Seamus MurphyThroughout her career, Polly Jean Harvey has managed the difficult feat of being artistically chameleon-like from one to the next, each often stylistically miles removed from that which came before it, while remaining consistently interesting and by and large excellent throughout. Her last effort, 2007’s fragile piano-led White Chalk, certainly didn’t hint at what Let England Shake – out next week – has to offer.

Just posted to stream in its entirety at NPR, it’s a strange yet immediately compelling collection built around themes of nationalism and war. While has echoes of her past works – the urgency of her early records, the melody of her middle-period works and the stark beauty of recent recordings – it sounds completely fresh, with Harvey favouring the higher registers of her voice in a way that I, at least, haven’t heard before. I’m only a few listens in and already I’m finding myself connecting with it in way that I haven’t with her stuff before. This is an exciting development.

She’s only got three North American tour dates scheduled right now (Los Angeles, Coachella and New York) but considering she’s not toured over here properly in forever – her last Toronto date was in 2004 – I have to think or at least hope that more will be coming.

MP3: PJ Harvey – “Written On The Forehead”
Stream: PJ Harvey / Let England Shake

The Guardian and State interview Anna Calvi, whose self-titled debut is due out on March 1 and who will be at Wrongbar on March 11 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

The Quietus goes over their debut Violet Cries track by track with Esben & The Witch while Drowned In Sound gave them the keys to their whole website last week. Paste just interviews them. They’re also at Wrongbar on March 11 for Canadian Musicfest.

Billboard has a cover story on Adele in advance of the February 22 release of 21. NPR is streaming the album in its entirety as well as a half-hour live performance from the singer, who’s just announced a North American tour in suport of album number two, including a May 18 date at The Kool Haus in Toronto.

Stream: Adele / 21

NPR has a World Cafe session with Duffy.

PopMatters interviews Kate Nash.

Spinner talks to Mira Aroyo of Ladytron about their forthcoming Best of Ladytron: 00-10 compilation, due out March 29.

Micachu & The Shapes are still working on the follow-up to 2009’s left-field gem Jewellery, but in the interim will be releasing Chopped & Screwed, a collaboration with The London Sinfonetta that will be coming out on March 22. What’s it sound like? Click below and read this piece on the collaboration at Clash.

MP3: Micachu – “Everything”

Pitchfork talks to Jamie Smith of The xx about stuff both xx and not xx.

The Fly checks in with Friendly Fires, who are finishing up their second record Pala, due out in the Spring – certainly before their May 30 date at The Phoenix.

The Fly and The Scotsman profile The Joy Formidable, who follow up the North American release of The Big Roar with a date at The Horseshoe on April 2.

Magnet handed over the editorial chair of their website to White Lies last week. The Mirror has an interview.

The Boxer Rebellion have made a date at The Horseshoe for April 18 in support of their new record The Cold Still; tickets $13.50.

Video: The Boxer Rebellion – “Step Out Of The Car”

State, Exclaim and Clash interview The Go! Team, who bring their new record Rolling Blackouts to The Opera House on April 10. They’ve released a couple new videos and an MP3 from said record.

MP3: The Go! Team – “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.”
Video: The Go! Team – “Super Triangle”
Video: The Go! Team – “Secretary Song”

Guy Garvey discusses Elbow’s forthcoming new record build a rocket boys!, out March 8, with The Quietus.

Toronto fans disappointed there’s no official stop here for the upcoming Trash Can Sinatras tour would do well to look at their itinerary, email the address noted on the right and ask themselves just how much seeing them play an intimate house show is worth to them.

Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye discusses his new band’s debut Different Gear, Still Speeding with Spin. The record is out March 1.

Spinner reports that Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire is disappointed that their last single didn’t chart in the UK; perhaps they overestimated the appeal of an Ian McCulloch duet? Time to dig up Nina Persson’s phone number again, methinks.

The Quietus contemplates the legacy of Teenage Fanclub while The Line Of Best Fit has an acoustic session with Fanny side-project Jonny. Their self-titled debut is out April 12.

