Ingram BarssThere’s been a series of articles The Grid for the past year called Then & Now that has been diligently recording the history of Toronto’s musical history by way of its clubs and venues, many of which have been consigned to history regardless of what legendary acts have sweat upon their stages. It’s truly fascinating reading – especially if you take the time to look up what sort of pedestrian businesses reside at those addresses today – but it’s comforting to know that the odds of The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern ever entering that particular dead pool are slim to none.

The Queen West bar – beloved in the city and renowned internationally as an amazing place to both see and play a show – is marking its 65th year this December, and while the birthday celebrations will last for the better part of the month, one of the main events will run from December 12 to 16, when Can-rock icon and friend to woodland creatures Joel Plaskett sets up shop for five nights, including an all-ages throw-down on the final day – hey, even kids love Joel Plaskett. If this all sounds familiar, it may be because he did the same thing back in 2007 for the ‘Shoe’s 60th birthday, playing one of his albums in its entirety each night for six straight nights. It’s not clear if there’s going to be any sort of theme for these shows – one would think there has to be some way that they’re going to be distinguished from each other – but whatever it is, you know it’s going to be a good time. Tickets range from $25 to $29.50 per show and go on sale this Thursday.

MP3: Joel Plaskett – “When I Go”

Also making a date at The Horseshoe are Montreal’s Malajube; their last release La Caverne came out last year, but they’ll be in town on November 24, tickets $15.

MP3: Malajube – “Synesthésie”

The Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise program is back, and they’ll be bringing Bry Webb to the Parkdale branch on October 26 to play some songs from Provider, which was just released in the US today. That show is free and starts at 8PM.

MP3: Bry Webb – “Rivers Of Gold”

Fans of art and music (which is also art, yes, let’s not get pedantic) may be interested in the 1st Thursdays series at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which kicks off this Thursday, October 4, with a performance from Bahamas; he just released a new video from Barchords.

Video: Bahamas – “Lost In The Light”

Bruce Peninsula vocalist Misha Bower has just released a book of short stories entitled Music For Uninvited Guests, and it comes with musical accompaniment in the form of a mixtape of music from her various projects and a new song, which is streamable. There’s a book launch/concert on October 11 at the Great Hall which will feature performances from Doug Paisley, Simone Schmidt, Sean Donald and some of Bruce Peninsula.

Stream: Misha Bower – “I’m All About”

Toronto’s METZ may sound all rough and tumble – and hella loud – on their self-titled debut, but they’ve got some fancy friends. To wit, this feature piece in The New Yorker by no less than Sasha Frere-Jones, accompanied by a stream of the entire thing. The piece at Exclaim is fine too, I guess. The album is out next Tuesday and the band plays a hometown release show for it at the Horseshoe on October 12.

MP3: METZ – “Wet Blanket”
MP3: METZ – “Headache”
Stream: METZ / METZ

AC Newman’s new solo record Shut Down The Streets has apparently inspired a short film. It’s out October 9, he brings it to Lee’s Palace on October 21, and he talks to Chronogram about it. Update: And now the album is streaming at Pitchfork.

Video: Want You To Know
Stream: AC Newman / Shut Down The Streets

So there’s a new Godspeed You! Black Emperor record coming, their first in a decade. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! is out October 16 though physical copies are already on sale at their shows. Big news, short blurb. What, did you expect a series of making-of YouTube vids starring Efrim? No. The record exists. The end.

Caribou’s Dan Snaith will release Jiaolong, his first record under the alias of Daphni, on October 16 but it’s now streaming in whole over at Resident Advisor.

MP3: Daphni – “Ye Ye”
Stream: Daphni / JIAOLONG

Dan Mangan will have something new to go with his Fall tour that brings him to the Danforth Music Hall on October 25 – the “Radicals” 7″ single will be out October 16 and feature a new song on the A-side and a Yukon Blonde cover on the flip. Stream the former and watch a video for the latter now.

Stream: Dan Mangan – “We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down”
Video: Dan Mangan – “Stairway”

The Wilderness Of Manitoba have released a video from their new record Island Of Echoes, which they bring to Trinty-St. Paul’s on October 26.

Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”

NPR has an interview with Neil Young and Spin offers some choice excerpts from his new memoirs Waging Heavy Peace. His new album with Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill, is out October 30 and they play The Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Crystal Castles have confirmed a November 6 release date for their new record (III) and to mark the occasion, have made a new track from it available to download. They play The Kool Haus on November 3.

MP3: Crystal Castles – “Wrath Of God”

Beatroute, The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, and The Regina Leader-Post talk to Jenn Grant about her new record The Beautiful Wild, which came out last week and has been streaming at Exclaim, along with a new video. She’s at The Winter Garden Theatre on November 24.

