FoxSunday night’s television lineup got a healthy injection of The National this week, both directly and indirectly. In the Thanksgiving episode of Bob’s Burgers, viewers were treated to a holiday-themed song by Linda in abbreviated form and in full over the closing credits, and shortly thereafter The Vulture surfaced with a version of the song rendered in Matt Berninger’s distinctive baritone over appropriately tasteful backing. They had to take it down, unfortunately, but this is the internet – nothing ever dies.

Boardwalk Empire viewers didn’t have to do nearly as much legwork to hear the band’s contribution to this week’s episode – they just had to sit through the credits. As has been the custom for the Steve Buscemi vehicle, the band – assisted by Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks – covered a period-correct song to play while the best boys and gaffers got their due; this one was a 1924 song originally recorded by Isham Jones and The Ray Miller Orchestra. I didn’t know that – full credit goes to Fuck Yeah The National for pulling the background together on that one.

Stream: The National – “I’ll See You In My Dreams”
Stream: The National – “Bob’s Burgers Thanksgiving Song”

Freelance Whales, who just released their second album in Diluvia, and Hundred Waters, whose self-titled debut came out in September, will be at The Mod Club on January 17, tickets $16. Spinner and The Daily Tar Heel have Freelance Whales features.

Video: Freelance Whales – “Spitting Image”
Video: Hundred Waters – “Thistle”

Christopher Owens – aka the guy from Girls who was basically the entirety of Girls and who recently left Girls – will be at The Mod Club on January 18 as part of a North American tour in support of his solo debut Lysandre, out January 14.

Stream: Christopher Owens – “Lysandre’s Theme / Here We Go”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Titus Andronicus, and The Chicago Tribune, Denver Westword, and 77 Square have features. They’re at Lee’s Palace next Tuesday, November 27.

A new track from Memory Tapes’ forthcoming Grace/Confusion is now available to stream, as is a mish-mash of b-sides, unreleased material, and whatnot in mixtape form. The album is out December 4.

Stream: Memory Tapes – “Neighbourhood Watch”
Stream: Memory Tapes – “Displaced Mix”

Spinner talks to Paul Banks about Interpol turning ten. The decade-anniversary edition of Turn On The Bright Lights is out December 4 and one of the bonus tracks is now available to download. Las Vegas Weekly and Denver Post also talk to Paul Banks about his solo thing.

MP3: Interpol – “Roland” (first demo)

Yo La Tengo have released a video from their next record Fade, due out January 15. They play The Phoenix on February 9.

Video: Yo La Tengo – “Before We Run”

NPR welcomes Father John Misty to the World Cafe; MTV Hive also has an interview. He’s at The Danforth Music Hall supporting The Walkmen on January 16.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a Widowspeak show from earlier this month. There’s some new Almanac material to hear before the album is released on January 22.

Rolling Stone talks to Jim James about his forthcoming solo debut, Regions of Light and Sound of God. It’s out February 5.

Beach House have released a new video from Bloom.

Video: Beach House – “Wild”

R.E.M. may be gone, but they’re still able to remind you they’ve got some Hollywood-type friends, such as with this video for the final song from their final album, Collapse Into Now, directed by James Franco and starring Lindsay Lohan.

Video: R.E.M. – “Blue”

American Songwriter talks to Britt Daniel of Divine Fits.

The Fly and MusicOmh have interviews with Sharon Van Etten.

Stereogum talks to Steve Drozd of The Flaming Lips about how work is coming on their new album, at last check entitled The Terror and earmarked for release this Fall though that’s probably not happening. They could have asked Wayne Coyne, but he was otherwise occupied being detained by the TSA.

Happy Thanksgiving, America. Happy Thursday, rest of the world.

Frank YangI’m old enough to have lived through The Afghan Whigs in their heyday, but I still missed them completely. Okay, not completely – I had a copy of Gentlemen on cassette because, well, Spin and such told me that I should – but it never really spoke to high school me. In 1993, I was all R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, at the artier end of the guitar rock spectrum, and the Whigs’ inherent seediness, the blackness of their soul, didn’t resonate; it probably scared me.