Billboard profiles Mumford & Sons.

NPR puts folk-rock legend Richard Thompson behind a Tiny Desk and makes him play a concert. The indignity.

Grand CrewSo everybody’s holidays going well? Been catching up with friends and family, perhaps indulging in a little post-holiday retail therapy? That’s largely been my last few days, and in between all that, watching lots and Lost and lots of television. So in the spirit of that sloth, here’s some stuff for y’all to watch – particularly if you, like me, are stuck at work this week.

Grand Crew is a site based out of France that I hadn’t heard of until last week, when they began spreading the word that they had a beautifully-shot, wonderfully recorded and intelligently-presented – check out the timeline/song-selector at the bottom – multi-camera concert of a solo Mountain Goats show in Paris from October of this year. John Darnielle and company have yet to tour The Life Of The World To Come up this way – hopefully in the new year – so until then, this recording will have to suffice. And wholly impressed by this show, some digging through the archives revealed similarly high-quality performances from The Big Pink, The xx and Micachu, amongst others. Worth taking some time out to enjoy, and that club looks beautiful to shot in – tasteful smoke machine, front-lighting… my shutter button-finger is getting twitchy.

The Big Pink are at the Mod Club on March 24. The xx are at the Kool Haus on April 20.

Video: The Mountain Goats @ Point Ephémère, Paris – October 13, 2009
Video: The xx @ Point Ephémère, Paris – April 29, 2009
Video: The Big Pink @ Point Ephémère, Paris – April 29, 2009
Video: Micachu & The Shapes @ Point Ephémère, Paris – April 21, 2009

Also coming out of Paris are a couple more noteworthy performance courtesy of La Blogotheque – a Take-Away Show from The Antlers and a Soiree de poche (pocket evening?) from The Dodos.

A bit closer to home, Southern Souls have posted a new performance from Diamond Rings, who you have no shortage of opportunities to see live over the next while – he’s performing at the big Tranzac New Year’s Eve throwdown happening, um, New Year’s Eve at the Tranzac, then opening up for Owen Pallett at the Mod Club on January 12 then at the Roundhouse on February 11 as part of Wavelength 500. And now’s as good a time as any to remind you that The D’Urbervilles, aka Diamond Rings’ rock’n’roll outfit, are playing The Drake Underground tonight as part of What’s In The Box. Spinner talks to John O’Regan about how things are coming with The D’Urbs’ next record.

And finally, Ohbijou stopped in at Toro Magazine’s studios for a video performance of “Jailbird Blues”.

Frank YangQ: Without a new record to promote – Mr. Love & Justice has been out for close to two years – what reason did Billy Bragg have for staging an ambitious cross-Canada tour?

A: Who cares? Any time you get the opportunity to see Billy Bragg live, you take it, no questions asked.

Of course, I say that having missed his last three appearances in Toronto – the September 2006 show at the Music Hall for not one but two weddings, the June 2008 in-store at HMV because I was working and the show that same night at Harbourfront for no reason I can recall. So Tuesday night’s show at the Phoenix marked the first occasion I’d see him perform since March 2006; in other words, far too long. The fact that this tour was somewhat without context was extra exciting, because the two proper shows of his I’d seen before were great but a little too rich with context – the 2006 show was to promote his Volume 1 box set and as such, only included material from that era and the July 2003 show at the El Mocambo was part of his “Talkin’ Woody” tour and as such, was almost 100% Woody. So it goes without saying that there was a LOT of material I’d been waiting a long, long time to hear live.

Support for the tour was perfectly chosen, with none other than hometowner Ron Hawkins – former frontman for my beloved Lowest Of The Low – kicking things off. It was an eminently logical choice as The Low and Bragg had played together back in the ’90s and Hawkins’ sharp folk-punk songwriting owes Bragg more than a few debts. Performing solo and acoustic, Hawkins showcased material from his new album 10 Kinds Of Lonely amidst some great banter, a tune from his other old outfit The Rusty Nails and a gorgeous and unexpected cover of Ryan Adams’ “Oh My Sweet Carolina”. Damn, Adams had the goods before he lost his mind. And Hawkins, happily, still does. He plays a show at the Dakota Tavern tonight before hitting the road out west with Bragg.

