Friday, March 19th, 2010

SxSW 2010 Night Two

Superchunk, She & Him, Marina & The Diamonds and more at SxSW

Frank YangFunny thing about plans you’ve had etched in stone for weeks – they seem to be the ones that are the most fun to jettison. Leading up to SxSW, I had assumed I would stick around at Eastbound & Down through GZA’s set, which meant that my only opportunity to see Superchunk would be their Friday afternoon Village Voice show at La Zona Rosa. Easy. And yet instead of getting my Wu Tang on Thursday evening, I found myself back at the hotel staring at my schedule and contemplating a world of opportunities with that scenario out the window. And it was decided that this evening would be a Merge kind of evening.

That Superchunk were the “special guests” kicking things off there at 7:30 PM was a pretty poorly kept secret, but even without them it was sure to be a full house with the first of several SxSW appearances from Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel, aka She & Him. I wanted to see both and not tromp all around Austin, so sitting in Cedar Street for a few hours seemed a good plan. But first there’d be some standing in line outside the courtyard waiting for doors to open at 7. And more standing. And more. Apparently, a late-running day show had mucked up the Merge schedule such that doors didn’t open until 7:50, obviously throwing the official schedule – which only would have allowed for a 15-20 minute Superchunk set – out the window. When wristbands were finally let in, I pulled a Cedar Street Slide (instead of fighting through the crowd in the courtyard, ducking into the restaurant that runs the length of the venue and bypassing them via the entrance at the front of the stage) and snagged a perfect spot at the foot of the stage as Superchunk were tuning up. Superchunk!

And man, was it worth the wait. The Chapel Hill quartet may not be on full active duty after a long hiatus, but they played like they hadn’t taken a day off. Pogoing around the stage like the kids do (or did), they played a much longer than expected set – eight songs – including a couple new ones which will appear on their just-completed new record (!!!). Those sounded great but I was of course stoked to hear the likes of “Hello Hawk” and “Hyper Enough”, as well as getting to tell Jim Wilbur that no one heard his last solo because he’d accidentally unplugged his guitar from a pedal mid-song. I had worried that going off schedule would make for a shorter Superchunk set, but it probably allowed for an even longer one and my night had hit it’s high point just as soon as it had begun. This, kids, is how it’s done.

Three of those kids were up next in the form of one of the label’s latest signings, London’s Let’s Wrestle. I’m a fan of their debut In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s, due out next week, and had been looking for an opportunity to catch them at SxSW before their April 18 show at the Horseshoe but while their songwriting and persona would appear to be of shambolic abandon, their show was decidedly more polite than expected. It sounded great and Wesley Patrick Gonzalez’s guitar had a pleasant self-destructing tone throughout, but their delivery was more of intensity than shenanigans, save for the final, instrumental title track of the album in which strings began breaking on his SG en masse, forcing him to mangle/wrangle them off whilst trying to play. Finally – some wrestling!

The last time I saw Radar Bros was also here in Austin, also at a Merge showcase in 2008. And like that time, their set was slow and leisurely, almost to a fault. I like a lot of the sounds and influences that Jim Putnam and company draw on, but delivered as they are in such a languorous fashion, it can be a bit maddening. Their new record The Illustrated Garden is out next week. I’m betting it sounds a lot like the one before it.

They may be called She & Him, but it’s really She & Him & Lots Of Backing Players – Matt and Zooey’s band is a big one, and as such, their soundcheck took an exceeding long time to get through. Any gains in time made up by compressing sets leading up to theirs were pretty much lost as they tried to get mics and monitors working. Not that anyone seemed to care, anticipation for the duo was high and hundreds of cameras at the ready… until they essentially turned off all the lights and a show official came on the mic and said that the band politely requested that no one take any photos during their show. Of course, few listened and when they finally strode out on stage, it was to a barrage of flashes and shutters. This performance had a markedly different feel from their SxSW debut two years ago, which was maybe their third-ever live performance. Despite being a seasoned actress, at that show Deschanel seemed very nervous and uncomfortable being in the spotlight, frequently looking to Ward for cues or confidence. This time out, she was far, far more at ease, chatting with the crowd, cracking jokes, jumping up and down and generally being adorable. Musically, things weren’t quite so polished as some sound issues persisted despite the elongated soundcheck and they were both working without a set list and against a shortened set time. Not that that seemed to matter to most in attendance, who were thrilled to be seeing the pair – or at least their silhouettes – and take in their timeless-sounding, AM radio-styled pop tunes. And as soon as they were done, the venue cleared out.

