Steve GullickI’m not quite at the point where I can refer to Emma Pollock without adding “former Delgados frontwoman”, but it’s getting there and with the release of her second solo album The Law Of Large Numbers, we’re getting there. Her 2007 debut Watch The Fireworks was a wholly enjoyable balance of intimate folkishness and scrappy rock, a recipe familiar to Delgados fans, but more immediate and accessible than her more idiosyncratic former band. If the first taste of the new record is any indication, it’s still quite direct but perhaps more ambitious, sonically speaking.

Either way, the new record is due out March 1 and one thing that’s certain is it’s certainly good to hear her voice again.

MP3: Emma Pollock – “Hug the Harbour”

And I was going to add a little bit asking what happened to Pollock’s co-lead in The Delgados, Alun Woodward, but it turns out he didn’t disappear so much as I just didn’t look. Some cursory digging reveals he released his self-titled solo debut under the name of Lord Cut-Glass this past Summer, so that’s both Delgados voices accounted for, and the drums as well, as Paul Savage appears on Woodward’s effort as well as on Pollock’s first record – though not, apparently, the second. Which only leaves bassist Stewart Henderson as MIA, but considering his wanting to retire is what caused the band to dissolve in the first place, that’s not surprising.

MP3: Lord Cut-Glass – “Even Jesus Couldn’t Love You”
Video: Lord Cut-Glass – “Look After Your Wife”

Decoding Static interviews Polly Scattergood.

Muse drummer Dominic Howard tells Spinner that touring as support for U2 earlier this year was an educational experience. Look for some of those lessons to be put on display when they play the Air Canada Centre on March 8.

The Quietus interviews Hope Sandoval.

Wears The Trousers has a conversation with Sharon Van Etten, who is in town on February 6 opening up for Great Lake Swimmers at Trinity-St. Paul’s.

Daytrotter is closing out the year with a session with The Daredevil Christopher Wright.

Interview does their thing with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talks to Spoon frontman Britt Daniel. Their new album Transference is out January 19.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips names off some of this favourite records of the decade to Spinner. He also gives an interview to BBC6.

Their 20th anniversary year might officially end tonight, but Merge has at least one more goodie for the faithful – a new Portastatic digital EP featuring covers of other Merge artists, with proceeds going to charity.

And that’s it for this year. Have a safe New Years, everyone and – once more with feeling – fuck you 2009.

Frank YangI’m not even kidding when I say that a typical Friday night for me usually wraps up sound asleep before midnight. Rock’n’roll lifestyle indeed. But I had been quite looking forward to seeing Brooklyn’s Parts & Labor, what with their latest album Receivers growing on me more with each listen, so instead of being properly crashed out from the week that was last Friday, I was at Sneaky Dee’s taking in a full lineup of local acts before the headliner.

Kicking things off were Radius & Helena, who just released their debut Precious Metals. Their angular, art-rock was in the vein of Sonic Youth or late-era Radiohead, though without the genius of either act. I don’t mean this as a slight – you can be plenty smart without being a genius – but R&H could stand to hone the pop side of their equation. After all, their stylistic forebears are as highly regarded as they are because they were able to take their inventiveness and restlessness and still make it (mostly) wholly listenable. Radius & Helena mostly were, as well, but there were a few points where something especially interesting caught my ear and hinted that there were better things yet to come.

Gears couldn’t have shifted more than they did when Peter Project took the stage next. The one-man act set up behind a bank of television monitors displaying the performance and old TV shows, and armed with a turntable and sampling pad, proceeded to craft a set of jazzy, ’60s-retro hip-hop grooves. Mostly instrumental save for a couple of guest raps (pre-recorded), it was unexpected and really enjoyable, like a nice respite of lounging in a sea of loud rock.

Rock which returned with Ten Kens, whom I’ve been curious about since hearing they’d signed to Fat Cat and were thus labelmates with the likes of The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit. And now, having seen and heard them, all I can say is that the label has much better talent scouts in Scotland than they do in Canada. Recalling ’90s post-grunge alt-rock when heavy guitars and angsty vocals were enough to build a career, they failed to deliver anything remotely engaging. They did apologize at the end of their set for some undetermined technical difficulties, so maybe their self-titled debut is more interesting, but I’ve no real interest in finding that out.

