Tina TyrellSummer’s only just arrived – climatologically speaking, at least, druidically speaking the solstice isn’t for another fortnight – but already the music industry has us looking towards Fall, at least as far as new albums are concerned. Which is fine, at least insofar as that’s typically the season for the year’s biggest releases and while “big” is a relative measure, details on a few records I’m looking forward to hearing have come to light over the last few days.

For starters, Annie Clark – aka St. Vincent – has wrapped up her third record, the follow-up to 2009’s Actor, and given it the title of Strange Mercy. At this point details are lean – Exclaim has recapped all the salient points from the press release – but it’s coming out on September 13. Mark it down.

Backing up a couple weeks to August 30 and giving some context to their two shows at The Phoenix on August 2 and 4 is the new album from Beirut. The Rip Tide will be the band’s first full-length release in four years, following The Flying Club Cup, and while you peruse the album details and track list at The Sentimentalist, you can hear the first single from the record at Soundcloud.

Jumping ahead again, we’ve got the first proper post-reunion album from The Jayhawks, which will be called Mockingbird Time and be out on September 20. Rolling Stone has the tracklisting and a video interview with the band wherein they talk about making the first new recordings with the present lineup in over 15 years.

Not quite of the same stature as the other announcements but still of interest to me, at least, is the fact that Bloomington, Indiana’s Early Day Miners have decided that acronyms are the way to go and have renamed themselves EDM. They will release their first album under that name come July 5 with Night People.

MP3: EDM – “StereoVideo”

And because new is not always better, it’s exciting to hear that the entire Archers Of Loaf catalog will be getting reissued courtesy of Merge, complete with bonus goodies, starting with Icky Mettle on August 2. Similar treatments for Vee Vee, All the Nation’s Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow in 2012, hopefully with more tour dates – none of the announced reunion shows so far come anywhere near the 416. But we do get a Crooked Fingers gig at the Horseshoe on July 3 and NPR is streaming their set at Sasquatch last weekend.

MP3: Archers Of Loaf – “What Did You Expect”

And some show news – Cults are clearly looking to maximize their NXNE experience, adding an in-store at Kops on Queen St for June 17 at 8PM to go with their midnight show at Lee’s Palace that same evening and their 6PM time slot at Yonge-Dundas Square the next day. Their self-titled debut is streaming in whole at Spinner and there’s interviews with the band at Exclaim, Spinner, Stereoboard and The Australian and oh, there’s a new video.

MP3: Cults – “Go Outside”
Video: Cults – “Abducted”
Stream: Cults / Cults

Ours are apparently still around and have a show at Wrongbar on June 20, tickets $10 in advance.

Video: Ours – “Realize”

New Jersey’s Real Estate have a date at The Garrison for July 19, tickets $18.50. A follow-up to 2009’s self-titled debut should be due soon. Ish. Though it’s just been announced that said record will be out on Domino in October. So there’s that.

MP3: Real Estate – “Beach Comber”
MP3: Real Estate – “Green River”

DNTEL – aka Jimmy Tamborello, aka the half of The Postal Service who is not married to Zooey Deschanel – will be taking his show on the road in support of last year’s After Parties 1 and After Parties 2 EPs with a show at The Horseshoe on August 14, tickets $11.50.

MP3: DNTEL – “The Distance”
MP3: DNTEL – “Dumb Luck”

Kyuss Lives! – whom I’ve learned are not actually Kyuss, what with the absence of Josh Homme, but are close enough for Kyuss fans to get excited about – have a date at the Sound Academy on September 16, tickets $29.50 for general admission, $50.00 for balcony.

Video: Kyuss – “Demon Cleaner”

I thought I’d be waiting ages for Baltimore’s Lower Dens to come to town, and lo and behold – three shows in just over a month. In addition to their two NXNE appearances (The Garrison on June 15 at 10PM and Lee’s Palace on June 16 at 1AM), they’ll be here on July 23 at The Rivoli as support for Cass McCombs.

