Jennifer TzarSo I got an email last week from a fellow at the BBC asking me if I wanted to offer up some thoughts and/or predictions on the shortlist for the UK and Ireland’s Mercury Prize, which is set to be revealed next Tuesday. Having been largely off the mark in what I expected to make the shortlist for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize last week, and actually knowing how that process works, I figured I couldn’t possibly do any worse with the Mercurys – a prize whose process was almost completely unknown to me and which tends to draw from a much broader range of candidates than my little indie rockist world.

I’ve since learned that the 12 albums on the shortlist are selected by the same shadowy group of journalists, musicians and other industry illuminati types who choose the winner – a far cry from the Polaris’ jury, which endeavours to be as inclusive of journos and whatnot as possible and only saving the star chamber treatment for choosing the winner. And so to the BBC fellow’s original request, I’m not really sure if I should attempt to predict what albums will make the short list, what albums should make the short list or what albums I’d like to make the short list. I know I’d fail miserably at the first task and it’s impossible to accomplish the second without a much more comprehensive knowledge of all the possible nominees so that basically leaves the wholly subjective wish list, which is fine with me, but I’ll try to temper my picks with some degree of realism.

Bat For Lashes / Two Suns – This record would actually fit all three angles – I want to see it make the list, it deserves to make the list and it almost certainly will make the list, thus making Natasha Khan an impressive two for two in Mercury nominations for her albums. It’s one of those records that’s distinctive, accessible and artistically ambitious – and also just excellent. Even without seeing the actual list, this is my odds-on pick to win… of course, Fur & Gold was also heavily favoured and didn’t end up winning.

MP3: Bat For Lashes – “Glass” (live)

Manic Street Preachers / Journal For Plague Lovers – I get the feeling that the Mercury jurors are all about the new and so the Manics’ best album in many years may get overlooked on account of its creators already being some degree of legend. And that would be a real shame because it also happens to be their most heartfelt album, perhaps ever, has a genuinely affecting backstory and frankly rocks like a mother.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time”

Patrick Wolf / The Bachelor – I’m personally of the opinion that many of the accolades given to Bat For Lashes could also apply to Patrick Wolf, particularly his latest which currently ranks as one of my favourite records of the year, but don’t know how he’s generally rated critically in his homeland. I get the sense that his extravagant personality might work against him with some unable or unwilling to look past his flamboyant exterior to see the brilliance underneath. Their loss.

MP3: Patrick Wolf – “Vulture”

Micachu / Jewellery – I will fully admit this one is here as a bit of a hedge. I remain unsure if it’s a brilliant record or bollocks, but with every listen it steps more firmly in the direction of the former. If someone told me it was an utter long shot to make the list, I would agree and if someone else told me it was a lock, I would also agree. It perplexes me. Either way, I look forward to offering an “I told you so” if it is indeed nominated.

MP3: Micachu – “Lips”

Emmy The Great / First Love – There is no realistic way I expect Emmy’s debut to get a Mercury nomination. Yes, Laura Marling got a nod last year and came out of the same scene, but Emmy’s more cynical, sardonic approach doesn’t strike that same chord of timelessness that Marling’s does. But that said, and acknowledging that while First Love is very good it’s not fully representative of her at her best, I’m still exceedingly fond of the record and would love to see it get the boost that a nomination would provide.

MP3: Emmy The Great – “We Almost Had A Baby” (Simon Raymonde mix)

Fanfarlo / Reservoir – I don’t know sort of precedent there is for self-released records getting Mercury nominations are, but if we’re talking about worthy records based strictly on musical merit, I would think that this meticulously crafted piece of orchestral pop would get some serious consideration. It’s not groundbreaking or all that original, but it is lovely and lilting and makes me, at least, quite happy.

