Saddle CreekWhen their debut mini-album Applause Cheer Boo Hiss arrived in 2006, Land Of Talk appeared as though Canada had a new hard rock heroine in Liz Powell, her white-hot guitar work matched only by her distinctive vocals, equal parts angst and yearning. It wasn’t a title – or pigeonhole – that Powell seemed interested in, however, and their 2008 proper debut album Some Are Lakes surprised not only by dialing down the white-knuckle rock in favour of a somewhat softer and more spacious sound, but by making it sound as good, if not in some ways better, than the big, brash document that many had been imagining it would be.

Last year’s Fun & Laughter EP reignited those expectations, though, as producer Jace Lasek coaxed back some of the rough edges that Lakes producer Justin Vernon had smoothed out and with Lasek also helming album number two, perhaps expectations that we now lived in a kinder, gentler Land Of Talk were premature. Instead, Cloak And Cipher – out next week – again confounds expectations by splitting the difference and proving, perhaps, that it doesn’t really matter who’s producing or what the balance of heavy and light songs across the record are – it’s the quality of the songs that matters and in that department, Cloak And Cipher delivers.

It’s been suggested that Land Of Talk are one big song away from breaking out in a major way and if that’s true, then Cloak And Cipher is probably not the record that will do it. It holds no anthem or ballad that stops you in your tracks or burrows deep into your skull on a single listen – what it does have is ten compositions that showcase the breadth of Powell’s talents, each sounding fully self-realized and yet for all the shifts in tones, textures and players, hang together marvelously. Album standout “Quarry Hymns” sounds deceptively simple but is just about perfect in how it’s assembled, showcasing Powell’s ability to mate her distinctive voice with just the right melody and phrasing and her unconventional, spidery guitar playing while the blistering “The Hate I Won’t Commit” aptly demonstrates her punk edge is still well intact but even then, is exceptionally layered and sophisticated. No breakout hit? No bangers? No jams? That’s fine, I’ll take a rich, solid from top to bottom album every day of the week.

The National Post is currently streaming the whole of the new record with accompanying song-by-song commentary from Liz Powell. In addition to the one download below, you can get “Quarry Hymns” over here in exchange for your email address. Land Of Talk play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

MP3: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Swift Coin”
MySpace: Land Of Talk

Dan Mangan is staging a cross-country tour this Fall that includes a stop at Trinity-St. Paul’s in Toronto on October 28, tickets $22.50, with Bry Webb (formerly?) of Constantines supporting in his Harbourcoats guise. The Polaris-nominated Nice, Nice, Very Nice was just released in the US.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Robots”

Also coming from out west and graduating on to bigger rooms is Hannah Georgas, who is teaming up with Royal Wood for a cross-country tour that will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26.

MP3: Hannah Georgas – “Chit Chat”

Prefix interviews The Acorn

NPR is streaming a full session with Laura Marling.

The Daily Mail has a feature piece on Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. She’s at the Sound Academy on November 3.

Just Played chats with Rose Elinor Dougall; her solo debut Without Why is out August 30.

This week, Exclaim is streaming the whole of Mogwai’s live album Special Moves, due out next week.

Stream: Mogwai / Special Moves

Rolling Stone talks to Nick Cave and Exclaim to Jim Sclavunos of Grinderman, whose Grinderman 2 is due out September 14 and whom the Huffington Post is calling the “first great band of the Anthropocene epoch”. Well duh. Grinderman play the Phoenix on November 11.

Barry KlippBradford Cox’s Deerhunter first began marketing their forthcoming album Halcyon Digest earlier this Summer via unconventional means, initiating a campaign wherein fans would download and print off old-school, xerox-styled flyers promoting the record and submit pictures of them posted up in and around their neighbourhoods in exchange for MP3 goodies, both from the new record and the Deerhunter archives. I can’t say as that I’ve seen any around my own hood, but clearly people have been participating.

