Posts Tagged ‘Tokyo Police Club’

Friday, September 14th, 2012

Bells On

Sloan revisit Twice Removed once again

Photo By Michael HalsbandMichael HalsbandTwenty is a nice round number for an anniversary, and Sloan marked their two decades as a band in fine style last year, releasing the milestone-referencing Double Cross and touring a career-spanning set more extensively than they have in some time. Fifteen is also a pretty solid number, so when they busted out a One Chord To Another recital for last year’s Fucked Up-sponsored fundraiser, it could also be seen as marking an occasion.

Twice Removed, however, only turns 18 this year (“only”… everyone who remembers buying a copy new put up your hand – congratulations, you’re old) so unless they’re celebrating the record’s ability to vote or fight in a war, it’s curious timing for a deluxe reissue and commemorative tour, though it’s worth noting they already did this at least once back in 2010 for Halifax Pop Explosion – celebrating the album’s legality to drive a car? But one of the perks of having been around as long as they have is they don’t have to justify themselves to anyone, so if Sloan wants to put together a super-fancy deluxe box set and tour across the country playing the album in full – plus other hits, don’t worry – who’s anyone to question it? Certainly not me.

This is a record, remember, that was twice voted the best Canadian album of all-time by Chart readers (in 1996 and 2005) but as adored as it became, when it was first released it confounded pretty much everyone (and eventually got them dropped from their major label deal), so definitively did it ditch the shoegrunge of their debut Smeared for much cleaner, classic pop styles. I personally remember listening to the radio at a Summer job in 1994 (painting a warehouse – fun!) and hearing the DJ declare they were about to play the new Sloan single; that was “Coax Me” and I swear another two or three more songs played before I realized that that moody, chiming, Byrds-y/Beatles-y throwback number from about 15 minutes ago was the song I’d been waiting for. And, eighteen years later, I’ve finally gotten around to learning to play it on guitar. Not nearly as difficult as I thought it was.

The first batch of Twice Removed dates started out west but only took them as far as Chicago; the second leg has now been announced and in addition to covering a lot more of the northeastern United States in October, a string of November dates covers southern Ontario and wraps up November 22 at The Phoenix in Toronto. Tickets for that are $26.50 in advance and go on sale this Saturday.

The Nelson Star has an interview with Jay Ferguson about the process of digging through the Sloan archives for the Twice Removed reissue set. They’ve also been posting video footage from the era at their YouTube channel.

Video: Sloan – “People Of The Sky”
Video: Sloan – “Coax Me”

The Darcys are also revisiting a classic album live, but it’s not one of theirs. Having released their interpretation of Steely Dan’s Aja at the start of the year, they’re now going to take it on tour. Exclaim has their Autumn itinerary, which wraps on November 10 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $10.

MP3: The Darcys – “Josie”
MP3: The Darcys – “Josie (Vol 2)”
Video: The Darcys – “Josie”

The Luyas are part of the PBR10 celebrations at the Great Hall in a couple weeks – they’re playing the Saturday night, September 29 – but with a new album in Animator due out shortly after on October 16, a tour of their own is in order – Exclaim has the dates, including a November 7 date at 918 Bathurst.

MP3: The Luyas – “Fifty Fifty”
Video: The Luyas – “Fifty Fifty”

Another recent Paper Bag Records signing also playing the PBR10 shows – they’re up Friday night – are Yamantaka/Sonic Titan. They’re this week’s NOW cover story, and are also going to be at Wrongbar November 12 supporting Lydia Lunch; tickets $25. And oh, they also need your help in creating a Yamantaka/Sonic Titan video game – of course you should support this.

Tokyo Police Club have announced a holiday season show at The Sound Academy on December 15, tickets $22.50 general admission and $35 VIP.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Party In The USA”

Beatroute interviews Fucked Up, who’ve got something cool planned in the way of shows come November. Mike Haliechuk gives Exclaim a tease about their Long Winter concert series which kicks off November 9.

CBC Music is streaming the whole of The Wilderness Of Manitoba’s new album Island Of Echoes before its release this coming Tuesday; they play a record release show for it at Trinity-St. Paul’s on October 26.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Morning Sun”
Stream: The Wilderness Of Manitoba / Island Of Echoes

Neil Young & Crazy Horse have given Psychedelic Pill, their second album of 2012, a released date of October 30 – Rolling Stone has details. Neil and the boys are at the Air Canada Centre on November 19.

