Frank YangIn normal circumstances, seeing an artist live twice in a six-month span will yield pretty similar shows. Sure, set lists can change to some degree, but to be able to completely change the context and experience in such short order is a rare thing – but then Patti Smith is a rare artist. Her show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in March – her first proper Toronto show in 13 years – was presented as “An evening of words and music, in memory of Robert Mapplethorpe” and while the song selection covered all the bases one could hope for, with Smith backed by her children on guitar and piano and songs interspersed with readings and anecdotes, it felt intimate and informal though no less powerful for it. Friday night’s show at Massey Hall, by comparison, was billed as “Patti Smith and Her Band” and while for other artists, the crediting of a full band might seem an unnecessary and presumptive detail, for Smith it made a world of difference; it meant that she’d be performing with drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and guitarist Lenny Kaye, and it meant that she was going to rock.

If you assumed the assemblage of the bandmates who’d been with her since her landmark debut album Horses almost 40 years ago – bassist Tony Shanahan, who’d also been along in March, and guitarist Jack Petruzzelli rounded out the ensemble – meant that there’d be more vintage material on offer, then you’d have been correct. Though the kick drum said “Banga” and the show could have been considered the Toronto stop of the tour for Smith’s last album, the set list tilted very heavily towards Smith’s ’70s output. They opened the show with “Dancing Barefoot” and “Redondo Beach”, and and though their collective influence on punk and garage rock can’t be overstated, Smith’s band performed with plenty of polish and refinement; even restraint. But it was pretty punk when towards the end of a sprawling “Birdland” – and not for the last time – Smith turned and spit onstage; not sure how many times that’s happened at Massey Hall.

But it should not have been taken as any mark of disrespect for the hallowed venue. Indeed, Smith was most excited to be playing the room again for the first time in 37 years, mentioning how excited she was in 1976 to be playing on the same stage that Maria Callas had once sang on. Hers was one of many ghosts evoked throughout the show, alongside Jim Morrison (“Break It Up”), Amy Winehouse (“This Is The Girl”), John Lennon (an unplanned cover of “Beautiful Boy”), and Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith (“Because The Night”). Still, unlike the Queen Elizabeth show, the theme of the show would be rebellion rather than remembrances, the tone more electrifying than elegiac.

Though the front half of the show had many highlights – an impromptu ode to Nicole Kidman as a nod to the TIFF festivities going on around the city prefaced “My Blakean Year” – it was after Smith left the band in Kaye’s hands for a medley saluting Toronto’s garage rock roots to dance in the audience that things really kicked into high gear. A smouldering “Ain’t It Strange” lit the match, a Television/CBGBs-saluting “We Three” fanned the flames, and “Because The Night”, “Pissing In A River”, and raging “Horses”/”Gloria” absolutely blew the place up, punctuated by Smith’s declaration, “This is not a movie – this is real life!”. The encore kept the intensity up, with Smith passing guitar duties on “Banga” to an audience member (he was basically tasked with playing a D chord ad infinitum) but taking possession of a Strat at the tail end of a searing, show-closing “Rock’n’Roll Nigger” for the express purpose of feeding back and then tearing off every one of the strings. A majestic finish to the show and to a year where Smith more than made up for years of 416 neglect.

NOW, Radio Free Canuckistan, and Digital Journal also have reviews of the show.

Photos: Patti Smith @ Massey Hall – September 6, 2013
MP3: Patti Smith – “Wing”
Video: Patti Smith – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Video: Patti Smith – “People Have The Power”
Video: Patti Smith – “Summer Cannibals”
Video: Patti Smith – “Rock’N’Roll Nigger”

With The Electric Lady finally out tomorrow, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Spin all have feature pieces on the inimitable Janelle Monáe. Advance streams of the album have been pretty tightly geoblocked, but Canadians can hear it via Exclaim; Americans can try VH1. She plays The Kool Haus on October 19.

Stream: Janelle Monáe / The Electric Lady

Portland’s Blouse are streaming their new record Imperium at Hype Machine until it officially comes out on September 17. Noisey also has an interview with the band.

Stream: Blouse / Imperium

NPR has got the new Sebadoh record Defend Yourself on stream before it comes out September 17. They’ll play it at The Horseshoe on November 8.

