Jessica EatonThough they should be – and probably are – at work on their next album, a follow-up to last year’s The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, Montreal’s Besnard Lakes have put together a little something something that will not only slake their fans’ appetite for some new outer space-scale rock, but give them an excuse to get out of the studio and back on the road for a spell. On September 20, they’ll release You Lived In the City, a new 12″ EP that contains music the band prepared for the documentary film Welcome To Pine Point, which chronicles the short life of a town in the Northwest Territories.

As for the aforementioned tour, it will kick off in late September on the west coast and wind its way across the continent – largely in Canada but with some forays south of the border – before wrapping mid-October in Ottawa, though you have to think that there’ll be a hometown show to cap it off. Toronto gets our fix on October 13 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $20 in advance. And sweetening the deal, as though it needed sweetening, is the fact that Malajube will be opening up all dates – that’s two bands with four Polaris shortlist appearances between them – five if Malajube’s La caverne gets the nod in a couple weeks. Not bad.

MP3: The Besnard Lakes – “Albatross”
MP3: Malajube – “Synesthésie”
Trailer: Welcome To Pine Point

Scenes From The Subrubs, the Spike Jonze-directed short film assembled to give Arcade Fire a music video and an excuse to re-release The Suburbs, is currently available to stream in its entirety over at mubi.com. The deluxe edition of The Suburbs is out August 2.

Video: Scenes From The Suburbs

Filter talks to Graham Van Pelt of Miracle Fortress. They play The Lower Ossington Theatre on August 12 as part of Summerworks. And speaking of Summerworks, the festival has run a bit afoul of the current federal government and had their funding cut; donations to help make up the shortfall are welcome (and tax deductible).

The Alternate Side has a session and interview with The Dears.

Their August 1 show in support of new album Sound Kapital presumably long sold out, Handsome Furs have added a second date at The Horseshoe for August 2, tickets $15 in advance. Exclaim has an interview.

MP3: Handsome Furs – “Repatriated”

The Corkman chats with Owen Pallett, who has two dates at the Phoenix – August 2 and 4 – opening up for Beirut.

While there hasn’t been much to draw music fans to the Toronto Islands this Summer – no V Fest, no Olympic Island shows, just the Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder and Skydiggers free show on July 16 – Wavelength has put together a good reason to hop on the ferry for the weekend of August 13 and 14. That’s when the annual ALL CAPS! all-ages festival goes down, this year featuring performances from Julie Doiron, The Wooden Sky, Monogrenade, Steamboat, Muskox, Rich Aucoin, Dog Bus, More or Les, Evening Hymns, Moon King, Jennifer Castle and DD/MM/YYYY. And this is in addition to art installations, BBQs, general fun and frivolity and – get this – overnight camping on the island. Tickets and specifics still to come.

MP3: Julie Doiron – “Consolation Prize”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
MP3: Monogrenade – “Ce Soir”
MP3: Evening Hymns – “Cedars”
MP3: Rich Aucoin – “10,342 Cuts For The US”
MP3: Jennifer Castle – “Neverride”
MP3: DD/MM/YYYY – “Infinity Skull Cube”

Hooded Fang are not resting on their Polaris long-list laurels for their debut album Album; they’ve got a new album entitled Tosta Mista coming out July 26 – check out a couple new songs below and see them when they play the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 6 for Summerworks.

MP3: Hooded Fang – “ESP”
MP3: Hooded Fang – “Den Of Love”

Sloan have taken their turn in the AV Club’s Undercover studio, covering Gary Numan’s “Cars”. There’s also an interview at BrooklynVegan.

Southern Souls has posted a video session with Chad VanGaalen. Post City also has an interview.

Woodpigeon have put out a video from last year’s Balladeer: To All The Guys I’ve Loved Before and, via their blog, made a new song built off a poem by Marie Cecilia Ryan available to download. And head over to YouTube to see a set of live videos recorded in a disused London schoolhouse.

