Frank YangOne thing I’ve never understood about the festive season: all the pop cultural gestures we use to celebrate the Winter – the songs, the movies, what have you – are invariably pegged to Christmas or thereabouts, and that’s basically all over a week after the season formally begins. Which means we spend the next three months mired in dark, snowy, slushy despair with no sort of mental respite whatsoever.

Fucked Up apparently understand, and are trying to do something about it with what they’ve dubbed Long Winter. Not, as the name might imply, a John Roderick collaboration – though come on how awesome would that be – but a concert series that vaguely follows in the footsteps of last year’s holiday season charity two–night stand at The Great Hall.

It’s being described as, “a monthly night of immersive and interactive music, installations, visual art, readings, food, and dance to help Toronto get through our long and cold Winter” and the first edition goes November 9 at The Great Hall – circle December 14, January 11, and February 8 for subsequent editions – and will feature live performances from Fucked Up – natch – as well as Diana, the disco-pop intersection of Army Girls’ Carmen Elle and Destroyer’s Joseph Shabason, and pre-teen rockers Unfinished Business. Admission is pay what you can.

BlogTO talked to Fucked Up’s Mike Haliechuk about what they hope to do with the series. He also talked about it with Exclaim back in September when the broad strokes of the series was first announced.

MP3: Fucked Up – “I Hate Summer”
MP3: DIANA – “Born Again”

The release of Diamond Rings’ second album Free Dimensional is almost upon us, and Hype Machine has the record streaming in its entirety before it’s out next Tuesday. The hometown release show for the record goes November 29 at The Mod Club and there’s interviews at The Columbia Tribune, Idolator, Exclaim, and Death & Taxes.

MP3: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”
Stream: Diamond Rings / Free Dimensional

Toronto’s blues-punk outfit July Talk are have just released their self-titled debut and are streaming the whole thing over at Exclaim. They’re at The Horseshoe tomorrow night, October 19.

Stream: July Talk / July Talk

Vancouver’s Pink Mountaintops are heading out on a Fall tour that hits The Garrison on December 11, tickets $15.

MP3: Pink Mountaintops – “Rock’N’Roll Fantasy”
MP3: Pink Mountaintops – “New Drug Queens”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Patrick Watson.

Clash has a feature piece on Cold Specks, who has been added as support for Adam Cohen at Trinity-St. Paul’s on October 25.

The Halifax Chronicle Herald talks to Purity Ring, whose song featuring Danny Brown which was made available to stream a little while ago is now available to download, if carrying it around is your speed. Also, their February 1 show at The Phoenix has just been mad an all-ages affair – celebrate/despair as you see fit.

MP3: Purity Ring w Danny Brown – “Belispeak II”

Neil Young has popped another video out of Psychedelic Pill, which is October 30. He rides Crazy Horse into The Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Video: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Twisted Road”

PenguinThe 2012 Polaris Music Prize gets awarded tonight, so in honour of the occasion, here’s a bunch of maple-flavoured content led off by a Canadian icon who hasn’t lived in Canada in some 40-plus years. Yeah!

If you have some time to kill and an interest in who Neil Young is circa 2012, you could do worse than to spend it with this feature piece at The New York Times. It covers his current relationship with alcohol and drugs – there is none – as well as his new record with Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill, his new digital audio format Pono, and why he decided to write an autobiography after insisting that he never would. Those memoirs, Waging Heavy Peace, comes out tomorrow – September 25 – and Psychedelic Pill is due out a month later on October 30. Neil leads the band into the Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Following up with news blips from some shortlisters, both this year and past… Feist may be ramping down the touring in support of last year’s Metals, but she’s ramping up the session videos – there’s a Les soiree de poches set at Le Blogotheque and From The Basement

CBC Music talks to Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, who also have some new music to hear in the form of their soundtrack contributions to the Mark Of The Ninja video game. They play The Great Hall this Friday night for PBR10.

Stream: Yamantaka//Sonic Titan / Mark & Blade

Spinner talks to Kathleen Edwards about her Polaris odds.

