Valerie PhillipsWhen Why You Runnin’, the debut EP from Rock Island, Illinois native Elisabeth Maurus – aka Lissie – was released late last year, she was heralded as a bright new voice of the alt.country scene and indeed, her emotive voice and songwriting had the right balance of twang and rasp that she could well have become the next big crossover act for the genre. The problem with this was that in many ways, alt.country has become as rigid and codified a style as the Nashville scene that it was initially a reaction to in the late ’80s, and for an ambitious new artist, may not be a pigeonhole they want to get stuck in before they’ve even gotten their careers started.

That’s my speculation about why Lissie’s debut album Catching A Tiger is what it is, and that’s a big, genre-hopping record that pops and rocks as much as it twangs. It might have caught some off-guard, but really shouldn’t have – after all, its release was preceded by a series of viral videos that featured Lissie covering decidedly non-country acts like Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi and Metallica. There was definitely an aspect of calculated marketing to these selections, but that took a back seat to the fact that Lissie did a great job of making them her own, and that sentiment largely covers Catching A Tiger as well.

The production is pretty slick – overly so in parts – and the attempts to make songs in certain styles sound authentic, like the ’50s AM radio-filtered “Stranger”, try too hard, but Lissie’s voice and songwriting are strong and versatile enough to transcend any excess studio tinkering. She has a gift for inserting a big chorus where you’re not expecting a big chorus and thus making tracks like “Loosen The Knot” and “Cuckoo” indelible from the very first listen. Her folkier side isn’t neglected either, though it’s largely represented with the three tracks carried over from Why You Runnin’. Their placement alongside the more stylistically rangy selections of the record makes them more impactful, however, and by the time the gospelly “Oh Mississippi” closes things out, it’s clear that the decision to bust out of the pigeonhole before even being put in it was the right one – she’d have busted out of it sooner rather than later anyways.

The Dallas Observer and Spinner have interviews with Lissie, who is currently on tour in support of Catching A Tiger – she’ll be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on October 19.

MP3: Lissie – “Little Lovin'”
MP3: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”
MP3: Lissie – “In Sleep” (live)
Video: Lissie – “When I’m Alone”
Video: Lissie – “Cuckoo”
MySpace: Lissie

American Songwriter, Washington City Paper and The Cornell Sun talk to Sharon Van Etten, who’ll be at Lee’s Palace on November 5.

The lead single from Nicole Atkins’ sophomore effort Mondo Amore is now available to download, widget-free. The record is out January 25.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

Anyone who missed seeing S. Carey open up for The Tallest Man On Earth last month, take heart – he will be returning on his own tour, supported by White Hinterland, for a show at the Horseshoe on December 19. And honestly, I can’t think of a better bill to welcome Winter and close out (probably) the 2010 touring calendar – Carey’s All We Grow is a beaut.

MP3: S. Carey – “In The Dirt”
MP3: S. Carey – “In The Stream”
MP3: White Hinterland – “No Logic”
MP3: White Hinterland – “Dreaming Of The Plum Trees”

Spinner talks to Chris Chu of The Morning Benders about their high-profile support slots this year. They headline their own show at the Mod Club on November 5 and some of footage of their/his ice cream-powered in-store/out-store show in August has been posted as a video session over at the newly-minted TapeDek.

Offbeat interviews Local Natives; they’ve got a sold out show at Mod Club on October 19.

Pitchfork gets a musical history from Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus.

My Morning Jacket bassist Tom Blankenship tells Spin that their next album, currently in production, will be a return to the reverb-drenched atmospheric rock of their early records.

The Chicago Tribune talks to Guided By Voices’ Tobin Sprout about how the current reunion came together and where it might go from here.

Pitchfork takes the recent GQ interview with Steve Albini as a launching pad for contemplating the long-term effects of Sonic Youth’s major label tenure on the indie world.

CMJ reports that when Iron & Wine’s new record Kiss Yourself Clean comes out next January, it will be on a major label – they’ve signed to Warner Bros in North America. Their indie cred remains intact in the rest of the world, where they’ll be handled by 4AD.

Spinner interviews Warpaint, who have a new video for the first single from The Fool, out October 26.

Video: Warpaint – “Undertow”

Black Book interviews both Bjork and Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons, the latter of whom has a new record out in Swanlights. A video from said record was just released.