Snowblink have premiered a new video from Inner Classics over at The Guardian. And if you’ve ever wanted a Snowblink-powered musical therapy session… well you can. Yeah. They’re at the Bicycle Music Festival at Christie Pits tomorrow evening at 6:30PM and play their official record release show at The Music Gallery on September 27.

Video: Snowblink – “Black & White Mountains”

JAM talks to Torq Campbell of Stars while The Olathe News, The Herald Sun, and Toledo Free Press have features on Metric. They both play the Air Canada Centre on November 24.

CBC Music asks Japandroids to list his five favourite records of the past 20 years. They play The Phoenix on December 12.

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Take Me Out

The Wooden Sky readies album number three

Photo By Justin BroadbentJustin BroadbentIn an age where many young bands seek to get on the expressway to your skull immediately after their first rehearsal – assuming they rehearse instead of just uploading jams to Soundcloud – you have to appreciate a band like The Wooden Sky. They’ve taken the time to hone their songcraft and live show since forming as Friday Morning’s Regret in 2003, and with their 2009 sophomore full-length If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone and its attendant endless touring regimen, have positioned themselves as one of the country’s finest young roots-rock bands.

And after tantalizing with this Fall’s City Of Light EP, they’ll be looking to take that on-the-cusp status over the top on February 28 when their third album, an 18-track nearly-double opus 13-track regular-sized record Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun, is released. Details on the release are available over at Exclaim, as is the itinerary for their accompanying Canada-heavy North American tour. That jaunt includes a hometown show at The Opera House on April 20, tickets $15.50 in advance.

There’s no official preview track of the new album yet but this one from City Of Light, if it’s not on it, should at least point at where they’re going.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Angelina”

Rich Aucoin will bring his debut album We’re All Dying To Live and accompanying over-the-top live spectacle to the Drake Underground on January 13.

MP3: Rich Aucoin – “It”
Video: Rich Aucoin – “It”

Fresh off their three-night stand headlining the Phoenix, Tokyo Police Club are back in a support role having been added as openers for Foster The People at The Meadows at Downsview Park on June 19.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Party In The USA”

Chart talks to Wes Marskell of The Darcys. They and The Balconies, with whom Plaid has an interview, are a couple of the acts playing this year’s edition of Edgefest, happening July 14 at Downsview Park.

So yeah, new Arcade Fire video(s) for “Sprawl 2 (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, in conventional and interactive forms. Dance!

Video: Arcade Fire – “Sprawl 2 (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” (conventional)
Video: Arcade Fire – “Sprawl 2 (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” (interactive)

aux.tv talks to Bry Webb about life post-Constantines.

Exclaim has good news and bad news for Karkwa fans: the good is that the band are readying a double-live album – where I’d argue they’re at their best – to be recorded tomorrow night in Montreal and released next year, the bad is that it’ll be their last release for a while as they’re going on a hiatus after that. Which is reasonable – their Polaris win in 2010 made the touring cycle for Les chemins des verre (just certified gold, by the way) many times longer than they probably expected when they released it. Nice problem to have.

The Alternate Side has posted a session and interview with The Handsome Furs.

Exclaim has premiered the first track from John K Samson’s solo album Provincial, due out January 24.

Stream: John K Samson – “When I Write My Master’s Thesis”

CBC Radio 3 has posted a track-by-track live performance from Coeur de Pirate of her new album Blonde.

DIY has n interview and video session with Dan Mangan. Exclaim has also posted a couple of live session videos with the Dan.

Kathryn Calder talks the touring life with CBC Radio 3 and also to The Riverfront Times.

Diamond Rings talks about brushes with fame in the form of Beastie Boys and Katy Perry with Spinner.

Woodpigeon ends an extended – for them, at least – hiatus with the release of the For Paolo digital EP due out on January 16, presumably in advance of a full-length later next year.

The Line Of Best Fit has released their holiday edition of the Oh! Canada mix series. Download it and blast it from your car over the next two weeks.

