Frank Yang

The show was originally scheduled for the fancier digs of The Mod Club but was relocated to cozier digs late last week to provide a more compressed concert-going experience. And if anyone thought that having to downsize venues at the last minute was a bad luck, then having the club’s power go out entirely as the band were soundchecking would have been a veritable bad omen. The darkness only lasted a few minutes, though, and would be as bad as things would get – from there, everything got considerably better.

Though A Mouthful is almost dizzyingly eclectic in the sounds and styles it encompasses, The Dø live were a much more focused entity, operating in a conventional four-piece band configuration and locked into “rock” mode. This didn’t mean that they were all about extended solos or feet up on monitors (though both of those things did happen), but many of the jazz and folk idiosyncrasies of the album were checked in favour of focusing on their more immediate pop material – and a few smouldering ballads – and putting on a more direct, impactful performance. With co-conspirator Dan Levy handling bass duties, Merilahti – occasionally armed with a guitar but always with her fascinatingly plaintive voice and considerable charisma – led the band through a set including much Mouthful material, a good crop of new material and an extended and deconstructed rendering of Janelle Monáe’s “Tightrope”. When they left the stage after an hour, they seemed to think they were done – as did the house DJ and roadie, who was shutting off amps – but the audience demanded more and they returned for one final song. Encores that are unplanned are great; so are shows that are over by nine. Yeah.

Photos: The Dø @ Wrongbar – September 11, 2010
MP3: The Dø – “At Last”
MP3: The Dø – “Tammie”
Video: The Dø – “At Last”
Video: The Dø – “On My Shoulders”
Video: The Dø – “The Bridge Is Broken”
Video: The Dø – “Stay (Just A Little Bit More)”
MySpace: The Dø

Spinner and The Line Of Best Fit interview Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, who are in town at Lee’s Palace on Friday night. Still not cancelled!

A non-geoblocked version of the new Manic Street Preachers video startting Anna Friel (I hear you Kristen Chenoweth) and Michael Sheen is now up on the internets, though the official making-of video is available to all to see. The Guardian’s stream of Postcards From A Young Man, out September 28, is still for residents of the UK only though.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “(It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love”

I’m not sure what the context for this just-released Clientele live video is – the song is from 2007′s God Save The Clientele and not the new Minotaur EP – but it’s pretty so it’s worth watching regardless.

Video: The Clientele – “Somebody Changed”

Build-A-Beard talks to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit about his beard.

Gigwise chats with Blood Red Shoes, in town at the Horseshoe on October 27 with Sky Larkin as support.

Drowned In Sound talks to Owen Brinley of the just-disbanded Grammatics about why the Leeds outfit called it a day.

MP3: Grammatics – “Double Negative”

Brazil’s Os Mutantes will be at the Opera House on November 17 with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti.

MP3: Os Mutantes – “Anagrama”
MP3: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Round And Round”

Australian electronic-rock artist formerly known as Pivot – and now going by PVT – will be on tour in support of his new album Church With No Magic and be at Wrongbar on October 26.

MP3: PVT – “Quick Mile”

When tours collide! The just-announced tour teaming Small Black and Class Actress will be hitting Toronto on the same day as Delorean and Lemonade, so naturally they’ll be teaming up for one uber-show at the Mod Club on November 18.

MP3: Delorean – “Real Love”
MP3: Small Black – “Photojournalist”
MP3: Lemonade – “Lifted”
MP3: Class Actress – “All The Saints”

Marathonpacks’ Eric Harvey has a great piece at Pitchfork on the parallels and intersection of the aesthetics of photography and independent music.

AV Club

Falling squarely into the “sublime” and “rippable” categories are English chamber-pop outfit The Clientele, who clearly went way outside their comfort zone in selecting M.I.A.’s Clash-sampling, Slumdog-soundtracking breakout hit, “Paper Planes” for their go and come up smelling like roses. Note the excellent use of Mel Draisey’s violin in lieu of the original’s stabbing “Straight To Hell” guitar lines and sly include of lyrics from their own “Since K Got Over Me” in the bridge. Loverly.

The Clientele, who made noises about retiring following the release of last year’s Bonfires On the Heath, haven’t made good on that yet with the impending release of their Minotaur mini-album next week. M.I.A., who also declared she was retiring following touring for Kala in Summer 2008 but the success of Slumdog Millionaire and its soundtrack kept her properly attending to her knitting and after having a baby, she returned with album number three /\/\/\Y/\ earlier this year and will be at the Sound Academy in Toronto on September 22.

