Sebastian SlayterI’ve read a few things about Pacific Northwest by way of New York trio Widowspeak that reference the darkness of their music; the haunting tones, yearning vocals and occasional forays into guitar squalls. Perfectly fair. And most everything written about them mentions the smoky vocals of Molly Hamilton and its immediate reference points of Hope Sandoval and Cat Power. Also totally valid.

And yet listening to their self-titled debut, despite the truth of those points and the fact that I like amounts of all of these things in my music, what stands out the most to me is how much more they have to offer beyond those talking points. Though her voice has that alluring eyes-half-closed quality, she sounds far more awake and engaged with the song and melodies than Sandoval ever has (save, perhaps, her turn on “Sometimes Always”) and evokes neither the suicide-watch despair of early Chan Marshall nor the soul-diva stylings of her now. And musically, though perfectly capable of evoking sadness, they’re much more familiar with the major keys than some would have you believe. There’s a distinct ’50s doo-wop winsomeness running throughout, the guitars are as likely to throw off a twangy spaghetti western lick as drone menacingly and tunes like “Puritan” and “Fir Coat” are downright bouncy. All of which is to say that the critical praise they’ve garnered based on those aforementioned qualities are wholly deserved – they’ve just got much more to offer than you might expect.

Widowspeak are currently touring with Vivian Girls and will be at Parts & Labour in Toronto on September 16. Tickets for the show are $15.00 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Widowspeak” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, September 13.

MP3: Widowspeak – “Harsh Realm”
Stream: Widowspeak – “Nightcrawlers”

The deluge of streams for September 13 releases mentioned earlier this week continues; Girls are offering a sneak preview of their sophomore effort Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Billboard talks to bandleader Christopher Owens, who leads his band into The Mod Club on September 27.

MP3: Girls – “Vomit”
Stream: Girls / Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Over at Rolling Stone, you’ve got a stream of Mountaintops, the latest from Mates Of State, a week before its release. They’ll be at The Phoenix on September 28 and Ology has an interview with band he-half Jason Hammell.

MP3: Mates Of State – “Maracas”
Stream: Mates Of State / Mountaintops

Wild Flag jumped the gun and put up a stream of their self-titled debut last week, but held a little something back for this week – their first video. Wild Flag are at Lee’s Palace on October 12.

Video: Wild Flag – “Romance”

Wilco offered up a stream of The Whole Love, out September 27, for a 24-hour period this past weekend and are prepping for next week’s kick-off of their tour with a fan video project wherein you can help them decorate their stage setup by submitting videos of the town in which they’re playing. And perhaps as a bit of inspiration, they’ve released a video from the new record and if that’s still not getting your juices flowing, dose has those video clips of Jeff Tweedy covering Black Eyed Peas last weekend that have been circulating. In any case, I’ll be interested to see what Toronto sends in for their September 16 and 17 shows at Massey Hall. And if you missed the stream, it’ll be back up on September 19.

Video: Wilco – “Born Alone”

Stephen Malkmus has put out a new video from Mirror Traffic and there’s an interview at The West Australian. He and The Jicks are at The Phoenix on September 21.

Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”

Wye Oak have a new video from their latest album Civilian. They’re at the Sound Academy on October 7 opening up for Explosions In The Sky, with whom Beatroute has an interview.

Video: Wye Oak – “Holy Holy”

Writers On Process gets into the creative space of Crooked Fingers mastermind Eric Bachmann. Their new record Breaks In The Armor is out October 11 and they play The Drake Underground on November 8.

The AV Club talks Archers Of Loaf reunion with bassist Matt Gentling.

The Baltimore Sun talks to National bassist Scott Devendorff.

Clash, Glide and Beatroute talk to Peter Silberman of The Antlers while The Georgia Straight chats with Darcy Cicci.

Salon and American Songwriter get some phone time with Zach Condon of Beirut.

NPR has a World Cafe session and CityPages an interview with Bon Iver.

Blurt documents two decades of the ups and downs of Superchunk.

The Big Takeover has posted the first part of an interview with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev about their masterpiece Deserter’s Songs.

John ClarkEven before anyone heard a note, there was little doubt that Wild Flag would be fantastic. With two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney in Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony of Helium and Rebecca Cole of The Minders, they had about as unimpeachable a pedigree as any band really could. And yet, as history has shown many times, a lot of things look good on paper but don’t live up to expectations in reality. Wild Flag is not one of those things.

