Kyle Dean ReinfordMuch has changed for New Jersey punks Titus Andronicus since they unleashed the grandiose historical allegory/saga of The Monitor on the world in 2010. On the plus side, the success of that record raised their profile by an exponential degree, expanding their audience well beyond the dudes looking for a soundtrack to their mosh pit demographic. But on the down side, after they wrapped the heavy touring regimen in support of The Monitor, guitarist Amy Klein – who despite not being on the record was a crucial part of their intense live shows – left the band for her own project in Leda. And on top of that, an ill-fated late 2011 rehearsal left them down one mighty beard when frontman Patrick Stickles was electrocuted. He survived; the facial hair did not.

STill, they’ve soldiered on and already made a new record which they’ve dubbed Local Business, and while there’s little chance that it’ll will be quite as epic in scope or ambition as The Monitor – that’s not mathematically possible – it should offer more than the requisite amount of furious melody, righteous riffing, and dense lyricism. And it also gives them an excuse to get back on the road. The record is out October 22 and they’ve already put together a Fall tour and are bringing New York Bay area punks Ceremony with them for the ride. They’re at Lee’s Palace on November 27, tickets $18.50.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape with the Flood of Detritus”
MP3: Ceremony – “Hysteria”
Lyric Video: Titus Andronicus – “In A Big City”

That new Yo La Tengo single “Stupid Things” is now available to download. The new full-length is out next January.

MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Stupid Things”

Perfume Genius has released a new video from Put Your Back N 2 It, just in time for tonight’s show at 918 Bathurst. Pitchfork talks to Mike Hadreas about the video.

Video: Perfume Genius – “Take Me Home”

Paste are streaming a new song from Savoir Adore’s forthcoming Our Nature, out October 16, and God Is In The TV has a video session with the band. They’re in town at Rancho Relaxo on October 13.

Stream: Savoir Adore – “Empire Of Light”

The Atlantic, Interview, Buzzfeed, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and The Thread all have features on The Mountain Goats as they mark the release of their latest album, Transcendental Youth. They play The Phoenix on October 20.

Spinner, The Wall Street Journal, The Irish Independent, HitFix, and Denver Westword talk to Aimee Mann. She’s at The Danforth Music Hall on November 6.

The 405 has got a stream of the first new Saturday Looks Good To Me song in who knows how long, available on 7″ come November 6 and presumably appearing on their new record One Kiss Ends It All, which is slated for a Spring 2013 release.

Stream: Saturday Looks Good To Me – “Sunglasses”

Rumours of a new Sufjan Stevens Christmas set have been kicking around for a little while, and now they’re confirmed. The super-fancy Silver & Gold box set of five EPs – yes, just like the Songs For Christmas set – will be out November 13. Stream one of the selections below.

Stream: Sufjan Stevens – “Christmas Unicorn”

I’m not entirely sure what the deal with Death Grips is, but people seem to care when they spontaneously cancel entire tours or leak their new album without telling their label first. So those same people may be interested to know that they’re hitting the road – unless they cancel again – and will be at Wrongbar on November 18.

MP3: Death Grips – “Deep Web”

Critical Mob and The Awl talk to Mark Eitzel, coming to town for a show at The Rivoli on November 28.

Pitchfork has details on the new record from Memory Tapes, to be entitled Grace/Confusion and due out on December 4. A first MP3 from the album is already available to download.

MP3: Memory Tapes – “Shelia”

Band Of Horses chat with Drowned In Sound and Metro Pulse. They play Massey Hall on December 5.

Paul Westerberg has told Rolling Stone that he and Tommy Stinson – the only Replacements still alive and active in music – have recorded a limited edition covers EP which will be auctioned off later this year to raise funds for former guitarist Slim Dunlap, who suffered a stroke back in February. And yeah, I guess they’re calling it The Replacements – so that’s happened.

Divine Fits have released a first video from their debut, A Thing Called Divine Fits.

Video: Divine Fits – “Would That Not Be Nice”

Vulture delves into the life, times, and finances of Grizzly Bear. The Skinny, Portland Monthly, and Pitchfork also have features.

Spin has posted an extensive feature piece on Dinosaur Jr, including a sidebar about how J Mascis almost joined Nirvana and Built To Spill back in the day.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Beachwood Sparks.

