Kjell B PerssonKnow what the worst thing about not going to SXSW this Spring was? Not missing SXSW, but not having my previously annual late-Winter vacation. In fact, save for a weekend jaunt to New York last November, the last time I got out of the 416 was Labour Day – that’s well over eight months ago, and right mental. And while I’d like to say that the European theme of this post is a hint as to where I’m getting away to, it unfortunately is not. I still hope to make it across the Atlantic later this Summer – who wants to go to Stockholm? – but for now, an extra-long weekend getaway to Chicago is going to have to scratch my “get out of EDT” itch. I’ll check back in before next week’s end, but we be going dark for a bit after this. Or after tomorrow, because I have a quick contest to put up. Anyways.

To keep you company – and to build up the Swedish travel karma – you can now stream in whole Above The City, the new near-perfect blend of dancefloor beats and indie-pop moping from Swede-pop veterans Club 8, which is officially out on May 21. And to go along with the stream, the Johan Angergård half of the band talks to Billboard about his and Karolina Komstedt’s first record in three years, the status of his other project The Legends, and what’s coming next from his label Labrador, and over at DIY he offers a track-by-track walkthrough of the record.

Stream: Club 8 / Above The City

With their debut album No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers out now, Copenhagen’s Vår have posted the thing up at Pitchfork for your streaming pleasure.

Stream: Vår / No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers

The Vancouver Sun and The Province interview Icelandic ambassadors Of Monsters & Men, in town at Echo Beach for CBCMusic.ca Fest at Echo Beach on May 25.

Camera Obscura have made another new track from their forthcoming Desire Lines available to stream. The record is out June 4 and they play Garrison Commons for TURF on July 4.

Stream: Camera Obscura – “Fifth In Line To The Throne”

Russell Lissack talks to The Miami New times about new music that Bloc Party might be releasing later this Summer. They play the Arts & Crafts Field Trip fest at Garrison Commons on June 8.

Though of small comfort to those of us who missed out on seeing it in person thanks to the illness that tanked their show during CMF, 4AD has announced they will release a live Efterklang album recorded in Fall 2012 with the Copenhagen Philharmonic. The Piramida Concert will be available as a digital download and vinyl package and be out June 10.

Stream: Efterklang – “The Living Layer + Vælv” (live)

Jónsi þór Birgisson gives Premier Guitar a guided tour of his live guitar rig with Sigur Rós. Their new record Kveikur is out June 18, and they’re on The Simpsons this Sunday night.

Stereogum talks to Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, whose new album More Light is out in North America on June 18.

The Los Angeles Times reports that former Belle & Sebastian bassist Stuart David will be writing his memoirs about his time in the band, which started from its very inception – he founded it with Stuart Murdoch in 1996 – through his departure following Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant in 2000.

aux.tv has a feature-length interview and NPR a video session with Savages, coming to town for a show at The Mod Club on July 16.

Billboard and USA Today check in with the ladies of Icona Pop, coming to town as part of the Grove Fest lineup at Garrison Common on August 3.

Franz Ferdinand have announced the August 27 release of their fourth record, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action; The Line Of Best Fit has details and Domino has an album trailer, but the important thing is it’s only three more months until people can complain that the new record isn’t as good as their first.

Trailer: Franz Ferdinand / Right Thoughts, Right Words Right Action

Dreamy English folk-pop purveyors Lanterns On The Lake aren’t offering any specifics on their second album besides that it’ll be out later this year, but they have released a first video from it.

Video: Lanterns On The Lake – “Another Tale From Another English Town”

Melody’s Echo Chamber have a new video from last year’s self-titled debut.

Video: Melody’s Echo Chamber – “Some Time Alone, Alone”

The Quietus gets an interview with The Knife.

The Independent profiles Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

The Line Of Best Fit grabs Neil Halstead for a video session.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews British Sea Power.

The Province, Seattle Weekly, and The San Francisco Examiner interview Kate Nash.

Mark SeligerApologies for going for the low-hanging fruit with this one, but I don’t have the time or energy to squeeze out something more interesting. So you get this. And pro tip: providing a current photo with credit really goes a long way towards leading off a post.

Anyways, The Rolling Stones – perhaps you’ve heard of them – finally announced their long-rumoured, basically inevitable 50th anniversary North American tour yesterday, and while it’s only nine dates long, at least for now, Toronto makes the cut – the Stones will be at the Air Canada Centre on May 25, with tickets running a not surprising but still eye-popping $147.25 to $597.25, on sale April 8 at 10AM. Update: And a second show has been added for June 6. No, it’s not any cheaper.

