Frank YangIf it were possible to discuss Beady Eye and their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding based strictly on their musical merits and not their backstory, then it would be a fairly short conversation: alright-enough Brit-rock, hardly re-inventing the wheel. But taking into account that the band comprises 4/5 of the final lineup of Oasis, less chief songwriter Noel Gallagher, extra scrutiny is unavoidable. Which is unfortunate since despite the band’s – well, Liam Gallagher’s – insistence that they’re going to be the biggest band in the world, they don’t aspire to much more than solid, meat-and-potatoes rock’n’roll. And in that, especially considering the younger Gallagher’s rather unspectacular songwriting efforts in Oasis, Different Gear is surprisingly decent, with a good dose of swagger and energy and thankfully fewer than expected cringe-worthy lyrics. After all, Liam has never pretended there was a poet underneath the gruff exterior; Noel was the sensitive one.

While Beady Eye have hardly set the world ablaze with their debut, they found it worthwhile to bring it across the Atlantic for their first North American tour starting this past weekend in Chicago and landing in Toronto’s Sound Academy on Monday night. It would be the first time Liam would take a stage here since Oasis’ final assault-interrupted performance at V Fest 2008, and clearly the faithful had been waiting – the giant Union Jack flag waving from the balcony and random chants of “Liam!” a few of the signs that the band were on friendly turf. And really, it’s a rare sort of crowd who sings along en masse to The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” over the PA, isn’t it? When the lights dimmed a few minutes later than the scheduled start time – it wouldn’t have done to not let the final bars of The Stone Roses’ “I Am The Resurrection” not ring out, after all – the cheers went up and out strode Liam Gallagher in appropriately ridiculous Union Jack topcoat and his more conservatively dressed compatriots and we were away.

Opening with “Four Letter Word”, Gallagher in his familiar nose-on-the-mic, arms-behind-his-back post and picking lyrics off a teleprompter, the first thing you noticed was that they were loud. More specifically, Gallagher was loud – heinously so. It was as if his monitor mix was being fed into the house by accident, so much louder were his vocals than the band that it was like hearing someone singing at the top of their lungs to music playing on their earphones. Thankfully within a few songs it was sorted somewhat – or fleeing to the back of the venue made the difference – and the remainder of the set was entertaining in a steady head-nodding sense. Each song from Different Gear as well as a couple of non-album tracks and one new composition was aired out, each with its own staging and adhering closely to their studio versions. And while it obviously wasn’t the context I’d ideally like to have seen, it was good to see Andy Bell back on guitar and taking a few solos in person.

Without that much material on hand and a sworn oath to not delve into the Oasis songbook, it wasn’t surprising that the main set was over in less than an hour, closing with “Champagne Supernova”-like psychedelic slow jam “The Morning Son” before returning for a two-song encore that brought the show to a respectable length. Throughout, Gallagher conducted himself with an interesting combination of confidence and humility, as though he still believed that he was fronting the best band in the world but understood that he had to prove it; this solid showing was a good start. Will Beady Eye, as their song declares, “stand the test of time like The Beatles and The Stones”? Not likely, to be honest, but at least they’ve bought themselves some of that time to get there.

Metro, The Grid and Shortlist have typically entertaining interviews with Gallagher and his bandmates. Chart, examiner.com and JAM also have reviews of the show.

Photos: Beady Eye @ The Sound Academy – June 20, 2011
MP3: Beady Eye – “The Roller”
Video: Beady Eye – “Millionaire”
Video: Beady Eye – “Four Letter Word”
Video: Beady Eye – “Bring The Light”

Loads of new videos making their way across the pond over the last few days. Let’s sum up.

Amor de Dias has a new clip from Street Of The Love Of Days. Alasdair MacLean and Lupe Núñez-Fernández are also playing guest editor this week at Magnet starting with a Q&A and submitted a guest list of inspirations to Critical Mob.

Video: Amor de Dias – “Wild Winter Trees”

The latest single from Anna Calvi also comes with a video.

Video: Anna Calvi – “Desire”

The previously mailing-list-sign-up-only video for the new Slow Club single is now available for all to see. It comes from their second album Paradise, which is out September 12 – NME has details.