I was able to confirm their collective awesomeness at SXSW where their mid-afternoon set was a glorious flurry of duelling guitar solos, scissor kicks and general rock’n’roll fun, and even though pretty much every song was being heard for the first time, they were memorable and considerably more immediate and accessible than either much of Sleater-Kinney’s output and most of Helium’s ever was.

But hell, don’t take my word for it. A couple weeks ahead of the September 13 release of their self-titled debut, the entire album is now available to stream in its entirety at NPR. That, incidentally, is where Brownstein worked as a blogger for years following SK’s hiatus. Considering her focus on writing as well as comedy and acting in the last five years in lieu of music and the fact that Timony hasn’t put anything out since 2007’s The Shapes We Make, it’s no wonder that they collectively had so much rock pent up inside. Rock that they’ve now gifted to us. Fire it up, yo.

They toured through the Spring, but the Fall leg will finally bring them to Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on October 12… and alas I won’t be there. But don’t feel bad for me (not that you necessarily would) – I saw them at SXSW and I’ll be in Iceland at the time so… yeah, I’ll be okay. But if you’re here or in one of the other cities on the itinerary, don’t miss them.

MP3: Wild Flag – “Romance”
MP3: Wild Flag – “Glass Tambourine”
Stream: Wild Flag / Wild Flag

Phantoms, the long-awaited new album from Austin’s Ume, is out today and available to stream in whole over at Spinner. There’s also a streamable radio session with the band over at KDHX and an interview with frontwoman Lauren Larson at The Horn.

MP3: Ume – “Captive”
Stream: Ume / Phantoms

Billboard talks to Zach Condon of Beirut; The Rip Tide.

Stereogum checks in with Mates Of State about their new record Mountaintops, out September 13. They’re at The Phoenix on September 28.

The Drums’ new record Portamento is now up and streaming; the record is out September 13 and they play The Mod Club on October 1.

Stream: The Drums / Portamento

Paste has a stream of Blitzen Trapper’s new long-player American Goldwing, also due out September 13, as well as a new video. They play The Opera House on October 30.

MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “Love The Way You Walk Away”
MP3: Blitzen Trapper – “American Goldwing”
Video: Blitzen Trapper – “Love The Way You Walk Away”
Stream: Blitzen Trapper / American Goldwing

NPR has premiered the first new Olivia Tremor Control song in nigh on a decade and has an interview with Will Cullen Hart. The OTC reunion hits Lee’s Palace on September 16.

Stereogum is sharing an MP3 from the new Ivy album All Hours, out September 20.

The Guardian has a feature piece on Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, in town at Lee’s Palace on September 24.

Check out another track from the new Dum Dum Girls record Only In Dreams, due out September 27. They play Lee’s on October 16.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Bedroom Eyes”

Babelgum is hosting a US edition of Black Cab Sessions with Strand Of Oaks, who will be at The Drake Underground on November 8 opening up for Crooked Fingers.

Though best known as a country-noir crooner outfit, thanks to her recent dalliances with Sunn O))) Jesse Sykes of Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter has got some prog-metal cred. We’ll see if any of that has rubbed off on their latest Marble Son when they’re here on November 10 for a show at The Drake before hitting the road with The Sadies. There’s features on Sykes at Seattle Weekly and Willamette Week and you can stream a recent radio session at KEXP.

MP3: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – “Come To Mary”

Confirming that it is, indeed, time to get paid, Jeff Mangum has launched a new, official Neutral Milk Hotel website and will be releasing an elaborate vinyl-only box set including unreleased Neutral Milk material on November 22. Head over to Pitchfork for details and spend some time poking around walkingwallofwords.com as Mangum has loaded it down with content.

DIY has an interview with Dayve Hawk of Memory Tapes.

The Daily Star talks to Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes.

Leah NashIt was only five days or so and not especially far, but this past weekend’s extended jaunt to New York City was a lovely break from both my jobs – the blog and the one that pays – so while I readjust to the reality that my lifestyle is NOT meandering about Manhattan, taking pictures and eating strange and delicious meals, I’m just gonna toss up some stuff that’s been accumulating over the last few days and go have a nap.

And I guess we’ll start with Mr Stephen Malkmus, whose Mirror Traffic – his Beck-produced, recorded pre-Pavement reunion but mixed post-reunion record with The Jicks, is out today. There’s plenty of press surrounding its release, but this piece at Salon is particularly interesting to me, anyways, as it’s written by fellow 90s college rock icon Dean Wareham of the dearly, dearly departed Luna and Galaxie 500… though I can’t help noticing that one of the questions not asked was, “so should I get the old band back together?” though I suspect the answer from SM wouldn’t be the one the Luna fan in me would want to hear.