MP3: The Clientele – “Paper Planes”
Video: M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”

Vanguard Records

The context, however, was that it was supposed to no longer be true as of that following March as Campbell was scheduled to play Revival during CMW in support of her new record Ballad Of The Broken Seas, her first collaboration with Lanegan, and thus give Toronto a fonder memory of she who had by then established herself as a singer-songwriter of repute and not just the girl who used to be in Belle & Sebastian. Alas, that show was cancelled on account of her coming down with the flu and though I was able to see her shortly thereafter at SxSW with Eugene Kelly spotting for Lanegan, fans back home weren’t so fortunate – if fortunate is the correct word, as that SxSW performance was somewhat disappointing.

2008′s Sunday At Devil Dirt found Campbell working with Lanegan again and this time, the dynamic between the two, which was a bit forced their first time out, was much more natural and consequently, the blues and Americana-drenched results far more compelling. All signs point to Hawk continuing in that direction, which makes the fact that the tour is happening and that Lanegan is going to be along for the ride rather exciting news. Campbell’s immune system willing, the Toronto date will be October 20 at Lee’s Palace (and not the Mod Club as the Under The Radar piece states – this from the promoter).

This track is from Sunday At Devil Dirt. A couple of new songs are streaming at Campbell’s MySpace.

MP3: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – “Trouble”

The working relationship with BBQ apparently done for good, it’ll be King Khan & The Shrines causing shit at Lee’s Palace on October 8.

MP3: King Khan & The Shrines – “Land Of The Freak”

With the September 7 release date for Personal Life drawing ever near, The Thermals have slated a North American tour supported by Cymbals Eat Guitars that stops in at Lee’s Palace on October 9. They talk to Spinner about writing their single “Canada” on stage at a gig in Buffalo.

MP3: The Thermals – “I Don’t Believe You”
MP3: Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Wind Phoenix”

Though the initial salvo of dates seemed so skip over Toronto, the full itinerary for Gorillaz’ Autumn North American tour will indeed be stopping here – at the Air Canada Centre on October 13, to be precise.

Video: Gorillaz – “Stylo”

Exclaim talks to Versus, whose new record On The Ones And Threes is out on Tuesday and available to stream now. They’re at Lee’s Palace on August 13.

Stream: Versus / On The Ones And Threes

NME gets some bon mots from Emmy The Great about what to expect from album number two, already 99% funded and due out in February of next year.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Tift Merritt.

GQ and Time Out have interviews with M.I.A.. Cussing ensues.

Pitchfork solicits a guest list from Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast; they’re at Lee’s Palace on September 25.

NYCTaper is sharing audio from The Flaming Lips’ show in Central Park on Monday night.

They Shoot Music solicits and acoustic set from A Place To Bury Strangers.

Noizefests chats with Mel Draisey of The Clientele. Their new release Minotaur is out August 31.

The Quietus has an extensive, career-spanning interview with Dean Wareham of Dean & Britta.

The Village Voice talks to Jason Pierce about the lasting legacy of Spiritualized’s Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Saddle Creek

With seven years past since their last album and numerous solo projects and albums between them in the interim, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink had gone their separate ways for good. But their hiatus has turned out to be just that, as Georgia’s Azure Ray is back in action – or at least as much action as can be expected from a band known for languid, hazy pop – and will release their first album since Hold On Love with Drawing Down the Moon on September 14. Exclaim has some details on the record, which was produced by Crooked Fingers’ Eric Bachmann.

They’ve also put together a Fall tour in support – their first in six years or so – and it includes a date at the Horseshoe on November 10 with Tim Fite as support. There’s no samples from the new record as of yet, but odds are they’ll pick up approximately where they left off and not stray too far from their older material.

MP3: Azure Ray – “If You Fall”
MP3: Azure Ray – “Sea Of Doubts”
MP3: Azure Ray – “November”

Amongst other shows announced yesterday – The Airborne Toxic Event will have some fancy digs on their next visit to town, as they’ll be playing Trinity-St. Paul’s on September 13 and they’re bringing a string section along with them. This is insupport of their concert film with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, All I Ever Wanted, which is out September 7.

Video: The Airborne Toxic Event – “Neda”

2007 Mercury Prize winners Klaxons are releasing the follow-up Surfing The Void on August 23 and are coming to North America to support it, including a date at the Mod Club on September 27.

MP3: Klaxons – “Atlantis To Interzone”

I’m not sure if Neon Indian ever became the soundtrack to Summer they seemed tipped to be back in the Winter, but after paying a visit back in the Spring, they’re hitting the road come Fall and the itinerary includes an October 12 date at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer”

Irish stars Bell X1 are coming to North America this Fall for an acoustic tour that includes a stop at the Drake Underground on October 12.

