Frank YangIt was just 51 weeks ago that The Rural Alberta Advantage first stepped onto the stage at Lee’s Palace, there as support for a co-headlining show featuring two of the most lauded indie acts in Canada – The Acorn and Ohbijou. They seemed a bit awed by the scale of their surroundings, having mostly played the smaller, cozier rooms of the city to that point, but were far from intimidated and deliver another wonderful set and as I commented at the time, “I’ve long said that people simply need to hear them to love them, and I think it’s finally happening”. Now I’m not going to suggest that I have any particular soothsaying abilities, but on that point, I daresay I nailed it.

The past year has been a fairy tale for the trio, particularly the last six months or so in which they’ve gone from local heroes to genuine international (hey, America counts as a foreign country) phenomenons, re-releasing their debut album Hometowns on a major independent label and touring the continent multiple times over, selling out larger and larger venues each time out and gaining fans and accolades along the way – people hear them and they love them. Simple. So while their completely sold-out hometown show at Lee’s Palace on Friday night didn’t mark the end of their whirlwind 2009 – they commence another US tour the second week of December – it did provide a tidy, full-circle point for those of us predisposed to tidiness in such matters.

Opening the night was Barrie’s Fox Jaws, whom I hadn’t seen since August 2007 circa their debut Goodbye Doris. They’ve since released their second record and despite the epic-length title – At Odds (or: Exercises In Separation While United In The Fall) – low-frills, spirited and soulful pop-rock is still the order of the day. The raw and raspy vocals of Carleigh Aikens remains their super power but in a sense, it’s also their kryptonite. It’s so evocative of the blues-rock belters synonymous with classic rock radio that even when they try to expand their sound beyond the more straight-ahead, it tends to overpower. Still, it’s not the worst problem to have and when they play to their strengths, they put on an impressive and entertaining show.

Though I’d never seen Bahamas before, their scorecard started at a handicap. I’d seen principal Afie Jurvanen a couple times some years back, both solo and fronting Paso Mino, and hadn’t been impressed so while I was wiling to give his newest project a fair shake, it was going to be a tough sell. And the boxscore went something like this: points lost for the popped collar on the lumberjack shirt, points lost for the affected, stoner-dude banter (the “nice, nice” shtick isn’t working) , points gained for a couple of really funny jokes despite the aforementioned demerit though it’s worth noting that he was only genuinely funny when he strayed off script and actually interacted with the audience, points gained for some seriously tasty guitarwork, points gained for having better and more memorable songs than from what I recall from his past shows, points gained for playing a funky old Silvertone rather than the titular Pink Strat of his album, massive points gained for starting to cover Prince’s “Purple Rain”, all points lost for not following through with it – only delivering a couple of verses and ditching it only a little ways into the solo. I know he could have knocked it out of the park, but instead just walked away. Such a shame.

By this point, I think I should be disqualified from trying to offer up any review of an RAA show – I’ve seen them too many times (this was occasion eight or nine) and have too much affection for them as individuals and their music to even try and pretend to be objective. So with that disclaimer in mind, take my declaration that they put on yet another great show for whatever you think it’s worth. Set up in line across the front of the Lee’s stage, the trio were visibly overwhelmed by the size and fervor of the congregation of folks who’d come out to see them. And it’s understandable – as recently as this Spring, they would play constantly around the city and while always appreciated, were probably taken for granted some. But to so quickly be in a situation where outside scalpers were plying their trade and inside the fans were jumping up and down and singing along to every word – that’s a trip.

