Frank YangJust to be clear: I had absolutely no intention of going to any shows this past weekend whilst in New York City. Yes, I checked to see what was playing over the long weekend and certainly would have hit something up if it were appealing, but taking a break from standing around in Toronto clubs till the wee hours of the morning by standing around in New York clubs till the wee hours of the morning is not my idea of a vacation. However, a chat with Soundbites on Saturday afternoon and the lack of anything more interesting to do on Saturday night found me – wait for it – standing around in a Lower East Side club till the wee hours of the morning.

The club was The Cake Shop, a venue I’d heard tale of for years but had not set foot in – and which like other fabled NYC clubs of which I’ve recently made the acquaintance of, was much smaller, darker and sweatier than I’d imagined. But they did indeed sell cake. So there’s that. The bill was four deep, the first half of which I missed, but I did arrive in time to see The Ladybug Transistor – a band not all that familiar to me but who came with a pedigree containing the keywords Elephant 6 (a scene with whom they were originally associated), Merge (the label to which they’re signed) and The Essex Green (the band with which they’ve shared many a member). And so while not being familiar with their material, per se, that was more than enough to make me confident that I’d enjoy what they had to offer and indeed I did – sharp, singalong-worthy and handclap-happy retro-styled indie-pop will never go out of style. With a big, lush sound that seemed a bit at odds with the decidedly non-lush environs, The Ladybug Transistor’s set certainly made for a better evening than watching basic cable back at the apartment where I was staying, which probably would have been the evening’s fallback activity.

The night’s headliner was an outfit called Cinema Red & Blue, an offshoot of UK indie cult heroes The Comet Gain involving members of The Ladybug Transistor – for any more detail than that, I refer you to this preview piece at BrooklynVegan. I think I’d heard Comet Gain before and recall being generally unimpressed with their shambolic aesthetic, so it was probably too much to hope that a one-off gig from an under-rehearsed and probably drunk side-project would offer much in the revelation department. And no, it really didn’t. A late start due to a malfunctioning keyboard (always a good idea to wait until show time to discover that the power cord doesn’t work) pretty much set the tone and by the time they got started, they were as sloppy and wobbly as you’d expect. But while that wasn’t my thing, it seemed to be precisely what the fans in attendance wanted and so they all seemed pretty pleased. I stuck around for a little while and quietly excused myself. Sleep beckoned.

Photos: Cinema Red & Blue, The Ladybug Transistor @ The Cake Shop, New York – September 5, 2009
MP3: The Ladybug Transistor – “Three Days From Now”
MP3: The Ladybug Transistor – “Splendor In The Grass”
MP3: The Ladybug Transistor – “The Reclusive Hero”
MP3: The Ladybug Transistor – “A Burial At Sea”
MySpace: The Ladybug Transistor

As for the rest of the trip, it was intended to be a little bit shopping excursion, a little bit get the hell out of Toronto and it was a success on both counts. Some clothes and probably unnecessary photo gear to the former, some exploration of Brooklyn, culture at the MoMA and AMNH, excellent eating and hanging out with friends made it a great long weekend and a small but necessary act of salvaging a tiny bit of the Summer. Some photos are up at Flickr if you’re curious.

Apologies to anyone who stopped by Sunday to check out this week’s G’N’R cover only to find, instead of twee-ified Axel, a googly-eyed cat – in my rush to get posts written up and queued for my absence, I forgot to upload the MP3 file. So it’s live now and as a bit of mea culpa, also help yourself to this radio session version of Luna doing the same tune. Also check out the Taken By Trees features at Paste and The Guardian and stream the new album East Of Eden – out today – at Drowned In Sound.

MP3: Taken By Trees – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
MP3: Luna – “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (live)
Stream: Taken By Trees / East Of Eden

Anyone faced with a Joe Pernice-or-The Antlers dilemma for the evening of September 24, rejoice – The Antlers will be playing an in-store at Criminal Records that evening, time TBA. So you – and by “you” I mean “I” – can hit up the in-store first then trek over to the Dakota later that night to see Joe. Unless you had tickets for the Antlers’ show at the Horseshoe that night, in which case you’re on your own with a double-serving of Antlers. There’s a video session with them at LiveDaily while Pernice talks to Spinner about his new record.

Suckers have been added as support for the just-announced White Rabbits gig at the Drake on October 24. I’ve heard almost as many good things about them as I have the headliners – which is a considerable amount – so that gig is probably one not to miss. Check out an MP3 and video and also their Daytrotter session from earlier this Summer.

