Nik VestbergThere’s many things I loved about Allo Darlin’ 2010 self-titled debut. The jangly guitars, strummy ukulele, and ebullient melodies that put the London-based foresome at the forefront of current bands unashamed to call themselves indie pop – absolutely – but what I found set them apart and made them really special was the way they used those traits to deliver songs that evoked the wistfulness and insecurity of growing up and out and apart. Far too often pure pop music feels strictly a youth movement but here was a band whose songs spoke to me in my mid- (okay now late-) thirties while still making me want to bop up and down like I did in my twenties.

It’s not hard to understand, then, why I’m so enamored with their just-released follow-up Europe. It continues the journey started with that first record but informed with the extra wisdom, regret, and experience that life brings as you live it. As I did in that previous review, I need to stress that Europe is not some po-faced, navel-gazing collection of songs – songs like “Capricornia”, “Northern Lights”, and “Still Young” are like manna from heaven for those with a sonic sweet tooth, all shimmer and shine and Elizabeth Morris’ sweetly smoky Aussie accent.

But you’ll likely not find anyone who’s listened to the album who wouldn’t point to “Tallulah” as the album’s centrepiece, despite it being the most skeletal and downcast song on the record. It stars just Morris and her ukulele – it’s worth noting there’s much less uke on this record than on the debut, with Morris strapping on a conventional 6-string as need be – and ruminates beautifully on distances of the geographical, temporal, and emotional varieties. The reminiscences may be Morris’, but despite their specificity they’re rendered in a way that makes you feel like they’re your own. These aren’t necessarily the notes you expect a band as outwardly cheerful as Allo Darlin’ to hit, but that’s what makes them so special.

On a scorecard that assigns points to pop criteria such as immediacy, buoyancy, what have you, it’s entirely possible that Europe might place a bit below the debut. There’s nothing as sweet and charming as “Polaroid Song” or “My Heart Is A Drummer” or, if go back to their early singles, as fun and cutesy as “Henry Rollins Don’t Dance” – but I don’t think you’d find anyone who’d try to argue that Europe isn’t still the superior record because it’s the one that confirms that Allo Darlin’ are a band that are so much more than you probably thought.

DIY talks to the band about the making of the album and they play a World Cafe session for NPR.

Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Capricornia”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Tallulah”
Stream: Allo Darlin’ / Europe

Belle & Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson released his solo debut (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson in the UK last Fall, but is preparing to put it out Stateside come July 3. To pave the way, he’s farmed out some audio and video tastes to American publications Paste and Blurt who’ve got a video and MP3 to share. Okay the video came out a while ago but the MP3 is new, and sits nicely alongside another one that came out when the album did initially.

MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Where Do All The Good Girls Go”
MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Man Of God”
Video: Stevie Jackson – “In The Morning”

The Line Of Best Fit chats with Gerard Love of Lightships.

Time Out Hong Kong have an interview with Elizabeth Sankey of Summer Camp.

Trailer Trash Tracys have released a new video from their debut Ester.

Video: Trailer Trash Tracys – “Los Angered”

DIY talks to the Collete half of the Thurlow sisters of 2:54, who’ve made a track from their self-titled debut available to download ahead of its May 29 release. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 15 during NXNE.

MP3: 2:54 – “The March”

Drowned In Sound talks to the Ryan third of the Jarman brothers of The Cribs.

NPR has a video session with Laura Marling, who’s at The Phoenix on June 17.

NME has not one but two short features on Charlotte Hatherley about her Sylver Tongue electro persona.

The Calgary Herald and Pitchfork have features on Arctic Monkeys.

The Sun talks to Richard Hawley, who gets analog in the new video from his latest Standing At The Sky’s Edge.

Video: Richard Hawley – “You Haunt Me”

Billy Bragg talks to The West Australian about the Mermaid Avenue sessions, which are again topical thanks to the recent release of The Complete Sessions.

The Dallas Observer talks to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized’s, whose show in Washington DC last week is streaming at NPR.

The Quietus talks to Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine about this, that, and the other thing.

