Laurie Kang & Hannah HurThere’s a temptation to wish that the title of Ohbijou’s third album offered a hint to the contents within, that the Toronto six-piece had discovered their inner headbanger and when Metal Meets was released on September 27, it would come in packaging adorned with pentagrams and flames. But not only would this hypothetical record probably not be very good – let’s be honest – it would also mean that the world would be down one almost certainly lovely collection of orchestral pop.

A preview of the new Jace Lasek-produced record was made available a couple of weeks ago and it certainly sounds like they’ve stayed the course laid out by their 2006 debut Swift Feet For Troubling Times and its 2009 follow-up Beacons, anchored by Casey Mecija’s sweet vocals and songwriting but allowing the sonics supporting them to grow and evolve. With its echoing electric guitar riff, “Niagara” would have sounded out of place on Swift Feet but as the first taste of the follow-up to Beacons, it makes perfect sense.

And as their sound gets bigger, so too do the rooms in which they’ll be playing. A set of eastern Canadian dates have been announced and the hometown date on September 30 finds them playing the gorgeous environs of Trinity-St. Paul’s – a milestone, to say the least. Tickets for the show are $20 and go on sale tomorrow at 10AM.

Ohbijou are also releasing a series of video trailers for the new record; at present there are two. Note the lack of three-finger devil salutes.

MP3: Ohbijou – “Niagara”

Light Fires, the electro-pop duo of which Ohbijou drummer James Bunton is half and Gentleman Reg’s Reg Vermue in the guise of Regina Gentlelady is the other have released a video for their debut single, available digitally and on 7″ as of today.

Video: Light Fires – “Ten Feet Tall”

I appear to have missed a couple instalments of the Bruce Peninsula Fire Sale, but that’s okay because they go with the just-released one to form an impressive collection of performances captured by Southern Souls, wherein the band’s members each cover a song by an artist they personally know. It’s also the first look at who is part of Bruce Peninsula this time around, with a number of new faces in the mix. Their second album Open Flames is due out in September and they play the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 11 as part of Summerworks.

Chart talks to Taylor Kirk of Timber Timbre.

The Quietus interviews saxophonist and Polaris shortlister Colin Stetson, who has a show at The Drake Underground on August 26. He’ll also release a 10″ EP entitled Those Who Didn’t Run on October 4.

The Wilderness Of Manitoba have released a new video from When You Left The Fire, done live-style.

Video: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Hermit”

Fucked Up guitarist Mike Haliechuk has a chat with The Vancouver Sun while frontman Damian Abraham has words with The Riverfront Times. Fucked Up play the Air Canada Centre

The Georgia Straight talks to Kathryn Calder, whose second solo album should be released sometime this Fall.

Dan Mangan discusses his forthcoming new record Oh Fortune with Spinner. The album is out September 27 and a cross-Canada tour has been announced; he’ll be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 28.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune”

tUnE-yArDs brings her much-feted second album WHOKILL back to town for a show at Lee’s Palace on September 24.

MP3: tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness”

Frank YangYou might not have guessed it to listen to their records, as laid-back and fuzzy blanket-like as they were, but the American Analog Set were an amazing live act. Not through on-stage antics or pyrotechnics or the like, but by how unbelievably tight they were as a unit. The sound of Andrew Kenny’s soft voice and echoing guitar overtop the bed of vibraphone and Farfisa was the very definition of hypnotic and each of the two Toronto shows I saw prior to their disbanding in 2006 were magical. So given that Kenny’s new outfit The Wooden Birds shares many stylistic attributes with AmAnSet, it wasn’t unreasonable to hope that their first visit in support of their new record Two Matchsticks last night at The Drake would recreate some of that magic.

