Ingrid ZAs much as I’m looking forward to being in New York next week, I can’t help feeling I’m getting there a week too late. For it was this Wednesday night just past that Patrick Wolf played a one-off show at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan, previewing material from this forthcoming album The Bachelor – out in the UK on June 1 and in North America on June 2 and August 11, digitally and physically, respectively. And even though said performance was intended to be a mostly solo and mostly acoustic intimate affair, the live reports and photos from Stereogum, Prefix, The Music Slut, The New York Press and Spin make it sound like it was just as enthralling and magical a show as his more extroverted performances.

I mentioned just a couple days ago that a proper Wolf tour – also featuring The Living Things, The Plastiscines and Jaguar Love – was being assembled in conjunction with his new label NYLON and while a full itinerary is yet to be announced, I’m pleased to be able to announce that in addition to the handful of dates already sussed out, there will be a Toronto show on June 17 at the Mod Club, tickets on sale May 16. It’s fitting that this news come just a couple days before my birthday because Wolf’s May 2007 show at the El Mocambo on my actual date of birth was one of the most fun evenings I’d had in ages, and I have similarly high expectations of this show. With that gig, Phoenix and NxNE all falling in the same week, it’s shaping up to be a pretty crazy June. Crazy awesome.

The Music Slut caught Wolf for a quick interview on his visit to New York wherein he revealed that the sequel to The Bachelor, entitled The Conqueror, will now not see release until next year and the two may still be combined into their originally-intended double-album under the name Battle in the near future. Burton Mail also has an interview.

Video: Patrick Wolf – “Vulture”
MySpace: Patrick Wolf

There’s a video from the forthcoming God Help The Girl album of the same name. The album is out June 23.

MP3: God Help The Girl – “Come Monday Night”
Video: God Help The Girl – “Come Monday Night”

Mail On Sunday talks to Blur’s Graham Coxon about not having such a great time of it in the ’90s.

Doves are giving away a free MP3 of an alternate take of “Birds Flew Backwards” from Kingdom Of Rust. They’re at the Kool Haus on June 1.

Pitchfork has details on the 20th anniversary deluxe reissue of The Stone Roses’ debut, due out August 11.

PJ Harvey and John Parish talk to Filter about their collaboration A Woman A Man Walked By.

La Roux has released a new video. The self-titled debut is due June 29.

Video: La Roux – “Bulletproof”

Extenuating circumstance kept me from the Kills/Horrors show last night but if you need some kind of fix, have an interview with the former’s Alison Mosshart at NOW where they discuss the re-release of Keep On Your Mean Side and an interview with the latter at The Quietus.

Did you miss Bowerbirds’ show at the Drake last weekend? Fear not – they’re back on July 14 for a show at Sneaky Dee’s with Megafaun.

Stereogum gets an update as to where The Flaming Lips are with their next album – the working title is Embryonic and it is targeted for a September release.

VBS’ Soft Focus sits down with Ted Leo for an extensive interview.

Clash, Black Book and Paste talk to Nick Zinner and Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

I think I would have paid much much money to see Nick Cave’s script for Gladiator 2 made real. Well, I’d have bought a ticket at least. Maybe two.

Pitchfork has details on Dark Night Of The Soul, the forthcoming multimedia collaboration between Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, Danger Mouse and David Lynch due out this Summer. Too strange to try and recap here, so just go read the article.

Trailer: Dark Night Of The Soul

The Aquarian talks to Hutch Harris of The Thermals while The AV Club gets Kathy Foster to shuffle her music collection.

The Quietus has an interview with Bob Mould.

The Artist’s Den welcomes The Hold Steady to their studios for a couple of video performances – via So Much Silence.

The New York Times profiles St Vincent.

Popmatters asks 20 questions of School Of Seven Bells’ Ben Curtis.

Frank YangRare is the occasion that I head into a show with little knowledge of a band or their output – I’m all about the due diligence for my evening activities, yo – but that was the case when I hit the Horseshoe in October 2007 for the The Thermals’ Toronto debut in support of their superb The Body, The Blood, The Machine and though I went in curious, I came out converted. Put succinctly, they rocked my face off.