MP3: Bell X1 – “How Your Heart Is Wired”

The Vaselines, who are releasing their first new album in forever with Sex With An X on September 14, have slated a North American tour that wraps in Canada, the second-to-last date being at the Horseshoe on October 30.

MP3: The Vaselines – “I Hate The ’80s”
MP3: The Vaselines – “Son Of A Gun”

U2 has rescheduled their canceled Summer 2010 tour for Summer 2011 – the Toronto make-up date will be July 11, again at the Rogers Centre.

Video: U2 – “Cedars Of Lebanon”

Paste reports that R.E.M. have completed work on a new album, and are aiming to have it out in early 2011.

Superchunk have released the MP3 for the first single from Majesty Shredding, out September 14.

MP3: Superchunk – “Digging For Something”

The Village Voice talks to Ted Leo about his retirement plans or lack thereof.

Check out the new video from Miles Kurosky, taken from his album The Desert Of Shallow Effects.

Video: Miles Kurosky – “The Night Won’t Last”

Judging from the new Gayngs video from Relayted, the question is not, “will there be a disco ball when Gayngs play The Phoenix on October 1″, but “how big will it be”.

Video: Gayngs – “The Gaudy Side Of Town”

Each Note Secure has an interview with Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent conducted after $40,000 worth of gear and merch was stolen but before it was all improbably recovered a few days ago. Their tour continues on with the only net casualties being the Toronto and Buffalo dates, and they aim to make those up around the end of the Summer.

The Quietus gets a track-by-track breakdown of the new Autolux album Transit Transit from guitarist Greg Edwards. The record is out August 3 and they play Lee’s Palace on August 24.

eMusic, The Line Of Best Fit and The Music Slut interview School Of Seven Bells about their just-released Disconnect From Desire. They’re at the Mod Club on September 15.

Pitchfork talks to Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce about the decision to play Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space in its entirety before retiring it.

Sky Larkin are giving away an MP3 of the title track from their new record Kaleide. It’s out August 9 but is available to pre-order now with downloads available immediately.

MP3: Sky Larkin – “Kaleide”

Bandstand Busking welcomes The Clientele for a session. Their Minotaur mini-album – eight tracks is too many to just call it an EP – is out August 31.

Nacho Alegre

But what’s really relevant is the fact that they make hooky, polished and lightly psychedelic power pop that stands out from the crowd by virtue of not looking to the Libertines or their ilk for inspiration – there’s more mid-era XTC and classic Squeeze influence at work here, though they’d still probably prefer to be called a rock band than a pop one. And it’s also relevant that their new album Serotonin is out next Tuesday in North America after being released in the UK this week, and that North American tour dates are coming together for this Fall, with a just-revealed September 13 engagement at the Horseshoe in Toronto to go along with dates in New York and Los Angeles. Further dates are promised, but with just a day off between NY and LA, fans in flyover states might want to prepare for these Jets to, well, fly over.

There’s features on the band at Clash, The Fly and Purple Revolver. The new record is streaming over at The Tripwire.

MP3: Mystery Jets – “Dreaming Of Another World”
MP3: Mystery Jets – “Flash A Hungry Smile”
Video: Mystery Jets – “Dreaming Of Another World”
Stream: Mystery Jets / Serotonin

The Futureheads have a new video from The Chaos. NME reports the band are planning on making an a capella record next, with track selection assistance solicited from their fans.

Video: The Futureheads – “I Can Do That”

Daytrotter sessions up with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Two Door Cinema Club have rolled out a new video from Tourist History. They’re at the Phoenix on October 25.

Video: Two Door Cinema Club – “Come Back Home”

The Fly says hello to Kele. He is at the Mod Club on July 27.

The Joy Formidable talks to Spinner about their forthcoming debut album, but don’t spill anything about little details like a title or release date.

Sky Larkin have made their new record Kaleide available to stream in its entirety on their website in advance of its August 9 release. Pre-orders get a high-res digital version of the record to download immediately, though window shoppers can hit up NME where they’re offering a few tracks – including one from the new album – in salute of Wichita Recordings’ 10th anniversary.

Stream: Sky Larkin / Kaleide

NPR solicit a Tiny Desk Concert from Los Campesinos!.

The Line Of Best Fit talk to the members of Peggy Sue.

For Folks Sake has details on the new collaborative EP between Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and India’s Dharohar Project, available on iTunes now and entitled EP, while The Guardian offers some behind-the-scenes video of its creation. Baeblemusic has got a full Mumford & Sons show from Brooklyn available to stream.

The Clientele are offering up a track from their forthcoming mini-album Minotaur for download. It’s out August 31 – details at Pitchfork.