MP3: Woodpigeon – “The Way To Happiness”
Video: Woodpigeon – “Featherstone”

The Guardian contemplates the appeal of soft rock with Dan Bejar of Destroyer.

There’s a little photography-tilted interview with me over at Live In Limbo.

FacebookBeirut and Owen Pallett have a pretty long and storied history together, with the former enlisting the latter to arrange and add strings and things to their last full-length, 2007’s The Flying Club Cup, as well as take lead vocals on the song “Cliquot” while the latter while still operating as Final Fantasy enlisted members of Beirut to play on his Spectrum, 14th Century EP. So yes, hardly strangers.

But even so it still counts as an occasion and a half that the two are teaming up for a show at The Phoenix on August 2. For starters, Beirut has been awfully quiet since The Flying Club Cup, only releasing a pair of EPs in the 2009 March Of The Zapotec/Realpeople Holland set but not dropping much in the way of hints as to when album number three might be coming. There’s been a bone in the way of a cover contribution to a Red Hot Tropicália-themed benefit album – Pitchfork has details and the Beirut cover available to stream – but other than the fact that the band are scheduling live dates and were beagle hunting (in a good way) back in January, no one’s sure what’s coming or when. But something is coming.

As for Pallett, he’s still riding last year’s Heartland but even he’s got some surprises up his sleeve. Specifically, the format change he hinted at before SXSW appears to be in effect as a press release received yesterday referred to him as, Owen Pallet et Les Mouches, Les Mouches being the name of the three-piece band with whom he played before dedicating himself to Final Fantasy. In other words, he appears to have done gone and gotten a band. Update: This was actually confirmed last week and it is indeed Pallett’s former collaborators in Les Mouches circa 2005 who will be backing him.

Beirut’s first show in Toronto in some four years would have been plenty of reason to get mobilized for when the $32.50 tickets go on sale Thursday, but factor in the addition of a probably all-new, all-different Owen Pallett experience to the bill, all in a venue a touch smaller than the one Beirut played last time (the dearly departed Danforth)? Well, dawdle at your own risk.

And if you needed a reminder of how great the Beirut live experience can be, re-watch the Flying Club Cup videos.

MP3: Beirut – “Postcards From Italy”
MP3: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”
MP3: Final Fantasy (with Beirut) – “The Butcher”

In other show announcements, The Horseshoe will host a fundraiser for the Toronto chapter of Girls Rock Camp on May 5 and have assembled a lineup – fittingly – of girls who rock, led by Julie Doiron and also featuring Forest City Lovers and Gramercy Riffs. Tickets are $12.00

MP3: Julie Doiron – “Consolation Prize”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
MP3: Gramercy Riffs – “Call Me”

Salient points: Neil Young. Bert Jansch. Massey Hall. May 10 and 11, 2011. Tickets $89.50, $139.50 & $189.50 plus fees. On sale Friday at 10AM. Solo, electric and acoustic. Neil’s first time back at Massey since Fall 2007. Expensive as hell but quite possibly/probably worth it. And that second show is on my birthday, yo.

Video: Neil Young – “Walk With Me”

Way on the other side of the musical spectrum but still pretty significant – Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, aka Odd Future, aka OFWGKTA, aka the future of hip hop, aka the craziest thing anyone saw at SXSW, is coming to Toronto. They’ll be at The Mod Club on May 15, tickets $29.25 on sale Friday at 10AM via Ticketmaster. If you’re going, prepare yourself. For what? No one knows. That’s the point.

Video: Odd Future – “Sandwiches” (live on Jimmy Fallon)

With the July 8 date now sold out, a second Girl Talk show has been added for the following night, July 9. Still at the Sound Academy, tickets $30.

With the May 3 release of Helplessness Blues imminent, Fleet Foxes have added a new leg to their North American tour and it includes a July 14 stop at Massey Hall, site of their ridiculously triumphant show in August 2009. Tickets range from $35.50 to $45.50 and go on sale April 21 at 10AM.