Their awesomeness was confirmed by their Hot Freaks showcase at SxSW in March and their just-released new record Now We Can See. Whereas Blood was overtly political, forged by the fires of outrage over the Iraq war and outrage over the ideologies behind it, See welcomes the Obama era with a sort of cautious optimism that’s more polished, compact and melodic – more pop, essentially. But that doesn’t make it soft – it’s still loud and nervy, Hutch Harris’ twisted holler still finding plenty in the world to rage against and about. It doesn’t pack the same gut punch or focus of intent that Blood did, but it’s hard to imagine them being able to tap into that same vein of inspiration again and not self-immolate.

Even so, I expected no shortage of righteous fury on Sunday night when the Thermals once again rolled into The Horseshoe for their second-ever Toronto appearance with a couple of fellow Portland acts in tow. The first, Point Juncture WA, seriously impressed. It’s unclear to me whether there actually exists a Point Juncture in the great state of Washington, but if there was and this four-piece’s music were an accurate representation, it’d be a town made up of a noisy/garage-rock residences alongside high-tech electronic industrial districts with a downtown filled with concert halls built on top of jazz clubs, and a population who, despite their disparate influences and interests, all come together to make beautiful pop music. There was no shortage of talent on display – multiple lead vocalists, superb musicianship and deceptively complex song structures – but all of it was in service to their hooky, dreamy pop tunes. And the brought a vibraphone with them on the road for just one part in one song. That’s either dedication or insanity, or probably both. Their new album is Heart To Elk – do investigate.

Middle act The Shaky Hands were somewhat disappointing conventional in comparison. College rock unafraid to let its roots show and with a whiff of jam-bandness about them, they reminded me of Blitzen Trapper but without the genre-hopping creative restlessness. By their set’s end I had come to appreciate them for what they were and not what they weren’t, but wasn’t especially disappointed to see them go. Their new album is Lunglight.

And for The Thermals, I really don’t want to use the word “disappointment” because it sounds overly and unnecessarily harsh, but relative to the two awesome performances they delivered the other two times I’d seen them, this one just paled. They got there and played hard – the sweat soaking Hutch Harris’ shirt by show’s end doesn’t lie – and sounded great, but there wasn’t the sense of glee that I’d basked in at the SxSW show in particular, where both Harris and bassist Kathy Foster were pogoing around the stage and leaping off of amps. Should those sorts of antics be expected nightly? I suppose not, because then it’d just be kind of contrived, but I couldn’t help feeling let down that they didn’t seem to be feeling it this night. But even a Thermals show running not quite full tilt is still a rock show and then some, and from the intensity and enthusiasm of the crowd, it was obvious my feelings were very much in the minority. Covering all albums in their repertoire, they barrelled through almost twenty songs in an hour and did it with aplomb and intensity. If the only complaint I can register is that Harris didn’t leap off of any equipment, then I should probably still file this one under the “W” column.

The Badger Herald and The Hartford Advocate have interviews with Hutch Harris while You Ain’t No Picasso talks to Kathy Foster.

Photos: The Thermals, The Shaky Hands, Point Juncture, WA @ The Horseshoe – May 3, 2009
MP3: The Thermals – “When We Were Alive”
MP3: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”
MP3: The Thermals – “Here’s Your Future”
MP3: The Thermals – “Pillar Of Salt”
MP3: The Thermals – “A Stare Like Yours”
MP3: The Thermals – “How We Know”
MP3: The Thermals – “No Culture Icons”
MP3: The Shaky Hands – “We Are Young”
MP3: Point Juncture WA – “Sioux Arrow”
MP3: Point Juncture WA – “Kings Part II”
MP3: Point Juncture WA – “Sick On Sugar”
Video: The Thermals – “A Pillar Of Salt”
Video: The Thermals – “Returning To The Fold”
Video: The Thermals – “How We Know”
Video: The Thermals – “No Culture Icons”
Video: The Shaky Hands – “We Are Young”
MySpace: The Thermals
MySpace: Point Juncture WA

A bunch of rather high-profile (and high price bracket) shows announced yesterday. First, Sonic Youth will bring their latest album The Eternal, out June 9, to a rather unexpected venue – Massey Hall. They will play the hallowed hall on June 30 with tickets priced at $36.50, $43.50 and $48.50. A limited presale goes Thursday at noon via www.atgconcerts.com and public on-sale is Saturday, May 9, at 1PM.

