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

Zuzana HudackovaIt’s shaping up to be an Autumn of Can-rock double bills high on value. Folks thought that it was a pretty impressive pairing of talent when it was announced last month that Dan Mangan and The Rural Alberta Advantage were teaming up to cross the country in October, or the June announcement that Metric and Stars were hitting the country’s arenas together, but that were just the first of a number of impressive double-bills looking to share driving duties across Canada this Fall.

First, you’ve got Toronto’s Cuff The Duke teaming up with Halifax’s Jenn Grant teaming up for a tour that stretches from BC out to Montreal, and while the Toronto venue isn’t officially announced, the date is confirmed as November 24 and the rumoured venue is the fancy-pants Winter Garden Theatre. Both artists have new records coming out, hence the road trip. Cuff The Duke will release Union October 2 and from the first taste of the new material via a live Paper Bag Session, it sounds like it’ll be more tuneful country-rock of the sort that they’ve built their following on. Grant, on the other hand, looks to be shifting gears again with The Beautiful Wild, out September 25. Following the effervescent pop of Honeymoon Punch, Exclaim reports that Wild will pursue a more mature and musically adventurous direction. The first single from said record is streamable below. Update: Winter Garden Theatre is confirmed, tickets on sale August 20.

Cuff The Duke have a couple of local shows before the Grant tour – there’s a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square the evening of August 31 and they’re part of the Paper Bag Records 10th anniversary show at The Great Hall on September 27.

Stream: Jenn Grant – “In The Belly Of A Dragon”
Video: Cuff The Duke – “Side By Side” (Paper Bag Sessions)

Elliott Brood are also playing that PBR10 show on September 27, but will be back on a Toronto stage on October 21 at The Danforth Music Hall as part of their Marvel Team-Up almost cross-Canada tour – no BC dates at the moment – with Halifax’s Wintersleep; tickets for that one are $25.50. Both released new records earlier this year – Days Into Years for the Brood, Hello Hum for the ‘Sleep. Chronicle Herald and The Montreal Gazette have Wintersleep features.

MP3: Elliott Brood – “Norther Air”
MP3: Wintersleep – “Resuscitate”

METZ will celebrate the release of the debut self-titled album with a hometown show at The Horseshoe on October 12, ticket $12 in advance.

MP3: METZ – “Headache”

After a couple visits in a supporting role, Cadence Weapon has scheduled a headlining gig of his own in support of the Polaris shortlisted Hope In Dirt City at Wrongbar for October 12, tickets $12.

MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Conditioning”

CBC Music talked to The Magic ahead of their Summerworks record release show for Ragged Gold this past weekend. Counteract also has a short feature piece.

Evening Hymns have released the first official video from Spectral Dusk, which is out next Tuesday but gets its live public unveiling this Friday night at Summerworks. The album, however, is unveiled as of right now courtesy of the stream at The Line Of Best Fit, which also comes with song-by-song annotations from Jonas Bonnetta.

Video: Evening Hymns – “Family Tree”
Stream: Evening Hymns / Spectral Dusk

Bry Webb talks to NOW about his plans for his own Summerworks show on August 18.

Exclaim and Stereogum talk to Dan Boeckner about his new outfit Divine Fits, while Britt Daniel does the same for Mountain X-Press. A Thing Called Divine Fits is out August 28 – though it’s available to stream now – and they play Lee’s Palace on September 5.

Stream: Divine Fits / A Thing Called Divine Fits

And Boeckner’s former bandmate Spencer Krug talks to The Quietus about his current project, Moonface.

Two Hours Traffic have announced a new EP Siren Spell, due out September 11, which not only offers a sneak preview of what their new lineup sounds like, but also gives the band a chance to indulge in their favourite pastime – touring across the country. Dates are coming this week but in the meantime, check out a track from the new EP.