MP3: Lower Dens – “Hospice Gates”

Battles return to town on October 4 for a show at The Phoenix, tickets $18.50 in advance. Their new album Gloss Drop is streaming now at Spinner, who have also posted an Interface session with the band as well as an interview. Clash also has a feature piece.

Video: Battles – “Ice Cream”
Stream: Battles / Gloss Drop

Spin gets Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff and Steve Earle to play a couple of their own songs on camera. New York Magazine, City Pages and amNY also have features on Okkervil River, who are at The Phoenix on Friday night. Earle plays The Molson Amphitheatre on August 20.

Uprooted Music Revue and The Georgia Straight have features on Alela Diane, in town at The Rivoli on June 11.

Beatroute talks to Kristen Reynolds of Dum Dum Girls, who are at Lee’s Palace on June 17 for NXNE.

Esquire, The Vancouver Sun and The Wall Street Journal talk to My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. My Morning Jacket are at The Kool Haus on July 11.

The Line Of Best Fit, Los Angeles Times, Contact Music and The Quietus get to know Erika Anderson, aka EMA. She’s at The Garrison on July 23.

Exclaim, The Daily Sundial, San Jose Mercury News and Filter have feature interviews with Death Cab For Cutie. They play The Molson Amphitheatre on July 29.

The New York Times profiles Bon Iver – the man, the band, the myth. The album of the same name is out on June 21 and they play The Sound Academy on August 8.

The Rosebuds, who open up that show and the whole tour for Bon Iver, are featured in pieces at Spin and Interview. Their new record Loud Planes Fly Low came out this week.

Matablog is offering the first listen to a song from Stephen Malkmus’ new album Mirror Traffic, set for an August 23 release.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Senator”

Daytrotter serves up a session with J Mascis.

PopMatters talks to Sharon Van Etten.

Hitfix interviews Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats chats with Drop D and his band stopped in at The AV Club Undercover to turn in a Jawbreaker cover.

NPR has posted a World Cafe session with Warpaint.

The Star-Tribune talks to Sam Beam of Iron & Wine.

The Quietus gets some time with The Kills’ Jamie Hince.

Frank YangWriteup of the evening over here.

Lower Dens
– Baltimore psych-pop quartet led by Jana Hunter released their debut Twin Hand Movement last year and released a new non-album single entitled “Batman” back in January.
Photos: Lower Dens @ Klub Krucial – March 18, 2011
MP3: Lower Dens – “Hospice Gates”

Noah & The Whale
– London folk-rockers gone synth-rockers with their third album, the just-released Last Night On Earth. Spinner, Chart and DIY have feature pieces on the band.
Photos: Noah & The Whale @ Lustre Pearl – March 18, 2011
MP3: Noah & The Whale – “The First Days Of Spring”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Love Of An Orchestra”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Blue Skies”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Five Years Time”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “2 Bodies 1 Heart”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Shape Of My Heart”

Lanterns On The Lake
– Orchestral dream-pop from the north of England newly signed to Bella Union should have their debut album out this year.
Photos: Lanterns On The Lake @ The Central Presbyterian Church – March 18, 2011
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “I Will Lay You Down”
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “Caught On The Way”
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “Under Stars”
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “This Year”
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “I Always Knew”
MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “Lonely Sail”

Revolver
– French pop outfit with a taste for rockabilly rhythms and cellos released Music For A While back in 2009. Aux.tv has a video session with the band.
Photos: Revolver @ Easy Tiger Patio – March 18, 2011
MP3: Revolver – “Get Around Town”
Video: Revolver – “Get Around Town”
Video: Revolver – “Leave Me Alone”
Video: Revolver – “Balulalow”

Frank YangI went into this year’s SxSW with a shorter than usual list of must-see acts, not necessarily because there wasn’t as much I was keen on seeing but because I just didn’t have the time to do a lot of research leading up to the festival – hence my frequent “what am I going to go see now?” moments throughout the week. One of those on the list, and who had been on my to-see list be it at SxSW or anywhere else, was Baltimore’s Lower Dens.