NME points to a Facebook post from Suede wherein Brett Anderson gives a status update of the band’s new material – they’ve chucked it all, recruited Dog Man Star producer Ed Buller to take charge and are starting over.

Carl von ArbinIf you require an introduction to We Are Serenades – which you probably do – then let it be known that they are the collaborative project of Swedes Adam Olenius, whom you may know as frontman of of Shout Out Louds, and Markus Krunegard, who led an outfit called Laakso. If the latter doesn’t mean that much to you, that’s reasonable as I don’t think they made it overseas at all, and really, Shout Out Louds is really the only reference point you really need for We Are Serenades’ (who were called just “Serenades” until earlier this year) debut Criminal Heaven.

Olenius and Krunegard make a point of singing together across most of the tracks, but Olenius’ faintly Robert Smith-y delivery largely defines the vocals and guest vocals from fellow Shout-er Out Loud Bebban Stenborg, most notably on “Daydreaming”, only serve to make proceedings that much more familiar for fans of the outfit. Musically, it’s more of a stylistic hodge-podge with nods to the electro-, orch-, acoustic-, and power- varietals of pop music but the pastiche largely works in favour of the greater whole. As it’s culled from across a few years of writing and recording sessions during the downtime from their main gigs, it was probably a better idea to simply pull together the strongest selections rather than craft a more cohesive statement. Yeah, it may listen more like a compilation than am album but it’s a good listen and will scratch that certain itch until the next Shout Out Louds record comes along.

We Are Serenades are bringing Criminal Heaven to North America for a Spring tour and will be at The Garrison in Toronto on Monday, May 14. Tickets are $10 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Serenades” in the subject line and your full name in the body and have that in to me before midnight, May 9.

MP3: We Are Serenades – “Birds”
MP3: We Are Serenades – “Oceans”
Video: We Are Serenades – “Birds”
Video: We Are Serenades – “Oceans”
Video: We Are Serenades – “Come Home”
Stream: We Are Serenades / Criminal Heaven

Reunions/hiatus-ends are usually trumpeted with press releases/press conferences so that the whole world knows, but I had no idea The Cardigans were back in action until seeing this interview with Nina Persson at The Guardian. It’s just some Scandinavian (and one Russian and two Japanese) festivals where they’ll be performing all of 1998’s Gran Turismo with no promises of further activity when it’s all done, but the idea of The Cardigans as an active concern, even in limited capacity, makes me happy.

The Quietus talks to Ane Brun; her record It All Starts With One is out tomorrow and she’s in town at The Great Hall on May 10.

A second taste of Sigur Rós’ forthcoming Valtari is available as a streamed BBC radio rip; the album is out May 29 and they play Echo Beach on August 1.

Stream: Sigur Rós – “Varúð”

The Guardian and Irish Times are doing their bit to get people excited about the new Richard Hawley record Standing At The Sky’s Edge, with The Guardian augmenting their feature interview with a stream of the album. It’s out May 7.

Stream: Richard Hawley / Standing At The Sky’s Edge

The Line Of Best Fit offers a precis of an interview with Kevin Shields in the pages of the latest Mojo wherein he offers more concrete information on the alleged new My Bloody Valentine album and EP which could be out before the end of the year. The Loveless, Isn’t Anything, and EP’s 1988-1991 remasters are out May 7.

DIY chats with The Cribs about their new record In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, out May 15.

Maxïmo Park are streaming the new single from their forthcoming The National Health, out June 11.

Stream: Maxïmo Park – “Hips And Lips”

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with Michael Kiwanuka. He plays The Great Hall on June 19.

The New York Times talks to Dev Hynes about the new, first-person shooter Blood Orange video for “Champagne Coast” from Coastal Grooves.

Video: Blood Orange – “Champagne Coast”

DIY talks to Gerard Love of Lightships.

Magnet Q&As The Twilight Sad as the Scots prepare to take the editorial reins of the magazine’s website this week and fill it with all kinds of doom, gloom, and comic books.

eMusic explores the discography of XTC.

