Sunday, August 19th, 2012
Patterson Hood covers Bruce Springsteen
Southern ShelterThere’s not really a lot to covering Bruce Springsteen. Whether you’re fronting a big band or are just a guy with a guitar – and maybe a harmonica – all you really need is the ability and conviction to sing it the way Bruce intended it; the song really does the rest. Given that criteria, Patterson Hood has got it – if you’ll excuse the pun – covered.
The Drive-By Truckers frontman opened up for Sonic Youth at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia in December 2007 and for this set, opted to do a set comprised entirely of Bruce covers. And not just any old set of Springsteen tunes, but only ones taken from The Boss’ 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Hood explained his affection for that particular Springsteen record in a piece for Aquarium Drunkard and the full set is available to hear and download at Southern Shelter.
Springsteen is in town this coming Friday night, August 24, for a show at the Rogers Centre in support of his latest album Wrecking Ball. Drive-By Truckers’ last release was 2011’s Go-Go Boots, but Hood is releasing his third solo record in Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance on September 11. Charleston City Paper has an interview with Hood.
MP3: Patterson Hood – “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (40 Watt Club, Athens, GA – Dec 1, 2007)
Video: Bruce Springsteen – “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ – September 19, 1978)
Friday, August 17th, 2012
Review of Niki & The Dove’s Instinct and giveaway
Eliot HazelIt feels a bit anticlimactic to try and sit down and formally review Instinct, the debut album from Sweden’s Niki & The Dove, and the reasons for this are many. Besides the fact that I’ve been talking about them since last August and already seen them twice at Iceland Airwaves and again at SXSW over the past year, there’s the fact that though it’s only formally out in North America this week, Instinct was released in Europe and the UK back in May and was easily heard online all Summer. And even if you didn’t happen across a full album stream, fully a quarter of the album already appeared on last Fall’s The Drummer EP and more tracks were released as singles. All of which is to say that I feel like I’m trying to find some fresh words for a record that already feels very lived-in and familiar to me.
Niki & The Dove – their name is in reference to neither singer Malin Dahlström or keyboardist Gustaf Karlöf – draw inspiration from the bold, bright tones of the ’80s synth-pop without sounding anything like a throwback act. Like the similarly avian-inspired Ladyhawke, they instead look to the songwriting of the era and share in the belief that there’s no such thing as a chorus, hook, or sentiment that’s too big. Indeed, tracks “Tomorrow”, “Somebody”, and “Under The Bridges” – incidentally the album opener, midpoint, and closer – are irresistible pop confections that make the absolute most of Dahlström’s raspy range; people compare her voice to Stevie Nicks but not being any kind of Fleetwood Mac fan, I am in no position to comment. That same voice gives the dancier and slinkier numbers the emotional dimension that elevates them above dancefloor fodder. Karlöf also deserves credit for programming a musical world that is almost entirely artificial, yet sounds perfectly natural and organic in the context of what they’re doing. You might call it an innate talent. Or an instinct.
They’re embarking on their first full North American tour this Fall and while most are as support for Twin Shadow, their October 2 date at The Drake Underground in Toronto is their own headlining show. Tickets for that are $15 in advance, but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to see Niki & The Dove” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, September 24.
And if there is an upside to waiting for the North American release of Instinct, it’s that the Sub Pop edition comes with two extra tracks over the European version. One of those – “The Beach” – is available to stream below.
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “Tomorrow”
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “Mother Protect”
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “DJ, Ease My Mind”
MP3: Niki & The Dove – “The Drummer”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “Tomorrow”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “The Fox”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “DJ Ease My Mind”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “Mother Protect”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “The Drummer”
Stream: Niki & The Dove – “The Beach”
The Line Of Best Fit, The Stool Pigeon, and Exclaim have interviews with Jens Lekman about his gorgeous new record I Know What Love Isn’t, which is out September 4 and from which a video for the title track has just been released. Lekman is at The Phoenix on October 4.
Video: Jens Lekman – “I Know What Love Isn’t”
Daytrotter is feeling all kinds of Swedish, posting a session with The Deer Tracks and another one with The Concretes.
The Line Of Best Fit talks to Sarah Assbring of El Perro Del Mar, whose new record Pale Fire will be out some time in November.
MTV has a video session with First Aid Kit, who play The Danforth Music Hall on September 26. NPR is also streaming their set at the Newport Folk Festival last month.
