Frank YangWhen it was announced in June that The xx were not only coming back to Toronto for their fourth show in less than 10 months but doing it in a room far bigger and pricier than anything they’d done before, people thought they were mad. Now it doesn’t seem like madness so much as prescience. For starters, two of those three previous shows were support slots for acts who would have had no trouble selling out even without a buzz band opening and the third was at a room – The Phoenix – that was probably already undersized for them (it too was completely sold out). And really, all three of these shows were before the band REALLY blew up outside of indie circles, never mind the Mercury Prize win for their debut XX a few weeks ago. So was staging last night’s show at Massey Hall ambitious and unthinkable even as recently as a few months ago? Maybe. Was it the right thing to do? Yes, yes it was.

And while it would be presumptuous to suggest that Los Angeles’ Warpaint would find the same level of success as The xx in as short amount of time, they similarly didn’t seem to have any concerns about hitting their market saturation point – this was their third local show in less than four months and fourth in a year, and it’s still not enough as far as I’m concerned. Their debut The Fool, due out October 25, actually remains the last 2010 release that I’m looking forward to and haven’t heard yet and the fact that I won’t even contemplate my year-end lists until I’ve heard it should give you some idea of how much I’m anticipating it.

As to their show, it was interesting seeing how they translated into the much larger environs of a theatre having only experienced them in much more intimate club settings, and while the sound was murkier than ideal, their strengths – namely the thundering and undulating (thund-ulating?) rhythm section of Stella Mozgawa and Jenny Lee Lindberg and serpentine guitars and keening vocals of Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman – still came across loud and clear. And while the tempos they operated at made them sound like speed metal relative to The xx, their shared affinity for dark and dreamlike atmospherics should have impressed anyone who showed up in time to catch their 35-minute set; happily, there were quite a few of them but even if Massey had been empty, one suspects the band wouldn’t have noticed – once they started, the quartet were in their own world and seemingly playing just for themselves. We were just fortunate to get to watch.

Any question as to whether The xx could draw enough for a room the size of Massey Hall was moot before the house lights even went down – though not sold out, it was close enough to confirm that The xx were, indeed, huge. Even so, the ongoing complaint from some that their live show was lacking in charisma or stage presence have some basis, although I stand by my standard response of, “well what would you have them do – scissor kicks?” and maintain that their low-key demeanour is fitting to the music they make; they’re a soundtrack to what you get up to in the dark – it’s not about seeing so much as feeling. That said, The xx have improved their live show each time I’ve seen them and this time was the best yet. Perhaps not in terms of actual performance – there were more than a few missed notes and falling out of time with one another, perhaps a consequence of trying to get too loose up there – but for vibe, it was pretty special. For starters, I wager that this was the first time many of the 2500 or so in attendance had seen them play and the excitement in the room was palpable – these folks, who also seemed to have the youngest mean age of any full house I’ve ever seen at Massey Hall – were excited. And though the band were as polite but low-key as ever, when those seated in the floors spontaneously rushed the stage to dance or just get closer to their heroes during “Islands”, they seemed genuinely taken aback by the enthusiasm.

With an intimate delivery that was also possibly even slower and more sensual than on record and playing under a grand yet still somehow dark, meticulously synchronized light show, their set encompassed all of XX plus their cover of Womack & Womack’s “Teardrops”. As they’ve maintained there’s no new material ready to be aired or even any guarantee of a second album, the only “fresh” material came via in the instrumental intros, outros and inter-song segues that they used to expand and differentiate the live renditions from the album versions. The set barely clocked in at an hour including encore, but I didn’t get the sense that anyone felt they didn’t get their money’s worth – they heard everything they could have wanted to.

In a way, you almost hope that they don’t ever make a second record, if just to preserve the purity of their narrative arc thus far. Over a year and a half, these teenagers making music in obscurity have skyrocked to global fame, a Mercury Prize and massive tour of some of North America’s most hallowed venues, and their debut could stand as the single definitive statement of The xx, a document of their youth preserved in amber. In reality, this almost certainly won’t be the last we hear from The xx, but if it were? That’d be okay.