MP3: Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”

Brooklyn’s Twin Sister have made a date at The El Mocambo for July 19, tickets $10.

MP3: Twin Sister – “Ginger”

It’s worth noting that Montreal’s Osheaga festival announced their lineup on Monday night and as with past years, it’s a solid lineup led by one Eminem and also touting Elvis Costello, The Flaming Lips doing a Soft Bulletin recital, Death Cab For Cutie and more. The fest goes three days from July 29 to July 31 at Parc Jean-Drapeau and three-day passes go on sale Friday.

And while not in the same class as Osheaga, Kingston’s Wolfe Island Music Festival has always punched above its weight class as far as talent goes and excelled at creating a nice and intimate vibe. This year’s edition takes place on August 5 and 6 and the lineup features Stars, Great Lake Swimmers, Plants & Animals, The Wooden Sky, Paul Langlois (of The Tragically Hip) and Jenn Grant with more to be announced. Two-day passes go on sale May 20 for $60.

MP3: Stars – “We Don’t Want Your Body”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Pulling On A Line”
MP3: Plants & Animals – “Tom Cruz”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
Video: Jenn Grant – “Getcha Good”

I had thought I might get to some non-show related news but you know what? I’m beat. But if you’re still, I dunno, bored at work and looking for something to read – and in particular if you’re a band or label or PR person – this piece at Culture Bully about dealing with blogger types is worth a look. There is truth and wisdom in those words, though I would add to NOT send blogs 8×10 glossy photos. And if you have to ask why…

sistermusic.caNext Saturday, April 16, is Record Store Day and no matter what your feelings on the event itself and its attempts to convince you that you really need those songs you already have on a coloured 7″, you can’t argue with some of the perks. Specifically, the fact that many of the local retail establishments around town like to entice you into their stores with the promise of free live music.

So far, Sonic Boom has the biggest lineup, running from day through night and pretty impressive. There’s no one quite the stature of Sloan, as they had last year, but there’s both Canadian indie rock veterans with pedigree and rookies with promise on offer this year. Things will shake down as follows:

1PM – Modern Superstitions
2PM – Teenanger
3PM – Bidniband (ex-Rheostatic Dave Bidni)
4PM – Light Fires (Gentleman Reg and Ohbijou’s James Bunton)
5PM – Ben Gunning (former Local Rabbit)
6PM – Sister (two-thirds of Scott Pilgrim-inspiring Plumtree)
8PM – Zeus
9PM – The Wooden Sky

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding In The Night For Us”
MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”
MP3: Sister – “Orion”
MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”

Further downtown at Criminal Records, you’ve got a 7PM acoustic set from The Grey Kingdom, aka the solo project from Attack In Black’s Spencer Burton. They’ll also be the only ones with the vinyl edition of his debut album Eulogy Of Her And Her And Her, so if that’s your bag then that’s the place to be. And even if it’s not, the rather exhaustive list of RSD exclusives that they’ve ordered – and usually get at least some if not a lot of – should be enough to entice you.

If memory serves, both Kops and Sunrise had bands in last year – no word yet if they’ll do so again this year, but I’ll update if they do.

And not associated with Record Store Day but definitely worth your time and costing you exactly zero dollars will be The Sadies at The Toronto Reference Library as part of their Make Some Noise series – there’s no advance tickets, so show up before doors at 7:30PM on April 16 – the show starts at 8 – and enjoy. The Toronto Public Library has a chat with drummer Mike Belitsky.

MP3: The Sadies – “Another Year Again”

Ron Sexsmith will play an acoustic in-store set at Sonic Boom on April 21 at 6PM in advance of his sold-out show at Lee’s Palace that evening.

Video: Ron Sexsmith – “Late Bloomer” (live)

This one’s half-free – Cults’ show at Lee’s Palace on the Friday night of NXNE will be standard ticket/wristband/badge admission, but they’ll also be on whatever bill gets put together for the free shows at Yonge-Dundas Square the next day, June 18 – perfect if you’d rather, you know, go outside. Their self-titled debut will be out on June 7.

