Nina MouritzenAs a confirmed musical Scandiphile – I don’t know if that’s a real world but I like it regardless – I like to think each nordic country has a particular strength and style to them: Swedes excel at mating melody to melancholy, the best Icelandic music is evocative of the mystery and otherworldliness of the environment from which it springs, and Norway has given us black metal and a-ha. But Denmark… for a long while, they gave us Aqua. And also Mew and The Raveonettes, sure, but only recently have I began to detect a particular musical thread running through their emerging artists.

Artists like Efterklang and Indians trade in a sort of dense, meticulously crafted, and occasionally proggish pop that prefers measured movements to grand gestures and can prefer to render emotions in infinte greyscale rather than technicolor. And while three acts don’t really constitute a national aesthetic, the aforementioned also applies to Copenhagen’s Choir Of Young Believers, the miniature orchestra led by singer-guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. Their second full-length Rhine Gold is a sumptuous collection of songs that are stoic and weighty, but still move with grace whether Makrigiannis is working with an elegant croon or lonesome yodel and benefit from arrangements that flirt equally with baroque orchestrations and electronic processing. Certainly, there are points where you wish that the band would crack a smile or let some light in, but it’s hard to argue when the stoicism sounds this good and anyways – it wouldn’t be very Danish, would it?

Choir Of Young Believers are at The Drake Underground on Monday, October 22 in support of Daughter, and courtesy of Big Hassle, I have a pair of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to join the Choir Of Young Believers” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that to me by midnight, October 20.

MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Sedated”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Patricia’s Thirst”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Nye Nummber Et”
MP3: Choir Of Young Believers – “Paint New Horrors”

Speaking of Indians, 4AD have offered details on their forthcoming debut: Somewhere Else is out January 29, and a preview MP3 has been provided for your listening pleasure. They’re at The Horseshoe on November 23, and for anyone in New York right now, they’re also at Brooklyn Bowl tonight for my co-presented Hype Machine showcase.

MP3: Indians – “Cakelakers”

PopMatters and Washington City Paper interview Jens Lekman.

PopMatters asks twenty questions of Victoria Bergsman of Taken By Trees.

Death & Taxes interview Icona Pop, whose new EP Iconic is available to stream. They open up for Marina & The Diamonds at The Phoenix on December 2.

Stream: Icona Pop / Iconic

Interview and The Toronto Star talk to Ellie Goulding.

The xx have released a new video from Coexist. They’re at Massey Hall on October 23.

Video: The xx – “Chained”

The Quietus has premiered a video from Sylver Tongue’s new Something Big EP and you know, watching her take that guitar solo, I don’t think anyone would have complained if she had simply released it as Charlotte Hatherley…

Video: Sylver Tongue – “Something Big”

Daytrotter welcomes Still Corners to their studios for a session.

Drowned In Sound has an interview with former Supergrass leader Gaz Coombes.

MusicOmh talks to Beth Orton.

Maxïmo Park visits Daytrotter for a session.

Chart solicits a list of favourite albums from Matt Taylor of Dry The River, who will be releasing an acoustic version of their debut Shallow Bed digitally on December 17; details on that at Live4Ever.

The Fly profiles Tame Impala.

Christiaan FelberThe answer from many to the question posed by the title of The Vaccines’ debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines was, “great things”. That may have been overreaching – What Did You Expect was a solid bit of guitar rock that didn’t necessarily pin them down in any one stylistic cul de sac, ranging from punky throwaways to stadium-ambition anthems – but there’s no arguing they built up a pretty good head of steam on it before it all crashed to a halt at the end of the Summer when frontman Justin Young’s voice was shut down for vocal cord surgery.

One of the casualties of that bit of misfortune was the entirety of their Fall North American tour, including a date at The Phoenix last October, but on the bright side being put into dry dock meant they could get down to writing their second album when they would have normally kept at touring the first. As a result, they’ve put out Come Of Age – which is less rangy but maybe hookier, finding the Londoners happily settling into a simpler, garage-rock vein. And they’ve finally gone ahead and made up those North American dates – if a year and a quarter later – planning to again hit The Phoenix on February 4. Tickets for that are $18 in advance.

