Frank YangWhen the Summerworks festival last year decided to incorporate a music program into its already-established showcase for independent theatre, it seemed an ambitious yet eminently logical way to introduce fans of one art to the other – see am up-and-coming play, stick around for a couple up-and-coming bands. Has it worked? One can only hope, though considering Thursday night’s show was the first one I’d made it to either last year or this and I didn’t come early for the play, I may not be the best sample group.

The bill that finally got me out to the Theatre Centre, the decidedly charming in-the-round performance space underneath The Great Hall, featured a couple acts I’d seen together back in January at the Out Of This Spark anniversary show – The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers – who were and still are two of the finest acts yet to fully seep into the city’s collective unconsciousness. Both acts have been working on new recordings – the D’Urbs seeking to follow up their 2008 debut We Are The Hunters and Forest City Lovers crafting their third album after last year’s Haunting Moon Sinking – so I had expected to hear some new material showcased alongside old favourites. The bands, however, had different ideas.

The fact that the stage was set up to accommodate two bands side by side was the first sign that this wasn’t going to be a typical show, but Forest City Lovers started off typically enough with the quartet showcasing their charming and understated folk-pop, led by Kat Burns’ haunting vocals. Surprisingly, the excused themselves after only about four or five familiar selections with bassist Kyle Donnelly breaking into the deep groove of The D’Urbervilles’ “Spin The Bottle” and the rest of the band finger-snapped and shouted their way offstage, West Side Story style, as the D’Urbs came out and took over. Donnelly stayed put, since he was also the D’Urbervilles bassist and would the musical lynchpin for the evening. Like their labelmates, The D’Urbervilles set was short and comprised mainly known material, though delivered with enough gusto and enthusiasm to make up for some of the slop around the edges of their delivery. I’ve seen them tighter before, is all. They also wrapped after just five songs, but promised something special coming up after a short intermission.

And if anyone in the audience hadn’t figured it out yet, it because clear what that was when the drummers for both bands took their seats behind their respective kits and kicked into an adrenalized version of Forest City Lovers’ “Country Road”. Yep, for one night only, it was going to be a Forest D’Urberville supergroup or, as they called, the Out Of This Spark Family Band saluting their label boss on the occasion of his birthday. As they alternated between selections from each band’s catalog, it was somewhat revelatory how energized the usually more sedate Forest City Lovers material sounded with the D’Urbervilles’ big rock injection. I’m not suggesting they invest in the Marshall stacks, but that extra dimension could be something to explore. And as for The D’Urbs, their big sound just got bigger, but Burns’ harmonies were a nice if mixed-too-low addition. You couldn’t call the resultant seven-piece a study in musical precision – they’re stylistically a little to disparate to go together like chocolate and peanut butter and at points it wobbled as if one were literally sitting on the others’ shoulders whilst playing – but the sense of fun being had onstage was undeniable and irresistible and more than carried the night.

There’s some video of the show at Morning Noon Night. Forest City Lovers play next at Lee’s Palace on August 28 – details on that show below. The D’Urbervilles are playing V Fest Ontario at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 29.

Photos: The D’Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers @ The Theatre Centre – August 13, 2009
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Dragnet”
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Spin The Bottle”
MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Hot Tips”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Scared Of Time”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Oh Humility” (live)
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Pirates”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Song For Morrie”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Please, Don’t Go”
MySpace: The D’Urbervilles
MySpace: Forest City Lovers

So while there wasn’t much (if any) new material from either band aired during the show, both Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles contribute new tracks to the second Friends In Bellwoods double-CD charity compilation, those just two of 39 good reasons to pick this record when it comes out August 25. Like the first edition did back in early 2007, Friends acts as an excellent snapshot of everything musical and wonderful going on in Toronto and southern Ontario right now, boasting new tracks from established local heroes like Final Fantasy and Great Lake Swimmers, bands of the moment like The Rural Alberta Advantage, Basia Bulat and The Acorn and a slew more that will send you scrambling to Google in search of a MySpace so you can find out who the heck they are. And of course, there’s the charitable aspect – like the first comp, which raised over $11,000, all proceeds from the record and attendant shows will go to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

