Marino ThorlaciusI didn’t actually bring back a lot of souvenirs from my trip to Iceland in Fall 2011; a super-warm Kaldi hat (which has served me quite well this Winter), a package of Cronions (though I should have brought back a case), a whackload of photos (ponies!), my first car accident (cars on the inside lane of their roundabouts have the right of way, fyi), and a deep appreciation for the music of Ólafur Arnalds.

I didn’t even catch the entirety of his set at Iceland Airwaves, but what I did see from the 25-year old electronic/classical composer – he on piano and laptop, leading a string quartet and accompanied by elegant animated birds – left a deep impression. I immediately got a copy of his 2010 album …And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness – still one of my go-to escapist records, not least of all because it transports me back to Reykjavik, and have been eagerly awaiting the follow-up ever since.

That album is For Now I Am Winter and after offering the first preview track a few weeks ago, he’s now made a second track available to both listen to and play with, as it’s streaming as an interactive web application on his website that allows you to play with the mix in real time, turning channels on and off as you like. Obviously it sounds best as a fully-realized composition, but being able to isolate and analyze the finer details of his work also offers insights into the work. Both advance tracks represent a pretty familiar aspect of Arnalds’ work, but Winter should offer more than a few surprises as well – in addition to enlisting American composer Nico Muhly to assist on the orchestrations, Arnór Dan of Icelandic band Agent Fresco also contributes vocals – yes, vocals – to three tracks. For Now I Am Winter is out February 25 in Europe and April 2 in North America.

Stream: Ólafur Arnalds – “Only The Wind”
Stream: Ólafur Arnalds – “This Place Was A Shelter”

Sweden’s Deer Tracks will release their new album The Archer Trilogy, Pt. 3 tomorrow and are streaming the whole thing right now at Rdio. Yeah, you have to sign up for their streaming service but my understanding is that a) it’s great, and b) it’s free – at least for now and for Canadians; Americans I’m sure can find a similar deal. The Deer Tracks are here at The Silver Dollar on February 28.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “W”
Stream: The Deer Tracks / The Archer Trilogy, Pt. 3

The Line Of Best Fit has debuted a stream of another track from the new Shout Out Louds record Optica, due out February 26. They play The Opera House on May 14.

Stream: Shout Out Louds – “Illusions”

Spin has an interview with German electro-gaze auteur Ulrich Schnauss, as well as a stream of his new album A Long Way To Fall, out tomorrow.

Stream: Ulrich Schnauss / A Long Way To Fall

Weird World Record Co has posted a stream of a new/old song from Melody’s Echo Chamber, the original version of the song that would be transmogrified into “IsThatWhatYouSaid” on last year’s self-titled debut.

Stream: Melody’s Echo Chamber – “Je Me Perds de Vue”

Clash talks to Veronica Falls about their new record Waiting For Something To Happen, out tomorrow. They play The Garrison on March 12.

Foals guitarist Jimmy Smith talks to Consequence Of Sound and frontman Yannis Philippakis to The Fly about their new record Holy Fire, in stores tomorrow.

James Blake has offered some context to the Spring tour that brings him to the Danforth Music Hall on May 4; Under The Radar reports his new album Overgrown will be out April 8 and the first video from it surfaced this weekend.

Video: James Blake – “Retrograde”

Hat tip to Gorilla Vs Bear for pointing out the HD video of Jessie Ware’s radio session for KCRW. She’s in town at The Opera House on April 6.

State has an interview with Frightened Rabbit, who also offer up a video session to The Line Of Best Fit. They’re at The Phoenix on March 31.

Magnet interviews The Joy Formidable for the position of guest editor of their website for this week. They play The Phoenix April 12.

DIY has details on the debut album from Ireland’s Little Green Cars. Absolute Zero will be out on May 13, which means they won’t have copies for sale when they play The Drake on March 28. The first video from it is also geoblocked in Canada/North America because sometimes people are awful.

Video: Little Green Cars – “Harper Lee”

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are streaming their new record Push The Sky Away at The Guardian ahead of its official release on February 19. They’ve also released a new video starring Ray Winstone and various seedy goings-on. Nick Cave and company are at Massey Hall on March 23.

Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Jubilee Street”
Stream: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Push The Sky Away

The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with Shugo Tokumaru.

muteEnglish singer-songwriter Polly Scattergood’s 2009 self-titled debut may have been an indulgent, precious, and overdramatic work that sounded very much like the diary entries of a 22-year old put to music, but it was also impressively assured for the same reason, assuredly declaring “this is who and what I am right now” and doing it by way of sophisticatedly melodic electro-pop and expressive vocal work. Even if it didn’t do it for you, it was hard to deny that it heralded the arrival of a new talent with much potential that merited attention as it grew and matured.

The follow-up will arrive sometime this Summer, but a couple samples have already been released to both remind listeners of what she’s about – four years is an eternity to be away these days – and show how far she’s come. Two tracks aren’t quite enough to judge the latter point, but they’re both solid tunes and as far as getting me to revisit the debut and remember to pay attention to when the album finally comes out? Mission accomplished.

MP3: Polly Scattergood – “Wanderlust”
Stream: Polly Scattergood – “Disco Damaged Kid”

MTV Hive interviews Foals about Holy Fire, out next Tuesday.

7Digital and The 405 chat with Veronica Falls about their new record Waiting For Something To Happen and DIY gets a track-by-track walkthrough of the new album It’s out next Tuesday and they play The Garrison on March 12.

Spinner talks to David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick about new album The Next Day, out March 12.

Scottish synth-pop trio CHVRCHES have announced a March 26 digital release for their first North American EP Recover, and are streaming the lead track from it. They play The Mod Club on March 20 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Stream: CHVRCHES – “Recover”

The House Of Love have released the first single from She Paints Words In Red by way of video. Getting quiet excited for this record as well as the fact that international shipping on the limited-edition vinyl was four pence.

Video: The House Of Love – “A Baby Got Back On Its Feet”

The Line Of Best Fit debuts the new single from Little Green Cars by way of video session; they play The Drake on March 28.

DIY and The 405 interview Frightened Rabbit, who have put out a new video from the just-released Pedestrian Verse. They play The Phoenix on March 31.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Today’s Cross”

The Skinny and MusicOmh interview Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable while Aritzia asks her which five songs she wished she’d written. The Joy Formidable are at The Phoenix on April 12.

Anyone wondering why it’s taken Mumford & Sons so long to bring 2012’s Babel to town can blame their decision to eschew conventional touring in favour of their Gentlemen Of The Road events. Southern Ontario finally gets our turn, though, as they’ve announced a “stopover” for the weekend of August 23 and 24 in Simcoe, Ontario on the shores of Lake Erie, a little under two hours outside of Toronto. There will be two days of music with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Dan Mangan amongst those playing the Friday The Old Crow Medicine Show, Hey Rosetta!, and The Vaccines as well as Mumford themselves on Saturday with more acts to be announced. Two-day passes run $109.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait”
Video: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

NPR has posted a video session with Bat For Lashes.

Neil Halstead drops in at Daytrotter.

The Phoenix interviews Peter Hook.

Frank YangFor those not in the business of keeping up with the buzz bands of the moment, Palma Violets may not yet have appeared on your radar. Though the release of their debut album 180 is still a month out, they’ve already been heralded as the vanguard of the return of guitar rock – I didn’t realize it had ever gone away – and various permutations of This Year’s Model. A title which, while a tremendously helpful leg up as far as getting people interested goes, is also a decidedly two-edged thing as by its very definition, it means that next year it’ll be someone else. Perhaps this is was why they opted to stage a North American tour before their record was out or the buzz had necessarily carried over the Atlantic except to the most devout Anglophiles; they built their name in the UK based on their live show, so why not do the same over here? And so, motivated by curiosity and an urge to get the first show of 2013 in the books, even in the tail end of a frigid cold snap, it was to the Horseshoe I went last Thursday night.

