Frank YangSufjan Stevens doesn’t make it easy. In the five years since his breakthrough Illinois album, he’s managed to be quite prolific without actually crafting a proper follow-up, instead releasing collections of outtakes, rerecording old records, compiling Christmas gifts and staging multimedia odes on expressways. The only sign he was working on something weightier was a surprise club tour last year that allowed he and his band to jam out new material alongside old favourites, but some of those songs seemed so clearly in the sketch phase that it was impossible to guess when it might see the light of day in finished form.

As it turned out, it wasn’t that much longer at all, relatively speaking. In early August, a massive theatre-scale tour was announced – certainly implying that there’d be some new material to tour behind – and a couple weeks later the 60-minute, EP in semantics only All Delighted People was released digitally and a week after that, it was announced that his next album, The Age Of Adz, would be out in October to coincide with the start of the tour. Between the two releases, Stevens answered the burning question of whether Stevens would be exploring his folk, pop, electronic, orchestral or theatrical fancies this time out with a resounding “yes”. Dense, epic and random, Adz finds Stevens trying to articulate that most fundamental theme of pop music – love – and finding it as incomprehensible and inexpressible a task as trying to illustrate the origins of the universe with silly string, but not for lack of trying. To that end, he pulls together pretty much every trick and tool in his formidable musical repertoire together and constructing a Frankenstein’s monster of song that shouldn’t work – at all – but still somehow moves with an unreal grace.

This, however, didn’t become clear until Wednesday night at Massey Hall in Toronto. The second date of the tour came just one day after the record’s release and even with the extra bit of lead time allowed to the music press, being asked to try and absorb and comprehend well over two hours of new and unprecedented Sufjan Stevens material in such a short amount of time was nigh-impossible. I can’t imagine how it would have been for everyone else in attendance, many of whom had bought their tickets before they even knew that Adz existed let alone the fact that it would be almost exclusively what they’d be hearing. A leap of faith, to be sure, but then if there’s something that Stevens and his followers know about, it’s faith.

DM Stith continued the Sufjan trend of having labelmates and bandmates open up his shows – certainly it makes touring logistics easier. Stith, however, didn’t give himself much of a chance to make a strong impression with just a four-song set. You were able to discern that he traded in looped, rickety folk that built off his rich, raspy voice – it may not have been novel in concept, but was still impressive when executed well.

The spareness of Stith’s set would be a thing of distant memory by the stroke of 9, as Stevens and his band took the stage. Though his songs are often simple things at their core, just as affecting in a solo setting, Stevens has always preferred to have the live experience err on the side of excess and this time out was no exception – he was surrounded by 10 additional musicians including a pair of backup singers/dancer/rhythmic gymnasts, two drummers, two keyboardists and a horn section in addition to guitar and bass. With that sort of setup, you don’t go small and setting the tone for the evening was the ten-minute opus “All Delighted People”, a highlight of even in rough form at the Lee’s Palace show a year earlier and now a fully-formed piece of musical theatre.

Under massive, cosmically-themed projections inspired by the artwork of American artist Royal Robertson, the next two hours would be a feast of overstimulation for the eyes and ears, elaborately and tightly choreographed yet still retaining a homespun charm, with the musicians swapping instruments while trying to navigate the on-stage clutter. Live, the songs from People and Adz felt much more in synch with each other, more obviously interrelated and with the common thematic thread tying them together making a much greater impression than the disparate sounds and styles that sometimes pushed them apart. If Stevens’ intention was to create a sense of journeying into mystery, with all the excitement, anxiety, disorientation and determination that might go along with that, and in the process make the mind-bendingness of his new record make sense, he succeeded in no uncertain terms.

Nowhere was that clearer than the centerpiece of the show – and of Age Of Adz – the beyond-grandiose song suite dubbed “Impossible Soul”. Shifting through various styles and documenting, in a sense, the various facets of love, it ran a full 26 minutes including, spastic atonal guitar solos, autotuned vocal passages and a hipster dance party crescendo (with Stevens busting some moves – one girl in the front row tried to join in but was told to sit back down by security) before closing with a heart-breaking acoustic denouement that left you breathless, bewildered and agape. It’s a lot to take on record but live, it was overwhelming in the very best sense and encapsulated the contrast of confidence and self-consciousness, the earnestness dusted with irony that Stevens does so well. And truly, it could have ended there – though the audience had just sat through over 100 minutes of mostly unfamiliar songs, many of which were officially only about 24 hours old, they had done so without a second of complaint, content simply to be taken wherever Stevens would lead them. But perhaps by way of thanks, Stevens was able to shift his headspace sufficiently to offer some selections from Illinois – “Chicago” to close the main set and then, for the solo encore, “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” on piano and chillingly gorgeous “John Wayne Gacy, Jr” that had Stevens’ angelic voice echoing through every corner of Massey Hall and sent the sold out house out into the streets in a sweet, heady daze.