Video: Slow Club – “Two Cousins”

Friendly Fires have confirmed their Fall North American tour which includes the make-up for the cancelled Toronto show, now taking place October 23 at The Phoenix. The Georgia Straight and Black Book have interviews with the band and oh yeah, there’s a new video from Pala.

Video: Friendly Fires – “Hawaiian Air”

Yuck have a new, kind of disturbing clip from their self-titled debut. RTE has an interview with the band.

Video: Yuck – “Shook Down”

The new clip from Noah & The Whale’s Last Night On Earth is appropriately slick and cinematic. And nice dance moves, Charlie. Creative Loafing has an interview.

Video: Noah & The Whale – “Life Is Life”

The Joy Formidable’s Big Roar has yielded a new video, which proves their affection for ’90s alt.rock extends to video aesthetic.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “A Heavy Abacus”

It’s not a proper promo clip, but people will still want to see this live video of Radiohead performing a new, non-album track. It’s taken from their upcoming From The Basement webcast, which I believe will be aired on July 1.

Video: Radiohead – “Staircase” (live)

Some news from components of Blur; Clash checks in with Graham Coxon on the state of his next record while The Guardian has a feature on the many projects of Damon Albarn, including an opera about John Dee and a tease about possible North American Blur dates next year – hello Coachella?

Summer Camp have turned to Pledge Music to garner financing for their debut album, and have put together some very neat and entertaining rewards for various pledge levels. The real reward, of course, will be a record of wonderful pop music like the track “Nobody Knows You”, which they’re trading for your email address, but if you want to walk away with Jeremy Warmsley’s bass guitar, well that can happen too. Clash talks to Elizabeth Sankey about the new album and fundraising efforts.

Clash quizzes Emmy The Great about this, that and the other thing.

Laura Marling has announced the September 13 release of her third album A Creature I Don’t Know. She talks to Spin a bit about what to expect and The Line Of Best Fit has more specifics. The record is already available to pre-order.

Bella Union has announced details on the debut album from Newcastle’s Lanterns On The Lake, who rather beguiled at SXSW. Gracious Tide, Take Me Home will be out on September 19 in the UK – the first MP3 from it is available to have and the hold now.

MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “You’re Almost There”

The Quietus talks to The Horrors and gets a track-by-track breakdown of their new record Skying, due out July 12. They play Lee’s Palace on September 27.

Spinner, HitFix and The Mirror talk to Guy Garvey of Elbow, finally coming back to town for a show at the Sound Academy on September 28.

Pitchfork filmed a short James Blake film at Primavera last month; Blake is at The Phoenix on September 30.

The Daily Record asks Glasvegas frontman James Allan where he’s living nowadays while Rab Allan talks to Metro.

Spin is streaming a second preview track from the new Ladytron album Gravity The Seducer, due out September 13.

Billboard, BBC and The Quietus talk to Patrick Wolf about his new record Lupercalia while The Fly has an acoustic courtyard session with the artist.

Interview interviews Kate Bush.

Frank YangIt happens far too infrequently, but sometimes the good guys win. Sometimes immense talent, great songs and hard work can triumph over image and marketing and when it does, you get improbably wonderful things like Adele becoming and more importantly remaining pretty much the biggest artist in music for 2011 for months on end, on the strength of her sophomore album 21. Granted, her story is hardly one of an out of nowhere dark horse – her debut 19 already made her a star and garnered her two Grammy awards – but the degree to which 21 has catapulted her into the stratosphere is still remarkable.

That the Toronto stop of her North American tour on Wednesday night was originally booked into the Kool Haus – considerably smaller than the posh environs of Massey Hall where she last performed in 2009 – certainly seemed to imply that people were underestimating her draw, and that the show was moved to the many times larger Air Canada Centre after selling out instantly was representative of just how much bigger – and faster – her fanbase was growing. Granted, it was in theatre configuration, accommodating approximately 5200 patrons instead of the 16000 of the full arena, but if you don’t think she could have easily sold a few thousand more tickets then you’re just not paying attention.

I had the privilege of seeing Adele at an MTV Live taping back in March and so had a sense of how she was live – which is to say wonderfully warm and engaging, with no sense of the stage fright she’s supposedly afflicted with – but that was a short set in front of a maybe a couple hundred people. This would be considerably more on every level, and yet Adele Adkins somehow managed to make an arena show in front of thousands feel just as intimate as that studio performance.

