Mick RockFor those of us who’ve become accustomed to the all-encompassing scale, splendour and chaos of that grandaddy of all club-level music festivals – that’s SxSW, in case you were wondering – It can be kind of fun to pick on the Toronto versions CMW/CMF and NXNE for, essentially, not being South-by. It’s not a fair comparison by any means, but it’s inevitable. We’ve had to check those darts and break out some laurels in recent years, however, as both fests have made significant improvements in terms of organization, public relations and most importantly, bookings. NxNE, in particular, has been wise in making use of the public space at Yonge-Dundas Square to get right in the faces of Toronto for the middle of June and make it feel like much more of a major city event, instead of one of many things going on in the Big Smoke at a given time. They started out with modestly interesting day shows but as of a couple years ago, began booking some of the biggest names of the fest there for shows that were completely open to the public. That is how you build good will.

And with the initial announcement of artists coming to town from June 17 to 20, they’ve really kind of outdone themselves. The big coup is clearly Iggy & The Stooges, who will play for free at Yonge-Dundas Square on the evening of June 19, and the punk legends set the tone for many of the other names announced yesterday, many of whom come from the big, loud and sloppy side of the tracks. Obviously the actual schedule is still a ways away, but some digging has revealed at least some of the when and where of some of the acts playing the festival – just to give you a taste of some of the tough choices that the Toronto club-hopper will have to make (besides the obvious one of Iggy vs Pavement/Broken Social Scene). These are not complete and are subject to change, but do come from legitimate sources.

Thursday, June 17 2010
X, Mudhoney @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Warpaint, Free Energy, Elliott Brood @ The Horseshoe
The Besnard Lakes, Young Galaxy @ The Mod Club
HEALTH, Gold Panda, Indian Jewelry @ Sneaky Dee’s

Friday, June 18 2010
Sloan @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Man… Or Astro-Man?, Mudhoney @ The Horseshoe
AA Bondy, Simone Felice, Avi Buffalo @ The Great Hall
Japandroids, Wavves @ Lee’s Palace
Inlets @ TBA

Saturday, June 19 2010
Iggy & The Stooges, Wavves @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)
Quintron & Miss Pussycat, JEFF The Brotherhood @ The Garrison
Cold Cave, Avi Buffalo @ Lee’s Palace

Sunday, June 20 2010
De La Soul, Kid Sister, Phenomenal Handclap Band @ Yonge-Dundas Square (free)

And playing free shows at Yonge-Dundas at some point during the week will be The Raveonettes and Surfer Blood, while confirmed but still without a date or venue are Les Savvy Fav, Thee Oh Sees, The Soft Pack and The Strange Boys, amongst many, many others. And these are just the “bigger” names – by June, surely there’ll be a whole new batch of buzz bands to complain about being booked into undersized venues. Such is the joy of NXNE. But at least it will be warm.

Elsewhere and/or elsewhen. Rae Spoon has just released the thereisafire EP as a preview of his new record Love is A Hunter, due out in August. The EP is available to download for free and he will be at the Holy Oak in Toronto on Friday night, April 16, for a show.

MP3: Rae Spoon – “Come On Forest Fire” (CPI Remix)
MP3: Rae Spoon – “There Is A Light”
ZIP: Rae Spoon / thereisafire

Her time as a Decemberist at an end, at least for now, Shara Worden is returning to work as My Brightest Diamond and will be at the El Mocambo on May 4, presumably to showcase material from the follow-up to 2008’s A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Tickets for that show are $10.50 in advance.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Inside A Boy”
MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “The Diamond”

Local heroes-in-waiting Zeus have set a date at the Mod Club for May 27. Tickets for that will be $12 in advance.

MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”

Blitzen Trapper have added a Toronto date to the end of their North American tour in support of their new record Destroyer Of The Void, due out June 8. Look for them on August 3 at the Opera House, accompanied by Avi Buffalo who – with their two NxNE shows – are going to be hanging around Toronto a lot this Summer.

MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Heaven & Earth”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “What’s In It For?”

Dan Snaith of Caribou talks to Chart about new album Swim, out April 20. Caribou play the Phoenix on May 3.

MySpace Transmissions has a watchable/listenable/downloadable session with Broken Bells. They are at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 2.

A second MP3 from The National’s High Violet is now available. The record is out May 11. They play Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

MP3: The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”

Filter gets to know She & Him; they have a sold-out show at The Phoenix on June 9.

