FacebookTo promise that something is coming in “early 2012” may be sufficient detail when that date is still a ways off on the horizon, but at a certain point it will eventually actually be early 2012 – as it is now – and when that time arrives you’d best have a little more to offer. That first part of that scenario was most of 2011 for London’s Clock Opera, who despite sounding more than ready for prime time when I first saw them last SXSW and reconfirmed at Iceland Airwaves have been rather shy about offering any details about their debut album besides that it’d be out “in early 2012”.

Well refreshingly quietly, details of their debut album came to light at the very end of last year by way of an iTunes preorder link, and really all you need to know is that it’s called Ways To Forget and will be out – in the UK at least – on April 9. Going for a soft launch with that info may prove to be wise as I expect things will get exceptionally fast-paced for this quartet as word of their electro-anthemic rock – think a younger Elbow armed with sequencers – and attendant excellent live shows gets out.

And the first shot in that metaphorical attack came yesterday with the release of a second video for the song “Once And For All”, which already had a perfectly good clip for the original single release but seeing as how it was re-recorded for the album, a new, heartstring-tugging vid was clearly in order. And so here it is, along with what I would consider to be sufficient argument that Ways To Forget will be one of the highlight releases of, well, early 2012.

MP3: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
MP3: Clock Opera – “Belongings” (live at Maida Vale)
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All” (2012)
Video: Clock Opera – “Lesson No. 7”
Video: Clock Opera – “Belongings”
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
Video: Clock Opera – “White Noise”

The Ting Tings – whom I am convinced are part of a larger sociological experiment to discern exactly what the shelf life of formerly buzzy but ultimately vapid pop bands is – hope that enough people still remember who they are to buy their second album Sounds From Nowheresville, out February 27 in the UK and shortly thereafter in North America, and to go see them when they play The Phoenix on April 6. To say nothing of paying $26 to do so. Spin has a conversation with the duo about the new record.

Video: The Ting Tings – “Hang It Up”

I can’t say I was too interested in the previously-announced return of Cults to town – happening April 25 at The Phoenix, but the fact that Spectrals – aka London-based retro-pop revivalist Louis Jones – would be opening makes me a bit more keen. His debut Bad Penny came out last Fall.

MP3: Spectrals – “7th Date”
MP3: Spectrals – “Peppermint”
Video: Spectrals – “Bad Penny”

The Arctic Monkeys talk evolution with The Sydney Morning Herald. They open up for The Black Keys at The Air Canada Centre on March 14.

The Alternate Side has a session to watch with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Gold Flake Paint talks to James Graham about the third Twilight Sad album No One Can Ever Know. It’s out February 21 and they band are at Lee’s Palace on February 29.

Loud & Quiet plays go-between in facilitating a Q&A between Veronica Falls and Johnny Marr. Veronica Falls are at The Garrison on February 14.

Is This Music chats with David Gedge of The Wedding Present. They bring Seamonsters to The Horseshoe on March 25.

Spinner talks to Rosa Rex of Peggy Sue; DIY also had a year-end chat with the band.

Laura Marling has put together a poetry- and art-powered minisite for “The Beast”, which one assumes is the next single from A Creature I Don’t Know.

Clash and The Guardian have pieces on hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton, whose debut album backed by The Hooves Of Destiny – Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose – is out February 28. A video from said record came out last month.

Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Sweet Tooth Bird”

For Folk’s Sake and American Songwriter meet First Aid Kit, whose new record The Lion’s Roar – out January 24 – brings them to The Great Hall on April 4.

DIY and BBC profile Swedish duo Niki & The Dove, whose debut album is due out sometime this Spring.

The Line Of Best Fit – who agreed with me that I Break Horses’ debut Hearts was their favourite of 2011 – goes through the album track-by-track with Maria Linden. They’re opening up for M83 at The Sound Academy on May 6; DIY talks to Anthony Gonzalez of that outfit.

Q gets former label honcho Alan McGee to offer a buyer’s guide to the Creation Records catalog.

