Forest City LoversThough the names sound like they’re drawn from some grand and ancient Greek tragedy, Phodilus and Tyto (as in Tytonidae) are actually the genus names of bay owls and barn owls, respectively, and are also the title and a-side of the new single from Forest City Lovers. It’s the band’s first release since 2008’s beautiful Haunting Moon Sinking and while it’s only two songs, it more than demonstrates that the band is continuing to hone and refine their distinctive folk-pop and album number three, currently in production and due out next year, is sure to be worth the wait.

They just took delivery of Phodilus and Tyto on 7″ and also have it available digitally, and courtesy of the band I have one of the 7″s to give away. To throw your hat in the proverbial ring, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I love forests and cities and vinyl” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest open to anyone anywhere and will close at midnight, December 4.

While work continues on the new record, live shows are scarce but it seems they’re planning to head to Austin in March for SxSW. A little closer to now, a video for “If I Were A Tree” from the single will be out imminently and both sides are available to stream at the band’s MySpace.

MySpace: Forest City Lovers

Frank YangIn leading up to Friday night’s show at Lee’s Palace, I’d wondered aloud as to why it had taken The Wooden Sky so long to play a proper hometown show, what with their latest record, the ex If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone having come out all the way back in August. Walking into Lee’s, I got my answer – they were building their sets. The stage was breathtakingly decorated with all manner of props and sculptures built of paperback books and pages, which my iPhone photo does not do justice (yes I had my regular gear with me and no, I didn’t take a proper picture – shut up). In both concept and execution, it was one of the coolest things I’d seen as far as art installations go, certainly better than stuff I’d seen at Nuit Blanche – big salute to artists Chris Mills and Tim Oakley for their work. So yeah, I was wholly impressed before a single act had taken the stage. A good sign.

Brian Borcherdt is certainly best known as co-leader of Holy Fuck, but before achieving instrumental electronica fame he plied his trade in a range of rock bands and as a solo artist, and it was the latter that kicked things off Friday. Armed with just a Jazzmaster and material from last year’s Coyotes, he showed off his more atmospheric if not quieter side, songwriting chops and an impressive voice that obviously doesn’t get called on much in Holy Fuck. He was joined by Julie Fader, with whom he’s setting out on tour, and then invited his drummer/collaborator on brand-new project Fields Of Fur and turned the rest of the set into a rehearsal of sorts, showing off his more rock-worthy side.

I had caught Hooded Fang a few times at the start of the year. Even then, over the span of just a month, they became a much more improved outfit, trading some amateurishness for assuredness without giving up the sense of fun and whimsy that gives them much of their charm. They still sound like Los Campesinos! crossed with Saturday Looks Good To Me, trading some of the former’s frantic tendancies and the latter’s Motown debt for an extra dose of tweeness and some of the distinctively Toronto big-band chaos (Hooded Fang numbered seven members). They still add a little more saccharine than I like in my musical diet, but there’s no arguing their upwards trajectory – look for their debut album early in the new year.

Not to suggest in any way, shape or form that they don’t deserve it, but when did The Wooden Sky get so many fans? The last few times I saw them were in basements or as openers and while they’ve certainly been around long enough to have amassed an audience, the size and enthusiasm of the crowd on this night was a surprise. Mind you, the fact that much of the audience seemed to be dewy-eyed girls implies the band has an appeal beyond their songcraft that I hadn’t picked up on before… Regardless, Lee’s was damn near full and dressed to the nines and The Wooden Sky took full advantage of the opportunity.

