Fredrik EtoallIf nothing else, Swedish electro-pop duo Icona Pop deserve some sort of prize for getting as far as they have without having to release their debut album. Okay, not technically true, since their self-titled debut came out in Sweden last Fall, but it remains resolutely unavailable outside of their native country and probably will remain so – in a new interview with EQ Music, Aino Jawo makes it sound as that their first international release will be an all-new record, leaving the disc that spawned their first mega-hit “I Love It” unheard by many of their fans.

Not that that seems to be eliciting many complaints from said followers. Their ubiquitous Charli XCX-penned single “I Love It” just topped the UK charts, despite hardly being a new track; it was already out there when the duo first landed on my radar last May, but thanks to placements in ads, video games, and Girls, has remained in the public consciousness and has now proven itself a pretty great Summer soundtrack as well, at least for those who do, indeed, love it – to wit, it just topped the UK singles charts and is certified gold or platinum all over the place. Not bad for a song that’s basically a slice of mindless fun.

Their appearance at The Grove Fest at Garrison Common on August 3 won’t be their Toronto debut – they opened for Marina & The Diamonds at the Kool Haus in December – but will be their first visit since they became some degree of international stars, so that will be interesting. And one can’t help look at their Fall North American tour and note the three days off between Cleveland and Boston, and figure that their first headlining date won’t be announced shortly after The Grove wraps up.

Noisey gets lessons in being poor from the duo, BBC has an introductory interview, NME talks to Charli XCX about having no regrets about giving them the song rather than keeping it for herself and The Daily Star gets Icona Pop’s angle on the collaboration, and using their success as a jumping-off point, The Line Of Best Fit has compiled a list of the next wave of female Scandinavian artists they expect to make a wide impact.

Video: Icona Pop – “I Love It” (featuring Charli XCX)

The Skinny talks to Thomas Mars of Phoenix, who have released a second video from their latest, Bankrupt!. You can also stream the whole of their Glastonbury 2013 set, which offers a taste of what they’ll do when they headline The Grove Fest at Garrison Common on August 3.

Video: Phoenix – “Trying To Be Cool”
Video: Phoenix @ Glastonbury 2013

Swedish post-punk outfit Holograms have made a track from their forthcoming album Forever, out September 3, available to stream.

Stream: Holograms – “Meditations”

Idolator talks with Swedish electro-pop artist Elliphant.

Despite having just gotten back on peoples’ radars with a new video, Robyn tells The Guardian that her new record is far from being finished.

The 405 is streaming a new track from Efterklang.

Stream: Efterklang – “Look Up”

Ólafur Arnalds has released a new video from his latest effort, For Now I Am Winter.

Video: Ólafur Arnalds – “This Place Was A Shelter”

Sigur Rós have made their recent 360° concert webstream from Dresden, Germany available to watch on demand.

The Knife have turned to their reportedly batshit live show for the newest video from Shaking The Habitual.

Video: The Knife – “Raging Lung” (live)

Marley KateI don’t know if anyone has pointed this out to Bloc Party, but four years isn’t really an abnormally long time for a veteran rock band to go between albums. So the dramatics that played out in the media between 2008’s Intimacy and last year’s Four – Kele’s gone solo! Kele’s been fired! Kele’s back in the band! – really weren’t necessary; they could have just quietly gone about their individual business and regrouped when they felt like it and no one really would have batted an eye or wagged a tongue. But that’s not their style, I guess, so it’s not a big surprise that they announced earlier this month that when this Summer’s festival circuit draws to a close, they’d be going back on a hiatus. Kind of like most bands do when their promotional commitments are done.

But however long this break lasts, at least they’re leaving parting gifts. A few weeks after their last scheduled gig in mid-July – August 13, to be precise – they’ll release a new five-song EP in The Nextwave Sessions, which gives some of the new songs they’d been performing throughout the Four tours a properly-recorded incarnation. Pitchfork has specifics, and you can watch the trippy first video from it below. If this is indeed their swan song – I don’t believe it, personally, but why not indulge their dramatics – then it’s a pretty strong note to go out on.

Video: Bloc Party – “Ratchet”

Camera Obscura talks to Filter, The Colorado Springs Independent, Denver Post, and Georgia Straight about their new album Desire Lines. They play The Toronto Urban Roots Fest at Garrison Common on July 4.

