Frank YangWhile I appreciate that there were a lot of entertainment options in Toronto on Wednesday night – TIFF screenings, TIFF parties, no shortage of other concerts big and small – it was still disappointing that there were probably more people camped out in front of the Horseshoe thanks to rumours of a Boss appearance that had been debunked for hours than at the Mod Club to see School Of Seven Bells perform.

You’d have thought that at least the local openers would have gotten some support but the room was barely a dozen people deep when Bishop Morocco took the stage, but within a few songs I couldn’t say I blamed people for staying away. Their plodding, post-punk stylings lacked any of the personality, dynamics or tension needed to sell it and what few compelling melodies they did have were delivered blandly and indifferently. About midway through their set they brought a live drummer out to replace their drum machine and the quality of the music improved immeasurably, raising the question of why they didn’t utilize him for the whole set – the simple programmed beats they used to that point hardly added anything and wouldn’t have been hard to reproduce. Their second half managed to redeem the performance enough that I wouldn’t call it bad, but it still wasn’t especially good. And as a note, modulation effects on vocals don’t work for anyone. Don’t do it.

Active Child – the nom de plume of Los Angeles’ Pat Grossi – was a similarly barely-known quantity coming into the night but made a much more favourable impression. Performing with a bassist/backing vocalist, Grossi moved from harp to keys to guitar over the course of their set, showcasing his musical versatility, melodic intuition and stunningly soulful and operatic vocals, if at the expense of some focus. Some points seemed more directionless than others – everyone likes covering Joy Division’s “Ceremony” for fun but I don’t know that it needs to be part of anyone’s live set – but as a whole it was a warm and appealing performance that should have sent at least a few people over to the merch table to pick up a copy of his debut EP Curtis Lane.

I think my appreciation for School Of Seven Bells has been well-documented. Their debut Alpinisms was one of my favourites of 2008 and this year’s Disconnect From Desire, with it more polished 4AD-ish sheen and greater commitment to pop, is a worthy follow-up. But I’ve never been thrilled with their live shows for reasons that one of the openers had already quite ably demonstrated – canned beats. In the past, the live band was the same as the studio band which meant that behind the Dehaza twins and guitarist Benjamin Curtis, there was… a drum machine. As soaring as the songs they built around it might have been, in a live setting they always felt held back by the soullessness of the programmed beats. And this is not a problem specific to School Of Seven Bells; I maintain there isn’t a live band out there that wouldn’t sound better with a live drummer than even the most sophisticated software.

This is something that School Of Seven Bells seem to have come around on, as their live band now has an actual person behind an actual drum kit and consequently, they put on the best show I’ve seen from them yet. As always, there was guitarist Ali Dehaza on stage left and keyboardist Claudia stage right, Curtis set up behind them both, ensconced in his fortress of guitar gear and rocking out like a teenager in his bedroom with a tennis racket, and a drummer whose name may not have been known but whose presence was surely felt. The programmed beats were still there, underpinning everything, but the sheer muscular force of the percussion and overall volume gave the show a physicality that, quite frankly, kicked ass. Playing to those strengths, the hour-long set focused on the most direct songs from both records and the combination of the weighty sound and angelic, perfect harmonies of the sisters made for a sublime wall of sound on numbers like “Half Asleep” and “Windstorm” that, frustratingly, not a whole lot of people were there to enjoy. I’m sad that so few people came out, not just for the band for not having the audience they deserved but for those who weren’t there because they truly missed out on a great show.

Panic Manual was also on hand for the show. PopMatters has an interview with School Of Seven Bells and NME reports that the band will be re-recording some of their songs in Sim-ese for the soundtrack to the video game The Sims 3. I think I think that’s awesome.

Photos: School Of Seven Bells, Active Child, Bishop Morocco @ The Mod Club – September 15, 2010
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Chain”
MP3: Active Child – “Wilderness”
MP3: Active Child – “Body Heat (So Far Away)”
MP3: Bishop Morocco – “Last Year’s Disco Guitars”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “My Cabal”
Video: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep”
Video: Bishop Morocco – “Last Year’s Disco Guitars”
MySpace: School Of Seven Bells
MySpace: Active Child

Blonde Redhead have released a video from their latest Penny Sparkle. They play The Phoenix on October 17.