Stream: Sebadoh / Defend Yourself

The New York Times has a feature on Okkervil River while Interview sends frontman Will Sheff to talk to their album cover artist William Schaff and co.create finds out about the thinking behind the marketing campaign for the album. Okkervil River plays The Phoenix on September 28.

Clash talks to Explosions In The Sky. They play The Air Canada Centre on October 4 in support of Nine Inch Nails.

Still no album info, but Rolling Stone has premiered a new video from TV On The Radio.

Video: TV On The Radio – “Mercy”

Patrick Stickles details to The Missoulian his plans for the next Titus Andronicus album, which of course will be a rock opera.

Salon, The Chicago Tribune, Metro, and Noisey chat with Mac McCaughan of Superchunk.

Elle talks to Caitlin Rose about her wonderful cover of The National’s “Pink Rabbits”; State just talks to her about whatever.

Video: Caitlin Rose – “Pink Rabbits”

The National Post, NOW, and The AV Club have interviews with Neko Case.

The Fly interviews Zachary Cole Smith of DIIV.

The New York Times talks to Black Francis about the post-Kim Deal Pixies v2.0.

Yo La Tengo stops in at Daytrotter for a session.

Emily SchurSo yes, hi, I’m back. Flew in yesterday, have no idea what time it actually is or what time I think it is or what time I think it should be. But while Berlin and Stockholm were great, vacation is over and it’s time to unload the stuff I’ve been bookmarking but not posting in my absence. Most of it you’ve probably seen or heard already, but lemme get it out there anyways.

And why not start with Neko Case – her new record The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You is out as of today and her secret show at The Dakota Tavern last Tuesday was very much one of the things I’m sad about missing though make no mistake, I was still happier where I was. Anyways, the always-quotable Neko sounds off on all sorts of subjects – not just music – at The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Drowned In Sound, Consequence Of Sound, NPR (and another), Maclean’s, Salon, The Toronto Star and The Grid.

As has become their MO, Pixies have sneak-released a new EP which appears to be untitled but which will probably colloquially be called Indie Cindy after the track for which they’ve also released a video. So maybe it was the now-departed Kim Deal who was the hold-up in releasing new Pixies material all these years?

Video: Pixies – “Indie Cindy”

NPR is streaming the new Okkervil River record The Silver Gymnasium, out this week, and American Songwriter and Consequence Of Sound have conversations with Will Sheff about it. They play The Phoenix on September 28.

Stream: Okkervil River / The Silver Gymnasium

Vice, Sowetan, Elle, The Belfast Telegraph, and Irish Times talk to Janelle Monáe about her new album The Electric Lady, out September 10. She plays The Kool Haus on October 19.

Sebadoh are streaming another new song from Defend Yourself, coming out September 17. They play The Horseshoe on November 8.

Stream: Sebadoh – “State Of Mine”

Pitchfork has details on Bitter Rivals, the third album from Sleigh Bells, as well as dates for the accompanying North American tour. The record is out October 8 and they’re at The Phoenix on November 13 with Doldrums supporting.

Video: Sleigh Bells – “Bitter Rivals”

Los Angeles’ The Happy Hollows put on a great show when they were here for NXNE 2010, so word that they’re at The Silver Dollar on October 12 behind their new record Amethyst is not to be disregarded. Tickets for the show are a mere $8.50.

Stream: The Happy Hollows – “Endless”

Having gone without releasing new music in far too long, Dean Wareham has announced a new mini-album entitled Emancipated Hearts for October 15 release. You can stream the first song from it below and check out details at Pitchfork.

Stream: Dean Wareham – “Love Is Colder Than Death”

Brookyln’s The Men will release an acoustic 12″ EP entitled Campfire Songs on October 15, but don’t expect their October 20 show at The Horseshoe to be some cozy unplugged singalong. Unless it is.

Stream: The Men – “The Seeds” (acoustic)

Just here back in May, Laura Stevenson returns to The Drake on November 19 to support her new record, Wheel. Tickets are $13 in advance.

Stream: Laura Stevenson – “Slouch”

Having teased that they were working on multiple new records, Shearwater have announced the first of them. Fellow Travelers will be out November 26 and offers a novel spin on the covers record, with them reinterpreting songs by former tourmates whose ranks include St. Vincent, Coldplay, and Wye Oak. They’ve made a Xiu Xiu redo available for download, and Exclaim has full details.