NPR has a w World Cafe session and BlogTO an interview with Cold Specks.

Fucked Up tells Spinner they’d like to have Drake up there with them for tonight’s Polaris performance. They won’t, but they’d like it.

Metro talks to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers.

The Boston Globe profiles Metric.

Julie Doiron has announced a new studio album in So Many Days, due out October 23. She’s released a first MP3 from the record and will be playing live on October 14, opening for Ben Gibbard at the Danforth Music Hall, and then October 30 at The Mod club supporting Grapes Of Wrath.

MP3: Julie Doiron – “By The Lake”

Spinner talks to The Sadies about backing Neil Young on their contribution to 2010’s Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of The Band. Yeah, two years ago. Whatevs.

You Say Party! talk to Exclaim and The Vancouver Sun about their return to active duty, starting this Saturday night at The Great Hall for PBR10.

Olenka & The Autumn Lovers have readied a new mini-album entitled Hard Times, and given it an October 2 release date. You can stream one of the new songs now.

Stream: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers – “Don’t Make Sense”

The Bomber Jacket talks to Kat Burns of Kashka, playing a record release show for her debut Vichada at The Drake on October 5.

BrooklynVegan has an interview with METZ, who’ve released a second MP3 from their self-titled debut. It’s out October 9 and they’re at The Horseshoe to mark its release on October 12.

MP3: METZ – “Wet Blanket”

A second MP3 from A.C. Newman’s forthcoming Shut Down The Streets is available to download. It’s out October 9 and he kicks off the tour in support of it October 21 at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: A.C. Newman – “Encyclopedia Of Classic Takedowns”

Toronto’s July Talk – whom you may recall impressing me at at CMF earlier this year – have put out a video from their self-titled debut album, due October 16.

Video: July Talk – “Paper Girl”

Both Spinner and A Heart Is A Spade have feature interviews with Diamond Rings, who’s just announced a cross-Canada tour in support of Free Dimensional, out October 22. The Toronto date comes November 29 at The Mod Club, tickets $18.50.

MP3: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”

The Wooden Sky offers a feature piece on The Wooden Sky, who will be at The Phoenix on December 1.

Rich Aucoin has a fancy new Beach Boys-saluting video from his album We’re All Dying To Live. Toro and The Halifax Chronicle-Herald also have interviews.

Video: Rich Aucoin – “Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E.”

Loud & Quiet, The Calgary Herald, and aux.tv have interviews with Purity Ring.

aux.tv investigates the new “weird Canada” music scene bubbling up around the country.

The Globe & Mail examines how far the Polaris Prize has come in the past seven years, and what it now means for Canadian music

And a moment of silence for Sam “The Record Man” Sniderman, who passed away yesterday at 92. I spent much of my youth and my youthful allowance in his stores. Wait, did I say silence? I mean LOUDNESS.

Frank YangTo call Divine Fits and their debut, A Thing Called Divine Fits, formulaic will probably be interpreted as a slight, but it shouldn’t. The album is rather exactly the sum of its songwriting parts – half Spoon, half Handsome Furs; a taut and lean thing built on spikes of square waves – be they made by synthesizers or fuzz pedals – and beats so tight they may as well have been quantized through state-of-the-art technology (though they almost certainly weren’t).

That it’s not more magical than that is probably more the fault of those with heightened expectations of what a Britt Daniel-Dan Boeckner collaboration might sound like, and one would have to question where they got those expectations from in the first place – it’s probably safe to say that the first people who thought that Daniel and Boeckner should work together were Daniel and Boeckner. In fact, it’s more remarkable that Divine Fits is as consistent and solid as it is, considering how relatively quickly it was written and recorded, with its high points ranking amongst anything they’ve done with their other bands. Boeckner’s contributions are arguably the more potent ones, not surprising considering the circumstances in which they were written, but none of the songwriting is b-list or cast-off material.

