WarpNo question Stephin Merritt is a smart and fascinating guy, but I don’t know if he’s necessarily the kind of person you’d want to take psychoactive class A drugs with. Not that he makes much of a case for doing so on the original version of this tune from The Magnetic Fields’ 1994 album Holiday – I mean, the instrumentation is all fun and tinker toy-ish, but his trademark mono/baritone is about as euphoric as a dentist’s appointment. And those must have been in the director’s notes, because the version with Susan Anway on vox that appeared on last year’s Obscurities really wasn’t any chippier.

Sacramento dance-rock crew !!! rectified this somewhat on a 2005 12″ with “Take Ecstasy With Me” as the a-side and Nate Dogg’s “Get Up” on the reverse. It’s definitely dancier than the original and while it doesn’t get too mind-bendy, is a much more compelling invitation to and soundtrack for geting tripped out.

The Magnetic Fields made their return to synths earlier this year with Love At The Bottom Of The Sea. !!! are due out a new album – Strange Weather, Isn’t It is almost two years old now – but it won’t be out in time for their show at Lee’s Palace this Saturday night.

MP3: !!! – “Take Ecstasy With Me”
Stream: The Magnetic Fields – “Take Ecstasy With Me”

AntiJust as yesterday offered a flurry of tour announcements, today we’ve got a few pretty high-profile artists offering details on new albums; two from artists who have been away for some time and one from an act that’s barely taken a moment to breathe.

First, you’ve got Tuscon’s Calexico. They’ve kept fans appeased with the Road Atlas compilations of previously tour-only material, but no one’s forgotten it’s been some time since they released 2008’s Carried To Dust – almost four years to the day by the time their new record Algiers is released on September 11, their first for Anti- what with their long-time label Quarterstick having folded in 2009.

The band already have a full slate of Fall tour dates lined up, but they’re mostly all in Europe – fear not, though, the chances they won’t be rolling through so soothe your soul with the sounds of the desert soon enough are slim to none. And in the meantime, there’s a new video that offers the first sample of the new album to savour.

Video: Calexico – “Para”

It’s been three years since we last heard from Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear and their breakout Veckatimest, and while their break has been well-earned and peppered with solo projects, news that their new album will finally be out on September 18 should please many out there. And while it doesn’t yet have a name, it does have a first track available to stream and a world tour to support it; Toronto can look forward to hearing those harmonies fill Massey Hall on September 26; tickets are $45.89 – fees included – and go on sale Friday at 10AM. Album details and full tour dates can be had at Exclaim.

Stream: Grizzly Bear – “Sleeping Ute”

I don’t think anyone was necessarily expecting to hear from The Antlers anytime soon – they released Burst Apart just over a year ago and even just released a final single from it in the UK at the end of April. But clearly taking a break isn’t for them, as they’ve announced a new release – also their first for Anti- – entitled Undersea due out on July 24. No samples or specifics yet, but there is a website and a trailer. Update: Pitchfork reports that Undersea isn’t a full-length, but a four-song EP.

Trailer: The Antlers / Undersea

The final two installments in the Archers Of Loaf remaster and bonus-laden reissue program – All The Nation’s Airports and White Trash Heroes – will be released simultaneously on August 7; a track from the latter has been made available to download. While it’s great that these editions will finally be out, one hopes that this doesn’t mark the end of the Archers Of Loaf reunion… They’re at The Phoenix on June 16.

MP3: Archers Of Loaf – “Dead Red Eyes”

Bob Mould talks to Clash about the Sugar years, the recorded output of which will be re-released on July 24.

The whole of The Afghan Whigs’ set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona last weekend is available to watch in quite-good audio and video. And if you want to further pretend you were in Spain for the festival, WFMU has audio streams of many of the sets from the first two days; one assumes the third day will be forthcoming.

Video: The Afghan Whigs @ San Miguel Primavera Sound – May 31, 2012

The sixth and final part of The AV Club’s retrospective look at R.E.M. is now up.