The Toronto Sun also has a review of the show. The Seattle Times has an interview with DJ/producer Jamie Smith, whom Spin reports is releasing a solo single next month.

Photos: The xx, Warpaint @ Massey Hall – September 29, 2010
MP3: The xx – “Basic Space”
MP3: Warpaint – “Undertow”
MP3: Warpaint – “Elephants”
MP3: Warpaint – “Billie Holiday”
Video: The xx – “Islands”
Video: The xx – “Basic Space”
Video: The xx – “Crystalised”
Video: Warpaint – “Stars”
Video: Warpaint – “Elephants”
MySpace: The xx
MySpace: Warpaint

PopMatters talks to the reunited Chapterhous, in town at Lee’s Palace on October 6.

Film School and The Depreciation Guild, both of whom will be at the El Mocambo on October 4, have each released new videos from their latest albums Fission and Spirit Youth, respectively. Wired talks to Film School’s Greg Bertens.

Video: Film School – “Sunny Day”
Video: The Depreciation Guild – “My Chariot”

Spoonfed and The Georgia Straight talk to Benjamin Curtis of School Of Seven Bells.

Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead tells Spinner they’re hoping to get a lot of mileage out of their latest album Penny Sparkle. They play The Phoenix on October 17.

Exclaim’s cover story this month is Deerhunter, whose latest Halcyon Digest came out this week. They are at the Opera House on October 19.

Spoonfed and Austinist have interviews with The Morning Benders, who premiered a new song in their Take-Away Show for Le Blogotheque. It may well be in rotation by the time they play The Mod Club on November 5.

Exclaim has details on the inevitable deluxe edition of The National’s High Violet which will be available on November 22. The good news is all the bonus tracks will be available a la carte via the usual digital retailers.

Muzzle Of Bees interviews Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.

Exclaim chats with Stephen McBean of Black Mountain, in town at The Phoenix on October 31.

Land Of Talk’s Liz Powell weighs in on the subject of illegal music downloads at Spinner (precis: she doesn’t like it one bit).

Daytrotter has posted a session with Born Ruffians.

Peaches will be celebrating the holiday season this year with her production of Peaches Christ Superstar, the content of which should be self-explanatory (but Spinner explains anyways). The touring production wraps December 21 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto.

And all those Neil Young videos from Le Noise are indeed parts of a larger filmic whole, and it’s available to watch in its entirety over at YouTube starting today. Young discusses the album with The New York Times.

Video: Neil Young / Le Noise – The Film

This is going to be about it for this week; off to Las Vegas tomorrow morning for Matador 21 and I’d normally be reporting all about it but… what happens in Vegas and all that. But you can follow along thanks to the magic of the internet as most of the sets will be streaming at MySpace – details at Matablog. And also check out this oral history of Matador Records at MySpace, with two parts up and the final one tomorrow. ‘Tis good reading.

Frank YangA lot can happen in twenty months. God knows my life is completely different (and yet in many was maddeningly the same) from what it was when I last saw Land Of Talk live, in January 2009 at The Horseshoe. Liz Powell and a different crew from which I’d first discovered them 30 months prior were wrapping up support for their debut full-length Some Are Lakes and preparing for an indefinite hiatus as Powell had to tend to some medical issues and write a new record.

With that record – Cloak And Cipher – the pretense of Land Of Talk as a conventional band was dropped in favour of acting as a pseudonym for Powell and whomever she’s collaborating with to bring the songs to life. And though they emerged as a traditional power trio antidote to the big band sprawl that afflicted so much of Canadian indie, the benefits of having whatever sounds and players are needed on hand to do the job have been borne out by records that get better and better with each release.