MP3: The Clientele – “Jerry”

Teenage Fanclub talks about the Creation days with Spinner, and also chat with The Galway Advertiser and The Guardian. They kick off their North American tour with two nights at the Horseshoe – September 22 and 23.

NME reports that work has begun on the new Spiritualized record, and it’s going to be a poppy one.

Clash talks to M.I.A., who is streaming her new album /\/\/\Y/ in advance of its official release next week.

Stream: M.I.A. / /\/\/\Y/\

Frank Yang

But Thursday night eventually came as Thursday nights are wont to do and it was off to the first stop of the weekend, ye olde Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, where locals Dinosaur Bones were kicking off the evening’s programming. I’d seen them in Summer 2008 and while they were pretty raw then, I heard a lot of potential in their moody and atmospheric alt-rock sound. Fast forward a couple years and a goodly amount of local hype, and rather disappointingly that potential doesn’t seem to have been fulfilled. Their musicianship and on-stage presence is still commendable, but the songs just didn’t have the hooks or melodies to stand out. None of which is to say they couldn’t still come out and impress – they’ve still yet to release an album – but I didn’t come away with the same sense of anticipation that I did last time. Dinosaur Bones open for Plants & Animals at the Opera House on June 24.

Photos: Dinosaur Bones @ The Horseshoe – June 17, 2010
MP3: Dinosaur Bones – “NYE”
MP3: Dinosaur Bones – “Life In Trees”
Video: Dinosaur Bones – “Ice Hotels”

Philadelphia’s Free Energy didn’t have any trouble bringing the hooks – their debut Stuck On Nothing is all about the vintage-hued power pop, and the energy of the record translates perfectly on stage. Led by lanky frontman Paul Spangers, the quintet wore their classic rock affections on their sleeves (which were attached to Neal Adams-art Batman and Styx tour t-shirts) with a set that was full of big riffs and solos and wholly dedicated to having a good time. They’re like the Hold Steady if they were more interested in actually partying instead of just documenting the party. All that said, I didn’t find it quite as exhilarating as when I saw them the last day of SxSW but they clearly won over the rapidly growing crowd.

Photos: Free Energy @ The Horseshoe – June 17, 2010
MP3: Free Energy – “Free Energy”
MP3: Free Energy – “Hope Child”
Video: Free Energy – “Bang Pop”
Video: Free Energy – “Free Energy”
MySpace: Free Energy

The ‘Shoe was pretty much jammed by the time Los Angeles’ Warpaint took the stage, proving that I wasn’t the only one fully excited to see them perform. While the one show of theirs I caught at SxSW was intriguing but inconclusive, I’ve no such ambiguity about their Exquisite Corpse EP. It’s a hypnotic blend of dreampop textures and grooves that comes with just the right amount of unsettling, and on this night – perhaps helpfully far from the bright Austin afternoon sun – Warpaint delivered a set that captured all of the magic of the record and then some. Vocalists Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman led things with their mesmerizing vocals and intertwined, dreamwalking guitars lines, but it was really the thundering rhythm section – Jenny Lee Lindberg on bass and Stella Mozgawa on drums – who propelled things ahead. Interestingly, their original drummer was actress Shannyn Sossamon (who is also Lindberg’s sister – double trivia!) and while her work on Exquisite Corpse was terrific, the sheer power of Mozgawa’s style brings so much more to the table. It’s as though the record floats on the surface of their sound, and the live show dives in deep. The result is intoxicating. After their set, anticipation for their full-length debut, due out this Fall, increased exponentially. Update: Warpaint will be back in town on August 11 at Wrongbar. Update 2: They will also be opening up for The xx at Massey Hall on September 29.

Photos: Warpaint @ The Horseshoe – June 17, 2010
MP3: Warpaint – “Elephants”
Video: Warpaint – “Stars”
Video: Warpaint – “Elephants”
MySpace: Warpaint

That marked the end of my tenure at the ‘Shoe, and then it was up to The Boat in Kensington for Sleepy Vikings. The six-piece arrived with practically no hype (except here) and played to maybe a dozen people but still made quite an impression. And not for their live show – it was sleepy to say the least, but they get a bye on account of having driven 26 hours straight from Tampa for the show – but for the strength of their songcraft and musicianship which even brink-of-death exhaustion couldn’t hide. They’re a big band but with a focused sound and sharp pop instincts that warrant dream, jangle and power descriptors and elicit comparisons to a moodier Velocity Girl (which explains my affection right there). They also gave away copies of their Ghost EP demo, which only contains three songs but more than confirms that these kids are on to something real and great.

