Monday, February 8th, 2010
Review of Woodpigeon’s Die Stadt Muzikanten
Wilkosz + WayUnder normal circumstances, it’d be logical to consider the record that followed a band’s breakthrough album through the lens of how those successes might have affected their creative process and output. You can’t quite do that in the case of Woodpigeon’s newest record Die Stadt Muzikanten, however, because even though its predecessor Treasury Library Canada was the album that brought the Calgary outfit national recognition via the Polaris Prize long list, Muzikanten was already completed and in the can before the Treasury roller coaster ride began.
That makes the growth in sound and style from one record to the next that much more natural. The basic Woodpigeon recipe hasn’t changed much – Mark Hamilton’s compositions continue to be exemplary folk-pop rendered with delicacy in a widescreen scale, but this time the songs are delivered with more confidence and verve than before and are simultaneously more musically rangy and focused. Relative to what’s come before, Muzikanten is both louder – “My Denial In Argyle” is an unqualified rocker while “The Street Noise That Gives You Away” is epic in scope – and softer, with record closer and Jamie Fooks duet “Our Love Is As Tall As The Calgary Tower” one of their loveliest moments to date. Though it’s Hamilton’s vision that defines Woodpigeon, the record wouldn’t be nearly what it is without the contributions of his ever-expanding cast of supporting players, whose ability to bring to life the sounds in his head can’t be overstated. In particular, the backing vocals of Annalea Sordi-McClure and Foon Yap are a persistent, angelic choir hovering overhead throughout. Much of the charm of Treasury came from how it felt like a perfectly-matched collection of individual, snowglobe-like vignettes – Muzikanten pulls all those vignettes together into a single wondrous diorama, alive with song.
CMJ, Log Driver’s Waltz, Spill, The Record and Xtra all have feature pieces on Woodpigeon, who kick off their tour of Ontario and Quebec this week. They play the Drake Underground this Thursday, February 11, and will do an in-store at Soundscapes on February 14 at 5PM. Die Stadt Muzikanten will be released in the US on March 9 and in Europe on April 19.
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Empty-Hall Sing-Along”
MySpace: Woodpigeon
Beatroute and Spill have features on Woodhands, who are playing the Opera House on March 11.
The Wooden Sky are profiled by Beatroute and The Manitoban. They’re at the Horseshoe on March 13 as part of the Chart showcase for Canadian Musicfest.
Southern Souls has posted a video session with Forest City Lovers, of which one of the songs is “If I Were A Tree” and thus continues the “wood” meme running through the first bit of this post. Hey, I make my own fun.
Beatroute and The Winnipeg Free Press talk to The Rural Alberta Advantage, who will be performing on March 13 at the Royal York Hotel as part of the Indie Awards at Canadian Musicfest. Yeah, the Indie Awards. That’s right.
Chart talks to Zeus, whose Say Us arrives February 23 and who will be at Lee’s Palace on March 10.
Spinner talks to Laura Barrett about how she found herself opening up for The Magnetic Fields on their current North American tour, which stops in at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre tonight.
Vue, Alive Sydney and The Gateway have feature pieces on Dan Mangan, who has two showcases (at least) at Canadian Musicfest this year – March 11 at The Great Hall and March 12 at The Courthouse.
Ottawa X-Press and Aux interview Basia Bulat. She has an in-store at Soundscapes on February 16 at 7PM.
The Montreal Gazette, The Globe & Mail and PopMatters have interviews with Owen Pallett, whose next hometown show is April 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Good news for those who were still in diapers the last time Thrush Hermit were an active band – a third reunion show has been added to go along with their two sold-out gigs at Lee’s Palace – there’s now a dry, all-ages matinee show scheduled for March 28 at 4:45PM – tickets are $17.50 and go on sale Wednesday. Joel Plaskett has also just announced details of a Thrush Hermit Complete Recordings box set coming out in time to coincide with the reunion tour and consisting of all of the band’s albums and EP as well as a wealth of rare and unreelased material and a DVD. Seven discs in all, and suitable for kids of all ages.
