Frank YangEven since they were very small and giving away downloads of their debut mini-album A Balloon Called Moaning for free in February 2009, The Joy Formidable have been huge. Huge in ambition, both sound- and career-wise, as evidenced by their massive-sounding full-length debut The Big Roar and the relentless touring schedule that surrounded it. Since their local debut in May 2010, they’ve been through Toronto a half-dozen times, including two nights this past week – Sunday night opening for The Gaslight Anthem at The Sound Academy and then on Monday with at a last-minute showcase at The Mod Club.

Since I’d seen the Welsh trio at their first three local shows, I was alright with missing their April gig at Lee’s Palace and the Gaslight show, but was pretty excited about the Mod Club one – they’d finally be showcasing some new material, what with a second album in Wolf’s Law already done and due out on January 22, and I had a feeling that their days of playing rooms as small as Mod were quickly drawing to a close.

Local openers Always have done a pretty good job of keeping their internet presence the polar opposite of the ubiquity implied by their name, but they’re actually far from anonymous, particularly if you’ve an ear for east coast pop. Frontwoman Molly Rankin had/has a burgeoning solo career in addition to being part of Nova Scotia’s most famous musical family, and guitarist Alec O’Hanley toured across the country countless times as part of Two Hours Traffic before departing last year. Assuming that their sound would be some mathematical combination of their respective roots- and power-pop histories would be unimaginative, though. Their experience with writing hooks and melodies was well-evident, but it was delivered in a vintage indie jangle-pop form, striking a good balance between low-key and bubbly and taking full advantage of Rankin’s Victora Legrand-ish sleepy vocal timbre – someone call Slumberland A&R, stat. Over the course of their set, they went from complete mystery to one of my top bands to watch in the city. For warm-ups, you can’t do much better than that.

In the year or so since I saw them last, The Joy Formidable have had quite the apprenticeship in playing arena-scale venues opening for the likes of Foo Fighters and Muse, and when you take into consideration the fact that they were a pretty explosive live act to begin with, it was reasonable to expect some fireworks. And based on the physical evidence, at least, they were equipped to do so. Having once again taken an interest in inspecting/dissecting guitarist rigs, it was hard not to notice that frontwoman Ritzy Bryan had traded her lone, albeit overflowing, pedalboard and single combo amp for a sleek, space-age floorboard with touchscreen tablet controls and an amplification setup that powered some 18 speakers. Arenas, remember?

But what makes The Joy Formidable so, well, formidable, isn’t the hardware – it’s the massive rock it’s used to move. Shoegaze with the wallflower personality excised in favour of extroversion, given shape in Bryan’s diminutive form (and crazy eyes) and huge guitar chops, with rhythm section Rhydian Dafydd and Matt Thomas doing commendable work in just keeping up. Their hour-fifteen set was split about evenly between Balloon/Roar material and previews of Wolf’s Law, although already being a couple singles deep into the album, they weren’t necessarily unfamiliar. And though the new stuff was arguably heavier and more indebted to classic British metal than the old, it all fit very nicely with the template that The Joy Formidable have been riding to success thus far. They might not necessarily be filling rooms much bigger than this normally, but they did an outstanding job of making the couple hundred in attendance feel like they were seeing something massive in an uncommonly intimate setting, and while I can’t say they’ll ever have the fanbase to fill a stadium, by god they already play like they do.

And if you didn’t manage to score tickets to this show, fear not – Bryan announced that they’d be back in April.

PureVolume has an interview with Ritzy Bryan.

Photos: The Joy Formidable, Always @ The Mod Club – November 26, 2012
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Wolf’s Law”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Cradle”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “The Ladder Is Ours”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Cholla”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Wolf’s Law”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring” (new)
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Popinjay”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring” (original)
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere” (original)
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Cradle”

One of the early picks for UK buzz band 2013 – Palma Violets – are setting their sights on North America early; they’ll be at The Horseshoe on January 29 – tickets $12.50 – well before their debut album arrives on February 25. They’ve got kind of a Libertines thing going on, which I guess is about due to be fashionable again what with next year slated to be the “Year of the guitar” or some such nonsense.