Things opened with a touch of theatricality – with Adele starting “Hometown Glory” from behind a curtain before stepping onstage to rafter-shaking shrieks – but for most of the show, it was all about simple, direct and genuine connection between Adele and her fans, which for all of her prodigious artistic gifts may be her greatest strength. Chatty, conversational and more than a little crude between songs, punctuated by a huge and endearing cackle, Adele was able to make a massive room feel as intimate as a small club or even more like a private performance for some friends in the front room. It’s impossible to overstate the intensity of the personal rapport that seemed to exist between she and almost every one of the thousands in the audience – it’s hard to imagine any other artist of her stature taking stage time to talk about the experiences that informed her songs, her affection for her pet dachshund or gush about bands she’s currently listening to (incidentally, she gave big props to Toronto R&B outfit The Weeknd).

As entertaining as it would likely be to just sit and chat for an hour and a half with Adele, there was no forgetting that music was the order of the evening. Improvisation wasn’t on the menu, save for a few subtle shifts in arrangements, with the emphasis on her huge, expressive voice and playing the songs everyone wanted to hear the way they knew them, but with plenty of verve and as singalong-able as possible – something the house happily obliged, at times creating an almost choral effect. Backed by a seven-piece band, Adele delivered exactly the sort of set you’d expect, comprising most of 21 – often introduced as “new songs” as though they were something to be politely endured before she got to the old favourites instead of the material that brought both her and her fans here on this evening – and a decent amount of 19. The show built to a finale that was completely predictable – “Chasing Pavements” and “Make You Feel My Love” to close the main set and “Someone Like You” and “Rolling In The Deep” making up the encore – but also completely rousing. You don’t need to surprise when you’re this good. Adele is like the friend who goes onto great things, but never forgets where she came from – not “is like”, but “is” – and though musically she trades in broken hearts, there was nothing but love at the ACC on this night.

The Globe & Mail has a feature piece on Adele and also a review of the show. The Toronto Sun, National Post, Toronto Star and Exclaim also have writeups of the evening.

Photos: Adele @ The Air Canada Centre – May 18, 2011
Video: Adele – “Rolling In The Deep”
Video: Adele – “Make You Feel My Love”
Video: Adele – “Chasing Pavements”
Video: Adele – “Cold Shoulder”

Interview has a brief talk with Anna Calvi, who has a date at The El Mocambo on May 27.

PJ Harvey discusses the visual side of her art with Spinner.

Pitchfork has an extensive interview with Kate Bush, who released her first album in over five years this week with Director’s Cut. The record is streaming in whole over at NPR.

Stream: Kate Bush / Director’s Cut

New York Magazine and The Chicago Tribune talk to Will Sergeant of Echo & The Bunnymen while The Aquarian chats with Ian McCulloch.

Johnny Marr talks up his upcoming projects with Billboard.

The Guardian talks to Brett Anderson and Mat Osman about why the reunited Suede are so fashionable again – just in time for Brett Anderson (the solo artist) to announce the September 26 release of his next record, Black Rainbows. Details on the album at NME.

The second single from Patrick Wolf’s forthcoming Lupercalia now has a video and it indeed confirms that, on this record, Wolf is in his happy place. It’s out June 20.

Video: Patrick Wolf – “House”

Foals discuss possible directions of their next record with aux.tv.

The Guardian, Gigwise and Clash have feature pieces on Friendly Fires, whose new record Pala is out next week and are in town at The Phoenix on May 30.

NME gets some information on the next Muse record from rhythm section Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme.

The Aquarian talks to Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. They’re at The Kool Haus on Saturday and their new album Suck It And See is out June 7.

Also on the bill are The Vaccines, who have a new video from their debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, due out May 31.

Video: The Vaccines – “All In White”

NPR have posted a WFUV radio session with Noah & The Whale, with whom North Country Times, Oregon Music News, The Telegraph and The Edinburgh Evening News have interviews.

James Blake has a new video from James Blake.

Video: James Blake – “Lindesfarne”

Artrocker has a piece from Clock Opera frontman Guy Connelly about writing their latest single “Belongings”, for which they’ve just released a video and are streaming both sides at Soundcloud. DIY also solicits an alphabetized list of… stuff from the band. These guys were one of the more exciting discoveries at SXSW and the lead-up to their debut album verifies that the excitement is justified.

