Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Time Flies

The Horseshoe turns 65, Joel Plaskett volunteers to jump out of cake five times

Photo By Ingram BarssIngram BarssThere’s been a series of articles The Grid for the past year called Then & Now that has been diligently recording the history of Toronto’s musical history by way of its clubs and venues, many of which have been consigned to history regardless of what legendary acts have sweat upon their stages. It’s truly fascinating reading – especially if you take the time to look up what sort of pedestrian businesses reside at those addresses today – but it’s comforting to know that the odds of The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern ever entering that particular dead pool are slim to none.

The Queen West bar – beloved in the city and renowned internationally as an amazing place to both see and play a show – is marking its 65th year this December, and while the birthday celebrations will last for the better part of the month, one of the main events will run from December 12 to 16, when Can-rock icon and friend to woodland creatures Joel Plaskett sets up shop for five nights, including an all-ages throw-down on the final day – hey, even kids love Joel Plaskett. If this all sounds familiar, it may be because he did the same thing back in 2007 for the ‘Shoe’s 60th birthday, playing one of his albums in its entirety each night for six straight nights. It’s not clear if there’s going to be any sort of theme for these shows – one would think there has to be some way that they’re going to be distinguished from each other – but whatever it is, you know it’s going to be a good time. Tickets range from $25 to $29.50 per show and go on sale this Thursday.

MP3: Joel Plaskett – “When I Go”

Also making a date at The Horseshoe are Montreal’s Malajube; their last release La Caverne came out last year, but they’ll be in town on November 24, tickets $15.

MP3: Malajube – “Synesthésie”

The Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise program is back, and they’ll be bringing Bry Webb to the Parkdale branch on October 26 to play some songs from Provider, which was just released in the US today. That show is free and starts at 8PM.

MP3: Bry Webb – “Rivers Of Gold”

Fans of art and music (which is also art, yes, let’s not get pedantic) may be interested in the 1st Thursdays series at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which kicks off this Thursday, October 4, with a performance from Bahamas; he just released a new video from Barchords.

Video: Bahamas – “Lost In The Light”

Bruce Peninsula vocalist Misha Bower has just released a book of short stories entitled Music For Uninvited Guests, and it comes with musical accompaniment in the form of a mixtape of music from her various projects and a new song, which is streamable. There’s a book launch/concert on October 11 at the Great Hall which will feature performances from Doug Paisley, Simone Schmidt, Sean Donald and some of Bruce Peninsula.

Stream: Misha Bower – “I’m All About”

Toronto’s METZ may sound all rough and tumble – and hella loud – on their self-titled debut, but they’ve got some fancy friends. To wit, this feature piece in The New Yorker by no less than Sasha Frere-Jones, accompanied by a stream of the entire thing. The piece at Exclaim is fine too, I guess. The album is out next Tuesday and the band plays a hometown release show for it at the Horseshoe on October 12.

MP3: METZ – “Wet Blanket”
MP3: METZ – “Headache”
Stream: METZ / METZ

AC Newman’s new solo record Shut Down The Streets has apparently inspired a short film. It’s out October 9, he brings it to Lee’s Palace on October 21, and he talks to Chronogram about it. Update: And now the album is streaming at Pitchfork.

Video: Want You To Know
Stream: AC Newman / Shut Down The Streets

So there’s a new Godspeed You! Black Emperor record coming, their first in a decade. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! is out October 16 though physical copies are already on sale at their shows. Big news, short blurb. What, did you expect a series of making-of YouTube vids starring Efrim? No. The record exists. The end.

Caribou’s Dan Snaith will release Jiaolong, his first record under the alias of Daphni, on October 16 but it’s now streaming in whole over at Resident Advisor.

MP3: Daphni – “Ye Ye”
Stream: Daphni / JIAOLONG

Dan Mangan will have something new to go with his Fall tour that brings him to the Danforth Music Hall on October 25 – the “Radicals” 7″ single will be out October 16 and feature a new song on the A-side and a Yukon Blonde cover on the flip. Stream the former and watch a video for the latter now.

