John LondonoI didn’t study a whole lot of history in school – to my regret – and the topics I did cover didn’t include the War Of 1812. I did, however, take a lot of math courses so I am able to calculate that this is the 200th anniversary of said conflict between the then-British territory that would become known as Canada and the newly-independent United States of America.

The precise causes of the war aren’t entirely clear to me but based on the musical events being scheduled at Toronto’s Historic Fort York – the site of the Battle Of York in April 1813 – this Summer, it was about the inalienable right to get one’s dance on. After all – there’s the HARD fest in August where French electro/disco headliners Justice and M83 will presumably be representing the interests of Lower Canada, and just announced this week for July 13 is the first date of the Full Flex Express tour. It will see Canadian electro artist Grimes teaming up with American DJ types Skrillex and Diplo travelling the country by train to celebrate the way in which our two countries were able to overcome our differences and spend the last two centuries coexisting in harmony through the power of dubstep. Or maybe they’re going to don period uniforms, brandish muskets, and have at each other for a few hours. One can only hope.

Tickets go on sale today with a limited number of early birds available for $41.50 and the rest at $51.50. And to top it off, Grimes has released a new video from this year’s Visions that I assume is an accurate recreation of Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe’s retreat from the American forces at Fort York. There’s more nudity than I would have expected, but hey – I’m not the historian here.

MP3: Grimes – “Genesis”
MP3: Diplo – “Express Yourself”
Video: Skrillex – “Bangarang”
Video: Grimes – “Nightmusic”

Chad VanGaalen has made a date at The Mod Club for July 26.

MP3: Chad VanGaalen – “Willow Tree”

The Wilderness of Manitoba are still being coy about the what and when of their second album, but they’re being generous with where. They’ve got a couple shows planned for the Summer – one on June 1 at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse and another on June 30 on the Toronto Islands as part of the New Traditions festival with a goodly number of artists, both musical and visual. Admission for the Steam Whistle thing is $5 and a festival pass for the latter is $20.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Hermit”

And if you like your festivals on islands, you’ll be pleased to know that Kingston’s Wolfe Island Music Festival has announced their 2012 lineup – Sam Roberts, Zeus, and Yukon Blonde are just a few of the acts playing on August 10 and 11, early bird tickets are $65, include camping and go on sale next week. I went to the fest back in 2007 and it is a great time, well worth the trip up the 401.

NOW makes cover stars of PS I Love You, headlining The Garrison on May 15.

Metro, The Winnipeg Free Press, and Monday talk to Al Spx of Cold Specks, whose debut album I Predict A Graceful Expulsion is out May 22. They play The Music Hall on June 2 opening for Great Lake Swimmers.

And speaking of Great Lake Swimmers, there’s feature interviews with the band at Vancouver Weekly, The Victoria Times Colonist, Exclaim, The Calgary Herald, and The Georgia Straight. In addition to the aforementioned Music Hall show, they’ll be supporting Blue Rodeo at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 18.

Japandroids give Exclaim some background on the title of their new album Celebration Rock, out May 29. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 23.

With the June 12 release date of Synthetica coming up, Metric gives Rolling Stone an acoustic performance of the first single and tell aux.tv where the “reflection” videos they’re using as promotional teasers came from.

aux.tv gets Plants & Animals to offer commentary for their “Lightshow” video. They play Yonge-Dundas Square on June 15 for NXNE.

Spin gets to know Dan Mangan, who plays a free show as part of LuminaTO at Pecault Square on the afternoon of June 16.

The Guardian gets on board with The Magic. Their debut Ragged Gold is out June 25.

Trust have released a new video from their debut album TRST. They play The Great Hall on July 13.

Video: Trust – “Sulk”

Frank YangIt’s basically a given that the songwriters who pen the saddest songs also have the wickedest senses of humour, right? I have no quantitative proof to support this – only anecdotal – but if I were to start assembling some scientific proofs in support of this hypothesis, I’d certainly include Rose Cousins’ show at The Rivoli on Thursday night in the lab report. It was a record release show for her third album We Have Made A Spark – the gorgeousness of which was saluted hereabouts last month – and while three months after it came out seems a little late for a record release show, she has been touring the record all over since it came out and has presumably been making each show an occasion. This one certainly was.

