FacebookOn paper, London’s Big Deal doesn’t really bring a lot to the table. Two guitars – one acoustic, one electric – and two voices – one American male, one English female – and that’s about it. There’s not much in the way of virtuosity in the former and neither Kacey Underwood or Alice Costelloe’s vocals would stop anyone in their tracks either alone or in harmony. To hear it described, you’d be forgiven for expecting it to lean towards being rather conventional and/or pedestrian.

And yet their debut album Lights Out carries with it enough ineffable magic to demand you take notice, despite being rather determinedly low key. Some of that could be attributed to the duo’s backstory, assuming you know it (late-twenties Underwood taught the teenage Costelloe to play Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr on guitar and they ended up forming a band) and the questions about whether their relationship is strictly friends and bandmates or something more (a Guardian interview from last Summer rather firmly dismisses that speculation), but even without any of that colouring things, Lights Out is much more than the sum of its parts.

Both singers possess a certain intrinsic yearning and weariness to their voices that’s particularly effective for the lyrics that hint at (or even overtly reference if metaphorically) a bare, emotional intimacy. Combine that with the warm, wooly sonic blanket that’s created by Underwood’s lightly fuzzy electric guitar and Costelloe’s strummed acoustic – capable of switching to delicately interwoven guitar lines or rocking distorted leads for for punctuation – and out of these basic ingredients come a dozen tracks that don’t range too far apart but instead do their work by drawing you right in. Their band name might be a bit tongue-in-cheek but don’t underestimate for a minute how much Big Deal have to offer.

Lights Out is out on Tuesday. The Guardian declared them “New Band Of The Day” a couple of weeks ago.

MP3: Big Deal – “Chair”
Stream: Big Deal – “Homework”
Video: Big Deal – “Distant Neighbourhood”
Video: Big Deal – “Chair”
Video: Big Deal – “Homework”

NPR has a session and interview with Elbow recorded at WFUV, while Noise11 talks to bassist Pete Turner about their anthem for the 2012 London Olympics.

Loud & Quiet acts as an intermediary for Ghostpoet to interview The Big Pink.

Check out a session video by Beth Jeans Houghton, whose Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose comes out February 28.

Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves of Destiny – “Sweet Tooth Bird” (Lightship Session)

The Yorkshire Evening Post and The Courier-Mail talk to Noel Gallagher.

NOW ran an interview with Los Campesinos! ahead of this weekend’s two-night stand at Lee’s Palace.

Music News interviews James Graham of The Twilight Sad. No One Can Ever Know is out February 7 and they’re at Lee’s Palace February 29.

The Alternate Side has posted a video session and interview with Loney Dear.

DIY and NPR mark this week’s release of The Lion’s Roar by running interviews with First Aid Kit. They play The Great Hall on April 4.

Swedish electro-pop outfit Miike Snow have made a May 1 date at The Sound Academy in support of their forthcoming album Happy To You, out March 27. The first single is available to stream over at Spin.

Stream: Miike Snow – “Paddling Out”

Interview gets to know Iceland’s next great pop hope, Of Monsters & Men.

Filter marks their ten-year anniversary by reaching back into their archives for a 2002 vintage interview with Bjork.

And while on the topic of things Icelandic, check out this mini-documentary film on Iceland Airwaves. I actually think I watched a version of this on the plane on the way back from last year’s festival, but they’ve since spliced in footage from 2011. And I may even see myself at 7:00… In any case, watch it and then make plans to go. You know you want to.

Video: Iceland Airwaves – a Rockumentary

Ladyhawkemusic.comNME has an interview with Pip Brown, aka New Zealand synth-pop star Ladyhawke, who is getting closer and closer to officially following up her super-tasty 2008 self-titled debut. Anxiety is set for a March 20 release and according to Brown, is synth-free and much more guitar-heavy in the style of ’90s bands like Blur and Pixies; well, at least she’s keeping things retro.

There’s no preview track or advance single yet – “Black, White and Blue” will be released on February 19 – so at the moment, the only taste of Anxiety available is the trailer below, and I dunno, don’t I hear synths in there? Hmm. Oh, and if the trailer doesn’t work in the streaming player thing, click through on it to watch directly on YouTube. There’s also a collaboration with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans entitled “Just One Kiss” that will see the light of day at some point, though it doesn’t appear to be on the official tracklist so maybe it will be a non-album single. NME also talked to Burgess late last year about that tune.

Trailer: Ladyhawke / Anxiety

The new single from Loney Dear’s gorgeous Hall Music is available to both watch and download. Do both.