Their last Toronto performance, an intimate in-store at Sonic Boom in August, showcased the band’s intimate side just as Gone largely does – plumbing the still, deep reservoir of wistfulness and melancholy to impressive effect – and while they didn’t give that facet of their music short shrift, it was good – no, great – to see them get loud and raucous again. Featuring guest appearances from members of The Magic, Forest City Lovers and Evening Hymns, the set drew from both Gone and their first record under the Wooden Sky mantle, When Lost At Sea and presented a portrait of a band whom you could still accurately call roots-rock, but who were clearly using roots as precisely that. A foundation on which to draw on and grow something new from, and with Gone as a watershed record for the band and one I have no shame in saying I didn’t realize they had in them, I can’t wait to see where they go from here. The (wooden) sky is the limit.

BlogTO also has a review of the show. The Wooden Sky continue touring through Ontario and Quebec the rest of the month and there’s interviews with frontman Gavin Gardiner at Pulse Niagara and Brock Press. The Yarmouth County Vanguard talks to Brian Borcherdt.

Photos: The Wooden Sky, Hooded Fang, Brian Borcherdt @ Lee’s Palace – November 13, 2009
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Bit Part”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “North Dakota”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “The Wooden Sky”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “Land Of Giants”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “The Pageant”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “Circles And Blocks”
Video: The Wooden Sky – “Oh My God (It Still Means A Lot To Me)”
Video: The Wooden Sky – “When Lost At Sea”
Video: Brian Borcherdt – “Scout Leader”
MySpace: Hooded Fang
MySpace: Brian Borcherdt

The two sides of Forest City Lovers’ imminent “Phodilus and Tyto” 7″ single are currently available to stream on the band’s MySpace. The 7″ should be available for purchase on November 20, the tracks will also be available to purchase digitally and a video for the b-side of “If I Were A Tree” is also imminent – all of which does a good job of building excitement for the band’s third album, currently targeted for a late Spring/early Summer 2010 release.

Most of the live music-oriented New Year’s Eve events around town tend towards the country-rock vein – which is fine – but for those who prefer a little less twang in their “auld lang syne” – also fine – there’s an impressive to-do at the Tranzac that evening featuring performances from Gentleman Reg, The Magic, Jim Guthrie, Diamond Rings and Laura Barrett, amongst others. Tickets are $12 in advance and do not include cold buffet or little plastic cups of flat champagne.

There’s a video session with The Wilderness Of Manitoba up at Southern Souls and another MP3 from Hymns Of Love And Spirits available to beguile. They play The Holy Oak (Bloor and Landsdowne) on November 21.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Bluebirds”

Another Monsters Of Folk video.

Video: Monsters Of Folk – “Say Please”

Chart talks to Alela Diane, who plays the Horseshoe tonight.

Spinner gets a new album status update from Alison Mosshart of The Kills, who denies that Kate Moss ever threw a laptop containing all their demos into a swimming pool.

Black Cab Sessions drives School Of Seven Bells around Austin in exchange for a song. Alejandra Dehaza talks to NME about preparing to record album number two, entitled Disconnect From Desire and due out sometime in the middle of next year.

The nebulously-maned Music Reviews blog interviews Dean Wareham. The third Dean & Britta album appears targeted for a mid-2010 release.

The Line Of Best Fit and Epigram interview Christian Mazzalai of Phoenix. They’re at the Sound Academy on December 5.

Frank YangYou need only look as far as Monday’s post to see what I was doing at the Horseshoe on Wednesday night. What I hadn’t mentioned in the writeup of The Balconies’ debut album – out officially September 15 – was that I had been trying to catch the band live for some months now, based on numerous rave reviews, but while they’d played no shortage of shows in the 416 I’d not been able to make any of them until now. The fact that I’d been able to familiarize myself with their album was just a happy coincidence.

And to everyone who’d offered those rave live reviews and perhaps set up unreasonable expectations… you were right. The trio, playing their first gig as a Toronto-based band, performed with an energy and tightness that belied their relatively short existence together. Songs that I wasn’t sure about on the album sounded great, as really their whole set did from start to finish. As impressive as the recorded document is – it really does manage to reproduce their on-stage sound – The Balconies live came off with a certain swagger that wasn’t quite captured in the studio. Blessed with an abundance of tunes, talent and charisma, The Balconies may be new in town but if you haven’t made their acquaintance yet, just wait – they’re too good to stay any kind of secret. They play a free show on Saturday night at The Recording Arts Academy and will be at Lee’s Palace for a CD release show on September 25.

