Quantcast

Archive for the ‘Concert Reviews’ Category

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Change Of Heart

El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees at The Mod Club in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangThere’d been some underlying confusion surrounding Sunday night’s show at the Mod Club since it was announced. First it was El Perro Del Mar. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees. Then it was Taken By Trees and El Perro Del Mar, on account of their alternating closer, co-headliner arrangement. An arrangement that got turned around somewhere mid-tour and so by the time it was all said and done, it was Taken By Trees opening and El Perro Del Mar closing. And about as much reason as one would ever need to be sure to arrive at the venue on time, though I’d like to think that anyone attending this show would have the good sense to want to see both acts regardless of order.

I’d always felt that the greatest strength of The Concretes was how Victoria Bergsman’s sleepy vocals contrasted with the big pop arrangements underneath. Since going solo as Taken By Trees, contrast has been exchanged for compliment, as the gently orchestrated folk accompaniments of her new project mesh perfectly with her voice. Open Field had very much the sort of pastoral aesthetic you’d expect a voice like Bergsman’s to wrap itself in, but she mixed that recipe up a bit on her latest record, East Of Eden, which sounds very much a product of being recorded in Pakistan without being overwhelmingly so.

Though still quite demure, Bergsman seemed in much better spirits than her last visit to Toronto on the final Concretes tour in May 2006 – she visited Montreal once circa Open Field but for whatever reason didn’t make the trip down the highway. Thanks to the backlighting and smoky incense haze, she appeared more silhouette than anything, but what you weren’t able to see was more than made up for by what you heard. With the help of a terrific backing band, she was able to forge the airy folk-pop of her debut with the eastern influences of her latest into a strong and distinctive sound, with a welcome emphasis on the rhythmic elements of her songs. In fact, I liked Taken By Trees considerably more live than on record; the extra oomph served her well. Now if only we could get her to allow some light on her face, we’d be cooking with gas.

Henceforth, I swear to no longer describe El Perro Del Mar as “sad”. Despite the persona that comes across on her records, the Sarah Assbring that danced onstage to “Let Me In” from her latest record Love Is Not Pop was no melancholic moper. Sharing a band with Taken By Trees meant that Assbring only needed to strap on the guitar for a few numbers and spent the rest dancing and generally putting on the sort of show that I would not have expected.

The set drew mainly from the new record, which to be fair, does expand El Perro Del Mar’s sound well beyond the ’50s doo-wop that underpinned her first two records. Live, her sound was transformed further as the shimmering guitarwork and solid, danceable basslines gave everything a distinctively ’80s 4AD-ish sheen that really suited her. And considering one of her set’s highlights was an unexpected cover of The xx’s “Shelter” – done faithfully yet still sounding every bit like El Perro Del Mar – perhaps that’s a direction she’ll be moving further in in the future. Either way, it does seem certain she’ll be moving. And swaying. And dancing.

Chicagoist has an interview with Victoria Bergsman and Pitchfork has some audience video of El Perro Del Mar’s xx cover from the New York show. Panic Manual, Chart, Exclaim and It’s Not The Band I Hate It’s Their Fans also have reviews of the Toronto show.

Photos: El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees @ The Mod Club – February 21, 2010
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart” (Rakamonie Remix)
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Anna”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Watch The Waves”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Lost & Found”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
Video: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
Video: Taken By Trees – “Lost And Found”
MySpace: El Perro Del Mar
MySpace: Taken By Trees

New from Sweden this week and streaming at Spinner are European, the new record from Sambassadeur, Work from Shout Out Louds, who are also coming to town for a show at the Mod Club on May 8.

Stream: Sambassadeur / European
Stream: Shout Out Louds / Work

Spinner talks to Serena-Maneesh frontman Emil Nikolaisen about his distaste for music prizes and showcase festivals. Not that that’s stopping him from playing a showcase festival in Texas next month. Their new album S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor is out March 23 and they play The Great Hall on April 2.