Ted Leo writes for Spin about a youth informed by the musical works of Rush.

NPR has a World Cafe session with The Magnetic Fields.

Daytrotter has posted a session with Eisley.

The final installment of Room 205’s video session with Blouse is now up.

Spinner chats with Bethany Cosentino and The Dallas Observer with Bobb Bruno, both of Best Coast. They’re in town at The Phoenix on July 21.

Guitar World talks six-strings with Lauren Larson of Ume. There’s also an interview at Houston Press.

Frank YangCosmic questions: What makes an artist put a respectable if underappreciated solo career on hold in order to play drums for a band that’s sold hundreds of thousands of records and gone platinum in the UK? And what makes that same artist leave that band in order to not resurrect their former solo career but start a completely new one? Okay, the first one is kind of a no-brainer but the second one is more of a puzzle, one that Baltimore-born, Los Angeles-based Josh Tillman is uniquely positioned to answer. He was plugging away as J Tillman since 2005 before joining Fleet Foxes in 2008 to tour behind their self-titled debut and while he continued to release solo albums, following the end of the Helplessness Blues touring cycle he announced he was leaving the band – but not to go back to being J. Tillman; instead to begin being Father John Misty.

If you do find yourself in a position to pose the above questions to Tillman, don’t be surprised if by way of an answer he just hands you a copy of Fear Fun, the just-released Father John Misty debut because it does, indeed, tell you why. Whereas the J. Tillman-branded material was pretty easily slotted as acoustic singer-songwriter fare, Fear Fun is nowhere near as easy to categorize. Suffused with ’70s-era country-rock vibes , it sounds as though Tillman gathered inspiration on his drive home from Seattle by routing through Bakersfield, the Laurel Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, and Reno, Nevada before pulling up in Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. Gram Parsons’ “cosmic American music” quote gets trotted out a lot when describing music with a country-rock lineage but it applies to Father John Misty more than anything I’ve heard in recent years. Parsons would have approved of the album art as well, I think. In short, it’s not called J. Tillman because it sounds nothing like J. Tillman. Or Fleet Foxes, for that matter, though you can bet that was the hook for many/most of those who piled into the Horseshoe on Monday night for the band’s Toronto debut.

Support came from another Tillman, the unrelated Sean who himself had a few musical projects to juggle. I had seen him with Sean Na Na when they opened up for The Hold Steady in this same room back in 2006, but rather than showing off that project’s classic rock stylings, he was here as Har Mar Superstar and he was going to take off his pants. But that’s getting a bit ahead of things. Things started with Tillman fully-dressed – overdressed, really – and fronting a four-piece band that included Josh Tillman on drums but as their set progressed and their funk-soul groove gathered steam, he stripped down item by item until, by the final song of their set, it was just Tillman in his short, sweaty, paunchy glory clad only in a pair of briefs (and socks and shoes). Even a cursory bit of research about Har Mar beforehand would have revealed this was what they were about but even if you knew what was coming, it was still something to behold. Like with Sean Na Na it was almost a shame that Tillman’s onstage persona overshadowed the music – which was more than legit – but the net entertainment value was nothing to complain about. Though I wish there was more breakdancing.

Besides being a superb drummer and vocalist, Josh Tillman’s main contribution to Fleet Foxes was as the comic relief during their live shows – the guy was all kinds of funny from behind the kit. So while seeing him up front with no instrument in hand was a bit odd, you at least knew that there’d be no feeling awkward about being the centre of attention and really, you can’t keep presence like his behind a drum kit. Tillman was a litany of stage moves – shimmies, points, mic stand dancing – while leading his five-piece band through bigger, more rockier renderings of the Fear Fun material that emphasized the psychedelic aspects of the material. And of course there was the banter, which was random and hilarious and came with the added bonus of Tillman feeling extra punchy thanks to the Pitchfork review of his album earlier in the day, which despite being positive caused great offense. Towards the end of the show, Tillman mentioned that he had been “way too stoned” for the entire show – and the band passed around a lit joint as emphasis – and while that might have explained some of the the more out-there comments he made through the night, it made how tight and note-on their performance was even more impressive. Some folks may have came to the show as J. Tillman fans, most were probably Fleet Foxes fans but by the end of the show, they were all Father John Misty fans.