Photos: Sleepy Vikings @ The Boat – June 17, 2010
MP3: Sleepy Vikings – “Calm”
MP3: Sleepy Vikings – “Flashlight Tag”

It was obviously too much to hope that Anaïs Mitchell might bring along either Justin Vernon or Ani DiFranco along to support her live they way they did on her last studio record Hadestown, the post-apocalyptic folk opera retelling of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, but even solo Mitchell proved to be a more than captivating performer. Her set in the back room of Czehoski on Queen West only included a handful of songs from Hadestown but even without knowing the material, her delivery and charisma – not to mention the evocativeness of her songwriting – made it a wholly enjoyable performance. And a good way close out the night.

Photos: Anaïs Mitchell @ Czehoski – June 17, 2010
MP3: Anaïs Mitchell – “Flowers (Eurydice’s Song)”
MP3: Anaïs Mitchell – “Wait For Me”
MySpace: Anaïs Mitchell

Ed O’Brien tells BBC6 that the new Radiohead album is almost done. That there is the sound of the internet getting ready to break.

Shockhound and The Chronicle-Herald interview The xx. They’re at Massey Hall on September 29. Yeah, that’s still so weird to type.

Clash and Spinner interview Kele. The Boxer is out tomorrow and he’s at the Mod Club on July 29.

Spin profiles The Joy Formidable.

The itinerary for Teenage Fanclub’s Fall tour in support of Shadows has been made public and while the dream double-bill of them at Belle & Sebastian isn’t happening, Toronto still has plenty of reason to be excited – the tour kicks off here on September 22 and 23 with two dates at the Horseshoe! Spinner talks to Raymond McGinley about the band’s songwriting process.

MP3: Teenage Fanclub – “Baby Lee”

The Clientele have announced that they’ll be releasing a new mini-album entitled Minotaur on September 6. One of the new tracks is streaming on their MySpace.

Let’s Wrestle have a new video for a tune which doesn’t appear on their debut In The Court Of The Wrestling Let’s, but a Record Store Day split 7″ with The Love Language.

Video: Let’s Wrestle – “I’m So Lazy”

Le Blogotheque Take-Away Shows with Mumford & Sons.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Frightened Rabbit.

NME checks in with Glasvegas on the status of album number two.

Drowned In Sound sends Emmy The Great to meet David Cross, who has just released a new comedy album in Black & Blackerer.

MP3: David Cross – “I Can’t Get Beer In Me”

Frank Yang

Though they’d finally earned headlining honours their last time through town in October of last year, The Twilight Sad were again in the support slot this time. Now I’m never one to complain about venues leaving the stage lights up, but seeing a band whose music tends towards a certain mood – darkness and melancholy – it was odd seeing the Glasgow five-piece so well lit… at least for a song. Singer James Graham asked for them to be dimmed, not for ambience but because it was hot enough in Lee’s without a bank of incandescent stage lights pointed at you.

None of which is really meaningful except to say that it started their set off on a strange note that seemed to carry over into their performance. Part of the joys of The Twilight Sad live has always been the sheer, visceral impact of their sound and though it was plenty loud – I pulled the earplugs out a couple times to verify – it still didn’t seem quite loud enough. Certainly Andy MacFarlane had his amps turned up and James Graham was hardly taking it easy on the mic, but it took them a while – almost the whole set – to get the momentum going sufficiently to create what I’d call a proper Twilight Sad experience. They got there, though, and by Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters‘ “I Am Taking The Train Home”, I was feeling the magic and pulverizing set closer “Cold Days From The Birdhouse” sealed the deal.

I’d never seen Mono before, and my experience with their recorded works only went so far as their EP collection Gone. Even so, instrumental post-rock isn’t really the sort of genre where you have to be intimately familiar with a band’s compositions to appreciate the show – it’s more about the impact and emotiveness of the performance as it happens rather than the hearing of a favourite tunes. And in the case of Mono, the performance is in reference primarily to the music and not the band’s showmanship. The four members are rather the epitome of staying in the background and letting the music speak for them, for not only did they not utter a word, they set up a ways back into the stage and only bassist Tamaki Kunishi played standing up – both Takaakira Goto and Yasunori Takada played primarily seated and hunched over their guitars, hair obscuring their faces, though they occasionally stood and still managed to strike some impressive rock poses at various points in the night.

Trying to describe Mono invites some obvious comparisons, at least in my frame of reference, but really, in this style you’ve only got a certain number of tools to work with. The clean, intertwining guitar lines, the deafening riffage, the quiet-loud dynamic shifts… what sets the artists apart is the emotional quotient of their work; what they’re trying to convey to the listener. And where the likes of Mogwai evoke tension and anxiety and Explosions In The Sky trade in uplift and anthem, Mono’s prevailing mood is of elegant, elegiac sadness. The way their set unfolded was like an alternately hypnotic and crushing epic, wordless tragedy – surprisingly western in classical musical influence but wholly eastern in its solemn dignity. As previously noted, I couldn’t tell you what songs they played but I can say that whatever the individual components were, the sum of it was nearly two hours of breathtaking, bludgeoning beauty. Astonishing.

