Frank YangHonestly, I’d thought that Tom Petty had retired. Between the themes of he and The Heartbreakers’ last studio record, 2002’s The Last DJ, and the victory lap of 2006’s 30th anniversary tour, I thought that he’d called it a day on active touring and my opportunities to see him perform had dried up. I don’t know how or why I had that notion, but it was clearly wrong as Wednesday night, there I was at the Air Canada Centre, ready to see Mr. Petty and company for the first time and, needless to say, excited about it. Update: And further proof I thought he retired – I completely forgot about the existence of 2006’s solo record Highway Companion. Oops.

Conversely, I’d never thought that Crosby, Stills & Nash had called it a day. Even though they’d not released a CSN record proper since 1994, they’d been touring constantly – sometimes with Neil Young, more often without – and though I had respect for their work and reputation, had never felt compelled to see them live. That said, I had no problem with adding another legendary act to my, “yeah I saw them” list. And that’s about all I got out of their almost headline-length opening set, as it was clear that whatever magic they had in their younger days was greatly diminished.

I appreciate that the ’60s are a long ways gone and all three had done more than their share of living in the interim, but hearing how shaky their once-pristine trademark harmonies had gotten was disappointing to say the least. They still performed with aplomb – more rock than their folk roots with Stephen Stills taking more than a few big rock guitar solos and Graham Nash chatty and charming as the group’s de facto spokesman – but the numbers that should have shone brightest, like “Our House” and “Love The One You’re With”, came off the wobbliest and they only got away with it because most of the audience was loudly singing along with all the old chestnuts and probably weren’t paying that close attention to the actual performance. One couldn’t help but think how this would have gone if Neil were along for the ride? He’d have probably kicked their asses backstage.

Petty and The Heartbreakers likewise came to give the people what they wanted to hear but did it almost perfectly, the way you’d expect one of America’s finest rock bands of the past 35 years to do. Petty, dapper in a duster and sporting a sharp-looking beard, was all smiles and Southern charm and opened with the big bold jangle of “Listen To Her Heart” before sliding effortlessly into a slightly greased-up “You Don’t Know How It Feels”. The band sounded nothing short of amazing as a unit – maybe not so surprising considering how long they’ve been playing together, but remarkable to see and hear nonetheless. The arrangements of the songs were largely faithful to the recorded versions, leaving their perfect pop structures and southern accents intact, but improvisationally pushing the edges just enough to let them stretch out and show off a bit. This mainly applied to lead guitarist Mike Campbell, whose economical solos on record serve the song perfectly but in live setting, allow him to inject that extra dose of flash and bang.

One gets the sense that letting Campbell better showcase his talents was a large part of the reasoning behind their blues-centric new record Mojo, which I should and do appreciate for giving them the excuse to head back on the road but not much else. The blues is not alien territory for the band, being an essential part of their Americana stew, but brought to the fore as it is on the new material, it’s just not interesting with their faithfulness to the genre coming at the expense of the hooks and melodies. The four-song set of Mojo material dropped in the middle of the set really put the damper on what to that point had been some terrific momentum though on the plus side, it did give Campbell some impressive solos and allowed a good portion of the audience to refill their beer.

That said, there wasn’t any better way to get things back on track than with a gorgeously stripped down version of “Learning To Fly”, followed by a thundering “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and a grand “Refugee” to close the main set. At this point the 11PM curfew was drawing awfully close, but there was no way the nearly-full arena was going to let things end without the encore, and so they returned for “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and what I thought for sure would be the coup de grace show stopper – and my favourite Petty tune – “American Girl”. But instead of the big ringing D chord I expected, they broke into the Wildflowers-vintage descending riff of “You Wreck Me” and while I like that song a lot, it’s not “American Girl”. And after the big linked-arm bows and the house lights came up, it became clear that there would be no “American Girl”. And as great as most of the show was to that point, it was and remains a bit of a bitter finish for me… In time I’ll be able to focus on the great 100 minutes they did play and not the three they didn’t, but y’know Campbell, you could have soloed just a little less and bought some time and it would have been perfect. Just saying.

The Toronto Sun, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail and eye all have reviews of the show.

Photos: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Crosby, Stills & Nash @ The Air Canada Centre – August 25, 2010
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Walls”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Wreck Me”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Peace In L.A.”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “King’s Highway”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Into The Great Wide Open”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Learnin’ To Fly”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Yer So Bad”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Face In The Crowd”
Video: Tom Petty – “Free Fallin'”
Video: Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Video: Tom Petty – “I Won’t Back Down”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Rebels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “You Got Lucky”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “The Waiting”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee”
MySpace: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
MySpace: Crosby, Stills & Nash

As expected with such a massive tour already lined up, Sufjan Stevens will release his first new and proper album in ages on October 12, the day before he plays Massey Hall. Pitchfork has details on what to expect from The Age Of Adz and the first MP3 is up for grabs.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem clarifies (or makes vaguer) his intentions to retire the band to The Quietus.