Some other Norwegians coming to town – a-Ha will be at Massey Hall on May 11 as part of their farewell tour. I’ll have you know I listened to these guys a lot back in the day, and their first three records were pretty damn good. Much more than just “Take On Me”. Though that’s still a great tune. As is this one. Seriously thinking about going to this, though I don’t know if it’s quite how I want to spend my 35th birthday.

Video: a-ha – “The Sun Always Shines On TV”

The Raveonettes have rolled out a new video from In And Out Of Control.

Video: The Raveonettes – “Heart Of Stone”

Under The Radar talks to Simon Blathazar of Fanfarlo. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on April 9.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Mumford & Sons.

The Tripwire has a feature piece on The xx, in town on April 4 at The Phoenix and April 20 at the Kool Haus.

Lucky Soul are giving away the title track from their new album A Coming Of Age in exchange for your email – believe me, it’s a deal and a half. The album is out on April 5 19 and is, no word of lie or exaggeration, awesome.

The Washington Post and Washington City Paper interview Alisdair Maclean of The Clientele, coming to town for a show at the Horseshoe on March 19.

Spinner has an Interface session with The Cribs.

Beyond Race and The Sentimentalist interview The Big Pink. They’re at the Mod Club on March 24.

NME has collected some of Jarvis Cocker’s finest bon mots over the years into an entertaining slideshow.

Barely six months after bringing their orchestral Ocean Rain to Toronto, Echo & The Bunnymen will return on April 23 for a show at the Phoenix. Presumably the only strings in play this time will be the ones on their guitars.

MP3: Echo & The Bunnymen – “I Think I Need It Too”

The Times discusses the political and the personal with Billy Bragg.

Music Snobbery interviews The Joy Formidable, who are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length album and starting to book some North American dates for May – just NYC and the Truck Festival so far, but fingers crossed.

Frightened Rabbit are gearing up for the March 9 release of The Winter Of Mixed Drinks with a second video for new single “Nothing Like You” and a full steam of the new album on their MySpace. Scott Hutchison also talks to Tour Dates UK. The band are at The Opera House on May 4.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You” (alternate version)
Stream: Frightened Rabbit / The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Spinner reports that The Twilight Sad have replaced the low end supplied by recently departed bassist Craig Orzel. the new lineup will be in action for their upcoming North American tour which stops in at Lee’s Palace on May 26.

Aversion talks to We Were Promised Jetpacks.

PopMatters checks in with Glasvegas’ Rab Allen. The band is currently working on album number two.

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Eyelid Movies

Phantogram at The Drake Underground in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangFor solo artists, it’s easy. Either play alone and keep things stripped down and simple (or, as is becoming more fashionable, looped) or gather up a band. Duos, however, are more and more inclined to try and make a go of it without hired help, particularly duos who’re already heavily reliant on technology for their studio efforts – after all, you don’t have to feed a laptop. And if the cost of that convenience is some energy and spontenaity in the live setting, then so be it.

So despite being quite taken with Eyelid Movies, the debut album from the great state of New York’s Phantogram, I went into their Toronto debut at the Drake Underground on Saturday night with modest expectations. But even if I’d gone in demanding to witness great things, I’d have still left feeling the same way – pretty damned impressed.

Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter don’t travel with much – she with a number of synths and laptop, he with a guitar and extensive but not excessive pedalboard – but armed with a brace of great songs and a genuine joy of playing them for people, it was all they’d need. Just as their idea of dream pop isn’t about hazy somnambulance, there was no de rigeur synth-pop iciness in their delivery – Barthel delivered her lines with emotion and whipped her head around to the rhythm when not, while Carter, whose vocals sounded even better live than on record, took advantage of the mobility afforded him by the guitar and wandered around the stage, adding some extra physicality to their performance. This, combined with the well-chosen projections that bathed the band during their set, made for a show that was more dynamic and engaging than some of their stylistic peers could achieve. They were having their own little dance party on stage and the rest of us were just lucky to be invited.

