Anorak LondonLondon trio The High Wire first got onto my radar over a year ago, as we were both headed to New York City for CMJ and while our paths would not cross – I believe their showcases were done before I even arrived – the samples I heard made a truly indelible impression. More than anything, they reminded me of my beloved Mojave 3 in the way they stitched together rootsy song structures with a threads of shimmering dream-pop, and also in the way that Tim Crompton and Canadian ex-pat Alexia Hagen’s voices intertwined overtop – the interplay was Halstead-Goswell-like, and you should know that’s not a compliment I hand out lightly. Add in touchstones like Mercury Rev and Spiritualized and there was really no way I wasn’t going to be entranced by this band.

Since my tastes always reflect the zeitgeist as a whole, I fully expected them to be one of the more talked-about bands of 2009. CMJ reports were positive and they were then tapped to open up in London for Coldplay at the end of 2008 so it certainly seemed that their ducks were getting in a row. In anticipation, I ordered up a copy of their debut album Ahead Of The Rain, released independently early this year, and waited for the buzz to build. And waited. Long story short (I could have added in a few dozen more “and waited”s), it seemed like the record and the band just disappeared. It certainly wasn’t for lack of quality, as Ahead Of The Rain delivered on much of the promise I had initially heard last year, rich in sun-kissed melodies and hazy yet substantial atmosphere. But with an online presence that was vague at best – I was a bit amazed I had managed to order a copy of the CD – I feared that they had simply gone away as nascent bands are wont to do. I revisited the album periodically throughout the year but The High Wire largely became out of sight, out of mind.

And then, around mid-November, I started to hear it. A faint, but definite buzz. An MP3 from a new album – Ahead Of The Rain‘s time had passed, apparently – followed by glowing profiles in The Guardian and Spinner… it seems like The High Wire’s time has come, if a year or so later than I’d expected. Their new record The Sleep Tape is set for a March 2010 release and based on the lead single “Odds And Evens” and other samples off their MySpace, they’ve fattened up their sound some but lost none of the sweetness that initially beguiled. Am I excited about this record? Yes, I would say that I am.

There’s recent interviews with the band at Subba-Cultcha and Amelia’s Magazine, wherein they reveal to be far less mysterious than I’d originally thought but just as lovely.

MP3: The High Wire – “Leave Me In Love”
MySpace: The High Wire

The Line Of Best Fit reports that UK folk trio Peggy Sue have signed to Wichita Recordings and will release their debut album Fossils And Other Phantoms in April 2010. A new song is available to anyone who signs up to their mailing list. An old song is available to anyone who clicks the link below.

MP3: Peggy Sue – “Lover Gone”

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with Fanfarlo. So you know how I’d said that the only silver lining to Fanfarlo cancelling their show at the El Mocambo last night on account of a stolen passport was that I’d get to go see Blue Roses at the Drake instead? Well guess who canceled on account of a “massive passport problem”? Yeaaaaah. Maybe they can make up their dates together.

The Daily Growl is streaming “Goodbye England”, the new single from Laura Marling and offering downloads of live versions it and another new song from her next album. She’s at the Drake Underground on February 9.

The Times profiles Mumford & Sons, who will release Sigh No More on March 15 and play the El Mocambo a month earlier on February 15.

Se7en Magazine has an interview with Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, whose The Winter Of Mixed Drinks will be out on March 16. Only five days before the start of the Spring of Jell-O shooters.

This Is London talks to Lily Allen.

Hot Chip’s Al Doyle talks to Spinner about the making of their next album One Life Stand, out February 9. They’re at the Kool Haus on April 20 with The xx, whose recent instore in Boston was recorded by Bradley’s Almanac and is now available to download.

Rolling Stone gets to know The Big Pink, who will be at the Mod Club on March 24.

Editors-in-chief Tom Smith brags to Spinner about being big in Belgium.

Portishead have released a new single is “Chase The Tear”, all proceeds from which will go to support Amnesty International.

Video: Portishead – “Chase The Tear”

The AV Club interviews Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant.