And it’s not as though the players being called in are a random assortment of ringers. Just as they did in that January 2009 performance, the openers at Lee’s Palace on Thursday night were also part of Land Of Talk though you wouldn’t have known it from the name. Also undergoing a transformation or two during the past year and a half were Suuns, who were formerly known as Zeroes and who went from veritable unknowns to signees to one of the bigger US independent labels, Secretly Canadian. And hearing them play, it was pretty clear what SC saw in them; a year and half ago, they impressed with their recipe for poppy/proggy, electronically-tinted No Wave/post-punk but that was more for the potential on display than the actual product – their sound felt very much like a work in progress. Now, with a new name and a full-length album entitled Zeroes QC in the can and set for October 12 release, that work feels much more complete, coherent and unique, managing to be aggressive without being alienating and as appealing to the head as to the ass. I would say these guys are officially a band to watch.

And those on hand would get to watch them again immediately after they finished up because they would comprise more than half of Land Of Talk. It’s funny that a band who emerged as a power trio antidote – even when revolving players – to the sprawling band phenomenon that still afflicts so much of Canadian indie would now be taking the stage themselves as a collective. While the formal membership of the band is essentially down to one, the band is bigger than ever – Land Of Talk: population seven, including at its largest two drummers, three guitars, keyboardist and bassist. But at the centre of it all, as ever, was Powell and aside from having the best haircut I’ve seen her sport in four years plus, she hadn’t changed – a bit awkward yet undeniably charismatic, still given to extended tuning breaks despite having a rack of guitars on hand and by and large sounding great in the new big band context.

Naturally, the set drew heavily from Cloak And Cipher but surprisingly, only a few from Some Are Lakes. Also surprising were that last year’s excellent but under-distributed Fun & Laughter EP got a couple songs on the set list but less surprising were that “16*” and “May You Never” would be two of the show’s highlights – that release boasts some of the best tunes Land Of Talk has ever put out. Fail to seek it out at your peril. And interestingly, they would strip the lineup down to a core trio – the same as at that Horseshoe show – for the Applause Cheer Boo Hiss material, perhaps respecting that those songs were just right the way they were originally conceived and wouldn’t benefit from that second kick drum underneath or a second (or third) guitar.

And perhaps the most important thing that’s changed in the past 20 months is that Land Of Talk have, apparently, gotten big. Not breakout runaway success big, but Lee’s Palace was pretty well packed with enthusiastic punters and there was an energy and excitement about the show that I’d not felt at one of their shows before. Granted, a cover story in a national magazine can’t hurt, but it felt more like despite more than their fair share of setbacks, years of hard work were finally really paying off. Land Of Talk certainly knew what they were doing, scheduling the first date of their Fall tour in Toronto – you couldn’t ask for a more confidence-boosting send-off than this one.

Chart, NOW and BlogTO were on hand with reviews of their own. Suuns’ debut EP Zeroes is available to download for free.

Photos: Land Of Talk, Suuns @ Lee’s Palace – September 16, 2010
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Swift Coin”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “May You Never”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Some Are Lakes”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Corner Phone”
MP3: Suuns – “Up Past The Nursery”
MP3: Suuns – “Arena”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”
Video: Land Of Talk – “It’s Okay”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Troubled”
Video: Land Of Talk – “The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Some Are Lakes”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Speak To Me Bones”
ZIP: Suuns / Zeroes
MySpace: Land Of Talk
MySpace: Suuns

Spinner and The Line Of Best Fit get to know Shad, who has just released a new video from TSOL and goes into tonight’s Polaris Music Prize heavily favoured – by me as well as others – to win it all.

Video: Shad – “We, Myself & I”

Caribou, who also stands a fair shot at winning and becoming the first repeat champion in the prize’s existence, talks to Spinner.

The AV Club scores an interview with Jeremy Gara and Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire.

Work In Progress talks literature with Destroyer’s Dan Bejar.

The Chicago Tribune talks to Neil Young and producer Daniel Lanois about his new record Le Noise, which will be in stores next Tuesday. Another new video from said record premiered last week.

Video: Neil Young – “Hitchhiker”

eye, Spinner and The Globe & Mail participate in the annual Polaris Music Prize credibility hand-wringing, of which I’m sure I’ll find more of as the day progresses. It’s become like a tailgate party to the actual award. And for a proper tailgate party/viewing experience, head over to the Drake Hotel tonight as they’ll be screening the gala live and also play host to the afterparty, where winners, losers and jurors will mingle in epic awkwardness.