Over the course of the hour-long set, all of Hometowns was aired (save for “The Air”) and though they’ve been working that material for as long as I’ve been following the band – nigh on three years now – they still perform it with as much energy as emotion as ever and just as they don’t seem to tire of playing the songs, I still don’t tire of hearing them played. That said, it was exciting to hear more and more new material working its way into the set – some of the songs more fully evolved than others, but all carrying the trademark RAA sound and style. With the new year bringing even more touring for the band, it’s hard to say when they’ll have a chance to get down to recording album number two, but you can hardly fault them for wanting to keep riding this wave, which shows no signs of abating. After all, as the cover of The Littlest Hobo theme which they slipped in mid-set says, “Down this road that never seems to end, where new adventure lies just around the bend… Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down, until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on”. There may already be a “Ballad Of The RAA” but for the moment, this is their song.

BlogTO and Narratives also have reviews of the show.

Photos: The Rural Alberta Advantage, Bahamas, Fox Jaws @ Lee’s Palace – November 20, 2009
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Karmonica”
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Quarantine Girl”
MySpace: The Rural Alberta Advantage
MySpace: Fox Jaws

Tallahassee.com, The Star-Telegram and The St. Petersburg Times interview Neko Case.

John Darnielle discusses the Biblical themes of The Life Of The World To Come with Nashville Scene.

Califone has been added as support for Wilco’s upcoming Hamilton and London shows on February 23 and 24, respectively. Their latest album is All My Friends Are Funeral Singers.

MP3: Califone – “Funeral Singers”
MP3: Califone – “Ape-Like”
Video: Califone – “Funeral Singers”

The Von Bondies, last seen in these parts tearing up the tiny Boardwalk Stage at V Fest, have set a December 5 date at the El Mocambo as part of a benefit show for Toronto’s homeless. Tickets are $15 in advance, donations of winter coats or blankets gratefully accepted.

MP3: The Von Bondies – “This Is Our Perfect Crime”
MP3: The Von Bondies – “Pale Bride”

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment video session with El Perro Del Mar.

Andy WillsherMy trip to London last May yielded no shortage of fond and lasting memories, but one of the most vivid is also one of the most unremarkable and inexplicable. My plan for my first visit to the city was pretty much to pick a particular district or two for each day I was there and just wander – one day, the West End, the next day, Soho, Covent Garden and Westminster, the day after, the East End and Greenwich. Greenwich wasn’t a place I had any particular prior affinity for, but I was told it was worth the extended tube ride to get out of the city for a bit and the Royal Observatory, marker of the Prime Meridian, was worth a gander. So I went and did the straddle-two-hemispheres thing, and before heading back down, I stopped and sat at the top of the observatory hill in Greenwich Park, gazing down at the expansive park and the enormity of London behind it, and that image just burned into my mind.

The point of this little meander down memory lane being that if there was a soundtrack for that moment, or even the trip as a whole, it would be The Clientele. Not literally – I don’t really listen to much music when I travel – but there’s not really another band out there right now that feels more like London to me. And that’s interesting because they don’t evoke the typical images of the city, not the history, the culture or the energy – instead, they sound like a respite from all of that. A pause, a stepping out from the non-stop hustle and commotion and taking a moment to oneself in a patch of greenery, filtered through the gauzy haze of memory.

The band’s last two records God Save The Clientele and Strange Geometry are my go-to records for when I want to recapture that feeling of aimless freedom and their latest, Bonfires On The Heath, slides in quite nicely alongside them. It moves at an easy cadence, occasionally with an extra spring in its step or a Spanish accent, but throughout, Alisdair Maclean’s gentle vocals are buoyed by Mel Draisey’s backing vox over a shimmering bed of tremoloed guitars, tinkling pianos and spiraling trumpet, every note capturing the very essence of Autumn’s dusk. The Clientele indeed have a specific recipe they adhere to from album to album, but it’s one that transports me almost instantly to my happy place which, apparently, is the top of a hill in Greenwich. I had been debating whether or not I wanted to go back to London next Spring or maybe visit somewhere I haven’t been before (namely Tokyo) but I think I’ve just made up my mind.