I’ve never seen Billy Bragg play with a band, but having heard live recordings of he with The Blokes, I’m perfectly fine with that. Not that they sound bad – not at all – but when it comes down to it, all Bragg needs is an electric guitar. And a cup of tea. Kicking things off with the oldest of the old school “World Turned Upside Down” before leaping ahead to a sublime pair of those aforementioned never-heard-live tunes from Don’t Try This At Home – “Accident Waiting to Happen” and “Cindy of A Thousand Lives”. Yeah, this was going to be a good night. At first, however, it seemed that Billy might disagree. Though sounding fine, he seemed a bit distracted or even perturbed at first – at least not the gregarious rabble-rouser he usually was.

A few songs in, when he got chattier, he revealed one of the reasons for his mood – just a couple days prior, it was announced that the execrable leader of the ultra-right British National Party, Nick Griffin, was going to be running for Parliament in Bragg’s very own home riding of Barking – the sort of news would drive any sensible person up the wall, let alone one as politically-minded and leftist as Bragg. He quickly got into proper form, however, and that along with myriad other injustices in the world – politicians, bankers, the military, North American football (or “runny runny catchy”, as he called it) – were called out and used as fuel for his performance.

As always, his between-song banter was as essential a part of the show as the songs themselves, and while we didn’t get a Morrissey story this time out, but there were fine tales about Woody Guthrie’s tumescence (with regards to “Ingrid Bergman”), his reaction to the misreported death of Margaret Thatcher, guitar quotes of “Seven Nation Army” and “Smoke On The Water” during the implied trumpet solo in “The Saturday Boy” and a profanity-riddled reading of poet John Cooper Clarke’s “Evidently Chickentown” to name but a few high points.

For all the funning, though, Bragg never travels without a message or two and those were well conveyed through anthems like “NPWA” and “O Freedom”, the latter introduced with a pointed comment about Canada’s handling of the Omar Khdar affair. But rather than accuse and criticize, Bragg was aware that he was largely preaching to the converted with the mostly-packed Phoenix audience and devoted most of his efforts to inspiring and mobilizing, decrying cynicism as the real enemy. To punctuate the point, the main set wrapped with a rousing run of “All You Fascists”, “I Keep Faith” and “There Is Power In A Union”. Heady stuff, indeed.

And it wasn’t done. Coming back out for the encore almost as soon as he stepped off stage, Bragg would do his own version of the “Don’t Look Back” movement of playing complete albums live, running through his debut mini-album Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy almost in sequence, saving “A New England” for the grand, singalong finale to two glorious hours of Bragg. The absence of “St. Swithin’s Day” or anything from Worker’s Playtime was a bit disappointing, but for someone with a catalog as deep as Bragg’s there’s just no way to satisfy everyone. The only answer, I suppose, is for him to keep coming back – no excuse needed.

JAM and Panic Manual were also in attendance at the show. The Scope, Vue, FFWD, Canada.com, See, JAM and The Coast have all been conducting interviews with Bragg as he travels the country. Ron Hawkins gets some attention from Vue and Buffalo News.

Photos: Billy Bragg, Ron Hawkins @ The Phoenix – November 17, 2009
MP3: Billy Bragg – “I Keep Faith”
MP3: Billy Bragg – “Take Down The Union Jack”
MP3: Billy Bragg – “Must I Paint You A Picture?”
MP3: Billy Bragg – “Valentine’s Day Is Over” (live)
Video: Billy Bragg – “NPWA”
Video: Billy Bragg – “The Boy Done Good”
Video: Billy Bragg – “Sexuality”
Video: Billy Bragg – “Waiting For The Great Leap Forward”
Video: Billy Bragg – “You Woke Up My Neighbourhood”
Video: Billy Bragg – “Levi Stubbs’ Tears”
MySpace: Billy Bragg
MySpace: Ron Hawkins

The Telegraph and The Sheaf talk to Dan Mangan.

