Mick RockI will be the first to admit to not really being able to tell where Bradford Cox’s Deerhunter ends and his Atlas Sound begins. I know that the former is ostensibly a band and the latter a solo project, but to my ears the hazy, psychedelic rock that each project produces isn’t exactly a world apart. Okay, Atlas Sound is more keys, less guitars, but they’re both critically adored and don’t really do a lot for me, despite on paper being the sort of thing I should totally dig. I just find it all overly meandering. Go figure.

I do know, however, that it’s Atlas Sound that’s just announced a North American tour in support of last year’s Parallax that covers a lot of geography if not a lot of markets. It does, however, include a March 6 date at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, whereas the original announcement did not, so that’s something for local fans. Tickets are $16.50 in advance.

MP3: Atlas Sound – “Te Amo”
MP3: Atlas Sound – “Terra Incognita”

Also just announced is a date from Los Angeles indie-harpist Active Child, who will be at Lee’s Palace on May 15 as part of a tour in support of his debut full-length You Are All I See. Tickets for that are $15 in advance.

MP3: Active Child – “Diamond Heart”

If you weren’t able to catch Sleigh Bells at The Phoenix on February 14 or just wanted to see them in a much less enjoyable setting amidst a much less enjoyable crowd for a lot more money, they’re opening up both Red Hot Chili Peppers shows at the Air Canada Centre on April 27 and 28. Whoooo. Reign Of Terror is out February 21 and the first single is now available to download.

MP3: Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”

A Place To Bury Strangers’ new EP Onwards To The Wall is available to stream over at Hype Machine ahead of its release next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 2.

MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
Stream: A Place To Bury Strangers / Onwards To The Wall

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has an interview with Craig Finn and also solicits some annotations of three songs from Clear Heart Full Eyes; Minneapolis City Pages and The Macon Telegraph also have chats. And shifting gears to The Hold Steady, Paste digs up some footage of the band at SXSW 2009 and I’m kind of glad they shot the show from the back of Club DeVille because if they were up front, there’d probably be a lot of embarrassing footage of me rocking out. And no one needs to see that.

The Stool Pigeon talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal about their new record Paralytic Stalks, out next week.

Also out next week is Sharon Van Etten’s new album Tramp, and you can hear the whole thing right now streaming over at NPR, perhaps while reading these interviews at The Line Of Best Fit and The L. She’s at Lee’s Palace on February 21.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Serpents”
Stream: Sharon Van Etten / Tramp

February 14 is a big day for Shearwater as it marks the release of their excellent new record Animal Joy, but that day will also see the reissue of their 2004 album Winged Life on LP for the first time. That was the last album for the Shearwater that existed as a side-project for Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff compositions that didn’t fit in Okkervil River before becoming a more distinct creative entity driven wholly by Meiburg. But it’s also a gorgeous record, so that it’s going to find a home on some turntables is good news. Shearwater open up for Sharon Van Etten at Lee’s on February 21.

MP3: Shearwater – “Whipping Boy”

Pitchfork has premiered a second MP3 from the forthcoming Bowerbirds record The Clearing, ahead of its March 6 release date. They play The Garrison on March 27.

MP3: Bowerbirds – “In The Yard”

Mountain XPress talks to The Mountain Goats, but not about mountains.

Exclaim and Time interview Nada Surf, who’ve released a new video from The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. They’re at The Opera House on April 4.

Video: Nada Surf – “When I Was Young”

If you enjoyed the Popeye-powered Wilco video that premiered last week, you may be pleased to know there’s an entire website at wilcospinach.com devoted to the production. And if you click around a bit, you may find a way to download a live version of “Dawned On Me” for keeps.

Drowned In Sound talks to Bryce Dessner about The National and his Long Count project.

PopMatters asks twenty questions of Phantogram.

Frank YangA few songs into M83’s performance at Lee’s Palace on Friday night, frontman and mastermind Anthony Gonzalez stepped to the mic and said something to the effect of, “thanks, this is our first time here”. Which was perplexing as it was far from their Toronto debut – it was their fourth time here, the last time being not THAT long ago in November 2008. It wasn’t even their first time playing the venue, as it was where they made their actual first local appearance back in 2005. Maybe he meant his band, though keyboardist/vocalist Morgan Kibby was along the last time out as well so maybe he was talking about his bassist/second guitarist Jordan Lawlor who was most definitely new this time out (he’d have been all of 17 years old during their last tour – did he win the audition?). But probably not. But while it was an odd thing to say on any quantitative level, in a broader, macro sense it felt kind of true.

