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Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
Solange is coming; it’s True.
Elias TahanThere are many routes to Solange. Some may know her because of the surname she shares with her superstar sister. Others for her thespian endeavours which so far, have peaked with the starring role in the third chapter of the competitive cheerleading saga Bring It On. And her music career – two albums since 2003 – have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, so she’s got fans there, too. But it’s her recent turns covering Dirty Projectors and collaborating with Of Montreal that have garnered her scores of new followers in the indie realm.
She only came to my attention, however, when word got out that she was working with Dev Hynes as producer and co-writer. I had originally been a bit wary of his shift from the folk/orchestral indie-rock stylings of Lightspeed Champion to the ’80s-vintage disco-soul of of Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange, but Coastal Grooves, his debut in that guise, was so irresistibly slick and funky – and at minimal cost to his guitar heroics – that the prospect of pairing those skills with an up-and-coming soul diva such as Knowles had so much potential.
The full-length fruits of their labours is still forthcoming, but the mini-album True, released digitally last November and out physically as of yesterday, certainly shows that promise is being fulfilled. It sounds like a companion piece to Coastal Grooves in style, but the use of an actual studio rather than Hynes’ home environs and Knowles’ vocals makes it a different creature entirely – smooth and expressive while eschewing the diva excesses so typical of her peers. It’s a bit of a subtle release, but that’s also what makes it refreshing and it doesn’t take but a few listens for the hooks to sink in and once they’re in, that’s it.
With the record’s release, Solange has announced a Winter tour that brings her – and presumably Hynes, who has been in her band for past live appearances – to The Hoxton on February 22. Tickets for that – which will go fast, you best believe – are $23 and go on sale this Friday at 10AM.
The Guardian has a feature piece on how Knowles came to work with Hynes, and if you’re curious about how their styles compare, know that the closing track on True is a Blood Orange cover of a 7-inch single; you can stream the original below. Solange’s performance of “Losing You” on Jimmy Fallon last year – with Hynes at her side – is also worth watching.
Video: Solange -“Losing You”
Video: Solange – “Losing You” (live on Jimmy Fallon)
Stream: Blood Orange – “Bad Girls”
Elsewhere, Brooklyn’s lo-fi surfers Beach Fossils have made a date at The Garrison for February 27 in support of their new album Clash The Truth, out February 19. Tickets are $14.50 in advance.
MP3: Beach Fossils – “Careless”
MP3: Beach Fossils – “Shallow”
With his/their third album Dormarion due out April 2, power-pop maestro Benjamin Michael Lerner – aka Telekinesis – has slated a Spring tour that stops in at the Horseshoe on May 12; tickets $11.50. A new song is also available to stream.
Stream: Telekinesis – “Ghosts And Creatures”
Pitchfork has debuted their new advance album stream feature with Yo La Tengo’s new one Fade, out next Tuesday. They’re at The Phoenix on February 9.
Stream: Yo La Tengo / Fade
The Stool Pigeon, New York Times, Red Eye, and The 405 interview Christopher Owens, whose solo debut Lysandre is out next Tuesday and who plays The Mod Club on January 18. The Line Of Best Fit has got a stream of the album right now.
Stream: Christopher Owens / Lysandre
Ra Ra Riot are streaming another new song from Beta Love, out January 22. They play Lee’s Palace on March 6.
Stream: Ra Ra Riot – “Dance With Me”
Two weeks out from the release of Almanac, Widowspeak have made another new song available to stream. It’s out January 22.
Stream: Widowspeak – “Thick As Thieves”
Local Natives have made another track from their forthcoming Hummingbird, out January 29. They’ve got a sold-out show at The Opera House on March 28.
MP3: Local Natives – “Heavy Feet”
Rolling Stone has some words with Jim James as well as a new stream from his forthcoming solo record Regions Of Sound & Light Of God, out February 5.
Stream: Jim James – “A New Life”
Spin talks to Caitlin Rose about expanding her country horizons on her second album The Stand-In, due out February 25, and the Arctic Monkeys cover that’s part of that. Watch the video for that one below, and see her at The Garrison on April 5.
Video: Caitlin Rose – “Piledriver Waltz”
The 405 has details on the new album from Brooklyn’s The Men, as well as a stream of a new song. Yes, its’ face-ripping. The album is called New Moon and is due out March 5.