Ryan Walter WagnerI had the opportunity/duty of thinking very hard about Black Mountain’s last album, 2008’s In The Future, when it was put on the Polaris Music Prize short list for that year and I was put on the grand jury. And while I respected the craftsmanship and scope of the record, I couldn’t quite take it and its big, vintage stoner-rock moves seriously enough to champion it and couldn’t get past the impression that it was a nudge-nudge kind of joke to the band as well. True or not, it’s what I felt in my gut and that was ultimately what I had to go with (and if you look at my notes from the jury process, you’ll see that my thoughts on Plants & Animals amounted to, “I want a cheeseburger”).

The just-released follow-up Wilderness Heart, however, doesn’t raise any such flags. It keeps most of the requisite ’70s touchstones that define Black Mountain – the chugging guitar riffs, sweeping organs and prevailing mood of dystopic science fiction ominousness – but if feels as though the sludgy, slow-motion haze that permeated Future has been lifted somewhat, and Heart finds the Vancouverites operating with eyes clearer and less dilated.

Added to their repertoire of reference points are some country stylings in the form of some more acoustic textures and more prominent interplay between Stephen McBean’s drawl and Amber Webber’s twang. Putting their voices on a more equal footing establishes them as the band’s greatest strength and gives those who glazed over during their more proggish excursions something to sink their ears into. And for those who liked Black Mountain exactly the way they were, there’s still a goodly amount of rock action, it’s just delivered in more concise packages. There’s almost a temptation to call Wilderness Heart a pop record, but that’s going a bit too far – it’s still a rock record through and through with plenty of opportunities for headbanging – just be prepared to sway for extended periods of time as well.

Spinner, The Quietus, Dose and The Vancouver Sun have feature pieces on the band. They’ll be at the Phoenix on October 31.

MP3: Black Mountain – “The Hair Song”
MP3: Black Mountain – “Old Fangs”
Video: Black Mountain – “The Hair Song”
Video: Black Mountain – “Old Fangs”
MySpace: Black Mountain

Spin has put online a great excerpt from their forthcoming cover story on Arcade Fire and also posted some behind-the-scenes shots from the corresponding photo shoot.

The Toronto Sun asks Shad if he thinks he’s going to win the Polaris Prize. Modesty ensues.

Caribou rates the cover of this week’s NOW, leading up to tomorrow night’s show at the Phoenix and their opportunity to repeat as Polaris winner on Monday. Daytrotter also has a session.

eye talks to Liz Powell of Land Of Talk, who will be lighting up Lee’s Palace tonight.

Billboard talks to Neil Young and Daniel Lanois about Young’s new record Le Noise, out September 28. The first sample of the record is available via a new video and… it’s not what you might expect. Unless you expected something really weird and looped, in which case it’s pretty much exactly what you expected.

Video: Neil Young – “Angry World”

PopMatters interviews Emily Haines in tracking Metric’s journey from the world of indie into the mainstream.

Tokyo Police Club keyboardist Graham Wright tells Chart that he washes his hands of the band’s videos. They play the Ricoh Coliseum on October 22 opening up for Phoenix.

Two Hours Traffic are crossing the country yet again and will wrap up their Fall tour on November 13 at The Horseshoe.

MP3: Two Hours Traffic – “Territory”

The Walrus ties a bit of a sensationalistic title to an otherwise decent article some of the background, ideals and realities of the Polaris Music Prize, the fifth of which is being awarded next Monday night. eye also ponders the credibility and the debates about the credibility of the award. Chart, meanwhile, handicaps this year’s nominees.

CBCHere we are – another September 2, another blogiversary and another year in the books of doing… whatever this is. I have to tell you, there’s a great temptation on my end to use this occasion to get into some existential angst about where this site has been, where it might go and what on earth I’m going to do when it all inevitably ends (I’ve no idea and that’s terrifying), instead I’m just going to say fuck it, I’ll cross or fall off that bridge when I come to it.