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Come Home

Review of Ryan Adams’ Ashes & Fire and giveaway

Photo By David BlackDavid BlackThat Ryan Adams’ retirement from music – declared at the start of 2009 as a result of personal, medical, and industry factors – wouldn’t last was never in question. You don’t go from being as prolific as he had been over the past decade and a half to radio silence without a relapse or two. That said, he made a pretty good go of it for a while, busying himself with writing and being Mr. Mandy Moore. By early 2010, however, he was clearly ready to get back to making music and soft-launched his post-Cardinals career with the limited, vinyl-only release of a metal album that had been sitting in the vaults for a few years, and then before the year was out, a final Cardinals record – also shelved for a few years – was released via his website.

So while it’s his third release in under two years, Ashes & Fire is notable for being the first in some time to contain newly-written and recorded material without The Cardinals and get a wide release. And for anyone expecting Adams to make his return with a grand, rock’n’roll statement, Ashes may come as a bit of a puzzle – it’s slow, understated and primarily acoustic, sounding more of a denouement than a declaration, but most of all it sounds peaceful. An unexpected place for alt.country’s one-time enfant terrible and someone known for being creatively and personally mercurial, but considering that Adams has basically grown up in public – that first Whiskeytown record came out when he was 21 – it’s rather comforting to know that he’s feeling more settled and contented now.

If approached without the weight of expectation, without hoping for another Heartbreaker as I’ll admit I have for a decade now, Ashes has much to recommend it. Adams is in fine voice, his raspy croon having aged nicely and perfectly suiting the material, and though it initially sounds quite skeletally-arranged, there’s a full band in there playing with delicacy and restraint. It’s easy to wish that maybe there was a little more of the fire that the album’s title promises, but even a token rocker would probably detract more from the atmosphere of the album as a whole than it would add. And anyways, the guy just put out a metal album – maybe hit that up if you need some volume. Ashes & Fire comes with a very specific sound and purpose and it fulfills that most effectively.

Though Ashes & Fire came out digitally and on CD last month, the vinyl edition won’t be out until next week and courtesy of EMI Music Canada, I’ve got three copies of the LP edition to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Ashes & Fire” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and have that to me by midnight, November 11. And sorry, contest only open to residents of Canada.

Adams plays the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto on December 10. Paste, Adelaide Now and The Quietus have interviews and NPR an interview and session with WFUV.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”
Video: Ryan Adams – “Ashes & Fire”
Stream: Ryan Adams / Ashes & Fire

NPR welcomes Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks to the World Cafe for a session.

Rochester City Newspaper, The Portland Press Herald and Yes! Weekly talk to Joey Santiago of Pixies.

NPR has a six-song session with Wild Flag up to stream while The San Francisco Examiner talks to Carrie Brownstein.

Spin has posted a nice gallery that gets the likes of Justin Vernon and Johnny Marr to talk about their instruments.

Let’s play three – Tokyo Police Club have added a December 10 date to their run at The Phoenix in December, making it a three-night residency. As with the other two shows, Born Ruffians and Said The Whale will support. Tickets are $25.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Party In The USA”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”
MP3: Said The Whale – “Camilo (The Magician)”

Pitchfork are on board with Vancouver garage-soul outfit Chains Of Love, offering up the A-side of their new 7″, out December 13, and reporting that the band’s debut EP will be coming in early 2012. They’re at The Horseshoe on Tuesday night, November 8, for a free show. Go. Show appears to have been nixed. Sorry.

MP3: Chains Of Love – “Breaking My Heart”

The Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon Star Phoenix and Calgary Herald interview Dan Mangan.

Paste has a quick video session with Stars.

Toronto post-rockers Old World Vulture have released an MP3 as a teaser for their forthcoming album, due out in early 2012. Hear it live when they play Rancho Relaxo on November 12.

MP3: Old World Vulture – “Trophy Lovers”

Paste declares PS I Love You amongst the best of what’s next.

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

Get It Wrong, Get It Right

Feist at The Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangJust as a point of reference, when someone IMs you late on a Friday afternoon and asks, “do you want to go see Feist at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio tomorrow night?”, the only appropriate answer is yes. And so it was that after assuming that it’d be too much trouble to finagle one of the hottest tickets in a long weekend with no shortage of hot tickets, one was handed to me. No I’m not bragging. Okay I’m bragging a little. But the point being that I didn’t expect to be at this show, with all its advertised guest stars, and assumed that my run of not seeing Feist live would hit six-and-a-half years before her show at Massey Hall later this year, the last time I saw her properly being Canada Day 2005 and the last technical time being when I paused by her set at Lollapalooza 2006 for a few minutes before moving on to who knows what else, thinking “oh I see her all the time”. Or not.

