iTunesThere aren’t many better out there than Calexico at crafting covers that do the originals justice while becoming wholly their own – after all, not many others out there have their secret recipe of southwestern (musical) herbs and spices to work with. They don’t just save them for the live setting, either – more than a few of their reinterpretations have been recorded and officially released.

This includes their take on Arcade Fire’s “Ocean Of Noise”, a song they have some extra familiarity with having contributed the horns on the Neon Bible original. They later recorded a version of the whole song and it clearly met with the writers’ seal of approval – Arcade Fire released it as the b-side to their 2007 “Intervention” single.

Calexico are in town for a show at the Phoenix on July 22, and are about due for a new record though no formal announcement about a release has been made. Arcade Fire will release their long-awaited third full-length The Suburbs on August 3 and follow that up with a show on the Toronto Islands on August 14.

MP3: Calexico – “Ocean Of Noise”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Ocean Of Noise” (live)

FacebookSummerworks has long been an established name in Toronto’s theatrical community, staging successful festivals every Summer (hence the name) for as long as I’ve lived here, but in the last couple of years, they’ve been expanding their mandate with a musical series that has aimed to get theatre fans to to discover some of the city’s best up-and-coming independent music and vice versa. Each year has gotten better and better, and the just-announced 2010 music series is handily continuing that trend.

As previously mentioned, the main attraction this year is a two-night stand from The Hidden Cameras wherein they’ll reimagine their last record Origin:Orphan in a theatrical context, but also appearing at the Lower Ossington Theatre from August 5th through the 14th will be Ghost Bees, Diamond Rings, Laura Barrett, Snowblink, Evening Hymns and The Wilderness Of Manitoba, amongst many others.

The performance space is divided into a mainstage and a performance bar; tickets for the former are available in advance at Rotate This, Soundscapes and the venue box office while admission for the latter is pay-what-you-can on the evening of the show, with mainstage ticket holders getting in for free. Check out the schedule to see who’s playing where and when.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “Walk On”
MP3: Laura Barrett – “Decepticon Island Optimists Club”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “Wait And See”
MP3: Evening Hymns – “Broken Rifle”
MP3: Ghost Bees – “Vampires Of The West Coast”
MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Hermit”

Domino Records is offering a download of Owen Pallett’s new Lewis Takes His Shirt Off EP for one week only. And that week started a couple days ago, so get moving. And speaking of getting moving, it was just announced that Pallett will be appearing at the Dakota Tavern tonight as part of White Whale Wendesdays this month, playing with Snailhouse, Octoberman and Tusks.

Hannah Georgas has released a new video from This is Good. She plays the Molson Amphitheatre on July 30 as part of the dog’s breakfast Disco Lemonade show.

Video: Hannah Georgas – “Bang Bang You’re Dead”

Spinner talks to Rolf Klausener of The Acorn about their new record No Ghost.

The Coast have announced their second album Queen Cities will be out on September 14, and they’ll play a hometown record release show at the El Mocambo on September 23.

Metric turned in a compact, two-song set for Daytrotter. Maybe they were in a hurry to make this interview with The Riverfront Times?

Paste catches up with Stars; they’re at Massey Hall on October 23.

Billboard has posted their cover story on Arcade Fire. They play the Toronto Islands on August 14.

The Boston Herald and Beatroute have features on Wolf Parade

Gord Downie & The Country Of Miracles will bring The Grand Bounce to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 5.

Video: Gord Downie & The Country Of Miracles – “The East Wind”

BeatRoute, The Montreal Gazette and The National Post talk to Sarah Harmer.

Indie rock endorsements: Liz Powell of Land Of Talk tells The Sound It Resounds why Fugazi’s In On The Kill Taker was so important to her while over at Rock Torch, Dan Mangan recommends some time spent with Bon Iver.

Both Acts Of Minor Treason and Comics Alliance take photo tours of Scott Pilgrim’s Toronto. The Beguiling is hosting a release party for Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour next Monday night, with the books going on sale at midnight, while Scott Pilgrim Vs The World opens in theatres on August 13.

