Bil ZelmanHaving initially only announced tour dates in short, hesitant steps, Denton, Texas-based folk-pop revivalists Midlake have taken a deep breath, counted to ten, and slated an extensive North American tour in support of their new record The Courage Of Others that will include a local stop on May 21 at the Mod Club.

Though highly-anticipated, Courage is not drawing the sort of unanimous acclaim that its predecessor, 2006’s The Trials Of Van Occupanther, did, with some finding its even gentler tone exquisite and others deming it narcoleptic. I tend towards the latter – it is immaculately crafted, there’s no question there – but it lacks the dynamics of Van Occupanther and that was hardly a record of extreme peaks and valleys. It’s as though the band’s questing pilgrim has exited the rolling foothills and is now trekking across a wide-open plain. Scenic, perhaps, but not especially exhilarating. Of course, it took me a goodly amount of time – like a couple years – to come around to Van Occupanther‘s charms, so making any final declarations about the merits of Courage could be premature. For the moment, however, it’ll have to remain a record to go to when I’m feeling mellow, or needing to feel mellow. Or need some flute.

And Midlake live? They sound great, but maybe bring a book.

MusicOmh has an interview with Midlake frontman Tim Smith.

MP3: Midlake – “Acts Of Man”
MySpace: Midlake

Local hero Jim Guthrie continues his return to active duty with a show at the El Mocambo on March 26, supported by Culture Reject and PS I Love You.

MP3: Jim Guthrie – “You Are Far (Do You Exist?)”
MP3: Culture Reject – “Inside The Cinema”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”

Iceland’s Seabear, whose We Built A Fire is due out March 5 on Morr Music, will be at the Horseshoe on March 31.

MP3: Seabear – “Lion Face Boy”

Stroke gone solo Julian Casablancas will hit the road this Spring in support of his solo record Phrazes For The Young… all eight songs of it. Look for him at the Phoenix on April 2, and look for a new Strokes album in September. Ish.

Video: Julian Casablancas – “11th Dimension”

Titus Andronicus bring the second leg of their “Monitour” to Sneaky Dee’s on April 9, in support of their Civil War-themed second album The Monitor, out March 9. Rolling Stone has a profile.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part One)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part Two)

Boston post-rock instrumentalists Caspian will bring their latest album Tertia to Rancho Relaxo on April 13.

MP3: Caspian – “Of Foam And Wave”

With their first cross-Canada tour in some time scheduled to kick off tonight in Victoria, Wilco are set to leave a trail of press clippings in their wake – check out interviews with band members at Kelowna.com, The Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight, FFWD, The National Post, The Edmonton Journal and The Province.

JAM and The Gauntlet have features on The Rural Alberta Advantage, who are re-releasing Hometowns on their new home at Paper Bag Records – the CD on March 2 and limited-edition, blue vinyl LP on March 23.

The Ottawa Citizen, The Chronicle-Herald, Spinner and hour.ca talk to Basia Bulat, while The Montreal Gazette gets a peak inside her iPod. She will play an in-store at Soundscapes on Tuesday evening at 7PM.

The Scope and Ottawa X-Press have features on Owen Pallett. He is at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 8.

Drowned In Sound meets Retribution Gospel Choir’s Alan Sparhawk.

Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers talks to News & Observer and The AV Club about the forthcoming documentary about the band, The Secret To A Happy Ending. Their new album The Big To-Do is out March 16 and they’ve got two dates at Lee’s Palace on April 6 and 7.

Also mad for the two-fer is Jonsi, who is setting up shop at the Sound Academy on April 30 and May 1 – NPR has an acoustic performance from the Sigur Ros frontman, whose solo debut Go arrives March 23.

NME reports that Kate Nash’s still-untitled second album is due for release on April 19, and a new track is available to whomever signs up for her mailing list. I have to say I’m not overly impressed with that first sample, and not just because they give you a freaking WMA file. Who does that?

Also back and bearing gifts are The Pipettes, whose lineup is now made up of I have no idea who. Presumably this means a new album is coming this year? Update: Yes – Earth vs Pipettes is due out this Summer.

Video: The Pipettes – “Our Love Was Saved By A Spaceman”

Interview interviews Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields.

The Antlers have released a new video from Hospice and The Boston Globe has a feature piece. They are at The Phoenix next Tuesday night.