Billboard reports that Elvis Costello will release another vintage live record to follow up this year’s Live At The El Mocambo. Live at Hollywood High, a recording from Los Angeles circa June 1978, will be out January 12.

Spinner has an Interface session and Filter a feature on The Swell Season.

AmazonIn all reality, Bernard Sumner has earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants. That is one of the perks of being guitarist in two of the most seminal bands of the post-punk era (we’re talking about Joy Division and New Order, if you’ve been living under a rock or are just bad with names). So after the rather ignoble end of the latter act this year (bassist Peter Hook basically announced the end of the group without actually consulting the others first), Sumner was left to try and make it three for three as far as being in brilliant bands was concerned (or four for four if you count Electronic, who I wouldn’t call brilliant but had some great tunes).

And so enter the unfortunately-named Bad Lieutenant (at least they’re not called Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans), which sees Sumner teamed up with guitarist Phil Cunningham – himself a member of New Order for their final, Gillian Gilbert-less album Waiting For The Siren’s Call and one Phil Evans, also handling guitar duties and of no previous band of consequence. They released their debut Never Cry Another Tear earlier this Fall and its tones and textures are, unsurprisingly, very much in the vein of the last couple of New Order records – heavy with the guitar jangle, roaming basslines, vague lyricism and catchy if somewhat generic tunes. Sumner’s voice is instantly recognizable but Cunningham also steps up to the mic on a number of songs and you would be forgiven for mistaking his vocals for those of Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin, so similar are their timbres. As far as real guest stars go, New Order drummer Stephen Morris – who is also a member of the live unit – and Blur bassist Alex James make appearances. The net result is an album that’s competent and comfortably familiar – at points almost too self-referentially so – but not especially distinctive. Somewhat disappointing given the band’s pedigree, but after all this time and all he’s done, if Sumner wants to phone one in, who are we to criticize? We’ll always have Power, Corruption & Lies.

The album is out on Original Signal Records and courtesy of the label, I have five copies of Never Cry Another Tear to give away on vinyl. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Bad Lieutenant” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest closes at midnight, December 18 and is open to residents of North America.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a Q&A with Bernard Sumner.

MP3: Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”
Video: Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”
MySpace: Bad Lieutenant

Frank YangThe second half of last week was one of those stretches where it seemed like there were a half-dozen things going on at the same time, each of which would under normal circumstances be a no-brainer as far as attendance was concerned but instead, would require some painful sacrifices. And so it was that after shooting the first three songs of Wilco’s set at Massey Hall, I bolted for Lee’s Palace to catch The Horrors. Some/most would call this madness, but I had Wilco tickets for the following night (which itself called for passing on the School Of Seven Bells Show – ouch) and I had already missed seeing The Horrors back in May and grown fonder of their latest record Primary Colours in the interim.

Also filed under the incentive column was the rather poorly-disguised fact that one of the openers was going to be reigning Polaris Music Prize winners Fucked Up. They’d already announced they’d be playing a secret show that week and the listing of a band called “Polaris Pricks” that otherwise didn’t exist pretty much sealed the deal. Seeing them play the Polaris Prize gala was my first exposure to the Fucked Up live experience and while it was as entertaining and chaotic as their reputation promised, it was still only one song so I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, they seemed to be consciously on their best behaviour and shenanigans were kept to a minimum. Fortunately, they were still loud and fast and there were some even minimum shenanigans equals some shenanigans. Singer Damian Abraham clambored around on the Lee’s Palace railings and speaker cabs, shed his shirt (of course) and frolicked in the crowd in the way that rather large, shirtless men frolic. I’ve listened to The Chemistry Of Common Life a few more times since the Polaris win but still have trouble distinguishing one song from the next, but that’s alright – it was still entertaining to witness. I expect they’ll more than compensate for the lack of carnage on this night when they host their annual Fucked Up Fest at various venues around the city at the end of the month.

