Frank YangIn leading up to Friday night’s show at Lee’s Palace, I’d wondered aloud as to why it had taken The Wooden Sky so long to play a proper hometown show, what with their latest record, the ex If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone having come out all the way back in August. Walking into Lee’s, I got my answer – they were building their sets. The stage was breathtakingly decorated with all manner of props and sculptures built of paperback books and pages, which my iPhone photo does not do justice (yes I had my regular gear with me and no, I didn’t take a proper picture – shut up). In both concept and execution, it was one of the coolest things I’d seen as far as art installations go, certainly better than stuff I’d seen at Nuit Blanche – big salute to artists Chris Mills and Tim Oakley for their work. So yeah, I was wholly impressed before a single act had taken the stage. A good sign.

Brian Borcherdt is certainly best known as co-leader of Holy Fuck, but before achieving instrumental electronica fame he plied his trade in a range of rock bands and as a solo artist, and it was the latter that kicked things off Friday. Armed with just a Jazzmaster and material from last year’s Coyotes, he showed off his more atmospheric if not quieter side, songwriting chops and an impressive voice that obviously doesn’t get called on much in Holy Fuck. He was joined by Julie Fader, with whom he’s setting out on tour, and then invited his drummer/collaborator on brand-new project Fields Of Fur and turned the rest of the set into a rehearsal of sorts, showing off his more rock-worthy side.

I had caught Hooded Fang a few times at the start of the year. Even then, over the span of just a month, they became a much more improved outfit, trading some amateurishness for assuredness without giving up the sense of fun and whimsy that gives them much of their charm. They still sound like Los Campesinos! crossed with Saturday Looks Good To Me, trading some of the former’s frantic tendancies and the latter’s Motown debt for an extra dose of tweeness and some of the distinctively Toronto big-band chaos (Hooded Fang numbered seven members). They still add a little more saccharine than I like in my musical diet, but there’s no arguing their upwards trajectory – look for their debut album early in the new year.

Not to suggest in any way, shape or form that they don’t deserve it, but when did The Wooden Sky get so many fans? The last few times I saw them were in basements or as openers and while they’ve certainly been around long enough to have amassed an audience, the size and enthusiasm of the crowd on this night was a surprise. Mind you, the fact that much of the audience seemed to be dewy-eyed girls implies the band has an appeal beyond their songcraft that I hadn’t picked up on before… Regardless, Lee’s was damn near full and dressed to the nines and The Wooden Sky took full advantage of the opportunity.

Their last Toronto performance, an intimate in-store at Sonic Boom in August, showcased the band’s intimate side just as Gone largely does – plumbing the still, deep reservoir of wistfulness and melancholy to impressive effect – and while they didn’t give that facet of their music short shrift, it was good – no, great – to see them get loud and raucous again. Featuring guest appearances from members of The Magic, Forest City Lovers and Evening Hymns, the set drew from both Gone and their first record under the Wooden Sky mantle, When Lost At Sea and presented a portrait of a band whom you could still accurately call roots-rock, but who were clearly using roots as precisely that. A foundation on which to draw on and grow something new from, and with Gone as a watershed record for the band and one I have no shame in saying I didn’t realize they had in them, I can’t wait to see where they go from here. The (wooden) sky is the limit.

BlogTO also has a review of the show. The Wooden Sky continue touring through Ontario and Quebec the rest of the month and there’s interviews with frontman Gavin Gardiner at Pulse Niagara and Brock Press. The Yarmouth County Vanguard talks to Brian Borcherdt.

Photos: The Wooden Sky, Hooded Fang, Brian Borcherdt @ Lee’s Palace – November 13, 2009
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Bit Part”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “North Dakota”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “The Wooden Sky”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “Land Of Giants”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “The Pageant”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “Circles And Blocks”
Video: The Wooden Sky – “Oh My God (It Still Means A Lot To Me)”
Video: The Wooden Sky – “When Lost At Sea”
Video: Brian Borcherdt – “Scout Leader”
MySpace: Hooded Fang
MySpace: Brian Borcherdt

The two sides of Forest City Lovers’ imminent “Phodilus and Tyto” 7″ single are currently available to stream on the band’s MySpace. The 7″ should be available for purchase on November 20, the tracks will also be available to purchase digitally and a video for the b-side of “If I Were A Tree” is also imminent – all of which does a good job of building excitement for the band’s third album, currently targeted for a late Spring/early Summer 2010 release.