Video: The Vaccines – “Teenage Icon”
Video: The Vaccines – “No Hope”

Marina & The Diamonds, who’s enjoyed chart-topping success back home in the UK with her second album Electra Heart will be looking to see how much that – and her stint this Summer supporting Coldplay – has translated into in North American success. She’s coming across the pond this December and bringing Swedish duo Icona Pop – themselves riding a pretty good buzz – and will be at The Phoenix on December 3, tickets $25.

Video: Marina & The Diamonds – “How To Be A Heartbreaker”
Video: Icona Pop – “Nights Like This”

Maxïmo Park have released a new video from their latest, The National Health and The Sun talks football with frontman Paul Smith.

Video: Maxïmo Park – “The Undercurrents”

The Dumbing Of America talks to Claudette Thurlow of 2:54, in town at The Horseshoe on October 22.

Bat For Lashes has released a new video from The Haunted Man, due out October 22. The Line Of Best Fit and Loud & Quiet have interviews with Natasha Khan.

Video: Bat For Lashes – “All Your Gold”

Bat For Lashes bandmate – or at least she was the last time out – Charlotte Hatherley continues with her Sylver Tongue electro-pop project by scheduling the release of her debut EP in that guise – Something Big – for November 6. Altsounds has some details.

Black Cab Sessions has a session in a black cab with Hot Chip; eGigs also has an interview.

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with Richard Hawley.

Pet Shop Boys have a new video from their latest, Elysium. There’s also a feature at BBC.

Video: Pet Shop Boys – “Leaving”

eMusic and The Telegraph have interviews with Beth Orton.

Mumford & Sons stop in at Daytrotter and NPR for studio sessions and also offer The National Post and New York Times interviews.

DIY has a feature on Tame Impala, who are streaming their new record Lonerism over at NPR. It’s out next Tuesday, October 9, and they are at The Phoenix on November 12.

Stream: Tame Impala / Lonerism

Amanda MarsalisCognizant, perhaps, of the fact that Other Worlds, her third album as Taken By Trees, comes out the exact same day that her North American tour supporting both it and Jens Lekman begins – that’d be next Tuesday, October 2 – Victoria Bergsman has thoughtfully made the album available to stream in its entirety; you can hear it over at Prefix.

It’s a record that keeps the wanderlust feel of its predecessor, East Of Eden, as filtered through Bergsman’s signature shy, sleepy vocals. But where that album immersed itself in the sounds and spirit of Pakistan, Worlds draws influences from a variety of places, from the Mediterranean to Caribbean to South Pacific, to create a gentle, yet danceable aural vacation.

Taken By Trees are at The Phoenix on October 4. Work has a brief Q&A with Bergsman.

Stream: Taken By Trees / Other Worlds

Room 205 has poste the third and final video from their session with I Break Horses. You can also just stream the audio of the session via Soundcloud if you don’t want to deal with the… interesting camera work.

Video: I Break Horses – “Load Your Eyes”
Stream: I Break Horses @ Room 205

Stereogum and The Toronto Star have interviews with First Aid Kit.

DIY gets to know Icona Pop.

Sigur Rós have released another instalment from their Valtari “Mystery Film Experiment” series.

Video: Sigur Rós – “Ekki múkk”

In conversation with Drowned In Sound, Andy Bell discusses what’s next for Beady Eye, what was for Ride and Oasis, and what probably should never have been with Hurricane #1.

DIY, Cool Hunting, and Drowned In Sound talk to Efterklang.

Still Corners have released a new single to precede a Fall European tour. It’s pretty.

MP3: Still Corners – “Fireflies”

CBC Music talks to Beth Orton, in town at the Mod Club on Sunday night in support of Sugaring Season, out Tuesday.

Paste is streaming Don’t Be A Stranger, the new album from Mark Eitzel, ahead of its official release date next Tuesday. He’s at The Rivoli on November 28 and another career advice video is up at SF Weekly.