But one consequence of the short notice was that I still hadn’t had a chance to listen to her new record Metals – what, I’ve been busy – and so as much as it was going to be a nice chance to get reacquainted with Feist, I was expecting it to be a bit unfamiliar. It’s safe to say that the unfamiliarity would be felt from the stage as well as from the audience, though. Feist retired from performing for an extended spell following The Reminder, and while there had been a few warm-up shows prior to this one, that it would be a hometown show and recorded for nationwide radio broadcast next month surely added an extra dimension of nervousness for the singer-songwriter.

Not that she was facing it alone. Her backing band was legion, including a keyboardist, drummer, Charles Spearin of Broken Social Scene on multi-instrumentalist duties, a three-piece string section and American folk trio Mountain Man as chorus and percussion section. And that’s not even mentioning the steady stream of guest players who came out to perform with her throughout the night, whether on her material, theirs or someone else’s. Certainly all the parts were in place for an intimate and memorable evening, including invitations from Feist for the audience to leave their seats to gather up front, of which only a few took up. Too Canadian, too polite, I would guess.

And that it was – even being unfamiliar with the new material, Feist’s voice and songwriting style haven’t changed and if anything, have grown more sophisticated. Much of the show was driven by complex and unorthodox percussion with one of Spearin’s tasks was to treat a couple of violins clamped to a table as percussion instruments and Mountain Man doubled as a kalimba orchestra and a few nods to Feist’s rock instincts, often played down on record in favour of more subtle timbres. If you wanted to make a metallurgical analogy, it’s like Feist is soft in the studio but annealed and tempered for the stage. And that, folks, is the most that I’ve used my mechanical engineering degree in the past decade.

Even if the set had been made up of all old material, I don’t take for granted that I’d have recognized them all. Reinvention is nothing new to Feist and songs like “Mushaboom” were recast almost completely, given eastern overtones and going from light and fun to exotic and weighty – a risky move with fan favourites but the end result was thrilling to hear as it allowed the listener to rediscover the song anew. As for the special guests, each of ex-Constantine Bry Webb, Doug Paisley, head Hidden Camera Joel Gibb, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy all came out to share the spotlight with Feist: Tweedy leading off the encore with “You & I” from his band’s Wilco (The Album) and Webb playing Kenny Rogers in a duet of “Islands In The Stream” with Feist as Dolly.

It wasn’t perfection, as playing in front of friends and family probably adds as much stress as comfort when finding one’s feet and Feist took mulligans on not one but three songs, but if any crowd was going to be forgiving it was this one. And while most would have called the performance a triumph in any case, just happy to have Feist back on a Toronto stage and be reminded of her talent, in this case it was praise fully earned. I can’t wait to see how good and together she is when she returns, road-tested, to Massey Hall on December 1.

Yahoo has a streaming video session with Feist, The Stool Pigeon an interview and CBC, The Globe & Mail, and Spinner have writeups of the show. It will be broadcast on CBC Radio 2 on November 2.

Photos: Feist @ The Glenn Gould Studio – October 8, 2011
Video: Feist – “I Feel It All”
Video: Feist – “Honey Honey”
Video: Feist – “My Moon My Man”
Video: Feist – “Mushaboom”
Video: Feist – “1, 2, 3, 4”
Video: Feist – “One Evening”

Exclaim is streaming both sides of a new Suuns 12″ entitled “Bambi”, due out on November 15.

Timber Timbre have released a new video from Creep On, Creepin’ On. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26.

Video: Timber Timbre – “Do I Have Power”

Rolling Stone is streaming a new song from Kathleen Edwards, whose next album will be entitled Voyageur and be out January 17. I tend to be kind of “whatever” about Ms Edwards of late, but this tune is great. If it’s a sign of what to expect from the new record, I shall most definitely be paying attention again. Exclaim has more details on the new record.