Stream: The Men – “Electric”
Apparently that first taste in December of Low’s forthcoming The Invisible Way was unofficial because this new stream is being called the first official release from their new record, out March 19. They also just announced a live date at The Great Hall on March 16.
Stream: Low – “Just Make It Stop”
Rolling Stone talks to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club frontman Robert Been about writing and recording their new album, still untitled but due out this March, in the wake of his father’s sudden death in 2010. Update: Turns out it does have a name, as well as release date: Specter At The Feast is out March 18.
Spinner talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.
NYC Taper has a recording of Titus Andronicus’ set opening up for one of the Yo La Tengo Hannukah shows last December.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
This is a bunch of stuff of a Canadian nature. And this is METZ.
Colin MedleyThis here is another of those posts that, were it a category on Jeopardy, would be called “Potpourri” on account of it being a whole lot of this and that with only the passports of the artists mentioned in common.
And I’ll start with Toronto’s METZ because, well, I haven’t used one of their photos yet and my posting process is really that random. The trio has been making a lot of noise – literally and figuratively – on the back of their self-titled debut, and while it wouldn’t normally be my particular sack of hammers, there’s a clarity to their attack and just enough underlying melody for me to get behind. I’d like to experience one of their legendarily… energetic live shows, but we’ll probably have to wait until at least the Spring as they’re taking their show through Europe for pretty all of the first quarter of 2013. In the meantime, there’s a recording of their show at the Knitting Factory in New York last month over at NYC Taper, NPR has just posted video of a KEXP radio session, and the a-side of their new, non-album single is available to stream.
Stream: METZ – “Dirty Shirt”
Exclaim gets a look inside Yamataka//Sonic Titan’s home studio/headquarters and also asks them what they’ve got in mind for their second album. They play 1st Thursday at the Art Gallery Of Ontario this Thursday night, December 6.
The Line Of Best Fit, The Lantern, and The Marquette Tribune interview Patrick Watson, headlining Massey Hall on December 6.
The Line Of Best Fit and The 405 have interviews with Do Make Say Think, who’ve made a track from their live soundtrack to the 1924 film Greed available to download via CBC Music. They’re at The Opera House on December 7.
MP3: Do Make Say Think – “Greed Waltz”
Fucked Up have announced the lineup for the second installment of their Long Winter series, taking place December 14 at The Great Hall. They will again headline the event, and be joined by Dusted, Laura Barrett, and many more. Admission is pay what you can.
MP3: Fucked Up – “I Hate Summer”
MP3: Dusted – “(Into The) Atmosphere”
The Wooden Sky have announced details of their third annual Holiday Revue charity show, scheduled for December 17 at The Music Gallery. Tickets for the show are $20 and all proceeds from the event will go to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Support will be announced later this week. Metro talks to frontman Gavin Gardiner.
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Child Of The Valley”
If you were wondering why it’s not been possible to get tickets for the Evening Hymns show at the Church Of The Redeemer on December 15 announced in October, it’s because that show is no longer happening. It has been replaced by one at The Music Gallery on December 20, tickets $17 and available right now via Kelp Records. So the room is still appropriately church-y but it’s also smaller, so if you wanted to go, best get on that. Neil Haverty of Bruce Peninsula will open up.
MP3: Evening Hymns – “Arrows”
Julie Doiron has scheduled a show at The Horseshoe for January 25 in support of her new album So Many Days. Tickets are $15 in advance. The Vancouver Sun and The Province have profiles.
MP3: Julie Doiron – “By The Lake”
The lead single from Suuns’ new album Images Du Futur is now available to download. It’s out March 5.
MP3: Suuns – “Edie’s Dream”
AC Newman has a new video from his latest solo record Shut Down The Streets.
Video: AC Newman – “I’m Not Talking”
The Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, and MTV have feature pieces on Diamond Rings, who’s released a live route for an alternate version video from Free Dimensional.
Video: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”
Martin Tielli has taken to Facebook to explain his withdrawal from the Rheostatics reunion shows which were to have taken place this week; Radio Free Canuckistan has reposted the message for those who are just fans but maybe not friends of Tielli.
