Arno FrugierUsually when a band says, “we’ll see you soon” as they walk off the stage, it’s a mostly-empty platitude that means “we’ll see you when we’ve got a new record to push”, or “we’ll see you when our next single becomes a huge hit and allows us to come back and play a much bigger room”. For New York rock stalwarts The Walkmen and Los Angeles psych-folk bard Father John Misty, though, at least lately, it’s been an ironclad promise.

The Walkmen were here twice already this year – once in March at The Phoenix as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations, and again in August at the Molson Amphitheatre supporting both Florence & The Machine and their latest album Heaven – and Father John Misty has one-upped them, making his local debut at The Horseshoe in May, opening up for Youth Lagoon at The Opera House in July, and then returning again to headline Lee’s Palace just this past weekend, all in support of his debut Fear Fun. Which is great news for their fans if a bit hard on their fans’ pocketbooks.

But if you reside in that section of their fanbase Venn diagrams that intersect, the fact that they’re teaming up for a Winter tour should be an exciting one. It will bring them to The Danforth Music Hall on January 16 with ticket prices ranging from $33.50 to $45.50, which isn’t the cheapest, but when you consider the two-for-one value proposition, it’s a pretty good deal.

Le Blogotheque has a couple videos from The Walkmen’s 10th anniversary show in New York this Summer. Bullett, The Chicago Tribune, and The Phoenix have interviews with Josh Tillman of Father John Misty, who is continuing on his current tour.

MP3: The Walkmen – “Love Is Luck”
MP3: The Walkmen – “Line By Line”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
MP3: Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”

Grantland goes behind the scenes of the first video from Titus Andronicus’ Local Business. That record brings them to Lee’s Palace on November 27 and provides context for this interview at The Guardian

Video: Titus Andronicus – “In A Big City”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Band Of Horses, hitting Massey Hall on December 5.

Pitchfork has details on the solo debut from Christopher Owens, former frontman for Girls. Lysandre will be out on January 14 and a couple songs from it are available to stream.

Stream: Christopher Owens – “Lysandre’s Theme / Here We Go”

The first preview track from Local Natives’ new record Hummingbird, due out January 29, is now available to download. They’re at The Opera House on March 28.

MP3: Local Natives – “Breakers”

Though busy for the last while as being part of Thao & Mirah, Thao Nguyen has gotten back together with The Get Down Stay Down – though grammar geeks will find it interesting they’re now credited as “and” instead of “with” – and will release a new album in We The Common on February 5. Stream the first track below.

Stream: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – “Holy Roller”

Under The Radar points out that Telekinesis has, for shits and giggles, made a new Hallowe’en-themed song available to download.

MP3: Telekinesis – “Clock Strikes Midnight”

Loud & Quiet and The Huffington Post talk to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

Paul Banks talks to Exclaim and Northern Transmissions about and offers Drowned In Sound a track-by-track guide to Banks.

The Shins’ contribution to the now-available Starbucks holiday comp Holidays Rule – a Paul McCartney cover – is now available to stream in whole thanks to Stereogum, and if that’s not enough Shins for you, the whole of their Austin City Limits episode is available to watch. And if that’s still not enough, well I can’t help you.

Stream: The Shins – “Wonderful Christmas Time”

aux.tv talks to Lou Barlow about keeping the balance between Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, and all that other stuff he does.

Mojo interviews Bob Mould.

Patrick JeffordsIt’s still October, but for all intents and purposes, 2012 is over. How so? Not only is every new album being announced slated to come out in the new year, but pretty much every tour announcement as well. Still hoping that December dance card was going to fill up? Maybe get a jump on your Christmas shopping instead.

But at least you have something to look forward to, including the third album from South Carolinan electronic pop – let’s not call it electro-pop – artist Chaz Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi. Entitled Anything In Return, the follow-up to 2011’s Underneath The Pine will be out on January 22 and will be accompanied a week later by a month-long North American tour that takes him right around the continent, including a February 17 date at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, tickets for which will run you $20. Pitchfork has the full itinerary and the first track from the new record is available to download.