MP3: Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot”

So there’s my picks if I were allowed to decide half of the short list, and besides Bat For Lashes I don’t really expect any of them will make the cut – especially if you look at who the UK’s bookmakers are betting will win. I assume they’re basing their odds on things like sales, profile and critical buzz and have got it down to either Doves or Little Boots. The former I can understand, as they follow the slow and steady veteran model that got Elbow the big prize last year but whereas The Seldom Seen Kid was, in my opinion, a big leap forward for that band, Kingdom Of Rust doesn’t really set itself apart from its predecessors. As far as Little Boots goes, there’s no denying Hands is fun and catchy as all get out, but it seems a bit shallow to ordain as the best album in the kingdom. And looking at other frontrunners, I’ve already covered Bat For Lashes and am a bit perplexed to see La Roux rated so highly – her self-title has some high points but I find it pretty monotonous overall. Florence & The Machine’s Lungs I’ve not spent enough time with to render fair judgment.

All will come clear next Tuesday, with the winner to be announced September 8, but until then the speculation is the fun part. The Line Of Best Fit, To Die By Your Side and Music Snobbery were also asked by the Beeb to compile their picks for the shortlist, Clash has made their predictions and The Quietus is pulling for The Horrors. If you’ve got an opinion of what should make the list or even win outright, chime in in the comments.

XFM is streaming a studio session with Bat For Lashes.

Bumpershine has an interview with Fanfarlo and is also giving away some CDs.

The Mirror and BBC have interviews with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

Ms Lily Allen has a new video from It’s Not Me, It’s You.

Video: Lily Allen – “22”

NME has details on an upcoming re-release of Friendly Fires’ self-titled debut on August 31 which will include a new song, a disc or remixes and a live DVD. They play Lee’s Palace on August 10 and have a DJ gig at The Social later that night. Clash also has an interview with the band.

MP3: Friendly Fires – “Jump In The Pool”

Been waiting for this date to be confirmed for a little while now – Britrock prevails as The Twilight Sad, BrakesBrakesBrakes and We Were Promised Jetpacks hit the El Mocambo on October 10, tickets a mere $12. The Twilight Sad’s new album Forget The Night Ahead is out out September 22, BrakesBrakesBrakes’ Touchdown came out earlier this Spring and the Jetpacks debut These Four Walls hit stores last week.

MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Reflection Of The Television”
MP3: BrakesBrakesBrakes – “Don’t Take Me To Space (Man)”
MP3: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Quiet Little Voices”

I missed this interview with Charlotte Hatherley at the Big Takeover website when it was originally posted back in May, but considering her new solo record New Colours isn’t due out till September at the earliest – maybe even October – I don’t think there’s any particular rush. But there is a new video!

MP3: Charlotte Hatherley – “Colours”
MP3: Charlotte Hatherley – “White”
Video: Charlotte Hatherley – “White”

This isn’t an official video for the title track of Camera Obscura’s latest My Maudlin Career, but the clip compiled of home videos taken on their recently-completed North American tour is certainly charming. They’ve also chosen to celebrate Bastille Day yesterday by giving away an MP3 of their last single “French Navy”.

MP3: Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
Video: Camera Obscura – “My Maudlin Career On The Road”

Torontonians disappointed that Arctic Monkeys didn’t make plans to visit over the August long weekend despite being up the 401 at Osheaga can celebrate – they’ve set a date at the Kool Haus for September 29 in support of their new album Humbug, due out August 25 and the first single from which, “Crying Lightining”, is streaming at their MySpace. Full tour dates at Spin.

Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite bemoans the demise of music journalism at Drowned In Sound.

Maximo Park are keeping a tour diary for Spinner. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 18.

Frank YangThere were plenty of evening entertainment options in Toronto this past Saturday night, including but not limited to free shows as part of Pride over in the Village and the Zunior Fifth Anniversary festivities at the Tranzac, but I opted to head over to Lee’s Palace to see Camera Obscura – a band I’d already seen live some half-dozen times. Considering that even the most generous fan would be hard-pressed to call them an especially dynamic live act, you might rightly question why I keep going back rather than try something new. To that, all I can say is “I don’t know” and “I like them”.

