Shane MeadowsI didn’t respond terribly enthusiastically when The Stone Roses announced their equally inevitable and improbable reunion in October 2011, my fixation on their reputation as a patchy live band and general cynicism about its prospects of lasting long enough to come to North America overriding any fanboy enthusiasm about maybe getting to see the creators of one of the greatest albums of the past quarter-century in the flesh. And indeed, though the reunion has lasted long enough to traverse the globe and reported new material earmarked for a third album, they’ve still not come any closer to Toronto than Indio, California so short of getting on a plane to some far-flung destination to see them, the second coming of The Stone Roses has remained something of an abstraction.

But a viewing of Made Of Stone, the film by Shane Meadows about the first days of their reunion, make me rather regret that. It’s not really accurate to call it either a documentary or a concert film, because there’s little to no talking head footage or insights into the hows or whys of the reunion – and if there was, it’d probably be incomprehensible without subtitles – and there’s not enough complete live performances to qualify it as the latter.

Instead, it captures Meadows’ perspective as a mega-fan with a video camera invited into follow the band around from their initial press conference confirming the reunion, through their secret rehearsal sessions and their first secret show at Parr Hall in Warrington, England, their European tour, and culminating in their homecoming shows at Heaton Park in Manchester, along with some historical footage. And while frustrating for those looking for inside dirt – though you do get the skinny on Reni’s walking out on the Amsterdam show that many feared was the derailing of the reunion before it’d barely begun – it more than captures the excitement of it all, both within the band and amongst their fans. The scenes of those to get tickets for that first secret show after it was announced that morning are genuinely heart-warming.

And while I’m sure the business end of things was key to getting the band back together, the excitement within The Stone Roses about playing together again is tangible. Okay, John Squire is as stoic as he probably ever was, but Mani and Reni and Ian Brown all seem positively giddy about it. And if there was any question if they still clicked musically, the rehearsal run through of “Waterfall” answers it definitively and unequivocally. Reni’s backing vocals are divine and even Brown stays remarkably in key; he’s not quite as good in the actual live performances where he resorts to shouting, but given the right circumstances – or maybe just some really good monitors – he’s still got it.

For all the things that Made Of Stone isn’t, what matters most is what it is and that’s a love letter to the band from a fan that gets as much love in return. A must-see for fans of the Roses, even those skeptical about the reunion. I’m hoping that 2014 is the year that the Roses finally makes proper landfall in North America, but if not… maybe I’ll get on a plane.

The DVD got a North American release this week. Shane Meadows penned a piece at The Huffington Post about what it meant to be able to make this film.

Trailer: The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone
Video: The Stone Roses – “Waterfall” (from Made Of Stone)

Following in the well-received footsteps of their UK labelmates Temples, London psych-kraut outfit TOY will be undertaking a North American tour behind their second album Join The Dots, due out December 9. They’ll be at The Horseshoe on January 14, tickets a most post-holiday friendly $11.50.

Video: TOY – “Join The Dots”

The Line Of Best Fit has an interview with Lanterns On The Lake, whose Until The Colours Run gets a North American release on January 14. They’re at The Drake Underground on February 1.

Peggy Sue have released a new video from their forthcoming album Choir Of Echoes, due out January 28.

Video: Peggy Sue – “Idle”

Maxïmo Park have announced details of the deluxe version of their new album Too Much Information, due out February 3. It will include a bonus disc including a handful of cover versions, including a Leonard Cohen song they’ve made available to stream. DIY has a quick chat with the band about making the new record.

Stream: Maxïmo Park – “Lover Lover Lover”

The Bernard Butler-powered Trans have released a new video from their debut Red EP – making that a 1:1 clip-to-song ratio – and have targeted a February release for their second volume.

Video: Trans – “Dancing Shoes”

London Grammar have released a new video from their debut, If You Wait for their cover of Kavinsky’s “Nightcall”. They’re at The Phoenix on April 7.

Video: London Grammar – “Nightcall”

Tim Burgess of Charlatans tells BBC that their new album will feature contributions from their late drummer Jon Brookes, who passed away back in August. The record is due out in the new year.
Camera Obscura are featured in the latest 4AD Session videos set.

eMusic gets some recommended listening suggestions from Black Hearted Brother.