Support for the evening came from locals Heartbeat Hotel, whose psych-pop-laden Fetus Dreams I’d recommended picking up (for free) and who’d made a decent live impression back in December. They’d played out a fair bit since then, though, and some growth was to be expected. Even so, I didn’t expect that the echoey, slow burn that opened their set would be more the rule than the exception. The freewheeling sonic experimentation that marked Fetus Dreams seems to have been reined in, or the approach of flinging everything against the wall has served its purpose and they’ve now identified what stuck and what works; either way, Heartbeat Hotel circa Summer 2011 is a much more controlled, groove-oriented entity, yet still capable of getting noisy when needed. They’ve learned a lesson in musical economics that some bands take albums to master, if ever, and though it’d be nice if some of the energy of the LP could find its way back into their sound, based on the new material showcased – due for release in EP or album form this Fall – they’ll do well on the exam.

Even before The Wooden Birds played a note, it was pretty clear that this wasn’t going to be American Analog Set unplugged. For starters, Leslie Sisson was handling the acoustic guitar duties I’d assumed were Andrew Kenny’s on record, Kenny had no six-string of any kind, instead holding down the low end with a Thunderbird bass and whereas on the recordings electric guitar was used for texture or the occasional lead, the two electric setup implied that live, it would be decidedly otherwise. And indeed, it didn’t take very long to understand and appreciate that The Wooden Birds were no extension of anyone’s old band, but their own thing entirely; whereas AmAnSet shows were like exercises in hypnosis, this performance was wide-eyed and fully awake.

As the band showcased material from Two Matchsticks and its predecessor Magnolia, I couldn’t help think how someone for whom their first impression of the band was this show might find those decidedly mellower-sounding records. Because the live presentation of The Wooden Birds was definitely a much louder and more sprightly and widescreen-sounding affair. Tempos were stepped up appreciably, and rhythms given an almost country-western shuffle which would prove especially complimentary to the subtle twang of Sisson’s vocals. Those vocals were more than complimentary to Kenny’s voice – they sounded as lovely together as any two voices could – and for an hour or so, they led the band through a set of splendid pop. And for the AmAnSet fans in the audience – which I would assume to be most of them – they did Toronto the pleasure of honouring a request made the last time AmAnSet was in town, which is to say half a decade ago, and offered a reading of “Aaron & Maria” which they segued into a cover of Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby”. I went into this show hoping to relive a little AmAnSet magic but The Wooden Birds would have none of that; as stated they’ve got their own thing going on and that thing is simply lovely. If they’re coming through your town on their way back down to Austin, do go see them.

The Fort Worth Weekly and Sloucher have interviews with Andrew Kenny. There’s also a writeup and recording of much of the show over at Hater High.

Photos: The Wooden Birds, Heartbeat Hotel @ The Drake Underground – July 10, 2011
MP3: The Wooden Birds – “Two Matchsticks”
MP3: The Wooden Birds – “False Alarm”
MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “Fins Of A Shark”
MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “Walls Of Dry Clouds”
MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “The Hello Barrel”
Video: The Wooden Birds – “Two Matchsticks”
Video: The Wooden Birds – “Hometown Fantasy”
Video: Heartbeat Hotel – “Windowsill #1″

Though just announced as support for The Vaccines show at The Phoenix on September 27, Young Buffalo will do a little advance work with a free show at The Horseshoe on July 26.

MP3: Young Buffalo – “Only We Can Keep You From Harm”
MP3: Young Buffalo – “Anthems For A 17-Year Old Girl”

On the NXNE schedule in June for like a nanosecond, Massachusetts’ Dom will be in town for real for a show at The Garrison on August 9, the same day their new Family Of Love EP is released.

MP3: Dom – “Living In America”

Marnie Stern and No Joy team up for a show at Wrongbar on September 23. The Riverfront Times has an interview with Ms Stern.

MP3: Marnie Stern – “Transparency Is The New Mystery”
MP3: No Joy – “Hawaii”

Suuns have slated a show at The Garrison for October 2 and there’s a new video session up over at For No One.

MP3: Suuns – “Up Past The Nursery”

Shonen Knife will be at The Horseshoe on October 20 to kick of a 30th anniversary tour and next week’s release of their new record Osaka Ramones, a Ramones tribute record. Tickets for the show are $14.50 in advance, full dates at Exclaim.

Video: Shonen Knife – “Ramones Forever” (live)

Spinner has the first sample of the first Ivy album in six years, All Hours due out September 20, and it seems that in the time away they’ve discovered their inner discotheque. They wear it well.