As the September 28 release date for the new record draws near, the Atlanta-based band are gearing up for a more conventional but proven effective means of record promotion – touring their asses off. Pitchfork has the full itinerary, which includes a handful of northeast US dates this month before kicking off in earnest come October. Toronto welcomes them back – they were just here in March opening up for Spoon – on October 19 for a date at the Opera House, where they’ll be supported by Real Estate and Casino Vs Japan.

MP3: Deerhunter – “Revival”

A Place To Bury Strangers have released a new video from Exploding Head.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart”

Antony & The Johnsons have released an MP3 for the title track from their forthcoming EP Thank You For Your Love, out August 24, as a teaser both for the short-player and the full-length it’s taken from, Swanlights, which will follow on October 12.

MP3: Antony & The Johnsons – “Thank You For Your Love”

The AV Club interviews Dean & Britta.

Nashville Scene talks to Josh Ritter. He’s at the Phoenix on October 26.

Jim James tells Rolling Stone that My Morning Jacket have been back in the studio and a new record is targeted for mid-2011.

Spin talks to Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies about their new record Blood/Candy, out September 28, and has a stream of the song “Licenses to Hide”, which features vocals from Lisa Lobsinger of Broken Social Scene and Reverie Sound Revue.

The Tripwire gets in the back of a van with The Acorn. For a video session. Get your mind out of the gutter.

The Toronto Star has a feature piece on Arcade Fire. They’re at the Toronto Islands next Saturday and last night’s MSG show is available to stream on YouTube.

As proof that their gig at the Phoenix in April actually did count as an intimate club show, Wolf Parade will be back for the finale of their Fall tour in support of Expo 86 at the Sound Academy on November 26.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Ghost Pressure”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)

The Line Of Best Fit has released a new Oh! Canada compilation of Canadian MP3s as assembled by Brits.

Dublin’s Villagers, whose Becoming A Jackal has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, has a date at the Drake Underground on September 27. Tickets $10 in advance.

MP3: Villagers – “Becoming A Jackal”

Spinner talks to Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite about the band’s new studio album which is targeted for a February 2011 release. Their Burning/Special Moves live set is due on August 24.

NME talks to Paul Smith of Maximo Park about releasing his first solo album Margins, due out October 11.

MP3: Paul Smith – “North Atlantic Drift”

Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers gives BBC6 some details on their forthcoming record Postcards From A Young Man, coming September 27.

Nick Cave discusses Grinderman with Rolling Stone. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and the North American tour kicks of November 11 at the Phoenix in Toronto. I don’t think people are sufficiently excited about this show because it’s not possible to be sufficiently excited about this show.

Brooklyn Paper talks to Jack Rabid, publisher of The Big Takeover which has just celebrated 30 years of being one of the finest and most dedicated music magazines out there. Salut.

Frank YangHello and welcome to a post that will get far more interesting at around 3PM EDT this afternoon. It’s at that time that the big black box below will magically fill with moving images and sounds of Scotland’s Mogwai, as I’m proud to be one of the websites offering a virtual screening of Burning, their live concert film directed by Vincent Moon and Nathanaël Le Scouarnec which will be coming on DVD on August 24 accompanied by a live album entitled Special Moves, both of which you can pre-order here.

After the screening – which is a one-time deal so make sure you can hide from work for a couple hours – the little social media widget underneath will come alive as Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite and co-director Vincent Moon will participate in a Q&A about the film. And for those of you on the Twitter, use #mogwaiburning and @mogwaiband in your tweets when marveling at the film. In addition to the virtual screening, the film will be traveling around North America starting next month for in-person screenings, including two confirmed dates in Canada – August 24 at Pacific Cinematheque
 in Vancouver and September 14 for two showings at the Drake Underground in Toronto, for which tickets already on sale. Courtesy of Maple Music, however, I’ve got a pair of prize packs to give away consisting of a copy of the Burning/Special Moves DVD/CD set, a special poster for the screening tour and a pair of passes to the Vancouver and Toronto screenings. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with either “I am burning for Mogwai in Vancouver” or “I am burning for Mogwai in Toronto” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. I’ll draw a winner for the Van-city screening on August 17 and for Toronto on August 31, so all entries for the respective cities must be in before then.