Sloan announced via Twitter that they will be releasing a digital compilation of all their official b-sides this week, aptly entitled B-Sides Win.
The Sadies give Exclaim a guided tour of their equipment.
NOW and The National Post pay tribute to Wavelength, whose weekly concert series wraps up for good this weekend with the 500th show blowouts.
Updates could be slim/intermittent/non-existent this week – woke up to a laptop with a DOA logic board, so until that gets fixed, I’ve got my work machine (which is for work – ahem), my iPhone and my 7-year old Windows machine which is going to be pressed back into emergency service. Sounds like fun, right? Right? Wrong.
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
The Antlers cover The Magnetic Fields
The AntlersNot done with the Magnetic Fields covers yet, nope. They’re so rarely active and there’s so many great re-interpretations of Stephin Merritt’s compositions that when I get the chance to post some of them, I’m going to run with it.
And this is one of my favourite Magnetic Fields covers that, until recently, I didn’t even know I had. It comes from The Antlers, whom while preparing their 2009 breakthrough record Hospice, released a short EP entitled New York Hospitals for free, its title clearly pointing at the themes of the full-length that would follow and consisting of two covers and a preview of one of Hospice’s high points, “Sylvia”. The reinterpretation of one of 69 Love Songs‘ loveliest moments is more in line with their hazier, pre-Hospice sounds, wrapping it in layers of aural gauze and reverb and could well be the sound of nothing else mattering.
The Antlers are in town next Tuesday night at The Phoenix, opening for Editors. The Magnetic Fields are here tomorrow night for a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the vinyl edition of 69 Love Songs will be out April 20. Sharon Van Etten, who contributes vocals to the cover, was just in town last night and will return for a show at the Horseshoe on April 5.
MP3: The Antlers – “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”
Stream: The Magnetic Fields – “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
MySpaceThere’s something deliberately amateurish in the Leslie & The LYs aesthetic, what with the over-top-top costumes, unapologetic homebrew-ness of her videos and the lo-fi GarageBand beats and bleeps that back her raps, but that can’t hide the fact that Iowa’s Leslie Hall can write some seriously catchy and kind of hilarious tunes.
So with that kind of larger-than-life online persona, one can only imagine what to expect from the live show – well actually, we already sort of know – the press release for her upcoming tour in support of new album Back 2 Back Palz promised “video projection & 3-6 costume changes (all lovingly hand sewn by her mother)” and “laserbeam dance moves have been known to cause near blindness in the fans that gather at her shows”. Sooooo yeah, how can you say no to that?
The Toronto stop comes next Tuesday, February 16, at The Garrison. Tickets are $12 in advance but courtesy of REMG, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Leslie & The LYs” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, February 11, and I will not be held responsible for any near blindness that may occur as a result of attending the show.
Video: Leslie & The LYs – “Tight Pants / Body Rolls “
Video: Leslie & The LYs – “Craft Talk “
Video: Leslie & The LYs – “Zombie Killer Revisited “
MySpace: Leslie & The LYs
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Frank Yang Editors have been garnering their share of mediocre reviews for their latest effort In This Light And On This Evening, largely for abandoning their tried-and-tested anthemic post-punk guitar rock for something decidedly synthier – I seem to be more favourably inclined to the record than most, but can certainly see where the criticism comes from.
My bigger concern with the record, however, lies in how it will translate live. For all their faults, Editors are one of the more dynamic acts I’ve seen in recent years. Or more accurately, Tom Smith is a tremendously dynamic frontman, more than making up for his largely immobile bandmates – at least that was the case when I saw them back at V Fest 2007. So with the guitars, on record at least, taking a back seat to keys, how will they manage it on stage? Rearrange the songs? Strap on a keytar? Give up the rock star poses and stay anchored to the synths? I hope not.
Toronto shall find out what it will be come February 16, when they play the Phoenix – tickets are $25 in advance but courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I need an Editor” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, February 11.