Fast-forward to late last year when it was announced that the 2012 edition of the ’90s rock reunion renaissance would feature the Afghan Whigs and on a whim, I decided to revisit their back catalog. And apparently my life has gotten much seedier or my soul much blacker in the past 20 years because damned if they haven’t become my most listened-to artist this year; not a fact that will be reflected in the old year-end list, but certainly merits mention. And it also offers some context as to why last Wednesday night’s show at The Phoenix – their only Canadian stop on the reunion tour – was probably my most-anticipated show of the year. The list of bands that I’m super-into and whom I haven’t been able to see live by this point is a pretty short one and for the last while, The Afghan Whigs have been at the very top of it. And while I thought I’d have been far from the only one – the band’s return to active duty had been met with great enthusiasm at almost all their European and American dates so far – but The Phoenix was far from full to welcome the Whigs back to town for the first time this century. Surprising and disappointing, but mostly unfortunate for those who missed it.

San Diego’s Crocodiles were on their own headlining tour in support of their second album Endless Flowers but took the support slot for this show, making for a bill that was impressive on paper but maybe a bit mismatched in practice. Not stylistically, but demographically – the Whigs fans would be out for their band, and an act with their own following, as Crocodiles had, probably would have been better off in front of their own audience. Those out early were largely impassive to their performance, but to be fair it wasn’t their best foot forward. I had been much more impressed seeing them at NXNE 2011 in the close quarters of the Silver Dollar, but here they weren’t as snotty or explosive with their balance of melody and noise far from optimal; they were good and loud but came across more generic than they should have. As with that NXNE show, watching guitarist Charles Rowell work was still the highlight, particularly when he managed to berate an audience member up front mid-song for being on his phone rather than watching the show. Okay, maybe they were still a bit snotty.

The Afghan Whigs setlists for the reunion tour had commendably changed things up from show to show, incorporating requests and just keeping things interesting, but most times the shows had opened with cinematic Black Love leadoff track “Crime Scene, Part One” and why not? It was the perfect way to kick things off, from slow burning introduction to impassioned chorus and so as predictable as it might have been to start this show, it was no less thrilling. Any concerns that Greg Dulli’s voice wouldn’t be what it once was – in recordings of the earliest live performances from the Spring, he came across more ragged and raspy than he probably should have – proved to be unfounded as except for a little bit of ducking on the toughest parts, he sounded every bit of whiskey, cigarette, and sex-shredded fantastic.

Given the rotating drum throne of the ’90s-era Afghan Whigs, the 2012 reunion technically only meant Dulli, guitarist Rick McCollum, and bassist John Curley were there from the original records, but with the rest of the band made up of Dave Rosser (guitar), Rick Nelson (strings/keys), and Cully Symington (drums) – all of whom had played with Dulli in The Twilight Singers – this edition had plenty of legitimacy and more importantly, chemistry. The songs had been masterfully re-arranged for three guitars, sounding massive without any player ever stepping on the others’ parts, as well as tastefully incorporating violin and cello to make the Whigs an intricate and elegant sonic bludgeon.

After the Black Love opener, the set list moved through all points of their discography, giving due to early works Congregation and Up In It – “Turn On The Water” was used to accomodate a shouted request for a cover of, “Helter Skelter” complete with Dulli yelling, “I got blisters on my fingers!” at its close – but the bulk of the show was justly dedicated to the triumvirate of Gentlemen, Black Love, and 1965, kicking it into especially high-gear with a sublime mid-set run of “Gentlemen”, “Crazy”, “My Enemy”, and “Somethin’ Hot”, each sounding as fiercely swaggering as they did a decade and a half ago.

While his bandmates were mostly content to lay back and go about their business – McCollum and Rosser’s guitar kingdom was curiously set about halfway back on the stage – Dulli was engaging and chatty through the show, bantering with the audience and complimenting Toronto on our beautiful women, perhaps intending to add emphasis to this when he got into the crowd to go after them a couple songs later during, “See And Don’t See”, after which he got on the piano for the Frank Ocean cover of “Love Crimes”. This covered their officially-released new recordings since reuniting, but the eagle-eared would have noticed another new song – “Dead Body” – appended onto “We Two Parted”. Their main set ran for an hour twenty, capped by a searing “Fountain and Fairfax”, and while I can understand those calling out for “Miles Iz Dead” in the encore – it would have been great to hear, for sure – their decision to close things bookend-style out with the epic Black Love suite of “Bulletproof”, “Summer’s Kiss”, and “Faded” – complete with “Purple Rain” quote in the outro – was damned near perfect, as was the show.

Exclaim also has a review of the show.