The Twilight Sad will release a new EP entitled The Wrong Side Of The Car on July 26.

Photos: Mono, The Twilight Sad @ Lee’s Palace – May 26, 2010
MP3: Mono – “Ashes In The Snow”
MP3: Mono – “Follow The Map”
MP3: Mono – “Gone”
MP3: Mono – “The Flames Beyond The Cold Mountain”
MP3: Mono – “Halcyon (Beautiful Days)”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Reflection Of The Television”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Cold Days From The Birdhouse”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy”
Video: Mono – “Follow The Map”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “The Room”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “Seven Years Of Letters”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “I Became A Prostitute”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “And She Would Darken The Memory”
MySpace: Mono
MySpace: The Twilight Sad

Drowned In Sound meets Charlotte Gainsbourg, who has released a new video from IRM.

Video: Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Time Of The Assassins”

Nicky Wire resorts to Aerosmith analogies in describing to XFM how the Manic Street Preachers’ new record is shaping up.

PitchforkTV has a Tunnelvision session with The Clientele.

Elvis Costello will have at least two new releases this year: an album of new material entitled American Ransom on October 3 and a best-of covering the past 20 years called Pomp & Pout: The Universal Years, due on June 29.

Mumford & Sons have a new video from Sigh No More; City Pages has an interview.

Video: Mumford & Sons – “Roll Your Stone Away”

Spinner continues their conversation with Tender Trap’s Amelia Fletcher.

The New York Times has a profile of M.I.A. which has ignited a bit of a brouhaha – details at Exclaim. M.I.A.’s new record /\/\/\Y/\ is out July 13.

Fucked Up have posted some details and thoughts on tonight’s free show at the Toronto Reference Library. Doors are at 7:30, things start at 8 and while the library atrium is big, you’d best get there early if you’re planning on attending. Forewarned.

David Gourley

For this year’s follow-up The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, the sonic dressings have received a significant bump in density and volume. More of the instrumentation is plugged in and turned up and the songs delivered with more aggression and intensity. The extra bombast and general tumult in the production can make for a bit of an exhausting listen and does take a while to adjust to, but thankfully Scott Hutchinson’s familiar thick brogue and the sentiments of angst and melancholy that it delivers are there to anchor things. And just as Mixed Drinks is the most musically confident thing the band has done, the lyrics offer a patina of hopefulness over their signature emotionally fragile core. Whereas Organ Fight was gloriously wracked with self-doubt, Mixed Drinks finds there’s nothing better to bolster one’s confidence than a brace of songs that cry out for mass sing-alongs and dares to stand up, even if its uncertain what it’s going to do once upright.

Though they missed a few dates due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption, Frightened Rabbit’s North American tour is now underway and they have a sold-out show at the Opera House in Toronto next Tuesday, May 4. There’s features on the band at Death & Taxes, NOW and The Boston Herald.

MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You” (alternate version)
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”

And if you didn’t get tickets to said Frabbits show or are looking for something else to do the evening of the 4th, let me again make by strongest recommendation for Welsh trio The Joy Formidable, whose debut mini-album A Balloon Called Moaning will officially be out in North America that day and who are making their Toronto debut with a free show at the Horseshoe that night.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Video: The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”

Under The Radar talk to The Big Pink, who are giving away a free remix EP right now.

ZIP: The Big Pink / Tonight Remix EP

NPR is streaming a World Cafe session with The Clientele. They’re promising a new release soon, as well as more shows – some west coast dates are already up, hopefully they come east again as well.

Hot Chip guitarist Al Doyle discusses their latest album One Life Stand with The Quietus.

Over at her MySpace, Kate Jackson is offering a taste of what she’s been up to since the dissolution of The Long Blondes last year – namely hanging out on Twitter, working with Bernard Butler and piecing together her solo debut. There’s no timetable as to when said record might be finished, but if “Homeward Bound” accurately sets the tone then it will be worth whatever the wait is.

Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen talks to Spinner about his feud with Bono in the ’80s about who had the tallest hair.

QRO and Interview talk to a random sample of Los Campesinos!.

Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine gives BBC an update on how sessions for album number two are going.

Doves tell Spinner that following the shows in support of their new best-of compilation The Places Between, they’ll be taking a break of around two years.

Public Image Limited’s May 7 show has been moved from the Kool Haus to The Phoenix.

