Bruce PeninsulaBy rights, we should have seen a new record from Toronto’s Bruce Peninsula ages ago. Their 2009 debut A Mountain Is A Mouth seemed a long time in coming from when the choral gospel-blues-folk collective began dropping jaws with their live shows, but after its release the band was everywhere and it seemed there was no slowing the momentum behind them.

But life, as it is wont to do, threw a curveball and in late 2010, after their second album had been recorded and they should have been planning how next to spread their word, frontman Neil Haverty was diagnosed with leukemia and the healing power of music would have to take a back seat to the healing power of medicine. Happily, some months later, Haverty is in remission and the Bruce Peninsula is getting back into gear.

While the album doesn’t yet have a firm release date, the band are laying down a trail from here to there and calling it the Bruce Peninsula Fire Sale – a series of releases and goodies intended to renew acquaintances and remind folks of why this band was one of the city’s most interesting new acts not so long ago. The first installment is a cover of Loudon Wainwright III’s “Swimming Song” – complete with video – and though it’s someone else’s song, the sound and arrangement is quite unlike anything we heard on Mountain – more refined, less primal and kind of revelatory. If this is just the start, then I can’t wait to hear what’s to come. Welcome back.

MP3: Bruce Peninsula – “The Swimming Song”
Video: Bruce Peninsula – “The Swimming Song”

On a less celebratory note, Vancouver’s You Say Party are going on an indefinite hiatus following a harder year than any group of people should have to endure. They’re being clear not to call it an ending, but taking some much-needed time off. And by way of going away gift, a pretty terrific new video from last year’s XXXX though I gotta say, a touch disappointed by the dearth of dancing midgets.

Video: You Say Party – “Laura Palmer’s Prom”

Pitchfork has details on the new Handsome Furs record Sound Kapital, which will be out on June 28. Grab the first MP3 in exchange for your email at their website.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a PS I Love You show in New York at the end of March.

The Leader-Post talks to Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon about flying solo on his current cross-Canada tour along with Jon Janes of The Mountains & The Trees and Magali Meagher of The Phonemes. The tour is winding down now and will wrap on April 21 at The Tranzac in Toronto. He’s posted a quick summary of the jaunt so far and posted a radio session MP3.

MP3: Woodpigeon – “An Entanglement Of Weeds” (live on CHUO)

The Boston Herald introduces its readers to Shad. He plays a free show as part of the Jazz Festival at Metro Square on July 1.

The Colorado Springs Independent talks to Nate Query of The Decemberists, who’ve just released a new video from The King Is Dead.

Video: The Decemberists – “This Is Why We Fight”

NPR has a World Cafe session with DeVotchKa.

CBC has got a live in-studio performance video of Jeff Tweedy playing what will surely be one of Wilco’s new songs.

The Head & The Heart are gearing up for the release of their self-titled debut this Saturday by putting out a new video and streaming the whole thing.

Video: The Head & The Heart – “Rivers & Roads”
Stream: The Head & The Heart / The Head & The Heart

Laura Ballance’s shiv-wielding, hard-drinking, fight-picking cat takes centre stage in the new Superchunk video from Majesty Shredding. Their vinyl reissue of Here’s Where The Strings Come In is at the top of my Record Store Day shopping list, and beyond the incentive of it being remastered and not being scratched to shit like my CD copy, it will come with a bunch of bonuses including acoustic demos and a download of The Clambakes Vol. 5: Cup of Clams live set circa 2003.

Video: Superchunk – “Crossed Wires”

Parts & Labor have released a new video from Constant Future; they play Parts & Labour tonight.

Video: Parts & Labor – “Echo Chamber”

Drowned In Sound sits down with Alan Sparhawk of Low for an interview, a song-by-song annotation of the just-released C’Mon and a video performance of one of the songs from the record. eMusic also has an interview with Sparhawk and Square with Mimi Parker. They are at The Mod Club on May 2 and have just released an Uncle Jesse-powered video from the album.

Video: Low – “Try To Sleep”

Beatroute and The Ottawa Citizen talk to Pixies. They’re at Massey Hall on April 18 and 19.

