Jesse DylanI promised you I was done with Iceland updates, and really you don’t get more un-Icelandic than Tom Waits. Of course, the only thing Tom Waits is really like is, well, Tom Waits and even then one era of Waits can be wildly different from the next. I say this as someone who’s only very recently begun exploring his expansive catalog and still has a long ways to go – but at least now I find his work intriguing rather than off-putting, as I once did. That’s progress.

I’m definitely glad to be coming around in time for the release of Bad As Me next Tuesday, his first album of all-new material in seven years. It’s available to stream right now at badasme.com if you’ve got an invite code and at first listen it sounds like a pretty good balance of out-there stompers and barstool laments. It’ll take some time but I can see myself getting into this. And if Waits elects to tour for this record and come to Toronto for the first time in what, at least a decade? Double bonus. I hear his performances are incomparable.

There’s interviews with Waits about the new record at Pitchfork, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and if you want to give Bad Like Me an advance listen, I’ve got five invite codes to hand out. They’re meant for friends but hey – you guys are my friends. Whoever you are. And if none of these codes work for you, I guess you’re too late… or you’re not my friend. Either way.

3vb-rhuym | 3cb-w6v03 | 6ob-gd8lz | l4b-6340m | ozb-p31m4

Stream: Tom Waits – “Back In The Crowd”
Stream: Tom Waits – “Bad As Me”
Stream: Tom Waits / Bad As Me

Rolling Stone is streaming the final R.E.M. single, taken from their forthcoming career-ending best-of Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011, out November 15. For their part, Spin has dug up some video footage of the band playing Neil Young’s Bridge School benefit in 1998.

Stream: R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong”

NPR and CMT talk reunions with The Jayhawks.

NPR solicits a Tiny Desk Concert from Wilco.

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, who caught some ears last year with a swinging soul cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”, will be in Toronto on November 29 for a free show at The Horseshoe – that’s the same night as Kathryn Calder, so that’s double the reason to not stay home that night. Their new album Want More is out Tuesday but available to stream now at Paste.

MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Everything Will Be Fine”
Video: JC Brooks Uptown Sound – “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”
Stream: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound / Want More

Stuff talks Galaxie 500 with Dean Wareham.

The AV Club and Edmonton Journal interview Ryan Adams, in town at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 10.

Blurt talks to Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers while The AV Club has one more rooftop performance video to share. They play The Drake Underground on November 8.

Dead Meadow will warm up for their show at Lee’s Palace later that evening with an acoustic in-store at the Annex location of Sonic Boom on October 24 at 4PM. The Pitch has an interview.

MP3: Dead Meadow – “Good Moanin”

Spinner, North County Times and Willamette Week talk to Stephen Malkmus, who has released a new video from Mirror Traffic.

Video: Stephen Malkmus – “Senator”

Matt Berninger of The National puts together a playlist of sad songs for dirty lovers for Rolling Stone.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with Beirut.

The Georgia Straight profiles The Head & The Heart.

Pitchfork reports that Mazzy Star, after many years of saying they were back together, finally have something to show for it in the form of two new songs entitled “Common Burn” and “Lay Myself Down”, due to be released digitally on October 31.

The Washingtonian and DCist talks to Mary Timony PopMatters to Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag while NPR has got a stream of last night’s show in Washington DC.

Ume have released a new video from their recently-released album Phantoms.

Video: Ume – “Captive”

CBS gets to know Savoir Adore, who are releasing a new 7″ single. Details can be found at Neon Gold and the A-side can be downloaded below.

MP3: Savoir Adore – “Dreamers”

Windish AgencyI’ve no doubt that Dayve Hawk loathes the term/scene/epithet “chillwave” that was attached to his musical identity of Memory Tapes when he emerged last year, and fairly so – its connotations were rarely positive, or at least applied without some snark, and many of the acts who would been considered his peers were kind of terrible. But if I hadn’t done the cursory, “so what the hell is this all about” investigation, I might not have ever heard his debut Seek Magic and that would have been a shame.

