IMDBAnother year, another… year. This here blogsite turns seven years old today, a milestone which simultaneously fills me with pride, amazement and some degree of despair. If you told me seven years ago that I’d still have enough free time and energy to be blogging extensively on an almost daily basis, I’d have thought you mad. Mad, I say. How would I have time on top of tending to the wife and kids and other domestic responsibilities I’d surely have acquired by then? Ahem. Yeah.

The last few anniversary posts have tended along the lines of “hey, this site is another year older and I still haven’t gotten a life – that’s awesome, thanks for stopping by” but this year, I’ve decided to do something just a little more involved and put together one of those things that bloggers live for – a top ten list. “Top Ten Favourite Records That Have Come Out Since This Blog Has Been In Existence”, to be precise.

While the specific criteria for inclusion in said list was a bit nebulous, the selections weren’t – they were actually completely obvious. Each of these albums are ones that I have completely fallen in love with over the past seven years, initial infatuation evolving into long-term, meaningful relationships. I intend to grow old and sit on rocking chairs on a veranda with these records. They are my go-to records for when I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to be reminded of why I continue to seek out new music. My desert island discs of the past 7/10 of a decade. Did these records change my life? Maybe not, but they definitely made it better.

As, incidentally, have all of you who come by, read and made this whole exercise worthwhile over the past years. So for that, I thank you. Now make with the clicky.

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saddle-creek.comLand Of Talk was supposed to spend this year promoting the hell out of their excellent 2008 full-length debut Some Are Lakes but following a short bit of local touring around the end of January, including an excellent long-awaited show at the Horseshoe, the band had to go on an extended break while frontwoman Liz Powell underwent and recovered from vocal cord surgery.

They returned to live duty with some shows over the course of the Summer, but have now put together a proper if shortish tour for the Fall, taking them from south to north along the Pacific coast, though east coast dates are also promised. And while the current live itinerary will only benefit westerners, they’re also releasing a new EP on October 27 that people can enjoy irrespective of their personal geography. Fun And Laughter will contain four new songs and three videos from Some Are Lakes. The clip for the title track emerged a few months ago, the one for “The Man Who Breaks Things” has just hit the interwebs and the last one for “Troubled” will probably surface closer to the actual release date.

The news of new music from Land Of Talk is certainly welcome, but not as much as the fact that they’re back, presumably in good health and raring to go. Good to have you back.

Video: Land Of Talk – “The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Some Are Lakes”

The Wooden Sky, whose acquaintance you may have made last month, will be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom on Monday night, August 24, at 7PM, to mark the release of their new album If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone, which will be officially out the next day. Of course you’ll be able to buy it early at this show, but don’t tell anyone.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”

Cuff The Duke are also celebrating the release of their new album Way Down Here with an in-store at Criminal Records on September 8, the date of release. They’re also doing two nights at the Horseshoe on October 16 and 17. Exclaim talks to the band about their Fall plans.

The Bravery are at the Opera House on October 6, previewing their new as-yet-untitled album due out November 10.

Boston’s Hallelujah The Hills have made a date at Sneaky Dee’s for October 17 to support their new album Colonial Drones, out September 22.

MP3: Hallelujah The Hills – “Blank Passports”

White Denim will make an appearance at the Horseshoe on November 9 as part of an extensive tour in support of their new album Fits, out October 20. Grab a track at RCRDLBL.

MP3: White Denim – “You” (live at KVRX)

Camera Obscura’s last show here in June was super-sold out on account of being at Lee’s Palace, several degrees smaller than their usual accommodations when the Scots visit. Well those shut out of that performance will be pleased to know that the band is staging a Fall tour that will bring them back to the more appropriately-sized Phoenix on November 26 with Papercuts as support. Camera Obscura recorded a session for NPR which is available to stream.

MP3: Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
MP3: Papercuts – “You Can Have What You Want”

And shocker – The Charlatans won’t be crossing our path after all. They’ve canceled their Fall North American tour on account of drummer Jon Brookes requiring shoulder surgery. This, of course, includes their September 23 date at the Mod Club – the second time in the past year and a bit they made and then broken a date in Toronto.

MP3: The Charlatans – “You Cross My Path”

Luxury Wafers is sharing the audio and video fruits of a session with The Rural Alberta Advantage. They’re playing day one of V Fest at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 29.

Also on day one of V next week will be Franz Ferdinand, whose 2005 mini-doc Tour de Franz is the movie of the week at PitchforkTV.

Video: Franz Ferdinand: Tour de Franz

And appearing on day two of said festival are Mew, who are streaming their new album No More Stories on their MySpace leading up to the album’s release next Tuesday. SF Station has an interview with singer Jonas Bjerre.

Stream: Mew / No More Stories

Spinner talks to Victoria Bergsman of Taken By Trees, whose new album East Of Eden is out September 8.

NPR is streaming a radio session with A Camp.

