Frank YangYou’re not wrong, it really had been forever since Low last headlined a show in Toronto – well over five years, to be exact. It may not have seemed that long, what with them having been here supporting Wilco at Massey Hall in July 2007 and Alan Sparhawk having brought his Retribution Gospel Choir through town a number of times in the interim, but yes. Low sightings in Toronto have been, well, low.

The drought finally ended on Monday night at the Mod Club, however, with Duluth’s finest in town to support their latest effort C’Mon, their first in four years and that, I suppose, is all the explanation you’d need for why they haven’t visited. And as a return, it feels like a “where we’ve been” over the last decade or so. It predominantly resembles 2002’s Trust, with its warm, organic tones and relatively unadorned production, but you don’t have to dig too deep to uncover some of The Great Destroyer‘s overt rock moves or Drums And Guns‘ dark and crushing paranoia. It’s noteworthy that while that sequence of records confused and alienated much of their long-time fanbase – but won new devotees – blended together as they are on C’Mon they actually make a lot of sense and as such, it might be their most broadly satisfying record in some time.

Support for the evening were local dreampop ensemble and recent Sub Pop signees Memoryhouse. I first saw them back in December and while I liked much of what they were doing musically, those who criticized their live performances as being rather sleepy had a point. Perhaps in response, the Memoryhouse who took the stage on this evening were a full and proper band, with a rhythm section joining principals Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion and made for a still low key but more confident band up there than the one I saw a few months ago. Nouvion, in particular, was clearly more comfortable in the role of frontwoman, even working some dance steps into the show. And while this configuration certainly did what one would hope, filled out the sound and gave it some weight, it also made them more conventional-sounding; not necessarily a bad thing, but when there was all that space, it left more to the imagination. But even so, as a preview of their debut full-length due out before the end of the year, it ably demonstrated why one of the premier record labels around would be so keen to get them under contract. I look forward to seeing and hearing them grow.

Ask people what they’d expect a Low show to sound like and they’d probably respond with one or all of: slow, solemn, with beautiful harmonies from Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker and maybe a guitar freakout or ten. But handclaps and drum machines? Maybe not so much. So that their show opened exactly so with “Breaker” would serve as notice that the evening might not be so predictable. Okay, it was still all of the things noted above, but still surprising in a number of respects, not least of all that they were here as a quartet with Sparhawk’s compatriots from the Retribution Gospel Choir on bass on keys. But most significant was that despite having released their warmest-sounding record in years and playing just about all of it over the course of the show, live it took on a decidedly different character. It was slower, starker and aside from a few moments of lightness, if you hadn’t heard the record you might have thought the band was continuing on with the grim Drums And Guns aesthetic.

Perhaps the tension was just reflecting on the unspoken mood of the crowd, what with this being federal election night and the returns coming in over the course of their set not reflecting what the presumably left-leaning audience would have liked to see. Adding to the atmosphere was the fact that Sparhawk didn’t speak a word to the audience through the entire show, and only then because he flubbed the intro to their final song. At that point he chastised his own country for taking to the streets to celebrate an assassination and lauded ours, only to be informed that we might not be far behind – at which point they closed out, perhaps appropriately given the topics of conversation, with “Murderer”. The encore offered a bit of uplift, with Sparhawk not so subtly inquiring as to where one might acquire some pot and dedicating to us “Canada” before closing things out with a grand reading of “When I Go Deaf”, offering a most welcome bit of a catharsis and making the next four years – whether until the next election or when Low finally return again – seem just a bit more bearable.

The National Post has a review of the show, while The Boston Globe and New Haven Advocate have interviews. The Alternate Side has an interview and session.

Photos: Low, Memoryhouse @ The Mod Club – May 2, 2011
MP3: Low – “Especially Me”
MP3: Low – “Try To Sleep”
MP3: Low – “Silver Rider”
MP3: Low – “Murderer”
MP3: Low – “Breaker”
MP3: Low – “California”
MP3: Low – “Monkey”
MP3: Low – “In Metal”
MP3: Low – “Sunflower”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Troisieme)”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “Gian Lorenzo Bernini”
Video: Low – “Try To Sleep”
Video: Low – “Belarus”
Video: Low – “In Silence”
Video: Low – “Breaker”
Video: Low – “California”
Video: Low – “Death Of A Salesman”
Video: Low – “Monkey”
Video: Low – “Hatchet”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Heirloom”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Bonfire”
Video: Memoryhouse – “Lately (Deuxieme)”

The disappointment at there not being any local dates for the Archers Of Loaf reunion has been mitigated somewhat by the fact that Eric Bachmann is still coming to town this Summer – he is bringing Crooked Fingers to the Horseshoe on July 3, tickets $13.50. Who knows what they’ll be playing – a new record is due out sometime this year – or even who’s in the band, but happiness is still the correct response. Update: The new record is called Breaks in the Armor and it’s out in October.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Angelina”

Urge Overkill are readying their first new record in pretty much forever with Rock & Roll Submarine, out next week, and are coming to town for the first time since NXNE 2007. Look for them and their medallions at The Horseshoe on July 7, tickets $15.50. Illinois Entertainer and Music Radar have feature pieces on the band’s return.