When they first started getting attention with their 2003 second album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, much of it came from old-school shoegaze and dreampop fans who found something familiar and exciting in the walls of sound that Gonzalez and then-collaborater Nicolas Fromageau were crafting, albeit with synthesizers rather than guitars. M83 become Gonzalez solo as of 2005’s Before The Dawn Heals Us and took their sound in a more melodic, vocal-oriented and over-the-top direction, in the process expanding their fanbase beyond those with threadbare Slowdive t-shirts in their closets. Both trends continued with 2008’s technicolour Saturdays=Youth and now, with their double-disc opus of excess Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, getting bigger has turned into blowing up – this show was sold out for months, scalpers demanding triple digits for ducats and the median age of the audience, by my guesstimate, was about a decade younger than it was in 2005. So not their first visit, technically, but the atmosphere certainly made it feel like a new start.

Support came from Los Angeles’ Active Child, who I’d seen last Fall opening for School Of Seven Bells (who, incidentally, opened up for M83 their last time through). This time out, they had both a proper album out in You Are All I See and a drummer in the fold and either or both of these factors made for a more compelling show. It was still largely stolen by Pat Grossi’s angelic vocals and harp stylings, but their electro-tribal choirboy soul had a lot more cohesiveness this time out, having coalesced from a bunch of interesting ideas into an actual sound.

The M83 narrative may have reached a new plateau with this record and tour, but the show itself remained pretty familiar to those who’d seen them before. Okay, the amount of stage lighting all over the stage was new – it looked like they’d raided a factory outlet for lasers, spots, LED pillars and a starfield backdrop – as was the costumed alien who came out to open the show by way of raised arms. But the rest of it – Gonzalez’s big guitar moves and unrestrained vocals (the man seems to have become perfect hybrid of rock star and celeb DJ), Kibby’s angelic voice as a foil for his (though she’s still billed as a “guest”, it’s hard to imagine M83 live or on record without her presence), the unabashedly grandiose live renderings of songs already filled to the bursting point with grandeur (all without even acknowledging the very concept of irony let alone indulging in it) – were already established hallmarks of the M83 live experience and done as well on this night as any I’ve seen.

What set this show apart from the previous – and I apologize if I’m repeating myself – was the audience. They were tossing Toronto’s reputation for being stolid right out the window, dancing and waving their arms about with abandon through the whole set, creating a miniature festival vibe of the sort you don’t often see in these parts, at least not at a club show. It’s not a response that Gonzalez would have gotten from his old shoegazing demographic, I’ll tell you that. But he works from a place of memories of his youth, of optimism, of endless possibility – it makes sense that that would resonate most with the young. Or maybe the kids just dug the big beats and cosmic, mind-bendy sounds – watching them get down to the show-closing “Coleurs”, which was more rave than encore, that could have been it.

Photos: M83, Active Child @ Lee’s Palace – November 18, 2011
MP3: Active Child – “You Are All I See”
MP3: Active Child – “Wilderness”
MP3: Active Child – “Body Heat (So Far Away)”
Video: M83 – “Midnight City”
Video: M83 – “We Own The Sky”
Video: M83 – “Graveyard Girl”
Video: M83 – “Kim And Jessie”
Video: M83 – “Teen Angst”
Video: M83 – “Don’t Save Us From The Flames”
Video: M83 – “Run Into Flowers”
Video: M83 – “America”
Video: Active Child – “I’m In Your Church At Night”

QRO and Interview talk to various members of Los Campesinos!.

Neil Halstead has premiered a video for a new song over at Paste, his contribution to the seasonal This Warm December, A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 2 compilation being put out by his label. Not that this necessarily points to anything new from him solo or Mojave 3, but it’s nice to hear his voice again.

Video: Neil Halstead – “Home For The Season”

Elbow are presently streaming the video of their recent performance at Manchester Cathedral over at their website. You can also watch a studio performance of “The River” for CBC’s Q below.

Video: Elbow – “The River” (live on Q.

The Independent talks to Hayden Thorpe of Wild Beasts.

The Daily Record and MTV have interviews with Noel Gallagher.

NPR has a brief piece on Peggy Sue, whose Toronto show was canceled last week on account of border issues with the other band on the bill. Hopefully another date will be scheduled soon.

The Independent and The Washington Post talk to Kate Bush.

Another new Florence & The Machine video from Ceremonials – I think the third? It’s like they want to get the whole album promo cycle over and done with before the end of the year.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “No Light, No Light”

Vice has a video feature on Veronica Falls.