Video: Palma Violets – “Last Of The Summer Wine”
Video: Palma Violets – “Best Of Friends”

Veronica Falls are keeping the fires of anticipation stoked before their second album Waiting For Something To Happen is finally released on February 12 – they’ve announced a North American tour for next Winter – look for them March 12 at The Garrison – and released a video for the first single from the new record.

Video: Veronica Falls – “Teenage”

Hot Chip have rolled out a new clip from this year’s In Our Heads.

Video: Hot Chip – “Don’t Deny Your Heart”

Loud & Quiet have an interview with Elena Tonra of Daughter.

The Quietus talks to Charlotte Hatherley about Sylver Tongue.

The latest Charli XCX single from her Super Ultra Mixtape now comes with a video.

Video: Charli XCX – “Cloud Aura”

Guy Garvey talks to Metro just ahead of Elbow’s promised year-long hiatus.

The Quietus talks to Mogwai about their latest projects, including soundtracking a French zombie television show. Because someone has to.

Those hoping that that last couple years’ Pulp reunion might be an ongoing concern or even yield some new music, sorry – NME reports that Jarvis Cocker has basically declared it as having run its course. We’ll always have Spain.

But wait, Britpop fans refusing to stop reliving their youth cry out, what about Blur? They’re not breaking up! No, but as The Line Of Best Fit reports, Graham Coxon put the kibosh on a new Blur record; that’s fine – intermittent singles the quality of the last ones will do. Definitely coming out next week is Parklive, the live document of this Summer’s Hyde Park show in London, and they’ve released a video clip of the final song from that show; if they had indeed called it a day, well and forever, with this show, these would have been the perfect notes to finish up on.

Video: Blur – “The Universal” (live at Hyde Park)

The Quietus and Spin chat with Johnny Marr, who releases his solo debut The Messenger on February 26.

Consequence Of Sound interviews Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris of New Order.

FacebookEveryone has heard the old saw about bands having “a lifetime to write the first album, a year to write the second”. Similarly, most people can think of an instance or two of “sophomore slump” being more than just a clever bit of alliteration. London’s Veronica Falls seem set on not letting the former be any kind of obstacle and sidestepping the latter entirely. Their self-titled debut came out just over a year ago, but they’ve just announced the follow-up.

Waiting For Something To Happen will be out on February 12 of next year and the first teaser track from it has been made available to stream, and as expected/hoped it’s another slice of deliciously retro, garage-punk-jangle-pop that might sound a bit sunnier with more major key wistfulness than you would have found on the debut, but it’s only one song of thirteen – there’s surely at least some of their trademark darkness still lurking in the corners. Exclaim has the full tracklisting, album art, and other bits and bobs announced about the record.

Stream: Veronica Falls – “Teenage”

A Music Blog, Yea runs some questions by guitarist Paul Rains of Allo Darlin’.

The Joy Formidable have released a new video from their own sophomore effort, Wolf’s Law. It’s out January 23 and they’re at The Sound Academy on November 25 supporting The Gaslight Anthem.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “The Ladder Is Ours”

Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes talks about her experience in the music industry with Exclaim. A new track from The Haunted Man has also been made available to download.

MP3: Bat For Lashes – “Oh Yeah”

MXDWN and Los Angeles Magazine talk to Laura Marling.

NPR welcomes Neil Halstead for a World Cafe session.

Johnny Marr has released a video for the title track from his solo debut The Messenger, due out February 26. Hear that, son? That’s the jangle.

Video: Johnny Marr – “The Messenger”

DIY has some updates on the next album from Primal Scream, targeted for release in Summer of next year.

Atlanta Music Guide has a short interview with Ash; they’re at Lee’s Palace this Saturday night, November 17.

The Fly interviews Trailer Trash Tracys.

One of the tracks from Charli XCX’s new Super Ultra Mixtape has been made available for download, if you prefer things in sub-three minute chunks.

MP3: Charli XCX – “Glow”

Rolling Stone talks to Richard Thompson about his new album Electricity – due out February 5 – and also have a stream of one of the new songs on it.