Which is a shame because Wye Oak were up next. I’d have liked to have stuck around and if they were remotely on schedule, I would have but still needing to grab some dinner at 11PM and with a few blocks to traverse to Lamberts for my last stop of the night, I needed to be on my way. Lamberts was where current UK it girl Marina & The Diamonds was set to hold court and, having a thing for UK it girls, I wanted to see what this was all about. Again, the start time was delayed massively by technical issues – seeing six guys huddled around a rack case with a flashlight and shrugging is never a good sign – but unlike most SxSW showcases thus afflicted, this one would hardly be cut short. When they were finally ready to go, Marina Diamandis bounded onstage clad in Planet Hollywood overalls and a giant woolen shawl with animal ears… clearly, she was not going to be your conventional diva. And not being able to quite put my finger on what she was about was kind of the overarching theme for her set. Her voice is powerful, but with enough quirks and tics to not be too cookie cutter mainstream. the musical backing is synth-heavy, but it’s not made for the dancefloor. The lyrics are dense and pop-culture referencing, but not ironic. She’s beautiful, but not conventionally glammy (see above outfit). Whatever she’s doing, it’s been a hit in the UK and if the couple hundred people crammed into the club are a representative sample of North America (which they’re not), then when her debut The Family Jewels is released over here on May 25, it’ll do just as well. For my part, I remain intrigued if not yet completely won over.

Friday, March 19th, 2010

SxSW 2010 Day Two

Slow Club, The Morning Benders, Ume and more at SxSW

Frank YangBeyond the pleasure of being able to attach one’s name to a lineup of great acts that you can (mostly) whole-heartedly endorse, one of the big perks of presenting a day show at SxSW is that it gives you an excuse to NOT run around the city all day from showcase to showcase. If you’ve done your job in curating well enough, there’s no real reason you’d want to be anywhere but your own show. And so most all of yesterday afternoon was spent at a parking lot just on the wrong side of I35 where Eastbound & Found, the party put together by myself and esteemed bloggers and sponsors.

Freelance Whales were generous enough to take one of the earliest spots, their peppy co-ed indie-pop almost the perfect thing to rouse the keeners who were on site at the break of noon. At times I find them almost a bit too chirpy but there’s usually a hook or melody waiting just around to corner to get me back onside. Their show at the El Mocambo with Cymbals Eat Guitars on April 6 is probably a bit too soon for me to need to see them again, but I’m perfectly happy to have them opening for Shout Out Louds at the Mod Club on May 8.

Down the hill at the south stage, Toronto’s Diamond Rings was letting his unicorn flag unfurl, dishing out electro beats perfectly suited to the bright, sunny weather – same songs but somehow different vibe from his Canadian Musicfest gig last week. The crowd was pretty sparse to begin with but as Freelance Whales’ set ended and people discovered there was a second stage (not the easiest to locate without signage), they filled in and danced. And there was even some celeb-spotting, as Little Boots – who’s even littler in person/off stage than you’d think – was in attendance and tweeted her approval.

Back at the mainstage, Austin’s own Ume were setting up to shred some faces – they were one of my top discoveries of last year’s fest so I was very pleased to have them playing our show, and not just because a daytime performance meant I’d have enough light to try and capture Lauren Larsen’s guitar heroics on film (well, digital sensor). As they’ve done every time I’ve seen them, they played a demolishing set of pure rock drawn from their Sunshower EP as well as new material that will hopefully be out sooner rather than later. The only difference from past shows was that Larsen’s axe-mangling didn’t end with her on her knees, strangling notes out of her Fender – the painful-looking skin marks on her legs made it clear that there’d already been a little too much of that before this show.

Next up were Los Angeles’ Warpaint, who despite taking a kind of meandering approach to their set – were they soundchecking? Jamming? Playing songs? – walked a very appealing line of musical experimentation and pop sensibilities. I was only able to stick around for a couple of songs, but was intrigued enough that their remaining shows for the week – and there were a lot of them still – all stayed on my schedule so I could hear some more. Odds are I won’t, but it won’t be for lack of trying. Or wanting to try.