Video: Clock Opera – “Belongings”

Ladytron are streaming the first single from new album Gravity The Seducer at Soundcloud, well in advance of its September 13 release date.

Art Brut are streaming their new record Brilliant! Tragic! over at Paste. They play The Mod Club on June 17 for NXNE.

Stream: Art Brut / Brilliant! Tragic!

And according to Under The Radar, the Friday night of NXNE – June 17 – will also bring Oxford’s Swervedriver back to town for the first time since, well, NXNE 2008. Venue still to be announced but this should be one of the highlights of the festival.

MP3: Swervedriver – “Duel” (live)

IFC has both an interview with Euros and Norman of Jonny and premiered a new video from the duo. They are at The Drake Underground on June 3 and 4.

Video: Jonny – “You Was Me”

They Shoot Music has a video session with Gruff Ryhs, and he’s also the subject of features at Nashville Scene, The Village Voice and Today Online. He has a date at The Horseshoe for June 11.

NPR has posted a World Cafe session with The Joy Formidable.

And with that, folks, things go into vacation mode over the next couple weeks. There’ll still be updates and whatnot, just maybe fewer, probably leaner and almost certainly at odd hours. And any last-minute suggestions of things to see and do in Barcelona are welcome.

Frank YangI wasn’t even intending to be at this show. The plan had been to catch The Joy Formidable at one of their many SxSW shows and thus free up this evening for something else or nothing else. A good plan, on paper, but one scuppered by the fact that the Welsh trio, who released their debut album The Big Roar Stateside on the eve of the festival, would turn out to be one of the buzz bands of the fest and any of the showcases I tried to get into were jammed to the point that getting a decent line of sight, let alone a good vantage point to shoot from, was nigh impossible. I guess what with the band having come through Toronto twice already in the past year and a third visit on the horizon, I was taking them a bit for granted. Lesson learned.

And so it was a third go-around for The Joy Formidable at The Horseshoe on Saturday night, though at least this time The Dig, who’d opened up the last two shows, had been swapped for labelmates The Lonely Forest. Clearly this quartet from the Pacific northwest, who just released their debut Arrows, is getting some attention from the powers that be, what with their being attached both to this tour and the upcoming Death Cab For Cutie jaunt later in the Spring. And that latter pairing makes a lot of sense, considering The Lonely Forest’s facility with energetic if slightly generic post-emo punk-pop. Still, what they lacked in originality they made up for in energy and on-stage pogoing and as one fellow in the audience called out, “I came for The Joy Formidable but you guys rock!”. That’s pretty much all they could ask for.

The Joy Formidable’s independently-released A Balloon Called Moaning was a nearly perfect introduction to the band’s fiery arena rock-meets-shoegaze sound, long enough to confirm that they were for real and short enough to leave you hungry for more. So when it came out that the band was re-recording half the EP for inclusion on their major label debut, there were some concerns that they might polish out some of its more delightful roughness in favour of a more radio-friendly sound. Concerns that proved to be unfounded as if anything, the new versions were even bigger, louder and spikier than before – almost the point of excess. And really, that applies to The Big Roar as a whole – it’s an utterly massive-sounding record and almost exhausting to get through, but the key word is almost. Unless you’re simply not in the mood for rock action on this scale, it’s an invigorating listen.

The principle of “more is better” also applied to their live show, though in this case it meant bigger, not longer. Despite having a pretty good wealth of material to draw on at this point, The Joy Formidable kept their set lean and mean, and still very very similar to the ones they brought through previously. It really only differed in a couple of song selections and the fact that they’d somehow gotten even more explosive as a live act. Frontwoman Ritzy Bryan has further perfected her psycho guitar-pixie persona and added in a dose of crazy eye, bassist Rhydian Dafydd now takes on more vocal duties and has added a Hulk Hogan ear-cup to his stage moves and drummer Matt Thomas, well he kept up which basically means he beat the shit out of his kit. The Joy Formidable ethos seems to be to make each song its own standalone epic and so while the show only ran ten songs with two-song encore and maybe an hour in length, it had more musical detonations than other bands pack into shows twice the length. All that said, I do hope that the next time they come through town which may well be sooner rather than later based on past history, they’ve mixed the set up a bit. Just a little.