FacebookIf you accept that Damon Albarn is speaking truth and that these are the end times for Blur, you have to admit they’re doing it right. They’ve got their August 12 date at Hyde Park in London earmarked as the swan song, a lovely new (final) single in “Under The Westway” in the can and ready to surely top the charts one last time, and before they go, they’re clearing out the archival cupboards well and proper.

On July 31, to mark the 21st anniversary of their debut album Leisure and presumably the end of their career, they’ll release Blur 21 – a massive, career-spanning box set that will be made available in two formats. The digital box will contain all seven studio albums in remastered and expanded double-CD format, four discs of rarities not redundant to the material on each album’s bonus disc, three DVDs of live performances and videos, a 7″ of a Seymour-era single, and a fancy hardbound book about the band. The vinyl box will contain all seven albums on vinyl. And for the fans who aren’t insane collectors, each gussied-up album will be available individually in both CD and LP formats.

Yes that is a lot of Blur, but if you’re any degree of fan, try watching the trailer for the set and not thinking, “man I want that set”. If you’re curious, the pricing in Canada comes in at around $320 for either the vinyl box or the digital.

Trailer: Blur 21

If you’re interested in what Albarn will do with himself since he’s bringing the curtain down on both Blur and Gorillaz, then this stream at NPR of his Dr. Dee solo album/opera might offer some idea of his direction.

Stream: Damon Albarn / Dr. Dee

And while on the topic of reissues from seminal British bands from the ’90s, Exclaim points out that Ride are marking the 20th anniversary of Going Blank Again with a deluxe reissue consisting of a remaster of the album and a DVD of their 1992 show at the Brixton Academy (though probably in Region 1 and PAL format). It was also just pointed out to me that Going Blank Again got a vinyl reissue in February of this year thanks to Japanese archival label Obscure Alternatives.

Video: Ride – “Twisterella”

The Guardian and The Independent talk to Tim Burgess of The Charlatans about his forthcoming memoirs Tellin’ Stories, due out May 29. Slicing Up Eyeballs reports that their 1997 album of the same name will get its own 15th anniversary reissue on May 28 in double-disc format.

Video: The Charlatans – “North Country Boy”

Exclaim talks to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized. They’re at The Phoenix on May 5.

Austin City Limits is offering a tease of their recent Radiohead performance which was recorded in March but won’t air until the Fall. They’re at Downsview Park on June 16.

Video: Radiohead – “Lotus Flower” (live on Austin City Limits)

Pitchfork gets Jonny Marr to recount his musical influences through the years.

Clash talks literary influences with Gerard Love of Lightships.

Pitchfork talks to Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne about their new album Words And Music By Saint Etienne, due out on May 21; they’ve also got a stream of a new song from the album.

Stream: Saint Etienne – “Answer Song”

Pitchfork reports that Field Music will be collecting all the covers they’ve recorded over the years and releasing them in album form this Fall. I like Field Music covers. This pleases me.

State and Metro talk to Mystery Jets about their new record Radlands, out May 1, while NME has a stream of the whole thing. They’re at The Sound Academy on June 19 opening up for Keane.

Stream: Mystery Jets / Radlands

The Big Pink have released a new video from Future This.

Video: The Big Pink – “Lose Your Mind”

DIY has both a stream of Europe, the lovely new record from Allo Darlin’, and song-by-song commentary by the band. It’s out on May 1 over here but if you were to get it in the UK via Rough Trade, you could get it with a limited edition bonus CD containing six cover songs including this Go-Betweens tune, which they’re also offering as a stream.

Stream: Allo Darlin’ – “Dive For Your Memory”
Stream: Allo Darlin’ / Europe

We don’t have details on her second album yet, but Little Boots has released a second MP3 from it (“Shake” was offered up as a stream last November).

MP3: Little Boots – “Every Night I Say A Prayer”

Emmy The Great has released the second of her “God Of Loneliess” comics at Drowned In Sound along with another remix; that’s the third, another came out late last week. The Virtue deluxe edition and “God Of Loneliness” single are both out May 7.