Stream: Richard Thompson – “Good Things Happen To Bad People”

Blurt reports that Dutch indie-rock veterans Bettie Serveert have targeted a February release for their new album Oh, Mayhem! and released a first video from it. Here’s hoping they take this opportunity to make up that 2010 Toronto show canceled at the eleventh hour due to visa issues.

Video: Bettie Serveert – “Had2Byou”

Sambassadeur have made the flipside of their forthcoming single “Memories”/”Hours Away” available to stream, helping to tide you over until the single is out November 20 and the new album is out sometime next year.

Stream: Sambassadeur – “Hours Away”

Under The Radar talks to Carl and Adam of Shout Out Louds about how work is progressing on their fourth album. They hope to release it near the end of February 2013.

Much Sigur Rós to report; they’ve premiered another video from the Valtari Mystery Film Experient over at Nowness, this one set to four of the songs from Valtari. Maybe it will be one of those screened at The Bloor on December 8. Further, the band have announced another North American tour for next Spring. The band made a total triumph of their last visit to Echo Beach in August, but instead of returning to their former home of Massey Hall for indoor digs, they’ll be setting up at the Air Canada Centre on March 30, albeit in the more-intimate theatre configuration. And lest you worry that arenas in any configuration are acoustic nightmares, know that The National made the same setup sound amazing last December and the magical elves that work sound for Sigur Rós did wonders with Echo Beach’s PA, so I have full confidence that this will sound incredible. Ticket details still forthcoming but public on-sale is this Saturday, so they’ll be available soon. And on top of all that, they will release a new EP to go with the tour on March 22. Hoo-rah.

MP3: Sigur Rós – “Hoppípolla”
Video: Sigur Rós – “Valtari”

Björk has also rolled out a new video from last year’s Biophilia.

Video: Björk – “Mutual Core”

Tame Impala have released a new video from Lonerism; The Chicago Tribune also has an interview.

Video: Tame Impala – “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”

Memphis IndustriesIt’s been interesting tracking the musical evolution of El Perro Del Mar, the musical project of Sweden’s Sarah Assbring. Her 2006 self-titled debut cast her as the mournful ghost of a ’50s doo-wop girl while the 2008 follow-up From The Valley To The Stars invited fuller arrangements into the mix – even getting jaunty at points – while keeping the sentiments beautifully downcast. 2009’s Love Is Not Pop was took great strides towards feeling more modern, mostly via studio-slick musical arrangements, and while surprisingly short compared to Valley – seven tracks versus its predecessor’s 16 – assuming that that the three dancey remixes appended as bonus tracks to the US edition were just filler would have been a mistake; they were more of a signpost.

In the three years between that release and her fourth album Pale Fire, Assbring seems to have completed the transition from old-school chanteuse to dance diva and also invested in a lot of keyboards in the process. Pale Fire is an unabashedly synthetic record, built on beats and loops and existing in a haze, sounding largely like a remix album of a more conventional work. Assbring’s retro stylings have been wholly subsumed by the dedication to the groove, but her signature sadness is still detectable – it seems the dancefloor isn’t necessarily any less lonely a place than one’s bedroom.

Assbring doesn’t have the sort of voice one would typically associate with dance music – it’s not an especially powerful or sensual instrument – but it’s that dissonance that helps Pale Fire stand out from the current crop of electro-pop, and when when Pale Fire reverts to a more traditional sonic form, as on “I Was A Boy”, the other would-be peers just fall away. Given the number of guises that Assbring has donned over the course of her career, it’d be presumptuous to think that Assbring will dwell in Pale Fire‘s aesthetic for too long, but it does feel like the end of the transformation that she’s been undertaking since Valley; maybe she’ll keep it on for a little while.

Pale Fire is out next week but now streaming in whole over at Hype Machine. A Heart Is A Spade has an interview with Assbring.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Hold Off The Dawn”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Walk On By”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Innocence Is Sense”
Stream: El Perro Del Mar / Pale Fire

Interview talks to Joachim Läckberg of Sambassadeur, who may be releasing a new single in “Memories” in a few weeks but aren’t looking to put out their next album until late next year. Teases.