A Heart Is A Spade has a quick Q&A with Ellie Goulding.

Frank YangOkkervil River are probably pretty comfortable at the Phoenix now, this past Friday marking the band’s third straight show at the Toronto venue. But each visit was in a slightly different context – Spring 2008 as support for The New Pornographers, that same October marking their first swing at headlining the 1000-capacity room – and this show would be the gauge as to whether they had outgrown that scale venue and would be moving onto bigger stages. And indeed, the did sell it out but not without the help of a pretty impressive undercard.

Leading off was Baltimore trio Future Islands, who’d been getting attention at a pretty steady rate since the release of their second album In Evening Air last Spring. I can’t comment on the “post-wave” scene of which they’re apparently a part of, but what I saw was three regular joe-looking dudes taking the stage in a synth/bass/vocals configuration and while the former two went about their business in an understated manner, vocalist Sam Herring turned into a fascinating model of a frontman. Stalking and/or prowling the stage like a jungle gorilla, hes was all chest-slapping, arm-flailing and face-grabbing antics and yet carried himself with an odd sort of stateliness. The musical side was just as odd/interesting, coupling a distinctly glammy take on early ’80s post-punk vibe with vocals that were at times gutteral and others almost theatrically dramatic. I can’t say how much I really liked it but it was definitely interesting, and these days interesting goes a long way.

I’ll go see Okkervil River each and every time they come to town, whatever the room, but I won’t lie – having Titus Andronicus on the bill made this show extra exciting, being one of the bands that could easily steal a show out from anyone. Their show at Sneaky Dee’s in April 2010 still goes down in my books as one of the most intense and chaotic live music experiences in recent memory, and while it was slightly more controlled when I saw them later that summer at Pitchfork, it was clear that of all the club-level bands getting their moment on a big festival stage that weekend, Titus Andronicus were one of the few ready to deserve it.

This would be the band’s fourth show in Toronto in just over a year, each one was a sell out and rowdy as hell, but this was their first in a room larger than The Horseshoe and I’m sure Patrick Stickles was happy to finally be on stage high enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about fans falling or getting flung onto his pedalboard. And I was happy that there’d probably be less of a concentration of their own fans and I might get to enjoy their set without worrying quite as much about getting kicked in the head. And indeed, their set had less of the bedlam of past performances but it’s important to note that as their show went on and converts to the unrelenting lessons in history, rock and rage as documented on The Monitor were made, the chaos steadily increased – thankfully mostly on the other side of the room from me. This allowed me to note that the sonic mix had shifted somewhat from when I saw them last, working a little more piano into the mix and coming across with less punk fury and more rock’n’roll fun. Goodness knows guitarist/violinist Amy Klein was having fun up there – whether pogoing around the stage or going foot-on-monitor for some riffing, she was a ridiculous amount of fun to watch, and it’s not hard to imagine that before too long it will be her and her bandmates headlining rooms this size.

But for this night, the stage still belonged to Okkervil River. I noted in my review of their latest effort I Am Very Far that the band had shed some of the refinement that marked The Stage Names/The Stand Ins in favour of a more sonically adventurous approach and indeed, that aesthetic shift carried over to the live show. I’d commented in my writeup of their last Phoenix show that the band were simply too good now to recapture the anarchic spirit that marked some of thier earlier shows and while that’s still technically true, they took a pretty good shot at it.

Whereas the last few shows had been about how in control of their formidable musical powers Okkervil River now were, this time out there was again the sense of overreaching just enough to feel unpredictable. Sure there was the fact that Will Sheff was knocking over mic stands while roaming around the stage, but he’s always done that; what was new were some noisier indulgences like a mic dedicated to heavy echo effects for him to randomly sing into, the introduction of synths for extra aural chaos, extra-ripping guitar solos from Lauren Gurgiolo, to say nothing of the synchronized hand clap/finger snap dance moves with her and Sheff in “Piratess”. Rather than simply play a show, there was a sense that they wanted to put on a show.

Whichever it was, the net result was a terrific show drawing from all their records from Black Sheep Boy forward in the expected proportions and with power substituted for some of the precision. The enthused – and tone-deaf, judging from the singalongs – audience may have helped contribute to the atmosphere, but proved to be a bit of a problem when Sheff went solo and acoustic for “A Stone”, proving you can’t rowdy up a crowd and then ask them to hush up when you need it. Old school fans got their fix with the encore as they went all the way back to Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See for “Westfall” before closing with the raucous, everyone-pleasing “Unless It Kicks”. Without a breakthrough hit or some other trajectory-altering event, it’s unlikely that Okkervil River’s next return to Toronto will see them graduating to the next tier of venue – that’d be the twice as large Kool Haus – but as long as they continue to play the Phoenix stage, they will continue to own it.

