Shawn BrackbillOn the surface, Blood Pressures – the new record from The Kills – resembles its predecessor, Midnight Boom, quite a bit; particularly in how it doesn’t really resemble their first two records Keep On Your Mean Side and No Wow very much. This is, of course, a very relative statement – everything that Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince have put out has been been very distinctly them, defined by their two-piece art/garage-rock aesthetic and their sexually-charged/ambiguous/tense dynamic.

But with Midnight Boom, they opened up the range of sounds with which they’d work, amped up the pop elements of their sound and generally tidied things up enough to make for their most accessible work yet; certainly it was the record that got me on board. Blood Pressures continues on in the same direction, but the balance of songs versus sonics seems to have swung decidedly in favour of the former. The groove-first, lyrics-second process that accounted for some of Boom‘s sleazy playground rhyme-like numbers has taken a back seat to more conventionally composed and structured songs, perhaps something Mosshart has brought back from her time in The Dead Weather. And though many are still built on unabashedly mechanical and grimy-sounding backing tracks, even those are sounding more organic and tidier than before.

None of this meant in judgement, just as observation. That The Kills would be getting more polished and sophisticated, even if just in relative terms, should come as no surprise – even from their first release it was inevitable, less a question of “if” than “when” and “how”. But with regards to judgement, as solid as Blood Pressures is – tunes like “Nail In My Coffin” and “Baby Says” are as solid additions to The Kills canon as anything they’ve done – but as a whole it doesn’t have the sense of reckless, unhinged fun that made its predecessor such a treat. It’s wholly on target as a satisfying Kills record but confirms that Midnight Boom was the bullseye.

Spinner and Clash talk to The Kills about their new record while Yours Truly solicits an acoustic video session… geoblocked. What the hell, people. They’re at The Sound Academy on May 1 and courtesy of Domino Records, I’ve got a prize pack consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of Blood Pressures on LP to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Kills” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest closes at midnight, April 25.

MP3: The Kills – “DNA”
Video: The Kills – “Satellite

The Guardian talks to Faris Badwan about his Cat’s Eyes project and their self-titled debut which is due out next week.

Video: Cat’s Eyes – “Face In The Crowd”
Video: Cat’s Eyes – “Cat’s Eyes”

The Boston Globe and Under The Radar talk to The Raveonettes.

Arctic Monkeys have a new video from the forthcoming Suck It And See. The album is out June 6 and they’re at The Kool Haus on May 21.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”

Glasvegas guitarist Rab Allan talks to Billboard and RTE about new album Euphoric Heartbreak, out now in Canada but not until May 17 in the US. They play Lee’s Palace on May 29.

The Vinyl District interviews Eddie Argos of Art Brut about their new record Brilliant! Tragic!, out May 23. They’ve also released a video from said album and play The Mod Club on June 17.

Video: Art Brut – “Lost Weekend”

Oh look, a new Beady Eye video. They’re at The Sound Academy on June 20.

Video: Beady Eye – “Millionaire”

Filter continues Suede week by talking to some of the band’s producers and getting some discography commentary from Brett Anderson and Mat Osman as well as a two–part interview with the founding members. BBC America also talks to Brett Anderson.

Yours Truly has a video session from and The Arty Semite, Georgia Straight, The OC Weekly and San Diego City Beat have interviews with Yuck. They’re at The Phoenix on May 1.

Esben & The Witch have a new video from Violet Cries.

Video: Esben & The Witch – “Chorea”

Been wondering what happened to guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones since The Verve broke up for the millionth time? The Quietus has your answer – The Black Ships.

Ed O’Brien disappoints a legion of Radiohead-spotters by telling BBC that there will not be another album coming from the King Of Limbs sessions. There will, however, be a North American release for the “Supercollider”/”The Butcher” 12″ that they put out for Record Store Day in the UK – Exclaim reports that it’ll be out on June 14 and you can stream both sides right now at some dude’s Soundcloud.

