Cameron WittigI only discovered Low circa 2001’s Things We Lost In The Fire, which I think is right around the time the slowcore heroes began expanding their sound and the long-time faithful began to peel off. And if the (relatively) faster tempos and broader sonic palettes were anathema to them, they were manna to me – which is why my favourite of their records, 2005’s unapologetically loud and dynamic The Great Destroyer was the final straw for some. If they’d stuck around, though, they’d have found the last Low record – 2007’s Drums & Guns – to be a return to their quieter ways, albeit aided by loops, samples and seething anger.

Frontman Alan Sparhawk hadn’t suppressed his more rock-out tendencies, however – simply sublimated them into his side project, Retribution Gospel Choir. Their 2008 self-titled debut was compact, loud and sludgy and quite possibly everything that 20th century Low fans were against. The appropriately-titled follow-up 2 offers more of the same, with the emphasis on “more”. 2 is more dynamic, more anthemic and more guitar-heroic than the debut – still chock-full of distorted riffage but also loaded up with some seriously fierce soloing.

It’s never been a secret that Sparhawk was a killer guitarist, but here those skills are front and centre, though not at the expense of the songwriting – as always, it’s impassioned, melodic and more than a little pissed off. Those former Low fans I mentioned earlier will want to stay far away but may want to pay more attention when the next Low record comes out – it’s hard to imagine Sparhawk hasn’t gotten all the rock out of his system, at least for the time being, and the follow-up to Drums & Guns won’t be whisper quiet.

2 is out on Tuesday, January 26. Retribution Gospel Choir is touring through the Winter and Spring and will be at the Drake Underground in Toronto next Monday, January 25. The Cleveland Plains-Dealer has a conversation with Alan Sparhawk.

Update: And I’ve now got a couple pairs of passes to the show to give away, courtesy of Collective Concerts. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to sing in the Retribution Gospel Choir” in the subject and your full name in the body, and get that in to me before midnight, January 23.

MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
MySpace: Retribution Gospel Choir

Drowned In Sound talks to Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg about their new album The Golden Archipelago, which will be released on February 23. Matablog has details on their upcoming Spring tour, which includes a Toronto date April 1 at Lee’s Palace, and the special dossier that will be released with the record. And they’ve also got a second MP3 from the album to tide you over the next month.

MP3: Shearwater – “Black Eyes”

Daytrotter has got a session with The Rosebuds.

Germany’s Aufgemischt interviews Beach House, who’ve been premiering new videos from Teen Dream each day this week – and for one day only – at Gorilla Vs Bear, leading up to next Tuesday’s record release. And don’t worry about the ones you’ve missed, as all of the videos – they made one for each track of the album – will be available on the DVD that accompanies the CDs and LPs of the album. The record is currently streaming in its entirety at NPR and they play the Opera House on March 30.

Stream: Beach House / Teen Dream

BRM interviews Nick and Tristan of Headlights.

The New York Post and NPR interview Spoon. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 29 and will also appear on this year’s edition of the Starbucks-sponsored Sweetheart Valentine’s Day covers compilation, now available at iTunes US – details at Pitchfork.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips talks to Drowned In Sound.

The Quietus interviews Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. Realism is out on Tuesday and they play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on February 8.

Matablog has posted a new MP3 from the Girls debut Album, in case all those year-end lists weren’t quite enough to convince you. You can also grab the file from them in lossless FLAC format. If you swing that way. Blurt talks to the guy from Girls who kinda looks like a girl, Christopher Owens.

MP3: Girls – “Laura”

Bring Back The Boombox has an interview with Oh No Forest Fires on the almost-eve of their final show. They call it a day after a final blow-out at the Horseshoe this Saturday night.

Rolling Stone interviews Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler.

Under The Radar chats with Neko Case.

Those of you unable to make either the Dinosaur Jr in-store at Sonic Boom tomorrow evening or the show at the Phoenix later that night can try and console yourselves with this NYC Taper recording of their show in New York from Saturday night – there’s also an interview over at JAM.

And Dinosaur Jr are one of the case studies in this PopMatters piece about the reunions of ’80s alt.rock legends and why they should be celebrated.

Frank YangIf you had told me that everyone piled into Lee’s Palace on Sunday night wasn’t, in fact, specifically a fan of The Big Pink but of British music from the ’90s in general, I’d have believed it. For much/most/all of the appeal of the London-based duo and their debut A Brief History Of Love centers around how effectively they combine the best bits of shoegaze, Britpop and Madchester into new tunes that are instantly familiar to those who’ve dog-eared a copy or two of Select in their day, but updated to be sleek and danceable by today’s standards.