Drowned In Sound talks to Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes. Their new record Observator is out September 11 and they’re at The Phoenix on October 2.
The Arts Desk talks to Rasmus Stolberg of Efterklang, who have released the first video from their new album Pirmada. The album is out September 24.
Video: Efterklang – “Hollow Mountain”
Sigur Rós have released another video from Valtari; Filter also has a feature piece on the band.
Video: Sigur Rós – “Varðeldur”
Ólafur Arnalds has revealed the name of his next album via Twitter; For Now I Am Winter is done and in post-production, with a release date hopefully coming soon. Some clips of the new material can be heard via his YouTube channel.
The final song from Blur’s Hyde Park show on Sunday – and maybe the final live Blur song ever – is available to download. It comes from their Parklive set which is available digitally now and on CD in November.
MP3: Blur – “The Universal” (live in Hyde Park – August 12, 2012)
Psychology Today talks to Dev Hynes of Blood Orange about living and working with synesthesia.
The Line Of Best Fit is streaming a new track from Neil Halstead’s forthcoming Palindrome Hunches, out September 11, while LA Music Blog has an interview.
Stream: Neil Halstead – “Digging Shelters”
The xx go through their new album Coexist track-by-track for Spin while CBC Music also caught a quick word when they came through town last month. The album is out September 11.
NPR has a video session with Hot Chip.
The Guardian interviews The Vaccines about their new record Come Of Age, out in North America on October 2.
Thursday, August 16th, 2012
Snowblink keeps unwavering focus on Classic second album
Norman Wong/Jules SchillIt’s a real puzzle to me why Toronto’s Snowblink aren’t huge, and I mean huge in relative Canadian indie terms, not absolute household name terms, I’m not delusional. Their 2011 debut Long Live was an unqualified art-folk jewel, as simple and homespun as it was rich and complex, and not content to simply let the record speak for itself, they also toured it across North America and Europe, supporting not only some A-list Canadian talent but Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on his Spring 2011 solo tour. All of which is to say that people saw them, and they’re not difficult to fall for, so why aren’t the duo of Daniela Gesundheit and Dan Goldman discussed with the same breathless enthusiasm as some of their peers?
Perhaps all that effort should be considered set up, and their forthcoming sophomore effort Inner Classics will be the record that knocks everyone down. I’ve not yet heard the record but based on the two tracks from the album already offered as a preview – “Black & White Mountain” was teased back in June and “Unsurfed Waves” was made available yesterday – it’s reasonable to say that this record will take everything that was great about Long Live and make it even better. Gesundheit’s voice is as delicate and crystalline as ever, but sounds more musically forceful and demanding of your attention without losing the laid-back vibe that come with Gesundheit’s Californian roots.
Inner Classics is out September 11, and while Snowblink have already offered a hometown preview of the new album in opening up for Cold Specks last week and will do so again as part of the Bicycle Music Festival at Trinity-Bellwoods on September 15 at 6PM, the proper release show for the new album will come on September 27 at the perfectly suited Music Gallery. It’s part of a series of shows that covers various points around the continent – full dates are available at Filter. Post City has an interview with Gesundheit about the new record.
MP3: Snowblink – “Unsurfed Waves”
MP3: Snowblink – “Black & White Mountains”
Canadian indie rock icon Ian Blurton has reformed his first and most famous band – Change Of Heart – for a handful of live dates in support of their long-overdue compilation album There You Go ’82-’97. It’s out September 18 and they play The Horseshoe on October 5, tickets a far too reasonable $12.
Stream: Change Of Heart – “There You Go”
If you were ever wondering what garage-pop from Vermont sounded like, King Tuff and their self-titled debut debut is the answer, and if you wanted to know what they looked like in person, then The Garrison on October 12 is the place to be. Tickets for that are $13.50 in advance. The San Francisco Examiner, Weekly Alibi, and LA Weekly talk to frontman Kyle Thomas.
MP3: King Tuff – “Keep On Movin'”
MP3: King Tuff – “Bad Thing”
Paste has the full tour itinerary for Death Cab frontman gone solo Benjamin Gibbard – not Ben, notice – and it curiously contains an isolated October 14 date at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, just a couple days before Former Lives is released on October 16. Tickets for that range from $25.50 to $35 in advance.