Cynthia WoodA lot’s happened with Mark Eitzel since he last set foot on a Toronto stage. That would have been back in April 2008, when he was leading the reunited American Music Club on tour in support of their second album of the 21st century, The Golden Age. The American Music Club machine slowly wound down again and was officially declared on indefinite hiatus again by Eitzel last Fall, and he also released a couple more solo records in that time: Klamath in 2009 and Brannan Street the following year, both low-key in both presentation and distribution. Oh, and last Spring he had a heart attack (but is okay now).

But as has been the pattern over a career that has swung from the cultiest of cult artists to getting a modicum of the respect that his songwriting talent deserves, Eitzel again appears ready to step a little more into the spotlight. His new solo record Don’t Be A Stranger is coming out on Merge, who rightly believed those two AMC reunion albums deserved to be shepherded into the world, and Eitzel is undertaking what he’s dubbed “The Warm Gentle Rain Tour”, which will traverse North America and bring him to the Rivoli in Toronto on November 28, tickets for that $15.50 in advance. It’s hard to say what form the show will take, be it solo or with a band, but when I last saw Eitzel at SXSW 2011, it was just him and a keyboardist and he was singing AMC songs lounge/cabaret-style, so it could really be anything. What is certain is that it will be hilarious, depressing, and excellent.

After all – the promotional campaign for the record involves Eitzel getting career and performance advice from the experts on video; there’s clips of him consulting with Lady Gaga’s make-up artist Billy B. and at Gawker, you can watch him discuss his lyrics with comedienne Nadya Ginsburg. Yes, hilarity ensues.

Stream: Mark Eitzel – “I Love You But You’re Dead”

GQ, The Chicago Tribune, and Spinner talk to Bob Mould about what has turned out to be the year of the resurgence of Bob Mould.

Gothamist and Newsday talk to Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, finally bringing their reunion tour to The Phoenix on October 3.

Consequence Of Sound, DIY, NOW, and Clash all talk to members of Dinosaur Jr about their new record I Bet On Sky. They’re at Lee’s Palace on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week.

Exclaim has specifics on the third Guided By Voices album of 2012, The Bears For Lunch, out November 13.

Salon, NPR, and Stereogum talk to Aimee Mann about hew new record Charmer, from which she’s just released a new video that has a few guest stars you might recognize and is a shot-for-shot remake of a video you might recognize if you’ve been following Aimee’s career from the outset… Don’t worry, I’ll help you out. You’re welcome. Aimee Mann is at The Danforth Music Hall on November 6.

Video: Aimee Mann – “Labrador”
Video: ‘Til Tuesday – “Voices Carry”

DIY, NOW, The Quietus, and Billboard all want to talk Shields with Grizzly Bear. They’re at Massey Hall on September 26.

Cat Power goes blonde zombie-fighting road warrior in the first video from Sun. Of course. She’s at The Kool Haus on October 20.

Video: Cat Power – “Cherokee”

The 405, DIY has a feature and The Line Of Best Fit a video session wtih Band Of Horses.

The Lab sends Saturday Night Live and Portlandia‘s Fred Armisen to interview St. Vincent, while The Montreal Gazette talks to both her and David Byrne. They’re at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre tomorrow night.

The AV Club talks to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and his right-hand guitarist Nels Cline will be at The Great Hall on November 2 as part of this year’s Sleepwalk Guitar Festival.

MP3: Nels Cline – “Don’t Threaten Me With Your Threats”

Dum Dum Girls are streaming their new EP End Of Daze over at Stereogum. It’s out next week, and Houston Press talks to Dee Dee about it.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Lord Knows”
Stream: Dum Dum Girls / End Of Daze

Titus Andronicus have unveiled the album art and first lyric video from their new record Local Business, coming October 22. See the art at Pitchfork and hear the first song from the new record below.

Lyric Video: Titus Andronicus – “In A Big City”

Trespassers William have released a video from their farewell compilation Cast.

Video: Trespassers William – “Believe Me”

Hospitality has released a new video from their self-titled debut.

Video: Hospitality – “Eighth Avenue”

NPR and Spoonfed chat with Calexico.

