Tony ParkFor the past month and a half or so, those given to keeping an eye on The Rural Alberta Advantage have watched with curiosity as the band has released a three–part series of video vignettes documenting the making of the second official video from their sophomore effort Departing for the song “Muscle Relaxants”. Not unusual in and of itself except for the fact that the video itself hadn’t been released yet. So rather than eliciting reactions of, “oh that’s how they did that”, they were met with reactions more along the lines of, “what on earth are they doing?”. What could be discerned, given the swimming pool setting, was that it’d be something aquatic in nature and possibly involved drummer Paul Banwatt and a giant inflatable turtle.

All was revealed yesterday, however, as Rolling Stone premiered the finished clip and it’s a rather stunning black-and-white short featuring the band cavorting, slow motion-style, underwater as musical instruments or parts thereof float around them. The inflatable turtle, sadly, didn’t appear to make the final edit but you can’t have everything. It’s quite a contrast from the simple, stripped down live performance vid that came out in the Spring around the same time as the album’s release – part of a series of low key, on-location videos shot by the folks at Southern Souls – but it just goes to show, whether hanging out in the back room of a bar or being artfully dunked at the bottom of a pool, The RAA are great.

Video: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Muscle Relaxants”

Bruce Peninsula have also revealed something new of themselves via video with the final (?) installment of their Fire Sale series leading up to the October 4 release of Open Flames. It’s the second original song to be premiered in the series and seems to confirm that the new record is coming from a decidedly different place than A Mountain Is A Mouth. To hear more, catch them at Summerworks at the Lower Ossington Theatre tonight or if you have to miss it – a doctor’s note will be required – they’re at Lee’s Palace on October 27.

Video: Bruce Peninsula – “Salesman”

Miracle Fortress will be headlining Summerworks on Friday night and he doesn’t come empty-handed, either. Following last month’s give away of a couple tracks from the abandoned Hoop Dreams sessions, Graham Van Pelt has put together another digital single consisting of two tracks from the Was I The Wave? sessions that didn’t make the album cut. And if that’s not enough, head over to Laundromatinee for a video session and accompanying downloadables.

MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Tropic Of Canada”
MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Seabird”

Memoryhouse are warming up for the September 13 re-release of their The Years EP with a new download and video for the song “Quiet America”, as well as a bit of commentary. The band are opening up for both of Peter Bjorn & John’s shows at Lee’s Palace on September 2 and 3 and if you notice they’re listed as support for The Radio Dept’s Fall tour right up until the November 17 Toronto show, I’m guessing the remainder of those dates will become official just as soon as the PB&J dates are done. Swedes love the Memoryhouse, I guess.

MP3: Memoryhouse – “Quiet America”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Quiet America”

Pitchfork’s Surveillance video series follows Diamond Rings around, spycam-style, as he washes up and plays a song shirtless and acoustic in his hotel room like no one is watching. As I’m sure he does. There’s also an interview at John Just Said It. He’s at The Mod Club on October 3 with Twin Shadow.

Colin Stetson has released a new video from his Polaris-shortlisted New History Warfare Vol 2 – Judges. He’s at The Drake on August 26.

Video: Colin Stetson – “The Stars In His Head”

Salt Lake City Weekly talks to Katie Stelmanis of Austra. They play The Phoenix on December 1.

Bloginity has details on a new Tokyo Police Club project that will see the band cover ten songs from the past decade and release them, one per day, over the end of August/start of September. There’s all sorts of other details about taking Polaroid of the sessions and premiering the songs at various media outlets, but that’s the upshot.

Frank YangWhat happens when The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart meet the pains of being busted up in shoulder? You take advantage of the fact that said band used an off day on their touring itinerary to play an in-store a day before their official show, so as to avoid having to stand around The Opera House for three hours, possibly/probably looped on meds. Which is basically what happened on Monday night at Sonic Boom.

Despite the fact that Pains’ self-titled debut was one of my favourites of 2009, I hadn’t seen the New York outfit since their local debut that February, when their buzz was just building and their packed Lee’s Palace show was one of their largest audiences to date. I missed their next two local shows that same year, but obviously the past two and a half years of steady touring through bigger and bigger stages has served the band well, honing them from a group of adorable wide-eyed kids at the start of a great adventure to a pretty damn tight rock band… who are still adorable. Their second album Belong captured this evolution pretty well, keeping the Sarah-referencing winsome pop core that made their debut so delicious but dressing it up in bigger, thicker production that added a little or a lot of roar to their guitar jangle.