Video: Antony & The Johnsons – “The Spirit Is Gone”

Claudia Dehaza has left School Of Seven Bells for “personal reasons”. Ben Curtis and Alley Dehaza intend to carry on with the band, though without those sisterly harmonies it can’t help but be a wholly different beast.

With Jim Bryson acting as a touring member of The Weakerthans for some time now, it’s only fair that the Winnipeggers help out on the Ottawa-based artists’ next solo record, and so it is that the Weakerthans are functioning as Bryson’s backing band on his new record The Falcon Lake Incident. The record is due out next Tuesday, October 19, and they’re marking the occasion (sort-of/not really) halfway between their respective homes with some free shows – one on Tuesday night at the Horseshoe at 10PM and another by way of in-store at Sonic Boom on Wednesday at 6PM. And on top of that, John K Samson will play a solo set as part of the screening of their tour documentary We’re The Weakerthans, We’re From Winnipeg at the Royal on Monday night, October 18. If you need more Weakerthan action than that in a week, then I can’t help you. No one can.

MP3: Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans – “Wild Folk”
Trailer: We’re The Weakerthans, We’re From Winnipeg

And apparently their perfect sendoff at The Horseshoe in December 2007 wasn’t perfect enough – The Lowest Of The Low are getting back together for two gigs at Lee’s Palace on December 3 and 4. The occasion is the 20th anniversary of their beloved debut Shakespeare… My Butt which is getting a fancy-pants remastered reissue on November 23 and will include a DVD with a 45-minute documentary about the band entitled LowRoads 91-08. I waxed nostalgic about the record and what it meant to me in Summer 2007, but think I might let these shows pass me by. I’ve said thanks and goodbye already.

MP3: The Lowest Of The Low – “Bleed A Little While Tonight”
Trailer: LowRoads 91-08

Joe FudaAnd now, a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with a certain record label that is now old enough to drink in the US.

Starting locally, with The Rural Alberta Advantage. After one of the best and busiest 2009s on record, the trio has been relatively quiet through most of this year working on the follow-up to their debut Hometowns, as these photos (sort of) attest. But you can only keep road warriors in one place for so long and they’ll be on the road again starting at the end of this month with a pretty extensive Fall tour that takes them out across the prairies to the west coast of Canada, across the Atlantic for a slew of European and UK dates and then, finally, back home to Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on December 16 – their first proper local show in over a year. It’ll be good to hear some of the new material that will appear on album number two when it hits sometime next year, but mostly it’ll just be nice to see them again. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”

And more to the show announcements from the past week or so – Avi Buffalo will precede their October 18 show at the Horseshoe with an in-store at Soundscapes on October 17 at 7PM. It’ll be interesting to see if Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg can tear it up as fiercely on acoustic as he does electric. I am guessing yes.

MP3: Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “What’s In It For?”

Also doing it free for the kids is PS I Love You, whose just-released debut Meet Me At The Muster Station has been getting some impressive Pitchfork-love. They’ll be at Soundscapes on October 26 at 7PM before heading down to The Garrison to open up for Diamond Rings. The duo are profiled in The Province, National Post, Chart and Exclaim.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”

Forest City Lovers have set a date at The Horseshoe for November 5, amidst a smattering of Fall dates. They’ve also just put out a new pensive-to-party video from Carriage.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Tell Me Cancer”

Horse Feathers and Anaïs Mitchell will team up for a show at the Drake Underground on November 8.

MP3: Horse Feathers – “Curs In The Weeds”
MP3: Anaïs Mitchell – “Flowers (Eurydice’s Song)”

The Balconies, who like The RAA were omni-present in 2009 but relatively quiet in 2010, are back for a show at The Horseshoe on November 9 – hopefully as a precursor to a second album.

MP3: The Balconies – “Serious Bedtime”

The Meligrove Band have put together both a North American tour for and a video from their just-released new record Shimmering Lights. They’re at The Great Hall on November 12 and there’s interviews at The National Post and dose.

MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Bones Attack!!!”
MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Halflight”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Racing To Shimmering Lights”

Rufus Wainwright has a date at Massey Hall on December 4.

Video: Rufus Wainwright – “Zebulon”

Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, has slated a North American tour in support of his new record It’s What I’m Thinking Pt.1 — Photographing Snowflakes. The record is out next Tuesday and will be available in a variety of deluxe and standard packages, as detailed at Exclaim. The Toronto date of the aforementioned tour is December 8 at The Great Hall, tickets $27.50 in advance.