Video: Blonde Redhead – “Not Getting There”

Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Spin all have various features on Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal; PitchforkTV also has a Cemetery Gates video session with the band and NPR is streaming their show in Washington DC from earlier this week.

A new track from Sharon Van Etten’s forthcoming Epic is up for grabs and the album is streaming in whole at NPR. At some point in the near future I will write about why this record is fantastic, but for now, trust me and celebrate the fact that the original October 5 release date has apparently been moved up to next Tuesday. Also make plans to see her open up for Junip on November 5 at Lee’s Palace or wherever she/they are playing near you. The Daily Times and Washington Post have interviews.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Don’t Do It”
Stream: Sharon Van Etten / Epic

Blurt profiles Film School, who bring their new record Fission to the El Mocambo on October 4.

Warpaint, who made their Toronto debut opening up for School Of Seven Bells last Fall at Lee’s, have released the first MP3 from their forthcoming debut The Fool, out October 25. They’re at Massey Hall on September 29 opening up for The xx, who incidentally have told NME not to expect a follow-up anytime soon. Or maybe at all.

MP3: Warpaint – “Undertow”

Twenty-Four Bit reports that PJ Harvey may have a new record out as soon as next February.

NME has it that Duffy will release her second album, entited Endlessly, on November 30.

Spin reports that The Joy Formidable have named their debut full-length The Big Roar and the first single, “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”, is now streaming at their website. The record isn’t out until 2011 but expect to hear lots of it on their Fall North American tour which kicks off November 3 at the Horseshoe in Toronto.

NOW talks to Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub in advance of their two-night stand at the Horseshoe next Wednesday and Thursday nights.

And it would be funny if it wasn’t so serious, but The Charlatans have – get ready for it – cancelled tonight’s show at Lee’s Palace. Drummer Jon Brookes suffered a seizure during their show in Philadelphia Wednesday night and was taken to hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery but it forced the cancellation of both Canadian dates on their North American tour. For those keeping score, this is their third straight failed attempt to play Toronto in the last few years and the second nixed because of a Brookes medical situation (the last time he needed shoulder surgery). Refunds are available at point of purchase but the date is currently in the process of being rescheduled, although their itinerary leaves little flexibility through mid-November. But hey – fourth time’s the charm, right? Best wishes to Brookes on a speedy recovery and I will do my best to not jinx them in the future with jokes about tour cancellations/calamities. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview with Tim Burgess.

Jason ArthursIf you’ve not yet read Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small, then get up right now, go out, buy a copy, and read it cover to cover right now. It’s okay, I’ll wait. And when you’re done, we can discuss plans to road trip down to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to give Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance big hugs, because the story of Merge is as much the story of them, and as such, is the story of Superchunk.

And though they’ve almost always coexisted, the arcs of each story don’t necessarily run concurrently – Superchunk’s heyday was the 1990s when they were one of the prototypical college rock bands laying the blueprint for what the kids now call indie, and though they’ve been around over 20 years, Merge only really became a powerhouse label in the past eight or nine years, after Superchunk went on hiatus following 2001’s perhaps prophetically titled Here’s To Shutting Up. If that were the final word, from the band, it would have been a fitting one as it found the once fuzz-coated pogo-tastic rockers in a relatively gentler frame of mind and while their songwriting was still in top form, it felt like they were looking forward to a break. And a break they took, with McCaughan taking his solo project Portastatic into rockier, full-band realms accompanied by guitarist Jim Wilbur, drummer Jon Wurster becoming both Mountain Goat and comedian and Ballance shepherding Merge to greatness. If the ‘Chunk were done, they should have had no regrets.

But sometimes a hiatus is actually a hiatus. Although they’d done sporadic shows since taking Shutting Up off the road, starting with the Merge XX anniversary celebrations last Summer, Superchunk began edging back into active status and following the release of the Leaves In The Gutter EP last year, there came word of a new album, their first in almost a decade. That record – Majesty Shredding – arrives next week and when I say it sounds just like a Superchunk record, I mean that with the highest possible praise. It fuses the pop perfection they’d reached with Shutting Up with a consistent level of energy, excitement and volume that you’d have to go back over 15 years in their discography to match. From the whine of feedback that opens “Digging For Something”, Shredding collects everything great about all that is Superchunk into eleven great, pogo-worthy tracks that individually might not measure up to the very best songs the band has ever written but as an album is as satisfying a listen as anything in their discography. It’s probably unrealistic to hope that this will be the start of a run of equally good records every year or two, but considering that I wouldn’t have even expected this record to exist as recently as a year ago, it’s kind of the best gift ever.

