PolyvinylSo I’ve had to check myself a couple times from taking a, “Shugo Tokumaro‘s music is so weird and wonderful, it must be because he’s Japanese!” angle on this writeup. Because even though it’s not incorrect – Tokumaru IS Japanese and sings entirely in Japanese and many things that come out of Japan are weird and wonderful to Western sensibilities – it’s too reductive and doesn’t give Tokumaru enough credit for what he’s done with his music.

His latest album, Port Entropy is the second of his records I’ve had the pleasure of immersing myself in after 2008’s Exit and like its predecessor, it’s a whimsical whirlwind of instruments and orchestration, almost all played by Tokumaru, that lifts aloft his winsome and dreamlike melodies. For all the musical sophistication and cinematic scope of his recordings, the songs at their core have a childlike simplicity and pop appeal that transcends things like language or culture, and anyways “la la la” pretty much means the same thing universally.

Port Entropy was released in the Spring of 2010 in Japan and will be out in North America on February 15. Tokumaru toured over here behind Exit, assisted in the live setting by members of such acts as Beirut and The National, and word is that he’ll be crossing the Pacific again to support the new record.

MP3: Shugo Tokmaru – “Lahaha”
Video: Shugo Tokmaru – “Lahaha”
Video: Shogu Tokumaru – “Tracking Elevator”
Video: Shugo Tokumaru – “Rum Hee”

Spin talks to Bob Nastanovich about the future of the Pavement reunion, which apparently isn’t as over as though who saw them melt down at Matador 21 might have guessed – but even if they play more shows, don’t expect any new material.

PopMatters, Exclaim and The Star-Tribune talk to Mark Olson of The Jayhawks.

Spinner talks to Nicole Atkins about her Canadian connections while Vol. 1 Brooklyn asks her about her reading habits. Atkin’s second record Mondo Amore is out February 8 and she plays The Horseshoe on February 26.

State and Baltimore Magazine talk to Dean Wareham.

Black Book returns to Chicago’s Wicker Park with Liz Phair. Nashville Scene also has an interview.

The National Post, The Independent and Time talk to Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, who are at The Sound Academy tomorrow night. NYC Taper is sharing a recording of their show in New York from last week.

Paste catches up with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine.

Le Blogotheque serves up an order of Take-Away Show with Spoon, up-sized to include downloadable MP3s of the performance.

The Georgia Straight talks to Daniel Kessler of Interpol, who have a date at The Sound Academy on February 15.

The Strokes make the press rounds in advance of the March 22 release of Angles, offering interviews to Spinner, Myspace and Spin.

Beggars USA reports that Alela Diane will release a new record entitled Alela Diane & Wild Divine on April 5th.

The New Zealand Herald and Pitchfork talk to Sufjan Stevens.

In support of the release of their new record Long Live on February 15, Snowblink will play an in-store at Soundscapes on March 3 followed by a record release show at The Music Gallery on March 5.

MP3: Snowblink – “Ambergris”

Plants & Animals will warm up for their March 5 show at Lee’s Palace with an in-store across the street at Sonic Boom that same afternoon at 4PM.

MP3: Plants & Animals – “Tom Cruz”

The National has words with Dan Bejar of Destroyer. They are at Lee’s Palace on March 31.

NOW checks in with Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras.

Frank YangMy affection for The Jayhawks goes a long ways back, but not quite far enough. I became a fan around ’96, when I got a copy of Tomorrow The Green Grass via the old BMG Music Club – remember that? – by which point co-frontman Mark Olson had already left the band. Which meant that the only Jayhawks I got to experience in real-time was the second incarnation of the band, led solely by Gary Louris. And so while I appreciate why folks refer to the lineup that made Green Grass and Hollywood Town Hall as the “classic” lineup, I will always rise to the defense of any of Smile, Sound Of Lies or Rainy Day Music should someone try to diminish their worth.

That said, seeing Olson centre-stage at The Phoenix on Tuesday night fronting the reunited Jayhawks on the occasion of the deluxe reissue of those two timeless records, it was impossible to deny there was a certain kind of magic about the show generated by the reunion of he and Louris. Most obviously it was there in their vocals and the way their harmonies interlocked – as good as they sounded individually it was like their voices were meant to be together for always – but also in the way their guitars played off one another, Olson’s acoustic rhythm and Louris’ searing electric leads reminding that they played both sides of the country-rock tag equally and just that undefinable but undeniable chemistry between them. I’d seen the Louris-led Jayhawks in this same room back in 2004 and a short Olson solo in-store in 2007 and both more than stood tall on their own, but together with their old bandmates and those songs? Wow. If you ever want an example of two artists who just belong together, it’s them.