MP3: Suckers – “It Gets Your Body Movin'”
Video: Suckers – “Easy Chairs”

Former 13th Floor Elevators frontman and general psych-rock legend Roky Erickson has set a rare live date at Lee’s Palace in Toronto for October 28 – tickets $29.50. There’s an interview with Erickson at The Quietus.

Video: The 13th Floor Elevators – “You’re Gonna Miss Me”

The Swell Season, who continue on despite the end of Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s real-life romance, will release their second album Strict Joy on October 27 and follow it up with a Fall tour that includes a date at Massey Hall in Toronto on November 3 – tickets $29.50 to $42.50. Check out a new song from the record courtesy of Spinner and also a few more at a Tiny Desk Concert recorded for NPR.

MP3: The Swell Season – “In These Arms”

If you were wondering if/when The Wooden Sky would play a proper hometown gig rather than rooftop soirees or subterranean in-stores, wonder no longer – they’ll present their excellent new record If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone on a proper stage on November 13 at Lee’s Palace. Tickets $12.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”

And if you’ve been wondering – as I have – what TV is worth downloading this Fall, it’s The AV Club to the rescue. They’ve listed off all the shows they’re going to be covering as the traditional new television season kicks off in the coming weeks, and not a moment too soon. With Weeds over last week and True Blood done this Sunday, I needs new stuff to watch. Though a closer look at their picks shows that our tastes align a little too closely – most of them I already watch or have decided not to watch. Will be following Glee and Bored To Death – anyone have any other suggestions that don’t require catching up on four or five past seasons worth of eps?

Gavin EvansToday marks Nick Cave’s second foray into the world of fiction – at least in the printed form – with the release of The Death Of Bunny Munro, his follow-up novel to 1989’s And The Ass Saw The Angel. I’ve read neither of these works, but considering the dark and seedy places where his musical muse takes him, I have trouble imagining his prose will be anything but blackly hilarious and disturbing.

And while I’ve never been an audiobook sort – I prefer to multitask and listen to music while reading, and listening to a book leaves my eyes with nothing to do – but the audio version of Bunny Munro offers a certain temptation. Besides having Cave himself read his work, it features musical accompaniment by Cave and Warren Ellis – the Bad Seed, not the comic scribe, though he himself is no stranger to things dark and seedy. The book’s website has audio clips of Cave reading the first four chapters of the book, video footage of him reading four chapters with more to come and Spinner has a text excerpt available. The audio book will come on 7 CDs with a DVD from whence the above video clips are taken, as an iPhone version – prose app or audio download – and in an old-fashioned dead-tree edition. Multi-platform much?

Cave talks to The Times and Scotland On Sunday about the novel and to The Guardian about going with the iPhone as a means of distribution. And if the recorded and printed Cave isn’t enough, he’ll be doing readings and signings in the UK, US and Canada – September 16 at 7PM at the Indigo in the Eaton Centre in Toronto and September 17 at 7PM in Ottawa at the Ottawa Writer’s Festival at St Brigid’s Centre.

MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!”

Another musician gone author is Joe Pernice, with his debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop. Though not being promoted as elaborately as Cave’s book, it’s also more than just a book – it has a soundtrack CD that includes a couple of spoken word passages of Pernice reading from his book and the handful of live dates will be combination shows and readings. I fully intend to have read the book before his September 24 date at the Dakota Tavern. Seriously, I will. There’s interviews with Pernice at The National and The AV Club, and there’s a bunch of video session performances available at KEXP’s YouTube channel.

That September 24 date is circled in ink on the ol’ calendar (figuratively speaking, of course), but it’s not without a bit of regret as it means missing seeing The Antlers at the Horseshoe that same night – especially now that Holly Miranda has been announced as opener for the tour.

Resonancity talked to drummer Paul Banwatt of The Rural Alberta Advantage at V Fest this past weekend. I also talked to Paul, but our conversation was along the lines of, “hey how’s it going,” “alright, how’re you?”. Not really worth transcribing. Much more noteworthy is the fact that the band recorded a session for Daytrotter on their last jaunt through the midwest US and that session, featuring two new songs, is now available to download.

Other conversations taking place at V Fest had Fazer and Spinner chatting with members of Mew. ArtistDirect also has an interview, though conducted elsewhere.

Coeur de Pirate performed a new song on CBC’s Q. Metro talks to Beatrice Martin.

Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Place de la Republique” (live on Q)

Brooklyn’s White Rabbits have finally made a local date in support of their latest album It’s Frightening – catch them at the Drake Underground on October 24, tickets $15.50. And also check out their WOXY session from earlier this Summer.