Steve GullickI’m sure they meant it at the time, what with keeping up a heavy slate of performances worldwide for as long as anyone can remember and the added complications of drummer Martin Bulloch’s health issues and visa problems forcing cancellations in the past few years, but when Mogwai prefaced their second round of touring in support of Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will last year with a promise/warning that it would be “the last extensive touring we do for some time”, some who might have fallen into a habit of taking them for granted were spurred into getting off their asses and having their eardrums blasted by the Scottish post-rock masters (maybe) one last time – myself included.

Well, apparently “for some time” actually means “as long as it takes us to record a new record”, because hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of their eighth studio album Rave Tapes – coming out January 21 – they’ve announced a month-plus long North American tour for next Spring. And perhaps it was the promise of playing a different room that enticed them, because the Toronto date on May 13 will take place at the Danforth Music Hall – tickets $25.50 to $29.50 – instead of The Phoenix where they’ve played (I believe) every local show since a face-melting detour to Lee’s Palace in May 2002. They were supposed to play The Kool Haus in Fall 2008 circa The Hawk Is Howling but that show was one of the casualties of Bulloch’s medical issues, and the make-up show the following May was scheduled for – you got it – The Phoenix.

To be clear, there’s no word of complaint in the band NOT taking a proper hiatus from touring. Their shows may not surprise much, but they never disappoint. And hey, maybe getting to eat somewhere new pre-show will inspire them to even greater heights? It could happen.

MP3: Mogwai – “Remurdered”

With her new album finally out this week, M.I.A. has made Matangi available to stream via Consequence Of Sound; she’s also interviewed by Billboard and NPR about it.

Stream: M.I.A. / Matangi

Noisey chats with Charli XCX, in town November 5 at Wrongbar.

NPR has an advance stream of Cate Le Bon’s forthcoming album Mug Museum, out November 12. She’ll be at The Drake Underground on January 21 in the new year.

Stream: Cate Le Bon / Mug Museum

Rolling Stone are offering one of the tracks off Stornoway’s new EP You Don’t Know Anything for free download. The whole thing comes out on November 12.

MP3: Stornoway – “Tumbling Bay”

Peggy Sue have made a new EP available to download for free via Noisetrade, leading up to the release of their new album Choir of Echoes on January 27

White Lies have announced a return date in support of their latest Big TV – they’ll be at The Mod Club on February 27, tickets $35. Opening up will be Frankie Rose, who released Herein Wild earlier this Fall.

MP3: Frankie Rose – “Know Me”
Video: White Lies – “There Goes Our Love”

NME have premiered a new, self-described David Lynch-inspired video from Fanfarlo’s The Sea EP; a full-length will follow in the new year.

Video: Fanfarlo – “A Distance”

DIY has details on how you can hear Metronomy’s new song, which is a convoluted process involving smartphones, apps, credit cards, and outer space.

CHVRCHES have released a new video from their debug The Bones Of What You Believe.

Video: CHVRCHES – “Lies”

BrooklynVegan has videos from the recent Neil Halstead solo shows where he was joined by Rachel Goswell, sending the hearts of Slowdive and Mojave 3 fans a-flutter. And over at Under The Radar, Halstead and his Black Hearted Brother compadres offer a track-by-track guide to their debut Stars Are Our Home… which they’ve technically already done with MusicOmh but who’s counting?

Katie Harkin of Sky Larkin takes Drowned In Sound on a guided tour of her pedalboard.

NPR has a World Cafe session and The Georgia Straight an interview with Laura Marling.

Under The Radar got some Hallowe’en-themed questions answered by Still Corners.

Lee ClowerThere’s nothing like going into the long weekend with a healthy dose of WTF, so we’ll run with this – a concert announcement either torn from the playlists of Alternative Nation circa 2005 or the dollar bins of CD stores for pretty much every year after that. That’d be the double-bill of Leeds-born, New York-based glam-rock revivalists Spacehog and Detroit’s post-grunge champions Sponge, who will take the stage at Lee’s Palace on December 11, tickets $23 (that’s about $15 in 1995 dollars, if you were wondering).