MP3: Ivy – “Distant Lights”

USA Today profiles The Head & The Heart.

Spin checks in with Stephen Malkmus about his new solo record Mirror Traffic, due out August 23. He and his Jicks play The Phoenix on September 21.

NBC San Diego, The Georgia Straight and San Diego City Beat chat with The Rosebuds, in town on August 9 at The Sound Academy opening up for Bon Iver.

Stereogum talks to the director of Handsome Furs’ racy new video. They’re at The Horseshoe on August 1 and 2.

Video: Handsome Furs – “What About Us”

Spin gets a guided tour of Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham’s domicile. Their next date is August 9 at the Air Canada Centre with Foo Fighters.

Sax-toting Polaris shortlister Colin Stetson has an interview in The Globe & Mail and a session up at Daytrotter. He plays The Drake Underground on August 26.

Loud & Quiet talks to Timber Timbre.

Southern Souls has posted a video session with Jenn Grant.

The Wilderness Of Manitoba are featured in an interview and video session with The Alternate Side.

The documentary film which led to a rather nasty exchange between filmmaker Vincent Moon and Arcade Fire management – Miroir Noir: Neon Bible Archives – will be getting a screening at the TIFF Lightbox on Wednesday evening at 7:30PM as part of Images Festival. Probably safe to say neither filmmaker nor subjects will be in attendance.

Trailer: Miroir Noir: Neon Bible Archives

FacebookWhen the Polaris Prize long list was announced three weeks back, the general response was positive. After all, forty albums is pretty inclusive and many genres and regions were represented; pretty good cause for back-patting. But when you whittle it down to the final ten, things inevitably get contentious – so with the announcement of the 2011 short list yesterday, there were the inevitable complaints that so-and-so was robbed, such-and-such is underrepresented, etc etc. Six years in, it’s all pretty predictable if you think about it.

And as such, I personally wasn’t especially surprised with the results – after all, I did tie for first in an impromptu prediction pool amongst jurors and Polaris-spotters with eight out of ten right, and I would have gotten nine if I’d stuck with my initial instincts about the Maritime bloc. As for the two I got wrong, I’m disappointed but not wholly surprised that Sloan didn’t make the cut – continuing their career trajectory of being simultaneously adored yet taken for granted. I was, however, genuinely surprised that The Rural Alberta Advantage got passed over – though they barely missed my ballot, I thought that there’d have been enough goodwill banked from Hometowns being ineligible in the year it got wide release to carry over to Departing, but I guess not. They’ll have to settle for being generally adored. Tough life. But my picks didn’t necessarily reflect what I thought were the most deserving – note only two of my ballot entries appear on the short list – but based on pretty reliable patterns observed over the course of Polaris’ existence. We’re all just algorithms in a giant cosmic computer, maaaaaan.

As for the albums that made the cut?

Arcade Fire / The Suburbs
Well this one was a gimme; the question really is will the Suburbs-sized elephant in the jury room end up costing the band and give proof to the accusation that the Polaris punishes success? Not a lock, but if the winner comes back as anything else, people are going to want some explanations as to how and album pretty much universally feted would be deemed inadequate (relatively speaking) at home. By being heavily favoured, they are probably the biggest underdogs on the list. Oh, Canada.

Video: Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

Austra / Feel It Break
I figured this, Diamond Rings, Young Galaxy and Miracle Fortress would split the synth-pop vote – no way would more than one of them make the short list – and was certain that when the votes were counted, Austra would have come out on top. It strikes the right balance of weird and accessible and you can dance to it. It give it long, long odds to win but its presence here is an achievement.

MP3: Austra – “Lose It”

Braids / Native Speaker
I’ve tried, but I just can’t get into this record. But I can’t stand Animal Collective either, so I’m just not predisposed to appreciate what Braids do, and that’s fine. I’ll probably try again before all is said and done, but don’t expect any Damascene moments. I don’t think it will win, but I didn’t think that people would lose their minds for it as much as they have so I won’t say it couldn’t upset.

