Araba FilmsIf there’s one thing Austin, Texas needs during Spring Break, it’s some live music. Particularly in the form of a day party. The past few years I’ve been very lucky to have been able to help put on some fantastic parties with some of my favourite blogger buds. And while the Hot Freaks marque has been put to bed for the time being, I’m very happy to be able to announce that You Ain’t No Picasso, My Old Kentucky Blog, Ultra 8201, Yours Truly and, uh, yours truly, will be presenting Eastbound & Found, a one-day, two-stage to-do that will be held on Thursday, March 18 at 1001 East 6th St – a location that’s a parking lot for 51 weeks of the year but on this occasion will be an epicenter of awesome.

What I like most about these blogger-assembled shows is how random the final results end up being. Without teaming up with a specific label, PR company or booking agency and just pursuing acts based on little more than a “what we like” mandate, we get shows that can veer from the sunny indie-pop of Freelance Whales to the insane guitar heroics of Austin’s own Ume, from the electro-glam of Diamond Rings (Toronto represent!) to giddy Anglo-folk duo Slow Club, right through to our headliner – GZA of the motherflipping Wu-Tang Clan. Eclectic? Yeah, a little.

This party is free and all-ages, though you do have to RSVP – information on that at the Sweet Leaf blog. Many many thanks go out to our sponsors Sweet Leaf Tea, Ziegenbock, Dos Lunas Tequila, Knuckle Rumbler and Car Toys for helping make this happen. And despite what the attached image from Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee & Cigarettes might imply, Bill Murray will NOT be making an appearance at the show. Unless he wants to. If any of you know Bill Murray, do let him know he’s invited?

The (almost) full lineup and set times are as follows:

Stage one:
12:15PM Ragen Fykes
1:10PM Freelance Whales
2:05PM Ume
3:00PM Warpaint
3:55PM The Morning Benders
4:50PM Here We Go Magic
5:45PM Maluca
7:00PM GZA

Stage two:
12:30PM Burnt Ones
1:25PM Diamond Rings
2:20PM Kid Sister
3:15PM Slow Club
4:10PM Danielson
5:05PM Delorean
6:00PM White Denim

MP3: Danielson – “Animal In Every Corner”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
MP3: Freelance Whales – “Generator 2nd Floor”
MP3: The Morning Benders – “Promises”
MP3: Slow Club – “It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful”
MP3: Ume – “The Conductor”
MP3: Warpaint – “Elephants”
Video: GZA – “Liquid Swords”
Video: Here We Go Magic – “Fangela”
Video: Kid Sister – “Right Hand Hi”

And some concert news for Toronto folk NOT heading down to Texas next week – not content with playing two nights at The Horseshoe, The Black Lips have added a third local appearance during their visit. They’ll be doing an in-store at Sonic Boom on March 28 at 4PM; admission free with a canned good.

MP3: Black Lips – “Short Fuse”

Jakob Dylan has put together a new band to help perform his new solo record Women & Country, out April 10. They’re called Three Legs and you might know them better as a couple of women in country – Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. That got your attention, eh? Jacob Dylan & Three Legs will be at the Phoenix on April 25.

She & Him – yes, Zooey and Matt – will be hitting the road in support of Volume Two and are going to be at The Phoenix in Toronto on June 9. Tickets are $26.50, the album is out March 23 and the new video is just about the most adorable thing ever.

Video: She & Him – “In The Sun”

Stars have announced they will release their fifth studio album The Five Ghosts on June 22 – details at Chart.

Spinner talks to Metric in advance of their appearance at SxSW where they’ll be opening up for Muse at Stubb’s on the Friday night.

Broken Social Scene also talk to Spinner; they’re doing a couple of shows at SxSW and of course have that Toronto Islands show on June 19. Their new album Forgiveness Rock Record is out May 4.

Continuing on with the Spinner-SxSW interviews (there’s lots of them) – they chat with Venice Is Sinking, whose new album Sand & Lines will be out June 15.

Kunstlicher, The Georgia Straight, The Huffington Post and Spinner have interviews with Midlake. They’re at the Mod Club on May 25.

Spinner talks to The Uglysuit. They’re playing Lee’s Palace at 2AM on Friday night as part of Canadian Musicfest and their MySpace implies they’re making the most of their visit to Toronto with a bunch of other unofficial performances.