Frank YangFor the first part of Thursday night, I was – as recounted yesterday – happily seeing my favourite band deliver the best performance of theirs I’d ever seen. So why, in the name of all that’s holy, did I leave early? Because of Anna Calvi. The British-Italian artist released one of my favourite records of 2011 (ooh, year-end list spoiler!) in her self-titled debut, but fate seemed determined to keep me from seeing her perform it live.

First, her CMW and SXSW showcases – which were legion – were cancelled due to an arm injury, then the make-up date in May came on the exact same night I was in Barcelona seeing Pulp (yes, no sympathies, I understand) and then, even though I know there technically wasn’t a local date, her being on the bill at Osheaga in Montreal in August felt like missing her again. So nothing – not even the aforementioned conflicting show – was going to keep me from catching this latest date. Though the cabbie that took me from the Air Canada Centre to Lee’s Palace certainly gave it a shot, managing to catch every red light between one venue to the next and not seeming to get a read on my urgency in the back seat. Maybe I wasn’t swearing loud enough.

In any case, I made it and only missed the first 10 minutes or so of her set. Unfortunately, her set was only about 45 minutes in total so it felt awfully brief, but what I did see made the anxiety of the cross-city club-hopping worthwhile. Backed by a drummer and percussionist/harmoniumist (?) and without the aid of any kind of set dressing, Calvi nonetheless managed to transform Lee’s Palace from a rock club into a cabaret, an opera house, a smoky jazz lounge, all by virtue of her music. Okay, suggesting there was no visuals at play is just wrong; done up in her stage uniform of blood-red blouse and lipstick with jet-black pants and stilettos, she was quite the striking figure. But her appearance wasn’t why it was impossible to take your eyes off of her. No sir.

It’s a toss-up which is more astonishing, Calvi’s vocals or her guitar skills, and in a live setting she doesn’t make it any easier to choose. To the former, she was more breathy than belty, slowing songs like “Suzanne & I” down for a more sensual and seductive delivery – if that’s even possible – and also to make the moments where she unleashed the full strength of her voice that much more powerful. And as for her instrumental abilities, well let’s just say that Telecasters have long been my favourite guitar but I’ve never wanted to BE one so much before. Any time she stepped away from the mic to take a solo, it was eye-opening and jaw-dropping the sounds she was able to coax out of the most basic of electric guitars; the soaring and guttural instrumental break in set-closer “Love Won’t Be Leaving” was particularly unexpected and devastating.

The set seemed to comprise the whole of her album (this was confirmed by folks who’d seen the whole show) and a couple of covers, the recently-released reinvention of TV On The Radio’s “Wolf Like Me” and Frankie Laine/Edith Piaf standard “Jezebel” for the encore, so that it still seemed short was no one’s fault but the cabbie. But I suspect that even if the show had run two hours, I’d still be wanting more. Next time.

NOW also has a review of the show while JAM, The Montreal Mirror, Winnipeg Free Press, Under The Radar, and The Vine all have interviews with Calvi.

Photos: Anna Calvi @ Lee’s Palace – December 8, 2011
MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
MP3: Anna Calvi – “Jezebel”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Suzanne & I”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Desire”

So very pleased to see that Slow Club will be touring their second album Paradise to North America – they’ve just announced a February 19 date at The Rivoli, tickets $12 in advance and worth every penny. For a preview, check out this video session just posted at They Shoot Music and also this interview at DIY.

Video: Slow Club – “Where I’m Waking”
Video: Slow Club – “Two Cousins”

Billboard has posted excerpts from year-end cover story on their artist of the year, Adele, in which she says to not expect a third album anytime soon.

Spinner and The Toronto Star have interviews with Laura Marling, whose recent concert for Philadephia’s WXPN is available to stream at NPR.

Spinner has a video session and interview with Florence & The Machine and Florence Welch talks to Rolling Stone about how well things are going with her in the wake of Ceremonials‘ release.

Over at The New Yorker, Sasha Frere-Jones articulates why Emmy The Great’s Virtue was one of the best records of the year. I concur!

The Twilight Sad will treat the February 21 release date of their third record No One Can Ever Know like a starter’s pistol for a North American tour which will bring them through Lee’s Palace on February 29 en route to SXSW.

MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Kill It In The Morning”

The Guardian is streaming a video of Richard Hawley covering The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For My Man” at last week’s Other Voices festival. This reminds us of two things: first, Richard Hawley is awesome and second, Richard Hawley is due a new album. Let’s have it, then.

Fire Records has posted details of the three Pulp reissues they’ll be putting out in the new year – each of Freaks, Separations and It will be remastered, appended with bonus tracks and set free into the world on February 13.

Under The Radar reports that two Radiohead will release a new single of King Of Limbs-session tracks debuted as part of their From The Basement broadcast will be released as a digital single on December 19. If this interests you, then you’ve already heard the songs.

Video: Radiohead – “The Daily Mail” (live on From The Basement)
Video: Radiohead – “Staircase” (live on From The Basement)

Spinner reports that The Stone Roses have signed major label record deals for a third album to go along with their reunion. Gotta give them credit – if they’re going to make this a fiasco, they’re going all in.

The Guardian reports that Nick Cave called time on Grinderman on stage in Australia this past weekend. I can only assume this was a planned break to work on the new Bad Seeds record that had originally been targeted for release as early as this year, though clearly that’s been pushed until 2012. If it’s actually internal band friction, that’ll make that first Bad Seeds rehearsal awkward as it’s basically the same band.

Niki & The Dove have released a new video from their The Drummer EP. Update: Make that two videos?

Video: Niki & The Dove – “DJ Ease My Mind”
Video: Niki & The Dove – “Mother Protect”

The Stool Pigeon talks to the Söderberg of First Aid Kit about their new record The Lion’s Roar, out January 24. They’re at The Great Hall on April 4.

FacebookAlmost four years on from their last dispatch, Spiritualized has announced that their seventh studio album Sweet Heart Sweet Light will be released on March 19, 2012. It’s about the same gap that separated 2008’s Songs In A&E and 2003’s Amazing Grace, but that delay was compounded by Jason Pierce’s near-death experience. This time any extenuating factors in the delay fell into the more decidedly benign category; new labels in both Europe and America, recitals and reissues to mark the 10th anniversary of their landmark Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, etc.

But the record is finally done and according to the press release from Domino (their new European home to go with Fat Possum Stateside), it’s Pierce’s tribute to old school rock’n’roll in the spirit of The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry. I can only hope it turned out better than their last stab at raw rock as Amazing Grace is the go-to Spiritualized album for precisely no one.

The Guardian has an audio interview with Jason Pierce about the making of the new record and also a live video of the album’s leadoff track, recorded last weekend at the Other Voices festival.

Video: Spiritualized – “Hey Jane” (live at Other Voices)

Also at Other Voices and recorded by The Guardian were Wild Beasts, whose entire set is available to watch.

Exclaim reports that Tindersticks have confirmed details of their new record: The Something Rain will be out on February 21 and a stream and video for the first single from the album are available now.

Stream: Tindersticks – “Medicine”
Video: Tindersticks – “Medicine”

DIY talks to Veronica Falls frontwoman Roxanne Clifford about their plans for following up a pretty swell 2011; plans which include a February 14 date at The Garrison in Toronto.

SYFFAL – yes, it’s an acronym – has words with Charles and Rebecca of Slow Club.

In conversation with The Creator’s Project, Jamie xx says that the new xx album should be done and out in time for the Summer festival season, which is to say the front half of 2012.

The Leeds Guide speaks briefly with David Gedge of The Wedding Present, in town at The Horseshoe on March 25.

Alex James tells NME that Blur are planning a holiday get-together and in addition to exchanging gifts and drinking egg nog, they may well do some recording.

Emmy The Great ponders to The Daily Star why there are so many indie Christmas albums being released this year, including her own.

Kaiser Chiefs are still around and Under The Radar reports they’re following this Summer’s The Future Is Medieval with a new album less than a year later in Start the Revolution Without Me, out March 6. The first MP3 is available to download at RCRDLBL – also still around – and they’ll be at The Phoenix on April 17.