MP3: Death Cab For Cutie – “The Employment Pages”
The Flying Lotus show originally scheduled for October 13 at the Hoxton has moved through both space and time and will now take place on October 15 at the Danforth Music Hall. Complex and Spin have interviews with the producer.
MP3: Flying Lotus – “Between Friends”
The Heartless Bastards are back in town at Lee’s Palace on October 24 in support of their latest effort Arrow. Tickets for that are $18 in advance. News OK, News Journal, and Spokesman Review have features on the band.
MP3: Heartless Bastards – “Parted Ways”
Rose Cousins, last seen in these parts in May celebrating her third album We Have Made A Spark, will be back on November 3 for a performance at the Glenn Gould Theatre, tickets $29.50. The Boston Globe has an interview with Cousins.
MP3: Rose Cousins – “The Darkness”
In further proof that The Weeknd has gotten over his crippling shyness – he seemed mighty comfortable onstage at Osheaga – he’s scheduled not one but two dates at the Sound Academy for November 2 and 3, tickets $34.50 for general admission and $75 for VIP.
MP3: The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”
Though the biggest room they’d played in Toronto to date, Japandroids proved in June that they were already too big for Lee’s Palace so for their return engagement, they’ll be at the much bigger Phoenix on December 12, tickets $18.50 in advance. Pitchfork has the rest of their end-of-year tour dates and also have premiered the new video from Celebration Rock.
MP3: Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”
Video: Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”
Spinner and Exclaim talk to Britt Daniel and Dan Boeckner of Divine Fits about their debut album A Thing Called Divine Fits, out August 28. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 5.
Exclaim examines the career of Cat Power, whose new record Sun is out September 4. She is at The Kool Haus on October 20.
Hitfix talks to Bob Mould about his new album The Silver Age, out September 4.
Aimee Mann has released a video for the title track of her new album Charmer, which is out September 18 and behind which she’ll be at the Danforth Music Hall on November 6. Rolling Stone talks to her about the new record.
Video: Aimee Mann – “Charmer”
MTV gets to know The Rural Alberta Advantage just a little bit; they’re at the Great Hall on September 28 and The Danforth Music Hall on October 25.
CBC Music has some video clips of a session Diamond Rings – now a band and not just a man – performed for KCRW, previewing material from Free Dimensional well ahead of its October 23 release date.
Under The Radar, Tone Deaf, and The Age interview Josh Tillman of Father John Misty, in town at Lee’s Palace on October 27.
A release date has been given to the third part of the Guided By Voices 2012 reunion trilogy; The Bears For Lunch will be out on November 12.
Rolling Stone talks to Frank “Poncho” Sampedro of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, who as it turns out didn’t spend all their recent time in the studio jamming out the standards that would become Americana – an album of original material built on the trademark Crazy Horse sprawl should be out in October under the title of Psychedelic Pill, meaning that they’ll be able to draw on both when they play the Air Canada Centre on November 24.
Exclaim talks to Purity Ring.
Malajube have released a video for the title track of last year’s La Caverne.
Video: Malajube – “La Caverne”
Blurt talks to Steven MacDonald of Redd Kross.
Billboard checks in with My Morning Jacket to see how crowdsourcing the set lists on their current tour is working out.
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Daughter breaks curfew, sneaks out of studio for adventures across the pond
Stacey HatfieldAs performing names go, Daughter certainly exists pretty far on the “not very” end of the Google-ability scale, but they’re worth the effort. Originally a pseudonym for London’s Elena Tonra, its scope eventually expanded to include guitarist Igor Haefeli and now, with drummer Remi Aguilella in the fold, represents the trio and is a proper band – one whose dark, quietly dramatic, atmospheric folk turned out to be one of the highlights of this year’s SXSW.
Considering that hot on the heels of their festival appearances came the word that they’d signed on with 4AD worldwide – but on the less legendary but still impressive Glassnote in North America – I expected there’d be much more news and music from them before long. And indeed, their earliest but still fully-realized recordings were released via a couple of EPs – The Wild Youth and His Young Heart – were released in late March, but since then it’s been radio silence.
A silence that is now happily breaking. Though it’s not a debut album – that’ll have to wait until next year as it’s currently in the process of being created – they will release a 7″ single on October 1, the A-side of which has been made available to stream and does an excellent job of taking me right back to that evening in March when I got so very excited by this outfit. And more importantly, it’s enough pretence for the band to embark on a short North American tour which includes an October 22 date at The Drake Underground, tickets $13.50. This will be very good.