I’d seen middle act The Magic back in June during NxNE and they turned out to be one of the best new things I saw during the festival. While that show put the spotlight on their disco-fied side, this time they played things a little cooler and damn if they didn’t sound even better for it – less with the camp and kitsch, more with the deep groove and the slow burn. These are relative statements, mind you – it was still all about the party, but this time the lights were turned down a little more. The band, who released an EP last year that doesn’t nearly do the fullness of their sound justice, continue to work on their full-length debut. Mirror balls twinkle in anticipation.

Last up was Everything All The Time, presumably named for neither the album by Band Of Horses or the song by Styx, but who were acting as hosts for the evening. The occasion was the release of their new EP, a follow-up to their 2008 self-titled debut but the first to properly capture their current incarnation as fronted by Alanna Stuart. With her impressive vocals up front, the keyboard-loaded sextet resided squarely at the intersection of synth-pop and soul-pop, circa the mid-1980s – utterly danceable and with lots of familiar sounds, but blended together in a decidedly fresh manner.

I saw the band play last August and while it was clear what they were going for, it didn’t sound like it had quite coalesced into what it was meant to be. A year on, that’s no longer a problem – their set was delivered with loads of confidence and as much energy as a band where 5/6 of the personnel are rooted to their instruments can possibly have, thanks largely to Stuart’s voice and presence, which was irresistible without being overbearing – a diva with only the positive connotations of the word. Their next gig is a CD release show on October 23 (I think that’s what they said) at the Drake Underground. Odds of it being a dance party are approximately one to one.

The Singing Lamb has an interview with Everything All The Time.

Photos: Everything All The Time, The Magic, The Balconies @ The Horseshoe – August 26, 2009
MP3: Everything All The Time – “Love Love”
MP3: The Balconies – “300 Pages”
MP3: The Balconies – “Smells Like Secrets”

Peaches has a date at the Phoenix on November 18.

MP3: Peaches – “Talk To Me”

Dirty Projectors are heading back on the road this Fall in support of Bitte Orca and will be at the Opera House in Toronto on November 14. Full dates at The Music Slut. The band will also be releasing a new EP in the UK on September 29 called Temecula Sunrise – details at Pitchfork.

MP3: Dirty Projectors – “Rise Above”
Video: Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”

Chairlift have released a new video from Does You Inspire You. Last time I was in New York, I saw the health club poster with the phrase that the album title is lifted from. I’m actually back in New York next weekend – anything going on? Actually Chairlift is playing. Maybe it’s a sign. Or a poster. Aaaaah.

Video: Chairlift – “Ceiling Wax”

Pitchfork talks to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips about the edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties they’re curating in New York’s Catskills from September 11 to 13. There’s also interviews at The Fredericksburg Freelance-Star and The Washington Examiner. Their new album Embryonic is out October 13.

Richard Hawley talks to Spinner about getting into the necessary headspace to write his latest album Truelove’s Gutter, out September 22.

Pitchfork gets to know The xx, while The Quietus examines how the state of technology allowed the band to come to be. XX is out October 20 and they play The Phoenix on December 2.

Spin asks tough questions of Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. They play the Kool Haus on September 29.

Both eye and NOW talk to Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija and James Bunton about the Friends In Bellwoods project, the launch parties for which go tonight at Lee’s Palace and all day tomorrow at The Tranzac.

Canadian Interviews interviews Canadian Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers, who will be playing the Friday night edition of the aforementioned release parties. Look for a new 7″ this Fall and work continues apace on album number three.