Spinner asks some pretty banal questions of Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Holly Miranda.

Filter takes all of the fun out of The Bird & The Bee’s internet scavenger hunt for streams of their new Hall & Oates tribute album Guiltless Pleasures Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates , out March 23.

Spinner and NME have collected a number of tributes from musicians for the fallen Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. And a couple of worthy reads and listens from the Boston area – Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz has an essay and Sparklehorse cover at his blog Part-Time Man Of Rock while Bradley’s Almanac is sharing some thoughts and a recording of Sparklehorse’s last show in Boston from 2007.

MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Gold Day”

Phil HarderDid anyone see this coming? I certainly didn’t. This question, of course, is only relevant to those of a certain age/era for whom the name, “Bettie Serveert” still means something. To everyone else: get off my lawn.

Aside for the unfamiliar: the Betties were the Netherlands’ finest rock export since Golden Earring and a staple of ’90s college rock with three albums on Matador full of crunchy guitar pop and Carol Van Dijk’s expressive vocals. Entering the 21st century, they explored side projects and released records less frequently and on a variety of labels. The best of them was 2000’s Private Suit, which seemed to usher in a new era of maturity and elegance for the band – different, sure, but excellent. Subsequent releases were more scattershot affairs, however, with their share of high points but lacking in cohesion and direction. It was a good run, but fans – this one, at least – figured their best was behind them.

At least until their new album Pharmacy Of Love, due out in North American March 23, arrived in my mailbox and promptly knocked me on my ass. Opening track “Deny All” is not the work of a band lacking purpose or phoning it in. Fast, loud and focused, it’s the sound of a band re-energized and rocking harder than they even did in their youth and sets the tone for the rest of the record. And there’s no over-compensation here, no sense they’re trying to prove they can still keep up with the kids – they simply are, and easily. Best of all, as thrilling as Pharmacy is on a visceral level, all of the best Bettie signature moves are in place – Peter Visser’s guitar lines weave, lurch and bite while Van Dijk’s voice has arguably never sounded better nor her melodies more memorable. I didn’t realize how much I missed Bettie Serveert until I got them back.

Pharmacy Of Love was released in January in Europe and is due out on March 23, with rumours of live North American dates to follow. They haven’t been back here since 2005 and that show at The Horseshoe was all kinds of awesome, even in support of a weaker record. Pharmacy Of Love live? Yes, please.

MP3: Bettie Serveert – “Semaphore”
MP3: Bettie Serveert – “The Pharmacy”
Video: Bettie Serveert – “Deny All”
MySpace: Bettie Serveert

Filter talks to Jonsi about his solo ambitions. His album Go is out March 23 and he plays the Sound Academy April 30 and May 1.

Aux.tv Q&As Under Byen about their new album Alt Er Tabt, out April 6.

Features in Time and The Wall Street Journal are a pretty good sign the mainstream has taken note of Joanna Newsom. She plays The Phoenix on March 13.

NPR has a World Cafe session with St. Vincent.

eMusic talks to Holly Miranda.

DCist and Encore have interviews with Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, whose new record The Big To-Do hits next week. “Zip City” showed up on shuffle on my iPhone the other day, and my anticipation for this record increased exponentially. They have two dates at Lee’s Palace on April 6 and 7.

Spinner talks to My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan about their M.O. for choosing cover songs.

Pitchfork has details on the new album from Band Of Horses, entitled Infinite Arms and due out May 18. That gives you a month to learn all the songs by heart before they play the Toronto Islands Concert on June 19.

Also playing the Toronto Islands Concert are Beach House, who have a complete show in Brooklyn available to stream at Baeble Music as well as a video interview. CokeMachineGlow also has a chat.

Spinner, The AV Club and The Boston Globe talk to Rogue Wave.

The Line Of Best Fit, American Songwriter and NPR have feature interviews with Spoon. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 29.

Venice Is Sinking have announced details about their next album – Sand & Lines: The Georgia Theatre Sessions is due out June 15 and will showcase the band live, off the floor, with just two mics and no overdubs.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Falls City”

Spinner talks to Minipop.