Their His Young Heart EP is available to stream in whole below, and three-quarters of The Wild Youth can be heard at the band’s Soundcloud. Oh, for me the correct Daughter comes up in spots two through five in Google, so maybe it’s not such an unworkable name after all.
MP3: Daughter – “Love”
Stream: Daughter – “Smother”
Stream: Daughter / His Young Heart
Bloc Party have made their new record Four ahead of its formal release next Tuesday, August 21. Life And Times and Montreal Gazette have feature interviews with the band and The Guardian solicits six songs of specific purpose from Kele Okereke. Bloc Party play The Danforth Music Hall on September 10 and 11.
Stream: Bloc Party / Four
Billboard has an interview with The Heavy and a stream of their new record The Glorious Dead, due out next week. They play Lee’s Palace on September 23.
Stream: The Heavy / The Glorious Dead
NME and BBC chat with Two Door Cinema Club frontman Alex Trimble. Their new record Beacon – from which they’ve just released a video – is out September 4 and they play The Sound Academy on October 5.
Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Sleep Alone”
The Fader, Tone Deaf, FasterLouder, Exclaim, and Spin all have features on The xx as the September 11 release of Coexist draws nearer. A second track from the album has been made available to hear via stream.
Stream: The xx – “Chained”
Rolling Stone talks to Mumford & Sons bassist Ted Dwane about their new record Babel, out September 25 and from which they’ve made the first track available to stream.
Stream: Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
Beth Orton has made a new track from her next record Sugaring Season available to stream at Rolling Stone; NPR also has a Tiny Desk Concert from the singer-songwriter. She plays The Mod Club on September 30 and the album is out on October 2.
Stream: Beth Orton – “Magpie”
The Vaccines are hoping to make the wait for the October 2 North American release of Come Of Age a little more bearable by giving away a free EP of covers and whatnot entitled Please Do Not Disturb in exchange for your email address. The Daily Record has a conversation with singer Justin Young.
The Fly has a feature on Ellie Goulding, who has made the first single from Halcyon available to stream at Billboard. The album is out October 9, and though the released clip is technically just a “lyric video”, its audience-sourced Instagram visuals are more entertaining than many peoples’ official videos.
Lyric Video: Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen”
Scotland folk-pop outfit Admiral Fallow will be at The Drake on October 13 in support of their second album Tree Bursts In Snow. Tickets are $13.50 and Filter has their full North American tour itinerary.
Video: Admiral Fallow – “Guest Of The Government”
In indie-pop news, Allo Darlin’ are streaming the b-side of “Northern Lights”, their next single from Europe, while Tender Trap are doing the same for the first single from their next album Ten Songs About Girls, out September 10. And Darren Hayman continues to be prolific in his post-Hefner years, releasing an instrumental album in Lido as a tribute to Britain’s open-air swimming pools and on November 5, will release The Violence, an album about the witch trials of during the 17th century English civil war. Yeah, another one. Exclaim has some details.
Stream: Allo Darlin’ – “Golden Age”
Stream: Tender Trap – “Step One”
Stream: Darren Hayman & The Long Parliament – “We Are Not Evil”
Their possibly last-ever show in the books, Blur have announced plans to release the live set from Hyde Park as a double-live album entitled Parklive in November; Consequence Of Sound has specifics and there’s pre-final show interviews with Graham Coxon at Shortlist and Damon Albarn at The Sun.
Exclaim collects some information on the next M.I.A. album, which will be called Matangi and should be out in December.
This Music Is Love talks to Alisdair Mclean of The Clientele and Amor de Días, whose second album is due out in or around January of 2013.
The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with London’s Spector, whose debut Enjoy It While It Lasts was released in the UK this week and is pretty great in that tailored-trousered, arched-eyebrow, steal-your-girlfriend, throwback Britpop sort of way. I’ve heard nothing about a North American release, but at one point they were supposed to open up some of Florence & The Machine’s Summer dates over here – including Toronto – and while that didn’t end up happening, at least it shows they’ve an eye on us.
Video: Spector – “Chevy Thunder”
Video: Spector – “Never Fade Away”
Video: Spector – “Grey Shirt & Tie”
Video: Spector – “What You Wanted”
Daytrotter has posted a session with Wild Beasts.
2:54 have released a new video from their self-titled debut.