Check out the latest video from The Kills’ Blood Pressures.

Video: The Kills – “Wild Charms”

I speculated that The Killers’ show at the Sound Academy this weekend was a precursor to something bigger, and I was right. Las Vegas’ favourite sons return for a show at the Air Canada Centre on December 15, tickets ranging from $39.50 to $65.00.

Video: The Killers – “Runaways”

A Place To Bury Strangers have a new video from Worship.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “Leaving Tomorrow”

Benjamin Gibbard – he’s only Ben when he’s in a band, apparently – discusses his solo album Other Lives with Stereogum. It’s out October 16 and he’s at The Danforth Music Hall a couple days earlier, on October 14.

Magnet welcomes Beachwood Sparks to their website editor’s chair with a Q&A.

You Me & Charlie interviews Josh Tillman of Father John Misty. He plays Lee’s Palace on October 27.

The Quietus interviews James Murphy.

Stefano GiovanniniIt seems counter-intuitive to not look forward to hearing an artist’s first album of new material in half a decade – the follow-up to arguably her best work, no less – but then things are rarely straightforward when you’re talking about Cat Power. With all respect to those who’d bestow the honour on You Are Free or Moon Pix, but The Greatest was as good as its title as far as I was concerned. It may not have been as musically adventurous or emotionally bare as some of her other works, but I found the document of an artist trying something new with the Memphis soul style and sounding so in her element irresistible.

So why fear for the follow-up? Well, there was 2008’s Jukebox, which took the aesthetic of The Greatest and applied it to a selection of classic songs and somehow ended up feeling utterly bloodless, with Chan Marshall seemingly falling into the diva trap of now being an impressive voice overemoting the words of others; it was like the feeling of comfort that permeated The Greatest had turned into complacency. Further, while the two shows I saw in 2006 in support of The Greatest were, with a few hiccups, outstanding shows that seemed to put Marshall’s reputation as a shaky live bet to bed, her appearance at the 2007 Rogers Picnic was uneven and uncomfortable and while she was certainly more together at Matador at 21 in 2010, that set didn’t really point to her leaving her Dirty Delta comfort zone anytime soon. In other words, my greatest fear for Sun, promised as far back as 2007 but only arriving next Tuesday, would that it would be an overworked, underwhelming rock’n’soul pastiche that showcased Marshall’s voice but shortchanged her songwriting. And I didn’t want to hear that happen.

Well as it turns out, there was nothing to fear. Nothing. At. All. Marshall’s soulful rasp is as rich as it ever was, but there’s little trace of the gospel-blues singer that she wore a little too well. Sun is a wildly eclectic record, and even those who’ve kept up with Cat Power through her various creative phases may be taken aback by the introduction of electronic textures, programmed beats, and even some autotuning effects, but no one would dare dismiss this as genre tourism. It’s more as if Cat Power has been captured through a prism and refracted into a spectrum of musical colours – perhaps new and unfamiliar when taken in bits, but all still very much parts of the whole.

As tempting as it would be to make the new sonic direction the story of the record, or dwell on the remarkable fact that it was not only self-produced but that Marshall played virtually every instrument on the record, to do so would be to not focus on the most crucial aspect of Sun and that the songs are fantastic. The frailties of her early work have given way to a swaggering confidence that permeates everything; Marshall is focused, confident, and not only willing to take on anything, but determined to succeed. A closer examination of the lyrics reveals as much emotional honesty as she’s ever offered – after all, you can’t raise the sun without casting some shadows – but the darkness only adds depth, it never defines. Sun is an astonishing statement from Chan Marshall that shows that rather than banish the demons of her earlier work as The Greatest might have inferred, she’s utterly made them her bitches and put them to work.

The New York Times, News.com.au, and Spin have feature pieces on Cat Power and NPR is streaming Sun ahead of its release next week. She plays The Kool Haus on October 20.

MP3: Cat Power – “Cherokee”
MP3: Cat Power – “Ruin”
Stream: Cat Power / Sun

Another stellar effort from a veteran performer out next week is Silver Age from Bob Mould; it’s also now available to stream along with an interview at Rolling Stone. The first video from said record also surfaced last week.