V Fest is finally here this weekend and The Toronto Star examines some of the problems that have beset this year’s edition of the festival and NOW looks at some of the acts that will be playing this weekend at the Molson Amphitheatre.

eye talks to Trent Reznor of day two headliner Nine Inch Nails about his decision to hang it up after this final round of touring.

JAM has an interview with Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. I’ve never even thought of myself as a Pet Shop Boys fan, but they may be the act I’m most excited about seeing this weekend. I don’t think there’s any way they won’t put on a great show.

Montreal Mirror, JAM and Uptown interview Franz Ferdinand, playing the festival on day one.

With Sloan’s Chris Murphy still recovering from a broken collarbone, NOW reports that the band will have a few ringers covering bass duties on Saturday afternoon. No word on a designated scissor-kicker.

NOW and The Toronto Sun talk to Datarock. They’re up early Sunday afternoon. “Up” as in playing. Not as in awake.

Spinner has posted up the next (and last?) in its series on the state of independent music in Canada, this piece looking towards the future with the likes of Fucked Up, Crystal Castles and some fresh-faced kids who go by Metric.

Frank YangWhen the Summerworks festival last year decided to incorporate a music program into its already-established showcase for independent theatre, it seemed an ambitious yet eminently logical way to introduce fans of one art to the other – see am up-and-coming play, stick around for a couple up-and-coming bands. Has it worked? One can only hope, though considering Thursday night’s show was the first one I’d made it to either last year or this and I didn’t come early for the play, I may not be the best sample group.

The bill that finally got me out to the Theatre Centre, the decidedly charming in-the-round performance space underneath The Great Hall, featured a couple acts I’d seen together back in January at the Out Of This Spark anniversary show – The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers – who were and still are two of the finest acts yet to fully seep into the city’s collective unconsciousness. Both acts have been working on new recordings – the D’Urbs seeking to follow up their 2008 debut We Are The Hunters and Forest City Lovers crafting their third album after last year’s Haunting Moon Sinking – so I had expected to hear some new material showcased alongside old favourites. The bands, however, had different ideas.

The fact that the stage was set up to accommodate two bands side by side was the first sign that this wasn’t going to be a typical show, but Forest City Lovers started off typically enough with the quartet showcasing their charming and understated folk-pop, led by Kat Burns’ haunting vocals. Surprisingly, the excused themselves after only about four or five familiar selections with bassist Kyle Donnelly breaking into the deep groove of The D’Urbervilles’ “Spin The Bottle” and the rest of the band finger-snapped and shouted their way offstage, West Side Story style, as the D’Urbs came out and took over. Donnelly stayed put, since he was also the D’Urbervilles bassist and would the musical lynchpin for the evening. Like their labelmates, The D’Urbervilles set was short and comprised mainly known material, though delivered with enough gusto and enthusiasm to make up for some of the slop around the edges of their delivery. I’ve seen them tighter before, is all. They also wrapped after just five songs, but promised something special coming up after a short intermission.

And if anyone in the audience hadn’t figured it out yet, it because clear what that was when the drummers for both bands took their seats behind their respective kits and kicked into an adrenalized version of Forest City Lovers’ “Country Road”. Yep, for one night only, it was going to be a Forest D’Urberville supergroup or, as they called, the Out Of This Spark Family Band saluting their label boss on the occasion of his birthday. As they alternated between selections from each band’s catalog, it was somewhat revelatory how energized the usually more sedate Forest City Lovers material sounded with the D’Urbervilles’ big rock injection. I’m not suggesting they invest in the Marshall stacks, but that extra dimension could be something to explore. And as for The D’Urbs, their big sound just got bigger, but Burns’ harmonies were a nice if mixed-too-low addition. You couldn’t call the resultant seven-piece a study in musical precision – they’re stylistically a little to disparate to go together like chocolate and peanut butter and at points it wobbled as if one were literally sitting on the others’ shoulders whilst playing – but the sense of fun being had onstage was undeniable and irresistible and more than carried the night.