Opening up were some familiar faces in Always – very familiar, as they’d also supported the last few shows I caught at the end of 2012; such ubiquity from an act that had done its best to keep as low a profile online as possible. Each time out had been a little different, however – the full five-piece lineup that opened for The Joy Formidable was back following the stripped-down trio configuration that supported Joel Plaskett, and superficially frontwoman Molly Rankin was now very blonde. The tunes, as always, were indie-pop gems and with the full band back in place, it was a chance to again appreciate how well-arranged and fully-formed the songs were and their selection of The Primitives’ 1988 UK hit “Crash” as a cover was perfectly suited. Perhaps best of all, the online demos that went AWOL shortly after my first writeup on the band have now been replaced with properly-recorded versions that are meant for public ears to hear, so you don’t have to take my word for anything anymore – just go listen.

I’d spent the weeks leading up to the show assuming that the middle band on the will was this Decades – a metal band from Albany, New York – and not this Decades from right here in Toronto. Bands, let this be a warning for you and your generic names. Even when the five-piece took the stage and clearly weren’t metal-punk bros, their wildly-mixed aesthetic – flowery shirts, fedoras, medallions, hoodies, eyeliner – didn’t offer much guidance as to what to expect. When they started playing, however, it all came together as a well-studied blend of goth and New Wave that struck a good balance between concise and atmospheric and was over and done in under 30 minutes. They’d have benefitted from a cleaner mix – particular on the vocals and guitar – and a decision to either commit to or dispense with a look, but were enjoyable well beyond simply not being what I feared/expected.

The problem, as Palma Violets are likely to find as their coming-out party progresses through 2013, is the question that will be asked will not simply be “are they good?” but “do they live up to the hype?”. And based on the three singles they’ve released to date and this show, the answer from this quarter to the former will be “not bad,” but to the latter, “no”. Frontmen Sam Fryer and Chilli Jesson have a great energy and chemistry onstage and do a good job of engaging a favourably disposed audience, but they don’t have the same facility for melody or anthemicism as the band they’re most frequently compared to, The Libertines. Their approach is punkier and more willing to descend into noisier, thuggish territory which goes to the band’s good live reputation but ultimately and most importantly, the songs aren’t very memorable. Their biggest single to date – “Best Of Friends” – succeeded in inciting a bit of laddish dancing and singalongs, but there wasn’t much sense that they brought anything more to the game than all the bands that held their place in the spotlight in years past. This isn’t to say that 180 won’t still surprise and reveal new depths, but whether their career trajectory will go more the way of The Vaccines or Brother remains unclear.

Photos: Palma Violets, Decades, Always @ The Horseshoe – January 24, 2013
Video: Palma Violets – “Step Up For The Cool Cats”
Video: Palma Violets – “Last Of The Summer Wine”
Video: Palma Violets – “Best Of Friends”
Stream: Decades – “Celebrate”
Stream: Decades – “Can You Love Me Now”
Stream: Always – “Next Of Kin”
Stream: Always – “The Ones Who Love You”

DIY gets to know The History Of Apple Pie, whose debut Out Of View is out this week.

The Guardian, Clash, and Spin profile Frightened Rabbit and their new album Pedestrian Verse. It’s out next week on February 5, but is available to stream at The Guardian right now. They’re at The Phoenix on March 31.

Stream: Frightened Rabbit / Pedestrian Verse

NME reports that British Sea Power have completed work on their next album and will release Machineries Of Joy on April 1.

If you’d been hoping that the new old Pulp song that surfaced at the very end of last year might become available to purchase legitimately, rejoice – Artrocker reports that it should be available for iTunes download as of today (though not there at the moment, as far as I can tell). But if you’re happy with the stream, that’s cool too. Jarv ain’t fussed.

Stream: Pulp – “After You”

DIY and Elle interview The Joy Formidable. They’re at The Phoenix on April 12.

Rolling Stone talks to guitarist Earl Slick about the secret recording sessions that produced the new David Bowie record The Next Day, out March 12.

Richard Thompson’s new Electric album is up to stream at NPR; it’s out next week and he plays Massey Hall supporting Emmylou Harris on March 22.

Stream: Richard Thompson / Electric

Clash and The Quietus talk to Esben & The Witch.