Video: Badly Drawn Boy – “Too Many Miracles”

Interpol will be making good on the support slot for U2 this past Summer which was canceled along with the entire tour when Bono realized he was an old man. They’ll be at the Air Canada Centre on July 11 of next year.

MP3: Interpol – “Lights”

BeatRoute discusses The Age Of Adz with Sufjan Stevens. The record is out October 12 and he plays Massey Hall on October 13.

Murray Lightburn of The Dears talks to eye in advance of the band’s three-night residency at The Garrison next week, October 13 through 15, where they’ll play all of their new, as-yet untitled and release date-less album, start to finish.

The Oklahoma Daily and Austinist talk to members of Local Natives, who’ve put out a new video and have a sold-out show at the Mod Club on October 19.

Video: Local Natives – “Wide Eyes”

Spinner has an interview with Lissie, who brings her full-length debut Catching A Tiger to the El Mocambo on October 19. There’s also a new video from said record.

Video: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”

Uptown and The Ottawa Citizen profile Rae Spoon, in town for a show at the Gladstone on October 21.

Stars, who are playing Massey Hall on October 26, are interviewed by BeatRoute and The Huffington Post.

Spinner talks to Black Mountain. They’ll be dressing up as a band playing The Phoenix on Hallowe’en.

Thanks Captain Obvious, The Village Voice and Spinner talk to Sharon Van Etten about her new record Epic. She is at Lee’s Palace on November 5 supporting Junip.

The Wooden Sky, who’ve got a date at Lee’s Palace on November 6, have just been featured in a Daytrotter session and a Gateway interview.

Wolf Parade have rolled out a new video from Expo 86. They’ll be at the Sound Academy on November 26.

Video: Wolf Parade – “Yulia”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, in town for a show at the Mod Club on December 1. There’s also interviews at The Omaha World-Herald and Wall Street Journal.

Kevin Drew tells Spin why Broken Social Scene are called Broken Social Scene while Brendan Canning talks to The Georgia Straight and Andrew Whiteman to The Gateway. They are at the Sound Academy on December 9.

BeatRoute chats with Owen Pallett.

Pitchfork interviews Arcade Fire.

Spinner, The Gateway, See and BeatRoute talk to Holy Fuck.

Over at YouTube, Daniel Lanois offers a track-by-track analysis of Neil Young’s Le Noise from the view of the producer’s chair.

Didn’t The Flaming Lips just release a video from Embryonic last week? Yes they did. But here’s another one anyways.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine”

How do you know Of Montreal were just in the UK? Interviews with Kevin Barnes at Drowned In Sound, The Quietus and The Line Of Best Fit.

The Fly talks to the ladies of Warpaint about their forthcoming debut The Fool, hitting the streets on October 26.

MOVE talks to Mountain Goat Peter Hughes.

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady discusses the benefits of getting older with The Boston Globe.

And seriously, this isn’t even nearly everything I’ve had backlogged to post over the past week.

Elizabeth WeibergA note: I’m presently barely conscious after staying up way too late the other night doing the Polaris post-game, so I’m just going to start tossing up stuff that’s been collecting in the hopper over the last few days until I pass out.

And we’ll kick off with a new batch of fully realized, produced and presented songs from the inimitable John Vanderslice, collected under the title of Green Grow The Rushes. It’s being given away for exactly zero dollars in both high-quality MP3 and uncompressed WAV format over at his website. Why? Because he’s got these songs he wants you to hear and because he’s great. But if you want to thank the ‘Slice in some monetary way, perhaps pick up a copy of his last full-length Romanian Names? It’s not quite as free but still a great record.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Thule Fog”
MP3: John Vanderslice – “I’ll Never Live Up To You”
ZIP: John Vanderslice / Green Grow The Rushes

Exclaim has some details on the new Iron & Wine album, entitled Kiss Each Other Clean and due out in early 2011.

Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis chats with The Washington Post.

The Thermals have released a new single from Personal Life which, in the parlance of our time, means that there’s a new MP3 to download.

MP3: The Thermals – “Never Listen To Me”

The Line Of Best Fit and Spinner talk to Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies. Their new record Blood/Candy is out September 28.

The Boston Herald talks to drummer Bob Nastanovich of Pavement. NYC Taper has also got a recording of their Williamsburg show to share.