Amanda SchenkTwo and a half weeks after announcing what a panel of unadventurous, sexist, regionally biased and indie-rockist media types had collectively decided were the 40 best Canadian albums of the past year, the Polaris Music Prize yesterday whittled said list down to a short list of ten, thus helping narrow the pool of records that everyone will complain are unworthy of recognition for the next two and a half months until a final overrated and predictably mainstream record is selected by a jury of people who are obviously pursuing their own agendas and wouldn’t know the best album in the country from a hole in the ground.

Okay, that was a bit over the top cynical but probably isn’t too far off from how some regard the prize awarded to what is deemed the Canadian album “of the highest artistic integrity”, now entering its fifth year and having gone in that time from a curious Juno upstart to an internationally recognized honour. And yeah, if so inclined you can pick holes in the prize’s methodology, jury and validity but the fact is, it’s done a pretty great job of supporting and spotlighting great Canadian artists and records over the past half decade and with this year’s list of finalists, continues to do so. Some would point to the presence of five past nominees – including two winners – on the list as proof that things are too narrow or predictable, but that’s what happens when you’ve got artists who’re at the top of their game turning out great records, and should really be cause for celebration rather than disdain.

I’ve talked at some length about many of the nominees, but haven’t really said much about Darker Circles, the latest from Canadian music veterans and first-time nominees The Sadies, and that’s probably because I’ve been following the band for so long that I pretty much take them and their awesomeness for granted now. It’s a given that they’ll tour incessantly and turn in incendiary shows every night, back up countless legendary artists on stage and on record and do it all while dressed impeccably and making it look easy. And lost in all of that is the fact that each album they’ve put out in recent years has been much more than just an excuse to tour – the brothers Good have also become excellent songwriters, making their unique psych-country-punk-surf-rock hybrid not only a showcase for their astounding musicianship, but their storytelling abilities. That Darker Circles made the short list only surprised me in that it felt like a logical progression in their growth and not a quantum leap ahead that demanded your notice, but I won’t complain either way.

That said, I still believe that Shad absolutely should and very well could win. Though if we get a repeat winner for the first time this year… I’m okay with that too.

The Polaris Prize short list for this year is as follows; a winner will be selected the evening of September 20.

The Besnard Lakes / The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
MP3: The Besnard Lakes – “Albatross”

Broken Social Scene / Forgiveness Rock Record
MP3: Broken Social Scene – “World Sick”

Caribou / Swim
MP3: Caribou – “Odessa”

Karkwa / Les Chemins De Verre
Video: Karkwa – “Moi-Lèger” (live)

Dan Mangan / Nice, Nice, Very Nice
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Robots”

Owen Pallett / Heartland
Video: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes His Shirt Off”

Radio Radio / Belmundo Regal
Video: Radio Radio – “Dekshoo”

The Sadies / Darker Circles
Video: The Sadies – “Postcards”

Shad / TSOL
MP3: Shad – “Yaa I Get It”

Tegan & Sara / Sainthood
Video: Tegan & Sara – “Alligator”

Chart gets inaugural prize winner Owen Pallett’s thoughts on being nominated a second time, as well as second-time nom Shad. They also talk to Dan Mangan and The Sadies about being first time short-listers.

Ca Va Cool and The Korea Times talk to Caribou’s Dan Snaith.

They Shoot Music has posted a video session with The Hidden Cameras, whose contribution to the Buffet Libre Peace compilation – a fundraiser for Amnesty International – is now available to download. They play two nights at the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 5 and 6 as part of Summerworks.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “The Mild Mannered Army”

Also doing the video session thing are The Acorn; they’ve got performances up at The Fly and Southern Souls.

Toronto’s Zeus have released a new ninja-powered video.

Video: Zeus – “How Does It Feel”

Blurt profiles Wolf Parade.

ABC News examines the musical and marketing stratagems of Arcade Fire, whose new record The Suburbs arrives August 3. They play the Toronto Islands on August 14.

Spinner has the album art for and tour dates in support of Land Of Talk’s new record Cloak & Cipher, out August 24. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on September 16 and presale packages consisting of the new album on CD and concert tickets are available. There’s also a live session with the band from last Fall available to stream or download at CBC Radio 3 (talking stops and music starts at around 1:50).

Magnet has an interview with Evan Cranley of Stars as they take over their website for the week. They also play Massey Hall on October 23.