Do I need to mention how lucky I feel to have been able to see two amazing shows in the same amazing venue over the course of…. what, 27 hours? Amazing. Music, you are wonderful.

eye, Exclaim, The Toronto Star, Panic Manual and The Globe & Mail also have reviews of the show and eye, The Irish Times, Drowned In Sound, The Chicago Tribune and The Quietus all have interviews with Sufjan.

Photos: Sufjan Stevens, DM Stith @ Massey Hall – October 13, 2010
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Too Much”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Movement VI—Isorhythmic Night Dance With Interchanges”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Henney Buggy Band”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Casimir Pulaski Day”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Sister”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Holland”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Year Of The Dog”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Year Of The Tiger”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Demetrius”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “A Winner Needs A Wand”
MP3: DM Stith – “I Heart Wig”
MP3: DM Stith – “Pigs”
MP3: DM Stith – “BMB” (alternate version)
MP3: DM Stith – “Pity Dance”
MP3: DM Stith – “Just Once”
MP3: DM Stith – “Thanksgiving Moon” (demo)
MP3: DM Stith – “BMB” (demo)
Video: DM Stith – “Pity Dance”
Video: DM Stith – “BMB”
Video: DM Stith – “Isaac’s Song”
MySpace: Sufjan Stevens
MySpace: DM Stith

MusicOmh interviews Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons.

The Vine interviews Alan Sparhawk of Low, whose new record – tentatively called C’mon – is due out next year.

NOW talks to Lissie, who is now in no condition to talk to anyone. Under doctor’s orders, she has had to postone at least a week’s worth of dates – including next Tuesday’s show at the El Mocambo. Make-up dates for the new year will be announced shortly. This makes four shows that have been cancelled on me in the last month – not quite an epidemic but still some kind of record.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a recent Sharon Van Etten show in New York. She’ll be at Lee’s Palace on November 5 opening up for Junip.

Interview interviews Warpaint; their debut album The Fool is out October 26.

Le Blogotheque has a Soirées De Poche session with The Morning Benders, while The San Jose Mercury News and examiner.com have interviews.

Daytrotter has posted a session with Foals.

Drowned In Sound has a three-song acoustic video session with The Twilight Sad.

The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with Lisa Milberg of The Concretes. Their new record WYWH is out November 8.

Valerie PhillipsWhen Why You Runnin’, the debut EP from Rock Island, Illinois native Elisabeth Maurus – aka Lissie – was released late last year, she was heralded as a bright new voice of the alt.country scene and indeed, her emotive voice and songwriting had the right balance of twang and rasp that she could well have become the next big crossover act for the genre. The problem with this was that in many ways, alt.country has become as rigid and codified a style as the Nashville scene that it was initially a reaction to in the late ’80s, and for an ambitious new artist, may not be a pigeonhole they want to get stuck in before they’ve even gotten their careers started.

That’s my speculation about why Lissie’s debut album Catching A Tiger is what it is, and that’s a big, genre-hopping record that pops and rocks as much as it twangs. It might have caught some off-guard, but really shouldn’t have – after all, its release was preceded by a series of viral videos that featured Lissie covering decidedly non-country acts like Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi and Metallica. There was definitely an aspect of calculated marketing to these selections, but that took a back seat to the fact that Lissie did a great job of making them her own, and that sentiment largely covers Catching A Tiger as well.