There’s other conversations with Malkmus about the new record – though by less esteemed interviewers – at Billboard, Clash, New York Magazine, Nerve, Exclaim, MTV Hive and Interview. And a new video from the record just premiered over at The New York Times. The album is still up to stream in whole at NPR.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks kick off their North American tour in support of Mirror Traffic in just under a month; the second date is in Toronto at The Phoenix on September 21.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”
MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Senator”
Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “No One Is (As I Are Be)”
Stream: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Mirror Traffic

Spin gets Wild Flag – whose Janet Weiss is not a Jick this time around – to list off some of their favourite things while The Vine talks to keyboardist Rebecca Cole. Their debut self-title will be more than few peoples’ favourite thing when it comes out on September 13. They play Lee’s Palace on October 11.

The Decemberists have premiered a new video from The King Is Dead over at NPR. The Georgia Straight has a chat with bassist Nate Query.

Video: The Decemberists – “Calamity Song”

Also with a new video straight out of the Pacific northwest is The Head & The Heart. You can also stream their set at the Newport Folk Festival from a few weeks back at NPR.

Video: The Head & The Heart – “Cats & Dogs”

Under The Radar and AltSonds have interviews with Blitzen Trapper. Their new one American Goldwing is out September 13 and they play The Opera House on October 30.

Spinner reports – in decidedly first-hand fashion – that The Flaming Lips and Death Cab For Cutie will be collaborating on a new EP sometime in the future.

Erika Anderson of EMA chats with Spinner and talks fashion with Spin.

Low have released a new video from C’Mon.

Video: Low – “Especially Me”

Head over to The Jayhawks’ official Facebook page where the band have been giving away free live MP3s en masse as a lead up to the September 20 release of their new album Mockingbird Time.

The new Bon Iver video practically doubles as a PSA for Tourism Iceland. Colour me convinced – see you in October!

Video: Bon Iver – “Holocene”

St. Louis Magazine has an extensive feature on Wilco, including some acoustic performances of new material from Jeff Tweedy. The Whole Love is out September 27 and they play Massey Hall on September 17 and 18.

NPR has a World Cafe session with My Morning Jacket while You Ain’t No Picasso and Citybeat have band interviews. Paste talks to guitarist Carl Broemel about not only MMJ, but his latest solo record All Birds Say.

Magnet Q&As Of Montreal before making them guest editors of their website for a week. They’re going to be picking glitter out of the office furniture for weeks to come.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Sonic Youth’s show at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn last week.

They Shoot Music has a video session with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Details are coming out about the first new Tom Waits studio album in some seven years – Exclaim reports on the track listing of Bad As Me and indicates it will be out October 25. Expectations are also that a stream of the title track, which has appeared and disappeared online in the last little while, will be made officially available sometime today. As for the questions of will Waits tour behind it… well, Tom Waits does what Tom Waits wants to do, but the odds are certainly a lot better with a new album than without.

FacebookI usually try to time these selections so as to have some relevance either on a local scale – ie a show or tour coming through the Toronto area – or a cosmic one – as in an album release or other artist-related news. This week’s is only relevant to me and to folks in Philadephia and New York as that’s where Emmy The Great will be starting and concluding an exhaustive two-night North American tour (I will be at the latter of these), though one can only hope that they’re part of a broader mission to get her excellent second album Virtue a North American release.

It’s enough pretence, however, to dust off a few covers that I’d probably not have opportunity to air out otherwise. The first, which is her and collaborator Euan Hinshelwood of Younghusband trading verses on Ash’s “Burn Baby Burn” with some gleeful cussing overtop, dates from prior to the release of First Love; Clash featured it back in Fall 2008 and I’m pretty sure it was pulled off her MySpace so… ancient.

For the second, we fast-forward to this past July when Ms Moss was promoting album number two via a radio session on Radio Ulster; another cover with vocal assistance from a male foil but this time it was Tim Wheeler of Ash – who wrote that last track – and is also now Emmy The Great’s boyfriend. How cute is that. Their selection was a take on one of Sleater-Kinney’s last singles off their final (so far) album, 2005’s The Woods, a somewhat unexpected choice but Emmy does a pretty fine job of emulating Carrie Brownstein’s distinctively vibratoed singing style.

Ash abandoned the conventional album release cycle following 2007’s Twilight of the Innocents, instead dedicating 2009-10 to their A-Z Series, a series of 26 singles released bi-weekly for a year. They will be doing things the old-fashioned way this Fall, though, with the release not only of The Best Of Ash come October 17 but a series of Free All Angels recital shows with departed guitarist Charlotte Hatherley back along for that short ride. Clash has some details on the release and Manchester Confidential an interview with Wheeler.