Spin talks to PJ Harvey, who has another video to show off.

Video: PJ Harvey – “On Battleship Hill”

Drowned In Sound talks to Kate Nash about her record label and music education for girls endeavours.

Emmy The Great introduces and performs a new song inspired by the Royal Wedding for The Guardian. The song doesn’t appear on Virtue, due out June 13, but you can download one that does at RCRDLBL while Drowned In Sound has the artwork and tracklisting up. Emmy’s website has also relaunched and yes, I did check the cost of flights to New York on seeing she’s playing Pianos on May 5 (too much).

MusicOmh chats with Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey of Summer Camp.

Artrocker talks to Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records.

Vice RecordsThough they formed a decade ago, The Raveonettes are still a couple years from being able to mark the 10-year anniversary of their first album Chain Gang Of Love, the duo have been called on to mark some other notable anniversaries of late. Last Summer, they were one of a number of acts tapped to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martens and their iconic shoes by way of a cover.

For their selection they chose the first single from The Stone Roses, whose self-titled debut had itself just turned 20 the year before. It’s a pretty straight reading, though there’s no mistaking Sharin Foo’s icy coo for Ian Brown’s… Ian Brown-ness. And though she doesn’t appear in the video they made for the track – they go for an updated Harold & Maude-type narrative – I would imagine she’s a better dancer as well.

The Raveonettes’ new record Raven In The Grave came out last week and they’ll be in town on April 2 for both a free acoustic in-store at Sonic Boom at 6PM and a fully electrified and surely deafening show at The Phoenix later that same evening. The Stone Roses will, thankfully, probably never reunite and their legacy will remain intact. And though I’m generally loathe to recommend people re-buy records they should already own, I will say the John Leckie-remastered The Stone Roses that came out in 2009 is absolutely worth picking up as the sonic improvements are vast. There is actually some low end now! And Doc Martens remain great shoes.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “I Wanna Be Adored”
Video: The Raveonettes – “I Wanna Be Adored”
Video: The Stone Roses – “I Wanna Be Adored”

FacebookBritish dubstep/soul-pop producing/singing/songwriting wunderkind James Blake has been getting a lot of press of late – in particular as first runner-up in the BBC Sound Of 2011 poll and a glowing Pitchfork “Best New Music” review for his self-titled debut, out in the UK since February but not here until March 22 – so it’s not unreasonable to think there’d be a lot of interest in live dates, even over in North America.

So on the bright side, tour dates have been announced in addition to his appearance at SxSW next week and they do include a Toronto date, but while the US dates are all in rooms ranging in capacity from 250 to 500 or so, despite this being one of the more Anglophilic markets on the continent, he’s playing pretty much the smallest room we’ve got – that’s The Rivoli, on May 14.

Tickets are $20 in advance, on sale Friday and done paperless/check your credit card at the door-style. Considering the room holds around 200 people, less yesterday’s fan pre-sale, less media and guest lists, there could be just a handful of tickets available for sale… I suspect that he’ll be back at a larger room around the time of his Pitchfork Festival appearance come mid-July, but that’s pure speculation on my part. All of which is to say that if you want to see him in close quarters, you’ll want to be on the Ticketmaster tomorrow.

The Fader has posted online their cover feature on Blake.

MP3: James Blake – “To Care (Like You)”
Video: James Blake – “The Wilhelm Scream”
Video: James Blake – “Limit To Your Love”

The Raveonettes claimed their acoustic in-store at Sonic Boom back in August 2008 was the first time they’d performed in such a setting; apparently they liked it, because they’re doing it again on April 2 at 6PM before their show at The Phoenix that evening. Expect to hear tunes from their new one Raven In The Grave, out March 22, done unplugged-style. They talk to Spinner about the new record.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Forget That You’re Young”

Johnny Flynn – here solo back in November – returns with his band The Sussex Wit for a show at The Horseshoe on May 26, tickets $13.50.