Majesty Shredding is streaming at NPR a week ahead of its release. I had previously hoped that the September 23 date in Montreal would imply a Toronto one the following night, apparently it’s not to be. I finally got to see them at SxSW in March and will do so again in a month at Matador 21, but still have my fingers crossed that a local show will appear on the books sooner rather than later.

MP3: Superchunk – “Digging For Something”
Stream: Superchunk / Majesty Shredding

Also up for stream at NPR and out next week is Blonde Redhead’s new long-player Penny Sparkle. They’re in town at The Phoenix on October 17.

Stream: Blonde Redhead / Penny Sparkle

NPR’s album stream slam continues with Of Montreal’s False Priest, out next Tuesday. Spin also gets in on the act with a new MP3 from said record available to download.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Sex Karma”
Stream: Of Montreal / False Priest

And out this week and streamable is Interpol’s latest Interpol. JAM, The National Post and Spinner have conversations with guitarist Daniel Kessler, presumably conducted when they were in town last month.

Stream: Interpol / Interpol

Deerhunter have put out a video from their forthcoming record Halcyon Digest, due out September 28. They’re at the Opera House on October 19.

Video: Deerhunter – “Helicopter”

Both NYC Taper and Bradley’s Almanac are sharing live recordings of Built To Spill shows from the past month or so.

Spin finds out how The Thermals got their name, while PopMatters turns in a regular old interview. They play Lee’s Palace on October 9.

Ra Ra Riot explain their cat-powered new video to Chart.

Black Cab Sessions runs the gamut with featuring Lissie, in town at the El Mocambo on October 19, and this one with The Flaming Lips – no bubble walk.

Rolling Stone takes Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy back to the days of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for some insight on what that tumultuous period was like while Muzzle Of Bees has assembled a tribute album to Summerteeth recorded by all Wisconsin artists.

JEFF The Brotherhood are in town on October 20 at The Horseshoe.

Frank YangHonestly, I’d thought that Tom Petty had retired. Between the themes of he and The Heartbreakers’ last studio record, 2002’s The Last DJ, and the victory lap of 2006’s 30th anniversary tour, I thought that he’d called it a day on active touring and my opportunities to see him perform had dried up. I don’t know how or why I had that notion, but it was clearly wrong as Wednesday night, there I was at the Air Canada Centre, ready to see Mr. Petty and company for the first time and, needless to say, excited about it. Update: And further proof I thought he retired – I completely forgot about the existence of 2006’s solo record Highway Companion. Oops.

Conversely, I’d never thought that Crosby, Stills & Nash had called it a day. Even though they’d not released a CSN record proper since 1994, they’d been touring constantly – sometimes with Neil Young, more often without – and though I had respect for their work and reputation, had never felt compelled to see them live. That said, I had no problem with adding another legendary act to my, “yeah I saw them” list. And that’s about all I got out of their almost headline-length opening set, as it was clear that whatever magic they had in their younger days was greatly diminished.

I appreciate that the ’60s are a long ways gone and all three had done more than their share of living in the interim, but hearing how shaky their once-pristine trademark harmonies had gotten was disappointing to say the least. They still performed with aplomb – more rock than their folk roots with Stephen Stills taking more than a few big rock guitar solos and Graham Nash chatty and charming as the group’s de facto spokesman – but the numbers that should have shone brightest, like “Our House” and “Love The One You’re With”, came off the wobbliest and they only got away with it because most of the audience was loudly singing along with all the old chestnuts and probably weren’t paying that close attention to the actual performance. One couldn’t help but think how this would have gone if Neil were along for the ride? He’d have probably kicked their asses backstage.

Petty and The Heartbreakers likewise came to give the people what they wanted to hear but did it almost perfectly, the way you’d expect one of America’s finest rock bands of the past 35 years to do. Petty, dapper in a duster and sporting a sharp-looking beard, was all smiles and Southern charm and opened with the big bold jangle of “Listen To Her Heart” before sliding effortlessly into a slightly greased-up “You Don’t Know How It Feels”. The band sounded nothing short of amazing as a unit – maybe not so surprising considering how long they’ve been playing together, but remarkable to see and hear nonetheless. The arrangements of the songs were largely faithful to the recorded versions, leaving their perfect pop structures and southern accents intact, but improvisationally pushing the edges just enough to let them stretch out and show off a bit. This mainly applied to lead guitarist Mike Campbell, whose economical solos on record serve the song perfectly but in live setting, allow him to inject that extra dose of flash and bang.