Sleater-Kinney have remained on hiatus for the past half-decade, but all the princpals are back at work – The Corin Tucker Band released their debut 1,000 Years last Fall while the Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein-powered Wild Flag release their self-titled debut on September 13 and play Lee’s Palace on October 11. Captain’s Dead has just posted MP3s of some of Sleater-Kinney’s BBC session recordings over the run of their career and Metro has a quick interview with Brownstein.

Emmy The Great plays The Studio at Webster Hall in Manhattan this Thursday night, August 18.

MP3: Emmy The Great – “Burn Baby Burn”
MP3: Emmy The Great – “Modern Girl”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Burn Baby Burn” (live)
Video: Ash – “Burn Baby Burn”
Video: Sleater-Kinney – “Modern Girl”

Chloe AftelWhilst at the closing sale for the now dearly departed Criminal Records this past weekend, I found amongst the remaining stock a copy of Papercuts’ latest LP Fading Parade. Already having the CD, I suggested a friend pick it up and when asked, not unreasonably, what it sounded like, I was at a loss and don’t think I came up with anything more articulate than, “it’s good” – hey, I don’t always think fast on my feet. Unsurprisingly, the sales pitch failed but happily, the album found a good home not long afterwards with another acquaintance. Having had a little more time to think on it though, I’d like to take another shot at the “what’s it sound like?” inquiry.

Papercuts were an unknown to me before Fading Parade, which is their fourth album but their Sub Pop debut so score one for the benefits of bigger labels. But all you really need to know about them is that a) they’re from San Francisco and b) they is essentially a he – one Jason Robert Quever – and his lovely and gentle pillow of a voice. Actually that’s too reductive. As central as Quevers’ breathy vocals are to the Papercuts sound, also crucial are the wistfully longing melodies he delivers with it and the sonic aesthetic that he surrounds it all with – an aesthetic built on reverbs precisely set so as to cushion all of the intricate instrumental arrangements but not obscure the detail and delicacy of it all.

Clearly atmosphere matters, but I still don’t quite get all the shoegaze namedrops that pop up in their press – if you were looking for English DNA in their sound, it’d look more Sarah Records than anything else. But if forced to come up with a single reference point, I’d probably go with The Shins, albeit less folksy and more elegantly baroque. Which now that I think about it, isn’t very Shins-y at all. Okay, how about this – Papercuts’ Fading Parade? It’s good.

The Line Of Best Fit welcomed Quever to their studio for an acoustic video session.

MP3: Papercuts – “Do You Really Wanna Know”
MP3: Papercuts – “Do What You Will”
Video: Papercuts – “Do You Really Wanna Know”
Video: Papercuts – “Do What You Will”

Dazed has an interview with Antlers while Wears The Trousers points to a studio video of the band performing “Hounds” with Nicole Atkins guesting on vocals.

Epitonic and Spectrum Culture talk to Erika Anderson of EMA.

Check out a track from Wild Flag’s forthcoming self-titled debut, due out September 13. They play Lee’s Palace on October 11.

MP3: Wild Flag – “Romance”

A new track from tUnE-yArDs’ WHOKILL is up for grabs and there’s also a KCRW session over at NPR. They play Lee’s Palace on September 24.

MP3: tUnE-yArDs – “Powa”

Head over to Soundcloud to hear a three-track sampler of the new Ivy record All Hours, due out September 20.

The Mountain Goats have released a new video from All Eternals Deck.

Video: The Mountain Goats – “Real Estate Sign”

MPR has an interview with Fleet Foxes.

Exclaim talks to Eric Bachmann about the Archers Of Loaf reunion.

Bob Mould talks memoirs with eMusic.

Stereogum has marked the 10th anniversary of The Strokes’ debut album Is This It by compiling Stroked, a tribute album to said record with contributions from the likes of Peter Bjorn & John, Owen Pallett and The Morning Benders, amongst others.

Their fire sale over and done with, Bruce Peninsula have finally come clean with details on their second album – Open Flames will be out on October 4, and will follow it with a Fall tour that includes a hometown show at Lee’s Palace on October 27. And if you don’t want to wait that long to see them and hear the new stuff – and why would you – remember they’re playing the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 11 as part of Summerworks.

MP3: Bruce Peninsula – “Light Flight”

Playing that same stage and festival on August 6 are Hooded Fang, who’ve marked the release of their second album Tosta Mista this week by talking to aux.tv and Exclaim and streaming the whole album online.

Stream: Hooded Fang / Tosta Mista