Video: Bob Mould – “The Descent”
Stream: Bob Mould / Silver Age

To mark the release of the Divine Fits debut long-player A Thing Called Divine Fits this week, there’s feature interviews with Britt Daniel and/or Dan Boeckner at Consequence Of Sound, The 405, Interview, 680 News, Seattle Weekly, Pitchfork, The AV Club, and The National Post. Divine Fits play Lee’s Palace on September 5.

Also out this week was Nocturne, the second album from Wild Nothing. Accompanying that were features at eMusic, The Fader, Clash, DIY, Austinist, The Line Of Best Fit, and Paste. They’re at The Great Hall on September 18.

A goodly number of show announcements to get through. We’ll start with The Killers, because statistically speaking some of you must be fans, just as some of your must be human and others dancer. Their new record Battle Born is out September 18 and they’re at The Sound Academy on September 22, tickets $54.50. That seems undersized for them so I figure this counts as the “intimate club gig” before they return in a few months at the arena level.

Video: The Killers – “Runaways”

Presumably having sorted themselves out following the departure of bassist Jen Turner, Here We Go Magic will be at The Garrison on September 23 as part of a tour support of their latest record A Different Ship. Tickets for that are $12.50 in advance. Spin has a feature on the band.

MP3: Here We Go Magic – “Casual”

Having been through for festivals and as support, Exitmusic finally have their own proper headlining show in support of their debut Passage. They’re at The Horseshoe on October 1, tickets $10.50.

MP3: Exitmusic – “The Sea”

Californian psych-poppers Woods will have a new record in Bend Beyond out on September 18, and they’d like to play some of it for you. Be at The Garrison on October 2 if you’ld like that too; tickets are $12.50 in advance.

MP3: Woods – “Wind Was The Wine”

There’s no measure by which this isn’t a strange tour, but it must make sense to someone. That’d be The Psychedelic Furs, The Lemonheads, and Juliana Hatfield, who will also be reprising her Ray-era bass duties in The Lemonheads. She’ll sort of have a new record to push in her self-titled cover album, a sort of companion piece to The Lemonheads’ last release, the all-cover Varshons. Wouldn’t it be weird if both their sets were all covers? Or maybe all Psychedelic Furs covers? Yeah I have no idea what this is, besides at The Danforth Music Hall on October 16. Ticket info still forthcoming.

Video: The Psychedelic Furs – “Love My Way”
Video: The Lemonheads – “It’s A Shame About Ray”
Video: Juliana Hatfield Three – “My Sister”

They are from Brooklyn, they are seventeen members strong, they are disco, they are Escort, their 2011 debut album was also Escort, I hear they were awesome at SXSW, and they’re at The Horseshoe on November 10. Tickets are $16.50 – that’s less than a dollar a band member!

MP3: Escort – “Starlight”

Yellow Ostrich are at The Garrison on November 12 in support of their second album Strange Land. $12 gets you in the door, full dates at Plug In Music.

MP3: Yellow Ostrich – “The Shakedown”

San Diego’s Pinback return with their first album in five years in Information Retrieved, and are touring in support. Said tour wraps up at Lee’s Palace on November 21, tickets $16.50.

MP3: Pinback – “From Nothing To Nowhere”

Rolling Stone has premiered the surprisingly dark new video from Bob Dylan’s forthcoming Tempest. It’s out September 11 and the man hits the Air Canada Centre on November 14.

Video: Bob Dylan – “Duquesne Whistle”

Exclaimtalks to Lou Barlow about the new Dinosaur Jr album I Bet On Sky, out September 18. They play three nights at Lee’s Palace from September 24 to 26.

The first video from Band Of Horses’ forthcoming Mirage Rock is now available to watch. It’s out September 18.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Knock Knock”

Stereogum chats with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Their new record Transcendental Youth is out October 2, they play The Phoenix on October 20.

Benjamin Gibbard – you may know him as just Ben – has released the first sample of his forthcoming solo record Former Lives, out October 16. He plays The Danforth Music Hall on October 14.

MP3: Benjamin Gibbard – “Teardrop Windows”

Exclaim has details on a new release from Andrew Bird, a companion piece to this year’s Break It Yourself. Hands Of Glory is out October 30.