It’s interesting to re-read my comments on the live Pains experience circa that Lee’s show and contrast them with the show they put on Monday night. That band was a shy four-piece, light on presence but charming nonetheless and had barely enough material to fill out 45 minutes including encore. This time out they numbered five, with second guitarist Christoph Hochheim along to fill out the sound, and played with the confidence of a band who’s no longer just happy to be there – they were there to play and play well and loud, even if it was just a freebie in the basement of a record store. And to that end, they played a full and sweaty 45-minute set – presumably the same one they delivered the day before to thousands at Osheaga – the the delight of those who opted to wind out their long weekend there instead of clutching a beer on some patio. I’m sure the hundreds who filled the Opera House last night got just as good if not better of a show, but for me this was an ideal opportunity to catch up with the band and still rest up the arm.

Chart and Paste have feature pieces on the band.

Photos: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart @ Sonic Boom – August 1, 2011
MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Come Saturday”
MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Everything With You”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “The Body”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Say No To Love”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Heart In Your Heartbreak”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Higher Than The Stars”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Everything With You”

Pitchfork solicits a guest list from American ambient-pop artist John Maus, who has a date at The Drake Underground on September 30 in support of We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves. The Los Angeles Times also has a feature piece.

MP3: John Maus – “Believer”

I am going to assume that The Naked & Famous’ show at Lee’s Palace next week is well and proper sold out because otherwise, they wouldn’t have already announced a return engagement – October 6 at The Phoenix, tickets $20.

Video: The Naked & Famous – “Girls Like You”

Fans of all things rootsy and rocking will want to keep October 30 open, as that’s the day the double-header of Blitzen Trapper and Dawes hit the Opera House. Blitzen Trapper will be promoting their latest American Goldwing, out September 13, while Dawes released their second album Nothing Is Wrong back in June. And to whet your appetite, they’re giving away a six-track sampler EP in exchange for an email at either of their official websites. Playback, Illinois Entertainer and Boulder Weekly have interviews with Blitzen Trapper.

MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “American Goldwing”
MP3: Dawes – “Love Is All I Am”

Having played pretty much every major festival on the circuit, the Death From Above 1979 reunion finally comes home for a show at the Sound Academy on October 28, tickets $36 in advance.

Video: Death From Above 1979 – “Blood On Our Hands”
Video: Death From Above 1979 – “Romantic Rights”

Also in the finally department, those Feist tour dates announced last week have been enhanced with some Canadian dates, including a December 1 stop at Massey Hall. Exclaim has the complete itinerary as of right now, as well as the cover art and tracklisting for her new record Metals, out October 4 and a third vignette preview of the new record is up on her website.

Video: Feist – “Mushaboom”

And for those who’ve gone to put the above two dates in their calendars only to find prior commitments pencilled in, I offer these options – rather than try to choose between DFA1979’s sweaty shirtlessness at the Sound Academy and Dan Mangan’s bearded sensitivity at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, catch Dan either the night before in Hamilton or the night after in Guelph. And as for choosing between Feist and Austra’s homecoming gig at The Phoenix that same night, note that the December 2 slot on her itinerary is currently vacant and the last times she played Massey back in 2007 and 2008, she did two nights and in ’08, there was also that Air Canada Centre nightcap. You do the math.

PopMatters has an interview with Austra’s Katie Stelmanis.

Daytrotter has got a session with Zeus, who’re playing a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 9.

NOW talks to Owen Pallett about getting the band back together, in this case Les Mouches. Pallett and company are at the Phoenix tomorrow night warming things up for Beirut.

The Huffington Post talks to Torq Campbell and Amy Millan of Stars about their ten-year anniversary as a band.

Handsome Furs talk the touring life with The National Post and Georgia Straight.

Aaron Hayward & David HomerThough it was only on the calendar for barely two weeks last Spring – it was cancelled almost as soon as it was announced due to scheduling issues with their Lollapalooza appearance – the prospect of an Empire Of The Sun show in Toronto clearly got some people excited. And why not – though not exactly household names in North America, the glam-synth-pop outfit led by Luke Steele, known to some for his other band The Sleepy Jackson, are veritable superstars in their native Australia thanks to their 2009 debut album Walking On A Dream and have a well-deserved reputation for spectacular live shows.