M.I.A. has followed up the first stream from her new album Matangi with a new video. The album is out sometime this year, but more definitely she plays The Danforth Music Hall on July 18.

Video: M.I.A. – “Bring The Noize”

The Lab talks to Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes; she’s here at The Molson Amphitheatre on September 1 opening for Depeche Mode.

Glasvegas have given their latest effort Later…When The TV Turns To Static a North American release date of September 3, with tour dates to follow. You can stream a track from the new album below and read an interview with the band at The Glaswegian.

Stream: Glasvegas – “If”

German cheery pop duo BOY have slated their third show in Toronto – four if you count both their CMF appearances – in seven months behind their debut Mutual Friend with a show at The Mod Club on October 11.

Video: BOY – “Little Numbers”

The Line Of Best Fit helpfully points to video of an acoustic Jessie Ware show from atop The Gherkin in London. She’s in town at The Sound Academy on November 6.

Swedish duo jj have released some details on their next album V – mainly that it exists and will be out later this year – but are also giving the first track from it away to download, and there’s a trailer for the new record if you’re into that sort of thing.

MP3: jj – “Fågelsången”
Trailer: jj / V

Swede dance-pop star Robyn isn’t quite ready to announce details of her follow-up to 2010’s Body Talk, but this new single at least confirms that something is coming. And Snoop Dogg is part of it. Update: old song, new video. Apologies for my Robyn ignorance.

Video: Robyn – “U Should Know Better”

DIY, The Scotsman, and Spin talk to Empire Of The Sun about their just-released second album Ice On The Dune; they play some of the new songs in a video session for Yahoo Music. And oh, the band will also apparently be scoring Dumb & Dumber 2, because of course they are.

The Von Pip Musical Express talks to Ladytron’s Helen Marnie – aka Marnie – about her solo record Crystal World, which is officially out digitally and in the process of being manufactured in physical media.

Paste and Time talk to Sigur Rós about their new record Kveikur.

Sigur Rós collaborators Amiina discuss their new record The Lighthouse Project with The Line Of Best Fit.

Tone Deaf chats with Iceland’s Of Monsters & Men.

The Line Of Best Fit has premiered the new and characteristically fantastical video from Swedish duo The Deer Tracks, taken from their latest The Archer Trilogy, Pt. 3.

Video: The Deer Tracks – “W”

DIY has premiered the new video from British Sea Power’s latest effort Machineries Of Joy.

Video: British Sea Power – “Loving Animals”

Tone Deaf interviews Beady Eye drummer Chris Sharrock.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with Still Corners.

Caught In The Carousel talks to Carol Van Dyk of Bettie Serveert.

Labrador Records is celebrating the onset of Summer with a current label sampler which you can stream below or download for keeping.

Stream: Labrador Records Summer Sampler 2013

Sean PecknoldWe’re a week out from the release of one of the most-anticipated records of the year – Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes – and as has become commonplace, the album is available to stream a week before it goes on sale at NPR. A couple of listens in and all the key ingredients that made the debut a smash are still in place: Robin Pecknold’s otherworldly voice, the ridiculously lush and immaculate harmonies, the blankets of reverb imported from some Pacific northwest mountaintop, but Blues also sounds more confident and dynamic than its predecessor, perhaps a sign that the songwriting is now more up to par up with the immense musical talents of the band. I liked but didn’t love Fleet Foxes and am cautiously confident that I’ll like the new record more. I am certain, however, that they won’t alienate any of their fanbase with it.

Exclaim and Spinner have conversations with Pecknold, the former about the process of writing the new record and the latter about the general awfulness of Myspace. Meanwhile, over at We All Want Someone To Shout For has a session the band played for BBC Radio 1 last week available to download and if you like Fleet Foxes but hate their songs, You Ain’t No Picasso has collected a decent-sized archive of covers they’ve performed.

Fleet Foxes are at Massey Hall on July 14.

Stream: Fleet Foxes / Helplessness Blues

Yours Truly has got a video session with The Head & The Heart which I’m sure is great, but can’t watch to confirm since it’s restricted to the US only… but they’re working on it, I’m told. In the meantime, read this interview at LAist.