The Chicago Tribune has a well-timed interview with Mick Jagger where such topics as, “why arenas and not stadiums?”, “why so expensive?”, and “what special guests might we expect?” are covered – the last of which was already covered earlier in the day when it was confirmed that former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor would be making appearances with the band on all of the North American dates – good news for those for whom the early ’70s is their favourite Stones era. And who have lots and lots of money to spend on a single concert.

Video: The Rolling Stones – “Brown Sugar” (live)

To celebrate the North American release of For Now I Am Winter this week, Ólafur Arnalds submitted to an “Ask Me Anything” at Reddit, is the subject of features at Interview and Live High Five, and has a video session up at Yahoo!.

The Quietus, The Guardian, and Digital Spy talk to Guy Chadwick of The House Of Love, whose new album She Paints Words In Red was finally released this week.

Exclaim and BBC America talk to Jessie Ware, who has also compiled and annotated a mixtape for The AV Club. The makes her Toronto debut at The Opera House on April 6 and releases Devotion in North America on April 16.

James Blake has released a new video from Overgrown, out next week on April 9. He plays The Danforth Music Hall on May 4.

Video: James Blake – “Voyeur”

Pitchfork have the advance stream of Shaking The Habitual, the new opus from The Knife, while Filter has an interview. The album is due out next week on April 9.

Stream: The Knife / Shaking The Habitual

The Joy Formidable talks Record Store Day – for which they’re releasing a cover of Springsteen’s “Badlands” as a b-side on a 7″ – with Rolling Stone and answers other questions for Columbus Live, The Chicago Sun-Times, and London On The Inside. They play The Phoenix on April 12.

Charli XCX has rolled out a new video from her debut True Romance, due out April 16. She opens up for Marina & The Diamonds at Echo Beach on May 23.

Video: Charli XCX – “What I Like”

Spin, MTV, Rolling Stone, WNYC, and Stereogum talk to Phoenix about their new album Bankrupt!, which is out April 23.

And that provides a good segue into some developments with The Grove Fest that Phoenix were supposed to headline in Niagara-On-The-Lake on August 3. You’ll note the use of the past tense there, and that’s because it’s no longer happening in Niagara-On-The-Lake, but as of yesterday was moved to Garrison Commons at Fort York in Toronto, with the lineup being trimmed of Macklemore, Pretty Lights, and Bob Mould and ticket prices being dropped to $59.50. And before you chalk it up to a dearth of Phoenix and Hot Chip fans in western New York, this Hamilton Spectator piece hints that it may have been as much NIMBY-ism as soft sales responsible for the relocation and doubling-down on the GTA market. In any case, it’s a bit of 416 festival nostalgia as the lineup that felt mostly like a Rogers Picnic is now enjoying some V Fest-esque drama.

Consequence Of Sound interviews Palma Violets, who are in town at Lee’s Palace on May 3 and again on August 3 at Garrison Common as part of the relocated Grove Fest.

Clash, The Province, Vancouver Sun, The Guardian, and Beatroute have interviews with Billy Bragg, in town at The Danforth Music Hall on May 3.

Cosmopolitan and The Line Of Best Fit talk to Victoria Hesketh of Little Boots about her new album Nocturnes, out May 6.

Primal Scream have released a new video from the forthcoming More Light, out May 13.

Video: Primal Scream – “It’s Alright, It’s OK”

Still Corners have released a new video from their forthcoming Strange Pleasures, out May 7. And their previously-announced June 14 NXNE date is now the endpoint of a full North American tour – dates at Spin.

Video: Still Corners – “Berlin Lovers”

Exclaim talks to Savages ahead of the May 7 release of their debut Silence Yourself.

A Music Blog, Yea chats with Stornoway, in town at The Horseshoe on May 9.

Le Blogotheque has an Empty Space video session with Foals. They play The Kool Haus on May 11.

DIY gets a look at the making of Desire Lines from Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell. The album is out June 4 and they play Garrison Common for the Toronto Urban Roots Fest on July 4.

The xx stop in at NPR for a World Cafe session. They stop in for a big-ass show at Downsview Park on June 6.

Daytrotter have posted a session with Bloc Party, in town at Garrison Common as part of the Field Trip fest on June 8.

Spinner, Spin, and Consequence Of Sound chat with CHVRCHES, who’ve just premeired a new video from their debut full-length, due in September. They’re at The Hoxton on June 12.

Video: CHVRCHES – “Now Is Not The Time”

DIY, Clash, and Artrocker profile Peace, coming to town as part of NXNE on June 15.