Back down at the second stage was one of my picks for the party, Sheffield’s Slow Club, whose debut Yeah, So? has been one of my favourite debuts of the year (in North America, anyways – it came out in the UK last Summer). Evidently I wasn’t the only one won over by the drum-and-guitar duo, as there was a small but very enthused audience gathered for their set of wonderfully hepped-up folk-pop. Charles and Rebecca are maybe the most adorable pairing since Matt & Kim, and after simultaneously destroying their guitar amp and kick pedal respectively, took to the edge of the stage with acoustic guitars to sing out to their fans unamplified. Giddy and glorious.

I’d seen The Morning Benders back in February of last year and while I found their indie-pop stylings pleasant, with the requisite jangles and hooks, but not especially distinctive. With their new one Big Echo, however, they’ve not only raised the ante but bet the house – it’s a much more massive and interesting record; noisier and moodier than I’d have thought them capable of but still immensely pop at its core. Correspondingly, the live show was much more intense and volume-abusing than I’d expected. Most impressive. They are at the Drake on April 14.

As Here We Go Magic got started on the main stage, I could feel myself hitting a wall in terms of being able to concentrate on new music, or even stand up for any period of time. Their stuff required a little too much attention to properly appreciate, so after a few songs I wandered back down to the south stage where Spain’s Delorean were kicking up a mostly-instrumental electro-pop dance party. That held my interest for a little while, but the need to not be where I was became overwhelming and I had to hoof it back to the hotel to get my head together. Which, sadly, meant missing our headlining set with GZA AND the fact that Bill Murray apparently accepted my invitation and showed up. For serious, people.

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

SxSW 2010 Night One

Rose Elinor Dougall, Fanfarlo, Trespassers William and more at SxSW

Frank YangIt used to be that at 8PM, you could still wander into Stubb’s relatively easily as most were still getting their beer and BBQ on and couldn’t be expected to be in go-mode so early in the night. Apparently those days are past. Upon arriving at one of Sx’s largest venues, I was greeted with a line that went down and around the block, certainly the largest one I’d ever considered getting into. But seeing as how I had no other enticing options for that time slot, I opted to line up with everyone else and hope for the best. Things moved at just the right speed to not abandon ship and I managed to get into the venue and as politely as possible, plow my way up to the photo pit just in time to be let in for Seattle’s Visqueen.

I had been enjoying Message To Garcia, the latest slab of power pop from Rachel Flotard and company, so to hear them start with a vocal-and-cello crooner was a bit of a surprise – had there been a change of direction in the past year, perhaps inspired by Flotard’s stint as sidewoman to Neko Case a few years ago? Not in the least – with song two, the electric guitars came out and the big rock began. Their set was only four songs, but they were jam-packed with hooks, riffs and melodies, anchored by Flotard’s not inconsiderable charisma.

It was as I was leaving Stubb’s and heading to the Hilton Garden 18th Floor – a clever name for a conference room on the 18th floor of the Hilton Garden hotel – that word of Alex Chilton’s passing reached me, ensuring that the rest of the night would be at least moderately bummed out. So in that sense, the serenely downcast sounds of Trespassers William were an ideal choice. The Seattle outfit do not tour North America much, so SxSW has been my only opportunity to see them – their show in 2008 was a considerably different affair from this one, featuring a much larger band and a much louder approach. This time out, it was just principals Anna-Lynne Williams and Matt Brown with some help on drums from Robert Gomez and accordingly, it was much quieter and intimate. Their set included a couple of new songs, hopefully from a forthcoming album, and closed with a remarkable cover of Radiohead’s “Videotape”, for which Williams’ voice seemed tailor-made. A welcome pause from the general chaos of SxSW.

A chaos which I flung myself right into by trying to get into Fanfarlo at the Galaxy Room Backyard next. There wasn’t any real urgency to see them this week since they’ll be coming to Toronto in a few weeks (April 9 at Lee’s, assuming that no passports are stolen), but gave it a go and after a moderate wait in line, got in just in time for the start of the set. Or what would have been the start of the set had they started on time. Instead, they continued to soundcheck for nigh on 20 minutes longer and then, when things were set and the clock ticking, the showcase sponsor actually came out and read a prepared introduction. Dude, the house is packed and things are already running stupid late. Shut up and get off. Which he eventually did and the London five-piece came on, playing an abbreviated set that didn’t quite match the grandeur of their show last year, but a big tent is not the Central Presbyterian Church so that probably couldn’t be expected. They sounded leaner and scrappier than that show, but more boisterous and less polite – positive things both. I attribute that to frontman Simon Balthazar’s not wearing a bow tie this time out.