MP3: Cults – “Go Outside”

Twin Shadow is also coming to town for NXNE – he and his band are at Lee’s on June 18 – but that one will cost you unless you’ve got a wristband or badge and feel like walking into the shows just by flashing it is close enough to free for you.

MP3: Twin Shadow – “Castles In The Snow”

Back to the gratis but on a completely different scale is the opening event for this year’s Toronto Jazz Festival – which will feature the legendary (and that’s putting it mildly) Aretha Franklin at Metro Hall on June 24, showtime 8:30. Aretha. For free. PEOPLE.

Video: Aretha Franklin – “Respect” (live)

And on Canada Day, given that there doesn’t seem to be a Harbourfront Centre show for the first time in years, your best bet will be Shad – also at Metro Hall – starting at 5:30PM. Too early in the day for fireworks so we’ll have to settle for some freestyling.

MP3: Shad – “Rose Garden”

And finally, one you’ll have to pay for but should be worth it: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have added a bunch of tour dates through the Summer in support of new album Belong and their itinerary brings them back to Toronto for the first time since September 2009 – they’ll be at The Opera House on August 2. Blurt has an interview with frontman Kip Berman.

Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Heart In Your Heartbreak”

The Head & The Heart have released a new MP# from their self-titled debut which should be on every one of your shopping lists for Record Store Day (when it’s released).

MP3: The Head & The Heart – “Lost In My Mind”

Blurt is streaming the whole of The Submarines’ new record Love Notes/Letter Bombs. They play The Horseshoe April 22.

Stream: The Submarines / Love Notes/Letter Bombs

TV On The Radio is streaming the whole of their new record Nine Types Of Light at The Guardian. The album is out next Tuesday and they’re at The Sound Academy on April 18. Interview has an interview. Fancy that.

Stream: TV On The Radio / Nine Types Of Light

Ground ControlSo maybe some of you heard that Jeff Mangum, that guy who used to be in that one band, played a surprise show of Neutral Milk Hotel tunes to a Brooklyn crowd of about 75 this past weekend (MP3s or it didn’t happen). And while that’s a pretty cool thing in and of itself, not to mention giving those in attendance bragging rights in certain circles for the rest of their lives, that it happened just before word that the Elephant 6 collective of which the Neutral Milk was a founding member was planning a big Spring touring to-do was… interesting. Not implying anything untoward, simply observing that if it was a coincidence, it was a well-timed one.

Said to-do is the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour, which was first rolled out at about this time of the year in 2008 by former Neutral Milk Hotelier, current Music Tapes leader and all-around Christmas fan Julian Koster. It consisted of a massive and random group of Elephant 6 alumni past and present, including members of Apples In Stereo, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Olivia Tremor Control amongst others – which is to say about 1/10 the population of Athens, Georgia – who trekked about performing holiday songs and each others’ compositions and generally celebrating the spirit of pop, psychedelia and community that informed the movement back in their heyday of the mid-’90s. And apparently they had such a good time of it, they’re doing it again.

The details on the who and the what are unclear as of yet – Koster will certainly be driving it again, covering much of the same terrain as his ongoing Lullabye Tour – but the itinerary is up, showing dates across North America running from late February through the end of March. You know, exactly when there aren’t any real holidays. Unlike the original Holiday Tour, this one includes a Toronto stop on March 18 at the Horseshoe, which is great for those of us who will be hundreds of miles away at SxSW at the time (that’s not a plea for sympathy, just statement of fact), particularly since none of Elf Power, Circulatory System or the reunited Olivia Tremor Control have come up this way in forever. But it is what it is and what it should be is an excitingly unpredictable treat for fans and you can bet no one is forgetting that Mangum made appearances at some of those shows in 2008… Will he be along this time out? Maybe he just needs to get re-accustomed to playing live OH WAIT.