At this point, I suspect only Chris Olley knows on any given day if Nottingham’s Six By Seven are a going concern or not, but for the moment it appears they once again are with a new album in Peace And Love And Sympathy slated for a June 10 release. And while it’s been a while since they’ve done anything really memorable since 2004’s :04, the two sample tracks they’ve got available to stream sound way more intense and focused on either Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves or If Symptoms Persist, Kill Your Doctor – “Truce” is all kinds of angry, and an angry Six By Seven is a potent Six By Seven. And if you’re not familiar with this criminally underappreciated band, treat yourself to a free compilation of what band principal Olley has been up to over the past decade. Or just listen to “Bochum” on repeat all day.

Stream: Six By Seven – “Sympathy”
Stream: Six By Seven – “Truce”

Polly Scattergood has a video for the first single from her forthcoming album Arrows, slated for June 14 release.

Video: Polly Scattergood – “Wanderlust”

For those waiting for some east coast Bat For Lashes dates in support of The Haunted Man, good news and bad news. The good news is word has it she’s here on September 2. Bad news is it’s at the Molson Amphitheatre opening for Depeche Mode. Now if you’re a Depeche Mode fan as well, great. If not, then… oh well.

MP3: Bat For Lashes – “Oh Yeah”

NPR welcomes Richard Thompson for a World Cafe session.

PopMatters has excerpted some of The Stone Roses: War And Peace, the new book about – wait for it – The Stone Roses.

NPR serves up a video session with Frightened Rabbit.

Spinner talks riot grrl with Kate Nash.

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with Melody’s Echo Chamber.

A Heart Is A Spade interviews The Deer Tracks.

Angel CeballosThe serial as a form of structure is hardly uncommon in art these days; it’s the standard for television, has been used as long as books have been published, and is increasingly the norm in cinema. In popular music, however, it’s almost the complete opposite – the three-minute single – which remains the fundamental unit of currency. But don’t tell that to Gävle, Sweden’s The Deer Tracks – the duo of David Lehnberg and Elin Lindfors have spent the last two years crafting an epic song cycle they’ve called The Archer Trilogy, stretching over an EP and two albums and 103 minutes – to say nothing of the 40-minute ambient prologue.

And what’s more remarkable than the ambition – after all, anyone can come up with a grand concept – is how well they’ve pulled it off. The Archer Trilogy is a remarkably stylistically and thematically cohesive arc of distinctly Scandinavian múm-meets-Postal Service synth-pop that’s by turns atmospheric and anthemic, frail and forceful, mysterious and vulnerable, but always beautiful – and all written, recording, and toured worldwide in a few years. The third and final instalment was released in January and while it doesn’t contain the same heart-bursting moments as “Fa-Fire” or “The Archer” from the middle part, it’s more than a satisfying Jedi to Part 2‘s Empire, veering into more thoughtful if marginally less immediate territory as it glides to the finish line.

As The Deer Tracks tour the complete Archer Trilogy across North America, David was kind enough to answer some questions via email about making a trilogy of records. They’re at The Silver Dollar tonight around midnight and you may recall I skipped The Flaming Lips at NXNE last year to see them play and don’t regret it a bit– so consider that an endorsement.

How far in advance did you plan out the three parts of the trilogy? Was it written as you went along, or was it a fully-conceived whole from the beginning?

We planned to do a trilogy from the start. We wanted to do something that would grow with and on to us over a longer period of time. We had the whole idea story behind it mapped out and then we deliberately took different paths to come up with the end result.

Did you have an actual narrative in mind to tie together the three (or four, counting Prologue) parts of “The Archer Trilogy”? If so, is it meant to be discernable to the listener?

If you listen to the whole thing I think everything falls into place what the whole idea with this trilogy is. That there is a deeper meaning to the four parts and that their bond is obvious. It is like an own microcosms with it’s universal cycle of life, death and foreverness.

Did you have a specific aesthetic you wanted stick to across the albums? Did you find yourselves having to shelve good ideas because they didn’t fit, did you make them fit, or did you let the work evolve as you wanted it to?

The work with this trilogy has been lovely, inspirational, brutal, mind twisting, haunting and everything else in between and beyond. To develop a trilogy of a three part recording series (+ an Prologue) was a big adventure. It helped us understand a lot about ourselves as musicians, friends, spiritually beings and as most of all, what it really is to have a musical bond with someone else.

Should fans expect your next work to sound different from The Archer Trilogy? Are there aspects to The Deer Tracks that you’re looking forward to exploring next?

