FacebookHow do you like your British Sea Power? Abrasive and anarchic as on their debut The Decline Of British Sea Power? Slick and anthemic as on the follow-up Open Season? Or are you loathe to choose between the two and prefer the middle ground that album number three – Do You Like Rock Music? – treads upon?

If you raised your hand for option c), then the Brighton-based Brits’ fourth effort Valhalla Dancehall – out today – should be on your “to-buy” list because it confirms that BSP have established their own little musical kingdom between the aforementioned territorial extremes where their eccentricities and populist tendencies intermingle and coexist. And if you preferred either a) or b), then Dancehall still has much to offer because, let’s face it, they’re too inherently weird to ever be too conventional and their musical vision is too widescreen to ever allow them to go soft.

Though it treads familiar terrain, Dancehall still carves its own niche, distinct from its predecessors. While opener “Who’s In Control?” sets a frenzied tone, overall the titular qualities the defined Rock Music has been dialed down slightly with grandeur taking priority over bombast. There’s still plenty of the latter, make no mistake, but it’s delivered in a more polished manner with some of the white noise having resolved into more atmospheric qualities and they’re balanced with truly gentle moments such as “Baby” and plenty in between. If Valhalla‘s place in the BSP canon is to be summed up in one word, it’s “refinement” in that it takes all their by-now familiar touchstones and dresses them up in just the right amount of classy. To some that might sound like maturing and/or getting boring, but if it gives us more gems like album closer “Heavy Water”, with its subtle motorik pulse, then call it what you like – I’ll take it.

Clash has excerpted a portion of an interview with the band from their latest issue and The Fly also has a feature piece.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control?”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
Video: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
Stream: British Sea Power / Valhalla Dancehall

The Line Of Best Fit and The Fly have feature pieces on Esben & The Witch, whose debut Violet Cries is out on February 8. I said after seeing them open for Foals back in September that I’d wait until I heard the album before passing judgement on whether they were worth paying attention to… and having heard it, I’m still paying attention.

The Quietus talks to PJ Harvey about her new record Let England Shake, due out February 15.

The first single from Noah & The Whale’s forthcoming Last Night On Earth has a video and the album itself has a proper release date – it will be out on March 8 and they’ll be at the Mod Club on March 24.

Video: Noah & The Whale – “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”

NME reports that Glasvegas have given their second album the title of Euphoric Heartbreak; sorry Glasvegas dudes, but I will not indulge you with including the “///” or “\\\” when writing the title because it is, how you say, bullshit. Only M.I.A. got away with that because she’s batshit. The first single from said record will be made available this weekend and the record is due out sometime in the Spring.

The Fly checks in with Patrick Wolf, who’s in the studio working on his next album – it’s still untitled but will be out in May. twentyfourbit has some live video of Wolf previewing new material at a recent London show.

Synth-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark are back, both with a new album in History Of Modern (released last year) and their first North American tour in over two decades – it will kick off on March 5 at The Phoenix in Toronto, tickets $28.50. Between you and me and the internet, I played their best-of In The Dark a fair bit in high school. No I wasn’t cool. Is that just becoming clear now?

Video: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – “If You Leave”

The Radio Dept. talks to Spinner about some of the more political angles of their work. Their compilation album Passive Aggressive is out January 25 and they’re at Lee’s Palace on February 7.

Spin is streaming the new single from Lykke Li; her new record Wounded Rhymes will be out on March 1 and she plays The Phoenix on May 22.

Pitchfork has details on Peter Bjorn & John’s new record Gimme Some, due out March 29. Spin talks to Peter Moren about the record.

Jens Lekman has taken to his blog to announce that 2011 will, if the stars align, see him release a new album. And an EP. If the stars align.

Malin Bernalt>Swedish outfit jj had an interesting 2010. At year’s start, the mysterious duo was one of the more hotly tipped acts around, their mysterious, r&b-inflected/narcotic-influenced dream-pop scoring them a support slot for The xx’s first headlining North American tour and a Stateside release for their debut album No. 2 as well as its imminent follow-up, No. 3.