Stream: Dan Mangan – “We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down”
Video: Dan Mangan – “Stairway”

The Wilderness Of Manitoba have released a video from their new record Island Of Echoes, which they bring to Trinty-St. Paul’s on October 26.

Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”

NPR has an interview with Neil Young and Spin offers some choice excerpts from his new memoirs Waging Heavy Peace. His new album with Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill, is out October 30 and they play The Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Crystal Castles have confirmed a November 6 release date for their new record (III) and to mark the occasion, have made a new track from it available to download. They play The Kool Haus on November 3.

MP3: Crystal Castles – “Wrath Of God”

Beatroute, The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, and The Regina Leader-Post talk to Jenn Grant about her new record The Beautiful Wild, which came out last week and has been streaming at Exclaim, along with a new video. She’s at The Winter Garden Theatre on November 24.

Video: Jenn Grant – “In The Belly Of The Dragon”
Stream: Jenn Grant / The Beautiful Wild

The Wooden Sky have released a new video from Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun. They’re at The Phoenix on December 1.

Video: The Wooden Sky – “I’m Your Man”

CBC Music reports that Chad Van Gaalen is working on a full-length animated science fiction feature which he’s called Tarbox. Yeah, that won’t be weird at all.

Spanish site Vigopolis has got a video session of Basia Bulat playing a new song, so if you were wondering what Basia was doing – she’s in Spain playing new songs for Spanish websites. And giving interviews in Spanish. Because why wouldn’t she.

Spinner talked to Vancouver’s You Say Party, who officially returned to active duty this weekend at PBR10.

CBC Music talks to Snowblink.

Michael Barclay of Radio Free Canuckistan givs Macleans as detailed a description as he’s allowed of how things went down in the Polaris grand jury room last Monday such that Feist was allowed to walk away champion.

By : Frank Yang at 8:35 am No Comments facebook
Monday, October 1st, 2012

The New

Interpol mark 10th anniversary of debut album and the fact that you are old

Photo By ExumExumThings that happened in 2002: Spider-Man the movie was released, the Queen Mother died, this blog started, and Interpol released their debut Turn On The Bright Lights, furthering the work started by The Strokes the year before in entrenching New York as the coolest music city going and making the world safe for post-punk bands in sharp suits and asymmetrical haircuts to wear their Chameleons fan club pins without fear of reprisals.

While the follow-up Antics sold and charted better and they continue on a decade later (less one iconic bassist), the band never recaptured the same sense of embodying the zeitgeist the way they did with Bright Lights. And so as the tenth anniversary of that record’s release comes and goes – it technically turned ten on August 19 – Matador has announced plans to reissue the album, remastered and expanded with a bonus disc of demos and b-sides for both CD and LP editions and both coming with a DVD with the album’s videos and period-correct live footage. It will be out November 19.

Guitarist Daniel Kessler left a note about the impending reissue on the band’s Facebook.

MP3: Interpol – “NYC”
Video: Interpol – “NYC”
Video: Interpol – “Obstacle 1”
Video: Interpol – “PDA”

Back in the present, Interpol frontman Paul Banks is returning his attention to his solo project but has shed the silly Julian Plenti monicker that branded his 2009 debut Is… Skyscraper; this time out he will simply be Paul Banks and the album will even more simply be Banks. It’s out October 23, the first tune from it sounds like this, and there’s a short documentary about what it is to be Paul Banks over at Noisey.

MP3: Paul Banks – “The Base”

Pitchfork, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Philly Burbs gets a status report on their new album from Yo La Tengo; the still-untitled long-player will be out in late January 2013. They released their new Stupid Things 12″ last week and made the title track available to stream, but only on the annoyingly geoblocked Spotify – pretty stupid indeed. It took a while but I’ve found a regular stream to share thanks to Yagotamullet’s Song Of The Day.