The Line Of Best Fit note that Icona Pop’s self-titled debut will be released in their native Sweden as soon as next week, November 14. A worldwide release will follow next year. They open up for Marina & The Diamonds at The Kool Haus on December 1.

Those who’ve been following along with Sigur Rós’ Valtari Mystery Film Experient and wish they could see the works on a bigger screen may be interested to know that a goodly number of the films – at least 17 – are being compiled and taken on the road for some worldwide screenings over the course of a weekend in December. Toronto gets ours on December 8 at The Bloor.

And if that’s not enough Scandi-music film action for you, 4AD has released some details on The Ghost Of Piramida, a film that documents Efterklang’s visit to the abandoned Russian town of Piramida, from which their latest album drew inspiration and its name.

Foals have confirmed the February 12 release of their next record Holy Fire with the release of the first video from the record.

Video: Foals – “Inhaler”

Pitchfork has more specifics on the solo debut from Johnny Marr; The Messenger will be out on February 26 of next year.

Justin Young of The Vaccines offers an interview to Drowned In Sound. They play The Phoenix on February 4.

The 405 meets Field Music.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Beth Orton.

Mumford & Sons enlisted Stringer Bell – that’s actor Idris Elba, for non-Wire watchers – to star in the new video from Babel.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “Lover Of The Night”

The Quietus talks to Neil Halstead about all things Slowdive, Mojave 3, and Neil Halstead. Denver Westword also has an interview.

Drowned In Sound makes a case for the importance of Manic Street Preachers’ debut Generation Terrorists, turning 20 and out in deluxe reissue form now.

The National Post and eMusic talk to Bernard Sumner and Gillian Gilbert of New Order, respectively.

The Irish Times, Burton Mail, Gigwise, and The Edinburgh Evening News talk to David Gedge of The Wedding Present.

Clash and Exclaim have features on Tame Impala, in town at The Phoenix on November 12.

Kate MorossIn all honesty, I intended to write up Jessie Ware’s debut Devotion today whether or not it took the Mercury Prize last night or not – it went, as expected, to the heavily-favoured and bewilderingly dull Alt-J – I don’t need the validation of a shadowy cabal of British music industry types to tell me what the best British (or Irish) album of the past year is. Not to say that I’m bestowing that title on Devotion myself, but with each successive listen, it certainly makes a stronger case for itself.

Initially, the temptation is to classify her as a soul singer and indeed, her voice is a rich, emotive instrument with the perfect balance of breathy, brassy, and husky and if Ware had opted to follow a more traditional or throwback path, accolades would still surely be coming her way. But instead, the production on Devotion – courtesy of Dave Okumu of The Invisible – bounces from electronic, sample-happy beats (fitting, since she first attracted attention via her guest vocals on a SBTRKT song) to slick conventional band arrangements to inventive intersections of the two, generally refusing to hew to any specific musical dogma and emerging all the better for it.

And yet for all the musical ear candy permeating Devotion, it’s Ware’s songs and vocals that make it a remarkable record. It yearns and aches where it should without ever getting overwrought. Where lesser songwriters would turn to vocal tricks to grab the listener’s attention, Ware offers up gorgeous melodies, emotive lyrics, and rock-solid hooks. It’s a record that immediately announces itself as noteworthy, yet thanks to its smouldering pace, takes its time to reveal itself and grows stronger and more impressive each time out. It may not have won the Mercury, but Devotion is a stunning, can’t-lose debut.

Devotion has yet to receive a North American release, but that’s coming in 2013. She’s signed a deal with Cherrytree that will first yield a sampler EP in 110% by December to be followed by a brief US tour in the new year. Presumably more extensive touring will follow the proper release of the record, or at least it better.

The Telegraph and Grazia have interviews with Ware.

Video: Jessie Ware – “Night Light”
Video: Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments”
Video: Jessie Ware – “110%”
Video: Jessie Ware – “Running”

Kate Nash loves her some Hallowe’en. Not only did she release a spooky-themed video for a song that will appear on an upcoming EP – you can also download it from her website in exchange for an e-mail – she also teamed up with Emmy The Great for a Buffy-themed Hallowe’en party wherein they recreated the musical episode, “Once More With Feeling”, on stage, though trainspotters may point out that Emmy is dressed as Willow and Willow didn’t really participate in the musical episode because Alyson Hannigan can’t sing worth a lick… But I digress. You can watch videos from the show at Bleeding Cool. And I won’t lie – I would buy a recording of this show.