Video: The Antlers – “Bear”

Ra Ra Riot bassist Mathieu Santos gives Rolling Stone an idea of what to expect from album number two, when it arrives this Summer.

The Toronto Star, Spinner and The Globe & Mail reflect on the end of Wavelength, which wraps up the weekly series this Sunday night.

MySpaceWhy lead with Hot Chip? Well nothing else especially newsworthy came down the pipe yesterday and their new one One Life Stand came out this week. I’ve been spinning it moderately the last little while, though not enough to try and assemble a proper review. Sufficed to say that while I’ve never been a massive Hot Chip fan in the past and this effort doesn’t sound/feel too different from what I recall of their earlier records, I’m enjoying this one alright. Maybe I should revisit their earlier records – mayhap my ears are more attuned to their chilled-out electro-pop than before.

There’s feature pieces on the band at Dose, Spin, Spinner, The National Post and The Irish Times and there’s also an album making-of video streaming this week at PitchforkTV. They are scheduled to be at the Kool Haus in Toronto on April 20, but the date is not appearing on their website itinerary – not sure if that’s something to be concerned about or not…

Video: Hot Chip – “One Life Stand”
Stream: Hot Chip / One Life Stand

NPR has a World Cafe session with The xx, who are also playing that Kool Haus show with Hot Chip as well as their own headlining gig at the Phoenix on April 4.

Spinner talks to Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, about the long delay between the UK release of her debut album Hands and the impending North American release on March 2. She plays the Phoenix on April 30.

JAM and The AV Club have interviews with Elly Jackson of La Roux.

Drowned In Sound has details on the new album from The Futureheads – The Chaos is being released independently by the band and will be out in the UK on April 26.

Check out the first video from Jonsi’s Go. It’s out March 23 and he plays two nights at the Sound Academy on April 30 and May 1.

Video: Jonsi – “Go Do”

Stereogum has the MP3 and video for the title track from Under Byen’s new record Alt Er Tabt, out April 6.

Video: Under Byen – “Alt Er Tabt”

Swede Kristian Matsson, who plies his musical trade as The Tallest Man On Earth, is staging a North American tour in support of his new record The Wild Hunt, out April 13, and will be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on April 17. Check out a track from the album and another song he recorded as a theme song for the Yellow Bird Project charity out of Montreal – details here.

MP3: The Tallest Man On Earth – “King Of Spain”
MP3: The Tallest Man On Earth – “A Field Of Birds”

Check out a couple tracks from Bettie Serveert’s new record Pharmacy Of Love, due out March 23.

MP3: Bettie Serveert – “Semaphore”
MP3: Bettie Serveert – “The Pharmacy”

Paste reports that Josh Ritter will release a new record entitled So Runs The World Away on May 4 – they’re giving away an MP3 from his website in exchange for your email.

Falls Church News-Press and SF Station interview The Antlers. They’re at the Phoenix on February 16.

Muzzle Of Bees has a video performance from Sharon Van Etten, who will be at the Horseshoe on April 5.

Paste talks to Phantogram as part of their “best of what’s next” series. They have a show at the Drake Underground on February 20.

Daytrotter has your first preview of new material from Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea, recorded in a session last Fall. Her new record is currently in production and will be out later this year.

Lara Meyerratken of El May talks to Spinner about nearly getting fired from Luna and her new self-titled solo record.

Dan Mangan has released a new video from Nice, Nice, Very Nice. He’s got two shows as part of Canadian Musicfest, March 11 at The Great Hall and March 12 at The Courthouse.

Video: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”

Doron GildThere’s a lot of New York in Eyelid Movies, the debut album from the duo of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel known as Phantogram, and while the pair do indeed have Empire State license plates on their cars, they don’t hail from a Brooklyn bedsit or East Village walk-up, but the town of Greenwich way upstate – as close to Montreal as it is to Manhattan.

But you couldn’t tell that from just listening to the record – Its synthetic dream-pop owes a lot to bands who hail from Gotham, recalling in particular recent Blonde Redhead, though poppier and dancier than that trio. The similarities lie in their borrowing ideas liberally from a wide range of styles, incorporating meaty synth textures, cut-and-paste sampled hip-hop beats and guitars that are as inclined to jangle as drone and tying them together with a devotion to melody and Barthel and Carter’s contrasting vocals – hers dulcet and emotive, his rougher and anguished. It’s a combination that makes for an interesting yet accessible listen that’s honest in its influences while crafting its own identity.