It all started to go wrong when they rolled into SxSW, though, when it was discovered that their live shows were perplexing, awkward affairs with Elin Kastlander singing overtop pre-recorded backing tracks while co-conspirator Joakim Benon just stood there. Not exactly the sort of impression that bands usually want to make in Austin in March, but jj seemed to come into things with an approach that was either performance art, contempt or both. The subsequent shows with The xx proved their indifferent approach to live performance wasn’t a fluke and after No. 3 failed to garner the sort of rave reviews its predecessor did – though to my ears it sounded similar enough that the backlash was puzzling – the buzz surrounding them seemed to dissipate significantly.

After being left along through much of the Fall, jj returned in the tail end of the year and they came bearing gifts. First in November, a free two-track digital single entitled Let Them and then on Christmas eve, a full-length mixtape entitled Kills, also available gratis. This wasn’t a TDK SA90 of their favourite tracks for your stocking – the kind of mix tape I’m familiar with – but one of the hip-hop variety wherein the band sample, remixe and otherwise jam out overtop a variety of other peoples’ tunes. If I were better versed with contemporary hip-hop I might better appreciate whatever alchemy they work on Kills but even without knowing my Kanye from my Jay-Z, it’s an entertaining listen thanks to Kastlander’s beguiling vocals.

Some acts just aren’t meant for the stage – as long as they keep making interesting music and giving it away, I think we can forgive them that.

MP3: jj – “Let Them”
MP3: jj – “I’m The One/Money On My Mind”
MP3: jj – “New Work”
Video: jj – “Kill Them”

Under The Radar reports that next Tuesday, Danish art-rockers Mew will give their career-spanning compilation Eggs Are Funny a North American release. In addition to their greatest hits, there’s one new track which you can hear over at Soundcloud.

The Line Of Best fit has a studio performance from and Under The Radar an interview with The Concretes. They’re at the Horseshoe on January 17.

Fanfarlo’s contribution to the latest Twilight soundtrack has yielded a video. They’re currently writing album number two. Patience.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Atlas”

MusicOmh, The Irish Independent and The Guardian have features on British Sea Power, whose Valhalla Dancehall comes out on Tuesday. A new MP3 from the record has just been made available.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control”

The first MP3 from Mogwai’s forthcoming Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will was made available via email widget back in November, but now it’s up for grabs for even the email-submitting-averse. Their new album is out February 15 and is better than you think it will be, no matter how good you think it will be. They’re at the Phoenix on April 26.

MP3: Mogwai – “Pano Rano”

Stereogum solicits a status report on PJ Harvey’s next record Let England Shake, though considering the first single “The Words That Maketh The Murder” will be out on January 17 and the album is due in a little over a month on February 15, the only status that should be getting reports is, “It’s done. Leave me alone”.

Pitchfork introduces you to Jonny, made up of Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Euros Childs, formerly of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Their debut self-titled album will be out April 12 but in the meantime, there’s a video and a free EP of non-album tracks to get you acclimated.

Video: Jonny – “Candyfloss”
ZIP: Jonny / Free EP

The Quietus recounts Geoff Barrow’s Twitter-disseminated list of what NOT to expect of the new Portishead record, whenever it comes out this year.

The terrible interface of the Folio magazine online edition is worth enduring to read the interview about the Britpop era with former Sleeper frontwoman and eternal crush object Louise Wener by Summer Camp chanteuse Elizabeth Sankey. Picking up a copy of Wener’s autobiography Different For Girls when I’m in the UK this Summer is on my to-do list.

MyspaceAnd as the internet inexorably slows for the holiday season, we have this. Over in the UK, the generally dubious tabloid The Sun cites an anonymous source as saying that Blur are headed back into the studio in the new year to hash out some new material and, if all goes well, release a new record in 2011, their first since 2003’s Think Tank and since 1999 with guitarist Graham Coxon.