SF Weekly interviews Patrick Wolf.

Interview catches up with Emmy The Great at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film Austenland – which she scored – premiered.

And normally I wouldn’t file a single tweet as news, but when it recounts Kevin Shields saying at last night’s My Bloody Valentine show as saying their new album would be available in “two to three days”… that’s news. You missed your 2012 deadline, Kev, but come through on this promise and all is forgiven.

theblackangels.comAnother week, another batch of show announcements to cobble into a blog post, another band with “black” in their name hitting the road.

This time, it’s Austin psych-rock veterans The Black Angels, who’ve announced a trans-continental tour this April in support of their fourth full-length album, Indigo Meadow, out April 2. A preview track has been made available to stream, and while it doesn’t stray far from formula – you don’t make it as far in the drugged-out, trippy drone-rock game by changing it up too much – it’s still got some jump and some teeth to it, to say nothing of being sadly topical of late.

The Toronto show goes April 23 at the Danforth Music Hall, tickets $23.50 for floors and $33.50 for mezzanine. The Allah-Las and Elephant Stone support.

MP3: The Black Angels – “Telephone”
Stream: The Black Angels – “Don’t Play With Guns”

U.S. Girls – which is actually just one girl, Meghan Remy, and a distinctive cut-and-paste sonic aesthetic – will be at The Shop Under Parts & Labour on March 13 in support of last year’s Gem.

Video: U.S. Girls – “Work From Home”

I don’t know either act that well, but enough to know that the pairing of mournful Minneapolis electro-R&B act How To Dress Well and Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira is a bit of an unusual one. Regardless, they’re hitting the road together this Spring – the former in support of last year’s Total Loss and the latter for the Everything Is Embarrassing EP, out March 25 in advance of her full-length debut I’m Not Alright; Pitchfork has the full dates, which includes a March 27 date at Wrongbar.

MP3: How To Dress Well – “Us In The Sense Of Forever”
Video: Sky Ferreira – “Sad Dream”

The Joy Formidable have taken the occasion of yesterday’s release of Wolf’s Law to confirm a North American tour that brings them back to Toronto for, like, the millionth time, for a show at The Phoenix on April 12, tickets $18.50, support from Team Spirit and Ribs. There’s interviews with frontwoman Ritzy Bryan at Spin and DIY.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Wolf’s Law”

American experimental folk outfit of no fixed address Akron/Family have announced a new album in Sub Verses, and while the record isn’t out until April 30 they’ll be on the road in support well before then. Look for them at Lee’s Palace on April 19, tickets $15, and listen to one of the new songs below.

MP3: Akron/Family – “Silly Bears”
Stream: Akron/Family – “No-Room”

Clinic are bringing their latest album Free Reign and their surgical masks for a show at The Garrison on April 23. Under The Radar also reports that they’ll have a companion/remix album entitled Free Reign II available digitally starting March 5.

MP3: Clinic – “The Second Line”

Los Angeles-based family act He’s My Brother She’s My Sister are here for a show at the Horseshoe on April 28 in support of their 2012 debut, Nobody Dances In This Town.

Video: He’s My Brother She’s My Sister – “Touch The Lightning”

English electronic artist Gold Panda will be at The Horseshoe on May 8, tickets $15. He released his new Trust EP digitally earlier this year and will put out the vinyl 12″ on March 4. You can stream it all courtesy of Pitchfork.

Stream: Gold Panda / Trust

themaccabees.co.ukIt never seemed that Brighton’s Maccabees ever worked themselves into the position of British buzz band of the moment from a North American perspecitve, despite it seeming so easy to do so these days. Whether this was by design or misfortune isn’t really clear, but if idea was to make a proper first impression with their third album, last year’s Given To The Wild, then it was a bloody good idea.