The Los Angeles Times has an interview and MPR an interview and streamable session with Phantogram. They’re at Supermarket on March 12 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Also all over Canadian Musicfest are The Uglysuit, with two official festival shows next week – an acoustic gig at the Library Bar in the Royal York on March 11 and a fully plugged-in set at Lee’s Palace on March 12. The Brock Press has an interview with the Oklahoman collective.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs assemble a playlist for The Guardian.

OK Go will be at the Mod Club on April 23, hoping that their fans find them as entertaining live as they do on YouTube.

Video: OK Go – “This Too Shall Pass”

And know what I want for my birthday? High Violet. Yes. Just wait.

Yannick GrandmontIt’s a bit eerie, but with the exception of an in-store in a couple weeks, details noted further down, I’ve got nothing going on in the way of live music for more two weeks until Canadian Musicfest starts on March 11. And that’s really just fine with me, because the double-shot of CMW/CMF and SxSW was exhausting when I was a younger man – these days, I am going to need the downtime to rest up in order to survive that gauntlet of concert-going, airport-hopping and breakfast taco-eating.

And to help minimize the impact of club-hopping during CMF, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be co-presenting the Billions showcase at Canadian Musicfest, taking place March 12 at Lee’s Palace, meaning that not only will I be able to associate myself with a super-solid lineup of Canadian acts (and one foreign one), I’ll be able to plant my ass in one place all night. Made of win.

The decidedly Montreal/synthpop-heavy lineup kicks off at 9PM with electro-poppers Winter Gloves, still riding the wave of their 2009 debut About A Girl, then Toronto’s Russian Futurists will preview their new album The Weight’s On The Wheels, out this Summer, at 10PM. At 11PM, The Acorn, having been squirreled away for the last while working on their new record No Ghost, will come of hiding to show off what to expect when the album arrives in or around May. Plants and Animals, whose new record La La Land arrives April 20, will take the stage at the stroke of midnight and then come 1AM, Think About Life will have you thinking about both having a disco-punk dance party and how not to get killed by getting caught in the middle of a disco-punk dance party soundtracked by last year’s Family. And, if you’re still standing after all that, Oklahoma ‘s The Uglysuit will usher in last call with the beautiful orch-pop of their 2008 self-titled debut. That is, unless Lee’s has also got 4AM extended drinking hours during Canadian Music Week. You’d think I’d know this but odds are I’ll have dragged myself home well before whether or not the taps are still flowing are an issue.

So while there’s options a-plenty for CMW/CMF – the schedule has really filled out the last few days and I’ll be doing a further preview closer to the festival’s start – I humbly submit that if you’re looking for a one-stop smorgasbord of tunes for Friday night, that Lee’s will be the place to be. And to help make up your mind, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show – to enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Think About Canadian Music Week” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes midnight, March 5.

MP3: Winter Gloves – “Let Me Drive”
MP3: Russian Futurists – “Paul Simon”
MP3: The Acorn – “The Flood, Pt 1”
MP3: Plants & Animals – “Tom Cruz”
MP3: Think About Life – “Nueva Nueva”
MP3: The Uglysuit – “Chicago”

Ca Va Cool and Chart talk to Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes about their new album The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, out March 9. They headline the Thursday night of the Chart showcases at the Horseshoe for Canadian Musicfest on March 11, taking the stage at 12:10AM. As is always the case with the ‘Shoe during CMW/CMF/whatever, early arrival is recommended/mandatory.

Same goes for Two Hours Traffic, who are on at the same time on the Saturday night, March 13. But if you don’t get in and need a dose of maritime power-pop, note that they’ll be back on April 3 for a show at Lee’s Palace, tickets $13.50. They’ve also released a new video from their Territory record.

Video: Two Hours Traffic – “Noisemaker”

Chart talks to Paul Banwatt of The Rural Alberta Advantage and Woodhands about how he manages to balance drum duties in two bands, simultaneously blowing up right now. Woodhands are playing the Opera House on March 11 and the RAA at the Indie Awards at the Royal York on March 13. Vue has a feature piece on Woodhands and The RAA have been keeping a tour blog of their journey out west for the Olympics at Exclaim.

The Indie Awards will also feature a performance from Constantines, whose Daytrotter session went up for grabs last week and taught QTV how to play “Young Lions” on guitar.