And finally, after long last and on the wrong side of 1AM, came Parts & Labor. And while they played one of the shortest sets of the night – maybe 35 minutes, tops – it was worth the wait. First, I’d like to go back to my review of Receivers and apologize to current drummer Joe Wong for suggesting that he wasn’t fully able to step into the shoes of departed drummer Christopher Weingarten. Wong’s live work was simply devastating. Pulverizing, precise and loud as fuck. It was great. And over top the din, his bandmates managed to recreate the dense sonics of Receivers and its predecessor Mapmaker, maintaining their frantic energy yet with most every detail and melody coming across loud and clear. Intense and awesome, and invigorating enough to get me back home, where I proceeded to sleep for the next nine and a half hours. Yessir.

The New Haven Register talks to Parts & Labor’s B.J. Warshaw about the bands shift towards the melodic over the last couple records.

Photos: Parts & Labor, Ten Kens, Peter Project, Radius & Helena @ Sneaky Dee’s – November 21, 2008
MP3: Parts & Labor – “Nowhere’s Nigh”
MP3: Parts & Labor – “Fractured Skies”
MP3: Parts & Labor – “A Great Divide”
MP3: Ten Kens – “Bearfight”
MP3: Peter Project – “Repetitive Stress Injury”
MP3: Radius & Helena – “What Gets In The Way Of Love”
MP3: Radius & Helena – “Commodore”
MP3: Radius & Helena – “The Thin Man”
Video: Parts & Labor – “The Gold We’re Digging”
Video: Ten Kens – “Bearfight”
Video: Ten Kens – “Y’all Come Back Now”
Video: Radius & Helena – “Commodore”
MySpace: Parts & Labor
MySpace: Ten Kens
MySpace: Radius & Helena

Billboard gets updates from Adam Schlesinger on the statuses of Fountains Of Wayne and Ivy, both of whom are in the midst of assembling new albums.

The Australian profiles Fleet Foxes.

Chart interviews Will Sheff of Okkervil River.

Jonathan Meiburg discusses leaving Okkervil for Shearwater with The Argus.

Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner rides a Black Cab, covers Dylan.

Clash Q&As Death Cab For Cutie.

I didn’t really count their gig opening up for Broken Social Scene this Thursday as a proper make-up for the cancelled show at the end of September, so I’m glad to see that Land Of Talk have scheduled a show at the Horseshoe for January 15, tickets $10. Also on the bill, Zeroes and Little Scream.

I missed The Submarines the last time they came to town in May on account of my being in Europe at the time. And while I can’t totally predict what I’ll be doing in three months time, being at the Drake Underground on February 15 to see their return engagement seems like a fairly safe bet. Tickets for that show are $10.50.

MP3: The Submarines – “You, Me And The Bourgeoisie”
Video: The Submarines – “You, Me And The Bourgeoisie”

Aquarium Drunkard has a release date for volume one of Neil Young’s Archives. If the information is accurate and doesn’t change (as it has countless times already), the ten-disc set (DVD or Blu-Ray) will be available on January 27 of next year and run you in the ballpark of $350 or $450, depending on which format you prefer. Yeah. Neil is at the Air Canada Centre next Thursday and Friday, December 4 and 5.

Frank YangI’m going to have to stop using my line about any British band being able to fill a venue in notoriously Anglophilic Toronto… this past Wednesday night at the El Mocambo, The Rumble Strips were not only able to draw just a couple dozen people, they couldn’t even get their support act to show up.

Okay, in the case of tourmates Birdmonster, it was less the Rumble Strips’ fault than the border guards who wouldn’t let the San Francisco outfit into the country (I think this is at least the second time they’ve been turned away – a topic they address in a MySpace blog in a manner that pretty much guarantees they’ll never be let in…) but otherwise, I was perplexed as to why the low turnout. Sure, they’re not exactly NME darlings, but the horn-driven soul-pop of their debut Girls & Weather (reviewed here) is eminently likeable and it was hardly an expensive ticket. Was it the cold? Got news for you, Toronto, it’s only going to get worse. Wimps. I was out, and on my BICYCLE no less. Anyway.