As befit the occasion, the hour-forty-five set stopped the clock at 1995 (save for a short excursion to 2003 when drummer Tim O’Regan sang “Tampa To Tulsa” from Rainy Day Music) and showcased broad swathes of Tomorrow The Green Grass and Hollywood Town Hall along with b-sides from the aforementioned reissues, as well as going back to their self-titled debut for a few and airing out some new songs from their just-completed new record. While it’s too early to comment on the quality of the new songs, they certainly had that vintage Jayhawks feel about them which, as far as first impressions go, is all anyone can ask. And as good as it is that The Jayhawks are intent on being a creatively active concern, on this night the fans were out to hear the old stuff and they got it.

The execution wasn’t always perfect – there were some off-harmonies, some missed cues, and by the show-closing jam on “Lights” the band’s tiredness was showing – but the spirit of the evening, both the celebration of their works and the gratitude that so many had come out to witness their return, more than carried them through those patches. Even though they promised a return engagement later in the Summer after their record was released, this first night of the tour and the official return of The Jayhawks was a special, singular occasion.

The Calgary Herald, Chicago Tribune, Exclaim, Blurt and The Aquarian have interviews with Louris and Olson while Spinner, Exclaim and American Songwriter were in attendance at the show.

Photos: The Jayhawks @ The Phoenix – January 18, 2011
Video: The Jayhawks – “Save It For A Rainy Day”
Video: The Jayhawks – “Big Star”
Video: The Jayhawks – “Blue”
Video: The Jayhawks – “Waiting For The Sun”
Video: The Jayhawks – “Settled Down Like Rain”
Myspace: The Jayhawks

Donewaiting talks to Sharon Van Etten and The National’s Aaron Dessner, who is working with her on her next record, while Philadelphia Weekly chats with her on her own. Van Etten is at The Drake Underground on April 12.

The National’s episode of Austin City Limits, which also features a set from Iron & Wine Band Of Horses, is now available to stream online.

Iron & Wine’s new record Kiss Each Other Clean is currently available to stream at Team Coco in advance of its release next Tuesday. The Sydney Morning Herald has a talk with Sam Beam.

Stream: Iron & Wine – “Kiss Each Other Clean”

Under The Radar and The New Zealand Herald talk to Alex Scally of Beach House.

There’s an MP3 available from the new Drive-By Truckers album Go-Go Boots, due out February 22. The Broward Palm Beach New Times talks to Patterson Hood about the new record.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Used To Be A Cop”

There’s a new She & Him video. Yes, it’s full of Zooey. Yes, it’s adorable. No, that’s probably not Matt Ward dancing.

Video: She & Him – “Don’t Look Back”

The first MP3 from The Mountain Goats’ new record All Eternals Deck is now up for grabs. It’s out March 29 and they’re at The Opera House on April 3.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Damn These Vampires”

And also in the “why couldn’t they have released this yesterday when I posted the tour dates”, the first MP3 from the new DeVotchKa record 100 Lovers, out March 1. They’re at The Mod Club on March 30.

MP3: DeVotchKa – “One Hundred Other Lovers”

Rolling Stone gets some specifics on the new Strokes record, out March 22 and possibly called Angles.

Alexandra ValentiLast year, for my 35th birthday, I got a special gift in the form of The National releasing what would be probably my favourite record of last year in High Violet. Now Okkervil River, who have a habit of running neck and neck with The National in competition for the title of “my favourite band” – it’s a real thing – look like they’re trying to win my affections the same way by announcing a May 10 release date for their new record I Am Very Far.