MP3: Editors – “Papillon”
Video: Editors – “You Don’t Know Love”
Video: Editors – “Papillon”
MySpace: Editors
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Review of Sharon Van Etten’s Because I Was In Love
Michael PalmieriWhen I wrote up Sharon Van Etten’s debut album Because I Was In Love back in October, I felt a bit bad about giving it just a passing mention as I liked it more than just a sentence or two might have implied. But at the time my web hosting was self-destructing and I wanted to get something out there before her local appearance opening for Rain Machine, so a cursory mention it was.
But with there seeming to be even more attention being paid to Van Etten and her record now than when it was initially released back in May 2009, now’s as good a time as any to revisit the album and, at the very least, elaborate a bit more on why it’s worthy of notice – and in a word, it’s the voice. Slow, rich and seemingly operating at the resonant frequency of melancholy and with the texture of tears, it’s the perfect vehicle for her spare, almost skeletal songs of longing and disappointment, transporting them directly through the ears and into the heart. That might seem a bit flowery a description, but I defy you to listen to the “ooohs” in “Much More Than This” and tell me otherwise. That voice, with the languid, low-key acoustic atmosphere and strategically-placed bits of electric guitar and piano make for a record that’s worth revisiting again not only a few months later, but again and again.
Blurt has a feature piece on Van Etten and Weather Vane Music has a stunning new song recorded for their Shaking Through series available to download. Sharon Van Etten opens up the sold out Great Lake Swimmers show at Trinity-St. Paul’s tomorrow night and returns on April 5 for a show at the Horseshoe with Megafaun.
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
Video: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MySpace: Sharon Van Etten
The Skinny discusses Shearwater’s new record The Golden Archipelago with frontman Jonathan Meiburg. The record is out February 23, they play Lee’s Palace on April 1.
Midlake’s Eric Pulido talks to The Quietus about coffee while his bandmates discuss their music with BBC6 and The Independent.
Spoon are using a live studio performance for the first video off Transference. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 29.
Video: Spoon – “Written In Reverse”
PitchforkTV has padded out their special video series with Beach House with a few more songs and The Chronicle-Herald and New York Magazine have interviews. They’re at the Opera House on March 30.
A Sunny Day In Glasgow have put out a new video from their forthcoming Nighttime Rainbows EP, out March 2. They play The Garrison on April 2.
Video: A Sunny Day In Glasgow – “So Bloody, So Tight”
Beatroute, North County Times and The Georgia Straight talk to St. Vincent, who just released a new video/comedy sketch from Actor, featuring the thespian skills of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, also known as ThunderAnt.
Video: St. Vincent – “Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood”
Paste has got a video session with Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea.
BeatRoute talks to Nels Cline of Wilco.
MusicOmn, The Line Of Best Fit, Montreal Mirror, Montreal Gazette, The Advocate, CBC, eye and NOW have conversations with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, who are in town at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Monday night. There’s also an official trailer up for Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields, the forthcoming documentary film on the band, and an MP3 from the 69 Love Songs vinyl box set, coming out on April 20. And for folks in Toronto looking to pick this up, Criminal Records has got your best deal as far as pre-orders of the limited edition go.
MP3: The Magnetic Fields – “The Book Of Love”
Trailer: Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields
Paste gets some info on She & Him’s Volume Two, out March 23, from Zooey Deschanel.
Good news for Toronto roots-rock fans – in addition to their free show at the Horseshoe this coming Tuesday night, Those Darlins have slated a return engagement on April 6 at the same venue with Deer Tick. Bad news is that’s the same night as the Drive-By Truckers’ gig at Lee’s Palace. Good news is that the Truckers are doing a second night at the same venu on the 7th. Unless you were planning on hitting both, in which case I think you break about even.
MP3: Deer Tick – “Easy”
MP3: Those Darlins – “Red Light Live”
Speaking of the Drive-By Truckers, Billboard talks to frontman Patterson Hood about their new record The Big To-Do, which will be out March 16.
The Jon Spencer-powered Heavy Trash have a date at the Horseshoe on April 23. Their latest Midnight Soul Serenade came out last year.
del.icio.us
digg
facebook
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}