Will Sheff shares some thoughts on lyrics with Magnet in his capacity as producer for Bird Of Youth, who were playing guest editor of their website last week. The Wall Street Journal also has a talk with him about his current digs of Brooklyn, New York.

Photos: Okkervil River, Titus Andronicus, Future Islands @ The Phoenix – June 10, 2011
MP3: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Mermaid”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe”
MP3: Okkervil River – “The President’s Dead”
MP3: Okkervil River – “No Key, No Plan”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Black”
MP3: Okkervil River – “It Ends With A Fall”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Kansas City”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Red”
MP3: Okkervil River – “Westfall”
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part One)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part Two)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Titus Andronicus”
MP3: Future Islands – “Tin Man”
MP3: Future Islands – “Walking Through That Door”
Video: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine”
Video: Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines”
Video: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe”
Video: Okkervil River – “Girl In Port”
Video: Okkervil River – “For Real”
Video: Titus Andronicus – “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”
Video: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
Video: Titus Andronicus – “Titus Andronicus”
Video: Future Islands – “Tin Man”

After a couple years apart, Two Gallants are back together and will be at The Drake Underground on September 9, tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: Two Gallants – “Las Cruces Jail”

Active Child – aka Los Angeleno Pat Grossi – will release his debut album You Are All I See on August 23 and follow it up with touring which includes a September 14 date at The Garrison. Tickets for the show are $12 in advance.

MP3: Active Child – “Body Heat (So Far Away)”

The South Carolina Times talks to Gary Louris of The Jayhawks; their new record Mockingbird Time arrives September 20.

Pitchfork, The New Zealand Herald and The Australian have interviews with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, whose new album Bon Iver, Bon Iver – making it technically not self-titled, just redundant – is out June 20. They play The Sound Academy on August 9.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats chats with The Georgia Straight and Seattle Times.

Clash interviews Jim James of My Morning Jacket, in town at The Kool Haus on July 11.

Paste checks in with Darby Cicci of The Antlers, who are in town at The Mod Club tomorrow night.

Over at The Quietus, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips names off his top 13 albums of all time.

Colin Meloy clarifies rumours on the end of The Decemberists to The New York Times.

Frank YangWhile I appreciate that there were a lot of entertainment options in Toronto on Wednesday night – TIFF screenings, TIFF parties, no shortage of other concerts big and small – it was still disappointing that there were probably more people camped out in front of the Horseshoe thanks to rumours of a Boss appearance that had been debunked for hours than at the Mod Club to see School Of Seven Bells perform.

You’d have thought that at least the local openers would have gotten some support but the room was barely a dozen people deep when Bishop Morocco took the stage, but within a few songs I couldn’t say I blamed people for staying away. Their plodding, post-punk stylings lacked any of the personality, dynamics or tension needed to sell it and what few compelling melodies they did have were delivered blandly and indifferently. About midway through their set they brought a live drummer out to replace their drum machine and the quality of the music improved immeasurably, raising the question of why they didn’t utilize him for the whole set – the simple programmed beats they used to that point hardly added anything and wouldn’t have been hard to reproduce. Their second half managed to redeem the performance enough that I wouldn’t call it bad, but it still wasn’t especially good. And as a note, modulation effects on vocals don’t work for anyone. Don’t do it.

Active Child – the nom de plume of Los Angeles’ Pat Grossi – was a similarly barely-known quantity coming into the night but made a much more favourable impression. Performing with a bassist/backing vocalist, Grossi moved from harp to keys to guitar over the course of their set, showcasing his musical versatility, melodic intuition and stunningly soulful and operatic vocals, if at the expense of some focus. Some points seemed more directionless than others – everyone likes covering Joy Division’s “Ceremony” for fun but I don’t know that it needs to be part of anyone’s live set – but as a whole it was a warm and appealing performance that should have sent at least a few people over to the merch table to pick up a copy of his debut EP Curtis Lane.