Phantogram will be back on March 12 for a show at Supermarket as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Photos: Phantogram @ The Drake Underground – February 20, 2010
MP3: Phantogram – “When I’m Small”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Beach House. They’re at the Opera House on March 30.

The New York Times has a feature piece on Holly Miranda, and confirms that The Jealous Girlfriends are pretty much done. There’s also an interview at Miami New Times with Miranda, whose solo debut The Magician’s Private Library is out this week. Her former bandmates continue on in New Numbers.

Joanna Newsom is the subject of an extensive feature in The Times, just in time for the release of her new triple-album Have One On Me this week. I will have hopefully made it through the opus at least once before her March 13 show at the Phoenix.

The Guardian declares Spoon “the best band of the last 10 years”. Spoon modestly agrees. They are at the Sound Academy on March 29.

Clash has an interview and NPR a radio session with Midlake. They play The Mod Club on May 21.

The Wooden Birds are giving away a free EP of studio recordings at Insound.

ZIP: The Wooden Birds / Montague Street EP

Spinner talks to Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, who’ve just released a new video – and live solo performance clip – from their new album The Golden Archipelago, out on Tuesday. They play Lee’s Palace on April 1.

Video: Shearwater – “Hidden Lake”
Video: Shearwater – “Hidden Lake” (solo)

The March 9 release date for Miles Kurosky’s solo debut The Desert Of Shallow Effects is drawing closer – check out the first video from the new record.

Video: Miles Kurosky – “Dog In The Burning Building”

Also out this week is American Gong, the new record from Quasi – it’s available to stream in its entirety. They’re at The Horseshoe on April 18.

Stream: Quasi / American Gong

Aux.tv has compiled a list of the best contemporary shoegaze bands right now.

Torontoist reports that plans are afoot for Downsview Park to host Imagine on July 10 and 11, a two-day festival from the people who brought you Woodstock (but not the knockoff sequels) intended to resurrect the ideals of hippie peace and love through a big-ass concert at a former military base. No acts have been announced but they’ve already promised tributes to The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin so that should give you some notion as to what direction they’re looking in. But if they manage to a) actually stage this thing and b) have it be the biggest concert in 40 years as they say, it’ll be impossible to ignore and the law of averages states they’ll have at least SOME interesting performers. Even if they’re only invited to join the inevitable mass, on-stage “Give Peace A Chance” singalong.

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

In This Light And On This Evening

Editors and The Antlers at The Phoenix in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangEditors are from Birmingham in the UK and are weathering criticism for daring to mess with their sonic formula on their latest effort In This Light And On This Evening. The Antlers are from Brooklyn in the USA and are basking in acclaim and ever-growing attention in the wake of last year’s Hospice. Two bands who wouldn’t appear to have a whole lot in common except for this – both steep their music deeply in dramatics for effect and both were at the Phoenix in Toronto on Tuesday night.

For The Antlers, the drama extended into their very arrival, having been held up at the border by some extra-conscientious immigration officers and only beginning to load in at their designated set time. Still, they were set up and ready to go just 10 minutes later than scheduled and immediately launched into a sprawling reading of “Kettering”, clearly not willing to be rushed for the sake of expediency. When I saw them in September 2009 at their Criminal Records in-store, what stood out most was how in a live context, they were able to transform the the anguish that permeates Hospice into something more cathartic, and in a large setting such as this, that was even more the case. Despite the late start, they were able to stretch out five songs over about 40 minutes, each filled with crescendos, false endings and emotion, and when they left the stage, it was to an ovation that you might have thought marked the end of the evening.

But no, as much as the crowd appreciated The Antlers, they were here for Editors, mixed reactions to In This Light be damned. Opening with the title track from the new album, it became clear how they’d be handling its synth-heavy sounds while maintaining the dynamicism of their live show – it began with Tom Smith seated at the piano and then midway through, getting up to grab his guitar while Chris Urbanowicz switched off from guitar to synth, a routine that would continue throughout the night as some or all would handle keyboard duties while the others kept it analog. Not a bad arrangement, allowing them to maintain the walls of keyboards while Smith did what he does best, and that’s lurch around stage and providing the kinetic energy necessary to get the show into gear. Though the rest of the band was more animated than the last time I saw them, it’s Smith’s presence and delivery that allows Editors to sell their songs to those, such as myself, who might otherwise have difficulty embracing the dubious lyricism of their grandly appointed anthems.