Also, if you were wondering, they do both have new material that they’re ostensibly promoting. Though they basically split in 2001, Spacehog reunited in 2008 and released a new record in As It Is On Earth at the start of this year. Sponge, remarkably, never actually broke up and have been chugging along since their commercial peak with Wax Estatic and put out and Stop The Bleeding last month. But it’s okay if you don’t care; they probably know you don’t. But they know you wanna hear those old singles so you’re just going to have to deal.

The Nottingham Post has a quick interview with one of Spacehog’s Langdon brothers. It’s not really clear which one.

Stream: Spacehog – “Try To Remember”
Stream: Spacehog – “Glad To Know”
Video: Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
Video: Sponge – “Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)”

While it’s disappointing that Keep Shelly In Athens had to cancel their Toronto date at Wrongbar next week due to visa issues, their co-headliner Chad Valley will still be coming to town and be playing for free at The Horseshoe on October 15, set time 11:40PM.

MP3: Chad Valley – “I Want Your Love”

English producer Darren Williams has already toured through a couple times in the past two years as Star Slinger, will release his debut album next year – he’s offered a taste to stream below – but not before he puts together another tour that will bring him to the Drake Underground on November 16, tickets $15.

Stream: Star Slinger – “Free”

English singer-songwriter Jake Bugg may have to wait until the end of the month to learn if he’s going to win the Mercury Prize, but he’s already thinking big, following up this past August’s local debut at The Mod Club with a new date at The Sound Academy on January 14, tickets $29.50. Though the fact that his second album Shangri La will be out on November 19 might also have something to do with the tour.

Video: Jake Bugg – “What Doesn’t Kill You”

With a new album in Mug Museum due out on November 12, Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon has announced a North American tour that brings her to The Drake Underground on January 21 of the new year, tickets $12.50 in advance.

Stream: Cate Le Bon with Perfume Genius – “I Think I Knew”
Stream: Cate Le Bon – “Are You With Me Now”

The Line Of Best Fit, The Fly, and DIY have interviews with Anna Calvi about her new record One Breath, which came out this week.

If you missed the album stream that went with the UK release of Summer Camp’s second album back in September, Interview is hosting another preview of Summer Camp ahead of its US release next week on October 15.

Stream: Summer Camp / Summer Camp

The Neil Halstead-fronted Black Hearted Brother have released a new video from their debut Stars Are Our Home, due out October 22.

Video: Black Hearted Brother – “This Is How It Feels”

Los Campesinos! have made available a stream of a new song from No Blues, their forthcoming album due out October 29.

Stream: Los Campesinos! – “Avocado, Baby”

Posting of remixes is usually verboten around here but when it involves David Bowie, exceptions can be made. LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy’s remix of “Love Is Lost” is one of the main selling points of The Next Day Extra, being released November 4, and it was premiered yesterday via Pitchfork but if you have the inclination, the rip of the BBC premiere is worth hearing for the short interview with Murphy that precedes it. And the version of “Sound & Vision” that soundtracked a cellphone commercial earlier this year is also available to hear (and buy, if you like) – Exclaim explains that one.

Stream: David Bowie – “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich mix)
Stream: David Bowie – “Sound & Vision” (Sonjay prabhakar mix)

There didn’t end up being a local Stone Roses date this year as I’d prophesied – sorry to anyone who believed me – but the Made Of Stone documentary film about their legacy and reunion definitely is. It’ll screen at The Bloor Cinema on November 22, so circle that one if you’re interested.

Trailer: The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone

Bowlegs has a video session with Lanterns On The Lake, whose wonderful new record Until The Colours Run doesn’t get a North American release until January 14.

The 405 have got a stream of the new Peggy Sue album Choir of Echoes, due out on January 27 of the new year.

Stream: Peggy Sue – “Idle”

The Fly checks in with The Horrors, at work in the studio on their next album.

Filter talks to Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream.