Post-Fanfarlo, I was almost at Latitude 30 for Johnny Flynn when I decided I’d be better off seeing someone I’d never seen before, and that meant Norway’s Megaphonic Thrift – which turned out to be a great idea except that I had forgotten I hated Habana Calle 6 as a venue. They too were running late with sound check, not getting started until 15 minutes into their set, but you don’t need a lot of time to get across what they’re about. Take one part Sonic Youth and one part Dinosaur Jr, throw them in a blender and set to “pop” and let it ride. Hellaciously loud and rife with guitar abuse, if the above recipe sounds like an awesome combination to you, then The Megaphonic Thrift may well be the most awesome thing to come down the pipe in the last 10 years.

Ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall went completely against SxSW convention by booking only one single show at the festival, official or otherwise, which made her midnight show at the Galaxy Room a must-see. Previewing material from her forthcoming solo debut Without Why, due out sometime this year, Dougall seemed quite keen to break from her past by trading polka dot dresses for a black leather jacket and assembling a band more keen on ’80s dreampop guitar textures than ’50s girl group sounds. Always the strongest singer in the Pipettes, Dougall’s solo material puts that voice front and centre overtop some solid songwriting and sharp pop sensibilities. I do wish the Pipettes Mk 2 all the luck in continuing on through all their roster changes, but it’s very clear that Dougall made the right choice in setting out on her own. Definitely looking forward to that album.

As a nightcap, I stopped in at Latitude 30 en route back to the hotel to see London’s The Invisible. They did me the favour of playing “London Girl” as their second song of the set, so I didn’t feel too bad when I ducked out early. Their low-key, chilled-out groove was clearly doing it for some – there was some impressive dancing going on in the audience – but wasn’t what I needed just then. I was not going to need any help in falling asleep this night.

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

SxSW 2010 Day One

Miles Kurosky, Frightened Rabbit, Basia Bulat and more at SxSW

Frank YangWith every passing year as the middle of March approaches, I feel more and more like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. Clearly the sensible thing to do would be to buy a boat and sail around the world (or at least a ferry ticket to the islands) rather than throw myself yet again into the annual maelstrom of 6th St. And yet here I was, in Austin for the sixth straight year to do SxSW. Or have SxSW done to me, as the case may be.

Things began Wednesday at noon with a familiar face, Toronto’s own Basia Bulat kicking off two days of epic lineups for Paste’s parties at the Galaxy Room. Typically, early shows are sparsely attended affairs as people struggle to haul their asses out of bed, never mind deal with registrations and whatnot, but for Bulat’s show at least they were out in force, ready to have their spirits lifted. Though playing with a much smaller band than she normally does – just herself, brother Bobby on percussion and Alison Stewart on viola and vocals – her songs sounded almost as full as ever and the perfect thing to start of the afternoon/day/festival.

I only had to dash around the corner to Emo’s Annex for the next to-see on my schedule, but my apparent inability to tell time mean that when I got there, A Sunny Day In Glasgow were already halfway through their short set. Even so, I was still able to tell that their live experience was much more immediate and conventionally pop than their records – that might be a turn off for some, but for me, who finds their albums just a little too obtuse and twisty, it meant they were a most tasty bit of dream-pop. I’m still debating whether to see them or Serena-Maneesh in Toronto on April 2, but I now definitely want to see more of A Sunny Day In Glasgow. Your move, Serena.

Heading up Red River, it became clear that the Broken Bells “secret” show, which was just announced that morning, was no longer any kind of secret and any thoughts of getting in were quickly put aside. Continuing on past the massive line, I got to the Mohawk where Austinist’s annual party was going down. I had thought I had some time before Sweden’s First Aid Kit were supposed to start, so I watched Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde do their classic rocking thing for a bit before heading inside to see… Anni Rossi. I double-checked my schedule and indeed had First Aid Kit written down, but looking at the show posters they weren’t listed at all. They’re coming to Toronto in June so no big deal, but still perplexing. Not only can I not tell time, I am apparently making stuff up now.

