Tarina WestlundWhen I wrote up Thao with The Get Down Stay Down’s last album We Brave Bee Stings And All back in August of last year, I gave it a net stamp of approval, with Thao Nguyen’s exuberant delivery and energy making up for my concerns about the tendency oof her voice to wander from pitch – certainly, that woozy enthusiasm was part of her charm, but I’m a bit of a stickler on that.

So I’m pleased to be able to report that the follow-up Know Better Learn Faster somehow manages to not set off those klaxons while not losing any of her distinctive character. No, it’s not that she’s discovered the joys of autotune but simply that the melodies on Know Better are less given to wander, the songs tighter and more focused and the album simply better. And amazingly, she’s done it while expanding the band’s sonic palette and without dialing down the enthusiasm. “Cool Yourself” is an upbeat, horn-driven pop gem while “When We Swam” is a coy and even slinky bit of doo-wop, and that only touches on the range of styles covered on the record, all delivered with the right balance of biting wit and sensitive underbelly. It’s be easy to miss out on the musical sophistication at work due to the raw and live production aesthetic and Nguyen’s strong presence up front, but repeated listens do bring those extra details and touches to the fore and enrich what’s already a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down are at the El Mocambo on November 1 and I’m excited that after a year and a half of near misses both here and at SxSW, I’ll finally be able to catch their much-praised live show for myself. Tickets are $12 in advance, but courtesy of Kill Rock Stars, REMG and Toolshed, I have three pairs of passes to give away to the show and for those who can’t go, two autographed copies of Know Better Learn Faster on CD up for grabs. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Get Down Stay Down” in the subject line and full name in the body. And note whether you’re gunning for the passes or the CD – the former are available to anyone who can get to the El Mocambo next Sunday night, the CD to residents of North America. Contest closes at midnight, October 28.

Paste and The Oregonian have interviews with Thao Nguyen.

MP3: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Know Better Learn Faster”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “When We Swam”
Video: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – “Cool Yourself”
MySpace: Thao with The Get Down Stay Down

Pitchfork has details on the forthcoming third album from Beach House. Teen Dream, the duo’s first for SubPop, will be out on January 26 and come with a DVD featuring a video for each song on the record.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews The Anters while BrooklynVegan gets Peter Silberman of The Antlers and Sharon Van Etten of Sharon Van Etten to interview each other.

Boise Weekly chats themselves up some Dodos.

Death & Taxes discusses matters of cosmic and civic importance with Sufjan Stevens.

Paste catches up with Nels Cline of Wilco.

Philadelphia Weekly talks to St Vincent’s Annie Clark, who has diligently been adding to her tour videos collection on her blog.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Patterson Hood available to stream.

Grant Hart, ex of Husker Du, will be at the Horseshoe on December 14 in support of his new solo record Hot Wax, tickets $10.50.

NPR expresses their acronym solidarity by streaming the whole of R.E.M.’s new live record Live At The Olympia in advance of its release this coming Tuesday, October 27.

Stream: R.E.M. / Live At The Olympia

Uptown has a cover feature on Dan Mangan.

Pitchfork reports that The Week That Was and School Of Language have officially been backburnered as the Brewis brothers have reunited as Field Music, and will release a double-album entitled Measure on February 16.

MP3: Field Music – “Measure”

And to help maintain the cosmic balance of British bands in active duty, The Rakes have announced they’re calling it quits effective immediately, thus scuppering their North American tour which was due to stop at the Mod Club in Toronto on November 9. It might have sounded a little like this.

MP3: The Rakes – “That’s The Reason”

The Scotsman interviews Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season. They are at Massey Hall on November 2.

The Hollywood Reporter says that The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn is working on the film adaptation of Chuck Klosterman’s first novel, Fargo Rock City. It’s a pairing so perfect that when I first read it, I barely reacted – it was like, “well of course he is”.