Video: Kaiser Chiefs – “Little Shocks”

Coldplay are at the Air Canada Centre on July 23. Last time they were here in 2009 it was the Rogers Centre; stadium band to arena band, oh the indignity.

Video: Coldplay – “Paradise”

The Line Of Best Fit and The Edinburgh Journal talk to James Graham of The Twilight Sad, whose new record No One Can Ever Know is out on February 7.

Exclaim gathers five bits of Stone Roses trivia for your enjoyment.

Cat’s Eyes, the debut album from Cat’s Eyes, continues to yield new videos. Like this one.

Video: Cat’s Eyes – “The Best Person I Know”

As is usually the case when a band with a breakout album does a tour of woefully undersized venues that are sold the hell out, M83 has announced a Spring tour that brings the French electro-gaze act back to town for a show at the Sound Academy on May 6, tickets $25 in advance. And while normally I wouldn’t bother hitting a second show for the same album having just seen them last month, I’ll definitely be there. Why? I Break Horses are opening the whole tour. I love I Break Horses, and their debut Hearts. How much? I’ll tell you next week.

MP3: I Break Horses – “Winter Beats”
Video: M83 – “Midnight City”

Cheers to Ja Ja Ja for finding and posting this live Loney Dear studio performance of “D Major”.

The Raveonettes are marking the holidays with a new video for the cryptically-titled “Christmas Song”.

Video: The Raveonettes – “The Christmas Song”

The Jonsi-scored soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s latest film We Bought A Zoo is now up to stream at Rolling Stone.

Stream: We Bought A Zoo original soundtrack

NPR has posted a KEXP session from Icelandic merrymakers Of Monsters & Men. Their first North American release will be the digital Into The Woods EP on December 20, followed by a domestic issue of My Head Is An Animal in the Spring.

Australia’s Gotye has a date at The Phoenix on March 31.

Video: Gotye – “Bronte”

Interview talks to Hayley Mary, lead singer of The Jezabels.

NME reports that the long-awaited (by me, anyways) second Ladyhawke album will have a title of Anxiety and release date of March 19. And they’ve got some video of Pip Brown at work on said record.

Frank YangIt’s hard to believe it was only a month ago that I was roaming the streets of Reykjavik, getting ready to dive headlong into Iceland Airwaves. Not that long ago, but enough to welcome a reminder of how much fun it all was, which I got from the Toronto Iceland Arts Festival at the El Mocambo on Sunday night, which as part of its celebration of all things Icelandic included the importing of a couple of the country’s finest up-and-coming bands.

I had thought that being the relative veterans, For A Minor Reflection would close out the evening but the quartet was instead up first, perhaps as a public service announcement as to what happens when you forget your earplugs at home. Which is to say they were loud. Really loud. But then volume is necessarily part of the equation for instrumental post-rock bands, and that’s unequivocally what For A Minor Reflection are – imagine Explosions In The Sky without the foreplay, combined with some of the hard rock riffage of Mogwai and you’re about there. Though more dynamic and punishing live than on record, they push no boundaries but are instead deft and enthusiastic practitioners of what’s already been mapped. Or in more appropriate cinematic terms, they’re a genre film that stays true to formula but is superbly executed and thrills all the same.

Of Monsters & Men were the first band I saw at Airwaves and the experience gave me a crash course in just how rabid Icelandic music fans were. Though the band had only just released their first album domestically in My Head Is An Animal, NASA – one of the city’s larger venues – was jammed with fans and the atmosphere was electric. I would later come to understand just how hot this seven-piece was their native land, having just signed a worldwide deal with Universal and being tapped to be the country’s next big musical export. Starting, it would seem, with Canada.

Though the crowd was obviously smaller than they had in Reykjavik, there were still at least a few hundred people in attendance and to judge from their enthusiasm, many seemed to already count themselves as big fans of the band. And it’s not hard to understand why – though I maintain their sound is easily summed up as Stars meets Fanfarlo, thanks to their catchy tunes, big arrangements and the boy-girl lead vocals of Raggi Þórhallsson and Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, that should in no way diminish its catchiness or ability to inspire swoons from the listener. And while they clearly didn’t have far to go to win over the audience, they came across more focused than I found their hometown set as though they were bound and determined to impress. That was one reason I enjoyed this show more than the Airwaves one, the other being that I wasn’t distracted with trying to acclimate to the Airwaves experience – trust me, 800 screaming Viking descendants at your back are distracting.