Video: Jenn Grant – “In The Belly Of The Dragon”
Stream: Jenn Grant / The Beautiful Wild

The Wooden Sky have released a new video from Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun. They’re at The Phoenix on December 1.

Video: The Wooden Sky – “I’m Your Man”

CBC Music reports that Chad Van Gaalen is working on a full-length animated science fiction feature which he’s called Tarbox. Yeah, that won’t be weird at all.

Spanish site Vigopolis has got a video session of Basia Bulat playing a new song, so if you were wondering what Basia was doing – she’s in Spain playing new songs for Spanish websites. And giving interviews in Spanish. Because why wouldn’t she.

Spinner talked to Vancouver’s You Say Party, who officially returned to active duty this weekend at PBR10.

CBC Music talks to Snowblink.

Michael Barclay of Radio Free Canuckistan givs Macleans as detailed a description as he’s allowed of how things went down in the Polaris grand jury room last Monday such that Feist was allowed to walk away champion.

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.

Vanessa HeinsIt’s gotten to the point where the Tuesday before an album is officially released is as much a day to look forward to as the day an album is actually released. That’s because it’s standard practice these days to make any record anyone might care to buy available to stream at least a week before its official street date – it theoretically helps offset downloads of leaks, gets the promo cycle revved up, all of that sort of thing. It’s a trend I’m fully in favour of.

And based on this, it would seem that there’s a lot of anticipated Can-con coming out next week, starting with The Slideshow Effect from Guelph-via-Toronto duo Memoryhouse. It may be just their first album, but it already sees them trying to expand their sound beyond the slow-motion dreampop that got them attention in the first place without diluting that appeal. Does it work? Let’s find out. The Quietus has a song-by-song annotation of the record from the band and 77 Square and DIY have interviews.

MP3: Memoryhouse – “Walk With Me”
MP3: Memoryhouse – “The Kids Were Wrong”
Stream: Memoryhouse / The Slideshow Effect

Further over in the electronic spectrum is another Toronto-born debut; TRST, the first record from Trust – it should hold much appeal for goths who still like to get their dance on. They have a record release show at Wrongbar on March 3. The Grid has an interview.

Video: Trust – “Bulbform”
Video: Trust – “Candy Walls”
Stream: Trust / TRST

The new Wooden Sky album Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun is also much anticipated by fans of the rootsier side of things, and it’s now up to stream at Paste. They play The Opera House on April 20.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Malibu Rum”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Child Of The Valley”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Angelina”
Stream: The Wooden Sky / Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun

And if you needed more evidence that Paste loves them some Canadian acts, they’ve also got the new Plants & Animals record The End Of That available to hear. They play Lee’s Palace on April 21.

MP3: Plants & Animals – “Song For Love”
MP3: Plants & Animals – “Lightshow”
Stream: Plants & Animals / The End Of That

You don’t have to wait until next week to get a hold of PS I Love You’s collection of Meet Me At The Muster Station radio session tracks – the Kingston duo are giving The Muster Sessions away via Facebook in exchange for an email address, and is streaming over at Exclaim if you’re the sort who wants to know what they’re getting for their email address before they hand it over. Their official second album Death Dreams is out May 8 and they’re at Lee’s Palace on March 23 for Canadian Musicfest.

Stream: PS I Love You / The Muster Sessions

Patrick Watson will bring their new record Adventures In Your Own Backyard to The Music Hall on May 29, tickets $29.50 and $24.50 in advance. The album is out April 30 and I’ve noticed in the SXSW schedule, they’re listed as “Patrick Watson & The Wooden Arms” – are they done with pretending “Patrick Watson” refers to the band and not just the man?

MP3: Patrick Watson – “Into Giants”

CBC Radio 3 chats with The Elwins, whose debut And We Thank You is officially out now. They have a release party for it at the Burroghes Building this Friday, February 24, and are also Rancho Relaxo on March 25 for Canadian Musicfest.

Nick Thorburn tells Exclaim that if you think the new Islands record is dark, you haven’t seen anything yet. They’re at The Music Gallery on February 28.

Billboard, Blurt, The Montreal Gazette, The Ottawa Citizen, and The Edmonton Journal have feature pieces on Grimes. She’s at The Horseshoe on March 19.

Exclaim reports that the next Black Mountain record will come in the form of a soundtrack for the surfer film Year Zero; it will be out on April 3 and the first track is available to download.

MP3: Black Mountain – “Mary Lou”

The Toronto Standard has a video session with Army Girls. Still waiting on the where and when of their Canadian Musicfest gig; it will be a highlight of the fest, guaranteed.

Jenn Grant gives CBC Radio 3 a look into her songwriting process.