MP3: Sonic Youth – “Sacred Trickster”

This one I warned you about but it’s now official – Fleet Foxes at Massey Hall on August 4 with Swedes Dungen as support. Tickets for that will be $32.50, $35.50 and $39.50 and presales start at 10AM Wednesday (tomorrow) via www.atgconcerts.com and there’s another, same time, for “Friends Of Massey Hall”. Public on-sale is Friday at 3PM. You know, when I first heard about this band playing this venue, I thought there was no way they could sell it out. But after hearing how excited some people are for this show, I’m beginning to think that they will. And that’s just nuts.

MP3: Fleet Foxes – “Mykonos”
MP3: Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal”

Pearl Jam will be at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 21. Tickets range from $39.50 to $79.50 and go on sale Friday at 2PM.

And finally, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes – that’s the band he’s assembled for his forthcoming countrified album Secret, Profane And Sugarcane, out June 2 – will be at Massey Hall on August 28.

Video: Elvis Costello – “From Sulfur To Sugarcane” (live on Spectacle)

Frank YangI’m all for the egalitarian spirit of alternating closing slots when it comes to co-headline tours, but even as someone who’s a fan of Ladytron and who hadn’t heard a note from The Faint before Monday’s show at the Phoenix, I’d have to say that the evening would have been better served if the Nebraskans had been last up.

Which isn’t a slight on the Liverpool outfit in the least – as their appearance at Harbourfront last July proved, they can put on a terrific show even without being especially animated but following a set as hyper-kinetic and anarchic as The Faint’s? That’s tough. As mentioned, they were an unknown quantity but made a hell of an impression, and quickly – their laser-guided light show and frontman Todd Fink’s manic antics made for a level of spectacle and showmanship that I’m not really used to seeing, and soundtracked by the band’s deep and thundering synth-dug grooves, it wasn’t a little gleefully apocalyptic. And helping that impression along were the audience – all I can say is that if you’re going to be standing in the all-ages portion of a Faint show, you’d best be prepared. Starting from a sway and quickly building to a near-riot, it became very clear that the front half of the Phoenix was no place for the faint of heart or aged of back. I can’t say that I’ll remember a single song The Faint played during that hour on Monday night, but I’ll certainly remember the effect it had on their fans. That shit was crazy.

And crazy is not what Ladytron are about – sleek, stylish and Euro-cool synth-pop is – so it seemed a bit unfair that they’d have to follow that up even if, by most measures, they’re the bigger band. The kids had some time to cool off as the roadies filled the stage with keyboards and it almost seemed as if they’d be sedate for the second half of the show. Almost. I’d gone into the show last year only knowing Ladytron’s latest record, Velocifero, and was inspired to pick up their equally if not more excellent previous release Witching Hour shortly thereafter and this would be about all the background I’d need to be familiar with their set. Like last time, frontwomen Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo remained mainly stationary behind their banks of keyboards, alternately stepping out to handle vocals, and bathed in dim, red backlighting. Except for the occasional flash of blinding stage light or strobe, these were the visuals for the evening – about as far removed from The Faint’s setup as you could get.

But all this proved was that it wasn’t the stage show that got the kids amped up. It didn’t take long before they got rowdy again, each fat square wave out of the PA seemingly resonating with the reptilian parts of their brains. Though I’d managed to mostly hold my ground during The Faint, self-preservation instincts sent me to the sidelines for most of Ladytron’s set, not that that proved effective – about midway through the show, someone came hurtling across the room and slammed into myself, a barrier fence and a very large, heavy and presumably expensive cabinet of PA/stage equipment, knocking all of the above over. Amazingly, nothing was hurt or broken (either myself or the gear) and the show went on.

But even without the incidents of sorta violence, there was a darker vibe to this show than the one on the waterfront last Summer. The mix in the house wasn’t as balanced, frequently overloud and muddy, and it didn’t seem to be much better onstage if the occasional looks on the band’s faces and even a few missed cues were any indication. Throw in the hepped up audience in an enclosed space and my own personal exhaustion and it all just felt kind of tense. And as much as I enjoy Ladytron’s stuff and mostly enjoyed the show, as soon as the final note of “Destroy Everything You Touch” in the encore rang out, I was out of there.