I’ve not yet seen the film but have had the aural document for a little while, and though it doesn’t really capture the full sensory experience of being at a live Mogwai show – that would require standing in front of an industrial-strength fan and having someone punch you in the ears incessantly for 90 minutes – it does sound quite fantastic and has exquisite renditions of what, for me, are the three key pillars in the Mogwai oeuvre: “Mogwai Fear Satan”, “2 Wrongs Make 1 Right” and “Glasgow Megasnake”. No compilation – live or best-of – would be complete without these so cheers for their inclusion.

Video: Mogwai – “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead” (live)

Austin Town Hall talks to Dave Lovering of Pixies.

Daytrotter has a session with Local Natives, in town at the Mod Club on October 19.

Interpol talks about life after Carlos Dengler with Spinner. Interpol is out September 7 and they play the Kool Haus on August 10.

England’s Boxer Rebellion have a date at the Horseshoe on September 27.

Video: The Boxer Rebellion – “Flashing Red Light Means Go”

The Drums will finally bring their buzz to Toronto for a date at the Mod Club on October 16, tickets $15. Their self-titled debut is out on August 10 on vinyl, CD release sometime in September.

Video: The Drums – “Forever And Ever Amen”

Jimmy Eat World are at the Kool Haus on October 17 in support of their new record Invented, out September 28.

Emmy The Great is soliciting donations to fund her second album via PledgeMusic. Levels of support range from £8 for a download of the new record or £10 for a CD all the way up to £500 for a living room gig. I suspect that offer is limited to the UK.

Kjeli B PerssonWhile it’s factually correct for Sambassadeur to have named their latest album European, it’s also a bit redundant. For from the moment album opener “Stranded”‘s power ballad piano intro segues into the sprightly orchestrally-inclined power pop verse, there’s no questioning what side of the Atlantic this record was crafted on. Or even which country.

There is something about Sambassadeur that is so very Swedish, beyond the obvious reference point of singer Anna Persson’s accent and precise, ever-so-slightly forlorn delivery. There’s the way the songs manage to be so richly appointed without becoming overburdened or overthought and they’re so wonderfully efficient in how they deliver their many irresistible hooks without ever feeling rushed. And while each song stands in pop splendour on their own, strung together they make European a delightful listening experience from start to end, a journey that lasts not even 34 minutes but easily justifies many round trips.

I had thought that Sambassadeur had reached their apex with 2007’s Migration, but clearly I underestimated them. This would normally be the part of the review where I’d say something along the lines of “I can’t wait to hear what they do next”, but I actually can because I’m perfectly happy to just keep spinning European for the foreseeable future. It’s a gem.

MP3: Sambassadeur – “Days”
MP3: Sambassadeur – “Stranded”
Video: Sambassadeur – “I Can Try”
MySpace: Sambassadeur

Spin are offering for download an unreleased track from jj, recorded circa their album jj No 2. That’s the one that got everyone excited about them, not to be confused with jj No 3, which got everyone indifferent to them. It will be getting a reissue on August 3.

MP3: jj – “Baby”
MP3: jj – “Ecstasy”

NPR has posted a World Cafe session with Shout Out Louds.

The Bellingham Herald interviews Norway’s Casiokids, who have set a date at Supermarket for August 27 in support of Topp Stemning Pa Lokal Bar.

MP3: Casiokids – “Fot i hose”
MP3: Casiokids – “Finn bikkjen!”

Serena-Maneesh return to Toronto in support of S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor with a date at The Garrison on October 1, part of a co-headline tour with Wovenhand.

MP3: Serena Maneesh – “I Just Want To See Your Face”
MP3: Serena-Maneesh – “Ayisha Abyss”

Last week, PitchforkTV ran a Cemetery Gates video session series with Jonsi and altsounds an interview.