For now, I’ll take some satisfaction in the fact that eight years is a long time in the real world – some of my blogging peers today weren’t even in high school when I started, for goodness sake – and a veritable eternity in internet time and extend my thanks to all of my readers who’ve been along for the ride at any point along this journey. This is nearly as much fun when no one reads it. Besides that… hell, I don’t know. Every year I tell myself I’m going to prepare something special post-wise or even event-wise for the anniversary but instead, it ends up being a case of, “oh shit, what day is it again?”. I actually did manage to put something proper together last year. All you get this year is a cover of this post’s namesake by this blog’s namesake.

MP3: Ride – “Eight Miles High”

And in other news. The Toronto International Film Festival opens up next week and coinciding with it is the grand opening of the festival’s new headquarters, the Bell Lightbox, down at King and John. Which in and of itself isn’t that significant hereabouts (though a functional building is always nicer than a construction site) but to mark the occasion, they’re throwing a block party on September 12 from 11AM to 4PM with all manner of goings-on, including performances from three of the ten Polaris shortlisters – Karkwa, The Sadies and Radio Radio. They’ll be playing from 12:20PM to 2PM and at 3PM, they’re promising another musical act who is one of “Canada’s hottest global superstars”… guesses, anyone?

Beatroute interviews Win Butler of Arcade Fire.

Shout Out Out Out Out have a date at Wrongbar on November 4. Their last album was 2009’s Reintegration Time.

Video: Shout Out Out Out Out – “Coming Home”

A bunch of new videos released today that up the Can-con quotient of the internet. First there’s a clip for “Quarry Hymns” from Land Of Talk’s new album Cloak & Cipher. Exclaim has posted some more of their interview with Liz Powell than appeared in this month’s cover story. Land Of Talk play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

Video: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”

The Acorn has a wonderful new stop-action clip from No Ghost. They’re releasing a remix album entitled Make The Least Of The Day on September 14 – details at Exclaim.

Video: The Acorn – “Restoration”

Black Mountain have released a second vid from Wilderness Heart, which will be out September 14. Beatroute has an interview with the band, who will be at the Phoenix on October 31.

Video: Black Mountain – “The Hair Song”

PitchforkTV has a Tunnelvision feature on Diamond Rings, whose debut Special Affections will be out on October 26.

Tokyo Police Club’s David Monks talks to Beatroute. They’re at the Ricoh Coliseum on October 22 in support of Phoenix.

Frank YangHonestly, I’d thought that Tom Petty had retired. Between the themes of he and The Heartbreakers’ last studio record, 2002’s The Last DJ, and the victory lap of 2006’s 30th anniversary tour, I thought that he’d called it a day on active touring and my opportunities to see him perform had dried up. I don’t know how or why I had that notion, but it was clearly wrong as Wednesday night, there I was at the Air Canada Centre, ready to see Mr. Petty and company for the first time and, needless to say, excited about it. Update: And further proof I thought he retired – I completely forgot about the existence of 2006’s solo record Highway Companion. Oops.

Conversely, I’d never thought that Crosby, Stills & Nash had called it a day. Even though they’d not released a CSN record proper since 1994, they’d been touring constantly – sometimes with Neil Young, more often without – and though I had respect for their work and reputation, had never felt compelled to see them live. That said, I had no problem with adding another legendary act to my, “yeah I saw them” list. And that’s about all I got out of their almost headline-length opening set, as it was clear that whatever magic they had in their younger days was greatly diminished.

I appreciate that the ’60s are a long ways gone and all three had done more than their share of living in the interim, but hearing how shaky their once-pristine trademark harmonies had gotten was disappointing to say the least. They still performed with aplomb – more rock than their folk roots with Stephen Stills taking more than a few big rock guitar solos and Graham Nash chatty and charming as the group’s de facto spokesman – but the numbers that should have shone brightest, like “Our House” and “Love The One You’re With”, came off the wobbliest and they only got away with it because most of the audience was loudly singing along with all the old chestnuts and probably weren’t paying that close attention to the actual performance. One couldn’t help but think how this would have gone if Neil were along for the ride? He’d have probably kicked their asses backstage.