Rolling Stone talks to Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard about their Jack Kerouac project One Fast Move or I’m Gone.

Drowned In Sound meets We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Matablog has a video teaser trailer for Shearwater’s new album The Golden Archipelago, due out February 23 in North America, a week later than the rest of the world.

Rogue Wave have set a March 2 release date for their new record Permalight.

Mumford & Sons have released a new video from Sigh No More, which will be getting a North American release in the early part of 2010.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “Winter Winds”

Bandstand Busking has session with Micachu & The Shapes.

Self-Titled talks about Bonfires On The Heath’s non-musical inspirations with The Clientele’s Alasdair MacLean.

MySpaceSo Speech Debelle’s Speech Therapy won the Mercury Prize. Guess that shows all the predictors, pundits and bookies who were all Florence this and Bat For that what’s what. After all, before the nominations were even announced back in July, one of the odds-on favourites to win was Little Boots, and she wasn’t even nominated. That’s sort of how 2009 has seemed to go for Blackpool’s Victoria Hesketh – filled with immense expectations that were probably impossible to meet, and thus she was destined to be considered a disappointment no matter what she actually delivered.

And that’s really not fair. Taken entirely on its own merits, without any of the attendant buzz, her debut album Hands is a deliciously catchy collection of slick synth-pop that’s not especially deep, but is also never as vacuous as it could probably get away with considering its primary purpose is encouraging butt moving, not chin scratching. And perhaps that’s where the disappointment comes into it. I suspect that at the start, when Hesketh was making her name with cute and quirky bedroom performances of covers and originals on her YouTube channel, there were some expectations that she could be the thinking indie kid’s diva, crafting soundtracks for the skinny jean set to move awkwardly to.

Even though the initial singles that went onto her Arecibo EP were hardly lo-fi, they had a certain quality – like the slightly lurching, off-balanced throb to the beat in “Stuck On Repeat” – that seemed to imply that was a promise that she could deliver on. So for Hands to be as big and bold as it is could well have been something of a shock. I was certainly surprised at how unabashedly glammy and glossy it is – even after seeing her in full-on dance diva mode at SxSW – but it certainly hits my sugar tooth just right and has been in heavy rotation through most of the Summer. It may be a rather conventional dance-pop record but the hooks are still huge. Occasionally I wonder if I should be feeling guilty about enjoying it so much but if loving “Symmetry”, the duet with The Human League’s Philip Oakey, or the gorgeous shimmer of “Tune Into My Heart” is wrong then I don’t want to be right.

That said, it’s with the final, hidden track of Hands – the title track, no less – that you get a taste of what Hesketh sounds like away from the dance floor, and maybe what the album could have been. It’s a simple track, just voice and piano that contains more genuine personality than much of the rest of the album. It seems like a trifle, a little bit of Kate Nash flair, but somehow sticks long after the album is done. Don’t get me wrong – I have no complaints about Hands at all, but if the next record finds Hesketh stepping out of the disco and going for a contemplative wander through the quiet streets of the city, that might not be a bad thing at all.

In addition to Arecibo, Little Boots’ North American discography contains the Illuminations EP but not the full-length – it’s been given a vague “Fall 2009” target release date but the fact that it hasn’t hit the streets on the even of her first North American tour may be more evidence that some aren’t finding her to be the massive success they were expecting. Savages. Regardless, the jaunt begins this coming Monday night here in Toronto at Wrongbar and I am pretty certain that show will not disappoint in any way.

I Like Music and Portsmouth Today have interviews with Hesketh.

MP3: Little Boots – “Love Kills” (Buffetlibre vs Sidechains remix)
MP3: Little Boots – “Meddle” (remix)
Video: Little Boots – “Remedy”
Video: Little Boots – “New In Town”
MySpace: Little Boots

The Guardian talks to Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes, who I still maintain has the best of all the Mercury-nominated albums this year.