MP3: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”
Video: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with First Aid Kit as they ramp up to the January 24 release of The Lion’s Roar. They’ll play The Great Hall on April 4.

Having had to cancel their North American tour last Fall, The Boxer Rebellion are trying again and have set a course that includes a May 2 date at The Mod Club, tickets $18.50.

MP3: The Boxer Rebellion – “No Harm”

The Big Takeover talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners.

Why should you care who Lightships is? Because it’s the solo project of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love. There’s details on the project at the Fannies website and there’s a video for the first single from the debut album Electric Cable, out April 2.

Video: Lightships – “Two Lines”

Artrocker reports that Suede are releasing a live CD/DVD of their reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall last Spring, set for release on the second anniversary of the show on March 24. And while Brett Anderson confirmed to BBC6 that the band are recording new material, he also reiterated his position that unless the new songs are up to snuff, they won’t see the light of day.

Drowned In Sound interviews The Horrors.

Sky Larkin have posted an update on what they’ve been up to lately – hoping for something new in 2012 – and also posted the final video they’ll be releasing from 2010’s Kaleide.

Video: Sky Larkin – “Tiny Heist”

The National Post chats with Milo Cordell of The Big Pink while news.com.au gets some of Robbie Furze’s time.

We knew it was called Valentina and would be arriving in March, but The Wedding Present have finally announced details about the new record, which will be out as of March 20 – just in time for their March 25 visit to The Horseshoe.

Frank Yang

Okay, let’s get this over with. More than any year in recent memory, 2011 was tough to distill down to a top ten – not because there was a dearth of notable releases, but because there was a glut of them. Plenty of records this year were good to great – from those you’d expect as much from, those who surprised by upping their game and/or those who you’d simply never heard of before – but head-and-shoulders standouts? More of a chore than I expected.

But here are ten records which, as of this midway point of the final month of 2011, do a pretty good job of representing what I listened to and enjoyed the most in the past twelve. I like the mix of geography, genres, and genders and also of veterans and up-and-comers – I think most who’d know would agree this is a pretty, “me” list and consistent with past years. And if you can be bothered to read the past prefaces, you’ll see that those, too, are pretty consistent. Which is to say repetitive. So no more talking, yeah?

Yeah. And you like the philatelic angle for this year’s art? I do.

(more…)

FacebookAlmost four years on from their last dispatch, Spiritualized has announced that their seventh studio album Sweet Heart Sweet Light will be released on March 19, 2012. It’s about the same gap that separated 2008’s Songs In A&E and 2003’s Amazing Grace, but that delay was compounded by Jason Pierce’s near-death experience. This time any extenuating factors in the delay fell into the more decidedly benign category; new labels in both Europe and America, recitals and reissues to mark the 10th anniversary of their landmark Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, etc.

But the record is finally done and according to the press release from Domino (their new European home to go with Fat Possum Stateside), it’s Pierce’s tribute to old school rock’n’roll in the spirit of The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry. I can only hope it turned out better than their last stab at raw rock as Amazing Grace is the go-to Spiritualized album for precisely no one.

The Guardian has an audio interview with Jason Pierce about the making of the new record and also a live video of the album’s leadoff track, recorded last weekend at the Other Voices festival.

Video: Spiritualized – “Hey Jane” (live at Other Voices)

Also at Other Voices and recorded by The Guardian were Wild Beasts, whose entire set is available to watch.

Exclaim reports that Tindersticks have confirmed details of their new record: The Something Rain will be out on February 21 and a stream and video for the first single from the album are available now.

Stream: Tindersticks – “Medicine”
Video: Tindersticks – “Medicine”

DIY talks to Veronica Falls frontwoman Roxanne Clifford about their plans for following up a pretty swell 2011; plans which include a February 14 date at The Garrison in Toronto.

SYFFAL – yes, it’s an acronym – has words with Charles and Rebecca of Slow Club.

In conversation with The Creator’s Project, Jamie xx says that the new xx album should be done and out in time for the Summer festival season, which is to say the front half of 2012.

The Leeds Guide speaks briefly with David Gedge of The Wedding Present, in town at The Horseshoe on March 25.

Alex James tells NME that Blur are planning a holiday get-together and in addition to exchanging gifts and drinking egg nog, they may well do some recording.

Emmy The Great ponders to The Daily Star why there are so many indie Christmas albums being released this year, including her own.

Kaiser Chiefs are still around and Under The Radar reports they’re following this Summer’s The Future Is Medieval with a new album less than a year later in Start the Revolution Without Me, out March 6. The first MP3 is available to download at RCRDLBL – also still around – and they’ll be at The Phoenix on April 17.