NOW also has a review of the show and Father John Misty already have a return engagement scheduled for July 12, when they open for Youth Lagoon at the Opera House.

Photos: Father John Misty, Har Mar Superstar @ The Horseshoe – May 14, 2012
MP3: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
MP3: Har Mar Superstar – “Cry 4 Help”
MP3: Har Mar Superstar – “Power Lunch”
MP3: Har Mar Superstar – “Brothers And Sisters”
Video: Father John Misty – “This Is Sally Hatchet”
Video: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
Video: Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “Tall Boy”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “DUI”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “Power Lunch”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “EZ Pass”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “Brothers & Sisters”
Video: Har Mar Superstar – “Body Request”

I don’t really know who Jonathan Coulton is – I gather he’s big on/via the internet – but the fact that he’s touring with John Roderick of The Long Winters makes the fact that said tour includes a June 6 date at The Mod Club worth noting. As is the fact that we are well overdue for a new Long Winters record.

MP3: Jonathan Coulton – “Washy Ad Jeffy”
MP3: The Long Winters – “Pushover”

The NXNE schedule is due out any day now, but word of some of the bigger shows are coming out a little beforehand. Like that White Rabbits and Vacationer will be at The Mod Club on June 14. The Independent ran a feature on the band a few weeks back.

MP3: White Rabbits – “Heavy Metal”
MP3: Vacationer – “Trip”

Your festival wristband will also be good for admission to see A Place To Bury Strangers at The El Mocambo on (I believe) June 14, where they’ll be previewing their new record Worship, out June 26. The Stool Pigeon has an interview with the band about the new record.

MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “You Are The One”

Rolling Stone is offering for download a version of the title track from Guided By Voices’ next record Class Clown Spots A UFO from when it was a Robert Pollard song. Which it still is, technically. The album is out June 19.

MP3: Robert Pollard – “Class Clown Spots A UFO”

State interviews Lower Dens, who’ve released a new video from Nootropics. They’re at Lee’s Palace on July 17.

Video: Lower Dens – “Nova Anthem”

DIY talks to Andrew Bird, who plays Echo Beach on July 19.

It being release week for Best Coast’s new one The Only Place, there’s plenty of press going around with Bethany Cosentino. Check out pieces at LA Weekly, The Guardian, Under The Radar, GQ, The Line Of Best Fit, and Vice. They play The Phoenix on July 21.

By the same token, lots of people are talking to Beach House about their just-released Bloom – people like The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Interview, and eMusic.

Loud & Quiet talks to Chairlift.

Daytrotter has a session with Shearwater and The AV Club an interview with Jonathan Meiburg.

Greg Dulli talks to The Village Voice and John Curley to Cincinnati.com about the Afghan Whigs reunion, which finally gets underway next week in New York.

NPR welcomes Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt for a WFUV video session.

Liz FlyntzIf we can regard Beach House literally as their namesake, which is to say as a holiday getaway, a reliably stolid place to escape from the real world, then the amount of adoration they’ve gotten for largely sticking to their skeletal formula through four albums now is understandable. Their fans don’t want them to reinvent themselves with each outing; they want that comforting blanket of Victoria Legrand’s narcoleptic vocals and whirring keyboard interwoven with Alex Scally’s languid slide guitar, and across their first two records – their 2006 self-titled debut and 2007’s Devotion – that’s almost exactly what they got, seasoned with some rudimentary percussion both electronic and organic.