MP3: The Clientele – “Harvest Time”
MP3: The Clientele – “I Wonder Who We Are”
Stream: The Clientele / Bonfires On The Heath
MySpace: The Clientele

And from one of my favourite English bands to another, Lucky Soul have begun streaming the a new taste of their forthcoming second album, still untitled but due out in the early part of next year. “White Russian Doll” will be released as a single on January 11 and, alongside “Whoa Billy”, make a pretty good argument for this possibly/probably being one of the pop highlights of 2010. Mayhap I should time any visits to the UK to coincide with some gigs? Wouldn’t be the first time I went out of my way to see them.

Stream: Lucky Soul – “White Russian Doll”
MP3: Lucky Soul – “Whoa, Billy”

SX interviews Patrick Wolf.

Interview has a brief chat with Oliver Sim of The xx. The band is set to start a North American tour tonight that hooks up with Friendly Fires in Austin next week and swings up to Toronto on December 2 for a show at the Phoenix. Things have been pretty quiet since the drama a few weeks ago with guitarist Baria Quereshi’s exhaustion forcing the cancellation of a few shows – can one assume that everything and everyone is back on track?

Echo & The Bunnymen’s North American tour, on the other hand, was knocked completely off track last week when they cancelled the whole jaunt on account of red tape and tax demands from the IRS. Glad we got them in town when we did. Ian McCulloch has a conversation with Spinner.

A trailer for the forthcoming Mogwai live documentary Burning, which premieres in Copenhagen this week, has emerged. It looks quiet. Then loud. And intense all the way through.

Trailer: Burning

Minnesota Public Radio is streaming a studio session with The Mountain Goats.

The Magnetic Fields have announced details of their next album, which will be entitled Realism and is due out on January 26 of the new year. Details, cover art and track listing at Exclaim!

Magnet plays over/under with the repertoire of The Flaming Lips.

NPR is streaming a live Mountain Stage concert from Yo La Tengo.

Beatroute talks to head Hidden Camera Joel Gibb. They play the Opera House on December 5.

Yeah he was just here on Saturday, but he’s coming back. That’s Justin Townes Earle and the date is March 1, 2010, at the Horseshoe.

MP3: Justin Townes Earle – “Midnight At The Movies”

This batch of show announcements didn’t even really need formal announcements, but consider them official – the Skydiggers holiday residency at the Horseshoe on December 18 and 19, Elliott Brood ringing in New Year’s Eve at Lee’s Palace and The Sadies doing the same at the Horseshoe – tickets for all shows $20 in advance.

The Word has assembled a really cool Google maps mash-up, marking the locations of dozens? hundreds? of the images found on famous and not-as-famous album covers. Consider your morning/afternoon/evening well and truly wasted.

Frank YangIf I’d managed to get to the El Mocambo on Sunday night in time to catch first act David Schultz & The Skyline, I think I could legitimately lay claim to have seen the longest bill – in character count, at least – of all time. But it didn’t happen so I had to settle for just one of the longest in recent memory, thanks to Thao with The Get Down Stay Down and The Portland Cello Project.

As the more insightful might have discerned, The Portland Cello Project is indeed a cello-based musical project hailing from Rose City. Though infinitely scalable when at home, the touring edition of the PCP numbered four cellists who entertained a reasonably healthy-sized Sunday evening crowd with some great banter and mostly-instrumental covers of songs familiar and unfamiliar, including ones by Pantera and Elliott Smith. For one song they were joined by Justin Power for an original number taken from their latest record The Thao & Justin Power Sessions and closed with an audience participatory “Hey Ya!”, assisted by the Get Down Stay Down.

If nothing else, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down are taking home some great road stories from this tour. Both the Portland Cello Project and Thao seemed to be in a state of disbelief of the previous night’s Hallowe’en show in Detroit where they played next door to an Insane Clown Posse party and its attendant hordes of Juggalos, and while Toronto couldn’t compare with that degree of absurdity, the band – and particularly deathly allergic bassist Adam Thompson – was haunted by a phantom cat, who could be heard meowing throughout the between-song lulls, but was never found.