The Galway Advertiser talks to Okkervil River’s Will Sheff on the Irish influences on his writing and songwriting inspiration in general.

Joe Pernice talks to The Portland Mercury and Oregon Live. He’s at the Dakota Tavern on September 24.

Nick Cave is coming to town, but not for a concert – Exclaim reports that Cave will be in town on September 16 for a live interview and signing at the Indigo at the Eaton Centre to promote his new novel The Death Of Bunny Munro, which will be released on September 4.

And if you can’t get enough rocker/lit convergence, be sure to check out Word On The Street in Queen’s Park on September 27, where in addition to the infinite kiosks of booksellers and publishers, there will be a music stage where the songwriters of Bruce Peninsula, Ghost Bees and Sandro Perri will be discussing their creative process.

Johnnie CluneyThe reasons for which Daytrotter is wonderful are myriad and self-evident, but they outdid themselves just a little this week with a couple of sessions from a couple of artists for whom the title “legendary” is an understatement (assuming you run in the circles which I assume most who read this site do), both for their most famous works with their original bands and for their substantive solo careers.

First on Monday came a three-song set from ex-Pavement leader Stephen Malkmus. With no new work due out in the near term, he recorded a grab bag of stuff with a song from his last record Real Emotional Trash, one from his second solo effort Pig Lib and a James Gang cover.

And yesterday, they welcomed Bob Mould to the studio (okay, they welcomed him some time ago but only posted the results yesterday). He showcased four tracks from his forthcoming album Life And Times, out April 17, in solo acoustic form. And if that’s not enough, Minnesota Public Radio is also streaming a radio session with the former Minneapolis resident.

Pitchfork has video footage of a songwriting workshop Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff gave to some kids at Austin non-profit centre Bat Cave. The band will release a new single for “Pop Lie”, taken from last year’s The Stand-Ins, on April 21 and the a-side is available to download.

MP3: Okkervil River – “Pop Lie”

The AV Club talks to Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy.

The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn tells MLive.com that he gave up drinking for Lent. Their live document A Positive Rage is out April 7.

Exclaim talks to Marissa Nadler, who will be at the El Mocambo on April 21.

Aquarium Drunkard is sharing MP3s from Wilco’s September 2007 Austin City Limits taping which we were both fortunate to attend. Ah, memories. In aural form. Their new album is due out in late June.

RCRDLBL is offering up a mash-up of tourmates Mates Of State and Black Kids. That bill rolls into the Phoenix on April 10.

Pitchfork talks to The National’s Aaron Dessner about the upcoming Dark Was The Night benefit show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and about how things are coming with the next National album. They play the Kool Haus on May 21.

There’s more details on how Metric will be celebrating the release of Fantasies next week – there’ll be an in-store/signing at the HMV on Yonge St on April 9 at 5:30, the gig at the Mod Club with Holy Fuck as support on the 14th has been confirmed, tickets $25 for those who’ve sleuthed out the password on their website, and there’s a secret show happening sometime this week that if you don’t know about it, you aren’t hanging out with the right people.

And the Osheaga Festival, taking place in Montreal on August 1 and 2, has announced the first names of their lineup for this year. While the headliners – Coldplay and Beastie Boys – do collectively nothing for me, the undercard of Elbow, Lykke Li, Decemberists and Arctic Monkeys have my attention. They’ll need to pad things out a bit more to get me out there, but it’s definitely on my radar and it’d be nice to have something to do for the August long weekend.

And if you think this post feels kind of slapped together, congratulations! You’re right. It was.

Joe FudaThis week’s eye has a feature piece on local label Out Of This Spark, whose second anniversary is the impetus for your best entertainment option this Saturday night as the label’s entire roster will take the stage at the Tranzac. That’s the lineup that includes a couple of personal faves and a couple others I’m just starting to make the acquaintance of.

In the former camp are post-punkers The D’Urbervilles, whose rather excellent full-length debut from last year, We Are The Hunters, is going to be getting a much-deserved US release, and Forest City Lovers (pictured), whose beautifully understated album Haunting Moon Sinking was one of the overlooked gems of 2008. It’s been a while – too long – since I’ve seen either act live, and I’m looking forward to rectifying that. In the “less known to me” department are Jenny Omnichord, whose special guest-laden Charlotte or Otis : Duets for Children, Their Parents and Other People Too is a sweetly odd and charming little childrens’ album and Timber Timbre, who are releasing their new self-titled album next week and whose amalgam of folk and blues is a bit unsettling, but also compelling. They’re also playing an in-store at Soundscapes next Thursday at 7PM.

Admission to the to-do is $10, $8 with a donation of canned food.

MP3: The D’Urbervilles – “Hot Tips”
Videos: Forest City Lovers – “Pirates”
Videos: Forest City Lovers – “Please, Don’t Go”

Pitchfork has more tour dates for Human Highway, including a date and venue for their previously announced appearance at Canadian Musicfest – look for them March 13 at the Horseshoe.