If you truly believe that only your own imagination and musical mind can hold you back, anything is possible in a universe of creativity. Now we can’t wait to share our journey and discoverys with you on another album. That will probably take on a another shape and form both sound and music wise. Creativity and exploring is what we love the most. Repetition is not.

The Huffington Post and Minnesota Daily also have interviews with the band.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “Dark Passenger”

The Mary Onettes are streaming the title track of their new album Hit The Waves, out March 19.

Stream: The Mary Onettes – “Hit The Waves”

Junip have released the first video from their new self-titled album, due out April 23.

Video: Junip – “Line Of Fire”

El Perro Del Mar has a new video from her latest album, Pale Fire.

Video: El Perro Del Mar – “I Was A Boy”

Swede-pop veterans Club 8 have announced a May 21 release date for their eighth album Above The City.

Elliphant is the stage name of one Elinor Olovosdotter, a new artist from Stockholm who’s another entry in the ever-expanding electropop field; she’s in town opening up for Twin Shadow at The Phoenix on June 7 so if you’re going or thinking about it, have a listen.

MP3: Elliphant – “Down On Life”
Video: Elliphant – “Live Till I Die”
Video: Elliphant – “Down On Life”

Rolling Stone interviews Iceage, in town for NXNE on June 15 and/or 16.

Paste has premiered the new video from Ólafur Arnalds’ forthcoming For Now I Am Winter, available in North America on April 2.

Video: Ólafur Arnalds – “Old Skin”

Drowned In Sound gets Phoenix bassist Deck d’Arcy on the horn to talk about their new album Bankrupt!, out April 22.

Melody’s Echo Chamber have put out a new video from last year’s self-titled debut.

Video: Melody’s Echo Chamber – “Crystallized”

Esquire offers some style tips from the career of Nick Cave. He will be dressed how he’s dressed at Massey Hall on March 23.

Marino ThorlaciusI didn’t actually bring back a lot of souvenirs from my trip to Iceland in Fall 2011; a super-warm Kaldi hat (which has served me quite well this Winter), a package of Cronions (though I should have brought back a case), a whackload of photos (ponies!), my first car accident (cars on the inside lane of their roundabouts have the right of way, fyi), and a deep appreciation for the music of Ólafur Arnalds.

I didn’t even catch the entirety of his set at Iceland Airwaves, but what I did see from the 25-year old electronic/classical composer – he on piano and laptop, leading a string quartet and accompanied by elegant animated birds – left a deep impression. I immediately got a copy of his 2010 album …And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness – still one of my go-to escapist records, not least of all because it transports me back to Reykjavik, and have been eagerly awaiting the follow-up ever since.

That album is For Now I Am Winter and after offering the first preview track a few weeks ago, he’s now made a second track available to both listen to and play with, as it’s streaming as an interactive web application on his website that allows you to play with the mix in real time, turning channels on and off as you like. Obviously it sounds best as a fully-realized composition, but being able to isolate and analyze the finer details of his work also offers insights into the work. Both advance tracks represent a pretty familiar aspect of Arnalds’ work, but Winter should offer more than a few surprises as well – in addition to enlisting American composer Nico Muhly to assist on the orchestrations, Arnór Dan of Icelandic band Agent Fresco also contributes vocals – yes, vocals – to three tracks. For Now I Am Winter is out February 25 in Europe and April 2 in North America.

Stream: Ólafur Arnalds – “Only The Wind”
Stream: Ólafur Arnalds – “This Place Was A Shelter”

Sweden’s Deer Tracks will release their new album The Archer Trilogy, Pt. 3 tomorrow and are streaming the whole thing right now at Rdio. Yeah, you have to sign up for their streaming service but my understanding is that a) it’s great, and b) it’s free – at least for now and for Canadians; Americans I’m sure can find a similar deal. The Deer Tracks are here at The Silver Dollar on February 28.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “W”
Stream: The Deer Tracks / The Archer Trilogy, Pt. 3

The Line Of Best Fit has debuted a stream of another track from the new Shout Out Louds record Optica, due out February 26. They play The Opera House on May 14.

Stream: Shout Out Louds – “Illusions”

Spin has an interview with German electro-gaze auteur Ulrich Schnauss, as well as a stream of his new album A Long Way To Fall, out tomorrow.

Stream: Ulrich Schnauss / A Long Way To Fall

Weird World Record Co has posted a stream of a new/old song from Melody’s Echo Chamber, the original version of the song that would be transmogrified into “IsThatWhatYouSaid” on last year’s self-titled debut.