Stream: Kathleen Edwards – “Change The Sheets”

Already slated as opener for Matthew Barber at the Music Gallery on November 18, Louise Burns will be sticking around town to provide support for the second of Cuff The Duke’s two shows at The Horseshoe on November 26.

MP3: Louise Burns – “Drop Names Not Bombs”

Spinner talks to Ohbijou about their just-debuted new video.

Video: Ohbijou – “Niagara”

NPR investigates the secrets of Sloan’s longevity.

Allmusic gets Kathryn Calder to list off some favourite books. Her new album Bright And Vivid is out October 25.

Interview talks to Stars.

Billboard talks covers projects and originals with Tokyo Police Club.

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

How Darwinian

Review of Dan Mangan’s Oh Fortune

Photo By Jonathan TaggartJonathan TaggartAs one of the most social media-savvy musicians in the country, it’s not unreasonable to say that Dan Mangan reads his own press and so he’s probably seen the phrases “everyman”, “coffee shop”, “roots-rock” and variants thereof in regards to his breakout 2009 record Nice, Nice, Very Nice many, many times. And while these descriptors were usually meant in most complimentary ways – one does’t make the Polaris shortlist on the back of negative press – his just-released follow-up Oh Fortune gives you the impression that he didn’t take those writeups as incentive to stay the course.

From the very first heavily-reverbed piano chords which open leadoff track “About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All” before giving way to strings, it’s clear that this record is built on a different game plan than its predecessor. Throughout, there’s plenty of elegantly orchestrated horns and woodwinds, but also feedbacking, layered, wall-of-noise guitars – often all side-by-side or on top of one another – and if that sounds like the complete opposite of what you’d have expected a Dan Mangan record to sound like, well I suspect that’s the point. This is not a record that can be pigeonholed as the work of a singer-songwriter or folkie; it’s brimming with full-on pop ambition and if Mangan had kept such lofty musical aspirations in check before, he’s certainly enjoying the artistic freedom that success engenders now.

But for all of that, as soon as the vocals come in it’s unmistakably a Dan Mangan record. Not having the most elastic voice becomes an pro rather than a con as it remains warm and comforting like a woollen blanket, delivering poignant and poetic lyrics that; another Mangan trademark still intact, if perhaps darker in tone this time out. And it’s Mangan’s voice and the words it carries that act as a sturdy, reliable centre amidst the swirling sonic proceedings; it’s as if between Very Nice and Fortune, Mangan was transplanted from the setting of a comfortable stool in his local into… well, it’s hard to say, exactly. The atmosphere of Fortune is consistent but difficult to pin down, also certainly part of the overarching strategy to head off preconceptions and expectations and forces the listener to consider the record on its own merits rather than what they figured a new Dan Mangan record would sound like.

It’s no small thing to shift gears or change lanes immediately after a breakthrough record; the temptation to stick to what worked – at least for the follow-up – must be immense, particularly when what worked was a time-tested, meat-and-potatoes sort of approach. So Mangan should be praised for going as conceptually far afield as he has on Oh Fortune without abandoning his core strengths and lauded for making it work so well. If it wasn’t clear from any of the above, Oh Fortune is an excellent record, expansive in scope yet efficiently delivered and both musically and lyrically rich. No, there’s nothing as immediate as “Robots” but in lieu of that degree of immediacy, you get songs that continue to reveal themselves over repeated listens. Oh Fortune confirms Mangan as one of this country’s best new songwriters and, as a bonus, forces those who’d seek to dismiss him as too conventional to find a new line of criticism. Maybe that he’s too tall. Because he’s pretty tall.

Southern Souls, The Vancouver Sun, The Winnipeg Free Press and Exclaim have interviews with Mangan and he chats with Rolling Stone about his just-released new video; there’s also three four videos from a full-album performance Mangan gave at the CBC presently online, with more to come. His Fall tour brings him to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 28.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune”
Video: Dan Mangan – “Rows Of Houses”
Video: Dan Mangan – “About as Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All” (live at CBC)
Video: Dan Mangan – “Rows Of Houses” (live at CBC)
Video: Dan Mangan – “Post-War Blues” (live at CBC)
Video: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune” (live at CBC)
Stream: Dan Mangan / Oh Fortune

Also out this week is Ohbijou’s Metal Meets. Exclaim and Toro talk to bandleader Casey Mecija about making the new record. They play a release show at Trinity-St. Paul’s on September 30.