It also helped that this was their first time back in town since August 2007, their final show in support of Let’s Get Out Of This Country, and they were playing a room half the size of that show despite having released maybe their best album yet in My Maudlin Career. Country had been a definite breakthrough record for the Scottish outfit, shedding once and for all the Belle & Sebastian comparisons by adopting a more Motown-influenced attitude, but while it had a brace of killer singles, across the whole record it sometimes lagged or drifted back into more familiar musical postures. Career‘s highlights don’t quite hit the same heights as its predecessor, but it’s a much more consistent record top to bottom. The band sounds much more comfortable in the richness of their sonic trappings but most importantly, Traceyanne Campbell is doing something different with her voice. It’s still wearied and lovely as ever, but there’s something in her inflection and phrasing on this record that ratchets up the emotional quotient significantly. It’s a little thing, but it means a lot.

And so this is why I was standing at Lee’s Palace on Saturday night, waiting for the show to begin. And waiting. And waiting. Being completely sold out, arriving early was necessary to get a decent vantage point but the set times seemed unnecessarily late. Normally the opening act would serve to pass the time, but Chicago-based Anni Rossi seems to be a firm believer in the adages of “less is more” as well as “leave them wanting more”. Her warm-up set ran just 20 minutes, but she certainly made an impression in that time with her idiosyncratic, sorta-folkish sorta-not songs, distinctive acrobatic vocals and musical accompaniment consisting of violin viola and percussion generated by her stomping on the suitcase on which she stood. With a recipe like that you’d think she’d be a bit difficult for the casual listener but she was actually quite immediately engaging and surely could have played longer without anyone complaining – after her set, I saw a few people scurry back to the merch table to pick up copies of her debut Rockwell. She’ll be back in town on July 14 opening for Micachu at the El Mocambo – fingers crossed she plays a longer set.

The brevity of her performance meant it was another lengthy wait for the main attraction and grumbling could be overheard from all directions, but when the sextet finally strode onstage, the ladies decked out in vintage dresses, all was forgiven. Somewhat surprisingly, it was a different lineup than I’d seen play SxSW just three months prior – trumpeter Nigel Baillie had since gone to part-time status to tend to his new role as a father and bassist Gavin Dunbar had left the tour early due to a death in the family. The stand-ins were more than up to the task, however, and even added a bit of extra energy that might not have been there otherwise.

For as already stated, Camera Obscura will never be mistaken for Gogol Bordello in a live setting. They’re quite content to play their songs well and let their craftsmanship speak for them, so it’s a good thing their songs do that so well. Tracyanne Campbell has become a much better frontperson over the years, though that’s relative to the early days where the odds of her so much as cracking a smile were pretty low and if she did, it’d be at show’s end. On this night, she flashed a smile or two early on – basically guaranteeing a good night – and even cracked a few jokes. Their set covered almost all of My Maudlin Career – the arrangements were somewhat leaner than on record but never sounded lacking – and a lot of Country material also made appearances, particularly later in the set. Big cheers went out for the staples from the first two records, but for my money the new material is just so far superior that it deserves the spotlight. And I was particularly proud of the Hogtown punters for cheering when Toronto got namechecked in “Forests & Sands”, but only the first time – for subsequent choruses we stayed polite and let them do their thing. That’s the way to do it. And that’s how Camera Obscura did it – politely, but excellently. I like them.

There’s interviews with band members at The Georgia Straight and Portland Mercury and Panic Manual also has a review of the show.

Photos: Camera Obscura, Anni Rossi @ Lee’s Palace – June 27, 2009
MP3: Camera Obscura – “My Maudlin Career”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”
MP3: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill”
MP3: Anni Rossi – “Ecology”
MP3: Anni Rossi – “Wheelpusher”
Video: Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”
Video: Camera Obscura – “If Looks Could Kill”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Tears For Affairs”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Teenager”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Keep It Clean”
Video: Camera Obscura – “Eighties Fan”
Video: Anni Rossi – “The West Coast”
MySpace: Camera Obscura
MySpace: Anni Rossi

Clash has an advance sneak peak/listen to Forget The Night Ahead, the new album from The Twilight Sad, due out September 22. The new single “I Became A Prostitute” is streaming over at their MySpace.

NME has a Glastonbury-themed interview with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos.