The production is pretty slick – overly so in parts – and the attempts to make songs in certain styles sound authentic, like the ’50s AM radio-filtered “Stranger”, try too hard, but Lissie’s voice and songwriting are strong and versatile enough to transcend any excess studio tinkering. She has a gift for inserting a big chorus where you’re not expecting a big chorus and thus making tracks like “Loosen The Knot” and “Cuckoo” indelible from the very first listen. Her folkier side isn’t neglected either, though it’s largely represented with the three tracks carried over from Why You Runnin’. Their placement alongside the more stylistically rangy selections of the record makes them more impactful, however, and by the time the gospelly “Oh Mississippi” closes things out, it’s clear that the decision to bust out of the pigeonhole before even being put in it was the right one – she’d have busted out of it sooner rather than later anyways.

The Dallas Observer and Spinner have interviews with Lissie, who is currently on tour in support of Catching A Tiger – she’ll be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on October 19.

MP3: Lissie – “Little Lovin'”
MP3: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”
MP3: Lissie – “In Sleep” (live)
Video: Lissie – “When I’m Alone”
Video: Lissie – “Cuckoo”
MySpace: Lissie

American Songwriter, Washington City Paper and The Cornell Sun talk to Sharon Van Etten, who’ll be at Lee’s Palace on November 5.

The lead single from Nicole Atkins’ sophomore effort Mondo Amore is now available to download, widget-free. The record is out January 25.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

Anyone who missed seeing S. Carey open up for The Tallest Man On Earth last month, take heart – he will be returning on his own tour, supported by White Hinterland, for a show at the Horseshoe on December 19. And honestly, I can’t think of a better bill to welcome Winter and close out (probably) the 2010 touring calendar – Carey’s All We Grow is a beaut.

MP3: S. Carey – “In The Dirt”
MP3: S. Carey – “In The Stream”
MP3: White Hinterland – “No Logic”
MP3: White Hinterland – “Dreaming Of The Plum Trees”

Spinner talks to Chris Chu of The Morning Benders about their high-profile support slots this year. They headline their own show at the Mod Club on November 5 and some of footage of their/his ice cream-powered in-store/out-store show in August has been posted as a video session over at the newly-minted TapeDek.

Offbeat interviews Local Natives; they’ve got a sold out show at Mod Club on October 19.

Pitchfork gets a musical history from Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus.

My Morning Jacket bassist Tom Blankenship tells Spin that their next album, currently in production, will be a return to the reverb-drenched atmospheric rock of their early records.

The Chicago Tribune talks to Guided By Voices’ Tobin Sprout about how the current reunion came together and where it might go from here.

Pitchfork takes the recent GQ interview with Steve Albini as a launching pad for contemplating the long-term effects of Sonic Youth’s major label tenure on the indie world.

CMJ reports that when Iron & Wine’s new record Kiss Yourself Clean comes out next January, it will be on a major label – they’ve signed to Warner Bros in North America. Their indie cred remains intact in the rest of the world, where they’ll be handled by 4AD.

Spinner interviews Warpaint, who have a new video for the first single from The Fool, out October 26.

Video: Warpaint – “Undertow”

Black Book interviews both Bjork and Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons, the latter of whom has a new record out in Swanlights. A video from said record was just released.

Video: Antony & The Johnsons – “The Spirit Is Gone”

Claudia Dehaza has left School Of Seven Bells for “personal reasons”. Ben Curtis and Alley Dehaza intend to carry on with the band, though without those sisterly harmonies it can’t help but be a wholly different beast.

With Jim Bryson acting as a touring member of The Weakerthans for some time now, it’s only fair that the Winnipeggers help out on the Ottawa-based artists’ next solo record, and so it is that the Weakerthans are functioning as Bryson’s backing band on his new record The Falcon Lake Incident. The record is due out next Tuesday, October 19, and they’re marking the occasion (sort-of/not really) halfway between their respective homes with some free shows – one on Tuesday night at the Horseshoe at 10PM and another by way of in-store at Sonic Boom on Wednesday at 6PM. And on top of that, John K Samson will play a solo set as part of the screening of their tour documentary We’re The Weakerthans, We’re From Winnipeg at the Royal on Monday night, October 18. If you need more Weakerthan action than that in a week, then I can’t help you. No one can.

MP3: Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans – “Wild Folk”
Trailer: We’re The Weakerthans, We’re From Winnipeg

And apparently their perfect sendoff at The Horseshoe in December 2007 wasn’t perfect enough – The Lowest Of The Low are getting back together for two gigs at Lee’s Palace on December 3 and 4. The occasion is the 20th anniversary of their beloved debut Shakespeare… My Butt which is getting a fancy-pants remastered reissue on November 23 and will include a DVD with a 45-minute documentary about the band entitled LowRoads 91-08. I waxed nostalgic about the record and what it meant to me in Summer 2007, but think I might let these shows pass me by. I’ve said thanks and goodbye already.

MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “Bleed A Little While Tonight”
Trailer: LowRoads 91-08

Doron GildIt’s understandable if Toronto fans of Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot waiting for them to come back to town turned their frowns upside down and then right back again when their local appearance this coming Saturday was announced – rather than a proper club show to showcase the material from their just-released-today second album The Orchard, they were booked in at the Molson Amphitheatre opening up for City & Colour and Tegan & Sara. Which isn’t to say that some of their fanbase ven diagrams don’t overlap, but most were probably hoping for something a little more intimate and inexpensive.

So for those folks, it’s time to get happy again as it was announced yesterday that the band would be sticking around in town a few more days (or maybe just driving back from Syracuse, it’s not far) to play a special show at the Mod Club next Monday night with no advance tickets; admission is limited to those who either buy a copy of The Orchard at one of the city’s independent record stores (Soundscapes, Criminal Records, Rotate This and Sonic Boom), online via Arts & Crafts or who enter a contest by emailing contest@arts-crafts.ca. Obviously total capacity is limited and nothing is guaranteed, but it’s a pretty cool chance to see a terrific live band in a more amenable setting than, say, the Amphitheatre. And am I the only one who appreciates the clockwork nature of Ra Ra Riot’s visits? This will be the third year in a row they’ve come through within the two week span around the start of September. Okay, maybe it’s just me.

Soundproof talks to violinist Rebecca Zeller while Exclaim has a combination interview/review. Intereview!

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

Prior to taking the stage at the Horseshoe later that night in full-band mode backed by Mike Watt and The Missingmen, Lou Barlow will be showcasing his solo and acoustic (presumably) side via an in-store at Criminal Records this Saturday, August 28, at 7PM. Express Night Out and Isthmus Daily Paper talk to Barlow.

MP3: Lou Barlow – “Losercore”

Seattle’s Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band will bring their shiny new record Where the Messengers Meet to the Drake Underground on September 18.

MP3: Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – “Leaving Trails”
MP3: Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – “Hurrah”

The resuscitated, presumably still very loud and almost certainly still pissed off Atari Teenage Riot will be at the Phoenix on October 4.

Video: Atari Teenage Riot – “Revolution Action”

Illinois girl Lissie, whose debut Catching A Tiger is probably a lot more pop and less country than most would have expected but still a good showcase for her talents, will make her Toronto debut at the El Mocambo on October 19, tickets $12.50. If the buzz around her continues as it has, expect this one to sell out quickly, even if it’s just to people who want to hear her cover Lady Gaga. MTV has an interview.

MP3: Lissie – “Little Lovin'”
MP3: Lissie – “In Sleep” (live)
Video: Lissie – “Cuckoo”

Ted Leo has released a glorious new video which is the culmination of all his retirement talk since way back in July… well played, sir.

Video: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Bottled In Cork”

The Montreal Mirror have a short interview with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus (who appears in the aforementioned Ted Leo video – did you see him and his mighty beard?). They’ve made available for download the opening track from The Monitor, edited down to radio length, and while it’s logical in that it’s pretty long in its original form, know that the proper way to experience the song is as it appears on the record – followed by the rest of the record.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union” (radio edit)

There’s a new Antony & The Johnsons for a song from both the Thank You For Your Love EP, out today, and the Swanlights full-length, out October 12.

Video: Antony & The Johnsons – “Thank You For Your Love”

Sufjan Stevens has put out an epic-length EP entitled All Delighted People which is available to stream for free and to download from his Bandcamp for $5 and sets the stage for what we might expect when he plays Massey Hall on October 13.

QRO talks to Scott Devendorf of The National.

The National Post talks to Greg Edwards of Autolux, in town tonight at Lee’s Palace.

Pitchfork has details on the next A Sunny Day In Glasgow, which will be called Autumn, Again and be available to download completely for free as of October 19. Until then, you can have one track. But just one.

MP3: A Sunny Day In Glasgow – “Drink Drank Drunk”

Spinner and Exclaim talk to The Drums, who’re at The Mod Club on October 21.