In being such effective mimics, however, has cost The Big Pink something in the way of their own personality. Perhaps that’s the way it should be, the attention paid to the songs and not the musicians; certainly logical considering that Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell come from a more electronic background, less predisposed to rock star braggadocio. Combine that with the fact that for all it’s rock reference points, the record feels very much like a studio (lab?) project and a kick-ass live show certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion.

Local openers Revolvers, on the other hand, had no problem establishing their rock credentials. The five-piece certainly shared some musical DNA with the headliners, but you’d have to go back to the blues and rock influences that informed the likes of Spiritualized into something akin to a less drug-addled Brian Jonestown Massacre or groovier (and less droney) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. With two very capable lead vocalists and some hot guitar work, they made a good first impression and though they might do well to play it a little less traditional and stretch out a bit, there’s a very solid foundation to build something great on.

Sounding too traditional was not a problem for Long Beach, California’s Crystal Antlers. Their debut Tentacles was notable as the final new release from the venerable Touch And Go label and their set was a dizzying collision of sounds, bursts of noise butting up against bursts of melody, all propelled by intense percussion, urgent Farfisa organ and strained vocals. On paper, it wasn’t the sort of thing I’d like but to my surprise, I rather enjoyed it. It helped that percussionist Damian Edwards was tremendously entertaining to watch, working his bongos and crash cymbal like man possessed. With dancing.

When a band’s stage setup consists of multiple banks of strobe lights and smoke machines, they’re either intending to deliver a massive rock show or hope that the effects provide the visual stimulation that they can’t. In the case of The Big Pink, it felt like a little of both. For the duration of their set, the stage was enveloped in smoke, strobe and darkness, but perhaps feeling freed by the fact that no one could really see them, singer/guitarist Furze actually showed off no shortage of rock star moves in bounding around the stage, playing dueling axes with bassist Leopold Ross (who himself engaged in some hair-whipping) and generally acting like a kid playing a tennis racket with the stereo turned up.

With Cordell on keys/synths/samples and Akiko Matsuura – who also played on the record – on drums, The Big Pink live had an organic dimension which you didn’t necessarily feel was lacking on the album, but provided an extra and welcome bit of dynamicism in performance. That said, the songs were rendered pretty closely to their studio versions. Not necessarily a problem, though I maintain that some of the backing tracks could have been played live by Cordell rather than just triggered. Slightly more of a problem was the brevity of the set – after a 25-minute delay from the scheduled start time, they clocked in at just 45 minutes and there was no encore. Matsuura came back out after the final song, but it was to wave the expectant crowd off and send us home, not play one final number. Granted, they don’t have a wealth of material to draw from but it’d have been nice to hear the album’s title track. No, I don’t know who would/could have covered Joanne Robertson’s parts. Maybe they could have used a taped track. Okay, maybe it’s better that they didn’t play it.

Panic Manual has a review of the show. OC Weekly has an interview with The Big Pink and MPR a streamable session. Hour.ca talks to Crystal Antlers.

Photos: The Big Pink, Crystal Antlers, Revolvers @ Lee’s Palace – November 29, 2009
MP3: The Big Pink – “Dominos”
MP3: The Big Pink – “Velvet”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “Andrew”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “Tentacles”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “A Thousand Eyes”
Video: The Big Pink – “Dominos”
Video: The Big Pink – “Velvet”
Video: The Big Pink – “Too Young To Love”
Video: Crystal Antlers – “Andrew”
Video: Revolvers – “Rock y Roll”
MySpace: The Big Pink
MySpace: Crystal Antlers

The Quietus has posted the whole of their interview with Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, a portion of which was run last week. Clash has followed suit, posting an excerpt of an interview with Pierce, the complete version of which will be available in the coming days/weeks. The 10th anniversary edition of Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is out next week. Update: Part one of the Clash interview is now up. And part two.

Former Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser gives a rare interview to Elizabeth Fraser about her new single “Moses” and possible plans for a new album.

Matador has all the details on the new album from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists but all you really need to know is it’s called The Brutalist Bricks, it’s out March 9 and it sounds like this.

MP3: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Even Heroes Have To Die”

A number of shows to look forward to in 2010 were announced yesterday. The Retribution Gospel Choir, rock-oriented project of the 2/3 of Low who are not Mimi Parker, will be at the Drake Underground on January 25, one day before their second album 2 is released. Tickets are $10 in advance.

Editors are following up the North American release of In This Light And On This Evening on January 19 with a North American tour – full date haven’t been announced yet but the Toronto date goes February 16 at the Phoenix. I don’t dislike Evening nearly as much as some, but I suspect I didn’t like the first two records as much as some so perhaps it all evens out. Prague Post has an interview with Editors frontman Tom Smith.