MP3: Toro Y Moi – “So Many Details”

Also coming out on January 22 is the third album from Syracuse, New York’s finest (and only?) indie rock ensemble Ra Ra Riot. It’s called Beta Love and is their first since the departure of cellist Alexandra Lawn, so it will be interesting to hear how that lineup change effects their sound. They’ve also got an extensive North American tour scheduled – with a slight detour to Japan – and will be at Lee’s Palace on March 6, tickets $18.50 in advance.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

And while the official word on Local Natives’ second album and attendant tour came last week, the conspicuous lack of a Toronto date was addressed – as I predicted – this week, with the addition of a date at The Opera House on March 28. Tickets for that are $21.50.

MP3: Local Natives – “Sun Hands”

Sufjan Stevens has released a video from his Silver & Gold Christmas box set coming November 13, and while it is animated, it’s probably not for kids.

Video: Sufjan Stevens – “Mr. Frosty Man”

Wild Nothing have released a new video from their latest Nocturne that comes with a little celebrity flavour in the form of Michelle Williams. You know, that girl from Dawson’s Creek. No, the other one. Tangentially, you should all be watching Don’t Trust The B– In Apartment 23. Very tangentially.

Video: Wild Nothing – “Paradise”

A Place To Bury Strangers also have a new video taken from Worship.

Video: A Place To Bury Strangers – “And I’m Up”

And between giving interviews to The 405 and Drowned In Sound, Paul Banks has rolled out a new clip from his solo record Banks.

Video: Paul Banks – “Young Again”

Interview and Creative Loafing interview Josh Tillman of Father John Misty, hutting up Lee’s Palace this Saturday night, October 27.

Tobin Sprout talks to Rolling Stone about a new song available to stream from the third Guided By Voices album of 2012, The Bears For Lunch. It’s out November 13.

Stream: Guided By Voices – “She Lives In An Airport”

While no fan of this “deluxe edition” trend going on for current albums, at least Sharon Van Etten is offering some good value. Consequence Of Sound reports that the double-disc edition of Tramp, out November 13, will come with a bonus disc of demos of every song on the album. And, if you’ve already bought it – which you should have – the demos will be available on their own CD. And that, folks, is how you do deluxe. One of the extras – a song not on the finished album – has been made available to stream. We Love DC also has an interview.

Stream: Sharon Van Etten – “Tell Me” (demo)

The Awl and Exclaim hang out with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus. They’re at Lee’s Palace on November 27.

Stereogum and Rolling Stone talk to Jason Lytle, rolling into Massey Hall on December 5 opening for Band Of Horses.

The Cincinatti Enquirer, Chicago Tribune, Time Out Chicago, and City Pages interview members of The Afghan Whigs.

Blurt, Chicago Tribune, and The Wall Street Journal interview Divine Fits.

In conversation with Spinner, Ben Gibbard says that a second Postal Service record isn’t going to happen anytime soon and probably not ever.

Frank YangEvery good thing you’ve heard about Cat Power live is true, and also a lie; the same goes for every bad thing. The reputation that Chan Marshall gained as a fragile, erratic performer over the first decade or so of her career may have seemed overstated to mythic proportions, but few have made great efforts to dispute it. I can’t speak from experience – though a modest fan since Moon Pix, I’d avoided seeing her in concert because of that reputation and reports from the Toronto shows I’d missed in that time seemed to bear out that I hadn’t missed much.

So it was with great surprise and pleasure that my first two Cat Power shows in Fall 2006 – an intimate solo show at Lee’s Palace and a full band performance at The Phoenix, both in support of The Greatest, were sublime experiences. The former had a few awkward moments though they were far outnumbered by the great ones, but the latter, powered by the Memphis Rhythm Band, was about as perfect as you could get. A subsequent show at the 2007 Rogers Picnic was far less assured – though she got the benefit of the doubt as that whole day was just weird – and the last time I saw her at Matador at 21, she again sounded great; any reservations were more about the continued absence of new material than the performance itself. So I was optimistic for her first Toronto show since early 2008 this past Saturday night, since it was coming in support of her game-changing and excellent new album Sun; surely the sass and confidence that went into crafting that record would translate live? It’d be a couple of support acts before we’d find out.