Video: 2:54 – “Sugar”
Summer Camp have made a video for the lead track of their recent Always EP.
Video: Summer Camp – “Life”
The Fader interviews Mica Levi of Micachu & The Shapes.
Clash finds out how Primal Scream has been doing since Mani left the band to rejoin The Stone Roses.
The Space has a lovely video session with Lanterns On The Lake recorded in a disused shipyard.
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
Everyone waiting for a Jack White Toronto date can chill out because there’s now a Jack White Toronto date
Jo McCaugheyTwo, actually.
Typically big albums come with big tours, but while Jack White’s solo debut Blunderbuss has been inarguably one of the biggest releases of the year for the adjectiveless rock set, his touring itinerary – at least in North America – has been relatively scattershot, favouring short stretches anchored by festival dates. And while no one would call the dates announced yesterday any kind of cross-country marathon, it does include the first three eastern Canadian dates since the end of The White Stripes, two of which are in Toronto.
White and his two backing bands will be at The Sony Centre for a two-night stand on October 3 and 4 – maybe one night for the all-she Birds backing band and one for the all-he Buzzards? The venue is a bit surprising of a choice since the room holds only 3200 or so; that’s hardly nothing, but remember that that this is a guy who headlines major festivals and who has a fanbase that will think nothing of shelling out to hit both nights. So even though the usually seated venue will have a standing, general admission area set up to increase capacity and rocking out real estate, that’s still not a lot of tickets up for grabs. So when the $45, $59.50, and $75 – plus service charges, natch – tickets go on sale Friday at 11AM… well good luck.
MP3: Jack White – “Blunderbuss”
Video: Jack White – “Sixteen Saltines”
Video: Jack White – “Freedom At 21”
Video: Jack White – “Love Interruption”
Chicagoan outsider folk artist/poet Willis Earl Beal is back in town at The Drake on October 1 for a show in support of his debut, Acousmatic Sorcery; tickets $15.50 in advance. Pitchfork has full Autumn tour dates and details on his plans for an animated short film.
MP3: Willis Earl Beal – “White Noise”
Ben Folds Five, reunited and ready to release their first album in 13 years in The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind on September 18, have put together a tour that brings them to the Kool Haus on October 15, tickets $37.50. On one hand, I loved their first two records. On the other, I don’t know how much of my college years I necessarily need to revisit. Hmm. Folds talks to Spin about why he decided to re-form his old band now, and the answer is a bit longer than, “cha-ching”.
Video: Ben Folds Five – “Song For The Dumped”
The impeccably punk-pedigreed OFF! are back in town for a show at Wrongbar on October 23. I guess this is why we won’t be seeing a proper Red Kross tour this Fall… The Village Voice has an interview with frontman Keith Morris.
Video: OFF! – “Wiped Out”
Matthew Dear and Light Asylum will team up for a show at The Hoxton on November 9. The Skinny talks to Dear about his new album Beams, out August 27.
MP3: Matthew Dear – “Earthforms”
MP3: Light Asylum – “A Certain Person”
Portland electro-rock duo The Helio Sequence will release their new record Negotiations on September 11, and have slated a full North American tour to support – look for them at The Horseshoe on November 12. One preview MP3 was released a little while ago and Rolling Stone has just debuted a second.
MP3: The Helio Sequence – “October”
MP3: The Helio Sequence – “Hall Of Mirrors”
Pitchfork has details on the long-awaited third album from Titus Andronicus: Local Business will be out September 23. And okay two years isn’t really such a long time since The Monitor but still. Woo?
Fang Island have released a first video from their latest effort Major. College Times has a quick interview.
Video: Fang Island – “Sisterly”
Rolling Stone talks to Band Of Horses’ Ben Bridwell about working with legendary producer Glynn Johns on their new record Mirage Rock. They play Echo Beach tomorrow night, August 15, and release said record on September 18.
Grizzly Bear have released another track from their forthcoming album Shields, out September 18. They play Massey Hall on September 26.
MP3: Grizzly Bear – “Yet Again”
Rolling Stone and Prague Post check in with Greg Dulli on the The Afghan Whigs reunion, rolling into The Phoenix on October 3.
Rolling Stone talks to Victoria Legrand of Beach House. They play The Kool Haus on October 13.
OVRLD checks in with Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater.
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips submits to an interview with QRO because goodness knows he hates being interviewed.
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