MP3: White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”
Video: White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”

Yo La Tengo’s new record Popular Songs isn’t out until next week but it’s currently streaming in its entirety over at NPR and they’ve also released yet another video from the record. And Pitchfork has a chat with Dario Robleto, who crafted the art that adorns the album cover. Yo La Tengo are at the Opera House on October 3.

Video: Yo La Tengo – “When It’s Dark”
Stream: Yo La Tengo / Popular Songs

And support for Yo La Tengo’s Canadian dates has been announced as Chicago outfit The Horse’s Ha. They sound something like this.

MP3: The Horse’s Ha – “Asleep In A Waterfall”
MP3: The Horse’s Ha – “The Piss Choir”

Maxim has an interview with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. No bikini photo shoot, though. Probably for the best. Wilco are at Massey Hall on October 14 and 15.

If you thought Neil Young was going to take a break from his Archives now that the first box set has been released, think again. Rolling Stone reports that November 2 will see the release of Dreamin’ Man, a live album collecting solo recordings of Harvest Moon circa 1992. Neil will be making an appearance at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 14. He may bring his guitar. He may play it.

eye talks to members of The Depreciation Guild, in town at the Horseshoe on September 7 opening up for The Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart, with whom NOW has a chat. The Chicago Tribune talks to the third band on the bill, Cymbals Eat Guitars.

Ben WellandI’m not sure why it’s taking me so long to try and come up with words to describe The Balconies and their debut album – also called The Balconies and out September 15. It could be this epic nap that I woke up from a few hours ago but still haven’t shaken loose, or maybe it’s because whenever I start playing the record, that’s 37 minutes that I’d rather just sit and listen instead of write.

The Balconies stick to the tried-and-true power-trio format and on top of that, favour of a dry, in-your-face approach that eschews any sort of studio hijinks. They’re a confident crew, these Balconies, and why not? All three are superb musicians and guitarist Jacqui Neville has got a most impressive set of pipes, with power and expressiveness to spare but thankfully uninterested in showy over-singing. Sibling and bassist Steve Neville is an effective vocal foil, though I find myself wishing I wasn’t reminded so much of the B-52s’ Fred Schneider at points. Their songwriting is also at its sharpest when they plough straight ahead with the power-pop, all punch and vigor and demonstrating a knack for the not-so-obvious-but-indelibly-catchy hook. But even the lesser tracks have at least one riff, melody or moment to justify its place amongst the stronger numbers and oft times, they’re the ones that stick in the head the most. In fact, on the first few listens, I thought I was able to easily distinguish the standouts from the filler, but subsequent listens have blurred those distinctions significantly. What hasn’t changed, however, is the first impression – that The Balconies have turned out a cracking debut record and more than merit my – and your – attention.

Seeing as how they hail from Ottawa, it’s only natural that I Heart Music was first up with effusive praise for the outfit, which has been echoed by both Herohill and Dave Allen of Gang Of Four at Pampelmoose. There’s also an interview from earlier this Summer at BlogTO and a more recent one at Soundproof, both addressing the band’s upcoming move from Ottawa to Toronto.

I’m not sure if that’s already happened, but their live itinerary has them in town quite a bit in the next while regardless. They’re at the Horseshoe this Wednesday night with Everything All The Time and The Magic, then are doing a free show as part of the TARA Secret Sessions the evening of August 29 with The Books Elusive and Modernboys Moderngirls. Then they’re back on September 25 at Lee’s Palace for a release party throwdown with Oh No Forest Fires, Fox Jaws and Whale Tooth. Good times guaranteed.

MP3: The Balconies – “300 Pages”
MP3: The Balconies – “Smells Like Secrets”

Final Fantasy is going to be touring across Canada next month but the eagle-eyed – or simply sighted – will notice the absence of any Toronto dates on his itinerary. But he will in fact be playing a hometown show on September 5 at– well, they’re not telling. As part of what they’re calling Bite Your Tongue, Final Fantasy and a handful of others are playing at an undisclosed location that evening and ticket buyers will only be informed of the location the day before the show by returning to wherever they bought their tickets ($10 at Soundscapes or Rotate This) for the 411. They do promise that it’s accessible by TTC (about a 70-minute commute each way) and presumably have made sure that the buses and whatnot are still running when the show is over and people aren’t stranded at this allegedly majestic locale. Adventure! Final Fantasy’s Heartland is due out the first week of 2010 or so.

Spiral Beach will release their new album The Only Really Thing on September 22 and follow that up with a whackload of touring, including a cross-country jaunt with Two Hours Traffic and they’ll preface their October 16 date at Lee’s Palace with an in-store at Sonic Boom that evening.