Petty and The Heartbreakers likewise came to give the people what they wanted to hear but did it almost perfectly, the way you’d expect one of America’s finest rock bands of the past 35 years to do. Petty, dapper in a duster and sporting a sharp-looking beard, was all smiles and Southern charm and opened with the big bold jangle of “Listen To Her Heart” before sliding effortlessly into a slightly greased-up “You Don’t Know How It Feels”. The band sounded nothing short of amazing as a unit – maybe not so surprising considering how long they’ve been playing together, but remarkable to see and hear nonetheless. The arrangements of the songs were largely faithful to the recorded versions, leaving their perfect pop structures and southern accents intact, but improvisationally pushing the edges just enough to let them stretch out and show off a bit. This mainly applied to lead guitarist Mike Campbell, whose economical solos on record serve the song perfectly but in live setting, allow him to inject that extra dose of flash and bang.

One gets the sense that letting Campbell better showcase his talents was a large part of the reasoning behind their blues-centric new record Mojo, which I should and do appreciate for giving them the excuse to head back on the road but not much else. The blues is not alien territory for the band, being an essential part of their Americana stew, but brought to the fore as it is on the new material, it’s just not interesting with their faithfulness to the genre coming at the expense of the hooks and melodies. The four-song set of Mojo material dropped in the middle of the set really put the damper on what to that point had been some terrific momentum though on the plus side, it did give Campbell some impressive solos and allowed a good portion of the audience to refill their beer.

That said, there wasn’t any better way to get things back on track than with a gorgeously stripped down version of “Learning To Fly”, followed by a thundering “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and a grand “Refugee” to close the main set. At this point the 11PM curfew was drawing awfully close, but there was no way the nearly-full arena was going to let things end without the encore, and so they returned for “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and what I thought for sure would be the coup de grace show stopper – and my favourite Petty tune – “American Girl”. But instead of the big ringing D chord I expected, they broke into the Wildflowers-vintage descending riff of “You Wreck Me” and while I like that song a lot, it’s not “American Girl”. And after the big linked-arm bows and the house lights came up, it became clear that there would be no “American Girl”. And as great as most of the show was to that point, it was and remains a bit of a bitter finish for me… In time I’ll be able to focus on the great 100 minutes they did play and not the three they didn’t, but y’know Campbell, you could have soloed just a little less and bought some time and it would have been perfect. Just saying.

The Toronto Sun, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail and eye all have reviews of the show.

Photos: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Crosby, Stills & Nash @ The Air Canada Centre – August 25, 2010
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Walls”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Wreck Me”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Peace In L.A.”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “King’s Highway”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Into The Great Wide Open”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Learnin’ To Fly”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Yer So Bad”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Face In The Crowd”
Video: Tom Petty – “Free Fallin'”
Video: Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Video: Tom Petty – “I Won’t Back Down”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Rebels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “You Got Lucky”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “The Waiting”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee”
MySpace: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
MySpace: Crosby, Stills & Nash

As expected with such a massive tour already lined up, Sufjan Stevens will release his first new and proper album in ages on October 12, the day before he plays Massey Hall. Pitchfork has details on what to expect from The Age Of Adz and the first MP3 is up for grabs.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem clarifies (or makes vaguer) his intentions to retire the band to The Quietus.

New York Magazine talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Their new record False Priest is out September 14.

The Montreal Gazette and Chart have feature interviews with Land Of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell. They play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

alt.ohio interviews Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, complete video of whose show in San Francisco from this past May is available to stream in its entirety at Revision 3.

Rose Elinor Dougall has premiered a new video from Without Why over at The Guardian. Her debut album is out on Monday.

Video: Rose Elinor Dougall – “Carry On”

The Vine interviews Warren Ellis of Grinderman. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they kick off their North American tour November 11 in Toronto at the Phoenix.

The second part of Le Blogotheque’s Take-Away Shows from NXNE is now up.