BBC6 talks to Ryan Monroe of Band Of Horses about their new record Infinite Arms, from which they’re previewing another new track on their website. The record is in stores on May 18 and they play the Toronto Island Concert on June 19.

Mother Jones and Spinner talk to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, who’ve just released a new video. Yeah, it’s weird.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “Powerless”

Josh Ritter previews his new record So Runs The World Away via Daytrotter session. The record is out May 4.

Le Blogotheque is hosting a Take-Away Show with Megafaun.

aux.tv Q&As Liz Powell from Land Of Talk, who also stopped in at Explore Music to perform a Big Star cover.

Video: Land Of Talk – “Thirteen” (live at Exploremusic)

Woodpigeon have a video for the title track of their new Spirehouse EP, which also appeared on Die Stadt Muzikanten. You can download the song for free in exchange for your email at Bandcamp.

Video: Woodpigeon – “Spirehouse”

OMG Blog has premiered a new video from Gentleman Reg for his cover of Stevie Nicks’ “Wild Heart” from his Heavy Head EP.

Video: Gentleman Reg – “Wild Heart”

Forest City Lovers have christened album number three as Carriage. Look for it around July.

Frank YangThere’d been some underlying confusion surrounding Sunday night’s show at the Mod Club since it was announced. First it was El Perro Del Mar. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees. Then it was Taken By Trees and El Perro Del Mar, on account of their alternating closer, co-headliner arrangement. An arrangement that got turned around somewhere mid-tour and so by the time it was all said and done, it was Taken By Trees opening and El Perro Del Mar closing. And about as much reason as one would ever need to be sure to arrive at the venue on time, though I’d like to think that anyone attending this show would have the good sense to want to see both acts regardless of order.

I’d always felt that the greatest strength of The Concretes was how Victoria Bergsman’s sleepy vocals contrasted with the big pop arrangements underneath. Since going solo as Taken By Trees, contrast has been exchanged for compliment, as the gently orchestrated folk accompaniments of her new project mesh perfectly with her voice. Open Field had very much the sort of pastoral aesthetic you’d expect a voice like Bergsman’s to wrap itself in, but she mixed that recipe up a bit on her latest record, East Of Eden, which sounds very much a product of being recorded in Pakistan without being overwhelmingly so.

Though still quite demure, Bergsman seemed in much better spirits than her last visit to Toronto on the final Concretes tour in May 2006 – she visited Montreal once circa Open Field but for whatever reason didn’t make the trip down the highway. Thanks to the backlighting and smoky incense haze, she appeared more silhouette than anything, but what you weren’t able to see was more than made up for by what you heard. With the help of a terrific backing band, she was able to forge the airy folk-pop of her debut with the eastern influences of her latest into a strong and distinctive sound, with a welcome emphasis on the rhythmic elements of her songs. In fact, I liked Taken By Trees considerably more live than on record; the extra oomph served her well. Now if only we could get her to allow some light on her face, we’d be cooking with gas.

Henceforth, I swear to no longer describe El Perro Del Mar as “sad”. Despite the persona that comes across on her records, the Sarah Assbring that danced onstage to “Let Me In” from her latest record Love Is Not Pop was no melancholic moper. Sharing a band with Taken By Trees meant that Assbring only needed to strap on the guitar for a few numbers and spent the rest dancing and generally putting on the sort of show that I would not have expected.

The set drew mainly from the new record, which to be fair, does expand El Perro Del Mar’s sound well beyond the ’50s doo-wop that underpinned her first two records. Live, her sound was transformed further as the shimmering guitarwork and solid, danceable basslines gave everything a distinctively ’80s 4AD-ish sheen that really suited her. And considering one of her set’s highlights was an unexpected cover of The xx’s “Shelter” – done faithfully yet still sounding every bit like El Perro Del Mar – perhaps that’s a direction she’ll be moving further in in the future. Either way, it does seem certain she’ll be moving. And swaying. And dancing.

Chicagoist has an interview with Victoria Bergsman and Pitchfork has some audience video of El Perro Del Mar’s xx cover from the New York show. Panic Manual, Chart, Exclaim and It’s Not The Band I Hate It’s Their Fans also have reviews of the Toronto show.