Frank YangIn a recent interview posted to the Asthamtic Kitty website in which Sufjan Stevens interviewed former bandmate and now labelmate Shannon Stephens, Stevens (note spelling) said, “I’m at a point where I no longer have a deep desire to share my music with anyone, having spent many years imparting my songs to the public”. A curious sentiment that might have seemed truthful a couple months ago, when he was still largely a recluse, choosing not to follow up his 2005 opus Illinois with anything resembling a conventional record, instead favouring multimedia projects and reissues. But you couldn’t say he wasn’t much for sharing with him midway through a short, surprise tour that saw him playing venues many times smaller than his patient and devoted fanbase could easily fill and playing a wealth of new material that wasn’t really ready what you’d call “finished”. Not that anyone in the beyond-sold out Lee’s Palace on Thursday night cared.

Support came from Los Angeles’ Cryptacize, whose second record Mythomania has found its way in and out of rotation over the Summer. Some of it I find beguiling, some of it boring, but it’s generally an interesting listen, like a stack of girl group, surf, Bossa Nova and prog-rock 7″s were left out on a beach in the California sun and melted together. Fronted by the classic and crystalline voice of Nedelle Torrisi, who would also cover keys and backing vocals in Stevens’ band, their set was generally enjoyable – they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves – but probably ran a bit long for the anxious crowd, many of whom had been standing in line since late afternoon to get a prime vantage point for Stevens.

Stevens’ last two Toronto appearances in November 2004 and September 2005 were full and proper productions for Michigan/Seven Swans and Illinois respectively, complete with costumes and synchronized stage moves, so it was evident that this night was going to be something different when the band came out in regular casual street clothes and roadied their own gear, Stevens included, to the sound of much shrieking. And “casual” would be the key word for the night, followed closely by “beautiful”, “intimate” and, well, “sloppy”. The “beautiful” is a given for anyone who’s familiar with Stevens’ orchestral folk-pop compositions and the “intimate” aspect of the show has already been covered. As for the “sloppy”, well that’s not necessarily a criticism because if anyone can make missed cues and barely-remembered lyrics endearing, it’s Stevens. But even as far into the tour as they were, it was clear they were still feeling out the new material – mostly via extended jamming with Stevens taking the opportunity to show off his electric guitar chops – and getting reacquainted with the old.

As expected, the the nearly two-hour set drew from Stevens’ last four records – including Illinois outtakes collection The Avalanche – and four new songs. I’d originally thought there were five, but the one I thought the best of the bunch, the Simon & Garfunkel-quoting “All Delighted People”, actually dates back to 2000 though the version performed was almost unrecognizable against the original. By and large, the new material, which was described by Stevens as “long-form”, demonstrated that he has lost none of his flair for grandiose musical statements and is enjoying working without the constraints of a theme (or state) to write around. By no means did any of it feel ready – if it were released on an album in their present form, they’d probably be met largely with head-scratching – but as a teaser of where he’s going and what’s possibly to come, it was tantalizing. And the old material was, as stated, beautiful. I’d forgotten how stunning Stevens’ voice was live, so fragile yet powerful, and moments like “To Be Alone With You”, “Casimir Pulaski Day” and the still-chilling encore of “John Wayne Gacy, Jr” were jaw-dropping if not quite audience-silencing. With no sign as to when a new record will be forthcoming, let alone when he’ll undertake another proper tour, this show would have to keep Stevens’ fans satisfied for possibly a long time. And as much as you can be satisfied while never wanting it to end, it delivered.

There’s further reviews of the show at Exclaim and Panic Manual. Cryptacize are heading back on tour next month with The Fiery Furnaces and will be at the El Mocambo on November 7. Sufjan Stevens’ film in tribute to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway – The BQE – will be screening for one night only at Innis Town Hall at the University of Toronto on October 25 at 7:30, tickets $10 in advance online or at Soundscapes. Stevens’ Run Rabbit Run is out tomorrow and the The BQE is out on October 20.

Photos: Sufjan Stevens, Cryptacize @ Lee’s Palace – October 1, 2009
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Movement VI—Isorhythmic Night Dance With Interchanges”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Henney Buggy Band”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Casimir Pulaski Day”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Sister”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Holland”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Year Of The Dog”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Year Of The Tiger”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Demetrius”
MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “A Winner Needs A Wand”
MP3: Cryptacize – “Blue Tears”
MP3: Cryptacize – “One Block Wonders”
MP3: Cryptacize – “Mini-Mythomania” (C Spencer Yeh remix)
MP3: Cryptacize – “Tail And Mane”
MP3: Cryptacize – “Cosmic Sing Along”
MP3: Cryptacize – “No Coins”
Video: Cryptacize – “Tail And Mane”
Video: Cryptacize – “Blue Tears”
Video: Cryptacize – “Cosmic Sing Along”
MySpace: Sufjan Stevens
MySpace: Cryptacize

The Riverfront Times talks to St Vincent’s Annie Clark, who released the first part of a tour video, compiled from footage taken over the Summer.