MP3: Emmy The Great – “God Of Loneliness” (Dems remix)

Glide has a chat with Dry The River, who’ve released a new video from their debut Shallow Bed.

Video: Dry The River – “No Rest”

Daytrotter has posted a session with Johnny Flynn and The Guardian has an interview.

Cat StevensloresThe general assumption as to whoy Teenage Fanclub release albums so infrequently – 2010’s Shadows was just their third effort in the 21st century, assuming you count 2000 as part of this millenium – is that despite having three superb songwriters in their ranks, they just work very, very slowly; if this is true, then clearly bassist Gerard Love isn’t the limiting factor. Based on Electric Cables, the debut album from his solo project as Lightships, he has no shortage of songs at the ready and most are as good as anything he’s contributed to the Fannies over the past decade.

Backed by a band of Scottish all-stars recruited from Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian and The Pastels, Love has crafted a record of gorgeously bucolic pop songs marked by Love’s airy vocals and guitar and flute lines gently bouncing off of one another. The notes aren’t content to simply jangle and decay, but rather hang suspended, shimmering in the air. Cables possesses enough energy and buzz to keep from coming across as too ephemeral, but the prevailing vibe is the return of and a return to nature and given the prevalence of pastoral themes in the song titles – “Photosynthesis”, “Sunlight To The Dawn”, “Muddy Rivers” to name a few – one can only assume that this is deliberate and not just a happy coincidence.

Let this be your soundtrack to Spring, and if it just so happens to linger in your ears through the rest of the seasons, then so be it. Norman Blake may have been first with his breezy Jonny side-project and while he’s not fronting it, it’s good to see Raymond McGinley active extra-circularly in Snowgoose, but Lightships is what every Fannies fan hopes for in a Teenage Fanclub side-project in that it sounds like Teenage Fanclub. Which is to say beautiful.

Video: Lightships – “Sweetness In Her Spark”
Video: Lightships – “Two Lines”
Stream: Lightships / Electric Cables

NPR is streaming the whole of Spiritualized’s Sweet Heart Sweet Light ahead of its release next week. Rolling Stone talks to Jason Pierce about the new album and Pitchfork finds out what he was thinking when he selected the album art. They play The Phoenix on May 5.

Stream: Spiritualized / Sweet Heart Sweet Light

JAM, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Georgia Straight talk to Elvis Costello about busting out the “The Spectacular Spinning Songbook” for his recent tours, though it won’t be in play when he’s at Casino Rama on April 19 – guess they prefer people do their gambling on the casino floor than in the theatre. The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook live CD/DVD culled from the Summer 2011 leg of the tour came out last week.

Pitchfork points out that Field Music are streaming their contribution to this year’s Record Store Day release schedule; a 7″ featuring a cover of Pet Shop Boys’ “Rent”, which kicked off a mini PSB marathon over these parts; never a bad thing.

Stream: Field Music – “Rent”

Daytrotter has posted a session with Clock Opera, whose debut Ways To Forget was supposed to be out now but has been pushed back until April 23 in the UK.

DIY talks to Mystery Jets about their new album Radlands, due out April 30. They’re at The Sound Academy on June 19 in support of Keane.

Interview talks to Hot Chip about their new record In Our Heads, coming out June 12 and justifying a visit to the Sound Academy on July 15.

Stylist talks fashion with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. She’s at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 2.

Loud & Quiet talks to Trailer Trash Tracys.

Django Django have released a new video from their self-titled debut.

Video: Django Django – “Storm”

The Quietus tags along with British Sea Power as the band plays a concert at the CERN project in Switzerland.

Slicing Up Eyeballs has complete video of one of The Wedding Present’s shows at SXSW last month.

In the, “karmic balance for Anglophiles” department: Jarvis Cocker and Kevin Shields, in conversation with Shortlist and Pitchfork respectively, reveal that new material from both Pulp and My Bloody Valentine could be in the works – Pulp were also on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night – but Damon Albarn tells The Guardian in very few uncertain terms that Blur – and Gorillaz if you care about Gorillaz – are probably over following a final single and the Hyde Park show this Summer. DIY looks at what the definitive end of Blur would mean for the band’s legacy.