Manic Street Preachers have released a poignant new video from their latest, Rewind The Film.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Anthem For A Lost Cause”

Camera Obscura have released a new old-school sci-fi video from Desire Lines.

Video: Camera Obscura – “Troublemaker”

Noisey chats up London Grammar about their current North American tour

Under The Radar has an interview with Savages.

A Music Blog, Yea grabbed an interview with Daughter when they were in town a couple weeks back.

In excerpting the book Isle Of Noises: Conversations With Great British Songwriters, Clash gets some insights into the processes of Laura Marling and Johnny Marr.

Noisey sends Emmy The Great to find out how much it would cost to be A$AP Rocky’s girlfriend a la the prerequisites in “Fashion Killa”; hilarity ensues.

Anyone who had “founding a company dedicated to building and restoring early 1990s Porches” in the, “What has former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson been doing since releasing his first and only solo record Fresh Wine For The Horses way back in 2005″ pool, congratulations – you win. Hypebeast has a video interview with Dickinson, who sadly doesn’t sound like a man who misses strapping on a Stratocaster and singing “Black Metallic”.

Frank YangIt hasn’t escaped my notice that my live show schedule so far in 2012 has been pretty lean, and what there has been has been more on the sedate side. Which is fine – I dig the low key stuff and getting home well before midnight – but sometimes you get a fever for something bigger, louder and more rawk… and on those occasions, such as Tuesday night, the perfect prescription is The Kills.

The Amer-English duo were on the road for a second North American jaunt in support of last year’s Blood Pressures, but also to mark their tenth anniversary as a live act; the pair first took to the stage a decade prior to this show less a week. I can’t comment on how they were as performers way back when – the only time I’d seen them live was in 2008 in support of Midnight Boom – but considering the difference between that show and this one, I can only imagine that they’ve come a long, long way since that first gig.

I’m sure it was a longevity that first openers on the night, Brookyln’s Hunters, were aspiring to – goodness knows they’d clearly been taking other notes from the headliners, particularly in making good use of co-ed on-stage chemistry to put on an entertaining show. Derek Watson and Isabel Almeida were either trading off vocals and physically playing off each other over tunes that were garage-punk with a hint of bubblegum, and more adolescently hormonal than sophisticatedly seedy. Their stage presence more than compensated for some musical formulaicness and it was evident that their short set was enough to win them some fans, as Watson went for a set-closing crowd surf – not many openers can be assured of not being dropped.

Nashville sibling act JEFF The Brotherhood had been at it almost as long as The Kills, churning out six albums of psych-inflected garage rock over the past ten years and touring a hell of a lot over that time; it’s therefore not surprising that they already had a fanbase welcoming them back and cheering them on. The Orrall brothers specialize in and excel at a heavy but nimble brand of rock that’s more tuneful than you might think, a balance of sludgy stoner and spirited – if greasy – bar stylings. And they brought Alison Mosshart out to sing on their last song, so they also had that going for them.

At The Kills’ 2008 show, I was impressed how well Jamie Hince and Mosshart were able to put on a riveting show without needing to recruit a live band to back them up, so I was rather surprised to see their stage setup included a row of floor toms along the back – I presumed they weren’t just decorative and someone was actually going to play them. Two someones, as it turned out – a pair of drummers whose duties would include rhythm, clapping and choreography. A surprising break in the Kills aesthetic, but a beneficial one – you wouldn’t say they NEEDED the extra impact of those drums, either sonically or visually, but it didn’t hurt.

You could recruit a children’s choir and a symphony orchestra to back The Kills, though, and ultimately it’d just be about Hince and Mosshart – he of the untouchable guitar swagger and she of the feral intensity to match the giant leopard-print backdrop that hung above the stage, and both lubricating the stuttering mechanical rhythms that underpinned their sleazy electro-blues with sweat, blood, and whatever other fluids you might presume. Understand that I’d never suggest that that last show had been restrained in any way, but it seemed that the duo seemed even more confident and assured this time out – as if whereas before they were satisfied to be propelled by their raw charisma and chemistry, now they were steering it.