Pitchfork endorses the brilliant Phonogram comics series, both volumes of which are now available in trade paperback form – on sale no less. The complete first issue of volume two is available to preview online. Also note that artist Jamie McKelvie will be in town next weekend for the Toronto Comics Arts Festival at the Toronto Reference Library, so if you like, swing by and say hi.

Bao Nguyen

After seeing more than a few glowing reviews of their new album The Monitor, I dug up my copy, popped it in the CD player and proceeded to have my ass kicked for the next 60-plus minutes. The American Civil War themes that run through the record and offer context to the spoken word clips that appear throughout make for good talking points, but what’s really important about The Monitor is that it’s an uncompromising rock record that’s as tuneful and honest as it is intense and aggressive and so booze-soaked, you can almost see the fumes coming out of the speakers. And while on paper, that’s what all rock music should be, in reality it’s quite a rare thing and so when you hear it done right – and The Monitor does it right – it’s an eye-opener.

As far as reference points go, Titus Andronicus beats the music writer to the punch via their own bio, pre-emptively stating, “Blah blah blah Springsteen blah blah blah beer blah blah blah beard blah blah blah Shakespeare yadda yadda yadda Seinfeld blah blah blah Conor Oberst in a vat of acid blah blah blah books”. Clever, but if they were being thorough there’d be a few more “blahs” separating references to The Replacements, Whiskeytown and The Hold Steady and truly, The Monitor finds Titus Andronicus following in their same dense, wordy, angst-ridden, despondent and triumphant footsteps. It sprawls and staggers, it stands up and falls down. And gets back up again.

So what’s this got to do with Fanfarlo and their delightful orchestral pop? Well, Titus Andronicus are going to be at Sneaky Dee’s on Friday night as well, and as much as I enjoy the Londoners and hope they have a great show, I kind of want/need to see Titus Andronicus and, if their live reputation is accurate, get my face torn off. Figuratively speaking.

Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles tells Spinner how he recruited the likes of Craig Finn and Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls) to provide the dramatic readings interspersed throughout the album. Pitchfork solicits a guest list from the band and Exclaim, eMusic and The Georgia Straight have interviews.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part One)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part Two)
Video: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
MySpace: Titus Andronicus

The Weekender talks to Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn about their new album Heaven Is Whenever, due out May 4.

Philadelphia Daily News, The Patriot Ledger, Victoria Advocate and JAM talk to Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, who are in town this week for two nights at Lee’s Palace – April 6 and 7 – as well as an in-store at Sonic Boom at PM on Wednesday night. NYC Taper has a recording of their recent show in New York available to download.

White Rabbits have released a new video from last year’s It’s Frightening. They’re at Lee’s Palace on April 27.

Video: White Rabbits – “They Done Wrong, We Done Wrong”

Beatroute and Spinner talk to Spoon. The band stopped in at CBC last week to record a session for QTV.

Video: Spoon – “The Mystery Zone” (live on QTV)

The Quietus talks to The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner about the making of High Violet, due out in just over a month on May 11. They play Massey Hall on June 8 and 9. And I really have to go pick up my tickets for that.

The Line Of Best Fit and Georgia Straight talk to Retribution Gospel Choir’s Alan Sparhawk.

LCD Soundsystem have scheduled a North American tour in support of their new record This Is Happening, out May 18, and it includes a May 25 date at the Kool Haus. Tickets $35 in advance, on sale Friday.

Stream: LCD Soundsystem – “Drunk Girls”

The Music Slut asks eight questions of Steve Drozdt of The Flaming Lips. They’ve announced a July 7 date in Montreal, so can a Toronto date – their first in almost four years – be far off? I imagine not.

Chart, eye and Metro talk to Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan about their contributions to the film Passenger Side, which premieres at the Royal tomorrow night and will be followed by an acoustic set from half of the ‘Chunk – Mac and Jim.

Interview and Under The Radar interview The Drums, whose debut album is due out June 7.

NPR interviews Sam Coomes of Quasi, who are in town at the Horseshoe on April 18.

Sounds Good Ink has a feature on Let’s Wrestle, who will be supporting Quasi on the aforementioned date (and tour).

Broward-Palm Beach New Times and Athens Banner-Herald have conversations with Arctic Monkeys bassist Nick O’Malley while News-Observer chats with guitarist Jamie Cook.

Doves’ guitarist Jez Williams talks to The Guardian about using the moon as a delay pedal and that the band have no plans to split, despite being in the career retrospective phase with the upcoming release of The Places Between: The Best Of Doves, due out April 20. Williams also tells BBC6 that he feels for new bands trying to get their careers started in this day and age.