And the Soundgarden reunion which rather surprisingly didn’t saturate the festival circuit last year, is coming to town – they’ve a date at the Molson Amphitheatre for July 2, with fan club presale starting next Monday.

Video: Soundgarden – “Spoonman”

Frank YangKingston duo PS I Love You has done a pretty good job for themselves of building a buzz around both themselves and their debut album Meet Me At The Muster Station, with their guitar orgiastic-sound resonating strongly with those who lived through and miss the days when guitar orgies were regular occurrences. But they’ve also gotten help with the company they keep, in particular one John O’Reagan, aka Diamond Rings, whose debut single was a split 7″ with PS I Love You and with whom they were tourmates for no small portion of the Rings ascension, including much of this Spring on the way down to SXSW and back.

A few nights ago the billing order switched, however, with PS I Love You taking on headlining duties while Diamond Rings packed away the glitter and costumes and busted out his old band – which was also his new band – to support. The existence of Matters, risen from the ashes of The D’Urbervilles, was only announced a week earlier but the new outfit probably already garnered more and higher profile attention outside of the Toronto area than The D’Urbs ever did in their tenure, with Matters being framed as Diamond Rings’ rock band rather than Diamond Rings as the electro-glam offshoot of The D’Urbs.

In any case, it added an extra degree of narrative to their show at The Garrison on Thursday night, it being Matters’ second official show following their debut in Ottawa the night before. Though my own history with The D’Urbervilles is a long one, dating back almost half a decade, a good portion of the sizable audience were clearly unfamiliar with Matters’ former incarnation and were there to see one of the city’s big musical success stories of the past couple years in a completely different context. And as it would turn out, even those of us familiar with O’Reagan in rock mode were treated to something decidedly new. The D’Urbervilles were always a good to very good post-punk/new wave kind of band, solid live and their 2008 debut We Are The Hunters certainly bursting with potential if not completely delivering on it. And while the name change certainly seemed to be cosmetic – the personnel remained the same and many unreleased songs carried over – there was no denying that Matters came with a new lease on life and manifesto that consisted of kicking some serious ass. Fronted by an O’Reagan that hadn’t been seen in these parts in some time; sporting t-shirt, jeans and ball cap and not a bit of make-up, he led his bandmates through a punishing set of rock that seemed to decide that the “post-” part of their previous incarnation’s “post-punk” descriptors were no longer necessary and released the tension that the D’Urbs specialized in in big, loud and sloppy – as in not caring who got hit, not in lack of tightness – measures. In line with that transformation was O’Reagan as a frontman; though his towering, somewhat gangly presence always made him the focal point of D’Urbs shows, the charisma and magnetism honed through the Diamond Rings experience was just as present without the costuming. Their debut album is in the can and should be out this year; it’ll be a non-issue that Matters isn’t especially Google-able – you won’t have to search to hear about them.

Not to suggest there was any sort of competitiveness between Matters and PS I Love You, but the headliners had some work to do if they were going to be what people were talking about the next morning. I had seen and enjoyed them back in September, they weren’t exactly the sorts of performers who’d leave jaws on the floor with their showmanship. Frontman Paul Saulnier occupies himself with singing/yelping, Telecaster shredding and Moog bass pedal stomping which drummer Benjamin Nelson lays down a deceptively complex backbeat – neither is much for on-stage shenanigans but verily, do they make a massively loud sound. But just that can still get you a long way and the show, which ran through most or even all of their album, was far more engaging than you might well have expected it to be. It also affirmed that I’m much more a fan of Saulnier’s vocals live, when they’re buried unders many decibels of guitars, as opposed to on record where they’re audible – but even that I’m coming around on, finding Muster Station more listenable now than when it first came out last Fall.

Any question of which act would end up stealing the show was put to rest with PS’ encore, however, as O’Reagan came out to join them for “Leftovers”, the single released back in February which featured guest vocals from Diamond Ring. But in keeping with the apparent theme of the evening, it was played with the rock turned up to 100 and though the ensuing din basically left O’Reagan inaudible, his dance moves and drumstick ninjutsu was basically a physical manifestation of the aural energy. Who, of Matters and PS I Love You, turned in the best performance of the evening? Both of them.