But what may have been mathematical in the studio was more akin to alchemy on the stage. Eschewing traditional tour routing for their first shows – their debut performances were in each of the band principals’ hometowns of Austin, Montréal, and Columbus – they played their twelfth-ever show last Wednesday night at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, a day after playing Los Angeles. Both Boeckner and Daniel have played much larger rooms in the city – the former with Wolf Parade, at least – so it was less a surprise that the room was fairly jammed than the fact that it wasn’t completely sold out.

As a band boasting the two lankiest frontmen in indie rock, Divine Fits have a striking visual presence, made moreso by their decision to dress with Boeckner in all black and Daniel in all white, sartorial etiquette be damned. And while they contrasted visually, live the complimentary nature of their musical aesthetics was so much more pronounced. Swapping guitar and bass duties as well as lead vocals – sometimes touring keyboardist Alex Fischel would cover on bass when a double-guitar attack was needed – they brought a strut and swagger to the show, but also a sincere sense of gratitude for everyone coming to see them – they didn’t take peoples’ attention for granted based on their past works. And while it was impossible to take your eyes off of Daniel and Boeckner, drummer Sam Brown’s contributions were surely felt. He may suffer from being the guy from the band the fewest people have heard of (though I did see someone in a New Bomb Turks t-shirt in rural Québec last weekend, so there’s that), but hearing him lay down the complex beats of the album on only acoustic drums gave the songs a more deliciously primal feel without coming at the expense of any of its rhythmic precision.

With the acoustic drums and heavier reliance on guitars than on the album, Divine Fits sounded almost uncannily Spoon-like at points, with less of the egalitarian Handsome Spoon sonic balance of the album even though it seemed that Boeckner took more lead vocal turns. They played the whole of Divine Fits with a couple of covers – The Wipers and Tom Petty – thrown in to round proceedings out to a full hour, with most songs remaining true to their recorded versions and letting the live arrangements make them into new things, energized and animated by sweat and rock’n’roll. If anyone was lukewarm on the record, the show would have made them believers and if they were already converted, it was nothing short of divine.

The National Post, Post City, and BlogTO were also at the show and have thoughts. Divine Fits are one of the music stories of the Fall, so it’s no surprise there’s feature pieces at – deep figurative breath – Spinner, NOW, JAM, Rolling Stone, The Line Of Best Fit, The National Post, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail, and CBC Radio 3.

Photos: Divine Fits @ Lee’s Palace – September 5, 2012
MP3: Divine Fits – “Would That Not Be Nice”
Stream: Divine Fits / A Thing Called Divine Fits

Rolling Stone talks to Fucked Up about the success of David Comes To Life and their plans for what comes next.

Beatroute, The Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Exclaim talk to Sloan about the twentieth anniversary of Twice Removed and their plans – tour and reissue – to mark the occasion.

Modern Superstitions have released the first MP3 from their (presumably) self-titled debut album, due out October 23, and I’d say it augurs well.

MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Bad Habit”

NPR has a video session with Diamond Rings. The new album Free Dimensional is out October 22.

Ex-Forest City Lover gone synthpop Kat Burns’ new project Kaska has released a video for the title track of her debut album Vichada, and will also play a hometown record release show for it on October 5 at The Drake, capping off a short run of Canadian shows. Dates and details available at Exclaim, and there’s an interview with Burns at Aside/Beside.

Video: Kashka – “Vichada”

The KW Record interviews Daniela Gesundheit of Snowblink about their new record Inner Classics, out tomorrow. They play the Bicycle Music Festival at Christie Pits on September 15 and have a record release show at The Music Gallery on September 27.

Stereogum, The Montreal Gazette, and Spin chat with Stars. They open for Metric at The Air Canada Centre on November 24.

Le Blogotheque presents a Take-Away Show with Cold Specks

Norman WongOkay, since I am posting this from the north of Quebec – okay, not really that north, but considerably further north than Bloor St. in Rouyn-Noranda for this year’s Festival de musique émergente – I figure this is as good a time as any to run a pretty sweet giveaway for – wait for it – The North. As in the new record from Stars, out this coming Tuesday.