Photos: Ladytron, The Faint @ The Phoenix – April 6, 2009
MP3: Ladytron – “Black Cat”
MP3: Ladytron – “Tomorrow” (Vector Lovers Lucky Remix)
MP3: The Faint – “I Disappear”
MP3: The Faint – “Birth”
MP3: The Faint – “Agenda Sucide”
MP3: The Faint – “Call Call”
MP3: The Faint – “Worked Up So Sexual”
MP3: The Faint – “Some Incriminating Photographs”
Video: Ladytron – “Runaway”
Video: Ladytron – “Ghosts”
Video: Ladytron – “Destroy Everything You Touch”
Video: Ladytron – “Sugar”
Video: Ladytron – “Evil”
Video: Ladytron – “Blue Jeans”
Video: Ladytron – “Seventeen”
Video: Ladytron – “Play Girl”
Video: The Faint – “The Geeks Were Right”
Video: The Faint – “I Disappear”
Video: The Faint – “Agenda Suicide”
MySpace: Ladytron
MySpace: The Faint

If you were one of the people disappointed that Telepathe dropped off the Ladytron/Faint bill at the last minute, well, you’ve obviously never heard/seen them live. But if you actually like them and want to see them, they’ll be here on June 4 for their own show at the El Mocambo in support of their new record Dance Mother, out next week. Full tour dates at altsounds.

MP3: Telepathe – “So Fine” (Lauren Flax remix)
Video: Telepathe – “So Fine”

Southern rock-punks Cage The Elephant, who were a very pleasant surprise at NxNE 2007, have a date at the El Mocambo on April 26, tickets $8. Their self-titled debut did quite well when it was released in Europe last year, and is getting a domestic release on April 21.

Video: Cage The Elephant – “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”

Chart reports that Canada Day this year will be celebrated at Harbourfront by Constantines and Chad Van Gaalen. As with every year, this show will be a) free and b) awesome.

Coming just a day too late to be considered timely (by me), the self-titled debut album from La Roux has been given a release date of June 29.

The Music Slut asks eight questions of White Lies.

Maximo Park’s Paul Smith gives Drowned In Sound a track-by-track tour of their new album Quicken The Heart, out May 12.

Singing Lamb interviews Cut Off Your Hands.

Stereogum interviews Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. Their new album The Eternal is out June 9.

Pitchfork tracks the musical development of Thermals frontman Hutch Harris and also premieres their new video. They’re at the Horseshoe on May 3.

Video: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”

MTV and Spinner talk to Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan. Her new record Two Suns came out yesterday and is streaming this week at Spinner. She’s at the Mod Club on April 25.

Stream: Bat For Lashes / Two Suns

Clash and Manchester Confidential interview Doves. Kingdom Of Rust is out now, streaming below, and they’re at the Kool Haus on June 1.

Stream: Doves / Kingdom of Rust

Paste plays catch up with Bob Mould. Life And Times came out yesterday – stream it below.

Stream: Bob Mould / Life and Times

Also out now and streaming for your consideration is The Hold Steady’s new live document A Positive Rage.

Stream: The Hold Steady / A Positive Rage

Frank YangIt’s far too easy to be cynical about Glasvegas. Emerging from the UK as they did last year on a massive wave of hype with a sound that was unabashedly retro and a matching ’50s-greaser gang image, the Glasgow-based quartet were quick targets for those who wanted to dismiss them as contrived and calculated, not that that stopped them from topping the charts and becoming massive at home.

For my part, I went from intrigued on first listen to mildly suspicious after spending time with their self-titled debut and then somewhat won over following their daylight SxSW set. At the time, I figured that seeing them in neutral environs such as a SxSW day show, stripped of their light show and adoring fans, would provide a truer indication if they were for real or not. And yes they sold me, but it wasn’t until Friday night’s show at the Mod Club – their long-awaited Toronto debut – that I realized what I was missing out on by skipping the formal sales pitch.

Glasvegas are not ashamed to aspire to stadium-scale grandeur, with massive Spector-via-JAMC sonics and anthemic choruses designed to rouse the cheap seats and while the Mod Club is hardly Wembley Stadium, packed as it was with fans hollering along with every song, it wasn’t far off. From the opening notes of “Geraldine” through end end of their just under an hour-long set, it was clear that Glasvegas weren’t there to convince anyone they were a great band – they were there to celebrate that as fact with those who already knew it. Looking not a little bit Strummer and clad in a leather jacket (later swapped for a tank top and donated tartan scarf), frontman James Allan displayed dollops of rock star charisma, basking in the adoration of the audience but returning every bit of it right back to the crowd.