And what of those shows? The launch party for the first edition at the Tranzac ended up beyond sold out, the lineup of those shut out stretching up and around the block (including yours truly) so they’re expanding the launch festivities this time around. The first event goes this Wednesday night, August 19, at the Gladstone and features performances from Gentleman Reg and Katie Sketch (formerly of The Organ), Diamond Rings, Ohbijou’s Casey Mecija and Emma McKenna, but the big to-dos will happen the weekend following the album’s release. First off on the 28th at Lee’s Palace you’ll have Ohbijou, Bocce, Forest City Lovers and Evening Hymns – tickets $12 in advance – and on Saturday, they take it back to the Tranzac for an all-day blow-out, starting at noon and featuring short sets from many of the bands on the record including The Acorn, Bruce Peninsula and Sebastien Grainger, amongst many others. Admission for that is $10 at the door or $8 with a non-perishable food item. That does not include broccoli.

And to whet your appetite, here’s three of the tracks from Friends In Bellwoods 2, courtesy The D’Urbs, The Phonemes and Tusks.

MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Magic Arrow”
MP3: The Phonemes – “April, Let’s Send His Colleagues An Email”
MP3: Tusks – “New To Old Money”

Mentioned above was Diamond Rings and mentioned throughout today’s post The D’Urbervilles – if you like the latter, you should check out the former. Not because the The D’Urbs’ post-punk and Diamond Rings’ DIY glam sound particularly alike – they don’t, really – but because Diamond Rings is the synth-happy, one-man-band alter-ego of D’Urbs frontman John O’Regan. His debut release is a split 7″ single with PS I Love You, his side of which has a new video. And courtesy of the band/man/experience, I’ve got a copy of the 7″ – which comes in decadent purple coloured vinyl – to give away. If you want it, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want a Diamond Ring” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and get that to me before midnight, August 20. And note that in addition to the Friends In Bellwoods show on the 19th, there’s Diamond Rings shows in Hamilton at This Ain’t Hollywood on the 20th and in Guelph at Kazoo! 76 on the 21st. Also check out an interview from last month at Steel Bananas.

Video: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”

Also be sure to head over to Soundscapes’ YouTube channel, where they’ve posted videos from Ohbijou’s in-store there back in June. And check out interviews with the band over at Chart, ExclaimTV and The Line Of Best Fit.

And speaking of TLOBF, they continue to demonstrate their mad love of Canada by assembling a third compilation of Brit-approved Canadian content, free for the grabbing. So go grab.

The Toronto Star sits down with Joe Pernice in the Toronto coffee shop where he wrote most of his debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop, located some 200 metres from the Dakota Tavern where he’ll be performing on September 24. Well you can’t say the man doesn’t support his own neighbourhood. Which is as good an excuse as any to point out these episodes Indie Rock Cribs that the man whipped up a few years back. Still hi-larious.

Chart took some time to talk to St Vincent’s Annie Clark when she was in town last week.

The Aspen Times has an interview with Steve Earle.

Scott MunnIt’s been a pretty lousy Summer, not just for myself and many I know, but for anyone who prefers theirs to be warm, sunny and generally not perpetually cloudy and rain-soaked. It’s only been this week that we’ve gotten some proper heat (accompanied by massive thunderstorms, sure), and I can’t believe that it’s just coincidence that the weather has improved just as Prince Edward Island’s finest, Two Hours Traffic, are gearing up for the release of their second album Territories on September 8.

They shared an MP3 of the title track last month, but have now followed that up with not only a first video, but a stream of the entire record on their website. And a couple of listens verifies that name of the record notwithstanding, the quartet haven’t gone out and explored much new ground with their sophomore effort. This is not a complaint. Little Jabs was note-perfect power pop infused with the optimism of youth and while Territory‘s shoulders inevitably sag a bit more from the weight of age and experience, its still got hooks and harmonies to spare.