Leadoff hitters Xray Eyeballs may have hailed from Brooklyn, but their psychedelic garage rock sound was decidedly west coast in lineage. With guitarist O.J. San Felipe and bassist Carly Rabalais trading off lead vocals while laying down beds of fuzzy guitars, simple percussion, and whirring synths, their set wasn’t sophisticated but not amateurish, either. It wasn’t a new sound by any stretch nor was their take on it overly memorable, but decent enough for passing a half hour. Though a note to San Felipe – they’re called Straploks and you should look into them.

I’d heard many good things about Chicago’s Willis Earl Beal prior to his being a late but welcome addition as support for this tour – that he was a poet, a soul-singer, a visual artist, an eccentric, a philosopher, and a hell of a performer – but despite him having come through town twice already in support of his lauded debut Acousmatic Sorcery, I hadn’t had a chance to explore further and his being a late addition as support for this leg of the tour was welcome news. He took the stage not with a band but a couple of mannequins, and instead literally played to backing tapes – he had a reel-to-reel tape machine set up behind him, providing the musical backing for him to sing over.

And really, even if he’d brought a full orchestra with him, it’s unlikely anyone would have noticed as it was nigh impossible to take your eyes off of him once he got going. With a huge voice that could go from a soulfully supple to hitting like a sack of gravel, he sang like an avatar of manic desperation while pacing the stage and turning everything around him – the mic stand, the flag that had covered his tape machine, a folding chair, his clothes – into a performance prop and closing out with mic twirls whilst doing The Running Man. Using an artist as singular as Tom Waits as a reference point for any other performer is usually unwise as it’s far too high a bar for mortals to measure against, but for Willis Earl Beal? It’s both stylistically accurate and speaks to the man’s potential. Pretty much amazing.

That the intro music for Cat Power’s set was Bob Dylan’s “Shelter From The Storm” – it played twice, once when they band was scheduled to take the stage and again fifteen minutes later when they actually did – was telling. Just as Dylan has earled a reputation as a difficult live act, frequently inverting and rearranging his classic songs to the point of being unrecognizable, so to has Marshall taken to treating her songbook as raw material for crafting something new rather than as canon to be performed respectfully. Also unrecognizable was Marshall herself, following her band onstage in leather jacket and the short, spiky, blonde hairdo debuted in her video for “Cherokee” further punkified with shaved sides. That song opened the show, but rather than stay in character from the video and battle zombies, she instead did battle with the incense burning on stage, constantly fussing with it while singing and then turning her attention to the two mics set up for her – indistinguishable to the eye and ear – through “Sun”, and then the mic stands on “3, 6, 9”. To her credit, she mostly sounded alright while this was going on, if not as in key or articulate as one would like, but it was distracting to watch.

As has been typical for the past few years, Marshall eschewed guitar duties to concentrate on singing – and fussing – leaving her four-piece backing band to the music, and theirs was not an easy task. They had to give the songs enough structure so as to stay intact and relatively recognizable, yet allow Marshall the space to roam and improvise as she was wont to do. And this was where I saw where the crucial difference between this show and the Greatest show would be – in that setting, Marshall had to rein herself in to meet the supremely tight and professional standards of that veteran outfit, but here she was in charge and it was her players’ job to follow her, wherever she felt like going. While they stuck to the Sun material, things stayed fairly steady and onstage eccentrics aside – the incense/mic/stand fiddling and rambling banter persisted – the audience remained onside.

The middle portion of the set was probably more trying. A reading of the unreleased “Bully” found Marshall in her best voice of the evening to that point as being accompanied only by piano, being distracted wasn’t really an option, and from that she went into an almost operatic, dramatically backlit performance of Mexican icon Pedro Infante’s “Angelitos Negros” (a Jukebox bonus track), and then a half-speed, Moon Pix-skeletal version of “The Greatest” that traded almost all melody for a steadily building, almost ominous dynamic – an interesting interpretation, but perhaps not what an audience who’d been waiting over 10 minutes for something remotely familiar wanted.