Clash interviews Local Natives, in town at the Mod Club on October 19.

Spin declares Lissie to be “breaking out”. She’s at the El Mocambo on October 19.

Spin gets to the root of Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s name, while Filter has a track from their new record Buzzard available to download.

MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Lunatic, Lunatic, Lunatic”

Spinner serves up an Interface session with Drive-By Truckers.

R.E.M. has completed work on album number 15 and are targeting a Spring 2011 release for it.

Drowned In Sound talks to Will Sheff of Okkervil River about working with Roky Erikson on this year’s True Love Casts Out All Evil.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Spoon’s show in the teeny tiny Cake Shop last week.

The new Deerhunter record Halcyon Digest is streaming at NPR in advance of its release next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace the Opera House on October 19.

Stream: Deerhunter / Halcyon Digest

The AV Club, American Songwriter, The Boston Herald, Pinnastorm, The Awl and NPR have interviews with Superchunk. NPR is also streaming their show in Washington DC last week and NYC Taper offering downloads of the Brooklyn show, giving you a taste of what to expect when they return to Toronto to play the Sound Academy on December 9 opening up for Broken Social Scene; you’ll just have to imagine the pogoing.

The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Interpol.

PitchforkTV has posted a POV session with The Hold Steady.

Clash declares Holly Miranda “One To Watch”.

New York Magazine talks to Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner.

Spin gets a live preview of Nicole Atkins’ new record Mondo Amore, due out on January 25 of next year, and you can download a new track from the record over at Nicole’s website.

Daytrotter has posted a session with Ra Ra Riot, who have made good on their promise to come back to town in December – they’ll be at the Mod Club on the first of that month, tickets $16.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

WarpaintI usually try not to post on the same act multiple times in such a short period of time, but all I’ve got right now is a bunch of bits and bobs and honestly, I just want to get through to the weekend. So here; a second Warpaint-led post in the span of a week. Deal with it.

But this one sort of ties into last week’s review of their show at Wrongbar, in that I’d originally mentioned that I got details on the name and release date of their debut album from one of the band members. Well I was asked to redact that shortly after posting as those details weren’t finalized and as it turns out, they weren’t completely correct. It was announced – complete with track list and album art – earlier this week that the Los Angeles band’s first full-length would indeed be called The Fool, but wouldn’t be out until October 26 and not October 12 as I’d originally been told. So yes, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to hear it but I’m still certain it will be worth it.

In the meantime, there’s still last year’s debut EP Exquisite Corpse to hold me over, especially since I discovered that the digital version I’ve been living off of for the past however many months was actually short a track compared to the vinyl version, so technically that extra track – quickly acquired thanks to its appearance on a compilation at eMusic – is new to me. And additionally, their cover of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” is now available at iTunes and eMusic, proceeds from which go to benefit War Child. It will also appear on a Bowie tribute album entitled We Were So Turned On, due out later this year (precise date has been a moving target for a while).

Warpaint are opening up for The xx on September 29 at Massey Hall. There’s interviews with bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg at Nashville Scene and guitarist Theresa Wayman at The Daily Beacon. And Exquisite Corpse is streaming in its entirety – including the extra song I had no idea about until last week – at the band’s MySpace.

Stream: Warpaint / Exquisite Corpse

Singing Lamb talks to Chris Chu of The Morning Benders, who’ve made good on their promise to play their sixth show in Toronto this calendar year (including their free in/out-store a couple weeks ago with a headlining date at the Mod Club on November 5, part of an extensive North American tour.

MP3: The Morning Benders – “Promises”

Spin profiles Local Natives, who have a date at the Mod Club on October 19.

The Montreal Gazette talks to Greg Edwards of Autolux about the various factors that have sidelined the band for so long. They’re at Lee’s Palace on Tuesday night.

The previously venue-less Bad Religion show on October 14 now has a home – it will be at the Kool Haus, tickets $29.50.

Hutch Harris of The Thermals waxes nostalgic about collecting trading cards for Under The Radar. Their new record Personal Life arrives September 7 and they play Lee’s Palace on October 9. Check out their new Carrie Brownstein-powered video.

Video: The Thermals – “I Don’t Believe You”

Brownstein’s once (and perhaps someday future?) Sleater-Kinney compatriot Corin Tucker will release her solo debut 1,000 Years on October 5. Paste has an interview.