New York Magazine talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Their new record False Priest is out September 14.

The Montreal Gazette and Chart have feature interviews with Land Of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell. They play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

alt.ohio interviews Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, complete video of whose show in San Francisco from this past May is available to stream in its entirety at Revision 3.

Rose Elinor Dougall has premiered a new video from Without Why over at The Guardian. Her debut album is out on Monday.

Video: Rose Elinor Dougall – “Carry On”

The Vine interviews Warren Ellis of Grinderman. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they kick off their North American tour November 11 in Toronto at the Phoenix.

The second part of Le Blogotheque’s Take-Away Shows from NXNE is now up.

Saddle CreekWhen their debut mini-album Applause Cheer Boo Hiss arrived in 2006, Land Of Talk appeared as though Canada had a new hard rock heroine in Liz Powell, her white-hot guitar work matched only by her distinctive vocals, equal parts angst and yearning. It wasn’t a title – or pigeonhole – that Powell seemed interested in, however, and their 2008 proper debut album Some Are Lakes surprised not only by dialing down the white-knuckle rock in favour of a somewhat softer and more spacious sound, but by making it sound as good, if not in some ways better, than the big, brash document that many had been imagining it would be.

Last year’s Fun & Laughter EP reignited those expectations, though, as producer Jace Lasek coaxed back some of the rough edges that Lakes producer Justin Vernon had smoothed out and with Lasek also helming album number two, perhaps expectations that we now lived in a kinder, gentler Land Of Talk were premature. Instead, Cloak And Cipher – out next week – again confounds expectations by splitting the difference and proving, perhaps, that it doesn’t really matter who’s producing or what the balance of heavy and light songs across the record are – it’s the quality of the songs that matters and in that department, Cloak And Cipher delivers.

It’s been suggested that Land Of Talk are one big song away from breaking out in a major way and if that’s true, then Cloak And Cipher is probably not the record that will do it. It holds no anthem or ballad that stops you in your tracks or burrows deep into your skull on a single listen – what it does have is ten compositions that showcase the breadth of Powell’s talents, each sounding fully self-realized and yet for all the shifts in tones, textures and players, hang together marvelously. Album standout “Quarry Hymns” sounds deceptively simple but is just about perfect in how it’s assembled, showcasing Powell’s ability to mate her distinctive voice with just the right melody and phrasing and her unconventional, spidery guitar playing while the blistering “The Hate I Won’t Commit” aptly demonstrates her punk edge is still well intact but even then, is exceptionally layered and sophisticated. No breakout hit? No bangers? No jams? That’s fine, I’ll take a rich, solid from top to bottom album every day of the week.

The National Post is currently streaming the whole of the new record with accompanying song-by-song commentary from Liz Powell. In addition to the one download below, you can get “Quarry Hymns” over here in exchange for your email address. Land Of Talk play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

MP3: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Swift Coin”
MySpace: Land Of Talk

Dan Mangan is staging a cross-country tour this Fall that includes a stop at Trinity-St. Paul’s in Toronto on October 28, tickets $22.50, with Bry Webb (formerly?) of Constantines supporting in his Harbourcoats guise. The Polaris-nominated Nice, Nice, Very Nice was just released in the US.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Robots”

Also coming from out west and graduating on to bigger rooms is Hannah Georgas, who is teaming up with Royal Wood for a cross-country tour that will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26.

MP3: Hannah Georgas – “Chit Chat”

Prefix interviews The Acorn

NPR is streaming a full session with Laura Marling.

The Daily Mail has a feature piece on Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. She’s at the Sound Academy on November 3.

Just Played chats with Rose Elinor Dougall; her solo debut Without Why is out August 30.

This week, Exclaim is streaming the whole of Mogwai’s live album Special Moves, due out next week.

Stream: Mogwai / Special Moves

Rolling Stone talks to Nick Cave and Exclaim to Jim Sclavunos of Grinderman, whose Grinderman 2 is due out September 14 and whom the Huffington Post is calling the “first great band of the Anthropocene epoch”. Well duh. Grinderman play the Phoenix on November 11.

Bryan Lee-O’MalleyYesterday afternoon, the words “Scott Pilgrim” became the top trending topic worldwide on Twitter, a remarkable if probably fleeting accomplishment that kind of underscores how big a deal the release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (the motion picture) this coming Friday is… at least to people on Twitter. And like indie rock. And comic books. And (old-school) video games. And Toronto. In other words, people like me. And possibly/probably you.