The closest thing they’re ever likely to come to a revolution was with 2010’s Teen Dream, which managed to take a relatively huge leap forward with the production and songwriting, making interesting rhythms and pop hooks a front burner concern without compromising their core sound. A risk, perhaps, but one that paid off immensely in the form of their strongest and most critically and commercially successful work. So with that in mind, it’s not surprising that Bloom – out next Tuesday – opts to stay the course laid out by its predecessor. Surprises simply aren’t Beach House’s style.

Gorgeousness is, however. It took the aforementioned embrace of bigger sounds on Teen Dream to really make me appreciate Beach House – prior to that, I had to be in a very particular mood to listen to them for any period of time – and now they’re a band for all occasions. Having touring drummer Daniel Franz play on the whole of the record, a third member of the band even if he’s not formerly acknowledged as such, helps both ground and propel Bloom while Legrand and Scally do their thing in crafting the haunting textures and melodies that are the foundation of Beach House. And while we’re being literal about things, Bloom is an exceptionally appropriate name for this collection as there’s moments that simply burst outwards. To even suggest that the band be capable of this sort of dynamicism circa their debut would have seemed absurd, and yet just six years later, here we are – and without compromising their identity, no less.

It’s too early to say if Bloom is better than Teen Dream, but by the quantitative measure of how many times I’ve felt compelled to listen to it, it’s already well ahead. At worst, it’s as good as its predecessor and at best, its even better. In either case, it’s hard to imagine liking one and not the other and regardless of where you rank it relative to Beach House’s earlier output, despite really just being more of the same – or perhaps because of it – it’s excellent.

NPR has an advance stream of the new record and DIY, The Line Of Best Fit, The Orlando Sentinel, and Pitchfork have interviews with the band.

MP3: Beach House – “Myth”
Stream: Beach House / Bloom

Also streaming at NPR but two weeks ahead of release are The Only Place, the second album from Best Coast, and Passage, the debut from Exitmusic. Best Coast are at The Phoenix on July 21 and Exitmusic have a NXNE showcase at Wrongbar on June 14.

Stream: Best Coast / The Only Place
Stream: Exitmusic / Passage

S. Carey’s new EP Hoyas came out this week – stream it at Stereogum and read interviews with Sean Carey about the record at The Leader Telegram and Volume One.

MP3: S. Carey – “Two Angles”
Stream: S. Carey / Hoyas

In concert announcements, Joe Pernice will stretch his legs and take a mosey to The Dakota Tavern on June 22, maybe play some songs.

MP3: Pernice Brothers – “Somerville”

Having sold out Lee’s Palace their last time through, Youth Lagoon will be at The Opera House on July 12 with Father John Misty, who still has to get through Monday night’s show at the Horseshoe before he can make a return engagement. Tickets are $15.50 in advance.

MP3: Youth Lagoon – “July”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”

If part of Liars’ to-do list in preparation for the June 5 release of WIXIW was slate a North American tour, they can cross it off – they’ll be at Lee’s Palace on July 21, tickets $15. They can also check off releasing the first video from the new album.

MP3: Liars – “Scissor”
Video: Liars – “No. 1 Against The Rush”

Twin Shadow is also hitting the road in support of a new record – with Confess due out July 9, George Lewis Jr will be at Lee’s Palace on July 30 and 31, tickets $20.

MP3: Twin Shadow – “Five Seconds”
MP3: Twin Shadow – “Slow”

Merge has released a companion album to Crooked Fingers’ 2011 album Breaks In The Armor comprised of acoustic demos of the album. It’s out now and you can stream one of the tracks at Donewaiting.

Stream: Crooked Fingers – “Bad Blood” (acoustic)

Exclaim reports that some of The Mountain Goats’ early cassette releases from the early ’90s – The Hound Chronicles and Hot Garden Stomp, specifically – will be released on a single CD on June 26.

Fang Island have announced that their second album Major will be out on July 12; details at Spin.

Pop Etc have released a video from their self-titled debut, out June 12.

Video: Pop Etc – “Live It Up”

Explosions In The Sky have released a second video from last year’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care.