Daytrotter has posted a session with Kathleen Edwards.

Watch this Evening Hymns performance from Belgium wherein they perform “Dead Deer” with a big-ass band. Majestic. Still waiting on Spectral Dusk details. And waiting.

Video: Evening Hymns – “Dead Deer” (live at Transmusicales de Rennes)

Syncopated Sound talks to Damian Abraham of Fucked Up.

The Old Ideas With New Friends Leonard Cohen cover series continues, with Exclaim hosting a clip of Nicole Atkins doing “Bird On A Wire” and Matablog offering up AC Newman covering “Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”.

KillbeatIf we were to spool up the Wayback Machine to November 2006, you’d find a post where I confessed that sending me a lovely slab of vinyl was a pretty good way to get to the top of my “to listen to” pile… something that apparently still holds true over a half decade later. But as I pointed out even way back then, a listen is not the same as a writeup so I find it comforting to know that Camp Radio still has the goods to impress in whatever format they’re auditioned on.

The three-piece comprised of Ottawa scene veterans released Campista Socialista last Fall but the five-year gap between it and their 2006 self-titled debut shouldn’t be attributed to overthinking or obsessive tweaking – Campista sounds like it was tossed off in an afternoon, and that’s meant in the very best way. It’s a short and spirited collection of guitar-driven power pop that’s high on energy and melody and low on frills, more than a little reminiscent of the sounds of American college rock circa the mid-’90s that are back in vogue. Sure, some of the harmonies might be imperfect but they’re well-intentioned and endearing in their wobbles and most importantly, they sound great while you, they, everyone, is pogoing around.

Camp Radio play The Horseshoe tomorrow night as part of Nu Music Nite. As always, it’s free and worth your while – they’re on at 9PM sharp.

MP3: Camp Radio – “The Girl Who Stole My Motorbike”
MP3: Camp Radio – “Turn Up The Radio”

Exclaim, Beatroute and CBC Radio 3 talk to The Darcys, performing at The Phoenix on March 1 in support of Bombay Bicycle Club and July 12 at Downsview Park for Edgefest.

The AV Club, Yahoo, and JAM talk to John K. Samson. He’s premiered the first video from Provincial over at IFC and will be at The Great Hall on March 22.

Video: John K. Samson – “Longitudinal Centre”

Le Blogotheque stages a Take-Away Show with Woodpigeon.

Exclaim reports that Patrick Watson will be releasing their new album Adventures In Your Own Backyard on April 30, and the first MP3 from it is already available to download.

MP3: Patrick Watson – “Into Giants”

Under The Radar talks to Graham Van Pelt about what 2011 meant for Miracle Fortress.

A second and much more in-character taste of Memoryhouse’s debut The Slideshow Effect is now up for grabs. The album is out February 28.

MP3: Memoryhouse – “Walk With Me”

Hooded Fang have released a new video from Tosta Mista, just in time – well almost – for their show at The Great Hall on February 24.

Video: Hooded Fang – “Vacationation”

DIY has a video session with Kathleen Edwards, while hour.ca and The Courier-Journal have interviews. She plays The Phoenix on February 11.

The New Zealand Herald has an interview with Feist. And oh, new video.

Video: Feist – “The Bad In Each Other”

The L has a video session with Little Scream, who’s just announced a date at The Great Hall on March 1 opening up for The Barr Brothers.

MP3: Little Scream – “Cannons”

Jenn Grant has rolled out a sweet, split-screened new video from last year’s Honeymoon Punch.

Video: Jenn Grant – “Baby’s Been Away”

NOW talks to Rae Spoon.

And if you’ve ever wondered what it sounds like when Neil Young and Crazy Horse get together – that is, outside of the countless albums they’ve recorded together – head to Neil’s website to hear a 37-minute jam that’s presumably taken from their ongoing recording sessions.

Frank YangThe last few years have seen a bit of a renaissance with respect to Francophone Canadian bands making inroads both in English-speaking Canada and internationally, thanks in no small part to there generally being at least one such act on every year’s Polaris Music Prize shortlist. And circa 2009, I certainly expected Montreal’s Béatrice Martin – aka Coeur de Pirate – to be leading the charge. Her 2008 self-titled debut made the long list that year, but hardly needed the boost – she was already a star in many French-speaking parts of the world and had even gotten some high-profile boosterism from American media types such as Perez Hilton and Good Morning America. And, oh, the fact that she was young, beautiful, completely bilingual, and her album a mesmerizing slice of piano-led pop certainly didn’t hurt her odds for success.