The AV Club talked to Koster about the tour back in the Fall of 2008 while NPR has audio from the Chicago stop of that tour – all two and a half hours of it.

MP3: Music Tapes – “Majesty”
MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Holland 1945”
MP3: The Apples In Stereo – “Benefits Of Lying With Your Friend”
MP3: Elf Power – “Stranger In The Window”
MP3: Circulatory System – “Yesterday’s World”
MP3: Circulatory System – “Now”

It’s understandable if you thought that The Wooden Sky’s show at Lee’s back at the start of November was their last local hurrah for the year, but they’ve got one more engagement on the calendar – an intimate December 19 show at the Music Gallery with Philadelphia’s Strand Of Oaks. It’s an all-ages gig, tickets $25 and all proceeds going to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
MP3: Strand Of Oaks – “Bonfire”

The double-bill of one-man act Wild Nothing and many-man band Abe Vigoda have made a date at Wrongbar on February 17, full dates of the tour available at Pitchfork.

MP3: Wild Nothing – “Golden Haze”
MP3: Abe Vigoda – “Throwing Shade”

Akron/Family will follow up the February 8 release of S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT with a date at The Horseshoe on February 20. And if you haven’t read the background on the record, Consequence Of Sound has details… which sound mental.

MP3: Akron/Family – “River”

The Low Anthem, who are readying their Smart Flesh for a February 22 release, have made a date at The Great Hall for March 2 – tickets $17.50 in advance. You can grab the first MP3 from said record in exchange for your email at their website.

Clash talks to LCD Soundsystem main man James Murphy.

Drowned In Sound interviews Britt Daniel and Eric Harvey of Spoon.

Exclaim has details on the long-awaited second Rural Alberta Advantage record. Departing will be out on March 1 and you can expect to hear at least some of it at their sold-out Lee’s Palace show next Thursday, December 16.

Daytrotter’s recent sojourn to Pop Montreal has yielded sessions with Karkwa and also with Diamond Rings. Karkwa are at Lee’s Palace on March 5.

Monday has a feature on Dan Mangan.

The Guardian, Winnipeg Free Press and Pitchfork talk to Feist about her Look At What The Light Did Now documentary, out today on DVD.

Joe FudaAnd now, a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with a certain record label that is now old enough to drink in the US.

Starting locally, with The Rural Alberta Advantage. After one of the best and busiest 2009s on record, the trio has been relatively quiet through most of this year working on the follow-up to their debut Hometowns, as these photos (sort of) attest. But you can only keep road warriors in one place for so long and they’ll be on the road again starting at the end of this month with a pretty extensive Fall tour that takes them out across the prairies to the west coast of Canada, across the Atlantic for a slew of European and UK dates and then, finally, back home to Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on December 16 – their first proper local show in over a year. It’ll be good to hear some of the new material that will appear on album number two when it hits sometime next year, but mostly it’ll just be nice to see them again. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”

And more to the show announcements from the past week or so – Avi Buffalo will precede their October 18 show at the Horseshoe with an in-store at Soundscapes on October 17 at 7PM. It’ll be interesting to see if Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg can tear it up as fiercely on acoustic as he does electric. I am guessing yes.

MP3: Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “What’s In It For?”

Also doing it free for the kids is PS I Love You, whose just-released debut Meet Me At The Muster Station has been getting some impressive Pitchfork-love. They’ll be at Soundscapes on October 26 at 7PM before heading down to The Garrison to open up for Diamond Rings. The duo are profiled in The Province, National Post, Chart and Exclaim.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”

Forest City Lovers have set a date at The Horseshoe for November 5, amidst a smattering of Fall dates. They’ve also just put out a new pensive-to-party video from Carriage.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Tell Me Cancer”

Horse Feathers and Anaïs Mitchell will team up for a show at the Drake Underground on November 8.