MP3: Johnny Flynn – “Kentucky Pill”

In a bill that will make folks of a certain generation possibly/probably lose their shit, Brendan Perry, formerly of Dead Can Dance, and Robin Guthrie, ex of Cocteau Twins, have put together a North American tour together that will stop in at the Opera House on June 4, tickets $27.50. Perry released a solo album in Ark last year while Guthrie has a number of projects ongoing but whose latest solo record was 20009’s Carousel.

Video: Cocteau Twins – “Heaven Or Las Vegas”
Video: Dead Can Dance – “The Carnival Is Over”

Pitchfork asks Andy Bell of Ride for the musical touchstones of his lifetime.

Entertainment Weekly talks to Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye, in town at the Sound Academy on June 20.

Exclaim reports that Spiritualized will release a new studio album this Fall, to be released in North America on label of the moment Fat Possum.

Spin talks briefly to Guy Garvey of Elbow and have a stream of a live reading of one of the new songs from build a rocket boys!. There’s also band features at RTE Ten, Joe.ie, BBC and The Chronicle.

Spinner talks to The Joy Formidable, whose debut The Big Roar is out next week. And just as they did for “Austere”, which also appeared on their A Balloon Called Moaning EP, they’ve made a new video for the album version of “Whirring”. They play The Horseshoe on April 3.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring” (new)

NOW and New York Press meet Esben & The Witch, who are playing Wrongbar tomorrow night.

Let’s Wrestle has announced the release of their second album, entitled Nursing Home and due out May 17. Check out the first MP3.

MP3: Let’s Wrestle – “Dear John”

Also out on May 17 is Street Of The Love Of Days, the debut from Amor de Dias – a name that might not be too familiar, but as the new project from The Clientele frontman Alasdair Maclean and Pipas’ Lupe Núñez-Fernández, is worth getting to know. Exclaim has some info on the project, which has been ongoing for a while – as evidenced by this track premiered by Pitchfork last Summer in addition to the album track just released.

MP3: Amor de Dias – “Bunhill Fields”
MP3: Amor de Dias – “New Wine”

Arctic Monkeys have released details on their next album – the classily-named Suck It And See is out June 6; more info at The Fly. They have a date at The Kool Haus on May 21.

PJ Harvey has released a new video from her latest Let England Shake.

Video: PJ Harvey – “The Glorious Land”

Also with a new video are Mystery Jets, this one for the title track of last year’s Serotonin.

Video: Mystery Jets – “Serotonin”

Keeping the new clip parade going are Yuck with the lead track from their self-titled debut. They are at The Phoenix on May 1.

Video: Yuck – “Get Away”

And finally, a new vid from The Go! Team, from Rolling Blackouts – they play The Opera House on April 10.

Video: The Go! Team – “Apollo Throwdown”

The Quietus explains why “C86” is so important as a musical genre/era/adjective.

Emma NathanThis week marks the beginning of the annual cross-continental live music bacchanal that I like to call CMWCMFSxSW (pronounced the way it’s spelled), and while I still fully expect to have a grand time of it, there’s been a bit of a pall cast now that one of the artists whom I’d been most excited to see at both festivals – London’s Anna Calvi – has pulled out of her entire North American tour, including fest appearances, because of an injury to her arm/hand/wrist.

Obviously the timing couldn’t be worse as she had a full slate of shows scheduled in Austin to showcase her just-released self-titled debut, but luckily for her the record doesn’t necessarily need to be seen live to be appreciated – just heard. It’s an unapologetically lush and wholly enveloping album, candlelit and thick with smoke and perfume and evocative of opera, theatre and cabaret influences but cast in a pop setting. And at the centre of the swirl of sounds and signifiers is Calvi, her guitar and her voice – and it’s hard to know which of her two instruments to be more impressed with.