The National Post has an interview with The Dears.
CBC Music gets to know Shad. Again. Some more.
Exclaim has some videos from Bry Webb’s recent Toronto Public Library performance available to watch.
Hooded Fang stops in at DIY for a video session.
Spin interviews Alice Glass of Crystal Castles.
Exclaim asks Chains Of Love about their plans for album number two.
BlogTO chats with Gentleman Reg.
Spinner talks to Neil Young about last night’s Hurricane Sandy benefit in New York.
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
The Walkmen and Father John Misty aim to find out exactly how often is too often
Arno FrugierUsually when a band says, “we’ll see you soon” as they walk off the stage, it’s a mostly-empty platitude that means “we’ll see you when we’ve got a new record to push”, or “we’ll see you when our next single becomes a huge hit and allows us to come back and play a much bigger room”. For New York rock stalwarts The Walkmen and Los Angeles psych-folk bard Father John Misty, though, at least lately, it’s been an ironclad promise.
The Walkmen were here twice already this year – once in March at The Phoenix as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations, and again in August at the Molson Amphitheatre supporting both Florence & The Machine and their latest album Heaven – and Father John Misty has one-upped them, making his local debut at The Horseshoe in May, opening up for Youth Lagoon at The Opera House in July, and then returning again to headline Lee’s Palace just this past weekend, all in support of his debut Fear Fun. Which is great news for their fans if a bit hard on their fans’ pocketbooks.
But if you reside in that section of their fanbase Venn diagrams that intersect, the fact that they’re teaming up for a Winter tour should be an exciting one. It will bring them to The Danforth Music Hall on January 16 with ticket prices ranging from $33.50 to $45.50, which isn’t the cheapest, but when you consider the two-for-one value proposition, it’s a pretty good deal.
Le Blogotheque has a couple videos from The Walkmen’s 10th anniversary show in New York this Summer. Bullett, The Chicago Tribune, and The Phoenix have interviews with Josh Tillman of Father John Misty, who is continuing on his current tour.
MP3: The Walkmen – “Love Is Luck”
MP3: The Walkmen – “Line By Line”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
Grantland goes behind the scenes of the first video from Titus Andronicus’ Local Business. That record brings them to Lee’s Palace on November 27 and provides context for this interview at The Guardian
Video: Titus Andronicus – “In A Big City”
NPR has a World Cafe session with Band Of Horses, hitting Massey Hall on December 5.
Pitchfork has details on the solo debut from Christopher Owens, former frontman for Girls. Lysandre will be out on January 14 and a couple songs from it are available to stream.
Stream: Christopher Owens – “Lysandre’s Theme / Here We Go”
The first preview track from Local Natives’ new record Hummingbird, due out January 29, is now available to download. They’re at The Opera House on March 28.
MP3: Local Natives – “Breakers”
Though busy for the last while as being part of Thao & Mirah, Thao Nguyen has gotten back together with The Get Down Stay Down – though grammar geeks will find it interesting they’re now credited as “and” instead of “with” – and will release a new album in We The Common on February 5. Stream the first track below.
Stream: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – “Holy Roller”
Under The Radar points out that Telekinesis has, for shits and giggles, made a new Hallowe’en-themed song available to download.
MP3: Telekinesis – “Clock Strikes Midnight”
Loud & Quiet and The Huffington Post talk to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.
Paul Banks talks to Exclaim and Northern Transmissions about and offers Drowned In Sound a track-by-track guide to Banks.
The Shins’ contribution to the now-available Starbucks holiday comp Holidays Rule – a Paul McCartney cover – is now available to stream in whole thanks to Stereogum, and if that’s not enough Shins for you, the whole of their Austin City Limits episode is available to watch. And if that’s still not enough, well I can’t help you.
Stream: The Shins – “Wonderful Christmas Time”
aux.tv talks to Lou Barlow about keeping the balance between Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, and all that other stuff he does.
Mojo interviews Bob Mould.
Sunday, October 21st, 2012
El Perro Del Mar covers The xx
Frank YangThe cover song is typically reserved for songs that influenced an artist, have great personal meaning, or just tickles their fancy and can usually be categorized as either “classic”, “obscurity”, or “ironic”. For an artist to choose a current song – and one that’s not a chart-topper or in this case, even an official single – really says something about the power of that song.