Video: Kate Nash – “Fri-End?”

Polly Scattergood is putting the finishing touches on her promising and intermittently inspired 2009 self-titled debut and has made a track from it available to stream. The album, still untitled, is due out next Spring.

Stream: Polly Scattergood – “Disco Damaged Kid”

Charli XCX is streaming a new song taken from her new Super Ultra mixtape that’s scheduled to become available next Wednesday.

Stream: Charli XCX featuring Brooke Candy – “Cloud Aura”

NPR and Stereogum have interviews with Beth Orton.

Exclaim interviews Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes.

Billboard talks to Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne about undertaking their first North American tour in a decade without a label behind them. The San Francisco Examiner, meanwhile, talks to Sarah Cracknell.

The Line Of Best Fit report that Brighton’s Esben & The Witch will release their second album – Wash The Sins Not Only The Face – on January 21. A first taste is available to stream now.

Stream: Esben & The Witch – “Deathwaltz”

Allo Darlin’ have compiled a bunch of covers – all wonderful, like the Darren Hayman/The French track below – on a limited edition 10″ they’ve called Covers. It’s out November 28.

Stream: Allo Darlin’ – “Wu Tang Clan”

Japan Times talks to Guy Connelly of Clock Opera.

Jason Pierce of Spiritualized chats with Drowned In Sound and The Yorkshire Evening Post.

The Quietus and The Independent talk to Nicky Wire about the 20th anniversary of Manic Street Preachers’ debut Generation Terrorists, the mandatory deluxe edition of which is out on Monday.

Exclaim has collected some information on Johnny Marr’s first proper solo record – apparently we’re not counting when he fronted the disappointingly bland Healers – which will be called The Messenger and be due out in or around February.

Steve DoubleWhenever an old/classic album is reissued these days – which is pretty much every day – it’s inevitably advertised as having been remastered, and it’s assumed that that’s a good thing. And not unreasonably – when a lot of these albums were originally released on compact disc, they were poorly converted from analog to digital and could generally sound thin/quiet/uninspiring. But remastering is no guarantee of improvement – at best, things will sound incredibly better (the 20th anniversary redo of The Stone Roses’ debut by original producer John Leckie is a revelation), at worst, they’ll be posthumous victims of The Loudness Wars and make those original pressings that much more valuable.

All of which is only salient because the specifics of remastering were brought to the fore this week thanks to a couple of coincidental analyses of some high-profile reissues of classic shoegazing albums; My Bloody Valentine’s seminal Loveless, finally being re-released next week, and Ride’s debut Nowhere, which was polished up and put out in November of 2010.

Loveless is an interesting case because rather than being half-album, half-outtakes and rarities as most double-disc reissues typically are, it comes as two complete versions of the album – one a remaster from “the original tapes”, the other a remaster from “the original 1/2-inch analogue tapes”. I use the quotes because, to be honest, I don’t know what the difference is in terms of origin or timeline; Spin also takes a close listen to the two versions and offers their thoughts on the curious release. An interview with Kevin Shields that went up at Pitchfork this week sheds a lot of light on all facets of the subject, but I guess I accept that I’m amongst those who don’t hear a difference between the two. You can see if you can hear a difference for yourself as The Guardian is streaming both remasters, though Soundcloud compression and computer speakers probably obliterate any subtle differences between the two. They’ve also dug up an interview with Shields circa 1992 that you can read while listening.

Spin also has a gander at one of the previously unreleased songs that makes the EPs 1988-1991 double-disc comp so necessary for fans. “Good For You” surfaced as a bootleg via YouTube a few years ago, but is finally going to be available – along with other goodies – in proper, high-fidelity form. The official version is available to stream via the aforementioned Pitchfork interview and the bootleg was found on YouTube.