MP3: Horse Feathers – “Curs In The Weeds”
MP3: Anaïs Mitchell – “Flowers (Eurydice’s Song)”

The Balconies, who like The RAA were omni-present in 2009 but relatively quiet in 2010, are back for a show at The Horseshoe on November 9 – hopefully as a precursor to a second album.

MP3: The Balconies – “Serious Bedtime”

The Meligrove Band have put together both a North American tour for and a video from their just-released new record Shimmering Lights. They’re at The Great Hall on November 12 and there’s interviews at The National Post and dose.

MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Bones Attack!!!”
MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Halflight”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Racing To Shimmering Lights”

Rufus Wainwright has a date at Massey Hall on December 4.

Video: Rufus Wainwright – “Zebulon”

Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, has slated a North American tour in support of his new record It’s What I’m Thinking Pt.1 — Photographing Snowflakes. The record is out next Tuesday and will be available in a variety of deluxe and standard packages, as detailed at Exclaim. The Toronto date of the aforementioned tour is December 8 at The Great Hall, tickets $27.50 in advance.

Video: Badly Drawn Boy – “Too Many Miracles”

Interpol will be making good on the support slot for U2 this past Summer which was canceled along with the entire tour when Bono realized he was an old man. They’ll be at the Air Canada Centre on July 11 of next year.

MP3: Interpol – “Lights”

BeatRoute discusses The Age Of Adz with Sufjan Stevens. The record is out October 12 and he plays Massey Hall on October 13.

Murray Lightburn of The Dears talks to eye in advance of the band’s three-night residency at The Garrison next week, October 13 through 15, where they’ll play all of their new, as-yet untitled and release date-less album, start to finish.

The Oklahoma Daily and Austinist talk to members of Local Natives, who’ve put out a new video and have a sold-out show at the Mod Club on October 19.

Video: Local Natives – “Wide Eyes”

Spinner has an interview with Lissie, who brings her full-length debut Catching A Tiger to the El Mocambo on October 19. There’s also a new video from said record.

Video: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”

Uptown and The Ottawa Citizen profile Rae Spoon, in town for a show at the Gladstone on October 21.

Stars, who are playing Massey Hall on October 26, are interviewed by BeatRoute and The Huffington Post.

Spinner talks to Black Mountain. They’ll be dressing up as a band playing The Phoenix on Hallowe’en.

Thanks Captain Obvious, The Village Voice and Spinner talk to Sharon Van Etten about her new record Epic. She is at Lee’s Palace on November 5 supporting Junip.

The Wooden Sky, who’ve got a date at Lee’s Palace on November 6, have just been featured in a Daytrotter session and a Gateway interview.

Wolf Parade have rolled out a new video from Expo 86. They’ll be at the Sound Academy on November 26.

Video: Wolf Parade – “Yulia”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, in town for a show at the Mod Club on December 1. There’s also interviews at The Omaha World-Herald and Wall Street Journal.

Kevin Drew tells Spin why Broken Social Scene are called Broken Social Scene while Brendan Canning talks to The Georgia Straight and Andrew Whiteman to The Gateway. They are at the Sound Academy on December 9.

BeatRoute chats with Owen Pallett.

Pitchfork interviews Arcade Fire.

Spinner, The Gateway, See and BeatRoute talk to Holy Fuck.

Over at YouTube, Daniel Lanois offers a track-by-track analysis of Neil Young’s Le Noise from the view of the producer’s chair.

Didn’t The Flaming Lips just release a video from Embryonic last week? Yes they did. But here’s another one anyways.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine”

How do you know Of Montreal were just in the UK? Interviews with Kevin Barnes at Drowned In Sound, The Quietus and The Line Of Best Fit.

The Fly talks to the ladies of Warpaint about their forthcoming debut The Fool, hitting the streets on October 26.

MOVE talks to Mountain Goat Peter Hughes.

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady discusses the benefits of getting older with The Boston Globe.

And seriously, this isn’t even nearly everything I’ve had backlogged to post over the past week.