Photos: El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees @ The Mod Club – February 21, 2010
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart” (Rakamonie Remix)
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Anna”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Watch The Waves”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Lost & Found”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
Video: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
Video: Taken By Trees – “Lost And Found”
MySpace: El Perro Del Mar
MySpace: Taken By Trees

New from Sweden this week and streaming at Spinner are European, the new record from Sambassadeur, Work from Shout Out Louds, who are also coming to town for a show at the Mod Club on May 8.

Stream: Sambassadeur / European
Stream: Shout Out Louds / Work

Spinner talks to Serena-Maneesh frontman Emil Nikolaisen about his distaste for music prizes and showcase festivals. Not that that’s stopping him from playing a showcase festival in Texas next month. Their new album S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor is out March 23 and they play The Great Hall on April 2.

Some other Norwegians coming to town – a-Ha will be at Massey Hall on May 11 as part of their farewell tour. I’ll have you know I listened to these guys a lot back in the day, and their first three records were pretty damn good. Much more than just “Take On Me”. Though that’s still a great tune. As is this one. Seriously thinking about going to this, though I don’t know if it’s quite how I want to spend my 35th birthday.

Video: a-ha – “The Sun Always Shines On TV”

The Raveonettes have rolled out a new video from In And Out Of Control.

Video: The Raveonettes – “Heart Of Stone”

Under The Radar talks to Simon Blathazar of Fanfarlo. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on April 9.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Mumford & Sons.

The Tripwire has a feature piece on The xx, in town on April 4 at The Phoenix and April 20 at the Kool Haus.

Lucky Soul are giving away the title track from their new album A Coming Of Age in exchange for your email – believe me, it’s a deal and a half. The album is out on April 5 19 and is, no word of lie or exaggeration, awesome.

The Washington Post and Washington City Paper interview Alisdair Maclean of The Clientele, coming to town for a show at the Horseshoe on March 19.

Spinner has an Interface session with The Cribs.

Beyond Race and The Sentimentalist interview The Big Pink. They’re at the Mod Club on March 24.

NME has collected some of Jarvis Cocker’s finest bon mots over the years into an entertaining slideshow.

Barely six months after bringing their orchestral Ocean Rain to Toronto, Echo & The Bunnymen will return on April 23 for a show at the Phoenix. Presumably the only strings in play this time will be the ones on their guitars.

MP3: Echo & The Bunnymen – “I Think I Need It Too”

The Times discusses the political and the personal with Billy Bragg.

Music Snobbery interviews The Joy Formidable, who are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length album and starting to book some North American dates for May – just NYC and the Truck Festival so far, but fingers crossed.

Frightened Rabbit are gearing up for the March 9 release of The Winter Of Mixed Drinks with a second video for new single “Nothing Like You” and a full steam of the new album on their MySpace. Scott Hutchison also talks to Tour Dates UK. The band are at The Opera House on May 4.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You” (alternate version)
Stream: Frightened Rabbit / The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Spinner reports that The Twilight Sad have replaced the low end supplied by recently departed bassist Craig Orzel. the new lineup will be in action for their upcoming North American tour which stops in at Lee’s Palace on May 26.

Aversion talks to We Were Promised Jetpacks.

PopMatters checks in with Glasvegas’ Rab Allen. The band is currently working on album number two.

MySpaceIt’s not the firm, 100% release date that you’d want to see before getting excited, but this update from The Radio Dept. declaring that their third record Clinging To A Scheme – constantly rescheduled and delayed since September 2008 – will be available on CD and LP via Labrador in March is the most official thing we’ve seen yet.

Past target dates have come from their label and they’ve had to backpedal on each one, but this one comes from the band, and they’ve sealed it with a stream of a new song, album art and even a tracklisting! It seems the 2008 single “Freddie & The Trojan Horse” didn’t end up making the cut but their entire 2009 output – “David” – did. Either way, I’m allowing myself to hope this time the record will finally become reality and it somehow is worth the almost four-year wait since Pet Grief and year and a half delay from its originally-promised date. And I won’t hold my breath for live dates.

Update: Aaaaand they manage to push it back yet again. But the official new release date is April 20 in North America, April 21 in Europe. EXCITED.

MP3: The Radio Dept. – “David”

And keeping on the theme of reclusive Swedes finally getting into sharing, jj have let slip not only some images of themselves, but a couple new songs via a free digital single – one of which will also appear on their forthcoming album No. 3, out March 9. They’ll be at the Phoenix on April 4, on stage for all to see. Unless they turn off the lights. Which they probably will.