One gets the sense that letting Campbell better showcase his talents was a large part of the reasoning behind their blues-centric new record Mojo, which I should and do appreciate for giving them the excuse to head back on the road but not much else. The blues is not alien territory for the band, being an essential part of their Americana stew, but brought to the fore as it is on the new material, it’s just not interesting with their faithfulness to the genre coming at the expense of the hooks and melodies. The four-song set of Mojo material dropped in the middle of the set really put the damper on what to that point had been some terrific momentum though on the plus side, it did give Campbell some impressive solos and allowed a good portion of the audience to refill their beer.

That said, there wasn’t any better way to get things back on track than with a gorgeously stripped down version of “Learning To Fly”, followed by a thundering “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and a grand “Refugee” to close the main set. At this point the 11PM curfew was drawing awfully close, but there was no way the nearly-full arena was going to let things end without the encore, and so they returned for “Runnin’ Down A Dream” and what I thought for sure would be the coup de grace show stopper – and my favourite Petty tune – “American Girl”. But instead of the big ringing D chord I expected, they broke into the Wildflowers-vintage descending riff of “You Wreck Me” and while I like that song a lot, it’s not “American Girl”. And after the big linked-arm bows and the house lights came up, it became clear that there would be no “American Girl”. And as great as most of the show was to that point, it was and remains a bit of a bitter finish for me… In time I’ll be able to focus on the great 100 minutes they did play and not the three they didn’t, but y’know Campbell, you could have soloed just a little less and bought some time and it would have been perfect. Just saying.

The Toronto Sun, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail and eye all have reviews of the show.

Photos: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Crosby, Stills & Nash @ The Air Canada Centre – August 25, 2010
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Walls”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Wreck Me”
Video: Tom Petty – “You Don’t Know How It Feels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Peace In L.A.”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “King’s Highway”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Into The Great Wide Open”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Learnin’ To Fly”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Yer So Bad”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Face In The Crowd”
Video: Tom Petty – “Free Fallin'”
Video: Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Video: Tom Petty – “I Won’t Back Down”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Rebels”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “You Got Lucky”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “The Waiting”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl”
Video: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee”
MySpace: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
MySpace: Crosby, Stills & Nash

As expected with such a massive tour already lined up, Sufjan Stevens will release his first new and proper album in ages on October 12, the day before he plays Massey Hall. Pitchfork has details on what to expect from The Age Of Adz and the first MP3 is up for grabs.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem clarifies (or makes vaguer) his intentions to retire the band to The Quietus.

New York Magazine talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal. Their new record False Priest is out September 14.

The Montreal Gazette and Chart have feature interviews with Land Of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell. They play Lee’s Palace on September 16.

alt.ohio interviews Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, complete video of whose show in San Francisco from this past May is available to stream in its entirety at Revision 3.

Rose Elinor Dougall has premiered a new video from Without Why over at The Guardian. Her debut album is out on Monday.

Video: Rose Elinor Dougall – “Carry On”

The Vine interviews Warren Ellis of Grinderman. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they kick off their North American tour November 11 in Toronto at the Phoenix.

The second part of Le Blogotheque’s Take-Away Shows from NXNE is now up.

WarpaintI usually try not to post on the same act multiple times in such a short period of time, but all I’ve got right now is a bunch of bits and bobs and honestly, I just want to get through to the weekend. So here; a second Warpaint-led post in the span of a week. Deal with it.

But this one sort of ties into last week’s review of their show at Wrongbar, in that I’d originally mentioned that I got details on the name and release date of their debut album from one of the band members. Well I was asked to redact that shortly after posting as those details weren’t finalized and as it turns out, they weren’t completely correct. It was announced – complete with track list and album art – earlier this week that the Los Angeles band’s first full-length would indeed be called The Fool, but wouldn’t be out until October 26 and not October 12 as I’d originally been told. So yes, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to hear it but I’m still certain it will be worth it.