MP3: Spiral Beach – “Domino”
Video: Spiral Beach – “Domino”

There’s a new track available from Grand Archives’ forthcoming second album Keep In Mind Frankenstein, out September 8. They play the Mod Cub on October 15.

MP3: Grand Archives – “Oslo Novelist”

Also sharing a new tune are Headlights, who’re releasing their third album Wildlife, out October 6.

MP3: Headlights – “Get Going”

Isthmus and Express have words with Justin Townes Earle, who has a date at the Phoenix on November 7.

Spinner talks to Grizzly Bear, in town for day one of V Fest this Saturday at the Molson Amphitheatre.

Stereogum has premiered the MP3 for the a-side from a new Asobi Seksu 10″ coming out this week, a different version of “Transparence” from their latest album Hush. Asobi Seksu are at the Horseshoe on October 13.

Also at the ‘Shoe that night is Anna Ternheim, with whom Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment video session.

The Antlers have released a new video from Hospice. There’s also interviews at Exclaim and The Village Voice. They’re at the Horseshoe on September 24.

Video: The Antlers – “Two”

Stereogum gets a status update from Thao Nguyen of Thao with The Get Down Stay Down on their new album Know Better Learn Faster , due out October 13. They play the El Mocambo on November 1.

CMJ reports that Venice Is Sinking are soliciting pre-orders for their third album The Georgia Theatre Sessions, proceeds from which will go towards rebuilding the titular theatre where the album was recorded and which burned down earlier this Summer. Chip in via Kickstarter.com. This record would be the follow-up to AZAR, released earlier this year and just lovely.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Ryan’s Song”
MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Okay”
Video: Venice Is Sinking – “Ryan’s Song”

While I like the piece by Adrian Tomine they ultimately used for the cover art to Luna’s Best Of (and which you can buy for just $1500), I like this rejected cover better.

Newsweek Q&As The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne about their new album Embryonic, out October 13.

Spinner talks sexism in music with St Vincent’s Annie Clark, who also recorded an acoustic session for Grand Crew.

Rob Sheridan & Tamar LevineThey do try their best, I believe that, but it might be time to declare any Virgin Festival in Canada to be well and truly cursed. Don’t get me wrong, despite everything, I’ve always had a great time at the three in Toronto thus far, but you can’t really say they’ve gone smoothly. In 2006, they lost one headliner in Massive Attack (Broken Social Scene wasn’t a bad pinch hitter at all, but that it was necessary was unfortunate) and then there was the infamous 15-minute set from The Flaming Lips. The 2007 edition fared a bit better but still lost Amy Winehouse and Peter Bjorn & John without equal calibre replacements. Last year saw the the headliner famously assaulted onstage.

And that’s just the Toronto editions. As the rumour goes, last year’s Vancouver edition was cancelled outright after Pemberton poached Coldplay as headliner. And this year, after keeping silent well into the Spring as to whether there’d even be a festival this year, they came out and announced five across the country, most of which befell some sort of calamity. Vancouver was struck by lightning and had to cancel the headline set by The Roots. Halifax lost headliners The Tragically Hip at the 11th hour and had to make up for it by making the whole event free. Montreal headliners New Kids On The Block failed to contract food poisoning before their set and were able to perform. I think Calgary managed to avoid any sort of disaster their two years running – good on them.

Which left Ontario. Though still the subject of many complaints, I thought the 2009 lineup was pretty solid – but the decision to hold it an hour north of the city at Burl’s Creek in Oro was met with howls of protest from the 416. And it wasn’t just whinging from those who didn’t like going north of Bloor – there were genuine logistical concerns about transportation, traffic, accommodations and whatnot. But I guess the assumption was that the absence of those who didn’t want to leave the city would be made up for by others in southern Ontario who would find it easier to not drive downtown and a lovely time would be had by all.

Not so much.

An unexpected press release showed up yesterday around noon declaring that due to slow ticket sales and protests about the location, Virgin Festival Ontario had been moved from Burl’s Creek to the Molson Amphitheatre in downtown Toronto, barely two weeks before the event was scheduled to happen. Considering that many/most who had decided to go had already made travel and lodging arrangements, myself included, this wasn’t as much of the gift as it may have been intended to be. For example, I was able to get a full refund on my hotel room (I don’t camp) – I know others had booked non-refundable rooms. They’re now out a couple hundred dollars. Others who bought tickets early at full price will be justifiably upset that the new pricing structure offers much cheaper options, though refunds for tickets are available so you could trade those in and buy the cheaper Amphitheatre lawns if you just want to grab a piece of sod and chill out for a couple days. Mind you, those already holding tickets have been promised to be given first crack at the Amphitheatre’s floors and 200-level seats, though that may give you an idea of how many tickets were sold in the first place. I can’t say exactly how assignments will go, but it seems that those first in line will get wristbands granting GA floors and then everyone else will get assigned 200-level seating.