None of the above had anything to do with the show itself, but were still key facets of a terrific evening because Thao with The Get Down Stay Down were all about having and providing a good time through jokes, stories, banter, beatboxing and oh yeah, the music. Until this night, I’d missed Thao every time they’d come through town as well as a myriad of opportunities at the last two SxSW’s but now, finally, I can add my voice to the chorus of those who extol their live show – in short, it’s fantastic. Though both of their records, 2008’s We Brave Bee Stings And All and this year’s terrific Know Better Learn Faster, crackle with a giddy energy, seeing Thao Nguyen utterly dominate the fretboard of her giant hollowbody guitar while lurching around stage and hollering into the mic is something to behold. Similarly, the intense rhythmic aspect of the band doesn’t seem to be done justice by the albums because live, everything felt like a dance song or at least one that you wanted to dance to whether you had any moves or not. They put on an unrestrained, joyous show that was made me simultaneously glad I finally made it out to see them, angry that I had waited so long and determined that I wouldn’t miss them again. And also grateful that at no point did Adam Thompson go into anaphylactic shock. A night of win.

Blurt has a large feature and Metro a super-short one on Thao. And grab an MP3 of “When We Swam” at RCRDLBL.

Photos: Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, The Portland Cello Project @ The El Mocambo – November 1, 2009
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Know Better Learn Faster”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Beat (Health, Life and Fire)”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Swimming Pools”
MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Bag Of Hammers”
MP3: The Portland Cello Project – “Travel”
MP3: The Portland Cello Project – “Tallymarks”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “When We Swam”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Cool Yourself”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Swimming Pools”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Bag Of Hammers”
Video: The Portland Cello Project – “Tallymarks”
MySpace: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down
MySpace: The Portland Cello Project

The AV Club gets the whys behind recent changes with Nicole Atkins and her band.

Spinner talks to J Tillman, who brings his new album Year In The Kingdom to the Horseshoe on November 11.

Bishop Allen have premiered a new video from Grr… over at Stereogum. The Omaha World-Herald has a short interview with Justin Rice.

Video: Bishop Allen – “True Or False”

Antlers’ Peter Silbeman talks to The San Antonio Current and Orange County Weekly.

PopMatters has an interview with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

John Vanderslice talks to State.

Daytrotter have got a session with White Rabbits available to download while LAist talks to frontman Stephen Patterson.

Paste reports that the release of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon-era live record Dreamin’ Man has been pushed back until December 8.

You Ain’t No Picasso has an interview with Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras. They play the Opera House on December 5.

Two Hours Traffic – who were just here last month, yes – have made another Toronto date for November 21 at The Garrison, but the difference is this one is an all-ages gig. Tickets are $10 in advance.

MP3: Two Hours Traffic – “Territory”

Final Fantasy will mark the January 12 release of Heartland with a hometown show that evening at the Mod Club.

Seattle duo The Dutchess & The Duke have a new album out in Sunset/Sunrise and are touring it through the Winter including a just-announced date at Sneaky Dee’s on January 12.

MP3: The Dutchess & The Duke – “Living This Life”
MP3: The Dutchess & The Duke – “Hands”

It’s a double-shot of Dave Lowery when Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven hit the road together this Winter and stop in at Lee’s Palace on January 16. Cracker also have a new video out featuring one Patterson Hood.

Video: Cracker – “Friends”

Frank YangThere are many things to like about Leeds trio Sky Larkin, not least among them their wonderfully sweet and spiky debut album The Golden Spike, but what I think I like most is how much of a good time they’re clearly having. On record, on stage, in their videos, everything Sky Larkin is permeated with a genuine, unaffected sense of fun – no brooding angst or overamped giddiness, just the natural reaction to three friends in their early 20s getting to travel around the world playing rock music without the massive weight of expectation that some of their peers are carrying (ahemxxahem). How could they not be having fun?