Eyelid Movies is out February 9, and is currently streaming in its entirety at NPR. They set out on an east coast tour this week that stops at the Drake Underground in Toronto on February 20. Bloginity.com has an interview with Josh Carter.

MP3: Phantogram – “When I’m Small”
Stream: Phantogram / Eyelid Movies

PitchforkTV has a fancy video session with Beach House while Daytrotter has posted an audio session you can download for your very own. Not wanting to feel left out, Grand Crew points out they’ve got a complete show from last Summer in Paris to watch. The San Francisco Chronicle also has an interview with the duo, whom you can see at the Opera House on March 30.

Pitchfork talks to The National’s Matt Berninger about their new album, which is due out in May and has yet to be titled. They are at Massey Hall on June 8.

Filter has a two-part interview with The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, while Exclaim reveals that one of his upcoming projects will be performing a live score to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea – the 1916 silent film, not the Kirk Douglas-powered Disney version. Also newsworthy is the fact that 69 Love Songs is being reissued as a set of six 10″ LPs limited to only 3000 editions. You can pre-order it now with delivery coming around the April 20 release date. The Magnetic Fields are at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre next Monday evening.

MTV gets The Shins’ James Mercer to clarify statements made to NME about the band’s hiatus and his current involvement in Broken Bells with Danger Mouse, whose self-titled debut comes out March 9. Short version – Broken Bells now, Shins next year. Probably. Here’s their first video.

Video: Broken Bells – “The High Road”

JamBase converses with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

If you missed the free download of The Denton Sessions from The Guardian this weekend, it’s up for grabs at the Midlake website and the interview at The Guardian is still up. Their new album The Courage Of Others is out today.

Spinner talks to Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg about The Golden Dossier booklet which will accompany The Golden Archipelago on its release come February 23. They play Lee’s Palace on April 1.

NPR is streaming a live show by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists on the World Cafe last week. Their new album The Brutalist Bricks is out March 9.

And moving onto the concert announcements portion of the post – Snailhouse and Evening Hymns team up for a show at the Tranzac on March 25, admission $10 at the door.

MP3: Evening Hymns – “Broken Rifle”
Video: Snailhouse – “Salvation Army”

Jon Langford will team up with his Sadies for a show at the Horseshoe on March 26, tickets $13.50.

It’s ladies’ night at the Phoenix on April 9, when Girls and Dum Dum Girls roll in as part of a Spring tour. Girls are still riding last year’s Album while Dum Dum Girls’ debut I Will Be arrives March 30.

MP3: Girls – “Laura”
MP3: Girls – “Lust For Life””
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

The Album Leaf will set out this Winter and Spring on a North American tour in support of their new album A Chorus Of Storytellers, out today, and stop in at Lee’s Palace on April 28 – tickets $12.50, Sea Wolf support.

MP3: The Album Leaf – “Falling From The Sun”
MP3: Sea Wolf – “Wicked Blood”

Let’s Wrestle – discussed previously – have been added as support for Quasi’s upcoming east coast tour, including the April 18 date at the Horseshoe. Let’s Wrestle’s debut In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s gets a North American release on March 23 while Quasi’s American Gong is out February 23.

MP3: Quasi – “Repulsion”
MP3: Let’s Wrestle – “We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon”

Anyone who’s ever asked exactly what is meant by “gypsy punk” would do well to be at the Sound Academy on April 20 when Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa come to town. Gogol’s live Live From Axis Mundi came out last year while DeVotchKa’s last release was 2008’s A Mad And Faithful Telling, though they haven’t been to Toronto since June 2006 – far, far too long.

MP3: Gogol Bordello – “Wonderlust King” (BBC Sessions)
MP3: Gogol Bordello – “Troubled Friends” (Gypsy Punk Sessions)
MP3: DeVotchKa – “Transliterator”
MP3: DeVotchKa – “Along The Way”

Sigur Ros can easily sell out Massey Hall, but for frontman gone solo Jonsi to schedule two (2) nights at the Sound Academy – April 30 and May 1 – to perform numbers from his solo album Go… well it’s ambitious. To say the least. The album is out March 23. Either they’re expecting it to be a hit or want their fans to have lots of elbow room.