The Mountain Goats have released a first video from The Life Of The World To Come, out tomorrow. The record is also up to stream:

Video: The Mountain Goats – “Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace”
Stream: The Mountain Goats / The Life Of The World To Come

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with Death Cab For Cutie.

Dog Day are releasing a super-limited, vinyl-only EP entitled Elder Schoolhouse, out in late October. No digital versions of the songs are planned, save for the MP3 and live video below, so if you want, get yourself a turntable. Dog Day play the Horseshoe on November 5.

MP3: Dog Dag – “Synastry”
Video: Dog Day – “Neighbour” and “Sleeping Waiting” (live at Elder Schoolhouse)

Swedish electro-pop outfit Little Dragon have booked a North American tour in support of new record Machine Dreams, out domestically on October 20, and that includes a date at Wrongbar in Toronto on November 18.

MP3: Little Dragon – “Blinking Pigs”

Zero 7 have set a date at the Phoenix for December 3 in support of their new record Yeah Ghost.

Brian TaborelloI’m thinking I should start declaring Fridays to be “Leftover Fridays”, or “Fragmented Fridays” on account of them more often than not being theme-less hodge-podges of whatever bits of linkage I have left over from the week that I’d rather not sit on through the weekend. Though today maybe it should be “Funny Friday” because rather than kick off with music, we’ve got some comedy to close out your week.

Season two of Flight Of The Conchords ended exponentially stronger than it started (which was pretty weak) and so the resulting second album I Told You I Was Freaky – out October 20 – should have a healthy quotient of parodic hilarity. Don’t know if there’s anything quite on the level of genius of “Inner City Pressure”, “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros” or “Foux du Fafa”, but “Sugalumps”, available to download below, was pretty great and “Too Many Dicks On The Dance Floor” is pure Gondry gold.

And further, Eugene Mirman – who plays landlord Eugene on Flight Of The Conchords – also has a new album out in God Is A 12-Year Old Boy With Aspbergers. It’s a straight stand-up recording and is chock full of LOL and LULZ moments, though I don’t think a bear was actually heckling as heard in the sample MP3. It’s out on Tuesday.

And that photo is pretty funny, too. Look, Jemaine is trying to bribe some miniature toy policemen. And he and Bret are also miniature!

MP3: Flight Of The Conchords – “Sugalumps”
MP3: Eugene Mirman – “Vancouver, Detroit & Bears”
Video: Flight Of The Conchords – “Sugalumps”

And oh yeah, David Cross is in town for two shows at the Queen Elizabeth theatre tonight, early and late. He’s labelmates with FOTC and Eugene Mirman so I thought I’d throw that in there. There’s interviews with Cross at eye and The Pitch.

MP3: David Cross – “Certain Leaders in Government Look or Act Like Certian Pop Culture References”
MP3: David Cross – “My Wife’s Crazy!”

Sentimentalist talks to A Place To Bury Strangers about their new record Exploding Head, out next Tuesday. Look for them at the Mod Club on October 27.

Asobi Seksu are offering tastes of their two new releases – a video for the title track of their “Transparence” 10″ single and an MP3 of the Hope Sandoval cover from their acoustic Rewolf album, due out November 10. The latter should give a sense of what to expect when they play the Horseshoe on October 13. There’s also an interview with the band at The Georgia Straight.

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Suzanne”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Transparence”

Hope Sandoval will herself be in town next week, with a show at the Mod Club on October 7. Interview has an interview.