MP3: Mark Eitzel – “I Love You But You’re Dead”
Stream: Mark Eitzel / Don’t Be A Stranger

Exclaim and The National Post have features on Grizzly Bear, who’ve released a new video and download from Shields.

MP3: Grizzly Bear – “Speak In Rounds”
Video: Grizzly Bear – “Yet Again”

Annie Clark of St. Vincent submits to an Exclaim questionnaire.

CBC Music and SF Weekly talk to Victoria Legrand and The Georgia Straight to Alex Scally of Beach House; they’re at The Kool Haus on October 13.

A couple of noteworthy support acts announced this week – Jason Lytle will be peddling his new solo record Dept. Of Disappearance at Massey Hall on December 5 before Band Of Horses take the stage. The album is out October 16, and a new song is available to stream.

Stream: Jason Lytle – “Get Up And Go”

And DIIV are back again, warming up for Japandroids at The Phoenix on December 11.

MP3: DIIV – “Sometime”

Frank YangIt would have been nice to think that the many well-dressed folks milling about on King West Saturday evening were winding their way to The Hoxton, where New Zealand’s Pip Browne – aka Ladyhawke – was set to make her first Toronto appearance in almost three years exactly. But no, they were probably just out taking in the final night of TIFF, because The Hoxton was basically empty when I got there.

Being an early show with a curfew, waiting around for the more fashionably late wasn’t an option to Computer Magic got to play for a mere handful of people. The project of Brooklyite Danielle Johnson, they played as a two-piece with Johnson on keys and vox and a drummer. It wasn’t much and their on-stage mobility was decidedly limited, but they more than made do. Johnson’s synth-pop melodies were both hooky and interesting, and while her drummer favoured the pads on his hybrid acoustic/electronic drum kit, the fact that he could hit the conventional drums and hit them hard gave it all a lot more power and presence than you would have expected. My understanding is that some live versions of the band have guitar and bass to fill things out, and while I don’t doubt the extra bodies make for a more compelling live show, Computer Magic as a duo had all they really needed to make a good impression – namely, solid tunes.

For reasons entirely not her fault, Ladyhawke’s first Toronto show in September 2009 was something of a clusterfuck. It was part of a seemingly-cursed tour presented by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, beset by low attendance, a patchwork bill, and a self-destructing headliner in Ida Maria who bailed from the tour entirely the day of the Toronto show. Ladyhawke’s first set as the de facto sole headliner of the tour was actually fine, showcasing the ridiculously catchy ’80s-styled pop of her self-titled debut, but it’s hard to separate the performance in memory from the circus that surrounded it.

This outing came without the sideshow, thankfully, but also without the degree of buzz that was there the first time around. Her second album Anxiety has been rather unjustly dismissed for being built more on guitars than synths, but the electro-pop movement that she was lumped into back in 2009 was no longer fashionable anyways and if she’d stuck with the same formula, the complaints would probably be that she was sounding dated. Fact is, the change in instrumentation is more cosmetic than fundamental; the songs on Anxiety are less immediate than those on Ladyhawke, but also less obvious. Pip Browne’s melodic instincts are still more than intact, though, and it’s a solid work that will age quite nicely.

It also meant that the couple hundred people in attendance – the room had thankfully filled in some – were genuine fans, else three years behind on hearing what was supposed to be hip. Fronting a five-piece band where, perhaps fittingly given their shift in direction, the massive drum sounds and big, fuzzy guitars often drowned out the keyboardist, the Ladyhawke live experience hadn’t necessarily become more exciting. Though friendly, they’re still very businesslike on stage, having evidently drawn on plenty of glittery/glammy ’80s sonic influence but not the excess of presentation. Browne’s vintage Bryan Adams t-shirt got the most audience approval and the guitarist Danny Blanco provided most of the on-stage animation, which wasn’t really much. But the low-key presentation meant that they were able to power through an extensive set list, cramming eighteen songs into an hour and change including an unexpected cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” to open the encore. See, she knows her ’60s as well! And she knows how to write great songs that don’t need the benefit of a gossip blogger patron or fleeting musical fashionability to impress.

Computer Magic has a bunch of EPs available for free download.

Photos: Ladyhawke, Computer Magic @ The Hoxton – September 15, 2012
MP3: Ladyhawke – “Sunday Drive”
MP3: Ladyhawke – “Sunday Drive” (acoustic)
MP3: Ladyhawke – “Black White & Blue” (acoustic)
MP3: Computer Magic – “Grand Junction”
MP3: Computer Magic – “Electric Fences”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Blue Eyes”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Sunday Drive”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Black White & Blue”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Magic”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Paris Is Burning”
Video: Ladyhawke – “My Delirium”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Dusk Till Dawn”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Back Of The Van”
Video: Computer Magic – “Trinity”
Video: Computer Magic – “The End Of Time”

Evidently with a little time to kill before hitting the stage at The Great Hall on the evening of September 18, DIIV will be setting up at Sonic Boom’s Kensington location for an in-store on Tuesday afternoon at 5PM. They just released a new video from their debut Oshin last week.

MP3: DIIV – “Sometime”
Video: DIIV – “Doused”

Australian folkies Husky have a date at The Drake Underground on November 12 in support of their debut Forever So. They were here back during Canadian Musicfest, if you think you might had seen or heard them before. A Daytrotter session with the band also just went up.

MP3: Husky – “Tidal Wave”
MP3: Husky – “History’s Door”

NPR’s big-deal advance album stream this week is Piramida, the latest from Denmark’s Efterklang. It’s out September 25.

MP3: Efterklang – “Apples”
Stream: Efterklang / Pirmada

Even though their latest Observator just came out, Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes tells Paste he’s already compiling ideas for their next album. They’re at The Phoenix on October 2.

Interview has an interview and I Love Sweden a video session with Amanda Mair.

The Quietus has an exit interview with the retiring Soundtrack Of Our Lives.

Interview talks to ascendent Swedish electro-pop duo Icona Pop.

PopMatters poses twenty questions to múm.

Rolling Stone has premiered a new video from Of Monsters & Men’s debut My Head Is An Animal.

Video: Of Monsters & Men – “Mountain Sound”

Dash Shaw and John Cameron Mitchell offer more a short film than video as their contribution to Sigur Rós’ Valtari “Mystery Film Experiment”, using both “Rembihnútur” and “Ekki múkk” as a soundtrack to their clip.

Video: Sigur Rós – “Seraph”

Laetitia Sadier has premiered a new video from Silencio. She plays The Drake on September 18 and Laetitia Sadier – “Find Me The Pulse Of The Universe”

NPR is streaming M83’s recent concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

Kristen LidellMany adjectives can and have been used to describe the songwriting of Swedish troubadour Jens Lekman – wry, witty, classic, charming, hilarious, to list but a very few – but “personal” is not necessarily one of the first you’d use. He’s a masterful storyteller in song, and no doubt the seeds of many of his songs come from his own life experiences or observations, but in crafting his perfect little narratives he’s usually able to distance himself from them, always a character whether he’s operating in the third person or the first. This isn’t any sort of condemnation – I’d not want “A Letter To Nina” or “You Are The Light” any other way – but is necessary to point out to understand why his third proper album, I Know What Love Isn’t, feels subtly but significatly different.

On the surface, it’s not dissimilar to his earlier efforts. Lightly but exquisitely arranged orchestral pop, albeit better-recorded this time out, and a suite of songs filled with witty couplets, brilliant plays on words, and songs about and to girls. But while the female leads in his tales have a number of different names – Danae, Catherine, Samantha, Erica, Jennifer, take a bow – there’s a sense they’re all perspectives of the same woman. As the album title implies, What Love Isn’t is a break-up album and whether Lekman sought to only use the failed romance as inspiration and not fuel is known only to him, that sadness sublimates its way into the entire record and makes the fourth wall translucent, giving it an emotional potency that his other records can’t lay claim to.

Opening with the simple, piano-led instrumental “Every Little Hair Knows Your Name” – reprised in vocal form to close the record – the front end of Love finds Lekman indulging his more emo side. Lead single “Erica America” is a smoky, jazzy piece equally tinged with nostalgia and regret and while “Become Someone Else’s” brightens up marginally thanks to a chipper piano line, it and “She Just Doesn’t Want To Be With You Anymore” wear their sentiments openly in their titles. It would be understandable for Lekman to choose to inhabit this end of the musical spectrum to work through things, but also overly obvious. And heavens forfend Lekman be obvious.

It turns out he’s playing the (relatively) long game with this record, allowing it to gradually build in tempo, and brighten in outlook as it progresses and by the time it reaches the triumvirate of “The World Moves On”, “The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love”, and “I Know What Love Isn’t”, it’s Lekman at his best, spinning vignettes and telling tales over some of his most indelible melodies, memorable choruses, and richest arrangements to date, all combining for his most cohesive and satisfying album yet. I Know What Love Isn’t may sound like a typically Lekman play on words, but it also speaks to a truth of lessons learned the hard way – the couplet “you don’t get over a broken heart/you just learn to carry it gracefully” from “The World Moves On” is the album’s thesis and triumph, and while you don’t have to have had your heart broken to appreciate it, but it doesn’t hurt.

Rolling Stone, Exclaim, DIY, Tiny Mix Tapes, eMusic, RCRDLBL, and Interview, The Quietus talk to Lekman about his new record, while The Line Of Best Fit and Pitchfork also cajole a video session. Lekman is at The Phoenix on October 4.

MP3: Jens Lekman – “Erica America”
Video: Jens Lekman – “I Know What Love Isn’t”
Video: Jens Lekman – “Erica America”

Opening up that show at The Phoenix is Taken By Trees, and they’ve just released a stream of another new song from Other Worlds, set for release on October 2.

Stream: Taken By Trees – “Large”

Maria Lindén of I Break Horses gives DIY some insight to where she’s headed with album number two. Room 205 has also posted the first installment of a video session with the band that gives you an idea of what the live incarnation of the band sounds like (awesome). The next two will follow over the next fortnight.

Video: I Break Horses – “Wired” (live at Room 205)

Clash has got a download of Amanda Mair performing an acoustic version of “Doubt”, from her self-titled debut.

MP3: Amanda Mair – “Doubt” (acoustic)

Rolling Stone gets to know Swedish electro-pop duo Icona Pop. They have a new single which they’re thoughtfully streaming for all to hear.

Stream: Icona Pop – “Ready For The Weekend”

Spin, The Georgia Straight, and Seattle Weekly talks to Niki & The Dove, in town at The Drake on October 2.

Efterklang have made a track from their new album Piramida available to download, sample, and savour. It’s out September 25.

MP3: Efterklang – “Apples”

4AD has announced the signing of Denmark’s Søen Løkke Juul – aka Indians – by way of a 4AD Session. Their full-length debut won’t be out until early in the new year, but he and his band will introduce themselves at The Horseshoe on November 23 in support of Other Lives.

MP3: Indians – “I Am Haunted”
Video: Indians – “Magic Kids”
Video: Indians – “New”

NPR and DIY interview The Raveonettes. Observator is out today – they’ve released a new video for the occasion – and they’re at The Phoenix on October 2.

Video: The Raveonettes – “The Enemy”

DIY, Spinner, and Clash say “what’s up” to Of Monsters & Men

The 405 and Under The Radar interview Laetitia Sadier. She plays The Drake on September 18.

Nick Cave is still in screenwriter mode, but in discussing Lawless conversation inevitably turns to music and it’s been confirmed that a new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album is already complete and is due out in February of next year. Exclaim has some details.

The Wall Street Journal interviews Takaakira Goto of Mono, who bring their new record For My Parents to the Horseshoe tomorrow night.