Barry KlippBradford Cox’s Deerhunter first began marketing their forthcoming album Halcyon Digest earlier this Summer via unconventional means, initiating a campaign wherein fans would download and print off old-school, xerox-styled flyers promoting the record and submit pictures of them posted up in and around their neighbourhoods in exchange for MP3 goodies, both from the new record and the Deerhunter archives. I can’t say as that I’ve seen any around my own hood, but clearly people have been participating.

As the September 28 release date for the new record draws near, the Atlanta-based band are gearing up for a more conventional but proven effective means of record promotion – touring their asses off. Pitchfork has the full itinerary, which includes a handful of northeast US dates this month before kicking off in earnest come October. Toronto welcomes them back – they were just here in March opening up for Spoon – on October 19 for a date at the Opera House, where they’ll be supported by Real Estate and Casino Vs Japan.

MP3: Deerhunter – “Revival”

A Place To Bury Strangers have released a new video from Exploding Head.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart”

Antony & The Johnsons have released an MP3 for the title track from their forthcoming EP Thank You For Your Love, out August 24, as a teaser both for the short-player and the full-length it’s taken from, Swanlights, which will follow on October 12.

MP3: Antony & The Johnsons – “Thank You For Your Love”

The AV Club interviews Dean & Britta.

Nashville Scene talks to Josh Ritter. He’s at the Phoenix on October 26.

Jim James tells Rolling Stone that My Morning Jacket have been back in the studio and a new record is targeted for mid-2011.

Spin talks to Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies about their new record Blood/Candy, out September 28, and has a stream of the song “Licenses to Hide”, which features vocals from Lisa Lobsinger of Broken Social Scene and Reverie Sound Revue.

The Tripwire gets in the back of a van with The Acorn. For a video session. Get your mind out of the gutter.

The Toronto Star has a feature piece on Arcade Fire. They’re at the Toronto Islands next Saturday and last night’s MSG show is available to stream on YouTube.

As proof that their gig at the Phoenix in April actually did count as an intimate club show, Wolf Parade will be back for the finale of their Fall tour in support of Expo 86 at the Sound Academy on November 26.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Ghost Pressure”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)

The Line Of Best Fit has released a new Oh! Canada compilation of Canadian MP3s as assembled by Brits.

Dublin’s Villagers, whose Becoming A Jackal has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, has a date at the Drake Underground on September 27. Tickets $10 in advance.

MP3: Villagers – “Becoming A Jackal”

Spinner talks to Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite about the band’s new studio album which is targeted for a February 2011 release. Their Burning/Special Moves live set is due on August 24.

NME talks to Paul Smith of Maximo Park about releasing his first solo album Margins, due out October 11.

MP3: Paul Smith – “North Atlantic Drift”

Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers gives BBC6 some details on their forthcoming record Postcards From A Young Man, coming September 27.

Nick Cave discusses Grinderman with Rolling Stone. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and the North American tour kicks of November 11 at the Phoenix in Toronto. I don’t think people are sufficiently excited about this show because it’s not possible to be sufficiently excited about this show.

Brooklyn Paper talks to Jack Rabid, publisher of The Big Takeover which has just celebrated 30 years of being one of the finest and most dedicated music magazines out there. Salut.

Frank YangSo yeah, I see a lot of bands live. And as a result, the list of bands that I want to see and haven’t – at least amongst those artists currently on active duty – has gotten pretty small, made up mainly of smaller acts for whom North American touring is an economical improbability. I’d placed Welsh trio The Joy Formidable in this category since discovering them last February, and so was more than a little frustrated that the place I thought I might have a chance to see them – SxSW – just wouldn’t happen. They canceled their 2009 appearance and opted for a UK tour instead this year and while they’d made a few surgical strikes to New York, there never seemed to be a greater design for conquering America… until there was.

A modest plan, perhaps, but the North American release of their most excellent debut A Balloon Called Moaning – which was one of my favourites of last year and would have been noted as such in year-end lists had I not been so pedantic about albums versus EPs – in advance of the release of their first full-length later this year was certainly a good start. The short tour that brought them to the Horseshoe in Toronto on Tuesday for a free Nu Music Nite engagement was a fantastic next step.