Video: Kaiser Chiefs – “Little Shocks”

Coldplay are at the Air Canada Centre on July 23. Last time they were here in 2009 it was the Rogers Centre; stadium band to arena band, oh the indignity.

Video: Coldplay – “Paradise”

The Line Of Best Fit and The Edinburgh Journal talk to James Graham of The Twilight Sad, whose new record No One Can Ever Know is out on February 7.

Exclaim gathers five bits of Stone Roses trivia for your enjoyment.

Cat’s Eyes, the debut album from Cat’s Eyes, continues to yield new videos. Like this one.

Video: Cat’s Eyes – “The Best Person I Know”

As is usually the case when a band with a breakout album does a tour of woefully undersized venues that are sold the hell out, M83 has announced a Spring tour that brings the French electro-gaze act back to town for a show at the Sound Academy on May 6, tickets $25 in advance. And while normally I wouldn’t bother hitting a second show for the same album having just seen them last month, I’ll definitely be there. Why? I Break Horses are opening the whole tour. I love I Break Horses, and their debut Hearts. How much? I’ll tell you next week.

MP3: I Break Horses – “Winter Beats”
Video: M83 – “Midnight City”

Cheers to Ja Ja Ja for finding and posting this live Loney Dear studio performance of “D Major”.

The Raveonettes are marking the holidays with a new video for the cryptically-titled “Christmas Song”.

Video: The Raveonettes – “The Christmas Song”

The Jonsi-scored soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s latest film We Bought A Zoo is now up to stream at Rolling Stone.

Stream: We Bought A Zoo original soundtrack

NPR has posted a KEXP session from Icelandic merrymakers Of Monsters & Men. Their first North American release will be the digital Into The Woods EP on December 20, followed by a domestic issue of My Head Is An Animal in the Spring.

Australia’s Gotye has a date at The Phoenix on March 31.

Video: Gotye – “Bronte”

Interview talks to Hayley Mary, lead singer of The Jezabels.

NME reports that the long-awaited (by me, anyways) second Ladyhawke album will have a title of Anxiety and release date of March 19. And they’ve got some video of Pip Brown at work on said record.

Frank YangIt’s a little bit of bragging when I point out that our blogger posse had Lykke Li close out the second day of our Hot Freaks! party at SXSW 2008 before her star became ascendant. But the fact is that it was almost entirely Gorilla Vs Bear’s doing, with most of the rest of us having no idea who Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson was at the time. And not too many did, as only a modest number of people came out to Club DeVille to see play that afternoon. So you’d think that it would have been the perfect opportunity to get ahead of the curve on her, but the fact was I didn’t love her stuff and that opinion extended to her debut album Youth Novels; it was fine and all but hardly stopped me in my tracks. Which is why despite her having come through town a number of times between now and then, I’d not seen Lykke Li live since.

So if you choose to interpret my trekking down to the Sound Academy on Tuesday night to see her as meaning that I was stopped in my tracks by her second album Wounded Rhymes, well that might be a little hyperbolic but it’s not far off. I understand how Lykke Li’s breathy vocals and the coquettish tone of the lyrics were the source of Youth Novels‘ appeal for many, but to me they were the main points of complaint – the record felt slight, like it was all surface. Rhymes, on the other hand, with its combination of girl-group/doo-wop touchpoints, a dash of gospel and altogether rawer and heavier themes tapped into something much deeper both sonically and emotionally. Novels was flirtatious; Rhymes was lustful. Yeah I was going to see this record performed live.

Opening up this tour were fellow Swedes and sister folk act First Aid Kit – combined with Sunday night’s all-Icelandic bill, this was turning into quite the Scandinavian revue week. I’d seen them last Summer when they stopped in at the comfy and cozy Rivoli – about as diametrically opposed a venue from the cavernous Sound Academy as you can get. And yet without changing up their simple presentation – the Söderberg sisters switching up on guitar, keys and autoharp and harmonies and Mattias Bergqvist on drums – were more than able to step up to the occasion, sounding confident and punchy. In addition to drawing from their 2010 debut The Big Black & The Blue, they previewed material from their forthcoming second album The Lion’s Roar – out January 24 – and when heard side-by-side with the older material, it was remarkable how far they’ve come as songwriters, the new songs being both more melodic and dramatic at the same time. Though there was some headbanging, you couldn’t say they rocked – that’s not their game – but the did impress.