Video: Urge Overkill – “Positive Bleeding”

Cold Cave – last seen (or not seen given their fondness for playing in the dark) opening up for The Kills this past weekend – have scheduled a headlining date at The Horseshoe on July 14 as part of a Summer tour, tickets $15.

MP3: Cold Cave – “Villains Of The Moon”
MP3: Cold Cave – “The Great Pan Is Dead”
Video: Cold Cave – “Villains Of the Moon”

Sonny & The Sunsets bring their new record Hit After Hit to Sneaky Dee’s on July 24.

MP3: Sonny & The Sunsets – “I Wanna Do It”
Video: Sonny & The Sunsets – “Reflections On Youth”

Acknowledging that making people choose between themselves and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart show at The Opera House on the same evening, Beirut and Owen Pallett & Les Mouches have added an August 4 show at the Phoenix to go along with the previously announced and sold out August 2 show at the same venue. Tickets are again $32.50 and will again surely sell out.

MP3: Beirut – “Postcards From Italy”
MP3: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”

Continuing their mandate of only playing with other bands who are nonsensical clubs, Two Door Cinema Club are teaming up with Bombay Bicycle Club for a Fall North American tour that includes a September 17 stop at The Phoenix. Joining them will be The Lonely Forest, who have apparently convinced the other two that they are also a club. Or maybe just have a clubhouse.

MP3: The Lonely Forest – “Coyote”
Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know”
Video: Bombay Bicycle Club – “My God”

Kings Of Leon have made an October 11 date at the Air Canada Centre with Band Of Horses supporting.

MP3: Band Of Horses – “Factory”
Video: Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”

Mick RockFor those of us who’ve become accustomed to the all-encompassing scale, splendour and chaos of that grandaddy of all club-level music festivals – that’s SxSW, in case you were wondering – It can be kind of fun to pick on the Toronto versions CMW/CMF and NXNE for, essentially, not being South-by. It’s not a fair comparison by any means, but it’s inevitable. We’ve had to check those darts and break out some laurels in recent years, however, as both fests have made significant improvements in terms of organization, public relations and most importantly, bookings. NxNE, in particular, has been wise in making use of the public space at Yonge-Dundas Square to get right in the faces of Toronto for the middle of June and make it feel like much more of a major city event, instead of one of many things going on in the Big Smoke at a given time. They started out with modestly interesting day shows but as of a couple years ago, began booking some of the biggest names of the fest there for shows that were completely open to the public. That is how you build good will.

And with the initial announcement of artists coming to town from June 17 to 20, they’ve really kind of outdone themselves. The big coup is clearly Iggy & The Stooges, who will play for free at Yonge-Dundas Square on the evening of June 19, and the punk legends set the tone for many of the other names announced yesterday, many of whom come from the big, loud and sloppy side of the tracks. Obviously the actual schedule is still a ways away, but some digging has revealed at least some of the when and where of some of the acts playing the festival – just to give you a taste of some of the tough choices that the Toronto club-hopper will have to make (besides the obvious one of Iggy vs Pavement/Broken Social Scene). These are not complete and are subject to change, but do come from legitimate sources.

Thursday, June 17 2010
X, Mudhoney @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Warpaint, Free Energy, Elliott Brood @ The Horseshoe
The Besnard Lakes, Young Galaxy @ The Mod Club
HEALTH, Gold Panda, Indian Jewelry @ Sneaky Dee’s

Friday, June 18 2010
Sloan @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Man… Or Astro-Man?, Mudhoney @ The Horseshoe
AA Bondy, Simone Felice, Avi Buffalo @ The Great Hall
Japandroids, Wavves @ Lee’s Palace
Inlets @ TBA

Saturday, June 19 2010
Iggy & The Stooges, Wavves @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Quintron & Miss Pussycat, JEFF The Brotherhood @ The Garrison
Cold Cave, Avi Buffalo @ Lee’s Palace

Sunday, June 20 2010
De La Soul, Kid Sister, Phenomenal Handclap Band @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)

And playing free shows at Yonge-Dundas at some point during the week will be The Raveonettes and Surfer Blood, while confirmed but still without a date or venue are Les Savvy Fav, Thee Oh Sees, The Soft Pack and The Strange Boys, amongst many, many others. And these are just the “bigger” names – by June, surely there’ll be a whole new batch of buzz bands to complain about being booked into undersized venues. Such is the joy of NXNE. But at least it will be warm.