Thanks to the folks at Universal Music Canada, I have numerous copies of The North to give away in both analog and digital formats – the the former, a pair of LPs on blue vinyl, and to the latter, five silver CDs. To enter, leave a comment below with your email (it will be hidden from prying eyes), album format in order of preference, and tell me the furthest north point in Canada you’ve ever been. If you want to be precise, Google will tell you the latitude of anywhere if you ask nicely. Interestingly, Rouyn-Noranda is one degree further south than Vancouver, making that my northernmost sojourn in our fine country. Anyways, the contest is open to residents of Canada only and winners will be chosen on September 15.

The North was made available to preview via NPR stream at the start of this week, but The National Post has made their hosted stream worth checking out by adding track-by-track commentary from Torq Campbell. Consequence Of Sound also talks to Campbell about the new record.

Stars open up for Metric at The Air Canada Centre on November 24.

MP3: Stars – “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It”
MP3: Stars – “The Theory Of Relativity”
Stream: Stars / The North

The Wilderness Of Manitoba’s second album Island Of Echoes will be coming out on September 18 and they’ve booked a hometown record release show at Trinity-St. Paul’s for October 26. Fancy!

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”

The Wooden Sky have been touring their latest Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun over hill and through the dale since its release back in February, and they’re bringing it back home for a show at The Phoenix on December 1, tickets $17.50.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Child Of The Valley”

Andrew Scott of Sloan lists his five favourite records of the past two decades for CBC Music. Their super-deluxe Twice Removed reissue arrives September 4.

Exclaim has some details on the next album/project/thing from Yamantaka/Sonic Titan. The 33 // 渦 rock opera will debut at Pop Montreal on September 21; no details on encore performances more local to here or a recording release, but we can hope. Their YT//ST gets a re-release on September 11.

Pitchfork talks to Grimes about the making of her latest video for “Genesis”. She plays two nights at Lee’s Palace, September 21 and 22.

How excited is Woodpigeon to be opening for Patrick Wolf on his upcoming North American tour, including September 25 at the Music Gallery? So excited that there’ll be a new, tour-only album entitled Diamonds for sale throughout the journey and they’re giving away a cover of Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s “Say Say Say”. That’s pretty excited.

MP3: Woodpigeon – “Say Say Say”

Talk Rock To Me chats with Paul Saulnier of PS I Love You. They play the Friday night of the Paper Bag Records 10th anniversary shows at The Great Hall, September 28.

Toronto Life has an extensive feature piece on Diamond Rings, and Macleans solicits some scholastic advice from John O for those just starting school. The new album Free Dimensional will be out on October 23 and to support that release, he will be on Letterman on October 26. That is bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.

Modern Superstitions’ self-titled debut album finally has a release date – it’ll be out and about on October 23.

Shad has released a video from his recent Melancholy & The Infinite Shadness mixtape.

Video: Shad – “A Milli Vanilli”

MTV lists off some things you may not have known about Coeur de Pirate.

Moonface have a new video from With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery.

Video: Moonface – “I’m Not The Phoenix Yet”

They Shoot Music has a video session with Memoryhouse.

Frank YangWe’ve certainly come a long way since late Summer, 2009 when Diamond Rings was that curious synth-pop side-project from the guy who fronted local garage-rock fixtures The D’Urbervilles (now Matters). That infectious Summer song turned into a breakout debut album in Special Affections that would take John O’Regan, his guitar and laptop and unicorn tapestry, on a glitter-and-eyeshadow-fuelled journey around the world. Quite a tale, and one that had many anxious for the sequel.

That part the second officially arrives with the release of Free Dimensional on October 23, but a small audience of industry types and fans got a sneak preview last Thursday night at the Drake Underground with a showcase that wrapped up a short US tour to road-test the new material and band. Yes, that’s right – the days of Diamond Rings being just O’Regan juggling guitar, vocal, laptop, and dance duties are a thing of the past as he’s recruited a backing band and dressed them up in matching caps, jackets, and sunglasses. The move may dismay those who loved the resolutely DIY solo setup, but it was the logical thing to do – being forced to restrict his songwriting to what he could reasonable recreate onstage on his own would have been creatively limiting and there really doesn’t exist a live act that’s not better with a full band. Fact.