Though it technically passed the chillwave checklist test – homemade dreamy textures made with burbling synths and ’80s electropop echoes – Seek Magic possessed a degree of craftsmanship and songwriting that lifted it well above the also-rans. And the fact that he made it compelling in live performance, as I saw at SXSW 2010, confirmed that while it was probably safe to ignore anything bearing the aforementioned metatag, Memory Tapes deserved to stay on my radar.

The just-released second Memory Tapes record Player Piano takes everything that was good about Seek Magic and reinforces it, offering stronger songs, sharper hooks and less instrumental haze. The guitars still shimmer and echo and Hawke’s voice remains high and pleasantly pinched, but the overall experience is just bigger, in both dynamics and sonic scope – some of Player Piano is M83-scale ambitious. I do find myself wishing there was a little more weight in the low end, be it in the drums or bass, to give it that extra bit of presence but that’s a minor complaint and weighed against Player Piano‘s many merits, a negligible one. File under one of the best dream-pop records you’ll likely hear this year.

Memory Tapes is currently on tour and will be at Wrongbar in Toronto on August 13. Tickets for the show are $12 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I have two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Memory Tapes” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, August 10.

SF Weekly has an interview with Dayve Hawk.

MP3: Memory Tapes – “Wait In The Dark”
MP3: Memory Tapes – “Today Is Our Life”
Video: Memory Tapes – “Yes We Know”

After some time off turned into a hiatus turned into a disbandment, James Mercer and a new passel of bandmates have reconvened as The Shins and while a new record won’t be out until next year, there will be some Fall tour dates to get folks reacquainted and one of them is September 22 at The Phoenix in Toronto. Ticket prices still TBA but they’ll go on sale Friday.

MP3: The Shins – “So Says I”
MP3: The Shins – “Kissing The Lipless”

Everyone’s favourite family-friendly hip-hop collective Odd Future are coming back to town as part of a massive Fall tour that will allow them to get up close and personal with their fans, and possibly kick them in the faces. The Toronto date comes October 16 at the Sound Academy. Interview has a talk with Wolf Gang leader Tyler The Creator and the collective are featured on the cover of this month’s Exclaim

Video: Tyler The Creator – “Yonkers”

The Black Angels will be back in town at Lee’s Palace on October 24 with Dead Meadow; both are continuing to work 2010 releases – the former with Phosphene Dream and the latter with Three Kings.

MP3: The Black Angels – “Telephone”
MP3: Dead Meadow – “Good Moanin'”

New York DFA-affiliated electro-poppers Holy Ghost! will be at 69 Bathurst on November 1 in support of their self-titled debut.

MP3: Holy Ghost! – “Do It Again”
MP3: Holy Ghost! – “I Will Come Back”
MP3: Holy Ghost! – “Wait & See”

Wears The Trousers interviews Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs. She plays Lee’s Palace on September 24.

Spin finds out some of Mates Of State’s favourite things. The indie-pop duo are readying their latest album Mountaintops for a September 13 release and will be at The Phoenix on September 28.

They Shoot Music has a video session with Wye Oak, who will be at The Sound Academy on October 7 opening up for Explosions In The Sky.

My Morning Jacket have released a video from their latest record Circuital.

Video: My Morning Jacket – “Holdin’ On To Black Metal”

Pitchfork has got a nice Yours Truly-shot video of EMA at the recent Pitchfork Festival.

Magnet Q&As Richard Buckner in advance of making him their website guest editor for the week.

The Montreal Gazette, Boston Herald, Detroit Free Press and Tourisme Montreal talk to members of Death Cab For Cutie.

Chris GergleyOne of my very favourite developments in the Toronto music scene over the past few years has been the rise of the in-store performance – whereas not so long ago there were maybe just a handful a year, they’re now occurring all the time at most of the independent record stores in the city and featuring bigger and bigger acts. Not only is it giving fans the opportunity to see artists in an intimate setting, it’s also often the only chance for underagers to see them live. And while I’ve often bemoaned the lack of a day show culture during either of the two major music festivals during the year, in-stores have done a good job of adding that extra layer of excitement to the official proceedings, with most stores hosting at least a few events during the weeks of festivities.