They’d already played a number of warm-up gigs, but Glastobury was really the first big Blur reunion show, and by all accounts they utterly killed it. A good portion of the set was broadcast on the BBC and Deaf Indie Elephants has pointers to where you might be able to hear it. And if that doesn’t work or just isn’t enough, Pitchfork reports that the band’s shows in Hyde Park this week will be recorded and released as a live record about a week after the shows are performed.

Under The Radar gets a status update on album number two from Lucky Soul’s Andrew Laidlaw. Still being recorded, it’s targeted for October release and is going to be titled Whoa, Billy! – making this the title track. You can also follow the band on Twitter. Update: Band tweet denies that the album is going to be called Whoa Billy – thank goodness.

MP3: Lucky Soul – “Whoa, Billy!”

As part of their “alt.country” week, Drowned In Sound contemplates London’s alt.country scene, which with players such as Lightspeed Champion, Emmy The Great and Laura Marling, looks (and sounds) an awful lot like what they were calling “anti-folk” last year.

A couple of show announcements to wrap – Butthole Surfers are apparently still around and will be at The Phoenix on October 2, tickets $25. But much more exciting is the news that School Of Seven Bells are finally playing a headlining date in Toronto. They’re at Lee’s Palace on October 15 in support of Alpinisms, one of my favourite albums of 2008.

MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Chain”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal” (Robin Guthrie mix)
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”

Daniel SannwaldSince the start of the year, Little Boots has been tipped as the next-big-thing to come out of the UK, and with the release this week of her debut Hands, it may well be time to drop the “in waiting” status from her title. I hadn’t initially expected to be especially interested in Ms Boots (Victoria Hesketh to her friends), but a growing fondness for ’80s worshipping synth-pop – thank Ladyhawke for triggering that – and seeing a couple of impressive performances at SxSW went a long way to turning that opinion around. The fact that all of Little Boots’ singles leading up to record’s release, collected domestically on the Arecibo EP, were insanely catchy and fun if not especially deep and much of the album measures up sealed the deal. The fact that Hesketh is also cute as a button had nothing to do with it, I swear.

There’s no North American release date for Hands at the moment, but the fact that she’s announced a North American tour for this Fall starting off with a September 14 date at Toronto’s Wrongbar (tickets $18.50, on sale Friday) certainly implies that it’ll be out by then. In the meantime, an EP entitled Illumination which collects a handful of singles and non-album tracks was released this week only on this side of the pond – both it and the album are currently available to stream.

There’s interviews with Hesketh at The Kilburn Times and The Quietus, and The Sun has a typically classy chat with her about being kissed by fellow it-girl and fan of anatomically-referencing album titles, Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

MP3: Little Boots – “Love Kills” (Buffetlibre vs Sidechains remix)
MP3: Little Boots – “Meddle” (remix)
Video: Little Boots – “New In Town”
Video: Little Boots – “To The End” (Blur cover)
Stream: Little Boots / Illuminations
Stream: Little Boots / Hands
MySpace: Little Boots

There’s a brief interview with Florence & The Machine’s Florence Welch at Interview and an extensive one at The Telegraph and The Times. Her debut Lungs is out July 6 in the UK and October 13 in North America.

BBC has a feature piece spotlighting both the aforementioned divas-to-be as well as La Roux, whose own self-titled debut will be out on June 29. Not as won over by Ms Jackson as the other two, but still interested to hear how she holds up over an album.

Pitchfork has an interview with Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan. Some more North American dates are surfacing, and routing places her in the northeast in early/mid-August – the 9th in Chicago, the 12th in New York. I don’t know if she’d come back to Toronto so soon after her last visit, but considering that was all kinds of sold out I imagine the demand is there. Update: The Music Slut has more complete dates – no Toronto date, but that three-day gap between Chicago and New York remains…

SX talks with Patrick Wolf. He’s at the Mod Club next Wednesday, June 17, passes still being given away over here.

Director Wes Anderson has an extensive talk with Jarvis Cocker at Interview.

Fanfarlo are seeking to win over America not only with their lush and lovely music, but with great value – they’re offering a digital download of their album Reservoir, complete with four bonus tracks not on the CD, for a measly $1. Do it – I guarantee it to be the best $1 you spend today.