MP3: Braids – “Lemonade”

Destroyer / Kaputt
For an album as smooth and laid back as it appears to be, Kaputt has turned out to be remarkably polarizing, but that said it was also pretty much a lock – criticize what it is if you will, but there’s really no denying the degree of vision and craftsmanship that has gone into this record. I think if any record could win without instigating an Arcade Fire backlash debate, it’s this one. If I were on the grand jury, which I’m thankful I won’t be, I’d be championing this one.

MP3: Destroyer – “Chinatown”

Galaxie / Tigre et diesel
The question was which of this or Malajube would take the Francophone vote – I didn’t see both making it – and rather than let Malajube three-peat as shortlisters, they went with the fresh(ish) faces. And I’ll be honest, I hold a grudge against this band because they went by Galaxie 500 for far longer than is acceptable. That’s just wrong.

Video: Galaxie – “Piste 01″

Hey Rosetta! / Seeds
This is a band whom I get what they do, get how it inspires such adoration from so many, but doesn’t really do much for me. But their upwards trajectory is undeniable – they’ll be doing the theatre circuit very soon, just watch – and being past shortlisters and the most probable consensus pick amongst jurors from out east, I really should have known better than to take them off my list of predictions. Another record that I will revisit to see what I missed the first time around.

Video: Hey Rosetta! – “Young Glass”

Ron Sexsmith / Long Player Late Bloomer
No doubt there’s a whiff of lifetime achievement about Sexsmith’s inclusion, but his profile hasn’t been higher than it is now in years thanks to the documentary film and the Luminato tribute and thanks to his remarkably consistent songwriting, you couldn’t argue that this record is any less deserving than his others. And maybe people just want to see what it’d take to make the man smile.

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

Colin Stetson / New History Warfare Vol. 2 – Judges
Easily the most left-field shortlisted album in the prize’s history, I don’t get New History Warfare at all. But then I don’t get hardly anything about where it comes from and what it’s about, so that’s okay. I do know that Stetson has an incredible pair of lungs and the record is an astonishing physical feat, but on the topic of its musicality, I defer to those more qualified to pass judgement. And it’d be kind of awesome if it won if just for the coast-to-coast head scratching that would surely ensue.

MP3: Colin Stetson – “Fear of the Unknown and the Blazing Sun [ft. Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden]“

Timber Timbre / Creep On Creepin’ On
I know a lot of people who think Timber Timbre should have won in 2009, even though they didn’t even make the short list, so with a – in my judgement – better album in hand and a much stronger national profile, I’m not at all surprised it made the cut this time. I think it’s still a little genre/weird to garner the necessary broad grand jury support to really make a run, but Polaris tends to be predictably unpredictable so maybe they should have the inside track.

MP3: Timber Timbre – “Black Water”

The Weeknd / House Of Balloons
Another record that comes from a separate musical world from the one I usually inhabit, but one that got my attention from the first listen. A little hip-hop, a little r&b, a little indie rock and a lot sexy and moody – though not necessarily sexy moody – it’s definitely noteworthy and probably deserves its placement. And it’s got that whole mysterious identity and album-for-free (click above) thing going for it.

MP3: The Weeknd – “The Party & The After Party”

So my overall prediction for the night of September 19? I think the jury will for maybe the first time do the obvious thing let Arcade Fire take it. Failing that, Destroyer. And if not one of those two, then all bets are off.

Colin Stetson will get to see if a Polaris appearance translates into concert attendance when he plays The Drake on August 26, tickets $12 in advance. The Georgia Straight and Montreal Gazette have interviews.

Austra are releasing a new remix album entitled Sparkle on August 23 on vinyl, later this month digitally.

MP3: Austra – “Spellwork” (MNDR Nighttime remix)

NYC Taper has posted recordings of a recent visit to the Big Apple from Sloan. And oh, new video and interview with Andrew Scott at Thick Specs.

Video: Sloan – “Unkind”

PS I Love You have announced the release of an odds-and-sods compilation entitled, descriptively enough, Figure It Out: A Collection of Singles and EPs by PS I Love You and it’ll be out August 30. It will be followed by an extensive North American tour that includes a date at Toronto’s Great Hall on October 1. Full dates and track listing at aux.tv and yes, it’s that “Subdivisions”.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012″

Le Blogotheque has posted a Les Soirees des poches video session with Plants & Animals.