There’s some video of the show at Morning Noon Night. Forest City Lovers play next at Lee’s Palace on August 28 – details on that show below. The D’Urbervilles are playing V Fest Ontario at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 29.

Photos: The D’Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers @ The Theatre Centre – August 13, 2009
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Dragnet”
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Spin The Bottle”
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Hot Tips”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Scared Of Time”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Oh Humility” (live)
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Pirates”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Song For Morrie”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Please, Don’t Go”
MySpace: The D’Urbervilles
MySpace: Forest City Lovers

So while there wasn’t much (if any) new material from either band aired during the show, both Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles contribute new tracks to the second Friends In Bellwoods double-CD charity compilation, those just two of 39 good reasons to pick this record when it comes out August 25. Like the first edition did back in early 2007, Friends acts as an excellent snapshot of everything musical and wonderful going on in Toronto and southern Ontario right now, boasting new tracks from established local heroes like Final Fantasy and Great Lake Swimmers, bands of the moment like The Rural Alberta Advantage, Basia Bulat and The Acorn and a slew more that will send you scrambling to Google in search of a MySpace so you can find out who the heck they are. And of course, there’s the charitable aspect – like the first comp, which raised over $11,000, all proceeds from the record and attendant shows will go to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

And what of those shows? The launch party for the first edition at the Tranzac ended up beyond sold out, the lineup of those shut out stretching up and around the block (including yours truly) so they’re expanding the launch festivities this time around. The first event goes this Wednesday night, August 19, at the Gladstone and features performances from Gentleman Reg and Katie Sketch (formerly of The Organ), Diamond Rings, Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija and Emma McKenna, but the big to-dos will happen the weekend following the album’s release. First off on the 28th at Lee’s Palace you’ll have Ohbijou, Bocce, Forest City Lovers and Evening Hymns – tickets $12 in advance – and on Saturday, they take it back to the Tranzac for an all-day blow-out, starting at noon and featuring short sets from many of the bands on the record including The Acorn, Bruce Peninsula and Sebastien Grainger, amongst many others. Admission for that is $10 at the door or $8 with a non-perishable food item. That does not include broccoli.

And to whet your appetite, here’s three of the tracks from Friends In Bellwoods 2, courtesy The D’Urbs, The Phonemes and Tusks.

MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Magic Arrow”
MP3: The Phonemes – “April, Let’s Send His Colleagues An Email”
MP3: Tusks – “New To Old Money”

Mentioned above was Diamond Rings and mentioned throughout today’s post The D’Urbervilles – if you like the latter, you should check out the former. Not because the The D’Urbs’ post-punk and Diamond Rings’ DIY glam sound particularly alike – they don’t, really – but because Diamond Rings is the synth-happy, one-man-band alter-ego of D’Urbs frontman John O’Regan. His debut release is a split 7″ single with PS I Love You, his side of which has a new video. And courtesy of the band/man/experience, I’ve got a copy of the 7″ – which comes in decadent purple coloured vinyl – to give away. If you want it, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want a Diamond Ring” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and get that to me before midnight, August 20. And note that in addition to the Friends In Bellwoods show on the 19th, there’s Diamond Rings shows in Hamilton at This Ain’t Hollywood on the 20th and in Guelph at Kazoo! 76 on the 21st. Also check out an interview from last month at Steel Bananas.

Video: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”

Also be sure to head over to Soundscapes’ YouTube channel, where they’ve posted videos from Ohbijou’s in-store there back in June. And check out interviews with the band over at Chart, ExclaimTV and The Line Of Best Fit.

And speaking of TLOBF, they continue to demonstrate their mad love of Canada by assembling a third compilation of Brit-approved Canadian content, free for the grabbing. So go grab.