Stream: Yo La Tengo – “Stupid Things”

The Quietus talks to Mark Eitzel about life post-American Music Club (again) and life in general. His new record Don’t Be A Stranger is out tomorrow and he plays The Rivoli on November 28.

By : Frank Yang at 8:35 am No Comments facebook
Sunday, September 30th, 2012

"Come See About Me"

The Afghan Whigs cover The Supremes

Photo via SubPopSub PopHistory likes to lump The Afghan Whigs in with the grunge end of the ’90s Alternative Nation scene – and yeah, they certainly benefitted from being on Sub Pop for the release of Up In It in 1990 and Gentlemen in 1993 – but they didn’t have much in common with their Pacific northwest brethren, stylistically. They came from much more of a place of R&B and soul than psych, metal, or other brand of classic rock… and while there may exist photographic evidence to prove otherwise, I don’t see Greg Dulli as much of a flannel guy.

So it actually makes a lot of sense that their only two official releases since reuniting early this year have been a couple of covers – one of 1970s soul singer Marie “Queenie” Lyons and another of 2012 R&B/hip-hop breakout star Frank Ocean. The Whigs have long made a habit of recording and releasing covers, specifically ones that point to their musical influences. Case in point, their 1992 EP Uptown Avondale which collected four Stax/Motown covers including this one (which again appeared on their 2006 best-of Unbreakable), a Holland/Dozier/Holland classic that was a #1 single in late 1964 and early 1965 for The Supremes. And it’s a pretty great example of what a few chord voicing changes can do to the character of a song, as the Whigs’ decision to take things into a minor key make it an infinitely more sinister tune; no, girl – don’t go see about him. Just don’t.

Diana Ross left The Supremes in 1970 and after a number of lineup changes, they disbanded in 1977. The Afghan Whigs are at The Phoenix on Wednesday night.

MP3: The Afghan Whigs – “Come See About Me”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Come See About Me”
Video: The Supremes – “Come See About Me”

By : Frank Yang at 10:26 am 2 Comments facebook
Saturday, September 29th, 2012

CONTEST – Two Door Cinema Club @ The Sound Academy – October 5, 2012

Photo via KitsuneKitsunéWho: Two Door Cinema Club
What: Belfast-based purveyors of guitar-driven dance-pop whom I once said would probably last a Summer and then fade into obscurity, and instead they’ve gotten pretty well massive and show no signs of going anywhere. Yeah, so.
Why: Their second album Beacon was released at the start of Autumn and is giving them an excuse for a massive North American tour.
When: Friday, October 5, 2012
Where: The Sound Academy in Toronto (19+)
Who else: This show comes with a pretty solid New York undercard in the form of Friends and Guards.
How: Tickets for the show are $29.50 in advance but courtesy of Embrace and Universal Music Canada, I’ve got three prize packs consisting of a pairs of passes to the show and a copy of Beacon on CD to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Two Door Cinema Club” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, October 2.

Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Beacon”

By : Frank Yang at 10:25 am No Comments facebook
Saturday, September 29th, 2012

CONTEST – The Afghan Whigs @ The Phoenix – October 3, 2012

Photo By Sam HoldenSam HoldenWho: The Afghan Whigs
What: Brilliant and deliciously soulful and sleazy ’90s Cincinnati noir-rock outfit, reunited and touring for the first time in over a decade to show the young’ns how it’s done.
Why: Why? What do you mean why? It’s the Afghan fuckin’ Whigs.
When: Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Where: The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto (19+)
Who else: On any other night, Crocodiles would be able to headline their own show but on this one? They play at the pleasure of the Whigs.
How: Tickets for the show are $36 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see The Afghan Whigs” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, September 30.
What else: Greg Dulli holds court with Exclaim, The Phoenix, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Mercury, and Washington City Paper.

MP3: The Afghan Whigs – “Lovecrimes”
MP3: The Afghan Whigs – “See And Don’t See”

By : Frank Yang at 10:24 am 3 Comments facebook