New to my ears lately are Swedish duo The Deer Tracks, whose two mini-albums so far – The Archer Trilogy P1 1 and The Archer Trilogy Pt. 2 (part three is out this Fall) – remind me not a little of early Múm, which is a good thing indeed. Also good is their North American tour this Summer is missing a Toronto date at the moment, but there’s a conspicuous two-day gap between Chicago and Montreal that just happens to fall during NXNE. So yeah.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “Dark Passenger”
Video: The Deer Tracks – “Ram Ram”
Video: The Deer Tracks – “Fra Ro Raa / Ro Ra Fraa”

Pitchfork reports that another co-ed Swedish duo with a penchant for electronics – jj – will release a new single/EP/something entitled jj n° 4 on May 8, and the first track from it is now available to download.

MP3: jj – “Beautiful Life”

Anna Ternheim has announced the June 5 North American release of her new record The Night Visitor and offered a first sample for downloading and listening purposes.

MP3: Anna Ternheim – “The Longer The Waiting (The Sweeter The Kiss)”

Knox Road, The Boston Herald, Metro, and USA Today speak with Of Monsters & Men, in town at The Phoenix on April 12.

The second video from Ladyhawke’s Anxiety, out May 29, is now available to watch.

Video: Ladyhawke – “Sunday Drive”

Frank YangI’ve been concert-going in Toronto for a few years now so there’s not really a lot of venues in this town that I’m not at least a little acquainted with; some I’ve spent probably an unhealthy percentage of the 21st century in, but I digress. One, however, that I hadn’t set foot in before is The Hoxton – née 69 Bathurst – even though its hardly out of the way and has been hosting shows for a few years now. That they’ve been more of the more electronic sort goes part of the way of explaining why, but then I do like some electronic-y stuff – like England’s Metronomy, who were there on Monday night and finally allowed me to see what this place was like. And ability to host live music notwithstanding, The Hoxton feels very dance clubby, all sleek and neon and so not The Horseshoe, but hey – any decently-sized room in the city that puts on shows should be appreciated.

From Sandro Perri’s comments during his opening set that this was one of the strangest places he’d played proved that I wasn’t the only Torontonian who was feeling a little out of place in this room in his own hometown, or maybe he was just referring to supporting Metronomy. On one level, his deceptively complex electro-jazz-folk is a natural fit for Metronomy’s rather cerebral approach to dance music, but that’s probably more the case over headphones than on the stage. Still, he was here fronting a six-piece band with a packed house in front of him and a critically acclaimed album in last year’s Impossible Spaces to push, so none of that really mattered.

To watch them play was like seeing a man standing in the centre of a Rube Goldberg machine, Perri remaining stationary while either leaning into the mic to sing or attending to his guitar as his bandmates built densely intricate layers of keys and percussion around him; there was simultaneously nothing to see and yet so much to behold. I’ve never really listened to much of Perri’s work; I’ve heard a few of his albums and while they’ve been pretty listens, they’ve not really stuck with me and I put some of that blame on the artist – despite quite obviously being a work of great creativity and craftsmanship, he just makes it sound so easy, so effortless that it’s easy to let it become aural wallpaper. And while that same laid-backedness carried over to the live show – most songs were infused with a nimble lightness and sense of whimsy except for the one introduced as ballad but was almost a dirge – it was hard to not be impressed with the talent on display, even if their jamming did stray into indulgent territory on a few occasions.

As I mentioned last month, I regretted missing Metronomy’s last visit in October but scheduling and the fact that I was still warming to their Mercury-nominated The English Riviera kept me at home that night. But if someone had told be beforehand whay a good show they put on, maybe I’d have dragged myself out regardless. I suppose that I should have known they’d put on a tight, polished, and entertaining show given that they’re at the stage where they can headline smaller festivals in UK, but still. You guys are supposed to look out for me. For a band that’s largely anchored to their instruments, they were surprisingly physical in their performance. While only bassist Gbenga Adelekan was really free to roam and roam he did, it was actually keyboardist Oscar Cash who had some of the best dance moves and Anna Prior’s sequined purple jumpsuit easily won the best outfit award; it’s a shame she was hidden at the back behind the drum kit for most of the show. And of course there were their signature light discs fastened to their shirts, which were quite effective at cueing up the audience like applause signs or beacons to start the party.