Dan Mangan has announced a September 27 release date for his new album Oh Fortune and is giving away the title track from said record below. And if you need more, Herohill has posted videos of a living room show Mangan performed in Halifax a couple months ago.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Oh Fortune”

Spinner has words with Chad VanGaalen.

Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff gets political for a moment with aux.tv.

Fucked Up demonstrate to Pitchfork how to make a bong in 60 seconds and also fess up to the obvious parallels between David Comes To Life and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.

aux.tv chats with Dan Boeckner of Handsome Furs, in town at The Horseshoe on August 1 and 2.

Interview has premiered the first song from Ohbijou’s forthcoming third album Metal Meets, due out September 27.

If you’re looking for something to do over the August long weekend, you may not need to look further than The Great Hall and Toronto Underground Cinema; that’s when those venues will host over three nights the inaugural Out Of The Box Festival, featuring a slew of the city/province’s up-and-coming acts including personal faves and bands to watch Olenka & The Autumn Lovers, Ruby Spirit, Heartbeat Hotel and Foxes In Fiction to name but a very few. Admission is $10 at the door, $15 for a weekend pass and the schedule will be forthcoming soon.

Hamilton dreampop veterans A Northern Chorus called it a day back in Summer 2008, but have regrouped for a couple of shows next month, one in Hamilton at The Casbah on August 12 and one at The Garrison in Toronto on August 13.

Video: A Northern Chorus – “Winterize”

And speaking of good things that come from The Hammer, Supercrawl has announced the first wave of their muscial lineup for September 10, and it includes the likes of Broken Social Scene, J Mascis and The Megaphonic Thrift, amongst many others. And oh yeah, it’s all free.

New WestBlue Rodeo’s annual Summer shows at the Molson Amphitheatre are pretty much a Toronto tradition and they never have a problem getting people to come down to the lake’s edge and lounge about listening to old favourites, whether there’s a new record to support or not (their last release was 2009′s The Things We Left Behind). But this year’s edition is notable for offering the extra incentive of having Steve Earle & The Dukes and Duchesses on board as support.

That’s right, after a good long while of being Dukes-free – the last album with them on board was 2004′s The Revolution Starts Now – Earle has regrouped his long-time backing band to support his forthcoming album I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, though I’m not certain if they’re actually on it – haven’t gotten my hands on the record or its liner notes yet. What is evident is that the band has gone co-ed, and presumably includes more than just Earle’s missus, Allison Moorer.

In any case, the record is out April 26, Earle’s debut novel of the same name is out on May 12, the new season of Treme, on which Earle appears, begins April 24, and the show in question goes down August 20. Right now, however, you can download an MP3 of the album’s opening track and a chapter of the novel by liking Earle’s Facebook. Yeah, that doesn’t sound very outlaw but what can you do.

Video: Blue Rodeo – “Diamond Mine”
Video: Steve Earle & The Dukes – “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied”

In other show news – having sold the hell out of her show at the Opera House back in January, Lissie returns for a show at the Phoenix on May 28, tickets $24.

MP3: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”

Austin instrumental outfit This Will Destroy You will bring their new record Tunnel Blanket, out May 10, to Lee’s Palace on May 30. Tickets $13.50 in advance.

MP3: This Will Destroy You – “The World Is”

Sweden’s Wildbirds & Peacedrums will be coming to town for a show on May 30 at the Drake Underground in support of last year’s Rivers, an album made up of their Retina and Iris EPs. Supporting them will be New York’s Yellow Ostrich, whose album The Mistress came out earlier this year.

MP3: Wildbirds & Peacedrums – “Fight For Me”
MP3: Yellow Ostrich – “Whale”

Ireland’s Bell X1 have made a date for The Mod Club on June 1 in support of their new record Bloodless Coup, out April 12.

Video: Bell X1 – “Velcro”

There’s no specific venue announced yet but Julianna Barwick, recipient of a “Best New Music” for her new record The Magic Place, will be in town on June 17 as part of NXNE, though that’s some interesting routing – Salt Lake City to Toronto to Seattle is not an especially common path to take across the continent.