La Roux, who also didn’t win the Mercury, has a new video from the nominated self-titled album. Elly Jackson talks to The Daily Star and BBC and have a date at the Guvernment on October 23.

Video: La Roux – “I’m Not Your Toy”

Spinner talks to Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield about the problems that beset their last North American tour in 1999. Here’s hoping things go much better this time around, when they bring the ought-to-have-been-Mercury-nominated Journal For Plague Lovers, getting a domestic release come September 15, across the pond. They’re at the Phoenix on October 4.

Former Mercury nominee Richard Hawley will release his newest Truelove’s Gutter on September 22. There’s a video for the first single and the whole record is like a long, sustained swoon. Which is to say it’s lovely. Hawley chats with The Huddersfield Daily Examiner about the new record.

Video: Richard Hawley – “For Your Lover, Give Some Time”

Micachu & The Shapes have a new video. Look for them at the El Mocambo on September 29.

Video: Micachu & The Shapes – “Turn Me Well”

The Twilight Sad goes through Forget The Night Ahead track by track for The Skinny. The record is out September 22 and they play The El Mocambo on October 10.

The Sunday Mail has a quick chat with We Were Promised Jetpacks, also on that Twilight Sad tour and at the ElMo that night.

Noah & The Whale, whose new one First Days Of Spring is getting some solid praise, will be returning to North America including a Hallowe’en date at the Horseshoe in Toronto on October 31, tickets $15. Come dressed as your favourite Wes Anderson character! Actually, don’t – I am envisioning attending this gig surrounded by Richie and Margot Tenenbaum wannabes and it terrifies me. The album is out domestically on October 6.

Video: Noah & The Whale – “Blue Skies”

6 Day Riot have rolled out a new video from 6 Day Riot Have A Plan. I have an interview conducted with the band back in March I still have to finish transcribing. I so suck.

Video: 6 Day Riot – “O, Those Kids”

Los Campesinos are giving away a free track. Just because.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future”

Massive Attack prepare for the release of a new EP entitled Splitting The Atom, out October 6, by talking to Spin, Under The Radar and Spinner, the last of whom also have a stream of a new song. There’s also streams of new stuff at Stereogum and The Guardian.

Clash interviews Milo Cordell of The Big Pink. A Brief History Of Love is out September 22, they’re at Lee’s Palace on November 29.

The Quietus and Drowned In Sound chat with Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne about the deluxe reissues of Foxbase Alpha and Continental and the Britpop days of yore.

Chuck Klosterman examines the Beatles reissues – out today, in case you hadn’t noticed the media saturation – for the AV Club.

MySpaceI should be packing for my trip to New York City instead of blogging, so I’m just a-gonna clear out a pile of stuff that had been gathering over the last little while. Y’understand.

And what better way to begin than with a second taste of what is one of my most-anticipated new records of the Autumn – Bonfires On The Heath from The Clientele. It was exciting enough that Stereogum premiered the new MP3 yesterday, but I was over the moon later in the day when a digital promo of the album – not out till October 6 – showed up in my inbox. I’m not gloating, honest.

“Harvest Time” is a slow, sepia swoon bidding farewell to the Summer with the band’s signature tremolo-ed arpeggios and is a fine counterpoint to the jauntier first-released MP3, “I Wonder Who We Are”. Together they’re a good representation of the loveliness that resides behind this also-lovely album cover. Expect further gushing as I immerse myself in the record with further listens, but know that if it’s true this record will be the band’s last, they go out on a true high note.

There will be touring to support, but don’t expect the band on these shores before mid-Winter. Or so I’ve been told.

MP3: The Clientele – “Harvest Time”
MP3: The Clientele – “I Wonder Who We Are”

The Daily Mail gets to know Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. Her debut Lungs is out in North America on October 13.