Lykke Li’s arrival was heralded by an extended strobe light and smoke machine intro which highlighted the sweeping black and white stage dressing for this tour, an aesthetic mirrored in her outfit for the night – a black robe/gown and dark eye make-up. “Witchy” and/or “goth” are not adjectives one would have typically thought to apply to Lykke Li, but there it was. Opening with “Jerome”, the depth and dramatics of the new record were clearly going to be translated to the stage with Lykke Li an exceptionally expressive and dynamic presence from the get-go.

Danciness is a key element of Lykke Li’s sound, but what sets her apart from others operating in that space is her reliance on live and acoustic instruments, particularly drums and percussion, and it was easy to get caught up in the pounding, rhythmic grooves she and her band created and her voice would ride upon. Though she’s not what you’d call a powerhouse singer, her delivery has a strength and soulfulness that’s irresistible and thankfully shuns your standard diva moves; on her cover of “Unchained Melody”, whereas other singers might have gone for a solo moment at its peak, Lykke Li instead turned to her band for multi-part harmonies that were unexpected and beautiful.

The set was split about evenly between the two albums but with the older material sonically beefed up to match the current aesthetic and all the better for it. And while I clearly favoured the new material, the sea of cellphones raised aloft during “Little Bit” was ample evidence that many of the fans there were old school. Excepting a couple moments of feedback, the sound throughout the night had been pretty good but as things moved towards the finale – perhaps in an attempt to make things even heavier – the bass began turning to mud on “Youth Knows No Pain” and sadly robbed it of its impact, only being salvaged by the extended percussion, chanting and megaphone-powered (and Kanye “Power”-quoting) coda. But things recovered enough that set closer “Get Some” satisfied and one-song encore of “Unrequited Love” the perfect, bruised cap on the evening. I now regret somewhat not keeping up with Lykke Li following that SXSW show and missing out on her more intimately-scaled performances, but if she keeps putting out records as strong as Wounded Rhymes, then this won’t be the last time I’ll be making up for lost time.

The National Post was also on hand for the show and have a review. And with this show done, First Aid Kit have announced their own headlining gig at The Great Hall on April 4 of next year.

Photos: Lykke Li, First Aid Kit @ The Sound Academy – November 15, 2011
MP3: Lykke Li – “Youth Knows No Pain”
MP3: Lykke Li – “Get Some”
MP3: First Aid Kit – “I Met Up With The King”
Video: Lykke Li – “Sadness Is A Blessing”
Video: Lykke Li – “I Follow Rivers”
Video: Lykke Li – “Get Some”
Video: Lykke Li – “Little Bit”
Video: Lykke Li – “I’m Good I’m Gone”
Video: Lykke Li – “Breaking It Up”
Video: First Aid Kit – “The Lion’s Roar”
Video: First Aid Kit – “Hard Believer”
Video: First Aid Kit – “I Met Up With The King”

The Quietus explores the sad and beautiful world of Loney Dear.

DIY chats with Alec Olenius of Serenades.

The Raveonettes have released a video for the new single from their latest album Raven In The Grave.

Video: The Raveonettes – “Let Me On Out”

Rolling Stone talks to Ritzy Bryan of The Joy Formidable, who have begun work on album number two and hope to have it out in the new year.

Paste has a feature piece on Los Campesinos! and over at Nerve, bassist Ellen Campesinos! dishes on what it’s like to be a female musician looking to get some while on the road.

Fact talks to Kate Jackson about her nascent but promising solo career.

NME has details on the second album from The Big Pink; it will be entitled Future This and come out on January 16 of next year. This is the first single and video.

Video: The Big Pink – “Hit The Ground (Superman)”

Though just here a few weeks ago, Metronomy have scheduled a Spring North American tour that brings them back to town on April 2 for a show at The Hoxton.

Video: Metronomy – “Everything Goes My Way”

Exclaim reports that New Order will release an album of studio outtakes from Waiting For The Sirens Call as Lost Sirens sometime in December.

Similarly, Pet Shop Boys will collect 13 years of b-sides as the double-disc collection Format and put that out on February 7; Slicing Up Eyeballs has specifics.

Q talks to Dev Hynes of Blood Orange.

Paste, The Phoenix and PopMatters interview Anthony Gonzalez of M83, in town for a sold-out show at Lee’s Palace tomorrow night.

Proving that Toronto’s appetite for things naked and famous shows no signs of abating, Kiwis The Naked & Famous will be back for their fourth show in less than a year, returning for an engagement at The Sound Academy on April 5 of next year; tickets $22.50 in advance.

Video: The Naked & Famous – “Girls Like You”