Clearly believing their new material is more worthy than the critics do, Editors played In This Light in its entirety, and to be fair, its shortcomings are less evident when interspersed with the stronger, more guitar-driven material from their first two records. Both An End Has A Start and The Back Room were well represented, with five tracks from each getting aired out. There were stretches where my attention began to wander but there was usually a big single strategically placed to pull it back in and keep me hanging around and my endurance was rewarded with pretty intense readings of “Munich” and “Papillon” in the encore. Critics of Editors like to point at the band’s over-emotive and unabashedly melodramatic approach, and yeah, they’re pretty well over the top in that department, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as good a show if they weren’t.

eye has a review of the whole show Panic Manual some thoughts on the Antlers’ set while Chart only has eyes for Editors. The Boston Herald and Metro have interviews with Editors and WOXY a Lounge Act session with Antlers, who were just announced as support for The National’s upcoming Spring tour, including the June 8 and 9 dates at Massey Hall.

Photos: Editors, The Antlers @ The Phoenix – February 16, 2010
MP3: Editors – “Papillon”
MP3: Editors – “Munich”
MP3: The Antlers – “Two”
MP3: The Antlers – “Two” (remastered)
MP3: The Antlers – “Bear”
MP3: The Antlers – “The Universe Is Going To Catch You”
MP3: The Antlers – “On the Roof”
MP3: The Antlers – “Stairs To The Attic”
MP3: The Antlers – “Cold War”
MP3: The Antlers – “Keys”
Video: Editors – “You Don’t Know Love”
Video: Editors – “Papillon”
Video: Editors – “An End Has A Start”
Video: Editors – “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors”
Video: Editors – “All Sparks”
Video: Editors – “Munich”
Video: The Antlers – “Bear”
Video: The Antlers – “Two”
MySpace: Editors
MySpace: The Antlers

Rolling Stone checks in with Aaron Dessner of The National, who still don’t have a title for the new record but should have one before it hits stores on May 11. As mentioned, they have two nights at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

There’s a second MP3 available from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists’ new record The Brutalist Bricks, out March 9. And Ted has excuses as to why there’s not Toronto date on the tour itinerary yet, but promises one is coming soon.

MP3: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “The Mighty Sparrow”

The Calgary Herald has an interview with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.

Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields talks to Chart about Realism.

Quasi have released a second MP3 from American Gong, due out next Tuesday. They’re at The Horseshoe on April 18.

MP3: Quasi – “Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler”

Spinner has an Interface session with Beach House – look for them March 30 at the Opera House.

The Futureheads have rolled out a video from their new album The Chaos, due out April 26. Drowned In Sound has it and a making-of clip for the video.

Video: The Futureheads – “Heartbeat Song”

The Quietus interviews Field Music. They’re at The Horsesehoe on March 19.

The Dallas Observer profiles We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Sigh No More

Mumford & Sons and Sunparlour Players at Lee’s Palace in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangJust one question for everyone at Lee’s Palace for Mumford & Sons on Monday night. Where did you all come from?

This question doesn’t just come from the fact that this band – whose debut album Sigh No More was only just released in North America yesterday and who were conducting this super-short, four-date North American tour without, at least to my knowledge, any major promotional push – had sold out Lee’s Palace, but had filled it not with curious musical passers-by, but raving, honest-to-god fans. Largely of the shrieking variety. Seriously, I had not seen Lee’s – or any venue – so packed and so unbelievably LOUD.

And so early. It was to the benefit of the openers that Mumford & Sons’ fanbase is punctual, because they got to ply their wares to a pretty full house and really, I couldn’t think of a better-suited local support act for Mumford than Sunparlour Players. Like the headliners, the duo are all about impassioned and rousing country-rock performed with remarkable musical dexterity, though the Sunparlour are considerably (and deliberately) rawer in execution – think moonshine versus whiskey. Either way, the audience ate it up and responded with huge and honest enthusiasm, and deservedly so – Sunparlour Players set the table with a killer set.