Unsurprisingly, the set leaned heaviest on Midnight Boom and Blood Pressures but those who wanted a more career-spanning show got a few bones in set opener “No Wow” – the only representative of their second album – and the two encore closers being pulled from their debut Keep On Your Mean Side. There were also a pair of covers – Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and The Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes” – to rep their forthcoming “The Last Goodbye” 12″, due out at the end of the month.

The Kills aren’t a band I necessarily turn to a lot in my regular listening patterns, but if you need a kick in the ass, a grab in the groin or just a reminder of why you love rock’n’roll, seeing them live is just the thing to do it.

The National Post, Music Vice, and PostCity have reviews of the show and amNY a short interview with Mosshart.

Photos: The Kills, JEFF The Brotherhood, Hunters @ The Kool Haus – February 7, 2012
MP3: The Kills – “DNA”
MP3: The Kills – “Future Starts Slow”
MP3: The Kills – “URA Fever”
MP3: The Kills – “Cheap & Cheerful”
MP3: The Kills – “Black Rooster”
MP3: The Kills – “Cat Claw”
Video: The Kills – “Last Goodbye”
Video: The Kills – “Baby Says”
Video: The Kills – “Future Starts Slow”
Video: The Kills – “Black Balloon”
Video: The Kills – “Tape Song”
Video: The Kills – “The Last Day Of Magic”
Video: The Kills – “Cheap & Cheerful”
Video: The Kills – “U.R.A. Fever”
Video: The Kills – “No Wow”
Video: The Kills – “Love Is A Deserter”
Video: The Kills – “The Good Ones”
Video: The Kills – “Wait”
Video: The Kills – “Fried My Little Brains”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “Whatever I Want”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “Hey Friend”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “Mind Rides”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “You Got The Look”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “Bone Jam”
Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “The Tropics”
Video: Hunters – “Acid Head”
Stream: Hunters / Hands On Fire

Those of you looking forward to the visit of another co-ed rock machine duo – I speak of Sleigh Bells – will have to wait a little longer. Pitchfork reports that rather than play The Phoenix on the evening of February 18, as they were supposed to, the pair will now be doing their pop-metal thing on Saturday Night Live instead. The Toronto show has been rescheduled for March 27, though their April 27 and 28 dates supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Air Canada Centre are unchanged. Reign Of Terror – the new album – is out February 21 and there’s interviews with the band at The Palm Beach Post, The Orlando Sentinel, and Pensacola News Journal – yeah, I’d say the band are in Florida right now.

Peggy Sue, whose attempt to bring their second album Acrobats to town last November was stymied by some immigration issues with their tourmates, will try again as they’ve been added as support for First Aid Kit at The Great Hall on April 4.

MP3: Peggy Sue – “Cut My Teeth”

Though their debut My Head Is An Animal still won’t be out until April 3, Of Monsters & Men are clearly already one of Iceland’s biggest exports as demand for their April 16 show has moved it from The Mod Club to The Phoenix.

Sweden’s Niki & The Dove have a new video for a song which appeared on their 2011 12″ single and will presumably show up on their debut album whenever it arrives later this year.

Video: Niki & The Dove – “The Fox”

The Line Of Best Fit has posted a video session with Loney Dear.

Keeping today’s he-she/trans-Atlantic duo meme going, Big Deal have released a new video from their debut album Lights Out.

Video: Big Deal – “Talk”

Veronica Falls have made a new song available to stream – they were already playing new material on the road last year, you can bet we’ll hear some new tunes at The Garrison on February 14. NOW has an interview with the band in preview of that show.

Stream: Veronica Falls – “My Heart Beats”

Clash, Sloucher, and The Scotsman interview The Twilight Sad. They’re at Lee’s Palace on February 29.

Tindersticks have made a track from their new record The Something Rain, due out February 21.

MP3: Tindersticks – “Frozen”

DIY interviews Field Music, whose new album Plumb arrives next week.

Best news of the day? Richard Hawley has announced details of his new album. Standing At The Sky’s Edge will be out on May 7 and according to the press release at DIY, it will be more stripped-down affair than recent efforts, built on, “two guitars, bass, drums and rocket noises”.