Their debut Twin Hand Movement had been recommended to me at some point last year and though I wouldn’t say I fell in love with it, I did find myself compelled to keep listening to it over and over again. It sounded to me like a Deerhunter that I actually liked, sharing a sort of garage-gaze aesthetic but with Jana Hunter’s project creating a sense of mystery rather than Bradford Cox’s meandering. Purely subjective and not a popular position, I know, but there it is.

And for the start of the evening’s program, at the unfortunately-named Klub Krucial, there was Lower Dens. I’d been warned that they weren’t the most visually appealing band – not as in ugly but as in not doing much on stage – and it was true, but any shortcomings in that department were made up for in how aurally hypnotic they were, with Hunter’s languid and androgynous vocals and their hazy, spiralling guitarwork. Their allotted time slot was shorter than a standard set at the festival, but I had gotten what I needed.

It was then back to Lustre Pearl, which at this rate I would surely have become Foursquare mayor of had there been any cell reception there. This time it was to see Noah & The Whale, whose Toronto show I’d be missing this week in favour of British Sea Power the same night. The English quartet had just released Last Night On Earth and with it, essentially reinvented themselves for the third time in as many albums. After the bouncy folk-pop of their debut and the depressive orchestration of First Days Of Spring, Night finds them again feeling upbeat and enamoured with ’80s New Romantic synth-pop and The Velvet Underground and trying to make the two mix. And while the lyrics on Night are rather banal – Charlie Fink is not a poet and this record lacks the earnest emotionalism that carried Spring through some of its clunkier moments – the band has an irresistible melodic sensibility and inherent charm that makes them difficult to dislike. And live, they’ve also got volume at their disposal. You wouldn’t expect it, but Noah & The Whale were one of the loudest bands of the fest so far, and the application of sonic force acted as a great unifier for the different styles – folk? Orch? Synth? Rock.

Completely un-rock but wholly enthralling was northern England’s Lanterns On The Lake, who were a recommendation from a reader (thanks Giselle!) and showcasing at the Central Presbyterian Church. Recently signed to Bella Union, the six-piece often playing facing each other on the church dias rather than the audience in the pews while crafting some of the prettiest sounds I’d hear all week. With singer Hazel Wilde’s delicate vocals overtop, their widescreen songs ebbed and tided like the ocean on rocky shores, possessing the dynamics of post-rock, the textures of shoegaze rendered orchestrally and the intimacy of folk or singer-songwriter, with all the unlike facets complimenting each other rather than conflicting. Simultaneously soothing and heart-rending, Lanterns On The Lake would be one of my best discoveries of the festival.

The intention had been to close out the night at Buffalo Billiards for some familiar sights and sounds with The Joy Formidable and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, but I was apparently one of hundreds with the same plan and so while the badge was effective at getting me into the venue, it couldn’t help me get any closer to the stage than about 10 rows of unusually tall people back. Which in and of itself wouldn’t have been a dealbreaker but the fact that The Joy Formidable were running about 20 minutes late made the futility of the situation clear, and I cut my losses and engaged plan B.

This involved battling my way the length of 6th St to the Easy Tiger Patio for Paris’ Revolver, even though I skipped seeing them back home at the start of the month. That choice was more out of self-preservation than lack of interest, however, so I was pleased for the opportunity to make up for it. I wasn’t sure what sort of turnout to expect for a French band in the heart of Texas, but the patio was quite happily full for their set. And really, why not – their vein of power pop has distinctly Americana/rockabilly overtones and you don’t need to be of any particular nationality to appreciate their impeccable 3-part harmonies and classic(al) melodicism. Superb stuff and a top way to end the night. Technically, I could have found one more showcase for the 1AM slot but there wasn’t anything I particularly wanted to see that I could get into and by the third night of SxSW, you’d have to be a pretty damned interesting band to win out over sleep.