It’s not especially original by any stretch, but the phrase “bluegrass Beatles” crossed my mind later on in the evening as I tried to articulate what I witnessed with Mumford & Sons’ set. From the moment Ted Dwane carried his upright bass across the stage while they were still setting up until the end of the encore, the capacity crowd roared, shrieked and just went completely bonkers for the London quartet. And while I am incredulous about the fact that so many were so enthralled by them so early in their career – they certainly didn’t have that sort of fanbase when they first visited in October 2008 – that it’s happened really doesn’t surprise. If you accept that there’s been a heretofore untapped market for earnest, bluegrass/country-inspired indie rock, it’s hard to think of an outfit better positioned to exploit it than they. They’re handsome to a man with a distinctive, old-timey sartorial style; their banter is charming, witty and delivered with an English accent; their songs are sensitive, soaring and anthemic; their musicianship and vocal prowess ridiculously polished. To wit, there is no reason, in a just world, that Mumford & Sons wouldn’t be filling rooms the size of Lee’s if not larger with devoted fans, ready willing and able to sing along with every word. And yet to actually see it happen was wonderfully bizarre.

Even with so much going for them and the audience won over before they played a note, Mumford & Sons still had to deliver on the performance, and deliver they did. From the opening four-part harmonies of “Sigh No More”, it was clear they came to play. Their set covered most (all?) of Sigh No More, rendered perfectly with the crescendos lifting spirits and the quiet passages breaking hearts and the omnipresent kick drum propelling it all forward. The also aired out three new songs which didn’t stray far from their formula but held to more conventional rock band arrangements – at one point, they were kitted out with electric guitar, electric bass, keys and drums; completely standard for almost any other band but strangely alien on them. Perhaps most memorable was the first song of their encore, wherein the four of them played unamplified from the edge of the stage. Not an unusual move in acoustically gifted venues, but the first time I’d seen it pulled at Lee’s Palace and, of course, they did it masterfully. A show like this one couldn’t have ended any other way.

Photos: Mumford & Sons, Sunparlour Players @ Lee’s Palace – February 15, 2010
MP3: Sunparlour Players – “Battle Of ‘77″
MP3: Sunparlour Players – “Shake & Bake For Goodness-Sake”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Winter Winds”
Video: Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
MySpace: Mumford & Sons

Clash chats with Field Music while Drowned In Sound takes a track by track tour through their new album (Measure), which you can follow along with thanks to MBV Music, who are streaming the album right now. They’re at The Horsesehoe on March 19.

Stream: Field Music / (Measure)

Baeble Music is streaming a full live show from Fanfarlo. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 9.

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine talks to BBC and The Daily Mail. She brings her BRIT-crowned “best British album” Lungs to The Phoenix on April 10.

Check out this PitchforkTV Surveillance session with The xx, coming to town twice in April – on the 4th at The Phoenix and on the 20th at The Kool Haus.

Clash has excerpted part of their feature piece on Hot Chip, in town at The Kool Haus on April 20.

Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit takes Clash on a guided tour through their new record The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due out March 9. See them at the Opera House on May 4.

BBC checks in with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos on the direction of album number four.

Laundromatinee has a video session and The Boston Herald an interview with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Drowned In Sound is currently streaming the whole of Lightspeed Champion’s latest opus Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You, out now.

Stream: Lightspeed Champion / Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

PopMatters talks to Andy Partridge of XTC.

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The Street Noise Gives You Away

Woodpigeon and Betty Burke at The Drake Underground in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangI don’t really want to have to quote myself, but I kind of have to point to my writeup of Woodpigeon’s last visit to Toronto for NXNE 2009 to reinforce the fact that in all the times I’ve seen them perform – four or five as of this show – it has been an almost completely different band and/or configuration and as such, a markedly different personality. The one constant, of course, is singer-songwriter-bandleader Mark Hamilton – and while you’d think that his gleaming, folk-pop compositions would be another thing you could count on, this show proved that they’re not nearly as immutable as you might think.