MP3: Fanfarlo – “Luna”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “Finish Line”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot”

Scots We Were Promised Jetpacks have released a video from their forthcoming debut These Four Walls, due out July 7. True, I wasn’t overly impressed when I saw them play at SxSW but the record has made a more positive impression.

Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Roll Up Your Sleeves”

MPR welcomes Camera Obscura to their studios for a session. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 27, which is nearly sold out. They also have a new video:

Video: Camera Obscura – “Honey In The Sun”

As much as I try to consolidate all the God Help The Girl-related material, they just keep out more immediately after I include some in a post. Next up, a video for “Funny Little Frog” from the album due out June 23. And note that my compatriots at MBV Music have got a God Help The Girl subscription package to give away, and are offering multiple chances to win. Two so far and two more to come.

Video: God Help The Girl – “Funny Little Frog”

Personal matters kept me from seeing them last month when they opened up for The Kills, but The Horrors are coming back to North America for a Fall headlining tour that includes an October 14 date at Lee’s Palace. I become more favourably inclined towards Primary Colours with each listen, so by then I should be right interested.

MP3: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
Video: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”
Video: The Horrors – “Who Can Say”

Arctic Monkeys have named their third album – Humbug will be out August 25.

aktualne.czI only came to the Manic Street Preachers with their 1994 breakout album Everything Must Go and thus missed the Richey Edwards years, only discovering the music and the legend retrospectively. And while I could submit the Manics v2.0 as having superior pop songs and Nicky Wire as a worthy lyricist with moments of brilliance, if a devout Edwards acolyte were to claim that with their original songwriter’s disappearance, the band had lost a crucial, ineffable creative fire that all the chart-toppers in the world couldn’t compensate for, I don’t think I could argue it.

While the first two Manics albums were decidedly flawed – Generation Terrorists overlong, Gold Against The Soul undercooked and both with production that’s aged badly – the band’s third and Edwards’ last, The Holy Bible, was and remains a masterpiece. Still one of the angriest albums I’ve ever heard, it mated Edwards’ seethingly articulate vitriol with a dry and intense sonic attack for a truly harrowing yet cathartic listening experience and after he disappeared, it’s not surprising the band was unable or unwilling to tread in such territory again – not many would be able to tap into such a vein of inspiration and come out of it whole.

But after fifteen years and five albums of varying quality – things went parabolic post-Go, hitting a nadir with 2004’s anaemic Lifeblood but they rebounded with the 2007’s solid Send Away The Tigers – the band surprised all by turning to notes and lyrics left behind by Edwards for their latest album Journal For Plague Lovers and consciously creating a sequel to The Holy Bible, right down to the sleeve artist and typeface. You’d have to be a special breed of cynical to view this as some calculated stunt – the Manics have said and done some questionable things over the years but their earnestness has rarely been in question – but good intentions don’t necessarily make for good albums. The trio are not the angry young men they were a decade and a half ago – could trying to recapture that spirit really end well?

Amazingly, yes.

Journal manages to take the live-wire energy of the Manics of old and mate it perfectly with the weight of experience of the Manics of today. Edwards’ lyrics, still verbose, literate and tongue-twisting, remain fixed on topics of body, blood and anxiety and it’s a testament to James Dean Bradfield’s abilities that he’s able to deliver them with the both the righteous fury of a young man and the seasoned nuance of an older man, and all while delivering his typically ripping guitarwork. Much was made of the use of Steve Albini as engineer on this record, but his sonic signature isn’t especially present – it may be a touch more abrasive than their last couple records, but is still stadium-sized.

The Manics have managed to take the tension and nihilism of The Holy Bible and temper it with the melodicism of Everything Must Go and the elegiac beauty of This Is My Truth and in the process, perhaps made the most defining album of their career. It’s hard to say how where they’ll go from here – after all, there are presumably no more words left from Edwards to frame – but even if they never reach these heights or degree of focus again and return to making decent if uneven records for the remainder of their career, that they not only attempted a project as fraught with risk as Journal but made it a triumph will stand as a tribute to their fallen bandmate and a testament to their own excellence.

