Frank YangJust one question for everyone at Lee’s Palace for Mumford & Sons on Monday night. Where did you all come from?

This question doesn’t just come from the fact that this band – whose debut album Sigh No More was only just released in North America yesterday and who were conducting this super-short, four-date North American tour without, at least to my knowledge, any major promotional push – had sold out Lee’s Palace, but had filled it not with curious musical passers-by, but raving, honest-to-god fans. Largely of the shrieking variety. Seriously, I had not seen Lee’s – or any venue – so packed and so unbelievably LOUD.

And so early. It was to the benefit of the openers that Mumford & Sons’ fanbase is punctual, because they got to ply their wares to a pretty full house and really, I couldn’t think of a better-suited local support act for Mumford than Sunparlour Players. Like the headliners, the duo are all about impassioned and rousing country-rock performed with remarkable musical dexterity, though the Sunparlour are considerably (and deliberately) rawer in execution – think moonshine versus whiskey. Either way, the audience ate it up and responded with huge and honest enthusiasm, and deservedly so – Sunparlour Players set the table with a killer set.

It’s not especially original by any stretch, but the phrase “bluegrass Beatles” crossed my mind later on in the evening as I tried to articulate what I witnessed with Mumford & Sons’ set. From the moment Ted Dwane carried his upright bass across the stage while they were still setting up until the end of the encore, the capacity crowd roared, shrieked and just went completely bonkers for the London quartet. And while I am incredulous about the fact that so many were so enthralled by them so early in their career – they certainly didn’t have that sort of fanbase when they first visited in October 2008 – that it’s happened really doesn’t surprise. If you accept that there’s been a heretofore untapped market for earnest, bluegrass/country-inspired indie rock, it’s hard to think of an outfit better positioned to exploit it than they. They’re handsome to a man with a distinctive, old-timey sartorial style; their banter is charming, witty and delivered with an English accent; their songs are sensitive, soaring and anthemic; their musicianship and vocal prowess ridiculously polished. To wit, there is no reason, in a just world, that Mumford & Sons wouldn’t be filling rooms the size of Lee’s if not larger with devoted fans, ready willing and able to sing along with every word. And yet to actually see it happen was wonderfully bizarre.

Even with so much going for them and the audience won over before they played a note, Mumford & Sons still had to deliver on the performance, and deliver they did. From the opening four-part harmonies of “Sigh No More”, it was clear they came to play. Their set covered most (all?) of Sigh No More, rendered perfectly with the crescendos lifting spirits and the quiet passages breaking hearts and the omnipresent kick drum propelling it all forward. The also aired out three new songs which didn’t stray far from their formula but held to more conventional rock band arrangements – at one point, they were kitted out with electric guitar, electric bass, keys and drums; completely standard for almost any other band but strangely alien on them. Perhaps most memorable was the first song of their encore, wherein the four of them played unamplified from the edge of the stage. Not an unusual move in acoustically gifted venues, but the first time I’d seen it pulled at Lee’s Palace and, of course, they did it masterfully. A show like this one couldn’t have ended any other way.

Photos: Mumford & Sons, Sunparlour Players @ Lee’s Palace – February 15, 2010
MP3: Sunparlour Players – “Battle Of ’77”
MP3: Sunparlour Players – “Shake & Bake For Goodness-Sake”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Winter Winds”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
MySpace: Mumford & Sons

Clash chats with Field Music while Drowned In Sound takes a track by track tour through their new album (Measure), which you can follow along with thanks to MBV Music, who are streaming the album right now. They’re at The Horsesehoe on March 19.

Stream: Field Music / (Measure)

Baeble Music is streaming a full live show from Fanfarlo. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 9.

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine talks to BBC and The Daily Mail. She brings her BRIT-crowned “best British album” Lungs to The Phoenix on April 10.

Check out this PitchforkTV Surveillance session with The xx, coming to town twice in April – on the 4th at The Phoenix and on the 20th at The Kool Haus.

Clash has excerpted part of their feature piece on Hot Chip, in town at The Kool Haus on April 20.

Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit takes Clash on a guided tour through their new record The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due out March 9. See them at the Opera House on May 4.

BBC checks in with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos on the direction of album number four.

Laundromatinee has a video session and The Boston Herald an interview with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Drowned In Sound is currently streaming the whole of Lightspeed Champion’s latest opus Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You, out now.

Stream: Lightspeed Champion / Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

PopMatters talks to Andy Partridge of XTC.