Support for this show and many of the others on this eastern Canadian jaunt came from Betty Burke, whose name might be new but whose face is familiar to Toronto. Fronted by Maggie MacDonald, recognizable from countless local bands and art projects over the years but mainly known as one of the longest-serving Hidden Cameras, I’m sure there was a complex artistic-cultural mandate behind the project but to my ears, they cultivated a pretty straight country-rockish vibe highlighted by the vocal interplay between MacDonald and guitarist Holly Andruchuk and MacDonald’s between/during-song banter.

I’m rather used to Woodpigeon sounding louder and rockier live than on record – I actually prefer it that way, being able to enjoy the delicate nuances of their music in the comfort of home and the more dynamic versions in the clubs. That said, I was still surprised by how this current lineup of the band rendered the material from Die Stadt Muzikanten and Treasury Library Canada. That they’d do things louder was kind of a foregone conclusion, but rather than simply rearranged, some songs were completely re-imagined. Most notably, the keyboards were tapped to handle some key guitar parts, resulting in “Denial In Argyle” being given a swinging, New Wave-y vibe and “Piano Pieces For Adult Beginners” being transformed into a pretty convincing rendition of sixties-ish psych-rock. Kind of hard to imagine, but there they were.

The price of doing things in an all-new way, however, was paid with precision. I couldn’t say how long this particular configuration of the band had been playing together, but it was clear some gelling was still needed before this could be considered a really cohesive unit. There wasn’t anything really specific that was off, just a sense that they could – and hopefully would – sound better as the tour progressed. On the second night of the road trip, some slop was probably to be expected. By the same token, the guest appearance from Gentleman Reg to cover Jamie Fooks’ parts on the duet “Our Love Is As Tall As The Calgary Tower” wasn’t as sublime as it probably should have been, with Reg appearing to have some difficulty hearing himself. But considering that without him, we probably wouldn’t have heard the song at all, I’ll take it. And that largely went for the show – considering how infrequently they make it over to this part of the country, slightly imperfect Woodpigeon is better than none at all.

The Whig-Standard talks to Woodpigeon’s Mark Hamilton.

Photos: Woodpigeon, Betty Burke @ The Drake Underground – February 11, 2010
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Empty-Hall Sing-Along”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Morningside” (live)
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Knock Knock”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “A Moment’s Peace For Mary Christa O’Keefe”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Love In The Time Of Hopscotch”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Oberkampf”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Lay All Your Love On Me”
Video: Woodpigeon – “A Moment’s Peace for Mary Christa O’Keefe”
Video: Woodpigeon – “…A Given”
Video: Woodpigeon – “Home as a Romanticized Concept Where Everyone Loves You Always and Forever”
MySpace: Woodpigeon
MySpace: Betty Burke

MusicOmh talks to Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras, while Clash gets some background on their recently-released video for “Underage” from director Scott Cudmore.

Video: The Hidden Cameras – “Underage”

Check out a new track from Woodhands’ new record Remorscapade. They’re at the Opera House on March 11.

MP3: Woodhands – “Dissembler”

PitchforkTV has the debut of the new video of their favourite Torontonian electro-pop act, Diamond Rings. He’s got two Canadian Musicfest shows coming up – March 11 at The Garrison and March 12 at The Silver Dollar.

Video: Diamond Rings – “Wait And See”

Spinner talks to Bruce Peninsula, who are making their inaugural visit to the US in March en route to SxSW. Upon their return, they’ll play a hometown show at The Garrison on March 25, tickets $10.

Sloan have put their digital b-sides compilation B-Sides Win up for sale at their website.

And yes, I did indeed miss every single night of Wavelength 500 – real life won out. But the celebrations sounded epic – check out BlogTO for coverage – so I guess I’ll just say congratulations, farewell and hopefully see you soon.