Photos: The Afghan Whigs, Crocodiles @ The Phoenix – October 3, 2012
MP3: The Afghan Whigs – “Lovecrimes”
MP3: The Afghan Whigs – “See And Don’t See”
MP3: Crocodiles – “Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)”
MP3: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Going To Town”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Somethin’ Hot”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Honky’s Ladder”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Gentlemen”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Debonair”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Come See About Me”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Conjure Me”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Turn On The Water”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “You My Flower”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Miles Iz Dead”
Video: The Afghan Whigs – “Sister, Brother”
Video: Crocodiles – “Endless Flowers”
Video: Crocodiles – “Hearts Of Love”
Video: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”

Ohio State University newspaper The Lantern talks to The National about their decision to actively support the Obama campaign, and some of the grief they’re taking for it.

Sadie chats with John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

MTV Hive reports that even though they’re pretty busy with the Turn On The Bright Lights tenth anniversary edition and Paul Banks with his new solo record Banks on top of that, Interpol has started work on their fifth studio album. And over at DIY and Clash, Banks talks about Banks.

Filter and The Calgary Herald talk to Dean Wareham about the Galaxie 500 legacy and Andy Warhol, respectively.

Loud & Quiet talk to J. and Lou of Dinosaur Jr.

Stereogum talks to Mark Eitzel, in town at The Rivoli on November 28.

Jason Lytle has handed his new record Dept. Of Disappearance over to NPR to stream a week before its release on October 16 and offers an interview to The Irish Times. He opens up for Band OF Horses at Massey Hall on December 5.

Stream: Jason Lytle / Dept. Of Disappearance

Jon KropI don’t think anyone necessarily expected anything more from Redd Kross than what they’d been offering since reconvening after a decade apart in 2006. Which is to say sporadic live shows – mainly at festivals like NXNE 2008 – where they made their fanbase feel like they were teenagers again by way of their prototypical Californian bubblegum power-pop, as captured on classics of the genre like Phaseshifter and Neurotica. Nothing wrong with that, not at all.

But there’s also nothing wrong with taking a time-tested formula and whipping up another batch of what works so come August 7, Merge Records – who are taking their role as home for wayward ’90s rock acts seriously – will release Researching The Blues, the band’s seventh album and first since 1997’s Show World. It features the Neurotica-era lineup of Jeff McDonald, Steven McDonald, Robert Hecker and Roy McDonald and using the just-released title track MP3 as a reference, it’s pretty evident that the band are capable of sounding as snotty, riffy and hooky in their 40s as they did in their teens. Which is great.

The Los Angeles Times talks to Steven McDonald about taking the reunion from the stage into the studio.

MP3: Redd Kross – “Researching The Blues”

Their names may sound like they’re taken from a guidebook on how to name your band in a quintessentially nonsensical ’00s manner, but both of New York’s Bear Hands and Fort Lean come with a legitimate amount of buzz – so it could be worth heading to The Drake on July 25 to see them.

MP3: Bear Hands – “What A Drag”
MP3: Fort Lean – “Sunsick”

Speaking of veterans of the ’90s college rock scene – we were, try to keep up – Sebadoh is back in action, with plans to release a new EP this Summer, follow that with a North American tour that stops at The Horseshoe on August 20 and then release their first new full-length since 1999’s The Sebadoh early next year.

MP3: Sebadoh – “Skull”

Interview and Elle talk to Exitmusic, in town at Wrongbar on June 16 for NXNE. They’ve put out a video from their just-released debut Passage.

Video: Exitmusic – “The Night”

Also at NXNE and with a new video are A Place To Bury Strangers; here’s an interview with the band at NXNE, they’re at The El Mocambo on June 14, and their new record Worship is out June 26.

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

Daytrotter has a session with Father John Misty, back in town at The Opera House on July 12 opening for Youth Lagoon. There’s also features at The Dallas Observer and Creative Loafing.

The Stool Pigeon talks to Bethany Cosentino and The Aspen Times to Bobb Bruno, both of Best Coast. They’re at The Phoenix on July 21.

Bob Mould tells The Quietus why the Sugar reissues – their three albums are being re-released in expanded and remastered form come July 24 – is being accompanied by a new incarnation of the Bob Mould band rather than a proper Sugar reunion, and it’s not because he, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis don’t get along.

Jim James talks to Rolling Stone about his plans for the next Yim Yames solo record. He will be with My Morning Jacket at Echo Beach on August 15.

Pitchfork talks to Mark Kozelek about the new Sun Kil Moon record Among The Leaves, out Tuesday. Kozelek still hasn’t canceled his October 3 date at The Great Hall.