Frank YangHad Tuesday night’s Laura Marling show taken place at originally-intended venue of the Drake Underground rather than its final locale of Lee’s Palace (just under three times larger), then there’d have been throngs of disappointed fans either milling around outside the Parkdale hotel or moping at home instead of nearly packing the Annex club (and burrito outlet), eager to hear Marling preview material from her forthcoming second album I Speak Because I Can, due out April 6. And though this wasn’t Marling’s first visit to the city, her stock has risen considerably since her Toronto debut at the Rivoli in October 2008 so for many, this was probably their first opportunity to see her live.

Just as he did a year and a half ago, multi-instrumentalist Marling co-conspirator Pete Roe was an unscheduled opener. Unfortunately, unlike last time I wasn’t there in time to see his short set. There’d still be plenty of Roe through the night, however, as he would remain onstage for pretty much the entire night as in addition to playing with Marling, he was making his debut as a touring member of Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel. The Denver outfit was apparently down a few members on account of a broken-down van, but what pieces they had on hand were plenty to make a great impression. As one look at the bearded Rateliff might have tipped off, their sound was decidedly traditional and rootsy but with enough character to stand out. Gothic-sounding without being grim and infused with a good sense of melody, they definitely marked themselves as an act to keep an eye out for when they release their new record later this year.

The advance word on I Speak Because I Can is that Marling has gotten dark, and in more ways than just her hair – an opinion borne out from the very first song of her set, the galloping new single “Devil’s Spoke”. From the sounds of the new material that made up most of her set, Marling has checked some of her more pop inclinations in favour of a more dramatic approach and it serves her well. Selections from Alas I Cannot Swim were held to just a few singles, but the new material sounded so good and was so clearly evidence of an artist who’s grown significantly in the past couple of years that there wasn’t going to be any complaining. In fact, most in attendance seemed so pleased to simply be seeing Marling perform that by and large, the audience actually shut up while she played.

Backed by Roe and The Wheel for the opening and closing portions of the set and performing solo for the middle, Marling was a far more confident performer than the girl I saw in 2008 or even last March at SxSW. Largely gone was the thousand-yard stare or sense of being somewhere else entirely, and in its place were more jokes and storytelling and general engagement with the crowd, and though she didn’t entirely realize where she was when she introduced her cover of Neil Young’s “The Needle And The Damage Done”, at least we know she wasn’t pandering to the city. And while she does the, “we’re just going to play our encore without leaving the stage” announcement every show, we got to hear “Alas I Cannot Swim” get charmingly waylaid by what she called, “unexpected giggles” and forgetting the words. A perfectly imperfect way to finish the show, and enough to satisfy until the new record and another visit arrives.

Panic Manual, MuchMusic and The Singing Lamb also have reviews of the show. Daytrotter posted a session with Nathaniel Rateliff last December.

Photos: Laura Marling, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel @ Lee’s Palace – February 9, 2010
MP3: Laura Marling – “Ghosts”
Video: Laura Marling – “Devil’s Spoke”
Video: Laura Marling – “Night Terror”
Video: Laura Marling – “New Romantic”
Video: Laura Marling – “Ghosts”
Video: Laura Marling – “My Manic & I”
Video: Laura Marling – “Cross Your Fingers”
MySpace: Laura Marling
MySpace: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel

NPR has a World Cafe session and MTV and The San Francisco Examiner interviews with Mumford & Sons, whose Sigh No More is out on February 16 in North America, the day after they play Lee’s Palace.

There’s now a track from Joanna Newsom’s forthcoming triple-album epic Have One On Me available to download. The album is out February 23 and she plays The Phoenix on March 13.

MP3: Joanna Newsom – “Kingfisher”

JAM has a profile on Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. She is at the Phoenix on April 10.

Field Music talk to Spinner about their love of the album format, evidenced by their new double-set (Measure), due out next week. They will be at the Horseshoe on March 19.

Frank YangIf Alan Sparhawk is looking to avoid Neil Young comparisons with his Retribution Gospel Choir work, you wouldn’t know it. Taking the stage at the Drake Underground on Monday night, the Low frontman was almost a tribute to Shakey boasting an impressive pair of muttonchop sideburns complimenting his black, P90-equipped, Bigsby-ed Les Paul. Okay, you’d probably never catch Neil dressed as classically dapper as Sparhawk and his bandmates, but sartorial concerns aside, you don’t have to look to hard for at least one source of inspiration.

And, of course, you could hear it. Their new album 2 – which they would technically be able to sell as of midnight – is a fiery document of rock filled with the sort of extended solos that Sparhawk only occasionally gets to showcase in Low. Not as all-out chaotic as the sort that Young wrings out of Old Black – Sparhawk’s technique is decidedly more precise if no less furious – but of the same spirit. And though their set was relatively compact at an hour including encore, there were plenty of epic guitar excursions to astonish the modest-sized Monday night crowd not to mention their intensely focused songs. The fittingly titled “Electric Guitar” was a particular standout, a sonic atom bomb in a set filled with explosive numbers.