MP3: The Corin Tucker Band – “Doubt”

Filter profiles DeVotchKa.

NPR has a World Cafe session with the Retribution Gospel Choir.

The Advocate Weekly talks to Wilco bassist John Stirratt.

Broken Bells have released a new video that is apparently in 3D. I can’t say for sure because I refuse to patronize anything in 3D. I’m not kidding.

Video: Broken Bells – “October”

The Georgia Straight, Santa Cruz Sentinel and OC Weekly talk to Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.

Baeble Music is streaming video of a live show from Holly Miranda in New York from last month.

Spinner talks aspirations with Sam Fogarino of Interpol, whose new self-titled album is due out September 7.

Shoot The Player has an acoustic video session with School Of Seven Bells. They’re at the Mod Club on September 15.

Surviving The Golden Age talks to Laura Ballance of Superchunk about their first new record in forever, Majesty Shredding, due out September 13. There’s no Toronto tour date as yet but they’ve just announced an appearance in Montreal on September 23, so I’m hoping/expecting that the following night finds them in Hogtown (they’re in Philadelphia the night before). Come on, guys – we’re right here.

Of Montreal have rolled out a first video from False Priest, out September 14.

Video: Of Montreal – “Coquet Coquette”

Spinner talks songwriting with The Drums. They’re at the Mod Club on October 20.

Frank YangHello and welcome to a post that will get far more interesting at around 3PM EDT this afternoon. It’s at that time that the big black box below will magically fill with moving images and sounds of Scotland’s Mogwai, as I’m proud to be one of the websites offering a virtual screening of Burning, their live concert film directed by Vincent Moon and Nathanaël Le Scouarnec which will be coming on DVD on August 24 accompanied by a live album entitled Special Moves, both of which you can pre-order here.

After the screening – which is a one-time deal so make sure you can hide from work for a couple hours – the little social media widget underneath will come alive as Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite and co-director Vincent Moon will participate in a Q&A about the film. And for those of you on the Twitter, use #mogwaiburning and @mogwaiband in your tweets when marveling at the film. In addition to the virtual screening, the film will be traveling around North America starting next month for in-person screenings, including two confirmed dates in Canada – August 24 at Pacific Cinematheque
 in Vancouver and September 14 for two showings at the Drake Underground in Toronto, for which tickets already on sale. Courtesy of Maple Music, however, I’ve got a pair of prize packs to give away consisting of a copy of the Burning/Special Moves DVD/CD set, a special poster for the screening tour and a pair of passes to the Vancouver and Toronto screenings. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with either “I am burning for Mogwai in Vancouver” or “I am burning for Mogwai in Toronto” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. I’ll draw a winner for the Van-city screening on August 17 and for Toronto on August 31, so all entries for the respective cities must be in before then.

I’ve not yet seen the film but have had the aural document for a little while, and though it doesn’t really capture the full sensory experience of being at a live Mogwai show – that would require standing in front of an industrial-strength fan and having someone punch you in the ears incessantly for 90 minutes – it does sound quite fantastic and has exquisite renditions of what, for me, are the three key pillars in the Mogwai oeuvre: “Mogwai Fear Satan”, “2 Wrongs Make 1 Right” and “Glasgow Megasnake”. No compilation – live or best-of – would be complete without these so cheers for their inclusion.

Video: Mogwai – “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead” (live)

Austin Town Hall talks to Dave Lovering of Pixies.

Daytrotter has a session with Local Natives, in town at the Mod Club on October 19.

Interpol talks about life after Carlos Dengler with Spinner. Interpol is out September 7 and they play the Kool Haus on August 10.

England’s Boxer Rebellion have a date at the Horseshoe on September 27.

Video: The Boxer Rebellion – “Flashing Red Light Means Go”

The Drums will finally bring their buzz to Toronto for a date at the Mod Club on October 16, tickets $15. Their self-titled debut is out on August 10 on vinyl, CD release sometime in September.

Video: The Drums – “Forever And Ever Amen”

Jimmy Eat World are at the Kool Haus on October 17 in support of their new record Invented, out September 28.

Emmy The Great is soliciting donations to fund her second album via PledgeMusic. Levels of support range from £8 for a download of the new record or £10 for a CD all the way up to £500 for a living room gig. I suspect that offer is limited to the UK.