Glen WilkinsWhile most peoples’ “most anticipated albums of 2010” lists read something like “Arcade Fire Interpol Strokes Fleet Foxes etc”, damn near the top of my list you’ll find A Coming Of Age, the sophomore effort from London’s Lucky Soul. Their 2007 debut The Great Unwanted, an irresistible piece of Motown/Northern soul-channeling pop glory, remains one of my favourite records of the past decade, so the follow-up has some mighty big shoes to fill but judging from the first couple of tastes, it’ll manage that just fine.

Last March brought the first single in the disco-fied “Whoa Billy!”, which was as good as anything on Unwanted if not better, and they’ve just released a video for their new single “White Russian Doll” – out in the UK on Monday – which brings a little bit (ok a lot) of Smiths into the mix. The clip was filmed on location in Berlin and features frontwoman Ali Howard dancing and karaoke-ing her way through the city, and Lucky Soul guitarist Andrew Laidlaw has put up a blog post detailing the mostly commando-style filming of the clip. That’s commando as in run-and-gun, on-location, no-permit; not as in rescue pre-teen Alyssa Milano from Dan Hedaya with lots of gunplay. Though that’d make for an excellent follow-up video.

A Coming Of Age is due out in March.

MP3: Lucky Soul – “Whoa Billy!”
Video: Lucky Soul – “White Russian Doll”

Questions about whether The xx would be appearing with jj on the Toronto date of their North American tour – just two weeks before their already scheduled date supporting Hot Chip – have been answered by their booking agency and yes, indeed, Toronto gets a double-shot of The xx in just over a fortnight – April 4 at The Phoenix (apparently moved from the original venue of Lee’s Palace) with jj and again on April 20 at the Kool Haus with Hot Chip. Expect precise details on the show next week.

MP3: The xx – “Basic Space”

Paste talks to Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor about their new record One Life Stand, out February 2.

For Folks Sake has details on Laura Marling’s second album, entitled I Speak Because I Can and due out on March 1. Expect to hear lots of new stuff when she plays the Drake Underground on February 9.

Battery In Your Leg interviews The Joy Formidable, who are making their North American debut this weekend with a slew of shows in New York, none of which I will be at – a fact which saddens me. They are looking to have their first proper full-length out in the first part of 2010.

Beatroute and ABC News talk to Gareth Campesinos! of Los Campesinos!, whose Romance Is Boring comes out January 27.

Reigning Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle will make her Toronto debut at Wrongbar Revival on March 10 as part of Canadian Music Fst. Tickets are $15 in advance.

MP3: Speech Debelle – “Better Days” revox featuring Wiley
Video: Speech Debelle – “Better Days” featuring Micachu

List talks to Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison about The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. The new album isn’t out till March 16 but Stereogum has both their new single and its b-side available to stream right now.

PitchforkTV has a Tunnelvision video session with A Sunny Day In Glasgow, who are at the Garrison on April 2.

Beatroute and SF Station talk to Asobi Seksu about going acoustic on Rewolf. It’s unplugged they’ll be when they play the Drake Underground on February 1.

Filter gets to know Yo La Tengo.

The New York Times has a feature piece on Spoon. Transference is out on January 19.

Joe Pernice appears to be making good on his promise to play around town more often, as he’s scheduled a date at the Dakota Tavern for February 16. His show there in September was terrific, but I think I’m going to miss it in favour of seeing Editors and The Antlers at the Phoenix that same night. Which is funny, because last time I skipped seeing The Antlers at the Horseshoe in favour of Joe Pernice. Full tour dates and a new album update can be found over here.

Not sure what’s greater – Mac McCaughan and a children’s choir (okay, maybe not quite a choir) channeling Dan Bejar on a Destroyer cover by Portastatic, taken from the Make It Sound In Tune digital EP for charity, or the accompanying image by Ryan Catbirdseat over at MBV Music, where you can download the track.

And also great – all the illustrations accompanying Hype Machine’s 2009 zeitgeist list of artists. Amazing, every one.

