MySpaceToday’s a day off from the real job, but not the fake job – this job – and the start of a four-day weekend, so you’ll excuse me if this post is a touch… random. I’ve got a stack of links including a bunch of new videos for your viewing pleasure, but no particular focus so I’ll just wade in with what is, to me at least, the most important of them all.

Which is the first MP3 from the first new Versus album in a decade – hell, the last time there was a new Versus album, there wasn’t such a phrase as “the first MP3 from”. I only twigged onto the New York outfit after their last record, 2000’s Hurrah, had run its course and their decade-long hiatus was just underway. Collecting their back catalog kept me occupied for a good while – turning up their super-rare debut EP Let’s Electrify! in the bins of Sonic Boom is a particularly fond memory – as did their various side-projects, but I couldn’t help feeling like I’d missed the boat on a great band, mainly because I had.

But sporadic shows over the past decade kept the hopes that they’d be back eventually alive, and those hopes will become reality on August 3 with the release of On The Ones and Threes, available on CD and as a double-LP with a different running order and two extra tracks. For full details and pre-order information, head over to Merge Records, for the first taste of the new album, click below and for tour dates, stay tuned. Because they’re coming.

MP3: Versus – “Invincible Hero”

Dean & Britta’s contribution to the just-released Sing Me To Sleep compilation of “indie lullabies” is now available to download. Despite the questionable concept, the record has brought together a pretty impressive lineup of talent.

MP3: Dean & Britta – “Making Me Smile”

Filter thinks you should already know Ted Leo. He and his Pharmacists are at Lee’s Palace on June 26.

Matt Berninger of The National talks politics and High Violet with The Huffington Post.

NOW, Time Out New York and The Fly have features on LCD Soundsystem, who play The Kool Haus on May 25. They’ve also just released a video for a non-album track (and cover).

Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Bye Bye Bayou”

North County Times talks to Nada Surf frontman Matthew Caws, who offers Spinner some advice for up-and-coming bands: get a day job. They’ve got a new video for their Bill Fox cover from if i had a hi fi, out June 8.

Video: Nada Surf – “Electrocution”

Which seques nicely into the new video from Drive-By Truckers, which offers a less positive take on the idea of punching the clock.

Video: Drive-By Truckers – “Working This Job”

James Mercer tells Billboard that he’s about ready to get back to work on The Shins but that Broken Bells wasn’t necessarily a one-off effort. They (Broken Bells) will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 2.

Spinner talks to Josh Ritter.

The National Post, Vancouver Sun, Metro and Clash talk to Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses, while Spinner spends some time with guitarist Tyler Ramsey. They are at the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down have released a new video/Oxfam PSA. They’ll be at The Horseshoe on June 26.

Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Body”

Eels will release their new record Tomorrow Morning on August 24 and tour it to through the Mod Club on September 29.

Exclaim has the details on the deluxe reissue edition of R.E.M.’s Fables Of The Reconstruction, due out July 13. In addition to the remastered 1985 album, there’ll be a second CD of unreleased period-correct demos and goodies.

The Drums reveal to Exclaim that their self-titled debut will be out on June 14 in digital and vinyl form, and then CD come September.

Video: The Drums – “Forever & Ever Amen”

The Colorado Springs Independent profiles Laura Marling, who will be back in the southern Ontario area on July 23, performing in Guelph on the first night of Hillside.

Prefix has an interview with Kate Nash.

Mogwai have announced that the DVD of their live concert film Burning will come accompanied with a live record entitled Special Moves, and both will be available on August 24. Head over to the Special Moves website for more information.

eye, NOW, Uptown and Vue talk to The Sadies about their new record Darker Circles, from which they’ve just released a new video and for which they’ll be playing a record release show at Lee’s Palace on Saturday. They’re also at Harbourfront Centre on Canada Day, July 1.

Video: The Sadies – “Postcards”

Also with a new video are Tokyo Police Club, whose Champ hits stores on June 8. They are opening up for Spoon and The Flaming Lips at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 8.

Video: Tokyo Police Club – “Breakneck Speed”

Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning talk to Exclaim about why Pavement was the perfect choice to join them at the Toronto Island Concert on June 19, and Canning gives Toronto Life a list of his favourite things. Spinner has also posted up an Interface session with the band.

Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham talks influences with Spinner, and just generally talks to The Georgia Straight, Vue and See. They play a free show at the Toronto Reference Library next Friday, May 28. It’s unticketed and doors are at 7:30, so plan accordingly.