Of Monsters & Men didn’t offer any timetable for when My Head Is An Animal might be available in Canada and blamed their not having any copies for sale on their own stupidity but made amends by burning sampler CD-Rs and tossing them into the audience; I know that physical media is passe these days, but it was still fun seeing folks scramble for the freebies. And it was also great to see that the phenomenon I witnessed at Airwaves, of foreign acts arriving in that country to play for the first time without knowing what to expect and being greeted by raving fans, worked in reverse as well.

I miss Iceland. Airwaves 2012 is already scheduled for October 31 to November 4 of next year. You should go.

Photos: Of Monsters & Men, For A Minor Reflection @ The El Mocambo – November 13, 2011
MP3: For A Minor Reflection – “Dansi Dans”
MP3: Of Monsters & Men – “Little Talks”
Video: For A Minor Reflection – “A Moll”

While director Vincent Morriset has handled most of the press duties surrounding the release of Sigur Rós’ live film and album Inni – out today – the band have stepped up to talk to The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, revealing that they’re intending to release a new album in the Spring. You can also watch a video of the band at a Q&A for the film at the British Film Institute.

And over at NPR, Jonsi has premiered a stream of a new song from the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, the album of which is out December 13.

Stream: Jonsi – “Gathering Stories”

NPR solicits a Tiny Desk Concert from Jens Lekman.

Beat has a quick Q&A with Niki & The Dove.

The San Francisco Chronicle talks to Lykke Li, in town at the Sound Academy tonight.

Head over to The Quietus to download a free compilation of Scandinavian tunes put together by Scandinavian music blog Ja Ja Ja.

France’s Herman Dune have made a date at The Horseshoe for January 19.

Video: Herman Dune – “Be A Doll And Take My Heart”

DIY talks to Twilight Sad frontman James Graham about their new album No One Can Ever Know, which has been given a release date of February 7 – Exclaim has details on the release and the first video from the album has just been made public.

Video: The Twilight Sad – “Sick”

Clash chats with Veronica Falls.

Los Campesinos! are celebrating the release of their new record Hello Sadness with a video for the title track.

Video: Los Campesinos! – “Hello Sadness”

Friendly Fires have released a new video from Pala.

Video: Friendly Fires – “Hurting”

Summer Camp have a new video for a song that doesn’t appear on their just-released debut Welcome To Condale; it was written for a nail polish. But don’t let that put you off – the song and the vid are both super-cute. JUST LIKE THE NAIL POLISH. Wait, what just happened.

Video: Summer Camp – “You Might Get Stuck On Me”

Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler have premiered a video from their forthcoming This Is Christmas album over at The Guardian.

Video: Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler – “Home For The Holidays”

And on the “oh no not the holidays already” tip, Darren Hayman has put his Christmas EP Christmas In Haworth up for stream and for sale. And less seasonally, he’s released a new video from his latest album The Ship’s Piano.

Video: Darren Hayman – “I Taught You How To Dance”
Stream: Darren Hayman / Christmas In Haworth

Ladytron have put out a new video from Gravity The Seducer; the band are profiled in The Signal and Rolling Stone.

Video: Ladytron – “Mirage”

The Quietus has an interview with Kate Bush, whose new record 50 Words For Snow is out next week.

Stream: Kate Bush / 50 Words For Snow

The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

Little Boots has released a stream of the first single from her forthcoming second album, presumably due in 2012. And a sort-of video. But probably not the real video.

Stream: Little Boots – “Shake”
Video: Little Boots – “Shake”

Le Blogotheque have posted a Take Away Show with Wild Beasts.

The Quietus talks to Esben & The Witch about their just-released Hexagons EP.

Noel Gallagher extends an olive branch to brother Liam, telling The Mirror that the guy who attacked him onstage in Toronto in 2008 should have been targeting his younger brother. All in jest. I think. He’s a little more on topic with music and his solo career in this chat with MusicRadar and offers a guide to life via MTV.