PitchforkTV is streaming the Vincent Moon-directed Mogwai feature Adelia: I Want To Love. Their new concert film/album Burning/Special Moves is out August 24 and there’ll be a screening of the film on September 14 at the Drake Underground.

Video: Adelia: I Want To Love

Interview talks to Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys.

The Pipettes have rolled out a new video from their just-released new album Earth Vs. the Pipettes

Video: The Pipettes – “Call Me”

The Fly serves up a courtyard video session with Johnny Flynn.

If you thought the July 19 show at the Horseshoe with We Are Scientists was undersized, it’s even moreso now that Lightspeed Champion has been announced as support. He’s got a number of North American dates in support of this year’s Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You.

Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Madame Van Damme”

Spinner continues to get mileage out af an interview with The Joy Formidable. And I continue to enable them.

Chart and Exclaim chat with Kele. He plays the Mod Club solo on July 27.

Mumford & Sons tell BBC they might try something different with album number two.

Beth Orton’s August 12 show at the Mod Club has been cancelled.

Patrick FordHad the weekend not already wiped me out before Sunday even began, I might well have made it a three-for-three for shows-in-evenings – or five-for-three if I had attempted to make any of the in-stores happening around town – by catching Peggy Sue at Sneaky Dee’s on Sunday night. And if that had happened, you might be reading a live review of their show. But I didn’t, and so you’re not.

But even without my notes from the Toronto stop of their ongoing North American tour – Friends With Both Arms was and has some thoughts and remember, I caught them last time they visited – there’s plenty to talk about with regards to the English trio. They just released their debut album Fossils And Other Phantoms in North America – hence the tour – and melange of folk, soul and blues that their Lover Gone EP hinted at arrives on it fully-formed. It’s a darkly-hued and unexpectedly sensual record filled with tales of love gone wrong, gone off or just gone away, all delivered in the affectingly unvarnished voices and multi-instrumentalism of Katy Young and Rosa Slade and backed by the clattering percussion of Olly Joyce. It’s not the most immediate record, but given the proper attention its a rewarding listen.

As part of their tour, the band are recording a live video on location in each city – I’m pleased to be able to present their communiqué from Toronto, a reading of “February Snow” done by the garden car in Kensington Market. Enjoy it and check out the rest of the series at their YouTube channel.

And on top of that, there’s a Daytrotter session from this Spring and a video from Fossils – not a bad grab bag for having missed the show, eh?

Video: Peggy Sue – “Watchman”

Interpol have finalized details on the release of their fourth album. The previously announced window of mid-September has been clarified and the self-titled effort will be released on September 13, and somewhat surprisingly, it will be coming out on their original label of Matador. Their move to Capitol for 2007’s Our Love To Admire was one of the first in a run of indie rock stalwarts leveraging that success for life in the major leagues – and now they’re one of the first to return. Interesting.

The Line Of Best Fit chats with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Following the August 24 release of their Burning/Special Moves live video/audio documents, Mogwai will be screening the film component around North America – the Toronto date will comprise two screenings at the Drake Underground on September 14. There’s a new clip from the film available to watch.

Video: Mogwai – “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead” (live)

School Of Seven Bells will follow up the July 13 release of their sophomore effort Disconnect From Desire with an Autumn North American tour, supported by Active Child and including a September 15 date at the Mod Club in Toronto.

MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”

Laura Veirs and The Watson Twins will team up for a Fall tour that stops in at the Horseshoe on September 29. Veirs’ latest album July Flame came out in Jaunary, while The Watson Twins released Talking To You, Talking To Me a month later. Veirs’ Daytrotter session just went up as well.

MP3: Laura Veirs – “Wide-Eyed, Legless”

Stereogum has premiered an MP3 from the new Superchunk record Majesty Shredding, out September 14.

PitchforkTV has added a couple more segments to their video session with The Hold Steady. They play the Kool Haus on July 17.

Spinner, The Guardian and Billboard talk to Kele about The Boxer. The record is out next week and he plays the Mod Club on July 29.

Interview puts M.I.A. and the director of her “Born Free” video in conversation with one another.