The Toronto Star sits down with Joe Pernice in the Toronto coffee shop where he wrote most of his debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop, located some 200 metres from the Dakota Tavern where he’ll be performing on September 24. Well you can’t say the man doesn’t support his own neighbourhood. Which is as good an excuse as any to point out these episodes Indie Rock Cribs that the man whipped up a few years back. Still hi-larious.

Chart took some time to talk to St Vincent’s Annie Clark when she was in town last week.

The Aspen Times has an interview with Steve Earle.

Frank YangFor the last few years, Harbourfront Centre has been the go-to spot for Canada Day celebrations in Toronto. Each year, they put on a free show on the lake with some of the top domestic acts of the moment, but on a year-to-year basis they’ve also been doing a pretty great job of representing all the facets of what we’d call Canadian indie rock. Back in 2007 (I missed the 2006 show featuring The Dears), they showcased the more avant garde end of the spectrum with Final Fantasy and Do Make Say Think, and last year put the spotlight on the female and folky with Martha Wainwright and Basia Bulat. For 2009, they traded the estrogen for some testosterone, bringing in hometown heroes Constantines and Calgary’s Chad Van Gaalen.

Van Gaalen I’ve honestly done my best to get into his records in the past – after all, with the sheer amount of love he gets from all quarters, he must have something going for him – but have never really managed to do it. There’s just something about his particular DIY sonic aesthetic that doesn’t do it for me. And so it’s ironic that I’d find someone who’s generally regarded as a home studio auteur to be so much more enjoyable in a live setting. He started the evening in interesting form, first coming out with a broom and sweeping the stage clean, then saluting the national anthem by way of dropping his pants, and then finally making funny but probably family-inappropriate gestures with his finger and his fly. Yeah. Musically, he led his band through selections from all three of his albums and damn if they don’t just sound much fuller and more realized than they do in their studio incarnations? Maybe it’s the extra oomph of the live rhythm section (helped by the fact that I had planted my ass right in front of the PA bass bin) or the fact that his voice sounds less reedy and the guitars fatter, but it was just so much more satisfying an experience and allowed me to see and hear the artist that others do – I just prefer his more direct and less idiosyncratic side. Odds are I won’t care so much for his next studio record but if he puts out a live album, I may pay more attention.

Constantines, on the other hand, I’m fully guilty of not having paid enough attention to since day one. That was resolved somewhat last year, when I got my first Cons record in Kensington Heights and saw them live twice – the first time at a super-intimate club show and the second at the somewhat less-intimate but still awe-inspiring V Fest. Both shows, though quite different, certainly confirmed their long-standing reputation as an incredible and intense live act. I expected nothing less from them this time out.

My education hasn’t reached too far into their back catalog, however, so aside from the Kensington material their set was only familiar from past live experiences and so rather than comment on what was played, I’ll focus on how it was played – in a word, exceptionally. The Cons have been at it a long time and as such, are about as tight a rock machine as you’ll find anywhere. Their songs are lean, but not thin – within each hard-charging piece are myriad little songwriting and arrangement details that give their sound extra complexity. But really, live, what you’ll hear – or more correctly FEEL – is the swirl of the guitar and keyboard riffs, the unrelenting thump of the rhythm section and most importantly Bry Webb’s big, raw rasp, occasionally augmented by guest Jennifer Castle’s gentler backing vocals. It’s just rock, yeah, but it’s rock done right.

And while they started things out dressed up for the occasion – Webb’s white suit over tropical shirt ensemble was particularly inspired – the intensity of the performance and sweat generated quickly got them looking less natty and, consequently, more appropriate. Clean and proper just doesn’t suit them. And the greatness of their show was pretty much encapsulated by a moment in “Shine A Light”, towards the end of their set, where one by one the Cons pointed out across Lake Ontario and the audience clued in and turned around, just in time to see fireworks going off. A magical moment. If you’re looking for ambassadors for Canadian rock or, as it turns out, a soundtrack to Canada Day, you can’t do much better than Constantines.