Their tourmates for their first expedition through the wilds of the northeast of the continent were Brooklyn’s The Dig, who were themselves readying their debut in Electric Toys, slated for a June 8 release. My advance copy of the record hadn’t made a huge impression, coming across mainly as decent if not especially distinctive college rock, but live the differences between their strengths and weaknesses were clearer. At their best, they combined the pop sense and garage-y attitude of The Strokes with a musical approach built on insistent bass riffs and dreamy, atmospheric touches. At their worst, they turned in unremarkable and plodding rote bar/blues-rock. Sadly, these seemed to be the songs that were best-received. Here’s hoping that in the long run, The Dig don’t give the people what they want and instead, make interesting music.

Though I hadn’t noticed much chatter about this show going into the evening and most of the city’s Brit-rock fans were at the Opera House selling out the Frightened Rabbit show, there was a good-sized crowd in place to welcome The Joy Formidable to Toronto. And it’s a good thing, because their brand of big guitar rock really demands an audience for full effect. To my ears, A Balloon Called Moaning is a pretty much perfect blend of sugary pop hook, spiky attitude and aesthetics that are little too effervescent to count as shoegazey (though that influence is quite evident) and live, The Joy Formidable were somehow able to make it all sound even better. There were initially some technical problems – a broken strap here, a split drum skin there – but the band made up for those early lulls with extra intensity when they were able to get everything working and when there were no more equipment glitches, that energy just snowballed. Ritzy Bryan was a tiny but magnetic frontwoman, handling both vocal and Stratocaster sonic attack duties with aplomb, and while it was hard to take your eyes off her, much credit must also go to her bandmates Rhydian Dafydd on bass and backing vocals and Matt Thomas on drums for both laying the foundation for their monolithic wall of sound and lifting her up on top of it. Though their set was just 45 minutes or so, that was more than enough time to run through the Balloon material along with some new material, cement existing fans and completely win over new ones. So completely worth the wait and, with promises to return within months – presumably when the new album arrives later this Summer – the next wait won’t be quite so long.

Photos: The Joy Formidable, The Dig @ The Horseshoe – May 4, 2010
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”
MP3: The Dig – “You’re Already Gone”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Popinjay”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Cradle”
MySpace: The Joy Formidable

Clash talks to Editors guitarist Chris Urbanowicz about some of the most important events in his life.

The Riverfront Times and Chicago Tribune interview Frightened Rabbit.

Jez Williams of Doves looks back on the band’s career for Under The Radar.

eye interviews Massive Attack’s 3D in advance of their two shows at the Sound Academy, tonight and Sunday.

Kele has released a video for that first single from The Boxer, due out June 21. He plays the Mod Club on July 29.

Video: Kele – “Tenderoni”

Jon Wurster gives Stereogum an update on the new Superchunk record, which has been given the title of Majesty Shredding and will be out this Fall.

BBC6 talks to The National’s Matt Berninger about High Violet, out Tuesday, while Vanity Fair has a rather pointless piece wondering if The National are America’s Radiohead… yeah. Nice photos, though. The National are at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

Drowned In Sound meets Band Of Horses, whose Infinite Arms arrive May 18 and who play the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Spinner welcomes The Hold Steady to their studios for an Interface session, while Paste and The Herald have interviews. They play the Kool Haus on July 18.

Daytrotter is offering a session with Lambchop.

Grab “Babelonia”, the first MP3 from the new School Of Seven Bells record Disconnect From Desire, by signing up for their mailing list. The record is out July 13.

Karen Elson – who may well be known as a singer-songwriter first and foremost but for now will have to settle for being a top model and Mrs Jack White – has a date at the El Mocambo on June 16 as part of a tour in support of her solo debut The Ghost Who Walks, out May 25 in the UK and later this year in North America. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance. Black Book has an interview.

Video: Karen Elson – “The Ghost Who Walks”

The Fiery Furnaces, who seem to have played every room – big and small – in the city, will be doing the small when they return on June 21 for a show at the Drake Underground. Their last release was 2009’s I’m Going Away.

MP3: The Fiery Furnaces – “The End Is Near”

Maps & Atlases – just here on Tuesday opening for Frightened Rabbit – return for a show at the Horseshoe on August 7 in support of their new record Perch Patchwork, out June 29.

MP3: Maps & Atlases – “Solid Ground”

Spin talks to Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons about their just-announced new record Swanlights, which will be out October 5.