Spinner solicits opinions from various Canadian musicians on the G20 clusterfuck that went down in Toronto a couple weekends ago.

Frank Yang“Thanks for coming out on such short notice.” It was hard to tell if Win Butler was smirking when he said this, midway through the first night of Arcade Fire’s surprise two-night stand at the Music Hall in Toronto this past Friday night. After all, they had given the city just over 48 hours notice that these performances would be happening – though they did offer teasers throughout the week – prompting a mad scramble of canceled plans and fake sick days so that fans could line up for the one-per-person admission wristbands that only went on sale the day of the show.

It was the latest in a series of warm-up shows for the band, starting last week with a private house show in Montreal, through a couple of theatre shows in Sherbrooke, Quebec and a free parking lot performance in Longueuil, all serving to get the band back in game shape and build anticipation for their third album The Suburbs, due out August 3. Of course, accomplishing the latter didn’t require much effort on the band’s part save to announce that the record actually existed – since wrapping up their tours in support of 2007’s Neon Bible, the Montrealers have done remarkably well at keeping out of the public eye and secretive about what they’d be doing next and when.

The need for a retreat following Neon Bible was understandable. It was a tremendously heavy record, both from the weight of expectations as the follow-up to the universally-praised Funeral and its thematic burdens, being informed by the very height (or depths) or the Bush years. The resulting combination of ambition, angst and anxiety made for an album that tried to be grander than its predecessor and while it had more than its share of moments, ultimately came feeling insular and leaden and a relative disappointment. So while the first samples of The Suburbs that were released a couple of weeks ago didn’t immediately induct themselves into the Arcade Fire songbook hall of fame, they did seem to indicate that the band were taking a looser, more spontaneous approach to their songwriting – certainly a good start.

Which brings us back to Friday night and a familiar band in a familiar setting. It was at this same Music Hall on the Danforth that the Arcade Fire played a now-legendary three-night stand just over half a decade ago, and their first time back since their two nights at Massey Hall in May 2007. But rather than fill the bill with warm-up acts that would become huge themselves, this time out it was just Arcade Fire… and a thousand people who’d been waiting a long time to see them again. And at 8:30PM sharp, there was the roar of the audience as the band took the stage, the whoosh of seats being evacuated as the audience rushed the stage and the sound of Arcade Fire breaking into the aptly-named new composition “Ready To Start”… and we were off.

Though the 90-minute set would be heavily loaded with new material, it was well-sequenced to keep interest and energy up – the atmosphere was electric for the propulsive opener and then the even more driving (and familar via the single) “Month Of May”, but with the familiar opening chords of “Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)”, the crowd found another level of freak out. And so the show went – a brace of new songs and then a handful of classics, providing ample opportunity to compare and contrast the songs that will comprise The Suburbs with the old stuff. What I noticed most about the new material was that it felt less epic in scale, but deliberately so – as though they decided in writing that constantly trying to outdo themselves was the wrong way to go. The songs were more focused on finding a groove and riding that rather than attempting to jump the tracks at a certain point to grab sky, and had a more classic rock vibe about them – don’t expect the Springsteen comparisons that cropped up with the last record to go away. The lack of the big, anthemic moments might have disappointed some, but it really did feel as though the band had unclenched and were feeling more comfortable in themselves – it’s probably not a coincidence that Neon Bible‘s black uniform stage garb had been traded in for something in a lighter shade of blue. And while there were some obvious standouts in the new stuff – both “Modern Man” and “Rococo” had people in the audience looking at each other and nodding, “yes” – odds are The Suburbs will end up being a grower, and in the long run I think that’ll be for the best.

Time will tell how much truth there is in that statement, but what is not up for debate is that the show came to a head with what has always been and always shall be their coup de grace, their finishing move – the back-to-back body blows of “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)” and “Rebellion (Lies)”. All the momentum that had intensifying up through the night, all the energy that had been pent up since the band finished touring Neon Bible, all the anticipation that had been building since their last Toronto show, came to a head with that finale and simply exploded, with the shockwaves carrying through the encore of “Keep The Car Running” and, of course, “Wake Up”. Though the song implies beginnings, here it was a fitting ending to the night. That Arcade Fire are a great band and an important band is not in question, but time away can dim the memory; this show was an intense and extraordinary reminder of why.