Dog Day have released a new vid from last year’s Concentration. And why not grab the MP3 while you’re at it.

MP3: Dog Day – “Rome”
Video: Dog Day – “Rome”

Pitchfork gets a guest list from The New Pornographers’ Carl Newman. They’re at the Sound Academy on June 15.

eye talks to The Weakerthans, who play the Horseshoe as a benefit for Library Voices on Tuesday and then the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Wednesday.

The Chicago Tribune talks to Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes; they’re at the Mod Club on June 17 for NXNE.

BaebleMusic has a Guest Apartment session and The Daily Growl a quick word with Woodpigeon.

Chart talks to Dan Mangan about his song “Robots”, which they declare the “best song ever” for the moment.

Comic Book Resources talks to Bryan Lee-O’Malley about Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, the final book in the Scott Pilgrim saga coming July 20, and the Scott Pilgrim vs The World film, out August 13.

And that’s the link hopper cleared out for today. I am going back to sleep.

Keith KlenowskiTo suggest I’m a little bit biased when it comes to The National is something of an understatement. The Cincinnati by way of Brooklyn band has put out two of my favourite records of the century in Alligator and Boxer, and when word came that their next record would arrive in 2010, I reserved a spot for it in my year-end list. That’s about as big a declaration of faith in the greatness of a record as a blogger can make.

The flipside of this, however, is the probably unrealistic expectations that accompany that faith. Boxer was almost exactly the record I needed at that point in my life, and the odds of that sort of synchronicity happening again with its successor is probably about nil. This understanding did allow me some perspective in contemplating High Violet, but didn’t change the fact that it had some enormous footsteps to follow in. After all, Boxer was widely considered to be a watershed album. How do you follow up a career peak?

By turning it into a plateau. If there were a way to actually quantify such things, High Violet would rate as almost as good or even better than Boxer, with the plus-minus determined only by one’s personal resonance with the material and the tone of the record. Whereas Boxer felt like a lightening of philosophy after the noir-ish Alligator, its elegiac mood has darkened again on High Violet. The glimmers of hopefulness that punctuated Boxer seem to have been muted and the angst and anxiety is again creeping in around the edges. This doesn’t, however, herald a return to the cathartic rock moves of Alligator; much to the dismay of fist-pumpers everywhere, it’s clear the band is well past its days of writing tracks like “Abel” and “Mr. November”. Instead, it manifests itself in a lyrical clarity that’s a ways removed from Matt Berninger’s typical obliqueness and his delivery, which finds him not necessarily expanding his range – I don’t think anyone expects him to find another octave anytime soon – but songs like “Anyone’s Ghost” and “Conversation 16” find him pushing it in unfamiliar directions or dwelling in parts of his voice that he might have only passed through fleetingly in the past en route to more comfortable territory.

Though longtime collaborator Peter Katis is still credited as providing additional production and mixing, High Violet notably lists the primary recording site as guitarist Aaron Dessner’s garage and the band as sole producers; it’s evident that the studio was heavily utilized as an instrument on this outing, which represents an aural shift from the cleaner textures of Boxer towards something denser and sometimes hazier. Album opener “Terrible Love” sounds almost filthy with its base of fuzzy, tremoloed guitars and I’m still not sure what the oscillating tones that bookend “Little Faith” are. More familiarly, the orchestral accents and choral vocals that embellished Boxer have returned, but feel more like integral parts of their sound.

Ultimately, High Violet triumphs by not trying to eclipse Boxer, but stand alongside it. The band offers growth without abandoning its strengths – hell, “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and “England” are two of the most National songs they’ve ever recorded. It’s thoughtful, sad and stately and, for all the shadows it casts, is downright luminous. The National are incapable of disappointing.

There are features on the band at The Wall Street Journal, Spinner, The Fly, Canadian Press and The AV Club. Their live-to-web show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in support of the Red Hot Organization is still available to stream at YouTube and you’ll probably get a lot higher quality stream watching it after the fact than in real time.

The National play Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

MP3: The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”
MP3: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
Video: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
MySpace: The National

The Antlers, who are opening both of those National dates and others on the tour, are interviewed by Beatroute and The Guardian.

Pitchfork interviews Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady; they’re at the Kool Haus on July 18.

It was announced last week that bassist Carlos Dengler, upon completion of their new record, has left Interpol. Expect to see a new face – and perhaps moustache – holding down the low end when they open for U2 at the Rogers Centre on July 3. No release date for album number four has been confirmed.