The Globe & Mail and The Wig have features on PS I Love You while The National Post and Exclaim were also at the show and have thoughts.

Photos: PS I Love You, Matters @ The Garrison – April 7, 2011
MP3: PS I Love You (with Diamond Rings) – “Leftovers”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Get Over”
MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”
Video: PS I Love You – “Get Over”
Video: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
Video: PS I Love You – “Facelove”
Video: Matters – “Get In Or Get Out”

The National Post, Spinner, NOW and Chart have features on Timber Timbre.

Sloan are offering video interview/annotations of all the songs on their forthcoming record The Double Cross, rolling out one every few days leading up the record’s May 10 release. I daresay this is their best record in some time – check the previews out on their YouTube channel.

Exclaim has details on the next release in Neil Young’s Archives series; A Treasure is a live document dating back to the country-styled Old Ways-era period of his tumultuous ’80s output and features recordings from various shows backed by the International Harvesters. It will be out on vinyl May 24 and on CD June 14.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips talks to Billboard and Spinner about the joys of having the creative freedom to do whatever the hell they want, which they’re taking full advantage of this year. Aside from the wacky-ass releases, they’re working on a Yoshimi musical stage production. Of course they are.

This interview from last month with Guided By Voices’ Bob Pollard at The Buddha Den certainly seems to hint that GBV will be coming back to Toronto for the first time in pretty much forever in June, but that NXNE rumour was pretty thoroughly debunked by one who’d know so… yeah. But at least there’s a five-part interview to pass the time and if you really need a GBV fix, they’re at Brooklyn’s Northside Festival that same weekend playing McCarren Park (which is another reason why I thought they might be making the trip up here).

Pixies meet the press in advance of their Canadian Doolittle tour; Joey Santiago talks to JAM, Metro and The Chronicle Herald score some time with Dave Lovering and The Chronicle Herald also gets Kim Deal on the phone. They’ve got two nights at Massey Hall next week, April 18 and 19.

Spinner chats with J Mascis for unplugging to go solo.

The Huffington Post and The Boston Globe have interviews with the members of Buffalo Tom.

American SongwriterWhen Jeff Mangum, prodigal godhead of that which is largely called indie, gave a rare performance in a Brooklyn loft last December, people freaked out. And reasonably so – the Neutral Milk Hotel-ier had been basically been retired and out of sight for nigh on twelve years, his band having dissolved post-In The Aeroplane Over The Sea and in the intervening years, his legend only grew. So the idea of him suddenly surfacing to play a show probably seemed like a once in a lifetime occurrence.

Except that it wasn’t. My theory at the time was that this was far from a one-off but the start of a return to music for Mangum, who was probably tired of the mythology that had grown around him and wanted to begin the process of deconstructing it, of saying “hey – I’m a guy with a guitar who wrote some songs” and maybe pave the way to being able to write, release and perform some more. And so it really wasn’t a surprise that 2011 started with a trickle of additional live show announcements – first as a special guest at the Portishead-curated I’ll Be Your Mirror at Asbury Park, New Jersey in September, then as curator of the All Tomorrow’s Parties in Somerset, UK in December, and now additional non-festival dates have begun trickling out, and at the moment they begin in Toronto.

Though The Horseshoe played host to a legendary, almost-never-was Neutral Milk Hotel in 1998, Mangum’s return will be in the suitably reverent environs of Trinity-St. Paul’s on August 12 and 13. Tickets are $32.50 and will go on sale as follows: a limited pre-sale of paperless tickets will begin at 10AM on Friday, February 25 with the presale password being made public at the Collective Concerts website on Wednesday, February 23 at 3PM. Presale customers will be allowed to purchase four tickets per order, per customer, per show. Public on sale begins on Saturday, February 26 at noon via usual outlets – Ticketmaster, The Horseshoe, Rotate this and Soundscapes – and purchases will be limited to two per customer.

Exciting news, to be sure, though one wonders what this does to the chances of Mangum showing up with the upcoming Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour which hits The Horseshoe on March 18 – it had been a pretty safe bet that Mangum would show up on at least some of those dates, and he might still. But if you’re not the gambling sort and the guarantee of a night of great tunes from his Elephant 6 compatriots isn’t enough to convince you, then these Trinity shows should be just the ticket. Not that you had much choice since the Holiday Surprise show is sold out anyways.