Also offering a QTV a guitar lesson is Woodpigeon’s Mark Hamilton, who teaches them – and the whole internet – to play “Knock Knock”. The Concordian and Ottawa Citizen also have interviews with Hamilton.

The Montreal Gazette talks to Stars, whose presently untitled new album is apparently set for release in the first half of 2010.

Broken Social Scene have revealed the final details about their forthcoming album – Forgiveness Rock Record, their first proper album in almost half a decade, will be out on May 4 and you can get the first MP3 from the album, a 7-minute sprawler called “World Sick”, in exchange for your email at their website. Broken Social Scene plays the Toronto Islands on June 19.

The other big May 4 release from a Canadian supergroup is, of course, Together from The New Pornographers. The first MP3 from the album has been made available and is the almost-title track from the album.

MP3: The New Pornographers – “Your Hands (Together)”

Chart talks to Zeus, whose Say Us gets a release this week and is streaming until March 1 over at Exclaim. They’ve also scheduled an in-store at Soundscapes for 6PM on March 6 and will play Lee’s Palace on March 10.

MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”
Stream: Zeus / Say Us

Canadian Interviews talk to Basia Bulat.

Thick Specs interviews Julie Doiron. Her current project Daniel, Fred & Julie, featuring Doiron, Attack In Black’s Daniel Romano and former Shotgun & Jaybird-er Fred Squire will bring their self-titled debut to the Horseshoe on April 15.

MP3: Daniel, Fred & Julie – “The Gambler And His Bride”

Anyone wondering about the set list for Fucked Up’s show at the Opera House this Friday need look no further than the back cover of The Chemistry Of Common Life – the band will be playing their breakout record in its entirety. And probably some more stuff on top of that.

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.

BlurSo it seems the holidays are officially upon us. I know this because I skipped out of work early yesterday, and the streetcar was packed with people doing exactly the same thing. And as things everywhere wind down, so too will things around here. I’ll still post as long as there’s stuff to post about, but I intend to utilize the downtime to catch up on some reading, movie watching, shopping… real world stuff.

But I’ll wind out the week with this really interesting piece from The Guardian, wherein they talk to the people who served as inspiration for famous songs throughout the years. Like the guy who owned Blur’s “Country House”, the girl whom The Beatles said was “Leaving Home”, she whose name is “Geraldine” and is Glasvegas’ social worker and Patti Boyd, who both had something in the way she moved and also went by “Layla”. Worth a read, perhaps this afternoon between glances at the clock every few minutes, waiting for 5:00.

And if that’s not enough, there’s a variety of sessions that’ve gone online in the last couple days that are worth your while.

NPR gets Mercury Rev to record a session with legendary producer Steve Lillywhite. The Montreal Mirror and Chicago Reader have interviews.

Daytrotter has a Crooked Fingers set available to download.

Bandstand Busking gets Asobi Seksu to play a few songs, busker-style. Their new album Hush is out February 17. And digging through the archives also reveals similar sessions with The Acorn (session) and Frightened Rabbit (session). Nice.

MPR has Longwave over to play a few. They’ve got a new vid from new album Secrets Are Sinister and The Columbian has an interview with frontman Steve Schlitz.

Video: Longwave – “Shining Hours”

Stereogum’s Decomposed puts on The Uglysuit.

NPR talks to School Of Seven Bells.

The Age profiles Fleet Foxes.

I’d mentioned in my favourites of 2008 post that the Woodpigeon record which made the list was a limited release and currently unavailable, but that it’d re-released soon – as Exclaim reports, “soon” means February 3. On that day, Treasury Library Canada will be available again in regular retail outlets and come with a ten-track bonus disc entitled Houndstooth Europa. And if that’s not enough Woodpigeon for you, their next album Die Stadt Muzikanten will be released in the Fall.

Von Bondies have a date at the Horseshoe on February 13, full tour dates at Plug In Music. Their new album Love, Hate And Then There’s You is out February 3.

Part of Drowned In Sound’s year-end coverage has involved soliciting “best of year” picks from various artists including Sky Larkin, Shearwater, Frightened Rabbit and School Of Seven Bells, the results of which are available in three parts. Filter has also been collecting Top 10 lists from a slew of acts and compiling them at eRockstar.