Inland SoCal and Wall Street Journal have interviews with The Joy Formidable while Chart also has a review of the show.

Photos: The Joy Formidable, The Lonely Forest @ The Horseshoe – April 2, 2011
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”
MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Cradle”
MP3: The Lonely Forest – “Coyote”
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”

PJ Harvey has released another couple videos from Let England Shake. She said one for each song on the record, and she meant it. The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview with Harvey.

Video: PJ Harvey – “Written On The Forehead”
Video: PJ Harvey – “Hanging In The Wire”

The Independent interviews Anna Calvi, who will be at The El Mocambo on May 27. I shan’t be there.

Clientele/Pipas side-project Amor de Días will team up with Damon & Naomi for a Spring tour that hits The Horseshoe on May 25. Yup, missing that one too. Both bands have new albums – Amore de Días’ debut Street Of The Love Of Days and Damon & Naomi’s False Beats and True Hearts – out on May 17.

MP3: Damon & Naomi – “Cruel Queen”
MP3: Amor de Días – “Bunhill Fields”

Pulp – who are the reason I’m missing the aforementioned shows – has relaunched their website, loading it with videos of people – both famous and not – covering their songs. Many of them terribly.

Paste catches up with the boys of Noah & The Whale.

With their best-of compilation out and out of the way, Ladytron have announced their next studio album will be entitled Gravity The Seducer and out September 13. Details at Pitchfork.

6 Day Riot have crafted a video for their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”.

Video: 6 Day Riot – “Tusk”

DIY talks to Roddy Woomble about his new solo record Impossible Song & Other Songs and the fate of Idlewild.

The Daily Record talks to James Allan of Glasvegas, who are streaming their new album Euphoric Heartbreak for those who opt to “Like” it on their Facebook. Everyone else gets the first three songs. The album is out now.

Stream: Glasvegas / Euphoric Heartbreak

Clash talks to Mica Levi of Micachu.

Daytrotter has served up a session with Junip, who will be at Lee’s Palace on April 20.

Frank YangFor the first few years of their existence, the British Sea Power live experience had a reputation as something of a spectacle, thanks to their habit of decorating the stage with local foliage and then-keyboardist Eamon Hamilton’s on-stage shenanigans – both of which were in full effect the last time I saw them play a regular-type show in Toronto, way back in May 2005. Both times I’ve seen them since then – a SxSW day show and television taping – weren’t necessarily conducive to indulging in madness though since Hamilton’s departure in early 2006 the bedlam had been toned down somewhat anyways. So it’s a good thing that their records since then – 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music? and this year’s Valhalla Dancehall have easily been solid enough to warrant hearing live even if the band just stood stock still and played, though thankfully they did not.

Though I’d corresponded with A Classic Education frontman Jon Clancy for some years and despite Clancy being an Ontario ex-pat now based in Bologna, Italy, this was the first time they’d made it to Toronto. Probably on account of the fact that they’re based in Bologna, Italy. But I’d managed to see them a couple years ago at SxSW and was impressed with the scope of their musical vision, even if I didn’t think their grasp quite matched their reach yet. Interestingly, in the time since them they’ve seemingly adjusted course to point towards a simpler, more ’50s-influenced style of rock and while their scope still retains some of that grandness, mostly thanks to sophisticated little flourishes in the arrangements, but the delivery is more compact and streamlined and the net result actually suits them better. Interestingly, for as long as they’ve been around there’s still not been a full-length release – their last issue was the Hey There Stranger 12″ EP last year. Hopefully that gets rectified soon.

British Sea Power has certainly grown, both in size and maturity. To the former, multi-instrumentalist Phil Sumner and violinist Abi Fry are now apparently full-fledged band members and to the latter, well they simply don’t get up to the tricks they used to (see above). It’s as though their gawky acting act has transmuted into a sort of stateliness, and accordingly they’re not in any rush to get where they’re going – they know it’ll get there eventually. Which is why it’s sort of alright that the show, like the last couple I’d seen, seemed to start off a bit slowly despite opening with a couple of Valhalla‘s more hopped-up numbers, though the fact that Hamilton had lost his voice and couldn’t take lead on some of the songs as he normally did might have had something to do with it as well.