Elsewhere and/or elsewhen. Rae Spoon has just released the thereisafire EP as a preview of his new record Love is A Hunter, due out in August. The EP is available to download for free and he will be at the Holy Oak in Toronto on Friday night, April 16, for a show.

MP3: Rae Spoon – “Come On Forest Fire” (CPI Remix)
MP3: Rae Spoon – “There Is A Light”
ZIP: Rae Spoon / thereisafire

Her time as a Decemberist at an end, at least for now, Shara Worden is returning to work as My Brightest Diamond and will be at the El Mocambo on May 4, presumably to showcase material from the follow-up to 2008’s A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Tickets for that show are $10.50 in advance.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Inside A Boy”
MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “The Diamond”

Local heroes-in-waiting Zeus have set a date at the Mod Club for May 27. Tickets for that will be $12 in advance.

MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”

Blitzen Trapper have added a Toronto date to the end of their North American tour in support of their new record Destroyer Of The Void, due out June 8. Look for them on August 3 at the Opera House, accompanied by Avi Buffalo who – with their two NxNE shows – are going to be hanging around Toronto a lot this Summer.

MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Heaven & Earth”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “What’s In It For?”

Dan Snaith of Caribou talks to Chart about new album Swim, out April 20. Caribou play the Phoenix on May 3.

MySpace Transmissions has a watchable/listenable/downloadable session with Broken Bells. They are at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 2.

A second MP3 from The National’s High Violet is now available. The record is out May 11. They play Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

MP3: The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”

Filter gets to know She & Him; they have a sold-out show at The Phoenix on June 9.

BBC6 talks to Ryan Monroe of Band Of Horses about their new record Infinite Arms, from which they’re previewing another new track on their website. The record is in stores on May 18 and they play the Toronto Island Concert on June 19.

Mother Jones and Spinner talk to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, who’ve just released a new video. Yeah, it’s weird.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “Powerless”

Josh Ritter previews his new record So Runs The World Away via Daytrotter session. The record is out May 4.

Le Blogotheque is hosting a Take-Away Show with Megafaun.

aux.tv Q&As Liz Powell from Land Of Talk, who also stopped in at Explore Music to perform a Big Star cover.

Video: Land Of Talk – “Thirteen” (live at Exploremusic)

Woodpigeon have a video for the title track of their new Spirehouse EP, which also appeared on Die Stadt Muzikanten. You can download the song for free in exchange for your email at Bandcamp.

Video: Woodpigeon – “Spirehouse”

OMG Blog has premiered a new video from Gentleman Reg for his cover of Stevie Nicks’ “Wild Heart” from his Heavy Head EP.

Video: Gentleman Reg – “Wild Heart”

Forest City Lovers have christened album number three as Carriage. Look for it around July.

Frank YangI don’t know exactly when I became a Joanna Newsom fan. Though I’d certainly heard people talk about her, my first exposure to her music wasn’t through either of her first two records but by seeing her live on her first visit to Toronto in October 2006 – a breathtaking performance that had me picking up The Milk-Eyed Mender almost immediately thereafter and the follow-up Ys when it came out later that year, but even then I didn’t listen to them all that much. They were my go-to records for when I was in the mood for ornate and expansive, harp-led folk music, sure, but for some reason that wasn’t that often.

Even so, I was still amongst those who picked up her new triple-album Have One On Me on the day of release, and while you’d think that two hours of Joanna Newsom for anyone less than a fanatic would be overwhelming, I instead found it surprisingly immersive and immediate. It’s less quirky than Mender and less epic than Ys, but to my ears, more fully realized. Whereas the talking points for her earlier records focused on her unusual voice or the elaborate orchestrations that adorned her compositions, the only thing worth talking about on Have One On Me is the songs themselves. It’s as though she’s developed enough confidence in her craft to no longer hide behind an affected singing style or lush orchestrations, and though on paper it makes her more conventional, the sheer quality of the work makes that complaint null and void. If I wasn’t a huge Joanna Newsom fan before hearing Have One On Me, I certainly was by the time side 6 hit the runout groove.

As such, I fit right in with the rest of sold-out crowd packed into the Phoenix on Saturday night, breathlessly awaiting her first appearance in Toronto in three and a half years. And waiting. It was at least 20 minutes past her scheduled start time before the curtains were drawn back and her band’s setup revealed. Whereas her last visit was just her solo, this time she brought a five-piece backing band – drums, horn, strings and guitar – to help recreate the arrangements on the record and she herself would start things off not at her signature harp, but the grand piano. Leading off with “Easy”, Newsom managed the impressive feat of utterly silencing 1000 people as she played, all of whom were hanging on every note she played, every word she sang.