The Wall Street Journal welcomes Jeff Mangum back from the wilderness with a timeline of his “lost years”.

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Holland 1945”

From lost legends to exciting newcomers, Australia’s Tame Impala and London’s Yuck are teaming up for a North American tour that includes a stop at The Phoenix in Toronto on May 1, tickets $20. I’m not that familiar with Tame Impala but Yuck, whose wonderfully grungy ’90s power-pop-laden self-titled debut just came out this week and has been on heavy rotation in my ears. Spin thinks Tame Impala will be the next big thing while Spinner has an interview with Yuck.

MP3: Yuck – “Rubber”
MP3: Tame Impala – “Runaway, Houses, City, Clouds”

John Vanderslice will take his orchestrally-powered latest White Wilderness on the road this Spring, though it’s unlikely he’ll have an actual orchestra with him – you couldn’t fit one in the Drake Underground, where he’ll be on May 10. You will, however, be able to fit his tourmate Damien Jurado, and Jurado isn’t a small guy.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “The Piano Lesson”
MP3: Damien Jurado – “Gillian Was A Horse”

The Independent talks to Dean Wareham.

Pixies drummer Dave Lovering tells Billboard that the band are contemplating what to do after their run of Doolittle shows – including April 18 and 19 at Massey Hall – are done. Either do the full-album show treatment for another of the records or – horror of horrors – write and record new material.

Buffalo Tom is streaming the whole of their just-released new record Skins, out March 8.

Stream: Buffalo Tom / Skins

I haven’t been keeping track of whether The Flaming Lips have made good on their song-a-month promise, but they have uploaded a 12-part simul-song to YouTube, so that sort of counts I guess.

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Liz Phair.

Also stopping in at NPR’s World Cafe for a coffee and session are Superchunk.

Spinner talks to The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr about their new record Angles, out March 22.

The Montreal Gazette and Toronto Star have feature pieces on Interpol.

Pitchfork reports that the new Death Cab For Cutie album Codes & Keys will be released on May 31.

NPR has a World Cafe session and Pitchfork and Crave interview features with The Decemberists.

The Independent Weekly, Paste, Blurt, Prefix, The Wall Street Journal, NBC and Spinner profile Drive-By Truckers, whose new record Go-Go Boots is out next week but streaming now in whole at Spinner.

Stream: Drive-By Truckers – “Go Go Boots”

The Alternate Side has a video session and interview with Iron & Wine.

Will Sheff of Okkervil River blogs about his experience at the Grammy Awards (he was nominated for best liner notes) for Billboard. Their new record I Am Very Far is out May 10. A video of one of the new songs, recorded last month when they played Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, has just been posted online – check it out at Prefix.

Bright Eyes have released a new video from their new record The People’s Key. The Quietus also has an interview with Conor Oberst, who plays The Sound Academy (with his band) on March 13.

Video: Bright Eyes – “Shell Games”

The new DeVotchKa record 100 Lovers is up to stream at NPR in advance of its March 1 release.

Stream: DeVotchKa / 100 Lovers

The San Francisco Examiner and Spinner have interviews with and NYC Taper a live recording from last week of Nicole Atkins; she’s at The Horseshoe on February 26.

Asobi Seksu released their lastest Fluorescence this week and released a new video from it. They also have a chat with Spinner and will be at The Horseshoe on February 27.

Video: Asobi Seksu – “Trails”

NYC Taper has a live recording and Spinner an interview with Wye Oak, whose Civilian is out March 8 and who play The El Mocambo on April 9.

Paste and So Much Silence chat with Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis. They play The Horseshoe on March 6 and have an in-store at Sonic Boom earlier that afternoon.

Stereogum checks in with Fleet Foxes on the status of their new record Helplessness Blues, out May 3.

Rolling Stone is holding a competition to choose who will grace an upcoming cover – vote Ume.