Predictably, the aforementioned cancellation – which would have seen them bring their elaborate show to the Sound Academy a year ago next week – came with many apologies and promises to try and make it up, promises which I didn’t especially expect to be kept. Not because they didn’t sincerely want to, but simply because it’s surely heinously expensive to do so and, as mentioned, they’re not a guaranteed draw over here. But I’m quite happy to have been proven wrong, as a number of US festival appearances are being leveraged into a proper North American tour which brings them to Echo Beach in Toronto on September 13, and really – a big open-air beachfront venue is a much more appropriate venue than the much-maligned shoebox on the docklands isn’t it? We haven’t had many festivals in Toronto this Summer, but if any show can help create that sort of grandiose spectacle, I’d say it’s this one. Tickets are $39.50 and go on sale Friday at 10AM.

Perth Now reports that Steele’s creative partner Nick Littlemore, who abruptly left the band a couple of years ago to join Cirque de Soleil, is back in the fold and will be touring with the band and in conversation with In THe Mix, Littlemore confirms that work has begun on album number two.

Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Half Mast”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Without You”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Walking On A Dream”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “We Are The People”

Also announced yesterday and pretty much at the complete opposite end of every possible spectrum from Empire Of The Sun, yet just as exciting for me, is the news that London’s Still Corners would be in town at the Drake Underground on October 25 as part of a tour in support of their debut album Creatures Of An Hour, due out October 11. I saw them at SXSW and even though they prefer to play in the dark or bathed projected vintage film images, their Broadcast-ish dreamy retro-gaze is delicious.

MP3: Still Corners – “Cuckoo”

Vivian Girls bring their third record Share The Joy to The Shop at Parts & Labour on September 16; they just released a new video from the album and Spoonfed has an interview.

MP3: Vivian Girls – “I Heard You Say”
Video: Vivian Girls – “Take It As It Comes”

As The Drums prep their second album Portamento for September 13 release, they’ve put together a North American tour that brings them to the Mod Club on October 1, tickets $16. They’ve just put out the first video from the new record.

MP3: The Drums – “Down By The Water”
Video: The Drums – “Money”

I’d been wondering when Austra would be staging a triumphant homecoming show, what with their last Toronto appearance being a record release party for Feel It Break, pre-Polaris shortlisting and worldwide praise. Well the answer is December 1 and it’ll happen at The Phoenix. Sentimentalist has an interview with Katie Stelmanis and the third and final performance of Austra’s video session for Room 205 is now up.

MP3: Austra – “Lose It”

Supporting Austra on that show will be Tasseomancy, also known as the Lightman twins, better known as Austra’s backing singers and formerly known as Ghost Bees; their debut full-lenght Ulalume is out August 30. Romy Lightman talks to Spinner about their new video from said album.

MP3: Tasseomancy – “Healthy Hands”
MP3: Tasseomancy – “The Darkest Of Things”
Video: Tasseomancy – “Heavy Sleep”

Timber Timbre, who worked on the aforementioned Tasseomancy record, have premiered a new video from Creep On Creepin’ On at IFC.

Video: Timber Timbre – “Bad Ritual”

BlogTO talks to Evening Hymns’ Jonas Bonetta about their next record Spectral Dusk, which is due out this Fall. They play the ALL CAPS fest out on Toronto Islands on August 13.

Also with a new video are Young Galaxy, taken from this year’s Shapeshifting.

Video: Young Galaxy – “Blown Minded”

And finally, the tease really didn’t last that long – Feist has announced her new album Metals will be out on October 4. Pitchfork has details and Spin has already had a sneak preview and is sharing their thoughts.

Mary RozziI forget who I was talking to but it was just in the last couple of weeks and it was about how Feist has done a pretty good job of not having anyone notice it’s been a long time since her last record – almost four years, three months and counting. Sure, the first couple years of that was spent touring and promoting The Reminder as it blew up worldwide, but after that wound down she’s struck a pretty good balance between guest appearances – whether occasionally onstage with Broken Social Scene or on record as a duet partner with Wilco – to make people happy just to see and hear her, and staying out of sight enough that those same people don’t wonder why she’s not hidden away, working on a new record.