They’d already announced the release of lead single “Mermaid” on 12″ come February 8, but the band took to the stage on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Monday night to perform a different new song, “Wake And Be Fine”. And if not for Will Sheff’s distinctive vocals and presence, you might be forgiven for not recognizing them – besides the fact that New Pornographer Carl Newman and The Roots’ Questlove joined them for the occasion on vocals and drums respectively, Okkervil 2011 is a considerably different band from that which made The Stage Names and The Stand-Ins – Sheff remains, of course, as does multi-instrumentalist Scott Brackett and bassist Patrick Pestorius, but mainstays Jonathan Meiburg (keys), Brian Cassidy (guitar) and Travis Nelsen (drums) have all left the band in the past couple of years, replaced by Justin Sherburn, Lauren Gurgiolo and Cully Symington respectively. By no means is Okkervil a lesser band for the changes, but it is a different one and it will take a little adjusting to see them thusly, especially without the always-entertaining Nelson behind the kit.

But either way, the news of the imminent arrival of more Okkervil River was enough to make my day yesterday. Happy early birthday!

MP3: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine” (live on Jimmy Fallon)
Video: Okkervil River – “Wake And Be Fine” (live on Jimmy Fallon)

Okkervil labelmates The Cave Singers and Lia Ices both have new records coming out – No Witch on February 22 and Grown Unknown on January 25 respectively – and have plotted a Spring tour that stops in at the Drake Underground on April 5. Tickets $13.50 in advance.

MP3: Cave Singers – “Swim Club”
MP3: Lia Ices – “Grown Unknown”
MP3: Lia Ices – “Daphne”

Of Montreal may already be plotting the follow-up to last year’s False Priest – or so Kevin Barnes tells Spin – but they’re not done touring said record. They’ll be coming back to Toronto for the first time in two and a half years – yes it’s been that long – for a show at The Phoenix on May 3, tickets $28 on sale now.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Sex Karma”
MP3: Of Montreal – “Coquet Coquette”

Pitchfork reports that The Dodos have recruited one Neko Case to help them out on their new record No Color, due out March 14. Her vocals will grace about half of the album, which will be great, but I think it’d have been more great if they got her to play all kinds of instruments but not sing a note. Because that’s how my sense of humour works.

The rumour mill has it that The Strokes’ fourth album will be out on March 22. Which jives with what’s already known, but until there’s an official announcement, it’s just hearsay. Hearsay I’m willing to blog, clearly.

Much more official is the word on the new record from The Kills – it will be called Blood Pressures, it will be out on April 5 and Pitchfork has specifics.

Blurt and I Like Music talk to Lissie, in town at the Opera House on January 24.

Colin Meloy tells Exclaim that The King Is Dead, the new Decemberists record due next week, could be their last for a while as they attend to other projects. So see them at The Sound Academy on February 1 while you can. There’s also and interview at The Sydney Morning Herald.

Beatroute talks to Sam Fogarino of Interpol, who have two Toronto visits on the books this year – a headlining date at the Sound Academy for February 15 and a support slot for U2 at the ACC on July 12.

Sam Beam talks to Billboard about the new Iron & Wine record Kiss Each Other Clean, out January 25, and to Spin about the origins of his band’s name.

The AV Club has words with The Dismemberment Plan’s Travis Morrison.

Beatroute has an interview with The Thermals.

MTV UK has a complete video session with Warpaint and it’s not geoblocked like the US site is.

Sarah BowlesIf there’s any upside – and I type this knowing that there’s not – to the fact that the holidays are over and it’s back to the workaday week, it’s that my inbox and RSS reader are once again filling up with interesting news bits (and tonnes of uninteresting ones) rather than lists upons lists and year-end retrospectives. And that includes concert announcements, of which there were more than a few yesterday.

Including a return to North America for the first time in a couple years from Brighton, UK’s premiere electro/indie/hip-hop/dance/rock party-all-over outfit The Go! Team. Their third record Rolling Blackouts will be out on February 1 and while their official tour itinerary only goes as far as the end of March and doesn’t cross the Atlantic, a Toronto show at the Opera House on April 10 has just been announced (tickets $23.50), so expect more dates to be announced in the coming days. Spinner has an interview with chief songwriter Ian Parton about the shift in lyrical direction on the new record, while samples of said album can be had via the video for the lead track and the stream of next single “Buy Nothing Day” – featuring vocals from Best Coast’s Beth Cosentino – over at The Guardian.

Stream: The Go! Team – “Buy Nothing Day”
Video: The Go! Team – “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.”

Also coming to town, fond of exclamations and parties are Vancouver’s You Say Party – though apparently the “!” was dropped in their recent name change – and Montreal’s Young Galaxy, whose new record Shapeshifting has got a lot of folks talking in advance of its February 8 release. Both are at Lee’s Palace on March 4, tickets $15.50 in advance.