Opening instrumental “Rider To The Sea” is a jaw-dropping declaration of intent, her distinctive flamenco-ish circular picking technique sounding more like an orchestra than two hands and a Telecaster and making you think that if this were just an instrumental album it’d still be impossible to turn away. But then when she steps up the mic on “No More Words”, everything else falls away as you lean in to better hear her breathy, alluring delivery. Oh yes, it’s going to be that kind of record. Or so you think, until “Desire” hits and the smouldering voice transforms into a conflagration.

This is the sort of dynamic that plays out over the course of Anna Calvi while exploring themes of seduction, love and lust, all punctuated with jaw-dropping guitar breaks. Some may find fault in its aesthetic and call the delivery over the top, but such is the world that Calvi’s music inhabits – all gestures are flourishes, all statements grand declarations of import. Seriously, if anyone objects to the amount of romanticism that positively saturates Anna Calvi, there is a very good chance that they are dead inside. My disappointment in not getting to see her live over the next two weeks is only tempered by the fact that when she finally does make it over here, I’ll had had that much more time to become more obsessed with this album.

Spinner, Artrocker, The Los Angeles Times and NPR have profiles on Calvi.

“Jezebel” was an Edith Piaf cover released as a teaser for the album, but does not appear on it. It was actually the first I heard from Calvi and honestly, didn’t do much for me – which made the album itself all that much more of a revelation.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
MP3: Anna Calvi – “Jezebel”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Jezebel” (live)

Adele talks about the creative power of heartbreak with Dose.ca. She plays The Kool Haus on May 18.

Spinner talk to Noah & The Whale, whose new record Last Night On Earth comes out next Tuesday. They play The Mod Club on March 24.

In Scottish Waters is a short documentary that follows British Sea Power to Scotland’s remote Isle of Eigg for a performance showcasing their new record Valhalla Dancehall. They’ll be trekking to Toronto’s remote Lee’s Palace for the same purpose on March 24.

Video: British Sea Power: In Scottish Waters

Pitchfork reports that Art Brut will release their new record Brilliant… Tragic! on May 23.

Also readying a new record but not offering up anything in the way of a title or release date are Arctic Monkeys. What they are offering, however, is a video for the first single. Update: And a North American tour – May 21 at the Kool Haus in Toronto.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Brick By Brick”

The Manchester Evening News, The Skinny and The Guardian have features on Elbow on the occasion of the release of build a rocket boys! this week.

BBC and The Independent talk to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood on the band’s current projects and soundtracking the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.

Spinner discovers that Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye owns a house in Toronto. And other stuff. Update: Beady Eye are at The Sound Academy on June 20.

Drowned In Sound talks to Tim Burgess of The Charlatans.

Burgess is one of many, along with frontman Ian Brown and producer John Leckie, who contribute thoughts and reminiscences to Clash‘s special feature marking the 20th anniversary of The Stone Roses’ debut album.

The Raveonettes have also paid tribute to The Stone Roses by way of a cover of “I Wanna Be Adored”, for which they’ve put out a video. They’ve also released the first clip from their new record Raven In The Grave, out March 22. They play The Phoenix on April 2.

Video: The Raveonettes – “I Wanna Be Adored”
Video: The Raveonettes – “Recharge & Revolt”

Junip have put out a new video from Fields to go with their just-announced Spring tour, which starts April 20 at Lee’s Palace.

Video: Junip – “In Every Direction”

Lykke Li offers Black Book a list of her favourite “shameless pop songs” and a proper interview to The Guardian. She is at The Phoenix on May 22.

Kevin WestenbergClearly unconvinced that Arcade Fire’s Grammy win Sunday night had sufficiently broken the internet – at least as far as my Twitter and RSS feeds were concerned – Radiohead decided to apply a fatality-class finishing move on Monday morning, announcing that their eighth album was not only done, but would be called The King Of Limbs and be available for digital sale as of this coming Saturday, February 19.