Most of the live music-oriented New Year’s Eve events around town tend towards the country-rock vein – which is fine – but for those who prefer a little less twang in their “auld lang syne” – also fine – there’s an impressive to-do at the Tranzac that evening featuring performances from Gentleman Reg, The Magic, Jim Guthrie, Diamond Rings and Laura Barrett, amongst others. Tickets are $12 in advance and do not include cold buffet or little plastic cups of flat champagne.

There’s a video session with The Wilderness Of Manitoba up at Southern Souls and another MP3 from Hymns Of Love And Spirits available to beguile. They play The Holy Oak (Bloor and Landsdowne) on November 21.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Bluebirds”

Another Monsters Of Folk video.

Video: Monsters Of Folk – “Say Please”

Chart talks to Alela Diane, who plays the Horseshoe tonight.

Spinner gets a new album status update from Alison Mosshart of The Kills, who denies that Kate Moss ever threw a laptop containing all their demos into a swimming pool.

Black Cab Sessions drives School Of Seven Bells around Austin in exchange for a song. Alejandra Dehaza talks to NME about preparing to record album number two, entitled Disconnect From Desire and due out sometime in the middle of next year.

The nebulously-maned Music Reviews blog interviews Dean Wareham. The third Dean & Britta album appears targeted for a mid-2010 release.

The Line Of Best Fit and Epigram interview Christian Mazzalai of Phoenix. They’re at the Sound Academy on December 5.

Dan StackI quite literally swooned when I first heard Baltimore duo Wye Oak via “Warning”, the first promo MP3 from their debut album If Children in January 2008 – for a completely unknown band to hit all the right buttons for me at first listen was a pretty remarkable thing. And yet the album itself failed to build on that excitement for no one particular reason.

Best I can reason is that while the ingredients of their sound – plaintive country-folking hurt mixed with crashing, ‘gazey guitars and droning synth tones, topped with Jenn Wasser’s aching vocals – seem tailor-made to trigger my endorphin receptors, the record seemed too hesitant to really connect. It was like the band felt like a couple of kids suddenly invited to the grown-up’s table, and were a bit overwhelmed by it all. Which, for a pair of musicians barely into their twenties suddenly signed to one of America’s top independent labels, they essentially were.

And so when I heard “Take It In”, the achingly gorgeous promo MP3 from their second album and again swooned, I wasn’t sure whether that would carry over to The Knot, out this week, as a whole. Short answer – it does, and quite heartily. The Knot is a much bigger album than its predecessor. Sonically, the louds are much louder, the quiets much quieter and the textures richer and more varied – and emotionally, the highs more ecstatic and the lows more despairing. The reluctance that permeated If Children has largely been replaced with a greater confidence, and while it may be true that The Knot still drifts in points towards the monochromatic, there’s no question that it marks a big step forward for the band and begins to deliver on their immense promise. Wye Oak are at the grown-ups table because they belong there.

The Baltimore Sun has a feature piece on the band. There’s no local date at the moment but their tour itinerary takes them through the US, across to Europe and back again in the Fall. I saw them >at SxSW last year and while they don’t have immense onstage charisma, it’s amazing to watch Andy Stack work both the drums and keyboards simultaneously. I recommend catching them if they’re in your neck of the woods.

MP3: Wye Oak – “Take It In”
Stream: Wye Oak / The Knot
MySpace: Wye Oak

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, who probably quite sensibly records simply as Mirah, will be at the Mod Club on October 6 in support of her new record (a)spera with ex-Decemberists Norfolk & Western.

Here’s an odd pairing – the stately folk-rock of Grand Archives and the ADD-prog hijinks of The Most Serene Republic. But paired they are for a North American tour that will be at the Mod Club in Toronto on October 15. Grand Archives’ new album Keep In Mind Frankenstein is out September 8, The Most Serene Republic’s …And The Ever-Expanding Universe is out now. The National Post has an interview with Milton’s finest.

MP3: Grand Archives – “Silver Among The Gold”
Video: The Most Serene Republic – “The Old Forever New Things”

Metric have set a live date on October 20 at Massey Hall with The Stills as support. That is a looooong way from their September 2003 show at the Horseshoe where they didn’t even bother with advance tickets.

A Place To Bury Strangers are making their musical manifesto very clear with the title of their second album – Exploding Head is due out October 6 and will be their first for Mute Records. They’ve already lined up a Fall tour to promote, including an October 27 date at the Mod Club in Toronto. They’re changing up dance partners all the while they’re on the road, but that show will feature Dead Confederate and All The Saints as support.

The Phoenix has a feature piece on Wheat, who have released a new video from White Ink Black Ink. I’m still giving a copy of the album away – come and get it.

Video: Wheat – “Changes Is”

Beatroute talks to Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo.