But, as the sage show business advice goes, you play for the people who show up – not the ones who don’t – and so even to the thin house, The Rumble Strips weren’t going to phone it in. They did indeed bring it, albeit quietly at first. They led with a new song that was decidedly more sedate than anything you’d find on their debut, one of a few that would be scattered throughout the set and none of which were as immediate as the Girls & Weather material – which is as much of a commentary as I feel fit to make after a single live listen. Cue the more introspective sophomore effort? Everything else, however, was pure extroverted pop goodness.

Everything that makes The Rumble Strips distinctive on record – the horns, the hooks, Charlie Waller’s voice – somehow comes across even stronger live. The rhythm section sounds huge, with duties frequently divvied up between Matthew Wheeler on drums and bassist Sam Mansbridge on what they call “Rumble Drum” but is actually just the floor tom beat extra hard, and is super-tight. The horns… well another thing I’m going to have to stop saying is that I don’t like horns, because I loved theirs. In fact, all the band’s orchestrations and arrangements were impressive to witness. One strength that I hadn’t noticed on record but was quite evident on stage was their harmonies. Waller’s huge vocals – pitch perfect with loads of character – obviously take center stage, but three of the other four also quite ably stepped up to add their voices to the mix.

But above all else, they brought the songs. Each listen to Girls & Weather only makes me grow fonder of uptempo, feel-good, sad-sackery – with so many strengths and such personality, I am really astonished that they weren’t able to draw out more of the curious to go along with the converted who did show up. And though it’s damn near impossible to turn a room that’s only 5% full into a party, The Rumble Strips certainly tried.

Photos: The Rumble Strips @ The El Mocambo – October 29, 2008
MP3: The Rumble Strips – “Time”
MP3: The Rumble Strips – “Motorcycle”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Girls And Boys In Love”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Alarm Clock”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Motorcycle”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Oh Creole”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Time”
MySpace: The Rumble Strips

The Independent profiles Noah & The Whale, who will be returning to Toronto for a show at the El Mocambo on December 9.

The Quietus interviews A Place To Bury Strangers. NPR is streaming part of their CMJ set last week.

Pitchfork talks to Portastatic’s Mac McCaughan.

Austin360 asks three questions of Decemberists drummer Nate Query.

The Drive-By Trucker/Hold Steady-powered “Rock & Roll Means Well” tour kicked off last night, and while the November 11 show at the Phoenix is sold out, a small block of tickets was released earlier this week via Ticketmaster and at last check, were still available. And I’m still giving away a few pairs. The Courier-Journal profiles The Hold Steady, The Winston-Salem Journal talks to the Truckers and Nashville Scene and The Village Voice talk to them both.

Paul Westerberg reflects on the legacy of The Replacements for The Guardian.

NPR welcomes Okkervil River to their studios for a World Cafe session.

Exclaim! and Get Wokingham have interviews with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner.

An Aquarium Drunkard and The Colorado Springs Gazette interview members of DeVotchKa.

One of the Jonas Brothers interviews Elvis Costello for Rolling Stone.

The Grace Potter & The Nocturnals gig originally scheduled for the El Mocambo on December 10 now appears to be happening at Lee’s Palace.

Matador has made their Fall 2008 sampler available to download and it includes tastes of new and upcoming releases from Belle & Sebastian, Shearwater and Fucked Up.

Photo via Tell All Your Friends

A while back – a long while – I got an email from a reader asking if I could perhaps help him identify a video he’d seen somewhere by an English band and which featured a single take of the singer riding a bicycle around London’s streets (or street – most of it’s a single circle). Not the most original idea for a vid, but apparently memorable enough to warrant hunting down. I’d never seen the clip, however, and was no help but he eventually tracked it down and let me know that the song was “Motorcycle” by a band called The Rumble Strips. Naturally my curiosity was piqued and I checked out the video myself and, indeed, it’s a fun little vid and a memorable song with jaunty horns, simple yet clever lyrics and a big-voiced singer who seemed to appreciate the proper balance between showiness and restraint.