Slate The Disco talks to Kate Jackson.

FacebookTo promise that something is coming in “early 2012” may be sufficient detail when that date is still a ways off on the horizon, but at a certain point it will eventually actually be early 2012 – as it is now – and when that time arrives you’d best have a little more to offer. That first part of that scenario was most of 2011 for London’s Clock Opera, who despite sounding more than ready for prime time when I first saw them last SXSW and reconfirmed at Iceland Airwaves have been rather shy about offering any details about their debut album besides that it’d be out “in early 2012”.

Well refreshingly quietly, details of their debut album came to light at the very end of last year by way of an iTunes preorder link, and really all you need to know is that it’s called Ways To Forget and will be out – in the UK at least – on April 9. Going for a soft launch with that info may prove to be wise as I expect things will get exceptionally fast-paced for this quartet as word of their electro-anthemic rock – think a younger Elbow armed with sequencers – and attendant excellent live shows gets out.

And the first shot in that metaphorical attack came yesterday with the release of a second video for the song “Once And For All”, which already had a perfectly good clip for the original single release but seeing as how it was re-recorded for the album, a new, heartstring-tugging vid was clearly in order. And so here it is, along with what I would consider to be sufficient argument that Ways To Forget will be one of the highlight releases of, well, early 2012.

MP3: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
MP3: Clock Opera – “Belongings” (live at Maida Vale)
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All” (2012)
Video: Clock Opera – “Lesson No. 7”
Video: Clock Opera – “Belongings”
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
Video: Clock Opera – “White Noise”

The Ting Tings – whom I am convinced are part of a larger sociological experiment to discern exactly what the shelf life of formerly buzzy but ultimately vapid pop bands is – hope that enough people still remember who they are to buy their second album Sounds From Nowheresville, out February 27 in the UK and shortly thereafter in North America, and to go see them when they play The Phoenix on April 6. To say nothing of paying $26 to do so. Spin has a conversation with the duo about the new record.

Video: The Ting Tings – “Hang It Up”

I can’t say I was too interested in the previously-announced return of Cults to town – happening April 25 at The Phoenix, but the fact that Spectrals – aka London-based retro-pop revivalist Louis Jones – would be opening makes me a bit more keen. His debut Bad Penny came out last Fall.

MP3: Spectrals – “7th Date”
MP3: Spectrals – “Peppermint”
Video: Spectrals – “Bad Penny”

The Arctic Monkeys talk evolution with The Sydney Morning Herald. They open up for The Black Keys at The Air Canada Centre on March 14.

The Alternate Side has a session to watch with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Gold Flake Paint talks to James Graham about the third Twilight Sad album No One Can Ever Know. It’s out February 21 and they band are at Lee’s Palace on February 29.

Loud & Quiet plays go-between in facilitating a Q&A between Veronica Falls and Johnny Marr. Veronica Falls are at The Garrison on February 14.

Is This Music chats with David Gedge of The Wedding Present. They bring Seamonsters to The Horseshoe on March 25.

Spinner talks to Rosa Rex of Peggy Sue; DIY also had a year-end chat with the band.

Laura Marling has put together a poetry- and art-powered minisite for “The Beast”, which one assumes is the next single from A Creature I Don’t Know.

Clash and The Guardian have pieces on hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton, whose debut album backed by The Hooves Of Destiny – Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose – is out February 28. A video from said record came out last month.

Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Sweet Tooth Bird”

For Folk’s Sake and American Songwriter meet First Aid Kit, whose new record The Lion’s Roar – out January 24 – brings them to The Great Hall on April 4.

DIY and BBC profile Swedish duo Niki & The Dove, whose debut album is due out sometime this Spring.

The Line Of Best Fit – who agreed with me that I Break Horses’ debut Hearts was their favourite of 2011 – goes through the album track-by-track with Maria Linden. They’re opening up for M83 at The Sound Academy on May 6; DIY talks to Anthony Gonzalez of that outfit.

Q gets former label honcho Alan McGee to offer a buyer’s guide to the Creation Records catalog.