While the credibility of the source – of both The Sun and their tipster – is suspect, it does make some sense. Following their triumphant 2009 reunion, the quartet opted to not immediately carry it forward and instead announced the reunion over, though ironically it was Coxon – who left the band in the first place – who kept pushing the idea that there could be more to come. In any case, Damon Albarn went back to wearing his Gorillaz suit, Coxon released his seventh solo record and Dave Rowntree and Alex James went back to doing whatever they were doing, making it look like the unfinished business had been attended to.

But then came their “Fool’s Day” single, released in April for Record Store Day, which proved that a) they weren’t in face done with Blur and b) Blur were still writing good tunes. It wasn’t a song for the ages, certainly more subdued than many had hoped, but I thought it was an honest representation of where Blur was at in their 40s and still boasted a terrific Graham solo – certainly I’d be happy if they put out more of this. So with Gorillaz heading to the back burner and enough time elapsed since the reunion celebrating their past glories, 2011 sounds like a pretty good time to move Blur into the future. Let’s hope that this rumour has more legs than the one last Spring, hinting that they’d be crossing the Atlantic for some North American dates.

MP3: Blur – “Fool’s Day”

Much more certain is the new record from Elbow – BBC6 talks to frontman Guy Garvey about the new album, which will be entitled Build A Rocket, Boys and be out March 7 in the UK. Fingers crossed for a simultaneous North American release and touring.

Even though Florence & The Machine really broke out in 2009 and by rights should have gone back into the studio to work on a new record this year, Florence Welch still made her procrastination productive enough for Spin to name her their artist of the year and run a feature piece on her.

British Sea Power previews their new record Valhalla Dancehall acoustic-style with a video session for The Fly. The record is out January 11 and the band ruminate over their back catalog for Spinner.

PJ Harvey has released a video from her new record Let England Shake, due out February 15. Was only a passing PJ Harvey fan in the past but what I’m hearing from the new record is really doing it for me.

Video: PJ Harvey – “The Last Living Rose”

Even though they already had a perfectly good clip for the song, The Joy Formidable have made a new video for “Austere” – one that presumably has the version of the song that will appear on The Big Roar when it comes out on January 24 in the UK and March 15 in North America. Glad to hear that while the arrangement is a bit different, there’s not any excessive major label gloss on it.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Austere” (original)

The dears at Lucky Soul are giving away their cover of Mud’s “Lonely This Christmas” in all its uncompressed WAV glory over at Soundcloud. Or, if you’ll take something compressed in exchange for manageability, grab the MP3 below.

MP3: Lucky Soul – “Lonely This Christmas”

NPR has complete audio and selected video from yesterday’s hometown holiday throwdown from Glasgow by Belle & Sebastian available to stream.

Dean ChalkeyMost bands with longevity – if they’re lucky – have a career arc that starts with a good to great debut and trends upwards towards a critical and hopefully commercial peak – simultaneously, if fortune wills it – before entering a decline that’s hopefully gradual enough so as to not really be noticed at the time. Cap it off with a late-career bounce and/or best-of comp and maybe quit while you’re still ahead, overall. Until the reunion, anyways.

Manic Street Preachers threw that out the window before even their first album, declaring their intention to sell 20 million copies of their debut and then break up at the height of their powers. And while this didn’t happen, their narrative did end up considerably twistier than most – release successful debut, endure mandatory difficult second record, rebound with critically acclaimed effort, lose chief songwriter to mysterious circumstances, regroup for their biggest commercial and critical success, release follow-ups of diminishing quality before respectively levelling out and then surprise everyone by deliberately trying to recreate the spirit of album three using lyrics left behind by the departed songwriter and have the results, rather than exploitative, be phenomenal.

