’s Almanac has assembled an almost-complete live version of their latest Drums & Guns pulling tracks from various shows, including one in Boston in April which he’s also sharing in its entirety.
The Age talks to Dinosaur Jr.
Coming July 21 to Sneaky Dee’s – Vancouver’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? accompanied by Montreal’s Shapes & Sizes.
Drowned In Sound has words with Handsome Furs, in town at Lee’s Palace on July 31.
eye and The Toronto Star interview Graham Van Pelt of Miracle Fortress, in town Saturday night for a show at the Whippersnapper Gallery. My contest for the Miracle Fortress vinyl closes tonight so if you wanted to enter but haven’t had any interesting dreams lately… make one up. I won’t know the difference.
Speed Of Dark offers up a combination concert review/interview with Land Of Talk. Among things revealed – the band have signed with One Little Indian in Europe and will release their forthcoming full-length there this year with a domestic release possibly not coming until 2008. Boo, hiss!
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
When I was in university, there was this girl named Sarah Blackwood. She sang in a British band called Dubstar and their dreamy, sparkly blend of Brit/indie and electro-pop soundtracked a goodly portion of my collegiate years. I found the blend of Blackwood’s sweet, yet distant vocals with Steve Hillier’s synths and Chris Wilkie’s jangly, Marr-ish guitars irresistible – the single-disc US edition of Goodbye, which combined the best parts of their first two UK releases Disgraceful and Goodbye, was never far from my CD player.
But when you graduate from university, you inevitably leave people behind and so it was that as I moved into the working world and my musical tastes wandered elsewhere, Sarah and I fell out of touch. Dubstar’s third and final record, Make It Better in 2000, was only available on import and I wasn’t interested enough to shell out those prices. And while I was excited to find individual copies of the first two UK albums and replaced the US version with them, they didn’t have the same super-concentrated goodness. They’re both good records – the excised tracks still quite worthy – but they mostly just sat on my shelves. Sarah and I had some good times but I figured that was it for us.
But sometimes people from the past have a habit of turning up unexpectedly and so it was when I discovered Client and their third, just-released album Heartland. Certainly that’s Sarah, but gone is the demure, doe-eyed girl who peered out from the Dubstar CD liner notes – instead, she’s now “Client B”, one third of a glammy, sexed-up, duo trio dressed in super-tight, shiny stewardess uniforms (her co-conspirators are “Client A” and “Client E”). Musically, it’s a similar transformation – gone are the airy synth pads and light, Pet Shop Boys-esque rhythms. Client has a much harder, square-wave sound and heavier beats, more suited to proper dance floor ass-shaking than mopey indie head-bobbing. Lyrically, things are also darker but considering that Blackwood was never a credited songwriter in Dubstar and all of Client’s songs (save the covers, natch) are credited to them, this might well be Blackwood’s real voice. Maybe I didn’t know her that well in school after all.
Interesting footnote – Dubstar’s Wikipedia entry states that Steve Hillier announced this year that he was, as they say, “getting the band back together”. Or at least releasing new material as Dubstar. Who’s he working with? Who knows?
MP3: Client – “Drive”
MP3: Client – “Lights Go Out”
MP3: Dubstar – “St Swithin’s Day” (Billy Bragg cover)
Video: Client – “Zerox Machine” (YouTube)
Video: Dubstar – “Stars” (YouTube)
Video: Dubstar – “No More Talk” (YouTube)
Video: Dubstar – “I Will Be Your Girlfriend” (YouTube)
eCard: Client / Heartland
MySpace: Client
You know what the saddest thing about this melange of excised clips from the new Radiohead record is? If this is what the album actually sounded like, I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised.
The Guardian talks to the Brothers Reid about what on earth could have brought the Jesus & Mary Chain back together. Me, I’m far more excited about the fact that ex-Ride drummer Loz Colbert is behind the kit for them. BIG improvement on the old drum machine, let me tell you. And hey, Loz has his own MySpace. And solo material. Of course he does.
Aversion checks in with an interview with The Long Blondes.
While I was away, Pitchfork gave Lucky Soul’s The Great Unwanted a solid 8.0. Even after two months of having this record on heavy rotation, I still love it as much as when I wrote this. That is remarkable. REMARKABLE. Go listen.
Stream: Lucky Soul / The Great Unwanted
The AV Club gets Nick Peill of Fields to put his iPod on shuffle… and the first song that comes up is a Fields song. How mortifying.
And to cap off the Anglo portion of this post, I direct you to this Pitchfork piece about the forthcoming The Brit Box: U.K. Indie, Shoegaze, and Brit Pop Gems of the Last Millennium box set due out on October 2. At first glance, it certainly seems like they’ve done a decent job of covering the final fifteen years of the 20th century in British indie over four discs – it’s funny, discs one and two represent the era that I wish I’d lived through, disc three represents the era I did live through and disc four pretty much represents the era that drove me away from British music for a good many years. I’ve already got most everything in the set that I care to own but that battery-powered glowing telephone booth packaging looks mighty tempting. No wait, it doesn’t.
The schedule for Austin City Limits is now up and goodness are there some decisions to be made. Queens Of The Stone Age or Spoon? I’m not really a fan of the former but am sure they’d be fun to see and shoot, and I’ll see Spoon here in town in October. Arcade Fire or White Stripes? Same deal – just saw AF (though from a couple stories up) but I’m sure the Stripes would be fun to shoot. Steve Earle or Andrew Bird? Actually, that’ll be Steve fo’ sho’. Wilco or My Morning Jacket? That’s a toughie. Though considering that it’s Texas in mid-September, the determining factor will probably more likely be which stage is closer to a nice shaded area or water station.
Hey Virgin Fest – ACL has THEIR SCHEDULE UP and they’re not happening till the week after you… want to get your final lineup announced or what?
NPR will be webcasting The National’s show in Washington DC tonight – tune in at around 10PM EDT to hear them live from the 9:30 Club.
Check out Batman’s new wheels.
No Comments
facebook
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}