And not just because they put out chairs, dispensed with an opener, and scheduled an early start time, though those were certainly signs that it wasn’t going to be a typical show. As was Cousins opening up the show solo with a cover – Blue Rodeo’s “Five Days In May” – which would be one of two songs by others she’d perform that night (Ana Egge’s “Shadow Fall” being the other). The rest of the show, however, was dedicated to showcasing Spark in all its rich emotional nuances with Cousins moving from guitar to piano and being accompanied by two of the musicians who played on the album, Austin Nevins on electric guitar and Zachariah Hickman on upright bass. She was also joined through the night by special guests Suzie Ungerleider aka Oh Susanna, Ruth Moody of The Wailin’ Jennys and Robyn Dell’Unto who augmented Cousins’ own gorgeous vocals with some astonishing harmonies.

Between the songs, however, it was all charm and humour with Cousins proving herself quite the crack up with anecdotes, impressions and audience banter, the crowning glory of which was a hilariously detailed description of her ideal soundtrack placement for the song, “Go First” – specifically, the season finale of a surgical drama that included but wasn’t limited to a newborn child getting an arm transplant from a gorilla. It really is a shame that a video already exists for the song because her treatment had “viral” written all over it. It was moments of levity like this that helped provide the right amount of lightness to balance out the emotional weight and dark tones of the songs, though as Cousins pointed out the album isn’t all downcast – it acknowledges and arcs towards the silver linings of matters. No jokes were needed to end the show on a high note, however, as it was all hands on deck for a rowdy cover of Adele’s “Rumour Has It”. Not even the ginormous thunderstorm that awaited outside the Rivoli could dampen the spirits of those leaving the show after that finale; our clothes, yes.

NOW had an interview with Cousins in advance of the show.

Photos: Rose Cousins @ The Rivoli – May 3, 2012
MP3: Rose Cousins – “The Darkness”
Video: Rose Cousins – “Go First”

Bry Webb and Del Bel will team up for a Wavelength show at 918 Bathurst on June 1 to mark the release of a collaborative single which you can hear below. Single aside, both have excellent albums to draw from – Webb with Provider and Del Bel with Oneiric – and both have already put on impressive shows this year in support of them – Del Bel in January and Webb in February. All of which is to say you can’t go wrong here. Tickets are $12 in advance.

MP3: Bry Webb – “Rivers Of Gold”
MP3: Del Bel featuring Bry Webb – “No Cure For Loneliness”

Le Blogotheque has a video session from and Spin a conversation about hats with Patrick Watson; he plays the Music Hall on May 29.

Uptown and Beatroute have features on Great Lake Swimmers, back in town playing a show at the Music Hall on June 2. They’ve also just been announced as support for Blue Rodeo’s annual Molson Amphitheatre show on August 18.

Rolling Stone gets to know Japandroids, whose new record Celebration Rock is out May 29 and who play Lee’s Palace on June 23.

The Line Of Best Fit chats with Hooded Fang, whose next local show is their NXNE showcase on June 15 at The Silver Dollar.

Dan Mangan has released a new video for the opening track of his latest, Oh Fortune. He plays a free show at Pecault Square on the afternoon of June 16.

Video: Dan Mangan – “About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All”

Long rumoured but now fact, Leonard Cohen will take his new record Old Ideas on the road and play the Air Canada Centre on December 4. Full dates at Pitchfork.

Video: Leonard Cohen – “Show Me The Place”

Braids talk to Spin about the direction of their sophomore record.

Frank YangIt’s been a long time since you could accurately describe My Morning Jacket as a southern rock kind of band – yes they’re southern and they rock, but they’ve long since chased their country/psych/soul-inspired muses into uncharted corners of the musical cosmos and are really rather their own genre entirely now. Similarly, it’s been a long time since you could call Band Of Horses “My Morning Jacket, Jr” as they were often referred – equally affectionately and derisively, I think – on account of Ben Bridwell’s own southern accents, sky-reaching field holler of a voice, and impressive hirsuteness. They’ve not reinvented themselves to quite the same degree but three albums in, they’re very much their own band now and follow in no one’s footsteps.