I’m not usually one for posting remixes but this xx re-imagining of Florence & The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love” is more cover than remix, with the young London outfit basically replacing all of the original with their own recorded tracks and vocals, saving only a bit of Florence for the chorus. Of course, Florence’s version is itself a cover of Candi Staton, so… yeah. Florence is at the Mod Club on November 2 while The xx are at the Phoenix on December 2. The Times has an interview with the latter.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “You’ve Got The Love” (xx remix)

The Joy Formidable are giving away a new song via last.fm which is just about as good as anything on their superb A Balloon Called Moaning mini-album. They’re also putting out a limited-edition live CD entitled First You have To Get Mad, recorded this past Wednesday night (!) in London – it’s officially released on November 16.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”

eMusic, The List, The Skinny and MusicOmh interview The Big Pink. They’ve a date at Lee’s Palace on November 29.

Clash interviews Editors. In This Light and On This Evening is out next week.

NME reports that Elbow are re-issuing their 2001 debut Asleep In The Back on October 26 enhanced with a second disc of bonus and live tracks and a DVD. I’ve fallen in love with all of their subsequent records but their debut still leaves me unmoved. I doubt this edition will change that, and I’m okay with that.

Mum have premiered a new video for the sort-of title track from Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know over at Stereogum. They play the Phoenix on October 27.

Video: Mum – “Sing Along”

Ladyhawke has released a new video. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview.

Video: Ladyhawke – “Magic”

Built To Spill are streaming their new record There Is No Enemy at their MySpace in advance of next Tuesday’s release date. They’ve got two dates at Lee’s Palace on October 6 and 7.

Stream: Built To Spill / There Is No Enemy

St. Vicent’s Annie Clark talks to Pitchfork about her contributions to the new Twilight soundtrack.

An MP3 from the Alela Diane EP Alela & Alina – out Tuesday – is now up for grabs. She plays the Horseshoe on October 16.

MP3: Alela Diane with Alina Hardin – “Bowling Green”

Canadian Interviews talks to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers.

Though he’s in town on Monday at the Mod Club opening up for Bob Mould, Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson has already scheduled a return engagement for after his new album Summer Of Fear is released on October 20. He’ll be at the Drake Underground on November 17 with These United States, who themselves have a new record out in Everything Touches Everything.

MP3: Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson – “The Sound”
MP3: These United States – “I Want You To Keep Everything”

Luxury Wafers interviews Matthew Clark of White Rabbits. They’re at the Horseshoe on October 24.

And the Malajube show originally scheduled for that date at the ‘Shoe has been postponed to November 26.

Decider chats with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Wye Oak are the subject of feature pieces at Slap Magazine, LAist and Honest Tune.

Exclaim talks to Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Merge Records.

Jonathan TaggartSaying I was a bit award-ed out following last week’s Polaris Prize gala would be something of an understatement, so the ceremonies for the Verge XM Awards the following night were largely ignored around these parts. But that doesn’t mean the results weren’t of interest – okay, Alexisonfire winning album of the year was of zero interest, but the declaration of Vancouver’s Dan Mangan as artist of the year certainly drew a double-take. This response had nothing to do with Mangan or his work, simply the fact that it’s a pretty heady honour to bestow on someone who’d only released his new album Nice, Nice, Very Nice a little over a month prior, though that was preceded by the Roboteering EP in the Spring. The whys and wherefores of that do interest me, but we’ll set that aside for now and just consider the record.

And it’s a good one. On the surface, it’s a tuneful collection of roots-rock/pop, hummably melodic and understatedly orchestrated, but what’s most compelling is the narrator that Mangan inhabits in his songs. Though his likeable rasp implies a certain forthrightness of character, that he’s the sort of guy who tells is straight and like it is, lyrically he’s much slipperier. Sardonic observer of the world around him one moment, absurdist storyteller the next, but I suppose when done right the two really aren’t all that different. You’re never sure if Mangan is telling tall tales or pouring his broken heart out because he does both with a twinkle in his eye; the unreliable narrator, the court jester, or just the guy perched on a barstool, it doesn’t really matter – there’s as much cosmic truth as fiction in these songs and either is where you find it. And if you’re just looking for some great songs, they’re here too. Artist of the Year still strikes me as a bit premature, but if Mangan is still finding himself up for awards in a year’s time or so, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit.

Mangan kicks off a cross-country tour this week and will be in Toronto in a couple weeks on October 16 for an in-store at Criminal Records on October 16 at 6PM and a gig proper at the Rivoli that night. Then it’s off to the UK and Europe. Okay, maybe he’s having a really good year after all. There’s features on Mangan at The Georgia Straight.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Robots”
Video: Dan Mangan – “The Indie Queens Are Waiting”
Stream: Dan Mangan / Roboteering
Stream: Dan Mangan / Nice, Nice, Very Nice
MySpace: Dan Mangan

As promised, Sloan are giving away a new song. “Take It Upon Yourself” is a Chris song that sounds like a Jay song (it’s the piano) and is available for frees in exchange for your email address.

Note that the Rural Alberta Advantage show originally scheduled for November 4 at Lee’s Palace has been moved to November 20 – tickets for the former date are still good. There’s an interview with frontman Nils Edenloff at The Maneater.

Forest City Lovers have completed their first 7″ single, available to pre-order now in advance of its November 10 release. Something to hold you over until they release album number three next year.

Portions of the Caribou Vibration Ensemble performance at All Tomorrow’s Parties NY have been made available to stream or download at the Free Music Archive, with word that a full live album may be forthcoming. The Toronto show was amazing – I expect this was nothing less.

MP3: The Caribou Vibration Ensemble – “Skunks”
MP3: The Caribou Vibration Ensemble – “Barnowl”
MP3: The Caribou Vibration Ensemble – “Brahminy Kite”
MP3: The Caribou Vibration Ensemble – “A Final Warning”

Handsome Furs have set a date for Lee’s Palace on December 5, tickets $15. No occasion, just bringing some rock.

MP3: Handsome Furs – “I’m Confused”

NPR has a World Cafe session with The Jayhawks.

Spinner has another video taken from the forthcoming live R.E.M. album Live At The Olympia, out October 27.

Video: R.E.M. – “Man-Sized Wreath” (live)

Long-time R.E.M. sideman and once-and-future Posie Ken Stringfellow has a new band of Norwegians called The Disciplines. It’s got a garage-ish bent, but there’s no suppressing Stringfellow’s canny pop sensibilities. They’re heading out for a North American tour next month, including a stop at the Velvet Underground in Toronto on October 22 ($8 in advance), and are also looking for places to crash in many of the cities on the itinerary and a Vox AC30 amp to borrow.

Video: The Disciplines – “Best Mistake”
Video: The Disciplines – “Yours For The Taking (Smoking Kills)”

AZCentral talks to the other principal in the Posies, Jon Auer.

City Pages Q&A’s Built To Spill, whose new record There Is No Enemy is out next week and who have Lee’s Palace reserved for two nights, October 6 and 7.

Epigram Music talks to Sufjan Stevens about his BQE project, out October 20. He plays Lee’s Palace on Thursday night, October 1.

St Vincent’s Annice clark talks to Radar Online about her contribution to the soundtrack to New Moon, which I’m content to know nothing about save for one of the protagonists sparkles. Clark also gives an interview to The Vanguard.

There’s a new video for the Taken By Trees cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls”, from her new album East Of Eden.

Video: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”

Blurt has a feature on Monsters Of Folk, who will be at Massey Hall on November 2.

Ian DarkenSomething I learned yesterday – I wasn’t able to get by on three hours of sleep when I was young, I sure as hell can’t do it now. Blogging isn’t so easy when your brain has the consistency of porridge, so I’m thankful that there’s been a pile of new videos, sessions and streams amassing in my drafts folder which I can hopefully distill into some sort of post.

And we’ll begin with Athens, Georgia’s Venice Is Sinking, who’ve got a new video, stream AND MP3 to share, all in honour of their just-released EP Okay. As previously reported, it’s a single, a tribute and outtakes record, all in one. The title track comes from their lovely AZAR album from earlier this year, two tracks are covers of San Francisco artist Okay and the final two are alternate versions of AZAR tracks. Like the parent album, Okay is wistfully orchestrated ambient pop, forlorn even when it’s trying to be cheery. Venice Is Sinking does glumness exceedingly well. They do have a playful side, however, as the boot camp-themed video for “Okay” demonstrates. And a penchant for gunplay.