It was the sort of rapport that made me ashamed to have ever questioned the sincerity of the band. That doesn’t necessarily excuse some of the overly-direct earnestness of the songwriting, but it does mitigate it. Seeing and hearing Allan bellow the words with unquestionable emotion, no matter how clumsy, then back off while the enraptured audience take over while more than matching his passion… yes, on paper it’s kind of cliche but in person? It’s still pretty stirring. The band will probably always have more than it’s share of critics and naysayers, but I know where I stand now – over there with the other folks singing, “here we fucking go”.

The Toronto Sun has a glowing review of the show and reports that the band will be back this Fall, eye has another review. Music Snobbery has an interview with the band. And congrats go to Jarita, Ashlee and Mark who won the signed Glasvegas albums.

Photos: Glasvegas @ The Mod Club – April 3, 2009
Video: Glasvegas – “Please Come Back Home”
Video: Glasvegas – “Daddy’s Gone”
Video: Glasvegas – “Geraldine”
MySpace: Glasvegas

NME has a video interview and The Line Of Best Fit and The Herald text ones with Doves. Kingdom Of Rust is out tomorrow, they play the Kool Haus on June 1.

Tourdates UK talks to Emmy The Great.

Maximo Park have released the first video from their forthcoming album Quicken The Heart, out May 12.

Video: Maximo Park – “The Kids Are Sick Again”

And also with a new video are The Joy Formidable for their latest single “Whirring”, off the excellent A Balloon Called Moaning.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”

Drowned In Sound chats with Ryan Adams on the occasion of his retirement from the world of music. He interviews Marianne Faithfull for Black Book while The Guardian profiles Adams and other rockers turned authors including Nick Cave and Billy Bragg.

The Hold Steady are offering up an MP3 from their new live album A Positive Rage, out tomorrow.

MP3: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy” (live)

I saw almost 50 shows at SxSW this year, but one of the ones I missed – and regret – was The Uglysuit, who only played like three shows. Could they not have taken one of the Vivian Girls’ two dozen shows? They’ve released a new MP3 from their fine 2008 self-titled debut, reviewed here.

MP3: The Uglysuit – “…And We Became Sunshine”

Paste and The Skinny catch up with The Thermals. Their new one Now We Can See is out tomorrow and currently streaming at their MySpace. They’re at the Horseshoe on May 3.

Stream: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”

Blurt, BBC1, The New York Times and Filter have profiles on The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Askmen talks to Metric’s Emily Haines. Their new album Fantasies is out tomorrow, they play an in-store at HMV on Yonge St on Thursday and a show at the Mod Club next Tuesday.

I Heart Music is sharing MP3s of the CBC Fuse session with The Sadies and The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie from a couple years ago. I saw them team up at the Horseshoe in December 2007 and it was intense. The Sadies’ new album backing John Doe, Country Club, is out April 14 and they play the Horseshoe together on April 30. The Tragically Hip’s new one We Are The Same is out this week and they have a six-night stand at Massey Hall the week of May 11.

WOXY has posted MP3s from a slew of Lounge Act sessions recorded during SxSW, including sets from The Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart, Ume and The Wooden Birds. They also welcomed The Rural Alberta Advantage in for a session last week.

PitchforkTV is streaming the new Arcade Fire documentary Miroir Noir, which is now available in DVD form.

Soundproof has a guest column from Alan McGee wondering why people would actually want The Stone Roses to reunite.

The National Post has an interview with yours truly about blogs and stuff and includes what I hope is one of the worst pictures of me in existence. If anyone tells me that’s actually a good photo, I will despair.

Frank YangI don’t know what their official show count at SxSW was, but I think I managed to miss Cut Off Your Hands play no less than ten times in four days. This actually took some effort. And it wasn’t that I didn’t WANT to see them – you may recall I quite liked their debut You And I despite its more derivative qualities – but knowing that they’d be in Toronto just a week later, it was hard to justify missing another band who perhaps didn’t have T.O. in their travel plans to see one that was. And while I still think that was the smart thing to do, after their blistering set at the Horseshoe on Monday night, I can’t but help feeling a twinge of regret that I’ll have to wait who knows how long to see them again.