Sleigh Bells’ Reign Of Terror has yielded another new video.

Video: Sleigh Bells – “End Of The Line”

NPR welcomes Beachwood Sparks for a video session. LA Weekly also has a feature on the band.

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, SF Weekly, The Pitch, Colorado Daily, and Boulder Weekly have interviews with Sharon Van Etten.

Jason Frank RothenbergIt’s a matter of public record – or at the very least Google index – that I was no fan of Dirty Projectors’ last record Bitte Orca, even though objectively speaking it was obviously one of the albums of 2009. However, one of the nice things about a band as obviously talented – no way am I arguing that point – and creatively restless as they is that each new album is akin to a blank slate.

So yeah, I’m giving their new one Swing Lo Magellan – which is out next Tuesday but now available to stream a week early – a fair shake, and happily it doesn’t sound nearly as fussy or overthought as Orca did. No, that’s not nearly an endorsement, but it’s a start. Give it a listen for yourself, and while you’re at it maybe read some of the feature interviews that bandleader Dave Longstreth has been giving out in advance of the record’s release. They’re on the cover of this month’s Exclaim with an additional feature, a Q&A to go with an album stream at The New York Times, back-and-forths at ArtInfo, NOW, The Irish Times, and MTV Hive, and a long piece at Pitchfork. He also talks to Interview about the Hi Custodian short film which will be released later this Summer and is meant to thematically accompany the new record. Odds of it being incomprehensible are good to great.

Dirty Projectors are in town this week for a show at the Danforth Music Hall on July 6.

MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Dance For You”
MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Gun Has No Trigger”
Video: Dirty Projectors – “Gun Has No Trigger”
Stream: Dirty Projectors / Swing Lo Magellan
Trailer: Hi Custodian

Eternal Summers were just here for NXNE, it’s true, but their new album Correct Behavior wasn’t nearly out then – July 24 is still a ways off – so it’s eminently logical that they’d schedule a return engagement after it was out, which is what they’ve done. They’re at The Garrison on August 7, tickets $11.

MP3: Eternal Summers – “Millions”

Phil Elverum isn’t a guy who seems to like to spend a lot of time on the road, at least not far from his Washington state home base. I could be mistaken but I don’t think he’s been through town since Fall 2008 in support of Lost Wisdom, his collaboration with Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire; his last time through as as Mount Eerie solo was May 2007 and he’s not been back since, despite having released a couple records since then. But if promoting one album isn’t quite enough incentive, apparently promoting two is – having put out Clear Moon back in May and with a companion album Ocean Roar set to come out September 4, he’s finally coming back to town – he’ll be at The Great Hall on September 10 with a full band in tow, tickets $15 in advance.

Stream: Mount Eerie – “Pale Lights” (excerpt)
Stream: Mount Eerie – “Lone Bell”
Stream: Mount Eerie – “House Shape”

You might think that with no less than four visits in 2011 – one headlining show in the Spring and three others supporting The Decemberists in February, Explosions In The Sky in October, and The National in December – that Wye Oak would have had their fill of Toronto for a while. Well apparently nine months is as long as they could wait because they’ve scheduled a show here at The Horseshoe for September 17, tickets $12.50. One assumes that with all that touring, they’ve not had time to write let alone record a follow up to last year’s Civilian, but if you’re hankering to hear something new there is a track they’ve recorded for an Adult Swim compilation that’s available to stream.

MP3: Wye Oak – “Holy, Holy”
Stream: Wye Oak – “Spiral”

Over at The AV Club, Father John Misty record a lovely cover of The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” for their Undercover series. Father John Misty are at The Opera House opening for Youth Lagoon on July 12.

Spin is streaming another tune from Fang Island’s new record Major, due out July 24.

Stream: Fang Island – “Seek It Out”

NPR has a World Cafe session from The Shins. They open up for The Black Keys at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 3.

Divine Fits – the new band from Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs’ Dan Boeckner and New Bomb Turks’ Sam Brown – have announced that their debut album A Thing Called Divine Fits will be out August 28; stream the first track from it below.

Stream: Divine Fits – “My Love Is Real”

Rolling Stone has an interview with J Mascis about the new Dinosaur Jr album I Bet On Sky, the first single from which is available to stream. The album is out September 18 and they kick off their Fall tour in support of it with a three-night stand at Lee’s Palace on September 24, 25, and 26.