In the meantime, there’s still last year’s debut EP Exquisite Corpse to hold me over, especially since I discovered that the digital version I’ve been living off of for the past however many months was actually short a track compared to the vinyl version, so technically that extra track – quickly acquired thanks to its appearance on a compilation at eMusic – is new to me. And additionally, their cover of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” is now available at iTunes and eMusic, proceeds from which go to benefit War Child. It will also appear on a Bowie tribute album entitled We Were So Turned On, due out later this year (precise date has been a moving target for a while).

Warpaint are opening up for The xx on September 29 at Massey Hall. There’s interviews with bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg at Nashville Scene and guitarist Theresa Wayman at The Daily Beacon. And Exquisite Corpse is streaming in its entirety – including the extra song I had no idea about until last week – at the band’s MySpace.

Stream: Warpaint / Exquisite Corpse

Singing Lamb talks to Chris Chu of The Morning Benders, who’ve made good on their promise to play their sixth show in Toronto this calendar year (including their free in/out-store a couple weeks ago with a headlining date at the Mod Club on November 5, part of an extensive North American tour.

MP3: The Morning Benders – “Promises”

Spin profiles Local Natives, who have a date at the Mod Club on October 19.

The Montreal Gazette talks to Greg Edwards of Autolux about the various factors that have sidelined the band for so long. They’re at Lee’s Palace on Tuesday night.

The previously venue-less Bad Religion show on October 14 now has a home – it will be at the Kool Haus, tickets $29.50.

Hutch Harris of The Thermals waxes nostalgic about collecting trading cards for Under The Radar. Their new record Personal Life arrives September 7 and they play Lee’s Palace on October 9. Check out their new Carrie Brownstein-powered video.

Video: The Thermals – “I Don’t Believe You”

Brownstein’s once (and perhaps someday future?) Sleater-Kinney compatriot Corin Tucker will release her solo debut 1,000 Years on October 5. Paste has an interview.

MP3: The Corin Tucker Band – “Doubt”

Filter profiles DeVotchKa.

NPR has a World Cafe session with the Retribution Gospel Choir.

The Advocate Weekly talks to Wilco bassist John Stirratt.

Broken Bells have released a new video that is apparently in 3D. I can’t say for sure because I refuse to patronize anything in 3D. I’m not kidding.

Video: Broken Bells – “October”

The Georgia Straight, Santa Cruz Sentinel and OC Weekly talk to Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.

Baeble Music is streaming video of a live show from Holly Miranda in New York from last month.

Spinner talks aspirations with Sam Fogarino of Interpol, whose new self-titled album is due out September 7.

Shoot The Player has an acoustic video session with School Of Seven Bells. They’re at the Mod Club on September 15.

Surviving The Golden Age talks to Laura Ballance of Superchunk about their first new record in forever, Majesty Shredding, due out September 13. There’s no Toronto tour date as yet but they’ve just announced an appearance in Montreal on September 23, so I’m hoping/expecting that the following night finds them in Hogtown (they’re in Philadelphia the night before). Come on, guys – we’re right here.

Of Montreal have rolled out a first video from False Priest, out September 14.

Video: Of Montreal – “Coquet Coquette”

Spinner talks songwriting with The Drums. They’re at the Mod Club on October 20.

Patrick HeagneyThere’s an interesting chain of evidence with this week’s selection. Back in Fall of 2008, even though their hands should have been quite full with the release of Skeletal Lamping, Athenian Georgians Of Montreal still found the time to release a non-album 7″ with a slow funk jam cover of M.I.A.’s “Jimmy”, as the A-side.

“Jimmy” was the second single from M.I.A.’s 2007 sophomore record Kala, and itself was a cover of sorts, building on the song “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja” from the 1982 Bollywood film Disco Dancer, and was originally penned by one Bappi Lahiri, aka “The Disco King”. No, these are not things I normally know, but that’s why we have Wikipedia. Interesting, no?

Both M.I.A. and Of Montreal are coming out with new records this year; M.I.A.’s /\/\/\Y/\ is out as of this Tuesday, and Of Montreal’s False Priest is still a few months away, due out on September 14. Bappi Lahari continues to score countless Bollywood films.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Jimmy”
Video: M.I.A. – “Jimmy”
Video: Bappi Lahiri – “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja”