Bella LieberbergI will admit that to this point this year, I’ve taken a bit of pride in not having written about Los Angeles sister act Haim; not because I especially dislike them or anything – they’re fine, though I’ll keep my sliced bread, thanks – but my contrarian side reflexively made me resist on account of their quite successfully blowing up on the back of their debut Days Are Gone without any of my help, thank you very much.

But being in a time crunch and wanting to just get these links out the door, I give. They’ve finally announced their debut Toronto show as part of a North American tour in support of said debut and it’s happening May 15 of next year at The Kool Haus, tickets running a reasonable $25. That date, interestingly, is exactly one year less a day from when their original debut Toronto show supporting Vampire Weekend at The Sony Centre was supposed to happen; a date they quietly canceled not long before it was supposed to happen. Presumably they intend to keep this date.

There’s some recent interviews with the trio at Las Vegas Weekly, The Georgia Straight, and The Irish Independent.

Video: Haim – “The Wire”

The Skinny and The AV Club talk to Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater about their new album Fellow Travelers, due out November 28, while The Current has another download from the album available. They’re at The Horseshoe on March 27.

MP3: Shearwater – “A Wake For The Minotaur”

Pitchfork is streaming Beachwood Sparks’ previously unreleased debut album Desert Skies, coming out next week.

MP3: Beachwood Sparks – “Make It Together”
Stream: Beachwood Sparks / Desert Skies

NPR has premiered another new video from Pixies; they’re at Massey Hall on January 15.

Video: Pixies – “What Goes Boom?”

Brooklynite Jordan Lee – who has been making noise figuratively and literally as Mutual Benefit – has announced a North American tour behind his debut Love’s Crushing Diamond and will be at The Drake Underground on January 15, tickets $12. The album is out December 3 and Stereogum has an interview.

Video: Mutual Benefit – “Golden Wake”

Noisey has premiered a stream of the first taste of Ume’s new record – still untitled, but coming out in January of the new year.

Stream: Ume – “Black Stone”

Pitchfork has specifics on the release of Olivia Tremor Control’s John Peel Session from 1997, coming out on vinyl in January.

Tone Deaf, American Songwriter, and Under The Radar chat with The Head & The Heart.

A Heart Is A Spade talks to Cameron Mesirow of Glasser.

A new Solange song has surfaced on Saint Heron, a compilation of acts signed to the younger Knowles’ new label of the same name.

Stream: Solange – “Cash In”

Because they needed to wait for a whole bunch of factors to fall into place – like for music videos and the internet to exist – Bob Dylan has released the first official video – an immersive and interactive clip – for “Like A Rolling Stone”, just in time for its fiftieth anniversary. Rolling Stone talks to Danny Brown about how he ended up involved in its making.

Video: Bob Dylan – “Like A Rolling Stone”

Frank YangSo, yeah, a few people have asked if I really drove all the way up to Casino Rama (a 90-minute drive north of Toronto that never takes less than two-plus hours, for those not local) to see Hall & Oates on Wednesday night. To which I answer, “you’re damn right I did”. Not that it requires any justification, but having grown up in the ’80s and spent most of that decade glued to MuchMusic/MTV, I have a massive soft spot for the pop music of the era, and while a lot of it has not aged well, to say the least, the works of Darryl Hall and John Oates remains pretty effin’ great; had they ever toured any closer to Toronto I’d have surely seen them by now but since they basically stick to the lucrative casino circuit, it would take a perfect convergence of opportunity and company to make it happen. Which it did.

And if you equated working the casino circuit with phoning it in – which to be honest I sort of did – I’m happy to say that it was not the case. With an enthusiastic audience of around 5000 filling the theatre, Hall & Oates and their six-piece backing band opened up with “Maneater”; give the people what they want, right? But within a few songs were busting out the deep cuts, including their first-ever live performance, if they were to be believed, of “Alone Too Long” from their eponymous 1975 record. It was interesting that they’d include so many deep cuts, but perhaps that was the best way to remind folks of their old-school Philly soul credentials in addition to being pop stars.

But let’s be honest, we were there to hear the hits and they weren’t not going to play them. They emerged from the depths of their set book with the slow jams – “She’s Gone”, “One On One”, and “Sara Smile” thank you very much – before closing things out with the big guns; a jazzy “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” with extended sax solo and two chart-topping encores comprised of “Rich Girl”, “You Make My Dreams Come True”, “Kiss On My List”, and “Private Eyes” as the finale. Yeah of course that was how it was going to go, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

Performance-wise, both Hall and Oates sounded great, particularly when backed by the multi-part harmonies of their band, and were still looking pretty trim for their years and with Oates wisely sporting facial hair again. The band was loud and tight and although I’d have traded some of the extended jamming for, oh, “Method Of Modern Love”, they did a good job of playing according to score while Hall went off on vocal and keyboard ad libs – too bad they couldn’t cover up Hall’s Live From Daryl’s House-advertising guitar strap and t-shirt. Ah well. A fun show despite the amount of travel time – next time I’ll take one of those Chinatown buses – but not one I’m likely to make a habit of. Unless that Huey Lewis & The News Sports 30th anniversary tour makes a date…

Photos: Hall & Oates @ Casino Rama – September 18, 2013
Video: Hall & Oates – “Promise Ain’t Enough”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Don’t Hold Back Your Love”
Video: Hall & Oates – “So Close”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Love Train”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Downtown Life”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Missed Opportunity”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Everything Your Heart Desires”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Possession Obsession”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Method Of Modern Love”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Out Of Touch”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Adult Education”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Say It Isn’t So”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Family Man”
Video: Hall & Oates – “One On One”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Maneater”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Your Imagination”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Did It In A Minute”
Video: Hall & Oates – “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Private Eyes”
Video: Hall & Oates – “You Make My Dreams Come True”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Kiss Is On My List”
Video: Hall & Oates – “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
Video: Hall & Oates – “How Does It Feel To Be Back?”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Portable Radio”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Wait For Me”
Video: Hall & Oates – “Intravino”
Video: Hall & Oates – “She’s Gone”

Spin, The Daily Beast, and The Guardian talk to Mazzy Star about their new album Seasons Of Your Day, out on Tuesday. They play The Danforth Music Hall on November 16.

Exclaim have posted this month’s cover story on the one, the only, Janelle Monáe. She does her thing at The Kool Haus on October 19.

Pitchfork talks to Explosions In The Sky and director David Gordon Green about working on the soundtrack to Prince Avalanche. They play The Air Canada Centre on October 4 in support of Nine Inch Nails.

Drowned In Sound chats with Midlake v2.0 about their forthcoming album Antiphon, which is out November 5 and from which they’ve just premiered a new song at NPR.

Stream: Midlake – “Provider”

Sebadoh talks about their new album Defend Yourself to DIY, LA Magazine, and Drowned In Sound. They’re at The Horseshoe on November 8.

Matador has details on the forthcoming deluxe edition of Yo La Tengo’s latest album Fade, which will be coming out November 18 and contain a second disc of b-sides and rarities and the like. PandoDaily has a chat with Ira Kaplan about integrity and whatnot.

Having released their first new album in many years with last year’s The Tarnished Gold, Californian psych-country-pop mavens Beachwood Sparks are getting in the wayback machine to give their recorded-in-1996-but-never-released first album Desert Skies on November 20; you can download the first time capsule of a song below.

MP3: Beachwood Sparks – “Make It Together”

Jim James gives Billboard an update on the in-progress new record from My Morning Jacket.

Pitchfork celebrates the longevity – if not prolificness – of The Wrens.

Though she should probably be concentrating on her new album, Solange has gone ahead and released a new video from her True EP; that’s the sound of no one really complaining.

Video: Solange – “Lovers In The Parking Lot”

Esquire has premiered the latest video from Ra Ra Riot’s Beta Love.

Video: Ra Ra Riot – “I Shut Off”

NPR has posted up a World Cafe session with She & Him.

The Georgia Straight profiles The National.

NPR welcomes Neko Case for a World Cafe session.

Justin BroadbentThe sneak release has become something of a trend this year – “what this? Oh, it’s nothing, JUST MY NEW ALBUM HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT IT” – but that’s just not Shad’s style. Yeah, it’s been a while – over three years – since his last record of TSOL came out, but he’s done his best to keep his ever-growing fanbase satiated, releasing the excellent Melancholy & The Infinite Shadness mixtape last Summer and revealing the title of his next LP as Flying Colours via newsletter this past Spring. He’s all about keeping you in the loop.

And so while last week’s announcement of the Toronto release show got ahead of the actual album announcement a bit, Exclaim now has all the information you need to know. Flying Colours will be out on October 15, providing proper context for the aforementioned October 19 date at The Opera House, and there’s a handful more Canadian dates to go along with that. He’s also opening up for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis across Canada over the next week, including tomorrow at Echo Beach, and will be co-hosting the Polaris Music Prize gala at The Carlu on September 23 with Kathleen Edwards, as long as we’re being thorough. And oh, the first video from the new record – guest-starring Saukretes – also just premiered at Mass Appeal. Shad it up.

Video: Shad featuring Saukrates – “Stylin'”

NOW welcomes Father John Misty back to town (for like the millionth time) with an interview. He plays the Danforth Music Hall on August 3.

Sarah Neufeld is streaming another track from her forthcoming solo debut Hero Brother, out August 20. She plays The Drake Undergound on August 22.

Stream: Sarah Neufeld – “Forcelessness”

Chart has a video session with Diana; their debut Perpetual Surrender is out August 20 and they play The Great Hall on September 26.

Braids are streaming another new track from their forthcoming Flourish//Perish, set for release on August 20. Further, they’ve just announced an extensive North American tour that brings them back to town on November 1 for a show at BLK BOX with Gainesville, Florida’s Hundred Waters supporting.

Stream: Braids – “Hossack”
Video: Hundred Waters – “Thistle”

Stereogum has premiered the next performance video leading up to the September 3 release of Okkervil River’s next record The Silver Gymnasium; in this one, Will Sheff plays some songs in his former high school cafeteria. He’ll do the same – with his band – on September 28 at The Phoenix.

The Weeknd continues to build up to the September 10 release of Kiss Land and a trio of dates at Massey Hall on October 17, 19, and 20 with the release of a new video.

Video: The Weeknd – “Love In The Sky”

Filter gets to know Speedy Ortiz, who play The Horseshoe on September 15 supporting Chelsea Light Moving.

Macleans and Under The Radar talks to Katie Stelmanis of Austra. They play The Phoenix on September 27.

Billboard gets some more info from Solange on her forthcoming record, though nothing as particular as a title or release date. The Fader, however, has a pretty sweet session video of Solange performing in a Brooklyn laundromat.

Britt Daniel dishes to CBC Music about festival life and what’s up with the new records from both Spoon and Divine Fits; The Georgia Straight also has a talk with Dan Boeckner about Divine Fits.

Tone Deaf interviews Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

And because I made something of a deal of it when the reunion was originally announced back in April, I’ll just mention that Neutral Milk Hotel’s North American itinerary has been announced and Toronto comes early in the routing with two nights at The Kool Haus on January 19 and 20. Tickets are $35.50 – $1 of which goes to the Children Of The Blue Sky charity – and go on sale Friday, August 2, at 1PM. And just as for Jeff Mangum’s solo shows at Trinity-St. Paul’s in 2011, there will be no cameras or recording devices allowed – cellphones included – so you may as well get the righteous indignation that you won’t get to Instagram “Two-Headed Boy” out of your systems now. That’s it. Let it alllllll out.

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Holland 1945”

Craig KiefSpring is only barely here – the past few days’ weather notwithstanding – but the concert announcement machine is already making eyes at Autumn with the unveiling of a couple of pretty high profile tours coming through town when the leaves start to change and the days get shorter.

Sam Beam, the walking epitome of bearded folk music, released Ghost On Ghost – his fifth album as Iron & Wine – last month, but until now only had Spring dates in the northeast and Europe confirmed on the itinerary. Come Fall, however, he and his band will traverse much of the middle of North America – the USA and Canada both – before wrapping things up in Toronto at The Sound Academy on September 28, advance tickets $30 for general admission and $40 for VIP balcony.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and New York Times have interviews with Sam Beam.

MP3: Iron & Wine – “Belated Promise Ring”
Video: Iron & Wine – “Joy”

Los Angeles’ Local Natives have already come through town once this year in support of their second album Hummingbird, but even a venue upgrade from The Opera House to The Phoenix wasn’t enough to meet demand. Hence, they’ve added a slew of dates that will take them around the planet and then some, stopping in Toronto at The Kool Haus on September 21, tickets $26.50. And if you’re thinking that you already saw them in March, know that they’ll have the quite excellent Wild Nothing along as support, touring behind last year’s Nocturne full-length and the just-released Empty Estate EP. There’s Local Natives feature pieces at The Huffington Post, Seattle Weekly, and Georgia Straight.

MP3: Local Natives – “You & I”
MP3: Wild Nothing – “Paradise”

Dialing things back to the Summer – and the festival circuit in particular – there were some updates of note over the last couple days. If you thought the otherwise comprehensive Arts & Crafts lineup for Field Trip had a conspicuous Dan Mangan-shaped hole in the lineup, you were right. And now it’s been filled by Dan Mangan himself; not just a similarly-bearded impersonator. That all goes down June 8 at Garrison Commons, and yes he’s still on the lineup for the Mumford-y “Gentlemen Of The Road Stopover” on August 23 out in Simcoe, Ontario.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”

NXNE revealed a bunch more acts for this year’s festival, descending on Toronto’s clubs from June 12 to 16, including Dan Deacon (despite his coming back a few weeks later to support Animal Collective’s make-up show), Still Corners (confirming they’re still doing festival dates in addition to the June 12 date supporting CHVRCHES at The Hoxton), and a slew of Canadian acts including Wintersleep, No Joy, The Super Friendz, Gold & Youth, and more – check out the artists page for a full list of current confirmed acts. I’ve also collated some of the where and when information, but there’s no point in sharing that ever-changing information until the official schedule is posted, which won’t be long because hey – the festival is less than a month away.

MP3: Dan Deacon – “Lots”
MP3: Still Corners – “Fireflies”
MP3: Wintersleep – “Resuscitate”

The Toronto Urban Roots Fest is mostly making waves as a multi-day, outdoor festival the likes of which Toronto hasn’t seen in some time, but its club-level happenings are turning out to be just as impressive, particularly if you’ve no love of multi-day, outdoor festivals. Running concurrently with the main festival, the club series will see the likes of Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys, The Wooden Sky, Dawes, and The Felice Brothers amongst others playing The Horseshoe and Lee’s Palace from July 4 to 7, tickets ranging from $20 to $30 including surcharges, on sale May 23. Some who where and when information is available at the TURF website.

MP3: Frank Turner – “The Roads”
MP3: Dawes – “If I Wanted Someone”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Angelina”
Video: The Felice Brothers – “Ponzi”
Video: Alejandro Escovedo – “Sally Was A Cop” (live)

With their new record Planta set for a June 11 release and a new video from it just out, Brazil’s CSS have put together a North American tour that brings them to The Opera House on July 4, tickets $25.

MP3: CSS – “Hits Me Like A Rock”
Video: CSS – “Hangover”

There’s good news and bad news from the House Of Tomorrow: the good is that, with their new record Partygoing set to come out on June 4 (as well as the Memories of Love, Eternal Youth, and Partygoing. discography-collecting box set), Future Bible Heroes are undertaking a rare tour. The bad news is is that chief songwriter and personality Stephin Merritt will not be participating, though key members Claudia Gonson, Christopher Ewen, Shirley Simms, and Anthony Kaczynski will. So even without Merritt’s delicious dourness, a wonderful time should be had by all at Lee’s Palace on July 22. Tickets for that are $15.50.

Stream: Future Bible Heroes – “Living, Loving, Partygoing”

The Fly talks to Chicago’s Smith Westerns about their new record Soft Will, which will be out June 25. They’ve released the first video and rolled out a batch of tour dates via Pitchfork; the Toronto date comes July 29 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $17.

MP3: Smith Westerns – “Still New”
Video: Smith Westerns – “Varsity”

With a new album in Pura Vida Conspiracy due out July 23, everyone’s favourite – and probably only – Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello have announced a massive tour that comes to Toronto for not one but two nights – August 19 and 20 at The Danforth Music Hall. Rolling Stone has a conversation with frontman Eugene Hutz.

Stream: Gogol Bordello – “Malandrino”

Pinback are back for a date at Lee’s Palace on September 7 in support of last year’s Information Retrieved; tickets for that are $17.50 in advance.

MP3: Pinback – “Proceed To Memory”

FIDLAR – whose name stands for “Fuck It Dog Life’s A Risk”, if you were wondering – are teaming up with fellow Los Angelenos The Orwells for a Fall tour that hits The Hard Luck on October 18, tickets $13. FIDLAR released their self-titled debut earlier this year whereas The Orwells’ debut Remember When came out last year. DIY and The Clock have themselves FIDLAR features.

MP3: FIDLAR – “Cheap Beer”
MP3: The Orwells – “Other Voices”

Grantland and MusicOmh profile The National, whose new album Trouble Will Find Me is out on May 21 and who play Yonge-Dundas Square for NXNE on June 14.

It won’t be out in time for her July 13 date at The Kool Haus, but Spin has some info on Solange’s new album, which will be out this year on her own label under Sony.

Exitmusic have premiered a new video from last year’s debut Passage at NPR.

Video: Exitmusic – “White Noise”

Robert SemmerOn the list of ideal days on which to announce a tour itinerary, there’s not many occasions better than the day the album you’re actually going to promote goes on sale. And so yesterday, with the official release of their latest full-length Monomania, Atlanta’s Deerhunter have announced the itinerary for their Fall tour behind it. It’s an outing that brings them to The Phoenix in Toronto on September 12, and that leg of the tour also includes support from Marnie Stern, who herself released The Chronicles Of Marnia in March. Tickets for the show will run $20 in advance.

Also good to run on or around the release date of an album are feature pieces on them. And so, peruse these interviews with the ever-quotable Bradford Cox at The Salt Lake Tribune, MTV Hive, Pitchfork, and Interview. Marnie Stern is interviewed by The Washington Examiner, Soundcheck WNYC, MTV Hive, and Heeb.

Video: Deerhunter – “Monomania”
Video: Marnie Stern – “Immortals”

Also coming to town – chiptune champtions Anamanaguchi are going to be at The Hoxton on May 23, tickets $12. Their Kickstarted new album Endless Fantasy is out May 14.

MP3: Anamanaguchi – “Meow”

Los Angeles indie-R&B sibling duo Inc. have announced a North American tour that brings them to The Garrison on June 4. Their debut No World came out back in February.

MP3: Inc. – “5 Days”
MP3: Inc. – “The Place”

Also from LA but working a more electro-pop yet still soulful angle are Superhumanoids, who will be in town at The Drake on June 18. Yours Truly recently posted a video session with the band.

MP3: Superhumanoids – “Simple Severin”

Bear In Heaven have been announced as support for Wire for their July 10 date at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: Bear In Heaven – “The Reflection Of You”

Following her triumphant local debut in February, there wasn’t much question that Solange would be back sooner rather than later. And just like that, she’s made a date at The Kool Haus on July 13, tickets $26.50.

Video: Solange – “Losing You”

Also subscribing to the Deerhunter model of “announce your tour the day your record comes out” are Savages, who accompanied yesterday’s release of their debut Silence Yourself with a brace of North American dates announced via Matablog; they’ll be back in Toronto on July 16 for a show at The Mod Club, tickets $16.50. Interview has a brief feature on the band.

Video: Savages – “Shut Up”

Australian songstress Lenka – she did that adorable song in Moneyball, that Aaron Sorkin film about baseball that you of course would remember adorable songs from – will be at The Drake on July 24, tickets $15. Her new album Shadows will be out on June 4.

Video: Lenka – “The Show”

Brooklyn’s Oberhofer haven’t released a full-length follow-up to last year’s Time Capsules II yet, but the Nostalgia EP that came out last month seems to be enough pretence to hit the road; they’re at The Garrison on August 1, tickets $11.50.

MP3: Oberhofer – “Dontneedya”

We’ve only just started gotten to enjoy Spring and/or Summer, but if you need a reason to look forward to Autumn, perhaps the double-bill of Toro Y Moi and The Sea & Cake – the former touring this year’s Anything In Return and the latter last year’s Runner – will do it. The solid double-bill will be at The Phoenix on October 27, tickets $20. The Independent has an interview with Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick.

MP3: Toro Y Moi – “Saturday Love”
MP3: The Sea & Cake – “On And On”

That star-studded yet endlessly contentious Great Gatsby OST came out this week and has also been streaming at NPR. So if you want to hear what next year’s CD dollar bin – if such a thing still existed – sounds like, head on over.

Stream: The Great Gatsby original soundtrack

Pitchfork has an advance stream of the self-titled debut from Dungeonesse, due out next week on May 14.

MP3: Dungeonesse – “Nightlight”
Stream: Dungeonesse / Dungeonesse

Vampire Weekend are a week out from the release of their new record Modern Vampires Of The City, and so of course it must be streaming. And so it is, at iTunes. They’re at the Sony Centre on May 16 and are the subject of feature interviews at Pitchfork and The New York Times.

Stream: Vampire Weekend / Modern Vampires Of The City

FVCKTHEMEDIA and CMJ have interviews with Laura Stevenson about her new record Wheel, which she’s in town to promote at The Drake Underground on May 21.

aux.tv, Blurt, Georgia Straight, and The Fly talk to Hutch Harris of The Thermals, coming to town to play The Horseshoe on May 21.

Paste has an advance stream of the new Saturday Looks Good To Me record One Kiss Ends It All, out May 21.

Stream: Saturday Looks Good To Me / One Kiss Ends It All

NPR has premiered the first video from Kurt Vile’s latest, Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze. He and his Violators play the Toronto Urban Roots Fest at Garrison Commons on July 7.

Video: Kurt Vile – “Never Run Away”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a video for the title track of their latest, Mosquito.

Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Mosquito”

The Flaming Lips have a new video from The Terror – the NSFW caveat pretty much goes without saying, doesn’t it? – and there’s interviews at Stereogum, Loud & Quiet, and Bon Appetit.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “You Lust”

Janelle Monáe has released the first video from her next album The Electric Lady, due out later this year.

Video: Janelle Monáe w Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”

NPR, Seattle Weekly, and Aquarium Drunkard talk to Caitlin Rose.

Blurt profiles The Men.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Low.

Pitchfork gets an update from the studio from Spoon. Who are in the studio.