And so I present to you a selection of particularly interesting or entertaining links culled from the veritable ocean of Pilgrim-related articles, interviews, videos, games and online tchotchke related to the film. Or at least the ones I found. There’s this About.com interview with series creator Bryan Lee-O’Malley, these The Los Angeles Times and AV Club conversations with film director Edgar Wright, this The Toronto Star interview both Wright and star Michael Cera, this series overview for newbs from The Globe & Mail, this collection of fake Lucas Lee movie posters, this MTV cast interview video at their Lee’s Palace soundstage (with an explanation of why they didn’t use the real Lee’s as a set), this Newsarama interview with various cast members and this other Los Angeles Times piece interviewing music supervisor Nigel Godrich and contributor Beck about putting together the music for the film.

Advance reviews of the film are pretty good but I’m sure once you adjust for geekdom, it’s awesome. I will have to wait a while to see for myself, though, as other engagements will keep me from making it to a theatre probably until Monday or Tuesday. But to hold me over, I re-read the whole series last night and have this fascinating interactive trailer, this brilliant trailer assembled from frames of the comic, this video of Jason Schwartzman and Michael Cera doing the weather for an Atlanta news broadcast and as the domino that will finally get me to perhaps get a modern video game system (or at least borrow one for a while), the video game trailer. And both the soundtrack and original score of the film are available to stream in their entirety at Spinner.

Stream: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Original Soundtrack
Stream: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Original Score

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing a recording of Arcade Fire’s show in Boston a couple weeks ago while Zoilus has posted a transcript of an interview with Win Butler. They play the Toronto Islands this coming Saturday, and congratulations to the band on scoring #1 records in the Canada, the UK and USA.

Owen Pallett will release a new EP on 10″ come September 28 – details on A Swedish Love Story available at Domino Records.

Movie Entertainment profiles celebrity Basia Bulat while The Edmonton Journal finds out about her next project. She’s at the Phoenix on October 26.

Prefix interviews Stars, who will be setting up at Massey Hall on October 23.

PopMatters asks 20 questions of Tokyo Police Club, who will be opening up for Phoenix at the Ricoh Coliseum on October 26.

Paste talks to Liz Powell of Land Of Talk, whose new one Cloak And Cipher is out next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 16.

American Songwriter profiles American songwriter Samantha Crain. She’s at the Horseshoe on September 26.

Spinner inquires about The Thermals’ Personal Life. It’s out September 7 and they follow it with a show at Lee’s Palace on October 9.

Daytrotter has posted a session with First Aid Kit and another with Ferraby Lionheart, who will be opening up for them at the El Mocambo on October 15.

The first video from Grinderman’s Grinderman 2 is out and yes, it’s 100% ridiculous. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they play the Phoenix on November 11.

Video: Grinderman – “Heathen Child”

Kate Nash, having played the deliberately undersized Mod Club back in April, brings her second album My Best Friend Is You back to town for a show at the Phoenix on November 13 as part of an extensive Fall tour. The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview.

Video: Kate Nash – “Do Wah Do”

The Cribs have just released a new video for a non-album single entitled “Housewife”.

Video: The Cribs – “Housewife”

This Is Fake DIY has got an acoustic session with Sky Larkin and The Yorkshire Evening Post an interview.

Blurt has a feature piece on The Wedding Present.

Barry KlippBradford Cox’s Deerhunter first began marketing their forthcoming album Halcyon Digest earlier this Summer via unconventional means, initiating a campaign wherein fans would download and print off old-school, xerox-styled flyers promoting the record and submit pictures of them posted up in and around their neighbourhoods in exchange for MP3 goodies, both from the new record and the Deerhunter archives. I can’t say as that I’ve seen any around my own hood, but clearly people have been participating.

As the September 28 release date for the new record draws near, the Atlanta-based band are gearing up for a more conventional but proven effective means of record promotion – touring their asses off. Pitchfork has the full itinerary, which includes a handful of northeast US dates this month before kicking off in earnest come October. Toronto welcomes them back – they were just here in March opening up for Spoon – on October 19 for a date at the Opera House, where they’ll be supported by Real Estate and Casino Vs Japan.

MP3: Deerhunter – “Revival”

A Place To Bury Strangers have released a new video from Exploding Head.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart”

Antony & The Johnsons have released an MP3 for the title track from their forthcoming EP Thank You For Your Love, out August 24, as a teaser both for the short-player and the full-length it’s taken from, Swanlights, which will follow on October 12.