Still, by the time they hit the Valhalla-era non-album track “Zeus”, they were clearly warmed up. The epic-length track was played with extra vigor and from there on, the second half of the show came with loads more drive than the first – thanks, no doubt, to the inclusion of ragers such as “Spirit Of St. Louis”, “It Ended On An Oily Stage” and “Lights Out For Darker Skies”. The four-song encore brought some dynamics back into it, pairing the anthemic “Waving Flags” and “Carrion” with the more elegiac “The Great Skua” and “All In It”, but the real highlight came with the second encore which revived some of the old-school on-stage anarchy soundtracked by “Apologies To Insect Life”. Antics included but were not limited to Yan giving local “super-fan” Kayvon a ride on his shoulders before doing a reverse double stage dive into the crowd – I hope Kavon was warned of it beforehand – and Noble, who had apparently hit a critical point of inebriation, going for a crowd surf after the song had ended in order to get to the bar as quickly as possible. Okay, maybe British Sea Power haven’t matured that much. Thank goodness.

BBC America has an interview with Martin Noble and NYC Taper is sharing a recording of the New York stop on this tour.

Photos: British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee’s Palace – March 24, 2011
MP3: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control?”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Come Wander With Me”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Atom”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Gone To Sea”
MP3: A Classic Education – “I Lost Time”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Toi”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Stay, Son”
Video: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control”
Video: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
Video: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
Video: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
Video: British Sea Power – “Water Tower”
Video: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
Video: British Sea Power – “It Ended On An Oily Stage”
Video: British Sea Power – “Childhood Memories”
Video: British Sea Power – “The Spirit Of St. Louis”
Video: British Sea Power – “Carrion”
Video: British Sea Power – “Remember Me”
Video: A Classic Education – “Gone To Sea”
Video: A Classic Education – “Toi”

Clearly I’m being punished for going to Euro at the end of May. How else to explain the number of excellent tours coming through town while I’m away, which now include 2010 year-end listers Stornoway, who are bringing Beachcomber’s Windowsill back to North America and specifically the El Mocambo, where they dazzled last December, on May 24. Tickets $13.50 in advance.

MP3: Stornoway – “Zorbing”

But the one that really hurts is that Anna Calvi has made good on her promise to make up all the March dates cancelled because of her wrist injury, and the make-up date for Toronto will be May 27, also at the El Mocambo. Funny how I went from potentially seeing her a good number of times across CMW and SxSW to not at all… though it is some consolation that while she’s soundchecking a 10-minute walk from my apartment, I’ll be on the shores of the Mediterranean listening to Pulp. Under The Radar has full tour dates and tickets for the Toronto show are $12 in advance. Paste has an interview and Calvi has just released a new video.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”

PJ Harvey has released a couple more videos from Let England Shake. Spinner has an interview with Polly Jean.

Video: PJ Harvey – “England”
Video: PJ Harvey – “The Colour Of The Earth”

It’s session time for Two Door Cinema Club as NPR has them visit The World Cafe and Daytrotter has a set available to download.

Daytrotter has also posted up a session with The Futureheads.

State talks to Rab Allan and Herald Scotland to James Allan of Glasvegas about their new record Euphoric Heartbreak, out next week.

Sons & Daughters have announced their new record Mirror, Mirror will be out on June 14, and based on the first MP3 made available, they’ve gotten as far as possible from the shiny glam of 2008’s This Gift. The Line Of Best Fit has details on the release.

MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Silver Spell”

The Guardian, Gigwise and Metro talk to Patrick Wolf about his new record Lupercalia, due out May 31.

Spin finds out the origins of The Joy Formidable’s name while The Asbury Park Press have an interview and NPR is streaming one of their SxSW sets. They are at The Horseshoe this coming Saturday night, April 2.

The Guardian has a feature piece on Adele, while NPR is streaming a World Cafe session. A couple people in the last few days have asked me how they might go about getting tickets to her May 18 show at the Kool Haus. It made me laugh. Update: And now who’s laughing? The show was just moved to the Air Canada Centre. It it’s a full arena setup, that’s like an eightfold increase in capacity. Even the theatre configuration is like two and a half times the Kool Haus.

Friendly Fires have confirmed a May 16 release date for their second album Pala; Ed Macfarlane speaks briefly to Purple Revolver about the writing process. They play The Phoenix on May 30.