Aylin Güngör DedeogluReally, I’ve only myself to blame. Upon hearing The Radio Dept. and the deliciously forlorn and fuzz pop of their 2003 debut Lesser Matters, I did what any good music obsessive would do after hearing what would become one of their favourite bands of the century (so far) and scoured the eBay for any and all of their releases. In their case this amounted to a number of singles and EPs which offered a good amount of non-album tracks – most as wonderful as the songs that did make the long-players – to pad out the collection.

So when it was announced that the band would follow their breakout third album, 2010’s Clinging To A Scheme with a double-compilation of rarities, one couldn’t help but hope that meant that a heretofore untapped vault of musical goodness would be let loose onto the world, a sort of reward for the faithful who’d evangelized the band for years until the rest of the world caught on. This, of course, was bunk. Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 is exactly what the title implies – a collection of the band’s singles over the course of their existence arranged chronologically with a the second disc collecting b-sides and compilation tracks from over that same time period. In other words, mostly everything I’d already bought.

But as I said, that’s my own fault; for everyone else, Passive Aggressive is pretty much essential. There are no deep cuts from their three records, only the singles – and just one song from the sublime second record Pet Grief – so for newcomers to the band using the collection as an introduction, the incentive to buy those studio records remains and for those who’ve already made their acquaintance but not gone all trainspotting on their back catalog, there’s over 20 tracks that are likely to be new to their ears. Pretty much the definition of win-win. And any way you come at it, the set is a testament to just how superb, consistent and unique the band has been over the course of their career, filtering the confluence of synth-pop, shoegaze, and C86 tweeness through a distinctly Swedish melancholy for irresistible results.

So while Passive Aggressive doesn’t provide me hours of new Radio Dept. listening, it does save me the trouble of swapping out all those CDEPs and most importantly, remind me in the most enjoyable way possible what an amazing band they are. And there’s nothing disappointing about that.

Spinner talks to Martin Carlberg about the band’s vault of unreleased songs – which clearly DOES exist – although there’s no plans to mine it for release anytime soon. The band’s North American tour kicks off tonight in Washington DC and hits Toronto on February 7. Tickets for the show are $12.50 in advance but courtesy of The Musebox, I’ve got a grand prize to consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of Passive Aggressive on CD to give away and a second prize of just the CD. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to join The Radio Dept” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. If you’re in the Toronto area and want to be eligible for the passes and CD, say so and if you’re just a resident of Canada looking for the CD, say that as well. Contest closes at midnight, February 3.

MP3: The Radio Dept. – “The One”
MP3: The Radio Dept. – “The New Improved Hypocrisy”
MP3: The Radio Dept. – “Freddie & The Trojan Horse”

The artist anointed by the BBC as “The Sound of 2010” – Ellie Goulding – will be releasing her debut album Lights Stateside on March 8 and follow it up with dates that include a March 27 stop at The Great Hall in Toronto. Tickets for that are $17.50 in advance.

Video: Ellie Goulding – “Starry Eyed”

The Raveonettes have slated a Spring tour in support of their fifth album Raven In The Grave, which according to this interview with Sune Rose Wagner at The San Francisco Examiner is due out on March 22. The itinerary includes an April 2 date at The Phoenix, tickets for which are $20, and there are still plans to release a compilation of b-sides and rarities at some point this year.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Last Dance”

The Black Angels return for an April 14 date at Lee’s Palace, tickets $18.50, as part of a tour in support of last year’s Phosphene Dream. Montreal’s Suuns will support.

MP3: The Black Angels – “Telephone Blues”
MP3: Suuns – “Up Past The Nursery”

Pixies have added a second Doolittle show at Massey Hall for April 19. Tickets $44.50 and $64.50 in advance.

Video: Pixies – “Monkey Gone To Heaven”

Fleet Foxes have announced their second album Helplessness Blues will be out on May 3 and the title track is available to download.

MP3: Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”

Vivian Girls’ new record Share The Joy has been given an April 12 release date, just days before they hit The Phoenix with The Black Lips on April 16. Pitchfork has details and the first MP3 is up for grabs.

MP3: Vivian Girls – “I Heard You Say”

NPR is streaming Bright Eyes’ new album The People’s Key in advance of its February 15 release and Spinner has got an MP3 available to download in exchange for your email. Bright Eyes plays The Sound Academy on March 13.