MP3: Shearwater – “I Luv The Valley Oh!”

TV On The Radio haven’t revealed details of their next album but the have revealed a new video from it.

Video: TV On The Radio – “Million Miles”

Pitchfork has premiered the new video from The National, taken from this year’s Trouble Will Find Me.

Video: The National – “Graceless”

Yes I know I missed the first Replacements show in 22 years at last week’s Riot Fest, but at least I have these recordings from Mechanical Forest Sound and Bradley’s Almanac to fill me in on what I missed whilst filling my face with currywurst.

Tone Deaf talks to Calexico.

Sharon Van Etten premiered a new song by way of a video session at Pickathon; Spin has the clip.

And oh yeah, the blog turned 11 yesterday and for the first time in the past decade, I didn’t commemorate it with a post (though I did make a tweet). Last year’s decade-marking post still basically holds, and while I don’t know I’ve done a good enough job of slowing things down as much as I’d have thought, being able to take more than a week off as I just did and not freak the hell out seems like progress. So I’ll just say thanks for sticking around, and I’m still here, at least for now. Take that as you will, just not for granted.

Frank YangA glance at the sandwich board outside the Silver Dollar on Saturday night would shown a bill of bands with largely vague and generic names, yet if one were to have stepped inside and takn in the bill, they’d have found the appellations remarkably descriptive and appropriate.

I’d seen locals Dilly Dally a few years ago at Halifax Pop Explosion 2010, and despite the rough edges – or maybe because of them – I liked what I heard and was happy to have the opportunity to check in with them again, what with their not having especially blown up in the interim. What had transpired between then and now, however, was a dialing down of the early ’00s garage rock snottiness in favour of a heavier, jerkier Pixies-esque sound and songwriting style. So while still rather on the nose with their influences, their material was definitely more distinctive and, should a record finally emerge, it should be interesting and an aural salve for anyone who feared sullenly tuneful indifference was a thing of the past.

I don’t know if Toronto really had a former great shoegazing hope amongst all the bands operating, but they’ve certainly got a next one in Breeze. Looking and sounding the part of the first wave of the genre – Jazzmasters, check; shaggy curly hair and striped shirts, check – their songs were simply structured, unfailingly melodic, and struck the right balance of soft, dreamy vocals and churning guitars that wisely saved their really noisy moments for the instrumental breaks. There wasn’t any specific aspect of them that marked them as burgeoning superstars but as a unit they were really strong on fundamentals, their drummer as solid as he wasn’t flashy. Signed to local label Hand Drawn Dracula, they’ve only got a couple singles out at the moment but a debut album is forthcoming and for fans of the genre, worth keep an eye out for.

Philadelphia’s Nothing were the front half of the touring bill that was anchoring this show, and though I hadn’t heard them before, their name was a pretty good indicator of where they were coming from. While you could technically argue they were in keeping with the shoegazing theme of the evening, they were less about having sound wash over you than hit you like a brickbat. Though punishingly loud, they avoided sonic incoherence and if you paid close attention, were fundamentally tuneful under it all – a trait which became clearer the few times they turned the distortion down. I’m kind of amazed how different they sound on their last release, the Downward Years To Come 12″ EP, which is much more classically shoegaze in conceit and execution. Though as it turned out, that Jekyll and Hyde phenomenon wasn’t isolated to them.

The first sign that this Whirr set might not be what I was expecting was that as Nothing tore down and they set up, the grinding feedback that closed the former’s performance continued to reverberate through the club until they began playing. The second was that there was no sign of singers Alexandra Morte, who appeared on their Pipe Dreams and Distressor albums, or Kristina Esfandiari who appeared on this year’s Around mini-LP. Considering the female vocals are a huge part of the band on record – their being the softness that buttresses against the band’s waves of sound – it was a pretty big absence. Not that they’d have necessarily been heard anyways, since the guitars and drums were so loud that the vocals were rendered completely inaudible. Seriously, they could have been lip-synching or singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and you wouldn’t have known; given this, that Nothing’s singer jumped on stage to sing one song was kind of hilarious.