The Horrors were largely an unknown quantity to me prior to their current record, but I was aware that most of the critical praise heaped at Primary Colours came with a healthy amount of incredulity that such an album could have come from a band that was previously not taken very seriously, to say the least. But the past is the past and all that was really relevant was that the new record is good and they no longer dress ridiculously. I’d also been told that they liked to play in total darkness and really didn’t move at all – both thankfully incorrect, though the latter far moreso than the former. No, their show was actually pretty animated and intense, feeding and feeding off an enthusiastic audience I didn’t know they had. Sonically, they did a fine job of reproducing the haze of metal shavings abrasiveness of Geoff Barrow’s production job, giving the brooding some extra juice for the stage, and while it could be argued that they overplayed the rock theatrics a bit, particularly frontman Faris Badwan’s lurching and grimacing (though being as tall and gangly as he is, the lurching may have been perfectly natural), it suited the dramatics of the material and the overall tone of the show. The encore pulled the energy levels up higher and felt looser and more naturally unhinged – seeing as how it was made up of (presumably) all older material, it whipped their already frothy fans into an even greater frenzy. Obviously they’ve accepted the band’s newer shoegaze-inspired sound but still love them some goth-punk. Yeah I know I missed a great Wilco show for this, but I think I came out alright in the end as well.

The Horrors are releasing a non-album single entitled “Whole New Way” on 7″ on November 3 and have just released a video for it and The National Post has an Q&A with Faris Badwan. Hearty has an interview with Fucked Up bassist Sandy Miranda.

Photos: The Horrors, Fucked Up @ Lee’s Palace – October 14, 2009
MP3: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
MP3: Fucked Up – “No Epiphany”
Video: The Horrors – “Whole New Way”
Video: The Horrors – “Mirror’s Image”
Video: The Horrors – “Who Can Say”
Video: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
Video: The Horrors – “She Is The New Thing”
Video: The Horrors – “Gloves”
Video: The Horrors – “Count In Fives”
Video: The Horrors – “Sheena Is A Parasite”
Video: Fucked Up – “Crooked Head”
Video: Fucked Up – “Black Albino Bones”
MySpace: The Horrors
MySpace: Fucked Up

State and The Independent have interviews and Uncensored a video chat with The xx. NPR is also streaming a World Cafe session with the band, who make their Toronto debut at the Phoenix on December 2 alongside Friendly Fires.

Under The Radar has an interview and Dirty Laundry a video session with The Twilight Sad.

Drowned In Sound meets The Big Pink. You can do likewise at Lee’s Palace on November 29.

PitchforkTV is streaming for this week only the Bat For Lashes documentary short film Two Plus Two, which documented the making of her new record Two Suns. The deluxe edition of the record, which includes said doc on DVD and a second disc containing eight bonus tracks, will be out on November 3.

Video: Bat For Lashes: Two Plus Two

Florence & The Machine have released a new video. She’s at the Mod Club on November 2.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “You’ve Got The Love”

Lily Allen also has a new vid.

Video: Lily Allen – “Who’d Have Known”

Spinner’s Interface has a session with Little Boots, who also has a new video out.

Video: Little Boots – “Earthquake”

My Old Kentucky Blog and Pitchfork talk to The Clientele.

Mumford & Sons have unveiled video number two from album number one Sigh No More.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “Gentlemen Of The Road”

The Yorker has an interview with Noah & The Whale, whose in-store at Criminal Records on October 31 has been moved up – way up – to a noon hour start. And that evening’s show at the Horseshoe has been dubbed “Night Of The Living Dead”, with attendees invited to come dressed as their favourite dead celebrity. I look forward to spending the evening surrounded by bad Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett lookalikes.

Drowned In Sound has a the third part of Fanfarlo’s tour diaries, which Black Cab Session features a session recorded way back at SxSW in March and Clash solicits a list of “Top Ten Tracks to stalk around a Norwegian Forest”. Fall North American dates are still trickling in, but the fact that they’ll be in Minneapolis in mid-November and Boston in mid-December implies a long stay, hopefully with a Toronto date in there somewhere.

Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit tells The Popcop that their breakout record The Midnight Organ Fight wasn’t the one he wanted to make and he likes the new one, due out in the new year, much better. Give the first single and video a listen and judge for yourself, if you can disregard the shabby audio quality.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See The Land”

Glasvegas talks to Spinner about their plans to track album number two in Los Angeles

Arctic Monkeys have released a new video from Humbug.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Cornerstone”

BBC reports the future of Bloc Party appears in doubt, with the band canceling dates on their current tour so drummer Matt Tong can get medical attention and a lack of interest in his part on returning when it’s all sorted. Sad news if it’s true, because Intimacy is not the note any band wants to go out on.

James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers talks to Under The Radar about their decision to use Richey Edwards’ lyrics for Journal For Plague Lovers.

Spinner talks to Bad Lieutenant principal Bernard Sumner. Their debut Never Cry Another Tear is out November 10.

Interview and The San Francisco Examiner have interviews with Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch. They’re at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre tomorrow night for an orchestrally-enhanced performance of Ocean Rain.

Pitchfork discusses bands that are not The Smiths with Johnny Marr.

richardhawley.co.ukRichard Hawley is one of those rare artists for whom when I’m in the mood to hear their stuff, I can reach for pretty much any one of their records and it will hit the spot. It helps that there’s not really anyone else out there doing what he does these days – lush, romantic pop drawn from a pre-Beatles era, deeply beholden to the early days of American rock and rockabilly and yet undeniably English, all delivered with his rich baritone and incomparable guitarwork. At his best, Hawley is heart-rendingly beautiful and luckily for his fans, he’s rarely not at his best.

Don’t take my earlier comment about not caring which Hawley record I hear as meaning they’re indistinct or interchangeable, though. For while he has remained largely consistent in style throughout his solo career (early jobs included stints with The Longpigs and Pulp), each album has its own definite character and his sixth record, Truelove’s Gutter, is no exception. While 2007’s Lady’s Bridge was a more extroverted affair – string-laden, infused with a sense of whimsy and containing a couple of romping singles – Gutter steps off the streets and into the parlour, an altogether more intimate record and at the same time, even bigger than its predecessor.

Though the record continues Hawley’s tradition of naming his records for landmarks in his hometown of Sheffield, the imagery it evokes is also appropriate to the emotional content within. Love is the album’s running theme, but not necessarily in the glossy romantic sense – instead it looks at the reality of it, fraught with rejection and regret, weariness and wariness, melancholic without giving way to cynicism and still given to moments of tenderness. Hawley (or his characters, at least) has been through the wringer and yet still believes enough to get back up. The record’s production and arrangement contributes to this darker, more introspective mood. Each of the eight songs flows effortlessly into the next and it largely eschews the big-band approach in favour of a more atmospheric one, suffused with esoteric instruments you may not necessarily hear but certainly feel. It’s a thing of beauty, but then it’s a Richard Hawley record. Of course it is.

The California Chronicle, The Sheffield Telegraph, The Guardian and The Scotland Herald all have features on Hawley while Magnet solicited a Q&A with the artist in exchange for making him guest editor for the week – already their website has been privy to Hawley’s musings on topics such as The Velvet Underground, The 13th Floor Elevators and John Steinbeck.

Video: Richard Hawley – “For Your Lover, Take Some Time”
Stream: Richard Hawley / Truelove’s Gutter
MySpace: Richard Hawley

One of the best bits of news I’ve heard in a while came yesterday in the form of a dispatch from Leeds’ Sky Larkin – namely that they were giving away a new digital single entitled “Smarts” and that they were embarking on a North American tour this Fall – that includes a Toronto date! They’ll be at the Cameron House on October 28 with Peggy Sue and while I missed their Toronto debut supporting Los Campesinos! in April, I did see them at SxSW so I know what I speak of when I say they will destroy the place. In the very best sense.

MP3: Sky Larkin – “Fossil, I”
MP3: Sky Larkin – “Molten”
MP3: Peggy Sue – “Lover Gone”

And speaking of Los Campesinos!, with Aleks Campsinos! returned to civilian life and college, they’ve enlisted the younger sister of frontman Gareth to take her place. They made a fun little video introducing Kim Campesinos! to the world.

Ear Farm talks to The Clientele, whose new album Bonfires On The Heath is out October 6 but is streaming in its entirety now at Merge. There’s also a new video of the band performing this Summer at Merge XX and bassist James Hornsey assembled a mixtape for NYLON.