Two Hours Traffic built their nationwide fanbase the old fashioned way – touring, touring and more touring – and as previously reported, they’re totally doing it again. Torontonians can catch them on October 16 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $15.

MP3: Two Hours Traffic – “Territory”
Video: Two Hours Traffic – “Happiness Burns”
Stream: Two Hours Traffic / Territories
MySpace: Two Hours Traffic

Young Galaxy have prepared their second album Invisible Republic for release on August 25 and will follow that up with a show at the Drake Underground on September 10.

MP3: Young Galaxy – “Long Live The Fallen World”

In town for the Polaris Music Prize awards gala on September 21, where he surely hopes to take home the giant cheque, Chad Van Gaalen will play a show at the Church Of The Redeemer on September 19 with Castlemusic as support. The show is all-ages and tickets are $20 in advance. The Quietus has an interview with Van Gaalen.

MP3: Chad Van Gaalen – “City Of Electric Light”
MP3: Castlemusic – “Heaven”

And now’s as good a time as any to mention Van Gaalen’s electronic-oriented alter-ego/side-project Black Mold, whose debut album Snow Blindness Is Crystal Antz was released this week. If you thought the musical fruits of Van Gaalen’s day job were too aimless or meandering… stay away.

MP3: Black Mold – “Metal Spider Webs”
MP3: Black Mold – “Tetra Pack Heads”

And speaking of staying away, if you like your vocalists clean and pristine, you’ll want to not be at the Horseshoe on October 1 (and you’ll probably be at Lee’s for Sufjan Stevens anyways). But if you like a little/lot of grit and whiskey in the mix, then the ‘Shoe is where it’s at as that night it’ll host a double-bill of Bruce Peninsula and Sunparlour Players.

MP3: Sunparlour Players – “Battle Of 77”
MP3: Bruce Peninsula – “Crabapples”

Spinner and The Vancouver Sun talk to Murray Lightburn of The Dears.

Pink Mountaintops have rolled out a new video from Outside Love.

Video: Pink Mountaintops – “Execution”

Also under new videos – the volcano-themed clip for Ohbijou’s “New Year”!

Video: Ohbijou – “New Year”

Exclaim reports that Neil Young will be making a free appearance at Yonge-Dundas Square on September 14 to mark the appearance of the Jonathan Demme-helmed concert doc Neil Young Trunk Show at the Toronto International Film Festival. And yeah, he’s probably bringing his guitar. Joan Baez will do the same on September 18.

Chrissy PiperThe Mountain Goats have revealed (revelated?) details of their next album and rather than utilize more of his typically cryptic or obscure song titles, John Darnielle has instead opted to name all twelve songs on The Life Of The World To Come after Bible verses. Whether these are meant as shorthand for each song’s real, divinely-inspired title or if he’s just drawing thematic parallels is unclear, but what’s for certain is that the title of the first released MP3, linked below, is easier to say (and type) than “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken” (that’s the referenced verse, I looked it up online. I’m not quoting scripture from memory, goodness no).

In a posting announcing the new record on their website announcing the new album, along with production details and the October 6 release date, Darnielle denies he’s found religion in any conventional sense or is planning on railing against it with the new record, but will expound more on how it has inspired the new record in the near future. He’s also just announced a slew of Fall dates which will have Final Fantasy, who did string arrangements on the new record, as support. There’s no local date as yet – perhaps because Final Fantasy would possibly be a larger draw in his hometown than the headliner, and that’s just awkward. But I’m sure the Goats will be up this way to spread their gospel sooner or later so in the meantime, just enjoy the new track and give praise to whatever or whomever you choose that there’s a new Mountain Goats record en route. Hallelujah!