MP3: Jonsi – “Boy Lilikoi”

Frank YangIf Alan Sparhawk is looking to avoid Neil Young comparisons with his Retribution Gospel Choir work, you wouldn’t know it. Taking the stage at the Drake Underground on Monday night, the Low frontman was almost a tribute to Shakey boasting an impressive pair of muttonchop sideburns complimenting his black, P90-equipped, Bigsby-ed Les Paul. Okay, you’d probably never catch Neil dressed as classically dapper as Sparhawk and his bandmates, but sartorial concerns aside, you don’t have to look to hard for at least one source of inspiration.

And, of course, you could hear it. Their new album 2 – which they would technically be able to sell as of midnight – is a fiery document of rock filled with the sort of extended solos that Sparhawk only occasionally gets to showcase in Low. Not as all-out chaotic as the sort that Young wrings out of Old Black – Sparhawk’s technique is decidedly more precise if no less furious – but of the same spirit. And though their set was relatively compact at an hour including encore, there were plenty of epic guitar excursions to astonish the modest-sized Monday night crowd not to mention their intensely focused songs. The fittingly titled “Electric Guitar” was a particular standout, a sonic atom bomb in a set filled with explosive numbers.

In between aural assaults, there was an almost reverent silence from the audience, almost as though they thought were at a Low gig and chatting was verboten. The band took the opportunity to engage in some hockey banter, Sparhawk mentioning he’d recently fallen on his ass while skating and drummer Eric Pollard pre-emptively congratulating us on winning the Olympic gold. “Who’ve you got in net? Luongo? Aubin? You’ve got Aubin? Fuck.”

The News-Herald has an interview with Alan Sparhawk and 2 is currently streaming over at Spinner.

Photos: Retribution Gospel Choir @ The Drake Underground – January 25, 2010
MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Stream: Retribution Gospel Choir / 2
MySpace: Retribution Gospel Choir

Drive-By Truckers will be hitting the road in support of the March 16 release of The Big To-Do, and are opting to do multi-night stands in smaller rooms this time around – case in point, their April 6 and 7 dates at Lee’s Palace with Langhorne Slim opening. They’ve also let loose the first MP3 from the new album and will be the subject of a new documentary film entitled The Secret To A Happy Ending, which will begin screening at festivals starting next month.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”

Wolf Parade will return to active duty with a short eastern Canadian tour accompanied by We Are Wolves, possibly timed around the release of their third album which is rumoured to be complete. The Toronto date is April 7 at the Phoenix, with tickets $20 going on sale January 29.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Language City”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “Call It A Ritual”

Following up last November’s utterly sold-out show at the Mod Club, Florence & The Machine are coming back on April 10 for a show at the Phoenix, tickets $20. Holy Hail will support.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “Kiss With A Fist”
MP3: Florence & The Machine – “I’m Not Calling You A Liar”

The Reverend Horton Heat will be at the Phoenix on May 20 with Cracker in tow.

Though yesterday’s pre-sale for the June 8 National show at Massey Hall sold out lickety-split, another block of pre-sale tickets goes on sale today at 10AM – same link and password as yesterday and, sadly, same big-ass service charges.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a new video from It’s Blitz!.

Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Skeletons”

Holly Miranda is featured in video sessions at Yours Truly and PitchforkTV, while The Guardian declares her their “New band of the day”. The Magician’s Private Library is out February 23; here’s another track from it.

MP3: Holly Miranda – “Waves”

Clash labels The Antlers “one to watch for 2010”, which is interesting considering they’d have a pretty hard time topping their breakout 2009. They’re in town on February 16 at the Phoenix opening up for Editors.

And Editors have offered up a track from their latest album In This Light And On This Evening to download.

MP3: Editors – “Papillon”

Despite what was promised just last week, The Radio Dept.’s third album Clinging To A Scheme will NOT be coming out in March. Instead it will be out in April. The 21st of April, to be precise. That’s right, an actual firm date. Firm until they move it, anyways.

And Jonsi tells Spinner that contrary to previous reports, there will be no new Sigur Ros record out this year, or in the foreseeable future. So enjoy his solo record Go when it hits on March 23, because that’s all there’s going to be for a while.