The band were nearing the end of a North American tour when they rolled into the Cameron House in Toronto on Wednesday night, accompanied by fellow Brits Peggy Sue, who had the co-ed trio thing in common with their tourmates but not a lot else. Fronted by the wonderfully pseudonymed (presumably) Katy Klaw and Rosa Rex with Olly Olly Olly on drums, the outfit formerly known as Peggy Sue & The Pirates (perhaps the Pirates were taken by Pete) deal in a strain of folk that’s probably too off-kilter in instrumentation and arrangement for traditionalists yet not nearly weird enough for the 21st century hippie scene. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that both Klaw and Rex have the sorts of voices that you’d normally find in soul music, rich and emotive with the right amount of rasp – they’re not equipped to create conventional folk music, even if they were inclined to do so. Their Lover Gone EP intrigued but was really too brief to get a proper handle on what they were about and while their set went a ways towards filling in the blanks, it also expanded the canvas of what they were doing enough that their net inscrutability remains unchanged. I guess I’ll just have to hear more to figure them out. I’m okay with that.

Sky Larkin don’t require nearly as much contemplation to understand – the nature of their scrappy guitar pop will be familiar to anyone who’s ever heard Sleeper or Sleater-Kinney and satisfies on an immediate and visceral level. I’d gotten to take in their live show at SxSW so I knew that the energy of the record more than translated in the live setting with the extra bonus of the fact that the band were genuinely hilarious on stage in their between-song banter. The between-banter stuff was pretty good too, with the trio turning in an energetic if a bit short set of highlights from The Golden Spike as well as their new (and free) “SMARTS” single. As befit a band that tours as much as they, they were superbly tight with frontwoman Katie Harkin effortlessly tossing off sophisticated guitar riffs and drummer Nestor Matthews literally beating his drum kit to death. A destroyed cymbal got some licks in of its own, though, inflicting a nasty bloody gash on Matthews’ hand which he insisted on playing through, finishing off the set’s last two songs with equal – if not extra – vigor. That is dedication. Sky Larkin will bleed for you.

Photos: Sky Larkin, Peggy Sue @ The Cameron House – October 28, 2009
MP3: Sky Larkin – “Fossil, I”
MP3: Sky Larkin – “Molten”
MP3: Peggy Sue – “Lover Gone”
Video: Sky Larkin – “Antibodies”
Video: Sky Larkin – “Beeline”
Video: Sky Larkin – “Fossil, I”
Video: Sky Larkin – “Molten”
Video: Sky Larkin – “One Of Two”
Video: Peggy Sue – “Lover Gone”
MySpace: Sky Larkin
MySpace: Peggy Sue

Clash has a short interview The xx, whose exhaustion-induced show cancellations haven’t affected this Fall’s North American dates opening up for Friendly Fires… yet.

Frightened Rabbit have given their third album a name – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks – and a target release date of March 2010.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”

ChartAttack talks to Dog Day, who will be at the Horseshoe on November 5.

Great Lake Swimmers have released a new video from Lost Channels. They play a War Child benefit at the Dakota Tavern on November 5 and a show at Trinity-St. Paul’s on February 6 of next year.

Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “Palmistry”

Vue has a cover feature on Dan Mangan.

FFWD reports on exactly what goes on at the mysterious Banff Centre, where both Woodpigeon and Basia Bulat are currently sequestered away being turned into unstoppable cybernetic killing machines honing their musical craft with an impressive team of mentors. CBC Radio 3 has also been checking in from the the Banff Centre and Woodpigeon has posted another song.

MP3: Woodpigeon – “For Norman Luxton”

Molina & Johnson (that’s Jason and Will) have released a second MP3 from Molina & Johnson, out November 3.

MP3: Molina & Johnson – “Almost Let You In”

Gigwise chats with Glenn Kotche of Wilco.