O’Regan really benefitted from being freed up to fully inhabit the frontman role and decked out in an impressively shiny white leather jacket and matching jeans – oh the things you can buy with major label money – was all choreography, guitar riffs, and audience invasions – it might have been a bit familiar to those of us who’d seen The D’Urbs live, but in the Diamond Rings context made for a solid step up in live presentation. Also familiar to D’Uberville followers was Tim Bruton on guitar, though his crossover status was only a temporary one as O’Regan mentioned this would be his last gig with the band. One expects that someone else will don his coat, cap, and shades, though, because in addition to taking some of the workload off of O’Regan’s generously-padded shoulders, they really made the new material sound good – perhaps more conventional with the guitar, synth, and (electronic) drums setup, but more immediate and engaging.

Hearing how the Special Affections material would sound so arranged would have to wait for a more conventional show, as their half-hour set was all about previewing Free Dimensional. And while Diamond Rings fans who were won over by his distinctive baritone, future-first style, and danceable anthems are well attended to, long-time fans might be pleasantly surprised how much O’Regan allows his rock roots – impeccably coiffed and styled they might be – to show. At its best moments, which proudly echo the likes of Pet Shop Boys or New Order in their shine and sparkle, songs like “Runaway Love” and “I’m Just Me” make you wonder what The D’Urbs might have sounded like had O’Regan brought them along on his glam-synth journey rather than taking it solo. We might yet find out, as Matters is still technically an ongoing concern, but it’s hard to imagine O’Regan being able to trade in his Diamond Rings outfits back in for the plaid shirt and Jays cap too soon.

Diamond Rings has another local appearance on September 9 at the Sony Centre as part of Elton John’s Fashion Cares extravaganza, but those waiting for a regular, proper show will have to wait until they’re done supporting Stars across the US in September and October, but the fact that those dates wrap up right before the new record comes out can’t be a coincidence. Hometown record release show, anyone?

Exclaim was also on hand (and enjoying the hors d’oeurves), The Globe & Mail and Seattle Weekly have interviews and Boing Boing just made one of the songs from the new record available to download.

Photos: Diamond Rings @ The Drake Underground – August 23, 2012
MP3: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “Mellow Doubt”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “Something Else”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “Wait And See”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
Video: Diamond Rings – “I’m Just Me”
Video: Diamond Rings – “You And Me”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Something Else”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Show Me Your Stuff”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Wait & See”
Video: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”

Speaking of Stars, their new album The North is up to stream over at NPR. It’s out September 4 and they open up for Metric at The Air Canada Centre on November 24.

MP3: Stars – “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It”
MP3: Stars – “The Theory Of Relativity”
Stream: Stars / The North

Pitchfork talks to A.C. Newman about his new solo record Shut Down The Streets. It’s out October 9 and he plays Lee’s Palace on October 21.

Spinner chats with Dan Mangan and The Calgary Herald talks to Nils Edenloff of The Rural Alberta Advantage. The two of them play The Danforth Music Hall on October 25.

Halfway House has a video session with Patrick Watson, back in town at Massey Hall on December 6.

Rolling Stone compiles what is known about the next Neil Young & Crazy Horse album Psychedelic Pill, which is due out sometime in October. They are at The Air Canada Centre on November 24.

And not that you should need extra incentive to support HeroHill in his Ride To Conquer Cancer, but the good people at New Scotland Records are giving away to one donor a prize pack consisting of their full label catalog on CD *and* vinyl and with everything that Joel Plaskett is involved in autographed by the man himself. It’s a hell of a prize and oh yeah, you’re also helping fight cancer. You know, cancer. That thing that sucks incredibly hard.