Case in point, Sweden’s Sarah Assbring, who took “Shelter” from The xx’s Mercury-winning 2009 self-titled debut and made it a fixture of El Perro Del Mar’s live shows in support of her 2010 record Love Is Not Pop, taking the time to properly arrange the song for her band rather than just toss it off. It doesn’t stray too far from the original as Assbring’s voice does the sultry/lonely thing as well as Romy Madley Croft; maybe even better as she doesn’t have an Oliver Sim to sing alongside her. The recording comes from a performance in New York in February 2010; she repeated it in Toronto a week later.
El Perro Del Mar’s new record Pale Fire is out in a few weeks on November 13. The xx released their sophomore effort Coexist last month and are at Massey Hall this Tuesday, October 23, in support.
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Shelter” (live at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY – February 17, 2010)
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Shelter” (live at The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY – February 17, 2010)
Video: The xx – “Shelter” (live at Live at Eurosonic – January 2010)
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
Review of Choir Of Young Believers’ Rhine Gold and giveaway
Nina MouritzenAs a confirmed musical Scandiphile – I don’t know if that’s a real world but I like it regardless – I like to think each nordic country has a particular strength and style to them: Swedes excel at mating melody to melancholy, the best Icelandic music is evocative of the mystery and otherworldliness of the environment from which it springs, and Norway has given us black metal and a-ha. But Denmark… for a long while, they gave us Aqua. And also Mew and The Raveonettes, sure, but only recently have I began to detect a particular musical thread running through their emerging artists.
Artists like Efterklang and Indians trade in a sort of dense, meticulously crafted, and occasionally proggish pop that prefers measured movements to grand gestures and can prefer to render emotions in infinte greyscale rather than technicolor. And while three acts don’t really constitute a national aesthetic, the aforementioned also applies to Copenhagen’s Choir Of Young Believers, the miniature orchestra led by singer-guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. Their second full-length Rhine Gold is a sumptuous collection of songs that are stoic and weighty, but still move with grace whether Makrigiannis is working with an elegant croon or lonesome yodel and benefit from arrangements that flirt equally with baroque orchestrations and electronic processing. Certainly, there are points where you wish that the band would crack a smile or let some light in, but it’s hard to argue when the stoicism sounds this good and anyways – it wouldn’t be very Danish, would it?
Choir Of Young Believers are at The Drake Underground on Monday, October 22 in support of Daughter, and courtesy of Big Hassle, I have a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to join the Choir Of Young Believers” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that to me by midnight, October 20.
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Sedated”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Patricia’s Thirst”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Nye Nummber Et”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Paint New Horrors”
Speaking of Indians, 4AD have offered details on their forthcoming debut: Somewhere Else is out January 29, and a preview MP3 has been provided for your listening pleasure. They’re at The Horseshoe on November 23, and for anyone in New York right now, they’re also at Brooklyn Bowl tonight for my co-presented Hype Machine showcase.
MP3: Indians – “Cakelakers”
PopMatters and Washington City Paper interview Jens Lekman.
PopMatters asks twenty questions of Victoria Bergsman of Taken By Trees.
Death & Taxes interview Icona Pop, whose new EP Iconic is available to stream. They open up for Marina & The Diamonds at The Phoenix on December 2.
Stream: Icona Pop / Iconic
Interview and The Toronto Star talk to Ellie Goulding.
The xx have released a new video from Coexist. They’re at Massey Hall on October 23.
Video: The xx – “Chained”
The Quietus has premiered a video from Sylver Tongue’s new Something Big EP and you know, watching her take that guitar solo, I don’t think anyone would have complained if she had simply released it as Charlotte Hatherley…
Video: Sylver Tongue – “Something Big”
Daytrotter welcomes Still Corners to their studios for a session.
Drowned In Sound has an interview with former Supergrass leader Gaz Coombes.
MusicOmh talks to Beth Orton.
Maxïmo Park visits Daytrotter for a session.
Chart solicits a list of favourite albums from Matt Taylor of Dry The River, who will be releasing an acoustic version of their debut Shallow Bed digitally on December 17; details on that at Live4Ever.
The Fly profiles Tame Impala.
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