In between aural assaults, there was an almost reverent silence from the audience, almost as though they thought were at a Low gig and chatting was verboten. The band took the opportunity to engage in some hockey banter, Sparhawk mentioning he’d recently fallen on his ass while skating and drummer Eric Pollard pre-emptively congratulating us on winning the Olympic gold. “Who’ve you got in net? Luongo? Aubin? You’ve got Aubin? Fuck.”

The News-Herald has an interview with Alan Sparhawk and 2 is currently streaming over at Spinner.

Photos: Retribution Gospel Choir @ The Drake Underground – January 25, 2010
MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Stream: Retribution Gospel Choir / 2
MySpace: Retribution Gospel Choir

Drive-By Truckers will be hitting the road in support of the March 16 release of The Big To-Do, and are opting to do multi-night stands in smaller rooms this time around – case in point, their April 6 and 7 dates at Lee’s Palace with Langhorne Slim opening. They’ve also let loose the first MP3 from the new album and will be the subject of a new documentary film entitled The Secret To A Happy Ending, which will begin screening at festivals starting next month.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”

Wolf Parade will return to active duty with a short eastern Canadian tour accompanied by We Are Wolves, possibly timed around the release of their third album which is rumoured to be complete. The Toronto date is April 7 at the Phoenix, with tickets $20 going on sale January 29.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Language City”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “Call It A Ritual”

Following up last November’s utterly sold-out show at the Mod Club, Florence & The Machine are coming back on April 10 for a show at the Phoenix, tickets $20. Holy Hail will support.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “Kiss With A Fist”
MP3: Florence & The Machine – “I’m Not Calling You A Liar”

The Reverend Horton Heat will be at the Phoenix on May 20 with Cracker in tow.

Though yesterday’s pre-sale for the June 8 National show at Massey Hall sold out lickety-split, another block of pre-sale tickets goes on sale today at 10AM – same link and password as yesterday and, sadly, same big-ass service charges.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a new video from It’s Blitz!.

Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Skeletons”

Holly Miranda is featured in video sessions at Yours Truly and PitchforkTV, while The Guardian declares her their “New band of the day”. The Magician’s Private Library is out February 23; here’s another track from it.

MP3: Holly Miranda – “Waves”

Clash labels The Antlers “one to watch for 2010”, which is interesting considering they’d have a pretty hard time topping their breakout 2009. They’re in town on February 16 at the Phoenix opening up for Editors.

And Editors have offered up a track from their latest album In This Light And On This Evening to download.

MP3: Editors – “Papillon”

Despite what was promised just last week, The Radio Dept.’s third album Clinging To A Scheme will NOT be coming out in March. Instead it will be out in April. The 21st of April, to be precise. That’s right, an actual firm date. Firm until they move it, anyways.

And Jonsi tells Spinner that contrary to previous reports, there will be no new Sigur Ros record out this year, or in the foreseeable future. So enjoy his solo record Go when it hits on March 23, because that’s all there’s going to be for a while.

MySpaceWhen I was planning my trip to London back in the Spring of 2008, I was determined to NOT make it a concert-going vacation, Richard Hawley at the Royal Albert aside. But I did pencil in what looked like an interesting little gig at a Notting Hill matinee show presented by Drowned In Sound that I figured would be an opportunity to see some little British acts who’d probably never make it over to this side of the Atlantic. As it turns out, Sky Larkin made it to America sooner than expected, canceling their appearance at the show in order to record their debut The Golden Spike and they’ve returned to tour a times and the second-billed band on the bill, Let’s Wrestle, has just signed with Merge Records to release their debut album In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s over here come March 23.

I grabbed a digital copy of the record when it was released in the UK last Summer as well as its preceding EP In Loving Memory Of… and to say it’s a bit rough around the edges is an understatement, but it’s also deliberate. Musically and lyrically, the trio seek to cultivate an image of youthful insolence and indolence, favouring off-kilter and somewhat soused vocals with buzzsaw guitars to get their clever and sardonic pop culture-referencing points about matters of cosmic import like girls and wrestling across. The snotty punk delivery can’t hide their wicked pop sensibilities, though, nor their musical chops – they may not make a show of it, but they can play – the instrumental title track of the album is proof positive of that.

I’m glad to see that the band is making a stab at North America and that they’ve got good folks like Merge behind them – hopefully there’ll be some touring and I can feel better about ultimately skipping that Notting Hill show completely.

MP3: Let’s Wrestle – “We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon”
Video: Let’s Wrestle – “I Won’t Lie To You”
Video: Let’s Wrestle – “We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon”
Video: Let’s Wrestle – “I’m In Fighting Mode”

Paste checks in with Kate Nash, whose second album will be out in Spring of this year.