And Criminal Records is doing a good job of keeping that trend going through this year’s Canadian Musicfest. In addition to the triple-bill of Aidan Knight, Dan Mangan and Hollerado on Saturday March 13, announced last week, they’ve landed The Besnard Lakes to perform on March 10 at 6:30PM, their first show post-release of their new record The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night the day before. Their official festival showcase goes the following night, March 11, at the Horseshoe at midnight. Jace Lasek of the band talks to The Fly, Chart and Exclaim about the new record, which is epic. But with the Besnards, epic kind of goes without saying.

MP3: The Besnard Lakes – “Albatross”

Further, their Friday night lineup will kick off at 5PM and feature locals faves The Balconies and Calgary’s Ghostkeeper. The Balconies’ official Canadian Musicfest show is at 9:20PM the Horseshoe on Saturday night while Ghostkeeper can be found on the 11th at Bread & Circus at 11PM and the 12th at The Garrison at 8PM.

MP3: The Balconies – “Serious Bedtime”
MP3: Ghostkeeper – “By Morning”

And a reminder that Kurt Vile is playing at Criminal tonight at 6:30PM. eye, hour.ca and NOW have interviews.

Not presently hosting anything during CMF but also not being left out is Sonic Boom, who’ve got some different but exciting fare lineup next week. On March 3, time TBA, they’ll have Malian legends Tinariwen in the house and the next evening at 6:30PM, Tuvan throat singers Huun Huur Tu will perform. Admission is free with the donation of a canned good. Tinariwen will be at the Phoenix on March 4 and Huun Huur Tu will be at the Mod Club on March 5. The Province has a feature piece on Tinariwen.

Video: Tinariwen – “Lulla”

Soundscapes’ upcoming in-store schedule has only one entry, but it’s a good one – Zeus on March 6 at 6PM. They’re the co-cover boys of this month’s Exclaim, alongside sometime bandleader and tourmate Jason Collett, while Metro has a piece on Zeus alone. Both are at Lee’s Palace on March 10.

Filter has some initial impressions of Born Ruffians’ new album Say It, due June 1 on Paper Bag in Canada and Warp elsewhere – check out the first MP3 below. They’ve got a show at the Phoenix on March 14.

MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”

CBC, Vue, FFWD and The Gateway profile Basia Bulat.

PopMatters has not one but two interviews with The Hidden Cameras.

Singing Lamb chats with Gentleman Reg.

The Music Slut asks 8 questions of Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham. They play the Opera House tonight.

California girl Best Coast, recently named by Paste as one of the “Best Of What’s Next”, is hitting the road and has a date at The Garrison on April 13. We All Want Someone To Shout For has an interview with Beth Cosentino.

Los Angeles post-rockers Red Sparrowes are at The Garrison on April 17 presenting their new album The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer, which is out April 6.

MP3: Red Sparrowes – “Giving Birth To Imagined Saviors”

Dead Meadow have a date at Lee’s Palace on April 22. Their new record/soundtrack/film Three Kings is out March 23.

MP3: Dead Meadow – “I’m Gone”
MP3: Dead Meadow – “What Needs Must Be”

With the Sex Pistols reunion perhaps providing diminishing returns, John Lydon has kicked Public Image LTD back into gear. A North American tour has been announced and brings them to the Kool Haus in Toronto on May 7.

Video: Public Image Ltd – “(This Is Not A) Love Song”

Massive Attack are bringing their latest Heligoland across the pond for a North American tour which will kick off with two nights in Toronto at the Sound Academy, May 7 and 9. On the 8th, they will be going to Dave & Busters to play skee-ball.

Video: Massive Attack – “Paradise Circus”
Video: Massive Attack – “Splitting The Atom”

Thee Silver Mount Zion will take their new record Kollaps Tradixionales out on tour with a stop at Lee’s Palace on May 29, tickets $15.

MP3: Thee Silver Mount Zion – “I Built Myself A Metal Bird” (Live VIdeo Version)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will play the Air Canada Centre on August 25 with Crosby Stills & Nash. I’ve never seen Tom Petty live. I should do something about that. Their new album Mojo is due out this Spring.