MP3: Two Hours Traffic – “Amour Than Amis”

After a couple of non-album teases, The Wilderness Of Manitoba have finally offered an official first taste of their second album Island Of Echoes. It’s out September 18.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”

NPR is streaming a new song from the forthcoming Stars album The North. It’s out September 4 and they support Metric at The Air Canada Centre on November 24. But I think I already said that.

Stream: Stars – “Backlines”

Hot on the heels of her Feistodon interactive clip, Feist has released a more conventional, less metal video from Metals.

Video: Feist – “Anti-Pioneer”

The Luyas have released a preview track from their new record Animator, out October 18. They’re at The Great Hall on September 29 for the PBR10 show.

MP3: The Luyas – “Fifty Fifty”

The AV Club welcomes Destroyer to AV Undercover and they choose to cover Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Of course.

DIY interviews Purity Ring.

NOW and The Montreal Gazette talk to Al Spx of Cold Specks.

John O’Regan talks to Spin about the new Diamond Rings record Free Dimensional, due out October 23.

Sloan have announced their super-fancy Twice Removed 20th anniversary package will be out on September 4; Exclaim has rounded up exactly what your $90 plus shipping gets you besides a public declaration that you really like “Pen Pals”.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan drummer Alaska B lists her favourite albums of the last 20 years for CBC Music.

Beatroute checks in with Black Mountain.

Ben and Jonah of Fucked Up give Exclaim a progress report on their next album. They play Fort York on September 9 as part of Riot Fest.

FacebookCustom dictates that for tenth anniversaries, the traditional gift is something made from tin and the modern equivalent is aluminum. Or diamond. How on earth do you get from tin to diamond? Happily, Toronto’s Paper Bag Records pays no attention to such convention and to mark their tenth year of releasing great music from both Canada and abroad, they’ve opted to put together three nights of shows at The Great Hall from September 27 to 29 and featuring the best of their current roster as well as a surprise and welcome return – You Say Party.

The Vancouver dance-rock band were riding high on their third album, 2009’s XXXX, when their drummer Devon Clifford suddenly and tragically died onstage in April 2010. They soldiered on for another year and then, promotional duties done, went on indefinite hiatus – a hiatus that would last a year and a half, as they state on their website, “Over the course of the last year, we came to realize a simple truth: that the four of us missed making music together”. Their appearance on the third night of the PBR anniversary shows will mark their first step back and as a four-piece, reconfiguring their old songs to fit and presumably crafting new ones.

Their return will surely be a highlight of that third night, which also features Young Galaxy, The Luyas, and a special guest that you probably don’t need to do too much thinking to guess who it will but all three evenings are pretty stacked. Thursday night features Elliott Brood, Born Ruffians, Woodhands, and The Acorn and Friday brings in The Rural Alberta Advantage, Cuff The Duke, PS I Love You, and Slim Twig.

Tickets for each night are $25 and a three-day pass comes in at $60, on sale now. The Great Hall isn’t that big so if you’re thinking this is something you should be at, turning thought into action soon is recommended.

MP3: The Acorn – “Restoration”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”
MP3: Cuff The Duke – “Standing On The Edge”
MP3: Elliott Brood – “Northern Air”
MP3: The Luyas – “Too Beautiful To Work”
MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Stamp”
MP3: Slim Twig – “Young Hussies”
MP3: Woodhands – “Dissembler”
MP3: You Say Party! – “Laura Palmer’s Prom”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Peripheral Visionaries”

Under The Radar chats with Torq Campbell of Stars, who released their first albums on Paper Bag and will put their sixth album North out on September 4. They’ve made a new track from said record available to stream and will be at the Air Canada Centre on November 14 supporting Metric.

Stream: Stars – “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It”

The New York Times has a feature piece on Purity Ring, whose much-anticipated debut Shrines is out this week and who’ve made another track from it available to download.

MP3: Purity Ring – “Belispeak”

Damian Abraham of Fucked Up rattles off his favourite records of the past two decades for CBC Music. They’re at Historic Fort York on September 9 as part of Riot Fest.