It having been a half-decade since she’d toured an album of original material through town, most were probably hoping to hear more catalog material but given how it was being presented, they were probably thankful whenever the set returned to Sun and more familiar if recent sounds. When Marshall finally strapped on a guitar for “Silent Machine”, it was both invigorating and frustrating – for those four minutes, her Danelectro was like a lightning rod that channeled everything the band could be into that slinky, sexy, slide riff and they were tight and focused like they’d not been the rest of the show. And of course, while that was the only song that Marshall would play an instrument and the indisputable high point of the show, they did raise their game for a powerful “Nothin’ But Time” and “Peace and Love”. Lest the momentum keep going, however, they went back to You Are Free for a sprawling, deconstructed “I Don’t Blame You”, before again pulling it together for a strong “Ruin”. For the show’s close of I think “Rambling (Wo)man” – I can’t be sure – a fan handed Marshall a bouquet of flowers which she spend most of the song distributing amongst her band and then tossing, flower by flower, into the audience. And continuing in a giving theme, gave away a t-shirt and all the lyrics sheets she had on stage before requesting – and receiving – a fan’s Charlie Chaplin t-shirt.

It was a nice moment and close to a show that was, even to die-hard fans and apologists, uneven and oft frustrating. Though Marshall seemed in good spirits throughout and any performance where she doesn’t halt a song midway through to complain about the monitors or just walk right off is a positive one, for as long as she’s been doing this she should be much better. She can be and has been. But perhaps for an artist for whom, “is she alright?” is always a legitimate question – a brace of cancelled promotional appearances before the start of the tour was cause for concern, as was her tweet from the inside of an ambulance the afternoon of the show – perhaps overt fan service by way of her song selections and arrangements is too much to ask. Perhaps it’s enough that she’s again making great records, and that your odds of seeing a good show – while still obviously not even – are much better than they once were. At least she’s trying.

NOW, The National Post, and BlogTO were also on hand for the show.

Photos: Cat Power, Willis Earl Beal, Xray Eyeballs @ The Kool Haus – October 20, 2012
MP3: Cat Power – “Ruin”
MP3: Cat Power – “Cherokee”
MP3: Cat Power – “Manhattan”
MP3: Cat Power – “Metal Heart”
MP3: Cat Power – “The Greatest”
MP3: Cat Power – “He-War”
MP3: Cat Power – “Nude As The News”
MP3: Willis Earl Beal – “Monotony”
MP3: Willis Earl Beal – “Blue Escape”
MP3: Willis Earl Beal – “White Noise”
MP3: Xray Eyeballs – “Crystal”
MP3: Xray Eyeballs – “Egyptian Magician”
Video: Cat Power – “Cherokee”
Video: Cat Power – “King Rides By”
Video: Cat Power – “Living Proof”
Video: Cat Power – “Lived In Bars”
Video: Cat Power – “He War”
Video: Cat Power – “Crossbones Style”
Video: Willis Earl Beal – “Monotony”
Video: Xray Eyeballs – “X”
Video: Xray Eyeballs – “Crystal”

Sufjan Stevens has made one of the songs from his upcoming Silver & Gold Christmas song box set available for download. The set’s not out until November 13 so think of it like that one gift that you were allowed to open on Christmas Eve. It’s just like that.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “Ding-A-Ling-A-Ring-A-Ling”

Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus talks to Consequence Of Sound. They’re at Lee’s Palace on November 27.

Clash and The Oklahoman meet Band Of Horses, in town at Massey Hall on December 5.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Grizzly Bear.

NYC Taper is sharing another The Mountain Goats live recording from last week.

Pitchfork talks to Sharon Van Etten about making her recent video for “Magic Chords”; Varsity just talks to her about whatever.

DIY has a feature interview with Savoir Adore.

The San Francisco Chronicle and CBC Music chat with Joey Burns of Calexico while The 405 also ropes John Covertino into their conversation.

NPR talks to Benjamin Gibbard.