Which eventually brought me to their debut album, Girls & Weather, released last year in the UK but only getting a North American release this Fall. Everything that made “Motorcycle” a good time is here in the proper doses, with a charming blend of working-class soul, ska and ’50s-era retro pop that in the wrong hands could wear out its welcome quickly, but in this case retains its appeal over extended listens – and this is from someone with very limited patience for horns in his pop music.

Credit for this goes to the band’s ability to tap into their innate flair for the dramatic judiciously while maintaining a boisterious sense of fun delivery throughout. Frontman Charlie Waller, in particular, has an engaging on-record charisma to go with his powerful pipes and demonstrates an equal lyrical facility for pathos and humour, with more depth to his words than you might initially guess. Girls & Weather is a rare record that succeeds no matter how closely you want to listen.

The Rumble Strips are currently undertaking their first North American tour and will roll into the the El Mocambo on October 29 with San Francisco’s Birdmonster. In addition to the tracks below, the band has a few more MP3s available to download over here. Waller talked to Clash about having UK uber-producer Mark Ronson helming their next album, targeted for a March 2009 release.

MP3: The Rumble Strips – “Time”
MP3: The Rumble Strips – “Motorcycle”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Girls And Boys In Love”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Alarm Clock”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Motorcycle”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Oh Creole”
Video: The Rumble Strips – “Time”
MySpace: The Rumble Strips

According to this pre-order writeup from Rough Trade for the first single from Emmy The Great’s First Love, the album is now set for a January 2009 release. Obviously some months later than I’d like but at least it’s sorta firm.

Liam Gallagher talks to Spinner about the vibe in the studio whilst making Oasis’ Dig Out Your Soul and bitches about England. NME reports that Liam Gallagher would like to beat up the guy who beat up his brother. Tangentially, The Mirror has compiled a list of the best Noel Gallagher quotes from over the years, and yes there’ve been some doozies.

The Quietus talks to Jim Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain. And part two.

Peter Hook, formerly of New Order, discusses the process of going through the band’s back catalog for the forthcoming series of reissues – due November 11 – with Spinner.

The first three Swervedriver records will be remastered and re-released with bonus tracks on November 3 in the UK and January 6 in the US. Magnetic Morning, Adam Franklin’s project with Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino, will release its debut album A.M. on October 21 and you can hear a sample over at Stereogum and read an interview with Fogarino at Plug In Music. They play the Horseshoe on October 23.

Pitchfork is streaming the first single from the as-yet untitled third album from Asobi Seksu, due sometime in the new year. They’re at the Horseshoe on October 20.

The Duke Spirit, whose tour with System Of A Down offshoot Scars On Broadway has apparently been cancelled, have found another tourmate in Eagles Of Death Metal – they’ll open up their November 13 show at the Mod Club.

NOW talks to Will Sheff of Okkervil River, who’re at the Phoenix on Sunday night.

The AV Club plays Random Rule with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop. NPR also has a video “Tiny Desk Concert” with the man.

Rolling Stone has a video session and interview with Gemma Hayes.

Even though the release date for Of Montreal’s new album Skeletal Lamping has been pushed back from this past Tuesday to October 21, Spinner is still streaming the thing in its entirety. There’s also a track to download. Rolling Stone has a profile of the band, who are at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 28. NPR are streaming last night’s performance in Washington DC.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Id Engager”
Stream: Of Montreal / Skeletal Lamping

QRO interviews The Jealous Girlfriends.

Jay Reatard has got an in-store scheduled at Sonic Boom on October 16 at 7PM. He’s at Sneaky Dee’s that night.

New Pornographer Carl Newman chats with The Sydney Morning Herald.

Liz Powell talks to Spinner and Blurt about being the newest part of Broken Social Scene and oh yeah, her other band too. The Star-Tribune has an interview with Brendan Canning. Broken Social and Land Of Talk are at the Sound Academy on November 27 and 28.