The Loyola Phoenix has an interview with Mountain Goats bassist Peter Hughes.

eye, The National Post, NPR, The Montreal Gazette, CNN and Spinner have conversations with The Swell Season, who have a date at Massey Hall on November 3.

The Raveonettes talk to The Georgia Straight.

Johnny Marr weights in on the subject of reunions with Spinner.

Frank YangAs is becoming something of a tradition for me, I once again spent Thanksgiving this year at a show rather than with family (we got together earlier in the weekend so stop judging me), though it was with a sort of extended family – labelmates in Loney Dear and Asobi Seksu (both on Polyvinyl) and country(wo)men in Loney Dear and Anna Ternheim (all Swedes). Yeah, that’s sort of a stretch but whatever.

There’d been some vagueness about the precise order of the sets – the infamous co-headline situation again – but it was certain that Ternheim would be first up. I’d listened to a few of her records including her latest, Leaving On A Mayday, and her songs, filled with that distinctly Swedish sort of melancholy, were of the sort that could easily go from small and folkish to big and orchestral and still sound right. So I was curious to see which direction she’d take them in a live setting and the answer, of course, was both. She started her set in solo acoustic fashion, showcasing her stark yet evocative voice to the dead silent room (it wasn’t especially full, no, but still) and then brought out a keyboardist for the second song to accompany her while she set the guitar down. She was then joined by Loney Dear’s band for the remainder of her performance and as striking as she was on her own, the bigger sound definitely won the day. The extra players gave her a rhythmic backbone and more importantly, a sweeping, dramatic dynamicism that honestly didn’t come across on record. Her set was woefully short due to being held-up at the border and generally getting lost, but if you consider the purpose of opening sets as to surprise and tantalize for more, then it was mission accomplished.

The question of whether Asobi Seksu would close the show or not was an ongoing one since it was announced, at least between me and myself. On one hand, they probably had the larger fanbase than Loney Dear and in terms of pacing, their deafening strobe-powered attack would be more logically suited to sending people home in a daze. On the other, this was their third show in Toronto in just over seven months so that fanbase’s attendance might not be such a given, particularly on a holiday, and considering their next record Rewolf was an acoustic affair and one that they’d already performed live, perhaps they would be keeping things more low-key? As it turned out they were indeed on second and no, they weren’t intending to turn down. As such, their set was much like the one at the El Mocambo back in March, mixing up the older, poppier songs with the Hush material, which still hasn’t really won me over. So familiar, yes, but still entertaining and actually a welcome jolt of energy for the night.

I think I was too harsh on Dear John when I wrote it up way back in January. Yes, it doesn’t stray far, either sonically or songwriterly (that’s a word now), from Emil Svanangen’s previous works under the Loney Dear marque, but I’m seeing now that’s because he’s fixated on capturing one specific mood or theme in music and much of what he creates are attempts to perfect it. Thankfully, his elusive goal is the moment where angst turns into elation and the sense of uplift that results and he expresses it with orchestral pop music. Of course. This was Loney Dear’s first stop in Toronto in a couple of years and a make-up for a failed attempt to visit back in May when their van broke down en route. And while that show at Lee’s in June 2007 was hardly a sell-out, those who were in attendance remember it fondly.

And those who were at the Horseshoe on this holiday Monday would likewise take away some warm memories of another wonderful show. Re-reading my review of the Lee’s show, I find myself at risk of repeating myself, but it bears repeating – Svanangen’s live band really took his songs to another level, deftly adding more bits of musical flourish and detail than four people with just two hands each really had any business doing in real time. And as such, they managed to recreate the richness of his compositions while still recasting and reconfiguring them enough to feel quite new. Particularly essential was backing vocalist Malin Stahlberg, who in addition to handling keys, guitar and percussion, sang most of Svanangen’s falsetto parts with more strength and bearing, and amazingly handled all of the tongue-twisting bridge of “I Am John” while Svanangen took the easy, “nah nah nahs”.