Boasting a similar album title and gracing this month’s Exclaim cover is Feist; Pitchfork also has an interview. Metals is out October 4 and she plays Massey Hall on December 1. Update: And now the album is available to stream if you sign up for her mailing list. Preview the album AND get emails from Leslie!

Stream: Feist / Metals

Canadian Interviews is playing host to a tour diary from Bruce Peninsula. Open Flames is out October 4 but streamable now at Exclaim – they also have an interview and review – and they play an in-store at Soundscapes that evening, then a proper show at Lee’s Palace on October 27.

Stream: Bruce Peninsula / Open Flames

Their record release show for Tosta Mista safely in the books, Hooded Fang have announced they’ll play a free show at the Sanderson Branch of the Toronto Public Library (Bathurst and Dundas West) on October 1 at 2PM. They’ve also put out a new animated video.

MP3: Hooded Fang – “Den Of Love”
Video: Hooded Fang – “Brahma”

Dev Hynes’ Blood Orange has been announced as support on the upcoming tour for CANT, the solo project from Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, as well as being part of his band, all of which means that he’ll be at The Garrison on October 21. And to mark it, a new MP3 from Coastal Grooves is available to grab courtesy of Stereogum.

MP3: Blood Orange – “Champagne Coast”

J Mascis will be in town on November 4 as part of the Sleepwalk Guitar Festival taking place at The Great Hall all that weekend and ex-Television guitarist Richard Lloyd leads off the Saturday night bill followed by The Sadies. And if you were wondering just how “ex” Lloyd was with respect to Tom Verlaine and Television, this exchange documented at The Daily Swarm seems to indicate that bridges are pretty well burned. Tickets for each evening show are $25, all-day and weekend passes also available.

MP3: J Mascis – “Is It Done”
MP3: The Sadies – “Another Year Again”

English songwriting legend Ray Davies has made a date at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for November 25 in support of last year’s See My Friends though it’s unlikely any of his big-name collaborators will be joining him for these shows. Tickets are $49.50 and $69.50 plus fees.

Video: The Kinks – “Waterloo Sunset” (live)

Young Galaxy have been added to the Austra show at The Phoenix on December 1, as well as the rest that tour. They’ve also released a new video from Shapeshifting, an animated sequel to the clip for “We have Everything”.

MP3: Young Galaxy – “Peripheral Visionaries”
Video: Young Galaxy – “Peripheral Visionaries”

The War On Drugs are coming back to town, making a date for December 9 at The Horseshoe; tickets $13.50 in advance. The Washington Post and DCist have interviews and NPR a World Cafe session.

MP3: The War On Drugs – “Come To The City”

Tokyo Police Club, Born Ruffians and Said The Whale appear to be a winning combination as a second show has been added at The Phoenix for December 9, the one for the night before presumably just about sold out. Tickets are again $25 in advance.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Party In The USA”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”
MP3: Said The Whale – “Camilo (The Magician)”

Ryan Adams’ first show back in Toronto since Summer 2007 – he’s retired and come back out of retirement in the interim – will take place on December 10 at The Winter Garden Theatre; tickets are $45 plus fees, fan presale goes Thursday at 10AM and general onsale Friday, same time. His new record Ashes & Fire is out October 11; Exclaim takes a look back over his prolific career.

Video: Ryan Adams – “New York, New York”

Putting lie to my post in July when they announced it, The Radio Dept. have cancelled their entire Fall tour, which was to include a November 17 show at The Mod Club, “due to family related matters”. They hope to pick up again in 2012, perhaps even with some new material to share. Yeah, right.

Salon, Spinner, The Atlantic, Billboard, Paste, JAM, and aux.tv talk to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco while The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Nels Cline and The Line Of Best Fit to Glenn Kotche. NYC Taper has a recording of their second of two Central Park shows available to download and CBC’s Q has a video studio session with the band.

Spinner talks to Ben Gibbard about the new Death Cab For Cutie video from Codes And Keys.

Video: Death Cab For Cutie – “Stay Young Go Dancing”

Filter, The National Post and NOW have features on Girls.

Spinner talks to The Drums, in town on October 1 with an in-store at Sonic Boom at 7PM and a show at The Mod Club a little later that evening.