Room 205 has posted the first installment of a video session with Blouse.

CNN interviews Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells, who have a new video from Reign Of Terror.

Video: Sleigh Bells – “Demons”

Retribution Gospel Choir have also got a new video, this one taken from their Revolution EP.

Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Maharisha”

NPR has begun checking in with Neko Case as she gets to work on her first new album since 2009’s Middle Cyclone.

Pitchfork has a stream of a new song from The National, taken from the Game Of Thrones soundtrack. Not sure how I feel about them taking up the banner for House Lannister.

Stream: The National – “The Rains Of Castomere”

Frank YangTwo points. One, I am rather smitten with Dry The River’s debut album Shallow Bed, out now in the UK and coming out in North America on April 17. Two, I am somewhat suspicious of how smitten I am with said record as history shows that my infatuation with British bands who trade in big, emotive rock can be short-lived, either for overexposure or for having a shelf life that’s shorter than one would hope. As such, I went into seeing them at SXSW something of a skeptic and came out a believer – their performance was one of the most stirring I saw all week by a band not hailing from E Street – and as much as seeing them make their Toronto debut less than a fortnight later might have seemed redundant, it was also not to be missed. After all, if things played out for the band as they certainly seemed like they might, the next time they visited would be in a much bigger room.

I wasn’t the only one with that idea, evidently, as The Garrison was decidedly full before they took the stage. With all respect to Bowerbirds and their fanbase, I suspect the support was as much of a draw on this tour as the headliners if not moreso. Still, the five-piece took the stage humbly and a bit taken aback by the turnout – reasonable, as apparently their show the night before in Montreal had been downgraded to an impromptu coffee shop show after Bowerbirds’ van broke down and the main show had to be cancelled – and opened with “No Rest”, whose soaring chorus couldn’t help but win over everyone and anyone within earshot. The band’s ability to build from quiet to crescendo was a potent weapon, but one they used judiciously – if anything, they played things quieter than on record, emphasizing the folkier aspects of their sound and keeping the big guns in reserve for when they’d be most effective, like the crashing intro to “Bible Belt” and the grand, heart-stopping finale of “Lion’s Den”.

As I mentioned in that SXSW writeup, from a strictly musical point of view, there’s no reason that Dry The River can’t follow the trail laid by the likes of Mumford & Sons to mass success. If anything holds them back, it’s their lack of pre-packaged marketability, Dry The River being decidedly scruffier and less ready for the cover of Non-Threatening Boys than their tweed-clad countrymen. But if that keeps their star from ascending quite so quickly and we early adopters can keep them to ourselves a bit longer, I’m all for that.

Alas, something came up and I couldn’t stick around to see Bowerbirds’ set, but I’m sure they were lovely. Next time.

Panic Manual and Syncopated Sound also have reviews of the show. NPR and Toro have interviews with the band, Clash asks guitarist Matthew Taylor to curate his dream festival lineup and The Alternate Side and Daytrotter have posted sessions with the band.

Photos: Dry The River @ The Garrison – March 27, 2012
MP3: Dry The River – “New Ceremony”
Video: Dry The River – “No Rest”
Video: Dry The River – “Chambers & The Valves”
Video: Dry The River – “Weights & Measures”

Ascendent British soul singer Michael Kiwanuka will make his proper Toronto debut – he played an invite-only thing during CMW – at The Great Hall on June 19, tickets $15 in advance. Rolling Stone has all the North American dates and a chat with the singer while Chart antes up with a video session.

MP3: Michael Kiwanuka – “Tell Me A Tale”

M. Ward is gearing up for the release of his new album A Wasteland Companion next week with a Daytrotter session and New York Times interview; you can also now download the lead single from said record if you like.

MP3: M. Ward – “Primitive Girl”

The Quietus interviews Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low and also get Sparhawk to list off his favourite albums. They’re at Massey Hall in support of Death Cab For Cutie on April 19.

Jana Hunter of Lower Dens talks to Spin about their new record Nootropics, out May 1.

Their tour having wrapped up last night right here in Toronto, A Place To Bury Strangers have announced the June 26 release of their next full-length album Worship, and the first single is now available to download courtesy of Spin. The AV Club and The Phoenix have interviews with guitarist Oliver Ackermann.

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

The Riverfront Times talks to Roger Miller of Mission Of Burma; their new one Unsound is due out on July 9.

NPR serves up a World Cafe session with tUnE-yArDs, in town at The Phoenix on August 1.