Prefix talks to Charles Bissell of The Wrens about the state of their new record which will not actually be called Funeral and should be out someday. Maybe.

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy talks to both Spin and Rolling Stone about their new record which may but probably won’t be called Get Well Soon Everybody and may be out come September. Know what would be awesome? If Tweedy gave completely contrary information to both publications. But he didn’t. More certain, as Exclaim reports, is the first release on the band’s new dBpm label – a 7″ single due out sometime in July A-sided by new song “I Might” and backsided by a cover of Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label”.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Bright Eyes.

Spinner, Paste and Clash talk to Steve Earle about his just-released new record I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, acting and the Gulf of Mexico (song and region), respectively. He also sets up behind a Tiny Desk for NPR. Earle is at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 20.

PopMatters catches up with The Thermals on tour in Germany.

PO Box 607 gets to know Anna-Lynne Williams of Trespassers William about a new solo record coming out as Lotte Kestner and her new label Saint-Loup Records.

Blurt profiles Buffalo Tom while Bill Janovitz contributes a piece on being both rocker and realtor to Boston Magazine.

PopMatters tries to extract an interview from J Mascis.

The Chicago Tribune talks to The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. They’re at The Opera House on August 2.

Comic artist and musician Jeffrey Lewis is in town for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival and will be whiling away the evening by playing a solo show at The Dakota on May 8, tickets $10 at the door.

MP3: Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard – “Slogans”

Back for like the third time in less than a year, Robyn is back on June 3 with this past Winter’s tourmate Diamond Rings in tow and they’re playing an actual new venue in Toronto. It’s called Echo Beach and it’s an approximately 4000-capacity general admission outdoor venue at Ontario Place, on the water, not far from the Molson Amphitheatre but far away in time. Tickets for the show are $39.50, on sale Friday.

MP3: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

New York’s Gang Gang Dance will have a new record out in Eye Contact on May 10 and be at The Horseshoe on July 10 to support.

MP3: Gang Gang Dance – “MindKilla”
Video: Gang Gang Dance – “MindKilla”

Dan DennisonBritish Sea Power have yet to top the UK charts – their last record, 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music? came closest at #10 – but their next album Valhalla Dancehall certainly had #1 on its mind. It was announced yesterday that it’d have a release date of January 1, 2011 – 1/1/11 for the numerologically-inclined – and as such has the distinction of being the first major new release of next year, at least in my cosmos.

It’s interesting to note that this album finds the lineup officially expanded to a six-piece, bringing their touring viola and keyboard players into the fold (and press photos). One might suppose that the extra personnel would make for a bigger, broader-sounding album, but BSP have never gone small or been blessed with an inordinate amount of focus, even when they numbered just four, so it’s hard to imagine them being even more out there with album number four than they’ve been in the past. Zeus, the taster EP for the new record, is certainly as eclectic over its seven tracks as anything they’ve done before.

Skiddle.com has an interview with the band and in addition to assembling a little teaser video for the new record, they’ve released a new MP3 from the album to get y’all excited.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”

Robyn has rescheduled her show from last Friday, which was cancelled at the 11th hour (or more like 3PM) the day of due to illness. It’ll now take place on January 26, still at the Sound Academy.

Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

Dum Dum Girls will be making up for their cancelled Fall tour with a Winter jaunt that includes a stop at the El Mocambo on February 26.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “D.A.L.”
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

Eric Elbogen, aka Say Hi – he stopped directing that at your mom a little while ago – has a new record coming out on January 25 entitled Um, Uh Oh and will be staging a huge tour to promote. Check out the first track courtesy of Spin and see him when he plays the El Mocambo on March 4.

MP3: Say Hi – “Devils”

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, while Pique, The Calgary Sun and The Gauntlet have interviews. The band are at the Mod Club on December 1.

Drowned In Sound talks to Scott Devendorf of The National. The deluxe edition of High Violet comes out November 23.

Spin declares Warpaint to be “breaking out” while The Riverfront Times talks to drummer Stella Mozgawa.

Spoon have put out a new video from Transference.

Video: Spoon – “Nobody Gets Me But You”

Band Of Horses have opted to premiere their latest cinematically-styled video from Infinite Arms at IMBD.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Dilly”

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart talk to Spinner about “Heart In Your Heartbreak”, the lead single from their new record Belong, due out in March.

FacebookGood news for everyone who wanted to see Swedish electro-pop diva Robyn when she was in town at the end of July but didn’t want to shell out to see an odd, patchwork-ish lineup headlined by Keane – she’s coming back to town on November 12 as part of a North American Fall tour. Bad news for those who hate going to shows at the Sound Academy – it’s at the Sound Academy. Good news for those who don’t like shelling out a crapload of money for concert tickets – ducats for this show are a very reasonable $23.50. Bad news for those who forget about ancillary costs – that’s before service charges and definitely doesn’t include the cost of a cab to or parking at the Sound Academy. And the price probably wasn’t that big a deterrent for the July Amphitheatre show since I think by the end, they were basically giving tickets away… but I digress.

Robyn was easily the highlight of day one of Pitchfork Fest this past Summer and one of the best performers of the festival, so anyone who gets past their issues with the venue and heads out – and thousands will though they’ll still grumble about it – the show in support of this year’s Body Talk albums – part one released back in June, part two just this week and part three before the year is out – will have a great time of it.

Video: Robyn – “Hang With Me”
Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

In other Toronto concert-goer news, Saturday night’s The Dø show has been moved from The Mod Club to Wrongbar; still an early show though – expect the opener on around 7:30 and for it all to be over by 10. NOW interviews the Franco-Finnish duo.

Jamie Lidell’s September 14 show at the Opera House has also been moved – it’s now happening at Lee’s Palace and Zeus have been added as support. NOW has a conversation with Lidell.

South Africa’s Die Antwoord are back on October 24 for a show at The Phoenix.

Video: Die Antwoord – “Enter The Ninja”

Mt. Desolation, the new countrified project from two guys in Keane, will release their self-titled debut on October 19 and play the Drake Underground on October 28; tickets $18.50 in advance.

With their date opening up for Vampire Weekend over and done, it has been made official that Dum Dum Girls will be opening up for The Vaselines at The Horseshoe on October 30.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “D.A.L.”
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

Electro-pop artist Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, AKA The Blow, has a date at The Horseshoe on November 17, tickets $13.50.

MP3: The Blow – “Pile Of Gold”
MP3: The Blow – “What Tom Said About The Girls”

German experimentalists and bearers of one of the funnest band names to say, Einstürzende Neubauten have made a date at The Phoenix on December 11 and another at Lee’s Palace for December 12. Tickets for the first show are $30, the second are $25 and if you buy tickets to both, it’s $45 total.

Video: Einstürzende Neubauten – “Stella Maris”

Belle & Sebastian have released details on some of the various formats that their new album Write About Love will be available in, and the first MP3 from said record is now available – get on that, kids. They’re at Massey Hall on October 12, the same day the album is released.

MP3: Belle & Sebastian – “Write About Love”

PopMatters talks to Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub. They’ll be at the Horseshoe on September 22 and 23.

The Vaselines’ new record Sex With An X is now up to stream at The Guardian in advance of its release next week. They’re at the Horseshoe on October 30.

Stream: The Vaeslines / Sex With An X

eye has an interview with Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite about their Special Moves/Burning live document, which screens at the Drake Underground on September 14.

4AD is offering up a video session with Stornoway.

Aced chats with Katie Harkin of Sky Larkin. You know, I only now realized that those rhyme. Update: Sky Larkin are opening up for Blood Red Shoes on their North American tour, including October 27 at the Horseshoe! Awesome!

In what should have been a surprise to no one, The xx won the Mercury Prize earlier this week. While certainly not a guarantee of superstardom, it does make their being booked into theatres the size of Massey Hall, where they’ll be on September 29, more prescient than bewildering. Out of curiousity, I checked what the best seat available on Ticketmaster was – halfway back on the balcony. So they’re doing alright.

Manic Street Preachers express their discontent with the state of British politics to Wales Online. Politely, of course. Their new record Postcards From A Young Man is out September 28.

The Tallest Man On Earth will release a new EP entitled Sometimes the Blues Is Just A Passing Bird on November 9, though it’s available to download now via iTunes. He’ll be at Lee’s Palace on September 24.

MP3: The Tallest Man On Earth – “Like The Wheel”