Little Boots’ Hands will finally get a domestic North American release on March 2.

NME interviews Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

BBC6 gets some details on the direction La Roux’s second album.

Cribs bassist and singer Ryan Jarman tells Spinner he’s of the opinion it’s too easy to make music these days. He longs for the old days when you had to go to the trouble of recruiting your siblings and a musical legend to get things done. The Cribs are at the Phoenix this Friday night, January 15.

Tom Smith of Editors talks to Spinner about the surplus of material that came out of the In This Light And On This Evening sessions, five of which will be added to the North American edition of the record when it’s released next Tuesday. They play the Phoenix on February 16.

Pitchfork solicits a list of current obsessions from The xx, who are at the Phoenix on April 4 and the Kool Haus on April 20.

NME reports that Noah And The Whale have recovered all the gear that was stolen from them way back in September.

Lightspeed Champion paid tribute to Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday last week with a cover video – check it out. His next album Life is Sweet! Nice To Meet You is out February 16.

Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Devil In Disguise”

Thanks to A Good Day For Airplay for pointing me to this online issue of Nightshift, music magazine from Oxford, England, which features an interview with all four members of Ride on the occasion of their debut, self-titled EP’s 20th anniversary. And yes, the reunion question is asked and no, it’s not happening. But it’s not dismissed either. So… there. Oh, and that link’s a PDF so forewarned.

The Guardian talks to Danny O’Connor, director of Upside Down – a documentary about the Creation Records story. No release date has been given but a vague Spring target has been mentioned.

Trailer: Upside Down

Pitchfork has premiered the first track from The Ruby Suns’ forthcoming album Fight Softly, due out March 10. They play the Drake Underground on March 30.

MP3: Ruby Suns – “Cranberry”

Ms Lara Meyerratken, aka El May, aka Australian ex-pat in America, aka touring keyboardist for Dean & Britta and Luna and vocal foil for Eric Bachmann on Crooked Fingers’ masterful Dignity & Shame, has completed her first solo record – also entitled El May – and will release it next Tuesday. Physical copies are limited to 500 so if you like the tangible media, pre-order one now.

Ian WestLet’s be honest here. It’s a couple of days before Christmas and a four-day weekend – something that people of all faiths can agree is a good thing – and you’re probably not reading this. Goodness knows why I’m writing this. I mean, I could be watching Lost right now – after years of holding out, I’ve picked up all five seasons on DVD and am ploughing through them like a fat kid on Smarties. But seeing as how I’ll be enjoying said upcoming long weekend almost certainly sans blog, I should probably clear out whatever little bits and bobs I’ve still got on the plate today and tomorrow.

And we’ll start with the Brewis boys of Field Music. Done with their respective side projects of The Week That Was, whom I liked, and School Of Language, whom I didn’t like as much, David and Peter Brewis have reconvened their original band and will release a new double album on February 16 entitled (Measure). And it will be followed up with North American dates as support on the final third of The Clientele’s upcoming Winter tour, which includes the March 19 show at the Horseshoe in Toronto. You know, the one I’ve been kvetching about missing. I won’t harp on that anymore, but even though I never liked Field Music nearly as much as some, the first samples from (Measure) sound pretty damn good and I’d have liked to have caught this bill. Alas. Tickets for the show are $14.

MP3: Field Music – “Measure”
Video: Field Music – “Them That Do Nothing”

Fact talks to director Saam Farahmand about his plans to make an audio-visual sculpture from The xx’s debut album while the band tells Spinner that they loves them some Beyonce. Hey, who doesn’t. The xx are back on April 20 at the Kool Haus in support of Hot Chip.

Black Book solicits some random facts about the band from Fanfarlo frontman Simon Balthazar. The band also put up a video of themselves covering Low’s “Just Like Christmas”, recorded in their tour van whilst en route to a radio session for NPR.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Just Like Christmas” (Low cover)

Editors have released a second video from In This Light And On This Evening, which will have a North American release on January 19. They play The Phoenix on February 16.

Video: Editors – “You Don’t Know Love”

Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant Hutchison offers The Scotsman a holiday-themed poem. Frightened Rabbit’s The Winter Of Mixed Drinks is out March 16.

Rolling Stone talks to Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien about the decade that was.

Clash solicits some Christmas memories from The Horrors’ Faris Badwan.

The Big Issue has a quick chat with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

Filter has a three-part conversation with Bad Lieutenant frontman Bernard Sumner. Congratulations go out to Heather, Caroline, Andrea, Brian and Jo who won copies of Never Cry Another Tear on vinyl.

The AV Club interviews Ray Davies.

The Times contemplates the future of the album as an artistic statement, looking to Bat For Lashes, Kasabian and Mastadon for input.