Video: Editors – “Papillon”

Tortoise will be at Lee’s Palace on February 18 in support of this year’s Beacons Of Ancestorship, tickets $18.50.

MP3: Tortoise – “Prepare Your Coffin”
Video: Tortoise – “Prepare Your Coffin”

Finally coming to town for her own headlining show rather than supporting others, El Perro Del Mar will be at hte Mod Club on February 21, tickets $15. Her latest Love Is Not Pop came out in October and Express Night Out has an interview with Sarah Assbring.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”

Their live album having done the job of keeping fans satiated/distracted, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have announced details of a new studio album. Beat The Devil’s Tattoo will be out on March 9 and will be accompanied by a fairly massive world tour – the Toronto stop comes April 1 at The Phoenix.

Lucy HamblinRidiculous webhosting issues persist, so this one will be kept reasonably brief – who knows how long this window of opportunity of my site being up will remain. I’ve actually been told that the issues that’ve plagued the site for the past week or so have been resolved and am hoping that’s the case, but if’n you find that things are unbearably slow or down altogether, swing by my Twitter for all sorts of colourful cursing. Update: Right, issues are not resolved. Fuckity fuck.

While downloadable/streamable/watchable online sessions are becoming much more commonplace, MySpace Transmissions is setting themselves apart by not only making theirs available to download, but by providing the audio in wonderfully high-resolution 320kbps, a bitrate that the audiophile community refers to as “suh-weeeet”. Similarly, the streaming video is also happily smooth and clean. MySpace isn’t good for a whole lot these days, at least from a personal social networking sense, but if they can keep cranking out content like these, they’re welcome to stick around.

The latest session to go up comes from New York’s White Rabbits, whose It’s Frightening continues to worm its way into heavier rotation around these parts – just in time for their upcoming Fall tour which stops in at the Horseshoe in a few weeks on October 24 for a bill that also includes Suckers and The Balconies. Pure rock, guaranteed. The Aquarian has an interview with the band.

MP3: White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun” (live on MySpace Transmissions)
MP3: White Rabbits – “Rudie Fails” (live on MySpace Transmissions)

Spinner and The Skinny talk to John Darnielle about The Mountain Goats’ new, Biblically-inspired record The Life Of The World To Come. The Mountain Goats were also on The Colbert Report the other night – Canadians can watch the ep at The Comedy Network, Americans at Colbert Nation. Everyone else, can’t help ya.

John Vanderslice performs a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.

BlogCritics talks to Mikael Jorgenson of Wilco, who’re in town for two nights at Massey Hall next week, October 14 and 15. And to the rest of Canada, rejoice – the band have announced a cross-Canada tour for next February which will not include Toronto but will include Hamilton and London for those in Toronto not averse to a road trip.

Jason Molina and Will Johnson, masterminds behind Magnolia Electric Co. and Centro-Matic respectively, have teamed up for a roots-rock dream team creatively named Molina and Johnson and will release their equally imaginatively-named debut album Molina and Johnson on November 3.

MP3: Molina and Johnson – “Twenty Cycles To The Ground”

And speaking of imaginatively-titled side-project albums, The Retribution Gospel Choir, which features Alan Sparhawk from Low, will release their second album 2 on January 26 via SubPop. Details at Pitchfork.

Pitchfork says that former Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky’s long-awaited solo record will be out in March 2010. I’ve been waiting for this record for so long I’ve forgotten why I’ve been waiting for it. But I’m still keen to hear what he’s been up to in the past, what, 15 years?

Devendra Banhart will release his new album and major label debut What Will Be on October 27 and follow that up with a North American tour which brings him to Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 27.

Spinner has premiered one of the new videos that appears on Land Of Talk’s forthcoming Fun And Laughter EP, out October 27.

Video: Land Of Talk – “Troubled”

Two Hours Traffic will be playing an in-store at Soundscapes on October 16 at 5PM in advance of their show at Lee’s Palace that night. That night’s opener, Spiral Beach, is also in-storing it at Sonic Boom that night – their set starts at 7PM. Add in the Dan Mangan in-store at Criminal Records that night at 6PM, and you’ve got, well, a lot of free music for someone who’s swift on their bike or lucky with the TTC. And note that Soundscapes is having a 10th anniversary 10% off most everything sale this Saturday, October 10 (10/10, get it?).

Sloan will be playing a special benefit show at the Dakota Tavern (read: tiny) on October 19 with all proceeds going to War Child Canada – it may already be sold out by the time you read this, but tickets are/were available at Maple Music.

Spinner talks to Nick Cave about writing his new novel The Death Of Bunny Munro.