Spinner and The Wrexham Chronicle talk to Noah & The Whale frontman about the heartache that inspired their second album First Days Of Spring, set for a North American release on October 6. For Folk’s Sake also reports that the band’s drummer and Fink’s brother Doug has left the band to attend medical school.

They Shoot Music filmed an acoustic session with Micachu in Berlin recently. They will be at the El Mocambo on September 29.

LiveDaily has a rather gorgeous black-and-white video session with Fanfarlo.

The Skinny talks to The Twilight Sad. Their second album Forget The Night Ahead is out September 22 and they play The El Mocambo on October 10.

PitchforkTV has been running a Cemetery Gates video session with Camera Obscura all week. See them in the slightly livelier environs of the Phoenix on November 26.

Out chats with Patrick Wolf.

Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch discusses the band’s new record The Fountain, out October 12, with Rolling Stone. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 20 with an orchestral rendition of Ocean Rain and presumably a few more tunes – because that record isn’t all that long. And sad news – former Bunnyman keyboardist Jake Brockman was killed in a traffic accident.

Johnny Marr gives an extensive interview to The Daily Mail about his current projects, his love of guitars and the polite answer to the question of whether there’ll ever be a Smiths reunion. Marr is currently playing with The Cribs, whose new record Ignore The Ignorant, is only going to be available digitally in North America starting next Tuesday. If you want the CD, you’ll have to do the import thing.

Video: The Cribs – “Cheat On Me”

Filter solicits a list of her favourite things from Ladyhawke’s Pip Brown. They also point out that a deluxe edition of her self-titled debut has just been released, featuring five bonus tracks. She’s at the Opera House on September 17.

Entertainment Weekly has premiered a new track from The Raveonettes, whose new album In And Out Of Control is due out on October 6. They play The Phoenix on October 22.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Last Dance”

Letter To Jane has an interview with Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn & John. They’re at the Phoenix on November 11.

Chartattack chats with the boys of Two Hours Traffic, whose new album Territory is out next Tuesday and who play Lee’s Palace on October 16.

Soundproof talks to Ohbijou’s James Bunton about the Friends In Bellwoods project and community.

Shout Out Out Out Out have scheduled two dates at Wrongbar on October 16 and 17.

MP3: Shout Out Out Out Out – “Bad Choices”

American Songwriter talks to the American songwriters who comprise the Monsters Of Folk while Black Book solicits some of their favourite traveling tunes. Their self-titled debut is out September 22 and they play Massey Hall on November 2.

Soundproof and American Songwriter profile St. Vincent’s Annie Clark.

The Daily Texan talks to Lauren Larson of Ume.

Venice Is Sinking are sharing an MP3 from their forthcoming Okay EP, out September 22 and accurately named as it features the track of that name from their AZAR album and two covers of San Francisco band Okay and rounded out by two more alternate versions of AZAR songs that are better than okay. They band have also raised sufficient funds via Kickstarter to finance their third album.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Compass”
Stream: Venice Is Sinking / Okay

The Bird & The Bee have released a new DLR-saluting video from Ray Guns Are Not Just For The Future.

Video: The Bird & The Bee – “Diamond Dave”

Paste catches up with Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne. Their new album Embryonic is out October 13.

R.E.M.’s forthcoming live record Live At The Olympia In Dublin, out October 27, will come with a bonus live DVD entitled This Is Not A Show and comprised of footage from those same shows. There’s a trailer and performance clip from the film now available to watch.

Video: R.E.M. – “Drive” (live in Dublin)
Trailer: This Is Not A Show

Magnet plays over/under with the Husker Du catalog. And speaking of the Du, The Guardian reports that Grant Hart will release his first solo album in a decade in Hot Wax, out October 6. Bob Mould kicks off his tour in support of last year’s Life And Times next month, starting here in Toronto with a date at the Mod Club on October 5. Support for the first few dates of that tour comes from Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson, whose new album Summer Of Fear is out October 20.

Rolling Stone talks to Black Francis of Pixies about gearing up for their Doolittle tour.