Lilja BirgisdottirWhen it was revealed that Jon Thor Birgisson was going to be working on a project separate from Sigur Ros, many – well me, at least – assumed that the instrumental Riceboy Sleeps record which came out earlier this year was it. But in fact, it was credited to Jonsi & Alex, the titular Alex being Alex Somers of Parachutes and Birgisson’s boyfriend and the project being something else completely. Which is just as well because while it was a pretty piece of atmosphere, Riceboy Sleeps didn’t really engage as a piece of music and didn’t do much to tide one over while waiting for the new Sigur Ros record.

When flying solo as just Jonsi, however, the results are more satisfying. Details on Birgisson’s debut album entitled Go were revealed last week alongside the first MP3 – “Boy Lilikoi” – and it’s definitely not lacking in substance. Big and colourful, it finds Birgisson singing in English overtop buoyant and burbling pop arrangements, courtesy of Bjork arranger Nico Muchly and The National producer Peter Katis. This track and the extra audio samples available on the Jonsi website seem to ensure that Go will be enough like Sigur Ros to entice and satisfy fans of Sigur Ros, but different enough to justify not being Sigur Ros.

The album will be out on March 23 of next year, and a world tour to support will follow. Which basically ensures that the new Sigur Ros record won’t be out until Fall at the earliest.

MP3: Jonsi – “Boy Lilikoi”
MP3: Riceboy Sleeps – “Boy 1904”
MySpace: Jonsi

Rolling Stone talks to Ted Leo about his new album The Brutalist Bricks, available March 9. For a sneak preview of the new material, check out this downloadable live show from last week courtesy of NYC Taper.

Magnet does the over/under thing with Built To Spill’s oeuvre.

BrooklynVegan reports that The Antlers will be opening up for Editors on their upcoming North American tour, including the February 16 date at the Phoenix in Toronto. The Irish Times interviews Peter Silberman.

The Fader has posted their recent cover story on Bon Iver online while NME reports that a charity album entitled A Decade With Duke, pairing Justin Vernon with his Eau Claire, Wisconsin high school’s jazz band in performing Duke Ellington songs, Bon Iver songs and a few standards. NPR has a feature piece on the collaboration.

Though they just announced details of their next studio album, entitled Beat The Devil’s Tattoo and out on March 9, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club don’t want folks to forget they also just released a live album – they’ve released a video of four live performances and are offering up one of the tracks to download. Their two worlds collide when they play songs from the new studio album in a live setting on April 1 at the Phoenix.

MP3: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)” (live)
Video: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club / Live

Paste kicks off their new “Moog Sessions” – featuring videos of performances recorded at the Moog factory in Asheville, North Carolina – with Yo La Tengo.

The Skeleton Crew Quarterly interviews Venice Is Sinking.

For Folk’s Sake interviews Jenn Wasser of Wye Oak.

Drive-By Truckers will release their new studio album The Big To-Do on March 16 – details at Muzzle Of Bees.

This week, PitchforkTV is streaming the 2004 Superchunk documentary, Quest For Sleep.

Video: Superchunk: Quest For Sleep

The Thermals’ Hutch Harris talks lyrics with Paste. Their next album is out September 7, 2010.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Beach House about their new album Teen Dream, out January 26.

The Independent has an extensive interview with Wilco.

Austinst has information on The Golden Dossier component of Shearwater’s new album The Golden Archipelago, which they are hoping to finance via Kickstarter. The album is out February 23.

Christmas has come early for fans of over-the-top British arena rock and those with nostalgic memories of the ’90s-era Canadian indie rock. Different gifts, though they could well be the same fans. To the former, word that Muse have added a March 8 date at the Air Canada Centre to their Spring 2010 North American tour in support of this year’s The Resistance. Support on the tour will come from Silversun Pickups.

Video: Muse – “Uprising”

And to the latter, the long-rumoured Thrush Hermit reunion appears to be a go. Official confirmation and full dates are still forthcoming, but an eastern leg of the tour appeared on last week and puts the reunited Haligonians at Lee’s Palace in Toronto for two nights, March 26 and 27. Once and future Thrush Hermit frontman Joel Plaskett also just released a new video from Three. Update: Plaskett has confirmed the reunion in an interview with Exclaim.

Video: Joel Plaskett – “You Let Me Down”