Stream: Dinosaur Jr – “Watch The Corners”

Pitchfork has details on the new End Of Daze EP coming from Dum Dum Girls End Of Daze on September 25.

Clash talks to Beach House, in town at the Kool Haus on October 18.

Spinner talks to Beachwood Sparks about getting back together for their first album in over a decade in the just-released The Tarnished Gold.

NPR welcomes M. Ward to their World Cafe for a session.

Drowned In Bells catches up with Sleigh Bells.

Frank YangWith most club-level festivals, some intense venue-hopping is par for the course and in a city with a downtown as spread out as Toronto, the logistics of getting from point A to point B in the allotted time can be an art form all its own. Unless you do things as I did on the Thursday night of NXNE and basically plant yourself at one intersection and let the bands come to you. This wasn’t an arbitrary decision, mind. Dundas-Ossington has gone from borderland outpost to hot spot in the past few years and between The Dakota, Painted Lady and Garrison, you can generally count on a good number of live music options on a regular night, never mind during a festival.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that every option will turn out to be a good one. I feel like there’s some rule that says every time I got to a multi-band bill at The Garrison, one of them will be a solo guy with a keyboard and pedals who will try my patience. This time out it was Kentucky native James Friley, who operates as Idiot Glee, and while it wasn’t necessarily terrible, the Animal Collective-ish aesthetic of effected vocals, looped rhythms, and triggered noises doesn’t do anything for me when it’s done well – Idiot Glee wasn’t even interesting enough to be annoying. It just goes to show – what maybe works in a studio or even on record doesn’t necessarily do so live. Some things just aren’t meant for the stage.

Photos: Idiot Glee @ The Garrison – June 14, 2012
MP3: Idiot Glee – “Don’t Go Out Tonight”
Video: Idiot Glee – “Let’s Get Down Together”
Video: Idiot Glee – “I Want The Night To Stay”

The avoid a second Mac DeMarco set in as many nights, I then hopped around the corner to The Painted Lady where Cincinnati trio The Seedy Seeds were setting up, and their set of unabashedly quirky, geeky power pop was just the thing to pick me back up. They were armed with a kitchen sink’s worth of synths, banjo, acoustic, percussion, accordion – and on-the-fly instrument changes between them – to say nothing of the harmonies, but rather than allow it to become sonic clutter, it was all in service to the song and the melody. It was fun and danceable, even though the close quarters in the bar meant the band was doing the most dancing – though the burlesque dancer on the bar seemed to be moving to her own soundtrack.

Photos: The Seedy Seeds @ The Painted Lady – June 14, 2012
Video: The Seedy Seeds – “Telephone The Constrictor”
Video: The Seedy Seeds – “Verb Noun”
Video: The Seedy Seeds – “I Am The Conductor”
Video: The Seedy Seeds – “Drive Me To The Center”

Back at The Garrison, Mac DeMarco fans were clearing out and Grass Widow fans were filing in. I was neither, having heard nothing of the latter besides seeing some of the kerfuffle about that heinous Vice review (no linkbait biting, sorry) of their third album Internal Logic which was enough to reaffirm that I will never read Vice but didn’t persuade me to give the album a listen. In fact, only when they took the stage did I know they were a three-piece (the aforementioned piece tipped me off that they were all female) and only when they said they were from San Francisco did I know they were from San Francisco. I probably could have guessed the garage pop thing, though. The were exceedingly sloppy at first but got within the parameters of acceptable within a few songs, even flirting with charming at points. That sweet spot remained a moving target through their sets but it a few of their jams landed it quite effectively. Still not feeling like checking out the album, though.

Epitonic and The Riverfront Times have feature pieces on Grass Widow.