Thankfully playing when and where I thought they were was The Depreciation Guild, who were just beginning to regale Peckerhead’s with their electronically enhanced dreampop when I got there. I had wholly enjoyed their set opening up for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in February 2009 but perhaps just wasn’t fully in the mood for that in mid-afternoon or maybe I missed the big 8-bit-esque projections that were so cool that time (big sunny windows onto 6th St don’t create the same vibe). Or maybe I just needed lunch. Either way, before long, it was back out onto 6th.

After recharging with some street meat, it was time to catch one of my must-see acts for the festival, former Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky, whose long-promised solo debut The Desert Of Shallow Effects finally arrived last week. And just as the record was worth the wait, so too was Kurosky’s return to live performance. Fronting a band almost as large as his last one – five core members with percussionist and trumpet added when necessary – they brought his post-Beulah works to life in front of a goodly-sized audience that clearly had been anticipating this day for a long time. After shaking some early jitters, Kurosky was in good spirits and obviously just as pleased to be back, cracking jokes about his former band Pavement and even introducing the first of two songs from his past life as “Summer Landslide Babe”. Hearing the opening track from Yoko again was no joke, though, and would easily be the high point of the day, maybe even the week. Running out of time, they reached way back to finish off with “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand”, capping a short but fantastic set that not only served to remind that Beulah were one of the great pop bands of the last decade, but to notify that their chief songwriter was back and still had plenty more to offer. Win-win.

With the daytime portion of the, uh, day widing down, it was back to the Paste party for Rokkervil – the Roky Erikson/Okkervil River collaboration but seeing as how they were still soundchecking drums 20 minutes past their start time, I ducked to the other stage to see Frightened Rabbit… who also turned out to be running behind. But their problems would prove to be more than just getting their gear soundchecked – some of their equipment was not even working so when they finally got started, it was in a more stripped-down configuration than they’d intended, most notably with frontman Scott Hutchison sticking to acoustic guitar for the set. This actually proved to be a blessing, of sorts, as their new record The Winter Of Mixed Drinks takes their sound into heavier, more electric territory than their beloved Midnight Organ Fight and it was nice to hear the new material delivered with a little less bombast. I’ve not doubt that they can make the big presentation work, as they surely will when they play Toronto’s Opera House on May 4, but I liked seeing/hearing it done small(er).

Then it was time to forage up some dinner before things got official.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Soft As Chalk

Joanna Newsom at The Phoenix in Toronto

Frank YangI don’t know exactly when I became a Joanna Newsom fan. Though I’d certainly heard people talk about her, my first exposure to her music wasn’t through either of her first two records but by seeing her live on her first visit to Toronto in October 2006 – a breathtaking performance that had me picking up The Milk-Eyed Mender almost immediately thereafter and the follow-up Ys when it came out later that year, but even then I didn’t listen to them all that much. They were my go-to records for when I was in the mood for ornate and expansive, harp-led folk music, sure, but for some reason that wasn’t that often.

Even so, I was still amongst those who picked up her new triple-album Have One On Me on the day of release, and while you’d think that two hours of Joanna Newsom for anyone less than a fanatic would be overwhelming, I instead found it surprisingly immersive and immediate. It’s less quirky than Mender and less epic than Ys, but to my ears, more fully realized. Whereas the talking points for her earlier records focused on her unusual voice or the elaborate orchestrations that adorned her compositions, the only thing worth talking about on Have One On Me is the songs themselves. It’s as though she’s developed enough confidence in her craft to no longer hide behind an affected singing style or lush orchestrations, and though on paper it makes her more conventional, the sheer quality of the work makes that complaint null and void. If I wasn’t a huge Joanna Newsom fan before hearing Have One On Me, I certainly was by the time side 6 hit the runout groove.

As such, I fit right in with the rest of sold-out crowd packed into the Phoenix on Saturday night, breathlessly awaiting her first appearance in Toronto in three and a half years. And waiting. It was at least 20 minutes past her scheduled start time before the curtains were drawn back and her band’s setup revealed. Whereas her last visit was just her solo, this time she brought a five-piece backing band – drums, horn, strings and guitar – to help recreate the arrangements on the record and she herself would start things off not at her signature harp, but the grand piano. Leading off with “Easy”, Newsom managed the impressive feat of utterly silencing 1000 people as she played, all of whom were hanging on every note she played, every word she sang.