MP3: Antony & The Johnsons – “Thank You For Your Love”

The AV Club interviews Dean & Britta.

Nashville Scene talks to Josh Ritter. He’s at the Phoenix on October 26.

Jim James tells Rolling Stone that My Morning Jacket have been back in the studio and a new record is targeted for mid-2011.

Spin talks to Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies about their new record Blood/Candy, out September 28, and has a stream of the song “Licenses to Hide”, which features vocals from Lisa Lobsinger of Broken Social Scene and Reverie Sound Revue.

The Tripwire gets in the back of a van with The Acorn. For a video session. Get your mind out of the gutter.

The Toronto Star has a feature piece on Arcade Fire. They’re at the Toronto Islands next Saturday and last night’s MSG show is available to stream on YouTube.

As proof that their gig at the Phoenix in April actually did count as an intimate club show, Wolf Parade will be back for the finale of their Fall tour in support of Expo 86 at the Sound Academy on November 26.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Ghost Pressure”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)

The Line Of Best Fit has released a new Oh! Canada compilation of Canadian MP3s as assembled by Brits.

Dublin’s Villagers, whose Becoming A Jackal has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, has a date at the Drake Underground on September 27. Tickets $10 in advance.

MP3: Villagers – “Becoming A Jackal”

Spinner talks to Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite about the band’s new studio album which is targeted for a February 2011 release. Their Burning/Special Moves live set is due on August 24.

NME talks to Paul Smith of Maximo Park about releasing his first solo album Margins, due out October 11.

MP3: Paul Smith – “North Atlantic Drift”

Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers gives BBC6 some details on their forthcoming record Postcards From A Young Man, coming September 27.

Nick Cave discusses Grinderman with Rolling Stone. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and the North American tour kicks of November 11 at the Phoenix in Toronto. I don’t think people are sufficiently excited about this show because it’s not possible to be sufficiently excited about this show.

Brooklyn Paper talks to Jack Rabid, publisher of The Big Takeover which has just celebrated 30 years of being one of the finest and most dedicated music magazines out there. Salut.

Julien BourgeoisThe inimitable Jens Lekman has been a bit quiet since wrapping up support for 2007’s Night Falls On Kortedala but a the last couple weeks have seen not quite a flurry of activity from the Swedish singer-songwriter, but definite signs that he’s not been idle while away.

First came what he called “A Summer In 3/4 Time”, a downloadable mix/mash-up that started as a remix he did for Au Revoir Simone and turned into an extended aural treatise on 3/4 and 6/8 tempos spanning all eras and genres of pop music with some film quotes thrown in for good measure. There’s a breakdown of the what and the why at his Small Talk journal, but really all you need to know is this.

And while that was very unexpected and enjoyable, the real treat came last week when a new song surfaced and was made available for free in exchange for an email. It also came with an extended backstory describing its origins – your boilerplate boy loses girl on the eve of the US election, fakes being happy on Swedish TV and writes a song about it – but what’s most important is that the song is big and sweeping and pure Jens. And bodes very well for his next record, whenever it’s done.

MP3: Jens Lekman presents A Summer in 3/4 Time

Yours Truly solicits an acoustic performance from First Aid Kit; they’re back in North America this Fall and are at the El Mocambo on October 15.

The San Francisco Chronicle interviews Joanna Newsom.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of The National at Terminal 5 in New York last week.

The Fly solicits an In The Courtyard video session from The Morning Bender. See them in a similar setting on Wednesday afternoon when they play a free acoustic set outside The Big Chill ice cream in Little Italy, in between opening gigs for The Black Keys at the Kool Haus on August 4 and 5.

Spinner talks to Greg Edwards of Autolux. Transit Transit is out this week and they are at Lee’s Palace on August 24.

Matt Pond PA will be at the Mod Club on October 1. They released The Dark Leaves back in the Spring.

MP3: Matt Pond PA – “Grave’s Disease”

Punk legends Bad Religion will be in town on October 14 at a venue to be announced in support of their new record The Dissent of Man, out September 28.

Video: Bad Religion – “New Dark Ages”

How do you know Broken Social Scene are down under? Interviews in Australia’s The Vine and New Zealand’s Under The Radar. And oh yeah, their new video is out.

Video: Broken Social Scene – “Forced To Love”

If you haven’t heard it yet, NPR is streaming the whole of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs – out now if you’re analog and tomorrow if you’re digital. They play the Toronto Islands on August 14.

Stream: Arcade Fire / The Suburbs

And last but certainly not least – Grinderman is at the Phoenix on November 11, full dates at Pitchfork. Grinderman 2 is out September 14.

Trailer: Grinderman 2