The stylistic touchstones on Wild will be familiar to those who keep up with contemporary British indie – Foals-y tension, Wild Beasts-ish sensuality, Bloc Party-approved rhythms, Elbow-esque stateliness – but what it lacks in boundary-pushing, it makes up for with a remarkable balance of lush atmosphere, technical precision, and grand emotional evocations, all conveyed with impeccable classiness. Singer Orlando Weeks’ vocals, alternately shifting from choirboy falsetto to Win Butler-ish yelp, float above guitars that move from liquid placidity to dangerous churn, all impressively grand yet only going big – as in really big – when necessary. The Maccabees haven’t sought to redefine what Brit-rock is, but offer up an excellent representation of what it can be.

I had been concerned that last Fall’s North American dates supporting Florence & The Machine would represent the whole of the band’s North American agenda for this record, but they’re spending pretty much the entire month of February exploring our highways and byways. They’re at The Mod Club on Monday, February 11, and courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests@chromewaves.net with “I want to see The Maccabees” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me by midnight, January 31.

MP3: The Maccabees – “Go”
Video: The Maccabees – “Ayla”
Video: The Maccabees – “Went Away”
Video: The Maccabees – “Feel To Follow”
Video: The Maccabees – “Feel To Follow” (alternate)
Video: The Maccabees – “Pelican”

Allo Darlin’ have made the whole of their Covers EP available to stream; it’s available for sale as a limited-edition 10″ or as, you know, MP3s. There’s only 300 copies of the vinyl, which collects their versions of tunes by The French, Bruce Springsteen, and AC/DC amongst others, but there’s at most 299 copies left for sale. FYI.

Stream: Allo Darlin’ / Covers

The Dumbing Of America has an interview with London newcomers The History Of Apple Pie, whose debut album Out Of View – a winning blend of sugary pop vocals and abrasive guitarwork – is out next week but streaming now at Clash. Recommended for anyone who thinks on the ’90s fondly.

Video: The History Of Apple Pie – “Mallory”
Video: The History Of Apple Pie – “You’re So Cool”
Stream: The History Of Apple Pie / Out Of View

The Fader gets to know Scottish buzz(y synth) band CHVRCHES. They’re in town at Mod Club on March 20, and while details of their debut North American EP are still forthcoming, another track to preview has surfaced to stream.

Stream: CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share”

Ireland’s folk-pop outfit Little Green Cars, who along with CHVRCHES were on the BBC’s Sound of 2013 list, though unlike them they didn’t finish in the top 5. They are, however, still embarking on their own North American tour and will be at The Drake – where they opened for Daughter in October – on March 28, tickets $10.

Video: Little Green Cars – “The John Wayne”

The Scotland Herald and Gainsborough Standard profile Frightened Rabbit, and The Line Of Best Fit a video session. Their new record Pedestrian Verse is out February 5 and they play The Phoenix March 31.

The Joy Formidable talks to Under The Radar about their 2012, Filter about their new album Wolf’s Law, out this Tuesday, and give DIY a track-by-track walkthrough of it. All Saints also has a two-song video session with the band recorded in one of their stores’ basements.

Yannis Philippakis of Foals talks to Drowned In Sound about their new record Holy Fire, out February 12.

The 405 and DIY interview Esben & The Witch, whose second album Wash The Sins Not Only The Face is out January 22. That’s tomorrow.

The Line Of Best Fit reports that last week, Little Boots leaked a new song under the cryptic alias of LB. As in Little Boots. Okay, not that cryptic. She’s still not offering any specifics on her second album but speculation is that it’ll be out around March. Victoria Hesketh gave her hometown Blackpool Gazette an interview.

Stream: Little Boots – “Superstitious Heart”

Ladytron’s Helen Marnie talks to The Electricity Club about how things are progressing on her forthcoming solo record.

Slicing Up Eyeballs has details on Billy Bragg’s new album Tooth & Nail, out March 18, and an extensive North American tour which somehow doesn’t include Toronto at the moment, and given the routing I don’t think it will, at least this time around. Alas.

Richard Thompson’s new record is Electric in both title and execution, and will be out February 5. A song from it is available to stream, Exclaim has details, and he’s undertaking a North American tour supporting Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell which brings him to Massey Hall on March 22 for his first visit since September 2011. RT and Emmylou? Yeah, that’s a night of music. The St. Augustine Record also has an interview with the man.

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