PopMatters talks to The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt. Strange Powers, the documentary about he and his band, will be getting a limited theatrical release on October 27.

Trailer: Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

Acoustic Guitar interviews M Ward, who will be in town on June 9 at the Sound Academy as the “him” in She & Him.

Reuters and The State profile Band Of Horses, whose Infinite Arms is out tomorrow. They play the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Nada Surf busts out the covers for NPR’s World Cafe.

Also paying a visit to the World Cafe is Josh Ritter, who plays a few songs from his new record So The World Runs Away.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have released a video for the title track of last year’s Higher Than The Stars EP.

Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Higher Than The Stars”

Pitchfork reports that some industrious fans have compiled an album’s worth of Titus Andronicus rarities and made them available for download as Feats Of Strength. Odds of them busting out any of this material when they play The Horseshoe on July 14 are poor.

A couple of big shows have just gotten attached to NXNE – Eagles Of Death Metal at The Phoenix on June 16 and Girl Talk at the Sound Academy on June 18. Expect their names to show up in advertising all over the place and for a modest number of wristbands to get into each show (50 for Girl Talk). And speaking of NXNE, the schedule for this year’s festival is now online and yes, just like every other year, it’s impossible to use/navigate/save/do anything with. It’s called a grid, people – look into it.

Video: Eagles Of Death Metal – “Cherry Cola”
Video: Girl Talk – “Feed The Animals”

Au Revoir Simone have scheduled a date at the Great Hall for July 15. Their last release was 2009’s Still Night Still Light but they were recently featured in session at Daytrotter.

MP3: Au Revoir Simone – “Shadows”
MP3: Au Revoir Simone – “All Or Nothing”

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is back and will be exploding blues all over the Horseshoe Lee’s Palace on July 31. There’s no new material coming out of this short reunion, but there is a best-of comp in Dirty Shirt Rock ‘N’ Roll: The First Ten Years and reissues of the studio albums proper are imminent. Magnet has a Q&A with Spencer, who will be playing guest editor on their site this week.

Video: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – “Talk About The Blues”

I’m really not sure what you could expect from a Van Dyke Parks live show, but Toronto will find out on September 29 when the arranger to the likes of The Beach Boys and Joanna Newsom, along with Clare & The Reasons, plays the Music Gallery.

MP3: Clare & The Reasons – “Ooh You Hurt Me So”

Frank YangPeople seemed generally disappointed on Tuesday when I answered their queries of, “so what are you doing for your birthday?” with “having sushi, watching TV and editing photos”. Apparently the correct answer was some permutation of “getting loaded and causing shit” but fact was, I had been out a lot in the past few days and a quiet night at home getting caught up on whatever sounded like a great plan. It would have taken a lot to get me to abandon that plan.

Something like a last-minute, surprise show from Band Of Horses.

The band were in town, enjoying a day off from their tour supporting Pearl Jam in Buffalo the night before and doing press for their forthcoming album Infinite Arms when the opportunity arose to insert themselves into the weekly free Nu Music Nite series at the ‘Shoe. After the decision was made and thanks to the marvels of modern mobile and social technology, I got word of the show around 7:45PM, a decision that those two episodes of The Pacific would keep at least another night was made by 7:47PM and I was one of just a few people at the Horseshoe by 8:30PM when the doors opened. This guaranteed a front-row spot but also meant waiting through the other bands on the bill, an experience that’s not really worth recounting. Band Of Horses were due to start at or around 11:15PM and by 10:30 or so, coincidentally just about the time that people who’d opted to stay home and watch Lost would have been able to get in gear, the ‘Shoe was full to an extent befitting the specialness of the occasion.

I’d only seen Band Of Horses live twice before, circa their debut Everything All The Time at SxSW 2006 and again a few months later at Lee’s Palace. What I remembered most about the Lee’s show was that while the show sounded marvelous, it wasn’t the most energetic affair what with frontman Ben Bridwell spending most of the show seated at the pedal steel. Well with no steel guitar on hand this night – all of their equipment was begged and borrowed – Bridwell would have to stand on his own legs and this would have to be a more physically engaging show. To say the least. Bridwell and bandmates rolled out on stage around 11:30, greeted by a packed house – congratulations Toronto, you’re capable of hustling when you need to – and, after prefacing their set with the disclaimer of, “we never do this”, put on as tremendous a display of flying by the seat of your pants as you’ll ever see.