But rather than leverage that into ubiquity, Coeur de Pirate opted to play it coy with Anglo Canada, playing festival dates but never booking her own headlining show at a club or theatre. This made gauging her fanbase in Toronto, at least, a bit difficult – her NXNE 2009 showcase was nigh-on impossible to get into but also held at the tiny Dakota Tavern, whereas being tapped to open up day two of that year’s V Fest saw her playing to a mostly-empty Molson Amphitheatre to a brace of Nine Inch Nails die-hards. And earlier this year, when she was booked to play a free show at Harbourfront Centre, her potential audience was probably affected at least a little by another free show downtown by one Aretha Franklin.

All of which made her show at The Mod Club last Friday night to celebrate the release earlier that week of her second album Blonde of particular interest as it would be, as far as I knew, the first opportunity for local fans to actually buy tickets to a Coeur concert and show their support quantitatively. Which they did en masse, as the performance was completely sold out. It still would have been interesting to break them down demographically between long-time fans, ones who’d come to her via Armistice, her English-language side-project with Bedouin Soundclash Jay Malinowski, and how many had simple heard Blonde and been bowled over.

The last of those is eminently plausible as the new record is, in a word, amazing. The girlish, chanson-derived charms of Coeur de Pirate have blossomed into widescreen, swinging-’60s full-band pop gems with Martin functioning less as a singer-songwriter than a full-on bandleader. It was a role that Martin played perfectly on Friday night, alternately playing standing up behind her piano – no sitting! – or stepping out and up to the mic alone. Some pianist-frontpersons might feel uncomfortable or exposed away from their instruments, but Martin performed like a seasoned professional which, even though she’s just 22, I suppose she already is.

The full-band presentation not only did a fine job of bringing Blonde to life but also reinvented the Coeur de Pirate material, muscling up the arrangements and tempos and replacing its ingénue qualities with sass and sophistication. The middle portion of the set turned the time machine back from the ’60s back to the ’40s for a more melancholic vibe, but there was no way to make the show – which also included a couple of Armistice tunes with Malinowski showing up to play duet partner, an abridged version of her cover of The Weeknd’s “Wicked Games” and an unexpected mass audience singalong on “Comme des enfants” – anything less than a giddy celebration and coming-out party. It was a complete understatement when near the night’s end, Martin declared, “it’s been a good show”. It was a great show, and hopefully the first of many more to come.

The Grid, NOW, Exclaim, The National Post and Montreal Mirror all have features on Coeur de Pirate while NOW also has a writeup of the show.

Photos: Coeur de Pirate @ The Mod Club – November 11, 2011
Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Adieu”
Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Ensemble”
Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Francis”
Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Comme des enfants”
Video: Armistice – “Mission Bells”

The Vanguard has a chat with Jenn Grant, who has just scheduled a show at Hugh’s Room on November 23.

Video: Jenn Grant – “Getcha Good”

Beatroute and The Seattle Times have features on Feist, whose KCRW session is available to stream at NPR and whose show at the Glenn Gould Studio in October is available to stream on demand at CBC Radio 2 for a limited time – listen while you can! She’s at Massey Hall on December 1.

Opening up that show for Feist will be Bry Webb, who previewed a couple of new songs from his solo debut Provider for an Exclaim video session. The album is out tomorrow.

Spinner tries to sort out if Broken Social Scene is indeed broken up now or if they’re just on a really long break.

In conversation with Spinner,Damian Abraham of Fucked Up mused about his long-term future with the band, and shortly after that piece ran, Abraham took to Twitter to report that any doubts about continuing on had been put to rest. So that’s that. Elsewhere, NOW reports back from a Polaris Salon where FU drummer Jonah Falco offered some thoughts on David Comes To Life.

Press clippings follow Ohbijou as they tour across the country: there’s feature pieces with the band at Beatroute, CBC Radio 3, Here, Planet S, Uptown, and The Star-Phoenix while CBC Radio 3 also has their release show for Metal Meets at Toronto’s Trinity-St. Paul’s in September available to stream.

Dan Mangan is profiled in feature pieces in Beatroute. The Vancouver Sun, Monday, and The Calgary Herald.

The Walrus looks at the effect that Arcade Fire’s success has had on the Montreal music scene as a whole.

Nick Diamonds of Islands talks to Spinner about their new record A Sleep & A Forgetting, due out on February 14 of next year.

Sloan continue the 20th anniversary celebrations with the release of a Is That All That I Get, a 1993-vintage live bootleg recorded in Winnipeg and being pressed in a limited run of 300 pieces of green marbled vinyl.

Martyr interviews The Balconies.

Author Michael Barclay talks to Exclaim about the Have Not Been The Same ’90s Can-rock tribute compilation Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die, which is officially out tomorrow but which I just bought right now. And so can you. Details and tracklist of who covers who available at Radio Free Canuckistan.