While they easily got the room moving, Metronomy don’t necessarily make music for acting out; it’s more the soundtrack for being effortlessly cool. The title of their latest album, which made up about two-thirds of the set, is quite appropriate given how they craft dance music infused with quintessential English reserve, with their relatively austere approach to synths and samples, cascading falsetto vocals and irresistibly throbbing rhythm section coming across alternately and simultaneously icy and elegant. And on top of all that, they were all kinds of charming with frontman Joseph Mounts taking the obligatory digs at Montreal and commenting on the venue name, noting that if he was spotted in the real Hoxton carrying his acoustic guitar he’d be shot… though he quickly amended that to, “called a wanker”. If you were unsure about whether or not to bother seeing Metronomy live and we’re somehow fortunate enough to get a third visit before they go off the road to make record number four, let me tell you now: bother.

Sidewalk Hustle also has a review of the show and Cincinnati CityBeat and The Village Voice talk to Sandro Perri, whom you can probably expect will be announced any day now as opening for Destroyer at The Opera House on June 23.

Photos: Metronomy, Sandro Perri @ The Hoxton – April 2, 2012
MP3: Metronomy – “The Look”
MP3: Sandro Perri – “Love And Light”
MP3: Sandro Perri – “Futureactive Kid (Part 1)”
Video: Metronomy – “Everything Goes My Way”
Video: Metronomy – “The Look”
Video: Metronomy – “The Bay”
Video: Metronomy – “She Wants”
Video: Metronomy – “A Thing For Me”
Video: Metronomy – “You Could Easily Have Me”
Video: Metronomy – “Heartbreaker”
Video: Metronomy – “A Thing For Me”
Video: Metronomy – “Holiday”
Video: Metronomy – “My Heart Rate Rapid”
Video: Metronomy – “Radio Ladio”
Video: Metronomy – “A Thing For Me”
Video: Sandro Perri – “Love And Light”

Throwback English singer-songwriter Gemma Ray has made a date at The Great Hall for May 10 in support of her new record Island Fire, out April 16 in the UK and May 29 in North America. I caught her back at SXSW 2010 and she’s an entertaining and engaging performer; worth investigating.

MP3: Gemma Ray – “Runaway”
Video: Gemma Ray – “Rescue Me”

DIY talks to Clock Opera’s Guy Connelly as they await the April 17 release of their debut Ways To Forget.

PopMatters checks in with Gareth Campesinos of Los Campesinos!.

Gerard Love of Lightships (and yes, Teenage Fanclub) puts together a list of some of the music that inspired his solo debut Electric Cables for All-Music Guide.

Interview talks to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized, whose Sweet Heart Sweet Light is out April 17. They’re at The Phoenix on May 5.

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Stuart Braithwaite about curating a day of the London edition of All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in May and have also made available to download a recording of the band’s appearance at the first ATP back in 2000. Mogwai are at The Phoenix on June 18.

MP3: Mogwai – “Stanley Kubrick” (live at ATP, 2000)

Scandinavian singer-songwriter Ane Brun, in town at the Great Hall on May 10, has opted to introduce herself to North American audiences by means of an Arcade Fire cover available to download via Rolling Stone. It appears as a bonus digital track of her new album It All Starts With One, out May 1.

MP3: Ane Brun – “Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)”

Ólafur Arnalds’ contribution to the Hunger Games soundtrack – which also appeared on his 2010 mini-album Found Songs – has been made available to download for free. There’s also a new animated video to go with “Near Light”, taken from Living Room Songs, and a track from his collaboration with Nils Frahm is available to stream at DIY.

MP3: Ólafur Arnalds – “Allt Varð Hljótt”
Stream: Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – “a2”
Video: Ólafur Arnalds – “Near Light”