Dum Dum Girls has released a new video from last year’s Only In Dreams.

Video: Dum Dum Girls – “Coming Down”

Interview interviews Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. The Star-Ledger, LA Weekly, Boise Weekly, and What’s Up also have features.

Aquarium Drunkard grabs an interview with Dean Wareham.

Bryce Dessner of The National talks to You Ain’t No Picasso.

CBC, The Awl, The Toronto Star, and Exclaim all ran features on The Magnetic Fields in advance of last week’s show at The Sound Academy.

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Andrew Bird.

NPR is streaming a recording of a collaboration between The Mountain Goats, Owen Pallett, and vocal group Anonymous 4 at the Ecstatic Music Festival in New York.

Mick RockI will be the first to admit to not really being able to tell where Bradford Cox’s Deerhunter ends and his Atlas Sound begins. I know that the former is ostensibly a band and the latter a solo project, but to my ears the hazy, psychedelic rock that each project produces isn’t exactly a world apart. Okay, Atlas Sound is more keys, less guitars, but they’re both critically adored and don’t really do a lot for me, despite on paper being the sort of thing I should totally dig. I just find it all overly meandering. Go figure.

I do know, however, that it’s Atlas Sound that’s just announced a North American tour in support of last year’s Parallax that covers a lot of geography if not a lot of markets. It does, however, include a March 6 date at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, whereas the original announcement did not, so that’s something for local fans. Tickets are $16.50 in advance.

MP3: Atlas Sound – “Te Amo”
MP3: Atlas Sound – “Terra Incognita”

Also just announced is a date from Los Angeles indie-harpist Active Child, who will be at Lee’s Palace on May 15 as part of a tour in support of his debut full-length You Are All I See. Tickets for that are $15 in advance.

MP3: Active Child – “Diamond Heart”

If you weren’t able to catch Sleigh Bells at The Phoenix on February 14 or just wanted to see them in a much less enjoyable setting amidst a much less enjoyable crowd for a lot more money, they’re opening up both Red Hot Chili Peppers shows at the Air Canada Centre on April 27 and 28. Whoooo. Reign Of Terror is out February 21 and the first single is now available to download.

MP3: Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”

A Place To Bury Strangers’ new EP Onwards To The Wall is available to stream over at Hype Machine ahead of its release next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 2.

MP3: A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away”
Stream: A Place To Bury Strangers / Onwards To The Wall

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has an interview with Craig Finn and also solicits some annotations of three songs from Clear Heart Full Eyes; Minneapolis City Pages and The Macon Telegraph also have chats. And shifting gears to The Hold Steady, Paste digs up some footage of the band at SXSW 2009 and I’m kind of glad they shot the show from the back of Club DeVille because if they were up front, there’d probably be a lot of embarrassing footage of me rocking out. And no one needs to see that.

The Stool Pigeon talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal about their new record Paralytic Stalks, out next week.

Also out next week is Sharon Van Etten’s new album Tramp, and you can hear the whole thing right now streaming over at NPR, perhaps while reading these interviews at The Line Of Best Fit and The L. She’s at Lee’s Palace on February 21.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Serpents”
Stream: Sharon Van Etten / Tramp

February 14 is a big day for Shearwater as it marks the release of their excellent new record Animal Joy, but that day will also see the reissue of their 2004 album Winged Life on LP for the first time. That was the last album for the Shearwater that existed as a side-project for Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff compositions that didn’t fit in Okkervil River before becoming a more distinct creative entity driven wholly by Meiburg. But it’s also a gorgeous record, so that it’s going to find a home on some turntables is good news. Shearwater open up for Sharon Van Etten at Lee’s on February 21.

MP3: Shearwater – “Whipping Boy”

Pitchfork has premiered a second MP3 from the forthcoming Bowerbirds record The Clearing, ahead of its March 6 release date. They play The Garrison on March 27.

MP3: Bowerbirds – “In The Yard”

Mountain XPress talks to The Mountain Goats, but not about mountains.

Exclaim and Time interview Nada Surf, who’ve released a new video from The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. They’re at The Opera House on April 4.

Video: Nada Surf – “When I Was Young”

If you enjoyed the Popeye-powered Wilco video that premiered last week, you may be pleased to know there’s an entire website at wilcospinach.com devoted to the production. And if you click around a bit, you may find a way to download a live version of “Dawned On Me” for keeps.

Drowned In Sound talks to Bryce Dessner about The National and his Long Count project.

PopMatters asks twenty questions of Phantogram.