MP3: jj – “Let Go”
MP3: jj – “My Way”

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Philip Ekstrom of The Mary Onettes.

The Raveonettes have made a video for the cryptically-titled new single from In And Out Of Control, “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)”. I think there might be a message here; I’m not sure.

Video: The Raveonettes – “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)”

The Varsity chats with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.

NOW has words with J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. They’ve got an in-store at Sonic Boom tonight at 6:30 – be there early with an item of canned food for admission – and a sold-out show at the Phoenix afterward. eye also has an interview with Lou Barlow in the context of solo artist and opener for himself tonight.

Paste talks to Ted Leo, who is preparing his next record with The Pharmacists in The Brutalist Bricks, due out March 9.

Scout Niblett has set a March 17 date at the Horseshoe as part of a Spring tour in support of her new record The Calcination of Scout Niblett, out next week. Tickets for the show are $11.50 in advance.

MP3: Scout Niblett – “The Calcination Of Scout Niblett”

Last week I mentioned the release next week of El May, the debut album from Lara Meyerratken – well an MP3 from the album is now available to grab.

MP3: El May – “Don’t You”

Matablog has announced the next New Pornographers record will be entitled Together and be out May 4. And yes, both Dan and Neko are on board again.

Canadian Press gets some information from Amy Millan about the new Broken Social Scene record, including the fact that all of she, Emily Haines and Leslie Feist are appearing on the album and one track will feature all three singing together. It was reported that the album would be out in May, in time for their big Spinner Canada is streaming Basia Bulat’s new album Heart Of My Own – it’s in stores next Tuesday.

Stream: Basia Bulat / Heart Of My Own

The Hidden Cameras have rolled out a new video from Origin: Orphan.

Video: The Hidden Cameras – “Underage”

Via MySpace blog, Oh No Forest Fires have offered more explanation for their decision to disband, revealed that their doubling their recorded legacy with a second (mini) album that will be made available for free when it’s ready, offered a first track from said album to download (below), and announced that this Saturday’s final show at the Horseshoe will also be a benefit fundraiser for Haiti, with all proceeds from the $7 cover going to Partners In Health to assist the disaster-ridden country.

MP3: Oh No Forest Fires – “Spontaneous Changes In Isolated Systems (Song For Bobby)”

SubPop is giving away a big-ass MP3 mix of their Winter 2010 releases. Go get.

MergeLast week, I was complaining that with the US holiday season, there wasn’t nearly enough blog fodder trickling out of the interwebs. This week, it’s like a deluge.

We begin wading through it all in Scandinavia, particularly Stockholm, Sweden, home of the Shout Out Louds. The quintet turned in one of the indie-pop highlights of 2007 with Our Ill Wills and are set to follow it up with the release of Work. For this outing, they’ve opted to not work with Bjorn Yttling, who manned the boards for Our Ill Wills and have instead enlisted producer Phil Ek, best known for his work with The Shins and Built To Spill, amongst many others. And if the band’s idea of adding an American accent to things means going for a drier, less shiny sonic approach without giving up any of the hooks, then judging from the just-released first MP3 and video they’ve succeeded.

Work is out on February 23 of next year and they promise to spend most of the year touring to support. They posted up a short video clip of the recording sessions back in September.

MP3: Shout Out Louds – “Walls”
Video: Shout Out Louds – “Walls”

PopMatters interviews Anna Ternheim, who will be supporting El Perro Del Mar on her Winter 2010 tour including the February 21 date at the Mod Club. After her too-short set opening for Loney Dear at the Horseshoe in October, I had hoped she’d be back soon for a longer performance – wish granted.

MP3: Anna Ternheim – “What Have I Done”

Serena Maneesh are offering a taste of their new record, still untitled and due out in March 2010, by way of a Norwegian television session.

Clash gets a guided tour of Reykjavik from Mum.

DCist interviews Jonas Bjerre of Mew, who will be at the Mod Club in Toronto on December 6.

Chart talks to The Raveonettes.

The National Post profiles Jonas Bonnetta of Evening Hymns, who are playing an in-store at 7PM at Soundscapes tonight and a full show at the Tranzac on Friday night.

Resonancity interviews Matt Cully of Bruce Peninsula.