This is not to suggest the show lacked presence or impact; Whirr had a physicality onstage not often seen at shows of this ilk, with all five moving as though jerked by marionette strings or being impacted by the notes they were playing, but given that their ability to capture on record that My Bloody Valentine-esque dichotomy of sonic brutality and aural beauty is a huge part of the band’s appeal, that they’d choose not to indulge that at all was rather frustrating. An guitar line would occasionally surface that gave some indication of what song it was they were playing, but the live renditions were so far removed from the recordings – if the album versions were watercolours, live they were huge swathes of jet-black paint – that experiencing the show on anything but a purely visceral level was largely futile. And while that approach was satisfying in its way, it also got tedious after a while. I found it curious that the band would go through the trouble of writing, recording, releasing, and touring these songs only to opt to bludgeon them to death every night, but I suppose that’s their prerogative. I do hope, however, that some of the people who were impressed enough to buy records after their set take them home, put them on, and are confused by all the actual songs.

The Aquarian has a short interview with Whirr.

Photos: Whirr, Nothing, Breeze, Dilly Dally @ The Silver Dollar – August 17, 2013
MP3: Dilly Dally – “Helen Hunt”
MP3: Dilly Dally – “Pretty Pretty Pictures”
Stream: Whirr – “Drain”
Stream: Whirr – “Swoon”
Stream: Nothing / Downward Years To Come
Stream: Breeze – “Paradise (In a While)”
Stream: Breeze – “Repent”
Stream: Dilly Dally – “Tip Toes”
Stream: Dilly Dally – “Green”
Stream: Dilly Dally – “Killing Time”
Stream: Dilly Dally – “Candy Mountain”

Grantland, The AV Club, and The Fly talk to Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan, whose new album I Hate Music is out this week.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the low-down on the players replacing the missing Replacements at Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson’s side at Riot Fest at Garrison Commons on August 25.

Neko Case has made her new album The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You available to stream a full two weeks ahead of its September 3 release via NPR.

Stream: Neko Case / The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You

USA Today has premiered the next performance video from Okkervil River’s forthcoming The Silver Gymnasium, this one of which finds Will Sheff playing in the titular gymnasium of his old grade school. The record comes out September 3 and they play The Phoenix on September 28.

Video: Okkervil River – “Lido Pier Suicide Car” (live in the Silver Gymnasium)

Consequence Of Sound have a stream of another track from the new of Montreal album lousy with sylvianbriar, out October 8.

Stream: of Montreal – “She Ain’t Speakin’ Now”

Matablog has details on Lee Ranaldo’s new solo record; credited to Lee Ranaldo & The Dust, Last Night On Earth will be out on October 8 and you can stream the first track from it below. This offers some context to Ranaldo’s previously-announced date at The Horseshoe on October 11.

Stream: Lee Ranaldo & The Dust – “Lecce, Leaving”

Magnet spends some (a lot) of time with Josh Tillman of Father John Misty. You can do the same when he plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre solo on October 15.

Pitchfork has a new sort-of performance video from Fiona Apple and Blake Mills, whose co-tour comes to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 17.

We Talk You Die interviews new Midlake frontman Eric Pulido about their new record Antiphon, coming November 5.

The Alternate Side has a session and interview with Yo La Tengo.

KCRW is streaming an acoustic studio session with The National.

NPR welcomes Mikal Cronin for a World Cafe session; Spoonfed also has an interview.

MTV Hive and Glamour talk to Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee.

Louisa BertmanIt’s understandable if you’d thought we’d heard the last in the way of new music from Tanya Donelly. Output from the former Throwing Muse/Breeder/Belly frontwoman gone solo basically stopped with 2006’s recorded-live This Hungry Life, and when Spin went knocking in 2010, she revealed that following the birth of her second child, she’d embarked on a new career as a postpartum doula because, well, pretty much anything pays better than professional musician – even one with a CV as impressive as hers.

She didn’t go completely silent, though. Besides intermittently appearing on American Laundromat’s endless stream of tribute albums and compilations, she was heard in lovely form on in duet with Bill Janovitz on Buffalo Tom’s 2011 effort Skins, and this past May was seen as well as heard when she made an appearance on stage with The Breeders in Boston to sing on a couple songs. So pleasant surprises but hardly evidence of any sort of full-fledged return to making music.