Stream: The Clientele / Bonfires On The Heath

Hull Daily Mail chats with Mumford & Sons, whose debut Sigh No More is out October 5 in the UK.

Anyone who enjoyed the God Help The Girl album be aware – a 5-song EP of all new material was quietly released at the end of last month. You can find Stills as a 10″ single or as a download.

Fanfarlo are interviewed by Music Snobbery and declared “ones to watch” by Clash. They’ve just wrapped a short US tour but will be back – to New York at least – for CMJ. Hopefully they’ll do some more dates while they’re over here.

NOW profiles Arctic Monkeys. They’re at the Kool Haus on September 29.

Drowned In Sound has a two-part interview with Editors. In This Light & On This Evening is out October 12.

In talking to NME, Doves reveal that they don’t expect to have a new album out before 2012, but will be releasing a best-of compilation sometime between now and then.

Spin and Pitchfork talk to Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant, who have released the first video from their debut Don’t Cry Another Tear, out October 12.

Video: Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”

Clash and Express & Star have features on Ian Brown, who will release My Way on Monday. There’s a video for the lead single which he tells BBC was originally intended for Rihanna.

Video: Ian Brown – “Stellify”

Artrocker talks to Ian McCulloch and The Dumbing Of America to Will Sargent about Echo & The Bunnymen’s new album The Fountain, out October 12. They’ll be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre performing Ocean Rain orchestrally on October 20. Update: Just got an MP3 of the first single from the new record!

MP3: Echo & The Bunnymen – “I Think I Need It Too”

Frank YangSo here we are on the first day of Virgin Festival 2009 and what’s everyone talking about? The headliners of Virgin Festival 2008 – Oasis – and the fact that Noel Gallagher has quit. Illness was blamed when the band cancelled their headlining slot at the UK’s V Fest last Sunday, but this time the official word is there was “an altercation” between Noel and brother Liam and that Noel walked out on the band on the eve of a show in Paris, with all subsequent European dates cancelled.

Now normally when 1/5 of a band leaves, it doesn’t necessarily mean the band is done but when that individual is the primary songwriter, it doesn’t bode well. But on the other hand, Noel has quit the band at least twice before – or was it thrice? – so there’s as much reason to think that it’ll be temporary as not. But until word comes that the Gallagher brother have reconciled or at least realized that they have no marketable skills besides being in Oasis, let’s reflect on happier times for the band like the one depicted in the photo – taken shortly after Noel was attacked onstage in Toronto last year.

Video: Oasis – “Don’t Look Back In Anger”

In more positive superstar British frontman news, Exclaim reports that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke will be releasing a super limited-edition solo 12″ single on September 22. And when they say super-limited, the mean it. Word is there will be only 4000 copies allotted to North America and only 300 in Canada.

Check out the first track from Bad Lieutenant, the new outfit let by former New Order frontman Bernard Sumner and backed up by Harvey Keitel and Nicolas Cage. Wait, what?

MP3: Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”

Billboard talks to James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers about their new record Journal For Plague Lovers, which has a September 15 North American release date and will bring the band back to this side of the Atlantic for the first time in a decade (not counting that gig for Castro in Cuba in 2001), including a date at the Phoenix in Toronto on October 4.

The Manics’ Nicky Wire, along with Emmy The Great, Micachu’s Mica Levi and a host of others awash in indie cred talk to The Guardian about their favourite top-40 pop songs.

Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan talks to Spinner about jamming with Wilco during their show together in Brooklyn earlier this Summer. Yo La are in town on October 3 in support of Popular Songs, out September 8, and are Wilco here for two nights at Massey Hall not a fortnight later on October 14 and 15.

Spinner has an Interface session with The Dodos. The Time To Die is out September 15 and they are at Lee’s Palace on October 17.

And apparently Pixies played a warm-up club gig in Hamilton last night at the Casbah, to around 150 lucky folks, thus ensuring they are properly warmed-up for their oughta-be-headlining-but-not slot at V Fest tonight.