Exclaim has an interview with Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye, who’ve managed to sell out their show at the Sound Academy on June 20. You know they’re not playing any Oasis material, right? No matter how much you plead? Okay, just checking.

DIY, Billboard and BBC talk to Elbow and learn that the band have plans for North American touring later this year (yes!) and collaborator Richard Hawley is currently in the studio working on a new record (yes!).

Brett Anderson of Suede tells NME that the reunited band is working on new material but that it won’t necessarily translate into new recordings.

Radiohead’s new record The King Of Limbs is now streaming in whole at Spinner. They will also be releasing a limited edition 12″ single for Record Store Day, April 16, featuring non-album tracks “Supercollider” and “The Butcher”.

Stream: Radiohead / The King Of Limbs

Clash checks in with Charles Watson of Slow Club about how work is progressing on the duo’s second album.

The Georgia Straight interviews Esben & The Witch.

Spinner talks to Reuben Wu and Clash to Mira Aroyo of Ladytron.

The Quietus profiles Cat’s Eyes, the new project from Faris Badwan of The Horrors and opera singer Rachel Zeffira. Their self-titled debut is due out April 25.

NPR interviews Lykke Li, who is at The Phoenix on May 22. A new track from Wounded Rhymes is available to download.

MP3: Lykke Li – “Youth Knows No Pain”

Clash, Spin and DIY have features on Peter Bjorn & John, whose new record Gimme Some is out now and available to stream. They’re at Lee’s Palace on May 6.

Stream: Peter Bjorn & John / Gimme Some

Frank YangThe Friday night of Canadian Musicfest saw the only bit of club-hopping that I’d be engaging in over the weekend, but even that was just across a couple of blocks in Parkdale, and I took a streetcar. No, not so much with the spirit of the club-level festival.

Stop one was the Drake Underground for Olenka & The Autumn Lovers. I’d seen them just a few weeks prior, but while that show had been as a stripped-down four-piece, advance billing promised a full lineup for this one. But instead of the stage-filling configuration that played The Garrison in October 2009, this show was again Olenka Krakus with Sara Froese on violin, Kelly Wallraff on cello and Tyler Belluz on upright bass. And if there’s any trace of disappointment in that, it’s just because it meant that some of the songs from And Now We Sing that required a fuller presentation would again be left out of the set. And yes, this show was similar if not identical in structure to the Horseshoe show but actually probably better overall thanks to the more intimate setting encouraging a more conversational tone between Krakus and the attentive audience. Don’t get me wrong – I still love these songs and am happy to hear them however they’re presented, but if next time out they bring a drummer along… I won’t be upset.

Spinner has an interview with Olenka Krakus.

Photos: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers @ The Drake Underground – March 11, 2011
MP3: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers – “Odessa”

Montreal’s Adam & The Amethysts made a positive impression with their debut Amethyst Amulet back in 2008, but kind of fell off the radar since I saw them live that Summer. That looks to change with the impending release of their second album Flickering Flashlight, and while details of that release are still forthcoming their showcase did a good job of reminding why they were worth paying attention to in the first place. Their appreciation and affinity for classically-styled, music in the vein of The Zombies is still as sharp as ever, their songs all understated hooks and sneaky sophistication. I wasn’t able to stick around for the whole of their set but was there long enough to whet my appetite for the new record. Hope it gets out sooner rather than later.

Chart has thoughts on their set.

Photos: Adam & The Amethysts @ The Drake Underground – March 11, 2011
MP3: Adam & The Amethysts – “Prophecy”
Video: Adam & The Amethysts – “Gitche Gumee Yeah Yeah”

Then it was further into the dark heart of Parkdale to Wrongbar, where 2/3 of what would have been the best bill of the festival were ready to make an argument that it still was. Leading their case was reigning Polaris Music Prize winners Karkwa, who’d been spending no small amount of time since the win last September introducing themselves and the winning record Le chemins de verre to English Canada. And making those introductions by way of live performance was really putting their best foot forward as their show was nothing less than electrifying. I’d seen them play at the Polaris gala and while I didn’t know it at the time, that was Karkwa at their most subdued what with frontman Louis-Jean Cormier on piano – and while that was fine, having him brandish guitars as he did this night made for a very different sort of show.