Photos: Constantines, Chad Van Gaalen @ Harbourfront Centre – July 1, 2009
MP3: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
MP3: Constantines – “Nighttime Anytime It’s Alright”
MP3: Constantines – “On To You”
MP3: Constantines – “Love In Fear”
MP3: Constantines – “Soon Enough”
MP3: Constantines – “Arizona”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Willow Tree”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “City Of Electric Light”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Graveyard”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Clinically Dead”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Somewhere I Know There’s Nothing”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Flower Gardens”
MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “Echo Train”
Video: Constantines – “Credit River”
Video: Constantines – “Our Age”
Video: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
Video: Constantines – “Working Full-Time”
Video: Chad Van Gaalen – “Flower Gardens”
Video: Chad Van Gaalen – “Clinically Dead”
Video: Chad Van Gaalen – “Red Hot Drops”
Video: Chad Van Gaalen – “Molten Light”
MySpace: Constantines
MySpace: Chad Van Gaalen

Summerworks has released the lineup to the music component of their annual theatre/performing arts festival, and with acts like Miracle Fortress, Think About Life, The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers amongst the artists performing, you really should plan on spending much of the week from August 6 to the 15th at The Theatre Centre at The Great Hall.

dose.ca interviews Matt Cully and Vue talks to Neil Haverty, both of Bruce Peninsula, who are embarking on a western Canadian tour this week.

Arts & Crafts has released some official information on the next Hidden Cameras record – Origin:Orphan will be released on September 22 and they’re offering a free download of “Walk On” in exchange for your email.

Emily Haines of Metric tells The National Post about some of her favourite things about Toronto in the Summertime. Curiously, navigating piles of uncollected garbage on the city streets because of the city worker strike does not make the cut.

MBV Music has the second installment in the Reverie Sound Revue blog tour – a bit later than expected, but maybe they got held up at the border or something. This video is a stripped-down studio rendering of “Off Rooftops” from their just-released self-titled debut.

The results of those TARA Secret Sessions which have been taking place at The Audio Recording Academy – perhaps you’ve seen the ads somewhere online – are being made available online to download and enjoy, including some by Oh No Forest Fires and Great Bloomers. The sessions continue through the month of July and admission to all is free. Oh No Forest Fires have blogged a bit about their session.

Spinner.ca – née AOL Music Canada – has posted the first of a multi-part feature on the history, present and future of independent music in Canada, featuring conversations with journalist types and members of Sloan and The Stills.

Congratulations go out to Eric’s Trip and Rheostatics, the inaugural inductees to the Zunior Canadian Independent Music Hall of Fame, whose aim is to select and salute two trailblazing Canadian independent artists each year and for which I was honoured to be a juror for the 2009 edition.

If you missed or enjoyed Amazing Baby opening up for Phoenix last month, you will be pleased to know they have their own show scheduled for August 4 at the Drake Underground in support of their new album Rewild – tickets $13.

MP3: Amazing Baby – “Bayonets”

Modest Mouse have added as second Toronto date to their Summer tour – they’ll be at the Sound Academy on August 22 in addition to the 21. Tickets $30.

The Cave Singers and Lightning Dust have a date at the Horseshoe on September 14, tickets $12. Both have new albums coming soon – the former with Welcome Joy, out August 18, and the latter with Infinite Light, out August 4.

MP3: The Cave Singers – “Beach House”
MP3: Lightning Dust – “I Knew”
MP3: Lightning Dust – “Never Seen”

The Hold Steady are also rolling into town a little earlier than planned – there’s a second Lee’s Palace show set for September 26 to go with the September 27 one, so if you’d rather rock yourself into oblivion on a Saturday night, you’re all set. Tickets $21.50.

Icelandic electro-dream-poppers (is that still an accurate, if broad description?) Mum return with a new album due out on August 24 entitled Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know and will follow that up with a Fall North American tour that includes an October 27 date at The Phoenix in Toronto, tickets $20.