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.

Anorak LondonLondon trio The High Wire first got onto my radar over a year ago, as we were both headed to New York City for CMJ and while our paths would not cross – I believe their showcases were done before I even arrived – the samples I heard made a truly indelible impression. More than anything, they reminded me of my beloved Mojave 3 in the way they stitched together rootsy song structures with a threads of shimmering dream-pop, and also in the way that Tim Crompton and Canadian ex-pat Alexia Hagen’s voices intertwined overtop – the interplay was Halstead-Goswell-like, and you should know that’s not a compliment I hand out lightly. Add in touchstones like Mercury Rev and Spiritualized and there was really no way I wasn’t going to be entranced by this band.

Since my tastes always reflect the zeitgeist as a whole, I fully expected them to be one of the more talked-about bands of 2009. CMJ reports were positive and they were then tapped to open up in London for Coldplay at the end of 2008 so it certainly seemed that their ducks were getting in a row. In anticipation, I ordered up a copy of their debut album Ahead Of The Rain, released independently early this year, and waited for the buzz to build. And waited. Long story short (I could have added in a few dozen more “and waited”s), it seemed like the record and the band just disappeared. It certainly wasn’t for lack of quality, as Ahead Of The Rain delivered on much of the promise I had initially heard last year, rich in sun-kissed melodies and hazy yet substantial atmosphere. But with an online presence that was vague at best – I was a bit amazed I had managed to order a copy of the CD – I feared that they had simply gone away as nascent bands are wont to do. I revisited the album periodically throughout the year but The High Wire largely became out of sight, out of mind.

And then, around mid-November, I started to hear it. A faint, but definite buzz. An MP3 from a new album – Ahead Of The Rain‘s time had passed, apparently – followed by glowing profiles in The Guardian and Spinner… it seems like The High Wire’s time has come, if a year or so later than I’d expected. Their new record The Sleep Tape is set for a March 2010 release and based on the lead single “Odds And Evens” and other samples off their MySpace, they’ve fattened up their sound some but lost none of the sweetness that initially beguiled. Am I excited about this record? Yes, I would say that I am.

There’s recent interviews with the band at Subba-Cultcha and Amelia’s Magazine, wherein they reveal to be far less mysterious than I’d originally thought but just as lovely.

MP3: The High Wire – “Leave Me In Love”
MySpace: The High Wire

The Line Of Best Fit reports that UK folk trio Peggy Sue have signed to Wichita Recordings and will release their debut album Fossils And Other Phantoms in April 2010. A new song is available to anyone who signs up to their mailing list. An old song is available to anyone who clicks the link below.

MP3: Peggy Sue – “Lover Gone”

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with Fanfarlo. So you know how I’d said that the only silver lining to Fanfarlo cancelling their show at the El Mocambo last night on account of a stolen passport was that I’d get to go see Blue Roses at the Drake instead? Well guess who canceled on account of a “massive passport problem”? Yeaaaaah. Maybe they can make up their dates together.

The Daily Growl is streaming “Goodbye England”, the new single from Laura Marling and offering downloads of live versions it and another new song from her next album. She’s at the Drake Underground on February 9.

The Times profiles Mumford & Sons, who will release Sigh No More on March 15 and play the El Mocambo a month earlier on February 15.

Se7en Magazine has an interview with Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, whose The Winter Of Mixed Drinks will be out on March 16. Only five days before the start of the Spring of Jell-O shooters.

This Is London talks to Lily Allen.

Hot Chip’s Al Doyle talks to Spinner about the making of their next album One Life Stand, out February 9. They’re at the Kool Haus on April 20 with The xx, whose recent instore in Boston was recorded by Bradley’s Almanac and is now available to download.

Rolling Stone gets to know The Big Pink, who will be at the Mod Club on March 24.

Editors-in-chief Tom Smith brags to Spinner about being big in Belgium.

Portishead have released a new single is “Chase The Tear”, all proceeds from which will go to support Amnesty International.

Video: Portishead – “Chase The Tear”

The AV Club interviews Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant.

Billboard reports that Elvis Costello will release another vintage live record to follow up this year’s Live At The El Mocambo. Live at Hollywood High, a recording from Los Angeles circa June 1978, will be out January 12.

Spinner has an Interface session and Filter a feature on The Swell Season.

Danny NorthI had spent the last few days getting contradictory answers as to whether the December 15 Fanfarlo show at the El Mocambo I’d been so looking forward to and the Montreal date the following night were cancelled or not, but yesterday afternoon the band settled the matter – frontman Simon Balthazar’s passport was stolen in Portland and there was no getting a replacement in time to make the Canadian dates. They’ll surely visit us another time, but not next week.

But goodness knows I’m nothing if not someone who always sees the bright side of things (stop laughing) so if there’s a silver lining here, it’s that the evening is freed up to head down to the Drake Underground to see the Canadian debut of Blue Roses. Both the stage name of Ms Laura Groves of England as well as the title of her debut album, the thing that will strike you first about Blue Roses is her voice; Groves possesses a soprano that will stop you in your tracks, then watch in amazement as it soars and swoops around you. The paths it traces are more than a little reminiscent of Kate Bush or, using a more contemporary reference point, Joanna Newsom albeit less boundary-pushing than the former or potentially polarizing than the latter.

Whether accompanied by elegantly fingerpicked guitar or dramatic piano, the music of Blue Roses maintains a light, airy feel, even when the lyrical matter gets weighty or melancholic. And putting aside the arrangements and their delicate balance of traditional and modern tones, the sense of wide-eyed optimism remains – it’s just inherent in Groves’ 21-year old voice. It’s the sound of youth and hopefulness, though not necessarily naivete – these songs have been lived in. Just as Bush or Newsom sound like their songs belong to some dark and mysterious, fairy-inhabited woods, Groves’ songs inhabit a simpler, more pastoral place – one of open fields and meadows, where the skies might be overcast but are worth celebrating nonetheless.

Groves digitally released a new EP yesterday entitled Does Anyone Love Me Now and is currently on her debut tour of North America supporting Marcus Foster and, as previously mentioned, will be at the Drake Underground on December 15. Stereogum collected a series of live performance videos recorded in assorted idyllic locales while Off The Beaten Tracks captured a couple of songs on tape at this Summer’s Edinburgh Festival before the rains came. The Quietus talked to Groves about her hometown of Shipley, Yorkshire.

MP3: Blue Roses – “Doubtful Comforts”
MP3: Blue Roses – “I Am Leaving”
Video: Blue Roses – “I Am Leaving”
MySpace: Blue Roses

The Drake will also be hosting another young and talented English singer-songwriter in the coming months, though I would think that Laura Marling could easily fill a much larger room than the Underground. Perhaps the February 9 engagement is intended to be a deliberately undersized and intimate show to mark the release of her second album, which currently has no name or street date but February is as reasonable a guess as any. Either way, expect the $13.50 tickets, which go on sale Friday, to go fast.

MP3: Laura Marling – “Ghosts”

Marling will also be heading to India this month to do some shows accompanied by Mumford & Sons, with whom she made her Toronto debut last October. Spinner talks to Marcus Mumford about how that tour came about. Mumford & Sons play the decidedly less exotic but much more easily accessible El Mocambo on February 15, their debut Sigh No More will get a North American release on March 2 and you can download a free stripped-down version of their “White Blank Page” over at The Times.

The February 16 release of Lightspeed Champion’s next proper album Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You may still be a couple months off, but those looking for a more immediate fix need look no further than Dev Hynes’ own website where he’s begun posting what he calls a series of bootlegs, which are essentially off-the-cuff albums of Hynes messing about. The first to be made available is House-Sitting Songs, which as the title implies, was “recorded mid May 2009 within a week whilst house-sitting for a friend of mine in Manhattan”. Hynes talks to Spinner about his reasons for releasing the record and what else is yet to come.

ZIP: Lightspeed Champion / House-Sitting Songs

Guy Garvey of Elbow gives Teletext an update on how things are progressing with their next album, likely not due out until 2011.

The Music Magazine and Blurt talk to Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutichison about their new album The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due out March 16 in North America.

I had thought that Asobi Seksu’s last visit in October might be an acoustic set, given their quieter tourmates in Loney Dear and Anna Ternheim and the impending release of their new acoustic record Rewolf but no – it was as big and loud a performance as ever. They will, however, be busting out the acoustics – and presumably leaving the strobe lights at home – for their February 1 show at the Drake. Tickets for that will be $10 in advance. Flavorwire talks to Yuki Chikudate about the decision to make an acoustic record.

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Thursday” (acoustic)

French duo Air has announced a Spring 2010 tour in support of their latest record Love 2 – look for them on March 23 at the Phoenix.

Though they were just here, The Big Pink have announced another tour for next Spring where they’ll be accompanied by fellow strobe junkies A Place To Bury Strangers. Deafness and blindness guaranteed. The Toronto date is March 24 at the Mod Club.

MP3: The Big Pink – “Dominos”
MP3: The Big Pink – “Too Young To Love”
MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “In Your Heart”

Cymbals Eat Guitars have set an April 6 date at the El Mocambo as part of a Spring tour, tickets $10. They recently released sessions at both Laundromatinee and Daytrotter.

Frank YangComing via The Guardian, here’s an unexpected collaboration to wind out the week – Paul Weller has completed work on a new album entitled Wake Up The Nation and while a release date is still forthcoming, the first single from has been released and it features the fruits of a collaboration with none other than My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields. “7 & 3 Is The Striker’s Name” pairs the Modfather with the godfather of shoegaze (Shields doesn’t have a catchy nickname that appropriately describes his stature) and while the tune is a bit out of Weller’s typical wheelhouse, it’s still pretty recognizable as him – even with Shields layering jet plane noises overtop.

The tune is is available to download for 99p via 7Digital, or you can just watch the trippy albeit Shields-less video. NB – The one on Weller’s own website has better audio and video quality than the YouTube one linked.

Video: Paul Weller with Kevin Shields – “7 & 3 Is The Striker’s Name”

On the subject of My Bloody Valentine, both Amazon.co.uk and CDWow has the long-rumoured, oft-delayed reissues of Loveless and Isn’t Anything available for pre-order with a January 4 on-sale date noted. Could these finally be coming out?

Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen submits to a Q&A with New York Magazine.

Spinner reports that Graham Coxon hopes Blur aren’t done for good, just for now.

Both eye and NOW welcome The xx to town for their first-ever Toronto gig at the Phoenix next Wednesday with Friendly Fires. Their second-ever Toronto gig is already scheduled for April 20 at the Kool Haus in support of Hot Chip. The Seattle Times also has an interview.

Also making their first visit to Toronto is The Big Pink, who are at the under renovation Lee’s Palace on Sunday night. NOW has an interview with the English duo.

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine tells BBC that she’s preparing to start recording the follow-up to Lungs in January of the new year. In the meantime, the super-deluxe version of her debut is coming out next week and she’s released a second video for “You’ve Got The Love” which also functions as an advert for Stella Artois. But is a cool video first.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “You’ve Got The Love”

The Sydney Morning Herald chats with Patrick Wolf.

For a limited time, The Futureheads are giving away a free download of a song from album number four. No dawdling. Emirates Business has an interview with the band.

BBC talks to White Lies about their plans for recording album number two.

RockFeedback has an acoustic video interview and session with Sky Larkin.

Tom Campesinos of Los Campesinos talks Romance Is Boring, out February 1, with Drowned In Sound.

Highland News talks to Frightened Rabbit about recent lineup changes and their forthcoming record The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, out on March 1. A Daytrotter session with the band has just gone up; only old songs, though – no sneak peaks at new.