Seeing as how the band viewed Journal as less a conventional album and more a personal project – at one point Nicky Wire didn’t even want to release it – there were initially supposed to be no singles or videos from it. It appears they’ve changed their minds on that as a video for “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time” has surfaced, complete with slightly sanitized lyrics – on the album, it’s not “if a married man begs a Catholic”… I wonder if Richey would have approved? The two downloads that NME put up a few weeks back – one a remix by The Horrors which will appear on a forthcoming remix album and the other a cover by The Manics of The Horrors’ “Vision Blurred” from Primary Colours – are still available, so grab those. A BBC documentary on the band, Shadows and Words, is also available on YouTube in three parts and there’s an interview with Wire at The New Statesman. I’ve heard nothing about a North American release for the record and touring over here is probably never going to happen again – I don’t think they’ve been back since the This Is My Truth tour way back in 1999.

MP3: Manic Street Preachers – “Doors Closing Slowly” (Horrors remix)
MP3: Manic Street Preachers – “Vision Blurred”
Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time”
MySpace: Manic Street Preachers

I’ve not gotten a formal press release about it yet, but the listing on the venue’s website is official enough for me to be absolutely stoked about the fact that Elbow will be playing their own headlining show at the Phoenix on July 29 before opening up for Coldplay at the Rogers Centre the following night. This is definitely one to file under “wishes fulfilled”. Cannot wait. Tickets are $26.50.

LA2Day has words with Doves drummer Andy Williams and MPR is streaming a studio session with the band. They’re in town tonight at the Kool Haus.

The Guardian assembles an oral history of Blur from the beginning to the end. An ending which itself ends next month with the band’s reunion gigs in the UK.

Daytrotter has a session with Anni Rossi, with whom Toronto isn’t seeming to have much of a choice but to get acquainted with. She was here in late April opening for Noah & The Whale and will be returning not once but twice this Summer – she’ll be supporting Camera Obscura at Lee’s Palace on June 27 and then Micachu at the El Mocambo on July 14. Westword and SF Station have interviews with Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell while Clash talks to Micachu’s Mica Levi. Micachu also have a new vid.

Video: Micachu – “Golden Phone”

JAM and The Globe & Mail talk to Elvis Costello about Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, out tomorrow. He’ll play Massey Hall on August 28.

The Line Of Best Fit asks Fanfarlo what they’ve been listening to.

Bat For Lashes have a new video out.

Video: Bat For Lashes – “Pearl’s Dream”

Maximo Park have also released a new clip from Quicken The Heart, which has grown on me since I first got it but is still more forgettable than I’d like. They play Lee’s Palace on September 18.

Video: Maximo Park – “Questing, Not Coasting”

Face Culture has a series of video interviews with Patrick Wolf, Metro a print one and Virgin Music covers online. The Bachelor is out today in the UK and tomorrow in digital form here in North America. The CD is out August 11. He plays the Mod Club on June 17.

Glasswerk interviews White Lies, coming to the Phoenix on September 26.

Patrick LeducFor the longest time now, the phrase, “best unsigned band in Toronto/Canada/the world” has been used so often in conjunction with The Rural Alberta Advantage that they may as well have incorporated it into their name. But no longer. As hinted at a couple weeks ago and confirmed yesterday at Pitchfork, the trio’s long, slow build to critical mass – beginning with the eMusic Selects feature last Fall and culminating in their triumphant SxSW appearances in March – has now resulted in their signing to highly-regarded US label Saddle Creek. A fact which sent me digging for this piece in eye last Fall when the Omaha-based label insisted there was no master plan to snap up as much Canadian talent as possible (at that point, they’d added Tokyo Police Club, Sebastien Grainger and Land Of Talk to their roster in rapid succession). Now the truth becomes clear – we’re being annexed by Nebraska, one band at a time.