But as great as the band is, it’s still all about Svanangen. His permanently forlorn countenance is simultaneously at odds with yet perfectly suited for the sounds and songs he sings. Drawing material from across all his albums, the live setting proved a great equalizer for the production aesthetic of the recorded versions – the sparer arrangements of Sologne felt more fleshed out and Dear John‘s mechanical aftertaste was made more organic, settling in that sweet spot that was Loney, Noir. The performance was splendid from the get-go but the undoubted highlight was when Svanangen stepped out to the front of the stage, unamplified, and sang (I think) “In With The Arms” to the house. Now he doesn’t have the most powerful voice, so it’s perhaps a good thing that the crowd was modestly sized and thus easier to silence, but doing that, and backed with Stahlberg’s harmonies, was simply perfection. In all, they played nearly 90 minutes including two encores though at no point in between did Svanangen leave the stage – no point going through the formality, we were going to keep them playing for as long as possible. And thought it finally did end, obviously, all three of Loney Dear’s last records have been a steady soundtrack for the days since the show. It makes my angst into elation and that’s just what I need right now.

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing MP3s of a show in Allston, Massachusetts from the tour in May of this year. The Justice and The AV Club have interviews with Anna Ternheim.

Photos: Loney Dear, Asobi Seksu, Anna Ternheim @ The Horseshoe – October 12, 2009
MP3: Loney Dear – “Ignorant Boy Beautiful Girl”
MP3: Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”
MP3: Loney, Dear – “I Am John”
MP3: Loney, Dear – “A Few Good Men”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Suzanne”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Me & Mary”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Familiar Light”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “New Years”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Thursday”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Sooner”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Walk On The Moon”
MP3: Anna Ternheim – “What Have I Done”
MP3: Anna Ternheim – “To Be Gone”
Video: Loney Dear – “I Was Only Going Out”
Video: Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”
Video: Loney, Dear – “I Am John”
Video: Loney, Dear – “Saturday Waits”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Transparence”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Me & Mary”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Thursday”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Goodbye”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Walk On The Moon”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “Today Is A Good Day”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “Summer Rain”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “Girl Laying Down”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “Shoreline”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “To Be Gone”
Video: Anna Ternheim – “I’ll Follow You Tonight”
MySpace: Loney Dear
MySpace: Asobi Seksu
MySpace: Anna Ternheim

Headlights, who were left playing on their own at the Rivoli in May when Loney Dear’s van broke down, have released a new video from new album Wilderness.

Video: Headlights – “Get Going”

The Swell Season’s new record Strict Joy is streaming at NPR in advance of its October 27 release date. They play Massey Hall on November 3. The Khaleej Times has an interview.

Stream: The Swell Season / Strict Joy

Singing Lamb talks to An Horse, who’ve just released a Daytrotter session and are playing at the Sound Academy tonight in support of Silversun Pickups.

The National Post talks to Wilco’s John Sitrratt while The AV Club gets Jeff Tweedy to respond to some of the random stuff written about him on the internet. They play the second of their two nights at Massey Hall tonight.

Singing Lamb and Metromix interview Grand Archives, who have released a new video from Keep In Mind Frankenstein. They’re at the Mod Club tonight.

Video: Grand Archives – “Oslo Novelist”

The Quietus talks to Bob Nastanovich about the upcoming Pavement reunion and confirms it’s a one-off with no new material. It gets started in Aukland, New Zealand in March of next year.

Paste chats with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. And note that copies of The Life Of The World To Come via ThinkIndie will come with a digital 13-track album of demos for the record.

The Pitch has an interview with Flaming Lips drummer Kliph Scurlock. It’s weird that the drummer is officially not Steve Drozd, considering he’s an amazing drummer. But whatever.

Stereogum gets a progress report on the new Caribou record.

Mew have set a date for the Mod Club on December 6.