After a trio of songs on the piano – and after the allotted time for photography was over, hence the piano-only gallery – Newsom moved to the harp for “In California” and remained there for the remainder of the set. For all the elegance of the music, the first part of the set was marked by some endearingly grounded interaction from Newsom and her band. She forgot the words to “The Book Of Right-On” and then took an extended break to tune her harp, leaving drummer Neal Morgan to chat with the crowd, answer questions and generally buy time. Time which would turn out to be at a premium, as the Phoenix’s looming curfew would put a hard cap on the proceedings. Getting back down to business, they played “No Provenance” and the title track from the new record before closing with the sole Ys cut, “Emily”. Everything was uniformly gorgeous-sounding, the Phoenix never sounding better. The only source of disappointment on the evening was that it ended at 9PM, though after some (myself included) had left – the house lights and music were on! – the stalwarts managed to call Newsom and her band back for an encore. I’m sorry I missed that reading of “Baby Birch”, but it in no way diminishes the hour of music I did get to take in. Just as I said after her last show…. Amazing.

The National Post, The Globe & Mail, Exclaim and Chart all have reviews of the show and share the complaint that the set was too short. I agree, but would point out that Newsom’s Mod Club show wasn’t more than an hour long and while I’ve never played a harp, I imagine it’s pretty fatiguing – especially for 10-minute stretches whilst singing. She was toweling herself off after the more sprawling numbers. I don’t know if she does especially long shows, curfew or not? Maybe we’ll find out when her show in Washington DC on March 23 is webcast live on NPR.

Photos: Joanna Newsom @ The Phoenix – March 13, 2010
Video: Joanna Newsom – “The Sprout & The Bean”

Gibson Guitars talks to Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers about his guitars (natch) and just-released new album The Big To-Do, currently streaming at Spinner – who also have an interview. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 6 and 7 and were, curiously, the pre-show music over the PA at the Joanna Newsom show. Maybe they were late taking the stage because she was playing air guitar to Southern Rock Opera.

Stream: Drive-By Truckers / The Big To-Do

New York drone merchants Cold Cave have a date at Wrongbar on June 19.

MP3: Cold Cave – “Theme From Tomorrowland”
MP3: Cold Cave – “Laurels Of Erotomania”
MP3: Cold Cave – “Life Magazine”
Video: Cold Cave – “Life Magazine”

Pitchfork has a feature interview with Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel of She & Him, whose new album Volume Two is streaming in its entirety over at NPR, a week before its March 23 release. They play The Phoenix on June 9.

Stream: She & Him / Volume Two

Wye Oak will be releasing a new EP entitled My Neighbor / My Creator on June 8, and are sharing a first MP3 from said release. They’re hitting the road with Shearwater this Spring and will be at Lee’s Palace with them on April 1.

MP3: Wye Oak – “I Hope You Die”

Billboard talks to Spoon drummer Jim Eno. They play The Sound Academy on March 29.

4AD has details of what’s sure to be one of the coolest Record Store Day specials this year – a live concert DVD from The Mountain Goats wherein John Darnielle performs The Life Of The World To Come in its entirety.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Ted Leo.

Magnet kicks off a week of handing the editorial reins to Miles Kurosky, whose solo debut The Desert Of Shallow Effects is out now.

Check out the new video from Retribution Gospel Choir.

Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Workin’ Hard”

NPR has a Tiny Desk Concert with The Antlers. They’re opening up for The National at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

And speaking of The National, Pitchfork has details on their new one High Violet, due out May 11 including cover art and tracklisting.

New Hot Chip video! They’re at the Kool Haus on April 20.

Video: Hot Chip – “I Feel Better”

The Quietus talks to Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant.

Spinner talks to Swedish duo First Aid Kit. They’re at the Rivoli on June 12.

Serena-Maneesh, whose new record S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor comes out March 23, talk to Spinner. They play the Great Hall on April 2.

Exclaim talks to John K Samson of The Weakerthans, whose Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre is out next week and streaming right now at Exclaim. They play an in-store at Sonic Boom on March 25 and a proper show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 26.

Stream: The Weakerthans / Live At The Burton Cummings Theatre

The Toronto date for Lilith Fair has been announced – it’s happening July 24 at the Molson Amphitheatre. I had been saying that if we got the right combination of acts from the pool of talent already announced to be participating, it could be good. Well so far, we have not.

And y’all will excuse me as I immerse myself in South By South Nonsense for the next few days – trip down was completely uneventful, which was all I hoped for, and though it’s a touch cooler here in ATX than I’d like (or have packed for), it’s gonna be a good time.