But seriously, It’s been such a treat to watch their star so deservedly ascend over the last couple years, and would like to offer the band a very hearty congratulations on the start of the next phase of their career. That will begin with a reissue of their debut album Hometowns on July 7 in the US and probably up here as well. I, for one, can’t wait to get a copy of the record in a physical form with a spine so that it doesn’t disappear on my CD shelves as soon as I file it, not that I’d likely ever forget that it was there. And I also envy those of you who’ll be getting to hear them for the first time with this wide release of the album and experience that feeling of discovery. You are in for such a treat.

North American touring is in the works for this Summer with a few dates listed in the Pitchfork piece, as well as confirmation of a couple of local festivals – Hillside in Guelph in July and Wolfe Island up in Kingston on August 8. Their next local date will be June 18 at the Drake Underground as part of I Heart Music’s NxNE showcase. Just informed they’ve got other things in the works – stay tuned.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”
MySpace: The Rural Alberta Advantage

In other “just signed” news, Billboard reports that Australia-by-way-of-the-UK’s Howling Bells have signed to Nettwerk for the July 28 North American release of their second album Radio Wars, which was released in the UK back in February. I was pretty down on the album after hearing it, particularly with all the promise displayed in their self-titled debut, but have warmed to it a bit since. It’s still not as good as the first, but it’s really only a couple of really BAD songs that drag down the overall experience, which is largely okay with moments of pretty good. Faint praise, I know. My main hopes are that with this deal in place, they’ll finally be able to tour North America properly and not just as support on big arena-scale tours (Killers, Coldplay) that I’d have no intention of seeing.

MP3: Howling Bells – “Into The Chaos”

The Pitchfork guest list from Camera Obscura which I linked last week but then promptly went all 404 on us is now back, and will hopefully remain so. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 27.

Neil Halstead has released another video from last year’s Oh! Mighty Engine. Halstead will also apparently be featured in today’s Daytrotter session – those usually go up by 10AM ET or so – will link when it’s available. Update: It’s up! With two new songs!

Video: Neil Halstead – “Elevenses”

The Guardian and This Is Nottingham profile Doves, whose Kingdom Of Rust apparently missed being the #1 album in the UK… by four CDs. Ouch. They play the Kool Haus on June 1.

The Quietus and The Irish Times interview Manic Street Preachers about their new album Journal For Plague Lovers, out May 18, covering the main talking points of the record – Richey and Albini. The Quietus also has a track-by-track review of the record.

The Manics also big up The Horrors’ new record Primary Colours to The Quietus as the best of the year. Express Night Out talks to frontman Faris Badwan. They’ll be at the Phoenix next Thursday opening for The Kills.

MP3: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”

Exclaim talks to Eugene Kelly of The Vaselines. The double-disc retrospective Enter The Vaselines will be out on Tuesday and they’re making a rare live appearance at Lee’s Palace on May 15.

MP3: The Vaselines – “Son Of A Gun”

John Vanderslice will take his Romanian Names out on tour immediately following its May 19 release and that includes a July 10 date at The Horseshoe.

Support for the ‘Slice for that show will be Cotton Jones, who essentially used to be Page France. Their debut album is Paranoid Cocoon. Rolling Stone has a feature on the band.

MP3: Cotton Jones – “Gotta Cheer Up”
MP3: Cotton Jones – “Blood Red Sentimental Blues”

British funk-soul outfit The Heavy have a date at Supermarket on June 26.

MP3: The Heavy – “Colleen”

Maximo Park will be coming to North America in support of Quicken The Heart, out May 12, for this Fall. Toronto, circle September 19 at Lee’s Palace on your calendar. Singer Paul Smith talks football and memories with BBC.

Video: Maximo Park – “The Kids Are Sick Again”

The first MP3 from Dinosaur Jr’s new album Farm, out June 23, is now available to grab. Bassist Lou Barlow talks about the new record with The Times Dispatch.

MP3: Dinosaur Jr – “I Want You To Know”

Metric’s Emily Haines gives Drowned In Sound a guide to Buenos Aires.

In case you missed it, Wilco have confirmed both the title (Wilco (The Album) and release date (June 30) for their next album. And to start the anticipation build-up, the band are giving away a non-album track – a Woody Guthrie tune – and asking that you make a donation to the Woody Guthrie Foundation & Archives in exchange. Honour system, yo.