One of the great mythical unicorn-griffin-dragon hybrids of the indie rock world, the solo debut from Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky, should become a reality on March 9 under the title of The Desert Of Shallow Effects… unless it doesn’t. Details at AntiMusic.

There’s still no North American release date set for Sigh No More, the debut album from Mumford & Sons, but considering they’re cobbling together a North American tour for February, including a February 15 date at the El Mocambo (tickets $12), mid-February seems like a reasonable guess.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “Winter Winds”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”

Johnny Flynn, with whom Mumford & Sons made their Toronto debut last October, has put out a new EP entitled Sweet William, from which you can download a track, courtesy of Drowned In Sound.

MP3: Johnny Flynn – “Drum”

The third member of that bill, Laura Marling, is still targeting a Winter 2010 release for her sophomore effort and will release the first single from album number two in “Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)” as a Christmas single on December 14.

Magnet and Filter Q&A Ray Davies.

Daytrotter has offered up a session with The Swell Season.

MySpaceWhat’s this, a review in almost-December of a record I’ve been talking about since March? Yes folks, welcome to the year-end doldrums where laziness/burnout combines with slow music releases/news for a perfect storm of stagger-to-the-finish-line posts. Hey, at least it’s not a list. Anyways, while I’ve talked about Fanfarlo at length throughout the year, a proper review of Reservoir hasn’t been amongst them. And that’s not right, because as will quite possibly/probably become clear when I do fall back on list-making, it’s been one of my favourite records of this year. Oooh, spoilers!

Reservoir is a record that simultaneously aims sky-high while feeling completely at ease and effortless. To the former point, the most obvious touchstones for the British outfit fronted by Swede ex-pat Simon Balthazar are Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel with perhaps some Beirut and Belle & Sebastian thrown in for good measure, so even if you’re just trying to be objecticvely descriptive of their sound – a grand and sweeping orchestral pop that’s equal parts wistful and whimsical – you’ve set some unimaginably lofty expectations.

And that’s where the second point comes into play; for all of its widescreen presentation, Reservoir has a distinctly comfortable if not intimate feel that sets it apart from Arcade Fire’s angst or Neutral Milk’s fantasticism. Balthazar’s voice has a warm, inviting timbre that’s perfectly suited to delivering his looping melodies and the band’s deft multi-instrumentalism buoy the compositions with brass, woodwinds, strings, saw and all manner of wonderful noisemaking toys. Fanfarlo write joyous, swelling anthems, but it’s a joy that seems derived from enjoying the simple things in life, like making music, rather than any grand statements about the state of the world. For all their sonic bigness, it’s on that personal level that Fanfarlo really connects.

Reservoir was originally self-released in February of this year, and since then has gone through any number of editions and iterations both in the UK and North America, from simple home-pressed CD through ornately packaged deluxe editions to super-discounted digital editions. It’s official North American release came via Atlantic Records in October and it’s on that major label push that they’re in the midst of an extensive North American tour. They stop in Toronto at the El Mocambo on December 15 and having seen them back in March at SxSW, I can testify that their live show actually eclipses the album for sheer wonderfulness. I imagine this’ll be the last semi-major tour to come through town for 2009 and can’t think of a better way to finish the year off.

Soundcheck has an interview with the band and there’s a wealth of self-recorded live performances to watch in the video section of their website.

MP3: Fanfarlo – “Harold T Wilkins”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “Luna”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “Finish Line”
Video: Fanfarlo – “The Walls Are Coming Down”
Video: Fanfarlo – “Harold T Wilkins”
Video: Fanfarlo – “Fire Escape”
MySpace: Fanfarlo

Drowned In Sound reports that Mew will release a live album on December 7 entitled Live At The Hollywood Palladium and recorded, curiously enough, at the Palladium in Hollywood, California back in September. They play the Mod Club in Toronto on December 6.

Three Imaginary Girls and AUX.TV interview The Raveonettes.

Mum have recorded a Takeaway Show on a Paris bus and in a Paris park.

Rumoured for a while, the feature documentary on Blur, covering the years from the band’s origins through their 2009 reunion, is now a reality. No Distance Left To Run will make its theatrical debut on January 19, 2009; the trailer was just unveiled.

Trailer: No Distance Left To Run

Elly Jackson of La Roux talks to BBC about getting to work on album number two.

PopMatters investigates the topic of independent artists allowing their work to be used in ads, talking to The Dears, Bishop Allen, The Dodos and Petra Haden about their experiences on the matter.