Stream: Bright Eyes / The People’s Key

Also streaming at NPR and out February 15 is 12 Desperate Straight Lines, the new album from Telekinesis. They play The Horseshoe on March 6 and Pepper Rabbit appear to have replaced The Love Language as support.

Stream: Telekinesis / 12 Desperate Straight Lines

Adam KolaSo when I saw Esben & The Witch at Lee’s Palace last Fall in support of Foals, I knew little about them beyond that they were from Brighton, that they commissioned a single decidedly creepy video and the that Matador Records would be putting out their debut album, which collectively was more than enough to get me to pay attention. Their set didn’t particularly showcase their songwriting skills, opting instead to spotlight their intensity and murkier, more primal tendencies, but it was compelling enough to get me to defer final judgement until I’d heard what they could do in a studio.

Happily, Violet Cries – out February 8 in North America – makes a good case for their ability to do more than just make a racket. Though they’re certainly capable of melodicism, pop songs are not necessarily their stock in trade – instead, the gothic, atmospheric tumult of their live show remains front and center but with much greater sonic clarity and emphasis on Rachel Davies’ dramatic vocals. It’s nothing like an immediate record and yet holds your attention and that’s about all you can ask.

The band has booked a Spring North American tour that will bring them back to Toronto during Canadian Musicfest and being added to a bill that already includes Anna Calvi and Memoryhouse… well, it looks like Wrongbar will be the place to be on the night of Friday, March 11.

The band have just released a second video from Violet Cries and yes, it too is creepy.

MP3: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Warpath”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Marching Song”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Stornoway.

Clash and Spinner talk to former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, though if the BBC interview with bassist Mick Quinn is correct, that “former” qualifier won’t be in place for very long though he’ll have a solo record out soon, either way.

The List talks to Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite. Their new record Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is out February 15 and they play The Phoenix on April 26.

Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch discusses his Celestial Cafe memoirs with Drowned In Sound while Matablog has announced the winner of the band’s Write About Love contest.

PJ Harvey talks Let England Shake with Drowned In Sound – the record is out February 15.

Clash has an interview with White Lies. They bring latest Ritual to the Mod Club on January 29.

Baeblemusic is streaming a live show from First Aid Kit while one of the covers they recorded for Jack White’s Third Man Records 7″ series is streaming now at NPR.

Rawkblog recounts a few choice reveals from a phone interview with The Radio Dept. Their Passive Agressive double-set is out next week and they’re at Lee’s Palace on February 7.

Australian duo An Horse will release their second album Walls in April – trade your email address for an MP3 at their website.

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Janelle Monáe available to stream. She’s playing The Indie Awards during Canadian Musicfest on March 12.

That Archers Of Loaf reunion show in North Carolina last weekend? There’s now more video and audio footage to enjoy.

Spin has got another new download from the new Buffalo Tom record Skins as well as a chat with Bill Janovitz and Chris Colbourn.

The last time Pixies were in town was for V Fest 2009 at The Molson Amphitheatre and it was notable for being their last non-Doolittle recital show until… who knows. Point being that the just-announced cross-Canada tour (with some US dates yes) which includes an April 18 stop at Massey Hall will be their Doolittle show… the appeal of which I’ve honestly never understood. In a regular set they play most of Doolittle anyways – after all, it’s not like they’ve been adding new material to their canon since getting back together in 2004. In any case, if you attend expect a completely polished, proficient and somewhat bloodless performance.

Video: Pixies – “Here Comes Your Man”

Portlanders YACHT have made a date at Lee’s Palace on May 2.

MP3: YACHT – “See A Penny (Pick It Up)”
MP3: YACHT – “So Post All ‘Em”

Nicole Atkins’ new record Mondo Amore is almost here – it’s out February 8 – and she’s turned to Kickstarter to help subsidize the upcoming tour, which includes a February 26 show at the Horseshoe. Those with deep pockets can get themselves some sweet-ass rewards, including living room shows, custom songs, haircuts and painted ukuleles. There’s also a video session with Nicole up to enjoy at Livestream.

Low will release their new record C’mon on April 12. Pitchfork has specifics.

Blurt talks to Decemberists bassist Nate Query. They’re at The Sound Academy on February 1.