My French hasn’t gotten any better since September so I still didn’t understand any of what they were singing, but the collective musicianship of the band and melodic and visceral impact of their songs needed no translation. Not even Le chemins de verre properly captured the intense dynamics and surprising amount of brutalism (a good thing) that was on display here. I know that there was a fair bit of head-scratching when Karkwa won the Polaris, both with respect to who they were and whether they deserved it. The former shouldn’t be an issue anymore and the latter? Just go see them live. And make sure the guitars are out.

Spinner and Chart were also on hand at the show while The Globe & Mail has a feature piece.

Photos: Karkwa @ Wrongbar – March 11, 2011
MP3: Karkwa – “Dors Dans Mon Sang”
Video: Karkwa – “Le pyromane”
Video: Karkwa – “Echapper au sort”
Video: Karkwa – “Marie tu pleures”
Video: Karkwa – “Oublie pas”
Video: Karkwa – “Échapper au sor”
Video: Karkwa – “À la chaîne”
Video: Karkwa – “Combien”
Video: Karkwa – “La facade”
Video: Karkwa – “La fuite”
Video: Karkwa – “Vrai”
Video: Karkwa – “Le coup d’etat”
Video: Karkwa – “Poisson cru”

It took a while to tear down after Karkwa’s set – to say they’ve got a lot of gear is an understatement – it didn’t take long to get Brighton’s Esben & The Witch, who don’t need a whole lot in the way of equipment to build their dark, atmospheric sound, to get ready to go. This show was considerably different from their local debut supporting Foals back in September; whereas that one came across as decidedly primal and amorphous with its heavy percussion and free-form vocals, this performance had much more structure, dynamics and overall intent – as though the building blocks that had been present but strewn about in the Fall had now been assembled into something using their debut Violet Cries as a blueprint. But even though it was more controlled, there was still plenty of intensity on offer be it from Daniel Copeman’s hair-whipping guitarwork, Rachel Davies’ plaintive vocals or any or all of the band beating the bejesus out of a single floor tom. Though Esben in general isn’t really my thing, I think I still prefer the album to the live show – it offers up their songs in their most fully-formed state – but neither form is boring.

Chart also has a review of the show.

Photos: Esben & The Witch @ Wrongbar – March 11, 2011
MP3: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Marching Song”

Spin chats with Noah & The Whale before soliciting a video performance from the band. Their new record Last Night On Earth is out today and they play The Mod Club on March 24.

British Sea Power have released a new video from Valhalla Dancehall, just in time for their North American tour, which starts next week and hits Lee’s Palace on March 24.

Video: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control”

Clash has an interview with Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable, whose The Big Roar is now officially out in North America. They’re at The Horseshoe on April 2.

Another video from Mogwai’s latest Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will has been released. The band are at The Phoenix on April 26.

Video: Mogwai – “San Pedro”

Drowned In Sound meets Yuck, who’re giving away their single to download. They’re at The Phoenix on May 1.

MP3: Yuck – “Get Away”

NPR has a World Cafe session and JAM an interview with chart-topper Adele. Her May 18 show at the Kool Haus is looking mighty undersized and intimate right about now, eh?

With the April 12 release of their self-titled debut just about here, Jonny – aka Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’s Euros Childs – have announced a North American tour that kicks off with two nights at the Drake Underground in Toronto on June 3 and 4.

Video: Jonny – “Candyfloss”

Elvis Costello’s tour in support of last year’s National Ransom brings him to the Sony Centre on June 23.

The Quietus has details on the extensive series of Suede remasters and reissues that will be getting rolled out starting May 30 and ending June 22. I am loathe to re-buy these albums, particularly on CD, but man I can’t imagine not having the “definitive” Dog Man Star. Damn you, Suede.

PopMatters and Under The Radar talk to Elbow’s Pete Turner and Guy Garvey respectively about the band’s stunning new record build a rocket boys!.

The title track from PJ Harvey’s latest Let England Shake is now available to download.

MP3: PJ Harvey – “Let England Shake”

Mumford & Sons tells Rolling Stone they’re intending to record album number two this year.

DIY talks to Ladytron’s Reuben Wu. Their Best of Ladytron: 00-10 is out March 29.

The Creators Project Q&As Mica Levi of Micachu.