I think my appreciation for School Of Seven Bells has been well-documented. Their debut Alpinisms was one of my favourites of 2008 and this year’s Disconnect From Desire, with it more polished 4AD-ish sheen and greater commitment to pop, is a worthy follow-up. But I’ve never been thrilled with their live shows for reasons that one of the openers had already quite ably demonstrated – canned beats. In the past, the live band was the same as the studio band which meant that behind the Dehaza twins and guitarist Benjamin Curtis, there was… a drum machine. As soaring as the songs they built around it might have been, in a live setting they always felt held back by the soullessness of the programmed beats. And this is not a problem specific to School Of Seven Bells; I maintain there isn’t a live band out there that wouldn’t sound better with a live drummer than even the most sophisticated software.

This is something that School Of Seven Bells seem to have come around on, as their live band now has an actual person behind an actual drum kit and consequently, they put on the best show I’ve seen from them yet. As always, there was guitarist Ali Dehaza on stage left and keyboardist Claudia stage right, Curtis set up behind them both, ensconced in his fortress of guitar gear and rocking out like a teenager in his bedroom with a tennis racket, and a drummer whose name may not have been known but whose presence was surely felt. The programmed beats were still there, underpinning everything, but the sheer muscular force of the percussion and overall volume gave the show a physicality that, quite frankly, kicked ass. Playing to those strengths, the hour-long set focused on the most direct songs from both records and the combination of the weighty sound and angelic, perfect harmonies of the sisters made for a sublime wall of sound on numbers like “Half Asleep” and “Windstorm” that, frustratingly, not a whole lot of people were there to enjoy. I’m sad that so few people came out, not just for the band for not having the audience they deserved but for those who weren’t there because they truly missed out on a great show.

Panic Manual was also on hand for the show. PopMatters has an interview with School Of Seven Bells and NME reports that the band will be re-recording some of their songs in Sim-ese for the soundtrack to the video game The Sims 3. I think I think that’s awesome.

Photos: School Of Seven Bells, Active Child, Bishop Morocco @ The Mod Club – September 15, 2010
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Chain”
MP3: Active Child – “Wilderness”
MP3: Active Child – “Body Heat (So Far Away)”
MP3: Bishop Morocco – “Last Year’s Disco Guitars”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
Video: Bishop Morocco – “Last Year’s Disco Guitars”
MySpace: School Of Seven Bells
MySpace: Active Child

Blonde Redhead have released a video from their latest Penny Sparkle. They play The Phoenix on October 17.

Video: Blonde Redhead – “Not Getting There”

Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Spin all have various features on Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal; PitchforkTV also has a Cemetery Gates video session with the band and NPR is streaming their show in Washington DC from earlier this week.

A new track from Sharon Van Etten’s forthcoming Epic is up for grabs and the album is streaming in whole at NPR. At some point in the near future I will write about why this record is fantastic, but for now, trust me and celebrate the fact that the original October 5 release date has apparently been moved up to next Tuesday. Also make plans to see her open up for Junip on November 5 at Lee’s Palace or wherever she/they are playing near you. The Daily Times and Washington Post have interviews.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Don’t Do It”
Stream: Sharon Van Etten / Epic

Blurt profiles Film School, who bring their new record Fission to the El Mocambo on October 4.

Warpaint, who made their Toronto debut opening up for School Of Seven Bells last Fall at Lee’s, have released the first MP3 from their forthcoming debut The Fool, out October 25. They’re at Massey Hall on September 29 opening up for The xx, who incidentally have told NME not to expect a follow-up anytime soon. Or maybe at all.

MP3: Warpaint – “Undertow”

Twenty-Four Bit reports that PJ Harvey may have a new record out as soon as next February.

NME has it that Duffy will release her second album, entited Endlessly, on November 30.

Spin reports that The Joy Formidable have named their debut full-length The Big Roar and the first single, “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”, is now streaming at their website. The record isn’t out until 2011 but expect to hear lots of it on their Fall North American tour which kicks off November 3 at the Horseshoe in Toronto.

NOW talks to Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub in advance of their two-night stand at the Horseshoe next Wednesday and Thursday nights.

And it would be funny if it wasn’t so serious, but The Charlatans have – get ready for it – cancelled tonight’s show at Lee’s Palace. Drummer Jon Brookes suffered a seizure during their show in Philadelphia Wednesday night and was taken to hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery but it forced the cancellation of both Canadian dates on their North American tour. For those keeping score, this is their third straight failed attempt to play Toronto in the last few years and the second nixed because of a Brookes medical situation (the last time he needed shoulder surgery). Refunds are available at point of purchase but the date is currently in the process of being rescheduled, although their itinerary leaves little flexibility through mid-November. But hey – fourth time’s the charm, right? Best wishes to Brookes on a speedy recovery and I will do my best to not jinx them in the future with jokes about tour cancellations/calamities. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview with Tim Burgess.