Spinner and The Times chat with The Futureheads – their new record The Chaos is out in North America on June 1.

eGigs talks to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, who are at the Opera House on May 4.

The first single from The Pipettes’ new record Earth Vs Pipettes, out June 28, is now available to download. Wouldn’t it be great if one of the choruses in the song went, “Our love was saved by Dr. Leo Spaceman“? Yes? No? Sorry, been watching a lot of 30 Rock.

MP3: The Pipettes – “Our Love Was Saved By Spacemen”

OPB Music has a video session with The Clientele, The Montreal Miror an interview.

Magnet prepares to hand over the editor’s desk to David Gedge of The Wedding Present for a week with a Q&A. They kicked off their Bizarro 20th anniversary tour last week and will be at the Horseshoe on April 14. The Aquarian Weekly also has an interview.

PopMatters interviews Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant.

Clash lists 12 things you didn’t know about Pet Shop Boys.

The Quietus celebrates the 20th anniversary and defends the legacy of Lush.

Clare Nash

The first proper single, however, does sound like vintage Kate Nash. “Do Wah Doo”, for which a fun dancing stewardess-themed video has just been released, is very much in line with the best of Bricks, just gussied up with Butler’s signature retro-slick production. In fact it might be a little too similar to those who’d like to see some more growth from album one to two, but if “Do Wah Doo” represents one end of the stylistic spectrum covered on the new record and “I Just Love You More” the other, then My Best Friend Is You should be a fun and interesting listen.

Nash was already announced as one of the artists taking part in this year’s Lilith Fair revival, but this piece in Rolling Stone shows she’s not waiting for Sarah McLachlan’s say-so to bring her new record to North America. Less than a week after the record’s release, Nash is embarking on a small club tour across the continent, starting on April 26 in Toronto at the Mod Club – tickets $22.50. I missed both of Nash’s previous local shows back in 2008, so I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to finally see her live, and in cozy environs no less. And hopefully it will go better than her recent Glasgow show.

The Daily Record and Contact Music have interviews with Nash.

MP3: Kate Nash – “I Just Love You More”
Video: Kate Nash – “Do Wah Doo”

Spin finds out why Victoria Hesketh calls herself Little Boots while NYLON and Metro also have interviews. It seems that it’s not just the Toronto date of her North American tour that’s been scotched – none of her east coast, post-Coachella dates are listed on her website anymore.

Pitchfork has details on the forthcoming album from the all-new. all-different Pipettes – Earth vs. the Pipettes will be out on June 28 in the UK and if the band believes that it’s the planet Earth that is conspiring to have all their members quit… they may be on to something.

Magnet has an interview with former Delgados frontwoman Emma Pollock, who has been playing guest editor on their site all week. Her second solo record The Law Of Large Numbers came out last week.

MP3: Emma Pollock – “Hug The Harbour”

If the questions posed in these following Spinner quickie SxSW preview interviews look familiar… well, they are. Thankfully the answers are different.

Spinner talks to Frightened Rabbit, whose Winter Of Mixed Drinks finally began this week. They are at the Opera House on May 4.

Fanfarlo chats with Spinner and The Daily Texan. They’re in town with a show at Lee’s Palace on April 9, and Clash reports the band are planning to give away a free live EP in conjunction with this (or some other upcoming) tour.

This Spinner interview with The xx strays from the script a little bit. They’re at the Phoenix on April 4 and the Kool Haus on April 20.

Let’s Wrestle grapples with some questions from Spinner. They’re at the Horseshoe on April 18.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a recent show from We Were Promised Jetpacks and oh yeah, there’s one of those Spinner interviews too.

The Line Of Best Fit chats with Field Music. They’re at the Horseshoe next Friday night with The Clientele, with whom 77 Square and City Pages have chats.

The Tripwire has a feature piece on The Big Pink. They play The Mod Club on March 24.

JAM and The Montreal Gazette interview Muse.

The High Wire, heartily endorsed late last year, have made the title track of their new album The Sleep Tape available to download. It starts out small, but quickly becomes a pretty compelling argument for this as one of the best dream-pop records of the year. Which, as of this moment, it is.

MP3: The High Wire – “The Sleep Tape”

Exclaim reports that Belle & Sebastian are off hiatus and headed back into the studio to record album number eight. EIGHT. Goodness.

Daytrotter has a session with Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen. They are at The Phoenix on April 23.

Rumoured a little while ago but now official – first-wave shoegazers Chapterhouse have slated a North American tour for this Spring and will kick it off on May 1 at the Horseshoe in Toronto.

Video: Chapterhouse – “Pearl”

Billboard wonders what David Bowie is up to – apparently, not much.