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Genesis 3:23”

My copy of the book has yet to move to the top of my to-read queue and my copy of the album is in a USPS/Canada Post mailbag somewhere so I can’t talk too much about either of Joe Pernice’s new project It Feels So Good When I Stop but will hope to be all caught up before his show at the Dakota Tavern on September 24. In the meantime, read up on it with feature pieces on Joe at The Patriot Ledger, Blurt, The Boston Globe, Things I’d Rather Be Doing, The Boston Herald, Metro, The New York Post and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Ohbijou are this month’s cover story in Exclaim and the band have announced Fall cross-Canada tour but if you think that there’s not going to be a hometown show either in that three day gap between Ottawa and Sudbury or when the whole thing’s over in late November, you’re taking crazy pills.

Ca Va Cool has an interview with the The Rural Alberta Advantage and Laundromatinee has a video feature on the band. By all accounts, last week’s show at the Horseshoe was pretty special – can’t wait to see them again, albeit in what’s probably an absurdly large stage, at V Fest on August 29.

Daytrotter has posted up a session with The Coast. They’re at the Horseshoe on Thursday night.

Spinner has the next installment in the Reverie Sound Revue blog tour, a performance of “The Leisure Lost”.

Check out the new video from Mew taken from No More Stories, out August 25. They’ll be at V Fest on August 30.

Video: Mew – “Introducing Palace Players”

Pitchfork has premiered the first MP3 from The Raveonettes, whose In And Out Of Control is due October 6 and who will be at the Phoenix on October 22.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Suicide”

The Manic Street Preachers’ first North American tour in a decade, including an October 4 date at the Phoenix, will indeed be in support of a domestic release – the excellent Journal For Plague Lovers will be out in North America on September 15.

Charlotte Hatherley’s new album New Worlds has been given a UK release date of October 19 – hoping the North American release will be October 20 and those long-ago promises of promotion and touring on this side of the Atlantic still hold. There’s an interview with Hatherley at Spoonfed.

MP3: Charlotte Hatherley – “Colours”

Hatherley’s sometimes-day job Bat For Lashes have released a new vide from Two Suns. Filter also has a feature interview with Natasha Khan.

Video: Bat For Lashes – “Sleep Alone”

Another Mercury prize nominee with a new video is Florence & The Machine. Someone certainly got themselves a production budget.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Drumming Song”

NOW has an interview with La Roux, who is also included in this “Brit Pop Girls” feature at Interview along with Little Boots and Ladyhawke.

Paper talks to Polly Scattergood.

Frank YangYou might say this gig was a long time coming. After their triumphant show at Lee’s Palace last November to wrap their continent-spanning tour with The Acorn, Toronto’s orch-pop heroes Ohbijou went into seclusion to work on their sophomore album and emerged this Spring with Beacons. Or at least they were supposed to – almost as soon as they were announced in late February, the April release date and accompanying tour, including a hometown release party, were all were suddenly cancelled with only vague explanations offered.

As it turned out, the band who had been so successful with the DIY approach on their debut, Swift Feet For Troubling Times, had been successfully courted by labels at home and abroad and the delay was necessary to prepare for the record’s release on Bella Union earlier this month in the UK and Last Gang in North America. The record was unquestionably worth the wait, which only left the show and the band’s return to live action this past Thursday night at the Opera House. And from the moment you walked into the venue, it was clear that this would be special occasion – after all, how often do you arrive at a concert hall to find it decked out huge swathes of fabric meant to make it look like the inside of a volcano? Okay, I probably wouldn’t have realized it was supposed to be a volcano if I wasn’t told – the set dressing was taken from Ohbijou’s recently-filmed and yet-to-be-released video for “New Years” – but whatever I would have assumed it to be otherwise, it would have been impressive.