Over at The Telegraph, meanwhile, Liam Gallagher talks Beady Eye.

The Von Pip Musical Express interviews The Jezabels, in town at The Phoenix on November 24 and 25 supporting Hey Rosetta!.

Frank YangSo here we are, with both post-Oasis projects with their debuts officially out in the wild – the Liam-led Beady Eye having released Different Gear, Still Speeding back in March and Noel Gallagher’s Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds out this week. Given the not-so-greatness of Liam’s Oasis output, the bar for the former was set fairly low and Different Gear‘s meat-and-potatoes Brit-rock had no problem clearing it, with “not bad” counting as a big win. Noel, on the other hand, had considerably more to live up to what with not only having penned some of the most memorable British rock anthems of his generation, but having been the one pulled the pin on the grenade that finally, inevitably, killed Oasis. Though looking at it from another perspective, Beady Eye had everything to prove while Noel could point as his songbook and say, “what the fook have YOU done?”.

The best and the worst thing you can say about High Flying Birds is that it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a Noel Gallagher solo record, with his respective weaknesses and strengths on full display. Amongst the former are his penchant for cribbing lyrics and melodies from others wholesale, and may of the words that are his are vague and nonsensical, though at least they rhyme. However just as he did in Oasis, he’s able to marry them with an unimpeachable gift for melody, a delivery that makes them sound profound and a flair for dressing them up in big arrangements that aren’t too overcooked (obviously this took some time to learn). It can be frustrating to sing along with words that make no sense, but sing along you will.

That said, for all the familiar motions, Birds feels distinct from an Oasis record for reasons beyond the absence of Liam’s rock’n’roll sneer. Perhaps in being freed from the inherent compromises of a band and being able to take full creative control, Gallagher has been able to fully assume the role of composer rather than just songwriter and consequently, Birds feels more meticulous in its execution than any Oasis record I can recall. Some might bemoan its mid-temponess or dearth of guitar heroics, but let’s be fair – he’s made those records already. High Flying Birds doesn’t necessarily revitalize or recontextualize what Noel Gallagher is about – not even remotely, if we’re being honest – but it is well-crafted, tuneful and likeable. Well I like it, anyways, and that’s why despite not getting accredited to cover the show in an official capacity, I headed down to Massey Hall about 20 minutes before showtime and patronized my first ever scalper. Less than half face value? Sure.

Though not sold out – two nights at Massey is a tall order for many acts, even one who sold out arenas with his old band – the hall was nearly full and crackling with the energy of fans who’d not seen the elder Gallagher since that fateful Virgin Festival 2008 appearance where he was assaulted onstage, if not earlier. The vibe was not unlike that at The Sound Academy in June when Liam led Beady Eye into town for their first visit, though feeling a bit older and with fewer (no) Union Jack flags hanging from the balconies.

Unlike Beady Eye, however, Noel had already said that the Oasis songbook was very much fair game for his solo shows and to prove it, the show opened with “(It’s Good) To Be Free”, a 17-year old b-side from a non-album single. Not just the hits, then. Oasis material would actually comprise almost half the 90-minute set, spanning the breadth of their catalog but with no small amount of revisionist history applied – “Wonderwall” got the Ryan Adams treatment, “Supersonic” was stripped down to acoustic guitar and piano (and would be a post-show point of contention for being a Liam song) and “Talk Tonight” given the full band treatment. It was as though Gallagher was more than willing to indulge his fans’ desire to hear the old material, but wasn’t going to make head-to-head comparisons of Oasis and his High Flying Birds easy.

As for the new material, not only was the album played in its entirety, but a b-side and new song thrown in for good measure. All of it was played pretty much verbatim from the album arrangements and in workmanlike fashion from Gallagher and his five-piece band – the crowd was enthused but Gallagher didn’t seem particularly interested in stoking the fires, just in doing his thing. It would have been unreasonable to expect him to discover some heretofore unknown wellspring on on-stage charisma upon assuming the role of frontman, but at least Gallagher seemed chipper in bantering with the crowd.