MP3: Julianna Barwick – “The Magic Place”

Wrongbar gets just a little bit punk when JEFF The Brotherhood, The Strange Boys and White Fence hit Wrongbar on June 21.

Video: JEFF The Brotherhood – “Mind Wire”
Video: The Strange Boys – “Be Brave”

Montreal by way of Michigan saxophonist Colin Stetson, whose new record New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is getting a lot of praise, will be at the Music Gallery on June 29. Timber Timbre talk to Exclaim about Stetson’s contributions to their new record and NPR is streaming one of his SXSW showcases from last month.

MP3: Colin Stetson – “Fear of the Unknown and the Blazing Sun [ft. Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden]“

NYC Taper is sharing another live recording of Godspeed You! Black Emperor from last month. They’re at Lee’s Palace from April 22 to 24.

Also on offer from NYC Taper – a recording of Destroyer’s show at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan last week. Uptown and Square have conversations with Dan Bejar.

Owen Pallett has put out a new video from Heartland and a live show from Paris is available to watch at Grand Crew.

Video: Owen Pallett – “The Great Elsewhere”

Beatroute talks to The Rural Alberta Advantage, whose April 29 show at The Phoenix is almost sold out if not already.

It’d be nice if Southern Souls had a more scannable/searchable index of their content, but the sheer volume of on-the-street video sessions with Canadian artists still makes it worth becoming intimately acquainted with. And if that’s not enough, I just noticed that there are MP3s of many of the performances available to download – don’t know if that’s a new offering or if I just never noticed before, but yeah. Go to it.

Frank YangIt may well have been a case of cabin fever that spurred The National to schedule a short east coast tour starting off in Toronto last Thursday. Two years removed from the release of Boxer and still a ways away from the follow-up – rumoured to have a working title of Shine and not due out at best until late 2009 and more likely 2010 – it’s not unreasonable to think they needed a break from the studio to stretch out their legs and maybe road-test a few new songs.

And so while the motivation for the show seemed simple enough, it was still significant in that it represented a definite, quantifiable step up in the band’s draw – whereas their last headlining show in October 2007 was at the 1000-capacity Phoenix, this time they were playing the twice-as-large Kool Haus and had easily sold it out. The uncomfortable and sonically dubious Kool Haus is a real wedge venue in this city, with some people steadfastly refusing to go to shows there they’d have patronized elsewhere, but with their absences compensated for by new, more recently acquired fans who unfortunately tend to mostly be of the chattier, drunker and generally irritating variety. That this would happen was an inevitability, but the question of “when” has been answered – with “now”. And while I’m one of those with no fondness for the venue, The National are on that short list of bands who’d I’d see play anywhere in this city – and so it was off to the concrete box on the waterfront with the hope that the band’s magic could compensate for the venue’s distinct lack of.

I’d failed to do any sort of research on opener Colin Stetson and if I had, I might have been a bit more prepared for his set. It consisted of a half-hour of extended saxophone excursions of the avant-garde and decidedly non-melodic variety which I won’t pretend to have understood in any musical sense but did find impressive for the sheer amount of cardiovascular endurance they demanded of Stetson. At least I was able to appreciate his sense of humour, demonstrated between songs as he caught his breath and referred to his abstract compositions as love songs.

Stetson would re-take the stage as part of The National, who were traveling as a nine-piece this time out – the core five, Doveman’s Thomas Bartlett again handling keyboards and a three-piece horn section. For some acts, almost doubling the size of their lineup would be a clear warning sign of out of control sonic ambitions, but The National actually seemed to play things more intimately and create a looser club vibe rather than play up to the size of the room and really, that’s one of their greatest strengths – the ability to craft songs that simultaneously anthemic in scope yet intensely personal. They did take advantage of the larger stage, singer Matt Berninger in particular wandering to and fro throughout the set, but vibe-wise it wasn’t far removed from their earlier visits in smaller rooms.