Stream: Melody’s Echo Chamber – “Je Me Perds de Vue”

Clash talks to Veronica Falls about their new record Waiting For Something To Happen, out tomorrow. They play The Garrison on March 12.

Foals guitarist Jimmy Smith talks to Consequence Of Sound and frontman Yannis Philippakis to The Fly about their new record Holy Fire, in stores tomorrow.

James Blake has offered some context to the Spring tour that brings him to the Danforth Music Hall on May 4; Under The Radar reports his new album Overgrown will be out April 8 and the first video from it surfaced this weekend.

Video: James Blake – “Retrograde”

Hat tip to Gorilla Vs Bear for pointing out the HD video of Jessie Ware’s radio session for KCRW. She’s in town at The Opera House on April 6.

State has an interview with Frightened Rabbit, who also offer up a video session to The Line Of Best Fit. They’re at The Phoenix on March 31.

Magnet interviews The Joy Formidable for the position of guest editor of their website for this week. They play The Phoenix April 12.

DIY has details on the debut album from Ireland’s Little Green Cars. Absolute Zero will be out on May 13, which means they won’t have copies for sale when they play The Drake on March 28. The first video from it is also geoblocked in Canada/North America because sometimes people are awful.

Video: Little Green Cars – “Harper Lee”

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are streaming their new record Push The Sky Away at The Guardian ahead of its official release on February 19. They’ve also released a new video starring Ray Winstone and various seedy goings-on. Nick Cave and company are at Massey Hall on March 23.

Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Jubilee Street”
Stream: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Push The Sky Away

The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with Shugo Tokumaru.

FacebookI don’t know what you’ve got planned this weekend – me, I’m going to go buy a curtain rod – but if you think you’ll require a ray of musical sunshine to brighten up the proceedings or, conversely, need a soundtrack to an itinerary full up to the gills with fun, you could do far worse than to fire up the advance stream of Shugo Tokumaru’s new record In Focus?, available to stream now at Under The Radar.

It’s the Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist’s fifth album, and like its predecessors its overflowing with creative instrumentation, chock full of mesmerizingly intricate pop compositions, and imbued with a childlike whimsy designed to beguile and delight. Its melodicism transcends any language barrier, and really – do you know how to say, “la la la” in Japanese? It’s “la la la”.

MP3: Shugo Tokumaru – “Decorate”
Video: Shugo Tokumaru – “Decorate”
Stream: Shugo Tokumaru / In Focus?

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have made a second track from their forthcoming Push The Sky Away available to preview by way of a lyric video. The album is out February 19 and they play Massey Hall on March 23.

Lyric Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Jubilee Street”

Aquarium Drunkard has posted a session with Melody’s Echo Chamber that you can download for your listening pleasure, perhaps while you read this interview with Melody Prochet at Tonedeaf.

The 405 reports that Phoenix are getting ready to release the follow-up to 2009’s absurdly successful Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and the record will be called Bankrupt!. Which the band hopefully are not.

Pitchfork checks in with Denmark’s Iceage about their forthcoming album You’re Nothing, due out February 19.

Under The Radar talks to Maria Lindén of I Break Horses about the highs and lows of her 2012, the latter of which included having to cancel their Fall North American tour due to lack of funds. On the plus side, they’re recording a new record this year and will hopefully be making up those aborted dates with new material to play.

The Deer Tracks are ready to mark the February 12 release of The Archer Trilogy Pt. 3 properly – which is to say with a North American tour that includes a February 28 date at The Silver Dollar. They were incredible at NXNE 2012 so you can be sure expectations are high for this show. They’ve also released the first video from the new album, premiering it along with the full routing of their Spring trek at All Things Go. Do catch them if it’s at all possible, and if you happen to make it over to their hometown of Gävle, Sweden, use this handy guide of bands to see they provided to CMJ.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “W”
Video: The Deer Tracks – “Lazarus”

CBC Music talked to Gustaf Karlöf of Niki & The Dove ahead of their Canadian shows earlier this week.

The Line Of Best Fit has premiered the second video from the new Shout Out Louds album Optica, in stores February 26. They’re in town at The Opera House on May 14.

Video: Shout Out Louds – “Walking In Your Footsteps”

Junip have streamed the first track from their new self-titled album, due out April 23.

Stream: Junip – “Line Of Fire”

Ólafur Arnalds has premiered a sample from his next album For Now I Am Winter over at Drowned In Sound. The album is out February 25.

Stream: Ólafur Arnalds – “This Place Was A Shelter”