All that said, there’s plenty of natural synchronicity between the two acts so even though neither will have a new record to push – MMJ’s last release was 2011’s Circuital and BOH’s follow-up to 2010’s Infinite Arms isn’t due out until the Fall at earliest – it’s nice to see that they’re teaming up for a string of Summer dates that will see Band Of Horses set ’em up and My Morning Jacket knock ’em down, all while bringing smiles to the faces of those who dig on big guitar jams, soaring vocals, and luxurious facial hair. Toronto gets the double-bill on August 15 when they play Echo Beach at Ontario Place, tickets $49.50 in advance and going on sale Friday at 10AM – that’ll be just over a year since My Morning Jacket’s last visit in July 2011 and some time since Band Of Horses last headlined here in October 2010 (I wasn’t there but hit their free surprise show at The Horseshoe in May).

This isn’t the first time that My Morning Jacket and Band Of Horses teamed up; they were out on the road for a spell last Fall, and a recording from that tour – with Ben Bridwell guesting with My Morning Jacket at Madison Square Garden in New York – has been released to offer a taste of what this new tour will have to offer.

MP3: My Morning Jacket with Ben Bridwell – “Wondeful (The Way I Feel)” (live at MSG)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Holdin’ Onto Black Metal”
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Circuital”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “Factory”
MP3: Band Of Horses – “No One’s Gonna Love You”

Plenty more concert news from yesterday to get through. Those hoping to see Japandroids destroy a sold-out Horseshoe on June 23 in honour of their new record Celebration Rock should know that it has been moved to Lee’s Palace with that many more tickets available for sale. And speaking of moving, the release date of Celebration Rock has been moved from June 5 to May 29. And the first single is available to download.

MP3: Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”

Matador-signed Austin-based young punks The Young have set a date at The Shop Under Parts & Labour for July 4; their new record Dub Egg is out June 12.

MP3: The Young – “Livin’ Free”

If you can’t fit New York-based, every corner of the world-bred Young Magic into your NXNE schedule – they’re at Wrongbar on June 14 – know that they’ll be back much sooner rather than later in support of Melt with a date at The Garrison on July 5 with Boston’s Quilt. Tickets for that will be $12.50 in advance.

MP3: Young Magic – “Night In The Ocean”
MP3: Quilt – “Penobska-Oakwalk”

When Loney Dear brought Hall Music to the Drake Underground last November, it was just Emil Svanängen performing solo and while I was a bit wary of whether he could do it justice on his own, he succeeded in putting on one of my favourite shows of last year to go with one of my favourite albums of last year. I’ve no idea if he’ll be bringing a band with him on July 8 when he plays The Horseshoe – tickets $15 in advance – but you’re damn right I’ll be there to find out. Already one of my most-anticipated shows of the Summer and folks – it’s not a lean Summer for shows.

MP3: Loney Dear – “My Heart”
MP3: Loney Dear – “What Have I Become?”

Lower Dens will be at Lee’s Palace on July 17 in support of their new record Nootropics, out today. To mark the occasion, they’ve released a new video and another new MP3 to download.

MP3: Lower Dens – “Lamb”
Video: Lower Dens – “Propagation”

It took longer than I expected but The Big Pink have finally made a local date in support of this year’s Future This; they and their smoke machines will be at The Hoxton on August 1, tickets $18 in advance.

MP3: The Big Pink – “Stay Gold”
MP3: The Big Pink – “Give It Up”

Last week’s Jesus & Mary Chain rumours are now fact. The Reid brothers will be at The Phoenix on August 3 and the $59.50 tickets go on sale Thursday at 10AM. Of course it’s not cheap – you think they’re doing this for love?

Video: The Jesus & Mary Chain – “Just Like Honey”

Technically, Steve Earle has been through town already in support of last year’s I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, but that was at the Molson Amphitheatre opening for Blue Rodeo. August 14 sees him coming back with The Dukes for his own show at Massey Hall; tickets are $49.50 and go on sale Friday at 10AM.