And while the festival organizers are assuring that all the announced acts will still perform, there’s other questions, like how the stages will be set up – the Amphitheatre itself can’t easily accommodate a second stage, particularly not one big enough to handle Pet Shop Boys or Pixies, who I would assume would be closing that one out on their respective nights. Which means that the second stage would have to go outside the Amphitheatre grounds and somewhere else in Ontario Place. Looking at the satellite imagery, the spot south of the Amphitheatre is the only logical place it could go but I have no idea what’s there and what might get mangled by a big stage and thousands of concert goers, never mind the fact that this is all going down when the CNE is on and Ontario Place will already be lousy with non-V Fest visitors.

So how will it all end up going down? Will the V Fest brand be able to recover from this year and convince people to return in the future? Will they even try? I have no idea, but am very curious to see. And while I really was warming to the idea of the Burl’s Creek experience (if not the insect bites that would ensue), I can’t say I’m not pleased that like past years, I’ll be able to get there by bike and be able to sleep in my own bed.

Anyways.

They were just here last month opening for Frightened Rabbit but The Antlers have since garnered their own immense buzz for their new album Hospiceand so are are coming back for their own show at the Horseshoe on September 24.

Speaking of shows, after Wilco’s October 14 show at Massey Hall sells out minutes after tickets go on sale this morning at 10AM, look for a second show to be announced for October 15. This comes from a press release for opener Liam Finn which lists both dates at Massey Hall and considering how Wilco have been playing the same venue since 2004 while their fanbase has arguably grown considerably, and the idea of a multi-night stand seems eminently logical though it makes my eight-year streak of seeing every Wilco appearance in Toronto considerably more difficult to maintain. LiveDaily has an interview with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche.

And if that’s not enough Liam Finn for you, Bumpershine reports that he’ll play his own headlining show at Lee’s Palace on October 29 with Miracle Fortress as support. Finn’s new EP with Eliza Jane Champagne in Seashells is out September 1.

MP3: Liam Finn with Eliza Jane – “Plane Crash”
Stream: Liam Finn & Eliza Jane / Champagne In Seashells

Those waiting for Sufjan Stevens ticket information for the October 1 show, looks like Ticketmaster is your only option. Face value is $17.50 so you’ll be lucky to come away a ducat for under $30, all said and done. Also note: “Tickets cannot be picked up at the outlet. They must be picked by the cardholder, with credit card in hand and photo identification at the venue by the cardholder ONLY”. So there you go.

And Cryptacize, who are touring with Stevens, are the subject of a feature video/audio session over at Luxury Wafers.

MP3: Cryptacize – “Blue Tears” (live on Luxury Wafers)

Antony & The Johnsons have not only covered Beyonce, but they’ve made a video. No Jay-Z, though.

Video: Antony & The Johnsons – “Crazy In Love”

Previously venue-less, the August 30 Throw Me The Statue show will now be happening at The Boat with support from The Brunettes and Nurses. And if you dig on Nurses, they’re back in town on October 15 at the Drake Underground with Le Loup.

MP3: Throw Me The Statue – “Ancestors”
MP3: Nurses – “Caterpillar Playground”
MP3: The Brunettes – “Small Town Crew”
MP3: Le Loup – “Beach Town”

Deerhoof will be doing a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 17, somehow related to TIFF. Is there a Deerhoof documentary premiering that I don’t know about?

MP3: Deerhoof – “+81”

The Flaming Lips have set an October 13 release date for their next album Embryonic. Rolling Stone has details and Pitchfork is streaming a song from the record, and early response to new material from those who’ve lost interest in the band nearly as much as I have is quite positive.

Spinner and Billboard talk to Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard and Son Volt’s Jay Farrar about their work on One Fast Move or I’m Gone, the soundtrack album for a documentary on Jack Kerouac by the same name. The album will be out October 20 and there are plans for a tour to follow.

Video: Jay Farrar – “San Francisco”
Trailer: One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur

Laura Marling discusses her plans for album number two with BBC.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talks to Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk and The Philadelphia Inquirer to Colin Meloy.

The Dan Deacon show at Sneaky Dee’s on November 3 isn’t his only local date – he’s also at the Great Hall on November 4.

Luxury Wafers talks to Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers. Their new one Exploding Head is out October 6 and they’re at the Mod Club on October 27.