MP3: You Say Party! – “Laura Palmer’s Prom”
MP3: Young Galaxy – “Peripheral Visionaries”

BBC Sound of 2011 shortlistee Anna Calvi will be in town for Canadian Musicfest with a showcase at Wrongbar on March 11. Her self-titled debut will be out on March 1.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Jezebel”

Destroyer’s new record Kaputt is out on January 25 and though the tour dates with The War On Drugs are still patchy, there will be a show at Lee’s Palace in Toronto on March 31, tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: Destroyer – “Chinatown”
MP3: The War On Drugs – “The History Of Plastic”

They don’t really have a lot in common, but that’s not stopping …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and Surfer Blood from teaming up for a tour that stops in at Lee’s Palace on May 3. Trail Of Dead’s new album Tao Of The Dead will be out on February 8 and Surfer Blood will be putting out an EP sometime this year before getting to work on their major label debut.

MP3: Surfer Blood – “Swim”

The new British Sea Power record Valhalla Dancehall is up and streaming in its entirety at The AV Club, one week before it’s January 11 release.

Stream: British Sea Power / Valhalla Dancehall

NPR is streaming the whole of The Decemberists’ new album The King Is Dead two weeks before its January 18 release date. The band play The Sound Academy on February 1.

Stream: The Decemberists / The King Is Dead

Also up at the NPR has also got a new song from R.E.M.’s forthcoming Collapse Into Now, which continues to confirm that this record might well be pretty good. It’s out March 8.

There will be a new Strokes record in March. BBC says bassist Nikolai Fraiture says so.

Titus Andronicus have blogged a farewell to their founding bassist Ian Graetzer, who amicably left the band as of this weekend.

Specifics on the new Okkervil River record are still forthcoming, but Pitchfork reports that the first single “Mermaid” will be out on February 8 on 12″.

Laundromatinee has got a video session with Son Volt.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of the Drive-By Truckers’ New Year’s Eve eve show in New York. The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Boot talk to Patterson Hood about their new record Go-Go Boots, which will be out February 15.

Michael LavineWhen Guided By Voices announced they were calling it a day back in Summer of 2004, I marked the occasion with a tribute cover of the week which basically consisted of me scraping together all of the GBV covers I could find and tossing them onto the internet (where they mostly came from in the first place). So it seems appropriate that as Guided By Voices have reunited and will play tonight as the grand finale of Matador at 21 in Las Vegas, I should bust out some/most of those same tracks to, again, mark the occasion.

And interestingly, many of the artists who are represented are also returning to active duty following long breaks. The Strokes, after an extended hiatus and countless solo projects, are back in the studio and Julian Casablancas has announced their fourth album will be released on March 11, 2011 though it’s doubtful anyone will actually try to hold them to that. Spoon have become one of the biggest and most reliable rock acts in indiedom, releasing Transference earlier this year and also appearing at Matador @ 21. For many years, Portastatic was Mac McCaughan’s primary creative outlet but now that Superchunk is back with Majesty Shredding. their first album in a decade – they too are celebrating their tenure on Matador in Vegas this weekend. Vancouver’s Salteens are putting out their first album in seven years in Grey Eyes, due October 12. Jimmy Eat World’s new record Invented is their first in three years; they’re at the Kool Haus in Toronto on October 17. And finally, Jon Auer’ Posies have just released Blood/Candy, their second post-reunion record but still first in five years.

Odds of any more Guided By Voices remain slim to none, but Robert Pollard will surely keep putting out at least a dozen records a year. Give or take.

MP3: The Strokes – “A Salty Salute”
MP3: Spoon – “Melted Pat”
MP3: Portastatic – “Echoes Myron”
MP3: The Salteens – “Motor Away”
MP3: Jimmy Eat World – “Game Of Pricks”
MP3: Jon Auer – “Gold Star For Robot Boy”
Video: Guided By Voices – “A Salty Salute” (live, 2007)
Video: Guided By Voices – “Auditorium/Motor Away”
Video: Guided By Voices – “Game Of Pricks” (live)
Video: Guided By Voices – “Gold Star For Robot Boy” (live)
Stream: Guided By Voices – “Echoes Myron”