But she has been making music; oh how she’s been making music. This week saw the release of the first volume in what she’s calling the Swan Song Series – a series of EPs being released every month for at least the next three months. The songs – which may or may not all be available to stream via Soundcloud right now – aren’t just home-recorded sketches, either; they’re fully-arranged and -produced songs with a host of guest contributors including Janovitz and The Magnetic Fields’ Claudia Gonson. They’re very much keeping in tone with her last couple solo records – lightly jazzy and sophisticated but immediately and directly melodic – and all impeccably lovely. Tanya Donelly is back and the world is a better place for it.

Video: Tanya Donelly – “Mass Ave”
Stream: Tanya Donelly / Swan Song Series

Vue Weekly has a cover story on Neko Case, who has made another song from The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You available to preview via lyric video. It’s out September 3.

Lyric Video: Neko Case – “Night Still Comes”

The Line Of Best Fit has details on the release of the second Boardwalk Empire soundtrack album, which will find the likes of The National and Patti Smith, amongst others, covering prohibition-era songs which will appear in the HBO series. The National’s contribution has been available to download for a while and Rolling Stone has a stream of Smith’s contribution. The album is out September 3, the new season of Boardwalk Empire begins September 8. Patti Smith plays Massey Hall on September 6. City Pages and Rolling Stone have interviews with The National, who have made one of the performances from their upcoming episode of The Artist’s Den available to watch.

MP3: The National – “I’ll See You In My Dreams”
Stream: Patti Smith – “I Ain’t Got Nobody”

Esquire has premiered a stream of the new song from Okkervil River’s forthcoming The Silver Gymnasium. It’s out September 3 and they play The Phoenix on September 28.

Stream: Okkervil River – “Stay Young”

My Daily, BBC News, and Clash have interviews and NPR has a World Cafe session with Lissie, whose new record Return To Forever comes out September 10.

Creative Loafing and Consequence Of Sound talk to Speedy Ortiz, who’re in town at The Horseshoe on September 15 supporting Chelsea Light Moving.

Panic Manual talks to a pre-meltdown Father John Misty; a post-meltdown FJM returns for a solo show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 15.

Also at Esquire is a stream of the first sample of the new Head & The Heart record Let’s Be Still, due out October 15. They’re at The Danforth Music Hall on October 31.

Stream: The Head & The Heart – “Shake”

The Line Of Best Fit has good news and bad news for Midlake fans. The good news is their first album since 2010’s The Courage Of Others will be called Antiphon and is out November 5. The bad news is that singer and songwriter Tim Smith isn’t on it, having left the band. Guitarist Eric Pulido has stepped up as frontman and you can hear Midlake mk2 on the title track of the new album, which is available to stream.

Stream: Midlake – “Antiphon”

Savoir Adore have released a new video from their reissued Our Nature.

Video: Savoir Adore – “Regalia”

Pitchfork gets behind the scenes of Yo La Tengo’s last video from Fade and premieres the next one.

Video: Yo La Tengo – “Is That Enough”

John Vanderslice is streaming the A-side of a new 7″ single released earlier this week. On topic, Engadget gets a tour of his Tiny Telephone studio in San Francisco.

Stream: John Vanderslice – “Song For Clay Miller”

Our Scattered Words and The Calgary Herald have interviews with Sharon Van Etten.

NPR are streaming The Mountain Goats’ set from the Newport Folk Festival last month.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists visit The AV Club to cover The Ramones for their AV Club Undercover series.

Dan MonickFiona Apple did pretty much all anyone could have asked in 2012. Starting with a tense but triumphant comeback show at SXSW, she proceeded to release a stellar new record with The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do last June and toured reasonably extensively behind it, though by late Fall she was cancelling dates to tend to her ailing dog. If that was the end of the promotional cycle for The Idler Wheel and the beginning of another hiatus, then so be it. Her inclusion on the initial lineup for the 2013 edition Primavera Sound in Barcelona was an encouraging sign that she wasn’t done yet, but that didn’t last.