Bryan SheffieldIf you thought you heard the sound of dense, nimble percussion, shimmering guitars, and intricate harmonies coming from the vicinity of New York on Wednesday night, you weren’t hearing things. That was the sound of Los Angeles’ Local Natives making their live return at The Bowery Ballroom as part of CMJ, a performance announced only a couple days prior. The show was their first this calendar year, and they used the opportunity to preview material from the follow-up to their 2009 breakout debut Gorilla Manor, video footage of which has been collected by Consequence Of Sound.

Of more interest to their fans who weren’t amongst the 500 or so in attendance, though, was the announcement yesterday of the release of their second album, which they discussed with Pitchfork early last month. Entitled Hummingbird, it will be out on January 29 of the new year and acknowledging that that’s still a little ways off, they also offered up a stream of one of the new songs from the record as well as a first batch of North American tour dates. There’s no Toronto date on the itinerary yet, but I use the word “yet” because as you can see, there’s three days off between Columbus and Boston at the end of March and what’s between point C and point B? Not a whole lot, unless you hang a left at Buffalo and cross the border. So, without actually knowing anything and assuming they’d rather play a show than go factory outlet shopping, I’d suggest keeping an eye on their calendar.

Stream: Local Natives – “Breakers”

Rolling Stone, MTV Hive, Spin, and Pitchfork all want to get down to Local Business with Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus. They play Lee’s Palace on November 27.

The Ithaca Times talk to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, whose live performance has been captured in concert and session, respectively, by NYC Taper and Daytrotter. They play The Phoenix tomorrow night.

Also animal-themed and in town tomorrow is Cat Power; she’s at The Kool Haus and Chan Marshall gives an interview to Ocean Drive.

Everyone who thought that 2011 being the year of Bon Iver meant that we wouldn’t have to hear much from him in 2012… sorry. Austin City Limits is streaming the entirety of his episode of the show and they’ve squeezed another video out of last year’s self-title.

Video: Bon Iver – “Beth/Rest”

The Line Of Best Fit and Spin talk to Paul Banks about his new solo record Banks, out next Tuesday, and the tenth anniversary reissue of Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, out November 19.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Cincinnati CityBeat, and Detroit News check in with Greg Dulli and John Curley as the Afghan Whigs reunion continues.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Jason Lytle, in town opening for Band Of Horses at Massey Hall on December 5.

Clash gets a look inside the Beachwood Sparks library.

School Of Seven Bells have announced the release of a new EP entitled Put Your Sad Down, due out November 13.

Frank YangA little into Beach House’s show at the Kool Haus on Saturday night, Victoria Legrand mentioned that this was their twelfth time playing Toronto. And while I was glad she’d saved me the trouble of trying to assemble their 416 gigography, I was surprised that they’d been through so many times in the past six years, since I’m pretty sure the first was in November 2006 when they played to a dozen or so people in the front room of the Tranzac. I hadn’t personally caught any of the subsequent ten shows, but have followed them around the world – Austin, Chicago, and Reykjavik – so they’ve hardly been off my radar. Just not on the local scale.

In any case, checking back in with Beach House in Toronto with some 2000 others revealed a band that had somehow managed to grow and evolve without seemingly changing at all. Which is to say that if you were to compare their latest, the rather exquisite Bloom, with their self-titled debut, there’d be no arguing it’s the same band – the balance of Victoria Legrand’s smoky voice, whirring keyboards and Alex Scally’s slippery slide guitar remains as it ever was, as does their deliberately slow and hazy sonic aesthetic – but there’s also no denying that it’s an exponentially more creative and interesting Beach House that operates circa 2012, one that gleams through the mist. Truly, they’re an example of a band taking the few elements that define what they are and completely mastering them.

The same can also be said for their live show. Early on, there wasn’t much disputing that they were a… understated pair of performers, the best way to experience their shows being to close your eyes and drift away – that’s certainly what they did. Along the way, though, they’d made some tweaks – most notably trading in their rickety drum loops and machines for real-live sticksman Dan Franz – and learned how to become a compelling, if still unconventional, live act. This isn’t something I’d have expected to say a year prior (to the day, actually) when I saw them – or more accurately their silhouettes – as their entire Iceland Airwaves set was doused in smoke and terribly backlighting but for this tour, which they dubbed the “Frightened Eyes” tour, they had wisely prepared something for the eyes to focus on.