Frank Black tells Music Radar that “As far as any new Pixies records, I’m literally in the dark,” so anyone flocking to Virgin Festival at Burl’s Creek on August 29 had best be prepared to only hear the classics. Try to contain your disappointment.

Magnet does the over-under with The Velvet Underground’s catalog.

And oh yeah, this was news to me so it might be news to you; that free Dears show at Harbourfront this Sunday is a matinee show – they’re on the Sirius Stage at 3PM. And Laura Barrett is on the Redpath Stage at 4:30PM, since you’ll already be there.

Yuula Benivolski When you’ve become gotten to know a band exclusively through their live performances, it can be difficult to accept them as a recorded entity. Especially so when the band in a live setting possess a sort of elemental energy that you can’t imagine being done justice in a studio environment. This was the case with Toronto’s Bruce Peninsula, who made a serious impression with a series of shows back in 2007 which established the band, ten members deep when at full strength, as a potent new force on the local music scene.

A listen to their first recorded output last Summer – a 7″ of traditional folk recordings – verified that they’d somehow managed to capture their sonic potency, but it took some time with their debut album A Mountain Is A Mouth – out on Tuesday – to confirm that they’d really made a record that fulfilled all the expectations that had accumulated since August of 2007. And they have.

Mountain seems to have been crafted to emulate nothing less than a massive gathering storm. Opener “Inside/Outside” coalesces from a gentle, ghostly breeze into an ominous stomp whose energy remains mostly unrelenting through the whole of side one. Pounding yet surprisingly nimble percussion alongside singer Neil Haverty’s gruff field holler provides the foundation from which the choir’s angelic voices rise. And these aren’t the touchy-feely kind of angels – they’re the flaming sword-wielding kind. But for all the effectiveness of their sound and fury, it’s the eye of the storm – the delicate “Weave Myself A Dress” – that really pulls it all together. Misha Bower’s weary-beyond-her-years vocals are devastatingly vulnerable in contrast to tumult that surrounds them. The song provides a brief but essential respite before the winds again begin to whip.

The other revelation of the album is how solid the songwriting is. By choosing to work in such an old sort of blues/gospel/folk aesthetic, the band had to face the conundrum of how to sound authentic and yet still bring something new to the table and it’s saying something that the two traditional songs they’ve included in the set fit seamlessly with the original material. It’d have been easy enough to just rely on the intensity of their delivery to impress, but they’ve still taken the time to create something richly melodic and with real depth. It’s safe to say that A Mountain Is A Mouth is most unlike anything else you’ll hear this year, and for that reason alone it’s worth your attention. And if you need another, I’ll throw in the fact that it’s excellent.

Bruce Peninsula play the Horseshoe tomorrow night in support of The Tom Fun Orchestra, play an in-store at Soundscapes on February 4 to mark the album’s release and do a proper record release show on February 22 at the Polish Combatants Hall. You can miss one, or even two of these shows. But miss all three? Not an option. Exclaim documents the formation and formulation of the band, they talk to NOW about the process of capturing their sound on tape and there’s further interviews over at Echo and The Hamilton Spectator.

MySpace: Bruce Peninsula

Stereogum is offering up an MP3 from the new Great Lake Swimmers record Lost Channels, due out March 31. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 25.

The Globe & Mail profiles Laura Barrett, complete with awful, awful headline.

Rolling Stone reports that Metric will release their new album Fantasies on April 14.

Final Fantasy have a new video from his Plays To Please EP.

Video: Final Fantasy – “Horsetail Feathers”

The Seattle Post-Intelligencier talks to Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene.

Paste and Exclaim have features on AC Newman, playing Lee’s Palace on March 11.

Neko Case sounds off on animal rights to Spinner and verifies that you shouldn’t expect to see her in any PETA ads anytime soon. Her April 18 show at Trinity-St Paul’s is almost sold out and the April 17 date probably won’t be far behind. Hesitate and lose.

Popmatters plays 20 questions with Jason Isbell. He has a date at the Horseshoe on March 4 and is swapping an MP3 from forthcoming album Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, out February 17, in exchange for your email.

Drowned In Sound finds out what’s next for The Magnolia Electric Co.

The Daily Texan speaks briefly to Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, who aim to have a new album out this year.

NOW talks to Gary Louris on the circumstances surrounding Ready For The Flood, his collaboration with former Jayhawks partner Mark Olson. They play the Mod Club February 4 and you can stream the album right now at Spinner.

Stream: Mark Olson and Gary Louris / Ready For the Flood

Drowned In Sound offers up a three-part interview with M Ward. Hold Time is out February 17.