Understand that Band Of Horses, by indie rock standards, are getting pretty big – and with Infinite Arms as their major label debut, can probably expect to just get bigger – so performing in a small bar setting is probably a rare opportunity for them, and as far as cutting loose and having a good time goes, they didn’t squander it – it was hard to gauge who had the bigger grins on their faces, the audience or the band. Unequipped to properly recreate their more atmospheric side – as stated, Bridwell was steel-less and, after breaking a number of strings, more often than not guitar-less, and Ryan Monroe was on six-string duty rather than keyboards – they opted to indulge their more raucous side, which doesn’t get to rear its head on record all that often. And any concerns about Bridwell’s willingness to move around and play frontman were wholly unfounded – the man was all over the stage, singing to the audience, singing to the sky (or ceiling, whatever), and proving without a doubt that there was nothing wrong with his legs.

Unsurprisingly, a number of tunes from Infinite Arms were previewed and while some have fairly criticized the album as being overly soft around the edges, they certainly toughened them up this time out. A few more familiar songs from Cease To Begin and handful of well-chosen covers – Gram Parsons’ “Song For You” and head-spinning encore of The Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait” among them – filled out the hour-long set. They even thoughfully snuck in a “Happy birthday” into the set – ostensibly for drummer Creighton Barrett, but I just imagined it was for me. Not that they needed to – simply showing up and playing a fantastic set for my impromptu 35th birthday party was plenty. Though handing out the beer from their rider to the audience at show’s end was a nice touch. There should always be loot bags.

NOW, eye and Panic Manual all made it to the ‘Shoe in time for the show but the weeklies didn’t seem to have a great time, for some reason. Band Of Horses return for the show at the Toronto Island Concert on June 19 – expect them to play the “majestic” angle at that show. Infinite Arms is out on Tuesday.

Photos: Band Of Horses @ The Horseshoe – May 11, 2010
MP3: Band Of Horses – “Factory”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “No One’s Gonna Love You”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “The Great Salt Lake”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “The Funeral”
Video: Band Of Horses – “NW Apartment”
Video: Band Of Horses – “Compliments”
Video: Band Of Horses – “No One’s Gonna Love You”
Video: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”
Video: Band Of Horses – “The Great Salt Lake”
Video: Band Of Horses – “The Funeral”
Stream: Band Of Horses / Infinite Arms
MySpace: Band Of Horses

Also playing Toronto Islands that day are Beach House; the DVD they made to accompany Teen Dream, comprising a video for each song on the album, is streaming this week at PitchforkTV.

Video: Beach House / Teen Dream

Spin investigates how Blitzen Trapper got their name. Their new record Destroyer Of The Void is out June 8 and they bring it to the Opera House on August 3.

Crooked Fingers have managed to fan-fund Reservoir Songs 2 in its entirety via Kickstarter, and as a thank-you, are offering an MP3 of the John Hartford cover. The 12″ EP will be out on July 6; a new Crooked Fingers full-length will follow later this year.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Gentle On My Mind”

NPR has a World Cafe session and Drowned In Sound an interview with She & Him. They’re at the Sound Academy on June 9.

Josh Ritter talks to Spinner about his new record So The World Runs Away.

Joanna Newsom trash talks some Lady Gaga in an interview with The Guardian, while her chat with The Quietus stays much more focused on Have One On Me. She’s also the cover girl on the current issue of Under The Radar; the piece isn’t online but Stereogum has a bit of a precis.

BrooklynVegan interviews Laura Marling.

Music Snobbery talks to Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons.

Sky Larkin have announced their sophomore album will be entitled Kaleide and be available in August; you can download a mini-EP consisting of the title track and a couple of b-sides from their website right now.

The Georgia Straight and Twin Cities Daily Planet profile Shout Out Louds.

For Folk’s Sake has an interview with Basia Bulat, who will be at the Phoenix on June 3.

Chart talks to Hannah Georgas.

Broken Social Scene is featured in Clash, Spinner and The Independent. They play the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Frank Yang…and you can thank last night’s epic surprise undistilled awesome-sauce Band Of Horses show at the Horseshoe for that. Rocking >>> blogging. I’ll be back at it tomorrow – plenty of good stuff to get through, but to get you through the day, head over to their website where they’re streaming their new record Infinite Arms in advance of its release next Tuesday.

Best surprise birthday party ever.

Stream: Band Of Horses / Infinite Arms

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.