There’s more reviews of the show at The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Sun, eye, The Toronto Star, CTV, Pitchfork and Spinner. Arcade Fire return to play the Toronto Islands on August 14.

Photos: Arcade Fire @ The Music Hall – June 11, 2010
MP3: Arcade Fire – “Keep The Car Running”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “No Cars Go”
MP3: Arcade Fire – “Wake Up”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)”
Video: Arcade Fire – “Rebellion (Lies)”
MySpace: Arcade Fire

Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning Chart engages in some trash talk with Olympic gold medalist rower Adam Van Koeverden in advance of their charity soccer game during NXNE which pits musicians against pretty much everyone else in support of Right To Play. Broken play the Toronto Islands the day before, June 19.

On Milwaukee, The Montreal Mirror, JAM, Winnipeg Free Press, hour.ca, Uptown and The Toronto Star profile The New Pornographers, coming to town for a show at the Sound Academy this Tuesday, June 15.

The Ottawa Citizen talks to Sloan, who are headlining the free Friday night show at Yonge-Dundas Square for NXNE this week.

Stars have begun streaming their new album The Five Ghosts in full over at NPR. It’s officially released as of next Tuesday.

Stream: Stars / The Five Ghosts

The Ottawa Sun interviews The Balconies, who are playing the top of the CN Tower on Wednesday night for NXNE and then on Saturday night in the Distillery District as part of the Wine & Spirit Festival. The former is invite-only but the latter is free to all.

Filter and The Gauntlet get to know Born Ruffians.

NOW, The Hamilton Spectator and See talk to Shad about his music while The National Post prefers to get his take on the NBA playoffs.

Frank YangLike in most cities, there is a pecking order to venues that bands can play in Toronto that are commensurate to said band’s level of success. Start at the Horseshoe, move on to Lee’s or Mod, then the Opera House, Phoenix and Kool Haus. At this point the options going forward begin to diverge – the much-reviled Sound Academy has become the popular next step up (or down) but for a certain rarefied group of artists, the road ahead leads not to the city’s docklands but to the heart of downtown, at the corner of Shuter and Victoria – Massey Hall.

The National certainly followed that path, first bringing Alligator to the ‘Shoe in September 2005 and again following March, then quickly moving through the Opera House in Summer 2007 and selling out the Phoenix just a few months later on the back of Boxer. Clearly, this was a band ascendant. But even so, and even after selling out the much larger Kool Haus last May without even a new record to promote, the idea of the band graduating to Massey any time soon hadn’t occurred to me. Surely that would require some greater break into the public consciousness, or what they used to call “a hit”, and making hits has never seemed part of the National agenda. But apparently I underestimated things because The National were able to book themselves into the grandest room in the city for not one but two nights – the first of which was this past Tuesday – months before High Violet would be released and reach #3 on the Billboard charts. All this time I’d been waiting to see if they’d become big and I missed the fact that they already had.

The Antlers have found themselves on a similar upward trajectory, though theirs was even sharper. Last year’s breakout album Hospice took them from playing the Horseshoe last Fall through the Phoenix this past February supporting Editors to these two nights at Massey supporting their Brooklyn brethren. And while they were there as the openers, their set was ample evidence that they were just as suited to a setting such as this. Hospice is by no means a small-sounding record but in the live environment, The Antlers make it sound massive and as I’ve said in past reviews of their shows, they transform the record’s emotional content from anguish to something even more primal and visceral. And though I’ve seen them do it a few times now, it still packs an emotional gut punch. Given the potency of their performance and the intensity of the audience response, it’s hard to think that they’ll be playing the support role to anyone for much longer.

