Thursday, March 29th, 2007
It’s a damn shame that The Long Winters’ 2006 record Putting The Days To Bed has been so overlooked and underappreciated by most everyone, including myself. It’s one of those albums that I forget is on my iPod until I go cruising for something to listen to and spin it and am reminded what a terrific pop gem it is. Witty, erudite and charming, John Roderick is a top-notch songwriter for those of use who like our songs wordy and he’s the same way as a frontman… but I’m getting ahead of myself. There were two other bands on the bill at the El Mocambo on Tuesday night. Them first.
I don’t think there’s any way that naming your band after a Belle & Sebastian song can be construed as a good idea, but if you were expecting cardigan-tugging twee anthems from Portland’s Stars Of Track & Field, think again. The duo instead offer up an overly-earnest mix of Coldplay sensitive anthemicism and Postal Service electro-pop that just wasn’t especially interesting. And I tend not to trust any band that sees fit to go on tour with a Floyd-worthy stage setup of smoke machines and motorized spotlights but no bassist. Especially if they’re wearing ascots.
Los Angeles’ Broken West were already in my good books for a) turning out an excellent Cal-pop debut in I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On earlier this year and b) opening up day two of Hot Freaks two weeks ago at the ungodly hour of 11AM and still turning in a great set. On this however, their Canadian debut performance, they should have billed themselves as The Broken Strings as they broke no less than three guitar strings within the first few songs of their set, forcing both guitarists to play Keith Richards-style. As a result (or coincidentally), their set wasn’t especially tight and they were also plagued by a rather dodgy mix coming out of the PA. They still made it through an shortened set (maybe not wanting to play longer and tempt the fates further) and the strength of their songs still came across, but I hope they make it back soon and have better luck. And some extra high-e strings.
And back to John Roderick and gang. The man totally reminded me of your favourite high school history teacher, the one that you could imagine going out for drinks with or fronting a rock band in his spare time. Declaring the show to be all-request from the get-go, the band let the audience – smallish but obviously devoted – dictate the set list. Though a lot of the selections ranged back to earlier records, EPs and singles, they still managed to cover a lot of material from Days, which is good since that’s their only record I’m really acquainted with. But for popsmiths of Roderick’s calibre that’s hardly a prerequisite for enjoying the songs – those hooks make good contact the first time around. Combine that with the fact that Roderick is, as mentioned earlier, a grade-A stage banterer and the fact they got the mix sorted out and things were actually sounding pretty good and you had a fine evening.
The Long Winters have been doing mucho Canadian press on the current tour (which if you’re still downstream you’d do well to check out) – they talked to Canada.com Montreal, Canada.com Edmonton, Vue, The Georgia Straight and Chart. OnMilwaukee also say hello. JAM!, meanwhile, chatted with Stars Of Track & Field.
Photos: The Long Winters, The Broken West, Stars Of Track & Field @ The El Mocambo – March 27, 2007
MP3: The Long Winters – “Pushover”
MP3: The Broken West – “Down In The Valley”
MP3: Stars Of Track & Field – “Centuries”
Video: The Long Winters – “Fire Island, AK” (YouTube)
Video: Stars Of Track & Field – “Movies Of Antarctica” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Long Winters
MySpace: The Broken West
MySpace: Stars Of Track & Field
ABC catches up with The Shins.
The Temple News talks to The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee.
PopMatters and The New York Observer talk to Ted Leo while WOXY’s new blog The Futurist has some exclusive live MP3s from a session Leo did for them recently. Ted’s at the Mod Club on May 2.
The Futurist has also got a couple tracks from a session with Land Of Talk recorded at SxSW, including one new song. Their Applause Cheer Boo Hiss, which is only now available in the US, scored a very solid 7.5 from Pitchfork.
UGO has an interview with Fountains Of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, whose new album Traffic & Weather, out next Tuesday, is kinda being crapped on. They’ve got a gig at Lee’s Palace on June 10.
And three days after opening for Blonde Redhead at the Opera House, Fields will be back in town for a session at the Amp’d Studio on May 14. Tickets not available yet, but when they are, they’ll be free.
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Today’s post brought to you by UK artists formerly in other bands.
Charlotte Hatherley gave fair warning late last year that her second solo record The Deep Blue would be a much different record than her debut Grey Will Fade, but even as an avowed fan of that record as I am, I wasn’t expecting the follow up to be so damn good. The first record proved that Hatherley could combine sweet vocals, wicked guitar chops and a killer pop sensibility into a deliciously power-poptacular package, but with the new one she demonstrates a songwriting elan that makes you wonder why she spent as long as she did playing second fiddle in Ash.