Photo by Patrick Marold

Eric Bachmann has worn many hats over the years. He started out as the hard-barking frontman of angular ’90s college rock heroes Archers Of Loaf. He then reinvented himself as the lonely troubadour on the first couple Crooked Fingers records, terrain he revisited on 2006’s gorgeous solo effort To The Races. And with the last couple Crooked Fingers records, in particular 2005’s sublime Dignity & Shame, he proved to be just as capable as a lush pop artisan and bandleader. And now on his latest effort Forfeit/Fortune, which once again finds him operating under the Crooked Fingers banner, he decides to be all of the above – simultaneously.

Perhaps as a reaction to the singular starkness of For The Races, Bachmann has crafted one of his most eclectic and fully-arranged records – one that manages to incorporate aspects of his entire career from gruff-voiced Archer-esque numbers to somber, solo-ish pieces, while still treading some completely new sonic territory. The heavy-handed production might be a point of contention for some, utilizing decidedly un-Bachmann-ish touches like drum machines and synths.

Those more left-field tangents give Forfeit/Fortune a certain, “WTF?” quality and in some cases probably distract and detract from the songs themselves but those instances are thankfully rare. It may be a bit dizzying, but the Forfeit/Fortune experience is a good one. The overall flavour isn’t too far from Dignity & Shame, maintaining that record’s Spanish accents if not its cohesiveness and adding some Balkan influence for good measure. It’s also a bit back-loaded with the best material, culminating in a stellar duet with Neko Case. Bachmann fans might find themselves a bit off-balance listening to this latest record, but there’s still plenty solid to hold on to.

Crooked Fingers are currently on tour with Okkervil River and will play the Phoenix this coming Sunday night, October 12 – to which I’m giving away passes. New City Chicago, The Hartford Advocate and Crawdaddy have interviews with Bachmann about Forfeit/Fortune, which was released yesterday. It’s streaming in its entirety as Spinner and comes in both standard and deluxe CD formats, the latter of which comes with a documentary DVD amongst other goodies. Check out the trailer.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Phony Revolutions”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)”
Stream: Crooked Fingers / Forfeit/Fortune
MySpace: Crooked Fingers

In addition to streaming Bob Dylan’s new Bootleg Series – Tell-Tale Signs, out yesterday – Spinner has got a couple of the tracks available to download.

MP3: Bob Dylan – “Mississippi”
MP3: Bob Dylan – “Dreamin’ Of You”
Stream: Bob Dylan / Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8

Neil Young could take a lesson or two from Dylan in archive-digging efficiency. No Depression reports that to no one’s surprise, the release of Archives has been delayed from this Fall until January or February of 2009… sure. Whatever. As a form of compensation, Bad News Beat reports that another Archives live set circa 1968 and entitled Sugar Mountain will be released on November 28. Neil is playing the Air Canada Centre on December 4 and 5.

Pitchfork and The Skinny chat with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.

Marc Perlman of The Jayhawks and Golden Smog talks to Prefix about the process of assembling the latter’s recent best-of comp Stay Golden.

Paste talks to M Ward about what’s next for both him (new record called Hold Time out in February) and She & Him (Volume Two is “in the works”).

Minneapolis City Pages converses with David Berman of Silver Jews.

Matador has massive plans to entice you to pre-order the next edition in the massive Pavement reissue series, Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed.. It’s out November 18.

Political Affairs talks to Billy Bragg about affairs of a political nature.

Much delight in these parts that Neil Halstead has a date at the Drake Underground on November 8. No, he’s not bringing his surfing BFF Jack Johnson with him but you can’t have everything.

MP3: Neil Halstead – “Paint A Face”
Video: Neil Halstead – “Queen Bee”

Noah & The Whale are coming back to town for a date at the El Mocambo on December 9. The band have been keeping a tour diary from their just-completed North American jaunt at LiveDaily and Seattlest interviews frontman Charlie Fink.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals have a date at the El Mocambo on December 10. The McGill Tribune has a chat.