This is where the Manics found themselves with last year’s Journal For Plague Lovers, a deliberate revisit to The Holy Bible built around the words of their lost member Richey Edwards. And just as that record deliberately paralleled their third record, its follow-up Postcards From A Young Man looks to album four, the massive in every sense Everything Must Go as a reference. The dry, Albini production values of Journal are traded in for grandiose anthems laden with strings and choirs that offer no apologies for reaching for the stars. It’s a reminder that as good as the Manics were at being emphatically, viciously angry, they were arguably better at being starry-eyed romantics, and it’s that side of them that is on display with this effort. But unlike Everything, which for its widescreen staging was still downcast in tone, what with dealing with Edwards’ disappearance, Postcards casts far fewer shadows. Granted, this also gives it less emotional heft, but it’s far from empty calories. There’s still plenty of dense lyricism, huge choruses, fiery guitar solos, a guest spot/croak from Ian McCulloch and an affirmation that while the Manics took a mid-career breather, they’re once again at the top of their game.

Even though the release of Journal and accompanying tour were supposed to mark the Manics’ return to the North American marketplace, Postcards has yet to receive a domestic release. Until that happens, any hope that the further Stateside shows the band promised last year will materialize remain just wishful thinking. Or maybe they’ll wait for the next record – for all the hubbub surrounding the “last attempt at mass communication” rhetoric that accompanied Postcards and whether it meant it would be the Manics’ final record, according to this interview with Nicky Wire at NME, the band are already writing their next record, have given it a working title of 70 Songs Of Hatred And Failure and are calling it an exercise in “pure indulgence”. So it’s a revisit to Know Your Enemy, then? Bring it on.

Note that the below MP3 does not appear on Postcards, but is a period-correct and was given away in conjunction with the promotion of Postcards.

MP3: Manic Street Preachers – “I’m Leaving You For Solitude”
Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Some Kind Of Nothingness”
Video: Manic Street Preachers – “(It’s Not War) It’s Just The End Of Love”

Digging A Hole, The Bangkok Post and CNNgo check in with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans.

The long wait for a new record from PJ Harvey is almost over – NME reports that Polly Jean’s next record Let England Shake will be out on February 14.

Trip-hop survivors Morcheeba, with original vocalist Sky Edwards back in the fold, will be touring North America next year in support of their latest Blood Like Lemonade and will be at The Phoenix on February 20. Tickets $32.50 in advance.

Video: Morcheeba – “Blood Like Lemonade”

VBS has a video interview with Emmy The Great and producer Gareth Jones, who is working with her on album number two. It’s targeted for a February 2011 release.

Laura Marling has released a video for her Neil Young cover, taken from her recent 7″ release.

Video: Laura Marling – “The Needle & The Damage Done”

NME reports that Noah & The Whale have given their third album a name – Last Night On Earth – and that it’ll be out in March of next year. Presumably before they roll into town for a show at the Mod Club on March 24, tickets $17.50 in advance.

Richard Thompson lists off his favourite covers of his own songs for Spinner and otherwise chats with The Los Angeles Times and The Kansas City Star

Mogwai are offering a free download of “Pano Rano”, the first single from their forthcoming Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. The album is out February 15 and they play The Phoenix on April 26.

Exclaim reports on the super-fancy and then some 20th anniversary edition of Primal Scream’s Screamadelica, due out on March 7 of next year. For those who want to be free to do what they want to do, who want to be free to ride, and want to be free to ride their machines without being hassled by The Man, and who want to get loaded, and who want to have a good time. And that’s what they’re gonna do. They’re gonna have a good time. They’re gonna have a party!

The Arts Desk and The Quietus converse with Jim Reid of The Jesus And Mary Chain.

State welcomes ex-pat Gemma Hayes back to Ireland; she’s due for a new album sometime in 2011.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video: Blonde Redhead – “Not Getting There”

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

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

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

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

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

MP3: Warpaint – “Undertow”

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

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

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

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

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