MP3: Human Highway – “The Sound”

And speaking of Canadian Musicfest, the lineup has fleshed out a little more with some of the bigger-name additions including The Ting Tings and… well, that’s all I noticed that was new since last time. Precise date and venue for that one still forthcoming.

Rollo & Grady interview Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon and filch one of my photos in the process. This is me shaking my fist. Treasury Library Canada is out Februrary 3.

To the surprise of no one, a second date for the Constantines/Weakerthans “Rolling Tundra Revue” tour has been added – there’s now an April 1 date to go along with the previously-announced March 31 one at the Phoenix. No foolin’.

The Henry Clay People, whose For Cheap Or For Free was endorsed in November, will be joining The Airborne Toxic Event on their Spring tour which passes through the El Mocambo on March 4.

MP3: The Henry Clay People – “Something In The Water”
MP3: The Henry Clay People – “Working Part Time”

The Sydney Morning Herald gets an update on Nick Cave’s literary aspirations.

XLR8R talks to Ben Curtis of School Of Seven Bells.

Okkervil River were on Letterman last night. It looked (and sounded) a little like this:

Video: Okkervil River – “Pop Lie” (live on the Late Show with David Letterman)

The Georgia Straight interviews Glasvegas, in town at the Mod Club April 3.

Anathallo have a date at the El Mocambo on February 3, tickets $12. Their new album is Canopy Glow.

The New Year, who must feel tremendous pressure to be topical and interesting every January, oblige with a new video, a brief interview and free download at Stereogum and an interview at the Dallas Observer.

Video: The New Year – “Seven Days And Seven Nights”

Is this Frightened Rabbit video an official one? Not sure, but it is cool. And that’s good enough.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “I Feel Better”

The Daily Yomiuri amuse Stuart Braithwaite and Barry Burns of Mogwai by calling them a “shoegaze” band.

Wireless Bollinger talks to Andrew Bird, who is releasing Noble Beast on January 20 and playing the Queen Elizabeth Theater on April 3.

Davida Nemeroff Seminal new music showcase Wavelength – across whose stage pretty much every Toronto indie band of note from the last decade or so has passed – celebrates its ninth anniversary next month and as they’ve done pretty much every year that I can remember, they’re marking the occasion with a full weekend of shows at venues all across the city.

The full lineup was announced over the holidays, and the evenings of February 12 through the 15th will look something like this: On the 12th it’s spooky folk at the Music Gallery with Timber Timbre (also playing this Saturday night at the Tranzac and doing an in-store at Soundscapes on January 15 at 7 to mark the release of their self-titled debut on Tuesday), Ghost Bees and Dorit Chrysler followed by an after-party/nightcap at the Cameron House with The Diableros and Loitering Heroes.

Friday’s venue is Wrongbar, and the bill is headlined by the much-acclaimed Slim Twig and also features Bonjay, Child Bite and The Magic. That’s not a lineup that’ll get me out to Parkdale but Saturday night’s soiree is definitely circled on the calendar, and not just because the Polish Combatants Hall is but a short walk from home. No, it’s because the lineup for that night features a number of acts that I’ve heard good things about and am looking forward to checking out. In particular I’m interested in $100, pictured here and recently featured both The Toronto Star and BlogTO – their debut full-length Forest Of Tears reveals a raw and unvarnished country band stuck in the city who do things slow and know a thing or ten about pain. Also playing that evening are Brides, Hooded Fang, The Luyas and The Element Choir.

And finally, things close out at Wavelength’s usual time and channel – Sunday night at Sneaky Dee’s. Theatrical party-pack Foxfire Forest have the honour of closing things out, accompanied by I Am Robot And Proud and a couple of out-of-town guests – Baltimore’s Thank You and San Franciscans Mi Ami.

As with all Wavelength shows, these are pay what you can events though a cover of $10 for these shows is suggested.

MP3: $100 – “No Great Leap”
MP3: $100 – “Forest Of Tears”
MP3: $100 – “Nothing’s Alright”
MP3: The Luyas – “Cats In A Bag”
MP3: The Luyas – “Tantamount”
MP3: The Diableros – “Heavy Hands” (demo)

Liz Powell tells Chart that she’s now officially a member of Broken Social Scene, meaning she now gets the decoder ring and newsletter subscription. Her other gig – Land Of Talk – will be at the Horseshoe on January 15.

NPR profiles Bon Iver, whose Blood Bank EP is out January 20.

Clash profiles Andrew Bird, releasing Noble Beast on January 20 and playing the Queen Elizabeth Theater on April 3.

There’s a video for the title track from M Ward’s forthcoming Hold Time, out February 17.

Video: M Ward – “Hold Time”

Calexico are giving away a free MP3 over at Threadless.

PitchforkTV has a two-part video interview with Okkervil River.

Elvis Perkins In Dearland will release their second album – a self-titled affair – March 10. A handful of new songs are streaming at their website.