Well it turns out she has been, and with her website now taken over by the first of a dozen “vignettes” – short videos soundtracked by what we can probably assume are samples of the new record. And while I’m sure they’d like to keep details tantalizingly obscured, women’s magazine Chatelaine revealed, while nominating Ms Leslie as one of their “women of the year”, that the new record was targeted for an October 2011 release. Presumably they’re not just making that up – after all, it’s Chatelaine. In any case, the timeline indicated by the vignette calendar on Feist’s website – the third clip is dated July 25 – implies that this won’t be a long, drawn-out reveal; you’ll probably be able to pre-order whatever this is before the August long weekend is over.

Video: Feist – “My Moon My Man”

Broken Social Scene guitarist Andrew Whiteman slags his own band’s latest video and videos in general to Spinner and tells The Calgary Herald they didn’t deserve a book to be written about them, while Paste compiles a list of the bands that make up the Broken Social family tree.

FFWD chats with Beatrice Martin of Coeur de pirate, herself way overdue for a new album though at least she allows that when it arrives, it will likely be entitled Blonde.

Room 205 has another performance in their video session with Austra online while The Georgia Straight has a feature.

The Globe & Mail, The Georgia Straight and Uptown have interviews with Louise Burns.

Exclaim solicits a rooftop performance from The Darcys, who should be announcing details about the release of their second self-titled album soon. One would hope.

Bay Of Quinte and Napanee Guide interview Patrick Pentland of Sloan, who’re clearly in cottage country right now but will be back in the city playing a free show at Echo Beach on August 5.

The reconstituted Doughboys will warm up for their August 9 date opening up for Foo Fighters at the Air Canada Centre with a free show at the Bovine Sex Club the night before, August 8. I would like to go to this but I fear that my broken collarbone (hey guys I broke my collarbone for the third time) won’t be healed enough to survive the mosh pit that’ll surely ensue, even if it is a middle-aged mosh pit.

Video: The Doughboys – “Fix Me”

Mudhoney have a date at The Horseshoe on September 10, tickets $22.50 in advance.

MP3: Mudhoney – “I’m Now”
MP3: Mudhoney – “Sonic Infusion”

Paste catches up with Portugal. The Man while Mashable finds out about their sled dog-powered new video. They bring their new album In The Mountain, In The Cloud to the Opera House on October 18; tickets are $16.50 in advance.

Video: Portugal. The Man – “Got It All”

Neon Indian will follow up the September 13 release of Era Extraña with a North American tour that hits Lee’s Palace on October 18.

Video: Neon Indian – “Heart: Decay”

Flush with their second Polaris shortlist appearance, maritimers Hey Rosetta! are embarking on a cross-Canada tour and bringing aussies The Jezabels along with them. The Toronto stop is November 24 at The Phoenix, tickets $20 in advance. Hey Rosetta will also be the subject of a Polaris Salon on August 9 at the Drake, wherein a juror will talk to the band about their record, and The Jezabels are prepping their debut Prisoner for a Spring 2012 release.

MP3: Hey Rosetta! – “Yer Spring”
MP3: The Jezabels – “Mace Spray”

NOW, The Village Voice, Boston Phoenix and hour talk to Erika Anderson of EMA, who makes her Toronto debut at The Garrison tomorrow night.

Spin pokes around Stephen Malkmus’ home. Malkmus’ latest Mirror Traffic is out August 23 and he plays The Phoenix on September 21.

Hot on the heels of announcing their new record – Father, Son, Holy Ghost out September 13 – and Fall tour – The Mod Club on September 27 – Girls have put out a first MP3 from said record.

MP3: Girls – “Vomit”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Warpaint while The Japan Times and New Zealand Herald have interviews.

TV On The Radio have released a new video from Nine Types Of Light.

Video: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”

Peter Silberman of The Antlers goes into some of the influences that went into Burst Apart for Stereogum.

Spin is marking the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind with a tribute album – available for free – featuring the likes of Titus Andronicus, EMA and The Vaselines, amongst others.

Austin NelsonSo y’all know Wilco, right? Chicago-based outfit that rose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo and survived numerous lineup changes and label drama to release some of the best pop/rock/roots records of the past almost two decades and establish themselves as one of America’s best bands. Yeah, that Wilco.

They’re following up 2009’s Wilco (The Album) with their eight studio album The Whole Love on September 27 – the first to be released on their own label dBpm Records. And, being the road warriors that they are, they’re a-gonna tour it with the first leg of North American dates starting up a good two weeks before the record is even out.

Toronto’s two dates – we’re a bona fide overnight destination for the band now – go early on in the tour, September 16 and 17 at Massey Hall with New wave pop legend (and songwriting royalty beneficiary thanks to the first single from The Whole Love) Nick Lowe supporting. Massey has been their Toronto home away from home starting back in 2004 and since then, the Old Lady Of Shuter Street has hosted many memorable shows (as well as a famous dressing down by Jeff Tweedy for being too courteous – 10MB video clip under the link there); no reason to think these ones will be any less so.

So considering both the fan and Friends of Massey Hall presales went yesterday morning and unsurprisingly sold out in minutes, this Friday’s public onsale at 10AM is almost your last chance to score tickets for the show. Note that I said almost. Courtesy of the band and LiveNation, I’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for the Saturday night show. To enter, I want you to leave a comment on this post with your favourite Wilco in Toronto memory, and that can include Wilco-related anecdotes involving any of but not limited to Uncle Tupelo, Golden Smog, The Autumn Defense, Jeff solo, whatever. And if you’re new to the band and don’t have one, something related to their music and not the shows is fine too. Make sure your email is in there, and don’t worry – it will remain hidden from nasty spambots. The contest will run until midnight, August 26 so if you want to try your hand at the public on-sale and enter if you miss out, do that. But if you score some ducats, don’t water down the odds for those less fortunate – unless you just want to share some reminiscences, then just note that you’re not entering the contest proper. And to get things rolling, mine remains their last-minute post-cancelled-Lollapalooza-tour club show at The Mod Club in August 2004 with their rotating-substitute-drummer set opening for Neil Young at the Air Canada Centre in December 2008 not far behind.

I’m sure there’s someone out there for whom their favourite Hogtown Wilco memory took place the evening of November 20, 1996 circa Being There when Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett performed a super-intimate acoustic set in the back room of C’est What. I wasn’t there, no sir, but someone with a cassette recorder was, and they tapped said recorder into the soundboard and made a fine-sounding recording of the show. I was given a copy of said show on cassette a few years ago but not having anything resembling a working cassette deck, it just sat there like a special prize hidden away behind technological lock and key. I actually borrowed my brother’s cassette deck with the intention of ripping it and sharing it with the world and last night while messing with cables and laptop audio settings that refused to cooperate, it occurred to me to see if maybe – just maybe – someone had already gone to the trouble. And they had. The full recording of the show is available over at Ohmpark and probably sounds a good deal better than I’d have been able to manage. Enjoy a couple samples below, head over there for the rest and share some stories below.

MP3: Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett – “I Got You (At The End Of The Century)” (live at C’est What – 11/20/96)
MP3: Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett – “Dreamer In My Dreams” (live at C’est What – 11/20/96)
MP3: Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett – “Pick Up The Change” (live at C’est What – 11/20/96)

The Toronto Star interviews Fleet Foxes, who are playing Massey Hall tonight.

Interpol have released the animated collaboration with David Lynch originally put together for Coachella as the latest video from Interpol. PhillyBurbs talks to guitarist Daniel Kessler.

Video: Interpol – “Lights”

A second track from Stephen Malkmus’ forthcoming Mirror Traffic is now available to download ahead of the record’s August 23 release. Malkmus and his Jicks play The Phoenix on September 21.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”

The Line Of Best Fit has posted the first part of an interview with Death Cab For Cutie, playing the Molson Amphitheatre on July 29.

Chad VanGaalen has put together a cross-Canada tour in support of his latest record Diaper Island; it brings him to The Mod Club on October 28.

MP3: Chad VanGaalen – “Sara”

Rebekah Higg’s second full-length Odd Fellowship will finally see the light of day on August 23. Exclaim has album details and a bunch of eastern Canadian dates – nothing in Toronto yet, but there’s a week between London and Wakefield, I can’t imagine those won’t get filled out before long.

MP3: Rebekah Higgs – “Gosh, Darn, Damn”

Room 205 has a video session with Austra; just one song for now but these tend to get padded out over time – expect more to be added. The Times-Colonist and BrookylynVegan talk to Katie Stelmanis, who also shows/tells The Guardian how she wrote “Lose It”.

Beatroute, The Star-Phoenix and Uptown interview Handsome Furs, in town at The Horseshoe on August 1 and 2.