With Scally seated stage right, Legrand set back a bit in centre, and Franz stage left, they set up in almost a straight line in front of some horizontally-striped wall panels. These on occasion shone lights out onto the audience but more often gave something for the stage lights to project against for simple but striking visual effects. On paper it doesn’t sound like much – and even to see it it wasn’t much – but like Beach House’s aesthetic, the simplicity of it and the lighting design in general was perfectly matched to the music and it just worked. And though it would have been easy enough to leverage their visual presence for an air of mystery, Legrand was actually rather chatty, at various points giving a shout out to local music shop Paul’s Boutique as a great place to buy a keyboard, running down the band’s history of performances in the city, and while happy to be playing their largest headline show to date, declared prior to “Silver Soul” that they wanted it to feel nice and intimate – or more precisely, “tight and hot”.

For all of this, though, it would be the music and music alone that people left talking about. Almost the entire set drew from either Teen Dream or Bloom, with only a couple nods to Devotion, and as good as it was to hear them touring behind their breakout record last year, the difference of having two albums of superb, dynamic pop to work with can’t be overstated. From the opening beat of “Wild” breaking into Scally’s chiming guitar and then being given form and focus by Legrand’s breathy, wholly enveloping voice, they were able to lift off and not come close to touching the ground for the duration of the show. It’s funny – airborne metaphors would have been the last thing I’d expect to use to describe Beach House at that first show, but in their finest moments – of which there were many on this night – they simply soared.

The National Post also has a review and Metro and The Boston Globe have features on the band.

Photos: Beach House @ The Kool Haus – October 13, 2012
MP3: Beach House – “Lazuli”
MP3: Beach House – “Myth”
MP3: Beach House – “I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun”
MP3: Beach House – “Zebra”
MP3: Beach House – “Norway”
MP3: Beach House – “Gila”
MP3: Beach House – “Heart Of Chamber”
MP3: Beach House – “Master Of None”
Video: Beach House – “Lazuli”
Video: Beach House – “Zebra”
Video: Beach House – “Lover Of Mine”
Video: Beach House – “Walk In The Park”
Video: Beach House – “Silver Soul”
Video: Beach House – “Used To Be”
Video: Beach House – “You Came To Me”
Video: Beach House – “Heart Of Chambers”

Titus Andronicus have released one of those newfangled “lyric videos” for the second single from their new one Local Business. Which is great if you want to learn the words to sing along whilst moshing when they roll into Lee’s Palace on November 27, but if you just want to hear the new songs, you’re probably better off just hitting the NPR stream of the album. It’s out next week.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape with the Flood of Detritus”
Lyric Video: Titus Andronicus – “Still Life with Hot Deuce and Silver Platter”
Stream: Titus Andronicus / Local Business

Also now streaming over at Drowned In Sound is Banks, the new solo record from Interpol frontman Paul Banks. It’s out next week.

MP3: Paul Banks – “The Base”
Stream: Paul Banks / Banks

Members of Band Of Horses chat with Spinner, nooga.com, and The Miami New Times. They play Massey Hall on December 5.

Opening up that Band Of Horses show will be Jason Lytle; The Big Takeover and NPR have interviews with the once and future Grandaddy frontman.

The Boston Herald, Red Eye, and The Boston Globe have interviews and NPR a World Cafe session with Divine Fits. And over at Seattle Weekly, Dan Boeckner analyzes last week’s vice-presidential debate.

Filter talks to Of Montreal. Their new Daughter Of Cloud compilation is out next week.

Release day for Benjamin Gibbard’s solo debut Former Lives bring feature pieces at Consequence Of Sound, PopMatters, Toronto Star, Huffington Post, NOW, Rolling Stone, Interview, and CBC Music.

Clash and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talk to Calexico.

Filter asks Blouse about their impending journey to Iceland Airwaves.

Consequence Of Sound finds out what Peter Buck has been up to, post-R.E.M..