Rather than repeat the pay-what-you-can model that accompanied their last sneak album release In Rainbows in 2007, the band are going the more traditional pay-what-we-say route this time out, offering digital-only pre-orders in MP3 or WAV format which will be fulfilled on Saturday or MP3/WAV plus fancy-pants physical package which they’re calling their “Newspaper Album” and includes the record on two 10″ LPs, a CD and craploads of packaging and artwork and due for delivery around May 9. For those who still dig physical product but don’t need all the bells and whistles, the regular CD and LP editions will be available on March 29.

It was well known that a new Radiohead record was coming this year, but beyond that it was anyone’s guess as to what, when, how, etc. and so in an age where albums are often “over” before they’re even officially out, it’s nice to still be able to experience that sense of surprise and anticipation. And considering the band have only played one show in the past 13 months – the Haiti benefit last January – almost none of the new material has been road-tested, making those first listens come Saturday that much more exciting.

So…. touring?

Video: Radiohead – “Lotus Flower” (live)

Elbow have released the first proper video from build a rocket boys!, and in the process remind me that the record is out in just three weeks on March 7. So very looking forward to hearing this one. So… touring?

Video: Elbow – “Neat Little Rows”

Rolling Stone talks to Liam Gallagher and Andy Bell of Beady Eye. Their debut Different Gear, Still Speeding is out March 1. As for brother Noel, he’s talking a lot but hasn’t started working on his own post-Oasis project.

Manic Street Preachers have released a new video for the title track from their latest Postcards From A Young Man.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Postcards From A Young Man”

Interview interviews Dominic Aitchison of Mogwai, The Quietus Stuart Braithwaite and Martin Bulloch also documents a day in the life for The Quietus. Their new record Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is out today and they’ve a gig at The Phoenix come April 26.

Music Snobbery interviews Blood Red Shoes.

The AV Club, NPR, Exclaim and Newsweek talk to PJ Harvey, whose war-themed latest Let England Shake may lead to an appointment as “official war song correspondent”.

NPR solicits a Tiny Desk Concert from Adele; Adele obliges. Her new record 21 is out next week and she plays The Kool Haus on May 18.

The Guardian interviews Anna Calvi, who follows the March 1 release of her self-titled debut with a show at Wrongbar on March 11 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

The first MP3 from The Raveonettes’ forthcoming Raven In The Grave, out March 22, is now available to download. They’ll be at The Phoenix on April 2.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Forget That You’re Young”

Clash and The Scotsman talk to Lykke Li, who releases Wounded Rhymes on March 1 and plays The Phoenix on May 22.

So… touring? Here’s some of the stuff that got announced in the last few days. We already knew that J Mascis was headlining The Great Hall on the Friday, March 11, of Canadian Musicfest, but he’ll also be doing an in-store at Sonic Boom that afternoon at 5PM. You may recall he did the same with Dinosaur Jr last January – hopefully this time he won’t be running a half hour late. His new solo record Several Shades Of Why arrives March 15.

MP3: J Mascis – “Not Enough”

To mark the March 1 reissue of their 1998 self-titled debut, Queens Of The Stone Age will hit the road to play it in its entirety, a tour which stops in at the Sound Academy on March 29, tickets $47 and $57 in advance.

I certainly thought that last week’s Lee’s Palace show would be the one and only time Toronto got a visit from the touring-averse Radio Dept., but it looks like those who kept clapping for a second encore will get their wish – their touring itinerary shows them with an overnight layover in Toronto after appearing at Sasquatch and will pass the time with a May 29 date at The Horseshoe – good news for those who snoozed and losed on getting tickets for the Lee’s gig. aux.tv and Ca Va Cool have interviews with the band.

MP3: The Radio Dept. – “Why Won’t You Talk About It?”

Yeasayer released an aural valentine yesterday in the form of a free EP and a North American tour – look for them June 7 at The Phoenix.

MP3: Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”