Video: Explosions In The Sky – “Postcard From 1952”

America Give Up has yielded another video from Minneapolis’ Howler.

Video: Howler – “This One’s Different”

Rolling Stone has premiered a new video from Mates Of State, off of last year’s Mountaintops.

Video: Mates Of State – “Unless I’m Led”

The Magnetic Fields have released a second video from Love At The Bottom Of The Sea.

Video: The Magnetic Fields – “Quick!”

Interview talks to Molly Hamilton of Widowspeak, in town at The Garrison on June 15 for NXNE.

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with Of Montreal, in town for NXNE on June 16 at Yonge-Dundas Square.

Artrocker and Drowned In Sound talk to A Place To Bury Strangers about their forthcoming album Worship, out June 26.

Red Eye and The Detroit Free Press talk to Andrew Bird, in town at Echo Beach on July 19.

Sharon Van Etten plays a video session for WBEZ; she’s at The Phoenix on July 31.

Pitchfork talks to Merrill Garbus and the director of the recent tUnE-yArDs video for “My Country”. She plays The Phoenix on August 1.

SF Weekly chats with John Vanderslice.

Reverb interviews Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.

NPR is streaming a KCRW radio session with M. Ward.

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Savoir Adore.

Ra Ra Riot talks to Spin about what they’ve got planned for album number three and to Grantland about their appreciation for hockey.

NPR has a WFUV session with Shearwater.

Spin gets a progress report on the next Dinosaur Jr album, due out later this Summer.

Greg Dulli takes The Skinny on a guided tour of The Afghan Whigs’ catalog.

Spin talks to Bob Mould about the 20th anniversary of Sugar’s Copper Blue and the single, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” in particular. Slicing Up Eyeballs reports that two of Mould’s ’90s albums – Bob Mould and The Last Dog & Pony Show – will be getting released as a three-disc set in the UK on June 18 with the third disc consisting of a live 1998 show.

The Atlantic reflects on the significance of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.

The AV Club has posted the fourth part of their look at the history of R.E.M..

Frank YangWhen I think back to School Of Seven Bells’ last headlining show in Toronto in September 2010 circa Disconnect From Desire, two things leap immediately to mind. One, that it was less than a month before Claudia Deheza announced her departure from the band and two, that it was shockingly poorly attended – as in you could count the dozens of people there on one hand from where I stood. That these come to mind before the fact that it was a great show – the best I’d seen from them at and not uncoincidentally the first time I saw them with a live drummer – was unfortunate.

Wednesday night wasn’t their first time back since then – they opened up for Interpol at The Sound Academy in February of 2011 – but it was their first in support of Ghostory, their third album and first as a duo, and first in front of their own local fanbase, however many that would turn out to be. To my ears they’d recovered quite well from losing a third of the band as far as writing and recording went, but was certainly curious to see how their live show adapted. Questions about whether or not they had fans in the 416 were thankfully answered early on as The Hoxton, while not nearly sold out, was respectably full. We’ll call that last show an exception, then.

Support on this tour came from fellow New Yorkers Exitmusic, a new act – their debut EP From Silence came out last year and their first full-length Passage is due May 22 – but one whose face may be familiar to viewers of Boardwalk Empire. Not that this tidbit offered any insight into what sort of music they might make; indeed, you don’t get much further from the sounds of the prohibition era than the dark and goth-y dreamscapes that they offered. They moved at a steady, determined pace that preferred to render dynamics on the scale of their set than in each individual song. Aleksa Palladino’s voice has a great range, but rather than show it off she tended to restrict it to what was necessary for the song – a commendable approach that you don’t hear as much as you should. Utilizing plenty of electronics but with few synthetic affectations, they succeeded at creating a distinct mood but were light on melody and the songs were ultimately only intermittently memorable.