Photos: Grass Widow @ The Garrison – June 14, 2012
MP3: Grass Widow – “Time Keeps Time”
Video: Grass Widow – “Fried Egg”
Video: Grass Widow – “Shadow”
Video: Grass Widow – “Milo Minute”
Video: Grass Widow – “Give Me Shapes”
Video: Grass Widow – “Tattoo”

Nashville’s The Black Belles may have been another female power trio (they’d recently contracted from a quartet), but they couldn’t be more different from the band before them. Being a Jack White production, it was a foregone conclusion that they’d have a) a strong aesthetic – sheer black dresses, witchy velvet hats, sexy-goth makeup, check – and b) a classic rock vibe. Unfortunately, the Third Man association also meant that hooks and melody were a secondary concern to a) and b) and so while they looked good and sounded heavy, the songs didn’t have a lot of staying power. I’ve no doubt that their label associations will take them a long ways, but at some point they’ll need some tunes to back it all up.

Interview, The National Post, Spinner, and The Chicago Tribune have interviews with the band.

Photos: The Black Belles @ The Garrison – June 14, 2012
Video: The Black Belles – “Wishing Well”
Video: The Black Belles – “Lies”
Video: The Black Belles – “What Can I Do?”

For a lesson in balancing out heavy with hooks, you needn’t look any further than the night’s headliner – New York’s The Men and their latest Open Your Heart. If you wanted to hear many of those hooks this night, however, you would have been best served going home and putting the album on the turntable because the live show was an electrifying dose of punk rock thunder. The songs were there, but just as launching pads for the pure, aural adrenaline delivered via riffs, solos, and hollered vocals from any and all of their three lead singers. It’s hard to pick one thing out of the tumult to focus on, but recent addition Ben Greenberg – prior to March they didn’t have a bassist at all – would be a good one; running his bass through a guitar amp and pummelling chords, he was more third (albeit baritone) guitar than traditional bass, but was still the anchor, the ragged, jagged pulse of the band. How they did it before he joined, I can’t imagine. Unsurprisingly, their set was like a call to action for the moshing-inclined so despite trying to stick it out up front for as long as possible, I retreated to the back for the last few songs. With a few shows on their NXNE schedule, there were other opportunities to see them in probably less rowdy environs, but really – a dark, sweaty bar was really the only correct setting for this. Invigorating.

NOW, Paste, and 77 Square have features on The Men.

Photos: The Men @ The Garrison – June 14, 2012
MP3: The Men – “Ex-Dreams”
MP3: The Men – “Open Your Heart”
MP3: The Men – “A Minor”

The Toronto Star and NOW have features on A Place To Bury Strangers, themselves making a racket the Thursday night of NXNE although I wasn’t there.

Daytrotter has posted up a session with White Rabbits, who were also getting their NXNE on on Thursday night.

NPR is streaming the first new Beachwood Sparks album in over a decade – The Tarnished Gold – ahead of its release next week.

MP3: Beachwood Sparks – “Sparks Fly Again”
MP3: Beachwood Sparks – “Forget The Song”
Stream: Beachwood Sparks / The Tarnished Gold

Matador has finally confirmed details of the new Cat Power record, which will indeed be called Sun and be out on September 4, a week earlier than expected. The first track is available to download and The Stool Pigeon has posted up the full interview with Chan Marshall about the new record; it was only excerpted last week.

MP3: Cat Power – “Ruin”

A touch short notice but if you’re around the Soundscapes area at 6:30PM tonight, pop in to catch an in-store from Michael Kiwanuka before he heads over to The Phoenix for his headlining show. BBC America and The Winnipeg Free Press have interviews with the singer.

MP3: Michael Kiwanuka – “Tell Me A Tale”

Weezer has reached another career milestone; they’re now playing casinos. They’ll be in the area on September 14 with a date at Casino Rama. I’m certain this is actually in Rivers Cuomo’s master plan.

Video: Weezer – “The Good Life”

And folks, the show announcement I’ve been waiting on forever is here – The Afghan Whigs at The Phoenix on October 3. I daresay that there’s not a band I’ve listened to more this year. Tickets are $35 and the presale goes Wednesday morning at 10AM, link and password at Collective Concerts. This. Will be. So. Good.

Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Crazy”

And some interesting exchanges of ideas on the whole topic of illegal music downloads, first from a 20-year old at NPR, then a rebuttal/open letter from David Lowery (Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven) at The Trichordist, and some points at both from Laura Snapes of Pitchfork/NME. Really worthwhile reading if just to remind yourself that this is still a thing and it still affects artists.