Early on, he told an audience member who’d not heard the new record that, “it’s going to be a long fucking night for you then” and later, when the inevitable topic of his younger brother came up (he has a home in Toronto), he responded to someone calling out that they’d seen Liam around town buying shoes, “were they high heels?”. Noel has a well-earned reputation for shooting his mouth off about anything and everything, but he’s got a sense of humour. The encore was a triple-bill of Oasis numbers – “Little By Little” from Heathen Chemistry, “The Importance Of Being Idle” from Don’t Believe The Truth and, finally, predictably and thrillingly, “Don’t Look Back In Anger”. That finale was spared any rejigging and performed as it always has – how else do you lead the singalong? And sing along everyone did.

So with all the evidence gathered – live and on record – how do the two post-Oasis projects measure up? Both have turned in decent efforts without offering anything new, but neither is a patch on Oasis in their prime – but to be fair, most of Oasis’ career isn’t a patch on Oasis in their prime either. With Beady Eye, Liam seems to want to recreate the rock’n’roll heyday of Oasis without invoking Oasis, whereas Noel is content to acknowledge his legacy without resting on it. I’d go so far as to say if you took both their records and combined the best moments into one, you’d have the best Oasis record in some years. To be at their best, as both brothers once sang, they need each other. Maybe someday they’ll once again believe in one another.

The Toronto Sun, Exclaim, The Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, NOW, Spinner and National Post also have reviews of the show and Los Angeles Times and National Post also have feature interviews.

Photos: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds @ Massey Hall – November 7, 2011
Video: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “AKA… What A Life”
Video: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “If I Had A Gun”
Video: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “The Death Of You & Me”

In talking to NME, Damon Albarn reveals that Blur have been recording and discussions about more touring in 2012 have taken place. None of which is a commitment to anything, but it is something.

BBC chats with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner.

Band Of Skulls have set a date at The Phoenix for March 30 of next year in support of their new album Sweet Sour, out February 21. Tickets are $17.50 in advance. Exclaim has details and dates and there’s a video for the first single from the album.

Video: Band Of Skulls – “The Devil Takes Care Of His Own”

DIY talks to Kele about his new EP The Hunter.

Clash interviews Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine.

Artrocker profiles Los Campesinos!, whose new record Hello Sadness is streaming at NPR ahead of its November 15 release date.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Stream: Los Campesinos! / Hello Sadness

Interview, The Independent and Londonist talk to Summer Camp on the occasion of the release of their debut Welcome To Condale this week.

Pitchfork reports that The xx have begun work on their second album, and will be documenting the process via cryptic animated gif.

The ink barely dry on the their Toronto debut last month, London’s Still Corners will be back on December 9 at The Horseshoe in support of The War on Drugs. The Georgia Straight and Houston Press have interviews and Radio K is streaming a session with the band.

MP3: Still Corners – “Into The Trees”

The AV Club talks to Charlie Fink of Noah & The Whale.

Spinner interviews Laura Marling.

The Guardian gets two generations of folk music – Billy Bragg and Johnny Flynn – to discuss the relevance of protest music today.

Patrick Wolf has released a new video from Lupercalia, which continues to await a North American release. In 2012, perhaps. The Gay Times talks to Wolf about his impending nuptials.

Video: Patrick Wolf – “The Falcons”

Rocksucker talks to The Twilight Sad about their third album No One Can Ever Know, due out in February.

Clash marks the 20th anniversary of My Bloody Valentine’s landmark Loveless album, while The Quietus reflects on the significance of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s debut Psychocandy.

And while not nearly on the level of either of those records, I greatly appreciate Drowned In Sound saluting The Closer I Get, the second album from Nottingham’s Six By Seven. Terribly underappreciated over their tenure, at their best – which would be that record – there was no more beautifully aggressive and misanthropic rock band out there. After a few ill-fated reunions, the band is done but if you go to their website, their last great record – 2004’s relatively sunnier :04 – is available for free download in exchange for an email. You should do this thing.

MP3: Six By Seven – “Bochum (Light Up My Life)”
Video: Six By Seven – “Eat Junk Become Junk”