After a trio of songs on the piano – and after the allotted time for photography was over, hence the piano-only gallery – Newsom moved to the harp for “In California” and remained there for the remainder of the set. For all the elegance of the music, the first part of the set was marked by some endearingly grounded interaction from Newsom and her band. She forgot the words to “The Book Of Right-On” and then took an extended break to tune her harp, leaving drummer Neal Morgan to chat with the crowd, answer questions and generally buy time. Time which would turn out to be at a premium, as the Phoenix’s looming curfew would put a hard cap on the proceedings. Getting back down to business, they played “No Provenance” and the title track from the new record before closing with the sole Ys cut, “Emily”. Everything was uniformly gorgeous-sounding, the Phoenix never sounding better. The only source of disappointment on the evening was that it ended at 9PM, though after some (myself included) had left – the house lights and music were on! – the stalwarts managed to call Newsom and her band back for an encore. I’m sorry I missed that reading of “Baby Birch”, but it in no way diminishes the hour of music I did get to take in. Just as I said after her last show…. Amazing.

The National Post, The Globe & Mail, Exclaim and Chart all have reviews of the show and share the complaint that the set was too short. I agree, but would point out that Newsom’s Mod Club show wasn’t more than an hour long and while I’ve never played a harp, I imagine it’s pretty fatiguing – especially for 10-minute stretches whilst singing. She was toweling herself off after the more sprawling numbers. I don’t know if she does especially long shows, curfew or not? Maybe we’ll find out when her show in Washington DC on March 23 is webcast live on NPR.

Photos: Joanna Newsom @ The Phoenix – March 13, 2010
Video: Joanna Newsom – “The Sprout & The Bean”

Gibson Guitars talks to Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers about his guitars (natch) and just-released new album The Big To-Do, currently streaming at Spinner – who also have an interview. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 6 and 7 and were, curiously, the pre-show music over the PA at the Joanna Newsom show. Maybe they were late taking the stage because she was playing air guitar to Southern Rock Opera.

Stream: Drive-By Truckers / The Big To-Do

New York drone merchants Cold Cave have a date at Wrongbar on June 19.

MP3: Cold Cave – “Theme From Tomorrowland”
MP3: Cold Cave – “Laurels Of Erotomania”
MP3: Cold Cave – “Life Magazine”
Video: Cold Cave – “Life Magazine”

Pitchfork has a feature interview with Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel of She & Him, whose new album Volume Two is streaming in its entirety over at NPR, a week before its March 23 release. They play The Phoenix on June 9.

Stream: She & Him / Volume Two

Wye Oak will be releasing a new EP entitled My Neighbor / My Creator on June 8, and are sharing a first MP3 from said release. They’re hitting the road with Shearwater this Spring and will be at Lee’s Palace with them on April 1.

MP3: Wye Oak – “I Hope You Die”

Billboard talks to Spoon drummer Jim Eno. They play The Sound Academy on March 29.

4AD has details of what’s sure to be one of the coolest Record Store Day specials this year – a live concert DVD from The Mountain Goats wherein John Darnielle performs The Life Of The World To Come in its entirety.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Ted Leo.

Magnet kicks off a week of handing the editorial reins to Miles Kurosky, whose solo debut The Desert Of Shallow Effects is out now.

Check out the new video from Retribution Gospel Choir.

Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Workin’ Hard”

NPR has a Tiny Desk Concert with The Antlers. They’re opening up for The National at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

And speaking of The National, Pitchfork has details on their new one High Violet, due out May 11 including cover art and tracklisting.

New Hot Chip video! They’re at the Kool Haus on April 20.

Video: Hot Chip – “I Feel Better”

The Quietus talks to Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant.

Spinner talks to Swedish duo First Aid Kit. They’re at the Rivoli on June 12.

Serena-Maneesh, whose new record S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor comes out March 23, talk to Spinner. They play the Great Hall on April 2.

Exclaim talks to John K Samson of The Weakerthans, whose Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre is out next week and streaming right now at Exclaim. They play an in-store at Sonic Boom on March 25 and a proper show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 26.

Stream: The Weakerthans / Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre

The Toronto date for Lilith Fair has been announced – it’s happening July 24 at the Molson Amphitheatre. I had been saying that if we got the right combination of acts from the pool of talent already announced to be participating, it could be good. Well so far, we have not.

And y’all will excuse me as I immerse myself in South By South Nonsense for the next few days – trip down was completely uneventful, which was all I hoped for, and though it’s a touch cooler here in ATX than I’d like (or have packed for), it’s gonna be a good time.