I’ve heard criticisms of The National’s live show as being too visually static or, more succinctly, as boring and while I protest out of principle, there’s always been some truth to it. On stage, they’ve always been very focused at the task at hand and while Matt Berninger has a certain charisma as frontman, it’s rooted in his well-documented discomfort with being on stage. It seems, however, that The National have heard some of these criticisms as well because they’ve stepped up their live game enormously. The core five piece of Berninger and the brothers Dessner and Devendorf were enhanced by a two-piece horn section and frequent collaborator Padma Newsome on keys and violin, giving them the tools to not only fully recreate the sonics of the albums but expand them even further. In particular, the subtle addition of the horns to many of the songs – as texture and punctuation, never as a solo instrument (thankfully) – gave them an extra dose of grandeur. The two hour set drew from all their releases save for their self-titled debut and ranged from the delicate (“Runaway”, “Daughters Of The Soho Riots”) to the raging (“Squalor Victoria”) to the just plain majestic (“Apartment Story”, “Fake Empire”), all of it sounding bigger, tighter and just plain better than I’ve ever heard them play. The National are truly at the top of their game, and while I’ve probably said that after each time I’ve seen them live, it’s always been true – until the next time.

The band were also far more engaging with the audience than I’d ever seen them, both between and during songs. The band engaged in more banter amongst themselves and with the audience than I think I’ve seen from them in the previous six times I’ve seen them live, joking and in Aaron Dessner’s case (I can finally tell the twins apart!) humbly acknowledging the history and significance of the room that they were now headlining. And to the latter, beyond the band simply being more animated and energetic than ever before, Berninger came off stage during “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and began pulling patrons up out of their seats, thus answering the eternal Massey question of whether to stand or not. He would again invade the audience during “Abel” and “Mr. November”, climbing through fans, over seats and even wandering out of the theatre into the hall. And on stage, his signature twitching and pacing seemed almost akin to dancing at points, though that may have just been him sliding on Massey’s polished hardwood. Certainly a far cry from the Kool Haus show, in which the tension of being between records, struggling with hammering the new material into shape and playing larger rooms for the first time was palpable… and exacerbated by the fact that Berninger seemed drunk off his ass.

In years past, the barroom setting was the perfect setting for The National’s brooding, last call barstool poetry but as their sound and audience has grown, they’ve needed a new setting and with these shows at Massey Hall – as well as those at similarly hallowed rooms such as Brooklyn Academy of Music, Radio City Music Hall and the Royal Albert Hall – it seems they’ve found one. I may not have initially thought they were at a point where they could fill rooms of this size and stature, but this show – and presumably the one last night – made it clear that they not only belong there, there’s nowhere else they should ever play.

The Toronto Sun, Chart, Spinner, Panic Manual and eye all have reviews of the show while The Toronto Star and Exclaim checked in from night two. The Montreal Gazette has a feature and has also posted the interview transcript with Matt Berninger. The Globe & Mail, Clash, Exclaim and National Post also all have interviews.

Photos: The National, The Antlers @ Massey Hall – June 8, 2010
MP3: The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”
MP3: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
MP3: The National – “So Far Around The Bend”
MP3: The National – “Fake Empire”
MP3: The National – “Son”
MP3: The National – “Beautiful Head”
MP3: The Antlers – “Two”
MP3: The Antlers – “Bear”
MP3: The Antlers – “The Universe Is Going To Catch You”
MP3: The Antlers – “On the Roof”
MP3: The Antlers – “Stairs To The Attic”
MP3: The Antlers – “Cold War”
MP3: The Antlers – “Keys”
Video: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
Video: The National – “So Far Around The Bend” (live)
Video: The National – “Mistaken For Strangers”
Video: The National – “Apartment Story”
Video: The National – “Abel”
Video: The National – “Lit Up”
Video: The National – “Daughters Of The Soho Riots”
Video: The National – “Sugar Wife”
Video: The National – “Son”
Video: The Antlers – “Bear”
Video: The Antlers – “Two”
MySpace: The National
MySpace: The Antlers

That took far too long to put together, so that’s all for today… save for this. After days of rumours and speculation, it was confirmed yesterday that The Arcade Fire would continue their string of Suburbs pre-release secret shows and stage a two-night stand this coming Friday and Saturday at the Danforth Music Hall, where they played three epic shows way back in April 2005. Tickets for the show are $37.50 after fees and go on sale at noon at the venue box office the day of each show. Cash on the barrelhead, one per customer, no savesies. Also no opener – doors are at 7, show at 8:30 sharp. Needless to say, these will be madness and people are probably already lined up. The Suburbs is out August 4 and another show for less crazy devoted fans happens August 14 on the Toronto Islands.