Then last week – more than a year after the first single and video from Idler Wheel was released – a new video emerged for the album’s closing track, directed by auteur and former partner Paul Thomas Anderson, and that was followed up earlier this week with the announcement of a new Fall tour. But not a conventional tour. For starters, Apple will be touring and performing with Los Angeles singer-songwriter Blake Mills, and as per the name of the tour – Anything We Want – the format of it promises to be free-form and unpredictable. One would assume that with the not-cheap ticket prices, they’re acknowledging that Apple’s exponentially-larger fanbase will make up the bulk of the audience and will be played to accordingly, but then again, maybe not. They don’t know, so how can we?

In any case, Toronto is probably lucky that the October 17 date at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre comes a couple weeks into the tour, so folks should have an idea of what to expect by that point. Of course, if they’ve already shelled out their $49.50 or $69.50 for a seat, it’s kind of academic. But still.

Video: Fiona Apple – “Hot Knife”

Portland’s Blitzen Trapper have announced details of the follow-up to 2011’s American Goldwing as well as accompanying tour dates. VII will be out on October 1 on their new home at Vagrant Records, and the accompanying tour hits Lee’s Palace a few days later on October 5, tickets $18.50. You can stream one of the new songs via Rolling Stone.

Stream: Blitzen Trapper – “Ever Loved Once”

Providence’s Deer Tick are also putting out a new record of their brand of Americana this Fall in the form of Negativity, due out September 24, and will also be hitting the road in support, kicking that tour off in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on October 10 – tickets for that are $22. They released a video for one of their new songs a couple weeks ago and are streaming another new tune via Rolling Stone.

Video: Deer Tick – “The Rock”
Stream: Deer Tick – “The Dream’s In The Ditch”

Pennsylvania psych-folkers Dr. Dog are also readying a new album for Fall release, with B-Room coming out October 1 – stream a new song below – and their touring itinerary in support of it runs pretty much the entire Fall, with the November 8 date at The Phoenix being one of the last. Tickets for that will be $22.

Stream: Dr. Dog – “The Truth”

Entertainment Weekly are streaming the whole of Explosions In The Sky’s soundtrack to the Prince Avalanche film ahead of its August 6 release date, just before the film opens on August 9. They play The Air Canada Centre on October 4, opening for Nine Inch Nails.

Stream: Explosions In The Sky w David Wingo / Prince Avalanche original motion picture soundtrack

Though you could be forgiven for assuming that we’d lost Tanya Donelly to the world of motherhood and domesticity – I certainly did – you would in fact be wrong. The former Belly/Breeder/Throwing Muse has been recording new music and will begin releasing it to the world in a series of monthly EP’s that she’s calling the Swan Song Series; the first volume will be available next Tuesday, August 6, via Bandcamp though those in the US with access to Pandora can apparently stream the songs in advance now. Lucky ducks.

The Justin Vernon-powered Volcano Choir have released a new video from their forthcoming Repave, which is out September 3 and brings them to The Phoenix on September 8.

Video: Volcano Choir – “Byegone”

Billboard talks to Neko Case about her forthcoming record The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, out September 3.

Stereogum chats with Lou Barlow about the return of Sebadoh, while The San Francisco Appeal talks to drummer Bob D’Amico and The San Francisco Bay Guardian to bassist Jason Lowenstein. They’ve released a stream of one of the new tracks and a video of another, both from Defend Yourself which comes out September 17.

Stream: Sebadoh – “I Will”
Video: Sebadoh – “All Kinds”

Pitchfork has some specifics about the new Cults record Static, which will be out October 15.

Trailer: Cults / Static

Rolling Stone has premiered the second video for the first new Pixies song in ages, because if any band has mastered the art of miking it, it’s Pixies. Trivia: that’s not actually Kim Deal on the recording, it’s her replacement Kim Shattuck.

Video: Pixies – “Bagboy” (version 2)

Huffington Post has premiered a stream of the first new TV On The Radio music since 2011’s Nine Types Of Light. No info on the new album, but this is a start.

Stream: TV On The Radio – “Mercy”

Chicago Grid has a feature story on Wilco (the business).

Beatroute and The Edmonton Journal chat with M Ward.

The Creator’s Project have posted their mini-documentary on The Postal Service’s 10th anniversary tour.

Consequence Of Sound talks to Superchunk and Mountain Goats drummer Jon Wurster about his recent commitment to sobriety.

Airship Daily and The Huffington Post have interviews with Stephin Merritt about his work with Future Bible Heroes.

NPR has a video session with Yo La Tengo.