Video: Steve Earle – “Waitin’ On The Sky”

The Swedish sisters of First Aid Kit will ride the success of their sophomore effort The Lion’s Roar through a Fall North American tour that brings them back to town for a September 26 show at The Danforth Music Hall. Which they prefer you now just call The Music Hall but I do what I want.

Video: First Aid Kit – “Emmylou”

Frank YangDespite only seeing four bands, I like to think that I covered a fair bit of ground – stylistically, geographically, exploratorily (?), what have you – on the first night of Canadian Musicfest. The Friday night stuck slightly closer to home on all fronts but yielded much better and consistent results.

The evening kicked off at Rancho Relaxo with Neufovin in all the way from Finland (I mistakenly called them Norwegian in my festival preview and apologize profusely). Besides having an affinity for anything Scandinavian, the foursome impressed me with the samples posted online – they’ve yet to release a debut album but already sound like a tight and creative unit only somewhat all over the place with respect to what they want to sound like. But based on their set, they were leaning towards a low-level orbit brand of space-rock, propelled by their nimble drummer whose work reminded me of The National’s Bryan Devendorf and that’s basically the highest praise I can give a drummer; I could have just sat and listened to him play all night. The vocals could use a little more expressiveness but hearing their confident transitions from sonic grace to chaos and back again, I would definitely like to hear that debut whenever it’s done.

Photos: Neufvoin @ Rancho Relaxo – March 23, 2012
MP3: Neufvoin – “Drunken Captain”
MP3: Neufvoin – “Polar Song”
MP3: Neufvoin – “Villasukka”
MP3: Neufvoin – “Mouse On Mars”
Video: Neufvoin – “Polar Song”

I’m not sure who booked New York’s The Big Sleep into The Painted Lady, but it was a weird venue for them, being better suited to singer-songwriter acts than heavy, lumbering rock acts – to wit, they kept getting asked to turn down their amps through their set. But while the band had a track record, their third album Nature Experiments had just come out in January and was their first in four years; they probably had to work to get back onto peoples’ radars. I for one had lost track of them after seeing them at Pop Montreal 2006 circa their debut Son Of The Tiger, but remembered them well enough to know I wanted to see/hear them again, given the chance. Happily, time hadn’t messed with my memory and they were as good as I recalled, coming across equal parts intense and cool and heavy all around. Sonya Balchandani and Danny Barria have distinct vocal styles but maintain a similarly detached personality, offering a nice balance to their decidedly pummelling guitar-bass-keys instrumental groove. I imagine it’d make great car chase music.

Photos: The Big Sleep @ The Painted Lady – March 23, 2012
MP3: The Big Sleep – “Ace”
MP3: The Big Sleep – “Bad Blood”
MP3: The Big Sleep – “Pinkies”
MP3: The Big Sleep – “Murder”
MP3: The Big Sleep – “You Can’t Touch The Untouchable”
Video: The Big Sleep – “Ace”
Video: The Big Sleep – “Valentine”
Video: The Big Sleep – “Murder”

At this point, the best laid plans kind of fell apart as catching a streetcar across College from Ossington to Spadina turned into walking across College from Ossington to Spadina, an exercise that took quite a bit longer than intended (it wasn’t by choice). But being late for an 11PM showcase means you’re early for an 11:30 one, so I managed to slip into the El Mocambo between sets and get in position for one of the festival’s hotter acts, Vancouver’s retro-soul revivalists Chains of Love. They’d been a highlight of last year’s NXNE and their just-released debut Strange Grey Days was a solid one, so I was pretty content with this plan B. This show was somewhat less gleefully chaotic than that Silver Dollar show – the ElMo stage affording enough space that the band weren’t falling over each other up there – but while that was part of the fun last time, its loss was mitigated by the fact that the band were more polished and all-around better sounding than last time, and the extra space allowed for frontwoman Nathalia Pizarro’s dance moves and tambourine workout. They wisely stuck to their uptempo material for the set and while that meant that it was all over extra fast – I don’t think it even clocked in at half an hour – they definitely proved that NXNE show wasn’t any kind of fluke. Spinner has an interview with the band.