Stream: My Bloody Valentine – “Good For You”
Stream: My Bloody Valentine – “Good For You” (bootleg)
Stream: My Bloody Valentine / Loveless (both remasters)

With respect to the Nowhere reissue put out by Rhino Handmade – generally a reliable and responsible archival outfit – Bradley’s Almanac has put “Vapour Trail” and “Paralysed” under the microscope – or oscilloscope – to see just what the remastering job by Rick Webb at Abbey Road Studios accomplished. Interesting and illuminating analysis over there that’s gotten me thinking maybe I do need to re-buy this album at least one more time.

And because Boston loves Ride – clearly – I direct you to another Beantown blog in Clicky Click, who’ve compiled a tribute album to Nowhere comprised of all-Boston bands entitled Nofuckingwhere. Download it and discover some new bands while listening to some classic tunes.

The AV Club talks to Johnny Marr about supervising the remastering of the entire Smiths catalog for their Complete reissue series last Fall and his feelings about the band, decades on.

Jason Pierce of Spiritualized talks to NOW and The AV Club in advance of Saturday’s sold-out show at The Phoenix.

2:54 are streaming a new track from their forthcoming self-titled/numbered debut, due out May 29. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 15 for NXNE.

Stream: 2:54 – “Creeping”

Beatroute gets Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai on the horn. They play The Phoenix on June 18.

Interview and Musicfeeds talk to Mystery Jets about their new just-released new record Radlands; they’re at The Sound Academy on June 19 supporting Keane.

Michael Kiwanuka has released a new video from Home Again. Note that his June 19 date at The Great Hall has been moved to The Phoenix and a few hundred more tickets will be on sale shortly.

Video: Michael Kiwanuka – “I’ll Get Along”

Having had to cancel last Summer’s show at The Phoenix (and the attendant tour) in support of Whatever’s On Your Mind due to illness, Gomez are making things up intimate-style with a show at The Mod Club on July 23, tickets $25.50.

Video: Gomez – “Whatever’s On Your Mind”

Micachu & The Shapes have announced that the follow-up to their 2009 debut Jewellery will be entitled Never and be out on July 24.

Little Boots has released a video for her latest single, taken from an album that has not been announced yet but is surely coming sooner or later.

Video: Little Boots – “Every Night I Say A Prayer”

Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons tells NME that album number two is in the can, as they say.

Joshua Hayward of The Horrors opines to NME his thoughts on how big a room he thinks his band can play and their recording plans for the Fall.

Beatroute, The San Francisco Examiner, and Spinner all have interviews with Arctic Monkeys.

State interviews Friendly Fires.

The Skinny talks to Stephen Morris of New Order.

Lisa Hannigan and Joe Henry – who produced Hannigan’s latest album Passenger – will team up for a show at The Phoenix on June 10, general admission seated tickets $25 in advance.

Stream: Lisa Hannigan / Passenger

The Chicago Tribune interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83, in Toronto at The Sound Academy this coming Sunday, May 6, and again at Historic Fort York on August 4.

Maria Linden of I Break Horses – who open up for M83 at Sound Academy on Sunday – talks to Denver Westword.

The Line Of Best Fit has an acoustic video session with Niki & The Dove recorded for Swedish site PSL while DIY is streaming two of the bonus songs that appears on the deluxe edition of their debut Instinct, out May 14 in the UK and in North America on August 7.

Stream: Niki & The Dove – “Taylor”/”All This Youth”

Spin has premiered the new video from Ane Brun, performing at The Great Hall on May 10.

Video: Ane Brun – “One”

DIY has a video session with First Aid Kit, back in town for a show at The Music Hall on September 26.

Drowned In Sound talks to Jonsi about returning to Sigur Rós after going solo. Valtari is out May 29 and they play Echo Beach on August 1.

Rolling Stone is offering a download of one of the songs Ladyhawke recorded for an All Saints session earlier this year. Her new record Anxiety is due out May 25 and I neglected to post the second video from it when it was released last month; let me rectify that.

MP3: Ladyhawke – “Black White & Blue” (acoustic All Saints version)
Video: Ladyhawke – “Sunday Drive”