As is only appropriate for hometown record release shows, Ohbijou invited a few friends along to open up, the first of which was Evening Hymns. Jonas Bonnetta usually performs as a solo artist and that’s how his set began, but perhaps intimidated by the volcano decor, for this night he brought along a few friends to help out – six more, to be precise. And while you might think that songs built for one might be overwhelmed by the addition of a half-dozen sets of helping hands, all of the guest players were remarkably sympathetic to the songs and Bonnetta’s simple and plaintive folk-pop sounded even better “big”, like scratchy 8mm home movies blown up to widescreen and somehow not losing any of its charm. My first experience with Evening Hymns but almost certainly not to be the last.

Great Bloomers, on the other hand, I was pretty well-acquainted with already, both live and on record, via their debut full-length Speak Of Trouble. And while I’ll happily testify to their talent as musicians, they’ve yet to win me over as a band – this performance included. I thought we were making some progress early on when I realized that their country-pop stylings actually had roots in southern soul as well, and that made their rather pristine musicianship – which I had found at odds with what I like to hear in my alt.country – much more appropriate. And they confirmed my thoughts on them, both good and bad, mid-set when they inserted a cover of James Carr’s “The Dark End Of The Street” and, sadly, failed to do it any kind of justice. “Dark End Of The Street” is a stone cold classic and one of the most emotionally resonant songs around, and the Bloomers’ rendering of it as a jaunty pop tune, stripped of all its inherent anguish, was just… wrong. The rest of their set was fine, objectively speaking – they’ve got some good tunes and deliver them with aplomb – but they need to take “covering soul standards” off their “things we do well” list.

The first few times I saw Ohbijou live, what struck me the most was how much louder, effervescent and dynamic the band was on stage relative to the cozy sleepiness of Swift Feet‘s recorded incarnations. Beacons has ensured that that’s no longer a talking point for the band, capturing as it does much more of those peaks and valleys, the grand crescendos and the hushed passages. Instead, discussion will have to focus on just how well the band recreates the sweep of the record in a live setting, which they definitely do, though sidebars about how startlingly loud Casey Mecija’s voice can get when she pushes it are also appropriate. Nominally a six-piece, the band swelled to a 10- or 11-piece at points – it was hard to tell what with all the volcano decor obstructing views – including strings, keys and double bass, adding an extra musical weight that was at the same time weightless. Their set blended material old and new into a perfect statement of why they’re one of the finest young bands Canada has to offer, and while I know I’ll miss the days when they played out around town frequently, it’s no small amount of consolation to know that when they’re not here it’s because they’re now taking their lovely songs and sharing them with the rest of the world. And I know that only we get the volcano decorations.

In addition to their new record, Ohbijou have curated a second volume of their Friends In Bellwoods benefit compilation, due out later this Summer. Just as the first one gathered two CDs worth of the finest independent artists in the southern Ontario region, the second will feature rare and unreleased contributions from the likes of The Acorn, Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers and of course Ohbijou, amongst many many others. And one would hope that the second volume also duplicates the charitable success of the first, which raised over $11,000 in donations for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Stay tuned for information on the release date for the album and the accompanying release show/party.

Photos: Ohbijou, Great Bloomers, Evening Hymns @ The Opera House – June 25 2009
MP3: Ohbijou – “Black Ice”
MP3: Great Bloomers – “The Young Ones Slept”
Video: Ohbijou – “The Woods”
MySpace: Ohbijou

Filter has reprinted their pairing of actor Zach Galifianakis with Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew wherein the former asks the latter about the video/short film he directed for Feist’s “The Water” and movies in general. Broken Social Scene will be playing on the water next Friday – July 11 – for a free show at Harbourfront Centre. Maybe Feist will join them.

Video: Feist – “The Water”

Chart has details on Amy Millan’s second solo record Masters Of The Burial which will be released September 8. Expect to hear the new material when she plays a free show at Harbourfront Centre on July 25.

Exclaim has some info on the next album from The Hidden Cameras Well, just the title – Origin: Orphan – and the fact that it exists. Look for it sometime before the year is out.

You can hear new songs from both Amy Millan and The Hidden Cameras’ albums on the just-released Arts & Crafts Sampler Volume 6, which is yours for the low low price of your email address.