Photos: Chains Of Love @ The El Mocambo – March 23, 2012
MP3: Chains Of Love – “In Between”
MP3: Chains Of Love – “Breaking My Heart”
MP3: Chains Of Love – “You Got It”

And if Chains Of Love were going to pass on their title of “best new discovery at The Silver Dollar during a music festival” – it’s a real thing, look it up – then across the street July Talk were ready to take it. I didn’t know a thing about them ahead of time, but The Silver Dollar is usually a pretty safe bet during either CMF or NXNE – at the very least, whatever you see will be loud and rocking and at the very most, it’ll be amazing. That might be overselling July Talk a bit, but they were definitely one of the most entertaining sets I’d see all week. Fronted by the duo of Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, they offered a sort of rowdy, sleazy blues punkabilly take on June & Johnny/Gram & Emmylou with not a little Sailor & Lula/Mickey & Mallory dynamic thrown into the mix. They two were electric onstage, whether playfully shoving, biting or rubbing up against each other or working the audience – Fay graciously put lipstick on more than a few members of the crowd – all the while leading their band through some foot-stomping, ass-shaking tunes that were almost as tuneful as they were theatrical. Tremendously fun, and I don’t know what is says about me that I assumed they were an out-of-town act from Los Angeles or the like… and not from right here in Toronto. Who knew we had it in us?

Photos: July Talk @ The Silver Dollar – March 23, 2012
M4A: July Talk – “Paper Girl”
M4A: July Talk – “The Garden”

PS I Love You are gearing up for the May 8 release of Death Dreams with a second MP3 and a set of tour dates that includes a May 15 date at The Garrison.

MP3: PS I Love You – “Princess Towers”

The AV Club gets to know Army Girls; they’re opening up some of those PS I Love You dates, no word if they’re going to be doing so in Toronto but one can hope. Update: Yup, they’re opening the Garrison show.

And not to give up the title of pre-eminent loud Canadian rock duo, Japandroids will release their new one Celebration Rock on June 5 and have plotted their own Summer tour which brings them to The Horseshoe on June 23. A stream from the new record is available now.

Stream: Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built”

It almost goes without saying that the just-announced Fucked Up show at The Power Plant art gallery space at Harbourfront on May 1 will be something more than just a concert, but they haven’t said what yet. But if you’re looking to get some Fucked Up in you life, keep the date open.

MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”

The Wooden Sky have released the third instalment of their “Grace On A Hill” video session series at Chart. They play The Opera House on April 20.

Exclaim and The Awl talk to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers, whose new album New Wild Everywhere is out next week and streaming in full over at aux.tv. They’re at The Music Hall on June 2 and have just announced an in-store at Sonic Boom for April 3 at 6PM.

Stream: Great Lake Swimmers / New Wild Everywhere

Opening up that Great Lake Swimmers show will be Cold Specks, who was profiled by NOW and The Globe & Mail. I Predict A Graceful Explosion will be out May 22.

The Globe & Mail, Willamette Weekly, Edmonton Journal, and NOW talk to John K Samson.

Exclaim and aux.tv talk to Joel Plaskett about his new record Scrappy Happiness. He’s at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 18 and 19.

The National Post and Spinner chat with John O’Regan of Diamond Rings about his second album and how it feels to be a Juno nominee.

Also up for a Juno is Dan Mangan; The Vancouver Sun has an interview with the singer-songwriter.

Spin points to a stream if another of Arcade Fire’s contributions to the Hunger Games soundtrack.

Stream: Arcade Fire – “Horn Of Plenty”

Pitchfork reports that Caribou’s performance at the 2009 ATP festival as the Caribou Vibration Ensemble is available to watch in its entirety at Vimeo. Caribou opens up for Radiohead at Downsview Park on June 16.

A track from Moonface’s new album With Sinai: Heartbreaking Bravery is now available to download. It’s out April 17.

MP3: Moonface – “Headed For The Door”

DIY interviews Claire Boucher of Grimes.

Daniel BoudTo say that it has been an improbable year and a half since Fucked Up’s second album The Chemistry Of Common Life won the 2009 Polaris Music Prize would be a bit of an understatement. Beyond the long odds of a hardcore record by a band whose name is deemed unprintable by many media outlets earning the title of “best Canadian album” of the 2008-09 season, you have the band’s frontman – a big, bearded fellow with a penchant for stripping down to his shorts and smashing things on his head – becoming host of the resurrected Wedge on MuchMusic and de facto musical ambassador for Toronto across the country and abroad and the recent announcement that they’d be playing the Air Canada Centre as support for Foo Fighters. All pretty impressive accomplishments for a band whose genre of choice is by definition pretty underground and not really a common route to mainstream success.

Which makes it even more remarkable that rather than plateauing, Fucked Up may well be just getting started. Their new record David Comes To Life, out today, is one of the most-anticipated Canadian releases of the year and manages to not only meet those expectations, but exceed them. It’s billed as a concept album/rock opera and while I haven’t perused the lyrics enough confirm or deny its success in that department, I can report that whatever it’s about, David is an uplifting and invigorating pop record.

From the unrelentingly churning arena-sized riffs – maybe the ACC appearance isn’t so odd – to the backing vocals from Cults’ Madeline Follin and Jennifer Castle, David veritably bursts with melody and while Damian Abraham’s bellows still provide the most direct line to their hardcore roots, even he’s more intelligible and melodic than on past efforts. At eighteen tracks and 78 minutes, it’s still a lot to take in in a single sitting – I advise getting the vinyl for the respites that flipping sides/changing discs will allow – but any resulting exhaustion is matched by equal or greater exhilaration. I had to take peoples’ word for it that Chemistry was a great record – it didn’t quite connect with me – but with David Comes To Life, I will happily be the one spreading the word.

The Toronto Star, The AV Club, Consequence Of Sound, Spinner, Exclaim, The Globe & Mail, MTV and Pitchfork have feature pieces on Fucked Up while Toronto Standard puts Abraham in conversation with one of the other most recognizable faces in the Toronto music scene, Broken Social Scene frontman Kevin Drew.

Fucked Up play two shows at NXNE on June 16, a free 8PM show at Yonge-Dundas Square and a 1AM nightcap at Wrongbar. The aforementioned Foo Fighters/ACC show is set for August 9.

MP3: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Ship Of Fools”
MP3: Fucked Up – “A Little Death”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”

Radio Free Canuckistan profiles Weeping Tile, who are headlining the release party for Have Not Been The Same at Lee’s Palace on Friday night. The National Post and Exclaim talk to Ian Jack and Michael Barclay, two of the authors on the tome about the ’90s Can-rock scene.

Best New Bands and The Montreal Gazette have interviews with Little Scream’ Laurel Sprengelmeyer, and if you missed it before, she backs up Sharon Van Etten at The AV Club Undercover on a cover of Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy”. Little Scream have augmented their June 14 date at The Mod Club opening for The Antlers by scheduling a free in-store at Soundscapes down the street the previous night, June 13, at 7PM.

MP3: Little Scream – “Cannons”

Spinner talks to Land Of Talk frontwoman Liz Powell. They’re playing for free at Yonge-Dundas Square for NXNE on June 17, their set starting at 8:30PM.

Spinner interviews Chad VanGaalen, who headlines the NXNE showcase at The Great Hall on June 18.

Beatroute, The National Post and The Georgia Straight chat with various members of Sloan about the band’s 20th anniversary. They’ve got two nights booked at The Mod Club for June 21 and 22.

Vancouver’s Japandroids are back, in person if not on record. There’s still no official word on a follow-up to 2009’s Post-Nothing beyond the fact that it’s out in 2012, but the fact that they’ve slated an extensive North American tour at least is evidence the duo are still, like, doing stuff. The Toronto stop is September 22 at Sneaky Dee’s and if you think that they’re probably too big for a venue that size… you’re probably right. Get a ticket for $12 when they go on sale Friday and make sure your insurance is paid up immediately afterwards.

MP3: Japandroids – “Younger Us”
MP3: Japandroids – “Heavenward Grand Prix”
MP3: Japandroids – “Heart Sweats”

Southern Souls has posted and acoustic session with Malajube.