Whereas Grey was a mainlined sugar rush, Blue takes its time in revealing its melodic treasures – hell, opening track “Cousteau” doesn’t even have any lyrics, just Hatherley cooing “ooohs” for the duration (don’t worry, it’s great). While the bounce-off-the-wall anthems are fewer (though extroverts like “I Want You To Know”, “Very Young” and closer “Siberia” more than compensate in quality for quantity), the depth and breadth of songwriting and musical creativity on display. It’s sonically dense and rich without stepping into overproduction – just a superb album, top to bottom, of British pop the way I like it, free of affected snottiness and faux-punk attitude. But maybe most exciting is what it augers for Hatherley’s future musical output – if she keeps stepping it up the way she has between her first two records, she’s going to be turning out some (even more) amazing albums before long.
Hatherley talked to The Belfast Telegraph and Room Thirteen about the circumstances around her leaving Ash and crafting her second album. She’s also posted some praise from David Bowie on her website – hey, if I had a pull quote from David Bowie I’d post it too. Idolator makes the audio case for getting The Deep Blue a domestic release (though to be fair, the import price isn’t that dear) while I will just post the two excellent videos from the record. Unfortunately I think odds of that happening are pretty long, and chances of any live dates over here are probably non-existent because, well, there’s no justice in the world. Haven’t you heard?
Video: Charlotte Hatherley – “Behave” (YouTube)
Video: Charlotte Hatherley – “I Want You To Know” (YouTube)
MySpace: Charlotte Hatherley
Magnet, which sadly seems to have become a quarterly instead of a bi-monthly, shoots the shit with Andy Partridge about this and that and toy soldiers. He co-wrote “Dawn Treader” on Hathereley’s record and has his own double-disc of new material, an improvisational album with former XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews called Monstrance, coming out April 3. Check out an MP3 and video from the release:
MP3: Andy Partridge – “I Lovely Cosmonaut”
Video: Andy Partridge – “Winterwerk” (Flash)
Magnet have also got an interview with Jarvis Cocker about Jarvis, which also gets a North American release next Tuesday.
The Tripwire bills it as a “Stone Roses reunion”, but it’s just Ian Brown and Mani doing a charity gig. It’s not a proper debacle unless Reni and John Squire are along for the ride.
The Telegraph profiles Brett Anderson, whose solo self-titled debut came out in the UK Monday and was promptly crapped on by Pitchfork (via The Rich Girls Are Weeping). The Argus also has an interview and he tells BBC America he’s open to a Suede reunion. Richard Oakes’ fat little ears just perked right up.
Lisa Gerrard, ex-Dead Can Dance, will be at the Danforth Music Hall on May 13. The Best of Lisa Gerrard was released in February (and I know Gerrard and DCD weren’t British but they were on 4AD and based out of the UK for a while). The Courier-Mail talks to Gerrard about her DCD days.
Chart, Canada.com, The Daily Texan, Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times talk to Bloc Party. For The Records has video footage from their performance on MTV Live Monday night.
NME is streaming the whole of Maximo Park’s latest Our Earthly Pleasures, out in North America on May 8 and touring same later in the Summer including a July 14 date at the Mod Club in Toronto. The new album sounds great in almost exactly the same way the debut did. That’s not a complaint.
Also out in North America on the 8th of May is Everything Last Winter , the full-length debut from Fields. Initial impressions have been rather disappointing considering how much I like their 7 From The Village mini-album, but I’m still giving it a chance – check out an MP3 from the album and the video for the new single and judge for yourself. They’re at the Opera House on May 11 opening for Blonde Redhead.
MP3: Fields – “If You Fail, We All Fail”
Video: Fields – “Charming The Flames” (YouTube)
Interesting piece from The Independent stating that Scottish author Iain Banks is assembling a tribute album to Frozen Gold, the fictional band in his rock’n’roll novel Espedair Street. Maybe my favourite contemporary author, Banks’ latest novel The Steep Approach To Garbadale is out now. Which begs the question, where is the mailman with my copy?
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Even with the post-SxSW concert-going hangover, the lingering cold and the fact that it would be my fourth night out in a row (which isn’t really the best way to recover from either of the first two points), I was still really excited Explosions In The Sky’s show at the Opera House on Saturday night, their first of two sold-out shows in town this weekend. I’d been waiting ages to see them live and even though the Friday Night Lights factor put them in a larger venue than I’d have liked, I didn’t let that dampen my enthusiasm. That, as it’d turn out, would be taken care of elsewhere.
Starting things off was Eluvium, whose set was the aural equivalent of a glacier – slow, massive and unstoppable. Matthew Cooper, he who is Eluvium, built these enormous sonic constructs by piling on layers and layers of noise from his keyboard, guitar and laptop – all you could do was close your eyes and be taken away which was just as well, since there was really nothing to look at. Cooper sat at his little workstation way off to the side of the stage, essentially hidden from view, and a projector displayed the same video of birds flying around a smokestack for the duration of the 40-minute set.
But what Eluvium lacked in visual stimulus, the next band more than made up for. Led by John Congleton, who produced the latest EITS album, The Paper Chase came off like a less-tuneful, far more maniacal Dismemberment Plan. Aggressive, abrasive, theatrical and not at all what the typical Explosions concertgoer might have been expecting, The Paper Chase need to be commended for making an impression – after the show, I heard as many people talking about their set as much as they did the headliners. Most of them were complaining loudly, sure, but still. They didn’t do much for me either but it was an effective wake-up call after Eluvium.
Explosions In The Sky’s latest All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone hadn’t made as much of an impression on me as its predecessor The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place – I found it more cinematic but less visceral and impactful. The band were still, for my money, the pinnacle of instrumental post-rock, but the new record was a bit of a let down. But still, their live shows were supposed to be legendary so whatever they played I was sure I’d love it.
And it’s here I need to segue a bit to mention one of my fellow concert-goers, who had been making a minor annoyance of himself all night. Having smuggled a hash pipe in via his shoe (he made a grand display of extracting it making me wonder why on this, of all nights, the usually oppressive Opera House security staff was nowhere to be found), he had been getting more stoned, drunk and obnoxious and now that the headliners were on, he was extra-determined to be an utter asshat. Explosions’ music demands immersiveness on the part of the listener, a commitment that it’s hard to make or maintain when the guy beside you is yelling, “yeah! whoo!”, talking loudly to his friends or trying to tell the band while they’re playing that they rock, all the while shoving his way up front and being a total boor. Not necessarily unusual behaviour at a rock show but so much more unwelcome at this one.
Basically, save for a few moments where I was able to fully tune in and appreciate it, the Explosions set became background music for being annoyed by this guy. It was no longer a musical concert but a test to see how long I could go without putting my fist in this guy’s face (it came very very close and might have come to pass if I thought he would have felt anything through the booze and drugs). Bottom line, the show was pretty much ruined for me but from what I hear from those located elsewhere, Explosions were great. Maybe next time I’ll experience it for myself. I totally should have gone to the Sunday show like I’d originally planned. Oh well.
PopMatters has an interview with the band, Ground Control talks to drummer Chris Hrasky about writing the new record, guitarist Munaf Rayani shuffles his ipod for The AV Club and NPR still has the show from DC available to stream or download, which is what I’ll need to do to actually enjoy them live.
Photos: Explosions In The Sky, The Paper Chase, Eluvium @ The Opera House – March 24, 2007
MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Welcome, Ghosts”
MP3: The Paper Chase – “We Know Where You Sleep”
MP3: Eluvium – “New Animals From The Air”
MySpace: Explosions In The Sky
MySpace: Eluvium
Spoon makes their bid for worst album title of the year. Isn’t it someone’s job at Merge to prevent things like this? Either way, look for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga in stores July 10. Sigh.
JAM! reports on the state of Metric, including the release of long-lost debut album Grow Up And Blow Away in June and work on their next album, due out in Spring of 2008.
Have you been following along with the promo campaign for Feist’s new one The Reminder, out May 1? Various internet outlets have been getting “webisodes” (read: videos) for tracks from the new record to premiere – you can see the ones released so far at Pitchfork, Stereogum and Spinner. More to come? Feist plays two shows at Massey Hall on May 25 and 26.
Yes But No But Yes assembles the Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels – “Where’s My Money, Honey?” was a given but the rest of them are gold as well. Via I Am Fuel, You Are Friends.
And oh, how about that Battlestar Galactica finale? Huh. Either they’ve got some gigantic rabbit up their collective sleeves or they’re losing their minds in grand fashion. Either way, audacious.
Monday, March 26th, 2007
Everyone wanted a pony as a kid, very few actually got one. Now if, as someone of legal drinking age, you still want a little horse to ride around the yard, to groom and to name “Blossom”, that’s your business, but if you’d rather get a dose of Chicagoan fuzzed-out psych rock with a 90s college rock vibe, then I can help you out. The Ponys will be at Lee’s Palace this Thursday evening with The Black Lips and Action Makes and courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away.
To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with your full name in the body and “I want a Pony” in the subject line. Show’s coming up so this is a quick one – the contest will close at midnight, March 27 – that’s tonight.
I caught only a tiny bit of The Ponys’ set at Hot Freaks at SxSW but their live rock abilities were more than evident. Their new album Turn The Lights Out came out last week and they also just did a Daytrotter session and interview, so check those out if you need more convincing. The Black Lips are supposed to be nutso live, as well, so there’s that too. And the free. Can’t underestimate the value of free.
MP3: The Ponys – “Double Vision”
MP3: The Ponys – “Poser Psychotic”
Video: The Black Lips – “Boomerang” (MOV)
MySpace: The Ponys
Monday, March 26th, 2007
Funny how things go in circles – that CMW showcase at the ‘Shoe a couple weeks ago had 3/5 of the same lineup as the NxNE show I saw at The Boat last June. And then, last Thursday at the ‘Shoe, I saw the last two bands from that bill, Born Ruffians and We’re Marching On.
I didn’t actually stick around for We’re Marching On (WAMO to their friends) at that show so this was my first time seeing the Guelph-born outfit, also their first gig in some seven months with singer/guitarist Tim Fagan having pulled a Jack Bauer and been somewhere in China during that time. I had gotten a copy of their EP Argh! Umph! Ahhh! in the big post-Sx mail call so I’d had some opportunity to get acquainted with their sound, which is a strange assemblage of garage-fi, ADD prog-pop built on a foundation of wickedly melodic keyboard riffs, dance-inducing drumming and colour-outside-the-lines arrangements. Vocally things test my yelp-tolerance levels at points but the songs are weird and interesting and hooky enough to make that a minor, subjective point.
But that’s the recording and this was the live show which everyone had described to me as being something that had to be experienced to be appreciated – lofty promises that weren’t quite fulfilled on this night. Not that they were bad by any means, but the rust from the time off was evident as they tried to ignite the onstage chemistry. There were moments where they did catch and I saw what people were talking about, but they weren’t sustained through the set. But like I said, the songs were still catchy if even more frenzied in structure and as they work through a short Southern Ontario tour, I don’t doubt they’ll be back in game shape when they play Toronto again on April 11 opening for Tokyo Police Club at the Mod Club.
Prior to that show at The Boat last June I got wind of a label bidding war over the Born Ruffians – my impressions at the time were that their energy and musicianship were really impressive, especially considering their tender ages, but the songwriting raw and while the potential as unmistakable, it seemed kind of soon for a shot at the (indie) big leagues. Well shows how much I know, they were signed to WARP and XL shortly thereafter and have been on a steady upward trajectory since. Interestingly, their performance on this evening wasn’t a whole lot different than the last time I saw them nine months ago – it was just better all around. They’re still hellaciously tight but what seemed like quirks last year are now proper eccentricities – everything’s more refined and focused and they sound a lot more comfortable and confident in what they’re doing. Their sound still isn’t directly up my particular alley – Luke Lalonde’s yodeling vocals are a taste I’ve not fully acquired yet – but I enjoyed their show more than I expected and am certainly curious as to what they’ll be up to next.
I Heart Music has a session the Ruffians did for KEXP available to download, their session for Spinner’s Interface is still online and they tell Chart that they hope to have their full-length debut out in the Fall.
Photos: Born Ruffians, We’re Marching On @ The Horseshoe – March 22, 2007
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Hedonistic Me”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “I’m Not One Of Those Girls”
MP3: We’re Marching On – “1800s”
MySpace: Born Ruffians
This week’s Take-Away Show? Arcade Fire in a freight elevator. Must not have been especially hygienic in there because the band just canceled the remainder of their European tour due to illness.
Fountains Of Wayne are at Lee’s Palace on June 10 (via For The Records). At this rate, NxNE weekend is going to be chock full before the even announce any NxNE events. Traffic And Weather is out April 3.
Interpol will release their third album on June 5.
Carl Newman talks to Billboard about the recipe of the new New Pornographers album – three parts Dan, three parts Neko, remaining parts Carl, simmer and serve sometime around late August. Neko-powered tour come Fall.
Pitchfork offers up some info on the new album from Spoon – no title yet, but a tracklist and a release date – July 10.
Voxtrot, the debut full-length from Voxtrot is out May 22 and the first MP3 is now available. They’re also at Sneaky Dee’s on June 8.
MP3: Voxtrot – “Kid Gloves”
Did you notice how I segued there back to Austin content? Crafty, no? Well as promised, I’ve finished processing all my SxSW photos – 46 galleries worth – available for your viewing pleasure.
Photos: SxSW XXI – March 14-17, 2007 @ Austin TX
np – The National / Boxer
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