I’d missed most of the first band in the evening, an instrumental post-rock outfit called Siberia, but was there in plenty of time for the middle act, a local outfit with the somewhat unfortunate name of Boys Who Say No – unfortunate because it’s a bad name and they were quite a good band. I’d describe them as being a little bit folk and a little bit punk, but would never call them folk-punk. They had impressive chops channeled into creating a Maritime-ish good times party vibe that initially made me want to dismiss them – I like my music serious and profound, thank you very much – but by set’s end I was won over.

No such convincing was needed for Cut Off Your Hands. New Zealand’s first most popular post-punk-pop quartet came out firing on all cylinders, frontman Nick Johnston pogoing all over the stage, and didn’t let up for a moment of their compact but exhausting 40-minute set. Whereas the album took pains to include some gentler moments and show off the band’s sensitive side, live they were all about being turned up to 10 and staying at 10 until their tanks ran down to zero. And even though the record crackles with no small amount of energy, I was quite (and pleasantly) surprised by just how utterly gleeful and manic their performance was, particularly since they were able to execute the songs so perfectly and Johnston was able to avoid causing himself serious physical harm. Slower songs were made fast and fast songs made breakneck, but there was no compromising quality for energy, and that’s a hell of a thing to pull off. Excellence.

eye has both an interview with the band and a glowing show review while Chart also enjoyed themselves, just not quite as much.

Photos: Cut Off Your Hands, Boys Who Say No @ The Horseshoe – March 30, 2009
MP3: Cut Off Your Hands – “Turn Cold”
Video: Cut Off Your Hands – “Expectations” (version 1)
Video: Cut Off Your Hands – “Expectations” (version 2)
Video: Cut Off Your Hands – “Expectations” (version 3)
Video: Cut Off Your Hands – “Oh Girl”
Video: Cut Off Your Hands – “You And I”
MySpace: Cut Off Your Hands

Cut Off Your Hands had been touring North America with Ra Ra Riot, but peeled off on their own for a few Canadian dates but will meet back up with them in New York City. Ra Ra Riot are here on Sunday opening up for Death Cab at the Sound Academy – they gave an interview to The National Post.

Scots 1990s, whose latest album Kicks was also helmed by Cut Off Your Hands producer Bernard Butler, have just announced a North American tour which brings them to the Horseshoe on June 3.

MP3: 1990s – “The Box”
Video: 1990s – “Animate”

Some samples from upcoming releases of note, starting with Superchunk! The first new ‘Chunk material in forever will be out on April 7 in the form of the Leaves In The Gutter EP and 20% of it sounds like this.

MP3: Superchunk – “Misfits & Mistakes”

Also out that day is the SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: THE COVERS! compilation, from which you can hear the ‘Chunk being covered by Les Savy Fav.

MP3: Les Savy Fav – “Precision Auto”

King Khan & The Shrines will release What Is?! on April 21 and play the Phoenix on May 12.

MP3: King Khan & The Shrines – “Land Of The Freak”

John Vanderslice will release his first album for new label Dead Oceans on May 19 in Romanian Names, and one of the songs sounds like this. The Hartford Courant and Express Night Out talk to the ‘Slice about his new record.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Fetal Horses”

The Rumble Strips won’t release their second album Welcome To The Walk Alone until June 8 in the UK, but they’re sharing the first single from it, entitled “London”.

MP3: The Rumble Strips – “London”

Exclaim and Muzzle Of Bees have interviews with Hutch Harris of The Thermals. Their new album Now We Can See is out next Tuesday and they play The Horseshoe on May 3. Here’s another track from the record:

MP3: The Thermals – “When We Were Alive”

Blurt and The Dallas Observer talk to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 25.

Neil Young is streaming Fork In The Road on his MySpace in advance of its release next Tuesday.

Stream: Neil Young / Fork In The Road

Wireless Bollinger, Flagstaff Live and CMT talk to Justin Townes Earle, who plays the Horseshoe on April 22.

Bishop Allen’s Justin Rice talks inspiration with Spinner.