I probably make too much out of the loss of Claudia Deheza from School Of Seven Bells. Certainly it disrupted my sense of symmetry and novelty, but as Ghostory proved it didn’t adversely affect them creatively, this show proved it wasn’t even a speed bump in their ever-improving live show. Recall that when they first started performing, it was as near to a literal translation of a studio project to stage as you could get with the Deheza sisters on guitar and keys flanking Ben Curtis on guitar, all playing over dense backing tracks – it sounded note-perfect, but felt overly mechanical. Now with their sound having evolved towards a full-on dance-rock hybrid, having a live drummer and keyboardist/backing vocalist augmenting Allie Deheza and Curtis may have made them a more conventional band, but also a much better one.

With Deheza as the focal point – okay, the glowing Ghostory glyphs on either side of the stage were also eye-catching – they worked a set that had good weight and flow and stretched equally across their discography, sounding much more organic than you might have expected but still sleek and gleaming where it counted. Allie Alvarado didn’t try to replace all of Claudia’s departed harmonies, but when called on to double Deheza as on “Iamundernodisguise”, she acquitted herself alright – for the most part though, they were able to get the listener to gently accept that that facet of the band was no more but it was going to be alright. It was impressive just how many great songs they’ve produced in just three albums and half a decade, but it was the set-closing selections from Alpinisms that still got me the most – “Half Asleep”, which opened the encore, is still pure and glorious pop. And this time, there were people there to see it.

The Detroit Free Press has an interview with School Of Seven Bells’ Ben Curtis and The Daily Kansan Q&As Exitmusic’s Aleksa Palladino.

Photos: School Of Seven Bells, Exitmusic @ The Hoxton – May 2, 2012
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Lafaye”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “The Night”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: Exitmusic – “The Sea”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Reappear”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Lafaye”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
Video: Exitmusic – “Passage”
Video: Exitmusic – “The Hours”

Before opening up for Bear In Heaven at The Garrison later that night, Blouse will stop in at Sonic Boom’s Kensington location this Saturday – May 5 – for a little record-shopping and in-store performing at 5PM. There’s features on the Portland dream-pop outfit at The Boston Phoenix and SSG Music.

MP3: Blouse – “Into Black”

Exclaim reports that How To Dress Well – the pseudonym of Brooklyn’s Tom Krell – will bring his take on R&B sounds backed by a full band to The Drake Underground on June 7 as part of a Summer tour, presumably in support of a new record.

Video: How To Dress Well – “Lover’s Start”

!!! have made a date for Lee’s Palace on July 7, tickets $16.50 in advance. Could a follow-up to 2010’s Strange Weather, Isn’t It? be on the way?

MP3: !!! – “AM/FM”
MP3: !!! – “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass”

After putting on a helluva show at The Horseshoe in November, Chicago soul outfit JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound will return to that same room for a show on July 13, tickets $9. For a taste of what to expect, check out their Epitonic Saki Session and read and interview at Go Pride Chicago. They also just released a new video from Want More.

MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Everything Will Be Fine”
MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Sister Ray Charles”
Video: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Sister Ray Charles”

Reunited San Diego hardcore legends Hot Snakes are coming to town for a show at The Horseshoe on September 21, tickets $20 in advance.

MP3: Hot Snakes – “Who Died”

NPR welcomes Hospitality for a Tiny Desk Concert. They’re at The Garrison tomorrow night – May 5 – opening up for Eleanor Friedberger.

NYC Taper has a recording of a recent Lower Dens show and Paste, Blurt, and The Baltimore Sun have interviews. They’re at Lee’s Palace on July 17.

Design Sponge gets a tour of Sharon Van Etten’s apartment. Can’t say I’m not disappointed that she’s got one of those terribly Crossley turntables… There’s also interviews at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Nashville Scene. Van Etten plays The Phoenix on July 31.

DIY interview Peter Silberman of The Antlers.

Perfume Genius has released a new video from Put Your Back N 2 It, starring Mike Hadreas and his mom.

Video: Perfume Genius – “Dark Parts”

The Alternate Side and The Guardian both have video sessions with The Magnetic Fields and The Silver Tongue an interview.