Pitchfork has got a new Fleet Foxes song recorded for the BBC available to download. They’re at Massey Hall on August 4.

MP3: Fleet Foxes – “Blue Spotted Tail” (live on BBC6)

Bishop Allen have released a new video from Grr….

Video: Bishop Allen – “Shanghaied”

Pitchfork has an interview with Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste.

Spoon almost managed to release a new EP this week as a complete surprise, but then the internet got a whiff of it and ruined it. Way to go, internet. It’s called Got Nuffin, it’s out tomorrow and MBV Music has details.

Annabel MehranIt’s been a long week – I hope you’ll allow me to decompress with some much-needed link dumping.

And it’ll begin with St. Vincent, who wrap an extensive leg of North American touring tonight in Brooklyn before spending July in Europe in support of her second album Actor. Then come August, it’s back onto the highways of America for a short northeastern jaunt which will wrap with an August 8 show in Toronto at the Horseshoe, a gig which perplexingly isn’t yet sold out, so if you’ve been dithering about whether to go or not, the following should these video sessions with Ms Clark which surfaced over the past week should certainly nudge you off the fence, and if you’ve already got the date saved, they’ll serve to simultaneously whet and appease your appetite to see St Vincent live.

Her Lake Fever Sessions set sees her dazzling in a solo acoustic setting, while the inaugural “Cemetary Gates” series at Pitchfork TV sets Clark and her band in a Brooklyn graveyard (well, in a church in a graveyard), plugged in and presumably with a mandate to wake the dead. She was also on Letterman last night, performing “Marrow” – it’s probably too much to hope that the horn section is coming on tour with her – and You Ain’t No Picasso posted up an interview conducted a few weeks back in Kentucky.

Video: St Vincent – “Marrow” (live on Letterman)

Oregon Public Broadcasting welcomed Neko Case to their studios for a session and interview. Her tourmate Jason Lytle just released a new video. Both are at Massey Hall on July 14.

Video: Jason Lytle – “It’s The Weekend”

SpinEarth talks to Emily Haines of Metric.

Patterson Hood discusses his new solo record Murdering Oscar with Paste and The Washington Examiner. You can currently stream the whole thing at Spinner.

Stream: Patterson Hood / Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)

Aquarium Drunkard and Paste talk to Jay Farrar about Son Volt’s new record American Central Dust, out July 7.

Acoustic Guitar asks Elvis Costello about his acoustic guitar (and other stuff). Costello is at Massey Hall on August 28.

Also at Massey Hall, this show on July 11, is Steve Earle. He has a Q&A with Magnet.

Interview talks to Swedish singer-songwriter Anna Ternheim. She has been added to the bill alongside Loney Dear and Asobi Seksu at the Horseshoe on October 13. Her new record Leaving On A Mayday will be out in North America on August 11.

MP3: Anna Ternheim – “To Be Gone”

eye talks to Casey Mecija of Ohbijou, who are playing the Opera House tonight.

Woods have a date at Sneaky Dee’s on August 8.

MP3: Woods – “To Clean”
Video: Woods – “To Clean”

Lemonade and Cale Parks will be at the El Mocambo on August 24.

MP3: Lemonade – “Big Weekend”
MP3: Cale Parks – “One At A Time”

Here’s a peculiar bill – The Happy Mondays and The Psychedelic Furs are teaming up for a North American tour this Fall, including a stop at the Kool Haus on October 14. I call it peculiar because the two acts were hardly contemporaries and probably wouldn’t have shared the same fanbase even if they were. But I guess they have the demographic now – nostalgic Anglophiles who wish they were twenty years younger.

They’re here in a couple weeks on July 9 opening up for Beirut at the Phoenix, but since that gig is plum sold out, The Dodos have announced a full North American tour for this Fall in support of their new record Time To Die, out September 15. Their tourmates will be kiwis The Ruby Suns and the local stop will be October 17 at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”
MP3: The Ruby Suns – “Tane Mahuta”