Melancholy & The Infinite Shadness is the name of a new mixtape from Shad that you need in your life. Get it for free.

ZIP: Shad / Melancholoy & The Infinite Shadness

The Georgia Straight and The Victoria Times-Colonist talks to Kathryn Calder.

CBC Music has five tracks to preview for the forthcoming live Dears album Never Destroy Us, due out this Fall.

Patrick Watson gives Spinner his thoughts on and ambitions for the music video medium; he also chats with Vermont’s Seven Days. He’s at Massey Hall on December 6.

Liam MaloneyAnd then there were ten.

Yesterday, atop the roof of the Drake Hotel amidst record-breaking heat, the short 2012 Polaris Music Prize short list was announced, dashing the hopes of thirty artists and allowing ten others to begin imagining just what they might do with the $30,000 prize that awaits one of them (the correct answer being: gold plate all of the things). And it’s an interesting group, to be sure.

Some will complain about the lack of a francophone artist – which also surprises me considering the number of strong contenders on the long list – and the heavy 416-ness of the list – 4.5 from Hogtown – but as far as gender and genre splits go, it acquits itself pretty nicely. Usually I can look at the short list and immediately eliminate at least a few of them from serious consideration of winning, but this year it’s a lot tougher to do so – I can envision how many of these records could garner enough support from the grand jury, whomever that ends up being, to have sufficient numbers to come out on top. All of this is speculation, of course, and only those in that creepy-ass Freemason room in the Masonic Temple on September 24 will know exactly how it goes down. But until then, and even though most will save their handicapping until the week before the gala, here’s my thoughts on the short list with points for and against.

Cadence Weapon / Hope In Dirt City (Upper Class Recordings)
Edmonton’s former poet laureate second appearance on the short list comes for a stronger record than Breaking Kayfabe and a higher overall public and critical profile. However, the narratives around the other nominees are almost all stronger and more compelling, and whatever merit Dirt City has, I don’t think it’s going to be front of anyone’s mind including the grand jury.
MP3: Cadence Weapon – “Conditioning

Cold Specks / I Predict A Graceful Expulsion (Arts & Crafts)
That Al Spx is a compelling talent and Expulsion an impressive debut that doesn’t just rest on the power of her voice is unquestionable. But whether it goes far enough in establishing her as having a strong artistic vision of her own rather than just exploring styles of the past, at least at this point in her career, is still up for debate.
Video: Cold Specks – “Blank Maps”

Drake / Take Care (Universal Republic)
By far the “biggest” – at least in terms of mass appeal, record sales, fanbase – artist to make the short list since the Polaris was created, Drake is in rather a unique position, and one that I can’t really argue for or against. Sufficed to say that while I don’t care at all for what he does, millions of others do – and statistically that certainly increases the odds of a sympathetic grand jury. If he does win, I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing any, “Who the hell is Drake” Tumblrs.
Video: Drake – “Marvin’s Room”

Kathleen Edwards / Voyageur (Maple Music)
There’s no question that Voyageur is the strongest album of Edwards’ career and she’s an eminently likeable artist, but I have trouble arguing it’s the grandest artistic statement our country was able to turn out this year. That said, with the most of the short list decidedly genre there’s a lot of room for something to come up through the middle (of the road) and take it all. If half the jury has gone through a break up recently, then it’s as good as hers.
MP3: Kathleen Edwards – “Change The Sheets”

Feist / Metals (Arts & Crafts)
Many/most assumed that Feist’s latest would at least make the short list even before the album was released – that’s how much people assume that Feist would do something great. So it’s interesting how polarized the response to it has been, with some thinking it’s the deepest record she’s made and others the dullest, but neither side of the argument seems to be that passionate about it.
Video: Feist – “The Bad In Each Other”

Fucked Up / David Comes To Life (Matador)
Despite a few opportunities, we’ve yet to see an artist repeat as Polaris winner and as much as I think Fucked Up are deserving – not for nothing did they top my first ballot and everyone loves the band if not their music – I don’t know if David will have won enough hearts and minds so convincingly to overcome the innate, “they’ve already won!” sentiment that everyone will feel if few will admit.
MP3: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”

Grimes / Visions (Artbus)
Perhaps the most heavily-favoured act, at least amongst people I know, there’s not an artist on the list who sounds more absolutely of the moment than Claire Boucher and her chirpy electro-pop. My concerns about this record are that the songwriting is kind of slight and that which is in fashion will, by definition, fall out of fashion and I don’t know that Visions has the sort of weight or timelessness that I’d like to think that the best album our country has to offer would have. However I don’t expect people will hear those concerns as they’ll be too busy dancing. Probably the odds-on favourite to take it all right now.
MP3: Grimes – “Oblivion”

Handsome Furs / Sound Kapital (Sub Pop)
This one’s an interesting entrant, what with the band having announced their dissolution just before the deadline for submission of the first ballots. Not to say that it didn’t have a lot of support before that happened – it almost certainly did – but dominating the news cycle for those few days and reminding every music critic in the country that the band had an eligible record and that it was kind of great certainly didn’t hurt. Now the question is whether or not Dan Boeckner and Alexis Perry can and will put their differences aside to show up at and perform at the gala. Drama!
MP3: Handsome Furs – “Repatriated”

Japandroids / Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
There’s a lot of affection for this duo, who went from the verge of splitting up to releasing one of the best pure rock records that this country has seen in a while, and I expect they’ll peel some loud guitar votes from Fucked Up and “if only Springsteen was Canadian” votes from Handsome Furs by being more accessible and immediate than either, but will they be able to sell party as art and get every fist in the grand jury room pumping in unison? I have my reservations.
MP3: Japandroids – “Younger Us”

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan / YT//ST (Psychic Handshake)
I mentioned that Fucked Up topped my first ballot but I should note that by the time second ballots were due, YT/ST had taken the top spot. As Radio Free Canuckistan pointed out in his Polaris preview, a year ago no one had ever heard of this band and now they’ve shortlisted without any appreciable PR effort – just word of mouth from those who’ve heard the record or seen the show – and no label is really unprecedented. They’re certainly not for everyone – if you don’t buy into their “Noh-wave” manifesto, then they probably come off as kind of ridiculous – but despite being the most outside and difficult act on the short list, they’re clearly for more people than anyone might have expected. Certainly, no one can argue they don’t have artistic ambitions or that they’re boring, and they have momentum. So. Much. Momentum.
Video: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan – “Hoshi Neko”

While we’re talking Polaris, aux.tv has an excellent oral history of the prize from organizers, jurists, and nominees, and The National Post got some reactions of shortlisters after discovering that they were. And if you’re interested in seeing some of the nominees live in Toronto, you’re in luck – Cadence Weapon is at Lee’s Palace on July 21 opening up for Liars, Cold Specks is at The Great Hall on August 8, Drake’s annual OVO Fest hits The Molson Amphitheatre on August 5, Fucked Up play Fort York as part of Riot Fest on September 9, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan headline the first day of ALL CAPS! on Toronto Islands on August 11, and Grimes has just announced a date at Lee’s Palace on September 21, tickets $20 in advance.

Some were surprised that Dan Mangan didn’t make the shortlist; he’ll have to drown his sorrows in a cross-Canada tour with The Rural Alberta Advantage that stops in at the Danforth Music Hall on October 25, tickets $32.50 to $39.50. And if you feel inclined to point out that that room isn’t much bigger than the ones that each act has just about filled on their own last year (the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Phoenix, respectively), I would say that you were correct and point out, in return, that they currently have an off day the following night. You do the math.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “North Star”

Sarah Neufeld, aka violinist for current Polaris champs Arcade Fire, also does a solo thing and she’ll be bringing that thing to The Drake Underground on November 10, tickets $12. Read these pieces at The Georgia Straight and The Province from a west coast tour in May for an idea of what that thing is.

Video: Sarah Neufeld – “Scalpel/Stradivarius”

Pitchfork has details on the new album from Diamond Rings – Free Dimensional will be out October 23.

The Line Of Best Fit has made a new song from The Wilderness Of Manitoba available to download, but it comes not from their new album Island Of Echoes – we continue to have to wait to hear an official sample of that – but from the Delaware House EP they’re releasing overseas to coincide with a European tour. The album is out September 18.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “The Ark”

Exclaim talks to Evan Gordon of The Magic.

The Line Of Best Fit has released a new Oh Canada! downloadable maple-flavoured compilation.

Derrick BelchamIt figures that the first year that I would have been able to actually attend the long-list unveiling for the Polaris Music Prize, they up and move it from its usual home atop the Drake clear across the country to give Vancouver a taste of what the grand unveiling of the 40 albums selected as the top musical achievements in Canada over the past 12 months is like. But that’s alright because as it turns out, this was also the first year that I don’t need to make any changes to my ballot as all five of the records I submitted have made it onto the long list so unless I have some massive change of heart about which record is more artistically achieving than another, my role in this year’s Polaris is done.

Which is a surprise because at the start of this year’s eligibility period, I’d have only been able to predict one – maybe two – of my nominations. One of them I’d have sworn I’d never get behind and one I’d never even heard of. And yet. That said, the long list itself is simultaneously one of the most varied in recent memory, from a stylistic and profile point of view, and also one of the most predictable if you’ve been privy to the internal discussions of the 200+ jurors (or at least the ones who participate in the Google group). In any case, nows the time for forty artists to enjoy their time in the large-ish spotlight, send out press releases and update their Wikipedia pages; the short list is announced on July 17 and that, I’m far less confident in my ability to predict. Then, come September 24, there will only be one.

And as I do every year, here are what made my final ballot and why. There was more indecision and last-minute jockeying than there usually is, but I’m pretty comfortable with my picks and also with the fact that two of my three runners-up also made the long list. What can I say, this was just the year that I was wholly in sync with the zeitgeist or something.

1. Fucked Up / David Comes To Life
As with Arcade Fire’s eventual champion The Suburbs last year, this one felt like a no-brainer for the number one slot if for no other reason than it aspired to more, artistically, than most of its peers and arguably succeeded far more than it fell short. Certainly, questions abound: Does the rock opera narrative hold up? Is it hardcore anymore? Will this be the year an artist finally repeats as Polaris champ? To these questions, I have no answer, but I do know this: those guitar riffs friggin’ shoot for the moon.
MP3: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Ship Of Fools”
MP3: Fucked Up – “A Little Death”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”
Video: Fucked Up – “Turn The Season”
Video: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
Video: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”

2. Yamantaka//Sonic Titan / YT//ST
I fully expected to hate this band and this record. I mean, how much more pretentious can you get than a bio like, “the pan-Asian cultural collective, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan has crafted a debut LP that sets new standards for the creative heights and satisfactions of genre fusion. They call it Noh-Wave”. And yet that may very well be what they’ve done. Within it’s barely-qualifying seven tracks (really six) and 30 minutes, there’s incredibly deft moves through rock, metal, no-wave, and jazz, all with a genuine Eastern flavour that’s more than just affectation; by rights, it should collapse under the weight of its conceit but instead it soars. It’s operatic, metallic, exotic, and fantastic.
Video: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan – “Hoshi Neko”
Stream: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan / YT//ST

3. Bry Webb / Provider
Never the biggest Constantines fan, I didn’t have much in the way of expectations of their frontman’s solo career, and with its low-key production and ruminations on age and family and life, Provider doesn’t seem like it’s necessarily expecting you to expect much from it. And yet it’s an unquestionably powerful and resonant work, with Webb’s rich, rasp of a voice proving to be just as effective – if not more – in a conversational tone as it was as a defiant bark.
MP3: Bry Webb – “Rivers Of Gold”

4. Patrick Watson / Adventures In Your Own Backyard
I will refer you back to this post in order to fully appreciate how remarkable I must think Adventures is for it to be on my ballot. And really, he’s not doing anything substantially different than he’s done on his earlier records – elegantly arranged and executed art-pop that’s content to just be lovely. And that he’s dialed down the fussiness a bit and dialed up the beauty a lot has apparently been enough to win me right over.
MP3: Patrick Watson – “Words In The Fire”
MP3: Patrick Watson – “Into Giants”
Video: Patrick Watson – “Into Giants”

5. Kathryn Calder / Bright & Vivid
I liked Calder’s first record a lot and loved her second, and yet was reluctant for a long while to put it on my ballot. Why? Because it’s pop music – pure and simple – without any particular stylistic angle or backstory, and pure pop is frequently dismissed or denigrated for aspiring to nothing more than creating indelible, earwormy melodies. Well you know what? That’s an incredibly hard thing to do, and to do it as well as Calder does on just her second time out? That deserves recognition.
MP3: Kathryn Calder – “Who Are You”
Video: Kathryn Calder – “Turn A Light On”
Video: Kathryn Calder – “Who Are You”

Plants & Animals have released a new video from The End Of That. Their NXNE schedule puts them at Yonge-Dundas Square tonight at 8:30PM for a free show.

Video: Plants & Animals – “H.C.”

NOW and The Ottawa Citizen talk to Yamantaka//Sonic Titan as they gear up for NXNE; they’ll be at The Garrison tonight at 12AM, will play an in-store at Sonic Boom on Saturday at 3PM and if you’re still up and about late Saturday night, maybe you’ll need a soundtrack for some nachos…

Toronto’s METZ – who have been fixtures around the city seemingly forever – have finally announced details of their debut full-length, which is still untitled but will be out on October 9 via Sub Pop. They talk to Exclaim about it, and will be at Wrongbar tonight and The Phoenix opening for Archers Of Loaf tomorrow.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian, City Arts, Denver Westword, Washington City Paper, Willamette Weekly, The Phoenix New Times, and Vice discover Destroyer’s Dan Bejar isn’t so media-averse after all. He’s at The Opera House on June 23.

Consequence Of Sound and Spin have features on Japandroids, in town at Lee’s Palace on June 23.

Reg Vermue has been pretty busy in the guise of Regina The Gentlelady in Light Fires, but Gentleman Reg is not being neglected; Exclaim reports that Reg will be releasing a new album entitled Leisure Life as a series of three digital EPs, the first arriving July 3 and all of which will be collected in physical form in the Fall. The first track from the collection has been made available to stream.

Stream: Gentleman Reg – “Waiting Around For Gold”

Basia Bulat will be opening up for Andrew Bird at Echo Beach on July 19.

MP3: Basia Bulat – “Gold Rush”

CBC Music asks Bry Webb to name his five favourite records of the last 20 years; The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Uptown, and Regina Leader-Post. Webb plays The Theatre Centre on August 18 as part of the Summerworks festival, the lineup of which was just announced this week and also features the likes of Evening Hymns and Buck 65 in special performances that promise to better integrate the theatrical side of the festival; should be interesting. Dates and performer information can be had at Exclaim.

The National Post talks to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers; they’re opening up for Blue Rodeo at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 18.

Exclaim, eMusic, National Post, and Spinner have features on Metric and The Alternate Side a video session to mark the release of Synthetica. The band have a new video from it as well.

Video: Metric – “Youth Without Youth”

PS I Love You have released another video in their Paper Bag Sessions series. The Halifax Chronicle-Herald and McMaster Silhouette have interviews.

Video: PS I Love You – “Death Dreams Pt 1 & 2”

Spin talks to Spencer Krug about the new Moonface record With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery, from which a new video has just been released.

Video: Moonface – “Faraway Lightning”

Macleans investigates why John K Samson is so popular in Germany. Check the Hasselhoff jokes, people. Just don’t.