They did, however, come off a bit rusty in performance, their time away from the road very much in evidence as they sought to find their feet. Musically, they sounded tight but were not able to overcome the Kool Haus’ boomy acoustics and Berninger, perhaps rediscovering the joys of the rider, dropped the mic a couple of times during the more energetic tunes, failed to sing directly into it for the choruses of “Mr. November” making it an unintentional audience participation number and forgot the words to the start of main set closer “Fake Empire”. These were just minor blemishes though, and made things a touch more memorable and entertaining – I’m biased, though. There’s not much The National could do to actually disappoint me.

The closest they came was not taking advantage of being without a particular album to promote and mixing up the set list, but when this means a set comprised of two of my favourite albums of this century – Boxer and Alligator – that’s hardly something to complain about. I would have liked to hear “So Far Around The Bend” from the Dark Was The Night benefit comp, but a minor point. They also showcased three new songs and made it clear that while Boxer was their creative high point so far, they’re still aiming higher. One of the tunes, “Blood Buzz Ohio”, was particularly grand and whereas new, unfamiliar songs usually get polite applause this one got a huge ovation. One listen and it was that good.

As mentioned, the new record is still way off in the distance, but it can’t come too soon for me. And while most selfish fans (myself included) would hope their favourite bands stay small and theirs only, I hope the National gets just big enough to begin booking themselves into Massey Hall… and then staying there.

Chart also has a review of the show.

Photos: The National, Colin Stetson @ The Kool Haus – May 21, 2009
MP3: The National – “So Far Around The Bend”
MP3: The National – “Fake Empire”
MP3: The National – “Son”
MP3: The National – “Beautiful Head”
Video: The National – “So Far Around The Bend” (live)
Video: The National – “Mistaken For Strangers”
Video: The National – “Apartment Story”
Video: The National – “Abel”
Video: The National – “Lit Up”
Video: The National – “Daughters Of The Soho Riots”
Video: The National – “Sugar Wife”
Video: The National – “Son”
MySpace: The National
MySpace: Colin Stetson

The New York Times has a big feature on Grizzly Bear, whose Veckatimest is easily the big new release of the week. The band recently partook in a Black Cab Session and have rolled out a new video. Their June 5 show at the Phoenix is sold out, if you were wondering.

Video: Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”

NPR hearts themselves some St. Vincent, streaming her recent show in Washington DC as well conducting an interview. And a note to locals – the August 8 Toronto show announced last week is NOT happening at Lee’s Palace, but will be at the Horseshoe – so as fast as you thought it was going to sell out? It’ll actually be faster.

Scotland’s 1990s have canceled their upcoming North American tour due to “unforeseen circumstances”, including their June 3 date at the Horseshoe.

The Lemonheads’ new covers record Varshons hits stores on June 23 and the tour to support will wrap up on July 4 in Toronto at Lee’s Palace – tickets for that are $20.

Peter Murphy, who himself will be releasing a series of four covers as singles, will be at the Opera House on July 11.

If you needed another reason to see Neko Case at Massey Hall on July 14, how about the fact that Jason Lytle has been added as support? There’s an interview with Lytle at The Skinny.

But if that reason’s not good enough, you also have the option of seeing a little Man Man action that same night, July 14, at Lee’s Palace. Tickets for that are $16.50. They have a new video from last year’s Rabbit Habits.

MP3: Man Man – “Top Drawer”
Video: Man Man – “Rabbit Habits”

So I’ve had some good luck soliciting shopping advice from y’all before, so let’s try this again. I need new headphones. My current Shure SE210s have begun to crap out in exactly the same way as the Shure SE210s they replaced barely two months (via warranty) in that the midrange driver in the left earbud seems to be cacking out. I found these ‘phones to be eminently comfortable and quite good sounding, but don’t really think I’d trust another pair of Shures. I think I definitely want another pair of in-ears, but that means that I can’t test them out before buying and reviews can only go so far. Currently considering some Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4vi (the iPhone compatibility – particularly the pause/play button – is tempting) or the Etymotic ER6i. Also looked at offerings around that price point from Sennheiser, but have never really like their bass-heavy sounds – I want clarity, detail and general flatness. Recommendations?