In addition to the new EP, the band have completed album number three – a mostly live recording due out sooner rather than later – and have begun writing album number four. Considering how this band seems to get better with every new thing they put out, their newfound prolificness can only bring good things.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Okay”
MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Compass”
Video: Venice Is Sinking – “Okay”
Stream: Venice Is Sinking / Okay

Yo La Tengo have also done the “rock band boot camp” thing in video before – witness the classic “Sugarcube” clip – but have just put out an awesome video of another sort – a Takeaway Show. Yo La Tengo are at the Opera House on October 3.

Video: Yo La Tengo – “Sugarcube”

A Place To Bury Strangers have released a video from their new album Exploding Head, due out October 6. They have a date at the Mod Club for October 27.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “In Your Heart”

They Shoot Music recorded an acoustic performance from The Dodos, who released Time To Die last week and will be at Lee’s Palace on October 17. There’s interviews with the band at Austinist and Click Music.

Telekinesis have finally gotten themselves a proper website and play a Tiny Desk Session for NPR to mark the occasion. Okay, the two probably have nothing to do with each other. Or this video of them performing at the Merge XX festival this Summer.

St Vincent has released a new video from Actor.

Video: St Vincent – “Marrow”

Paste, Taipei Times and The Los Angeles Times interview Monsters Of Folk, whose self-titled debut was released this week and a new video to go along with it. They play Massey Hall on November 2.

Video: Monsters of Folk – “The Right Place”

BrooklynVegan interviews Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, who have a new video from Embryonic, out October 13. The response to the new recordseems pretty split between a return to genius form and further evidence of their irrevocable decline. Which is it?

Video: The Flaming Lips – “I Can Be A Frog”

This week was pretty crazy for new releases, and so there’s plenty to stream over at Spinner – or at least there is if you’re not in Canada. Hereabouts, their Polaris promotion is still up so all the links shunt to streams of the short list but I’ve been told that’s going to change sometime today so Canucks, check back. Assuming that’s accurate – you’ve got Hope Sandoval & The Warm Intentions’ second album Through The Devil Softly which they’ll bring to the Mod Club on October 7 – she gives an interview to The Georgia Straight, White Water, White Bloom from Sea Wolf, who’re at Sneaky Dee’s on October 9 and Amy Millan’s second solo record Masters Of The Burial, for which she has a date at the Mod Club on October 14 – ChartAttack also has an interview.

Also out, streaming and coming to town this Fall are Girls whose debut album Album will receive an airing at the El Mocambo on November 10 and who are featured in a “Don’t Look Down” video session at PitchforkTV, J Tillman’s new one Year In The Kingdom which brings him to the Horseshoe on November 11 and Origin: Orphan from The Hidden Cameras – their hometown show will take place at the Opera House on December 5.

Stream: Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions / Through The Devil Softly
Stream: Sea Wolf / White Water, White Bloom
Stream: Amy Millan / Masters Of The Burial
Stream: Girls / Album
Stream: J. Tillman / Year in the Kingdom
Stream: The Hidden Cameras / Origin: Orphan

Also with a new record out this wee but sadly not coming to town any time soon are Early Day Miners, whose latest is The Treatment. There’s a feature piece on the band at Blurt.

Stream: Early Day Miners / The Treatment

In And Out Of Control isn’t out until October 6 but The Raveonettes are already streaming it for all to hear at their MySpace. They’re at the Phoenix on October 22 and there’s interviews with the band at Paper and Billboard.

Stream: The Raveonettes / In And Out Of Control

City Sonic talks to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers about how his daily commute influenced some of his early songs.

A couple of days before she takes the Horseshoe stage – Thursday, September 24 in support of The Antlers – it’s been announced that Holly Miranda has signed with XL Recordings to release her debut solo album early next year. I’ve been tracking her solo career since early this year and am pleased to see that her record will not only be coming out but will be properly promoted, but I wonder what to make of the fact that the press release mentions nothing about her band The Jealous Girlfriends… hopefully nothing. A video session with said band went up at FreqControl earlier this Summer.

Exclaim reports The Weakerthans will be releasing a series of 7″ singles saluting their home province on Manitoba starting on October 30.